Chapter 4: Storming the Castle
I awoke to the loud squeal of the subway car as we slowed down. I opened my eyes and squinted through the brightness. I groaned in pain as I straightened up into a seated position. Damn, my muscles were sore!
Eric must have laid his camouflage jacket across me while I slept because it slid to the ground as I sat upright. He was facing the opposite direction, staring out the window. I rubbed my eyes and followed his gaze toward the large, well-lit underground subway station we had entered. The platforms were bustling with male guards and hunters dressed in camouflage. Moments later, the train lurched to a full stop and the door slid open.
“Sleep well?” Eric asked, turning back to me.
“Ugh, not nearly long enough,” I replied. I raised his jacket toward him. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” he replied, smiling, as he took his jacket back. “Well, Jodie” he said, “I must admit- we got off to a rocky start, but I’ve enjoyed meeting you.”
“Same,” I said awkwardly, still struggling to come to terms with the fact that Eric the woman-hunter had turned out to be kindof a sweetheart.
“I’m sure I’ll see you around. We’re staying at the West Inn, so don’t be afraid to shout if you need anything.” He extended his hand to me and I shook it with a half smile. He turned, tossed his jacket over his shoulder, and exited the subway car. “Remember,” he called back to me, “-confidence!” Then he disappeared into the crowd.
I took a deep breath. Time to go. I still hadn’t definitively decided what I was going to do. The stakes were irritatingly high. I couldn’t make a decision like this right now! I needed more sleep.
I looked back out the rear window to see several guards removing the straps that secured the crates to the floor. The crane’s arm was already in motion and hovering above the crates, ready to transport them off of the caboose.
I stepped off the car and looked around. The flow of traffic seemed to be moving to the right, so I followed in line. I had no idea where I was going.
“Excuse me,” I said to the guard who was operating the joystick on the side of the caboose, “Um, I’m not sure where to go.”
The guard continued operating the joy-stick without looking at me. “New arrivals can head up the stairs and check-in will be straight ahead,” he replied. His tone was dull and monotonous, as if he’d already answered the same question a hundred times today.
“Thanks,” I said. “And what about her?” The guard looked at me, confused as if he didn’t understand the question. “Mine’s the one on the left,” I clarified, pointing to Brandy’s crate.
“We’ll take care of her, ma’am,” he replied. “You’ll be able to reconnect in the morning after she’s completed orientation.”
The disc on the underside of the crane’s arm lowered onto Brandy’s crate. Moments later, she was lifted into the air. I could see her fists and toes clench as the crate trembled upon lift-off. I imagine that any movement of the crate prompted the dildo to rattle inside her pussy. Must have been uncomfortable.
The crane carried Brandy’s crate over to the platform on the opposite side of the subway tracks. My jaw suddenly dropped from the image I saw on the platform. Brandy’s crate was carefully placed on a skid amongst nearly a dozen other crates that held naked women inside of them. I scanned up and down the platform to see what must have been nearly a hundred more crated women lined up back to back.
“Holy shit,” I whispered in shock. A low murmur of muffled moans and occasional shouts filled the underground station. The sight of all these women restrained and packaged in this manner was downright nightmarish. That would have been me had I not freed myself… Moments later, June’s crate was transported by crane to rest next to Brandy’s on the skid.
“Excuse me ma’am,” the guard said, snapping me out of my trance. I glanced back to him, unresponsive. “Excuse me, I need through” he repeated, raising his arm slightly in the attempt to get me to move out of his way.
“Oh, sorry,” I replied, stepping to the side. He moved past and joined his fellow guards on the caboose collecting the straps that were now strewn across the floor.
I turned back to look at the crated women across the tracks. Most of the women appeared to be remaining still and waiting patiently for what was next to come. But a few of them definitely seemed to be putting up a struggle. I wondered if their feistiness was due to the ‘Pleasure’ and ‘Pain’ buttons being activated. I stood watching them for a few minutes, curious to see if their tantrums would subside. Surely enough, after about 30 seconds, each of the vocal and fussy girls would exhale deeply in relief and settle down to rest quietly inside their crate.
A few crates behind Brandy was a petite Hispanic woman who must’ve had a real bastard of an owner. Because, no sooner did I see her settle down from her 30 seconds of twitching and hollering, her eyes would shoot open again and she’d let out another loud muffled shriek into her dildo and she’d start the ritual over again. Putting two and two together, I was left to assume that her master had nothing better to do than to keep tapping her buttons every 30 seconds. I could see her muscles flexing, her toes clenching, and her slender fingers groping desperately at the air. Her entire body appeared to tremble and quiver. Whether she was receiving pain or pleasure, I couldn’t be sure. But she was definitely getting something. And she was getting a lot of it... Poor chica.
I turned to head up the stairs as the guard instructed. My legs suddenly felt much weaker as I climbed the tall staircase. All this cutting-edge technology and they couldn’t have invested in a freaking escalator? I moved to the right side so I could lean on the handrail as I ascended. After what felt like 5 minutes, I finally reached the top of the stairs. And once again, I had to keep my jaw from dropping from the sight before me.
In front of me was what looked like a huge, well-lit indoor park, complete with trees, shrubbery, and park benches. The vaulted concrete ceiling above had to be at least 100 feet high. In the center of the vast cavern stood a massive stone fountain. In the center was a large statue of a naked woman kneeling with her head bowed and her arms behind her back. Jets of water shot from the outer ring of the fountain onto the woman’s head and neck. The water streamed down the curves of her body, giving the subtle imagery of a golden shower. Half a dozen men stood at the top of the stairs taking pictures with their cell phones. One man up ahead was even posing to give the impression that he was pissing out one of the jets of water while his buddy took his picture. Dozens of other men sat casually on park benches and the edge of the fountain, eating boxed lunches and typing on their laptops and phones.
The extravagant yet minimalistic design of the cavernous setting seemed like something that would’ve been approved by Steve Jobs, had he been asked to design the world’s perviest high-end subway station. But, where the hell were we? There were no windows, so I assumed we were still underground. But were we beneath Notts’? Or were we somewhere else completely?
Far off to the right, there were what looked like several customer service kiosks lined with employees assisting male customers. Signs that read ‘CHECK-IN’ hung overhead. I made my way across the large cavern toward the nearest kiosk. As I got closer, I noticed that the entire customer service staff was female and all wore a uniform white blouse and grey vest. Each wore a burgundy choker around their neck with a name plate in the middle. Somehow, the sight of women standing upright without rubber dildos in their mouths gave me a sense of comfort.
However, that comfort was short-lived, because as I walked up to the desk, I noticed that each of the women had a pair of handcuffs securing their wrists in front of them.
“Welcome to the Kingdom!” a cute, curly-haired woman with glasses chirped at me. “Can I assist you with anything?” She was very petite and looked to be in her low 20’s. The nameplate on her choker read ‘Katie’.
“Uh- yeah. I was told I needed to go to check-in?” I replied. “I’m not quite sure what check-in means or what I’m checking into, but the sign says ‘check-in’, so here I am.”
“Certainly,” Katie replied. “What’s your name?”
“Jodie McConnell,” I said in a low voice.
Katie’s face suddenly lit up. “No way. The Jodie McConnell?!” she asked giddily.
“Yyyep,” I replied.
“Oh, wow! Jodie- I mean, Miss McConnell- I’m- I’m so glad to meet you!” Katie opened her mouth to speak but words seemed to get lost in her excitement. “Congratulations! Oh my gosh- you’re the first contestant to ever win her freedom! We’re just- we’re all so excited for you!”
“Uh, thanks,” I said quietly, looking around, hoping that nobody was noticing the spectacle that this girl was making.
“When the notification popped up on my computer, I was like Eeeeek!” she squealed happily. “I mean- not really. I’d get in trouble if I were to actually scream like that. But I felt like it. You know?! Eeeek!”
“Yeah,” I replied awkwardly, looking around. “I’m pretty pumped.”
“I’d say!” Katie exclaimed.
Several men were now turning to look at us with confused expressions on their face. Great. Just what I needed as the only girl not wearing restraints. More attention…
“Katie!” I heard a deep male voice call from my left. Turning toward the voice, I saw a heavier-set man with a mustache speed walking toward smiling girl in front of me. “Why are we shouting?”
Katie’s smile suddenly disappeared and her head bowed in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, sir,” she replied meekly.
The man looked at me apologetically, “Beg your pardon, ma’am. Katie’s one of our most recent transfers to the concierge staff.” He turned back to the girl named Katie. “I’ll take it from here, Katie. Go wait for me in my office,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir,” Katie replied, looking like she was on the verge of tears.
“Actually,” I interjected, “I’d like for Katie to finish helping me. I thought she was doing a wonderful job.” The man stared at me in silence, almost as if he’d never been over-ruled by a woman before.
“As you wish,” he said, abruptly turning and walking away. “Katie, please mind your volume,” he added.
Katie’s unhappy expression instantly turned into a giddy smile. “Thank you!” she mouthed. I gave her a little wink.
“So, oh my gosh,” she whispered, “-you have no idea how much I appreciate that. I don’t think I could handle being transferred back to entertainment.”
“Entertainment?” I asked.
“Yeah, the entertainment department produces all the Kingdom’s shows, concerts, music, dancing… mud-wrestling matches, you name it,” Katie explained. “Depending on what the customers request, it can actually be a really tough gig. Great money, but physically exhausting. But this year, they had a record number of contestants and applicants, so they didn’t need me! Instead, they gave me a concierge, slash maid job! Eeek! Sooo much better.”
Katie sure knew how to talk. I feared that if I continued engaging her, I’d probably be here all night. So, I simply nodded in reply. It’s a good thing that my migraine had disappeared because I’m not sure I could have handled Katie a few hours ago.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Katie apologized. “Here I am- blabbing on about myself! Ugh! Let’s get you checked in!” Katie began typing ferociously at her keyboard.
“Okay, Miss McConnell,” she said a few moments later, looking up from her computer screen. “You are all checked into the castle suite.”
My eyebrows raised. I was quite familiar with the castle suite, as I was the person who’d conceived the idea. Years ago, I’d convinced Uncle Henry to renovate the back end the castle and turn it into a luxury suite. I’d gotten the idea from Disney after they began giving guests the opportunity to win a night’s stay at Cinderella’s castle. We ended up going way over-budget on the renovations, but it paid off tremendously. Turns out, there are a lot of people who are willing to pay top dollar to have a castle all to themselves for a night or long weekend.
“I get the castle suite for the whole three months?” I asked.
“Yeppers,” Katie replied, grinning. “Oh, and cleaning services are included. So you don’t have to worry about making your bed every morning.”
Of all the reasons to be pleased by this news, the prospect of having someone else make my bed was definitely one of the least exciting. I would have chosen, perhaps, to sell the prospect having a heated indoor/outdoor pool that extended from the living room to the veranda, a giant 48-jet Jacuzzi, a sauna, a walk-in shower, a king-sized memory foam mattress, or two 60” 4K flat-screen tv’s… Like I said- we went a bit over-budget. But our wealthy patrons proved that they were willing to pay top-dollar to stay in a place like that for a night. We were able to make our investment back within the first year.
“I imagine there’ll be a lot of disappointed men when they realize that they can’t bid on the suite this year,” Katie said, smiling. “It’s always been the highest paid item at the grand auction.”
“How much did it go for last year?” I asked
“Oh gosh- I think it went for something like 7 million,” Katie replied.
“Holy shit,” I replied loudly, going weak in the knees. “So wait- if I decided to put it up for auction, would I be able to keep those winnings?”
“Of course,” Katie replied. “But- only in credit, I’m afraid.”
“Credit?” I asked. “What does that mean?”
“So, credit is like money, but it’s only good here in the park,” Katie explained. “Basically, you have to use it before the three months are over or you lose it.”
“Ugh, well if that’s the case, I’ll just keep the suite,” I said.
“I think that’s a good choice,” Katie replied smiling. “Plus- you don’t technically need any money here. Pretty much everything here is all-inclusive. If you want to buy or rent anything extra, you can just tap into your paycheck.
“And how do I do that?” I asked.
“Oh, well, you’ll just use your room key like a credit card. Or if you have a smart device, just upload your card and waive it in front of an easy-pay sensor. It’ll withdraw the funds from your final paycheck,” Katie explained.
Boy, they’d really thought of everything. “And what about my belongings that I came in with?” I asked.
“Those are actually already waiting for you in your suite,” she replied. “All except for your slave, of course. Once she completes orientation, she’ll be all yours. Congrats on that too, by the way! Not only did you win your freedom, but you also captured your own slave? Amazing! Well done!”
Ugh. My slave. For a brief moment, I’d completely forgotten about Brandy. The thought of having to share the castle suite with a bitchy stranger suddenly seemed to taint my euphoria of a 3-month, paid stay-cation. Oh how I wish I could just be a heartless bitch and sell Brandy to the highest bidder. Being paid to stay in the castle suite alone for three months with no responsibilities sounded like pure bliss.
“Do you have any more questions, Miss McConnell?” Katie asked.
Loads, I thought. “No,” I replied instead, “I’ll figure out the rest as I go.”
“Alright, then!” She replied. She extended her hand, offering me a pamphlet and room key-card attached to a lanyard. “Here’s a map of the park as well as your room key which is also your pay-card. Everything’s activated, so you’re all good to go! If you continue straight ahead, you’ll see elevators that’ll take you up to the surface.
“Thanks,” I said, giving a weak smile and grabbing the key-card from her.
“My pleasure! Welcome to the Kingdom!” Katie called after me as I walked away.
Phew. I felt like I needed a nap after talking to her. She had way too much energy to be effective in a stationary desk job. Unfortunately for her, I predicted a transfer back to ‘entertainment’ in her near future.
I walked toward the glass elevators that were lined along the back wall. Just as I approached, one of the six elevators dinged and the glass doors slid open. I stepped inside, and was quickly joined by 6 men dressed in camouflage. I pressed myself into the corner of the elevator and was forced to begin breathing out of my mouth due to the overwhelming odor of dirt and sweat.
Moments later, the glass doors closed and the elevator began ascending. It’s a good thing I wasn’t afraid of heights, because the glass walls of the elevator gave a spectacular view of the cavernous subway station below. After we ascended roughly 100 feet, we finally passed through the ceiling, replacing our open view with grey concrete on all sides.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the cold glass to my right. What a day it had been! I had no idea what time it was, but I felt as if I hadn’t slept in weeks. I simply couldn’t wait to get back to the castle and collapse into bed.
I felt the elevator slowed to a halt, causing me to open my eyes. After a loud ding, the doors slid open to reveal a crowd of men walking on the other side. Music was blaring and I could feel a bass beat pounding deep within my chest. I exited the elevator last only to realize that we were now standing inside the stadium tunnel at Notts’. Wait a minute! There were elevators at Notts’ stadium? How did I not know this?!
I spun around, trying to get my bearings. The glass doors slid closed behind me, followed by another set of doors. These doors were covered in stone to match the interior walls of the tunnel. Once completely closed, the elevator entryway looked nearly invisible. The only indications that there were elevators there were signs hanging above that read, ‘ELEVATOR TO STATION’.
Spinning back around, I moved my way toward the end of the tunnel where all the commotion seemed to be coming from. Once I reached the end of the tunnel, my jaw dropped as I entered the ground floor of the stadium. The space had been transformed into a bustling demonstration hall and the floor was packed with rows of booths and displays manned by vendors. As I walked down the center aisle, it didn’t take long to recognize the theme of this conference. Nearly every vendor in sight was sex or BDSM themed.
To my left was a curvy naked woman lying on a table being hogtied by a man with a Mohawk. A group of men watched closely as he demonstrated his step-by-step process of binding the woman. To my right was another naked woman, gagged, and restrained, seated atop a stationary exercise bike. Beneath the seat of the bike was a mechanical contraption that pumped a rubber dildo deep into the woman’s pussy with each cycle that she peddled. The song ‘Bicycle’ by Queen blared from the speakers behind her.
Booth after booth featured some kinky demonstration or models showing off various sex toys and products. On-looking men laughed and cheered as the female demonstrators were teased and used.
I picked up my pace, eager to make my way to the nearest exit. I honestly couldn’t handle any more crazy today. I had officially reached my quota of fucked-up shit. I just needed to get to the castle. I put my head down, kept my eyes forward, and plowed through everyone in my path. Fortunately, people seemed to sense my urgency and got out of my way.
Before I knew it, I was outside the stadium and speed-walking down Centre Street toward the castle. It was now dark outside and the streetlamps illuminated the fairegrounds. Somehow, there seemed to be just as many men outside the stadium as there were inside. I continued to speedwalk, desperate to reach my destination and get out of sight and away from the chaos. Several minutes later, I found myself jogging up the stone staircase to the back of the castle. I frantically swiped my key-card through the card reader next to the large wooden door. Once the light blinked green, I swung the door open, leapt inside and threw my weight behind it, slamming it shut. Exhausted and mentally overwhelmed, I gave into gravity and slid down the door until I came to sit on the cold marble floor.
I fought back tears as I sat there. Whether they were tears of joy, relief, or general anxiety, I didn’t know. I was hormonal, okay? And like I said, it had been an extremely trying day. I took a moment to take some deep breaths and then forced myself to stand. On the entry hall table in front of me, sat a rectangular gift-box wrapped in a red bow. But for the time being, I couldn’t care less what was inside. There was only one thing I was interested in seeing…
I walked right past the gift-box, making a B-line to the master bedroom. Tossing my room-key and pamphlet on the dresser, I walked straight up to the king-sized bed and collapsed on top of the down comforter. My day was officially over. The only thing left on my agenda was sleep. Well-deserved, uninterrupted sleep. Whatever insanity awaited me next would have to wait until the next day. Because, for at least the next 12 hours, I’d be unavailable. And with that, I was out.
Story continued in Chapter Five
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