Wednesday
Susan Mitchell awoke as she felt someone attaching something to the thin collar around her neck. She looked up and saw Jennifer, the tall blonde mistress she had met earlier in the year holding a dog leash in her hand, the end clipped to Susan's neck. The girl rose up onto her hands and knees, ready to crawl behind the woman when Jennifer said "You can stand up".
Susan rose to her feet and followed the blonde woman upstairs and through the foyer of the large farmhouse. It was the first time she had been allowed upstairs since arriving earlier in the week and the thought of the warm king-sized bed in one of the bedrooms upstairs made her start to cry. She plodded through the hallway to the front door where Jennifer handed her a pair of Crocs. Knowing she was heading outside, Susan bent and put the plastic shoes on before following the woman out the front door into the cold January air. She instinctively crossed her arms across her exposed breasts, thankful at least for the thin shoes protecting her bare feet from the cold ground. Jennifer led Susan to a silver BMW SUV in the driveway in front of the house. The girl wondered what had happened to the tiny sports car Jennifer had driven the last time they met.
Jennifer climbed behind the wheel and Susan was glad to feel the warm air coming from the heater of the expensive vehicle on her naked body. The two women drove in silence until they finally arrived at the same local park the two of them had explored in the fall. Susan wondered whether the lake, where she had taken a very cold swim last time, was frozen over or not. She hoped it was and also prayed that wasn't where the two of them were heading this time.
The blonde parked the car in the empty parking lot and said "Let's take a walk" and climbed out of the car. Susan was jealous of the woman's leather boots and ankle-length coat and pulled her arms around her chest as she stepped out into the chill as Jennifer picked up the end of the leash around the girl's neck. Susan was partially thankful for the cold air as at least it meant there wouldn't be many visitors to this park on the day.
As they started to walk, Jennifer turned to face Susan and asked, "How are you doing?"
Susan thought for a moment about the question and her current attire, walking in a public park stark naked, the dog leash, competing with another woman to avoid being whipped, confined in a dark basement, and considered what a stupid question that was. But she refrained from making a sarcastic reply and finally just said, "Fine, I guess."
Jennifer smiled and said, "Well, I think we both know that isn't true. And that is why I brought you here. I have some things I need to tell you, but first, you must promise me that you will never tell anyone about this conversation."
Susan just looked at the older woman, unsure what to say. Jennifer continued, "I need you to promise me. I am risking a lot to talk to you today."
The girl saw the serious look on Jennifer's face and said softly, "I promise."
"Why do you think all of this is happening to you?" Jennifer asked.
"Well," Susan began, "my friends and I used to get away with a lot of stuff at school and we ran afoul of some of the school's governors, so they brought Krutz in and he wanted to take control, so he decided to use me as a example to the other students. My mom got caught stealing money to pay for my tuition so unless I agreed to all this, he would send her to jail and I'd be left with nothing. So, I agreed to let him use me." Susan surprised herself that she could say all of that without crying.
Jennifer stared at the girl. "What if I told you that was all bullshit?" Susan blinked but did not respond. The blonde continued, "Stephen Krutz is no more qualified to be headmaster of a private academy than I am. He makes his living torturing people and training young women to become slaves. Your circumstance has nothing to do with anything you or your friends or past students at your school have ever done."
Susan looked at the woman as she continued. "Yes, your mother has been embezzling to pay for your tuition, among other things. But she wasn't stealing money from ordinary people. Your mother has, for many years, been involved in laundering money for a drug cartel, one of the largest in the world. The cartel found out she was stealing from them. They wanted to send her a message so they arranged for Stephen to punish you to get her back in line. Many of the governors and big donors to your school are in the pocket of the cartel, either due to their drug habits or other business dealings, so it was easy to get Stephen into a position of power over you."
Susan turned away. She knew her mom's poor decisions had led her to all of this, but this story was more than she could handle. But she wondered if this was all true or just another story. She turned back to Jennifer and said, "How do you know this? And why should I believe you?"
"How I know this is none of your concern. As for believing me, you have no reason not to," Jennifer said, a flash of the steely blue in her eyes revealing her dominant nature. "I don't have to be here. I don't have to be telling you any of this. What do I have to gain by coming here and telling you lies?" Susan could see the woman was getting angry but couldn't figure out why.
"I'm sorry," Susan said.