Claudia woke up. She could feel that she was lying on something soft and warm. She opened her eyes, and sat up slowly.
She was in what looked like a woman's bedroom, lying on a made-up bed. In front of her was a dresser, with a set of expensive-looking perfume bottles. To her right was a walk-in closet and a bathroom. To her left was a closed door. There were no windows. The room was utterly silent.
There was no sign of Mark.
Claudia swung her feet onto the floor. The floor was gritty under her bare feet. It looked like it had not been swept in a while. She looked for her shoes, but there was no sign of them.
She walked across to the door. It was locked. She pulled on the handle. The door was solidly seated in the frame -- it did not move even slightly.
Claudia walked into the closet. It was huge. It was only partly full; there were many empty hangers. The clothes belonged to a woman. Claudia could not see any pants, only skirts and dresses. There was no sign of her runners; all the shoes seemed to be pumps. The lingerie was mainly black, and mostly lacy.
Claudia looked for another door in the walk-in closet, but there was none. She turned to explore the rest of the room. The perfume was what it had looked like: expensive. The bathroom was very tastefully decorated. There was a tub with a shower, a sink and a toilet. The medicine cabinet over the sink was empty. There were clean towels on the rack.
Looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, Claudia thought she must have been brought on a long journey to get here. Her face was dirty; her hair was a mess. Her leotard and tights were dirty; there was also a large tear in one leg.
Claudia sat down on the bed. What had happened to her? She remembered going into the building, Edward and Sibila with the machine guns, her fear, and then the cloth over her mouth and nose.
Where was Mark? Edward could have killed her; he had chosen not to do so. If he hadn't killed her, he probably hadn't killed Mark. Claudia was not convinced by her own logic. She was very afraid for Mark, even more afraid than she was for herself.
What could she do? There was no obvious way to escape. She was filthy. Claudia decided the first thing to do was to shower and clean herself up.
There was expensive soap and shampoo set out in the shower. There was lots of hot water -- the shower felt wonderful. She dried herself off. The towels were luxuriously thick.
Rather than put her dirty clothes back on, Claudia headed for the closet. She rummaged through the lingerie. Everything felt clean; it all looked like it was about her size. Some of the panties were little more than black strings and a belt. She tried to find the least revealing pair. She tried on several. All fit her. She finally settled on a pair that at least covered her crotch. The fabric still rose up to expose all of her hips.
The bras were no better. Most of them did not even cover her nipples. She managed to find one that did, barely.
She chose a red sun dress that came down to just below her crotch, and that had shoulder straps that snapped on at the front. The dress at least covered her bra. Whoever lives here has strange taste, Claudia thought.
The pumps fit her as well. Claudia picked a black pair with the lowest heels she could find. The heels were still a good inch high.
The outfit would not have been Claudia's first choice, but at least it was clean.
Claudia went to try the door again. It was still securely locked. She walked back towards the bed.
She heard the door open behind her.
"Welcome to my little hide-away."
It was Edward at the door.
"Why don't you come with me."
Edward turned and walked down the hall beyond the doorway. Claudia thought for a moment, and then followed. There was nothing that Edward could do to her outside the room that he couldn't do to her if she stayed in the room. There was more likely to be a chance to escape outside the room.
Edward led her to what looked like a combined living room and dining room at the other end of the hall. There was a sofa with a coffee table in front of it. Against the far wall was a table, with six chairs around it. Through a door, Claudia could see the kitchen.
"What are you going to do?"
Claudia could not help herself asking the question.
"I have a problem. I like you. I like you and Mark. If I didn't like you, I would have killed you in the processing shed. But I didn't kill you. And hence my problem.
"I need to know if you are agents. If you're not agents, then I will let you go. If you are agents, then I will kill you. It is that simple.."
Claudia broke in.
"But we're not agents. We're just on our honeymoon. You don't need to kill us."
"I wish I could believe you. I'm afraid you would say the same thing whether or not you were an agent. I need to be certain. And so I've devised a little test. I am certain that by the end of this test, I will know if you are really an innocent married couple on their honeymoon, or if you are agents."
"What are you going to do?"
Claudia was scared. She thought of all the James Bond movies she had seen, and of all the horrible things that were done to make people talk.
"The test is very simple. I think you will even come to like it. There are only two rules: you must do everything I tell you to do, exactly as I tell you to do it; and you must answer every question that I ask, truthfully."
"How long will this take?"
"It will take several days. If you are not agents, you will not be physically harmed. There may be other consequences, but that will be up to you."
"Now I think we should begin."
Eduardo looked at Claudia appraisingly.
"Get onto the coffee table. On your hands and knees."
Claudia had not expected that Edward would say anything like this. She did not move. "What do you mean?"
"I neglected to tell you that if you do not obey me, I will be forced to punish you."
"Now get up on the coffee table, or I will punish you."
Claudia was very scared. The situation was getting completely out of her control.
"Please, Edward. Don't make me do this."
"There is one other thing that I neglected to tell you. You may not call Edward."
"Now, get onto the coffee table. On your hands and knees."
Claudia climbed onto the coffee table, on her hands and knees. What else could she do?
Edward looked approvingly at her.
"Now Claudia. We are going to have a little anatomy lesson. I am going to ask you some questions. You must answer these questions truthfully. If you do not, I will punish you."
Claudia did not say anything.
Edward reached under Claudia. Claudia shrank away from his hand.
"Don't move."
Edward cupped her breast through the fabric of her dress.
"What's this, Claudia?"
Claudia said nothing.
"Claudia, you must answer me."
Edward began to trace the outline of her nipple with his finger.
"What is this, Claudia?"
In spite of her terror, Claudia found the sensation of Edward's hand massaging her nipple arousing. She tried to ignore the sensation, and to think instead of trying to escape.
"Answer me, Claudia."
"My breast." Claudia's voice was scarcely a whisper.
"That's a start, Claudia. But the language is scarcely appropriate. Now tell me, what is this, Claudia?"
Edward undid the straps of Claudia's dress. The fabric slid away from Claudia's black bra. Her breasts were very full. Edward cupped Claudia's left breast in his hand, feeling its weight.
"I don't know. It's my breast." Claudia whispered. She was transfixed by the sensation of Edward's hand on her breast.
"Claudia, answer me. What is this?"
Edward unhooked Claudia's bra. It slid down her arms. Her breasts hung free. Edward could see that her nipples were hard. She was breathing quickly. Edward traced the edge of her exposed nipple.
"Tell me Claudia."
Claudia had forgotten about trying to escape. All her attention was focused on Edward's hand on her breast. The word came from somewhere inside Claudia scarcely recognized as being part of her.
"My tit."
"Very good. Say it again."
Edward felt Claudia's other breast. Claudia spoke again, her voice still barely above a whisper.
"My tits."
"And what am I doing, Claudia?"
Claudia answered softly.
"You're feeling my tits."
Claudia's nipples were now very erect.
"Very good, Claudia."
Edward ran his hand slowly along Claudia's stomach, and up over the curve of her buttocks. He reached under her dress. Claudia could feel his hand against her buttock through the thin fabric of her panties.
"What's this, Claudia?"
