Chapter 2: Settling In

"There's a new game
We like to play you see
A game with added reality
You treat me like a dog
Get me down on my knees
We call it master and servant"

- Master and Servant (Depeche Mode)

I woke up at 6:29 AM, exactly one minute before my alarm clock would go off. This was a part of my usual morning routine and, at first, I was somewhat confused about why I was sleeping on the sofa and not in the bed. A few moments later the events that occurred earlier that morning came back to me. I got up from bed and I looked at the bed to confirm that it was true. To my dismay, I saw Jessica sleeping there. I knew that I should be frightened of her. I was always afraid around people like her, but I wasn't with her. I was uncomfortable to have a strange woman in my house but I was not afraid. Perhaps it was her total submission last night that had wiped out all of my fears.

I got up from the sofa and went over to my bed. I turned off the alarm clock only seconds before it was to ring. Instead of heading to the bathroom to take a shower as I usually did every morning, I headed for the kitchen and closed the door. I took out my mobile phone and called the office to leave a voicemail.

"Hi Elisabeth, this is Martin. I'm not feeling well today and need to take a sick day. If you need to get a hold of me I can be reached at home."

I hung up the phone and exhaled. I had not realised that I was holding my breath but I actually thought I managed to pull it off. I hated to lie and, usually, I could never do it without being caught. Lying over the phone seemed easier and perhaps my trembling voice would only help to fool Elisabeth that I was sick.

After the phone call, I went to check up on Jessica. She was still sound asleep, and that it would probably be best not wake her. Jessica was not known to be one of the early risers at the office and there were still plenty of time for her to call in sick.

I was getting hungry so I decided to bake some scones for breakfast. I really enjoyed baking and cooking, but since I live alone it often felt a bit of a bother. Hence I usually ended up eating something simple, such as cereals. I made the dough and put it in the oven. Shortly thereafter, I put the kettle on to make some tea. I looked in the refrigerator and found that it was painfully empty. I would need to go shopping later that day. The scones were ready and I was just about to go and wake Jessica when I heard someone flushing the toilet. That could only mean she was already awake. Shortly thereafter, a very tired Jessica entered the kitchen.

"I smelled something newly baked, have you been to the bakery?"

"No, I actually made some scones."

She tried not to look surprised but I could see that she had not expected it. She sat down at the kitchen table and I poured up some tea for her. She still seemed a bit reluctant to eat so I said, "Jessica, you really need to eat. I am not trying to poison you and I can see that you are hungry, so please eat some scones."

Jessica smiled at me and grabbed some scones and started eating. We ate breakfast in silence, and I was still thinking about what had happened this morning. If she was not blackmailed, why would she show up naked on my doorstep claiming to be my slave? I really wanted to know what was going on but I had no idea how to ask the right questions. And what was all this talk about committing suicide if she failed her mission? It was clear that this was something that should not be dealt with in a hurry. I knew quite a bit about suicidal persons and talking to them was like entering a minefield. If you took a small step in the wrong direction it could all blow up.

"Those scones were really good, I haven't had homemade scones in fifteen years and never realised how much I missed them," Jessica said with a nervous smile on her lips.

"Glad you liked them. I usually don't make them either. It's too much of a bother if one lives alone."

Jessica looked at me and nodded.

"Jessica, we need to talk," I finally said.

She nodded her head, and I could slowly see the smile from her lips disappear.

"This morning you show up naked on my doorstep, half frozen to death, and claim that you are my slave and would do anything for me. Then you admit that you are not doing this of your own will but you are not being blackmailed either. Is all of this correct?"

Jessica simply nodded in response.

"Then you don't want me to call the police since if you leave this apartment, you will be compelled to commit suicide. Is that also true?"

Once more Jessica simply nodded in response.

"And you can not tell me why you are doing this, who is making you do this or what your so-called mission is?"

"I'm sorry Martin. I really would like to tell you, but I can't."

"I don't get the large picture but there must be a very serious reason as to why you can't tell me. A reason that is even so serious that you will commit suicide if needed, therefore, I will not press you any further on it."

Jessica's face showed some relief and it was probably because she really wanted to tell me things but was not simply able to.

"This morning, you also said that if I refused to order you around it would only become worse for you. What did you mean by that? I understand if you can't answer that but I really need to understand how things work."

Jessica thought for a while and then she said, "I don't really know how this works either, but the best way to explain it is that I am addicted to your orders. If I follow your orders, I get a kind of rush of satisfaction and happiness. If I do not receive an order, I will start to get severe withdrawal symptoms and I will suffer greatly."

"From that description, it sounds as you still could choose which orders to obey and which to not obey. That is not the impression I got this morning."

"That has nothing to do with the addiction. My top priority is to complete my mission. Obeying you is an important part of that. If I fail to complete my mission in any way, including obeying you, I will be forced to commit suicide. From that aspect I am forced to follow your orders."

I had no idea how this could possibly have happened, but I could see what the person controlling Jessica had done. He or she had made sure that if I did not want Jessica to suffer or die I had to keep her in my apartment and order her around.

"Does it matter what kind of order it is, or could it be any kind of order?"

I saw how Jessica got very tense when I said that and with a bit of fear in her voice she said, "No, it does not matter what kind of order it is. I will be equally happy to perform whatever order you give me. As long as my mission allows me to, I will happily perform any order with my best effort with no hesitation."

"But there are thing that you would like me not to order you to do?"

"My preference does not matter here and I would be happy to perform whatever you ask of me. I must admit that I am a bit afraid of what you could do to me, but if you give me an order I would without a doubt be happy to follow it."

I nodded and thought that I probably figured out what had happened. Someone had used some kind of brainwashing to make Jessica to do this and when I gave her an order, she felt pleasure. If she did not get an order, she would feel an increasing discomfort perhaps even escalating to pain. I had read an article on how electroshock therapy could be used to give a person a new behavioural pattern and this probably worked the same way.

"Don't worry Jessica. I am really a nice guy and will not coerce you into doing something you otherwise would not do."

I saw that she was still a bit afraid of me but she seemed much more at ease than she was only a minute ago.

"Jessica, you should probably call in sick at the office today."

"There is no need. Before I came here this morning I figured, I could be locked up in this apartment for quite a while so I took out three weeks of holiday I had saved."

"Good thinking. Is there anyone else that will miss you?"

Jessica seemed a bit reluctant to speak at first but the she sighed and said, "Yes, my girlfriend will probably miss me when she gets home from work. She is used to me leaving before she wakes up, but when I am not there tonight she will suspect foul play."

Surprised by this statement, I asked her, "You have a girlfriend?'

"Yes, I am bisexual and my girlfriend, Sandra, and I have been living together for two years now. We try to be very discreet since people often have prejudices for our kind of relation."