Cruel Mistress

Un

All I could see was black, all I could hear was my heartbeat and her heels as she walked around the room, all I could taste was the lingering kiss she gave me not too long ago, all I could smell was her vanilla scent which intoxicated me, and all I could feel were the ropes that tied me up and the blindfold against my cheeks that reminded me that I had no control over what was going to happen next. She stood behind me, I could feel the warmth radiating from her body and hear her delicate breaths. She whispered in my ear, "what punishment are you worthy of, Michael? What do you think you deserve?" Just like that, I was taken back into how I got into this predicament.

It was an average day, I had just finished my shift in the local bookstore and was getting ready to leave when a woman entered the store in a delicate and expensive looking coat that matched her purse as well as her sunglasses. Her lips were tinted red and she bit them while looking at some reference books, I was taken aback by how she looked and decided that I could take one last customer before going to Rosy's, which is the diner across the street, so I walked over to her and apologized for disturbing her, instantly asking if she was looking for something specific. She seemed to think it over and nodded, "I'm looking for a book titled The History of Torture, would you have any idea of where I could find it?" I nodded and lead her to the new releases in the history section, finding the book after a minute of searching and giving it to her.

"Would that be all?" I asked while pushing my glasses up to their original position on my nose, she chuckled and nodded, "that would be all... Michael...?" I looked at her, surprised at the fact that she knew my name. She noticed my expression and pointed at my shirt, "it's in your name tag." I blushed, embarrassed at how I could've forgotten and went to the cash register where my coworker, Andy, was taking over.

"Well, thank you for your patronage. We hope to see you again." I told her, then I looked at Andy and nodded at him, "I'll see you on Monday," with that, I left the store after taking my things and went to the diner. Back then, I hadn't noticed that she was studying me from afar after exiting the store and I certainly didn't know what would happen after I'd walk out of the diner.

I was a regular at Rosy's so I'd always stay until it was almost time to close (11 PM), today was no different. I bid my farewell to everyone and went outside, ready to go to my cheap apartment, but it seemed fate had something different in store for me.

I heard a faint cry of pain as I walked down the street, I looked around, thinking it was a kitten or an abandoned child, and decided that I would go see what it was about. I kept quiet and walked into the alley behind the local drugstore, hearing the cries of pain become louder and mixed in with grunts, heavy breaths, sounds of something being kicked, and a chuckle. It was all too strange so I took my phone out, ready to call 9-1-1 when I heard her voice and froze.

"Oh, Charlie... I warned you about not paying me back what I lent to you a few months ago. What happened? You were keeping up your part of the deal so well, I was starting to like you." She sighed in a disappointed manner, shaking her head.

"I-I'm sorry, I was going to pay you back, but sales have gone down this last month plus I've been taking care of Helen. I swear, miss, I'll have your money next month! Please don't do this!" Charlie cried out, curling up in a fatal position on the ground.

She looked at her companions and shook her head, "I'm afraid I can't do that, Charlie, you know I need my money for supplies and to pay my boys for a job well done."

He started to sob, "take my watch and my wallet, I swear I'll pay you!"

She sighed, "take him aw-" That's when I realized I had screwed up because in the middle of a dark alley, a sudden flash of light, followed by a strong vibration echoed. "Somebody's here... get them, boys. I still have to handle this one."

I stopped breathing and started to panic, taking this as my cue to run away from what I had just witnessed, but I've never been good in sports and I wasn't as agile as the ones chasing me so, naturally, I was caught when I was a few feet away from home.

That's when everything went black for me and I felt myself falling on the ground. The last thing I saw was a woman walking over to me from the distance with a gun in hand.