Hidden In The Woods

by Rachel Burns

  I knew my little girl so well, better than her own parents. They were more taken with her older brother. He was outgoing and their attention-getter.

  I decided that I would check out the net to see what kind of ruckus her parents were putting up. They both worked full-time and practically ignored her. She had been raising herself up until now. When she was little, it had been different babysitters, but once she was ten, she was on her own.

  Her brother and her had to take care of themselves. They were given a list of chores to do. She did hers, and her brother tried to get her to do his too. She had been so sweet and sensitive. Now that her brother had moved out, she sat quietly at home, mostly on her bed with her teddy bear on her lap while she read a book.

  Lately, she had started to read books that I felt weren’t appropriate for her age. Her parents didn’t care what she read, but I wouldn’t be as lax with my parental duties.

  I figured that Britney read such books because she longed for attention.

  Britney was lonely. It had broken my heart to watch her. She needed me so much. She needed to be a beloved only child. I was prepared to shower attention on her.

  I got her worldly goods and brought them to her room. One of the things I knew she couldn’t live without was a vase from her grandmother. Her grandma had died a few years back. She had been the only one who really took an interest in Britney. The vase meant a lot to her. I filled it with flowers and placed it on her nightstand.

  I would bring her flowers for the vase every time I went into town. It was over an hour drive away, but I would take precautions that nothing could happen to her in that time. She would still be asleep when I came back.

  The picture of her and her grandma I set out on the shelf. Her favorite books I slipped into place on her shelves. She liked to write in books, little notes to herself. My odd little darling was so precious to me.

  The books I didn’t approve of I had left in her room. I hoped the police wouldn’t think badly of her for reading them. At heart, she was a very good girl. I knew that. She was ready to be touched.

  I stepped closer to her bed and tucked her bear under her arm.

  For months, I had stood exactly as I was now. I thought about her lying in this bed and told myself that she would soon be here. And now she was.

  Thirteen years of waiting were over. I had been faithful to her in that time.

  Tomorrow my long celibacy would end, and I would make her mine in body and soul.

  I went to my computer and checked out the news from her local area. At the moment, she was only reported missing. I would watch, so I could see her parents pretend to miss her. They probably wouldn’t even offer a reward for her.

  I deserved her so much more than they did.

  I would also give her so much more than they gave her. I would truly take care of her and love her. She would grow to love me.

  I would let my experience guide me.

  Britney would probably try to escape tomorrow. If she did, I would spank her until I was certain that she understood that it was hopeless to try to leave.

  She would leave me one-day. That would be one of the worst days of my life. I hated having to bury my wives.

  Chapter 2

  Britney

  I woke up and Teddy was under my arm. I was so relieved. It had all been a weird dream.

  My dream had been so real that my bottom even felt warm now. It didn’t hurt, but it felt sort of warm and as if the skin was tighter than normal.

  I stretched and smiled to myself. If a person could get a sunburn on their bottom, then it would feel like this. A little bit of cold cream, and I would be all right in a jiffy.

  I sat up and looked around. My eyes focused on the dollhouse. The exact one I had wanted and begged for as a child. I was twelve the last time I wrote to Santa asking for one. I had included a picture I had drawn so he wouldn’t mistake it with any other one.

  “Like I said, I made it especially for you.”

  My eyes snapped over to the sound.

  It was him, the spanker guy. It hadn’t been a dream. I was actually here, in his house, which was hidden deep in the woods.

  I stared at my bear. It was my real bear. The one I had always had. I held him tightly to my chest. I wanted to have a good cry and feel sorry for myself.

  “I figured you would miss him. I know you can’t sleep without him. I told you I would take care of you. I always keep my word, darling.”

  He got up and went through the door off to the side of my room. He turned the light on, and I could hear water filling the tub. I could smell the sweet bubble bath soap that he was adding to the water.

  “Okay darling, Daddy has got your water running. It’s nice and warm,” he called out from the bathroom. “It’s cold out. It snowed last night. I will dress you nice and warm today.” He came back out to me and reached for me.

  “I have to go to the bathroom … Daddy.” That word wasn’t one that freely flowed from my lips. I never used it before. I called my own father dad, never daddy.

  “Of course, darling. You haven’t gone at all lately.” He plucked me out of the bed and carried me into the bathroom. He lifted up my pajamas and sat me down on the toilet.

  I blushed red. I couldn’t go with him in the room.

  “What?” He looked surprised. “What’s the matter?” He appeared to be not only surprised but also truly concerned.

  “I umm. If I could have a moment alone, please. Daddy,” I added for good measure. My eyes pleaded with him to leave.

  “Nonsense. It’s only Daddy here. Britney, you need to understand that you and I are going to be doing everything together from now on. We won’t have any secrets from each other.”

  “How do you know my name?” I asked. My muscles clenched tightly.

  “I know everything about you. No one knows you better than me,” he informed me.

  “What does that mean, Daddy?” I asked as respectfully as I could. He was scaring me so much that it was getting harder not to pee. I was suffering because of my spanked bottom and because I really couldn’t hold it in anymore.

  “Daddy has been watching over you for a long time now. I love you, and you don’t have to be ashamed. Just go pee pee, darling.” He turned and tested the water, holding his hand under the water and making splashing noises.

  I couldn’t hold it anymore, and now that his back was turned I took a deep breath and let it go. I glanced away from him.

  When I looked back at him, he was smiling at me.

  My mouth turned down in a frown.

  “Hey, I love you. You don’t need to be sad. I won’t think less of you. Daddy loves you so very much. Please don’t be sad, Britney.”

  He sounded so honest. I believed that he meant it. But the information that he had given me was buzzing through my mind.

  “Come on, let’s get you undressed and all cleaned up.”

  I shook my head and looked at him aghast. The horror of what was happening to me was too much. I started to cry.

  “Hey, it’s all right. I’m not going to hurt you. You don’t have to be scared.” He wrapped his arms around me again. I wasn’t used to anyone touching me so much. My family wasn’t that close.

  “But you hurt me yesterday,” I told him.

  He let go of me and sat back on his heels. He was still smiling. “How should I explain this? You are my first little girl that didn’t get spanked as a child. You don’t understand, but I will try to help you understand.”

  I needed to run away so desperately.

  How could I get away from him?

  As soon as he slept, I would be gone.

  “Giving a spanking requires time and patience. When you break one of the rules, I will spank you so you don’t do it again. Not spanking a child or a wife is a new idea. I’m old-fashioned. I know what works best. Yesterday, you smarted off, and since your spanking, you haven’t even raised your tone. You see, it works best.”

  “How many rules are there?” I was sh
aking as I asked.

  “Hey, you don’t need to be afraid of me. And there aren’t that many rules. They are the same as anywhere. Pretty much what a body understands under good manners plus the rule that I don’t want you to try to run away from me. You wouldn’t get far anyway, and you would be putting yourself in grave danger. Now, I don’t want to see anything like that.” He stared me down until I nodded at him.

  “I understand, Daddy.”

  “Good girl. Clean yourself up and into the tub with you.” He turned away, so I quickly reached for the toilet paper.

  “Stand up, darling.” His hands were on the hem of my pajamas, and then the nightgown was gone. It had vanished into thin air.

  I folded my arms over my breasts and covered the area between my legs with my right hand.

  He smiled at me. “I think it is really good that you are so shy, but you don’t have to be with Daddy. Like I said, I’ll be taking care of you, and I will see to it that you have the best of everything, but I will be seeing you naked a couple of times a day.” He gave me a look of warning.

  I merely stared back, wondering if he was going to spank me again.

  “Into the tub with you.” He reached out and lifted me up into the bathtub. He was so strong. Something about that hadn’t been right. Of course, I knew that men were stronger than women, but he was somehow stronger than most men.

  I sank down so the bubbles were covering me up. I twisted a little because the warm water inflamed the pain coming from my hind cheeks. It took me a moment to get used to the temperature

  “That’s right. Get all wet. Daddy needs to wash your pretty hair.”

  I panicked and twisted and tried to sit up, but his hands were on my shoulders pushing me down.

  “Please, don’t kill me. I’ll be good, Daddy,” I begged. I tried to hold of his shoulders so I could save myself.

  I felt his arms lifting me up and pulling me out of the water. I was on his lap again.

  “Hush, darling. Daddy would never do that. You’re safe with me.” He was patting my back and rocking me.

  Once I settled down, he smiled at me kindly. “Are you ready to try again, darling?”

  “I don’t know.” I didn’t trust him, but I couldn’t say that aloud. I didn’t know how crazy he was. I didn’t know how to assess him or his reaction to my words.

  “I am not going to hurt you. I was only getting your hair all wet, Britney.”

  I was shaking uncontrollably. “Promise?” Maybe if I acted like a little kid, he would want to keep me and not kill me.

  “Of course, I promise.” He hugged me to his chest. He was as wet as I was.

  “All right then.” I was naked and wet on his lap. I was getting cold. This was so indecent.

  “Good girl.” He laid me back in the water, slowly washing my body, and then he went back to my head, tenderly wiping the cloth over my face.

  “Lie down nice for me,” he instructed me.

  I pulled in my knees and lay so my face was free, but my hair was getting nice and wet.

  I felt his fingers scrubbing shampoo into my hair and massaging my scalp. I was shaking, and he started to sing a bath time song. It was about Daddy getting his little girl nice and clean.

  I felt like I was going to be sick. He sat me up and turned on the hand shower and washed the soap out of my hair.

  “Stand up, darling, so I can get all the suds off you.” I did, but I almost slipped. He grabbed me before I could. “I see you are still very small. Daddy has to pay better attention and help you a bit more.” He washed me off and then wrung out my hair.

  I let him. He was very clear that he wanted to care for me, and that he would punish me if I didn’t let him do what he wanted. I pictured myself telling him off, but I knew that a spanking would be the outcome of any outburst I had.

  “I had your towel on the heater so you will be nice and warm in a jiffy.” He wrapped the towel around me and dried me very quickly. I couldn’t even remember when he lifted me out of the tub.

  “I picked out a pretty dress for you to wear. I hope you like it.” He turned to a pile of clothes behind him.

  “First, your underthings. Lift your foot for Daddy.”

  I did, and he knelt down in front of me and helped me into a pair of white underwear that had rolls of lace sewed across the bottom like a crawling baby would have.

  He had a lacy undershirt in his hands next. It matched the underwear but it looked so old fashioned. He didn’t give me a bra to wear.

  Maybe when I was older, I thought to myself sarcastically.

  He put a white blouse on me next, but it wasn’t like a blouse from nowadays. It went over my head and tied in the back. Next came the navy blue sailor dress. It buttoned down the front. It had a huge collar with two rolls of white stripes on it. He tied the cloth belt in the back. Before that, it had hung like a sack on me. Now a person could make out my figure.

  Then he gave me a red sweater. I had to turn a little to get my arms in it. He appeared to be pleased as he lifted the collar out of the sweater so it could be seen.

  “Now your socks. They wore them a little higher in my day. I want you to be nice and warm. So no fussing about your stockings. Good little girls wear them this way.” He powdered my foot and started rolling up thick snow-white stockings. “I got you matching slippers to go with your dress.” He slipped them on my feet and smiled at me pleased. I was glad to be dressed no matter how oddly.

  “It’s time to do your hair now. You can sit here.” He pulled a chair forward from the corner, and I sat down wondering if he would truly do my hair for me. It was shoulder-length and all tangled up at the moment. This was probably going to hurt.

  A minute later, he had my hair combed and the top part braided into a french braid. He tied a red ribbon on the end of the braid and laid his hands on my shoulders. He smiled at me through the mirror.

  I was starting to worry that I was passing out every now and then. It would be the only explanation for me missing so many of his movements.

  I had to wonder what he had given me yesterday before he kidnapped me. Hopefully, it wouldn’t have any lasting effects.

  “Time for breakfast. Come with me.” He was excited about breakfast.

  I was scared, but I was hungry too.

  He ushered me into the kitchen. There was a high counter with chairs, well one chair. He pulled it out for me and pushed it in a little once I was sitting. He went to the cupboards and got a bowl and a spoon. Out of the refrigerator he got a carton of milk. He opened the cupboard over the refrigerator.

  “I have your favorite cereal right here.” He lifted out a box of my favorite cereal.

  How did he know that?

  He must have been stalking me. I was picturing him outside of my bedroom at night with a pair of binoculars. But if he knew my favorite cereal, then he was out there during the day too. “How long have you been following me?”

  “I have been watching over you, as I like to call it, for the past thirteen years. Ever since I first saw you in New York.”

  “New York?” I repeated. I had only been to New York once in my life when I was just a little kid. But that was where I saw the dollhouse. This was all so confusing. “But I was just a little girl then?”

  “I was more than willing to wait for you. Do you remember the dollhouse you saw in the toy store?”

  I knew my answer was important. It was the link here somehow.

  He poured my milk in the bowl filled with my little kid’s cereal.

  I picked up my spoon and nodded.

  “Tell me what you remember.” He sat down across from me. Obviously, he had a chair on his side.

  I nodded at him weighing the truth against a cold lie.

  I decided to make him happy, so I told him the truth. “I wanted it badly. I wrote to Santa for years asking for one. I even drew him pictures so he would know exactly what I wanted, but I never got one.”

  “Well you have one now, and I bet that Santa will get yo
ur letter this year. I won’t forget to mail it.”

  I was shocked. Did he know about that too?

  One-year, I had found my letter to Santa in my mother’s purse. It was a month after Christmas. I confronted her, blaming her because I hadn’t gotten my beloved dollhouse. She yelled at me and said that there wasn’t a Santa Claus, and I was too old to be writing to him anyway.

  I had been devastated. I cried for days and refused to eat a thing.

  I was near tears now, remembering it.

  “Don’t cry. I promise Santa will get your letter this year. I’ll take care of it myself. There really is a Santa Claus. Maybe you will get a chance to meet him this year.” He appeared to believe what he was saying, and I wanted to believe him too.

  “Really, but I want something very big.” I played along, testing him.

  “What is it?”

  “I want a puppy,” I answered with wide eyes. I was testing him.

  “Well then, you only have to write that to Santa and see what happens.” He made it sound as if there would be a puppy under the tree. “Of course, there are many kinds of dogs. Should we learn about them so you can ask Santa for exactly the right one?”

  I thought about that and then nodded. It was a week before Thanksgiving right now. Getting a dog would almost make it worth it to stay here. My parents had always said that dogs were too much work, and that I wasn’t responsible enough for one.

  “Do you think I’m responsible enough for a dog?” I asked him.

  “No,” he chuckled. “You are way too little yet, but I would help you if Santa brought you one. The idea of you taking the dog out in the cold snow to do his business would break my heart.”

  I shook my head. “Not a boy,” I corrected him. “I’d like a girl dog with an especially beautiful name. Maybe Lily or Blossom. Lily Blossom together sounds nice.” I liked the sound of that.

  “Well, I think we should get cracking with school so you can write your letter today yet. You sound ready. Besides, the more time Santa has to get everything ready the better it is for him. Less stress, you understand.”