The grey stone building stood before Cassandra rather uninterestingly, the mock Tudor fronting grayed to some extent by years of pollution. The black paint on the door was pealing slightly. Irony had taken its turn, placing it at 23 Acacia Avenue, next to the mythical whore of Iron maiden fame. The numbers were faintly unaligned, leaning away from each other at the top. Blood red roses climbed the front amongst ivy. A large brass knocker sat to the left of the door.
Cassandra hoped she was appropriately dressed, in a short purple jacket, three quarter length jeans and a flowery blouse. Her shoulder length blond hair hung slightly in front of her wire-framed glasses. She had put on her favorite stripy socks and black ballet flats too, in the thought that comfort took precedence to appearance. In her left hand, she held a tattered piece of paper and between her thumb and forefinger a silver ring, with three skulls adorning it. Gingerly, she raised the knocker and let it fall, the echo sounding through the empty street.
The door opened, as if mechanically powered, buzzing and humming slightly. Inside there was a small entrance room, dimly lit and decorated in dark reds and ebony. A red velvet chaise lounge sat to the left of the room. The floor was of a dark mahogany boarding with a red rug in the centre of the room. An empty coat rack stood to the right of the door. Standing in the centre was a youngish tall woman of about twenty-five. She was wearing a white high-necked Victorian blouse, a knee length black skirt and calf length high-heeled boots increasing her appearance of height further. Her hands were behind her back, and she turned to Cassandra.
Hurriedly and nervously, Cassandra blurted out, "A man gave me these." She held the ring and paper forward, towards the woman.
The woman's gaze moved to the ring, then in a soft sultry voice she said, "I am Zsa Zsa, I will inform the others that our guest is here." As she turned and headed to a door, Cassandra noticed her hands were lashed together with a thin cord tied in a bow behind her back. "Wait here," Zsa Zsa said leaving Cassandra alone.
A minute past, though to Cassandra it felt like five. Her mind drifted back to the previous evening. She was sitting alone in the bar of the Raven, drinking a vodka and cranberry and quietly listening to the Cure, when a biker walked over to the bar. His long and fiery hair hung so it partially hid his face in the dark of the bar. He reached into his black leather jacket and produced a crisp note with which he ordered a glass of champagne and a shot of absinthe. He poured the absinthe into the champagne, took off his silver ring, the one Cassandra was now holding, and put it in the glass. From his jeans, he produced a piece of paper, scribbled on it then passed the glass and paper to Cassandra before leaving silently. The paper contained the address of this building and the words "The Phantom". Intrigued she had decided to investigate the following morning.
The reappearance of Zsa Zsa awoke her from her daydreaming. Though this time she was without the boots, her hands remained bound. Her toenails were painted the same crimson as the wallpaper. Zsa Zsa's bare feet made a quiet, moist patting sound on the hard wooden floor. With a glance she gestured to the coat stand and then to a small end table beside. In the same sultry voice she said, "They will see you now, you may leave your coat and those over there."
Cassandra laid the note and ring on the table carefully, then slowly removed her jacket and hung it on the coat stand, noticing an ebony cane with a silver skull handgrip in the stand. Then, crossing her arms across her chest, she turned and followed Zsa Zsa through a side door and down a wrought iron staircase. The staircase wound round a grey stone pillar in a sandstone lined shaft, continuing for about three floors under the soil.
The staircase ended into a torch lit stone corridor, which stretched out into the distance. Every now and then, there would be a large iron bound oak door in a vaulted arch recess along the walls. The only sounds as Zsa Zsa led Cassandra down the corridor was the crackle of the torches and the soft echo of their feet on the hard stone floor, forming a primitive rhythm that causes Cassandra's mind to wander to tribal images.
They stopped outside one of the doors. The biker from the previous night arrived from the other direction with another woman. His leathers and jeans were gone, in their place was a white renaissance shirt and tight leather britches. The metal heels on his boots clicked in time with the rattle of the side buckles under the folded tops. The fiery hair no longer covered his face, but was instead, tied back into a ponytail and a white mask obscured the left and upper parts of his face in its place. The woman wore a black leather full corset, with a black thong and garter. Her black knee length boots made a sharp striking sound as the stiletto heel hit the floor. A studded leather collar adorned her milky white neck and long black lace gloves her arms. The slight breeze from the torches caused her raven black hair to wave gently.
He spoke in a deep tone that echoed through the empty corridor, "I've business to attend to; I shall leave you with Mistress Elizabeth here. She should attend to you very well indeed." There was a slight smile on his face as he said the last sentence, hinting at a darker context. Cassandra watched as he walked down the passage, her lips moistening at the thought of him.
Mistress Elizabeth gestured to a door with her left hand, and then commanded with a strong English accent, "Take them off and go through there." She gestured towards Cassandra.
Cassandra looked back nervously, "Take what off? Miss?"
Elizabeth grabbed Cassandra's right leg, and then pulled off her ballet flat, then her sock, moving on to the left leg, she said, "It will be Ma'am or Mistress from now on, girl." The stone floor was cold under her feet and she shivered as her right foot went down. Elizabeth threw the shoes and socks into a small alcove and pushed the now barefoot Cassandra through the door, then proceeded to remove her own boots, zipping them down slowly. Around her ankles, tight to the skin were two silver anklets.
A thin brilliant red PVC padding upholstered the walls on the inside of the room, which made a slight sucking noise as Cassandra stumbled across the floor. Zsa Zsa had stood in against the far wall, upright, facing away from the door. In the centre of the room stood a padded bench, about waist height with stocks at the base and covered in the same red material. A few feet away stood a small table with a selection of objects, covered by a red silken cloth, and a small box below.
Elizabeth entered the room as Cassandra was standing up. She moved to Zsa Zsa and untied her hands. She placed the cord on the table, and pulled out the box. Turning to Cassandra, she thrust the box forward.
"Both of you, strip, now! Put the clothes in the box when you are done." She commanded.
Zsa Zsa immediately replied, "Yes Mistress." Then began to remove her blouse, followed by her skirt, beneath which was a violet bra and thong, which she removed, starting with the straps and placing each item in the box.
Hesitant and quivering, when the eyes turned to her, Cassandra barely managed to get out a sound. "Yes, Mistress." She called, quietly. Slowly, Cassandra unbuttoned her blouse, then the fly of her jeans, slipping them off, right leg first, then the left. Her blouse came of next, floating gently into the box, followed by her black brassiere then her black lace French knickers, slightly moist from her vagina.