“Good grief, Cynthia.
I’m glad I’ve never gotten on your bad side,” Calla laughed.
“You should have seen the final creation,” Cynthia said.
“Quite hideous,” Alexander agreed.
“She gave up when there was nothing more she could do to it.
I don’t think she succeeded in mixing in ragweed… but she did try.”
They slowly strolled around the garden and Cynthia introduced Calla to her flowers.
They were interrupted by a clatter as Liam plowed into Rose, upsetting the tea tray and running towards Calla, ripping off his shirt.
Alexander’s eyes widened and he stared at the white fairy… standing in the full afternoon sun.
He had not noticed that her eyes were watering down her cheeks.
“Oh my god.”
He swept the dark green silk of Cynthia’s full length gown over the girl.
This broke Cynthia’s spelled shock, and her face paled when she realized the danger Calla was in.
“Get her inside.
Oh god… get her inside.”
Cynthia pulled off her gown and stood stark naked in the garden, wrapping the silk around Calla.
Liam swept her up in his arms and ran towards the steps.
Daryl and Sloan had just come back to see to the other flower, still bound in the truck.
“What happened?” Daryl asked.
Rose was crying and picking up glass, their father was running up the steps with their mother… naked… running up behind him.
Cynthia looked crazy and panicked again, and they wondered if she had hurt Calla.
They each grabbed an arm before she could pass and do more damage.
“What happened?” Sloan repeated his brother’s questions.
“I’ve killed her,” Cynthia moaned.
“She was trying to help me, and I’ve killed her.”
“What the fuck?” Daryl asked.
Alexander turned as he headed up the stairs after Liam, and he saw Cynthia being restrained.
“Let your mother go, boys.
Get the other flower secured.”
“What the hell is going on?” Sloan demanded, still holding his mother’s arm.
“Calla brought her to the garden to calm her down,” Alexander replied.
He could see the incomprehension on the boys’ faces.
“Calla brought her to the garden… in the sun… with no protection for almost thirty minutes.”
Their father did not have to ask them to let Cynthia go.
Their hands released her automatically.
“Go get something on, mother.
Calla’s going to need you,” Sloan said softly.
Rose jumped to her feet and slid the tray on the table, following quickly behind her Mistress up the stairs.
Stepmother was a frightening sight, running naked down the hall with her long hair thrashing wildly around her.
“Get me something to wear,” Cynthia ordered.
Rose chose a pale blue in an attempt to calm her, and the quivering slave carefully brushed out stepmother’s hair while she placed a call.
Cynthia strode down the hall towards Liam’s bedroom, and she saw Marigold kneeling and crying on the carpet outside the closed door.
Cynthia calmed herself and said, “Marigold, bring me a pitcher of cool water from the kitchen… no ice, just cold.”
“Yes, stepmother.”
Marigold stood and trembled, “Is… is Mistress Calla going to be all right?”
“She’ll be fine, Marigold.
Now, go do as I told you.”
The girl ran off and Cynthia opened the door.
The room was dark except for the light from the bathroom.
Calla was lying on the bed with a cool wet cloth over her eyes.
Cynthia sat down and took her hand.
Calla laughed nervously and said, “Damn, this is going to hurt in a little while.”
“I’m so sorry, Calla.
I don’t know what happened,” Cynthia said.
“I’ll be fine, Cynthia.
Remember, I don’t freckle.”
She turned to where Liam sat on the other side of her.
“Can you get me a damp cloth for my lips, too?
They feel kind of blistery.”
“What can we do?” Cynthia asked.
“Right now, cool and dark feels good.
Geeze, Cynthia.
You should have seen yourself.
You were awesome,” Calla said.
She could tell how upset Cynthia was, and there was a silent underlying acceptance that her insanity had flown full tilt for a while.
“Liam, don’t let Kyle know.”
“He’ll be pissed, Calla.”
“Cynthia?
Don’t let him know.”
“All right, Calla.”
They spent an hour giving her water and changing out cool rags.
Even in the minimal light, they could see her face getting red.
Cynthia and Liam could feel heat radiating from her hands.
“Where’s my patient?” a man demanded.
“Albert, thank you for coming so quickly,” Cynthia said.
“Fine, fine… get out of my way,” he grumbled.
He sat down next to Calla.
“You know better than this,” he stated.
“Yes, sir.
It couldn’t be helped,” Calla answered.
For some reason, his commanding grumble made her feel better.
“Cindy, have you got aloe in that jungle of yours?” the doctor asked.
“Tons of it,” Cynthia replied.
“Well, we’re going to need tons of it.
Have a dozen good sized pieces brought up here.
Liam, fill the tub with cool water.
Not cold, we don’t need her going into shock.”
Albert lifted the rag off her lips and winced.
“Don’t worry… no kisses,” Calla smiled.
Her lips split in two places.
“No wise-ass jokes, either,” Albert ordered.
He pulled the rag free.
“Where’s my damn aloe?” he demanded.
It had only been a minute since he ordered it.
“We need to keep your lips coated so they don’t heal together.
I’m putting spacers in the corners to keep them open.
Now, the bigger problem.”
Albert lifted the rag on her eyes.
They were swollen shut and tearing.
“Can you open them at all?”
“No, sir.”
“Probably best, for now.
I’m putting ointment on them.
Liam, you keep this on her until the swelling goes down.”
“I will.
The bath is ready,” Liam said.
“Cindy?” Albert bellowed towards the hallway.
“Get some candles in here.”
Calla was dipped into the tub, and even by the light of the candles around the room, they could see how burned she was.
Her pale shift had done little to filter the light.
Her hands were so swollen her fingers could not move.
“The aloe should help with the burning, and let her soak in the tub when she wants to.
The spacers should allow a straw to slip through so she can drink plenty of water and broth.
Juice will help, too.
The first couple of days are going to be the hardest, so I’m leaving you pre-filled syringes for pain.
Give them to her every four hours, whether she wants them or not.
I’ll be back tomorrow night to check on her, unless you call me first.”
Albert packed up his things.
“Don’t forget to keep her eyes coated with the ointment,” he growled.
“Thank you, Albert,” Cynthia said.
He waved his hand as he walked away.
“She’ll be fine, Cindy.”
Alexander met the Doctor while he was on his way out, and after Albert left, he met Sloan and Daryl in the dungeon.
He watched as they efficiently checked the chambers making sure the flowers were secure, allowing no hint on their faces of the turmoil going on upstairs.
“Which room is the policewoman in?” he asked.
The boys walked their father to the room Orchid used to occupy, where Jackie was sobbing and cringing against the wall at the back of the cage.
There were no ‘police-like’ type of things she could think of… there was little she could think of… since the terrifying experience of being pulled from a dark trunk and attacked by the insane woman.
She had been petrified while she waited, bound and locked in a cage and imagining the woman’s green eyes glaring at her in the darkness.
Sloan dragged the woman from the cage, and he and Daryl followed their father.
Alexander had them hide Jackie deep in the dungeon, in a section he had kept hidden even from his wife.
He had not done this intentionally.
It was just an inconvenient space to get to, which had not been used for almost a century and included no upgrades.
Alexander picked up the flashlight he kept at the entrance to the dark hallway and banged it against his palm to wake-up the batteries so that it would light.
His sons were mesmerized by some of the ancient devices.
“Just put her in a cage, for now.
I need to consider the best way to handle this.”
Alexander could see a seething anger in Sloan’s dark eyes.
“Sloan, I know that you feel the girl owes you retribution, but for the time being I want you to wait.”
After they placed the shocked woman in a rusted cage, Alexander followed his sons as they walked around the old dungeon room.
“Back then, a lot of things were used only for torture.
The ultimate goal of enhancing a slave’s arousal for humiliation was not a consideration.
It makes much of this equipment obsolete for our use, because most of it leaves marks or irreparable damage.”
He turned back to face his sons.
“Do not tell your mother where she is.
With Calla so ill, she may not think of her for a few days, but if she does, tell her to speak to me.”
“You really think she’ll hurt her?” Daryl asked.
All of them enjoyed inflicting pain, but not destroying the women they captured… even this pathetic creature staring at them in silence.
“Until she gets her emotions in check, I don’t know.”
Alexander did not tell them about the frightening scene with Orchid.
He had spoken to Albert on his way out to the car and described her reaction to recent events, including the unusual care she had shown for Passion, which was unexpected.
Albert was going to monitor the change in Cynthia when he checked on Calla.
Chapter X
“Sloan, come help me with Snapdragon,” Daryl asked.
Things were so out of sync in the dungeon that she was the only flower still on schedule.
Cosmos would not be touched until Kyle returned with his flower, the girl that Sloan brought back had not been named by their mother, and the policewoman was out of the question.
“This is so fucked up, Daryl,” Sloan replied.
“Not so much, Sloan.
Albert says that Calla will be all right, and who knows?
Maybe mother will find a use for that ugly bitch.
Things have been going predictably smooth for the past few years, so I guess we were due for a little excitement to shake things up.”
“This is more than a little excitement, Daryl.
This is a major storm.”
Daryl knew that Sloan was angry, and Snapdragon would be a useful outlet.
He had been working on her for days to suck him, but without the ring she refused.
Snapdragon seemed to be a prophetic name for the girl, because her jaws clenched down tightly on the silicone model he had tried to shove down her throat.
They walked into Snapdragon’s chamber, and the brothers’ faces calmed to ‘training mode’.
Their mother and father had instilled in them since they first began working in the dungeons to never let the slaves know if they were upset.
It was another reason that their mother’s outburst had shaken things up so badly.
“Interesting rigging, Daryl.”
Sloan walked around the hanging girl.
Her breasts were bound tightly at the base and pointing towards the ground.
A chain from the ceiling was attached to her wrist cuffs, raising them over her back, and a rope wound around her arms, holding her elbows together.
Her ankles were locked together and attached to the same hook holding her wrists, and it kept her thighs spread and gave her back a nice arch.
“I still have to use the ring in her mouth, because I can’t break her of trying to bite,” Daryl admitted.
“Nonsense,” Sloan replied.
He ran a hand down her back and squeezed her ass.
“She just needs encouragement.”
Snapdragon looked up into Sloan’s eyes, and she could see the anger he was trying to hide
.
What did I do wrong?
I haven’t even seen you since that horrible position training.
Edna could not fathom what she had done to cause the frightening look in his eyes.
It did not occur to her that something else might be responsible, as, for her, everything concerning her world was involved in this terrible room.
She looked nervously at Daryl.
Several times he had tried to force a horrible rubber penis into her mouth, and every time she had bitten down on it in outrage.
They could force her to perform the disgusting act with the ring, but she would never do it willingly.
Daryl unbuckled the gag from her head and she felt the plug slide out of her mouth.
Even with her body painfully bound, she glared at the men in defiance.
“Gotta’ love the redheads,” Daryl chuckled.
“Okay, Sloan.
What’s your plan?”
Snapdragon tried to follow Sloan when he walked behind her.
In the sling, it was impossible.
Her eyes focused on Daryl, and they narrowed slightly when he smiled.
There was a whooshing sound, and suddenly the crease between her thighs was on fire.
“Aaaah… oh, god… stop,” she screamed.
Sloan walked slowly in front of her, and he stroked the cane.
He held her chin in his free hand.
“I’m very good with this,” he said calmly.
“I can stroke you just hard enough to keep you conscious.”
Her blue eyes looked up at him in miserable shock, splashing tears down her cheeks while she sobbed.
“Now, open your fucking mouth, and every time my brother tells me he feels a hint of your teeth, I’m blistering your cunt.”
Sloan walked behind her again, and she felt his hand caress the inside of her thigh.
Daryl looked at Sloan nervously.
“I’m not so sure I want to try with the real thing, Sloan.”
“Is her mouth open?”
“Yes, but I still don’t think this is a good idea.
She left impressions on the dildo,” Daryl informed him.
There was a whooshing sound, and Snapdragon screamed again when the cane lashed down on her split.
“Oh god… please don’t do this to me,” she sobbed.
The cane came down again and she shrieked, “I’ll do it.
Please… please Master Daryl.”
“Tell him you want to suck his cock, Snapdragon,” Sloan instructed from behind her.
She hung her head, sobbing hysterically.
The hissing air sounded again and her body constricted in anticipation of the blow.
She was certain her tender pussy was being ripped apart.
“Please, Master Daryl.
Please let me suck your cock so he’ll stop,” she begged.
Sloan and Daryl continued to train Snapdragon, while Calla was healing upstairs.
Marigold kept pitchers of water filled, coated the ointment on Calla’s eyelids and lips, and patiently held the cups of broth.
Most of the time she was quietly crying, and she was terrified because her Mistress could not speak.
Cynthia and Liam were constantly checking on her, even though the medication kept Calla drowsy or sleeping.
Sloan’s other collected flower had gone unnoticed, so far.
She had yet to be properly washed or collared, but when Sloan was not training with Daryl, he spent hours in her cell, staring at her.
Daryl could not talk Sloan out of brooding over what he considered to be his fault… both his mother’s breakdown and Calla’s injury.
“Mother?”
Daryl found her in the garden.
“How could a place be the source of my greatest pleasure… and my greatest pain?” she murmured.
“Calla will be fine, mother.
Albert says there won’t even be any scarring.”
“Her eyes… she’s always been so careful of her eyes,” Cynthia said sadly.
“Wait until Albert can check them, mother.
We have another problem that I think only you can deal with.
Sloan.
He’s depressed and not speaking to anyone.
I think he’s blaming himself for upsetting you, and for Calla getting hurt.”
Cynthia frowned.
“How could he know the girl would make me behave like a lunatic?
I hardly believe it myself.
And Calla… no one could have expected her to come running after me.
Not even Liam considered the danger she was putting herself in.”
Cynthia stood and she took Daryl’s arm to walk to the dungeon.
She found Alexander just leaving Belladonna’s room, and she explained her conversation with Daryl.
“Why don’t you wash and collar with Sloan?
I need to work with Orchid and Passion anyway, and it will give you a chance to smooth things over,” Alexander said.
He was relieved to see Cynthia in control again.
Cynthia found Sloan in the Oklahoma flower’s cell.
She was caged and crying in the original restraints… including the blindfold.
Across the room, Sloan was leaning against the table, his long legs crossed and looking at his boots.
“Ah, my brooding boy.
You should have warned me about the policewoman,” Cynthia laughed nervously.
“Daryl said you’d be pissed off when you saw her, but I thought he was kidding,” Sloan answered, still staring at his boots.
“I have no idea where that anger came from, Sloan.
It was as if I was looking at Ava, and I envisioned the horrible ways she and her daughters tormented me.
I have never felt such rage before.
There was no possible way for you to know.
You never saw them,” Cynthia replied.
“I didn’t know what to think,” Sloan answered honestly.
“You’ve always told us how horrible she was, but damn, I think we all believed you were exaggerating.
It seems impossible to us that anyone could have controlled you.”
Cynthia changed the subject.
“Let’s get your flower acclimated.
Your father is busy working on my gift.”
She noticed a slight smile cross his lips.
“You know what he’s up to.”
“Yes… and no, I won’t tell you.”
Sloan reached in and pulled Jessica Fisher out of her dark, frightened reverie.
He stripped her and held her arm while Cynthia removed the blindfold.
The girl was a beauty, with hazel eyes shot with color.
Cynthia‘s eyes widened in delight, when Sloan said, “Watch,” and he put his blue sweater sleeve up by her chin and her eyes turned sapphire.
When Cynthia raised the emerald sleeve of her gown, the girl’s eyes transformed to bright green.
“A Chameleon, Sloan.
You’ve found me a real chameleon flower.”
She smiled, and Sloan could tell that she was truly pleased.
“For now, I’ll use the sapphire collar, but see if you can make something special for her.”
After his mother left the chamber, Sloan picked up a whip and walked up to the girl.
She was still hanging from the chain at the side of the room and quietly crying.
“If you had not ditched your shift to fuck that boy, I never would have run into that cop.
Do you realize how your slutty need to fill your hole upset my family?”
His voice was deep and steady, and his eyes were black as pitch with anger.
“Aaaah…”
The girl screamed in surprised shock when the whip lashed out across her thighs.
Sloan listened to the agonized wail, and he tossed the whip to the side.
It was not the pain of the whip he wanted her to feel.
This, was
personal
.
Sloan was proud to be the steady, cool son, and because of this girl… even Kyle had never caused such problems.
Jessica sobbed while the man walked behind her, and she felt his hands run down her sides until they rested on her hips.
The woman had already warned her in humiliating fashion what would happen if she begged or pleaded.
When the man reached around and ripped the patch off her pussy she tried to breathe through the pain until he began to stroke along her slit.
The woman had already done this to her, and Jessica wondered fearfully if this man was going to bring her to the edge of climax only to cause her excruciating pain and leave her unfulfilled.
Her head swayed in refusal, but she did not beg.
Her breathing became labored while she felt her building arousal, and she heard the sound of the man’s zipper being lowered behind her.
Jessica felt his cock bounce against the cheeks of her ass, and the finger continued its demanding caress while she quivered.
For her, the seductive fingers were as frightening as the whip, and on an emotional level they were equally painful.
Sloan waited until he was sure that the girl was more concerned with the feelings of her squeezing pussy than the hysterical panic she had expressed earlier.
When her eyes closed and shallow breaths passed through her slightly parted lips, he spread her cheeks and thrust up into her ass.
She was no virgin to the act, but she shrieked in anguish while he continued to masturbate her.
Soon, she was pressing back into him while he held her hips and battered mercilessly into her.
The ‘shift’ Jessica had missed, was on the corner of Edmond Street and Seventh Avenue.
Sloan continued to torment Chameleon, and Daryl decided that it was better to let him work out his problems with the girl.
He knew his brother would not dare to permanently mar one of their mother’s flowers.
Daryl moved Belladonna to his room, leaving him busy training Snapdragon.
Cosmos was in a cell of her own, waiting for Kyle to return with his flower.
Alexander worked with Orchid and Passion, and Liam and his mother were still caring for Calla.
For Marigold, it seemed that the second day of Calla’s illness was the worst.
She moaned in pain even in her sleep, and kept trying to say something that sounded like ‘Cinderella’.
Liam whispered,
“I’m sorry, Calla.
I can’t make this hurt stop.”
Stepmother spent most of her time sitting on the side of the bed, just staring with a look of sadness and worry on her face.
It was an eerie look Marigold had never seen before, and if not for her constant consideration for her Mistress, it might have scared her.
The third day, the swelling began to go down, and Calla indicated that the pain was much more tolerable.
Albert ordered her off the meds and he took the spacers out of her mouth.
“Fanks,” Calla murmured and she began to smile, but she stopped when she felt her lips tearing.
“I want you to keep your eyes closed until further notice,” Albert ordered.
“Do I need to use patches?”