Jack Peacock


Views: 690 Created: 2007.08.26 Updated: 2007.08.26

Your Master Requires Your Presence

Chapter 8

Cathy heard a noise behind her, to one side. The teacher's door opened and four large heavyset Wardens came in, swiftly moving to surround Cathy. She knelt, not daring to move, too scared to even breathe. The Wardens on either side of her grabbed her arms and forced her down onto the floor, pulling her arms behind her back. The guard behind her was locking large heavy cuffs around her ankles, a short solid steel bar linking them. One of the two guards at her side was closing a matching pair of handcuffs around her wrists. The Warden in front of her knelt down, looking at her, and admonished her, "If you talk you get a gag. I advise you to keep quiet, it is very unpleasant and you will be forced to wear it for some time. Do exactly as I say. Any resistance will only increase your punishment." Cathy looked up at him, saw the glint of determination in his eyes, and all the fight went out of her.

The Warden on her other side took out a wide padded leather strap and covered her eyes, fastening the blindfold behind her head with a buckle. Hands grasped her arms and pulled her up to a standing position. Someone pulled the ends of a chain, connected to the handcuffs behind her back, around her waist and locked them in front. Her wrists were pulled close against the small of her back. The bar cuffs around her ankles had a swivel where the bar joined the cuff, allowing her some movement for short, hobbled steps. The Wardens turned her around, and began to lead her forward, she guessed toward the door they had come in. The guards pulled her forward, she tried to keep up as best she could, but she was kept off balance, unable to keep her feet under her because of the pace of the guards. She would have fallen several times except for the hands holding her arms. They didn't let up, virtually dragging her from the classroom.

They went through the door, paused while one Warden locked it behind them, then they headed down the hallway. Unable to see, Cathy had no idea where she was being taken. They stopped several times to pass through some kind of door or gate, she wasn't sure. Finally she heard one heavy metal door close behind her, and then a Warden removed her blindfold.

She blinked at the light, letting her eyes adjust before she looked around. She was in a round room, a Warden seated at a circular desk in the center. Around the wall were several small brightly lit cells, some occupied. The Warden at the desk pointed to one empty cell, and her guards led her toward the open cell door. Inside she could see what looked like a high backed chair, facing a mirror. One guard led her to the chair, "Sit" he ordered. She sat down, leaning forward because of the handcuffs behind her back. Two of her escorts held her in the chair, hands on her shoulders, while another removed the cuffs around her ankles.

As he removed the ankle cuffs he placed her ankles in heavy padded steel shackles built into the legs of the chair. Then he unlocked the chain around her waist. The two Wardens at her side pushed her forward, and then one reached down and released her wrists, pulling the handcuffs and waist chain off her. Both Wardens at her sides immediately grabbed her wrists and arms and forced them into padded metal shackles on the chair arms. Once her wrists and ankles were secure they continued with several leather straps across her legs, arms, and body, fastening her tightly into the chair. Two large pads were slid into place on either side of her head, and a wide leather strap went across her forehead. She could not even move her head.

Her original escorts left the cell, and the Warden at the desk entered, standing in front of her. "You are here to discourage your improper behavior. Striking a teacher is strictly prohibited and sternly punished. You will sit in this chair and reflect on what you did. You will not speak. If you try, you will be gagged, for an extended period. You will be watched. The fastest and easiest way to get out of here is to do exactly as you are told." With those words he turned and left the cell, locking it behind him.

Cathy sat there, unable to move a muscle, not even able to turn her head. The mirror in front of her showed the extensive restraints holding her, and the Warden in the background, staring at her. She recalled Paula's words when she had first arrived, "discourage improper behavior." Now Cathy would find out for herself what Paula had meant.

Cathy stared at her reflection in the mirror, strapped into the chair, unable to even turn her head to the side. She pulled against the straps, trying to slip a hand or ankle free, but she was held too well, no escape would be possible. She shifted her weight, trying to move the chair, but it was securely bolted to the floor. As she struggled, testing her bonds, she could see the Warden watching her, expressionless, sitting at the desk.

She gave up trying to free herself, and sat there quietly. How long would they make her sit in the chair, and what would happen after that? Since she had to sit anyway, she closed her eyes, trying to relax and make the best of her situation. Her mind wandered, times with her friends, her master, her time in this school turned prison. For the first time she truly regretted not only running away from her master but also not accepting his decision about that party in the first place. If she had only trusted him, waited for him to explain why she couldn't go to that party...she wouldn't be here.

Her thoughts wandered, and she fell asleep after a while. When she woke and opened her eyes once again she saw the same image of herself, bound to the chair. A different Warden was at the desk, but he was staring at her, watching her like the other one. Again she pulled at the straps, desperate to get away from that constant stare. But there was no escape, all she could do was sit there and wait. She could not bear to look directly at his reflection, but she could not turn away.

What seemed like hours passed. No one walked by, the room was very quiet; no sounds reached her apart from her own breathing. And always there was the Warden, watching her. Once again she shut her eyes, trying to block out that stare. This time sleep did not come, instead she lived over and over the incident that had brought about her punishment. If only she had paid attention, if only she hadn't been distracted. If only her master had visited her again, she wouldn't have felt so lost...and then she realized, if she had trusted her master, accepted that he would come for her eventually, she wouldn't be in this chair now. For the second time, her own failure to trust her master's actions had only worsened her own situation.

She sat there pondering her actions to date, good and bad, and what had come of them. In retrospect, if she had followed the simple path, allowed her master to do his job, she wouldn't be in this punishment cell, or even in this training school. Instead she would be in her small studio, working on her next painting, waiting for him to come home from work. She smiled, thinking of how incredibly foolish she had been to ever risk losing an idyllic life like that.

She wasn't sure how long she had been in the chair, there was no way to mark the time, and she didn't want to open her eyes and see that Warden's cold stare looking back at her. Cathy sat there calmly, resigned to her punishment, knowing she had earned it by her own misdeeds. Time passed, she drifted, waiting. Eventually they would come and release her, but until then all she could do was sit, think, and hope.

Time had blurred. She might have been there a few hours or several days, she no longer had any idea. The boredom was the worst. At times a girl would come in and give her some food and water, feeding her by hand. At other times someone would come in and clean her off with a bucket of warm water. No one would speak to her, not a single word. More and more she sought refuge in sleeping, or at least daydreams, anything to help her escape the confines of the chair.

She wasn't sure what it was, but she suddenly felt another presence, close to her. At first she was afraid to open her eyes, knowing the Warden would be there, observing, watching her every move. But, somehow she knew it was not the Warden standing near her. She could sense someone standing over her, behind her, somehow familiar. She opened her eyes, looked into the mirror, and caught her breath, her master's reflection clearly visible. She started to speak, but the word "master" died in her throat when she saw the look in his eyes and on his face. It was the look she had prayed she would never see, anger and disappointment. "I know what happened, Cathy, everything. I had hoped to take you home today; instead I find you here. You were doing so well, and then this. I am disappointed that you could not do better. I know the potential is within you, and I hope you will improve in the future." And with those words he turned away and walked out of the small cell, leaving her behind.

The tears flowed freely from Cathy's eyes. She was crushed, she had failed her master. She watched his receding back as he left, desperate to call out to him, but knowing she had nothing to say. He was right; it seemed he was always right, she had failed the one person whose approval meant the world to her. At that moment, she resolved she would never again doubt him. She had freely chosen him as her master; she had given herself to him totally, without reservations or limits. She had trusted him to decide for her, guide her path in life. But now she realized it had not been quite the full commitment she had thought it was. She had held back, second guessed him, but no longer.

There was no question now, she would accept him as a master should be, complete and total. If she had doubts or questions, she would tell him, as he always insisted on, but whatever the outcome she would follow his wishes. She would do her best, show him that she could learn. No matter how long, if it was his desire, here she would stay, until he decided to come for her.

Cathy kept her eyes closed, even as she cried from the pain inflicted by her master's harsh words. A few sobs crept out, but she willed herself not to make a sound. She did not have permission. No more improper behavior, she had been well and truly discouraged. Now she understood why Paula had never disobeyed, never broken a single rule. It wasn't the fear of some physical punishment. That would have been relatively easy to take, especially when she wasn't given a choice. Far worse was to be left alone day after day, isolated, no one else, and her master's disappointment weighing on her mind.

She opened her eyes, looking straight ahead. The picture was the same, her body trapped in the chair, and the ever-present Warden watching her. Her master was gone, she was alone again. She stared straight ahead, directly into her reflection. She had no idea how much longer she would have to sit there, but however long it was, she would wait, with a new determination to succeed.

At some point she fell asleep again, because she awoke with a start when she felt the Warden's hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, at his reflection in the mirror since she couldn't move her head to look directly at him. "Your time here is over Cathy, for the moment. But remember, the chair, and worse, is always here." The Warden moved in front of her, began to undo the straps holding her. When he finished, he stood back, and nodded for her to stand up.

At first it was agony, her muscles were stiff and sore at the prolonged immobility. She staggered, nearly falling as she tried to stand on her weakened legs. She caught herself on an arm of the chair, waited a moment to recover, and then shakily stood up. She could see the marks all over her body where the straps had held her. She looked at the Warden, uncertain what to do next. "Stand for a minute, take your time, then move around a bit," he told her. "When you have recovered, you will be taken to the showers, then to a dormitory cell where you can sleep. You are not allowed to discuss what has happened here or the incident in the classroom with anyone, except of course your master. If you break that rule you will be immediately returned here. You do not want that to happen."

Cathy waited for a few moments, and then tried walking around. Her steps were unsteady at first but she recovered rapidly. It seemed that every muscle in her body was complaining, but not quite as loudly as when she first tried to stand. The Warden stood close by, to catch her if she started to fall, but allowing her to work out the stiffness herself. She walked around some more, sat for a moment to rest, then stood and nodded to the Warden, "Sir, I am able to walk now."

He took hold of her arm and led her out of the cell toward the desk. Another Warden was waiting there, out of sight from within the cell. The first Warden took her over to him. "Extend your arms in front of you, wrists slightly apart," the new Warden ordered. Cathy held out her arms toward him while he produced a set of handcuffs and locked her wrists together. He took hold of her upper arm in a firm grasp and led her to the exit door. As Cathy and her guard approached it opened from the outside, a third Warden watching as they left the punishment room.

He took her to the showers first, where she indulged in a long hot shower, which did wonders for her sore body. Afterward the Warden took her to an empty sleeping cell, with bedding and a meal already inside. After the Warden left her alone she devoured the meal, not realizing how hungry she was. She placed the empty meal carton next to the door, in a corner, and then turned to her bed. As she lay on the pad, the thin blanket barely covering her, her thoughts turned again to her Master, as they always did at bedtime, and once again her hand met the impenetrable metal shield covering her. A slight smile, she would have to wait, it was for her master to decide when she would be freed from her own personal prison. She fell asleep, with renewed determination that she would be the best she could be, for herself and for her master.

Cathy had fallen asleep immediately after eating, exhausted from her punishment and emotionally drained by her master's words. She woke in the morning, but it seemed to be early as she didn't hear any activity from the corridor, and no Warden came by. She lay on her bed, glad for the time alone to rest and gather her thoughts. She thought about the pressures, the stress that had brought her to strike the teacher.