It was a man and a woman.
"Look, she's naked!" said the woman. I averted my eyes.
"Yes indeed, my dear," said the man sagely. "She's an ENF."
"What does that mean?"
"It means she's being punished."
"Oh babe," said the woman softly. "What did you do?"
"She's not allowed to answer. See that pendant around her neck? Every word she speaks, a number goes up by two."
I was being studied. The fact that they were so polite about it was what made it so embarrassing. Like I was an artwork on the wall. Let's face it, I basically am.
"That's pretty interesting. Look how shy she is. She must know she's being punished pretty badly. Is she up here all the time?"
"No. I don't see her Sir around. Normally an ENF is being led around naked by a man she has to call Sir. He spanks her when she acts out and tickles her in public. Hey, which reminds me - do you want to see something really cool?"
"Yeah!"
My heart dropped. What horrible thing was about to happen to me? The man gave the woman a gold coin.
"Drop that in the slot next to her. But do
not
touch her! Trust me, you don't want to see what happens when you do that."
The woman walked right up to me. I wished I could kick her away, but aside from the fact I was awkwardly up on my toes, I knew it would lead to a world of hurt from Sir. I watched her drop the coin in the slot, and then to my horror, I heard a whirring behind me. A pair of mechanical arms emerged from the holes next to me.
"Oh nooooooo!" I cried. The number on the pendant jumped to four. The hands came to my armpits and started tickling relentlessly. Laughter burst out of me. I felt tears in my eyes. I shifted left and right, unable to really move, eventually doing a little bouncing dance as I tried to bear the endless tickling. My armpits throbbed as I was tickled!
And that's when I heard laughter. Very familiar laughter.
"Megan?! Is that you?"
He bounded down the street, almost pushing people out of the way.
It was Jack.
He was cackling madly. "Are you naked?! Oh my god, you've been caught as an ENF! This is too much!" He giggled almost as much as I was, only with mirth instead of humiliation.
I felt my face burning with shame. Just when I thought I couldn't sink any lower! This was the worst of the shame yet. I felt it on my very shoulders. I started crying between the giggling - not from the tickling, but at my former friend, who I had bullied so many people with, roaring with laughter at my naked tickled public humiliation.
And then the tears began to subside. There were no more left. My eyes and face were burning and the shame never passed, but I processed it. I saw Sir come out and look at me.
"Are you this woman's Sir?" asked the man.
"I am indeed," said Sir. He politely waited for the tickling machine to end. Mercifully, I felt the arms move back and into their slots. Sir climbed up and unshackled me. He looked at my pendant.
"Megan, you have four spanks marked on your pendant. Lay across my lap so I can spank you."
He sat down on the stool. The man, the woman, and Jack watched expectantly, the latter with evil glee. I was being punished, so I obeyed.
"Oh gods! She's actually doing it!" chortled Jack. Sir brought his hand down on my butt.
"One! Thank you, Sir!"
I deserve this.
"Two! Thank you, Sir!"
I don't know if this will be my lowest point.
"Three! Ohhhh! Thank you, Sir!"
Naked, tickled, and spanked in front of Jack.
"Four! Arrgh! Thank you, Sir!"
But I'm willing to find it. To be degraded until I'm cleansed. Forgiven. Good.
"Stand up, Megan."
I did. I put my hands behind my back expectantly.
"Good girl," says Sir as he ties my wrists together. He put a leash around my neck and walked me down the street. I heard the laughter of Jack ringing through my ears as we walked deeper into the city.
Sir led me to a large, ancient-looking building. Gargoyles are scattered across the top. It's an intimidating building - I feel even smaller and weaker in its presence as it reaches into the sky. Written in large letters over the top of the door are the words CAMPBELL-TAYLOR. Sir takes me in.
