The Kingdom: Chapter 3 - Storming the Castle

June 23, 2020

CHAPTER 3 – Storming the Castle

We walked in silence for about a mile until we reached a large clearing. By now, the sun had nearly set. One of the gamesmen raised his walkie-talkie and spoke into it, “Gordon to base- be advised, team is approaching checkpoint 9. Prepare for entry” Then, the man placed the walkie back into his hip holster.

Just then, I heard a loud, high-pitched beeping noise up ahead. It almost sounded like the sound a golf-cart makes when put in reverse. Then, I saw it. A large metal cylinder roughly 12 feet in diameter began rising out of the ground in the middle of the clearing. I stopped in my tracks, unsure of what I was looking at. It continued to ascend until it was about 12 feet into the air. Then the beeping stopped. The gamesmen and rest of the group appeared completely unfazed and continued walking towards the structure. Just another stroll in the woods.

As we approached, I saw what looked like the outline of a door as well as an electronic keypad of sorts. One of the gamesmen lifted his smartphone to the lock, triggering a green light to blink. Just then, a wide door slid open revealing an empty circular chamber. The gamesmen led the way inside and everyone followed in behind them. Everyone except for me.

“What is this?” I asked, nervously.

Everyone turned to face me. “Just an elevator, ma’am,” The gamesman replied. “It’ll take us down to the tunnels. From there, it’s a straight shot to the Kingdom.” He must have seen the uncertainty written on my face, because he followed by saying, “It’s safe, I promise.”

While I had difficulty trusting anything that any of these people had to say, I definitely didn’t want to be left in the woods by myself and risk being spotted by any more sexually depraved hunters. So, I stepped inside the circular room. As soon as I was clear of the door, one of the gamesmen pressed a button on the wall. The large metal door began sliding shut behind me. The room was lit by bright LED lights on the walls and ceiling. When I reached the middle of the room, I turned to face the door as it sealed shut. I heard a hydraulic hiss from beneath my feet and felt the elevator begin to descend. My stomach churned, causing me to close my eyes. I’d always been a lightweight when it came to motion sickness. But after about 10 seconds, the elevator came to a stop and the door slid back open.

On the other side of the door was what looked like a small subway station. Four guards dressed in black stood in front of a sleek silver subway car roughly 25 feet in length. Attached to the back of the car was what looked like an open-air cargo caboose with a sort of crane attached to the rear. The gamesmen stepped past me toward the subway car, pulling the leashed women along with them. The Asian hunter and I followed behind. As we approached the subway car, I saw what looked like a line of metal crates to the left. Brandy was first to reach them. One of the guards standing by the crates raised a smartphone and tapped Brandy’s collar. The straps of her armbinder suddenly sprang free and dropped to the ground. Another guard grabbed ahold of the tip of her armbinder and tugged it off of her. Brandy gasped in relief as her arms were finally freed from her dreadful restraint. She may have still sported the black wrist and ankle cuffs, but for a moment, she certainly seemed to be soaking in her temporary freedom. With her eyes closed, she groaned blissfully as she rolled her shoulders backwards and forwards. She stretched and flexed her toned arms in every direction until the guards stepped behind her and once again ***d her hands behind her back. To Brandy’s right, the guards repeated the steps to the Asian girl. With her eyes still closed, Brandy seemed to go quietly as her wrist-cuffs were secured together by a silver padlock.

Then, one of the guard gripped her by the upper arm and leading her toward the metal crate. Brandy had obviously done this before because without instruction, she hoisted her leg over the side of the metal crate and stepped inside. The Asian girl did the same, stepping into the second crate.

“Kneel,” the guard said, emotionless.” Both girls obediently knelt down and placed their knees into what looked like padded foam cradles that kept their bent legs in a spread position. The guards then anchored each of their ankle-cuffs to hooks on the floor of the crate with padlocks.

Then, a guard placed his hand on the back of Brandy’s head and pushed her downward. Her torso was bent so low to the ground that her large breasts bulged against metal base of the crate. The same was done to the Asian girl, but her smaller breasts hovered an inch or so above the floor. The guards then lifted Brandy’s secured wrists into the air and slid a metal bar through a ring the side of the crate. The bar was fed horizontally across Brandy’s back, beneath her elbows. Once the bar passed through the ring on the other side of the crate, I heard a loud metallic click. The guard gave the bar a rattle, demonstrating that it was now secured in place.

Next, he guard grabbed a valve that was beneath the ring he’d fed the bar through and gave it a few turns clockwise. The horizontal bar suddenly began to rise upward, bringing Brandy’s elbows along with it. I heard her grunt in discomfort as her elbows raised nearly a foot in the air. When he stopped turning the valve, Brandy was now trapped in a low groveling position with her knees spread and her wrists dangling in a strappado position behind her. In this position, her muscular shoulders looked even more uncomfortable than they looked to be in the armbinder! Then, the guard began closing a solid metal lid, hinged to the side of the crate. With a final click, the human cage was now complete.

But the guard wasn’t done yet. Walking to the front of her crate, he squatted down by her face and began fidgeting with another metal bar. I stepped closer, curious to see what they were doing. Upon getting a loser look, my stomach dropped. Attached to this metal bar was a rubber dildo. The bar appeared to slide up and down along a vertical track in the crate. Brandy’s guard raised it upward until the dildo was positioned directly in front of her face. He tightened a knob on the side of the vertical track, locking the dildo at the desired height.

“C’mon,” I said. “Is this really necessary?” The guard ignored me, grabbing a hold of Brandy’s blonde hair and tugging her head upward to face him.

“No,” Brandy replied for him. “It’s really nommmph.” Without warning, the guard had pushed the bar forward, sliding the dildo straight into Brandy’s half-open mouth. Her reply was cut short as the dildo ***d its way past her front teeth. Once it was roughly 4 inches submerged, the guard let go of Brandy’s hair. With the dildo now trapped in her mouth, her head remained upright, locked in a craned, forward facing position. She growled at the guard and bore her teeth, which were now clamped firmly down around the rubber dildo. The guard ignored her attempts at resistance and proceeded to tighten the knob positioned at the base of the dildo bar. I guess this prevented the dildo from sliding out of her mouth.

I looked over to the Asian girl who had gotten the same exact treatment from her guard. I shook my head in disgust. This was ridiculous! Talk about overkill! But no sooner did the word “overkill” cross my mind, the guards began making their way around to the backs of each crate.

“More?!” I asked, incredulously as they knelt down. They began fidgeting with what looked like another metal bar located directly behind each woman’s pussy. “Oh for fuck’s sake-” I said.

Another guard walked up to me, holding a briefcase with 3 different-sized dildos. I glanced back and forth from the dildos and him in confusion.

“So, what’ll it be?” He asked me. “Would you like her to have small, medium, or large dildo?”

“What?” I asked, in shock. “How about no dildo?”

“Sorry, ma’am. Rules require all slaves wear one for transportation,” he replied patiently.

“Yeah, she’s already wearing one,” I replied defiantly. “In her mouth.”

“If you refuse to pick, the large-sized dildo is considered standard.” the guard replied, matter-of-factly. I heard Brandy squeal and mmph frantically. She squirmed as best as she could, presumably to convince me to save her from the largest dildo.

“So, which will it be?” the guard pressed. I could feel my face growing flush. This was a special kind of twisted. What the kind of sick fucks came up with this shit?!

“Small,” I spat, turning away. Brandy gave a small sigh of relief. I didn’t want to watch. I loathed the idea that I was essentially becoming complicit in this perversion.

“My slave’ll take a large,” the Asian hunter, looking down at his own slave. I glared over at him, fighting the urge to walk over and hit him in the nose again. I saw the Asian girl take a deep breath and close her eyes, almost as if to mentally prepare herself.

“Large, it is,” the guard said, picking up a large dildo. He wore a rubber glove on one hand, which he used to coat the dildo in some kind of lubricant. Once finished, he handed the dildo to the guard kneeling by the Asian girl’s pussy who proceeded to screw it onto the end of the metal bar. Then, he pushed the bar forward. I heard the Asian girl exhale slowly. Her whole body seemed to tense and her toes curled as the dildo made its way through the metal ring in her chastity belt and into her pussy. Once it looked to be fully submerged, the guard tightened the knob at the base of the bar, locking the dildo home.

The Asian hunter knelt down inches from the girl’s face. “What do you say?” he asked.

With her eyes still closed, the girl softly replied, “Ahnk oh heh,” My jaw nearly dropped. Did she just say ‘thank you, sir?’ There’s no way in hell that she was actually enjoying this! No. She must have been doing what she thought she needed to in order to save herself from worse to come. There’s no way a person could actually want any of this. Right?

“Alright,” one of the guards said, “All aboard! Master, Mistress- please find a seat inside and make yourself comfortable.” I looked up as the door to the subway car slid open. Padded seats lined the walls of the subway car, facing inward. To my left stood several vertical support bars. To my right, was a buffet table of sorts with a variety of finger foods and drinks.

“And please go ahead and help yourself to some snacks and refreshments,” the guard added.

I stepped inside and headed straight for the buffet table. I hadn’t eaten all day and was famished. I must have looked like a starving Ethiopian child as I shoveled food onto a small plastic plate. Moments later, I was seated and tearing into my mini-mountain of chicken nuggets, sliders, and pigs in a blanket. The Asian man made himself a plate and sat in the seat across from me. I didn’t care how glutinous I looked. After finishing my plate and downing my bottled water, I went back up for seconds. I piled another plate high with food and returned to my seat.

Turning to my right, I could see that the back wall was actually a large Plexiglas window that allowed you to see into the open-air caboose. I could see the guards talking outside the door, but the subway car must have been soundproofed, because I could no longer hear anything outside. I watched one of the guards walk over to the side of the caboose where a control panel was located. I leaned over to try to see what he was doing. Suddenly, the crane on the back of the caboose began to move. It looked like the guard was controlling the crane with some sort of joystick. I continued eating as I watched the arm of the crane swing outward. On the underside of the end of the arm was a large metal disc of sorts. When the disc came to hover above Brandy’s crate, the arm descended, lowering the disc until it came to rest upon the lid of the crate

The disc must have been magnetically charged, because moments later, the entire crate was lifted into the air. The crane’s arm rotated horizontally, bringing Brandy’s crate toward the subway car. Moments later, she was slowly lowered onto the floor of the open-air caboose. Brandy stared straight ahead into the glass, her expression cold and expressionless.

It was then that I noticed the decals along the base of the Plexiglas window that read- ONE-WAY MIRROR. We could see her, I realized, but she couldn’t see us. The only thing she could see was her own reflection. I stared into Brandy’s lifeless eyes, wondering what she must have been thinking.

“Your slave’s godda be a tough cookie to break,” the Asian hunter said, lounging back in his seat with his legs crossed. I turned to look at him. With the cotton balls still in his nose, his voice sounded stuffy and ridiculous.

“Shut the fuck up,” I said with a mouth full of food, turning back toward Brandy.

“What are you so sour about?” He asked. “You just wod your freedob. You got a milliod dollar paycheck for rudding aroud daked id da woods for half a day. What gives?”

I ignored him as I finished my last bite, wiping my hands on my pants. Leaving my dirty plates where they were, I stood to my feet and crossed to the back of the subway car. Grabbing ahold of the vertical support pole in the middle of the room, I stared out through the one-way mirror at Brandy. A few seconds later, the crane was lowering the Asian girl’s crate next to Brandy’s on the caboose. Her eyes were closed and she almost looked to be asleep.

A few moments later, the Asian man had creepily joined me in the back of the subway car.

“You’re gonna need to step away from me,” I warned coldly without looking at him.

He casually raised both hands in a surrender gesture and stepped away to grab the adjacent vertical bar to my left. We stood in silence, watching the guards busy themselves on the caboose, running black straps across the crates, which secured them to the deck.

“I’b really dot a bad guy, ya doe,” the man said.

“No, of course you’re not,” I replied dryly. “You’re just a regular prince charming who enjoys capturing and raping women.”

“Doe, dat’s just it-” he replied, defensively. “I would’t be here if dis was dodcodsedsual-” Frustrated by the sound of his stuffy voice, the man rolled his eyes and tugged the cotton balls out of his nostrils. “Ouch,” he muttered under his breath. “Look- I’d never participate in any of this if the women weren’t here by choice. It’s a transaction. My enrollment fees go directly into your pockets. Most women earn enough *** from this gig to straight-up retire once it’s is all over. Others return each year because they enjoy it.”

“So, that makes it okay, does it?” I asked, turning to face him. “Just so long as your victim gets compensated, you’re justified in taking advantage of her and treating her like a piece of shit?”

The man suddenly pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and began tapping his screen. After a few seconds, he cleared his throat and read,

“June Singh, 21 years of age, 5’4”, 113 lbs., 1st year. Personal notes- To my new Master- I so look forward to meeting and serving you. As you will quickly notice, I have quite the contrary spirit. I’m a fighter at heart and enjoy the role of resisting. But with a firm and steady hand, I have no doubt that you will quickly succeed in breaking me, body and mind. As difficult and challenging as my journey will be, I’m overcome with the excitement of being trained by someone who is truly superior to me. I look forward to you showing me why am now the luckiest girl in the world. Here’s to 3 months of dreams coming true. Yours truly, June.”

The man looked up at me from his phone. “She even put a heart emoji at the end,” he added.

I shook my head in shock in disbelief, looking back out the window at the Asian girl named June. The guards were now finished securing the crates and were exiting the caboose. This was all beginning to feel like an episode of the Twilight Zone. Could this actually be a turn-on for these women? It was hard to fathom, but after listening to June’s own words, it was difficult to rule out the possibility.

“Understand?” the Asian man asked. “Everyone is here voluntarily. Could some women be second-guessing their decision to enlist? Possibly. But I’m willing to bet that the vast majority are excited about the next 3 months. It’s why so many come back every year. It’s a paid sex vacation.”

Just then, I heard a loud ding from over head, followed by a female voice. “The train will be departing momentarily. Please take your seat or grab ahold of a nearby railing.” Moments later, I felt the car lurch forward and slowly accelerate in the direction opposite of the caboose.

“You wanna read your slave’s profile?” the man asked. I hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. “What’s her name?” he asked.

“Brandy,” I replied. “And she’s not my slave.”

After a few seconds tapping his phone, he replied, “Okay, there are a few Brandy’s, but I think this one is yours.”

He held out his phone to me and I took it from him. Staring up at me from the screen was Brandy’s smiling photo. Beneath the picture was text that read-

Brandy Michaels: 28 years of age

5’10”

139 lbs.

2nd year

Personal notes:

Well, golly gee. You caught me. I imagine you must be feeling pretty

proud of yourself at the moment. I recommend you take the next couple

of hours to bask in your victory. Because, it won’t be long before you’re

faced with the reality that you are Completely out of your league... As a

Dominatrix of 6 years, I can assure you that I will not be broken. I will

not be ‘tamed’. Any attempts to do so will end in failure. Instead, set me

free and secure the collar around your own neck. The longer you take to

turn the reigns over to me, the harder life will be for you. I give you my

professional guarantee- I have the power to make your next 3 months a

living heaven or hell. Obey me and I’ll give you satisfaction beyond

your wildest dreams. Refuse, and I’ll ensure that you remember these

next 3 months as the single worst, most disappointing investment you’ve

ever made. So, congrats on your capture! See you after orientation.

-Mistress Brandy

“Holy shit,” I muttered under my breath.

Brandy ought to be thanking her lucky stars that I was the one to capture her. No guy in his right mind would be tempted by an offer like that. Not after putting up the fortune to have the opportunity capture and train his very own sex-slave for three months. I couldn't help but think that Brandy definitely misread her target audience. I shuddered to imagine what kind of misery she’d have had to endure if a horny alpha-male were reading this as her new master.

Beneath Brandy’s personal notes, there were two red buttons. One read ‘Pleasure’ and the other said ‘***’. I tapped the ‘Pleasure’ button, half-expecting some sort of fantasy checklist to pop up, outlining what Brandy found to be ‘pleasurable’. Instead, the button turned from red to white and began to jiggle and bounce on the screen. Confused, I continued to stare at the screen.

“Whoa,” Eric laughed. “Someone’s a bit triggered.” I looked up at him and followed his gaze toward Brandy. Brandy wore a ferocious glare and was throwing what looked like a temper-tantrum in her crate. Her teeth were digging nearly a half-inch into the rubber dildo. If looks could actually kill, we’d all be dead for sure.

“Is she okay?” I asked. “Wait-” I stammered, holding the phone away from me. “Did I do that? I pressed this button- did I do something?”

Eric took the phone from me and looked at the screen. “Yeah,” Eric chuckled. “You activated the vibrate function on her dildo. She doesn’t seem to be enjoying it very much, though, does she?”

“I didn’t know that’s what the button did!” I said frantically. “How do you make it stop?”

“Don’t worry, it’ll stop after 30 seconds,” he explained casually. “Hell, you’re a lot nicer than I am. I’ve clicked ‘***’ three times now.”

I glanced over at June to see her demeanor. “What does *** do?” I asked nervously.

“Just gives her butt-plug some pecks of electricity at random intensities for 30 seconds. I saw her jump a few times but it didn’t really seem to effect her much beyond that.”

“So, anyone can just do this to anyone?” I asked, still in shock. “I mean, you can just look up anyone’s profile and click on these buttons?”

“Only if they’ve already been captured.”

“So, nobody can see my profile?” I asked.

“I’m pretty sure they can’t,” he replied. “Hold on- let me check. What’s your name?”

“Jodie,” I answered.

“Jodie, I’m Eric,” he replied with a smile. “Sorry about meeting the way we did. You know- with me pulling a Negan and making you kneel down in the woods. What can I say, I’m still a devoted Walking Dead fan.”

Not eager to give him a pass, I ignored him. Brandy’s vibrating dildo must have stopped vibrating because her tantrum had ceased. But she still wore a pouty face and appeared to be breathing heavily.

“No,” he said after a long pause. “I’m not seeing your profile. So, it must be hidden, seeing as you were never captured.”

All of this seemed way too advanced. It was hard to believe that minds were perverted enough to dream this up, let alone execute it. I looked back out the rear window at our slaves. The subway tunnel was well lit with fluorescent lighting, so there was clear visibility of the women. The subway car was now traveling at what felt like over 50 mph, causing the women’s hair to flow and flutter behind them.

“Whaaaat?” Eric suddenly exclaimed out of nowhere, his eyebrows raised in glee as he stared at his phone. “No way!”

“What?” I asked.

“I’ve got three trade offers already!” Eric looked up at me, wide-eyed like a like a kid on Christmas morning.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means my slave is a bombshell and everyone wants her!” He continued grinning stupidly at his phone. “Once a hunter registers a capture, they can enter the marketplace. It’s basically an online database of all captured slaves. Hunters can trade slaves with other hunters and venders. They can even buy additional slaves if they have the ***.” He looked down at his phone and began furiously typing. “Sorry fellas, you’ll have to trade elsewhere.”

“Are we allowed to set slaves free?” I asked.

“Uh- I actually don’t think so,” Eric replied, crinkling his brow in contemplation. “I mean, I suppose there’s nothing to stop a hunter from treating their slave like she’s free. But I think I remember reading that once a slave is registered, she has to remain under someone’s custody for the rest of her stay.”

“So… if I decided to leave, what would happen to her?” I asked, nodding toward Brandy.

“I think,” Eric replied contemplatively, “-if a hunter leaves early, their slave goes up for auction. And if a slave were to somehow escape or… if a former slave like yourself decides to leave, you’d forfeit your paycheck. It’s why they don’t pay you until check out on the final day.”

“And how do we get paid?” I asked.

“Damn, you really didn’t pay close attention to your contract, did you?” he asked, chuckling. “Lucky for you, I’m a finance guy. So I read this part backwards and forwards. When you leave at the end of your three months, you’ll sit down with one of the accountants and they’ll set up an offshore account for you. That way, the funds are untraceable. Also non-taxable. Just don’t make the mistake of withdrawing all of it at once. The government’ll be all over your ass.”

“And does it have to be under my name?” I asked. “Or… can I list the account under someone else?”

Eric looked puzzled. “You planning on giving your million dollars to someone else?”

“I-” I stammered, not quite knowing how to answer. Should I tell Eric the truth? Could I trust him with the fact that I’m not Jodie O’Connell? That I found my way to this moment because I’d made the impulse decision to pretend to be Jodie for the purpose of trying to uncover what the Renaissance Faire was being used for during it’s off-season? No. I needed to keep him in the dark.

“Well… my *** has a lot of ***,” I began, coming up with a story on the fly. “Me, not so much... I thought it might raise less suspicion to use her as an intermediary.”

“Hmm… I guess that makes sense,” Eric replied softly, seemingly still a bit skeptical.

Eager to move on, I continued, “So, what you’re saying is- I’m stuck here for three months?”

“Only if you wanna keep your ***.” Eric replied with a half smile. “To be honest, I can think of worse ways of becoming a millionaire.”

I stood in silence, contemplating my options. I really could use the ***. Truth be told, I missed having ***… And if I were being honest, I’d always enjoyed practicing BDSM in my personal life. I was all too familiar with role-playing and tying up my partners for a fun evening. But this was a 3-month investment of my life! These girls may have been expecting all of this to happen, but I wasn’t. I wouldn’t know the first thing about being a 24/7 domme. There was no way I could pull this off. Could I?

I stared out the window in contemplation. I couldn’t believe that I was actually considering this. What was purely unthinkable just 15 minutes earlier had suddenly become shockingly tempting... One million dollars! For 3 months of bossing someone around. And that person I’d be bossing around actually signed up for this gig with the expectation of being bossed around… I felt like I could rationalize that... Lord knows I’d be easier on Brandy than someone who purchased her on auction! I’d be doing her a favor! And who cares if I turned out to be a lame, inexperienced domme? It’s not like I needed to impress Brandy. My mind danced between pros and cons for the next several minutes. Eric was silently tapping away at his phone, allowing me time to gather my thoughts.

“What if I don’t know much about being a domme?” I asked Eric. “Or… anything about being a domme?”

Eric looked up, smiling. “Hey, you can’t possible be less prepared than I was last year. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. But after you take advantage of some of the classes and seminars they offer, you’ll be a pro in no time. You drop your slave off at day-care while you go to class and you learn. Seriously, everything’s free, so it’s in your best interest to learn all you can. But honestly, the main thing is confidence. If you act like you know what you’re doing, that’s all that really matters.”

I stared out the window, considering his advice. After about a minute of silence, I suddenly remembered how tired my legs were. Why the hell was I standing? I walked back over to my seat and sat down.

“How much longer til we get there?” I asked.

“Uh, I’m not sure. I’d say about 15, 20 minutes,” Eric replied.

I leaned back in my seat and rested my head against the window behind me.

“I’m gonna take a nap,” I said.

“Do it,” Eric said in agreement. “I’ve gotta reply to some of these trade offers.”

I closed my eyes. Somehow, despite the odds, I’d managed to make an acquaintance in Eric. Though I felt somewhat guilty for engaging with him, he really had proven to be a wealth of information. And he’d certainly given me a lot to think about...

But pondering the knowledge he'd bestowed upon me would have to wait. Because, after only a few seconds with my eyes closed, I could already feel myself drifting off. I felt as if I'd been awake for days. I shifted in my seat and lied down across the seats next to me, curling into a fetal. Moments later, I was out like a light.

I'm not sure how long I dozed off for, but if I had to guess, it couldn't have been longer than 10 minutes. I was awoken by the loud squeal of the subway car's breaks. I reached my hand forward reflexively to balance myself on the seat in front of me as I felt my weight sliding forward. I opened my eyes and squinted through the brightness. I groaned in *** 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.”

“Thanks,” I said awkwardly, still struggling to come to terms with the fact that Eric the woman-hunter had turned out to be relatively likable.

“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 joystick 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 ‘***’ 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 *** 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 ***. 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 ***ing 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 ***r around their neck with a nameplate 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 ***r 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 O’Connell,” I said in a low voice.

Katie’s face suddenly lit up. “No way. The Jodie O’Connell?!” she asked giddily.

“Yyyep,” I replied.

“Oh, wow! Jodie- I mean, Miss O’Connell- 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 s***d 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 ***, 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 ***ed 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 O’Connell,” she said a few moments later, looking up from her computer screen. “You are all checked into the castle suit.”

My eyebrows raised. I was quite familiar with the castle suit, 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 suit 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 ***, 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 *** 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 sweet alone for three months with no responsibilities sounded like pure bliss.

“Do you have any more questions, Miss O’Connell?” 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 ***d 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 s***d 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 s***d walk, 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 ***d 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.