Hospital

 No matter who we are, we all have to put up with whatever life throws our way.  I just spent over 2 weeks in the hospital.  Not COVID.  They found cancer.  Having a large mass removed from a bad spot was not fun.  I'm not recovering well.  I'm not doing well.  I'm not feeling well.  But they let me come home today - Thanksgiving.  It was the best feeling in the world.. Something to truly be thankful for.  

Sorry things are going to be even more hit and miss for a while, but I'm doing what I can.  Please take time to examine your life and find all the little things you can be thankful for.  Trust me, it's worth it.

K.

Monsters - Chapter 37 – Beast Trap – Part 2 of 2

 

Monsters

By Karen Singer

 

 Chapter 37 – Beast Trap – Part 2 of 2

 The rest of the team wasn’t there yet.  But even though they were coming from places that were closer, at the speed Carol had travelled through the back roads, she was there ahead of them.  Since she had the time, she began scouting the stretch of road carefully, looking for the best place to spring their trap.  It was time to trap and capture – the beast!

 

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Where had Carol gone?  Brandy had asked Natalia, but all the maid had known was that Carol had gone somewhere.  She had no idea where or when she would be back.  Brandy headed down the steps to see if either Susan or perhaps Carol’s mother was in the house.  If they weren’t, then she would wait in the house until one of them returned.  She wasn’t going to step out that door for anything.  Especially not alone.  The house she was in was like a safe shell.  A shell that contained only women.  Well, mostly women.  She wasn’t sure how much she counted Susan’s father, but he was rarely in the house anyway.  She simply felt much safer inside the house than when she went out through the doors, especially through the back door.

She heard talking and found Susan in one of the rooms talking on the phone.  She barely looked into the room before she saw Susan ending the call and starting to make some notes on a pad of paper.  “Excuse me,” Brandy said.  When Susan looked up, Brandy asked.  “Do you know when Carol will be back?”

“Not till much later,” Susan replied.

“Oh.  Where did she go?”

“To take care of…business.”

Brandy wasn’t sure what that meant.  “Okay.  Thanks.”  She turned and left Susan alone.  She sat in one of the parlors at the front of the house for a while.  Not knowing what to do with herself. 

“Ah, Brandy.”

She looked up to see Carol’s mother, Janice, entering the room. 

“Did you have a nice nap dear?”

Brandy wasn’t sure how to answer that.  “It was…okay.”

“Good.  So how are you doing, now that you’re…free.”

How was she doing?  Terrible!  “Okay,” she replied.

Janice looked at her for a moment.  “That’s not what Carol thinks.”

“It’s not?”

“No!”

“What does Carol think?”

“That you’re…afraid.”

“Wouldn’t you be if you went through what I did?”

“I have no doubt in the world that I would.  That was the whole point of Alfonso’s breaking program, to instill permanent fear into the women.”

Brandy looked down.  “Yeah, well, it worked.”

“Brandy,” Janice said.  “Carol is very much against it, I’m afraid, but I could help you, you know.”

“You can?  Why wouldn’t Carol want you to help me?”

“Because it would mean putting you through my process.  And in its own way, my process isn’t exactly gentle.  But in the end, you would be your old self, completely.”

“My old self?”

“Just like you were before you were captured.  In fact, you would have no knowledge at all of ever being captured or of anything that happened to you after that.  Just like you were before.”

“No knowledge?  That sounds great.”

“Then let me help you.”

“But…you said it isn’t a gentle process?”

“No.  I’m afraid not.  It will mean that I will literally put you through hell and take control of your entire mind for a little bit.  But once I have that control, it means I can then erase whatever I like.”

“So, I wouldn’t remember any of it.”

“None.  Like it never happened.”

“And what about my breasts, and my vagina?  What about them?”

“I’m afraid I can’t do anything at all about them, dear.  They’re going to take time and perhaps some further medical treatment.”

“But if I don’t remember what happened, how will I know what happened to me…physically?”

“We’ll have to figure something out.”

“It sounds good, but you said Carol was very much against it?”

“Rather vehement about it.”

Brandy thought for a moment.  “Carol saved me.”

“She loves you.”

“Yes.  That’s the one biggest thing that has helped me so far, knowing that she does love me…and I love her.”

“And you have no idea how happy it makes me that you two have found each other.  Will you let me help you?  Submit to my process?”

Brandy shook her head.  “No.  I appreciate the offer, but no.  I trust Carol.  And if she doesn’t think I should then I won’t.  Besides, knowing just what tiny little bit that I do about what you do, I think that scares me almost as much as what I’ve been through.”

Janice smiled.  “I understand.  And I’m afraid that what I do is quite…frightening.  But it does bring me great pleasure to use that process on every man I can get my hands on.”

“Trust me, I’d like to see you get your hands on a few more men than the ones you have already.”

“Oh?  Like who?”

“Alfonso, for one.  And also Vince Beastman.  There’s a bunch from that breaking house that I don’t know their names that I’d like to see you destroy too.”

“Alfonso, you no longer have to worry about.  I took care of him just a little while ago.  I’m afraid that all his education and brains have been for nothing.  He now, and for the rest of his miserable life, will have the brain of a chicken, and nothing else.  He firmly believes he is a chicken, and he will do everything possible to behave like one from now on.”

Brandy smiled.  “Yeah.  I saw some of them out in the pasture by the barn.”

“Alfonso, is gone.  He’s mind is gone.  Now he’s just another chicken, and that’s all.”

“And how about Beastman?  I wish you could do the same to him.”

“I’m planning on it,” Janice replied.  “Just as soon as Carol brings him back.”

Brandy was horrified.  “Carol went after Beastman?”

“Yes.”

“Oh no!  He’ll kill her.”

“I certainly hope not.  Besides, Carol has lots of extra help from the Wu Enterprise agents.  Knowing Carol, I’m sure they’ll bring him back here later tonight.  And then…it will be my turn.”

“They’re bringing him here?” Brandy said, the fear growing in her over that thought.”

“Yes dear,” Janice replied, seeing the distress growing in Brandy.

Brandy shook her head.  “He’s mean.  He’s dangerous!”

“Yes.  Just the kind of man Carol likes to kill.”

“I’d rather she does kill him than bring him here.”

“That could happen too.  But if not, I’m rather looking forward to finishing my chicken project and turning them all loose somewhere.”

“Turn them loose?”

“Yes.  I just haven’t decided where yet.  Somewhere where they will make the biggest impact.”

 

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The car sat at the side of the road with its hazard lights flashing and the hood open.  It was positioned just past an intersection with another small road.  Just another disabled vehicle along the side of the road.  It was a road that didn’t get much traffic.  There were very few places on the road that led to Alfonso’s breaking house. 

Carol was crouched down in front of the car, invisible to any cars coming from behind it.  The gas mask and goggles of her suit were in place.  One of the Wu agents was crouched down on the side of the car behind her where he also couldn’t be seen by any cars approaching from the rear.  Two more agents were crouched down inside the car where they wouldn’t be seen.  There were two vehicles full of agents parked on the crossroad, waiting.  The trap was ready, and the radio communications had warned them that the beast was approaching. 

Carol could hear the car approaching from behind them now.  She pointed her gun at the road just in front of their car, the barrel of the gun extended by the silencer that was once again screwed into place.

“Yeah, we’re almost there,” Beastman said into his phone, talking with one of his people back in L.A.  He barely noticed the car on the side of the road.  Besides, he wasn’t driving.  The car he was in moved over a bit and slowed down just slightly so it could go around the disabled car.  Suddenly there was a noise and the car lurched to the side.  Only then did Beastman start really looking around.

Carol had shot the front tire out as soon as it got next to her.  As the vehicle continued forward, she shot out the rear tire on that side as well.  She and the other Wu agent hurried around to the back of the car where they wouldn’t be seen.

“Damn it!” the driver of Beastman’s car exclaimed.  Some kid must have put something in the road to take out the tires.  That other car there probably had the same problem.”  It was all he could do to get the car under control enough to get it to the side of the road like the other car was.

The three men with Beastman got out of the car to take a look.  Both tires on the right side of the car were blown.  They could see two more vehicles approaching them.  They moved to the middle of the road and started waving their arms to get the vehicles to stop so they could warn them of the trouble…and to take one of their vehicles.  The vehicles slowed and the three men approached.  As they did, the doors of Carol’s car opened all three agents that had been with her suddenly surrounded Beastman’s men.  The guns in their hands didn’t give the men much of a choice but to do what they wanted.  As the other two vehicles came to a stop, men with guns poured from both of those vehicles as well.  Carol though, headed for the only person remaining in Beastman’s car.  Beastman himself.

“No.  Don’t worry,” Beastman said into his phone, not paying attention to what was happening on the road behind him.  “The guys have got it.  I’m sure we’ll have another car in a minute.”  He was surprised when his car door suddenly opened, and he saw a figure standing there pointing a gun at him.  The figure was obviously a woman, but her head was covered in such a way that he couldn’t see anything at all of her face.  “What the hell do you want?” he asked the figure.

“To see you dead…eventually,” Carol replied.  “Out!”

Beastman hung up his phone and slowly got out of the car, his hands raised just slightly in the air.  He now saw all the men…oriental men…surrounding his own men.  Not good!  But he wasn’t going down without a fight.  He suddenly rushed at the female figure, his large body seeming to make her look that much smaller.  But the moment he got close, it was like she wasn’t there!  He twisted around, but he was too late.

Carol came around behind him.  As she did, she kicked his legs out from under him, sending him to the pavement.  She jumped on him and before he could defend himself delivered a hard punch straight to his face.  A punch that came much faster than he could ever defend.  She moved over top of him and grabbed his head in a choke hold.  “The last time we met, I broke your skull,” she told him as she squeezed, preventing him from breathing properly.

“That was you?  But I captured you!” Beastman said as he tried desperately to dislodge her arm from around his throat.

“No.  You got my friend Retribution.  Now I’ve got her back, along with your friend Alfonso.”

“You’re…Death?”

“That’s right,” she replied as she squeezed harder.

The two of them were surrounded by Wu agents now.  Carol looked up at one of them and nodded.  The man held one of the vials of knockout liquid that he had gotten from one of Beastman’s men.  Another two men held Beastman’s arms out of the way, and he opened the small glass vial right under Beastman’s nose.  In moments, the big man succumbed to one of his own weapons.  Another agent took the glass vial and quickly threw it away since the smell was beginning to affect not only the man who had held it, but a few others as well.

Five minutes later, all four of the men had been well secured and thrown into the back of the two vans.  A minute later, the only vehicle left was the car Beastman had been riding in.  The one with two flat tires.

 

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Should she?  Should she really do it?  What was the worst that could happen?  Should she take Janice up on her offer to…fix her?  According to Janice, she would be just like she was before Beastman had captured her.  She wouldn’t remember any of it at all.  Not remembering any of it sounded like a dream come true just then.  It had all been one never ending nightmare.  She had never, ever been afraid before.  But she was now.  And it was a horrible feeling to know she was that vulnerable. 

Her hands explored her sagging hanging distended breasts through her shirt.  Ugh!  Awful!  If she did let Janice “fix” her, how would they ever explain her breasts and her sore vagina?  Her vagina that would probably always show the scars from what had been done to her.  No.  If she did let Janice wipe her mind, she knew for a fact that the old her would be pretty adamant about getting some acceptable answers.

In the distance, she heard Mr. Wu calling for Susan, his daughter.  She was sitting in one of the rooms at the front of the house.  Susan had been working near the back of the house.  She realized that she was hoping rather hard that Susan’s father would stay in that part of the house and wouldn’t come near her.  She also realized that it was awful to feel that way.  She knew, logically, that she had nothing at all to fear from Susan’s father.  And when her Uncle Vinny and Sammy had been there, she had no reason to be afraid of them either.  But she had been.  And she still was.

Her mind went back to the room in the breaking house.  If they had just given her half a chance to get out of that cage, she would have been more than willing to do absolutely anything.  Anything at all!  She would have gladly become one of the dog pets like they had done with those other women with her.  Gladly!  Anything to get out of that cage and move just one muscle.  It would have been so worth it!  But they hadn’t given her that chance.  All they had given her was a heavy bucket filled with her own pee that forever hung from her breasts.  And look how her breasts were now.  Ugly!  Uncomfortable!  And her vagina was so sore she didn’t want to ever think about sex with Carol again…let alone have some man come for her.  It was hard to admit, but right now, if a man came up to her and demanded that he have sex with her, she would submit to him completely.  She was that afraid.  Afraid?  Terrified!  Would she forever feel that way about every man she saw?

So maybe she should talk to Janice again.  What could he hurt to just talk a bit more about it?  Maybe between the two of them they could find a decent excuse that her tortured brain would accept for the physical things that had happened to her.  It would really be so worth it, if she could just not be afraid anymore.

And then there was Carol.  Carol who loved her.  And Carol who she loved.  But Carol loved the old her.  The fearless her.  The dangerous part of her that she knew didn’t exist anymore, and right now, never would.  Would Carol still love her?  Brandy knew for certain that if she remained this afraid, then Carol wouldn’t love her anymore.  Eventually, soon most likely, Carol would give up on her.  And Brandy couldn’t blame Carol at all if she did.  So having Janice wipe her mind and fix her would be something she would be doing, not just for herself, but for Carol too. 

As far as Brandy could tell, right now, Janice’s offer to wipe the entire experience from her brain sounded like the best thing she could possibly do, no matter how difficult and horrible the process would be.  She would do it gladly…for Carol…and for herself.

So why then, was Carol so against her doing it?

She got up from her chair and left the room to see if Janice was in the house.  She wasn’t going to go outside to look for her.  She also wasn’t going to go anywhere near Mr. Wu if she heard him talking.  If she couldn’t find Janice, she would wait.  She saw one of the maids.  “Do you know where Miss Janice is?” she asked as politely as she could.

The maid smiled.  “I believe she is sitting on the back patio, resting.”

“Thanks,” Brandy replied.  The back patio.  Outside, but not that bad.  She headed in that direction.

Why didn’t Carol want her to do this?

 

Monsters - Chapter 37 – Beast Trap – Part 1 of 2

 Monsters

By Karen Singer

 

 Chapter 37 – Beast Trap – Part 1 of 2

 

Carol’s motorcycle screamed up the backroads, heading toward the cutoff point where they would stop Vince Beastman before he could get to Alfonso’s breaking house.  She had been trying for so long now to find that damn man, but that had been because she had wanted to find Brandy.  Well, now she had Brandy, and now, because of Beastman, Brandy was…not herself.  Because of that, she was going to make Beastman pay.  Permanently!

As she rode, her thoughts refused to leave Brandy and the way she had been.  Afraid.  Afraid wasn’t Brandy!  But now she was afraid.  And it seemed that she was mostly afraid of men.  All men. 

Her mother wanted to put Brandy through her mind warping process and wipe the experience completely from her head.  In effect, resetting Brandy back to who she was before she had been taken.  But Carol couldn’t do that to Brandy.  Besides, what would Brandy say…or do…when she found out why she had lost so much time?  That could have disastrous consequences.  In case her mother didn’t remember, Brandy was dangerous.  Was dangerous.  It seemed that now that she had been broken, the word dangerous couldn’t be used to describe her anymore.  Broken!

She had to find some way to bring Brandy…the old Brandy…back.  She had to find a way to light that spark of life in her again.  She had to find some way to restore Brandy’s confidence.  She had to find some way to bring back the old Brandy…the Brandy that she loved so much.  But how?  You could fix a broken car.  You could fix a broken bike.  But how did you fix a broken human being?  It wasn’t like you could just replace some of the parts…which was almost what her mother wanted to do to her.  Carol just didn’t see it working that way.  She had to find some way to fix her love.  How?  Right now, she simply didn’t see a way. 

In her frustration, she pushed her speeding bike to go even faster.  Eating up the miles as the frustration over Brandy was eating away at her.

 

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Alfonso was sitting calmly in the chair.  The shock collar was again locked around his neck.  He had put up no resistance at all.  In truth, he was completely incapable of putting up any kind of resistance to anything anymore.  That woman…Janice…had worked him over, but good.  And she had done it in such a way that he never imagined could be done.  He had no idea how long it had taken, he had lost all track of time during the process.  But instead of taking weeks or even days, she had done in one session what he thought would be impossible.  And now, his brain remembered everything, but accessing the willpower to do anything other than what she wanted was completely impossible.  Even in the state he was in, he found that amazing.  So he sat there calmly, like she told him he would, and waited.

As he sat waiting, his mind went back to the one subject that he was finding the most fascinating now.  Chickens.  They were such interesting creatures.  He had never really bothered learning anything about them before, other than the many different ways they could be prepared for dinner, but now it was like he couldn’t get enough information about them.  How they lived.  How they behaved.  What they ate.  What they did.  His hungry educated mind wanted more information about them.  He just thought it was lucky that Janice had allowed him to watch the couple of videos they had found for him.  Fascinating!  Amazing creatures.  Why hadn’t he thought to think about them before?  He should have!

The door opened and he looked up.  Janice!  He could do nothing about the fear that ran though him now at the sight of her.  She had locked that ability away with his ability to do anything else.

“Hello Alfonso,” Janice said as she entered the room and closed the door.  “Did you find the videos about chickens to be interesting?”

“Yes.  Very!” Alfonso replied immediately.

“Good.  Very good.  Perhaps later I’ll see about letting you learn more about them.”  She went over to the small table and poured herself a glass of iced-tea.  She took a long drink, then set the glass down on the table.  She picked up the remote control for the shock collar and turned to him.  “Stand up!”

Alfonso stood as fast as he could, but she had caught him by surprise.  The small quick shock came and went, even as she was giving the command for him to sit down again.  Stand up, sit down.  Do this, do that.  He knew that she had planted a command in his head that could drop him into a trance the moment she said it, but she never used it.  Instead, it was as if she was starting all over with him again…and he was helpless to resist.  Those thoughts didn’t last long as the commands came too quickly for him to process anything except what she was saying.  And then his brain didn’t have time to process even that much as his mind relaxed and let her mind take over.  Her will was his will.  Her will controlled him completely.  He had been lost to her will before, now he was doubly so.  None of which he was capable of realizing.  His brain barely existed anymore.  Only her will existed.  And that’s all that mattered.

As always, Janice didn’t take shortcuts.  She gave him the full treatment, making doubly sure that everything she needed him to know had been implanted in his brain.  As always, the second time around went faster and easier than the first time.  Even as smart as Alfonso thought he was, his mind was no match for hers.  She had cut her teeth learning to do this to the brightest men around.  One if which had been her husband.  Now, all of them, her husband included, were mentally nothing more than bugs.  And they would remain so for the rest of their lives.  And they were her first experiments.  She had only gotten better since.

Eventually, she had been through everything with him again.  For all intents and purposes, she was done with him.  But before she finished completely, she put the remote control down and took another long drink from her tea.  Then she turned back to him again, this time, for a little talk.

“Your breaking routine was interesting,” she told him.  “The interrogators told me all about it.  Tell me, where did you come up with the idea for those cages?”

“I needed a method to restrict all mobility,” he told her.  “Separate the mind from the body.   It took some trial and error, and several different designs, but in the end, I think what I created was good.”

“It was very good,” Janice conceded.  “And then once in the cages, you went out of your way to make them believe they were nothing more than inanimate objects, treating them so miserably and making them realize that there was nothing they would ever be able to do about it.  Tell me, is there anything about that part of your process that the interrogators didn’t think to ask about, or anything about it that you’re particularly proud of?”

“The cages,” Alfonso replied.  “I’m proud of developing those cages.”

“Of course,” Janice agreed.

“And one other thing.”

Janice had thought he was done, now she wanted to know what else he was proud of.  “What’s that?” she asked.

“The semi-isolation,” he replied.  “The women were always turned to face the blank wall, and they couldn’t see anyone else.  But they could hear everything going on in the room around them.  Even when something wasn’t physically happening to them at the time, whenever any of the other women were being worked with, their minds would still hear it and identify with what was happening.  In a sense, it would be happening to them as well, just not physically.”

Dastardly!  Janice had to smile at that.  “And how about your second stage of the process.  Once in the cages, you only gave the women one way out, to become animals as completely as they could.  In this case, I believe it was dogs.”

“Yes,” Alfonso replied.  “As dogs, they were still not human, but as dogs they still had the ability to give sexual pleasure.  That was the only thing they were allowed to do.  And when they didn’t do anything well enough, the trainers put them back into the cages, but they were still out in the dog pen where they could see all the others who were able to move around and do things, while they couldn’t.”

“So you used the same cages in the dog pens to give them further incentive to become exactly what you wanted.”

“Yes.”

Once again, the word dastardly ran through Janice’s mind.  But now it was time.  He was still deep in his latest trance, the conditioning completely fresh.  Now it was time to show him how dastardly she could be. 

“Alfonso,” she said, “I want you to listen carefully.  I’m about to give you some instructions.  You will follow them completely because you know you cannot do anything else.  I wanted you to learn about chickens.  Now, as soon as I wake you up, you are going to get more experience with that.  As soon as I wake you, you will no longer be human at all.  All your humanity will be completely locked away from you on the other side of your wall.  You can never touch it unless I give you the code words allowing you to become human again.  Instead of being human, you will from that moment on, be a chicken in every way that I command.  I will tell you how I want you to act.  I will tell who how I want your body to behave.  The rest, your mind will fill in as you constantly become more and more of a chicken.  No longer human, just a chicken.  Forever!”

She told him the key phrase that would allow him to become human again.  When she was done, she had one of the workers come into the room and unlock his collar.  She told him that she would count down from three to one and when she reached one he would wake up completely and become that chicken, but he would still be able to understand her and would follow all her instructions.  She counted down and woke him up, the look of horror on his face was very evident, even as he stood up from the chair, and his body bent slight, and he began wandering about the small horse stall looking for bugs to eat.  She had him bend his arms into wings.  She had him squat down into the position she wanted him.  And she laughed as he went around chasing imaginary bugs, trying to eat them.  In all ways, finally looking and acting exactly like she wanted him. 

When she was ready, she woke him up completely again and had him sit in the chair.  She said a few key words and he lapsed once again into his hypnotic trance.  From there, Janice again spent a few minutes doing her stand up, sit down, move this, move that commands to make sure he was totally under her control.  When she was done, she gave him his final instruction.  Instructions that let him know that for the rest of his life he would no longer be human at all, but would be nothing but a chicken in all ways.  Instructions that removed all his ability to understand any human language spoken to him or around him since chickens couldn’t understand any spoken words.  The only exception to that was the key words that would allow him to become human again…words that most likely he would never hear for the rest of his life.  In all ways, he would have to behave as nothing more than a chicken for the rest of his life.  Then she said, “Alfonso, I’m going to count down now from three to one again.  When I say the word one, you will wake up completely and be the chicken I want you to be.  Three…two…one!”

Alfonso snapped completely out of his trance, even as the memory of her instructions rammed into his conscious mind.  “Nooo!” he started to shout, even as his body slid out of the chair as his knees bent into a squatting position and his arms moved to become wings – permanently.  He started looking around the room searching for bugs to eat, flapping his silly wings, and making clucking noises.

Janice nodded with satisfaction.  Another bothersome man out of the way…and another chicken for her growing flock.  She couldn’t wait to see the expressions on people’s faces when she released the entire flock somewhere.  But where?  That was the question that was beginning to occupy her mind now.  Where would be the best place to release all her new creations, that would bring about the most interesting results?  It was starting to be a very delightful question to ponder. 

 

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Monsters - Chapter 36 – Broken – Part 2 of 2

 Monsters

By Karen Singer

 

Chapter 36 – Broken – Part 2 of 2

 

She stepped up onto the bus at the Los Angeles Bus Terminal.  She found an empty seat and sat down.  The woman travelling with her, sat next to her.  She didn’t know the woman’s name, or anything about her.  Nor did she care.  They would simply be travelling together until they got to Sacramento, then the other woman would board another bus to take her somewhere else, while she took another bus toward home.  Indianapolis.

As the bus departed the station, her name ran though her head, Sally Logan.  Her other more recent name was there too, Sally Sweetlips.  She had vague memories of some woman and some…place that she had been at, but they were vague.  Not important.  She didn’t know that all her memories of the breaking house and what had been done to her had already been completely erased from her mind, never to be remembered again.  The only important thing that she knew now, was that she was going back to Indianapolis, she had grown tired of her life as a hooker, and for the first time ever, she had a clear direction of what she wanted to do with her life.

She didn’t know if what family she had in Indianapolis would except her or not.  In truth, it didn’t matter.  All that mattered to her was what she wanted to do…what she wanted to be – a nurse.  She wanted badly to dedicate herself to helping people in any way she could.  Her memories of her life on the streets had taught her much about suffering, now she wanted to do something, anything, to relieve the suffering in others – particularly women if she could.  She was determined to study, and study hard.  She was determined to work tirelessly for the rest of her life, all to achieve her goal – to be the best damn nurse she possibly could.  And she knew without a doubt that she would be able to do it.

If her family wouldn’t accept her back, she had a card in her wallet with ten thousand dollars available on it to get her started.  She would do whatever she needed to do now to follow her goal…her dream – nursing.  Anything…except hooking again.  Never again.  Never!  She was beyond that now.  She had grown.  She had confidence in herself now that she never had before.  Confidence that had something to do with that strange lady that she vaguely remembered.

As the bus hit the highway and headed north, all her memories of Janice, that strange lady, vanished from her mind – permanently.  A little while later, she no longer had any memories of the place where Janice had worked with her.  Shortly after that, she no longer had any memory of the name Sally Sweetlips.  She remembered none of that at all.  She only had muted memories of hooking in Los Angeles, something she would never do again. 

A smile crept across her lips and stayed there.  For the first time in her life, she had something to look forward to.  For the first time she knew what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.  For the first time in her life…she was happy.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Brandy laid on her bed and cried.  Her body was curled up into the same horrible position again.  Her head was held up by the pillows under it.  As much as she absolutely hated the position, it was the only one she was comfortable in anymore.  This was now how her body was used to being.  As horrible as it was…as much as she hated it…this was her new comfort zone.  But Brandy didn’t think about any of that.  None of it.  She was afraid.  And now, lying there as she was, all her mind could see was that blank beige wall and nothing else.  Blankness.

She could almost feel that cage surrounding her again, making sure she couldn’t move the slightest muscle.  She could hear that door opening behind her and the men coming in to use her however they wished…whenever they wished.  She could feel the hopelessness of her situation as they raped both ends of her…hurting her…not caring one bit about her…because she wasn’t a person.  She was an object.  A thing.

Just thinking about men now…any man.  All men.  Just the thought of a man brought all those images and emotions back to her.  That’s what men could do to her.  That’s what men did do to her.  And she was helpless to prevent it.

Helpless.  Useless.  Nothing to them.  An object.  A…nothing.

The beige wall loomed in her mind.  The confining cage crushed her body…and her emotions.

She was helpless.

She was afraid.

Men.

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Carol stared at Brandy’s closed bedroom door.  According to Natalia, Brandy had gone back to bed and was napping.  She wasn’t so sure.  She feared that Brandy was sinking down into a fit of depression.  But there was nothing she could do about that…because she didn’t know how to handle that.  She was used to handling rougher situations.  Give her good fight any day!  Someone she could punch…beat up…shoot!  She wasn’t good at these emotional situations. 

She left Brandy and headed outside.  She went to the barn, searching for her mother.  Her mother was easy to find, all she had to do was find the biggest knot of people since her mother always had servants and helpers around her.  She didn’t know what they were all discussing, and she didn’t care.  “Mom?”

Janice looked up.  “Ah, Carol dear.  How is Brandy?”

“Can I talk to you about that?”

Janice noticed the worried expression on her daughter’s face.  “Of course,” she replied.  “Let’s head back toward the house.”

The two of them began walking slowly back toward the large house.  “What’s wrong?” Janice asked.

“Brandy,” Carol replied.  “I tried to get her to go for a walk earlier, but it didn’t last long before she made a beeline straight back to her room.  And when we walked, she specifically wanted to go anywhere except near the barn.”

“Why was that?”

“Because…”  Carol stopped walking and turned to face her mother.  “She said, she’s afraid.”

“Afraid?”

“Afraid…of men.  I guess, there are men in the barn, but nowhere else.”

Janice looked at her daughter for a moment before saying, “I guess that’s mostly true.”  She didn’t bother mentioning Mr. Wu staying in the house.  From what little she had heard now of Brandy’s “experience,” she thought she fully understood.  “Carol, Brandy has been through something horrible.  It’s going to have some major psychological ramifications.  You don’t go through something like that without it leaving scars.”

“Yeah,” Carol replied, “but she was always so strong, but now…she’s…not.  She’s different.”

“She’s afraid.”

“Yes!  Brandy was never afraid of anything.  Anything!”

“No.  And neither are you.  You were both like a pair of bookends.  The same, but still separate.”

“How do I help her?” Carol asked.  “What can I do for her?  This isn’t some fight I can just go and win, this is…”  She threw her hands up in the air.  “I can’t handle this kind of situation.  I don’t know how.”

Janice smiled.  “No.  Emotional and psychological issues are not exactly your strong points.”

“But they’re yours,” Carol pointed out.

“Somewhat,” Janice agreed.

“So how can I help her?  What can I do?”

“I don’t know,” Janice replied.  “She’s going to need time, that’s one thing.  But beyond that, you may have to consider something else.  Something that’s far more troubling.”

Carol didn’t like the sound of that.  “What?”

“Carol, I haven’t had a chance yet to speak with Alfonso about what he did.  I’ve only worked with him once and the interrogators are speaking with him right now.  Later, I plan on speaking with him at length before I…get rid of him.  But from everything we know already, his mental conditioning program was designed to break the spirits and minds of all the women that were brought to him.  Those cages were his first step.  He essentially removed their minds from their bodies, not allowing them to be anything except helpless receptacles for whatever tortures his men wanted to inflict.  Those cages were designed to do one thing and one thing only.  And to do it quickly.  Break the women.  No drugs, nothing but mental torture.”

“It had to be miserable,” Carol agreed.

“Carol, you may have to face the facts of something I’m sure you don’t want to consider.”

“What’s that?”

“That Brandy is broken.”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

“Damn it!” Vince Beastman yelled loudly as he turned his phone off.  “Where the hell is he?”  He turned to his three best friends who were almost always around him.  “I can’t sit here anymore.  Get the car.  We’re going on a little road trip.  We’re going to find out why Al won’t answer his damn phone!”

 

--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---

 

Susan’s phone rang.  It rang dozens of times every day.  Some of it was for business pertaining to where she was now and the project they were currently working on with Janice, but much of it had nothing at all to do with that and was just more of their normal business.  This call however concerned something that was more pertinent to what they were doing now.  “Yes?” she said as she put her phone to her ear.

“Miss Wu,” the Chinese voice replied.  “It appears that Mr. Beastman is angry that Alfonso is not answering his calls.  He is getting ready to go up there now to find out why.”

Normally, that wouldn’t concern Susan at all, but this time, it was a troubling situation. 

“Are the FBI still up there?”

“We’re sure they’re going to be all over that place for at least the next week.”

“Yes, no doubt,” Susan agreed.  “Follow him, but put the word out, be prepared.  We may need to take him before the FBI can get their hands on him.”

“Yes Miss Susan,” the Chinese voice replied.

Susan ended the call and closed her phone.  Anyone showing up at that breaking house while the FBI were still there would probably wind up in the FBI”s hands for one reason or another.  Especially someone like Vince Beastman who would be known for what he was in Las Vegas.  She didn’t want Vince Beastman falling into the hands of the FBI or anyone else’s hands either.  He had a lot to answer for, mostly because of Carol and Brandy, not to mentions everything that had been happening, and was still happening back in Las Vegas. 

She looked back toward the house and saw Carol standing and talking with her mother.  Neither of them looked happy.  Whatever they were discussing appeared to be serious.  But so was this.  She headed for them.

“Carol,” Janice said to her daughter.  “Believe me, so far, I only know of one way to help Brandy, and that’s it.”

“You do.  What?” Carol replied hopefully.

“I have to go into her head and remove everything that Alfonso did to her, just like I did with those two whores we put on the bus earlier.”

Carol was horrified.  “No!  you can’t do that to her.”

“Carol, it may be the only way.  I can make her completely forget everything they did to her.  She’ll be just like she was before they captured her, only that entire experienced will be erased from her mind.  She’ll just be…missing a little bit of time.”

“But if you do that to her, then you’ve got to….”

“Yes.  It’s how I work.  It’s how the whole process works.”

“But…No!  I can’t put her through that.  There must be some other way.”

Janice shrugged.  “I still haven’t talked with Alfonso yet, but even then, I fear there may be no other way.  It will have to be either that, or she’ll have to learn to live with it.  And if you stay with her, you’ll have to learn to live with the…new Brandy.”

“No…” Carol lamented.

“Excuse me,” Susan said as she walked up.  “Sorry to interrupt whatever you’re talking about, but we’ve got a small situation.”

“What?” Carol asked.

“Beastman is heading for Alfonso’s property to find him.  Beastman has been trying to phone him repeatedly and of course, he never got an answer.  But the FBI are still crawling all over that place.”

“So what’s the big deal?” Carol asked.

“None, if you want to take the chance that the FBI will realize who he is and take him into custody.  I just thought you might want to do that yourself.  For Brandy’s sake if nothing else.”

Carol’s face set sternly.  “You’re damn right, I do,” she agreed.  “I want to rip his head off, personally!”

“That’s what I thought.  Not to mention he’ll probably have far more information about what’s happening in Las Vegas than Alfonso has.”

“Yeah, that too,” Carol replied. 

“Do you want to lead the team to grab him, or shall I just let our people do it?”

“No.  I want to be there.  I can’t wait to get my hands on him.”

“Then let’s talk about how we’re going to do it,” Susan suggested.

“And I’ll have a little chat with Brandy,” Janice added.

“No!” Carol said quickly.  “Don’t…”

“Don’t worry,” Janice told her.  “I said just a chat.  Nothing more.  I’ll just talk to her and find out what she’s been though and what’s going through her mind now.”

“Oh.  Good!” Carol replied.

“What’s the problem?” Susan asked.

“Brandy,” Janice told her.  “She was in Alfonso’s breaking house for quite a while.  She’s…broken.”