Inner Circle (24 page)

Frederick placed a cold hand on Kathy ass causing her to flinch. He moved his hand to Kathy’s upper arm, which he squeezed painfully before speaking, “In the next several weeks we intend for her to meet each member of the inner circle,” he said.

Mrs. Brookmeir turned to Gruber, “And is she to be introduced to each of our…what shall I say? Introduced to our pets?” Kathy made a sound and tried to move away, but Frederick’s grip tightened on her arm.

Doctor Gruber was quick to answer, “Yes, certainly. That’s the purpose. The first visits will be to acquaint her with the animals and to make them aware of who she is in relation to them.”

Mrs. Brookmeir raised her eyebrows and grinned. “Pray tell, dear Doctor, what might that relationship be?”

“Why the same as the relationship between Colonel Siegfried and your little D.W. Like her, Mrs. Ryan will serve.”

“Don’t you mean service?”

Gruber chuckled, “Ah, yes, serve and service.”

“We will surely look forward to witnessing that,” she answered.

Kathy looked frantically from one to the other. Confused and frightened, she was about to protest when Gruber spoke her name harshly. His eyes burned into her. She bowed her head and was silent.

Gruber and Mrs. Brookmeir exchanged glances, before she spoke, “At your request I’ve arranged for our Carmelita to explain how one goes about becoming what Mrs. Ryan is apparently destined to become.” She picked up a little bell from the table and rang it. “After that, we will join them and all of us will pay Colonel Siegfried a visit.”

Kathy began to feel a dark terror like none she had ever experienced. These people were powerful. They lived only for their degenerate pleasures. It seemed the rules of law didn’t apply to them. She was sure they controlled men in high place in every country. She was equally sure no one had ever succeeded in denying them whatever they desired. Not only did they possess incredible wealth, they had within their group brilliant men like Doctor Gruber who could, with drugs and hypnosis, reduce anyone to a mindless slave. She was in danger of becoming such a creature herself. In order to survive she had to pretend to accept their plans for her future until she could find a way to escape. But there was something else that troubled her as much as their power. It was her own seemingly insatiable need for sexual stimulation, for orgasms and, as she was discovering, how closely that need was related to humiliation and pain.
‘Once I’m free of them,’
she
thought,
‘once I’m back in a safe place among ordinary people my needs will be just as they once were; they will be normal.’

The door at the far end of the room swung open and a lovely young woman was led in by the husky servant who had greeted them earlier. She was very slender and much shorter than Kathy. Her long thick black hair was tied in a ponytail. She appeared to be Spanish or perhaps Mexican. She wore a plain white cotton dress that contrasted with her dark skin. On her feet were five-inch pumps that she had obviously become accustomed to since she moved so gracefully in them. Her full lips were painted bright red and her large brown eyes had been carefully made up. When she stopped before them, Kathy was surprised to see her curtsey before folding her hands in front of her and lowering her eyes.

Mrs. Brookmeir addressed Gruber as she gestured toward the shy young woman, “This is our Carmelita,” she said. “I’ve instructed her to inform your new acquisition of the process and the rules.” She waved her hand toward the door. “Take them to one of the grooming rooms, Brian. Leave them alone but stay by the door.”

Kathy looked at Gruber who nodded. Silently, she followed the girl and the servant out into the hall and a little ways along it into a small room furnished with a large mirror and a well-appointed dressing table. Without speaking, Brian turned and left. They heard him lock the door. Carmelita looked sadly at Kathy for several moments. It appeared she might cry. She busied herself by placing the two wooden chairs across from each other and indicating Kathy should sit.

“My name is Carmelita,” she began, her voice soft and melodious. “Madam Eva said that I should start by telling you something of my history.” She paused and leaned forward looking closely at Kathy. “I see you are drugged but only a little. They wanted you to be fully aware of what I’m going to explain about the process. But they also wanted you to be a little bit under their control. I hope you will listen carefully and not become too upset.”

Kathy smiled at the earnestness of the young woman, “I promise that I won’t cause you to get in trouble,” she said.

Carmelita reached across to touch Kathy’s hand, “Thank you. They can be very cruel. Madam and Master Brookmeir acquired me several years ago.”

“But how? How do these monsters go about acquiring people?”

“I’m from Columbia. They saw me one day and decided to take me. My parents were both professors in the University. I attended a private Catholic School for girls. My brother was two years older and preparing to enter the ministry.”

“Then they couldn’t have kidnapped you?”

“No. Instead they had someone kidnap my dear brother. The police did nothing. All doors were closed to my father and mother. The highest officials claimed that my brother had simply run away. One night soon after Juan had disappeared, Madam Eva came to our house. She had my brother’s ring and his identification card. She told us that he would be returned if I would agree to go with them to America where they would adopt me since they had no children of their own. Of course, my mother and father refused and again went to the police who pretended not to believe them.” She paused to wipe away the tears that had started to form. Taking a deep breath, she continued, “Two days after Madam’s first visit, she returned when my parents were at work. She brought a beautifully carved box that she said contained a gift for me. In it was my brother’s finger.”

“Oh, my God!” Kathy exclaimed. Carmelita was crying now. Kathy hugged her for a moment.

The girl quieted and soon continued. “Madam Eva said that the next gift would be for my parents. The box would contain my sweet brother’s head. She promised he would be released if I would leave with her immediately. That’s how members of the Inner Circle operate. Of course, there was nothing else to do. I went with her. A big limousine was at the door and a private jet waited for us at the airport.”

“It wasn’t until we arrived here in this house that I learned my real purpose. They had no desire for a daughter. They wanted what they call ‘an acquisition’. They wanted a young virgin to give to Colonel Siegfried. They’d been looking for several months until the day they saw me leaving school. They decided right then that I was to be the one.”

“And this Colonel Siegfried?”

“Is their dog.” She bowed her head as the color rose up in her face. “I have been trained to be what they expect you to become…”

“No,” Kathy said evenly, “That will never happen to me.”

Carmelita nodded, “I remember saying the same thing. But these people have ways. They will break your spirit just as they have all of us.”

“What do you mean by us? Are there more girls like you?”

“The Inner Circle is composed of eight members. Each owns a big estate much like this one. Each also has a highly trained pedigreed male dog. All of the dogs are very large. Their owners bought them as pups and trained them to…to…feel superior to the women… They’ve never even seen a female dog, only female humans.” She looked away as if remembering something. “The dogs know who and what we are.”

“I can’t believe this,” Kathy said although her experience with Gruber and Frederick’s pet told her the girl was speaking the truth. “How did they break your spirit? How did they make you become a…a…”

“At first I fought them. I refused to obey. I refused to eat. I wanted only to die. After two weeks, Madam Eva brought me another box. I wouldn’t open it so she did. In it was another of my brother’s fingers. She told me that a similar box would be delivered each week until I agreed to…to…give myself to Colonel Siegfried. She also said that unless I did as they wished eventually my brother would be killed and then my parents. I knew she wasn’t lying. By then I realized that the people in the Circle were beyond the law. They can do whatever they want.” She leaned forward, “Do you have any loved ones?” she asked.

“Yes, my sister-in-law who is like a real sister to me, and my late husband’s parents.”

“I’ve been told another rich and powerful man has already acquired your sister-in-law and she’s being held somewhere in the Middle East.”

Kathy shook her head, “That’s true. They took her and it was my fault. But this man is not part of the Inner Circle. He’s a Japanese.”

“It doesn’t matter. They work together. Doctor Gruber will break your spirit through very real threats to those you love. If you don’t do as he wishes, great harm will come to them. I understand he is also able to use drugs and hypnosis to control others.”

“Yes, he’s done that to me. I know how powerful he can be. He put me in a hypnotic state and made me…made me…” She couldn’t finish.

Carmelita nodded sympathetically. “You are to be for … Negra, just as I have been mated with Colonel Siegfried”

“No. No,” she shook her head adamantly, “I’ll find a way to escape.”

“You can’t. First there are the people you love to consider. Your disobedience may result in their deaths. Secondly there’s this.” She removed one of the five-inch heels. Kathy was surprised to see that the girl’s tiny foot remained in exactly the same form that wearing the shoe required. The arch from her toes to her heel was curved just as it had been. “I cannot walk as others do. It’s only in the high-heeled shoes that I’m able to move normally. It’s almost impossible to run very far in five-inch heels.”

“But how? Why? What did they do?”

“Doctor Gruber designed a sort of metal boot which can be adjusted in a number of ways. It forces the front of the foot down and the heel up just as the shoes do, only more so. It’s very painful, but they gave me injections to ease the pain at first. I wore them every night for many months. Each night an adjustment was made to increase the angle. In the daytime I was required to wear shoes with heels like these. In time, the tendons of my heels shrank. This pulled the heels of my feet up so that only my toes touched the floor. Now, I can’t place my foot flat on the ground. I can’t even be comfortable in any shoe that doesn’t have a heel of five inches.” She looked down at her feet. “They call it ‘hobbling’…”

“But why?”

“For two reasons. As I said, it’s impossible to run very far in shoes like these. And without these shoes to support our heels it’s impossible to take more than a few painful steps. Also, all of the members want us to look desirable. We are strenuously exercised four days a week and massaged and groomed and taught the use of all manner of cosmetics and perfumes. When they gather for their entertainments we are required to walk around with trays of drinks and hors d’oeuvres. We are trained to move gracefully in the heels. Sometimes we are dressed in revealing costumes and at other times we are naked except for jewelry and our collars and shoes.” She paused to slip the pump on her bare foot. “I understand you tried to run away?”

“Yes, but I was caught.”

“I heard them talking about it. Doctor Gruber has made a pair of the metal boots for you. You will probably be locked into them tonight. Every night the boots will be adjusted to draw your heel up and push your toes down. Within several months, your heel tendons will have all but disappeared and you will not be able to walk except in very high-heeled shoes. Doctor Gruber will proudly announce to the others that you have been successfully hobbled.”

Although she said nothing to the girl, Kathy determined she would find a way to prevent them from deforming her feet with the metal boots. “Have all the…the women like you been forced to wear these boots?’

“No, just myself and one other. You will make the third. Five are quite satisfied to be what they are. Their lives were pitiful before they were acquired so they are happy to accept the life style their owners provide. They are not likely to run away. Some have even become genuinely fond of the dogs they service and look forward to performing before the members.”

“And you, what about you? I mean how do you feel when…when…”

“When I’m required to amuse the masters?” The color again rose to her cheeks and Kathy noticed her brown nipples under the thin white cotton dress stiffened. “I have never known a man…not in that way. We are all required to service the masters and their friends with our mouths and our…anal openings. But the place of our own wanting is reserved for…” she looked down, “Colonel Siegfried and the others…” She paused again, looking off in the distance.

“But do you ever…I mean do you experience orgasms?”

“We, myself and all the girls are constantly subjected to one form or another of Doctor Gruber’s stimulants. We are always aroused and especially on the night of an entertainment.” She bowed her head and lowered her voice. “I’m ashamed….terribly ashamed to say that as dreadful as the cruel humiliation is, I do orgasm, intensely and often.” She looked up again. “At first, of course, it was very painful. But I was required to masturbate with dildos that progressively increased in thickness and length in order to train myself.”

“Even with all their threats I don’t see how you could have agreed to such a…such a degrading spectacle.”