The Lioness and the Black Widow 12

I watched the streetlights pass by in the night. As I rode in the passenger seat of the Lincoln, The Duchess at the wheel, she hummed the melody to “Close to You” so sweetly. I dozed off and fell asleep, my forehead pressed against the cold glass.

I woke up on a grey cement floor. I sat up and looked around. I was a large cell. There were no windows, just a heavy steel door. There was a wood table in the middle of the cell. The Duchess was seated at the table in the only chair. Other than that, the cell was empty except for an aluminum bucket in a corner. The only light in the cell came from a dim yellow bulb on the ceiling.

The Duchess’ long red hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She wore a long black leather skirt with a royal-blue turtle-neck sweater and black leather boots. Dark sunglasses concealed her eyes. Leather gloves covered her hands. A platinum skull pendent hung between her breasts.

She took a sip from a steaming hot cup of coffee and lit a cigarette. She didn’t speak with her lips. I heard her voice in my mind, “This is a hard room to be alone in, especially when the light is off. One is left alone with their thoughts, their fear, their sadness. Do you remember your first experience with solitude in a dark empty room?” Images from my earliest years flashed through my mind. “Do you remember the emotions you felt?” I saw myself screaming alone in an apartment without furniture. My eyes became hot and wet as I saw the tears flow from the eyes of the image of my early self.

The light went out in the room and a sudden wave of terror swept over me. I heard myself screaming. An intense mixture of fear and despair gripped me, it felt as if my insides were being crushed. The feeling was very familiar, though I didn’t remember experiencing such a deep and painful anguish ever before. The pain was worsened by a yearning, a longing, a question in my mind that would not stop repeating itself, ‘Where is she?’

The light came back on. I felt a tremendous sense of relief when I saw The Duchess still seated at the table. Her voice said, “It’s okay Clarence. I’m still here. Does it make you feel better to know that I’m still in the room with you? Would you like to spend the next two days in here alone in the dark? I could go lay down in the other room, curl up in a blanket and torture you with your own thoughts.” I saw myself naked, huddled in a corner of the cell trembling, covered in my own feces.

“Do you want me to stay in here with you Clarence? You know that you can’t lie to me. I’m inside your head. I know that you desperately hope I will stay, while you anticipate my departure. In order for me to stay, I will need to be entertained. How far are you willing to go to keep me entertained Clarence?” Images of her naked body flashed in my mind. I remembered the sight of her glistening, wet flesh when I bathed her. I remembered having my face pressed against her bare thighs as she held my head under the water until everything went black. A wave of euphoria, combined with a feeling of security and relief, swept over me. I felt her arms around my neck as she pulled me to her breasts and held me. “CLARENCE!” I looked up to see her still seated at the table smoking.
“How come the ‘Clarence’ inside your head is so much different from the ‘Clarence’ you present to the world around you?” The word ‘PRETENDER’ flashed in my mind in big black letters. “More importantly, how come the ‘Clarence’ inside your head is so much different from the person you believe yourself to be?” The word ‘DENIAL’ followed by the word, ‘INEFFECTUAL’ flashed in my head.

“Why are you lying on the floor like a loathsome animal that lacks dignity. Stand up!” I rose to my feet. “Take off your clothes.” I hesitated. “Don’t pretend that you don’t want to do everything, and anything, I tell you to do.” I removed my clothes and threw them in a pile on the floor.

“You have a nice cock.” A comforting warmth covered my body accompanied by a budding pride. “How does it make you feel when a woman can’t get enough of your cock?” The words ‘MASCULINE’ ‘ALIVE’ ‘CONTENT’ flashed in my mind. “Masculine, alive and content huh? Content…that’s interesting. So, I’m guessing that when you’re fucking, that’s the only time you are able to completely focus on your only strength, and thereby allow yourself to ignore the fact that you are stupid, incompetent, cowardly and lazy. When you bust that nut it’s sort of like your moment of glory, like a runner bursting through the tape with his arms outstretched as he crosses the finish line. That’s your special moment to escape the undeniable fact that you are such a fucking disappointment.” The word ‘FAILURE’ flashed repeatedly in my mind. I felt my shoulders slump; my dick hung limp; a mockery of my manhood. The Duchess began humming “Close to You” again.

“Come closer to the table.” I took a couple steps toward her. “Closer.” I took a few more reluctant steps. “Kneel down. On your knees.” I hesitated. “What? Am I not good enough for you to kneel before? I’m the woman who saved your pathetic wasted life. I pulled you out the car and stood over you, rifle in hand, defending you as you laid curled up in a ball on the ground. I didn’t leave you at Medea’s, I was outside waiting for you; while your punk-ass was inside betraying me. ME! The woman who rode side by side with you in the trenches, the woman who protected you. You know what? Fuck it. I’m leaving. You can sit in here by yourself.” I got down on my knees. The Duchess put her cigarette out on the table, never speaking. Her expression didn’t change, her dark sunglasses stared through me, consuming me like a star being swallowed by a black hole.

“Do you want me to suck your dick? Hahaha…And the question prompts you to visualize me with your cock in my mouth. Do you want to fuck me Clarence? Ohhhh…you do! You want to bend me over this table, pull my skirt up and give me a hard, savage fuck from behind. Do you think that I’d let you fuck me if you put your head between my thighs and kiss and lick and suck on my clit until I cum? HaHaHaHa…you hope so. I’m flattered that you fantasize about me, but I’m not into men Clarence. Maybe you can convince me to make an exception. You hope so, right?

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll stand up, take off my skirt, push my red lace panties down to my knees and lean over the desk. Then you can bury your face in my ass and lick my asshole while I get myself off. Would you do that for me Clarence?” My mind said ‘YES’. “Will you be my ass-licking slut-boy? Yes? Then say it. Say it out loud. Tell me you’ll be my ass-licking slut-boy!” I said out loud, “I’ll be your ass-licking slut-boy.”

“I want you to beg. You want it bad enough. You want to lick my ass more than I want you to do it. Beg! Beg me to let you be my ass-licking slut-boy!”

“Please Duchess…I beg you…please let me be your ass-licking slut-boy.”

“You’re a sorry excuse for a man Clarence. What you just did made me lose what little respect I had for you. I wouldn’t even let you lick my ass Clarence. I’d rather have a dog do it.” Disappointment and frustration clawed at my insides, my desire turned to anger and hate. “Ohhh…Will the real Clarence cooome oooon dowwwn! There you are, you two-faced bastard. You must be the guy who cut off that woman’s nipples with a box-cutter and tore her clit off with a pair of pliers. You’re a real fucking gentleman, you know that Clarence? Lilith, Lenore, The Fallen Angel, The Jehovah’s Witness…what the hell did she do? You raped all those women. How does that make you feel?” I felt like I was sinking down into the floor, smothered by guilt and shame.

“You’re frustrated because you’re a fucking worthless ineffectual fraction of a man, a waste of fucking life, so you take your frustration and rage out on some innocent woman who had nothing to do with you being a fucking idiot. Why don’t you go rape your mother Clarence? You fucking momma’s boy. That’s the woman who turned you into a fucking idiot. Let’s see you visualize that Clarence! Visualize fucking your mother hard and deep in the ass! HaHaHaHa…you’re a sick motherfucker Clarence! You just imagined what it would feel like to push your long, hard dick up your mother‘s…” I screamed out, “ENOUGH! STOP! PLEASE STOP!”

“It’s okay Clarence. Your time started when you woke up. That was about 20 minutes ago. Just think, you only have 47 hours and 40 minutes to go. Maybe I’ll bring someone in to announce the time every minute. You’d find out just how long a minute can take to pass. Nothing tortures like time, when ten minutes grinds by agonizingly slow, making it seem like an hour.” The cement floor made my knees ache, the pain shot up my body to my neck. My head began to pound.

“Only 47 hours and 39 minutes to go Clarence. You look tired. You must be very exhausted after these past days. You’ve had very little sleep. When is the last time you curled up under nice, thick, warm comforter, with plump, cold fluffy pillow?” Her voice hummed “Close to You” in my mind. I saw myself falling backward onto a mountain of red feathers. My eyes grew heavy, my knees felt like they were being crushed against the edge of a sharp rock.

“47 hours and 38 minutes left Clarence. Are you hungry?” The smell of roasted meat and French fries filled my nostrils. My stomach grumbled and my mouth watered. “There is something for you to eat in that bucket over there Clarence. Go look!” I was relieved to get off my knees. When I looked down into the bucket, I saw a man’s severed genitals. A large brown cockroach crawled over it. I coughed, retched and vomited bile. The stomach acids came out my nose, burning my nostrils causing my eyes to water.

“47 hours and 37 minutes Clarence. How would you like that to be your dick and balls in the bucket Clarence? I’ll saw your shit off with an old, dull and rusty hacksaw. Would that be a fitting punishment? No? What would be a fitting punishment Clarence?” My mind involuntarily replied, “For you to use me however you want.”

“Use you however I want huh? Your entire being is crying out for me to take you and use you however I want. How the fuck do you equate me fulfilling your desires with punishment? You’re one simple-minded motherfucker, you know that Clarence? Now that you’ve wasted your opportunity to choose your own punishment, I’ll choose. That means that you’re too much of a goddamn moron to look out for your own best interest and select a punishment you can handle.” I thought how relieved I was that she had stopped the countdown.

“47 hours and 36 minutes Clarence. If you want to stop the countdown. You have to eat the roach.” ‘FUCK NO’ flashed in my mind. “Fuck no, huh? I want you to eat the roach, for me, because I say so. You will do whatever I want, not because you’re trapped in a cell with me, not because I’m inside your head; but because you want to do whatever I want. It will please me if you eat the roach Clarence. To tell you truth, it will touch me to watch you do something that absolutely repulses you, to willingly cross your own lines, because you know that it will please me. You remember how easy it was to drink the cup of urine. This is just as easy. Just let go, turn your will over to me, bend down and pick up the cockroach. Now shove it in your mouth, chew it quickly and swallow it. Goood boooy Clarence.” I choked and gagged on the roach, I vomited again on the floor. I leaned against the wall and threw up roach legs and bile until my chest and throat ached from the dry heaves.

“Good job Clarence! I’m so impressed that I’m tempted to reward you by allowing you to lick my ass. But now that you’ve got the dick eating roach all over your tongue, I think I’ll pass.” I began coughing and dry heaving again. The Duchess lit another cigarette. She hadn’t yet spoken a word out loud, got up from her chair, changed the expression on her face or touched me.

The Lioness and the Black Widow 10

The man writhed around on the floor while the monitor tore chunks of flesh away from his body. Anna walked over to where I stood and placed one hand on the wall next to my head, she placed her other hand on my throat. Medea got up from the table and stood facing me. She said, “The Duchess believes you were chosen by the Goddess to serve the Keepers of the Altar. If you are ‘chosen’, then I guess you graduate from being a pawn to a bishop in Lavinia’s game. However, chosen or not, you need at least three Matriarchs to say you’re chosen in order to be recognized as such by the other Matriarchs. Personally, I don’t care if you’re ‘chosen’ or not. Lavinia is asking me to approve of you as one of Kali’s chosen when I take over as Matriarch of this house. I will do that as favor for your Matriarch. Now…here is what I want. I want to enjoy the full benefits of having the Kastelics’ and Sevasts’ as allies, meaning I want the full backing of both of houses in the upcoming coup, as well the extermination of a hostile faction that exists within my house. Lavinia and The Duchess also want me to take part in the plot to overthrow The Old Ladies. I will participate. However, when it’s all said and done, and Lavinia sets up a council to replace The Old Ladies; I expect nothing less than a Second-Chair position on that council and I will only sit Second-Chair behind Lavinia. And last but not least, I want to know how Lavinia raises the dead.”

I replied, “Lavinia will honor your requests, but she expects your full involvement in the current conflict with The Great Sathanas.”

“My ‘full involvement’ means The Great Sathanas will be dead in 24-hours, consider it done.”

I asked, “Will you take me back to my house? The Duchess is holding me as collateral?”

“That’s between Lavinia and The Duchess.”

“With all due respect Medea, if your plan is to sit Second-Chair behind Lavinia on a ruling council, you should establish yourself in that position right out the gate. Anything that is just ‘between Lavinia and The Duchess’ is to your disadvantage. If you are to be Second-Chair on a ruling council behind Lavinia, all matters regarding that council should be between you and Lavinia first and foremost. Otherwise, you’re essentially giving the position to The Duchess, who you know is striving for it.”

Anna’s grip tightened on my throat. She looked over at Medea and said, “I thought this guy was supposed to submissive to all Keepers of the Altar? This guy’s submissive like a courtier. That‘s not good.”

Medea replied, “I got him. Clarence, we just met and you’re already trying to twist me up in your plots. Do you feel that The Duchess is a danger to you?”

“In my house, I don’t have to worry about being hit by friendly fire or stray bullets. I don’t have to worry about getting pulled over in a bullet-ridden car. The Duchess is reckless and she is an extremist. She killed a member of her own house, her best friend, just show how ruthless she can be. She wiped out The Fallen Angel’s house just because she didn’t approve of her as a Matriarch. She believes that the only road to the crown is murder and that these houses couldn’t exist if that wasn’t the case. While she is a good ally to have during times of war, she shouldn’t sit Second-Chair on a ruling council. She takes far too much risk to be reliable and she is philosophically opposed to peace and unity. Some degree of peace and unity are required if we want a larger alliance.”

Medea stared at me for what seemed like hours, then she said, “Alright, I’ll take you back to Lavinia. I hope you know what you’re doing. The Duchess is not going to be happy about this and if Lavinia just sends you back to her…you may wind up with an unsatisfactory result. Regardless, I‘m doing you a favor, I have to take risk to do you that favor. You WILL be called on to return that favor in the future.”

Anna took her hand off my neck, looked me in the eyes and said, “You just made a deal with my house ‘Slick’. If I find out that you’re playing these little courtier games with other Matriarchs to our disadvantage, I’m going to take that as a betrayal. Lavinia’s love only gives you so much protection.”

Medea added, “I want you looking out for my best interests the way you are looking out for Lavinia’s.”

I said, “I look out for Lavinia’s interests first and foremost. I can’t make any commitments…”

Medea interrupted, “You WILL make another commitment. You WILL make that commitment right now. AFTER Lavinia, you look out for MY interests. Immediately after you think, ‘How can I make this work to Lavinia’s benefit,’ you are to think ‘How can I make this work to Medea’s benefit as well’. And you are NOT allowed to make a similar commitment to anyone else. You serve Lavinia first, me second and nobody else. Understand?”

“I was designed to serve the Keepers of the Altar, I have no choice in the matter.”

“Yes you do. I will take care of the other Matriarchs. They are not to engage you without mine or Lavinia’s permission. If another Matriarch does engage you without our permission, I will kill her and exterminate her entire house.”

“What about The Duchess?”

“She already has you engaged. As I said before, if I take you back to Lavinia and she returns you to The Duchess, that’s the way it will be. I now have an investment in you Clarence. I will work to keep you safe as long as you honor your commitment to me. The Duchess is part of our alliance. I won’t kill her unless it is absolutely necessary. But I feel confident in saying that I will be able to convince Lavinia not to allow you to be returned to The Duchess’ house. Now let‘s go see Lavinia.”
I followed Medea and Anna up the stairs. Suzanne followed closely behind me. When we got to the living-room, four cloaked and veiled figures stood at attention by the door. They followed us out the front door to The Duchess’ Lincoln. She stepped out the car, Antigone and the twins jumped out the Cutlass and rushed to her side. The Duchess looked at the group in front of her, laughed and said, “So this is the legendary house of the Amazons?”

Medea replied with a straight face and humorless voice, “This is one of three factions within my house.”

The Duchess lit a cigarette and said, “Yeah I’ve heard about you ladies’ affinity for factions. They say you can’t put two Amazons in a room together without coming up with three factions.”

Medea walked up to The Duchess, took the cigarette from between her lips, placed it between her own and took a long, deep drag. She slowly blew out the smoke as she passed the cigarette back to The Duchess. Medea said, “You have your entire house riding around in two cars that look like slices Swiss Cheese. All it takes is a set of blue and red lights in your rearview and you’re all sunk.”

“Yeah? Well a ‘risk-free’ lifestyle is for those who don’t deserve to live.”

“I’m taking Clarence back to Lavinia.”

“I know. I’ve been inside the viking bitches head.”

Anna stepped into the street, “What’d you just say?”

Medea looked over her shoulder and said, “Anna, let it go.” She turned back to The Duchess, “Let’s go see Lavinia and work this out.”

The Duchess replied, “I don’t need anyone to settle my problems for me. There is four of us and seven of you, plus you got five more inside. You really need to go run to get Lavinia’s support? I hold court in the street Medea. We happen to be standing in my courthouse right now.”

“Do you see those women with veils? They have AK-47s under their cloaks. We can end your existence right now if that’s what you want.”

“I’ve never seen someone in the ’ending people’s existence’ business do so much goddamn talking. I don’t know if you’re threatening me or trying to sell me fucking insurance. If you’re gonna do something, do it.”

“I am. We’re taking Clarence back to Lavinia. I’m closing this war with Sathanas. That means the war is over. There is no reason for you to hold Clarence as collateral.”
“His Matriarch has not made good on her promise to me.”

“Then you can take that up with his Matriarch when you see her shortly. I am returning Clarence to Lavinia. If you want to settle this in a way that is beneficial to all, meet us at Lavinia’s. If this is an ’over dead body’ situation, then I guess you’re right, this isn’t a time for words. It’s up to you Duchess.”

“What-the-fuck-ever!” The Duchess brushed past Medea, got in her Lincoln and peeled out, her tires screeching as she sped away. Antigone and the twins got in the Cutlass and did the same.

Medea looked at me, shook her head and smiled, “Let’s go Clarence. I’m parked in the garage.” Anna pointed at me, “HEY FRIEND! You better come with some pretty outstanding benefits because I am not amused. I’m putting this on your tab Clarence. You don’t have the same protection from us as you do The Duchess. You just entered into a relationship with our house. And stuff like this…us fighting with other Matriarchs over you…this is all coming out your ass!”

The Lioness and the Black Widow 7

When Roger had chewed his way down to the neck, he dropped Cecile and walked out the room. Antigone asked The Duchess, “What about the old man and Theresa?” The Duchess answered, “I’m not taking them to be raised. The old man is already falling apart. As for Theresa, you just don’t do that to a friend. Alright, I‘m gonna have Roger carry the geezer and Ms. Peacock up to the attic. I want the cars pulled into the garage and the girl on the sofa thrown in the trunk of your car. Then bring down Chris and the guy on the cross.”

We placed the young woman in the trunk of the Cutlass. The Duchess and Antigone came down with the two men, both men had their hands cuffed in front of them. The Duchess grabbed Chris by the hair and said, “You’re going in the trunk of my car. If you make any noise back there, I’m gonna open the trunk, pour gasoline all over you and set you on fire. Do you understand?” Chris muttered, “Yes.” She shoved Chris in the trunk and slammed it shut. She pointed at the other man, “That motherfucker can ride in the trunk with the dead body.”

As I rode in the passenger seat of The Duchess’ Lincoln, I stared out the window watching a world a I could no longer be a part of pass me by. Green lawns, gardening seniors, people bustling, hustling to and fro; people going about their daily business. People I could never be like, people I would never know. I was no longer a part of ‘humanity’.

The Duchess turned the music up, enthusiastically singing along to Esther Phillips’ “No Headstone on My Grave” at the top of her lungs. When her song was over, she turned off the music and said, “After we go see Lavinia, we’ll go visit some more of The Great Sathanas’ people. After that, I have another meeting set-up that you’ll need to attend.”

I asked, “Another Matriarch?”

“Not yet, she’s Second-Chair in her house.”

“Is it to see how I’ll react again?”

“No. I already know how you’re gonna react, just like I knew the last time. This time it’s about she reacts to you. I need her on board.”

“Don’t you worry that more of Theresa’s friends will show up?”

“I already anticipate that happening. I’m burning the house tonight.”

“Why was she connected to so many outsiders?”

“She wanted a normal life. I told her that she could live as she chose. Theresa could have just walked away from all this with her slave. Instead, she tried to have the best of both worlds. There is no gray area here. You are either on one side of the threshold or the other. Fence-riders get torn on half. That’s what happened to my friend Theresa.”

We arrived at the house, Lilith opened the door for us. Her cheeks were still bandaged and she had dark circles under her eyes. She was tired, but her will wasn’t broken. Her immense suffering made her stronger. I helped the twins carry the body of the young woman upstairs to Lavinia’s office. When we got there, Lavinia was seated behind her desk, Sally and Damijana stood at her side; just like I saw them in the vision.

The Duchess entered the office and stood in front of Lavinia’s desk smiling. She said, “I’ve got two more bodies for you to raise and a replacement for Alfred.”

Lavinia replied, “Alfred was one of a kind. There can be no replacement.”

“Yeah well, this fuck-up right here,” she pointed at Chris, “got my best friend killed. You know what happened. You can see everything through Clarence.”

“I did. I also saw all the unnecessary killing. Why did you attack The Fallen Angel?”

“She was faking the crown.”

“She was faking the crown? Are you sure it isn’t because of some slight that occurred a long time ago?”

“You know what? Fuck The Fallen Angel. She got what she deserved. I just helped her find her destiny a little quicker. What’s with the morality lessons?”

“You are killing innocent people for no reason whatsoever.”

“Innocent? I’ve never even heard of the term. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? And who are you to lecture me? Your house kills more people than we do.”

“There has to be a reason for me to kill someone.”

“Oh, you need a reason. So, when you kill someone for your own sick sexual satisfaction, you call that a reason?”

“Yes.”

The Duchess shook her head and lit a cigarette, “Whatever you say Lavinia. If you’re not gonna use Chris, we may as well kill him and raise him. Is that a good enough reason to kill?”

“Bring him forward.” Antigone shoved Chris toward Lavinia’s desk. Chris stood quivering, staring wide-eyed at the black and red mask in front of him. Lavinia said, “We are discussing whether you should live or die. Do you have anything to say in regard to that matter.”

Chris shook his lowered head.

Lavinia asked, “Do you prefer death?”

Chris shook his head and muttered, “N-no.”

“So why should I keep you alive. What can you do for me?”

“I-I…I will serve you…”

Lavinia interrupted, “Serve me? Do think that I would allow a horde of roaches into my house, as long as they promised to serve me? How could you possibly serve me?”

The Duchess said, “Theresa was pleased with him.”

Lavinia replied, “Theresa loved this man. I don’t. Theresa sought partners she could lose herself in, hoping to forget who she really was. I’m not. Most importantly, Theresa was into a different form of slavery. Chris was her slave because that was his choice. He could walk away at any time. I take slaves because I choose to. I take who I want, when I want, how I want. My slaves have no choices. None. I’m as similar to Theresa as a Palestinian suicide bomber is to our local congressman. Both are in the business of politics. But their methods are drastically different. The Palestinian woman who straps a bomb to herself, she has no use for the Congressman‘s books, rules, rhetoric and pomp. Just like I have no use for Chris. Kill him.”

Antigone pulled a length of rope from her pocket, wrapped it around Chris’s neck and strangled him. She pulled him down to the floor as he kicked his legs and struggled for air. Eventually, his legs stopped kicking and jerking. His body went still. Chris was dead.

Lavinia said, “I’m going to say this one time. We aren’t playing cowboys and Indians here. The stakes are high for us. If we don’t win, we will be destroyed. Dominating the other houses and Matriarchs, killing anyone who gets in our way or threatens to thwart our will; these things are necessities. We don’t do it because we think it would be ’cool’ to dominate the other Matriarchs and kill people, we do it because it is necessary for our survival. This is how we live, this is what we do. You’re out there killing Elvira-wannabes and aggressive housewives for no good reason. While that may be entertaining to you, to me it is a waste of time. I don’t have any time to waste. You endangered us all by allowing Theresa to form relationships with outsiders.”

“How I run my house is my business.”

“It is your business. But you know as well as I do that we can’t mix and mingle with outsiders as if we had something in common with them.”
“Theresa was looking for a way to live, grow and be happy without having to torture and kill people all the time…”

Lavinia slammed her fist on the desk, “There is no other way for us. My sister sought the same thing. That’s how we found Clarence. The bottom line is this, a square is a square. I don’t give a fuck what they call themselves, what kind of relationship they have with their spouses, how kinky their sex lives are or how anti-social they act or dress. They are outsiders and do not live the same way we do. From now on, nobody in either of our houses is allowed to form relationships with outsiders.”

The Duchess looked at Damijana and asked, “You found Clarence at one those places Theresa was going to? What brought you there?”

Damijana answered, “The same thing that brought Theresa. I was under the illusion that there was a place for me in this world other than here.”

The Duchess laughed, “Clarence, you were just hanging out looking for something kinky to get into, and Damijana found you? A black guy hanging out in places like that? You would have had a better chance finding a woman at a klan rally. You’re lucky Damijana found you.”

I replied, “I am lucky. I am also very aware of the difference between us and them. We shouldn’t have had to kill those three people this afternoon.”

The Duchess exclaimed, “Whatever Clarence. Lavinia would have killed that loud mouth bitch too, and you know it. She was offensive. I could look right inside her and see her fears, insecurities and envy. Ms. Peacock was a weak bitch and a bad actress. I‘m just surprised someone didn‘t off her belligerent ass a long time ago, probably because she surrounded herself with people who were either weaker than her, or infatuated with her.”

Lavinia said, “You’re right. I would have killed her. But that’s not the point. Clarence belongs here, we found him and brought him home. Shit like this,” She pointed to Chris’s body on the floor, “does not belong here. Theresa had no business getting involved with that man. And she definitely had no business confusing the steps we take to insure our survival with a fucking relationship model for squares. This isn’t the goddamn Brady Bunch and we are not normal people. I strongly suggest you make sure that all members of your house are completely clear about this in the future.”

“I got it Lavinia. Squares are off limits.”

“Good, because we can’t murder an entire subculture just because a few women can’t keep their fingers out of it. By tomorrow you‘ll have a dozen people pounding on your door looking for their friends, the cops will come shortly thereafter.”

“All the cops will find when they get there is ash and embers. I’m burning the house tonight.”

“Good. Are you set to meet Medea tonight?”

“I am. All we need is her house on our side and we can go confront the Old Ladies. I look forward to fucking up their tea party.”

“The days of drinking tea, formalities and mutual masturbation are over. The Old Ladies belong in a museum. This is a different era and the old ways are no longer relevant. Once they’re out of the way, we’ll unite the houses we favor and destroy the ones we don’t. We’ll rule over all the other Matriarchs.”

The Duchess smiled, “I like the way you think.”

Lavinia replied, “I know that you’re on your way to hit The Great Sathanas again. I’ll raise the woman, Chris and the live one right there.” Lavinia pointed at the man who had been tied to the cross. He no longer spoke or looked around. He just stared at the floor. After seeing his friend tortured and killed in front of him; after having his friends severed genitals shoved in his mouth as The Duchess had orgasm from witnessing his suffering, the man had lost his mind.

The Duchess asked, “Do you want us to take care of him before we go.”

Lavinia answered, “No. You’re people are too brutal and lack finesse.” The man immediately fell to floor and began having seizure. His eyes rolled back in his head and he foamed at the mouth. Lavinia continued, “Everyone needs to go downstairs. I’ll send them down as I raise them.”

The Lioness and the Black Widow 5

Before we left the house, The Duchess led me to a room full of men’s clothes and urged me to pick out whatever I wanted. As I went the through clothes that once belonged to victim‘s of The Duchess and her crew, I fought the urge to vomit. I came out of the room full of dead men’s clothes dressed like I was going to a funeral; a black two-piece suit, a white-collared shirt and black dress shoes.

The Duchess stood outside the room waiting for me. She wore a full length Chinchilla with a black silk blouse, a long black skirt and black boots. She wore a thick platinum chain around her neck with a large skull pendent, ridiculous diamond earrings and dark sunglasses.

The Duchess took me to a large red-brick building in the city. The afternoon was grey with a constant drizzle. I asked “What’s this place?” The Duchess replied, “This is where we can find the woman who calls herself The Fallen Angel.” Antigone and twins parked in the space behind us with Roger still laid quietly in the trunk.

When we got out the car, The Duchess said, “Clarence, all you’re going to do is let The Fallen Angel approach you, react how your instincts tell you to react; I’ll take over from there.” She turned toward Antigone, “If these bitches give us any shit, we’re shutting this place down.” Antigone nodded her head.

We entered the building and took the stairs down to the basement. I followed The Duchess and Antigone to a large green steel door. The twins walked closely behind me. Antigone pounded on the door with her fist. The door slid open, slamming into the stopper with a loud metallic thud. A huge man stood in the doorway, dressed in a black t-shirt and black jeans. He had long greasy black hair and wore dark, heavy eye-make-up. The Duchess looked the man up and down, then she laughed and proclaimed, “Now that’s a fucking face I’d want to wake up to in the morning. I’m here to see The Fallen Angel.”

The man snarled, “Yeah? And who the fuck are you?”

“I’m The Duchess.”

The man’s face and body language instantly went from aggressive to appeasing. He bowed his head and said, “My humblest apologies, right this way.” We followed the man down a long concrete corridor lit with red lights and through another green steel door. When we entered the room, we were met by loud music, smoke and the smell of alcohol. The room was large and dimly lit, there was a bar on the opposite side of the room and several unoccupied tables in between. The Duchess told me to go sit at the bar, then she went with Antigone and the man to small room set off to the side.

I took a seat at the bar, the twins sat at a table right behind me. The bartender stood at the end of the bar chatting with the only patron I could see. She was a skinny blonde-haired woman dressed in a black t-shirt and black skirt. The bartender, an older man with beady eyes and a receding hairline, paid be no attention. The Duchess came out of the room followed by a young woman with long curly black hair. She wore all black, but her style was much different from The Gothic Girl and Black Sally’s. The Fallen Angel looked like a cheap fortune teller, or a woman expecting trick-or-treaters. Antigone and the doorman remained in the room.

The Fallen Angel sat down on my right and gave me a sly, menacing smirk. The Duchess sat down on my left. She said, “Fallen Angel, this is Clarence. Clarence, meet The Fallen Angel.” I reached out my hand and looked her in the eyes. A look of anger and confusion came over her face. She yelled at me, “YOU ARE TO LOWER YOUR EYES WHEN ADDRESSING ME!”

I couldn’t do it. My eyes remained locked on hers. She stood up, enraged and asked The Duchess, “What’s this? I thought you said he was submissive to all Keepers of the Altar.”

The Duchess nodded her head, “That is exactly what I said. Do you not find him submissive?”

“He just looks like another angry black guy to me. I don’t like him. He gives me a funny feeling. Get him out of here.”

The Duchess replied, “He’s not the problem. The problem is that there are fake Matriarch’s, such as yourself, who are trying to profit off the deeds of the women who are really doing this shit.”

The Fallen Angel motioned to the bartender, then stared at The Duchess defiantly, “Fake Matriarchs huh? What exactly are you trying to say?”

“I’m telling you that it’s time to ‘pay the piper‘.”

The bartender approached, the blonde-haired girl rose from her seat. The bartender asked, “Mistress, is there a prob---.” BOOM! The gun went off by my left ear. I fell off my stool. I looked up and saw The Duchess standing above, the smoking pistol still in her hand.

I saw the blond-haired girl run to protect The Fallen Angel. I watched her fall as the bullets from The Duchess‘ gun penetrated her body. The Duchess slammed the pistol down on the bar and ordered The Fallen Angel to sit down. Antigone came out of the room, her face speckled with blood. She held the head of the doorman by his long black hair. She placed the severed head on the bar and took a seat next to The Fallen Angel.

The Fallen Angel trembled on her stool, “Duchess, let’s be rational, okay? I don’t know what your problem with me is, but we can work this out without anymore violence.”

The Duchess replied, “Your rationality is cowardice and impotence in the face of my violence.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Have you ever seen those signs that say something like, ‘Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt’. Well, you’re the bitch who just bought the t-shirt without the ‘being’ and ‘doing’ anything.”

“I don’t understand. I…”

“Of course you don’t understand. I’ll help you. You are NOT a Matriarch. Now, it’s not enough for me to just come down here and tell you that to your face. I’m gonna have to prove it to you, and make an example out of you.” Antigone pulled the piece of pipe from her boot and smashed it into the side of The Fallen Angel’s head. The twins pulled her from her stool, threw her to the floor, then all four of the women kicked her, stomped her and tore off her clothes as she shrieked and sobbed helplessly on the floor.

The Duchess grabbed two handfuls of The Fallen Angel’s hair and drug her naked and screaming to a door marked ‘Men’s’. The Duchess kicked open the door and pulled The Fallen Angel into the bathroom. The door slammed shut behind them. Antigone grabbed a stool and slammed it against the edge of the bar until the legs broke off. Her and the twins each grabbed a jagged leg and headed toward the bathroom. I followed behind empty handed.

When I got the bathroom The Duchess had The Fallen Angel in one of the stalls, on her knees bent over the toilet. The Fallen Angel’s wrists were tied to the pipes behind the seat. My cock stiffened as I gazed at The Fallen Angel’s pale and vulnerable round ass. The Duchess stood on the back of the toilet, she looked at me, “Well, go ahead Clarence. Don’t say that I never gave you any ass.” The twins snickered. Antigone walked up and slapped The Fallen Angel hard on the ass. Then she stepped out the way and motioned toward The Fallen Angel, like a game show girl presenting a new car to a contestant.

I undid my pants, let them fall around my ankles, then I dropped to my knees behind The Fallen Angel. The Duchess ordered, “Don’t even spit on it. Just shove it in dry!” The Fallen Angel let out a long, tortured guttural shout as I forced my long, thick cock up her ass. I had so much built up pressure, I almost exploded as soon as I was inside her. I paused, took a breath and started fucking her ass deep, hard and dry. Her blood began to lubricate the orifice, I fucked her deeper and harder. Her hip bones slammed into the porcelain toilet bowl. Her shouts, cries and pleading echoed off the walls of the Men’s room.

The Duchess placed one of her boots on the back of The Fallen Angel’s head and shoved it down into the toilet bowl. The Duchess smiled at me, pulled her skirt up to reveal her thigh, then with a soft and seductive voice she asked, “Aren’t you gonna cum?” An intense wave of pleasure and euphoria swept over me. I roared at the top of my lungs as I came deep in The Fallen Angel’s tight, bleeding ass.

The Duchess ordered one of the twins to get a bottle of 151 from the bar. When the twin returned with the bottle. The Duchess stepped off the back of the toilet, took the bottle from the twin and poured the rum over The Fallen Angel’s head. She pulled a cigarette from the pocket of her Chinchilla, lit it with a match, then she dropped the lit match on the back of The Fallen Angel’s head, igniting her hair. I was still inside her, as she jerked her body back and forth while letting out a long blood-curdling scream. When I pulled out, a glob of semen, blood and filth plopped on the floor. I stood up, pulled my pants up and backed away. The smell of burnt air and flesh filled the air. Antigone and the twins took turns beating The Fallen Angel with the legs Antigone broke of the barstool. The sound of The Fallen Angel’s bones breaking under the blows was like the sound of think branches snapping off in a wind storm. Finally, The Duchess yelled, “ENOUGH!”

The twins stood staring wide-eyed at the battered, burnt and debased Fallen Angel. Antigone asked, “We killin’ her?” The Duchess shook her head, “No. She’ll be a living reminder of what we do to fake Matriarchs.”

The Lioness and the Black Widow 3

When I placed the tip of the knife to the man’s stomach, Lavinia’s voice said, “No, do not take part in their ritual. You can’t consummate the ritual with The Duchess.” I set the knife down, stood up and backed toward the door. The Duchess sat up smiling, “Your Matriarch won’t allow you to consume the meat with us?” I shook my head. Antigone rose to her feet and said, “If he doesn’t take part in the ritual, he’s not walking out of here.” The Duchess intervened, “No, let him go.”

I exited the room leaving the screams and brutality behind me. As I descended the stairs, the image of Lavinia filled my mind. She sat behind her desk wearing a raven black Victorian-style gown; her disfigured face concealed by the black wooden mask with a red stripe down the middle. Her black hair was twisted up in a bun with a long, shiny steel hairpin protruding from either side. Black Sally stood to the right of Lavinia’s desk. She wore a black turtleneck sweater under a black leather jacket; she wore a long, black skirt and black leather boots. Dark sunglasses covered her eyes, a German Shepherd sat panting at her side. To Lavinia’s left stood Damijana, The Gothic Girl was dressed identical to Sally. She clenched the handle of her bloodstained machete in her right hand.

Lavinia’s voice said, “The Duchess considers manipulation to be a sacred art. You must learn to deal with people like her. She doesn’t just tell outright lies. She makes a person question their own ability to distinguish between truth and fallacy. Her strategy is to confuse, not to convince. You cannot assume that everything she says is a lie. In fact, most of what she tells you will be the truth. As you get to know her, she will seem to be full of contradictions. She’s not. People who appear to be full of contradictions either don’t know themselves, or they are concealing themselves. The Duchess, of course, falls in the latter category. There is nothing complex or contradictory about her. She is solely motivated by her own self-interest and she is ruled by her ego. Appear to become an advocate of her ego, and she’ll consider you an indispensable ally. That’s what I want.

“I want her to put you on a collar and leash. Then you will be collar and leash which I place on her. She will then become another instrument for me to use to carry out my will. Allow yourself to fall under her spell. Become an advocate of her ego. I want you in her heart.

“Keep this in mind, Lilith is locked in the box; Octavia is still taped up in the fetal position. That’s what your peers are doing while you’re out honeymooning with The Duchess. There are many Matriarch’s whose houses I intend to infiltrate, manipulate and takeover. Would you like to continue to assist me in that endeavor? Or would you rather return to the box?”

I thought, “I don’t want the box.”

“Of course you don’t. You’d much rather spend your time playing with the other Matriarchs. Since that’s the case, I strongly suggest that you impress me with your performance. Remember, you exist for one reason and one reason alone, to carry out my will. I acknowledge your love for me Clarence. I am returning your love and rewarding your loyalty by presenting you with this opportunity. Alfred’s position is still vacant, and nothing goes on in your mind without my knowledge. Consider that when you’re tempted to betray me. And you WILL be tempted to betray me.”

I stood at the bottom of the stairs contemplating the thoughts Lavinia had just placed in my mind. I heard a man’s voice shout, “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE? WHERE’S THERESA?” The door to the attic swung open. The red-headed Duchess stood at the top of the stairs, naked and covered in blood. The man froze, his eyes widened, terror could be seen on his face, it could be smelled in the air.

Theresa barged into the kitchen. “Chris, I told to wait for me at…OH FUCK!!!” Theresa yelled as she gazed up at The Duchess. Chris stuttered, “Th-th-th-is i-is a s-s-scene right?” Theresa solemnly replied, “Yes Chris, it’s just a scene. We need to go.”

The Duchess descended the stairs, “Ah, you’re Chris, Theresa’s fiance and slave. I’ve been dying to meet you.” When The Duchess got to the bottom of the stairs, Theresa protectively stepped in front of Chris, “This isn’t necessary. Please! We’re leaving.”

Lavinia’s voice came into my mind, “What are you doing? Do you think that I want their house weak, or strong, prior to my takeover? Exploit the situation.”

I looked at The Duchess and asked, “Did you bring me to your house in order to expose me? This man is not a member of any house and he has just seen my face. My Matriarch finds this situation unacceptable and demands an immediate resolution.”

Theresa yelled, “You shut your fucking mouth! It isn’t your place to make decisions here.”

The Duchess interrupted, “Theresa, the decision has already been made. Do you want to be the one to do it?”

Theresa pleaded, “No! No! Please Duchess! I love this man! Okay? I can’t let you do this. I won’t!” Chris cried out, “Theresa! What’s happening here? Who are these people? I don’t like this Theresa! I don’t feel safe!”

I proclaimed, “Duchess, my Matriarch wants to know if this is how you normally handle your affairs in this house. She is concerned that you have a member of your house who is marrying an outsider, and who is allowing her romantic interests to take priority over proper procedure. Duchess, with all due respect, I would remind you that this is a time of war. All the other houses are watching us, analyzing how we handle this situation. My Matriarch’s position is that this is not a time that we can afford to show weakness.”

Antigone descended the stairs followed by the twins. Lavinia’s voice said, “Theresa is the only voice of wisdom and reason that they have in that house. She brings balance to their table. I want them off-balance. Eliminate her.”

I leaned toward The Duchess and whispered, “You’re on the path to becoming one of the most feared and respected Matriarch’s. That is within your reach. Something like this could ruin your reputation forever.”

In one quick and fluid motion, The Duchess turned, reached into Antigone’s back pocket, pulled out a small pistol and shot Theresa in the eye. Theresa collapsed where she stood. Chris screamed, dropped to his knees and hugged the lifeless body of his fallen Mistress. He looked up at The Duchess with tear-filled eyes. The Duchess coldly stated, “I was gonna give you a quick death. I just had to kill my best friend because of you. Now I’m not gonna kill you. You’re a slave right? Well I know the perfect Mistress for you.” The Duchess turned to me, “I’m bringing him to Lavinia. I understand that her beloved Alfred met with an untimely end. I’m hoping your Matriarch will find Chris to be an acceptable replacement for Alfred.”

I nodded my head.

The Duchess placed her hand on my shoulder and said, “Ask her to make sure he suffers as much as Alfred, and for just as many years. Tell her that I’ll consider it a favor.”

I replied, “It will be as you wish Duchess. I’ll see to it personally.

The Lioness and the Black Widow 2

I followed The Duchess up to the attic. The twins had one of the men on the cross, the other was laid naked, face-up and spread-eagle on the floor; his wrists and ankles were tied to steel loops bolted into the floor. The Duchess went to a large standing cabinet and began rummaging through it. She pulled out a riding crop and slammed the cabinet doors shut. The twins backed up toward the wall. The Duchess pointed the riding crop at the man tied to the floor, “You have been a very bad boy. You’re not just a rapist, you’re not just a kidnapper. You deliver women to a man who uses technology and drugs to turn them into vegetables. He sells their bodies until their bodies break down, then he calls you to come strangle them and dump them. Is that right?” She reached down, pulled the tape off the man’s mouth and removed the gag.

The man replied, “Please listen to me. Okay? Just please listen. The Great Sathanas doesn’t want to fight you people. He’s going to offer you one million dollars if you just let it go. He wants peace.” The Duchess looked at me, “Did you hear that Clarence? The Great Sathanas is going to offer your Matriarch a million dollars to just leave him alone.”

The man on the floor added, “Yeah, it’s true. He’s sending someone tonight to make the offer. He’s already got the cash in a bag and everything. I saw it. Please believe, you don’t have to do this. Our boss wants peace.”

The Duchess laughed, “Your boss wants peace, huh?” She looked over at the twins, “Have you two heard about Clarence’s Matriarch?” The twins nodded their heads. The Duchess’ eyes fell on me. She continued, “When Lavinia was Second-Chair, the old Matriarch of his house told her that she had to step down from her position. Lavinia replied with something along the lines of, ‘Fuck that, I’ll prove my seat’. The old Matriarch gives her a way out. She gives her the chance to move one seat down and sit on the right of her sister. She would have stayed on the path to ascension, she just would have had to wait a little longer. What does Lavinia do? She refuses to step down and insists on proving her seat. Keep in mind, nobody ‘proves’ their seat anymore. That’s old school. The old Matriarch has her people tie Lavinia down, then she chops off all her toes, pulverizes her shins, drills holes in her kneecaps, slices off one of her breasts and smashes her face in with a meat mallet.” The man on the St. Andrew’s cross began to let out muffled sobs, tears flowed from his eyes.

The Duchess continued, “The entire time Lavinia is being fucked up, she could have stopped the torture at any time with a simple ‘I quit’.” The twins stared at The Duchess wide-eyed. The twin on the right proclaimed, “Now that is a down ass bitch.” The Duchess circled the man on the floor. She nodded her head in agreement and said, “That’s true. She gave up her legs, her breast and her pretty face over a principle. This is the woman who your boss plans to buy off.”

She straddled the man’s chest and sat down, “Then, she kills a bunch of your bosses guys. What does your boss do? He asks Lavinia, ASKS, her to pay him five-thousand measly dollars. He was just asking for a small gesture on Lavinia’s part to cover up the offence. That way he could say to his peers, ‘Yeah, she killed my people but I addressed that issue and she compensated me for it.’ That’s all he wanted and none of this would have been necessary. But Lavinia didn’t respond the way he anticipated. He doesn’t understand the way a woman like her thinks. She tells him that she isn’t going to pay him shit, that he’s a punk who can’t do anything about it. How do you think she’s going to respond to your boss’s offer to pay her a million dollars to just leave him alone?”

The man on the floor didn’t respond. He just laid there in his sweat smelling of fear. The Duchess gently tapped the man’s chest with the riding crop. Then she threw the riding crop to the side and reached her hand out. The twin on the left stepped forward and handed her a long shiny ice pick. She looked down at the man, “What? Did you think I was going to beat you with that little black thing? I come from the school of street torture, just like you. I’m more of a ice pick and blowtorch type of girl.”

The door opened and a tall, thin dark-skinned woman entered. She wore a blue Dickies suit and dark sunglasses. Her hair was straightened and cut short. As soon as she entered, it was if there was a dramatic change in the air pressure. Aggression and anger emanated from the woman to such a high degree, it seemed to effect the air around her. It was like the heat that can be seen rising from the asphalt on a hot afternoon. The Duchess looked over her shoulder at the woman, “Antigone, I’m glad you could make it.”

Antigone slowly unbuttoned her starched work shirt and asked, “Are these the punks that killed that family?” The Duchess smiled and nodded her head. Antigone took off her shirt. She wore nothing but a black training bra underneath. Her stomach was muscular. Her upper body was covered in tattoos. Antigone kneeled down, lifted her left pant leg and pulled a foot long length of pipe from her boot. She looked around the room and said, “Y’all doing that nice guy shit up in here, huh?” The Duchess rose to her feet, stepped away from the man and motioned toward him.

Antigone walked over to the man, placed a knee in the center of his chest and began hitting the man in the mouth with the piece of pipe. The Duchess pulled off her sweat suit and shouted out in glee, “Oh fuck yeah! You know I like this kind of party!” I couldn’t take my eyes off red-headed Duchess as she stood wearing nothing but blood-red lace panties. She pulled a strap-on from cabinet. She stared me in the eyes and gave me devious grin as she put it on, “Are you gonna get in on some of that bloody face hole Clarence?” I shook my head. The Duchess laughed and derided me, “Fucking pussy!”

After Antigone smashed out the majority of the man’s teeth with the piece of pipe, The Duchess laid over the man, her hips above his head and shoved the strap-on in his mouth. She face-fucked the man so hard, the floor vibrated from the back of man’s head being slammed against it. Antigone picked up the ice pick and worked on man’s feet. She inserted the steel tip of the pick under the man’s toenails, she pierced the flesh between his toes. After she did that for several minutes, she stabbed the man over and over and over in the soles of his feet, burying the ice pick all the way up to hilt.

I couldn’t tell if the man was dead, in shock, having a seizure or just convulsing from the pain. I watched The Duchess’ ass pump in and out as she savagely fucked the man’s head. The broken pieces of teeth sounded like small pebbles hitting the floor. Antigone looked at the twins, “Turn on the hot plate and heat up a pot of water.”

The twin on the right went to a small dresser that stood against the wall, pulled out an old hot plate from the drawer, placed it on top the dresser and plugged it in. Then she left the room to get a pot of water. The Duchess stood up. My eyes wandered from her curly red head hair, to her medium-sized firm breasts with small, pink nipples, to her muscular but slender thighs, to the strap-on dripping blood in large drops on the man’s chest. She caught me staring at her; she grinned and winked at me.

The man on the floor lost consciousness. Antigone kicked him the testicles and yelled, “Wake up punk!” The Duchess removed the bloody strap-on and dropped it on the floor by the man’s head. She knelt down, jammed her fingers in his mouth and pulled his tongue taut. Antigone knelt down beside her with the ice-pick. The sharp steel tip of the pick penetrated the underside of the man’s tongue. He woke up grunting and twitching. Antigone pierced the man’s tongue with the ice pick and left it stuck in his tongue, so that the man was unable to pull his tongue back into his mouth.

The Duchess looked to the man bound to the cross and shot him one of her smiles. She said, “I know what you’re waiting to see. You want to see us go to work on your partner’s dick and balls, right? Ha, ha, ha. You’re like, ‘Hell yeah, I want to see these bitches work that cock’ huh?” The Duchess went back to the cabinet. She pulled out what appeared to be a small brown notebook, then she knelt down next to the man on the floor. I wondered if I had become desensitized as I paid little attention to the man’s suffering. I was too busy watching The Duchess ass in the blood red panties. My desire was like a fire raging inside me. I wanted to go grab her, throw her on the floor and fuck her right next to the man as he was being tortured. My cock was hard and throbbing in my pants. The twin returned with the water an placed it on the hot plate.

The Duchess opened the small brown package and pulled out a piece of sandpaper. She grabbed the man’s dick in her left hand, and began grinding the flesh away with her right. A high-pitched, eerie screech came out the man’s throat. He wriggled around in his restraints. Antigone slammed the steel-toe of her boot into his ribs. The bones sounded like branches being snapped. Meanwhile, The Duchess removed every speck of flesh from the man’s penis. She called out to the twin standing by the hot plate, “Pass the salt please!” The twin pulled a salt container from one of the drawers and tossed it to the Duchess. The man’s body went stiff and he convulsed. Blood and spit drained from the sides of his battered mouth, as The Duchess coated his skinless red penis with salt. The man jerked his head back and forth, prompting Antigone to grab the handle of the ice-pick and shout, “BE STILL!” The man struggled to stop himself from convulsing. A foul odor filled the room. The Duchess pointed at the man bound to the cross, “Antigone, look! That punk just shit himself!”

Antigone stared at the man through her dark sunglasses and shook her head in disgust. She declared, “I’m gonna make you eat every last bit of that shit too!” The man on the cross looked at the dark sunglasses and dark face staring at him, his eyes glazed over and he feinted.

The twin by the hot plate said, “The water’s boiling.” The Duchess replied, “It needs to come to a rolling boil sweetheart. Give it another minute.”

Antigone walked up to the man hanging limp from the cross, smacked him across the face and screamed “Wake the fuck up bitch!” When came to, he instantly began screaming and crying. Antigone bent down, scooped up a handful of the man’s feces and shoved it in his mouth. The man’s screams were replaced with retching and vomiting. Antigone went to the hot plate, grabbed the pot of hot water and stood over the man on the floor. She looked at man on the cross and said, “Watch how I make your friend’s body jerk.” Then she poured the boiling water over the man’s face, chest and stomach.

The man on the cross began pleading between sobs, “Pleeasse! Pleeasse!” Antigone dropped the pot and snatched up her piece of pipe. She went to the man on the cross and bashed him across the face with it, smashing his jaw. Then she went back to the man on the floor and shattered his kneecaps with the piece of pipe. The Duchess sat down on the floor and laid back against the man. I gasped as I watched her naked flesh touch his. She laid facing the man on the cross. She spread her legs, reached into her lace panties and began fingering her clit, gyrating her hips as she did it. My balls began to ache. I clenched my fists tight and bit my lip. The Duchess turned her head toward me. She closed her eyes and smiled.

Antigone dropped the piece of pipe and licked her thick lips as watched the The Duchess. She crawled between The Duchess’ legs, grabbed onto her red lace panties and jerked them off. The Duchess took in a deep breath and moaned. Antigone buried her face in The Duchess’ pussy. She licked and sucked on the Duchess’ clit as she finger-fucked her. I saw The Duchess face turn deep red as she pinched her hardened nipples. Her breathing became deeper, the moans louder; her eyes rolled around in her head. Then she looked directly at me and said, “Help me cum! Make the man underneath me scream.” As I approached the man, my eye’s never left The Duchess. I was so entranced by her, I almost tripped over the man’s head. I pulled the ice pick out of his tongue, then I knelt between his legs; inches away from The Duchess. I sunk the steel tip of the ice pick into the man’s left testicle. He shrieked and jerked around. The Duchess screamed, “MORE!” I pulled out the ice-pick and penetrated the right testicle. The Duchess yelled, “YES! YES! YES! DON’T STOP CLARENCE!”

I pulled the ice pick out and shoved it back in his left testicle. The Duchess commanded, “Now cut his dick and balls off, then shove them in the other one’s mouth.” One of the twins appeared by my side. She held out a knife. I obeyed The Duchess’ command. When I shoved the bleeding wad of tortured genitals into the man’s mouth, I was startled by the high-pitched primal scream that came out The Duchess’ mouth. She came. The she laid there for several minutes, breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling. I asked the twins if they had a cigarette. The twin on the right tossed me pack. I pulled a cigarette from the pack, placed it between my lips and asked for light. After I lit the cigarette, I knelt down by The Duchess. My hand trembled as I placed the filter of the cigarette between her full red lips. She took a long, deep drag then took the cigarette between fingers and pulled it away from her mouth. She looked me in eyes and said, "Now cut open his stomach."

Kali's Altar 22

The Duchess showered while I waited in the den with the twins. Not a word was spoken. The Duchess returned, her red hair dripping wet, she wore a grey sweat-suit. She grabbed her mink and looked at me, “How long does this process take?” Her question was answered by the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. We all got up and went out in the hall to see Roger.

He was a monstrosity. His head looked like a blood-caked thumb with teeth. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he stopped and stood motionless. Lavinia appeared at the top in her wheelchair. Her voice said, “Here’s your Roger. I want Clarence back as soon as The Great Sathanas is dead.”

The Duchess nodded her head, then she motioned for me to follow her, “Let’s go Clarence. The twins will transport Roger.”

I looked up at Lavinia as I walked out the door. I thought, “I love you.” Her voice replied, “This isn’t good-bye. I’ll be with you the whole time. Don’t worry about anything. There is much for you to learn from The Duchess.”

The twins put Roger in the trunk of an old beat up Cutlass. The Duchess led me to a black Lincoln Town Car with tinted windows. She threw her mink in the trunk and got in the drivers seat. I got in the passenger seat beside her. Anguish filled my heart. I didn’t want to leave Lavinia. I worried that I would never see her again.

When we got on the highway, The Duchess asked, “So how long have you been a member of that house?”

“I don’t know. A little over a week.”

“Ahhhh. That’s why you’re all fucked up. How do you like your new life?”

“It’s good.”

“Oh, will be speaking in ‘liar-ese’ during your time in my house?” She looked at me, her full lips grinned slightly.

“It’s been challenging.”

“I see. That’s a nice way of saying ‘it’s been fucked up’, right?” I turned my head and stared out the window. The sun was beginning to rise. The Duchess continued, “To be honest, I’m surprised you’re still among the living. You hang out with a pretty rough crowd.” I thought of The Duchess smearing blood all over her body and wondered how long I would remain ‘among the living’.

The Duchess continued, “What a lucky guy, huh? You get to spend all your time surrounded by women.”

“Yeah well, I haven’t felt all that ‘lucky’ recently. Can we please talk about something else?” The Duchess pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned the car off. All that could be heard was the sound of passing cars speeding by. She stared into my eyes, “No, we can’t talk about ‘something else‘. We’re going to finish this conversation.” She lit a cigarette and continued, “I want to know why you are loyal to the people who are hurting you so badly. Is it because they’re women? Are you one of those types that is willing to take any abuse a woman is willing to give, as long as she is giving you attention?”

“You know that the torture is used for a higher purpose…”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

I yelled out in frustration, “I DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION!”

The Duchess smiled, turned the car back on and merged back into traffic. She said, “Finally, an honest answer.”

I asked, “Do you know the answer?”

She blew out smoke, “Actually, I do know the answer. I also know why you’re still alive. I mean ’why you’, right? You must wonder what makes you so special.”

“I don’t feel special when I locked in box. I don’t feel special when I’m being held down and forced to drink piss…”

“Yes you do. Otherwise you wouldn’t be willing to endure it.”

“NO I DO NOT!”

“So why then Clarence? Why go through all of that when you can just walk away.”

“You know that I can’t just walk away.”

“Yes, you can. If you weren’t there willingly, you would be dead.” I let her words sink in. She was right. There never was a point where I was being held against my will. I never tried to escape and I had several opportunities. The Duchess went on, “Do you want to know the answer to the question? I’ll tell you. You are definitely not willing to take abuse from any woman who shows you attention. You fit into your house like a piece to a jigsaw puzzle. They need you and you need them. You were built for this.”

“Built for what? To be a crash test dummy? A human sacrifice?”

“I doubt you’ll be sacrifice; killed maybe, but not sacrificed. Did you hear the ‘They need you’ part? Why do you think you’re alive? Love? You are alive because you were chosen by the Goddess. That’s who you serve whether you realize it or not. That’s why they gave you a seat at their table. If Lavinia is a dagger in the Goddess’ hand, you are the stone She uses to sharpen that dagger. Do you understand the importance of that role? Look at it this way. If you are a sword designed by the Goddess, what does that say about the woman who wields that sword? Or, you can look at it another way. Brianna made a living making men kneel in front of her. You didn’t bow before Brianna, you tore her apart. Yet I could stop the car and make you kneel before me right there on the side of the road. I could even make you strip first. I could hop on the hood of my car, remove my shoes and have you lick my toes clean. And you would do it. Do have nay doubts about that?”

I remained silent.

The Duchess continued, “But let me fall out of the Goddess’ favor, and you would immediately end my existence. This isn’t about your love for Lavinia. That’s a small part of a big picture.”

“My loyalty is to Lavinia…”

“Your loyalty is to the Goddess and you go wherever she sends you. Now, she has sent you to me and I’m letting you know upfront that I intend to make full use of you. I am the dagger, you are the sharpening stone. This has nothing to do with our wants or desires. This is about the Will of the Goddess. Believe me, you’re not the only man I could get to kneel before me nude on the roadside. But you are one of the only one’s specifically designed to serve me. When I tell you to do something, you have no choice; you’ll do it. And you will do it no matter how repulsive, painful or frightening it is. I could tell you to shit in your hand and eat it. You would do it. Would you like to test that in order to find out if I’m bluffing?”

“No. I still don’t understand…”

“Yes you do. You just don’t like the truth. As long as my will is line with the Goddess’ Will, I own you just the same as Lavinia does. The moment my will is not in line with Her’s, you will try to destroy me. She designed you to be a blessing to the women who serve Her, and a curse to the ones that don’t. That’s an important part of the equation Clarence. As long as I am completely loyal and obedient to the Goddess, you will be completely loyal and obedient to me. I am the dagger, you are the stone.”

“So what does that mean for me?”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to make you eat shit or suck toes. There is no reason for me to be cruel to you. You will have enough to deal with already. I don’t think you fully appreciate the position you’re in. You are the dividing line that separates the women who ‘are’ from those who ‘are not’. You can expect a future full of politics, manipulation and meetings with Matriarchs, along with all the would-bes and the wanna-bes.”

We pulled into the parking lot of large apartment complex. The Duchess parked in spot marked “Guest”. I saw the twins’ empty Cutlass parked a few spaces away. The Duchess got out of the car and walked toward the building. I followed right behind her. We entered, went up a flight of stairs and stopped in front of a door marked C109. One of the twins opened the door. When I entered the apartment I saw two men bound and gagged on the floor. A third man laid lifeless and limp at Roger’s feet. The bound looked familiar. I approached them to get a closer look. Then I recognized them, they were two of the menh from my dream. The one’s who slipped in Alexandria’s slider and raped her.

The Duchess asked, “What? Are these guys friends of yours?” I shook my head. She said, “That’s good. These guys are first degree fucking assholes. They kidnap women, gang-rape them, then take them to The Great Sathanas to be forced into prostitution.”

I nodded solemnly, “I know.”

“So what do you think Clarence? Should we just execute them here? Or should we take them with us and have little fun?”

I thought for a moment and wondered how many women those men had brought to The Great Sathanas. The image of a wall full of “Missing” posters came into my mind. I looked at The Duchess, “These two should definitely come with us.”

Kali's Altar 20

As I showered, I watched the pink fluid twirl around the drain. My fingertips ran over the sore and swollen, scabbed letters etched into my chest. Welts had been raised all over my body, my muscles were still cramped and sore from my time in the box. My heart felt like a burdensome stone sinking, crushing the vital organs below.

After I dried off and dressed in fresh black fatigues, I made my way to Lavinia’s office. The door was open when I got there, Lavinia sat masked behind her desk. As I crossed the threshold, her voice said, “You must put your recent ordeal in the past. Do it immediately. We have business to attend to. The Duchess will return shortly.”

I remained standing, I knew that it would hurt too bad for me to sit down. So did she. Her voice said, “Sit down.” A deep, long guttural grunt helped me vocalize the pain I felt as I took my seat. The wooden chair felt as if it was the hardest metal in the world. My muscles remained tensed, my body battered.

Lavinia’s voice said, “Raise your head and sit up straight. I can’t have you sitting there looking like some kind of demoralized abuse victim when The Duchess arrives.”

I thought, “Is her house similar to this one?”

“No. Their house has Gypsy roots. They’re more nomadic than us. They don’t let men sit at their table, but they sacrifice men frequently.”

“So, even though there is an alliance between our houses, I still won’t be considered an ally to them?”

“Why are you worried about it?”

“I’m not.”

“Yes. You are.”

“Well I should be worried about it. Now, on top of everything else, I have to worry about being sacrificed by The Duchess.”

“Do you think your fear will save you? Then what good is it? You will be in many more situations where the risk of death is high. You should be tired of fearing death by now. Don’t waste whatever time you have, shaking and trembling in fear.”

There was a knock at the door. Lilith entered followed by The Duchess and her entourage. The Duchess was accompanied by two women, identical twins, with caramel complexions and short black hair. The twins looked to be no older than 20. They were short and rail thin with cold, uncaring eyes. The man was huge. He stood about 6’5 and must have weighed at least 270 lbs. His eyes showed the evidence of intoxication. His care-free demeanor and cocky grin told me that he was completely unaware that he was a lamb being led to the slaughter. The man blurted out, “Hey, I like your mask. That’s awesome. My name is Roger.” The man began to approach Lavinia’s desk. Instinctively, I stood to block the path between her and him. I looked into his glazed eyes and saw amusement. He said, “Whoa Chief! I was trying to introduce myself to lady. I won’t steal her away from you, I promise. That is, unless she wants me to.” The man winked at Lavinia and laughed. I couldn’t wait to watch him die.

Lavinia motioned to the chair in front of her desk, her voice said, “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Lavinia. Please sit down.” The man sat down and looked around the room. He turned to The Duchess, “Hey Alice, I thought this was supposed to be a party.” He turned back to Lavinia, “Why don’t you have your boy here get me a drink?” He looked up at me, daring me to say something. I said, “Of course sir, what can I get for you?”

“Scotch would be awesome.” I walked out the room, down the hall to Lavinia’s quarters and retrieved the blood-stained baseball bat from the chest. I barged back into Lavinia’s office. When I was a few feet behind the man, he turned in his seat and smiled at me, “You got my drink boy?” I raised the bat in the air and slammed it into the side of his face. Teeth flew across the room. The man rose from his chair slowly, gripping the side of his face, a confused look was in his eyes. He charged me. I swung the bat again but he blocked the blow and snatched me up in a bear hug.

Lilith jumped on the man’s back and dug her fingers into his eyes. The man shrieked, let go of me and ran around in circle trying to get Lilith off his back. I raised the bat again planning to smash the man’s kneecap the next time he passed. Lavinia’s voice commanded, “No, don’t break his knees. He won’t be able to walk after I raise him. Lilith, let go!” Lilith let go of the man and fell to the floor. The man continued running around in circles screaming, clutching his bleeding eyes. The Duchess laughed and said, “Roger! Stop running around. Let me help you.”

The man screamed, “Fuck you bitch! I can’t fucking see. I’m gonna kill that fucking nigger!” The Duchess looked at me and shook her head, “Don’t worry about him. He’s awesome.” The twins stepped forward. The one on the right said, “I know this sorry muthafucka isn’t runnin’ around like a decapitated chicken calling people niggas.” The twin on the left said, “That word doesn’t bother me. But let this punk say ‘awesome’ one more time and that will be the end of him.” The man roared, then yelled out, “Fuck you! Fuck all you bitches! I’m gonna kill every single one of you.”

The Duchess said, “How are you going to do that Roger? You can’t fucking see.”

Lavinia’s voice said, “Roger, you have a good job, a wife, kids.” Roger stopped running in circles, he stood in the center of the room, his chest heaving. He said, “You leave my family out of this.” Lilith circled the man glaring at him. She had changed a lot since the first time I saw her. I remembered her sitting in front of her mirror. I remembered the look in her eyes as she was forced to watch her husband being tortured. It was her husband’s reckless pursuit of a fantasy that had placed us both in the position we found ourselves in. Lilith stopped behind the man and said, “Do you really think you can protect your family with just words alone? You’re here alone, blind and unarmed in a house full of killers and you’re barking out demands?”

The twin on the right said, “If this punk muthafucka cared about his family, he would be with them now, not out chasing pussy.”

The twin on the left, “That’s what got you killed. You know that right?”

The twin on the right, “Now your kids will grow up without a father.”

The Duchess laughed and said, “No they won’t. I’ve seen a picture of his wife. It won’t take her long to find someone else. Then his kids will call another man daddy.”

Lavinia’s voice said, “They’ll never know what happened to you. There won’t be any funeral for them to go to. They’re going to think that you abandoned them.” The Duchess added, “I’ll call your wife and let her know that was the case. I’ll tell her about all the shit you talked about her. I’ll tell her that you don’t want her anymore and that you’re mine now because she was unable to tend to your needs.”

The man began to sob, “Please. Please. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

The twin on the left said, “You’ll ‘give’ us? You ain’t got to give us a muthafuckin’ thing punk. We’re gonna take whatever the fuck we want from you and there ain’t shit you can do about it.”

The man cried, “Please, I’m sorry for offending you. I’m a little fucked up.”

The twin on the right, “Yeah, you real fucked up ain’t you? I’ll tell you what punk. If you suck my friends dick, we’ll let you go home to your family.” The man stopped sobbing and went silent. He said, “Okay, whatever you want.” The twins began laughing uproariously. The Duchess said, “See this,” pointing at Roger, “this is why we don’t let men sit at our table. He fucked up his whole family chasing pussy. Now, he’s got himself into some trouble and he’s willing to get on his knees and suck dick to get out of it.” The Duchess looked at me, “So what do you think comrade? Should we let ‘awesome-man’ here go if he sucks your dick?”

I said, “That’s not what I want. I want his hands cuffed behind his back and his pants around his ankles. I’m gonna take that ass.”

The man yelled, “Fuck that. I’m not…”

Lavinia’s voice interrupted, “You’re never going to see your family again if you don’t do exactly what we tell you to do.” She pulled a pair of handcuffs from the desk drawer and tossed them on the desk. The twin on the left said, “Oh this is going to be good. I ain’t seen a man get his ass took by another man before.” Lilith grabbed the handcuffs from the desk. The Duchess said, “Hold on. Do we have a deal Roger? You drop your pants, let this man fuck you up the ass and we’ll let go.” Roger didn’t answer. The Duchess continued, “It’s okay, I understand that you’re embarrassed. All you have to do is drop your pants, take a little a pain and we’ll let you go. Nobody will ever find out about this.”

The man said, “Why are you doing this to me?”

Lavinia’s voice boomed, “BECAUSE WE CAN! Now drop your fucking pants or we’ll go pick up your wife, bring her here and Clarence can fuck her instead.” The man shook his head whispering, “no…no…no…” He undid his belt buckle, unfastened and unzipped his pants, then let them fall to his ankles. Lavinia’s voice said, “Lilith, cuff him.” Lilith cuffed the mans hands behind his back. Lavinia placed a dagger on the table, “Clarence, I have an empty jar. Fill it.”

I snatched the dagger from her desk, gripped the man’s dick and balls with my left hand, then sliced off his genitals with the dagger. The man fell to floor screaming and kicking his legs. The Duchess took off her white mink and threw it on the floor as if it was a rag. She looked at me and asked, “Hey Clarence, what does a girl have to do to get a cup of coffee around here?”

Kali's Altar 19

Lavinia’s voice whispered, “I’m doing this because I love you and I want you to grow stronger.” I yelled and screamed until my lungs and throat burned. I couldn’t stand, turn or twist; I didn’t even have enough room to pound my head against the lid or sides of the box. My elbows, shoulders, forearms, head, back, toes and ass all pressed and rubbed against the cold steel. A cold draft flowed in through air holes. All was black. Lavinia’s voice said, “Panic will turn a bad situation into the stuff nightmares are made of. Take a deep breath and try to be still.”

Every joint in my body ached, my muscles began to cramp. My breathing was fast and shallow. I felt something brush against my foot. It felt like furry fingertips were tickling my ankle. I couldn’t breathe. In my mind, I saw the image of a large, hairy spider with a swollen red body the size of a lemon. I felt it brush against the naked flesh of my inner-thigh. Terror confined my existence to the moment, I could see nothing beyond the complete darkness that surrounded me. It was as if I had no past or future, just a hellish present that would stretch on throughout eternity.

My body became soaked with sweat as I yelled and futilely rocked back and forth, a half-inch to each side. I managed to pull my arms up over my knees and bring them between my legs. I felt the spider crawl over my genitals. I could only move my hands from the wrists, I slapped at the spider with one hand hoping to crush it. The spider scurried over my penis and up my stomach. It felt like someone was violently shaking the box, I could hear it slamming against the closet walls. I realized that it was me shaking the box as my body convulsed in fear. The spider crawled up to my neck, I felt it’s fangs sink into to the soft flesh under my ear, it felt like two nails being driven into my neck. With limited movement, I could only slap at the spider with fingertips. It latched on to my hand and bit into my middle finger. My face was pulled back, teeth-bared as I bellowed like beast and crushed the spider between my hands.

Lavinia’s voice whispered, “You were locked in a closet when you were young. You remember. You pounded on the closet door screaming because you were afraid of the dark. You always had the feeling that you weren’t alone in that closet. That feeling terrified you more than the people who locked you inside. Do you remember that time you felt a hand emerge from between the coats and grab your shoulder? You beat on the door until your fists bled, crying and pleading for them to let you out. Did you just have an overactive imagination? Or was there a really some sort malicious spirit in that closet with you? You know how sometimes you would be in the house alone, step into the hall and catch a glimpse out of someone the corner of your eye? You knew you saw someone, but when you checked nobody was there. Have you ever thought that maybe an evil spirit has been stalking you since those days spent in the closet?”

My teeth clattered as I sat cramped and shivering. I clenched my mouth shut to keep my teeth from knocking together. Lavinia’s voice whispered, “Stare into the darkness, tell me what you see.” With head lowered, eyes toward the bottom of the box, I stared into the black between my legs. Moments later a face began to form, it was the pale, eyeless, dead face of Brianna. Her mouth opened wide showing her teeth, the top row was jagged from when she broke her teeth on the bathroom floor. She bit into my testicles. The pain shot through my body, I stiffened, panicked and fought against the steel walls of the box. Brianna growled as she ferociously jerked her head from left to right, tearing my scrotum open and crushing my testicle between her teeth. I screamed out, “Please, please Lavinia. LET ME OUT!” Brianna’s face drifted into nothingness like a smoke ring. I felt for my balls. They were still intact. Lavinia’s voice said, “What did I tell you about the groveling. Do you think that I would give my love to a lowly, groveling coward? I was wrong about you. I thought your devotion meant something. I truly believed that I was special to you. But you’re just a lowly piss-drinking, groveling, cowardly parasite who would be more than happy to lick shit off the boots of any bitch who will allow it. Isn’t that true?”

I screamed out, “NO!” Tears streamed from my eyes.

“You’re crying? You are one sorry fucking excuse for a man. You’ve been in the box for less than ten minutes and you’ve already been reduced to trembling, weeping child. I’m disappointed in you. But mostly, I’m disappointed in myself for misjudging you. I’m going to leave you in that box.”

I yelled, “No, please Lavinia. NO!”

She interrupted, “You will die of starvation. That’s a fitting death for a disloyal, piss-drinking coward. When you’re dead. I’ll take your emaciated body and turn you into the walking dead like I did Brianna. You will be much more useful to me. Good-bye Clarence.”

“No, I’ll do anything, please let me out. Give me a quick death, please.”

“A quick death? That is something I only offer to those I respect or pity. How could I possibly respect you. You’ve seen the torture I’ve endured. I never gave in or begged for anything. You’re not worthy of me.”

“I was there with you when nobody else was…”

“You’re the fool I chose to take advantage of in my time of need. I needed service, you were the only piss-drinker available.”

“I don’t drink piss!”

“I know. You would find it too degrading. However, if you want to get out of that box, that’s exactly what you’re going to do.” The closet door opened, light shot through the air holes like knives penetrating my eyes. I squeezed them shut. “”Open your eyes.” I cracked my eyes open, all I could see was a white blur blending into the black that surrounded me. “Do you see the straw? Lean forward and drink. Drink and I will let you out.”

I shook my head sobbing. The straw was pulled out of the hole. I heard the sound of fluid being poured over the top of the box. Urine streamed from the air holes above onto my flesh. The door slammed shut. All was dark once again. Lavinia’s voice said, “Fine. Starve to death you fucking coward. You can think about me playing with my clit as I revel in your suffering.”

As sat crouched and shivering, sweat and piss dripping from my naked body, my mind became fixated on the image of Lavinia sitting in her chair, creamy thighs parted, her gown pulled up around her waist; playing with her clit and fingering her tight, wet pussy. I remembered the night in the basement when she pretended to be Selene, I remembered the sweet taste of her juices as she rubbed her wet pussy against my lips and tongue. I thought about the first time I pushed my cock inside her. A deep, hopeless sort of anguished loneliness fell over my heart. I loved her, she was all that wanted and wished for. She no longer loved me.

I couldn’t tell how long I was in the box; if it was hours, days or minutes. After awhile, I could no longer tell where my body ended and the darkness of the steel box began. The closet door opened. I squeezed my eyes shut. There was the sound of keys, the lock, steel banging against steel. The lid was opened. I tried to look up. All I could see was light and two shadows standing above me. The shadows pulled me out of the box and dropped me on the floor. I tried to stretch out but my muscles all remained cramped. It felt like thousands of red-hot needles had been inserted into my legs, arms, neck and back. When my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I saw Damijana and Sally standing over me. They both held long, thick leather straps. Since I still couldn’t move, all I could do was lay there helpless and vulnerable as the blows rained down on my naked body. The sound of the leather striking my skin was fast and ferocious. “SCHWAP! SCWAP! SCHWAP! SCHWAP!“ They beat me from head to toe with the straps. I saw blood on the floor and wondered if it was from the lashing alone or if the lashing had opened up wounds still trying to heal.

The blows stopped. I laid on my side breathing heavily, relieved to be out of the box despite the beating. Sally pushed me over on my back with her boot. Damijana sat on my chest, pinning my arms down with her knees. I felt the heat of her pussy through her skirt. I could smell her, she was aroused. Sally laughed and said, “Damijana, his dick is getting hard.”

Damijana looked me in the face with cold, merciless eyes. She held a 1 liter bottle filled with yellow liquid in her right hand. Sally dropped to her knees behind my head, she held my forehead with one hand and pinched my nostrils shut with the other. I held my breath for as long as I could. Damijana watched me and smiled. When I opened my mouth to gasp for air, she filled my mouth piss, then she held my mouth closed forcing me to swallow. When they let go of me, I rolled on my side coughing and choking. Snot and urine dripped from my nose, the piss burned my nostrils making my eyes water. Damijana dumped the remainder of the bottle on my head. Black Sally slammed her boot into my balls. As I laid there clutching my genitals, Damijana kicked me in the face. They then walked out the room laughing. I heard Sally say, “Fucking faggot!”

Lavinia’s voice entered my mind, “Don’t lay there too long. Get up, go wash yourself, get dressed and come to my office.”

I didn’t move. I just laid there bleeding. “GET UP! You’re not in the box starving to death are you? I realize that was a very painful and frightening experience for you. It was necessary for the sake of your development and it was necessary to keep peace in this house. Clarence, right now I love you just as much, if not more, than I loved you before. And I really do love you Clarence. You have proven yourself to me on many occasions. If you really were just a piss-drinking, groveling parasite; you never would have felt what it’s like to be inside me, you never would have felt what it’s like to be loved by me and you definitely wouldn’t be alive. You haven’t suffered anything that is even remotely close to the pain I’ve endured, and that’s not counting the night I was crippled. Now you, Clarence, get your ass up and go clean up.”

Slowly and with excruciating pain, I rolled on my stomach, pushed myself up to my knees and rose to my feet. The pain of standing was as intense as the pain I felt when Lavinia burnt me with the iron. I took a long, deep breath. Lavinia’s voice said, “Very good Clarence. I’m proud of you.”

Kali's Altar 18

After I showered, I went to the kitchen and asked Ira to prepare a meal for Alexandria. Damijana’s voice came into my mind, “Go to the living room.” When I got the living room, Damijana stood staring out the window wearing a long black skirt and a black sweater. She spoke out loud, “Sit down Clarence, we have a visitor. Don‘t speak unless you‘re spoken to.”

“Who is it?”

“A member of another house.” I took a seat in the large armchair and waited. Several minutes later the doorbell rang. Ira passed the living room on her way to the door. She returned followed by a tall woman with long, curly red hair. Her energy seemed to fill the room when she entered. She wore white slacks, white leather boots, a burgundy silk blouse and a full length white mink coat. She took her coat off and threw it over the back of a chair as if its value was meaningless to her. Then she sat down on the sofa, crossed her legs and smiled. Damijana sat down across from the woman. “You must be the one they call The Duchess.”

“I am. You must be The Gothic Girl. I like the whole black hair and dark clothing thing you’ve got going on. That’s very original.”

Damijana replied, “Thank you. I see you favor the ‘spoiled, slut wife of a mafia boss look.’ That‘s very low profile. Would you like coffee, tea, a drink?”

“No. I’m fine, thank you. Frankly I didn’t come here for a tea party and trivial conversation. What’s the issue?”

“We want to create an alliance between our two houses.”

“Oh, so you need us for something. What’s in it for us?”

“We can raise the dead.”

“Bullshit.” Brianna walked in the room, sat down next to The Duchess and removed her sunglasses. The Duchess grabbed Brianna’s wrist and checked for a pulse. When she didn’t find one, she turned back to Damijana, “Alright, get her out of here, she fucking stinks.”

Brianna stood and left the room. The Duchess asked, “So what do you want from us?”

Damijana replied, “We want you to help us destroy the man they call The Great Sathanas.”

“Who gets all his wealth?”

“We’re not interested in his money. If you get into this with us, whatever you pillage is yours.”

“Oh yeah? What about the machine?”

“We can’t take any of the equipment. If we do, we’ll have much bigger problems than The Great Sathanas.”

The Duchess looked over at me then back to Damijana, “What’s with the swinging dick? You let men sit at your table?”

“Sometimes. Your house doesn’t?”

“Fuck no. Why would we?”

“Female supremacy?”

“Is that a joke? We’re outsiders, just like you. We’ve been hunted, tortured and killed. We’re always on the run, we’re forced to exist underground. The women who I’ve been in the trenches with, those are my sisters. I could give a fuck less about the rest of the women in the world. I don’t have anything against men, aside from the fact that in houses like ours, they’re always the weakest link.”

Damijana shot me a glance, her voice came into my mind, “Let it go. This is not a woman you want to challenge.”

The Duchess looked me in the eyes, “Don’t you agree?”

I couldn’t help myself. “No, I don’t agree.”

“And there lies the problem. You ARE the weakest link, but you’re blind to that fact and therefore unable to become stronger. When I look into your eyes, I see the contents of your soul. It would take me less than 24-hours to have you on your knees in front me offering your loyalty. You’re a security risk. If my house forms an alliance with yours, other houses may form alliances of their own that are hostile to us. You’re the first one they’ll target. They’ll send a woman to you who will know exactly what your combination is and she will open you like a safe.” She turned her head to Damijana and continued, “This is why we don’t use men. I’ll bet you anything that he’s already been the cause of strife and division in your house. But never mind all that. If you seat men at your table, it’s your business.”

“We need to settle this business with Sathanas quickly.”

“I have angles on him. I have influence with some of the people he knows. As you know, he is very well connected.”

“His associates won’t want anything to do with this kind of war.”

“His more prestigious associates will walk away from him at the drop of a hat if they think there is a risk of him splashing shit on their clothes. Some of the gangsters he’s associated with won’t just walk away.”

“They will when they see the cost of being associated with him.”

“You can count on that. I won’t. Now lets talk about raising the dead.”

“Bring us the bodies.” The Duchess smirked and stood. Damijana and I both rose from our seats. The Duchess put her coat back on, “I’ll be back with the first one around midnight.” She gave us a slight nod and saw herself out.

I asked, “Can we trust her?”

Damijana glared at me, “Are you trying to prove her point about being the weakest link?” I looked at her confused. She shook her head in disgust and walked out the room. Lavinia’s voice said, “The Duchess will make a solid ally. Think about what she said to you and don’t do anything to reinforce her belief that you are just a mindless swinging dick.”

I remembered Alexandria and quickly went to the bathroom and grabbed the Valium and water. When I got to her room, she was curled up on the bed soaked in sweat, her face red and covered with tears. I gave her the pills and the water. Her hand shook as she raised the glass of water to her lips. A sandwich, an apple and a glass of milk had been placed on the nightstand. I said, “You should eat.”

She looked up at me with wide tear-filled eyes, “Thank you for being so nice to me.” I turned away from her and left the room. I stopped at Lavinia’s office and knocked on the door. Her voice said, “Come in.” When I entered the office, I saw that all the furniture had been pushed up against the walls leaving a large space in the center of the room. Lavinia sat in a wheelchair spinning herself around in circles with the front wheels lifted off the floor. She stopped spinning and let the front wheels fall. I shut the door and stared at her in amazement. I thought, “How long did it take you to learn how to do that?”

“I was practicing while you were downstairs meeting with Damijana and The Duchess. After I heal, I’ll get prosthetics.” Her gown was tucked in under her bandaged stumps. I remembered the night when she was crippled and disfigured by the old Matriarch. I remembered her lying on the mattress in the basement after the amputations. There was a knock on the door and Black Sally entered. Lavinia’s voice said, “Sally, I want you to take Clarence to your quarters and lock him in your steel box.”

Goosebumps instantly broke out on my flesh and my heart start pounding. Lavinia said, “When I was working my way through your mind. I found an intense fear of being locked in a tight, confined dark space.” I thought, “Please…” Lavinia’s voice interrupted, “DO NOT GROVEL! I won’t tolerate it. I command you to go with Sally and get in the box. When I tell you to do something, you do it. Do have any doubts in regard to how far I would go to protect you, strengthen you and provide you with whatever you need?”

I thought, “No.”

“What I did for you today, putting everything on the line to support you; do you think that I would do that for anyone? No. I would only do that for you. You are well aware that I demand your complete obedience. If I tell you to climb into a pot and let me boil you alive, that’s what you will do. Do you understand me?”

I thought, “Yes.”

“Sally, take him to the box.”

I followed Sally back to her quarters. She ordered me to strip and climb into the steel box. I sat crouched with my arms hugging my knees as she slammed the lid shut less than an inch above my head. I heard the closet door shut. All was black, the steel was cold against my naked flesh. I had no room to move. It felt as if I couldn’t breathe. I began to panic. I screamed.