Chapter 1
Four years later
Lexi
Fridays are for private parties, which means more money than working at the club. More money means Drago is usually happy with us and no one goes in the cage.
"Foot, Jasmine" Marco snaps at me. I set down my eye liner, slide off my shoe, then shift my foot towards him. He spreads my toes, inserting a needle between them.
At first I was terrified of the drugs, now without them, I could never do some of the things necessary to survive and keep my sanity.
The drugs make us pliable and submissive, just how the customers like us. Besides, after four years of being an addict, I'd go through massive withdrawals, probably even die if I ever tried to stop.
Seeing Marco has become the highlight of my day. The high I get from the drugs makes me forget the about the life I had before. It helps me forget them.
Marco brings my foot up to his mouth, then sticks out his tongue. Once he removes the needle from my skin, a stream of blood trickles out. He swipes his long tongue over the pad of my foot to catch it. The old me would probably be repulsed by something like this, but I'm so numb now, nothing bothers me.
Besides, I'm the only girl who gets this kind of treatment from Marco. He's slightly obsessed with me, but I don't mind, it has its perks. He calls me his angel and constantly tells me how one day he plans to take me away from all of this. The truth is, he's stuck here just like I am. Drago owns everyone in one way or another.
"You know that tickles, right?" I ask. I give him a flirty smirk, just as the drugs start to hit my system.
"But does it? I bet you don't laugh when those fat old fucks do it." He gently sets my foot down.
"I don't laugh because I'll end up in the cage, but it still does."
"Someday, my angel, we'll be lying on that beach away from all this bullshit." He sighs, and stands up. Then he bends down and gently kisses my forehead. The gesture is sweet and reminds me of Cameron, he used to always kiss my forehead. Maybe that's why I enjoy the attention from Marco so much, it feels like home.
As the drugs infiltrate my blood stream, my body relaxes, and I let my eyes fall closed.
"Finish up, it's almost time." He whispers as he lingers over me. His eyes roam across my nearly naked body, then lets out a frustrated sigh, and he walks away.
I re-buckle my stiletto, and spray my face with setting spray to keep it looking fresh.
"It's big spender night ladies! Word has it, most of these guys are millionaires." Teegan announces to the room.
Teegan is Drago's sister, and the one who lured me into this hell that day outside of the bakery. She's just as fucked up as Drago, and also the bitch responsible for getting me hooked on drugs.
We don't get see of the money we earn, the gifts and tips all go straight to Drago and Teegan. Our only reward is more drugs, or the courtesy of staying out of the cage.
"Let's go bitches!" Teegan shouts clapping her hands. Like dolled up zombies, we file out to our respective rooms. Some of us are wearing nothing but heels and a thong, like myself, others are dressed in fetish gear or costumes.
Renee is always dressed as a maid for those who have a housekeeper fetish. Roxy wears a red leather suit from head to toe, with nothing more than a zipper where her mouth is and two fabric covered eyeholes.
I tredge up the steps to my assigned room, then take my place kneeling on the floor, waiting for my first client.
The room has a large four post bed, a tantra chair, and a wide variety of sex toys for my master's choosing. There's also the restraints that I'm required to put on.
I slip the leather cuffs around my ankles, then the next set over my wrists, before pulling the black eye mask down. Now I wait, letting myself disassociate.
The drugs make everything heavy and hazy, but they allow me to escape inside of my own head. I travel back to more pleasant times, happy memories that now seem like they're a lifetime away.
My stomach growls, I can't remember the last time I ate something, a few days go maybe?
Boisterous voices resonate from the hallway. The sound of men loudly laughing and carrying on echo through the desolate room. The noise on the other side of the door sounds like a frat party has ensued, or at least what I imagine one would sound like.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hardy
"Come on man, tell Amy it's just for one night."
"Hardy, I've got practice in the morning." Cam replies.
"Okay, just a few hours then? I'll have you back by morning."
"Sorry buddy. We're on the road, I can't just pull over and catch a private plane for a boys night out. What's Wrigs got going on?"
"You really need to ask?" I sigh.
"Yeah...dumb question, he's holed up in his bunker scouring the internet for a ghost, isn't he?"
We all know the name of that ghost, but two years ago we agreed to stop speaking it. By year three, Cam and I even stopped looking for her. It was for our own sanity, we had to move on. It's what Lexi would have wanted.
But Wrigley never stopped. To this day, he spends hours on end rewatching the same streetcam footage from the day she was abducted. Then he searches the internet for hours using high tech facial recognition software.
He screens traffic cams, private cameras, any video feed that he can hack, hoping to catch the slightest glimpse of her. He refuses to believe that she just vanished into thin air.
I'm not sure he'll ever be able to move on with his life knowing she's still out there. The rest of us think she's dead, or at least we hope, because the alternative is much too dark for any of us to imagine.
Since graduation, I took over my father's real estate empire and buried myself in work so that he and Louise can travel.
She and Halston divorced shortly after Cameron was shot, Halston and Beth have since married. Without Halston, I don't think Beth would have survived Lexi's disappearance alone. So it worked out better for everyone.
Cameron plays soccer for team USA, which currently on the road to win the World Cup. To this day they haven't taken the title, but Cam hopes to change that. His dad won when he played for Brazil back in the day, so Cameron wants to make him proud.
Tonight I'll be attending a party, an underground sort of thing. After Lexi disappeared, I started to delve deeper into the world of BDSM. I've always had a dominant personality in the bedroom, and gotten off on the submission of women who let me play out my kinks.
But once we lost Lexi, BDSM became more of an addiction to me. Her loss sent me spiraling with a need for control. It started feeling like I had no control over anything anymore, like I was being driven to the brink of madness, just like Wrigs and Cam.
We all learned to cope with her loss in our own way. Cam buried himself in soccer, Wrigley became into an elite hacking stalker, and I'm a twisted sex addict.
"Bryce, I'm on my way."
"Your car will be waiting, sir."
I ascend the stairs of my private jet, feeling a bit sad that neither Wrigs nor Cam could join me for this little party. They've each tagged along a time or two in the past, but I know it's really not their thing, they both just hang around and watch. Cam now has Amy, his fiancé, and Wrigs...well, that poor son of a bitch hasn't been with any other women since Lex.
Four years ago is the last time he had sex. Cam also even gave up his pursuit of a relationship with Wrigley once we lost her. The fall out between the two of them was tense, and they've hardly spoken to each other.
I take a sip of Rip Van Winkle bourbon, then lean my head back, closing my eyes. I need to get in the zone for tonight. I'm looking forward to some much needed stress release.
I heard about the party this evening from a client. Normally, I don't come to these things unless I know someone, or have a friend join me. The tickets for tonight cost $20,000.00 each, which is a bit pricier than normal. But apparently, this event caters to a crowd with slightly darker appetites.
I've been eager to expand my dom pallet for quite some time now, interested in trying a few new things. The more I think about what happened to Lexi, the more depraved my urges become.
Most days, I can feel myself spiraling, and that loss of control only makes me crave this lifestyle that much more.
My client informed me that the submissives won't be using safe words. That means, I can push their boundaries to my hearts content, which is something I've desperately needed for quite some time.
The anniversary of Lexi's disappearance is just a few days away, and it's all that any of us can think about.
I'm in desperate need of this distraction right now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hardy
"Welcome! I'm Teegan, do
you have your ticket, sweetheart?"
A tall Hispanic looking woman, wearing a sleek black dress, greets me at the door. The setting for tonight's event is in an old plantation mansion.
She's aged, yet still fairly pretty, but a bit rough around the edges. Teegan is
one of those women who always strives to be classy, but will never be able to outrun her demons, and it shows.
It's midnight, I flew straight in from New York to New Orleans just for this party. Like everything else that's depraved and lives in the shadows, parties like tonight's only get going around the devil's hour. That makes me extremely early. What can I say? I'm pinging with anticipation to blow off some steam.
Most men that come to these aren't too picky about the appearance of their subs. I, on the other hand, prefer my subs to be blonde. Maybe it stems back to high school, Darcy and Gwen were both blonde. Or maybe thought of inflicting pain upon a brunette, like Lexi, has become far too painful to ever imagine.
I reach into the breast pocket of my Armani suit, retrieving my ticket. Teegan's eyes hungrily roam over me with every move I make.
"You're not a regular." She comments in a flirty tone.
"No." I curtly reply. I have no need or desire for attachments, that's not what I'm looking for. I'm here to get my rocks off, and feed the beast that's burrowed its way into my soul.
She takes the ticket and smirks. "Blondes, huh? Well if that isn't heartbreaking then I don't know what is."
Our tickets specify our preferences for the night, everything from desired appearance to preferred kinks.
"Enjoy yourself love, our girls are the cream of the crop. But if you don't find what you're looking for, I'm also here to provide private services."
"Thanks Teegan. I'll keep that in mind." I shoot her a wink then wander inside.
The second I pass through the door, it hits me as to why she practically threw herself at me. Gazing around the main room, I quickly realize that most of the party goers are balding with pot bellies.
I immediately feel out of place. Maybe this party's a bit too extreme for a guy like me.
An elderly gentleman shuffles past me dressed in a diaper. A pacifier hangs out of his mouth, as he holds the hand of a beautiful woman. She leads him over to a rocking chair, pulls him onto her lap, then lifts up her top. The man latches onto her breast with his mouth, then proceeds to suckle on her breast like a baby.
Jesus Christ...maybe this really isn't my scene. I was expecting more handcuffs and whips and less weird fetishes.
