Tina's thoughts had long ago stopped contemplating escape.  She had adapted.  She had evolved.  Master Mark had taken complete possession of her, as was his right to do as her owner and her guardian.  Tina loved seeing the Master arrive in her safe little room.  Master Mark always paid so much attention to her and had such exciting games for her to play.  Tina laid curled up on her pile of rags in the corner wishing Master Mark were there and wondering how long it had been since he left.  Tina's stomach felt more empty than usual.  The degree of emptiness was how Tina made estimates of times between the Master's visits.  Tina was wearing her handcuffs, leg irons and, of course, Master's collar.  Tina always wore those items and nothing else.  Nothing else to come between her and Master.

The peaceful stillness of her little quiet world was pierced by a loud noise.  It was followed by a high pitched equally loud noise.  Tina was frightened by the noises, but she knew what to do.  Tina remembered back to how she was freed.  Freed by Master Mark.  Tina always went back to that happy memory when she was confused.  Or when she was frightened.

Tina remembered....

Tina was wearing a leather harness around her shoulders.  Her arms were encased in a tightly laced leather arm binder.  That was strapped around her shoulders, around her chest and around her waist, sealing her bound arms against her back.  Tinas legs from her toes up almost to her hips were also sealed in a leather binder.  It had taken Mark at least 30 minutes to lace that up completely but the result was the most effective leg bondage Tina had ever contemplated.  Tina's shoulder harness was secured with steel clips to canvas straps like the ones used to tie down loads on flatbed trucks.  Mark had run those straps up over a metal bar and cranked Tina up so that she was suspended a few inches off the ground by those straps.

"This is it, Tina."  Mark gloated.  "I finished my research.  I completed my dissertation.  Now, your function has changed.  I'm going to break you, right now, or I'm going to end you."

"This man is a weakling," Tina repeated in her head not looking at him.  Her mantra was less effective at calming her.  Mark secured a short leather strap around Tina's ankles and clipped it to the back of Tina's waist strap, bending her leather encased legs and lifting her bound feet another foot off the floor.  Tina swung slowly back and forth.

"I'm going to take everything from you Tina.  Every last freedom.  Every last place for your will to run away from me and hide.  You'll be nothing but my "THING."

"I will outlast him."  Tina repeated.  She felt Mark grab a handful of her hair.  He was going to jerk her head around.  She swung her legs weakly, but connected with Mark, staggering him slightly.  He was angered but not harmed.

CRACK!!  Tina saw stars.  Mark backhanded her across the side of her head.  Tina bit her tongue hard.  She tasted blood in her mouth.  Now she was spinning and swinging.  She intended to spit her blood on Mark as soon as everything stopped spinning.

Mark was up a step stool and shoving a rubber ball in Tinas mouth.  Tina wanted to cry but had trained herself not to.  Months of steady torture at the monster's hands had made her strong.

A blindfold was tied around Tina's eyes plunging her into darkness.  Tina had learned to find comfort in darkness.  What happened next was surprising.  Tina felt pressure being exerted on the ball gag.  Before long, Tina felt a rubber tube working its way into her mouth through a hold in the gag.  Tina reflexively tried to struggle but couldn't move anywhere.  The tube was pushed to the back of her mouth and on down her throat.  Next, other tubes were also inserted into Tina's remaining holes.  Tina had lost all sense of modesty long ago, but this indignity truly was heart wrenching.

"I'm going away for a while, Tina.  I'm not sure how long.  At least a week, I believe."  Tina felt liquid dripping inside her from one of the lower tubes.  These bags and this machine will keep you alive, if you can maintain the will to stay alive."

Mark inserted wired earbuds in Tinas ears.  Tina heard him through the earbuds.  "You are my THING Tina.  I own you."

"He is a weaking.  I'll outlast him."

Mark wrapped Tinas head tightly in elastic bands.  If not for the tubes in Tina's nostrils, she's have been unable to breath.

"I WILL get away.  Somehow."

Mark attached tethers to Tina's waist strap and to her ankle strap.  Mark tied those tethers off to various anchor points beneath Tina.  He tightened the straps so that Tina was staked up tightly in all three dimensions.  Tina had lost sight.  It was absolute darkness under her hood of rubber and leather.  She could hear nothing by Marks voice.  Mark was grunting and gasping as he worked.  

"He is a weakling."  Tina began crying.

Tina could not taste or smell anything but rubber.  Tina was even loosing her sense of gravity being suspended and tethered by so many different points.

"When I return, you're going to be broken or you're going to be useless."

Tina's screamed into her gag and choked on dripping liquid that was either her blood, her saliva or Mark's bag of life sustaining fluid.  Tina had lost herself in a panic brought on by the complete hopelessness and utter domination she was experiencing.  Tina could not remember her mantra.

"Why me.  Why me.  Whhhhyyyyyyyy.  Why.  why.....why..."

Mark left.

Later, Tina tried to fight back.  Tina tried to visualize anything that would ground her.  Anything to bring her back to her life.  But before, no matter what pain Mark inflicted, Tina always still had some autonomy.  Some sort of movement available to her.  Now, Tina did not even know if she was right side up or upside down.  Tina began imaging a bright white doorway.  And somehow, Tina just knew that if she entered the doorway, she'd be ok.  She knew she'd give up her struggle and her suffering.  She knew that it was what Mark wanted.  And Mark takes care of her after all.  And she wouldn't be tired or afraid.  Tina could go through the door and just be a simple thing.  Tina didn't know if there was joy through the door.  None for her anyway.  But maybe there was purpose.  Maybe she needed to find the strength to go through the door.  Tina moved toward the light.  Tina reached her hand into the light.  It wasn't warm.  Tina knew what she needed to do now.

"TINA!"

There was that high pitched sound again.  Tina stood up.

"TINA!  Come here.  I need you."

Tina walked out to the hallway.  Master Mark had stopped closing Tina's door a while ago.  Tina wasn't surprised. The door did not serve any purpose.

"God Tina, Come here now!"

Tina shuffled along the concrete.  Tina stepped into Master's office.  Master Mark was laying on the ground.  A vending machine had fallen over on him.  Tina saw blood on Master Mark's head.  His leg was bent funny.

Tina glanced down the hallway further.  To another room.  There was a room down the hallway that used to matter to Tina.

"Goddamn Tina, help!  I need you to help!"

Tina heard Master Mark but her eyes stayed above him.  She wasn't seeing with her eyes anyway.  Tina was seeing the white light again.  Tina knew that the white light was where she submitted to Master Mark.  That was how she survived losing herself.  Tina loved the light and the light loved her.

But that other room.  Tina slid her foot over, toward the subbasement storage room.  The room with the elevator.  The room where Tina's clothes and purse still rested in a plastic bag.

"No TINA.  No.  Don't think about it.  Get over here right now you bitch.  Get over here TINA!"

Tina loved the Mark was paying so much attention to her again.  Tina reached out to touch the light but then remembered that it wasn't warm and felt like nothing.  And she started wondering if the light still wanted her.

Tina looked down the hallway.  It was dark but there was just something....she didn't know.  She didn't remember.

"Tina, you come to me right fucking now or it's over!  I swear to God I will end you.  I broke you and I will END YOU!"

Tina didn't care.  Tina stood there wondering what to do.