I awoke in a panic, thinking I'd gone blind, but then my memory came back and I remembered the basement, the video of mom and dad, dad catching me watching it. I calmed down a little bit, guessing that he had blindfolded me. My panic levels rose again when I tried to move my arms and legs but found that I could barely move them without banging into what felt like the wall of a cage. I remembered having seen one in the basement and more pieces started to click together. It's hard to tell how long I waited there but it was long enough for my muscles to start to cramp up, causing me a lot of pain. I'd tried calling out for my dad but got no answer, I thought about calling out for anyone to come and help me but quickly realised that it would be useless, our house was somewhat secluded at the end of our road, with no houses close enough to hear me. At some point I think I drifted off to sleep, it was hard to tell, the darkness never changed and everything blurred together, it could be day or night and I wouldn't be able to tell. The only indicators of time passing were my painfully cramped muscles, empty stomach and dry throat.
Eventually I heard a sound that somehow managed to bring me both fear and relief, it was the sound of the basement door opening.
The relief I felt quickly disappeared, my dad didn't say a word, I just heard him moving about in the basement, there was the clanging of metal against metal followed by the opening and closing of a door. I lay there, willing my dad to come over and release me, at least I assumed it was him in the basement, for all I knew it could be a total stranger. A door opening and closing again, the clanging of metal, footsteps coming towards me.
"Good evening." My dad said to me, he sounded different, more formal than usual, stricter. It took me a second to realise that he was using the same voice that he had used in the video. I felt a weird tingle inside, was he seeing me the way he had seen mom?
There was an awkward silence and I realised he was waiting for a response. I wanted to shout at him for leaving me in a cage, I wanted to cry and beg for help, I wanted to ask him about the video and about what he and mom had gotten up to in the basement back in the day, there was so many things I wanted to do, but most all I wanted to get out of that cage and stretch my limbs. With that in mind I said what I hoped would lead to my freedom, "Welcome back." I said, trying a friendly smile.
In response I heard the rattling of metal which turned out to be the opening of the cage, I felt a tugging at my neck and gasped in shock, my dad had me leashed like a dog. I tried to move towards where he was tugging me from but my cramped limbs groaned in protest, my arms and legs folded underneath me wouldn't budge. After a minute of tugging I felt the leash go slack and heard my dad sigh loudly and disappointingly. Despite him having locked me in a cage all night and day I still felt bad for disappointing him, had he ever done this to mom? I thought to myself, had she felt the same as me? I didn't have time to continue that thought as I felt my dad's rough strong hands grab me by the collar and drag me out of the cage head first.
I felt the cold basement floor against my unprotected hands and feet. The next thing I felt was pain, I felt my dad pulling my legs out straight, the cramped muscles screaming in protest and causing me to cry out in pain. He did the same with my arms until my body was lined up straight, legs out behind me and arms stretched in front. I could feel the shaking of my body and the wetness of my cheeks as tears rolled down them, landing softly on the hard stone floor.
"Tonight you are going to learn your new position in life." He said, his voice hard.
I lay there silently, too afraid to answer.
"Do you understand?" He asked.
I nodded my head.
"Use your words." He told me, his voice commanding.
"I understand." I said quietly, feeling barely strong enough to speak.
I was shocked by a sudden jolt of pain as my dad's hand smacked into my left butt cheek.
"I'm sorry." I sobbed, not understanding what I had done wrong.
"Whenever you speak to me you will address me as daddy, understood?" He growled his response.
"Yes I understand Daddy" I cried, my body and mind bracing for another jolt of pain in case I had gotten it wrong. The pain didn't come, not in that moment at least.
"Well done princess, that will be the only name that you will refer to me as from now on, understood?"
"Yes Daddy"
"Get up." He commanded.
"Yes Daddy." I responded, emphasising the second word to make sure that he heard it.
Slowly I got to my feet, my sore legs groaning from the effort of holding me up. I felt disorientated being unable to see, I had no sense of direction, even if I had a chance to run I wouldn't be able to find the door. I felt a tug on the leash and started to walk, it was only then, as I felt the cold floor against my feet, that I realised that Daddy had removed my heels. For the most part I was relieved at not having to walk in heels as in my current state I would have almost definitely stumbled and fell and probably hurt myself in the process, a small part of me however was disappointed, in the short time that I'd been wearing them I'd gotten pretty good at not falling over, it would have been nice to show Daddy my new skill. There I was again, trying to please Daddy despite the way he was treating me.
The tugging on the leash stopped and came to a stand still, it was nerve wracking waiting there, waiting to see what Daddy had planned for me next, something about the uncertainty excited me, even though it would most likely be something unpleasant that would come next. I felt his hands grab my wrists and pull my hands up so that they were spread out above my head. He pushed them back a little bit and I gasped as they touched cold, hard metal. Daddy pulled straps across my wrists and tightened them, pinning my hands to the metal, then he pulled my feet back and did the same, securing them at the ankles.
I was essentially immobilised. I felt my daddy's hands in my hair as he slowly pulled away the blindfold. The basement lights were surprisingly bright and they stung my eyes, forcing me to shut them again. Daddy didn't say anything, he just stood there, watching as my eyes slowly adjusted to the light. When they had I looked at his face.
"You look perfect, princess." He told me, a smile playing across his face.
"Thank you Daddy." I said obediently, unable to stop myself from blushing at the compliment.
He moved behind me and I heard a grunt of exertion followed by my body being lifted upwards until I could no longer touch the floor with my feet. There was a locking sound and Daddy came back in front of me, despite him having increased the height of the metal cross I was bound to, I was still shorter than him, that made me feel extra small and helpless. I could feel the strain in my wrists and ankles as they took some of my weight, fortunately however the cross was tilted back slightly so that took a little bit of my weight, it was still uncomfortable however.
