Page 52 of Fear and Desire

When he saw the empty room, he staggered and dropped the bottles. He strode over to the other door and pushed, shocked that it opened. Why would they leave? Didn’t they understand this was the safest place for them? He needed to find them, now. He made his way across the brief open area and quietly opened the door to the main building. He had just started down the cool hall when he heard Laura crying. The gun he had hoped not to use was immediately in his hand.

The door was closed, which meant he couldn’t tell who was in there, and more importantly, who was armed and who wasn’t. He listened to the conversation with growing alarm, and his eyes squeezed shut in agony. His carelessness had ruined the entire plan. He should stop to assess the situation, to listen, and to identify how many people were in the room and where they stood. But his nerves had been stretched too thin for too long. But when Laura cried out again, he acted.

Laura:

The world was spinning around Laura.Branding?“No, please…” she begged, her legs buckling. Claire threw an arm around her and kept her from falling to the floor. “Please, don’t do that!” She was frantic with fear.

Suddenly, the door flew open and Josh stood there, gun in hand. He swung the weapon towards the bodyguard, who aimed back. They stood there in silence for what was probably a few seconds, but to Laura felt like weeks.

With deceptive calm, DeLeo reached into his pocket and pulled out his own gun, carefully placing it at Claire’s temple.

“Well. It seems we have a bit of a standoff here. But I think I have the advantage. You know what we’re going to do? We’re going to do exactly what I started to do, and you’ll just have to watch. Now, Josh, Pitir will go with you while you get the branding irons, while Sergei here gets the torch ready so he can heat them up.”

Oh God, oh God…Laura struggled to breathe.

“No, I don’t think so,” Josh stated with calm certainty.

“Oh, yes, I think so. Or your girlfriend here will get a bullet through the brain. I don’t imagine she’ll do much piano playing when she’s dead, will she?”

Claire let out a gasp as Josh’s eyes darted back and forth between her and Laura.

Laura was the only one who could break this impasse. “Master, uh, Josh, um, it’s okay. Go get them. I’ll be fine.” Her voice trembled, but she looked at him steadily. He stared back for a moment, then nodded and let the gun dangle from his finger. The large guard approached and relieved him of the weapon. Then he motioned with his gun, and Josh preceded him down the hall, his empty hands spread to the side.

DeLeo turned his attention to Sergei. “What are you waiting for?”

“You said girl vanted branding.” His Slavic accent was thick, and hard to understand. “You said noting about guns.”

“Change in plans. Youwilldo the branding, and youwilldo it right. If I think for one moment you aren’t burning it into her skin like you should, I’ll kill you.”

“You know noting about branding. If I do it not-deep it vill hurt more and longer. If I do it right, is not too much pain.” His eyes locked with Laura’s and she gave him a small smile in thanks for that information.

DeLeo gave a nod to the remaining man in the room, who was suddenly in Laura’s face, pulling her to the spanking bench. She struggled, but the man was so large that he quickly pinned her face down with all the straps tightened, completely immobilized. She fought to breathe, willing her body to relax and force back the rising flood of panic that threatened to engulf her.

“Vere does brand go?” Sergei asked. Laura jerked as someone’s finger touched the fleshiest part of her bottom, still red and sore from her latest spanking. “You know dat she vill not be able to sit for one or two veeks if I put it dere?”

“Good. Then she’ll have to kneel instead. More fitting for my slave.”

Josh returned, and the propane torch hissed as it was lit. Sergei wiped something cool and wet over her skin. She jerked at the unexpected touch of someone’s hand gripping hers, and glanced up to find Josh standing over her, saying something to Sergei that was too soft for her to hear.

The man nodded. “You vill all vant to wait over dere. I have mask, but is not healthy for you to be near skin when I burn it.”

I don’t want to be near it, either!She almost laughed at the absurdity of it. But Sergei was serious. Josh let go of her hand, and Sergei placed a mask over her face. He leaned down to talk to her softly.

“Ve do four strikes. Dey vill hurt, but not as much as you tink dey vill. Try to keep dat spot relax, not tight.”

She nodded and braced herself.

The pain hit and flared high, and every muscle in her body went rigid. It was gone before she could even finish the screech out of her mouth. All that was left behind was an aching soreness.

“Okay. Ve do number two now.” Again, her body went rigid despite her determination to stay relaxed. She screamed through the mask, and then the pain vanished into a soreness again. But the third and fourth were too much to bear, and she screamed and struggled through both of them, though the bonds prevented even a millimeter of movement.

After the fourth, she started breathing again. It was over. And now she had something burned into her skin to remind her of this bastard for the rest of her life. Tears of both relief and anger trickled down her face to drip off her nose and fall to the floor.

Something was taped over the newly marked flesh. “You keep this on one veek, da?”

“A week?” DeLeo protested. “I’ve never heard of it being on that long! Show it to me!”

“One full veek. My clients never have infection and never vill. You take it off den, vash it good, anddenlook at it.” That was strange advice for a brand; keeping it covered would actually help it heal and make the brandlessvisible. She was grateful to Sergei for whatever help he was giving her. Josh was back at her side, releasing the straps and helping her stand. Her butt and hip ached, but she got her feet on the floor and Josh held her until she got her balance.

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