Story 3 - The Severing

Chapter 5:

"Have you been working on your assignment, subGrrl?" NemesisGirl asked as soon as she had locked the supply room door. I assumed that she was sitting somewhere on the floor in front of me as I shook and the bells I wore tinkled.

"Tell me, my pet, what love means to you," she said softly.

Truthfully, I had completely forgotten about her little assignment. I did not have any kind of answer ready, so I sat, as quietly as I could as I struggled to calm my breathing again and tried to think up a valid answer.

"Do you know what love is, my pet?" NemesisGirl asked after an eternity.

What is love? What is love? I thought of my mother. That's love. But, I don't think that would be a good answer. My mother never made me sit blindfolded and naked. I had to think of something else. NemesisGirl calls me 'pet'. Pets are supposed to love their owners unconditionally. Actually, that seems true for dogs, but who knows about cats? Cats love you when they feel like loving you and that's it. That would be classified as conditional, I think.

"subGrrl?" NemesisGirl whispered.

Damn those fucking bells! How was I supposed to concentrate with them ringing so loudly? She put them there simply to prove how scared and nervous I was. Think! Think! What was the question? Love?

"subGrrl? Are you there?" NemesisGirl whispered again.

Oh, my god! She thinks I'm an idiot! If she only knew, she would realize that idiocy is the least of my problems. I wonder what she would feel like if she heard voices who actively stole her dream lovers.

"You seem to be proving a theory I have about you, my pet," NemesisGirl said. "There is something about you that completely prevents you from acting or doing or engaging. I can see why you were never able to become a journalist on your own. You freeze. Totally. Isn't that true, subGrrl?"

What does this have to do with journalism? You don't go to interview people bound naked on the floor with accursed bells dangling from you nipples!

"You can't even answer a simple question, can you?"

I can answer simple questions. I really can.

"Can you nod your head, pet?"

I struggled to get my neck to bend and when at last it did, the bells went into a schism of clattering that made my muscles freeze. What would someone think if they were walking outside the supply room door? I wonder if they would be able to hear all the ringing. Please let me go, NemesisGirl!

"Ok, but only barely..." NemesisGirl sighed. "I've got an idea, little pet. I'm going to give you a sentence to say. All you have to do is say it, ok? I want you to say these words... 'I love you'."