Chapter 76 - Chain Gang

 

First Angel and now Jodi... Michelle was appalled. She was dumbfounded, wondering just what in hell was going on. These two were taking twelve of the twenty lashes all by themselves. That was ridiculous! In itself that was bad enough, but clearly their master hadn't taken it easy on Angel when he whipped her. Angel's howls of pain had been clear and convincing proof that she was suffering from a hard whipping. Given that beginning, she had no illusions that Jodi was going to get anything less. She wasn't wrong.

The first strike on Jodi was relatively soft and placed on her ass. But even a relatively soft hit from this whip could still hurt like hell and her shriek testified to the truth of that. She collected her breath and poise, then dutifully thanked him and calmly asked for her next one. Surprisingly, the second hit, which wrapped around her waist, was softer yet. She still yelped loudly, but she didn't jerk too strongly against her chains. That all changed for the third lash.

The third lash, again around her waist, was a classic signature of The Snake. It hurt like the whip had been on fire when it landed against her skin. Jodi knew her lord wasn't drawing blood or cutting his slaves into ribbons with the whip, but this stroke made her wonder otherwise. The deep, sharp incision of pain buried itself in her abdomen then lingered there while it burned along the line of the strike, feeling like it was branding her. Or so it seemed. Her violent thrashing was accompanied by a howl of pain that drove Michelle over the edge.

Michelle had been struggling with her emotions while Angel had been whipped. Watching Angel being whipped and listening to her screams of pain was difficult because she liked Angel. As much she liked the new slave, she hadn't formed a truly deep friendship with her as yet. That was not the case with Jodi. She liked and cared for Jodi almost as much as she did Rita and Sasha, the difference being only that of having known the sisters from college days, whereas Jodi's friendship, while just as meaningful, was of a shorter duration. Regardless, listening to Jodi's third howl was more than she could endure. She had already begun crying, although it wasn't a torrent of tears. Somewhat more than sobbing, but a heart-wrenching crying. Now, listening to Jodi's howls of pain she burst into full-fledged, as hard as she could, crying. Her tears poured down her face. She realized that her friends were paying a terrible price for her lie. But she didn't understand why Angel and Jodi were taking so many unto themselves.

Craig went back to Jodi's ass for the fourth hit and it was every bit as bad as the one on her waist had been and her reaction showed it. Her sharp, sudden jerk accompanied by her heart-rending howl, tore into Michelle's heart almost as decisively as the whip had torn into Jodi's body. In some ways it hurt even more than the whip, and that she realized, was precisely the point. She was sure that Jodi was being pushed well beyond her limit of receiving pain as pleasure. Jodi's well known but little understood penchant for a whipping as foreplay was not a consideration for the whipping she was receiving. This pain was intended to hurt both of them and their master was succeeding admirably in achieving that goal.

For the final two strokes he once again dialed down the level of the pain. It made no difference to Michelle. Even at a slightly lessened volume, Jodi's screams continued to tear at her emotions and fuel her crying. She wanted to beg Craig to stop and she might have but for the huge gag in her mouth. She drew considerable comfort from the knowledge that Jodi's turn was finished and she continued to harbor the hope that the remainder of the twenty hits would be shared more or less equally among the remaining slaves. That would mean it would be a lower number for each of them. Then Rita took her place as the third one to be whipped. KD quickly and efficiently got her strung up and then withdrew, leaving Rita alone to face the whip. Rita knew what she had to do.

She tried to smile but she couldn't. She knew what this whip could do and based on the reactions of her two friends, it was doing exactly what it was designed for. It was her turn for pain and she bravely uttered the words, "Six please, master."

As with the two who preceded her, Craig mixed easy and hard lashes and didn't concentrate the hits all in one place. And, like her predecessors, Rita howled beautifully; fought against the restraining chains in a losing battle, and managed to make it through the punishment without defaulting. Michelle, on the other hand, would have called a halt to the proceedings many times if she had been able to speak. All she could do was cry lustily and watch. Her tears and the deep anguish the whipping of her friends was having on Michelle was noted with grim satisfaction by her master.

She had been more than disheartened when Rita also asked for six. It made no sense, but it did mean that whoever was going to finish this would only need to take two. That was a major source of consolation. It lasted until Shannon stood under the chain ready for her whipping and asked for six.

Stunned at that, Michelle watched in horror as Shannon erupted, unleashing an ear-splitting scream as the first strike from The Snake embedded itself in her large, perfect breasts, defacing their unblemished beauty with an angry red line. Craig had begun her turn with a hard one. The second one was no softer and was aimed to hit the tender, sensitive underside of her breasts. If the first of her screams had been hard to listen to, this one was excruciating. As was the hit. Shannon was panting and seriously debating with herself whether she would ask for a third, despite the fact that doing so would condemn Michelle to receiving more. She tried to convince herself that defaulting would be all right. Michelle was the one who had lied and she was the one who had earned the punishment, so her taking more hits would be fair. Shannon was bordering on defaulting when she glanced over at Angel. Her glance toward Angel wasn't by design or conscious intent, it was done by pure happenstance, but it was Angel who her eyes fell on.

Angel knew exactly what was happening; she understood the general pattern that Craig was creating. Why their master had chosen to begin Shannon's whipping with two hard hits was a question she would never seek to answer. His choice of her breasts was somewhat understandable given their prominence, but that too was not of immediate concern. Angel saw the look of despair Shannon gave her and understood what her friend was considering. Without giving it any thought she mouthed the words "Take another" to Shannon.

Shannon liked and trusted Angel. She respected what Angel had been before she was enslaved and how well she had adapted to being a slave. She understood what Angel had said and accepted the instruction on the strength that just a few minutes ago Angel had been in her place. She turned her gaze back to Craig. Craig gave her a questioning look, as if to ask if she was defaulting. He was expecting that she would. With only a slight tremor in her voice, Shannon requested her third.

Craig gave momentary thought to giving Shannon one or even two more devastating hits. There was no doubt in his mind that Shannon would break and call an end to her whipping if he chose that path. But the thought lasted less than a second before he rejected the idea. His aim wasn't to break Shannon. There was no justification in his mind to give her a brutal punishment when he had not done so for the ones before her. There was simply no reason to do it to her. He might have been able to break any of the others before her, but there had been no reason to do that either; that wasn't the goal. Then he glanced at Michelle. The one glance was all it took to confirm the degree of her anguish and that was enough. At the level of punishment he was meting out to her friends, Michelle was clearly suffering from their punishment and that was the goal.

He returned his attention to the slave he was whipping. She met his look and didn't shy away. He was tempted to ask if she was sure, but seeing the look of determination on her face he concluded that asking that question would be an insult to her. There was no call to insult her on top of whipping her. That would literally be adding insult to injury.

He laid the third lash on her breasts again. It hurt, and she reacted to the hurt. This time however, her reaction was more born of surprise at how little it hurt. If he had placed the lash anywhere else on her body she would have written off the diminishment of the pain as simply a matter of him not having hit her in as sensitive a spot. But having chosen the same target, there was no way she could deny that he was controlling the amount of pain. She accepted that reality and again faced him, this time to ask with much more conviction in her voice. "Thank you for that lash master, may I please have another one?"

Her choice of words made it plain to him that she was really thanking him for the light hit and asking that he repeat it. She realized what he was doing. He answered her request for the fourth lash by placing a red line across her ass with a hickey on one cheek from where the tip had nipped her strongly. That caused her to react much more loudly and forcefully as she jerked against the chains holding her. She was also very much aware that this one had been done for Michelle's benefit because she had reacted so little to the third stroke.

The fifth lash found her waist and her reaction was worthy of an Academy Award. She was not going to give him reason to make the final lash any more painful than it needed to be. As far as Michelle could tell, that fifth stroke was excruciating and so would her sixth and final one be. She only hoped it would be another acting job and not reacting for real. She got her wish although Michelle was so distraught and crying so forcefully she wouldn't have noticed the difference.

With Shannon's torment at an end, Rita and Jodi once again went to release the victim and assist her back to the sidelines. Shannon didn't need any assistance and made a beeline to stand next to Angel. Angel noticed Shannon's intent but didn't say anything when she arrived. Shannon spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. "Thank you. I was probably going to default after the first two. I would have hated myself for it but I was close to doing it.

Angel nodded and just as quietly answered. "I thought that might be going through your mind. He's teaching us all something today in addition to sending a strong message about lying. I'm glad you trusted me and had the fortitude to take the shot."

The whippings continued and Michelle became more and more distressed. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for the number of lashes he was administering, except that everyone took either five or six. And that made no sense whatsoever. He had gone far, far beyond the twenty lashes she had expected and still the whippings continued. At this point she had no clue about the number of lashes he had given because it had never occurred to her that she should count them. It was too late to begin now; all she could do was to cry and watch in horror as her friends suffered through horrible sessions of pain because of her.

Everyone watched as Jodi and Rita assisted Amber. They were removing her from being the center of attention while she had been whipped. She was now rejoining the audience and would resume watching the whippings rather than being the one being watched. At this point the assembly of slaves was running to the end of those who were still waiting their turn to be whipped.

KD stood at the center of the proceedings, under the chain, waiting for one of the remaining unwhipped to step forward for her turn. Soon after the whippings had gotten under way KD had designated herself as the official Slave-In-Charge-of-Attaching-Slaves-To-The-Chain. Similarly, Rita and Jodi had assumed the responsibility of getting the just-whipped back to the sidelines. Michelle was the only one who had truly needed help after her whipping but the two weren't leaving anything to chance, so they escorted each of the just-whipped, just to be sure. Besides, someone had to release the just-whipped slave, and then after unhooking her, they too had to get to the sidelines.

Alex sighed gently, although audibly, signaling her decision. She turned her head to glance at Shannon who was standing beside her, then took the first fateful step. It wasn't like there had been noticeable period of time during which everyone waited for someone else to step forward, it was only that nobody seemed to rush forward either. Not since Jodi, Angel and Rita anyway. KD saw Alex coming and thought only that it meant she was one step closer to her own whipping. She had also decided that she would be the last one whipped. She wondered if she could manage to hook herself up but she also realized that doing that probably wouldn't be necessary. She expected that either Jodi or Rita would do it for her. However it happened, it would still be a whipping to endure, and judging by the screams of everyone so far, it was going to be a painful one.

Alex got to where she needed to be and wordlessly spread her legs, allowing KD to attach the chains to her ankles, holding her legs apart and keeping them completely exposed to the whip. Finished with Alex's ankles, KD stood up and Alex raised her arms over her head so KD could complete the job. When she was done, KD mutely turned away to find her own safe place on the sidelines, leaving Alex alone, ready for her punishment. For her part in Michelle's punishment.

It had become unnecessary for Craig to say anything because each slave knew what was required of her and did it without prompting. Alex knew her time was at hand when KD reached the line of slaves who were watching the whippings, and she turned to face back toward Alex. Alex faced Craig and without a tremor in her voice, although she was mildly surprised that one wasn't present given how nervous she felt, she politely said, "Please give me five master."

Michelle had been on the verge of tears again. She had expected Alex to ask for either five or six because so far those were the only numbers of lashes that any of the others had requested. But hearing her expectation confirmed didn't make it any easier to accept. She didn't accept it. She couldn't accept it. But neither could she do anything about it.

When she had been told that her punishment was being reduced to only twenty lashes she felt a justifiable surge of relief, but that was immediately tempered by a foreboding about how the reduction was being brought about. Rita's hesitation in speaking about it had made it fairly evident that her reduction was being bought at the price of the other slaves taking those hits for her. While it appeared evident, she never got the chance to ask Rita directly and actually confirm that. All too soon she knew her thinking was correct.

That her fear was realized was bad enough, but she could live with it, because before it began she had assumed that nine of her sister slaves would each receive two hits and two lucky ones would get only one each. That would account for the twenty lashes she wasn't to receive. She was sure that the trusty, impartial deck of cards would have been called on to determine the lucky recipients of only the one lash. That belief lasted only until Angel destroyed her assumption by requesting six lashes. Then every slave since had further demolished her expectation until there wasn't even a faint hope of rationality left to it.

It seemed endless. As soon as one of her friends stopped screaming, another stepped up to be chained in place. And every one requested a ridiculous number of lashes.

Finally it was over. KD was being released and she had been the last one to be whipped. Michelle felt minor relief at that but she still felt utterly devastated by the amount of suffering her friends had been forced to endure for her benefit. She wondered how she could ever repay them. Or if it would even be possible.

When the last stroke had been administered, Jodi headed off to release KD while Rita rushed to Craig's side and spoke to him as he calmly coiled the whip. He nodded his head, evidently giving Rita permission to free Michelle because that was what she did. While Rita was freeing her, she told Michelle that he wanted to see her as soon as she was released. Michelle fearfully asked why, dreading the thought that he had further punishment in mind for her. When she expressed that fear to Rita, Rita laughed softly and said "No." She elaborated. "He's going to hand you the whip with an order that you clean and oil it, that's all."

Michelle warily asked if she should get on her knees and apologize to him. Rita shrugged unconcernedly, saying, "You can if you want to but it isn't necessary. Your punishment is over Michelle. It's done." Michelle looked unconvinced.

Rita smiled and nudged her friend playfully. "Hey. Remember who you're talking to. Trust me, I know these things. Been there, done that. I've got more whippings from him under my belt than any other two of his slaves, combined. But if it will make you feel any better to do it, it won't hurt anything either."

As soon as they entered the house Rita took off, leaving Michelle to find Craig and deal with him on her own. Rita headed upstairs to check her make-up, fix her hair and apply some salve to her whip marks to help them heal and disappear more quickly. Every other slave was up there doing exactly the same thing. When they had received approval for their plan to buy some of Michelle's punishment, every slave had shed whatever little she might have been wearing. They all went nude but for shoes. With the whipping concluded and no further danger of whatever they were wearing getting ripped or torn by the whip, some were rummaging around looking for what they wanted to wear today or simply re-donning what they had chosen earlier. The daily contest for his attention was back in session.

Michelle first looked in the living room and finding it empty she turned to look in the kitchen. She found him there, having gotten himself a fresh cup of coffee. When he saw her coming he turned away to reach for the whip, having placed it on the counter before getting his coffee. When he turned back to face her she was on her knees with her head bowed. She watched his feet and when the tips of his shoes faced her she raised her face to look at him. In a voice almost as weak as a whisper she gave her apology. When she was done he didn't say anything, but instead he replaced the whip on the countertop then reached his hand down to her for her to take. When she placed her hand in his he gently pulled her to her feet then acknowledged her apology. "Good. That means you won't do it again, and that means we won't have to repeat this ever again. That was its only purpose." He released her hand, reached for an empty cup, grabbed the pot with his other hand, and then in an easy casual manner asked, "Want some coffee?" He poured a cup for her.

The slaves all filed back in, singly or in pairs and things quickly got back to normal. When they were all assembled he spoke up to override the quiet conversations going on. "I'm going to announce a new game for her to play. It's actually the bait for a trap I hope to catch her in to make her a permanent slave. To make it work I need your help." He turned to Amber. "Amber, you've been quite successful with the time check game. Whether that game or another doesn't matter, but I need one of you to maneuver her into a truly stupendous punishment. Can you do it?" Amber didn't hesitate. "Absolutely, master. How stupendous?"

He considered that question for a moment before answering. "I don't want to dictate a number and have you appear to be forcing to reach it. Just run it up to something that if she received all of it, it would be beyond the bounds of a reasonable amount. Don't make it look unnatural getting there, just get it to the point that she is deathly afraid of it. It also has to be low enough that she'll believe that I would allow it to be carried out. She would laugh at you if you decreed a thousand pussy hits. I don't care how high it gets as long as it flows in a seemingly reasonable order. Do you understand the balance I want you to achieve?"

It was Amber's turn to consider what she had just heard. "I think so master. I regret the fact that evidently we won't be allowed to carry it out."

"You'll apply some of it, but not all of it. Since you guys enjoy giving her pussy hits, let's stay with that idea for the moment. See if this explanation makes it a little clearer to you. Let's say you give her twenty or thirty pussy shots with a cane or riding crop. If she knows another fifty or sixty is in her future she'll be terrified. Then maybe you decide to use the heavy whipping strap you brought from her collection, just to see how it works. Then you give her another twenty or thirty. Those will hurt, but they won't cause nearly as much damage. You could actually give her one or two hundred with that, allowing some recovery time in between sessions, using that strap. The same punishment with a cane or crop would be debilitating and maybe cause permanent injury. But with the strap she'll believe you could give her more, whereas with a crop I likely wouldn't allow that many. She has to be terrified of what you plan and still believe it's coming, that's the whole point."