RUINED LIVES - EXTRACT

"You know, you've ended up like this because of the so called 'men' in your life. You have to bare the brunt of the blame for not bringing your despicable husband, and your seriously fucked up son into line."

Jaz was speaking slowly to Bonnie. Bonnie herself was exhausted. Since her life had take the downturn she had barely slept. Looking after two houses had taken it's toll. Actually ensuring that Miss Jaz's house was absolutely immaculate, all the time meant that she had less time to spend on her own house. There was no surprise that standards dropped at her own place.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry Miss Jaz, I just didn't know. I had no idea."

Bonnie sounded strained and tearful and on top of that she didn't know what she was apologising for. Jaz hadn't furnished her with any of the smaller detail about why Ralph was despicable or why Teddy was seriously fucked up. She just had to go with it.

"Ignorance is no defence. I thought you would get punished eventually for your domestic standards. But no, credit where it's due, you are doing a sterling job. But I can't say the same about your family, as a unit. And you have to take the blame and therefor the punishment for that, do you understand?"

Jaz had come home from work, two offenders caught and banged up. There had to be a level of stress that she was under at such times. And there had to be an escape from that stress, surely? But it wasn't stress that drove Jaz's urges. She'd announced,

"Three hours in the basement before you go home, I think."

And those would not have been the words that Bonnie wanted to hear. The basement had been the crux of her waking nightmares ever since Jaz had pointed out that door leading to the stairs down. And that was the only place in this vast house that Bonnie didn't have access to. She had to keep the house spotless and clean but there was no access down there - it was shut up and locked up, until it was required.

"Yes Miss Jaz, I understand. It's only right that you punish me. It's my fault after all."

And Jaz smiled.

"Yes it is."

For Bonnie it had been an incessant barrage of assaults on her mind. She had literally had her world turned upside down and inside out. And she had been given no time for it to sink in. There had been no time for her to absorb what was happening, or even to try to work it out in her mind. She had been confronted by Jaz and from that point on her life had changed.

"So, you can strip to your stockings and heels, and you can wait for me. We'll go down into the basement together and I can put some of your wrongs, right."

Again Jaz spoke slowly - she tended to do that when she was about to commit some act of gross indecency or other. Bonnie, if she didn't know this now, then she would learn to decipher those tones of voice. It would be true to say that Bonnie would learn the very smallest nuances of how to appease this woman who was now looking at her, piercing her eyes with her own eyes.

"Yes Miss Jaz, thank you Miss Jaz."

It could be said that Bonnie sounded delighted at the prospect of being punished by this woman, but that was far from the truth. She was saying what she had to say to agree with and please Jaz. The thought of her going down some steps into a cellar of hell in just self supporting stockings and heels was the stuff of hard core nightmares for her. Mainly these nightmares existed because she didn't know what was down there. It was all psychological trauma that was being inflicted on her. The worse case scenarios creeping into her mind and staying there. Questions playing and replaying in her mind time and time again. Would she be whipped, or caned, or was there something worse that this woman could do to her that would make her nightmares seem like Sunday dreamy days?

"You can hold onto the hanging rope loops, but not let go. Is that clear?"

The descent into the cellar had been worse than her meagre nightmares could come up with. The stone stairs were narrow and steep and managing them on her spiked stilettos was a mission especially with her being naked except for the sheer nylon sheathing her long long legs. But she'd managed it, and then down into a red lit space. The door at the top of the stairs was double. The inner door was lined and soundproof. The door leading to the kitchen area was just a normal looking door. When both doors closed then there was this 'ear popping' sensation as the sound proof vacuum was created.

Bonnie shivered. She'd never experienced a sound proofed room before and it made her feel weird and light headed.