Sol and I drove up to the door of the secluded house, parking in front.
"I thought you said there'd be a lot of people here?" I asked Sol.
My friend, Sol, and I had been invited to the house of John Singer, her "energy teacher" as she put it. John was the head of the Lotus Center, a self-help group of sorts that had produced several famous artists, actors, and the like. Sol had been going to meetings for a year and had dragged me along to some too. We'd been spotted at the last open house and asked if we'd like to come to this smaller party. Sol thought it was because her energy, I thought it was because we'd been wearing tight dresses.
Sol rang the doorbell and the door swung open to reveal the party that was already going on inside. A valet took Sol's keys and we were offered glasses of champagne right away. Sol hooked her arm in mine and wandered deeper into the room.
With both of us at 22, we seemed to be the youngest people there. Also the poorest based on the diamonds being flashed around. Sol and I had barely taken ten steps when we were found by the host.
John Singer was a handsome man, tall and muscular like a statue. His hair was jet black, but flecked with bright silver hair. He could command a room but when he set his green eyes on yours, it was like just the two of you existed. I had seen him at some events, he had seen Sol and I, always together, but he'd never approached us.
He introduced himself and offered us more drinks. Sol and I laughed, downed our champagne, and took him up on the offer. By the end of the second drink I was feeling woozy, possibly not eating beforehand was a bad decision. I ended up sitting on the couch with John while Sol was led away with some movie star. John laid my legs across his lap, stroking them, up and down.
"May, do you have a secret?" He was asking me. "A secret no one here knows about you, besides maybe Sol."
"What kind of secret?" I smiled at him, playfully.
"I don't know, a secret kind of secret." He was playing with my hair, nearly leaning over me. "A kind of sexy secret."
I laughed. Though sheer awkwardness I had made it through college a virgin. I told John this and he laughed. He ran his fingers through my hair as the alcohol ran its course through me, making my limbs feel like lead. He leaned over and kissed me, pushing his tongue into my mouth. He ran his hands up and down my back.
"We're all made of energy." He said, between moans and kisses. "We all have energy running through us. We need to channel it, push it, lift it. We need to combine our energy. We need to feed off each others energy."
All I knew was that I was kissing him with all my energy.
"You. You May. You have so much energy. So much restrained, untainted energy." He was lifting me up off the couch. I wrapped my hands around his neck to support myself, still kissing him. He held me tight, I felt secure as he carried me through the party. If I had been paying any attention, I would have realized that everyone was staring at us and following John outside.
It was a hot night outside and humid enough that you could start sweating just thinking about it. John led everyone out of his house and into the hot night. In his back yard was a patio with a slightly raised stage. The patio was large and covered in cushions. The stage was small and a day bed took up most of the room. Jutting upwards in front of the bed were two steel poles with a series of rings at different heights.
John laid me down on the day bed and continued to seduce me with his kisses. He kept saying stuff about how my energy was fabulous and abundant. He pulled my arms above my head and held my wrists as he straddled me, kissing me forcefully. John put pressure on my elbows, pinning them in place when I felt something on my wrists again.
I managed to look up to see two men attaching large, black cuffs to my wrists. I tried to break away from John's mouth to ask me what was going on, but he already had me back on my feet. He was standing me between to the two poles as the men flanked us. They pulled ropes though the highest loop and clipped them to my wrists. With a yank, my arms were pulled away from me and I was nearly standing on my tiptoes.
Tying the ropes off, the two men started their next task. As John held my face firmly with his two hands, the men were behind me with scissors, cutting my clothes off. Wearing a tight dress, they had to press the sharp implements close, daring me to squirm and get cut. I tried to yell for help, but John was keeping me in line, not that it mattered who heard me.
When he finally released me, I could take in the full scene: I was completely naked, tied to two poles, in front of dozens of people. The party was all outside and they looked they were ready for some action. Couples and larger groups were caressing each other. Full make-out sessions were happening. Bulges were appearing in the front of every pair of pants. John stood in front of me and began to take off his shirt.
