When she came to, she found herself lying on a mattress in a cinderblock room and struggled to remember what had happened to her. Slowly, the fog in her memory began to part and she remembered fumbling around in her purse for her keys. She recalled being grabbed from behind, two thick arms encircling her and pressing a cloth soaked in some sweet-smelling liquid over her nose and mouth. She remembered nothing else.
She rose from the mattress too quickly. She steadied herself with a hand against the cold cinderblock wall and waited for the dizziness to subside. When it did, she assessed her situation. She was still fully clothed, so whoever had taken her apparently hadn't raped her. The small feeling of comfort she got was quickly doused, however, when she felt the thin metal band around her neck. As her hands began exploring the device, trying to find a way to get it off, the steel door across from her slammed open.
A large, well-muscled man entered, carrying an unconscious woman over his shoulder. He smiled at her and dropped the other woman unceremoniously on the mattress.
"So, you finally came to, eh? I wasn't beginning to wonder."
"Who are you?" she demanded. "Where am I? What's going on?"
"Simmer down, chicklet," he drawled, pulling a small black box out of his pants pocket. "All in good time."
She bristled, hissing, "Answer me, you son of a bitch, or I'll..."
Her protest was cut off short as searing pain arced its way down her body. It felt like a thousand tiny needles piercing her flesh all at once. She saw the man release the button he'd pressed on the black box and as the pain subsided, she realized with growing horror what the metal band around neck actually was. He had fitted her with a shock-collar and he was holding the remote.
Stunned into silence, she gaped at him as he began to speak.
"The pain you just felt was a fairly low setting. You can forget about getting the collar off; it's locked and I have the only key hidden somewhere very far away. As long as you obey me, you will never have to concern yourself with feeling what that collar can do. Disobedience is instantly punished. The more you disobey, the higher I crank up the juice and the longer I hold down the button. Do you understand?"
She offered no immediate reply and his finger pressed the button again. The volts again coursed through her body, but only long enough to get her attention.
"Yes, yes!" she stammered. "I get it."
"The proper answer is 'Yes, Master.' I will let that one go, but from now on, you will address me as Master or Sir, do you understand?"
"Yes."
Again, he hit the button, shouting, "Yes,
Master!
"
She cried out, "Yes, Master!" and fell to her knees, shaking from terror and sickened that she had so quickly given in. She was 42 years old, a successful head nurse, and used to being in control. All that had been stripped away in less than a minute.
She heard a moan come from the woman the man had carried in and turned in her direction. The woman's hair had fallen over her face, obscuring the features, but as she began to come around, the hair was brushed back.
Margaret's heart leapt into her throat as she recognized her 20-year-old daughter Shelly. She immediately sprang to her feet and started toward their captor. Her valiant charge was cut short in mid-stride as he crushed the button on the remote, holding it down longer this time. She collapsed to the floor, in too much pain to even scream.
Finally, he released the button and knelt down in front of her.
"Ah, the lioness protecting her cub. I understand how you feel, but you must understand that I cannot tolerate any aggression directed toward me. Such acts will be met with severe punishment, as you have just seen."
Shelly was beginning to grasp the situation as her drug-induced fog lifted. She saw Margaret lying on the floor and moved to help her, heedless of the device she, too, wore around her neck.
"Mom?" she glared at their captor and asked, "What did you do to her?"
He gave his speech again, but Shelly wasn't quite as willing to capitulate. After being shocked twice, Margaret interceded, begging her daughter to stop provoking him.
"It seems you have a very strong-willed daughter," he said, his voice menacing. "Perhaps I need to take a different tack with her."
Facing Shelly, he explained, "Because your own pain means so little to you, every time you disobey or displease me, I will fry your mother."