As I said above, I am very thankful for all the comments I have received. Any and all feedback is still very much welcome. And, without further ado...
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Chapter 4 - ...ye who enter here?
Hannah walked a few steps behind Miss Hana down a black, red-lit corridor. The petite dominatrix walked with an exaggerated swagger to the door at the end of the corridor, opened it and beckoned at Hannah.“Go right in, ma’am. Miss Berenice will be with you shortly.”
Hannah nodded and walked through the door with stiff, reluctant legs. Once she was in, the door swung shut with a resounding clang. She looked around.
The room was just as black as the reception area had been. The walls looked like they’d been made of irregularly-shaped blocks of stone. Here and there, heavy-looking chains hung from eyelets in the wall and ceiling. All around the room were imposing-looking constructions, black frames, black padding, black leather, shiny chains. Here and there hung neat bundles of white rope, alongside whips, canes, paddles and crops of every description. On the back wall was a raised balcony that ran the entire width of the room with stairs descending at one end. The entire room was lit in muted red, creating what was probably intended to be a sexy atmosphere. For Hannah, it felt like she’d stepped into Hell itself. Glancing around her, she felt woozy. She could see no doors beside the one she’d stepped in through, only more of those intimidating constructions, crowding on her, pushing in on her…
...suffocating her…
“Hello… oh shit”, she heard a voice from somewhere far away. There was noise that sounded like running footsteps, followed by the same voice shouting. “Akiko! Elise! In here now!”
Hannah felt someone touching her face. “Ma’am? Ma’am? Can you hear me?” She realised she was lying on her back on a hard surface. Slowly, she opened her eyes. She was looking at the black ceiling of the dungeon. Three women looked down at her, each of them more dramatic-looking than the last. As Hannah was able to focus, she recognized one of them as Miss Hana, the woman who had escorted her into the dungeon.
“Can you hear me”, one of the women asked her.
“Yes”, Hannah managed to reply.
“Hold on a moment”, the same woman said, reached toward Hannah’s neck and unbuckled the collar, handing it to one of the other women.
“Can you sit up? We’ll help.”
The three women carefully helped her sit up, leaning her back against something. One of the women looked at her intently for a moment. “Can you remember where you are?”
Hannah squeezed her eyes shut. The world was starting to spin again, but she managed to hold on this time. “This is… some S/M place… I came here… She brought me here”, she said, gesturing at Miss Hana.
The woman who’d asked her the question turned to the other two and nodded at them. They got up and left the room. Then the woman turned to look at Hannah again. “Can you stand up?”
“I’ll try.”
With the woman’s help, Hannah managed to stand up. Still supporting her, the woman led Hannah through the room to a door that was concealed behind one of the constructions. She opened it and guided Hannah into a small, light-colored room. Sunlight came in through a gauze-curtained window, illuminating a low table with three easy chairs arranged around it. She helped Hannah sit down in one of the chairs and then turned to a small counter in the corner. A few moments later she came back, putting a teacup on the table in front of Hannah before sitting down in another chair across from her.
Hannah looked at her. The woman looked every bit the dominatrix, dressed in black catsuit, boots with high heels, black gloves, a shiny pair of handcuffs and a many-tailed whip hanging from her belt. Her face was made up in dramatic black and dark red, her blonde hair pulled into a tight braid.
“How are you?”
“Better”, Hannah replied.
“Good. Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I am Miss Berenice, the owner of this place. Believe it or not, Berenice is my actual name.”
Hannah flinched. Berenice raised a hand to calm her down. “Relax, my dear. I know, you had a session booked with me. That’s obviously not going to take place. I wouldn’t dream of working with someone who just passed out.”
“Look, I’m sorry about that, I didn’t know I’d react like that…”
“You have nothing to apologize for. It’s not the first time something like this has happened, oh no. But that’s not why I invited you here”, Berenice said and leaned forward, elbows on her knees and her chin perched on her hands. “You didn’t come here on your own free will, did you?”
Hannah’s throat ran dry. She leaned back in her chair, as if looking for a way out and glanced reflexively toward the door.
“Calm down. They’re not here. I am. I’m right, am I not?”
“No. I mean, no, I didn’t come here… I didn’t want to come”, Hannah stammered. “How did you know?”
“My dear, if there is one thing this profession teaches you, it’s how to read people. I have to hand it to you, though, you kept your composure admirably. Those women you showed up with, they’re the ones who set you up?”
“Yes. My… coworkers. I had no idea they’d done something like this.”
“That’s what it looked like, too. I’ll let you in on a little secret: the reservation they made in your name sent up every red flag I can think of. For one, they asked for the whole nine yards and then some. They wanted some psychotic sadist in black leather to beat you to a pulp and make you lick shit off the floor - and yet you’d never visited us before. I would never, ever do anything like that with a first-time visitor. Another thing, the pre-session questionnaire was filled out online, but when we asked for a face-to-face meeting prior to the session, there was never a suitable time for that. Furthermore, they wanted to come and watch - and even take photos and video. The arrogance. As if I’d allow anyone but my staff to take a single frame or a second of video in my premises. To top it all off, at first they didn’t provide a safeword. When I finally told them that either they pick one or the whole thing is called off, they picked one that was way too long and complicated”, Berenice said, becoming visibly angry as she rattled off her points. “Obviously they chose something like that so you wouldn’t be able to guess it.”
Hannah curled up in her chair. Berenice looked at her with a smile. “Calm down. Nothing will happen to you. You are safe here.”
“But… what happens when they find out?”
Here you go. A bit 'chatty', yeah - but there are things one must do to move the story along... or at least that's what I tell myself You tell me whether it is good or... well, not so good. Chapter 5 is due on Wednesday... and oh no, even then we're nowhere near the end of the story. Stick around.
Have a good one, everyone.