The Confinement of Bailey Gardner

Chapter One-2

***

Who was Francesca? She stayed a little longer, but when I tried asking questions she simply put a single finger to her lips. When I finished eating Francesca rose without a sound, gathered up the bowl, cup and saucer, and retreated into the dark shadows beyond the door, which she left open. Also, I was still ungagged, but I knew I shouldn’t make a sound. Not if I had any hope of getting out of cell thirty-four.

I lurched to my feet, my legs still strong due to the miles and miles of circles I walked inside the eight by eight padded cell. A tentative step outside, barefoot on a cold floor. I recoiled at the chill, not used to such after so long on the soft, warm pads. I leaned forward, eyes darting left and right. I couldn’t see beyond a couple feet from the cell door, so I tried again; the floor was still cold, but I endured and slowly made my way forward, the light from the cell fading. There were other doors, other padded rooms like mine, on either side and across the wide hallway, all running off into darkness.

I froze. Several pairs of feet headed my way. Two sets with a heavy tread while the other had a light click click of high heels. My eyes strained into the dark. Then I heard a voice I had come to dread.

“The open door was a test. Your hesitation tells me that you knew it was wrong to go out, but also that your will to resist isn’t quite yet subdued. We still have some work to do.”

Two white uniformed, full face masked orderlies stepped into the light, followed by Livia. But while the orderlies were masked as always Livia didn’t wear her nurse’s uniform. Instead now she was conservatively well dressed; dark high heel shoes and hose, a long dark blue pleated skirt, long sleeve white ruffled shirt and black horn rim glasses.

“Time we came to an understanding,” she said. At her nod, the two orderlies took up position on either side of me. Strong hands on my still straitjacketed upper arms propelled me along after Livia who led the way. I was out! I free of that tiny, padded cell. Suck it, Livia. Whatever I had done, my constant flailing struggles, spitting my food, my continued resistance, I had won! I wanted to whoop for joy, but my cry of victory caught in my throat and came out more like a sob. My eyes watered and I had difficulty focusing. But if I gave any hint of straying, the orderlies made sure I stayed on the straight and narrow.

We wound up in a large, warmly decorated office. Framed photos of calm seas, puffy clouds and quiet serene tableaus hung on the walls. A soft reclining couch with pillows was pushed up against the wall on the left. Behind and to the right of a solid, wooden desk was a small armoire; inside hung Livia’s white nurse’s uniform and green scrubs. However, most telling was yet another crisp, new white lab coat. In fact, the whole office had a just moved in air, like Livia was just getting settled. On the almost bare desk was a framed photo of Livia in her old scrubs with another woman. They stood arm in arm, smiling. Did I know that woman? I squinted at the photo, recognition forming in my mind, but Livia turned the photo away. “It would be best you kept your attention on other things, Miss Bailey.”

She called me by name. Not thirty-four. What did that mean?

“So, did you enjoy your time with Francesca? You were nowhere as mean with her as with me. Why is that?”

I think I gawked. Me? Mean? I’m the one who is in restraints, spoon fed like a child, made to endure a gag, padded cell and soiled panties. Me, mean? Why wouldn’t I spit on the person who kept me in restrained isolation? Why wouldn’t I act that way to virtually the only human contact I had had these past months, not counting the parade of anonymous c***s and strong arm muscles? And now this same t**t seated primly behind a desk is making out like everything that happened is my fault? I said, “Isn’t it obvious? I hate you.”

Livia studied me, her look coldly clinical. “Well, it’s obvious to me that you don’t want to answer that question. Since you sidestepped that issue I won’t consider your response a lie, but it’s also not the truth, and if you want things any easier you better keep your word. Oh, yes, I know all about your promise to Francesca, Miss Bailey, and it doesn’t apply to just between you and her. So, when I ask you this next question, I expect only the truth.

“How serious were you and Edward?”

“Huh? Edward? What - “

“Don’t play stupid. What is your relationship?”

Edward? My frantic thoughts tried to get a handle on our time together. “We’re, ah, we studied together...sometimes.” I tried to act casual and shrugged as well as I could in the straitjacket.

“Were you dating?”

Already simmering just beneath the surface, my anger at the confusing, unjust treatment I had endured suddenly boiled over. “f**k off. That’s none of your business, you b***h!”

Livia stared at me from across the desk. Behind those dark eyes I could practically hear her gears whirring. Then she said, “If Edward is just a friend, then you wouldn’t care who he dates?”

I tried to shrug again, but inside my head I yelled Hell yeah!

Livia just about saw right through me. “Ah, yet another question that you’re not ready to face?”

I attempted to circle back to the original topic and, if not outright lying, tried a half-truth. “Edward and I...we’re friends.”

“I’m sure you a part of you honestly thinks that, but perception is not always reality. Let’s try this another way. What is the last thing you remember before getting here?”

“The last thing...” I searched my memory. I had had a nice place to live, a decent roommate...

“Sheena,” I said. “Sheena and I... We... We were out jogging...”

Livia coldly smiled. “Sheena. Oh, tall, athletic Sheena. Would it surprise you that she is still here too? Well, maybe not so surprising. Would you like to see her? Maybe after a reunion you’ll be ready to answer those hard questions.”

Livia pressed a button on her desk and the two large orderlies, muscles bulging underneath their white uniforms, reentered the office through another door. “The Key Room,” Livia said. She rose from behind her desk and shrugged on her lab coat. “Gag her. She’s on a tight parole and we don’t want Miss Bailey tempted into committing any irreparable vocal acts.”

“No! NO!” I cried, but one of the men shoved a plug gag deep in my mouth and buckled it tightly off in back. Already I could feel the drool gather and drip down my exposed chin, once more to stain the straitjacket.

My feet pinwheeling in the air, the two gorillas lifted me up by the armpits and carried me back through the door from which they had entered. Unlike the wide hallway outside my padded cell, this one was narrow. A single door waited some distance away, the only noise my gagged cries while Livia strode ahead and opened the door. A faint light shone within. The gorillas set me down on thin carpet. Five windows at different angles from eight to four o’clock looked in on five rooms, empty except for the one at eight o’clock. There was Sheena.

Her beautifully toned, fit body hung stretched out, floor to ceiling, arms together tight overhead, legs the same way below. Her toes pointed at the floor while her long fingers above vainly sought to claw at the air. Her mouth was covered with a gag like mine. Dark skin glistened while her eyes had lost all trace of her usual ‘hood attitude. No, if anything those dark eyes were more than a little scared, maybe even...oh my god...petrified? Even though we had roomed together a short time I had never known this strong, assured woman of being scared of anything.

In front of Sheena a door opened and in stepped one of the two men who had carried me here. From one hand dangled a whip about four feet long. The other held a multi-bladed cat o’nine tails, its many leather straps long and heavy. He pinwheeled the cat by the wrist and tested its weight. Sheena’s white eyes stood out against her dark skin. There must have been a microphone in the room because from a speaker under the window I could hear the whish of the leather blades and Sheena’s gagged cries.

Livia stood next to me. “It took Miss Sheena some time before she would commit. Really commit. But she did and the proof is your being here. And when Sheena’s fully trained she’ll be a great asset.” Livia pressed a button next to the speaker. “You may begin. Third level whipping this time.”

Sheena’s gagged cries went up a notch and now her eyes really bugged out. She twisted this way and that, as if to avoid what was about to happen, but her frantic moves did nothing to halt the advance of the whips. Instead her panic only served to scatter her long, black hair partly across her face and down to just above her firm breasts.

The cat flung out, its blades smacking against Sheena’s skin. Her already marked skin. Behind the gag Sheena screamed, flung her head backwards as the cat thudded against her ass, then snapped forward as it slapped across the front of her tense thighs and then scored her breasts. As the fresh marks grew in number and became clear even on Sheena’s dark skin, her trembles increased. She was already subtly shaking before the whipping started, but now it seemed to build up more, like there was a tension that fought for release.

Livia pressed the button again. “Good. Now take out the gag. Go to level four.”

Casting aside the cat, the man quickly unbuckled the gag and threw it into a corner. Sheena’s lips quivered. “No... I’m...not ready yet. Please. Please. Not ready.”

“Yes, you are,” Livia snapped back into the mic. “Level four. Now!”

The man drew back the single tail whip and let loose with all his strength. The quick swish followed by the distinctive crack of leather on flesh issued from the speaker, quickly followed by Sheena’s full throated screams. Again and again, without any let up, the whip roughly caressed Sheena’s tender flesh and her screams were nothing less than an agonized aria. The whipping went on, each stroke harder, more savage than the last. Livia lowered the speaker’s volume and Sheena’s cries continued, now as an undercurrent.

“That is a brave woman. How about you, Miss Bailey? Are you courageous enough to admit some truths to yourself, or must we continue this little game of cat and mouse?”

Game? This was a f*****g game?

“I could arrange some time for you with Miss Sheena if that would help.”

Sheena’s screams climbed to a higher plane. Her body, still taut in the tight, stretched out position, now shook uncontrollably. She screamed again and again as several waves of orgasm threatened to tear her apart. Slowly, they subsided, the glorious ecstasy giving way to profound exhaustion. Her head drooped forward, sweat filled hair hung lank about her face and shoulders; hardened n*****s that stood out slowly retracted to the centers of light brown aureoles. Shuddering breaths gave way to contented sighs.

“Well, that didn’t take nearly as long as last time,” Livia said. “She’s further along than I thought.” Livia turned to me. “Speak to her. Afterwards we’ll talk again.”

***

They blindfolded me and it was obvious I wasn’t supposed to know the way in to these special rooms.

Not until just before they shoved me through the door was the blindfold removed. I stumbled into the light, now reduced to a gentle glow, perhaps to allow Sheena a rest after her violent relief. The straitjacket still hugged me while Sheena lay sprawled on the thin, rough carpet. Her legs were slightly bent, hands still tied and now rested on top of her undulating stomach. Her full lips were parted just a little, to give a hint of white teeth, while her eyelids were quivering slits. Even in the dim light I could still see the ravages of the whips, but even if I had been blindfolded, all I needed to do was pass my hand gently across her skin and feel the welts.

I couldn’t of course, as my upper body was still locked inside the straitjacket. So I leaned down, and my lips brushed over Sheena skin in a light graze. Sheena felt rough but also warm; the cracked skin, the blood near the surface. She stirred, eyes fluttered open.

“Oh, mistress. I love you...” Sheena focused, saw me and her expression got confused. It took her a moment, then she snapped to recognition. “Bailey?”

I pulled back, embarrassed at the physical closeness in which I had been caught. “Yes, Sheena, it’s me. I... I guess I’m...”

Sheena’s expression turned guilty. “Please, don’t be mad at me. Oh, god, I had to. They wouldn’t let me come back...”

“Come back? You’ve been here before?” I said.

Sheena closed her eyes, shook her head and turned away.

“It was them. Not me. Not me!” Sheena cried. “You remember, right? It was them!”

What exactly did I remember? Them? Who? My memory was hazy. But I remembered before, the last few days leading up to...what? What happened? “Sheena, I remember the jogging path. That day we went running together.”

Sheena stared upwards, as if trying to find the memory in some foggy dreamland. “Things...not happened as planned. Fuzzy. Can’t remember...the days...”

“Try,” I said. “I’ll help you.” I at least could recall the time before that fateful day. Maybe if I told her that would help Sheena remember. “I’ll start, then when I forget, you can help me.”

“Alright,” she breathed and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.

“No. No!” I said. “Sheena, wake up!” I pushed my head against her chin. “Sheena, listen. You’ve got to listen.”

Sheena opened her eyes. “Yes. Yes, Bailey. Listen. Can’t do anything else... I’ll listen.”

“Good,” I said. Sheena’s vague promise to stay awake wasn’t much, but I would still take it. “Listen. Are you listening, Sheena? I’ll tell you. That day you seemed on edge, more tense than usual but, well, it didn’t really start there, did it?”