Page 16 of The Will

Alex squeezed her shoulder as he spoke about general pleasantries with his father. He knew Thaddeus was intimidating, and being this close to an aggressor like him was difficult if you have experienced trauma. He leaned over to reassure her when Veronica interrupted the conversation, insisting on an introduction to Chloe.

“Oh darling, Alex, you brought someone with you. How lovely, right dear?” she asked Thaddeus, touching his arm to pull his attention off of Chloe. Her voice cut through the oppressive feeling that was being created in their area. Chloe snapped out of that space she had retreated to and moved in closer to Alex.

Thaddeus looked down at her hand on his arm and covered it with his own. “Yes, lovely,” he said, watching Veronica, not anyone else.

Veronica just smiled at him. That magic moment, which had Alex confused, was when Cy entered the room with Uncle Gene. Chloe saw him and sucked in her breath quickly. Alex made a rumbling in his chest that caused Chloe to turn her body into him, placing her hand in the center of his chest– reassuring him like he had done for her.

Cy made introductions all the way around, introducing Chloe by only her first name. Chloe was ready for the recognition from her uncle, but he looked right at her like he had never met her before tonight. She was sure that she had a confused look on her face. Once the introductions concluded, Alex excused them from the conversation to move to another area of the party. As they were mingling with the other guests, Alex saw Ms. Elaina signal from the elevator that they were moving out. “Great,” murmured Alex, “Showtime.” He signaled to Cy where he was headed with Chloe. He made a turn and took Chloe to the elevators. Alex hit the button for the tenth floor. He led Chloe off the elevator and to a small room with monitors. He sat her in the chair and started typing on the computer, causing each of the screens to show the various cameras taking footage.

Chloe watched as the screen with a wood table and a couple of chairs lit up as a light was switched on for the two people filing into the room. Chloe could see it was Uncle Gene with Alex’s brother Cy. Another screen lit up and showed a very unusual room. Chloe could see two large, leather covered objects in the shape of the letter x. Alex told her they were called St. Andrew's crosses. There was a chair positioned in between the crosses, it was bolted to the floor and there were large rings sticking up from the brackets at each leg.

The last piece in the camera range was a bed like the massage therapist or chiropractor would use to work on clients. She saw two men in very nice tuxedos bringing four unconscious men into the room with the St. Andrew's crosses. They stripped the men to their underwear. They took two of the men and strapped them to the crosses, leaving their backs exposed to the room. The third they placed on the bed, tied his hands above his head, and secured his ankles with more ropes to the bottom corners of the bed. He was face down, but they turned his head to the side so he could face the camera. Chloe’s brow furrowed as he looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him. The last man they positioned in the center chair and someone connected leather straps to the rings in the floor before strapping him into the chair. The men then lifted the man’s head to fasten a collar around his neck, securing him to the high back of the chair. Chloe gasped, “Little Gene?”

Alex looked up from his computer work and nodded to Chloe.

Chloe looked at him, confused, “Why? Grandpa?”

“Among other things, yes.”

Just then, the ladies entered the room. Chloe recognized Angela’s face, but her outfit was on a different level. Her hair was pulled tight, secured at the top of her head with the ponytail cascading down her back. Her boots topped off at her thighs, the heels of them impossibly high,accentuating her legs with crisscrossing straps. She wore a shiny, black, latex body suit that began at the cups of her ass, it was backless, sleeveless, and accentuated her body perfectly. There were two other girls dressed in similar outfits, who took positions at the crosses.

As Chloe was analyzing the women, the real showstopper entered the room. Alex explained that he and Cy went to school with a woman named Michelle, who had been abused by her stepfather and stepbrother since the time she was of consenting age. She had never consented to any of it, of course, but her self-worth became all about her abilities in the bedroom. She graduated with Alex but didn’t go to college. Alex and Cy really didn’t know what happened to her until about a year ago. She came to Alex’s office and asked for help. He had gotten Cy involved and together they not only extricated Michelle from her abusive situation, but legally recovered her business to her with sole ownership. Chloe watched as Mistress Elaina stepped into the middle of the room, dressed in her signature outfit with a large, black whip attached to her side and a riding crop in her right hand.

Mistress Elaina nodded to her companions. “Let’s begin.”

In unison, the three other women began to tickle each of the men assigned to them with a feather on a stick in one of their ears. They were whispering sweetly as the men slowly became conscious. Angela’s assignment was the first awake. He was in awe of her and hadn’t realized his predicament. He tried to get up, only to find that was impossible.

Angela laughed softly. “Please try, darling. I love to see my pets struggle,” she sneered at him. Chloe covered her mouth which had fallen open at the shocking change of the sweet woman that had been in her apartment. She looked at Alex for an explanation.

Alex smiled and pointed out each of the trapped men and explained who they were. “They were all there that night Chloe.”

She looked confused, and then her expression changed when she realized what night Alex meant. “All of them?” she asked.

“Well, we are about to find out what exactly happened.”

“Pet?” came the confused response from Angela’s assignment. “Aw, come on, beautiful. We can play games later,” he said, not knowing that they were not alone in the room. Angela broke it to him by directing his view into the middle of the room. “Oh shit, Gene, Michael, Joe… what the hell is going on here?”

Michael shouted, waking Gene in the process, “Don’t tell them anything Benji!”

Benji is even more confused. “Tell them what?”

Gene piped up in the conversation at that. “Think about it, Benji. What was the only time we let you play with us on a project?”

Benji looked up at Angela again. “Is this about Gene’s cousin, Chloe?” Angela nodded. Benji understood now. He shook his head and blew out his breath. Angela and the other two girls had switched to using a tool with fat leather strips hanging down from a handle. There were knots tied at the ends of those strips.

“What are those items the girls are holding now?“ Chloe asked Alex.

Alex glanced quickly at what she was referring to. “Floggers. They cause a stinging sensation which can stimulate the nerves of the skin, making it sensitive. It also can create great pain slowly, depending on where it is applied.” Chloe was a bit surprised he was so knowledgeable about the tool. Alex smiled at her. “Why? Do you want to play with one?”

Her eyes got big and a bit frightened. Alex leaned over and spoke in the soft commanding voice that gave Chloe goosebumps, “You would have to trust me much more than you do now, kitten.” He licked his lips before finishing, “But I look forward to the day you do.”

Chloe watched as Angela and the other girls applied the floggers to the men in a strange but apparently effective tempo. The men would cry out a few times and then shiver over and over as the women dragged the strips of leather slowly over the skin they had just beat. It fascinated Chloe. It was like watching a dance.

Soon Benji begged, “Please, please.”

Angela’s response, “Address me correctly. Please,Mistress.”

Benji swallowed and panted, “Please, Mistress.”

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