Please read Day One for this story to make sense.
Day Two-Morning
A soft, unknown sound penetrated the barriers of my sleeping conscience. I awoke, slowly, limb by limb, and stretched each one to relieve the tightness in my body. Shivery tingles and strange aches in uncertain places served as a reminder of the previous day's ordeal. I woke, strangely comforted, by the sight of the austere room that had been mine for the previous hours. No one had come to see to my welfare, to my knowledge, since the door closed and I had been locked inside. I was totally and completely alone.
I had been given six hours for sleep. Groggily, I sat up and felt my sore and abused bottom still stretched around the plug which had been lodged there overnight. The sound that woke me echoed again, closer this time. Moments later, the door to my room opened and someone stepped inside. It was not someone I had met the night before.
"I hope you rested well. My name is Connor. I had previous commitments last night that kept me from being here. There are more activities planned for you today. I brought your breakfast, and will come back for you in 20 minutes," she said.
True to her word, Connor left a tray containing a carton of yoghurt with a spoon, a muffin, and a bottle of water. I ate, surprisingly hungry, considering the trauma of the previous evenings events and the wonder about future activities.
When I finished eating, I waited on Connor to come for me. My wait was not long. She arrived quickly.
"Close your eyes and hold out your arms."
I did these tasks and a blindfold was placed over my eyes and some sort of restraint was wrapped around my wrists, binding them together. I held my arms down in front of me as I was led from the room.
"Someone has made an offer for you, if your training proves successful. I am taking you for showing later on today."
"I'm not ready for this," I silently screamed inside my head. "I've only been here one evening. What if I've made the wrong choice? Who will take care of the things that must be done if I enter into service?"
I was led into a chilly room, with the sound of several voices nearby. They were the team from last night. Their discussion must have been a heated one, for though they were whispering, their words carried in the still air.
"This is not acceptable protocol. She has only been here one night. He has no right to expect that she is ready for anything other than the remainder of the training," the woman from last night snapped.
Connor spoke gently to the bickering couple, "Excuse me, please, I have the candidate you requested."
When did I become the candidate? I had heard no one speak my name since I arrived last night. Is this part of the training? Do I cease to exist as a person to be reborn only as parts to be used for sexual pleasure? My name is Claire. I repeated this mantra over and over again to myself as I waited.
The order was given for me to kneel and I was assisted to my knees. Connor stayed with me while the others in the room left.
"Your training will begin soon. If everything goes as planned, you'll be tested on your pain threshold today."
I heard Connor move to the edges of the room I was being held in. Other rustlings of sounds like chair legs, a pen on paper, and drawers being slid open and closed kept my mind from wandering. Another sound, a whoosh, and white-hot pain erupted on my buttocks. The shriek that followed came from my own mouth. With no warning, another strike blazed across my skin. Again and again, the whistle of the cane led into agony as strike after strike assaulted my back and buttocks. When there was finally a lull in the whipping, I found myself resting in a puddle. I had humiliated myself by releasing my bladder.
