Penitence 5

Gabriela and Melissa had stopped shortly at a remote parking lot to put their clothes back on. Thus, they had lost two minutes on their way to the old prison, and when they arrived, they saw the lights of several Police cars and also an ambulance. Gabriela gasped when she saw two medics carry a tray towards the van, and she barely waited for the car to stop before she stormed towards them. She saw the face of the man on the tray, grimacing from pain, and she stammered a name:

»Jo-Joao!«

Melissa reached her the same time a young Policeman approached, calling her name and taking Gabriela in his arms. It seemed that he wanted to prevent her from looking at his colleagues who were just putting handcuffs on two other men: one who seemed rather indignant and repeatedly demanded an »Advogado«, a word Melissa could easily translate as »lawyer«. The other one looked as if he was about to cry. He was barely a grown man, and when Gabriela suddenly stormed towards him with a cry, she recognized their resemblance.

»Vasco! Oh me Deus, Vasco!«

She wanted to get to the man, but another Policeman stopped her, shouting something. The one who had initially spoken to Gabriela intervened and led the sobbing girl aside. Melissa also approached them.

»Gaby, what’s going on?«

And yet, though Gabriela was unable to answer, melissa could deduce the problem: the man Gabriela had addressed as Vasco was her brother.

»Miss Bauer? What are you doing here?«

Melissa looked up, and her eyes fell on the Sergente she knew from seeing, as he had led the arrests aboard the »Mauretania II«. She was glad that this time, she was correctly dressed, and yet, she knew that the man would have many more questions.

***

Sato, carrying a gym bag full of all kinds of things with him, listened to the door of Babette’s room. It now was 2am, and the hotel was sleeping. There was no sound coming from inside, and he silently opened the door, hoping that no other bad news was waiting for him.

»Uuuhhmmm!«

A weak moan greeted him from the bed, and he felt relief: Babette was still there, and she was  alive. When she started squirming, he said:

»Don’t get too excited, it’s just me!«

He untied the pantyhose and pulled it from her head, together with the two pairs of panties. Babette, sweaty and dishevelled, blinked at him, and he also freed her from the cloth tied over her mouth and nose, allowing her to greedily suck in some air. Seeing the girl was completely exhausted, he also removed the noose from her neck.

»You want some water?«

The girl weakly nodded, using her partial freedom to turn to her side. Sato fetched a glass from the bathroom and whilst he worked on the knot of her cleave gag, he stated:

»Babette-San, I know you have many questions, but before I can give any answers, I have to find them myself! Please, respect this and say nothing!«

Babette was puzzled by the tired, sad expression in his face, and by the fact he had used the polite »San« when addressing her. So, she nodded, and he plucked the washcloth and her sodden panties from her mouth, holding the glass to her lips and assisting her drinking.

»You need to use the bathroom?«

He recognized her reluctance and added:

»If you accept being gagged and promise not to remove it, I won’t have to watch!«

With a sigh, Babette accepted, and Sato reached for her panties. She protested:

»C-can’t you use just the washcloth?«

»I will use it on top if you talk back once again!«

She parted her lips, and he stuffed the damp panties back into her mouth, securing the with the scarf. Then, he freed her from her bonds and assisted her in getting to her feet. Babette felt his arm around her, and his hand was close to her breast. However, he didn’t grope her, just took cares she felt his presence as he led her to the bathroom. The door to the corridor was only a few yards away, but she knew that an escape attempt would have bad consequences.

Sato removed the bathroom key and told her she had two minutes. Babette looked at her image in the mirror, her hair dishevelled, her makeup ruined, with a coloured cloth tied between her lips. She felt the urge to ungag herself, but she knew that Sato was on the other side, and the bathroom had no window.

So, she quickly relieved herself and returned to the bedroom where she saw that Sato had unpacked her laptop and placed it on the desk. His expression was almost apologetic:

»I won’t look at your private data, I just have to do some research! Could you please log yourself in, Babette-San?«

He showed no intention to ungag her, and so, she bent over the laptop and typed her password, granting him access.

»As said, I need to do some research, and after that, I have to sleep a bit! So, I have to take care that you don’t try anything!«

He handed her a T-Shirt and told her to put it on. Babette reluctantly took off her crumpled dress, telling herself that Sato had repeatedly seen her in her bikini, which was the same amount of flesh as she now offered in her bra and panties. Babette then put on the T-Shirt and fumbled around to remove the bra underneath. Her panties felt sweaty, but she decided to keep them on, not knowing what kind of restraints the Japanese had in mind.

Sato opened his bag and produced a coiled rope. With a smile, he explained:

»I am glad they had hemp rope at the hardware store! Effective bondage has not to be inconvenient!«

Babette moaned, and Sato’s smile became wistful, as he remembered how he had tied up Johanna. The girl’s eyes widened at the sight of his switchblade, but he just cut a few lengths of rope. He folded her arms behind her back and tied her lower arms together, midways between her wrists and elbows. Gathering the dangling ends between her shoulder blades, he slung them around her upper arms and torso, below her ample breasts, pulling the loop tight before threading them under the vertical ropes and adding a loop above her breasts. Babette mewed when he then pushed his hands under her armpits and touched the bases of her boobs, but he just did so to cinch the bonds before knotting them off between her shoulders. Her arms were now quite immobile, and she had to admit it wasn’t that inconvenient.

She had to lie down on the bed where he made her lie on the left side. She remembered what he had said about him having to sleep, and since there was no couch, he obviously intended to share the bed with her.

He tied her legs at the ankles and above and below the knees, each time taking care the loops were nice and parallel. He placed the pillow under her head and even offered to cover her with the blanket, an offer she accepted, as it hid her panty-clad crotch.

Sato then brewed an insta coffee and sat down in front of the laptop where Babette could watch him send a photo from his phone to his email account, so he could download it. When he tried picture search, she saw it was a helicopter, and she wondered what he had in mind as he scrolled through different pages, taking notes and murmuring things in Japanese. Again, Babette looked at the door, but decided that if she tired to get there hopping, he would catch her before she could try to open it.

After more than two hours, Sato stretched and yawned. Looking out of the window, he chuckled.

»A first glimpse of dawn – maybe, that’s a good omen!«

He took off his shoes and socks, but kept on his pants as he lay down beside Babette. In less than four hours, another strenuous day would begin.

***

Johanna had once before travelled by helicopter. It had been a ten minutes trip, and even then, she had considered it noisy and inconvenient, and the constant vibrations had caused slight nausea.

Now, the conditions were much worse. She was till tied to the sack truck that had been leashed to the wall, though not tight enough to prevent it from constant swaying. Johanna gulped repeatedly, trying to keep her gag reflex under control, as the woman who had operated the cable winch had informed her that the gag would stay in, and she should better not throw up.

It had been the only words the woman had spoken to her, and Johanna couldn’t tell much about her, as she wore a black mask to her equally black overall. All she could see was that she was of medium height and obviously athletic, as she had handled the winch and the sack truck without problems. Now, she was sitting on a seat on the other side, ostentatiously not looking at Johanna who doubted that she had been able to start a conversation over the noise of the engine, even if she hadn’t been gagged.

She had no idea how long the trip went, or where they were going, for all she could see was the night sky, and the pilot was as communicative as the woman. Also, she knew nothing about the speed of helicopters, and so, she couldn’t even guess how far they had gone.

The chopper finally slowed down and also lost altitude, until it hovered on one spot. The woman got from her seat, fixed the winch’s hook to the sack truck and opened the side door. She always had one hand at a handle or somewhere at the frame to not fall off, and Johanna guessed they were still several yards above the ground. She mewed and shook her head when the masked woman loosened the sack truck from the wall and pushed it towards the door.

»Mmhrrrrrmmmm! Uuuhhmmmm! Nnnngggg!«

Her panic increased as she still could see nothing but darkness. The woman pushed her outside, and when the sack truck fell, Johanna lost control over her bladder. Then, she realized that she was dangling in the air, held by the cable.

»Uuhmmph!«

The sack truck was lowered, and now, Johanna could see something under her feet: water, whirled by the helicopter’s rotor. Nothing but water, and she was lowered to it. Once again, she screamed as her feet were touching its surface. Tied to the sack truck, she would drown immediately.

»Nnnngggg!«

She now could see lit windows. A house! So, she was near the shore! She pulled on her bonds, but to no avail. The sack truck, still held by the cable, slowly lowered her into the water, and it reached her waist, her breasts, her neck.

CLONK!

Johanna felt her feet touch something, and then, the sack truck swayed slightly until it came to a halt. The sound of the helicopter ceased, and after a few moments, she realized that she was standing on solid ground, the now calm water reaching to her neck.

Johanna panted heavily, but she didn’t dare to struggle, as the sack truck could topple over. So, she could do nothing but wait when some lights went on, illuminating the water and telling her she was in the middle of a sizeable swimming pool.

Two figures stepped out of the dark and to the edge, and Johanna could see that both were women wearing nothing but bikinis. One of them went to the steps leading into the water and entered the pool whilst the other one kept looking at Johanna who now realized what was strange about that woman: together with her bikini, she wore a Guy Fawkes mask.

Without haste, the other one approached Johanna, took the sack truck’s handles and maneuvered her out of the pool, rolling her over to the masked woman who let her eyes wander over the naked, bound and gagged captive.

»Johanna! How nice to see you, after all these years!«

A shiver ran down Johanna’s spine. The woman spoke German, without any accent, and despite the mask, she was sure she knew her.

»I hope you haven’t forgotten me, for I for sure haven’t forgotten about you!«, the woman said, taking off her mask.

***

Melissa had spent her short career at the Police, before she had turned into private security, at an ordinary unit, and thus, she had no experience with interrogations. However, she doubted that it could be more straining for the actual criminals than it had been for her.

First, she had been forced to wait for more than an hour, until the translator had been waken up and had arrived at the Department. Though neither of them was accused of anything, the Sergente wanted to ask her and Gabriela separately, and in addition, he didn’t seem to trust Gabriela.

The actual report had been matter-of-factly, with the Sergente chuckling only once, when she had mentioned how Sato had forced them to strip to their underwear.

»In your case, this can be called overdressed!«, he had stated, reminding her that he had seen her naked on the ship. Nevertheless, he had promised that right in the morning, he would organise a Police search for the Japanese, since he had also heard an almost unbelievable story about an Asian who, disguised as a doctor, had threatened Andreas Holm with torture to get information from him.

In her mind, Melissa had been grateful for that, for it drew attention from her own encounter with Andreas, without violence, but nevertheless incorrect. More and more, it turned out that the Sergente was impressed by her and Gabriela’s work, and indeed, they had three more arrests, though they had found no sign of Johanna so far.

»We will grill the boy, this Vasco! He seems to be the least involved, and maybe, he’s open for a deal! This time, Tiago’s lawyer will not get the charges dropped!«

Until six o’clock in the morning, Melissa had then helped to draw phantom images of both Sato and the four men who had attacked them at the warehouse. Overtired, and feeling as if she had just run a marathon, Melissa finally had another vile-tasting coffee when Gabriela approached, pale as a sheet, and her eyes reddened. Melissa hugged her, and the girl cuddled against her. Oppressing her sobs, and her voice hoarse, she whispered:

»Why? I mean – how can two siblings be so different?«

As an only child, Melissa knew no answer, but she understood that it had been a shock for Gabriela to see her won brother involved in a serious crime, Policewoman or not.

»It’s all this Joao’s fault!«

»Well, at least, he got what he deserved!«

When the Police had arrived at the old prison, Joao had considered it a good idea to open fire at the Policemen – an idea he had paid with three bullets to his body. Melissa had overheard that he would make it, but would have to spend some time in hospital before he would face a prolonged sentence.

Gabriela nodded and cleared her throat. Looking up at Melissa, she breathed:

»I still owe you a meal!«

Her words reminded Melissa of the skipped dinner, and to her surprise, she indeed felt hungry.

»If you know a place where they serve something better than this liquid tar they call coffee, let’s not stay a second longer in here!«

***

It had been his attitude of never skipping an appointment rather than actual hoping to see anyone that had made Sato attend the lobby shortly before 8am. To his surprise, Broken Nose was sitting there, his nose still plastered, and suspiciously watched by the clerk.

»My comrades hope you rot in hell – but I thought that I could at least see if you are serious about the 10 Grand! Look, there’s a man called Tiago, and-«

»And he got arrested last night!«, Sato finished the sentence. The arrests at the old prison had even been in a news ticker, though they hadn’t mentioned any details. The young gangster seemed disappointed, and Sato patted his shoulder.

»If you can get me something asap, the money can still be yours!«

When he described to Broken Nose what he wanted, the young man grinned like a Cheshire cat and reached into his jacket. He left it dangle and allowed Sato to inspect it, but refused to hand it to him.

»Do you expect me to have 10.000 in my pocket?«

»No, but I expect you to have PayPal!«

A few minutes later, a whistling young man whose grin contrasted with his damaged face left the lobby, and Sato returned to the hotel room. Babette was still lying in the bed, like he had left her. Before attending the lobby, he had further secured the still tied girl by fixing her to the bed at her neck and ankles, leaving the noose loose enough it would not block her breathing. Also, he had sealed her already gagged mouth with a few strips of tape.

»Sorry, but we have to delay breakfast, I have to leave for a few hours!«

»Mmmhhmm?«

He ignored her muffled protests and released her from the bedframe, only to force her into a ball position, wrapping a rope tightly around her limbs and torso several times to keep her in that position. Then, he peeled off the tape and loosened the cleave gag. Before Babette could try to expel the panties, he stuffed the washcloth on top and tightly retied the scarf. He then hooded her with the pantyhose and used rounds of duct tape to further enforce her gag and to blindfold the girl. Like that, he wrapped her into the bed sheet and stowed her into the cupboard. Again, he switched on the TV and grabbed his gym bag. Placing the »Please do  not disturb«-sign on the door, he left. His next goal was just 800 yards away, but it held many risks.

***

Johanna panted when she recognized the woman, though they hadn’t seen each other for almost 15 years. There were a few wrinkles around her eyes, and her hair was longer, but this was definitely Carmen Slawatzki – or whatever her last name was now. She smiled, but her grey eyes were as cold as ice.

»I see you remember me, Johanna – or do I have to call you Joanne von Gröbern now? You have changed a lot, even your name!«

»Mph!«

»Well, my name is Carmen Vega now – but I am sure that when – if – you ever thought of me, you still referred to me as – how did you call me? Carmen the Slut?«

Johanna let out a fluttering breath. It had all started 21 years ago, when Johanna had been 12 and in seventh grade. Carmen had been new to their class, and unlike Johanna and her peers, she had been a bit flirtatious. Nothing she could actually be blamed of – she just liked to chat with the boys, and she didn’t refuse when they invited her to an ice cream. However, since Johanna and her friends still considered boys to be evil and silly, and such a behaviour as sluttish, they had quickly judged Carmen, and they had taken care that others also heard about their judgement that quickly had turned into rumours. Years later, and able to reflect her early teenage self, Johanna had admitted that what she and the others had done to Carmen had been veritable bullying.

By then, Carmen had no longer been at Johanna’s school. Her marks had declined, and she had left High School at 14. Since then, they had only occasionally seen her at parties, and it looked as if Carmen was living up to her reputation, given the number and appearance of her boyfriends.

»I really tried to forget you, Johanna, and I definitely did a lot to help me with that – though I am clean for 14 years now!«

As if to prove that, she presented Johanna her immaculate lower arms.

»Two years on the needle, but I have over come it! Don’t you want to applaud me, Johanna?«

Without warning, she squeezed Johanna’s nipples, and she moaned and reared up the little her tight bondage allowed. Carmen still massaged her breasts, but she seemed to look at somewhere far away as she continued to speak:

»All kinds of drugs, all kinds of bad men, acquisition crimes, you name it! Shortly after I had turned 18, when you and your friends passed their exams, I ended up in jail!«

The last word was accompanied by another painful pinch at Johanna’s nipples. Carmen then withdrew and brushed over Johanna’s cheek.

»Well, say what you want, but the time in jail not only got me clean – I also got a therapist who, despite being paid by the state, was really interested in helping me! With 22, I finished school, started a job as a secretary, became what the call a respected person! I even changed my choice of men – or shall I say, they remained the same type, but had bigger wallets?«

She pointed at the bungalow and the swimming pool.

»See the legacy of my late husband, Enrico Vega! And no, I have nothing to do with his death, unless you blame me of giving a 73 year old man his third spring! Last year, he had a heart attack – but he has left me with enough money to get by!«

She bent forward, so her nose almost touched Johanna’s.

»I even can still afford a therapist – and do you know what she says? I mean, who am I to doubt the verdict of someone who holds a degree of the University of Salamanca?«

Johanna just stared at her, unable to even moan.

»She says to get rid of my traumata, I have to go back to the origin of my problems and cope with them! Well, and as I reflected my life, and how it went South, it turned out that the origin of my problems is – you!«

Johanna whimpered and shook her head, and Carmen smiled coldly.

»Oh, I know, it wasn’t just you! And believe me, I followed all your careers, or what you may call as such! Katharina has had a divorce and is struggling to handle her job and two kids, Emilia is trapped in a boring job – only you have risen to the top, have become a celebrated author!«

It felt strange to Johanna to hear the name of her once best friends she had lost contact with long ago. However, she still wondered what Carmen had in mind.

»Oh, I do not envy you the money and reputation you have! After all, I can’t say that I am suffering financially! However, isn’t it unfair that you, the former bully, reached everything so easy, whilst I, the victim, had to get there the hard way?«

She stepped back and let her eyes wander over Johanna’s naked body.

»My late husband was a philanthropist, you know? And among the good things he did was something one might describe as a little – dubious! As you very well know from the last days, White Slavery still exists!«

»Uuhhmmph!«

»Anyway, Enrico got access to an account where kidnapped girls were offered, like used cars on Autoscout.com. He should have reported it to the cops, but instead, whenever he considered a girl worthy of rescuing, he bought her, only to set her free, allowing her a new life!«

Johanna’s chest heaved as she felt an irrational glimpse of hope. Was it Carmen’s plan to just teach her a lesson and then let her go?

»Well, since Enrico’s death, I am still supporting the animal shelter and the orphanage, but I am not doing his White Knight stuff. However, I still have the account, and occasionally, I look at the – offers. And a few days ago, I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse!«

She stepped closer, and her index finger raked through Johanna’s thatch of pubic hair.

»I paid quite a sum for you – but you owe me more than that!«

Johanna groaned when she plucked out one of her pubic hairs.

»You owe me penitence for what you and your friends did to me!«

She turned to the other girl that had stood motionless beside her and ordered:

»Get her downstairs, Miranda! I will see for her later!«

Miranda curtseyed and grabbed the handles of the sack truck. Johanna screamed into her gag and pulled on her unyielding bonds, but she was pushed inside the bungalow.

***

The promised breakfast had turned out to be some croissants to go, as Gabriela seemed eager to have a shoulder to cry on, and Melissa proposed to sit down in the now empty park and have their food there. For over an hour, Gabriela talked about her brother Vasco, who had always been the black sheep of the family, though so far, he hadn’t done anything worse than cracking a cigarette automat.

»I somehow felt obliged to use what little influence I had, to protect him from getting in trouble with the law! But now? He will end up in jail, and my colleagues now will also think different of me!«

Melissa didn’t talk much, she just held the other in her arm and listened to her. Finally, Gabriela shook her head.

»I am promising you a breakfast, and I am serving sob stories instead! You must hate me!«

Melissa looked at Gabriela’s eyes.

»The fat that such things matter so much to you show you have a good heart!«

Gabriela smiled wryly.

»You think so?«

»I do! And to prove to me how good your heart is, you can drive me to my hotel! I definitely need a shower and a change of clothes!«

Gabriela pointed at the other end of the park.

»If you want, we can go to my place, and whilst you shower, I can prepare the breakfast I now really owe you!«

It was obvious that Gabriela just didn’t want to be alone, but the invitation wasn’t the worst option, and so, the two girls strolled through the park and after two more blocks, they reached a modern, slightly shabby looking apartment block.

»It’s small, but I don’t have to live under the same roof as Vasco!«

The house had no elevator, but luckily, Gabriela lived only on the third floor. Her apartment was indeed tiny, a living room plus kitchenette, a small bathroom and a chamber that acted as Gabriela’s bedroom and was just big enough for a bed and a cupboard. Gabriela pointed at the bathroom door.

»Feel at home! I see what I can offer!«

In the bathroom, Melissa was shocked from her view in the mirror. Her hair looked dishevelled, ad if the rings under her eyes grew bigger, people would ask her why the big Panda could talk. She undressed, chuckled when she looked at her girlie panties and then, she enjoyed the shower, though the pipes were old and sounded as if some small animal was dying in it.

In the bathroom, there was no hairdryer, and when she asked Gabriela through the door, she got no answer.

»Perhaps, she has no more milk and quickly went to the shop downstairs?«

Melissa dried herself and wrapped herself into the big towel, as there was also no bathrobe. When she left the bathroom, she saw Gabriela sit on a chair, looking at her with widened eyes. A cloth protruded from her mouth, and behind her stood Sato, holding a gun to her temple.

»Don’t worry, I just came to talk! However, since I am sure you meanwhile put out a wanted notice on me, I have to take a few precautions!«

He stepped back, leaning against the wall, so he could point the gun at both girls.

»Yesterday, I fooled you with my lighter, but this gun is very real – and I still have four bullets left! Please, don’t make me use them!«

»What do you want?«, Melissa asked.

»As I said, just talking! However, before, you might get into something more decent than just this towel! Gaby?«

The girl, still gagged, looked at him, and he ordered her to get to the bathroom and fetch Melissa’s »cute dotted panties«.

»Since you proved so much skill in undressing Melissa, you might now show how good you are at getting her dressed!«

Gabriela looked at the panties dangling from her fingers and made a questioning sound through the cloth in her mouth. Sato told her to put the garment on Melissa, unless she preferred to stay naked.

The Portuguese squatted in front of Melissa and gently grabbed her ankle, making her step into the panties. She then pulled them up her legs, trying not to stare at Melissa who didn’t dare to move, fearing the towel would come off.

With trembling fingers, Gabriela put the panties in place. Sato seemed pleased and then ordered her to get another towel from the bathroom.

»I think you look as cute as your friend in just a towel and panties!«

»Bastard!«, Melissa hissed, thinking if she could risk an attack. However, Sato was out of reach and seemed aware of such an attempt.

Gabriela kicked off her sneakers. Since she had not wanted to put the damp socks on after she and Melissa had been gagged with them, she had gone without. Staring daggers at Sato, she removed her T-Shirt and pants. After all, he had seen her in bra and panties before. Topless, however, was a different thing, and she hesitated.

Melissa took the towel and slung it around Gabriela, allowing her to take off her bra without exposing her breasts. The girl looked at her gratefully, and Melissa helped her to tug the towel in place. In an almost synchronous move, both put their hands on their hips and looked defiantly at Sato. In Gabriela’s case, her gag ruined the image a bit.

They had to turn around and get to their knees. They obeyed slowly, so their towels remained in place. Sato tied their wrists crossed at their napes, using zip ties. Two more zip ties, he put around their necks, threading them through the wrist ties before.

»Since you are such escape artists, I have to be careful! Now, up to your feet!«

Though without the use of their hands, both girls managed to do so without losing the towels. Sato grabbed Melissa’s right ankle and, using yet another zip tie, he fixed it to her left knee, forcing her to stand on one leg like a ballerina. When he had tied Gabriela’s left ankle to her right knee, turning her into a mirror-inverted image of Melissa, he pointed at the bedroom door with his gun.

»Now, get inside there! Once you two are nicely secured, I will tell you a few things you might be interested in! After all, despite all differences between us, we have one common goal: to assure that Johanna gets free asap!«

***