Part Six: Prometheus
“Rise and shine, mon Chéri!”
Cheri stirred in the darkness of her blindfold. Her limbs and jaw ached horribly from her restraints. Dried sweat caked her skin. Gabrielle, it seemed had woken early again. Her cheerful tone made Cheri worry that she’d planned out yet another eventful day for her and her friends.
“Come on, wake up! We ‘ave so much to do today!”
Cheri struggled indignantly. Muscle pains aside, Cheri was beyond frustrated. Gabrielle had teased her ruthlessly for hours into the night, delighting in Cheri’s gagged pleas for release, and now wanted to start a whole new day. What did Gabrielle want from them? Did she even have a plan beyond treating them like objects?
Gabrielle approached but Cheri recoiled unhappily in her bindings. Cheri’s blindfold was removed and she found Gabrielle leaning over her seductively, her open robe revealing a naked body. A hand kneaded her breast.
“Now, now, Cheri, you know better. I zink you will be much ‘appier when you finally submit to me,” she spoke softly as Cheri tried ineffectually to resist. “Besides, I promise you will be very satisfied when I play wiz you later. Does zat sound nice?”
Her hand descended between Cheri’s legs. At first Cheri groaned as Gabrielle rubbed her, but being teased and denied for so long quickly took its toll. Cheri’s heart sank as she succumbed to Gabrielle’s touch, her reluctant whines fading into carnal moans. Within moments Cheri writhed on the edge of orgasm until, maddeningly, she felt Gabrielle’s hand slip away.
“Mmmph. Mmmmm,” Cheri complained as Gabrielle rose. Her blissful release faded into yet another one of Gabrielle’s mirages.
“Later, my sweet, so long as you be’ave.”
Later, later. Cheri bitterly doubted whether “later” was anything more than a carrot Gabrielle would tempt her with. Cheri needed to act or she knew her arousal would control her forever. As Gabrielle unlocked her cuffs, Cheri wondered dreadfully is a time might come when Gabrielle didn’t need to use them, when Cheri really would submit to her whims and be truly dominated. Would she remember these moments of resistance? To what depths would a conditioned loyalty to Gabrielle sink her?
Cheri tortured herself mentally as Gabrielle put her through the morning routine. Toilet, shower (with special care taken for Cheri’s hair), towel, and then locked back in her purple restraints. Gabrielle connected Cheri’s wrists to her collar via a short chain which made her unable to reach her own crotch. Cheri’s clean latex uniform, if it could be called that, was folded neatly on the counter. Cheri wondered why she wasn’t dressed in it, but felt no need to bring it up. A moment later her ball gag was locked back on anyway. Would she one day eagerly open her mouth for this gag, for Gabrielle, and relish the taste of her own submission to this woman? Did she even have a choice? If she fought bravely to the last, would Gabrielle eventually erode her will away?
Gabrielle took her to Laura’s and Gwen’s room, where they were still bound to each other like before. Without vibrators their night had passed far more peacefully, but they were still eager to separate again. Cheri’s heart lifted a little. Her friends were so beautiful, so spirited even in the face of impossible circumstances. If they could endure, perhaps Cheri could too…
Gabrielle paid no mind to Cheri’s introspection. Leaving Laura in place, Gabrielle released Gwen just enough to walk her to the bathroom, where she was tied in the shower as Cheri had been. Cheri watched as Gabrielle hurriedly spread toothpaste on her brush.
“I ‘ave so much food to make today, Cheri, and ‘ave little time. Zis Zanksgiving is such a busy ‘oliday! I need you to wash Gwen and I will take Laura to ze bazroom downstairs. After we get dressed and ze fun can begin!” Gabrielle spoke very quickly over the whirring sounds of her electric toothbrush. Her mind was already out the door. But she still pulled Cheri close before she left.
“If you do anyzing but wash her, you will spend your day in ze Oubliette, and I will be very disappointed,” she warned, “It is all locked so do not even try.”
Their eyes met. Cheri found them searching. Searching for trust, for a power that was earned instead of taken. For Cheri’s very soul. Cheri clung to it lest it escape out through her gaze, petrified that it might one day slip through unnoticed.
Cheri tore her eyes away and nodded nervously. Gabrielle turned on the shower and left. Once alone, Gwen stared daggers at Cheri, who tried to look innocent. It wasn’t difficult to see why Gwen was upset. Cheri spent her nights with Gabrielle instead of strapped to Laura. Gabrielle spoke to Cheri differently and treated her more kindly. Cheri was allowed more movement and freedom. She cleaned the house for Gabrielle. Cheri helped Gabrielle decide how best to torment Gwen. And Cheri may have unplugged Gwen’s wand last night, but she’d also plugged it back in. Perhaps she was searching for her soul, too.
How could Cheri explain what Gabrielle had threatened if she disobeyed? How could she explain what it was like to spend her nights helpless to Gabrielle’s whims? How could she explain how Gabrielle teased Cheri constantly, manipulated her arousal until the thought the unthinkable? Cheri looked tearfully into Gwen’s eyes, wishing their flames could cleanse her. What could she say to a friend in need, whom she failed with every breath? Shaking, Cheri began to wash her friend. Gwen bucked, pushing Cheri away. Cheri wanted to follow the water down the drain.
This was Gwen. The leader, the analyst, the firebrand. She’d tell Cheri she should have fought, tried anything to escape. She was right.
Cheri looked away, trying to shield herself. She noticed the wastebasket, and only then did she remember. Maybe she could do something after all. With an excited grunt, Cheri dashed her way over to the basket, dripping water everywhere, and dug her way through the contents until she found the tiny key. Gwen’s eyes lit up.
Forgetting herself, Cheri tried the key on her own wrist cuffs, but they wouldn’t fit Gabrielle’s new padlocks. Cheri indicated this silently to Gwen, showing her the silver locks and the bronze key, then pointed to Gwen’s hands, which were locked with Laura’s correct hardware.
Gwen grunted and shook her hands, obviously wanting Cheri to set her free. But Cheri shook her head and nodded to the door. They had already lingered. Gabrielle would be back soon and Cheri couldn’t be much use without being freed herself. If they failed to actually escape this time, they might never get another chance.
Gwen didn’t seem to appreciate this. Cheri did the best she could. Reaching up, she placed the key into Gwen’s hand. Gwen immediately moved to try and unlock her cuffs, but Cheri grasped her hands and met her eyes.
“Lmmrha,” Cheri sounded as best she could. Laura. At last, Gwen nodded.
Cheri finished washing her hastily, so hastily that Cheri had to mumble an apology when her gruff hands agitated Gwen’s sore backside. Cheri finished patting her friend dry just as Gabrielle returned. As Cheri was led away, she saw Gwen’s fist clenched tightly and felt actual hope for the first time since Tuesday.
* * *
Cheri was fully dressed in her purple outfit, from collar to corset to boots. Gabrielle even replaced the tweezers and the glass toys were tucked safely away under the zipper of Cheri’s teddy. Gabrielle donned her red and black outfit as well, looking domineering as ever.
“So much to do today!” Gabrielle mused as she walked toward the kitchen. Cheri trotted at the other end of her leash. “Are you ready to begin?”
Cheri, sporting her gag, didn’t answer. Gabrielle had elected to chain her wrists together in front, so she likely intended Cheri to use her hands. Turns out she was right, and Gabrielle gave her a laundry list of chores from preparing the table to laying out food for Gabrielle to prepare later. In the kitchen Cheri found a turkey already roasting in the oven. Gabrielle must have gotten up quite early to get it prepared.
“I ‘ave to look after Laura and Gwen for now. Take care of all zis before I get back. If you are good today, Cheri, I will be much nicer to you tonight.” Gabrielle smiled knowingly and nodded toward the basement on her way out of the kitchen.
Cheri set to work.
* * *
Gabrielle left Gwen trussed and shivering for quite some time before she returned. Once released, Gwen stumbled forward onto the wet tile grunting through her gag and struggling to use her joined hands to stabilize herself. Gabrielle helped her up and gave her a towel to awkwardly dry herself.
Gabrielle dressed Gwen back in her blue outfit and re-cuffed her hands behind her back. Adding a collar and leash, Gwen soon followed Gabrielle to the living room. There Gwen found Laura, dressed back in her yellow corset and tied face up on the coffee table. The table was not nearly large enough, so Laura’s legs spilled over opposite edges before chains secured them to the legs, and her joined hands bent over the table above her. A long strap crossed over her at the waist. To Gabrielle’s astonishment, Laura was neither blindfolded nor gagged.
“Our friend Laura is quite sore from her ordeal yesterday. Such tight bondage for so long...per’aps I should tie you in such a position sometime. You would enjoy yourself, non?” Gwen refused to meet her eye. Gabrielle went on.
“I zought we might make Laura feel better. But first I would like to ask if Laura ‘as anyzing she would like to tell you.”
Laura, having to look upside down, shot Gabrielle a knowing look and shook her head very discreetly. “Come now, Laura,” Gabrielle pressed, “you ‘ad so much time to zink yesterday. About your friends. About me. You and Gwen ‘ave spent so much time togezzer already but ‘ad so few chances to chat. Surely zere must be somezing to discuss.”
Gwen eyed Gabrielle suspiciously. She was driving at something specific, but Laura wasn’t biting.
“No,” Laura said resolutely, “nothing. Except maybe uninvited guests.”
Gabrielle smirked and knelt down by Laura. “Are you sure?”
“I can’t,” Laura resigned heavily.
* * *
Cheri could hear noises coming from the living room. By the sound of it, Laura and Gwen were both with Gabrielle in there. Surely Gabrielle had not yet found the key, or Cheri would be hearing far different sounds. Cheri’s heart pounded in her chest. If Gwen succeeded, they might get free of Gabrielle at last. If she failed, Gabrielle would surely make them all suffer.
* * *
Gabrielle removed Gwen’s gag, allowing her to stretch her jaw and tongue.
“Laura’s body must ache all over. Would you like to ‘elp?” Gabrielle asked, her hands on Gwen’s shoulders.
“Of course,” Gwen said affectionately. Laura gazed into her eyes.
“Ze ropes on ‘er tits and pussy were so tight. You ‘ave experienced zat before from your Dice Game, non?”
“Yes.”
“Zen you know how much it ‘elps to massage zem. Would you do zat to ‘elp a friend such as Laura?”
Laura squirmed at Gabrielle’s words, but Gwen answered in a heartbeat.
“Yes, of course.” Laura’s glassy eyes beamed at Gwen. She seemed determined not to say anything, as though her voice had gone rogue and needed strict supervision.
“Would you enjoy it?”
“Doesn’t matter. I would do it.” Gwen’s stare was rather fixed.
“Do it zen. I will not interfere,” Gabrielle sneered.
Gwen turned her arms to Gabrielle, looking to be set free.
“Non, Gwen. You may not use your ‘ands. Only your lips.”
Gwen faced Gabrielle skeptically. “You can’t be serious.”
“No!” Laura gasped.
“Why? She is quite beautiful, non?” Gabrielle gave Gwen a calculating look.
“She’s the most beautiful woman I know. But I won’t do that to her.” Gwen’s eyes warmed nearly everyone they saw that day.
“Even if she wanted it?” Laura’s welling eyes flickered back to Gabrielle.
“She doesn’t.”
“’Ow do you know?”
“Because you’re here.” Gwen stared directly at Gabrielle. By now a tear was making its way down Laura’s temple.
Gabrielle grew impatient. “It is simple. You will do what I ask or you will be punished.”
Gwen stood her ground. “What, you’ll throw me in the closet?”
“Non, I will put ‘er in ze Oubliette. Exactly as she was yesterday. We will see ‘ow sore she can get by tomorrow.”
Gwen finally broke. Laura looked terrified at the thought. Her voice shook, “You wouldn’t.”
“It is simple, Gwen. You can ‘elp your friend feel better, or you will spend ze ‘oliday tied tighter than you ever believed possible, wishing you ‘elped your friend when you ‘ad ze chance, for she will be no better off. It is your choice.”
* * *
This wasn’t going to work. Gabrielle was right on top of Gwen at all times. She’d never have a chance to use the key and the longer they waited, the more chances Gabrielle would have to find it. They’d all be punished for sure. It’d be obvious that Cheri helped somehow. She’d end up severely bound like Laura, left all day or more. And Gabrielle had promised that Laura and Gwen would share any punishment Cheri earned…
Cheri couldn’t think, and she definitely couldn’t keep doing this pointless shit for Gabrielle. Her head was spinning. She had to do something. Surely she was good for more than just passing off a goddamn key.
* * *
“Do not be afraid, Gwen, you may suck ‘arder.” Gabrielle sat in an armchair, watching calmly as Gwen knelt next to the coffee table, bent over and licking Laura’s right nipple intently. It was still crimson from Laura’s time in the Oubliette, and with every stroke of Gwen’s tongue Laura gave long, passionate moans. Laura was tough, but her breasts and loins had stung through the night. Any sensation from a brush of clothing or bedsheet to even a light breeze sent jolts through Laura’s body. The gentle suction of Gwen’s lips just melted it all away. Laura’s left nipple already glistened with Gwen’s saliva, and it felt heavenly.
Gwen bore down Laura’s breast and sucked intently. Gabrielle was right: it had the biggest effect on Laura yet.
“Alright, Gwen, we will come back to zose,” Gabrielle directed, “It is time to move between Laura’s legs.”
Gwen looked at her reluctantly, but rose to her feet and walked about the table. She met Laura’s pleading eyes as she knelt down at the foot of the table. It made her hesitate.
“Now, Gwen.”
Gwen leaned forward, hands still behind her back, and slowly dragged her tongue up Laura’s soaking pussy. Laura immediately convulsed in pleasure, but it felt different from her breasts. Gwen instantly knew her touch did more than soothe Laura, who seemed to leave the room entirely.
Gabrielle brought her back. “Anyzing on your mind, Laura?”
Laura, laboring for every carnal breath, tumbled back into Gabrielle’s clutches. Not even the Oubliette held a candle to this. Even as she bathed in Gwen’s loving tenderness, Laura could only look at her captor, wishing she was not there.
“It is time, Laura,” Gabrielle whispered, “You know it is.”
Laura’s red eyes burned as she tried to stare down her own fate. Gabrielle watched encouragingly while she took a breath in slightly sharper than the last.
A deafening crash sounded from the kitchen. Gabrielle leapt to her feet immediately.
“Keep going, Gwen,” Gabrielle warned, looking to the door. “You know what will ‘appen if you stop before I get back.”
Gabrielle left the room and Gwen immediately looked up. Laura exhaled, and watched Gwen with pure adoration. But Gwen was no longer paying attention. As soon as she thought Gabrielle was really gone, Gwen rose up and sat on the table beside Laura’s body. Poking around her mouth with her tongue for a moment, Gwen finally pursed her lips and leaned over Laura. A wet bronze key plopped onto Laura’s belly.
* * *
Gabrielle rushed into the kitchen to find her half-cooked turkey in a heap on the floor, its juices creeping across the tile and its metal pan under a cabinet six feet away. She looked up to see Cheri, still shackled and gagged, sweeping a large pot of potatoes off the counter. It landed with an equally loud crash and sent food flying everywhere.
“Cheri!” Gabrielle shouted. Cheri jerked her head to face Gabrielle, shrieked some muffled profanity at her captor. Though in danger of tripping on the wet floor, she grabbed a dinner plate off a stack and threw it at the floor with all her might. It shattered spectacularly and Gabrielle backed away amidst the ceramic shrapnel.
“Cheri, stop! Stop it!” Gabrielle yelled as Cheri picked up another plate, poised to smash it. Cheri shook her head furiously. Cheri had had enough. Enough of Gabrielle’s manipulation and enough hurting her friends. Cheri wanted to scream at her. Scream for her friends. Scream for the mindfuck games. Scream for the hair. Scream that she wouldn’t be Gabrielle’s bitch anymore.
Gabrielle slowly crept toward Cheri. “Cheri…put ze plate down. Put it down Cheri.”
Cheri screeched at Gabrielle again, but she was already backed into a corner between two counters. When Gabrielle stepped closer she threw the next plate at the floor. This time Gabrielle lunged not backward but forward, gripping Cheri around her bound upper arms and forcing her into a bear hug. As Cheri wailed and struggled, Gabrielle’s hands gripped Cheri’s wrists and pressed them together. Cheri held her own for several seconds before her strength failed and the wrist cuffs latched together.
“Damnit, Cheri! Damn you!” Gabrielle scolded angrily as she held Cheri’s struggling hands up against her chest. With one hand she managed to snatch Cheri’s leash and snap it to her collar. Gabrielle looped the lead around her wrist cuffs a few inches away from her neck and pulled it taut. Now Cheri’s hands remained pinned against her, while Gabrielle held the other end of the leash very tight.
“Look what you did, Cheri! You ruined our Zanksgiving!” Gabrielle shrieked, examining the scene. There would clearly be no idyllic holiday dinner. Gabrielle turned and Cheri saw a terrifying new glint in her eye. For a few moments Cheri just sobbed in Gabrielle’s arms while the dreadful wheels in her head turned.
“You were supposed to understand, Cheri, but I see now you are no better zan zem,” Gabrielle said without a hint of forgiveness. “I ‘ave been easy on you, but it seems you will need much more discipline.”
Cheri whined into her gag and Gabrielle yanked her out of the kitchen, heading toward the basement stairs. Cheri hobbled down them in small hops to avoid falling, as her ankle chain was too short. Gabrielle did nothing to ease her travel. Cheri was pulled into the main basement room, which apparently housed the assembled contents of those large boxes Gabrielle had received two mornings ago. Cheri looked at them in immediate fear.
“Zis was my gift to you you tonight, Cheri. Only you,” Gabrielle gestured to one of them. “I meant to make you feel more ecstasy zan you ever felt before. But now, I zink, you need to spend some time with zis one.”
Cheri’s eyes went wide, and she struggled wildly as Gabrielle dragged her in a much different direction.
* * *
Gabrielle stormed up the stairs alone and once again surveyed the mess in the kitchen. It would take ages to clean up and there would be no salvaging that food. She would have to figure something else out, and for that she needed time without having to tend to her toys.
She would bind them all securely and with so much to keep them occupied that they couldn’t bother her. And why not? Gabrielle had never felt so betrayed. Laura and Gwen were no better than Cheri. They all deserved to be punished.
Perhaps later, much later, the day’s fun could be salvaged. Perhaps Gabrielle would choose one to take out of its box and play with for the evening. But for now, Gabrielle needed to properly put away her toys.
She walked carefully past the mess to keep it from getting on her heels and headed for the living room. The empty coffee table came into view just as she passed the threshold.
Laura lunged from the right just as Gwen pounced from the left. Gabrielle’s feet gave out under her and she toppled to the floor. She felt herself being swiftly rolled on her stomach as her hands were pulled behind her. A heavy weight pressed on her back.
“Stop! Wait, girls, NO! No—mmmMMMPH!” Gabrielle shrieked, but Laura was already fitting thick cuffs around her wrists and Gwen was pulling Gabrielle’s head back by her hair with one hand, while the other clapped over her mouth, holding the silicone ball inside. In seconds more cuffs bound her ankles, as did stringent straps at her elbows and knees. Laura then bent Gabrielle’s knees fully back and held them while Gwen connected a strap from her ankles to her elbows, yanking it taut until Gabrielle’s back arched her into a tight hogtie.
“Mmmph! NMMMPH!” Gabrielle screamed into her gag. Laura rolled her easily onto her side and dug her hand into the open lacing on Gabrielle’s teddy, fishing around until she pulled out two small keys: a bronze one and a silver one.
“You won’t be needing these, I think,” Laura smirked as Gwen fitted padlocks to all the buckles on Gabrielle’s body. Gabrielle struggled but her restraints held easily. She stared at them through her disheveled hair, wide-eyed and confused.
“Now what?” Gwen asked over their former captor.
“I hadn’t really thought this far…” Laura muttered, “here, help me move her.”
Together, the two managed to lift Gabrielle’s squirming body enough to deposit her in the living room closet. She wasn’t trussed up at all the way she should be, but Laura felt a grim satisfaction from closing that door on her.
“Let’s find Cheri,” she said finally.
Gwen snorted. “Why. She might as well have been with that bitch.”
“Look, let’s just find her.”
“Fine.” At the very least, Gwen couldn’t wait to hear what Cheri might have to say.
*****************************************************************************************************
Part Seven: Trust
High heels clacked on the kitchen tile.
“Is that what that noise was?”
“Was Gabrielle really making a Thanksgiving dinner?”
“Well, not anymore.”
“What the hell did Cheri do?”
“I don’t know,” said Laura seriously, “but whatever she did got Gabrielle away from us so you could use that key. Where did you get that anyway?”
“Cheri,” Gwen admitted. “She snuck it to me in the shower…”
“In the shower?”
“Nevermind.”
Laura and Gwen, still in their latex clothing, made their way down the steps of the basement.
“What the fuck?!” they said together.
The basement was supposed to be empty. The three women rarely used it even for storage, barring the occasional Dice Game. But now it looked like Gabrielle was beginning to turn the whole basement into a kind of sex dungeon. Black curtains had been tossed over all the window wells, the few pieces of furniture had been rearranged or moved off to a back room entirely, and a few ropes and chains hung ominously from the ceiling. A space on the wall was cleared; Gwen suspected it was intended for storage and display of myriad restraints, whips, gags, and the like. Most significant, though, were the two new pieces of bondage furniture.
They were both comprised largely of chrome rods fitted together by other assorted hardware that came shipped in Gabrielle’s boxes. The first looked like a sturdy pedestal about waist high. It had a wide base and various hooks and rings bolted to it, plus what looked like a long spreader bar fitted across it on one side. Atop the pedestal was a large vinyl pad with straps. Next to it was an open cardboard box with several plastic bags in it, each containing various chrome components which looked like they might attach to the pedestal in various ways. The other piece was even stranger, and Cheri was bound very tightly to it.
Cheri was almost completely naked. All her purple latex, her cuffs, and two glass insertable toys lay in a heap beside her. A black rubber…thing, which they would all later learn was a neck corset, had been laced around her neck and jaw so that she could barely move them. But it was even more sinister than that. Stretched over her mouth and around the back of her head was a thick strap, and in the center of where her lips would be protruded a small metal cylinder with a tiny pin inside it, like on a bicycle tire. On the floor lay a small length of rubber tubing with a bulb at the end like those used to measure blood pressure. Apparently not even this was enough, as Gabrielle had tied a wide leather blindfold over Cheri’s eyes. Otherwise, Cheri’s body was bare and taut, held perfectly still by her restraints.
Cheri was kneeling upright, bound to a metal pole with many small appendages and straps jutting out from it. Her arms were pulled stringently behind her back so that her they nearly touched. Only the thick metal manacles at her elbows and wrists separated them. A narrow pad pressed away from the pole and into her back, so her torso and chest were forced out presentably, and a heavy metal collar locked around Cheri’s neck, keeping her body straight and her hidden face pointing forward and upward. A leather strap below her breasts stabilized her torso, with more straps immobilizing her hips and thighs.
Cheri’s knees were also strapped apart, resting on small vinyl pads integrated into the base of her stand. Her ankles were encased in manacles like her arms, which connected to the pole behind her by a few links of chain which lifted them off the ground just enough to keep her toes from reaching the floor. For Gabrielle, this had evidently been insufficient, for a leather strap had been woven around the ankles and pole until Cheri couldn’t budge them at all.
Once Cheri was totally immobile, Gabrielle had arranged quite a show for her. Nipple clamps adorned Cheri’s breasts and looked quite tight. Dangling below each clamp was a small plastic oval which, they noticed, vibrated periodically, and below that swayed metal weights. Between Cheri’s legs, a small metal track extended from the pole, to which Gabrielle attached a rather sinister looking bracket. Mounted to it was a formidably sized black dildo attached to what appeared to be a hydraulic piston. It thrust the dildo in and out of Cheri with relentless mechanical rhythm while also spinning the phallus like a slow drill. A third clamp bit down vindictively onto Cheri’s clitoris and was attached to the track below by a short chain. Dangling from that was another oval vibrator which buzzed every few seconds.
Working in tandem, Cheri’s bondage totally dominated her senses. In any other scenario, it would have been impressive to watch Cheri shudder and react helplessly as she was fucked, vibed, and pinched all at once. It was obvious from her subdued moans that Cheri was already aroused beyond belief. The wires for all these devices dragged on the floor through Cheri’s legs to a large control box mounted to the pole behind her. It had several dials and buttons which seemed to control everything.
“Oh my God!” Gwen gasped. Laura just drank in the image, her mouth agape.
“Cheri? Cheri, are you ok?” Laura asked at last. Cheri, strangely, didn’t react to their presence at all. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Look,” said Gwen, “What’s that?” She pointed to another set of wires that emerged from under Cheri’s thunderous hair. They led to a small Ipod atop the box. Laura picked it up.
“It only playing one track on repeat, called ‘White Noise,’” Laura explained. “Volume is set way up—she probably has earbuds on and can’t hear anything.”
“Absolutely evil…”
“Should I turn this stuff off?”
“Just hold on a minute,” Gwen paused.
“Gwen, look at her! That looks like an inflatable gag and those are intense. Gabrielle—“
“Cheri helped Gabrielle! Notice how when you were locked up in the closet, she never came to free you? That’s because while you were in there, she was helping Gabrielle spank me and shove a wand between my legs. We can’t trust her.”
“Look at her, Gwen.” Laura spoke at the right time, for Cheri began moaning and writhing much more loudly than before. Her chest puffed as Cheri finally succumbed to the dildo’s onslaught. Her quaking cries filled the room as Cheri thrashed about, causing the weights on her nipples to swing wildly. It looked very uncomfortable, but Cheri either didn’t care or couldn’t stop herself as orgasm roared through her body. For a moment or two, Cheri seemed to be having a ball, panting and moaning as though she’d never climaxed in her life. But eventually her orgasm finished while her torments did not. Cheri’s groans turned reluctant as the dildo continued its unfeeling thrusts while the clamp tugged on her newly sensitive clit. Every twitch gave her swaying nipple clamps new and unwelcome momentum. Cheri’s cathartic moment of fun, if that was even the best way to describe it, now cost her dearly, and Gabrielle had clearly intended Cheri to stay bound like this for hours. Laura looked sympathetic, but Gwen had a dark look onto her face.
“It’s no surprise Gabrielle’s a bitch, but that doesn’t make Cheri innocent. She might have just got caught trying to play both sides…”
“How about we actually ask her, ok?” Laura reached for the myriad dials.
“Fine,” Gwen relented, “But don’t touch those. Just the Ipod.”
“Gwen, she’s our friend…”
“Please, Laura. I’m not sure we can trust her anymore.”
* * *
Cheri’s earbuds shut off and she realized she wasn’t alone. She automatically cried out fearfully. Gabrielle must be back, even though she’d promised to “forget” Cheri. Had Gabrielle just come back to make the dildo fuck harder? Or had…had she already been down here for hours? Cheri no longer had any sense of time.
The vibrators and dildo stopped mercifully. When the blindfold slipped from her face to reveal not Gabrielle but her two friends, freed and safe, Cheri nearly fainted with relief.
“Thanks for the key,” Gwen said glibly, “Bored being Gabrielle’s favorite pet already?”
Cheri looked at her strangely and wrenched in her bindings, clearly eager to be let go.
“Gwen!” Laura gasped, “Cheri, it’s ok…” Laura moved to start untying Cheri, but Gwen swatted her hand away.
“No, it’s not ok!” Gwen yelled. “This is all Cheri’s fault.”
Cheri whined through her gag pitifully.
“She brought Gabrielle to the house, told her everything. This never would have happened—“
“Gwen! You’re overreacting—“
“You don’t know, Laura!” Gwen cried, “When you were put in that…that thing, I got tied down while Cheri and Gabrielle discussed what to do with me. Together, like I wasn’t even there. Cheri helped her, and then later it was just Cheri and me in the room. We had a chance and she left me, Laura. She didn’t even try.”
Cheri screeched through her gag, tears now streaming down her face. Gwen looked at her coldly. “She had the most freedom and let it all happen. She’s just as bad.”
“So, what? You want to just leave her like this?”
“Maybe we should.”
Laura stood there in shock of what she was hearing. Gwen turned her back on a devastated Cheri. Then she heard it.
A soft tune rippled through the stagnant air. It was weak and just a little off key, but it transformed everything it touched. Gwen turned to see Cheri humming sweetly, moist lines drying softly on her cheeks. For a full minute they locked eyes while Cheri hummed. Gwen thought about the game, about her friends, about what she’d seen the last couple days. The more she thought, the more it all chipped away at her anger.
“Fine.” She walked over and began releasing the manacles binding Cheri. Her position was so awkward and stringent that it was difficult to know where to begin. Slowly and with Laura’s help, her arms and legs sprang free, and Gwen released the collar holding her upright and unlaced the neck corset.
Cheri nearly retched as the massive gag poured out of her mouth. She lurched forward, curtained by her own hair, staring at her friends’ feet. Gwen stood there as though expecting something.
“Well?” she asked fiercely, “start talking.”
“What do you want?” Cheri choked, “Am I supposed to stand up for myself? Tell you about how she threatened me—threatened you—if I didn’t play along? Am I supposed to say I’m sorry? Sorry for not being there for you, for not rescuing you, for not being strong enough to join you? I wanted to so badly.”
Gwen felt very strange, like her brain had left her body. She just floated there, stunned and immobile beyond anything Gabrielle managed to accomplish.
“Should I lie for you?” Cheri asked, “Say I had it worse? Say I was biding my time and waiting for…for that key or something? ‘Cause I wasn’t. I was just scared. I was scared and so I let her twist me around her finger. I—I can’t even say I hated it. That’s the real bitch of it, girls—I didn’t. I couldn’t help you and I couldn’t even have the decency to hate the things she was doing to me. That’s what I hate. So tell me, Gwen, what do I say? I’ll say anything.”
Cheri hung in place, and suddenly Gwen didn’t feel like standing anymore. She lowered to the ground in front of her friend, and just sat. For the first time in days, she sat.
“I’m sorry, Cheri.”
Cheri opened her mouth to speak but Gwen shushed her. Cheri didn’t have to say anything after all. “I didn’t hate it,” Gwen spoke after a long moment. “I hate her, but I don’t hate all the things she did.”
Laura spoke slowly. “If this had all been a game—If I’d rolled the dice and had this whole thing laid out in front of me like a fantasy—I think I would have said yes. How fucked is that?”
“Doesn’t sound fucked to me. Sounds familiar.”
“Yeah…”
Laura knelt down beside the prostrated Cheri and placed a hand on her back. Moments later they were all lying quietly on the floor. Their mere presence to each other, free of all constraint or concern, was a foreign and welcome comfort. Some things, like escaping a sadistic self-appointed dominatrix, just drain a person. When they do, it’s nice to have friends to lie next to.
* * *
Gabrielle had never really been tied up before. There’s a bit of an art to being helpless: in shifting limbs to be more comfortable, in minding circulation, in locating knots (if there are any), and most certainly in attempting escape. Gabrielle never planned on getting tied up. All her energy went to learning how to tie effectively. She was clearly a natural at that. But the other thing…not so much.
The closet door opened eventually. Gabrielle lay in a hogtied heap, limbs tingling. Before her stood three scorned women.
“Dark in there, isn’t it?” Laura mocked. Gabrielle just glared. Her time alone had mellowed her a bit. Cheri disappeared into her bedroom for a moment while Gwen and Laura heaved Gabrielle back out of the closet and set her on the carpeted living room floor. Gabrielle struggled angrily.
“I don’t really think you understand this whole Thanksgiving thing,” Gwen said sarcastically.
“But, to be fair, you’ve given us a lot to be thankful for,” Laura said. Cheri returned holding her computer and sat in a chair with it. Laura knelt down and unfastened Gabrielle’s gag.
“So what was your endgame, anyway?” she asked roughly. “You didn’t seriously think you could keep us here forever without anyone noticing?”
Gabrielle stretched her jaw uncomfortably. Wearing a gag was much different from putting them onto people. “I did not need to keep you forever. I just needed enough time to convince you all zat you really do want to be wiz me. I know once you all see ze truth about yourselves, I will be able to let you go about your lives and always come back to be mine again.”
“Cute,” Laura turned to Gwen. “Bitch is crazy.”
“You are still trapped in your small mind. Let me go so I can ‘elp you…”
Laura sprang up and reached for the gag again, but Gwen stopped her. Instead, she grabbed another long strap and began working it around Gabrielle’s legs until they were bent together stringently. Gwen didn’t seem to mind that.
“Gabrielle, you can’t just force people to trust and love you like that. The love doesn’t come from the act, the act comes from the love.”
“I do not see much of a difference. I already know what you all want,” Gabrielle said stiffly. She couldn’t help but watch Laura, who had moved on to wrapping another strap over Gabrielle’s breasts. Feeding it around and through the strap binding her elbows, Laura then attached it to Gabrielle’s ankles and used it to pull her into a much tighter hogtie. Gabrielle grunted uncomfortably but said nothing. She was in a staring contest and couldn’t blink first.
“And with all this,” Laura cut in as she worked, “you were going to make us your love slaves until…what? You went home, like next month? You’re only studying in the U.S. for a semester.”
“I ‘oped to stay longer.”
“You hoped wrong,” Cheri said from across the room. “Gabrielle, you really should have been reading your email.”
“What is it?” Gwen asked.
“I’m not the best translator,” Cheri worked her way through the French, “but her home university is really unhappy with her. Something about misusing the…’treatment’? No, stipend! She’s been getting some kind of allowance monthly while she’s here. You know, for books and food and stuff. Apparently the money’s been spent at all sorts of weird places.”
“I get the feeling we’ve been wearing it,” Gwen reasoned. Laura, still rummaging through their toybox, now appeared with what looked like a thick leather bag. Gabrielle quickly realized it was a hood and began to feel very warm in all her latex.
“Well, they’re having a fit over it. This last one says they’re revoking her student visa. They want her back in France immediately. As in the next available flight.”
“Non!” Gabrielle yelled resolutely to both Cheri and Laura, “I will not. I ‘ave so much work left to do ‘ere.” Gabrielle started to explain, but was stifled by Laura’s quick replacement of the gag. She squirmed in futile resistance as the hood descended. It was jet black and had no holes except for two small rivets by her nose. A thick belt stretched across the sealed mouth. Gabrielle bellowed as she disappeared into the leather, feeling the outside world fade as Laura laced it tightly onto her head. First the black material blocked her sight, then the crushing leather muffled outside sounds, and finally Gabrielle felt her own voice vanish as the belt tightened incredible over her gagged lips, pressing the ball so far into her mouth that only the mildest mews could escape.
Gabrielle blinked. She thrashed about mindlessly, panicked by her complete immobility. She wasn’t prepared for something like this. Her heart pounded and she breathed quickly through the tiny holes of the hood. She worried at first whether she was hyperventilating, but perhaps it wasn’t anxiety taking control of her. Maybe it was just her three toys taking control of her. Now that thought was curious. Gabrielle wanted to linger on it, but Laura didn’t give her the chance.
“Oh, I’m sorry! I assumed you were finished and ready to meet Silence Dogood,” Laura mocked her nastily, “I think I got the gist of it though. Tie us up, make us your concubines, blah blah.” She turned to the others. “I got no problem sending this bitch packing, as long as we get to have a little fun before she goes.”
“A little fun?” Cheri asked, a troubled look on her face. Gabrielle continued her unsuccessful fit, demonstrating just how little of her freedom remained.
“You’re right. A lot of fun.” Laura was having the time of her life.
“Well,” Gwen asked quietly, “we have to do something with her.”
“Shouldn’t we just let her go?” Cheri asked delicately.
“You can’t be serious!” Laura said hotly.
“Well, if we don’t, aren’t we just doing what she did?” Cheri posited delicately.
Laura paused. Gabrielle was hardly a role model, but this somehow felt different. “Only if we keep her.”
“And what would we be doing instead?”
“Consequences.” Laura sneered, “Comeuppance. Justice, whatever you want to call it. She can’t get away with this.”
“The police, then?” Gwen offered.
“Their cuffs suck,” Laura said, “and what will they do anyway, deport her? She’s already going back to France. We can send her off properly.”
“What do you mean?”
“She likes bondage so much and wants to play the dominatrix. Let’s see if we can’t show her how it’s done.”
Cheri and Gwen stood there for a moment. Finally, Cheri agreed, “What do you have in mind?”
At these words, they left for some other room to decide their prisoner’s fate in private. Gabrielle shuddered. Her heart pounded. And her pussy got very warm.
* * *