Chapter 4

"Did it take long for that brand to heal?"

"Who are you?" the woman demanded. She eyed Cat's neck brace. "Don't you know what will happen if we're seen together? Get away from me."

"It's okay," said Cat. "They can't track me."

"Maybe you managed to ditch your watchers, but we're in just as much trouble if mine see us."

"You don't have any watchers. They track you electronically with your collar. Mine is shielded, so they can't tell we're together."

"You don't understand. I've already got one strike."

"I've got two," Cat replied. "Believe me, I wouldn't be talking to you if I wasn't sure it was safe. I'll tell you what, though. See that pay phone over there? Walk by it on your way out and get the number. Then on your way home, stop at another pay phone and call that one."

"Okay, I'll try it. I've wanted so badly to talk to someone, but I've been so frightened."

"Fine. I'll walk around for fifteen minutes or so, then I'll go and stand by the phone until you call."

The phone rang just as Cat approached it. "Hello."

"Are you the woman in the neck brace?"

"Yes, it's me. My name is Catherine, but most people call me Cat."

"I remember now. You're the one who was thrown from the horse. I knew that neck brace made me think of something, but I just now realized what. My name is Heather."

"How did you get in the branding competition? Did you volunteer?"

"No. I skipped an assignment. It was my first strike and that was my punishment. I'd hate to find out what they do on the second strike."

"Then you really don't want to know about the third." Nonetheless, Cat proceeded to describe what had happened to Monica.

"Oh, no. Oh, no. I can't believe it. I've been so frightened, and this just makes it worse. These people have taken over my life, and I don't think I'll ever get my indenture paid off. I owe more now than when I started."

"I know. So do I. What kind of assignments do you get? I seem to get a lot of guys who want to whip me and beat me and stuff. I always wondered if that was typical for Institute customers, or if they were giving me all the wackos."

"I think it's typical. I get a lot of that, too. A lot of the Institute's customers seem to be control freaks. They want total submission, and they do mean total."

"Do you have any idea who or where these people are?" Cat asked.

"No. I'm not even sure why they decided to pick on me, although I suspect my ex-husband had something to do with it."

"What happened?"

"One day this guy knocked on my door. He had a contract he said I'd signed and demanded money. I told him to get lost. A week later I got an invoice in the mail with a copy of the contract I'd allegedly signed. It looked like my signature. I had a feeling it had been slipped in with my divorce papers. I signed a bunch of stuff that day without paying very much attention. It was a pretty stressful day all around, and I just signed whatever my lawyer handed me, although I would have thought he'd have caught anything odd. Sometimes I've wondered if my lawyer was in on it. Anyway, I tossed it in the trash. A while after that I got another one with a ridiculous amount which I also ignored. The next day I was collected. Early in the evening, the police knocked on my door and I was arrested. They put me in handcuffs and then put leg irons on me, then they led me out my front door on a leash. The police car was sitting there with its lights flashing and a big crowd had gathered. My neighbors all saw me being taken away in chains. It was so embarrassing. Once I was in the police car, it drove off and I was blindfolded. That's when I began to suspect they weren't real police."

"Do you have any idea where they took you? They knocked me out with some kind of poison gas and I woke up strapped to a hospital bed after they had put the implants in."

"No. They drove around for a long time and turned a lot of corners. I have no idea where I was. Once I got there, they strapped me down to a gurney and put me under with gas. After that I had pretty much the same experience you did."

Cat continued talking to Heather for a while, but didn't really learn anything new. Just the same, it was nice to have someone to talk to. Heather seemed desperate to talk and didn't want Cat to hang up. Finally, she and Heather exchanged phone numbers and worked out a scheme for calling each other from pay phones.

Cat drove home feeling somewhat better about things than she had in a while. She hadn't told Heather about the nature of the Institute's control system or her means for evading it, even though Heather had pressed her for information regarding her apparent freedom to move about. Letting another party in on her secret would only increase the risk, with no countervailing benefit.

As Cat approached her house, she noticed a strange car parked out front. She was so absorbed in the car that shouldn't be there that she nearly failed to notice the man coming out her front door. It was the cupcake salesman. He had the liar tucked under one arm. Cat sped away in a panic.

Cat headed for the freeway, keeping an eye on the rearview mirror to see if she was being followed. Once on the freeway, she headed across town. She would be safer if she wasn't in her neighborhood. She passed through downtown and stopped at a convenience store to call Steve on the pay phone.

"Steve, they stole the liar."

"They did what? What do you mean they stole the liar?"

Cat told Steve what she'd seen.

"Were you followed?" Steve wanted to know.

"Not that I'm aware of. I tried to watch pretty carefully."

"Whatever you do, don't take off the neck brace. The moment it's off, they have control of you."

"I understand."

"Good. Now I want you to come to the shop as quickly as you can. I'll meet you there. I've got to get that collar off you as soon as possible."

"But, Steve, if you take the collar off..."

"Cat, I know what I'm doing. I'll replace it with one of my own, then they won't be able to control you. Now get over here."

Cat rang off and got back in her car. Steve's shop was back in the direction she had come. She got back on the freeway and headed through downtown. What would it be like wearing Steve's collar, she wondered.

Red and blue lights flashing in her rear view mirror interrupted Cat's musing. Oh, shit. She was doing 75 through downtown. Cat pulled onto the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, officer. I was in a hurry and..."

"License and registration, ma'am."

"Officer, I don't mean to be rude," Cat said as she dug in her purse for her license, "but could you show me some ID. I need to be sure you're a real policeman."

"That's quite alright, ma'am. I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours."

Cat handed her ID through the window and the policeman flipped open a small wallet. Side by side were a badge and an official looking picture ID identifying him as a member of the municipal police force.

"You realize you were doing 76 in a 45 zone."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, it was just that I was in a hurry."

"Catherine Lund," he said, scrutinizing her license. "Please step out of the car, Catherine."

"Why? Is there a problem, officer?"

"Yes, ma'am. You have an outstanding warrant. Now please step out of the car."

"But... a warrant? A warrant for what?"

"Parking violation, ma'am. It's a minor offense, but I have to take you in. Please don't make it a more serious matter by resisting arrest."

Cat was stunned. She recalled the unpaid parking ticket. She had only been five minutes over and it had made her so angry at the time that she'd thrown the ticket away. She had no idea it would come back to haunt her like this. She thought of making a break for it, but she knew her car had no chance of outrunning the police cruiser. Reluctantly, she got out of the car.

"Now, place your hands behind you, ma'am."

Cat shivered as the cuffs were locked on her wrists. She felt even more helpless than she had at the auction. So many thoughts were running through her head. Steve was going to have to come down and bail her out. What if the Institute located her in the meantime? What if the police took her neck brace off? What if they came to bail her out? Could she refuse to be let out of jail? What if...

Cat's thoughts were interrupted by the snick of a metal cuff around her ankle. The policeman was down on one knee, chaining her ankles together. Cat thought it rather extreme for a parking violation.

"Is that really necessary, officer?"

"Standard procedure, ma'am. I know you're not a dangerous criminal, but just the same you have to arrive at the station properly restrained."

The officer led Cat to the squad car and helped her in. Cat was afraid he would blindfold her, but he didn't. She was in a mess, but it could certainly be worse. At least it was a real cop.

Cat watched out the window to see where they were going. She saw lightning on the western horizon. A storm was moving in.

The police car headed back downtown. It exited the freeway in an old industrial district full of large abandoned warehouses. There were block upon block of them. Cat wasn't aware of a precinct station in the area, but it was a neighborhood she wasn't familiar with.

The squad car pulled up next to a moldering multi-story building that occupied an entire city block. A garage door opened in the side of the building and the car pulled in. Cat's heart sank. She knew where she was. This was where she had been let out of the van when she'd been brought in to witness Monica's execution. She was at the Institute.

Cat allowed herself to be helped out of the car. The policeman had to hold her up. She was so frightened that her legs wouldn't support her on their own. She knew why she hadn't been blindfolded, why they'd allowed her to see where the Institute was. She was never going to leave here. She wondered how long she had to live.

"Hello, Cat. Glad to see you could make it."

Cat turned numbly to face the voice that had come from behind her. It was the cupcake salesman.

"Let's get a look at that neck brace, shall we," he said as he unfastened it. "Fred called us about this thing. He said it looked suspicious."

Fred! That bastard. He'd called the Institute and reported her. It was clear he was much more deeply involved with these people than he had pretended. Cat had wondered about his presence at the rodeo. It hadn't seemed like the Institute would want the husband of one of their servants witnessing what they did to his wife.

Part of Cat's mind marveled that she could still be analytical. There wasn't much point to figuring it all out any more, but the thought of Fred made her angry. She wished there was some way she could get even with him.

"How did you find me?"

"We bugged your car. After we got the call from Fred, we decided we needed an additional check on your whereabouts. Your car seemed to occasionally be driving around while you were at home. We decided to check it out. While I went to your house, Heather was sent to the mall you were at--you didn't think your meeting with Heather was coincidence, did you? Unfortunately, you didn't tell her who else was involved in your little subterfuge, so we weren't able to round you all up at once, but she did delay you long enough to enable your capture. But that's alright, you'll tell our interrogators whatever they wish to know. Then we'll round up your friends."

Cat sobbed as she was led away. She hoped she would be strong enough not to tell them about Steve, but she was so afraid. She knew that all the horrible things she had seen and experienced since Halloween were nothing compared to what they were going to do to her now.

After being taken up several floors on a freight elevator, Cat was led down a hall and into a room. The principal feature of the room was a pair of vertical wooden support beams. Chained to one of the beams was Mindy. Mindy stood naked on her toes with her wrists pulled above her head and locked in a pair of manacles. Each ankle was bound tightly to either side of the post, spreading her legs by the twelve inch width of the support.

"Oh, Mindy, you're alive, you're alive. I've been so worried." Cat began weeping all over again. Mindy was gagged and unable to reply.

Cat was ordered to strip naked, then bound to the other pillar in the same manner as Mindy, then she too was gagged. Once she was secured, the man who had bound her stood before her, looking her over.

"Welcome to my parlor, Miss Lund. My name is Kevin and I'll be your inquisitor this evening. As an appetizer, you and your sister will be enjoying a rather severe whipping, followed by some electrical torture. The main course, if you make it that far, is yet to be announced," Kevin declared, then laughed.

Cat already didn't like Kevin. He was one of those guys who laughed too hard at his own jokes, especially when they weren't funny, which this one especially wasn't. While Kevin was looking Cat over, she had been trying to figure out what was going on. Why was she gagged if they wanted to question her? Why were they going to torture Mindy? Was this guy's name really Kevin? It seemed an appropriate name for waiter, but not an inquisitor.

"I know what you're thinking," the alleged Kevin informed her. "You're wondering why you're gagged if we want to ask you questions. You're gagged because you're going to want to tell me all I want to know long before I'm ready to ask you. When you're finally permitted to speak, you'll be most eager to answer my questions honestly and in detail. Oh, and your sister. She's here so that her suffering can add to your own torment. Whatever is done to you will be done to her, so any lack of cooperation on your part will result in further suffering for her as well as yourself."

The alleged Kevin removed Mindy's gag, then he began. Cat had been whipped and spanked by any number of guys on her various assignments, but Kevin was an expert. His accuracy was uncanny. He could reliably hit the same exact spot again and again, land the tip of the lash directly on her nipples or between her legs, and could wring a maximum of pain from each stroke. Mindy's shrieks cut her as deeply as Kevin's lash on her own skin. Both Cat and Mindy passed out more than once under Kevin's attention, only to be revived and whipped some more. Cat remained gagged throughout. It was obvious that this was only a warmup. Things were going to get worse before she would be permitted to betray Steve.

Finally, it was over. Cat still couldn't understand what was going on. As bad as the whipping had been, it wasn't as awful as the pain caused by the implants. Why didn't they just use that? The whipping did have a psychological impact that the implants lacked. Watching the lash leave stripe after stripe on her body, not to mention seeing it done to Mindy and listening to her scream, did produce its own special type of horror. Watching Kevin, Cat could see another reason for what was being done to them. Kevin was busily preparing for whatever he was going to do next, and it was obvious that he was enjoying himself. Cat was gagged because Kevin didn't want her blabbing all she knew until he'd had his fun.

Kevin wheeled a small cart between Cat and Mindy. He trailed a pair of wires from the cart to Mindy and clamped the alligator clips at the end of the wires onto her nipples, producing a heart rending wail from Mindy. Moments later, Cat yelped as wires were attached to her own nipples.

Kevin returned to the cart and trailed a dildo over to Mindy, which he worked into her, buckling straps around her thighs to hold it in place. Cat subsequently received her own intruder. Then he removed her gag.

Back at the cart, Kevin manipulated the dials and switches, drawing a long gurgling scream from Mindy as her entire body shuddered and shook, her voice distorted by the electricity flowing through her. Moments later, Cat learned that Mindy's prolonged scream had been fully justified as she produced one of her own. Once again, Kevin proved to be an expert. He played the two women like an accordion, drawing shrieks and screams, sometimes alternately and sometimes in unison. Again, both women passed out more than once. By the time Kevin finished this phase of their torture, both Cat and Mindy had screamed themselves hoarse.

Kevin gave each woman a drink of water, then left the room. He returned pushing a large transparent plastic or glass cube on wheels. It was about three feet square and perhaps somewhat taller than that. He wheeled in a second one.

"Anything you'd like to tell me?" Kevin asked Cat.

"Go to hell, you pervert."

"I was hoping you'd say that."

Mindy was released from her pillar and led to one of the cubes. Kevin tied Mindy's hands behind her, then opened the top of the cube and unlatched one side, swinging it open. Mindy was forced to kneel erect in the cube as her ankles were crossed and bound, then forced to lean back so her butt rested on her heels. Her wrists were tied to her ankles so she could no longer straighten up. Kevin closed and latched the back of the cube, then lowered and latched the top, forcing Mindy's chin down onto her chest. Cat was installed in the other cube. Crammed into the tiny space and bound as she was, she could hardly move.

Cat wondered what Kevin was going to do to them. She had gotten a closer look at the cube as she was being bound. The sides were solid, but the top was perforated with numerous air holes each about the size of a half dollar. Additionally, there was a hinged square about eight inches on a side in one corner of the lid.

Kevin opened the hinged section and began filling the cubes with water. They were going to be drowned? That didn't make any sense. How could she be questioned after that?

Kevin stopped adding water when the level was about even with the bottom of each girl's rib cage, then left the room.

A few minutes later, he returned with a companion. It was Louie. Louie carried two small boxes and pulled a larger one on wheels. Now Cat knew what they were going to do to her.

Louie opened the large box and removed a tape recorder. He hooked it up, then strung a tiny microphone to each box. Using electrical tape, he fixed a microphone over one of holes in the top of each box.

Louie wasn't done yet. He pulled two tripods out of the large box, set them up, and fastened a video camera to each. He was obviously expecting quite a performance. Cat very much feared that he was not likely to be disappointed.

"All set," Louie announced. "Put 'em in."

Kevin picked up one of the smaller boxes Louie had brought and approached Mindy's cube. He opened the hatch on top, then opened the box and poured the contents in with Mindy. The contents consisted of a dozen or more large tarantulas. Cat knew that Mindy's fear of spiders was as great as her own.

The spiders clambered onto Mindy, desperate to get out of the water. Mindy was already hysterical.

"Oh, god. Get them off, get them off. I can't stand spiders. Please... please... let me out. Please, let me out."

Cat, staring at Mindy in horror, was interrupted by the sound of spiders splashing into her own cube. She joined Mindy in hysteria. There were spiders in her hair, on her neck, her face, her breasts. Cat thrashed about as much as her restricted condition allowed, but every time she managed to throw a spider off, it climbed right back on. The spiders didn't want to drown and Cat's body was their only refuge. Cat screamed and pleaded and screamed. She saw the spiders clinging to Mindy's face and screamed some more. She vomited into the water, adding to her revulsion.

A loud tapping finally attracted Cat's attention. Kevin was squatting in front of her cube, rapping on the surface with a small block. Cat looked at him and began begging for release.

"Names, Cat. I want names."

"Steve... Steve Bartlett."

"Who else?"

"Nobody, just him."

Kevin stared intently at Cat for a moment. "Yes, I believe you. And where do I find Mr. Bartlett?"

Cat told him where Steve's shop was. Kevin unlatched the top of her cube, then cut the rope joining her wrists and ankles and the one binding her ankles. He lifted Cat to her feet, then brushed the spiders from her body and lifted her out of the cube, setting her on a small stool. Louie hurried over and began scooping his spiders out of the water with a small net.

"What about Mindy? Aren't you going to let her out?" Mindy was still shrieking in her own cube.

"Mindy stays where she is until you tell me the rest of what I want to know."

Kevin wanted to know about the liar and her neck brace. Cat explained the operation as well as she understood it, which she mostly didn't.

"That's alright," Kevin told her, "we can get the rest of the details from Mr. Bartlett, although it will be a shame to waste a talent like that."

Mindy was released from her cube and placed on a stool next to Cat. Cat was convulsed, weeping over her betrayal of Steve. Mindy was still shuddering over her experience with the spiders.