“Fuck…”
She waited a moment then shuffled down the line to the next man. He already had his dick out and was stroking the rock-hard member. It took only a few quick minutes to finish him, and by the time she had finished with the last man she had retreated in her mind to a place where there was nothing but eager cocks waiting to fill up her belly with cum. When she was done, she remained kneeling, wondering what she should do next. A hand touched her shoulder and she looked up into Dan’s face. It was impassive, but he nodded solemnly as he held out a hand to help her up.
“Take her back to her cell,” he instructed Master 2, and she was led out in a daze.
She’d done it. She’d faced her demon, and she’d passed. There was no small amount of satisfaction in that knowledge, no matter how it had happened.
Chapter 24
“You have to, Master. Please. You have no idea how bad it is.”
“Are you seriously suggesting this? You’re a nurse, for God’s sake!”
Laura and Dan were away from The Farm on their almost-daily run, which was so easy for Laura now that she was scarcely winded when they arrived at the curve in the narrow rutted road where they stopped to talk. Laura reflected that should anyone ever drive up from the dirt road that connected the Farm to the main highway, they’d see a strange sight: a woman, clad only in tennis shoes, dusty and sweaty, sporting gold rings from both nipples, and with a collar around her neck from which hung a leash. No one would actually get up here, of course—the turnoff was almost invisible and there were plenty of early-warning sensors to guarantee interception of uninvited guests.
Laura had been growing more and more concerned about the mental well-being of the other women. Nightmares, when the women slept at all, disturbed the silence almost every night. During the day they sat slumped and silent any time their bodies were not being prodded into movement.
The auction was the day after tomorrow and Laura was as worried about all of them as she had been about Staci. She tried to convey to Dan the sense of hopelessness that had settled on the women; tried to make him understand that they all felt they had nothing more to lose so they were either going to try something violently reckless, or suicidal.
“You don’t think they can make it two more days?”
She shook her head. “As far as they know, in two days, everything they ever hoped about their future will be gone. They don’t just think about being sex slaves; they’re grieving the loss of the dreams they’ve had since they were girls. College, and jobs, and a boyfriend and then a husband, children, and seeing those children grow up, and a home, and love, and even grandchildren! Women plan for these things long before they actually happen. Please, Master. Dan. Please consider it. Because I’m really scared for the next few days. Yes, you could put a guard on us every moment. You could prevent us from doing anything by restraining us. But you can’t prevent their souls from being crushed in a way that they might not recover from.”
“So you want me to drug them.” This was so contrary to the idea of consent that he was almost sick. But, then again, hadn’t everything he’d done here made a mockery of that idea?
“Yes,” Laura said flatly. “I know the risks. There’s no way to know if someone will react badly. But if you can give them something that just relaxes them a little bit so that they don’t feel like their lives are pointless I think it’s worth the risk.”
“When?”
“As soon as you can get your hands on it. Starting tonight.” She had no doubt he could get anything he needed.
He shook his head. “I won’t be able to do it by tonight. Tomorrow by lunch, maybe.”
Laura gritted her teeth. Nights were the worst. Nights were when the fears grew the biggest, when they all felt the most alone and vulnerable, when they thought of the people they loved. When nobody slept.
“I’m pretty sure I can get a liquid Valium. Somehow I’ll make sure everyone gets a little in their drink at meals.”
“Thank you, Master.” She turned and started back towards the compound. He grabbed her hand to stop her and pulled her back until they were almost touching.
“Laura, how are you?” His beautiful blue eyes gazed into hers and she saw the years of pain reflected back at her.
She pulled her hand from his and turned away, gazing to the horizon. It was a moment before she could answer.
“I can survive for two more days.” Her voice sounded tired even to herself.
“You sure?”
“What choice do I have?” She didn’t mean to sound irritated, but there was no point in examining any of it now. All they could do was move forward and pray that everything worked out. And then she would sleep for a long, long time.
He studied her face then nodded. “We need to get back.” He picked up the leash and when he started to jog, she had to scramble to keep up.
~ ~ ~
Claire had been using every technique she knew to talk herself out of the deep depression she was sliding into. They all were going there. The auction was looming, and the tiny amount of support they could give each other was going to disappear as they were purchased and taken off to God knows where, for God knows what. She tried to be a source of strength for the others but her own well was running dry. She was starting to see no options that weren’t drastic ones with almost no chance of success.
She had an unbelievable stroke of luck when she entered the piano room. Her playing had grown perfunctory, no longer giving her the emotional support she needed. For some reason the metal folding chair that Master 2 always sat on was in her way and out of irritation she gave it a kick—and the slim piece of metal that ran horizontally between the front legs came loose. She bent down to look closer and realized the other side was just as loose. She gave it an experimental twist and it came off. She held the long piece of metal with two sharp ends in her hand and stared at it.
If Master 2 came in here and found her with it, she was in for a world of hurt, no matter how nice he usually was. She quickly replaced it in the chair and sat down at the piano. She hoped no one was looking at the cameras right now.
He didn’t come in at all, something which was happening with greater frequency. She sensed that things were coming to a head and wondered if they were planning to close this “Farm” after the auction.
She had to think about what she was going to do. How she could use this to her advantage. And she was going to have to think about the possibility that using it could be deadly as well, for her.
But it was also very possible that death was better than slavery.
~ ~ ~
Just before bedtime, during the thirty minutes they were allowed to talk to each other, she huddled with Laura and told her of her find.
“What are you going to do?” Laura asked, wide-eyed.
“I’ve decided I won’t be sold.”
“What the hell do you mean?”
“I don’t care anymore. I can’t go on. Tomorrow, if he comes in that room, I’m going to use it on him. And either he goes down and I escape, or I go down, and honestly? I don’t really care.”
“Claire! That’s not reality and you know it! You’ll probably be wrestled to the ground and punished really bad. Don’t give up now, please! You don’t know what’s going to happen after the auction. Please.” She stared into Claire’s eyes, trying to communicate some hope without using words.
“How can you say that? You’re going straight into the arms of the devil himself! Your time here has been worse than anyone else’s. You cry every day, you’re covered in marks and bruises, and worst of all, you were betrayed by someone you trusted!”
“Claire, please…” Laura didn’t know what to say.
“Aren’t you terrified, too?”
Laura looked down, not sure how to answer the question, not sure she could lie convincingly.
Once again, Claire suddenly realized someone was holding back a secret. “You know something,” she stated flatly.
Laura couldn’t look h
er in the eyes.
“Goddammit, you’d better tell me right now or I swear I will kill myself tomorrow.”
Laura took a deep breath. She’d sworn not to do this, no matter what… “You won’t be sold. At least, the sale won’t be real,” she whispered.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Her voice rose loud enough that the other women turned to look at her for a moment before turning back to their own conversations.
“Shhh! The whole farm is going to be raided by law enforcement sometime during the sale.”
Claire sucked in her breath and stared at her in shock.
“Claire, your face—there are cameras everywhere.”
Claire dropped her face into her hands as though she was crying.
“How do you know this?” she demanded under her breath.
“I-I can’t say. Just please believe me and don’t do anything stupid before then, okay? Please.”
“Are you here undercover?”
“No, not exactly. I really was kidnapped, just like you.”
“Not exactly?” Claire wasn’t letting her off the hook.
“Claire, please. I can’t say anything more.”
Claire didn’t push the subject but Laura could see she was trying to work it out in her mind anyway. And just before lights out, Claire turned to her with a look that told Laura that she’d done just that.
“Master 2.” She mouthed the words.
Laura didn’t answer, knowing that not saying anything told Claire everything.
“I knew he had a secret! I knew that he just couldn’t be the kind of man who’d do these despicable things.” Her whisper was full of desperate hope, and something else.
“Claire, do you love him?”
Claire turned her face to the ceiling and now it was her silence that told Laura everything.
“Claire, honey, you can’t say or do anything that’s different. You have to act just as scared and sad tomorrow and the next day as you have been for months. Please tell me you can do it.” Laura was begging now, louder than she should have, but knowing that the only way out for everyone was for nothing to change.
“Don’t worry, I can do it.” She turned to face Laura again. “How long have you known?”
“I realized what was going on the second day, when I saw Master 1.” Laura realized her slip even as she said it, and cursed silently.
“Wait—when you saw Master 1? But how—him, too?” Her eyes went wide and angry and she sat up. “He—they—have done all this to us and they’re supposed to be the good guys?”
“Claire, shh! They didn’t have any choice. Someone much higher than them decided nothing would be done to help us so that they could get all the bad guys together at the auction and take them all at once. So that none of them escaped.”
“And we’re just the collateral damage.” Claire lay back down, the bitterness in her voice evident even at the level of a whisper. “The end justifies the means.”
“Claire, it’s been killing the two of them. I didn’t know what Dan—Master 1—was doing until I ended up here. But I could see it in him every time we met for the last few years. He’s lost weight. He doesn’t smile much anymore. He’s been doing the most he can to keep us from harm for a long time.”
“Yeah? Tell that to the girl who died right before you arrived. They dragged her out of the cell like she was trash to be thrown away.”
“Did you check her pulse, or did someone else?”
Claire thought. “Master 2 did. He said she was dead.”
“What better way to get a girl out than let everyone think she was dead?”
Claire turned once more to stare at the ceiling, looking like she was trying to work it all out in her head. “What about Staci? And all the other women sold in the last few months?”
“I don’t know anything about the others, but I was the one who told Master 2 that Staci was talking about suicide. They arranged the ‘sale’ so that they could get her out of here. She’s home and in counseling right now.”
“Staci is safe?” Claire whispered. That was too much and she rolled over and shed silent tears, which became the flood Laura sensed she’d been holding back for so long. Laura slid off her bed and knelt at the side of Claire’s, the chain from her neck to the bed just long enough to reach. In a switch from the first day, it was Laura who held Claire as she sobbed all her anger and fears away.
~ ~ ~
Claire was playing again. She tried to channel the sadness she’d felt for weeks into her music; she was afraid her hope would become obvious through her playing if she didn’t. She was pleasantly surprised when Master 2 let himself in.
“Hello, Master,” she said softly, unable to stop herself. He gave her a sharp glance as he walked over to the chair. Just as he started to sit, she remembered the broken piece.
“Master!” she exclaimed. “The chair’s broken. Don’t sit in it.” She pointed to the front rung, now fallen loose on one side just from the movement of his hand on the back of the seat.
He leaned down to examine it and the sharp-ended piece came off in his hand. He looked up at her. “Thanks. How did you know about this?”
“Oh, it came off for me yesterday and I stuck it back but I couldn’t get it tight.”
He stood up, holding eye contact with her for an uncomfortable moment. “This is sharp. Really sharp. Would make a good weapon.”
Claire dropped her eyes and didn’t comment.
“In fact, I would almost expect that anyone who found this might try to use this on me, or someone else. Not warn me about it.”
Claire tried to change the subject. “Master, since this is the last day, is there anything you’d like to hear me play?”
He tossed the metal rung at the wall and was over to her in one step. He gathered her hair in one hand and pulled her head back sharply. She yelped and reached up with her hands to try to break his grip, but it was like iron.
“What I want is the truth. Why didn’t you try to use this on me or someone else?”
“I was too scared to, Master,” she wailed.
“Bullshit. You might be scared, but you’ve never backed down before, and believe me, I’ve watched you. Tell me the truth, or I’ll whip you till you bleed!”
She looked into his eyes and spoke what she knew was the truth. “No, you won’t.”
“And why won’t I?”
“Because you’re one of the good guys.” The words came out in a whisper. Her eyes darted to the camera and she wondered if she’d already gone too far.
He caught her look. “Master 1 is gone and the cameras are in the office and locked up tight. DeLeo never watches this camera, he told me; he says you’re boring.” He stared at her for a long minute before releasing her hair and letting her head drop. He backed up a step. “And you think I’m a good guy because…”
“I figured it out from Laura.”
He scowled.
“No, Master! It wasn’t something she said. I-I just knew you weren’t who you said you were and what she didn’t say made me realize something was going on, and I just figured it out.”
“So you can read minds?” He finally smiled at her.
“Yes,” she said, smiling back and letting go of the tight knot of tension she’d been holding in her shoulders since he walked in. “I’m a psychologist. I worked with people who’d had major traumas in their lives. They’re good at hiding huge chunks of themselves to survive, and I’m good at helping them to uncover the truth.”
He nodded. “I have something in common with them, I think.” He grunted. “I need to know how much you’ve figured out, and if you can keep up the appearance one more day.”
So, she told him of the conversation she’d had with Laura and the promise she’d made to keep up the pretense. At the end, her eyes were fixed firmly on the floor. Her next question came out as a whisper.
“How could you let us be treated like this for so long? How could you do the things you did to us? Don’t you realize
that it may take years—if ever––for us to be able to get our lives back? This isn’t some kinky BDSM stuff that we can put aside after a fun weekend!”
Instead of answering, he walked over to the wall and retrieved the broken chair rung. He bent down and inserted it into the holes on the chair and banged the whole thing together. Then he turned and sat down carefully until he was sure the chair would hold. When he was seated, he was knee-to-knee with her.
He picked up her hand. “Claire, I could tell you that we had no choice, that Dan and I argued with our bosses about this for the last year, since we found out where you were being hidden. I could also tell you that it’s been killing the two of us. I’m not sure we could have gone on longer, to be honest. But what I’m really going to tell you is that I’m sorry. So, so, sorry, that we did this to you. We don’t ask for, or expect, forgiveness from any of you, just that you know that there will be a few less evil men out there than there were the day before, and it was because of you and the others.”
She sat, silent, and finally looked up at him. “If I give you my forgiveness, will you accept it?” The tears spilled out of her eyes.
He reached out and brushed them away with his thumb, first the right cheek, then the left. Then his hand turned to cup her chin gently. She turned her head to lay her cheek in his palm. He let his hand linger there for a moment, then pulled it away.
“Claire, I don’t know exactly how things are going to fall out tomorrow and from then on.”
“Is there a chance we could at least meet for something like coffee, after this is over?”
“You’d want to see me again?” His voice held a note of wonder.
“I’d like to get to know the real–” she stopped as she realized she didn’t even know his name.
“Josh. My name is Josh.”
~ ~ ~
Marco watched the video feed on the camera as Josh wiped the tears from Claire’s eyes. “Well, goddamn.” This was the last thing he expected to see when he’d broken into Dan’s office. He’d been unbelievably lucky that the simple wad of gum he’d stuck in the door jamb after his latest chewing-out had actually worked and blocked the door from locking when Dan had left. He’d sneaked in to look for any evidence he could bring to his uncle that would finally get Dan tossed out on his ass. He hadn’t expected the gift he was witnessing on the cameras right now. He saw Josh lean forward and give the bitch a hug before he stood up and headed for the door.
A Captive of Fear and Desire Page 16
