Descent Into Darkness (24 page)

CHAPTER XLVIII –
A Dish Served Warm

Red had already been trussed tightly to take her threat out of the equation. With the utmost care, Jade lifted Amber’s head to cradle it on her lap. She was beautifully tranquil, belying the actions that had set her that way. Under normal circumstances Jade wouldn’t have risked moving her out of fear of what injuries she may already be carrying. These were not normal times though and this place was not a normal place - so she raised her and tried to revive her.

== ~ ==

A voice in the distance called her name. She was settled though, happy in the sun beneath the apple tree and she refused to move. It called again and again in an insistent crescendo, beckoning her to come back even while a welcoming white light beamed from the opposite direction.

She knew she couldn’t stay and the pull was strong from each direction. It was such a difficult choice and, slowly, Amber rose as she considered her first step.

The voice was gentle, welcoming. The fragrance of the accent intrigued her and a thought formed. Was it her? Had she come? Amber took the first step toward the call, away from the light, which started to fade.

It was easier now. Amber opened her eyes and looked into the familiar, friendly face of Jade. “Welcome back, ma cherie.” Amber knew immediately that she’d made the right choice.

== ~ ==

“Try to move, ma Cherie,” encouraged Jade, looking into the staring eyes of Amber with genuine concern. Amber tried to raise her head. “Doucement, ma cherie, doucement.” Jade placed a calming hand on her arm.

Amber was not yet fully coherent but the fog was drifting aside. Putting an arm beneath her, Amber rested on her elbow and tried to lever up. From the darting pain in her elbow to the throb in her neck, all bore witness to the attack.

“Red?” Amber thought, snapping into consciousness, hearing her own words and realising they were shouted aloud. Bending her knee to push herself up further, she collapsed as a reminder of the assault shot up her leg. She remembered the blow to the side of her knee and already feared the worst.

Jade was no fool, she could see the agony etched across Amber’s face. She could also see the grim determination underpinning it and so, reluctant as she was, she helped Amber to her feet.

It hurt like nothing she had felt before and Amber had to hop at first until she managed to compensate and at least balance. Gram by gram she placed extra weight down until she could finally stand, precariously but unaided.

Looking down to check her knee, she saw Red for the first time, a dark pool of blood now staining the floor beside her.

“She’s alive, ma cherie, mais she awaits your attention.” Jade answered an unspoken question. No more communication was needed, both knew what they had to do. Jade had to know all was fine though, it was her way and her concern for the injured woman would not easily abate.

Amber looked down. She would normally be no match for Red but Red had troubles of her own. Already bound hand and foot, uncomfortably gagged and with a head wound, even if awake, she was opportunity and an angry Amber had just one thing on her mind.

She knew exactly what she would do and, for the first time, she no longer felt betrayed by Red. She felt nothing, a cold empty vacuum and so, with a nod of assurance to Jade, Amber got to work.

== ~ ==

It took a certain mental toughness to endure the attentions of Raven and Jade now saw that manifest as the limping Amber hurried around the room. An item here, one there and it wasn’t long before she was ready.

Assured that matters here at least were under control Jade smiled, knowing stage one was complete. It wasn’t exactly without a hitch, a minute longer and who knows what would have happened to Amber but they had got there in the nick of time and Red was now out of the picture.

Bigger challenges lay ahead and Jade’s concern now shifted to Mela. She’d been too long already and, with an encouraging wink and thumbs up to Amber, she headed back down the stairs to investigate the delay.

== ~ ==

Collecting things was the easy part. For once, Amber thanked Raven. Her spontaneously sadistic needs meant that her room was well-stocked. There was bondage equipment aplenty if you knew where to look. Amber had been responsible for tidying the room. Even though she had to limp her way from place to place, rummaging in cupboards and discrete drawers, Amber had soon amassed what she needed and moved back to the prone woman bound on the floor.

She looked down at Red. Such a body, and Amber knew how much work, and no small amount of cash, Red had invested to hone it. It was her pride and joy and Amber smiled, knowing exactly the currency of her payback.

== ~ ==

The shadowy figure at the bottom of the steps made Jade
draw back. Much larger than Raven she thought but the angle was deceptive and she couldn’t be sure. She flung herself flat against the wall, silently thanking Mela for the near silence of the thickly-treaded boots she wore.

The figure moved, approaching her. This wasn’t ideal. She didn’t have the space to use skills ingrained by years of martial arts training. She was on higher ground though, three steps higher to be precise so Jade gathered herself, ready for her attack, ready to fight for her life.

CHAPTER XLIX – Raven Danger

Her strike held a little fortune as the mist sprayed over her
lowered head but it was Mela’s hesitation that had really sealed the victory for Raven.

As the can was knocked from her hand, Mela knew she had already lost. Before she could think, her arm was twisted harshly up her back causing her to gasp, then a kick to the back of her knees had her fold. She didn’t resist, she couldn’t. Her courage slunk back into its shell and she was again a puppet to that most brutal of Mistresses.

Pressure on her severely twisted arm forced Mela further down. A knee on her back and a hand on her head were soon pushing her into the floor.

“So thoughtful of you to bring equipment for me,” observed Raven, loosening the handcuffs from Mela’s belt and ratcheting them tightly around the smaller girl’s slender wrists.

Raven snatched a second item from the belt. A tug on Mela’s scalp sparked some fight back but it was too late and the rubber ball was jammed into her mouth and secured.

The fight was lost but she would not go so easily and Mela kicked and bucked with all she had. “Where has
this
Mela been?” Raven purred, deftly swatting away the attempts and snatching a zip tie from her captive’s belt.

Kicking feet failed to even get close to any significant target and Raven soon captured flailing ankles and wrenched the zip tie tight, applying a second just above Mela’s knees.

She was so well practiced and it showed. Raven shifted again. She’d subjected Mela to bondage so many times but not like this. Raven basked in Mela’s continued but diminishing resistance.

Raven knew full well that Mela was limber but she put that flexibility to the test now. Elbows already bound, Raven threaded a tie through, yanking it as tightly as she could, forming a cinch and causing Mela’s flesh to bulge around the harsh plastic band.

Mela would cause no more trouble. The affront of a slave resisting her though scorched Raven. She unclipped Mela’s now empty belt and wrestled it from under her.

== ~ ==

The commotion behind the mirrored wall was even enough to beat the soundproofing. The exhausted Katarina craned her head in hope of seeing beyond her reflected image, that of a naked running woman.

She knew things were not well in BDSM paradise and that her own introduction into this carefully sculpted world had caused it to start to fragment. It was a strange satisfaction to draw, but a satisfaction nonetheless and it kept Katarina going, even though her body was reaching the end of its endurance.

== ~ ==

Raven dodged Mela’s attempts to kick her with ease and grabbed her legs. Tucking them under her arm, she threaded the belt she had taken through the zip tie at Mela’s ankles.

One more buck of her hips, more in protest than in any hope of delaying the outcome and Mela mewled into her gag. Her legs were folded over, the bite of plastic felt even through the leather of her boots.

‘So glad I still have the boots on,’ thought Mela. She could feel herself drifting into that detached space she always went to when subjected to Raven’s sadism. The chunky heels of her boots were soon pressing into her butt.

Already biting deeply, the added pressure increased Mela’s discomfort as her legs naturally tried to spring back straight. Raven didn’t stop though, drawing the belt tighter and tighter until she was satisfied there was no more bow she could achieve in Mela’s body. Mela was naturally flexible but even that was pushed to the limit. Her back protested at the position imposed on it and she was rolled onto her side.

There above her, in a position so familiar, stood Raven; authoritative, cool, dominant. Raven paused, just looking down on the now immobile figure at her feet, then crouched beside the young woman she had taken so easily.

Her examination of Mela was almost scientific. Mela, in turn, could do nothing but lie there like a hogtied animal. “I will enjoy your
proper
punishment.” It sounded inevitable in so many ways.

Long elegant fingers slid open the zip on Mela’s catsuit to expose milky white skin beneath. It felt like the invasion it was and as her breasts were scooped out from their latex confines, Mela grunted her protest through the gag in her mouth.

“Oh yes, these will get such exquisite attention.” Raven squeezed both nipples hard. The groan was one of frustration, though it could easily have been mistaken for pleasure. Raven smirked, releasing the pinch just enough to allow the blood to hurry back, knowing the pulsing discomfort it would bring.

Mela was rolled onto her front and the cold tile floor shocked her newly sore nipples. “Now stay there, I have pressing matters to attend to.”

And with that Raven stepped over Mela, raking a sharp heel over the bound girl’s back. When it had snagged and torn the latex as intended, Raven went to the door to hunt down Jade. By instinct and with Mela’s appearance, she had to be somewhere close by.

== ~ ==

Jade’s heart pounded, primed to leap. She had been spotted yet there was no attack and her gut was telling her there was no real threat here. As the figure moved into the swathe of light on the landing, Jade breathed again at the sight of Dan and stepped forward.

“Please Dan, help Amber.” Jade pointed back up the steps to hurry things along. His nod confirmed his understanding and, striding past, he rushed up the stairs two at a time.

It could so easily have been Raven. In her haste, Jade knew she’d been careless, trying to move too fast. She set off again, efforts to remain quiet redoubled, descending the next flight of stairs.

== ~ ==

She’d let them down, let them all down. Her own part in this had ended with little more than a whimper. Mistress Jade would be so disappointed in her. ‘
Mistress
Jade,’ Mela repeated in her head. The words sat well together. She was nothing like Raven. In her, there was compassion, respect, a woman she could entrust herself to without fear of the red mist that took control of the whip.

Where Raven had her studied elegance, Jade possessed natural class which spoke of her good breeding. Where Raven had brutality, Jade had an easy sensual authority, carrot as opposed to Raven’s stick.

Jade offered a new start, an exciting start, yet with the structure and control Mela still felt she needed to deal with the demons that cavorted and refused to lie still within her. Looking straight at the naked Katarina beyond the one-way mirror, Mela knew she would follow Jade anywhere and through anything. She was
her
girl now and yet, with her blundering carelessness, she had let her down.