What an evening of highs and lows for Chris.  First the highs of the attention of Patchouli, queen of the goths and alpha of the clubs.  Then the lows as she tricked him.  She took advantage of her status and beauty to pull him into the women's washroom and took advantage of his androgynous looks to make him look so ludicrously feminine that the only comparison was to a doll.  Baby blue eye shadow thickly applied, bright pink lipstick and rouge, eye-liner and eyelashes coated with mascara.  Childish little teddy bear barrettes topped off by a large pink bow in his hair that he couldn't remove was just over the top.  Everyone who saw him laughed.  He was completely the subject of ridicule.  But then she'd apologized and, once again, Chris was next to Patchouli and on top of the world.

The next hour passed in a blissful blur.  Being the right hand man of the queen suddenly meant... I was the king!  As they came to chat with Patchouli, they talked to me.  It was idle, mindless banter, but they listened as if everything I said was important.  People bought me drinks and several girls, particularly Raven and Ivy, attached themselves to me, fluttering away when Patchouli turned her attention back to me, magically back when her attention went elsewhere. 

It was one of those moments where I was carefree and chatting with Raven that I realized that Patchouli was standing behind my chair.  As she leaned over me, her deep purple tresses brushed my cheek.

  "Let's get out of here and go for a walk", she said.  It was still pretty early in the evening, but I jumped up, initially thinking she wanted the two of us to be alone together.  That thought was quickly dispelled as a few of her friends started to gather their items and join us.  As we all gathered at the club entrance, I noticed that I was the only guy among a half a dozen beautiful women.  Raven was there.  As was Ivy.  And a few more girls that had been introduced to but had forgot their names.  'Christov's harem', bounced into my head, and I smiled from ear to ear as I was surrounded by those beautiful ladies.  We exited the club and began to walk.  Soon it was apparent that we weren't just wandering aimlessly, we were moving towards a specific destination.  Patchouli held my hand the whole way, the women all chatting about make-up and hair and girl stuff... And I didn't even care.  I was in heaven, this gorgeous woman by my side.  Nothing could bring me down.  Although there was this one bit... 

At one point I kind of wandered over to the side get a better look at something on the road.  I thought Patchouli and I were walking together.  But as I started to lean a bit that direction, she firmly grabbed my hand and pulled me back on the walk.  I resisted, more by reflex than actively wanting to, and the grip just got firmer and the pull stronger.  I was quickly off balance and soon moving exactly where she wanted me to go.  Again, I was as surprised by her strength as I was when she'd lifted me up on the counter!  Even through the haze of my teenage boy machismo, it was starting to sink into my brain that Patchouli wasn't just stronger than I was, she was much stronger than I was.  And the way she treated me...

  "Oooh, ick.  Don't touch that, doll", she reprimanded me!  I looked up into her eyes, seeing genuine concern.  "C'mon.  Let's not get distracted now.  OK?", she chided me.  And she started to walk off.  Feeling a bit slighted, I walked a bit slower than normal.  But once again that firm grip started to pull me and I stumbled.  She was dragging me behind her like a reluctant toddler.  For a moment,  I saw us as others must see us.  Not as a proud man with a beautiful woman on his arm, but a small child, being taken for a walk by his babysitter.  As she continued to walk, my hand held so firmly I couldn't even think about pulling free,  I was going to say something, but I wasn't sure what to say.  I mean, should I say something about what she'd called me?  'Doll' is a common term of endearment.  That's normal, isn't it?  I mean, it was a little alarming, seeing as she had only just recently fooled me into looking like a doll.  But it was also kinda cute. It could just be a little joke about what had happened, right?  Should I say something about how she was pulling me along like a toddler?  Or would that just make me look foolish?  I decided I'd just speed up a bit, so I was walking alongside her instead of being dragged along behind.  That elicited a smile from her that almost felt like a 'good boy'.  Or was that all in my head?  So many thoughts swirling around.  We walked in silence for a while.  After a bit, I did think to ask where we were going.

  "We're going back to my place", she answered.  "I only live a few blocks from here."  As she looked me up and down, Patchouli casually mentioned "You know, my ex-boyfriend left some clothes at my place.  If you'd let us do a little gothic makeover... " With that, she hesitated and seemed to shiver for a second.  I thought that was strange as it was relatively early in the evening and quite nice.  "... It would be so much fun."  Licking her lips, she continued.  "I'm sure the clothes he left, he isn't planning to return for.  So, if they fit, you could have them."  Some of the other ladies with us chimed in.  Raven told me how good I'd look with a proper gothic wardrobe instead of my jeans and t-shirt.  Ivy just wanted to see how I'd look 'properly done up'.  Well, I just couldn't turn that down.  I'd seen the amazing gear her boyfriend had worn.  Yes, he'd worn some frilly sleeves and lacy collars that were a bit more feminine than I was comfortable with, but there was lots of buckles, gears and leather parts of his wardrobe too.  I'm sure I'd be able to pick through and grab the good stuff.  Either way, what I'd seen him wear was very 'in' and very expensive!  There was no way I'd be able to afford that kind of clothing on my own.  A night that had started good, then gone to the lowest of lows, was once again on the way to being great!

Soon we approached a warehouse.  It must've been Patchouli's place because she led us around to a basement entrance.  The place was already lit up when we walked in.  Greeting us at the door as we came in was an older woman.  I'm not sure how old she was, but I'm sure she was around the age of my step-mother, much older than everyone else.  She was still a very pretty lady, just older and a little bit bigger than everyone else.  She had long, black hair tied up into a high ponytail.  She was wearing a white blouse with some frills, a black leather skirt over nylons and some boots that looked like they'd really hurt if she ever kicked you.  It was a very intimidating look, betrayed by the big, welcoming smile on her face.  She greeted Patchouli, Raven, Ivy and all the other women with hugs, greeting them individually.  When she got to me, she stopped and squealed.  It was disconcerting to hear a grown woman squealing like a little girl.  She had the most strange grin on her face as Patchouli introduced me as 'Christov'.

"Oh!  Little Chrissy!  Aren't you cute!"  I was bent over, taking off my footwear at the time, and I frowned at what she'd called me, but suddenly I jumped! SLAP!!  When I was bent over, she'd slapped my ass!  My face turned red as everyone was giggling and laughing.  As I massaged the spot, looking around for sympathy (Hey, it was a solid slap!) it occurred to me that no one was standing up for me. I had left the club with a complete group of people that I'd never spoken to before tonight.  I also realized I hadn't told anyone in the club that I did know, where I was going.  With this larger, older woman who was a stranger so casually slapping my ass, I started to feel a little vulnerable.  Patchouli interrupted my thoughts.

"This is Madam Anastacia", she said, motioning towards the woman who had been waiting in the house for us.  "She's a professional dominatrix.  I called her and told her that you were coming over to try clothes and have a makeover."  I was very intimidated hearing this... What?!  A professional dominatrix?!... and it must've shown on my face.  "Oh, don't worry", Patchouli continued.  "She does a lot of makeovers and she's very good at it.  Plus she's got all sorts of accessories that we can use.  I know that she really enjoys makeovers, so I mentioned you and she said she was excited to help."  As Patchouli spoke, I looked over at Anastacia and realized she was staring right at me.  It was a bit unnerving.  She looked like a starving woman who had ordered food at a restaurant and it had just arrived.  Anastacia leaned over, really emphasizing how much larger than me she was, and spoke softly so that only Patchouli and I could hear. 

"Don't look so tense, little one!  We're just all going to have some fun.  Just relax and go along with being our entertainment and we'll all have a great evening."  With that, she started to gently stroke and collect my long hair behind my head.  Bit by bit, she swept my hair back into her hand, collecting it in her grip.  "But if you get silly... And I know how little boys get all sorts of silly ideas in their heads... Well, I'm very experienced at dealing with balking little boys and then you and I are going to do some things together that I greatly enjoy but you won't.  Understand?".  At this point, she had pulled all my hair behind my head and she had it tightly contained in her fist.  She used that tight handhold to make my head nod up and down against my will.  I could only stare, speechless.  I was completely intimidated.  I felt like I was half the size of any of these women.  I couldn't even dream of disobeying Madam Anastacia.  She could easily handle me by herself, let alone all the other ladies.  I looked at Patchouli and her huge smile and suddenly I realized tonight was no accident.  Patchouli had been looking for someone to play with tonight, and I'd walked right into it.  As Anastacia had said... I was the 'entertainment'.

What had I done?