Page 138 of Kings & Queen

Spring

A Superfan’s Fantasy

“We have another specialtreat for you today.”

I peeked at the other girls’ faces while silently praying for it to be a willing day and not the other kind. I didn’t so much mind the days when X seemed to enjoy what was happening on her side of the two-way mirror.

Something in the way our instructor spoke and how she carried herself made me suspicious. I should have trusted my instincts. I tried to rationalize that it was terrible the last time we were in this room, so this time it might not be.

But no. Instead, it would be a new series of special requests that all four of us girls would be tortured with. I guess I should say mentally tortured with because, for us, it would never come to pass, but for the girls on the other side of the mirror, it would become the stuff of nightmares.

Once we were all situated, the curtain was drawn back. The room was almost pitch black. The only thing we could see was a set of feet. There was something odd about them. Instinctively, all of us drew closer to one another. We stood in order: Winter, Spring, Summer, then Autumn.

“We’ve begun to poll your audience members and your superfans. We have asked them to tell us about some of the things they want to do with you. So now every other Saturday will be called fantasy day. A showcase of what you can expect once you are with your own Masters.” She was overly enthusiastic and giddy.

Winter’s pinkie wrapped around mine, and I squeezed it before she let it go. I, in turn, wrapped my pinkie closest to Summer around hers, and so down the line, we silently tried to give each other strength. It was our equivalent of a hug. The movement was subtle and quick.

“Today, we will start with Autumn. This special request was from a man who calls himself the Prince.”

Autumn’s breath hitched, and she instantly paled. I wanted to hug her so much at that moment; the fear radiating off her was beyond thick.

“Autumn, you’ll want to pay special attention, as you’ll be required to write what part you’re looking forward to the most. Ladies, you are to give a detailed synopsis from beginning to end of what you’ve seen.”

The light was brought up, and all of us stood dumbfounded. All the participants we’d ever seen on the other side had been women. But today’s was a girl, older by a few years, but not much. My stomach clenched in denial. The feet made sense now; they were small. I looked down and shook. Autumn sucked in her breath.

The girl was bent over a bench. Chains bound her around her ankles and wrists. They were tight, and we could see where she had been fighting against them. The raw red skin stood out starkly. She wasn’t moving, and at first, I thought she was dead, which caused me to fear for Autumn even more.

I then focused on her body and saw the slight rise and fall of her breathing. She was wearing a princess dress from some fairy tale. A groan sounded, and she moved again, trying weakly to free herself. Her jaw was chattering. She was so cold.

The bench she was bent and tied over looked rough and had no padding. She was struggling to breathe. Out of the corner of my eye, the pale, white face of Autumn crying haunted me while we waited for the door to open.

The Mask came down the hall, his footsteps echoing and announcing him even before he walked in. He approached the girl.

“Look at you, so pretty. Let’s see if this wakes you up?” He leaned in and kissed her. I stifled a cry when the girl jerked away.

“Sleeping Beauty awakens,” he exclaimed.

I fixed my eyes on her feet, only to have my face slapped. “Spring, you will watch.”

I nodded and refocused on what looked like a small nail hole in the wooden bench top, just shy of the girl’s stomach. He ripped her princess dress off as she cried and begged him to let her go. We were forced to watch as the Mask slapped the girl, calling her names.

She whimpered and cried. He whipped her with a switch, leaving bright red welts across her body. We had to watch while he forced her to take his cock in her mouth. He pushed too far, and she gagged and threw up. I cried for her, knowing he was going to hurt her badly. He beat her unconscious and then waited for her to come to before he raped her.

He left her tied up, bleeding, sore, and used, and the only thing left for us to hear were her tiny whimpers of pain. He pulled his pants up and bowed. We thought it was over, but we were wrong. The Collector entered the room with some wire and apropane torch. He held her down firmly so she couldn’t move her bum. The wire was held up for us to see. It was an intricate letter P. The wire burned bright as it was heated with the torch.

Autumn sobbed hysterically, and my heart broke for her. When he pressed the wire into her smooth flesh, a sizzling sound ripped through the room. She flinched and began screaming over and over.

Her voice echoed off the walls. The skin suddenly opened as if it had melted away, and a puff of smoke rose in the air. Autumn began screaming. It was the one and only time I’d ever heard anything from the dark-haired beauty, and it tore at my soul.

I woke up screaming, wanting to add my voice to that of Autumn’s and the unnamed girl’s who had been branded. I never wanted my bears as badly as I did right then. If I had them, I would have held on to Autumn’s bunny and soothed away her fears.

My mind tried to rationalize that Autumn was safe. Wherever she was in the world, she was safe. But the other girl, she wasn’t. Reality slapped me, and I couldn’t get my crying under control. My screams must have alerted Sophia and Christopher, as they came rushing into my room.

Sophia gathered me in her arms as I sobbed. “Shhh, it’s okay. You’re safe, Kinsley. No one can hurt you here. I’ve got you.”

“Should I call Marcel?” Christopher asked from the doorway.

“No, honey, she’s going to be okay, aren’t you?”