Part 15. Endings.


	Like Suzanne, Amy had spent her evening obeying commands.  Unlike
Suzanne, Amy was bound in one way or another throughout the experience.  Like
Suzanne, she was punished for her errors, but there the similarity ended.  Amy
did not have a code word and would have used it if she had one.  Amy felt no
inner need to obey.  Her obedience was compelled by an ever deepening terror of
the consequences of disobedience.  Commands now included doing various things to
cause herself pain.  Without hesitation she had applied a pair of heavy clamps
to her nipples.  They had hurt terribly, but Amy remembered the pins, which had
been worse.  She still wasn't sure she could put a cigarette out on herself, but
the idea was no longer inconceivable.  It was just a matter of time.  She looked
forward to her graduation exercise with increasing dread.

	On Tuesday morning, Malcolm got a call at work.  "Malcolm, it's Mike.  I
got Manfred's number out of the computer, but when I call all I get is his voice
mail.  The receptionist said he won't be in for the rest of the day.  I never
heard Manfred's voice all that much, but the voice on the recording sounds like
I remember him and has a slight accent.  I'm pretty sure it's our guy."

	"Any way to get any more information?"

	"I'm working on it.  I didn't want to leave a message because he'll
probably recognize my voice.  I'll have one of the other guys leave him a
message to call us.  We're a big enough account that we'll probably hear fromh
him."

	"So what happens when you hear from him?"

	"I'll try to get him to come over here.  Once I get my hands on him
we'll get some answers."

	"Have you thought that all the way through?  Are you sure you want to
get physical with a vendor on company premises?"

	"Okay, maybe I'll just follow him home.  Then I'll kill him."

	"Keep me posted."

	Amy could have told Mike that he wouldn't be hearing from Manfred that
day.  She had spent the morning being terrorized by Sebastian while Manfred had
devoted the morning  to Claire.  Manfred had spent the night remonstrating with
Claire about her lack of obedience.  Her screams would have kept Amy up all
night if it hadn't been for Amy's own exhaustion and the fact that Claire's
voice gave out early on.  When she awoke, she could still hear Manfred working
on Claire.

	Amy was currently standing as she had on the previous morning chained by
the neck to the beam with the other women. Manfred stood before them and it was
obvious that there was going to be a repeat of Claire's graduation exercise.
Sebastian seemed to be absent, as did one of the women who had been there on the
previous occasion.

	A different kettle bubbled away on the camp stove this time.  It was
shallower and broader than the previous one.  Amy watched it, wondering if she
herself would be able to plunge her hand into it if ordered.  At this point, she
was pretty sure she would.  Grace had been right, no matter how horrible a thing
she was ordered to do, not doing it was worse.

	Amy's musing was interrupted by Claire being led into the room.  She
limped even more painfully than yesterday and her entire body below the neck was
covered with blisters.  Her burns were obviously extremely painful.  Simply
wrapping her in a scratchy wool blanket would probably torture her beyond
endurance.  Nevertheless, Amy was pretty sure Claire had been made to suffer
more than a blanket.  Her face was filled with pain and fear.  Although she had
looked bad yesterday, it was amazing how much worse she looked only a day later.

	"Good evening, ladies.  Once again, we're assembled to watch Claire
prove herself.  As you can see, we've had to treat her rather harshly, but I
think we've made progress.  Claire promises that this time she will complete her
assigned task, and so I've called you all forth to witness her triumph."

	Manfred produced a quarter and fitted it edgewise into a small flat
metal plate so that the it stood on edge.  Then he grasped it with a pair of
tongs and lowered it into the water.

	"Now, Claire, if you will, please, get my quarter for me."

	Claire stood confused for a moment.  Her hands were still tied behind
her.  She looked at Manfred who stood impassively.  Finally, she turned and
backed up to the kettle.  She was going to have to plunge both hands into the
water behind her to get the quarter.

	"No, Claire.  If I wanted you to use your hands I would have untied
them.  You will retrieve the quarter with your teeth."

	Amy hadn't thought that Claire could look any more frightened than she
already did, but she had been wrong.  Manfred had come up with a task that was
even more horrible than anything Claire had prepared herself for.  Nonetheless,
there was no question in anyone's mind, including Claire's, that she would go
through with it.  Horrendous as the idea of plunging her face into the boiling
water was, they had all learned the lesson of Claire's previous failure.  Not
doing it would be worse.

	Amy watched as Claire gathered her courage.  Amy wanted to scream on
Claire's behalf, but she was gagged.  She watched in enforced silence as Claire
drew a deep breath and leaned over the pot.

	Malcolm arrived home to a ringing telephone.  "Hello," he answered.

	"Good evening, sir."

	"Gerald, I'm surprised to hear from you."

	"And why is that, sir?  I had thought you would be expecting me to
contact you."

	"For one thing, I didn't think you had my phone number."  Gerald had
called on the line which was reserved for Malcolm's customers, a number he gave
out only to his customers.

	"Obviously I do, sir.  Be that as it may, the reason for my call is that
the individual about whom you inquired is currently visiting us.  He has brought
a guest with him, someone I haven't seen before."

	"So Sebastian's at the club with a new pony."

	"Yes, sir.  That is what I said."

	"I'll be right down.  I don't have a pony tonight, so I'll just wait
outside until he leaves.  See if you can keep him there 'til I get there."

	"I take it that you intend to follow him home."

	"Yes, something like that."

	"Would it save you the trip if I gave you his address?"

	"You have it?"

	"Yes, sir, I do."

	"Gerald, you're amazing."

	"That coincides with my own opinion, sir."

	"What's the address?"

	"He has a farm fifty two miles north of town at the junction of highway
fifteen and county road H.  There is a two story white farmhouse with a blue
roof and a large barn with a red roof.  It's the only property in the area with
a barn."

	"Thank you, Gerald, I'm in your debt."

	"Hardly, sir.  Until now I was in yours."

	Malcolm called Mike.

	"Mike, I just heard from Gerald.  He gave me Sebastian's address."

	"We'll go in my car.  I'll pick you up in twenty minutes."

	Amy had nearly died.  She had watched Claire plunge her face into the
water.  Remarkably, Claire had retrieved the quarter, but her face had turned a
bright red and blisters were already beginning to form.  Claire had collapsed on
the floor, possibly unconscious.  Amy had vomited into her gag.  If it hadn't
been for fast action on Manfred's part, quickly slicing her gag strap with a
knife and applying the heimlich maneuver, she would have choked to death on her
own vomit.

	After ascertaining that Amy was alright, Manfred returned to Claire.  He
revived her by opening a small brown bottle and passing it back and forth before
her face.  Claire sneezed, opened her eyes, and began screaming.  Manfred worked
a gag into her mouth, scooped her into his arms and carried her off.

	Upon his return, Manfred addressed his assembled captives.  "Well,
ladies, as you can see, Claire has learned her lesson and graduated.  I hope
you'll all remember the lesson of this day when it comes time for your own
graduation."

	One by one, Manfred unchained each student and led her back to her
stall.  He left Amy and Grace until last.  Amy was numb and therefore only mildly
alarmed when Manfred led Grace and herself out of the room rather than back to
their stalls.

	"That's it over there," Malcolm said to Mike, pointing to the house and
barn which sat about a hundred yards off the road.  "Shall we just drive up
there?"

	"No," Mike said.  "We don't want Sebastian to return and see a strange
car here."

	"That looks like a side road about a quarter mile ahead.  We can park
there and walk up."

	Rather than walk up the drive, Mike and Malcolm approached the house
overland from the side.  As they neared the house, they separated, each going to
a separate window.  Cautiously, they peered around the edges of the windows,
then conferred.

	"Looks like an ordinary bedroom to me," Mike said.

	"I didn't see any sign of anybody.  I don't think there's anyone in
there.  Let's check the rest of the windows, then try the barn."

	They separated once again, working their way around the house in
opposite directions, meeting up again on the other side.

	"Anything?" Mike asked.

	"Nope, nothing.  You?"

	"Me either.  Let's check the barn."

	The barn was large and the few windows it had were up high.  It had a
barn door at either end.  Mike and Malcolm decided to attempt entry through the
door farthest from the house.

	The door didn't seem to be latched and opened with little effort and
less noise.  Malcolm and Mike slipped inside to find themselves in a large room
with wood pillars every few feet.  The only light in the room was provided by
two small lamps, each attached to a pillar, which shown downward casting a
puddle of illumination at the base of the pillar.  Standing in the center of
each puddle was a naked woman whose wrists were tied above her head just under
her light.  Each woman had an alligator clip fastened to each nipple from which
wires trailed off into the darkness.  The women were Amy and Grace.

	Mike and Malcolm started forward, then froze as all the lights in the
room suddenly came on.

	"Good evening, gentlemen," Manfred said as he stepped out from behind a
pillar.  "What took you so long?  I've been expecting you for days."

	"You bastard," Mike yelled as he started forward.

	"Stay where you are," Manfred ordered, raising the gun he held in one
hand.  Malcolm grabbed Mike by the collar and pulled him back.

	"Very wise," Manfred commented.  "I was hoping not to have to shoot you. 
I would hate for you to miss the entertainment.  The ladies are going to dance
and it would be a shame if there were no audience."

	"So you've been expecting us," Malcolm said.

	"As I said, for days now.  I finally got tired of waiting, so I sent
Sebastian to the pony girl club, anticipating that you might follow him here. 
By the way, what have you done with him?"

	"Nothing yet.  As far as I know, he's still at the club."

	"Too bad.  I hoped you'd dispose of that idiot for me."

	"Looks like you'll have to do your own dirty work," Mike said.

	"Maybe, maybe not.  Perhaps I'll tie him down and set the ladies loose
on him.  They doubtless have a few frustrations they'd like to express."

	"I'm sure they do.  So what have you got planned for us."

	"We'll get to that.  We're going to start off with a little
entertainment."  Turning to the women, he said, "Okay, ladies, time for your
performance.  Dance, if you please."

	Amy and Grace began dancing in place with weird high stepping motions. 
Manfred raised his other hand in which he held a small black box, which was
apparently the destination of the wires attached to the women.  He pushed a
button on the box and both women began making garbled screeching noises and
their movements became spastic and erratic, although they persisted in their
attempts to dance.

	"Amusing, isn't it."

	Mike surged forward again and Malcolm again attempted to restrain him. 
Manfred fired a shot which lodged in the floor inches in front of Mike's
foremost foot.  It was apparent to Malcolm that the bullet had gone exactly
where Manfred had intended.  Manfred was obviously a skilled marksman and it
didn't seem likely he'd get rattled and shoot wildly if they rushed him.  Mike
quietly stepped back to his previous position.

	Manfred nodded approvingly, then pushed a second button on his box. 
Both women stood shuddering in place.

	"I do so love making beautiful women suffer."  Manfred commented as Mike
and Malcolm looked on helplessly.

	After a bit he released the button and Amy and Grace collapsed, hanging
by their wrists.  "Alas, back to more mundane matters."  He turned to Grace and
waited for her eyes to come back into focus.  "Grace, you'd like to get out of
here, wouldn't you?"  She nodded.  "Good.  Tonight is your graduation exercise. 
Pass it, and you're free to go."

	Grace looked frightened as Manfred cut the rope holding her wrists
overhead, then winced as the clips were removed from her nipples.  "Step over
here in front of me, that's right."  Manfred reached in front of Grace with his
right hand which held the gun.  "Now, here's all you have to do.  Take this gun
and shoot these men.  Do you understand?  Shoot them and you're free to go." 
Grace nodded.  "Very well, obey."

	Grace took the gun, holding it in both hands which were still bound in
front of her, arms extended and pointing it at Mike.  She took a step forward. 
Mike and Malcolm tensed.  "Don't move," she ordered in a shaky voice.  She took
another step forward.

	"Not too close," Manfred ordered.  "We don't want them grabbing the
gun."

	Grace half turned toward Manfred when he spoke.  This was the opening
Mike and Malcolm had been waiting for and both men charged forward, as did
Manfred, who stepped toward Grace as well.

	"Stay out of my way," Grace shouted at Mike and Malcolm as she stepped
sideways and completed her turn.  Manfred was closer and got there first.  The
gun went off just as he put his hand on hers and Manfred staggered backwards,
hit in the chest.  Mike and Malcolm halted their charge as the next shot hit
Manfred in the face, the one after in the neck.  Grace continued working her way
down the thorax and into the abdomen until the gun was empty. "Am I free to go
now?" Grace asked of what was obviously Manfred's corpse.

	"Grace, you shot him!" Mike gasped.

	"Yes, I did," said Grace.  "I killed him.  Would you rather I'd shot
you?"

	"No, no, of course not," said Mike, wrapping his arms around her and
pulling her to him.  "It's just...it's just...you shot him."

	"It was just a matter of time.  Just a matter of time.  I knew if I did
everything he said, let him do whatever he wanted to me, some day he'd trust me
too far."

	"For a minute there, I thought you were going to shoot me."

	"I would have, if you'd tried to take the gun."

	"You really would have shot me?"

	"Just a flesh wound, if that's what it took to get out of arm's reach of
Manfred.  I had to have enough space to be able to turn before he could get to
me."

	"You really would have shot me," Mike repeated, bewildered.

	"Yes," Grace said and burst into tears.

	While the exchange between Mike and Grace was taking place, Malcolm
walked over to release Amy, who shrank against her post in fear at his approach.

	"Amy, it's okay, he's dead.  It's okay.  You're safe," Malcolm said in
his most soothing voice, but Amy did not look comforted.  Malcolm released her
wrists and her arms dropped to her sides, but she otherwise stood stiffly erect,
not moving.  He wrapped his arms around her, but she retained her rigid posture,
except to quiver in fear.  She reacted not at all when Malcolm removed the clips
from her nipples.  He noted the partially healed wounds on her breasts left by
the pins, but didn't know what had caused them.

	"Tell her what to do," Grace said.  "She's been terrorized.  It will
take her a while before she's normal.  She doesn't know how to detach.  She
actually felt all the pain Manfred inflicted.  For now, just tell her what you
want.  She'll obey."

	"Amy, is Claire here?  Where's Claire?"

	"Through there," Amy said, pointing at the far door.

	"Stay put," Malcolm said unnecessarily and headed for the door.

	Beyond the door, Malcolm was in a room full of stalls like in a stable. 
There were over a dozen of them, arranged on either side of the hall.  Most were
empty, but two of them were occupied by women he didn't recognize who knelt
rigidly on the floors of their stalls, each chained by her neck to the rear
wall.

	In the very last stall he found the most wretched woman he had ever
seen.  Her entire body was covered with blisters and welts.  Her eyes were open
and stared vacantly through Malcolm.  She knelt as did the others, chained by
the neck and hands tied behind her.  Malcolm turned away and headed for the far
door to the stable room to continue his search for Claire.

	Passing through the far door, Malcolm looked about.  Judging from the
contents of the room, it was used for torture, but was unoccupied.  Malcolm
exited the room and headed back the way he came, then stopped and returned to
the wretched woman.

	"Claire?"

	She looked up but didn't otherwise respond.

	"Claire?  Oh my god.  Hang on, I'll get you loose."  He looked at the
lock on her neck chain, then said, "I've got to find keys.  I'll be right back."

	He returned to Mike and Grace.  He and Mike searched Manfred's body, but
didn't find any keys.  They examined the rest of the room, which contained some
cabinets and a couple of closets.  The cabinets contained mainly items for
restraint and punishment, but no keys.  Malcolm found a pry bar in one of the
closets and returned to Claire.  He used the pry bar to rip the eye bolt at the
end of her chain from the wood of the rear of the stall.  Claire stood upon
command and Malcolm led her forth by the chain.

	Amy's eyes widened as they entered the room.  She was obviously
frightened by the sight of Malcolm leading Claire in on her chain.

	"Holy shit!" Mike exclaimed upon seeing Claire.  "Is that Claire?  What
happened to her?"

	"She's been scalded," Grace replied.

	"Claire, what did they do?"

	"I graduated," Claire replied.  "I'll do whatever you want.  Just tell
me.  I'll do it.  You won't have to hurt me.  I graduated."

	"She learned to detach," Grace said, "and she doesn't want to come back. 
I don't blame her.  She must be in incredible pain.  A burn is the hurt that
keeps on hurting."

	Malcolm looked at Grace.  She was a different person since having shot
Manfred.  It had always seemed to Malcolm as if she had been hiding inside
herself ever since he'd known her, but with Manfred's death she had come back
out.

	"So now what?" Mike asked.

	"Shh, somebody's coming," Malcolm hissed.

	Mike and Malcolm stepped behind the nearest posts as a figure in a fox
hunting outfit appeared in the door.  Claire and Amy were already hiding and
Grace pointed the empty gun at the intruder.

	"Oh, dear, I had hoped I would be in time to prevent this sort of
thing," Gerald said, eyeing the former Manfred.

	"Who are you and what's with the silly outfit?" Grace demanded.

	"It's okay, Grace," Malcolm said, "I know him."

	"I regret that I didn't have time to change into something more
suitable.  I have a very nice Hercule Poirot outfit which would have been more
appropriate to the occasion."

	"Gerald, what are you doing here?" Malcolm asked.

	"I thought you might require assistance."

	"We probably do, but what do you have in mind."

	"I think the ladies are in need of medical attention, especially the one
hiding behind the far pillar," Gerald said, indicating Claire.  He handed a card
to Malcolm.  "Take them to this doctor.  He is expecting you and won't ask
questions.  You should go there now."

	"He's expecting us?" Malcolm asked in surprise.

	"I had anticipated your needs, sir."

	"I see.  And what about him?" Malcolm asked, indicating the former
Manfred.

	"Sebastian will bury him upon his return."

	"But what about the police?" asked Mike.

	"Who will call them?  The absence of the individual on the floor will be
appreciated by all who knew him.  I doubt that anyone will inquire as to the
reason for it."

	"What about Sebastian?" Malcolm asked.

	"Considering his own activities, he is unlikely to welcome police
scrutiny.  He will prefer to pretend the whole thing never happened.."

	"And the other women he's holding captive?"

	"I will see to them, sir.  Now take the ladies and go before Sebastian
returns.  I would prefer to deal with him without distraction."

	"Yeah," said Mike, "I'd like to deal with him, too."

	"If you please, sir, although my methods are not as drastic as yours,"
he said, glancing sidelong at the former Manfred, "they are quite effective."

	"Gerald, you're amazing," said Malcolm.  "I've said it before."
	
	"As have I, sir."

	Malcolm sat pondering the last few months of his life.  It had been
three months since he and Mike had rescued the girls from Sebastian's farm
(rescued was probably an overstatement - it had been Grace that shot Manfred and
Gerald that had picked up the pieces).  Prior to Manfred, he'd been happy.  He'd
had a nice business doing something he really enjoyed, and it had been on the
verge of making a good living for him.  Of late, his only need for temp work had
been as a source of new customers, but now all that was changed.

	The problem was that he'd lost his enthusiasm for what he did and
enthusiasm was essential to satisfying his customers.  He hadn't recruited any
new customers lately, and contracts from his old ones were on the decline.  The
reason for this, of course, was Amy and Claire.

	They lived with him now.  Neither was yet capable of holding a job and
Malcolm had outfitted a room for each of them in his building.  To economize,
he'd given up his apartment and now lived there full time himself.

	Claire's burns had healed but Claire had not.  She stayed in her room
almost all the time.  She was tended by Amy, who was still suspicious of
Malcolm.  Malcolm had never been able to quite convince her that he hadn't paid
Manfred and Sebastian to train herself and her sister.  Malcolm did in fact feel
some guilt for having indirectly caused their captivity, which Amy picked up on
but misinterpreted as direct responsibility.

	Nevertheless, Amy had been trained and despite, or perhaps because of,
her suspicions, she obeyed Malcolm.  Both women did.

	"Be careful what you ask for," Malcolm thought to himself.  It had been
fun spanking Amy, making her a pony girl, but only because she had had the
ability to refuse.  Now that her will had been suppressed to the point of
annihilation, her obedience had no value.  He had punished her once since her
training, bound and spanked her, but it had been a dreary experience.   Amy had
submitted to restraint, then endured her spanking in silence.  It had left
Malcolm feeling ashamed.  He wondered if Brad had yet tired of Bev's mindless
obedience.

	Malcolm had made one final trip to the Bit and Bridle.  He thought about
taking Amy, but there seemed no point.  All he really wanted there was to see
Gerald and thank him for his assistance.  He had offered Gerald some money in
return for his assistance, but Gerald had informed him that he had already been
compensated.  Malcolm had also inquired as to Sebastian's fate.

	"I sold him," Gerald had replied.

	"What do you mean, 'sold him'?"

	"Just that, sir.  The purchaser and I agreed upon a price whereupon the
transaction was consummated."

	"But...but...so that's what you were talking about when you said you'd
already been compensated."

	"Quite."

	"Gerald, you're amazing."

	"Indeed, sir."

	Amy padded through the room on her way to the kitchen, interrupting
Malcolm's thoughts.  Malcolm snapped his fingers and pointed at his crotch.  Amy
hurried over and busied herself pleasing him.  There were, after all, some
advantages to the current situation.  Nonetheless, if he could go back to the
way things used to be, he would.