The Second Bite
Fortitude was actually a very moral person. I had been at St Sade's for a long time before she introduced me to her special kind of love and then it was only after I had been sent to the annex to do penance for falling foul of Reverend Mother's strict rules.
After I served my penance and returned to the main school Fortitude and myself had to keep seeing each other but, of course, this was very dangerous for both of us and we had to be extremely careful. Sometimes she would summon me to her office on some pretext and we would make love behind the locked door or, on other occasions, we would sneak separately into the sports pavilion where Fortitude would lock us in and we would lie in each other's arms on cushions on the floor. It was during these times that our conversation would nearly always find its way to the paradox of pain and pleasure and to the essential balance between sin and punishment.
During my ordeal in the annex at the merciless hands of Father Worthy and his acolyte, Sister Penitence, I had been awakened to the inbuilt kink in my nature which dreaded being hurt but also craved the cleansing power of pain. Fortitude and myself were kindred spirits in that she had learned many years ago to need pain and I greatly admired her powers of endurance. At Sade's hardly anything is allowed to remain secret (which made our meetings all the more frightening) and Father Worthy and Reverend Mother were very well aware of the deep flaw within Sister Fortitude. For this reason she herself was obliged to make regular visits to the terrible annex to be subjected to a level of pain and humiliation which I found it hard to contemplate.
While I had been imprisoned in the annex I had witnessed my dearest Fortitude enduring her penance and seen her body twisting and writhing as she absorbed the penalty for her sins and the sight had repelled me but at the same time I just could not forget it. I could not rid myself of that perverted curiosity. What would it be like?
The human mind is infinitely complex and I believe that no mind is able to frame rational sentences to describe its own profound workings but somehow the image of Fortitude bearing her suffering had become bound up with our secret forbidden love for each other. This was what I was trying to put into words as the shadows on our naked flesh deepened that evening as we lay beside each other with the perspiration shining on our bodies. Could I endure pain to prove my love for Dearest Fortitude, could that noble act deepen the bond which we had and oh what heights of ecstasy we would reach when I returned to her arms for her to sooth my scars after I had born my just punishment.
Fortitude understood my deep need for cleansing pain as she knew well the deep guilt which we both carried and she knew that only real penance could balance on the scales the forbidden joys which we shared. However there was genuine concern in her voice as she whispered to me with her tender lips brushing my ears.
"What you are suggesting is very noble Sweet Tara but I hope you understand that the penance would have to be real. This could not be a sort of game or act. You must realise that if you did this thing you would have to subject yourself to Father Worthy and you would be in his hands until he was satisfied. Once in the annex you would have no way of escape and you would have to bear whatever he wrought upon you."
The mention of that huge man and his merciless, cruel hands made me shudder but I was determined that my courage should not fail. Oh how naive we are at eighteen. Fortitude hugged me and told me that she was proud of my courage and determination and would write a note to Father Worthy which would cause him to treat me very severely. Later that week she called me to her office and showed me what she had written about me. I sat before her desk reading her neat handwriting and I don't remember all of the content but various phrases stuck in my mind.
"Prurient mind....unnatural interest in other girls...moral weakness..lax in modesty."
I swallowed hard as I knew that once she had delivered her note the whole ghastly scenario would begin to roll forward and no-one would be able to stop it. We both knew how Father Worthy would react to the note but I needed this; I craved it. I could not look at Sister Fortitude as I passed the note back across her desk and sealed my fate.
That very same week I came out of my final lesson on Friday afternoon and found Fortitude standing in the corridor waiting for me. The other girls went on their way before Fortitude spoke.
"I have come to take you to the annex."