by Robin Roseau
"Do you wish to beg Portia to ransom you instead?"
"No."
"Well, we must give her a chance, anyway." There was a pause, and then Michaela said, "Hello, Portia. We've been playing a fun game, but it's time for a punishment. She refuses to ask you to ransom her, but perhaps you would like to hear what we're about to do." Then she stood up and walked away, and I couldn't hear the rest of the conversation. A minute later, she came back.
"Portia declines to ransom you at this time," Michaela said. "Hold her."
Evangeline and Angel were seated next to me, a shift made during the movement during our game, and they grabbed my arms through the tape, and then pressed a hand onto my thighs. They also wrapped an ankle in front of mine so I couldn't kick, and from behind me, someone else also pressed into my shoulders, holding me firmly in place. "Zoe, this stops when you agree to do what we have told you to do, or when I decide. Monique, you're first."
My eyes were still closed, but I heard someone knelt in front of me, presumably Monique.
She grabbed my feet in her hands, curling her fingers so they were pressed into the bottoms of my feet. From beside me, Angel leaned closer and whispered into my ear, "Strength, Zoe."
And then Monique began to dig her fingers into my feet.
It hurt immediately. I let out a gasp then clamped my lips together, breathing heavily through my nose. It went on for perhaps a half minute, and I felt tears begin to leak from my eyes, but other than rapid breathing through my nose, I didn't make a noise.
"That's one," Michaela said, and Monique released my feet. A moment later, I felt lips pressing a kiss into the top of each foot, and I opened my eyes in time to see Monique kneeling upright again.
She leaned forward, held my cheek with her hand, and said, "We love you, Zoe."
I smiled halfheartedly and nodded. I didn't trust my voice.
"Lindsey," said Michaela.
There was no pause. It was Lindsey who was holding my shoulders, and she immediately began digging fingers into one shoulder. I gasped in surprise, and this time I didn't have the control to clamp my lips closed. I panted loudly, gasping several more times, but I slammed my eyes shut and vowed to hold on.
"Harder," Michaela said.
Lindsey began pulsing her grip, and each pulse brought forth a fresh gasp. I began to whimper, and a moment later, Michaela said, "That's two."
Lindsey immediately relaxed her hold. I realized I was trembling. Then she leaned over the couch, wrapped her arms around me, and kissed my tear-stained cheek. "We love you," she said into my ear.
"There are three more," Michaela said. "I'm sure you can come up with three things to tell us."
"No!" I said.
"You can beg Portia to ransom you."
"No!"
"Iris."
Iris did it differently. I heard movement, and I watched her move around the front of the sofa. Then she climbed on top of me, straddling my legs and sitting back on them.
"What are you going to do?" I asked her.
She didn't answer, but she leaned forward and wrapped her left hand in my hair then yanked back savagely, tilting my head to the ceiling. I yelped in surprise.
I was, of course, completely helpless and unable to resist even the slightest amount. They could do what they wished to me, and my only defenses were my words. My heart was pounding now, and I could feel the fear begin to creep in.
But I realized I trusted them, and they wouldn't carry this too far.
Iris leaned over me, staring down into my face, then I felt a knuckle begin to press into my chest.
I didn't close my eyes this time. Instead, I stared into hers. She began to press harder, twisting, and it began to hurt. I gasped again, and she increased her efforts.
What Lindsey had done to my shoulders had hurt worse, but I felt even more helpless and vulnerable being held like this, and I began to whimper nearly immediately, the whimpers turning into keening. Still she didn't let up until Michaela said, "That's three."
Immediately her knuckle relaxed, and she held her hand flat against my chest instead. Her fingers relaxed in my hair as well, but she didn't release my head right away. Instead she leaned closer and whispered, "We love you, and we're proud of you, Zoe. Thank you for doing this." She kissed my ear, and then she released me, her touches gentle as she climbed from me.
"You're not going to make it through two more, Zoe. Give us two. Only two."
"No. None."
"Evangeline, I don't think she realizes we're serious."
Evangeline moved to my feet. "She will," she said. And then she was squeezing, but she ground the bones of my feet against each other.
"Stop!" I said. "Stop! Stop! Stop!"
She didn't stop, and my demands turned into more keening. Tears were flowing freely from my eyes. But I didn't scream, and I didn't beg to be ransomed, or even to talk about anything I didn't like about Portia.
I couldn't think of any, anyway.
"That's four," Michaela said calmly some time later.
Evangeline immediately stopped what she was doing, but the pain lingered for a while, and I gasped for air, slowly calming down.
"Angel is next," Michaela said. "Evangeline is just a student and not into her full strength. Angel has nearly reached her full size, nearly two hundred pounds of werewolf." I looked over at the woman. "Give us one thing you don't like about Portia, and Angel doesn't have to hurt you. Zoe, if you don't give me what I want, she isn't going to go easy on you."
"Portia is perfect," I said. I took two deep breaths and closed my eyes. "She's perfect."
I won't explain what Angel did to me, but it hurt a great deal.
When I began to scream, she stopped immediately.
I sat there, panting for a long time. Finally I opened my eyes and looked around. The wolves were watching me, looking on with various degrees of concern.
But when my eyes settled on Hadley, she was smiling, and she nodded, almost imperceptibly, just once.
I offered a halfhearted smile. "What is the price for something to eat, and are we still playing Fear Factor, or is there another game?"
* * * *
We played Fear Factor through several more punishments. They went easy on me for the next one, ordering me to describe ten things I liked about Portia. That I was happy to do, and it wasn't punishment at all. I talked at length.
The nature of the Fear Factor challenges changed. The first set was based on food. But then Michaela refilled the slots with new notes and put all the nails back in. This next set was based on beauty treatments, with one of us dolling up our partners in various ways. The challenges had names such as Unusual Mascara and Green Eyed Monster.
Michaela reassured me everything we were using was vegan.
We got pretty raucous.
I especially liked when Cassie used lipstick to draw two big hearts on Hadley's cheeks. She turned to us and asked, "Is it me?" We assured her they were.
I had to make up Monique, but with my hands full, I could only hold things with my mouth. People were laughing so hard I saw tears running down a few cheeks. I had a hard time doing it, as I was laughing, too, and kept dropping the instruments of Monique's discomfort.
A punishment time came. Angel and Scarlett had been missing for a few minutes, but they returned carrying a few platters of food -- all of it some form of animal product. There were a roast chicken, a plate of eggs, and something they told me was venison. There were even biscuits and a jar of honey.
Michaela moved a chair in front of me again. "Since joining us, I have never seen you eat proper food. You claim to be vegan."
I eyed the food.
"We don't think that's a real thing," she added. "So, you're going to eat a little of everything Angel and Scarlett cooked up."
"No, Michaela, I am not."
She reached over, picked up a fork, and speared a piece of the venison, popping it into her mouth. "Mmmm," she said. "That's good. Your body needs protein for what we're go
ing to do to you later." She speared another piece and held it in front of me. Then her tone turned serious. "Eat it."
"No."
"That is a direct order from your alpha. Eat it."
"With all respect, Alpha," I said, "No."
"You are acting like an ill behaved child, refusing food from her mother."
"I'm not compromising my morals for this, Michaela. The answer is no. It was 'no' when we met. It was 'no' when I sat in your cell. And it was 'no' last week. It is 'no' today, and it will be 'no' until the day I die."
She leaned back. "She's being a wayward child. While I don't believe in corporal punishment for children, I'll make an exception. Spank her. Hard."
The girls didn't wait. They pulled me over the sofa again, and they weren't gentle. They bent me over the sofa, holding me roughly. Someone grabbed my legs and held them higher, and it was Iris pressing my chest into the cushions. Then I got a swat.
It hurt! I yelped.
"One slice of venison won't kill you, and the deer already died," Michaela said.
"No!"
Three more swats, and tears were leaking from my eyes. I yelped with each.
"It's a chicken, a stupid bird," Michaela said. "They're so dumb, they're practically begging us to eat them."
"You eat them," I said. "But I won't."
That was five swats, delivered slowly. Each swat resounded loudly, and they each hurt. I yelped and tried to kick, but they held me tightly.
"The eggs are from lovingly raised chickens," she said. "They aren't kept in cages. They have a nice coop. No animal died for these eggs."
"I don't care," I said. I did. At least they weren't shoved into tiny cages. But I wasn't going to eat them.
Ten swats, and they counted them. I began crying.
"You think I'm kidding?" Michaela said. She put her face down near mine, looking into my eyes. "You're going to eat this venison before we're done."
"Then you better mush it up real good and get a funnel, because you'll have to shove it down my throat."
Another ten swats, and by the end, I was crying freely.
"The honey," Michaela said. It was said gently. "The biscuits have milk, but cows don't suffer to give us milk. And the bees don't suffer to give us honey. Please, Zoe. A few bites are all I ask."
"No."
Ten swats.
"You can stop this," she said. "Agree to eat a biscuit with honey. They're really good. There must have been a time in the past you weren't vegan. You remember what honey tastes like."
"No!"
Ten swats.
"Come on, Zoe. We're not going to stop. Eat the biscuit or beg Portia to ransom you. That's the only way we're stopping."
"No!"
Ten swats. And then ten more. And then I was crying hard enough I couldn't breathe.
"Well," Michaela said. "I guess she's vegan. Help her up."
They put me on my feet, and then someone pulled me into a hug. "I knew you'd outlast her," Monique whispered. "You think you're weak, but you're not."
And then I was crying in earnest. They all clustered around me, touching me, calming me. Monique held me for a while, but then they passed me around, and I accepted a great amount of affection. I got hugs and kisses, even a quick peck on the lips from several of them. I couldn't have been more surprised when one of those was from Hadley.
"You're very brave," she whispered into my ear.
"I'm not," I whispered back.
"Did you think she'd stop?"
"No."
"Then you were brave to stand by your convictions. Strength comes in different forms, Zoe."
I calmed down, and they cleaned me up, and then they turned me to Michaela. She hadn't hugged me yet, holding herself aloof. She was watching me carefully.
"Where's my hug?" I demanded. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around me, holding me tightly.
* * * *
We continued our game of Fear Factor. The challenges weren't terribly frightening but were instead designed to be funny and not too terrible. Michaela changed out the cards again, and we found ourselves doing much more outrageous things.
I spun the wheel and got one called, "Crisco Coin Search." Monique declared I would be playing.
Michaela grinned then directed the wolves to do the preparations. They had PVC pipe amongst their supplies, and they made a frame from the pipes, eight feet long by four feet wide. That went onto the floor, then they spread one of their thick, plastic tarps over it, taping it in place to the frame, but loose so the plastic rested on the floor.
Michaela had twenty one-dollar coins. She spread them around on the plastic. Then she had the girls collect large tins of Crisco. "All right, Monique. You have to dump out all the Crisco and hide the coins."
"Oh no," I said.
"Oh yes," Michaela replied. "And when you're done, Zoe has to find the coins, every last one."
There was a lot of Crisco. Monique dumped out the large tins and then spread it out in an even layer within the frame. I stared at it.
"You have an evil mind, Michaela," I said.
"I know," she replied. "Help her over there."
"Help" meant they picked me up and set me down right in the middle of the Crisco. I was immediately a slimy mess, and I knew it was only going to get worse.
At first I searched with my feet, digging my toes into the white mass. The Crisco squished between my toes, and soon my feet were covered. The girls laughed for a while, but I knew it would turn boring long before I found them all. I found several that way, but I couldn't manage to pick them up with my feet. I looked at Michaela.
"You have to pick them up," she said.
"I can't!"
"You haven't tried everything." She grinned, and I knew she wanted to see me bury my face.
So I did.
The girls loved it. Scarlett picked up one of the video cameras and filmed carefully, showing my entire, slimy body. I got it all over my face, my chest, and in my hair. The more I flopped around, trying to find the coins, the worse it got, and the louder the girls laughed.
Michele and Hadley were having just as good a time, and my gaming partner was doubled over with her hands on her knees, she was laughing so hard.
Even while I was doing it, I was amused by it, too, and at one point when I felt Crisco sliding where it didn't belong, I broke into paroxysms of laughter.
"This is only twelve," Michaela said. "Where are the rest, Zoe?"
"Perhaps you would care to help me, Alpha," I suggested.
"Maybe I will," she said. She went to the supply cabinet and pulled out a pair of disposable gloves, pulling them on her hands. Then she moved over to kneel next to my little Crisco playpen, being careful to avoid the splashes that had escaped containment. She felt around, then said, "There's one here."
"Where?"
"Right here."
I shifted around, which was work, given that I was exceedingly slippery, and absolutely no traction, and was bound neck to ankle in duct tape, now very, very slimy duct tape.
"A little more... a little more... Right there." Then she pressed down on the back of my head, pushing my face into a deep pile of the Crisco.
I came up, sputtering. I should have seen that coming. What can I say? I'm gullible.
Of course, my audience renewed their laughter, and I was sure whatever video Scarlett took would be jerky and hard to watch. She was laughing as hard as everyone else.
Michaela was still crouched down, grinning at me and, perhaps, wondering how I was going to react.
"It sure is too bad I wasn't around for your ransom night," I told her.
"Crying shame about that," she agreed. "I think you've found as many as you're going to find."
I squirmed around until I was lying on my side. If I splashed a little Crisco on her in the process, that would be all for the better.
I laid my head down and closed my eyes. "I heard your phone go off."
"Yeah," she said. "We'll score this round and see
who won the game."
"You're not going to make Monique do something with the coins?"
"Oh please. Like I could come up with anything remotely as hilarious as watching you dig for them."
I had to admit she had a point. "You put a lot of work into this game."
"It was most of us," she said. "Honey, we've been planning for months."
"So they all know the challenges?"
"People submitted challenge ideas to me privately. Some ideas resulted in discussion. Some I didn't care for. I changed most of the names and fiddled with them enough the person submitting them probably isn't guessing what they are from the names."
"So, are you going to move me to the sofa, or do I have to wriggle my way there?"
"As entertaining as that might be to watch, we're leaving you right where you are for a few more minutes. Come on over, Monique. You have to score your opponents."
"I'm not getting near her," Monique said. "She'll splash."
"I promise I won't splash," I said.
I watched Monique. She eyed me carefully then got up from the sofa and made her way to kneel next to me. Michaela moved away, told us to go ahead and score our opponents, and reminded us what game each group had played. I waited until Monique was distracted then stretched out and brushed my face against her leg, wiping off some of the Crisco onto her jeans.
"Hey!" she complained, pulling away. "You promised you wouldn't do that."
"I promised not to splash. I didn't splash. I rubbed. I had an itch."
Behind me, the others snickered, but Monique eyed me carefully. I grinned up at her.
"Michaela, shouldn't I punish her for that? She was naughty."
"Probably," Michaela said. "What are you going to do?"
Monique eyed me. "I don't know." Then she smiled. "The next punishment is the cold water one?"
"Yes."
"I am adding ice," she said.
"All right," Michaela said. "Have you scored everyone yet?"
"No." Monique eyed me carefully.
"I'll behave," I said. "I'm sorry. I was feeling playful."
She leaned closer. "I don't want to punish you, but I have to. I'm sorry."
