Training Amy (15 page)

            "Maybe I should hide all the knives," the woman said.

            “Let’s see if she comes out of it on her own,” Eric said with some uncertainty.

            “I know this is the first time you’ve had a sub with this particular need. You have to learn to recognize the signs. I’ve seen this before. She’s completely shut down, Eric,” said a familiar male voice.

            “She just needs some sleep,” Eric said again, not sounding entirely convinced.

“Come on, we’ll take you upstairs and get you tucked in,” the female said.

“I’m fine,” Amy repeated.  Obediently, her legs moved, following the blurry figure. Her feet felt like rubber. Her emotions were numb. She just couldn’t feel anything. They went up the stairs. There were footfalls behind her, but she didn’t turn around. She didn’t care.

            Then she was in the bedroom. It was Eric’s room, she remembered.

            “Amy,” came Eric’s voice from her left.

            Amy sucked in a ragged breath and continued to stare forward. She remembered the smoke and the heat and the strange whooshing sound. That horrible sound; it was the fire devouring everything.  She’d been so close to dying. She sucked in another rough breath.

            She felt pressure on her face, a slight sting on her cheek. “Amy!” the woman’s voice came at her.

            The smoke. The thick acrid smoke. It filled her lungs and burned. She smelt like it. Her chest tightened. A cool breeze slid over her body as her clothes were removed. Then she was walking again. The tile beneath her feet was cold and hard. She stood in the small space, warm water raining down on her, but she still felt cold.

            She felt the hands working the towel over her body, drying her off.

            “It’s not working you guys,” the woman said. “Eric, Brad’s right. I’ve seen this before a couple of times.”

            With a sigh Eric put his face inches from Amy's. "Amy, sweetheart, focus. Do you see me?"

            She nodded. Through the darkness she saw Eric and only Eric. The numbness was starting to scare her. More than anything she wanted to dig into her skin with her nails and rip away the flesh to make the darkness go away.

            "Are you going to hurt yourself?" Eric asked. "Is pain the only thing that will bring you out of this?"

            Again, she nodded. She needed to cry. If only she could cry. Forcing her emotions, she tried to. She thought of all the saddest things that had ever happened to her. Nothing was working.

            "There, you have your answer," the man said. “It has to be done.”

            Why couldn't she tell who it was? She knew him. The darkness spiraled around her.

            “Amy, give me your hands,” it was Eric’s voice again. His order comforted her.

            She offered her hands toward the sound of his voice. She felt the wrist cuffs go on.

            “I don’t know if I can do this,” Eric said.

            “You can’t let her shut down, Eric. She needs to be brought back, otherwise she could hurt herself. I’ve seen this before,” the male voice told him. “Trust me, this isn’t medical shock. I’m a trained paramedic, remember? This is an emotional shut down. A few stings from the whip and she’s going to come right out of it, I promise.”

            “I agree with Brad,” the female voice said.

            Amy’s arms were hoisted over her head and she was restrained there, by the wrist cuffs.  She wasn’t uncomfortable or anything. She just was.

            The first few stings of the whip on her back and ass didn’t hurt at all. As a matter of fact the sensation was exquisite. It gave her satisfaction. The sensation then built to a crescendo, like something was going to burst out of her chest. That’s when she felt the first sting of searing pain and she cried out.

            “You have to keep going,” the familiar male voice said.

            The whip came across her lower back. With that the room came into sharp focus and for the first time since she crawled out of the window well, she was fully present in reality. With a sickening crack the whip hit her square on the buttocks. She cried out as the pain radiated through the already tender flesh. With the pain, the reality of the night came rushing into her now lucid mind. She collapsed against the restraints, sobbing. Sobbing because she could have lost her parents. She could have died. They’d lost everything and there was a possibility that someone had set the house on fire
on purpose
.  The tears flowed freely now and she was aware of Kali, who released her wrists, and Eric whose arms she fell into. She also became aware of Brad who was carefully coiling the whip back up.

            “That’s better, let it out, Amy.”

            Kali grabbed a blanket from the chair and gave it to Eric, who wrapped Amy into it, clutching her to his chest.

            She cried for at least an hour before finally falling asleep in Eric’s arms.

            She woke to find herself Eric's bed, warm and safe and nestled against his chest.  His soft breath and embrace comforted her. She stretched out alongside his body, pushing herself as close to him as she could. Her gaze traveled to the bedside table to the blue numbers on the alarm clock. It was eleven thirty! Jumping up she looked around. She'd already missed classes and Eric had missed work. That's when what had happened the night before flooded back to her.

            Eric sat up behind her. "Amy, lay back down. Rest. You had a long night." His hand slid over her shoulders and back and he gently pulled her back into the bed. He kissed the back of her head and she relaxed against him.

            "I wonder if I should call my mom and see how my parents are doing," she whispered.

            "I talked to your mom this morning," he said. "I didn't want to wake you and she didn't want me to wake you but she said not to worry about anything. All she and your dad are doing today is meeting with insurance people and talking to the fire inspector. You have been ordered to get some rest and then if you want, you should go to your Aunt Laura's and have dinner."

            She let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't want to. I don't have any damn thing to wear..."

            "Kali guessed your size and got with some of her girlfriends early this morning and pulled you together some clothes. They're hanging in the closet," he said into the back of her neck.

            "Don't you have to go to work?"

            "Brad is taking today and we've got a friend coming in to help out."

            "You have an answer for everything."

            "Yep." He let out a contented sigh. "Now sleep a little longer, would you? I'm enjoying it."

            She closed her eyes and tried, but sleep never came back. Instead, she listened to Eric's heartbeat and relaxed against the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he slept. Finally, when she couldn't stay in bed anymore she got up and went directly to the shower. Once she was finished she slipped into the huge walk-in closet which had been half empty when she'd last seen it. Now, the entire right side had a good selection of women's clothing. A smile crossed her lips as she looked at the clothes. They were a combination of casual and conservative. With Kali at the helm of that decision making she half expected to see latex and leather. Though there were a few tasteful mini-skirts. Evidently Eric had shared his love of short skirts with Kali, too? She wondered. Not today, no, today she decided to wear jeans and a soft pink button down blouse. Several new pairs of panties and bras in her size also sat there, along with shoes. They'd thought of everything. The thoughtfulness touched her deeply. None of her friends had ever been this kind and thoughtful before.
Then maybe you need to update your friends
, her mind responded.

            Then she thought back to the night before.  She had needed to cry and the sting of the whip was the only thing able to bring it out of her. She'd almost emotionally shut down and gone to a dark place, and yet the three of them had kept her from falling. The whole experience gave her a new view of dominance and submission. Did all Doms have the same need to dominate and care for their subs as Eric seemed to care for her? Certainly that was the case since Brad and Kali both seemed just as concerned for her and as thoughtful about her welfare as Eric did. More importantly, did all subs feel the same need she did to submit to a master? Did they all feel that need to please and care for a Dom like she did Eric?  While Amy gladly acknowledged that something inside her had changed and that she now understood her own submission better, there was something special about Eric.  She was happy their relationship had happened and she wanted it. All of it. But it still scared her a little bit.

            Despite the fact that she had no home, no money, no driver's license, and not a single possession (minus her backpack, textbooks and laptop and the student loan that came with college), she still had a lot to be thankful for. She still had her parents, her friends, a wonderful boyfriend and a good job. At that moment she felt safe, secure, happy, fortunate, grateful and well rested. Slipping quietly downstairs she made a pot of coffee and enjoyed the view of the backyard from the kitchen table. When Eric came up behind her she didn't even flinch in surprise.

            He kissed her cheek. "How are we this morning my sweet Amy?"

            She smiled up at him. "Fine. Happy to be alive. Thank you for not letting me fall into that dark place."

He hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. “I didn’t want to use the whip on you at all. If it hadn’t been for Brad and Kali…”

“It’s okay. I needed it,” she admitted; and she did. The bite of the whip was the only alternative to hurting herself. She knew it and she was pretty sure Eric did, too.

"Oh, Kali said if we drop by the DMV off fifth they can make you a duplicate license there. It shouldn’t take us more than forty-five minutes if the line is long," he said, going over to the coffee pot and pouring himself a cup. "Soon as I've had some coffee I'll run upstairs, get ready, and we'll go. Twenty minutes, tops."

            "Okay."

            "Are you feeling numb or distant?" he asked. His eyes were filled with a great deal of concern.

            "No. I'm comfortable," she decided. "I don't want to do anything, but I suppose I should call my aunt's house and see what's up."

            Eric nodded. "You do that and I'm off to get ready."

            After he disappeared upstairs she picked up the phone and called her aunt only to learn they were having dinner at six and she should bring Eric. Getting a replacement drivers license didn't take as long as she anticipated and as scheduled, she and Eric showed up at her aunt Laura's just before six to find her parents and Paul waiting for her.

            Amy's jaw tightened. The sight of Paul pissed her off and she wondered what the hell he was doing there. Eric noticed her immediate change in mood and put on a big smile.

            Once they were all seated around the table, looking at each other over plates of her aunt Laura's famous lasagna, Amy couldn't hold back anymore. "So is there a reason you invited both Paul and Eric to a family dinner after the house burnt down?"

            Her father looked nervous. "Amy, we need to talk to you. We found out something today..."

            Amy's eyes narrowed. She glanced at Paul who was giving Eric threatening looks. Eric remained calm with a reserved expression plastered on his face. "Well spit it out," she said, her voice cold.

            "We found out the fire was no accident. It was set
on purpose
. As it turns out Paul here was driving by while we were at the house today and he stopped. He was concerned for your well-being and told us you were hanging out with some bad people. No offense intended toward Eric, but I need to know exactly who he is, how come your mother and I have never heard about him before, and what kind of shady things he's into." Her father looked directly at Eric when he said that.