Page 36 of Be Careful What You Wish For

‘Yah!’ he roared into the silence, knowing that sound could not carry beyond the room, except through the speakers installed.

It had been fun in the past to sit in front of the console upstairs and view a tormented victim through the camera. He enjoyed being a voyeur when Richard had his wicked way.

‘Yah!’ he roared in frustration again, begging to be free.

What the hell was Richard playing at? Why didn’t he come to release him? How long was he going to keep up this charade? Okay, so he needed to be seen to be punishing him, but enough was enough.

‘Yah!’ he roared simply because he could. His voice was the only thing he had left, it seemed, the only way of venting his feelings.

But no one heard, no one listened, no one cared.

And yet suddenly he heard the sound he had been waiting for - footsteps on the stairs. He strained his ears. Surely he hadn’t been mistaken. The door was open a crack, and he was sure Richard was there. Perhaps he had never left at all, and this was an exercise in seeing what he might do, how he might cope, just to give him a taste of a punishment and then let him go.

Silence.

And then he heard what he dreaded most - footsteps retreating.

It wasn’t going to be that easy then. ‘Richard, Richard, come on... let me out. Okay, so I was wrong. Whatever it is you believe I’ve done, then I admit it. Please, just let me go, release me from this infernal cage and I’ll do anything required to make it up to you. Please.’

In a corner of the room the light of the camera blinked knowingly, recording these moments, as if they might be needed as evidence later.

Action Replay

A plan was evolving with every step Richard took towards the dungeon. He had been trained to analyse problems, collect, store and interpret data, and to deduce the logical or even pragmatic solution to any problem. The sudden turn of events didn’t faze him. In fact, things had worked well in his favour.

Finding out about Shadow’s devious activities and ways of working to his own advantage meant an end to the relationship they had shared. He was tired of playing his Master. The tantrums and sudden change of mood could be wearing. Yes, they’d had a good innings, they had supported one another since the untimely death of their wives, and the company had been welcome. But Shadow had a habit of moving things along at his pace; pushing him into areas he didn’t really feel comfortable in or want to go. The time was right. He would tell him straight. And for the work he’d put in over past months in training Pandora he would pay him off handsomely, but then tell him to go. He’d take him to the mainland, but after that he was on his own. He had friends. He wouldn’t be alone for long.

He had entered the hallway leading to the steps down to the dungeon when the phone rang.

Sod it! He didn’t want any interruptions now. His first instinct was to ignore it, but the ringing was persistent, shrill, biting into his thoughts, urging him to answer. It could be Gerard, his Chief Exec; his call was long overdue.

He turned and hurried back to the nearby telephone hung under a mounted painting of one of his ancestors, Uncle George. Absently he stroked a finger along the frame, noting the dust. Shadow again, not keeping up with his chores.

‘Hello, Richard? Thank God you answered. We’ve received an unsolicited approach and we need your immediate thoughts...’

The phone call lasted some time. He listened long and hard, and wondered why he paid his Chief Exec such a salary when he couldn’t handle the initial discussions and prepare a brief for him and the City, but his attitude softened and he issued detailed instructions to his subordinate on what he required, with the assurance he would join him when all the facts were known. He demanded absolute discretion and authorised any action to dispel any unfavourable rumours. He knew his Chief Exec well enough to know favourable rumours would be exploited to strengthen their position in any way they could. He closed the conversation, idly wondering what an unsolicited offer for the business would be worth and how much he could up the ante if it was genuine.

He stood quietly once he’d put the phone down, caught between business and pleasure. It would mean bringing the Ceremony forward, and he’d need to leave almost immediately afterwards. That was a blow. He couldn’t take Pandora with him, so he’d need to retain the services of Shadow a whil

e longer and appease him, while making it crystal clear he was not to take advantage of the situation in his absence. It wasn’t ideal, but what else could he do?

This needed to be sorted. He turned and strode with renewed vigour to the steps leading to the dungeon below.

Look & Learn

It was an extraordinary feeling of exhilaration, and yet at the same time an overwhelming sense of peace that lifted and held Pandora. At first everything had distanced, voices came as if from a long way off. She was aware of her surroundings but then less and less so as they paled into insignificance. It was hard to find words to describe the experience. It was more about feelings... floating... flying... with a weightlessness that defied all reason.

She couldn’t make sense of it, but then again, she didn’t have to. She felt calm, allowing herself simply to drift and be held and taken to whatever shore she might find herself washed up on. The feelings she held were like the sea, coming in waves, gentle, rocking, lifting, gliding, flowing. She wanted it to go on and on and on.

But then something stopped her.

Something snagged her mind.

A thought tore free from the safety and warmth of the cocoon and continued to prick until she took notice. Something wasn’t right. She didn’t know more, but she should explore, and as the path of reason began to find a way, slowly she started to surface through the bubble of blue, to the realisation of the thought that was now troubling her.

She lay in a nest of cushions on the sofa. It wasn’t a room she was familiar with, and it took some minutes before she remembered the way she had been taken from her own room to this with a blindfold, believing it to be Shadow leading her. That’s what didn’t fit. In all these months always, always it had been Shadow who would come for her. Dream Catcher never did.

And this was different; more different because of how her senses had been aroused, and the acts performed between them born out of love. She was sure he loved her, and she was equally certain there was stuff going on between Dream Catcher and Shadow, stuff she didn’t understand. Shadow’s whole persona had changed. It was like having two people in charge of her instead of one, both living in the same body, both equally capable, and yet one so loving and one so cruel.

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