“We find the defendant guilty on all charges,” the older man said, his hands crossed as he gave the verdict.
A small uproar echoed throughout the courtroom, with several members of the audience standing up and yelling at both the judge and the jury.
The defendant, a young woman, sat back down on her chair and placed her hands over her ears; as if to shield herself from the loud noise. The judge responded to the attacks, slamming his fist on the desk in front of him before yelling at the guards, who all swiftly ran towards the audience and removed the complaining people.
It was all very dramatic. Watching the events happen behind the television screen could have easily fooled me that it was all staged, a simple show with actors and a director, but it was all real. Every single person the camera showed was someone real, who was affected by the conclusion in one way or another.
The camera panned back to the woman, after showing the doors opening and closing, where the complaining people were removed. She still had her hands over her ears, despite the new calm that travelled over the remaining audience, tears filled her eyes and began to leak down her cheeks as the reality of the situation hit her.
The judge continued to speak, the terms he used were far too technical for me to understand, but his words weren’t good, as observed by the woman’s reaction. She finally took her hands off her ears and broke down completely, causing black tears from her eye makeup to fall onto her lap.
Then the screen vanished, replaced by a balding, middle-aged man sitting behind a desk, a newsreader.
“That was the events in a London court earlier today. Alison Foxe, a twenty-two-year-old woman was convicted and publicly sentenced to three years in the ‘Pet Correction’ program. This came recently after the company’s owner, Leon Abbotts was arrested due to gross misconduct. In response, the company has promised to work closer with authorities to make sure no similar incident happens again, this includes posting publicly the full names and conviction details of all one hundred and twenty-two volunteers to the program- “
I already lost interest in what the man was saying. Donna had already told both Cleo and I about Pet Correction becoming more public and that included our names and the details of our crimes being accessible online.
Despite this not being the first-time hearing this, the words the man said were enough to put my stomach into knots. The idea that anyone can find the information wasn’t a pleasant one, my friends, my extended family and anyone else in my life, the image of them finding out that I am locked in this shell and forced to be a pet made me feel sick.
I couldn’t listen to any more.
I pulled myself up, forcing my sleepy, aching body back onto all fours. I gently guided my head to touch the floor and stretched my arms forwards as far as they would go; at the same time keeping on my knees with my butt in the air. This was the only stretch that my body could really feel, allowing me a temporary release from my aches.
It still felt odd seeing the shiny, white as snow skin cover my body. Even after months of wearing it, it still seemed like something that I associated with something else entirely.
I pushed and I pushed, stretching my arms with all the power I could muster, ending in a soft sigh that managed to escape the hood.
The young woman groaned behind me, a noise that took my mind off my situation.
Turning around revealed the sleeping form of Donna, who took refuge on an old sofa, surrounded by blankets and pillows. She turned around on the small space, turning further into the piece of furniture with her back to me and the rest of the room.
I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry.
The manor we recently found ourselves in was the opposite of the bungalow we once lived in. There were at least two floors with many rooms on each, there must have been around four or five ready-made bedrooms in the new house, yet Donna made herself comfortable in none of them. Instead, she made herself as comfortable as possible on the sofa in one of the TV rooms.
It was unclear whether she was uncomfortable with the size of the house or if she was waiting for the eventual arrival of the second group before choosing who sleeps in what room.
The fact she was the only human in the house must have added to this feeling, with no one really to talk to apart from two pets who can only look back to her with no responses.
Mr Grumpypants was the last outside person she spoke to, who told her we should expect the new group the following day, or the day after.
It had now been a week since we arrived at the new location, without a single word from the outside world of what to expect in the foreseeable future.
Donna let out another sigh, rolling back over to face the rest of the room.
She was restless.
I often wondered what our owner dreamed of and why she was moving around much more than she used to. Were we part of her dreams? The constant fight of keeping her pets loyal and safe?
Or did her mind escape to Lauren? Another aspect of the outside world we hadn’t heard from. Was she re-living the care-free moments she had with the flower shop owner? Or could Donna be making up new, false memories to keep herself occupied?
She began to settle down, once again falling into the comfort of the multiple blankets that covered her body.
It was only then that I was comfortable to leave the room and explore the long, empty hallways of the house.
I left the room behind me and swiftly found myself in the main hall. A large staircase to the upper level greeted me, along with several doors placed throughout the hall that travelled to different rooms.
Donna had the tendency to leave doors open; this allowed the pets she controlled to move freely from room to room with the inability to use their fingers to open the doors themselves.
The problem was Donna wasn’t willing to explore the house as much as Cleo and I wanted to. There were so many rooms within the building and we wanted to see them all, we wanted to see the entirety of the place we were spending the rest of our sentence in, but the only doors that were opened were the ones to the room I just exited, the one to the dining room, the kitchen, a study and a selection of other smaller rooms. The rest of the doors remained firmly closed and will stay that way until a person willing to explore moves in.
None of the doors on the second floor had been opened, Donna hadn’t even stood on the staircase. The entirety of the next floor was a mystery to us and it seemed to have an eerily, dark feel to it whenever I had the guts to look in that direction.
However, I could not think of anywhere else the black cat could have been. I gulped, trying my hardest to swallow any fear I had from the unknown space above us as I crawled towards the bottom step and placed my paw onto the faded carpet. Looking back up, the staircase seemed to grow in my mind, stretching out further than I had anticipated, the destination the stairs led up to seemed too far away and I began to overthink the size of every step.
No… I couldn't be that foolish. What could be up there that I was so scared of? I did not believe in ghosts or any other entity of the undead, and I doubted anyone living would be up here, after nearly a week of being here; we hadn't heard any noises. Hell, If Cleo was up here, I would have imagined the sight of the large, crawling, black mass was far scarier than anything else on this floor.
With a wave of courage, I placed my second paw onto the next step and began crawling upwards, taking each one as carefully as I could but trying to manage the transition between ground floor and first floor as swiftly as I possibly could. The wooden materials underneath me creaked lightly, telling me that age had not affected them yet. Whilst the carpet may have faded over the years, it was clear the overall staircase has had little use over the years.
Then it greeted me, the large darkness that covered the entirety of the area. I had just taken my left foot off the step until I realised just how dark it was. With no light source, my eyes only allowed me to see about ten feet in front of my face, showing the same carpet disappearing into the distance and a selection of doors on either side of the hallway, and then nothing but the void afterwards.
It was silent too, not a single sound would reach my faux ears. It would be almost impossible to find Cleo with this limited visibility, a dark creature against a dark background, how will I-
BANG!
I jumped in the air, turning halfway and landing back onto my paws, pointing myself in the direction that noise came from with my head low and my butt in the air, as if I were ready to pounce on the intruder.
A black mass stumbled out from behind the stair's bannister, which curved outwards once the last step had reached the next floor. The large creature fell onto the dusty floor with its own paws grabbing at its stomach and laughing silently from my reaction, unable to contain itself after seeing my leap backwards.
It was Cleo. The cat couldn't stop herself as she writhed on the floor, despite my heart beating against my chest, I brought myself back into the default position, sitting on the ground with all paws placed against the untouched wood. I had to tell my bladder to relax, the last thing I wanted was to give Cleo something else to laugh at.
I gave her this moment. It wasn't the fact that she could easily overpower me if I decided to fight her back, it wasn't even the fact that I was smiling behind the mask, but it was the fact there wasn't much to smile about nowadays, let alone having a full laughing fit. I was happy to feel the embarrassment overcome my body, just to give Cleo something to take her mind off the recent situation.
The wriggling cat helped me feel at ease, no longer did the dark hallway terrify me and no longer did I repress the urge to explore this house. If Cleo could be up here on her own and hide, then I was brave enough to venture further into the darkness.
I placed my paw on her inviting stomach, placing a little bit of pressure on her to get her attention. I nodded further into the hallway, inviting her to join me and travel further into this manor whilst our owner slept. Cleo slowly brought herself up, pushing herself back onto her four paws, she nodded with her head, asking me to follow her as she began to make her way into the dark.
Following a black cat in a black hall was a difficult task. I was sure I was easy to spot due to my white, shining skin. However, it was oddly easy to lose her, despite her large frame. I wanted to jump up and turn on the lights, illuminating the path in front of us and completely eradicate the feeling of unease the darkness gave me, but we couldn't risk the chance that Donna would wake. It was unclear if we were meant to be up here, our owner didn't specify if we had to stay in the same rooms she was in, she also didn't tell us if we were able to explore the house on our own, but I didn't want to do anything that unnecessarily angered the young woman.
I continued to follow the black cat, trying to listen out for her footsteps if my eyes began to fail me in this light. However, the destination the black cat had in mind was somewhat illuminated within the dark. It was one door, one door out of an entire hallway of doors that was slightly ajar, bringing in the morning light from the outside world and sliding it through the gap between the door and the wall. I could also make out Cleo's frame as she sat in front of the light, waiting for me to finally catch up with her.
She made the same action, nodding to the doorway before she placed her paw on the wood and pushed it open, revealing the rest of the room. The way Cleo acted, it seemed like this was something she had already discovered and just waited for me to finally gain the courage to traverse the stairs and find the same destination.
It was a fairly large room, as untouched from mankind as the rest this floor was. It had the feel of an old study to it, with wooden flooring and wallpaper that had the look and smell of age on it, faded as years went by since it was put up. The rest of the room was empty from the usual type of furniture and items you would expect from this type of place, instead having more 'interesting' looking items scattered around the room.
The first one to catch my eye was a cage, one that was very similar to the cage Donna placed me in once. Just looking at the scary device was enough to make my skin crawl, goosebumps travelled along the entirety of my body, pushing against the latex that covered me. It wasn't pleasant to look at, it had an almost identical look to the one Donna had in her shed, this one seemed a little larger and the joints were welded together in a much neater way. However, I audibly gulped when I saw the heavy padlock hanging on the door, a reminder of how stuck I was within that metal contraption, forced to stare at the four walls until the time of my punishment came up.
The very thought that there was a similar cage here wasn't one that I wanted to entertain for long.
Cleo crawled further into the room, somehow unfazed by the sight of the restraining object. What took her attention was a collection of crops and paddles that were hooked onto the wall, hanging from a detailed and large wooden frame. An image of two, realistic cats playing was engraved on the wooden object, chasing after a ball and were somewhat covered by the fetish objects in front of it.
It must have been added for some form of punishment. Crops and paddles were a typical asset to domination, so the people who placed them here must have imagined them being used to punish and humiliate pets. Anything to help the wearers of the suits reform and become better members of society.
There were three crops of different sizes, one that was only around fifteen centimeters and another one that was double that, the third crop was the same size but looked more punishing than the other two.
The paddles were in a similar fashion, with the first being a simple, thin, faux leather material, the second being a similar size but with metal studs covering one side. The third and last paddle was much bigger and wider, it was made from a varnished wood with several, small holes punctured through to help with air flow. It was easily the most painful looking object on that board.
Cleo pointed her paw to a faded, wooden desk by the wall. It was an easy object to miss as it was placed right next to the cage, the one item that took my attention more than anything else. However, Cleo's paw was pointing to an object that sat on top of the desk, something that was much harsher than any of the other items we had seen before.
A bullwhip.
A long, genuine leather whip sat in a triumphant way on the wooden material beneath it. Curled up like a snake, almost hiding its entire form from us. That would hurt, if we were struck with that.
It was enough to make our mouths go dry. We never thought that Donna would ever be mean enough to use an item like that on us, even if we did everything to annoy her. There was something about it that seemed way over-the-top, as if it was not meant for actual punishment and more of a deterrent, to stop us from messing around. However, it was a real crop, one that could potentially do some damage to our bodies if we ever were on the receiving end of it.
I instinctively turned around to leave the room, wanting to forget that such a place existed. One that held a lot of worry for me. Perhaps if we closed the door, Donna would never see it and she wouldn't know about the collection of punishment tools that was at her disposal. There were a few other items scattered around, some that didn't take as much attention as the others, but I stopped dead in my tracks as soon as I turned my body around.
I numbly placed my paw onto the black cat, pushing against her large frame over and over until I finally got her attention and she turned around to see exactly what I spotted.
It was hidden behind the door, easily missed as there was a collection of other items that took our attention almost immediately. It was old, dusty and looked like it hadn't been touched since it was placed in here. With thick, metal legs that travelled upwards, hiding three wooden pieces that slid into it well.
It was… it was a punishment block. Three rings were carved into the wood, two were thin enough to hold someone's wrist and the higher, larger ring was made for someone's neck. It was clear the three pieces of wood would come together, being placed on top of each other to hold the captive in place for their specific punishment, but there was around a three centimeter gap in between the three sections, enough room to place a head and wrists within the holes before the wood snaps down and locks the prisoner in place.
The device must have been made with a high level of care and attention. Looking closely at the metal frame, it looked like the wooden blocks could have been stored at multiple heights, meaning the prisoner could be standing… or even kneeling. Something that put my stomach in a knot. At first, I assumed this was a random item, brought in just for the idea of punishing a pet. Something that wouldn't be possible normally as pets were forced to stay on their hands and knees for the duration of their sentence, and a position that they latex suits forced their wearer into. However, seeing that the device could be used at different heights, it gave the impression that the punishment block could be used by pets and humans alike.
I shuddered once more. The cage was bad enough, being confined to a small space and forced to live, eat and sleep there for the duration of the specific punishment. This block was different, it forced the wearer into one position for however long was deemed necessary, unable to move their head, unable to move their hands and stuck in such a way that their entire body was vulnerable to anyone in the area.
As I mentally panicked, Cleo thought the complete opposite. Pointing towards the device with her paw and giving me a look that told me she was laughing at the contraption. Somehow, the harsh and somewhat medieval look of the device was enough to send her in a minor frenzy, laughing almost as much as she did when she scared me earlier.
I wanted to laugh too, I wanted to join in on the singular fun the black cat was having, but I was too scared of the possibilities, what would cause a punishment so severe that our owners would lock their pets in such a device and punish them without any form of freedom.
Cleo took it further as she approached the device with a lack of respect and care, placing her wrists in the holes and even going as far as to put her head through. She limply rested herself on the varnished wood, pretending she was trapped within the three blocks and ignoring the gap between them. Then she let out a soft yelp, muffled by the mask that held her head. Yelp after yelp managed to escape her hood, the entire time she was wriggling her wrists, moving her head around and moving her butt and legs in a fake attempt to get free, imagining the entire time she was stuck in the stock.
She then leapt backwards, falling onto her back and placed her paws on her stomach. A flurry of giggles escaped her breathing holes, joyous with the mysterious find. My skin went pale. I could not even begin to think about what was so funny with this situation. Yes, it was absurd that we would find such a contraption, but the black cat didn't realise that this was a real punishment block, something that could actually be used on us. Donna was the nicest carer in the world and she would think this type of punishment would have been too harsh, yet there was nothing that actually prevented her to place us within it.
Cleo managed to bring herself back up, finally feeling the giggles and laughter exit her body. She once again pointed towards the device with one paw and placed the other paw on my shoulder. She nodded to me and then to the device… she wanted me to do the same she did.
My eyes widened. I understood the black cat thought of it as one massive joke, but to actually go near that thing was a whole different story. I had been caught and locked away before, I didn't even want to experience that ever again.
But then…
I looked from the block to her, her eyes were still lit up and I could imagine the wide smile she had from behind the mask. Maybe… she was scared too. Maybe the thought of being locked inside that thing was as terrifying to the large cat as it was to me? Maybe the whole reason she thought it was funny, was because she made it a humorous subject, maybe the whole reason she placed her body in it temporarily, was to show herself that there was nothing to be scared of.
Was this her thought process?
I glanced towards it once more, the very image of the block was enough to put my nerves on edge.
Maybe… maybe if I did the same thing, then I could overcome the fear that was building itself up inside me.
I slowly crawled towards the device with Cleo close behind me. From this distance, I could see the slight age in the wood, the imperfections from behind the varnish and the layer of dust and cobwebs that made its home on the metal frame. My heart beat heavily against the latex that covered my body, visually revealing to both the black cat and I how nervous I was to do the same thing she did moments before. However, if it worked for her and relieved the worry she had for the device, then hopefully it would also work for me.
My entire body shook as I placed my neck in the largest hole, then resting my body on it as I took my weight off my hands before placing my wrists in their respective holes afterwards. I went fully numb, realising I had placed myself into the position that I just had the nightmare about, the slats weren't down and I could have removed myself at any point, but the realisation dawned on me about how helpless I would have been if this was real.
Cleo slowly crawled into my view, travelling around the large metal and wooden object until we locked eyes with each other. I carefully watched as her gaze went from my head to the bottom half of my body, then back to my eyes once more. It seemed like she was somewhat disappointed with my reaction with being in the stocks, she was over-the-top with her reaction, pretending she was locked inside it and moving her body around whilst 'screaming' to be released. I just remained there, silently accepting the fictional fate we had made up.
However, the silence was far too painful to linger.
She rested her body weight onto her knees and brought her paws together, placing them in front of her as if to pray and beg for me to react the exact same way she did before. I had to roll my eyes.
I began shaking my paws left to right, making sure to keep them in the small space that was allocated to my wrists, then I did the same thing with my neck. I forced my legs onto my knees and shook the bottom half of my legs up and down as I heard the soft latex skin smack against the wooden floor. It wasn't as funny to me as it was to the black cat, but it did allow me to look onto the device with some form of humour.
She then brought her paws up to where her mouth would have been and brought them outwards, indicating to me that she wanted me to scream out in the same manner she did. My eyes rolled once more as I took in a deep breath, preparing myself for further embarrassment.
*CLACK*
My eyes jolted open as I felt my neck fall down a few centimeters, the loud sound of the wood falling and locking into the metal frame was loud, echoing throughout the entire floor of the house. The noise was loud enough to even stop Cleo's demands, instead forcing her to fall back onto her butt as she brought her paws over her face.
It was such a quick motion that I didn't know what happened at first, just feeling as if I fell forwards slightly before being stopped by the wooden object underneath me.
*CLACK*
There was that sound again, but this time it was in a different place, it was behind it… it was above me.
I pulled my head out. I had no idea what the contraption was doing, but I wanted to get away from it. The heavy beating of my heart returned, this time being joined by a horrible pit at the bottom of my stomach. No matter how hard I tried, my neck would not escape the hole. Instead, I tried my wrists, something that should have been an easier task, but the paws would not fit through.
I… I was stuck.
It quickly dawned on me what happened, somehow the motion of my actions were enough to momentarily free the wood from what kept them in place. The first bump I felt was the wood between my neck and my wrists falling into place and then the similar sound afterwards was the piece of wood behind me falling too and locking my neck in. I found myself stuck in the exact position I was terrified about just minutes ago. My wrists forced themselves down hard on the wood as I used all my energy to lift myself up, hoping to force the blocks upwards just enough to free myself… all to no avail.
Glancing over to the black cat, I noticed she did not recover from her original surprised position, still she was sitting on the dusty floor with her paws covering the bottom of her mask, shocked by the event that happened in front of her. Seeing her reaction caused my blood to turn to ice, my heart beat pushed against my chest as panic began to set in, realising that I was stuck in this position and there probably wasn't anything either Cleo or I could do to free me.
'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!' My brain screamed at me, all logic and thought left it and quickly filled with complete terror.
I pushed harder against the wood, thrashing my legs around just like I had playfully previously, but this time it was real and my feet struggled to gain any traction to help the situation. A selection of unintentional screams left my mouth, muffled by the layer of latex and gag that filled it. The metal frame squeaked and creaked as it rocked backwards and forwards, intent on keeping me in my place.
Cleo finally jumped up, bringing her arms around the device and tried her hardest to pull the block away from me. At first, she tried placing her paws in the large hole that held my head and gave all her strength to lift it upwards, which failed almost immediately. Then she crouched down and tried to push in the same direction, using what strength she had in her legs to lift, which also failed.
She then leapt onto my back, wrapping her legs around my waist to lock herself back into place, once again returning to pulling the wooden block upwards. I couldn't see how hard she was pulling, but I could hear the selection of grunts and pleas enter her mask, telling me she was using all of her might to free me.
…Which failed too.
The black cat whimpered and cursed under her breath, allowing her large frame to fall onto the floor as she failed for a third time at freeing me. I rested my body against the restraints, if the black cat was unable to free me from this prison, then what chances did I have at doing it myself? I wanted to cry, why was it always me that got stuck in these predicaments?
She placed her paw onto my chin, lifting my head up enough to put my gaze onto her. Bringing up the other paw, she pointed downwards telling me that the only way out of the stocks was to bring along the only human in the house, the sleeping Donna downstairs. I nodded weakly, there didn't seem to be any other way out of this predicament. The black cat scanned the device once more, trying to figure out if there was a specific way to unlock the three wooden blocks that were keeping me inside. A slight shaking of her head confirmed the worst, as if she was disappointed in herself for not being able to release me.
Her large frame then crawled out of the room in defeat, the soft sounds of her paws tapping against the wooden floor and the heavier hits of her knees slowly faded away as she headed back to the large staircase, leaving me alone in my shame.
*SMACK* *SMACK*
I pulled myself backwards over and over, trying to somehow force my body away from the punishment block, believing that I could still release myself before the human came to help and avoid the embarrassment and potential punishment for getting myself locked in this position in the first place.
The silence the entire floor gave out reminded me how much I hated being alone, not a single sound managed to travel to my covered ears apart from my own muffled breath and my heartbeat; travelling through my entire body. Being bound in the suit was hard enough, it allowed the user to easily fall back into their minds. With some of their senses taken away and many of their human abilities, the easiest thing to do was travel to the world of imagination, or sometimes travel back to the remembered memories.
I recalled sitting in the lawyer's office, minutes after being sentenced for my crime and given the choice to spend my time as a pet or face the reality of going to prison. I recalled the look on Mama's face as she realised what was going to happen to me, a mixture of horror from spending everyday as a cat, locked within a latex suit, but a short relief of knowing I was serving less time and would be under the care of one person.
That way Mama looked at me was burned into my brain. It was an image that would come to mind everytime I closed my eyes, everytime I went to sleep and in situations like this where I get myself into a predicament. Sadly, that was one of my memories that hadn't faded yet. I slowly began to forget more and more about myself as my sentence went on, and I dreaded thinking of what I've forgotten about since Poppy left us, it was easier not to think about it.
But how could I not think about it? That was all I could do trapped as a pet everyday, especially in situations like this where I cannot do a single thing.
I forced my eyes shut, trying to take my mind elsewhere… to think about anything else.
"… Cleo! Cleo!" Donna's voice echoed throughout the hallway outside, her voice began so quietly but became louder all the way until they were in the room, "What's the matter? Stop pulling me so hard, I just woke up!"
I forced my head to the left, bringing my sight towards the door just in time to see Cleo dragging our owner into the room. She was walking on her hands and knees with both of her arms around Donna's wrists, using all of her strength to pull the young, thin woman towards the animal in need.
"Cleo! I…" Donna's voice became louder until she finally stopped.
I struggled to lift my head any higher, Cleo's gaze towards me was the tallest thing I could see, with the bottom of Donna's legs. A cute pair of pajama bottoms was all I could see, they were light grey with an image of black cat scattered around the entirety of the item of clothing. I couldn't see high enough to see the top half of her body, but I caught her arms; which were initially at her sides, traveling upwards towards her head.
Cleo took her gaze from me to look up at our owner, that was when a chuckle echoed throughout the room. I was expecting to be yelled at, scorned for travelling into rooms that Donna had yet to enter, I was even expecting some form of sympathy for being stuck in this situation, but laughter was the last thing I thought I would hear.
The laughing became louder and louder until Donna began covering her mouth to hide the sound, "Oh, I am so sorry, Nala!" She said in between breaths, "But this is so hilarious, I'll get you out in a sec."
The young woman continued laughing, staring at my body in its compromised position. Seeing my head hang low stuck in the stocks, along with my padded paws, as the rest of my body knelt down on the ground, unable to move away. I even imagined my butt would be stuck upwards, meaning the most sensitive parts I have were vulnerable to anything the woman desired.
I moved my body around, trying to get my knees into a comfortable position, due to the hard ground underneath me. This simple motion was enough to get Donna howling, seeing how very stuck I was in the device. Luckily, Cleo remained unfazed by the woman's actions and focused entirely on getting her friend free from her shackles. I didn't know how I could react if she was laughing at me too.
"Okay, okay." She finally stopped, "Let's get you out of there."
The human walked around the device, each step she took echoed from her heavy footstep, not just in this room but through the entire floor, with the black cat pattering close behind her. I moved my body enough to try and get a view of her as she made her way around me, studying the area closely with her thumb and index finger resting underneath her chin.
"Here…" she said, pointing towards a piece of the device that was out of my view, "It looks like there is a latch here that keeps the wood locked in that position, all I need to do is release the latch and it should be an easy escape."
A sense of relief washed over me as she said this, wasting no time in placing her fingers just above the wooden blocks and pushing at some sort of mechanism. A selection of light grunts escaped the woman's mouth as she pushed harder and harder at the same space.
"Uh… oh," she whimpered, pressing against it with all the strength she had, "Did I get it wrong? Does it unlock elsewhere?"
Cleo looked deeply at the device, trying to find something that our owner had missed, but she shrugged her shoulders in response; clueless to how the device worked.
Donna continued pushing at the unseen switch before trying her hardest to pull up the block, "That's not good, I might have to call someone." I felt the restraints lighten on my person for a moment, only for the wood to hit that latch and fall back down again. I was completely and utterly stuck.
"Shit… shit… shit!" Donna cursed to herself, taking a quick step back to get the whole picture once more.
I felt useless and stupid for even falling into this trap, something that was the exact opposite of what I wanted. I didn't even know this device existed this morning and when I found out about it, I didn't want anything to do with it. So, how did I find myself accidentally locked inside it? I screamed within the mask once more, kicking against the dusty ground, just wishing I was anywhere else.
Despite my outburst, Donna did not panic. She carefully looked at the contraption a second time before leaning in, "Maybe… maybe if we-"
*BUZZ* *BUZZ*
Donna stopped. I stopped. All three of us glanced towards the door into the room. It was a quiet sound, but enough to grab our attention. It was a doorbell, letting us know that someone was at the front door. Somehow made it through the front gate.
This was the first time anyone from the outside world had visited us, the last person we ever saw was Mr Grumpypants when he dropped us off here. Could it have been him? He did have access to the gate?
"I'll… I'll go see who that is," Donna said, walking towards the door. Immediately afterwards, she turned around to face me, "Don't go anywhere."
I rolled my eyes, there wasn't anywhere else I could go. I was stuck in this damn device until someone worked out how to open it. The human lingered for a little longer, at first I thought it was because she understood what she just said and how I had no choice but to not go anywhere. But it also seemed that she was taking her time to get to the door, she had begun to get used to the solitude and emptiness of the large house and only interacting with the two mute pets. Was she ready to speak to someone from the outside world.
Finally, she left. The sound of her feet dragged along the floor, this time much lighter and even compared to the footsteps that travelled to greet me. I rested in complete silence, listening to the entire journey she took from the door towards the entrance of the house, listening to every step she took down the long staircase before getting to the front door.
The place was so silent I could even hear the doorknob turning and the squeak of the door as it opened. However, the accompanying voices of our owner and the person on the other side of the door didn't travel too well up to us, we could just about make out the soft voice of Donna, contrasted against the deeper, yet still feminine voice of the visitor.
Only the sounds echoing up the stairs managed to reach our latex-covered ears, the specific words the two women spoke were completely lost on us, sounding like complete gibberish as both the black cat and I focused on the conversation below us.
As I turned my head towards the older cat, I noticed she had crawled out of sight, travelling behind the stocks and out of my line of sight. I then turned my head the opposite direction, now looking towards the door, expecting to see the shiny material covering her body come back into view, perhaps to crawl to the doorway to get closer to the conversation downstairs. However, her figure never came into view.
Looking to my right and then to my left, the black cat was not to be seen, intentionally hiding behind my body to avoid detection. I questioned her, letting out a confused noise from my gagged mouth, a way we've learned to talk to each other despite being in the restraints.
There was no reply.
Again, I called out. She couldn't have left the room, that must mean she was sitting behind me, being as quiet as she possibly could.
Then she took me by surprise, placing her latex snout right into my butt, causing me to yelp and jump on the spot. The sudden sensation of the hard material into an area so private and so sensitive was alarming, I wasn't even able to hold her back in my situation. I moved my behind left to right, forcing my knees to shift along the ground to move it, each time she would just reposition herself to where I moved to, forcing her mouth right back to where it was before. Each time she did this, it would surprise me and cause an involuntary squeak to come out.
A selection of muffled giggles could be heard from the tall woman, enjoying every moment of teasing me.
The sound of my knees shifting on the wood completely masked the noises coming from downstairs, the conversation between our owner and the visitor became lost to us. We couldn't hear the conversation stop and we didn't hear the sound of both their footsteps travelling up the staircase, then along the corridor, directly to the door of the room we were in.
At that point I had stopped fighting, I hung loosely on the punishment block as Cleo hummed happily, her snout buried deep into my butt. This was the position we were found in.
"This shouldn't be a prob-" The deeper voice of the visitor spoke, "Oh… oh my."
I heard Donna audibly gasp before she ran into the room, "I'm so, so sorry. Usually they are well behaved."
I heard Donna's nails clink against the metal collar that hung around Cleo's neck, our owner pulled the black cat's head away from my behind and then continued to pull her a few feet away, giving the visitor ample room to work on me.
"I'm sorry," Donna apologised again, "This is Cleo and that white one is Nala, she's the one that is currently stuck."
"Yes, I can see that" The woman chuckled as she focused on my predicament.
"Girls, this is Rita, she's our new… roommate, I want to call it."
"Roommate sounds about right, yes."
I tried twisting myself to look at the woman, the first part of her body I could see were her legs. A pair of trainers that hung to a pair of pale, freshly shaved legs. Pushing myself further I managed to see a pair of tie dyed leggings, seemingly originally dark blue, with a collection of reds, yellows and greens faded into the material. It was an odd look, but I was used to odd clothing after spending all this time with Donna.
"Do you think you can help her?" My owner asked, still keeping a hold on Cleo's collar.
I could feel the eyes of the woman looking at me, even though I could not pull myself enough to see her head, "Yeah, yeah. I think I can help your little kitty here."
The wooden blocks shifted left to right lightly as her fingers traced along the outside of the frame. I closed my eyes, if this 'Rita' could not release me, then I have no idea what we could do next.
A sudden image came to mind of firefighters surrounding me, filling up the entirety of the small room, trying everything they can to release me from this punishment, with Rita, Donna and Cleo all hugged up against the wall. At first, the idea of having a large group of outsiders look at my bound form was enough to put a knot to my stomach.
What if they have trouble releasing me? What measures would they go to?
My eyes forced themselves open as I imagined an axe being swung into the side of the device, as the imaginary men tried to break the wood with their weapon, I could even hear the sound of it hitting and splitting the wood.
*Click* *Click*
"There… there you go, kitty. You're free." Rita's voice was somewhat soothing in comparison to the battle in my head.
It was a sentence I had to think about a second time, did she really just release me that quickly? She had only just started to look at the punishment block, how could she-
I lifted my head, my neck could move once more. I brought my head all the way up as my body rested itself on my legs. Rita released the second row of locks whilst I was in a state of shock, releasing my paws just as easily as she did the first time around.
My paws easily returned to my body, I had to look at my thin wrists over and over to actually gauge the fact I was no longer in that situation. After Cleo struggled to release me, and then Donna… I was beginning to think this was going to be my life from now on, either that or… the sound of the axe hitting the wood rang in my ears once again.
"Hey, cutie," the woman's voice said above me.
I looked up at my saviour, the tie dyed leggings travelled upwards and were met by an oversized, pink t-shirt. One that was probably two sizes larger than the woman's frame was, the neck of the shirt hung loosely, showing the entirety of her left shoulder and revealing a black bra strap. A white circular logo sat on the front of the shirt, along with a bunch of words that were in a different language. It gave off the typical look of an exercise outfit for an older woman, something that caused an awkward smile to form behind the mask. Her figure was taller than I thought she would be, easily around the same size as Cleo when she's standing.
Rita knelt down next to me, taking her hand to the top of my back as she gently began to pet me to bring me some comfort. She continued, "So, you're Nala? That's a cute name."
I gingerly brought my eyes up, meeting hers. Her eyes were striking, they were a dark brown that were enhanced by thin eyeshadow, causing the white of her eyes to pop out. Her hair was short, but still long enough to be placed into a loose, messy ponytail. A layer of hastily applied red lipstick travelled over her mouth, sadly taking my attention away from her beautiful irises. I would have said she was around ten years older than Donna, and definitely more of a mothering figure than our owner.
I nodded, unable to answer or even thank the woman properly for what she did for me.
"I'm Margarita, but please call me Rita," she said, flashing a soft smile at all of us.
So, these are the new digs?” the new woman asked.
Her voice echoed throughout the entire hall as her heavy footsteps stomped down the varnished, wooden steps. It was a sound neither one of us three were used to, as we generally tried to be as quiet as possible.
Trying to make a good impression on Rita, Donna followed closely behind her as she skipped down the steps along with the beat.
Cleo and were far behind, trying to navigate something as difficult as a staircase whilst in our bound, kneeling forms. This was something we weren’t used to, having spent the entirety of our sentence in a quiet, small bungalow.
My paws shook as I took every step as slowly and as carefully as I possibly could. I unintentionally muttered and yelped underneath the mask with each slight movement, trying my hardest not to slip and end up falling down the rest of the staircase. Something that would undoubtedly hurt or maybe even worse.
Cleo wasn’t as timid as I was, although she still practised caution, it seemed like the black cat was somewhat used to traversing the obstacle, telling me she had wandered onto the next floor more than once since we arrived.
“This place is huge!” Rita said in a loud voice, “How many rooms are there?”
“Oh… I’m not sure. There is a kitchen and a bathroom, I’ve been staying in that room.” Donna pointed towards the open door, light blared from the still functioning TV, revealing the sofa she became comfortable with sleeping on.
“You haven’t looked around, yet?”
“No, not yet. I wanted to wait for you to get here so we can do it together.”
Rita turned around, placing her hands on top of her hips, “Well, ain’t you a peach? I do apologise for that, I was about to leave my old place but then I was ordered to wait at the house until my new pet was assigned to me, the trial was delayed so I was stuck in that small space with all those bloody reporters looking through the gate.”
“Yeah, I hated that too.”
“It was hell, I tell ya. So, all I could do was wait with Bunbun until we received the all clear, we couldn’t leave or go near any windows, it was like being trapped in a cage.”
My eyes lit up, just that word alone was enough to send my heart racing, forcing me to place my paw at the wrong angle and trip over myself. Luckily, I was already at the last step and corrected myself as my entire body finally touched the ground floor. Whilst I managed not to fall, the actions I made were enough to catch the attention of the two humans, who glanced briefly in my direction before returning to their conversation.
“What’s behind here, then?” Rita asked, walking the opposite direction of the few rooms Donna had become comfortable in and pushing through a closed door.
Once again, Donna followed the woman closely, with both Cleo and I close behind them.
The actions the woman was making were quick and controlling, almost coming into our humble lives like a wrecking ball. It was nerve-wracking having a woman with such a short fuse around us, but I did appreciate her willingness to explore her new home.
“I… I haven’t been through here… yet,” Donna squeaked behind her.
Rita turned to our owner with a wide smile on her face, seemingly surprised with what laid behind the closed door. It was a somewhat large room, two two-seater chesterfield sofas sat opposite each other, separated by a wooden coffee table. A collection of art was scattered along the walls, showing us natural environments from around the world. A grandfather clock rested on the back wall, ticking loudly to remind everyone of each second that went by.
“Now, this is fancy.” The new woman laughed through her teeth, “C’mon, take a seat. We got a lot to talk about.”
“Sure. Can I ask, when will we be meeting your pets?”
“Soon, soon. They are waiting in the car; I told them I was going to get the lay of the land first.”
“Oh, okay.”
The two women walked into the room and took their seats on the opposite sofas, the slight aching in the wood caused a creak that could easily be heard through the deafening silence. It was clear that Donna was still somewhat timid in comparison to the courage that oozed out of the new woman, Rita rested her back against the sofa, placing her arms along the top and sitting with her legs far apart. Donna made sure to sit as close to the edge of the furniture as possible, keeping her bare legs close together.
“So…” Rita started, “I think we should talk schedules first. If we are going to live with each other, it will be best to work everything out at the same time.”
“Sure, that sounds reasonable.”
“As one of my girls is new, it will be easier for my pets to conform to your times. So, what’s your schedule?”
Donna looked upwards as she went deep in thought, she brought out her fingers and started putting each task on an individual digit, “Well, I let my girls go to the toilet whenever they want. Three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. I give them showers every other day, unless we’ve been out for a long walk, it's not comfortable for them to be sweaty in those things, and then we go shopping twice a week.”
Rita nodded, “Okay, okay.”
“That reminds me, we’ll probably have to figure out where the nearest shop to us is… we haven’t exactly left the house since we arrived. We've been living off the food the company had left us in the fridge.”
“That’s okay, chick. All in good time. So, how often do you relieve your pets?”
“R-relieve? As I said, they can go to the bathroom whenever they need to.”
“Not that kind of relief… the other kind.”
Donna looked stumped, “Other kind? Sorry, I don’t know what you mean.”
“Relieve? Flicking the bean? Firin’ the torpedo? Havin’ some self-lovin’?”
“Umm… I really don’t-” Her eyes went huge as her hands came up to her face, covering her mouth in complete shock, “Oh! You mean that!”
Rita chuckled, “Yeah, that’s what I mean.”
“I thought they weren’t allowed that? Isn’t there some rule against it?”
“Well, no. There isn’t a rule, more of a guideline.”
“I just assumed they would just do it themselves on their monthly release?”
“Monthly? Donna, you don't seem to be the most sexually person I know, but do you think you can go that long without it?”
“Well…” Our owner looked towards us, “Honestly, I haven’t thought about it much… and I am sexually active, I have a girlfriend and we've done it this many times!"
I didn't look up, but I could see that Donna was only holding up one hand, telling everyone in the room that her and Lauren had sex five times or less in the many months they were together. In Donna's mind, that probably sounded like a lot and she was bragging to the new lady about her sexual exploits.
I shook my head softly.
Rita chimed in, “That's nice to know. Well, don’t worry. The pets usually find a way around this, I’m sure your girls figured out a way to have it more than once a month, am I right?”
I was so focused on Donna, I didn’t notice the new woman’s eyes peering at me. It was a look that made Cleo try and hide behind me, causing me to only notice when I felt the large cat’s warm body against mine. My brain slowly caught up to what the new woman was implying, revealing that the deal Cleo and I had wasn’t anything new to the world of ‘Pet Correction’.
As soon as I looked up, I could feel my cheeks blushing red and a large amount of heat coming off them. This woman knew exactly what we got up to twice a month.
“See,” Rita pointed directly towards me, “Look at her face! She knows exactly what I’m talkin’ about. You should be the one to do it, it reinforces the control you have over them and stops them from getting it on behind your back.”
Donna looked down at her knees, almost as if she was ashamed of this entire conversation, “I… I don’t think I could do that. I don’t have that kind of relationship with them.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can be the one to do it if you’d like. It’s super-easy once you know how.” Rita whistled and patted her lap, “Hey, white kitty, Umm… Nala. Come here.”
I looked up between the two women, with the familiar feeling of my heart beating against my chest once again; for the third time that morning. I could see Rita’s eagerness for my attention, but Donna looked at me with sad and almost defeated eyes. However, a slight nod from the young woman was enough to tell me to follow the older woman’s commands. I quickly looked at Cleo, who was also just as lost as I was. It hurt to see the black cat in this state. Despite being bound and as helpless as I was, Cleo still seemed to have some control over the situation. She knew how to get around Donna's control and sometimes get what she wanted, but this was a new person.
It was no secret that Cleo was stronger than our owner, the black cat could easily overpower her whenever she wanted, I've only ever seen her doing it once before. However, Rita was not only as tall as Cleo and as strong, she had full power over the entire situation. Seeing my fellow cat stare back at me with blank eyes was a scary sight, which told me I had no choice but to comply with the new woman's orders.
"Come here," she repeated herself in a more cutesy tone, as if she was actually talking to a cat.
I numbly crawled forwards, passing Donna, passing Cleo before I was at the feet of the new woman. She continued to pat the seat, telling me exactly where my destination was going to be. I allowed a small sigh to escape my lips, placing both paws onto the sofa before I brought my entire body onto the seat next to her, after a small struggle.
Then where she was patting changed, her hands then gently rested on her lap, placing her fingers up and down on her leggings, which told me where I was to go next. One last look towards Donna was given before I moved, she managed to give me a small smile in that short time, which gave me some form of comfort.
I placed both paws on the arm of the soft before dragging my body over her legs, I felt her hand position itself on the back of my head, which told me to place it down and rest my chin on the back of my paws, after this she placed her other hand between my legs and move them apart, bringing one knee upwards and giving her full access to my downstairs area. Finally, her hand came to rest on my butt as the two women continued their talk.
"See, this is all you need to do. Just once every other day, no one needs to know about it and it keeps your pet loyal and submissive to you." The woman's voice was calm and somewhat relaxing.
Donna's voice was the opposite, she was nervous and acting as if this was something she was never supposed to see, "Okay… Nala does look comfortable."
"She is. Bunbun is a horny gal, she comes up to me in this position nearly everyday now. I actually need to ease her off it. So… when they are in this position, you can just do this…"
I felt her fingers travel downwards, hitting my private area over the latex skin. Instantly, I brought myself up, shocked by the sudden movement, but her free hand rested on my back and told me to stay put.
I noticed even Donna tried to stand up, acting as if this new woman was hurting one of her pets, but soon I began to settle.
It seemed the woman was expecting my reaction from the sudden touch and did everything she could to calm me down and made sure her hands weren't too rough on my body. I assumed the last thing she would have wanted was to create a bad first impression.
A quiet moan escaped my lips, I had no control over my movements. My head fell back onto my paws as the woman took full control over my body. It was gentle at first, with her finger just tracing along the outside of the suit, just enough to excite my clit and have me needing more. I buried my head further into my paws, knowing that both Donna and Cleo were staring at me with wide eyes and open mouths, the entire time helpless to the new woman's movements.
I heard a selection of stuttering words leave Donna, as if she was trying to think of a question to ask, or just to fill the awkward silence of the room, but none of the words managed to lead into a sentence.
Unfortunately, I completely lost my focus at that point. I brought my paw up and back onto the sofa, trying to comprehend the sensation down below. It was different, it was harder than I had it before with Cleo, but not rough at all. It was pleasure that came from obligation, rather than care or love, but she still knew exactly what she was doing.
My body melted onto her, the bones within my limbs seemed to evaporate whilst her finger rubbed deeper and deeper. I had no strength to fight or put it off, I couldn't think of anything else but that sensation that was swiftly approaching.
This wasn't love.
This wasn't care.
This was a human need at the cost of humiliation.
The entire time she was soothing me, whispering softly in my ear, telling me that I was safe, I didn't need to worry and that all I needed to do was relax and just accept it.
Faster and faster her finger worked, digging in further to the point she knew she was touching my clit, up and down, up and down. It was… good. It was needed. I almost lost control over everything, before I knew it I was audibly groaning and moaning in time with her movements. My back began to arch as I pushed my sex further into her finger, trying to force her to hit every part of me she possibly could.
In my mind, I was just responding to a biological need, something that was handed to me and I would take full advantage of it.
Rita bellowed out, "You hear that? She's lovin' it!"
My face burned within the mask, I could feel the heat echo from the latex material underneath. I had to turn my face further into Rita, trying to hide myself from the people I called my family. The noise echoed around the silent room, a noise that came directly from me and revealed how much I was enjoying the motion.
Whilst I could hide my embarrassment, I couldn't hide the sound of liquid moving around Rita's strong finger.
"Oh my," Donna squeaked, I imagined her bringing her hands over her mouth in shock.
I…I…I… couldn't hold on any longer. With a fully red face and a silent room, my hands pushed against the sofa's arm. It was intense, too intense. The situation was so absurd, with my small audience watching as I had to endure the sensations given to me by the new woman. Rita's finger pushed further into me, moving quicker and quicker as she tried to bring the pleasure to me sooner, almost as if she was trying to head to the goal faster than she had imagined.
I had no control anymore, my body thrashed around, trying everything I could to avoid the gaze of the black cat and woman on the other side of the room. No matter what happened, Rita's hand stayed exactly in place, telling me it wasn't going to leave and that I had to take everything she was giving to me.
I… I… Oh, fuck! FUCK!
My back arched, bringing my head upwards whilst my eyes rolled back. My hands and feet shook and at the same time my neck gyrated. It must have been an absurd sight for my audience to watch, but I couldn't control any of my motions, I had zero control since Rita began touching me.
However, her finger didn't stop. It kept grazing up and down at the same intensity as before, not ceasing in any way, even a small amount to allow me to focus entirely on the orgasm that was flowing through my body.
I… please…
"There we go," Rita soothed me, bringing her hand to my head and caressing my cheek. This allowed her to bring my head back down towards her, finally bringing my head to her chest.
Her fingers continued.
Only after I began to come down from the orgasm was when she finally started to slow down. It wasn't an immediate stop, probably taking about half a minute to come to a stop. I only began to relax when she brought her hands away from my sex, placing her now free hand behind my butt as she pulled me in for a cuddle.
"See, that wasn't too bad, was it?" She asked me, quietly.
I shook my head, it wasn't bad overall… Humiliating, yes.
Rita turned her attention to Donna, "See, that's all you have to do. That took- what? Three minutes?"
"Yes… well, umm…" Donna's struggle for words continued, "That was certainly something."
Rita laughed again, rocking herself backwards and forwards and caressing me like I was an infant wanting to be soothed, "It's easy really, once you get the hang of it. So… now that I've seen yours, would you like to see my gals?"