Chapter 9: Kinky Shiny Torture Show

Paranoia had already become second nature to me. Fortunately. I had quickly discovered the hidden camera in my room, even though it was really well camouflaged. The camera itself didn’t bother me; I had offered a 24/7 live cam show myself. But of course I had to know where its blind spots were and if there were any more. My training had been really thorough in this regard. The trick wasn’t to find a hidden camera, which could be done with almost any cell phone and the right app, but to search for it inconspicuously. It had been a strange journey from a student who had used her special talents to finance her studies to where I was now. Three years ago, I was a successful student, and now? Key witness, porn actress, detective on my own behalf, freelance ... investigator (or was that officially called information gatherer?), and wanted by the Russian mafia. At least I had the least to fear from the latter, as they had no picture of me to recognize me. I had been able to hide my double life well in the past, and there were hardly any photos from my civilian life. And they didn’t have any of them. They only knew that I was Nadine’s sister, knew my old name, possibly had pictures of me with heavy makeup and a fake wig, and knew that I was good at poker. The only way to catch or meet me was through my sister, and they had used that opportunity. The unused pregnancy test was the only memento I had left of her.

I have no doubt that German investigators have a good track record, but my sister was not a high priority for them. There was a shortage of personnel in all areas. At least my new papers were so authentic that they stood up to any scrutiny. I could even use them to apply for visas in other countries without any problems. If I hadn’t spent so much money on the futile search, it would have been easier and safer for me, of course. I could have taken a quiet job somewhere and lived a secluded life until the dust had settled. But apart from the fact that this was out of the question for me as long as my sister was in the hands of these criminals, I was now heavily in debt. Not only to the bank, and I had to pay that back. So I did the only thing I knew how to do that would earn me good money quickly, and hid myself in plain sight, so to speak. Hoping that this was exactly what they didn’t expect. My overworked supervisor threw his hands up in despair and simply said that from now on I was on my own. But he was still covering for me. I had no idea what he would say if he knew what I had gotten myself into again: would he be thrilled or horrified?

Soon after, I returned to the apartment building with my purchases. I hadn’t noticed a tail all day; if there was one, it must have been damn good. Maybe they relied on digital surveillance, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Even Holger had been able to find out so little about this building beforehand that it was nothing short of a miracle that they were able to get me in here. Or actually, no. They had approached me precisely because they expected me to be able to gain access here. They had calculated that I would have six months, a year at most, to investigate and gather information for them. In the meantime, they were searching for my sister with their considerably more extensive resources, promising to free her if necessary. So far, Holger had kept his word. Now I had to keep mine, whether I liked it or not. Rebecca had probably already had Holger checked out. Following his digital trail to his Facebook account was easy for a professional. And there they found lots of pictures. Of his family, his friends, his mother Christa with her new kittens, and also of me. Of us on a group trip to the mountains. I was honestly amazed at how much effort had been put into my cover. In addition, I was given a completely fictitious circle of friends, each with their own biography. And they had completely rewritten my resume to match my new identity. I couldn’t say how many of my “friends” were real or only existed in the digital world. But I knew that some of them were real. I had to learn a story about each one. They had been extremely thorough. Holger was now my childhood friend from Rotenburg Wümme, a small town in northern Germany. Completely harmless.

I was a little nervous about whether I might be expected upon my arrival and asked uncomfortable questions. But nothing of the sort happened. I was greeted with a friendly nod at reception and made it to my room without any problems.

After putting away my purchases, I made myself presentable. I still had some time before the shoot, but I wanted to be ready on time. It was going to be exhausting today, but for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel any inner despair or the need to numb it with sexual desire or even pain, but rather hope. I checked my pad for messages. Thomas had sent me something: small changes for today. My outfit had been changed for another one. Where did they get these things? I immersed myself in my new identity as Kumiho again. So that was what lay ahead of me today? Oh dear, my day was going to be even more exhausting than I had thought. If this continued, I wouldn’t be able to work up here because I would need all the time between shoots downstairs to recover. But the tax office was really the least of my worries at the moment. Besides, my “tax advisor” had explained to me that they had a solution for that too. Basically, I was actually quite happy to be in front of the camera downstairs most of the time. Being so anonymous, no one could track me down. Unfortunately, in the course of this train of thought, I overlooked something I really couldn’t have anticipated.

I was practically cooked in my own sweat. The spotlights radiated a heat that you wouldn’t think possible with modern technology. Mimi, Vixen, and I stood on the stage in latex outfits. Each of us wore a different outfit, but what they all had in common was that they left our crotches and breasts exposed. We also wore extremely high-heeled shoes, which would become important later on. Then there was ‘The Punisher’ in a sexy, skimpy black latex costume that covered his penis but not his broad, muscular chest. He wore a black cloth with eye slits on his head as an executioner’s mask and black leather cuffs on his wrists. Black leather boots completed his outfit; all that was missing was a whip. Hidden under the mask was René, who only played here in various roles while wearing a mask. And I was sure I would be allowed to engage in close combat with him in front of the camera at some point. I was already looking forward to that, but sexual intercourse was not on the agenda today. This time it was completely technical, starting with the backdrop. Unlike what I had seen yesterday, the background was a completely off-putting solid green; it was a green screen. It must have been rebuilt during the night, because yesterday there had been a completely different background, probably so that the cameraman could mark his positions and the lighting technicians could adjust the lighting.