He opened his eyes slowly and looked around groggily, the back of his head pounding in pain. Two figures came into view, blurry at first, but getting clearer as he blinked his eyes. As he focussed, he found he recognised the figures. It was Asha and Don, his quiet, reserved next door neighbours. Only, they didn't look so reserved now. In fact, if he didn't know their faces, he wouldn't have believed it was them.
Asha was dressed in a skin tight, black mini dress, with a deep cut neck, and a hemline just shy of being too revealing. She also wore knee high boots, with 5 inch stiletto heels, and zips from ankle to knee. Her hair was let down in a fashion he had never seen before, and it seemed to accentuate her pixie face, especially her large, green/blue eyes, which had a strange glint to them.
Don's outfit consisted of a loose, black silk shirt, with shortened sleeves that emphasised his muscular arms, and black dress pants that fitted his form well, but couldn't really be considered skin tight. It was topped off with a pair of highly shined black dress shoes, and made him look rather imposing, more than the disarming guy he usually was.
Asha looked at him and smiled "Ah, James, you're finally awake. I thought Don had been a little heavy handed with you for a moment." She laughed, although there was no warmth behind it, and James felt a chill run down his spine. He tried to walk toward them, but found he couldn't move. Looking at his hands and feet, he saw that he was strapped to a heavy, stone cross by what looked to be heavy duty cuffs.
Looking back at the two of them, he asked, with a slight quaver in his voice "What the hell is this? Where am I? What are you up to?" He strained a little against the cuffs, but found that he couldn't move them at all. He felt himself panicking, and tried to calm down.
Don looked at Asha and nodded, turning around and walking off, seemingly into darkness. This was when James realised that there was only one light, and it was focussed to leave the rest of the room, except him and the area where Asha stood, in complete blackness. Asha walked toward him, and stepped up onto a little platform, so she was level with his head. Grinning wickedly, she pulled a small, sharp looking knife from her cleavage, and started to cut along the sleeve of his shirt. Moving around on the platform to the other side, she repeated the process with the other sleeve. As she cut the final thread, the shirt fell from James' body, to rest at his feet.
Squirming against the cuffs, James stared wide eyed as Asha made her way in front of him again and trailed the point of the knife lightly down his torso, moving lower and bending at the knees with the movement of the knife. When she was eye level with his waistline, she slipped the knife back into her cleavage and proceeded to undo his belt.
Unsure of what was happening, James stuttered out a timid "What are you doing?" but only received an icy cold look from her. He resigned himself to her complete stripping of his clothes, and winced as she roughly jerked his jeans down, leaving his boxers in place.
Smiling in satisfaction, Asha stood up slowly and then turned back toward the direction Don had gone. As she stepped down off the platform, he walked back into the circle of light, holding a rather wicked looking knife, which looked like it was made more to maim than kill.
James gulped audibly and his eyes automatically focussed on the knife. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he knew he didn't want that blade anywhere near him.
Asha walked up to the platform again, and James' focus flicked to her, and then back to the knife. Moving her hand to his chin, she held his head so that all he could see was Don with his blade, and then whispered seductively "Don't worry, pet. I like you too much to let him hurt you with that big, nasty knife. You'll be safe." With that, she pulled the small knife out again and started to trace it lightly over his chest, pressing harder, and gradually cutting him enough to make a faint line of crimson form on his skin.
Still transfixed by Don, James didn't notice the slight damage Asha had done to him, until he felt a burning sensation on his chest. Looking down, he is suddenly mesmerised by what looked to be a heart shaped line, drawn directly over where his heart actually resided in his chest. Looking at Asha, he smiled weakly, feeling slightly at ease, but also terrified of what was happening.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked. "What have I done to you?" He strained futilely against his bonds, and his eyes flashed with panic and anger.
Asha moved as close to his ear as possible, without actually touching her lips to him, and hissed vehemently "Quiet! All will be explained to you. Now shut up!" James gulped again and nodded, frightened by her sudden change in manner.
Smiling again, Asha pulled back and then said quite clearly "You are a very vulgar man, James. You ogle women down the street, making them feel uncomfortable. You yell obscenities at the most inappropriate moments, and make rude gestures with your hands that are quite uncalled for." she smirked and then continued "Now, Don and I have taken it upon ourselves to teach you a lesson. We're going to make you the model of society. Doesn't that just fill you with a sense of happiness?" Still smirking, she let go of his chin and then looped a piece of leather around his neck, holding him even firmer in place, and preventing him from moving his head.
Don took a few steps toward them, playing the knife through his hands in an almost absent minded fashion. However, there was anything but disinterest in his eyes. They flashed red with fire, and James could see the pure malice in those dark pupils. It was like looking into the eyes of the Devil.
Asha leaned in close to his ear again and started to whisper "First, we're going to teach you how not to use your hands for rude gestures. That blade is going to slice your hands, one by one, until we think you have learned your lesson."
James' eyes widened in horror and he began to stutter. "B-b-b-but you promised he wouldn't hurt me! You said you wouldn't let him get me with the knife!" He started to strain against the bonds again, thrashing violently. Asha reached behind his head, and he felt a slight pressure on his throat, gradually getting tighter, until the leather began to cut into his skin. He stopped moving immediately, and the pressure lessened.
"Don't do anything stupid, pet. You can't get free, so don't waste your energy. We wouldn't want you to be wasted before we had finished our lessons, now would we?" James shook his head as much as he could, and she continued. "The leather strap around your neck can be tightened at any time with a screw device on the back of this cross. I really would hate to crush your windpipe... Just now, anyway."
Asha laughed sardonically and then nodded at Don, who immediately stepped forward onto the platform. He grabbed James' left hand with his own, and held the blade steady, roughly a centimetre from James' palm. Looking at him with fiery eyes, he smiled and sneered "Don't flinch. I'd hate to mess this up."
James begins to whimper and sweat started to form on his upper lip, glistening in the harsh light. Asha hissed in his ear "Silence! The blade hasn't even touched you yet. Stop acting like a baby."
