Bath, Bed, and Beyond (No Relation to the Famous Chain of Stores) ^Ö Beyond Part II: The Test of a Master
Siktici Copyright 2004
"I don't know what happened, Master," the boy said and looked as if his world had come to an end.
"Don't you?" Gary asked.
"May I ask what happens now, Master?"
"No, you may not," Gary yelled. After such a long time of perfect obedience, the boy truly didn't understand what fueled Gary's anger, or perhaps, he didn't want to face the anger's true source. Yet, he knew of the violation and knew the consequence.
"You must prepare for punishment," Gary said and lowered his head.
"Yes, My Master," the boy said and sat with his head down, his naked boy shaking from the chilly air. Absently, he fingered the heavy chain that tethered his heavy black collar to the dining table's leg. The metal clinked against a dog dish that held cold scrambled eggs, water, a hard buttermilk biscuit, leavings of the breakfast he had prepared for Gary two days before.
Gary left wordlessly. He didn't really want to think about the punishment, as he had a full day of work ahead of him. Yet, as he drove the distant to the only tannery in the state, he knew he wouldn't think of anything else.
Leaning against a pile of un-limed hides, he wondered why the rules had to be strictly obeyed. Normally, he supervised the liming process, but he needed to work hard and steady. Working with his hands, feeling the pain in his muscles, made thinking less of a strain.
Actually, he didn't believe that the violation warranted such a severe punishment; on the other hand, he fully understood the laws that governed The Singularity. "If you accept the benefits of The Perfect Knowledge," Marty once explained, "you must also accept the consequences of misusing it."
"But the boy's misuse wasn't intentional," Gary thought. "He just didn't understand the weight of what he had done." And as the day wore on, and more hide waited for liming, tanning, and splitting, he recounted how the boy brought about the violation.
Gary woke to the squeak of the front door. He rose just in time to see the clock stared back with green eyes 6:30 a.m. "Fuck," he muttered and flopped back to sleep. A clink of chain against the dining room chair, followed by a curse at pain, brought him to sitting and craning to hear for more disturbances.
Again, a bump, another clink of chain, and Gary was out of bed with a revolver in hand. He eased from the bedroom into a small hall that led to the playroom or out to the living and dining rooms. Peeking around the corner, Gary saw that all looked undisturbed. He moved quietly through the dining room to see the light on over the stove and tried to remember if he had left it on. Undoubtedly, the boy would have turned it out before moving to the garage. As Gary moved to the threshold of the kitchen, he heard another clink, the stumble of feet, and incoherent mumbling.
He lowered to one knee and inched his hand to the kitchen's light switch. On the count of three he quickly switched it on and pointed the revolver in the direction of the movement. Against the refrigerator in a tattered tee, and what look to Gary like muddy jeans, the boy sat swaying and muttered.
Gary locked the revolver and sat it on the counter. Rising to standing, he put his hands on his hips and looked at the pathetic sight. "The fucker's drunk or high or something," he thought. And as soon as the boy saw the disapproval stretching Gary's face, he began to cry.
"Oh, My Master, I have disgraced you."
"And how did you do that?" Gary asked, then raised a hand. I don't want the full story now."
"I-I d-don't know..."
"Save it," Gary said and lifted the drunken man to his feet. A foul smell of alcohol and vomit met Gary with such vengeance that he had to move away his face. "Goddamn, boy, what the fuck did you do?" Gary said exasperated and grabbed a handful of the boy's tee to pull him toward the bathroom. Gary turned on the shower and shoved the boy under its cold spray. The boy tried to throw blows, but his drunken state only made his efforts comical.
"Just stand there and wash that crap off," Gary said, his patience growing thin. Yet, he found the predicament more surprising than anything, since the boy hadn't showed any signs that something was wrong. Gary stripped away the wet clothing and turned the water to a warmer temperature. The boy slowed his struggle, let his arms drop to his side, but continued the incoherent mumbling.
"Wash up and take your drunk ass to bed," Gary said and stormed back to his bed. But sleep didn't come; the night sounds seemed louder than normal; and thoughts came to Gary's mind in a swirl of suspicion and growing anger. The boy had a lot of explain to do.
Morning came quickly and came with the smell of coffee, bacon, and the buttermilk biscuits Gary liked. He lay in bed, stroked his piss-inspired hard-on, and played with the bull-size balls fuzzed in the same shocking red as his buzz cut. But the boy's behavior flooded his mind and his cock fell limp.
The boy moved quietly to Gary's bedside with a breakfast tray. He stood avoiding Gary's eyes and waited for the command to place the tray across Gary's lap. Gary looked at the boy's naked body and felt his cock stir, but the anger starting to throb at his temple stifled any growing horniness.
"Okay," Gary said.
The boy put down the tray and stood again with hands behind his back. The chain swung aimlessly across his hairy torso that shook from the chill of the air.
"Go to the garage," Gary said without looking up. "I'll call you when I'm done."
"Yes, My Master."
"You don't get to call me that," Gary said. "Sir will do for now."
"Yes, Sir," the boy said, still looking straight ahead, but a single tear traced its way to his chin. Gary briefly looked up to see the tear dangling from the boy's chin and damped down a swell of emotion.
"Go, then," Gary said and returned to his breakfast. He didn't enjoy the biscuits and eggs as he normally did. Anxiety took up too much room in his stomach and the thoughts had filled his mind to capacity. He didn't want to think about the punishment, but it had to be done. It was the law of The Singularity, and all who knew its Perfect Knowledge lived by it.
The week passed in thick silence. The boy went about his chores while Gary read the paper, surfed, and watch college football. He suspended sessions, as he remember rule number one of S-M: no sessions when a problem had to be worked out. The anger would surely find its way into any "play" envisioned. As Gary drifted off to sleep, Marty's words enter his mind, "Go to The Singularity for the answer."
Work came and went, and Gary drove into the garage, ignoring the boy who sat in the darkest corner with head down. He went to the bedroom, quickly put on shorts and a tee, and head for the punching bag in the playroom. Each punch pounded anger into the bag. He knew that he had to rid himself of any negative emotion before proceeding with the boy's punishment, but each time he let his arms fall to his side, visions of the boy slumped beside the refrigerated flew to his mind's eye, prompting a flurry of punches to the bag. He seemed to punch the bag for hours; in fact, he had gone for at least two.
When he did regain composure, he went to the bathroom shucked off his clothes, and hopped in the shower, where he stood under the hottest spray he could stand. The sting of the hot water reddened his flesh and dulled the thoughts in his head. Finally, they diminished to just whispers as he breathed in clarity and purpose.
Next, he toweled off quickly and sat cross-legged on the bed. It was time to move into The Singularity. With eyes closed, hands turned palm up, he chanted the ancient words, sang the sweet melody, and let his mind drift to the void of black infinity. In the distance a spiral moved forward, its arms whirling toward him. He heard the familiar bee song until the first of many arms approached. The men in their tunics appeared, eyes closed, heads craned upward, singing the same sweet melody.
When the spiral reached Gary, the center flashed before him. but nothing could be seen. "You have not opened your mind to The Perfect knowledge," the voices of the tunic men sang. "You must release the block of anger within you. We feel it; it is painful too us. Breathe deeply; open your mind and soul to us; and ask what you will."
Gary took deep breaths, continued his chant, and felt the blossoming of his mind. Slowly the folds spread out the spiral, and a pink flow of light moved into The Singularity.
"Now ask us what you will," the tunic men said.
Gary's chant increased as the ancient words telegraphically entered the spiral.
"You know the rules of The Singularity," the men said. "Your duty is clear. We do not understand why you summoned us."
"I cannot proceed," Gary said with his mind.
"Disrespect has breached your bond. The only way to repair it is through punishment. Pain is cleansing, pain provokes learning, pain saves us from ourselves."
"But I don't want..."
"You have no choice here. Do what is required of you or the bond breaks, and you will be returned to you reality as it was: lifeless, thoughtless, and meaningless. You will no longer be apart of us and you will no longer experience the Perfect Knowledge." At this, the spiral flash as if lit by fire. "Those who do not obey The Singularity brings danger to us; this we cannot allow. You must choose. Do you understand?"
Gary nodded.
"Swear your oat to The Singularity and leave us. We will know your decision."
Gary chanted the ancient words and bowed his head. Again the spiral flashed, but this time the center shimmered to a vision clear as if it were an open window. Gary saw himself dressed in leather; saw the boy on his knees and faced away; and in Gary's hand was a flogger, but this was no ordinary flogger. Its strands were course and hard, and each end twisted in a small knot. It was the vision he had dreaded, but one he expected.
"It has to be done," the men in the tunic said. And for a last time, the spiral flashed and sped back to its place in the void.
Gary opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and let the emotion overtake him. Tears spilled over his cheeks and the heated anguish slicked his body. He lay down and placed an arm over his eyes. It was time to fulfill the order of The Singularity.
In the darkness of his corner, the boy heard a soft jingle, like wind chimes that matched the gait of their owner: a slow almost ceremonious gait. The boy saw that Gary wore the same tunic that the men had in The Singularity. The tunic, slightly parted, revealed Gary's stiff horn with its large ring slightly skimmed in precome.
Craning his head to the rafters, Gary stood in front of the boy chanted the ancient words, "I stand before a violator of The Perfect Knowledge. I understand my obligation. Those who disobey this knowledge must be reborn," Gary sang in a solemn, yet slightly strained voice. He looked into the eyes of the boy who saw the anguish mixed with resolve.
"Come," Gary said and pulled the chain on the boy's collar. As they walked, the boy saw what he had heard. An anklet of small bells jangled as Gary moved toward the playroom.
In the playroom, next to The Invader®, a large wooden cross leaned against the wall. Cuffs hung from each of its arms, where symbols unknown to the boy etched deeply into its wood. The symbols along the arm of the cross met at a large spiral at the cross's center.
With a barely audible chant passing his lips, Gary led the boy to the cross. He refused to meet the gaze of the boy, for doing so would break the focus necessary to the carry out his obligation. Slowly and deliberately he secured the restraints, and as a last act of shame, it seemed to the boy, Gary removed the collar. From the table, Gary brought a blindfold and gag. "These are non-negotiable," he said and put each in place. The boy's fear that had lingered at the bottom of his stomach lurched into his chest and slightly closed his throat.
Even if he wanted to protest, his need to repent overran any selfish thoughts of getting out of the punishment. He had plenty of time to think about what he had done, regardless of not explaining exactly what it was. Yet, the boy knew that he didn't have to explain; Gary spotted the violation as soon as he saw the boy slumped against the refrigerator.
Gary no longer saw the aura, its pink tendrils trailing brightly from the boy's edges. Travelers to The Singularity lived in truth, and the pink aura was evidence of that truth. For Gary, seeing its absence, made discerning the violation quite easy.
The violation wasn't that the boy returned in a drunken state; Gary could have forgiven that. The stench of another, the stench of a nonbeliever had extinguished the boy's aura and corrupted his purity, his sanctity. By the boy allowing himself to be soiled by such a person, he breached the bond with Gary and the other members. The only way to repair the breach, both the boy and Gary understood, was through rebirth. In turn, the only way to achieve rebirth was through pain. And this necessity of pain caused great anguish in Gary's heart.
Once Gary checked the security of the restraints, he began at the boy's shoulders and rubbed the length of his back. He did this several times before voicing a low tone, so low that the boy felt it in the basement of his body. The tone rose in volume, and the boy wondered how Gary could sustain it, but it continued, solidly low until the cross began to vibrate. The warmth at its center radiated out to its arms, and had the boy not been blindfolded, he would have seen the spiral at the cross's center pulse a dim light until it glowed in dull yellow, on to orange, then finally to red. As the spiral continued to glow its red eye, each symbol on the cross's arms took on the same color. The cross began to shake and its heat grew to an almost unbearable touch. The boy caved away from the heat and pulled at the restraints until Gary's tone slowly decreased.
"Look into The Singularity and despair!" Gary shouted.
In the boy's mind, a spiral flew quickly to him, flashed lightning from its center, and grew in size. Its arms were absent of the men the boy had seen before, and its color glowed in blood. A voice spoke from its bloody center.
"Who dares to breach the bond of The Singularity," it asked in ancient words, yet the boy understood.
"I have one who dares, Master," Gary said, not with his lips but with his mind. The boy heard it, too, and his body began to shake in fear.
"What is your obligation to repair the breach?" The voice asked.
"Rebirth," Gary said.
"Is the violator worthy of this second chance? Can you be sure that a second breach will not occur?"
"No, Master, I cannot," Gary said.
"You have answered correctly; or perhaps, you know your life and the life of the violator depends on it?"
"Yes, Master, I am aware of our fates. I pray that you let me try rebirth as the remedy."
"Very well, proceed," the voice said, "but if you fail, you and the violator are banished forever. "
"Yes, Master, I understand," Gary said.
The boy listened as tears streamed his eyes. Even in his fear, he didn't want to cause such problems for his master. He didn't know why he had knowingly violated The Singularity and didn't know that his consequences affected his master.
The spiral flashed a stroke of lightning and sped away.
Gary again took up the chant, causing the spiral and symbols to glow to their brightest. "I began rebirth in the name of The Singularity. I pray that we are redeemed," Gary said and let fly the flogger.
Pain clawed across the boy's back as if a panther had attacked. The boy's cry, muffled by the gag, came as a long moan of agony. The sound sat squarely in Gary's chest and caused an overwhelming feeling of fatigue to overtake him.
"If rebirth is your aim, you are far from the task. Now proceed or abandon your efforts," a voice said in Gary's mind.
Again, he let fly the flogger and flicked his wrist. The lash raised welts on the boy's back. This wasn't a session where Gary could build the intensity. Rebirth required his widest and strongest strokes. The goal was cleansing pain if he was to save himself and the boy.
Another lash etched into the boy's flesh as he tried to escape the restraints. He tried to breath through the searing pain, but nothing he did lessen its intensity.
"Speak the words," the voice in Gary's mind ordered.
"Yes, My Master," Gary said, void of emotion.
"Look to The Singularity for your salvation," Gary said and let fly the flogger.
"Harder! Instruct repentance!" the voice shouted.
"Give your soul to The Redeemer," Gary said and brought down another lash. "You have breached the bond of a thousand years. You have broken the circle of Power. You have violated the laws of The Singularity."
And the flogger came down again and again and again...
Lightning flashed simultaneously in Gary and boy's minds. "Why should we forgive such a blatant act of insolence?" The voice asked.
"Speak to the Redeemer, boy," Gary said from his mind.
The boy didn't, couldn't respond. He boiled in the overwhelming pain of at his back. Writhing through the heat of the flogger, and desperately trying to free himself, he only focused on escaping THE PAIN!
"It is pain that sustain us, boy," Gary said and another lash punctuated the statement.
"Pain cleanses us, boy." Another lash came down.
Each time Gary cited the instructions of repentance he brought down the sting tendrils to the boy's now quivering and slightly bleeding flesh, and each time Gary heard the sickening protest of the boy's flesh at the flogger's attack, his stomach wrenched and his head swam.
"Say the words, boy, and the suffering will end," Gary said. Say the ancient words that will end the pain. Say the words that will save us from a life without The Singularity, a life without Perfect Knowledge."
"Say...the...words!"
"PAIN," screamed in Gary's mind. "I can't stand THE PAIN!"
"Save us, boy. Say the words."
Tears flowed from Gary's face as he continued to bring down the flogger.
"Say...the...I CAN'T DO THIS!" Gary finally shouted and let the flogger drop to his side.
At the same time the spiral sped to Gary and the boy's mind.
"What is this?" the voice asked. "Continue or be banished forever!"
"We choose BANISHMENT!" Gary shouted with his mind.
"Do you know what you seek?" the voice asked. "Those who have been banished have not survived. Are you sure you want to take that chance?"
"YES!" Gary said shouting as loudly in his mind as he could.
Then the boy's voice low and heavy with fatigue, whisper to Gary, "Please, Master, do not sacrifice yourself for me."
Again the spiral flashed and lightning stroked from its center. The voice that spoke of banishment began to slur. "If you do not continue, your death is most certain."
"Continue, Master," the boy said. "Let me save you; I can endure the pain."
"No," Gary said. "It's too much to bear. We must take our chances."
"I could not live with that decision," the boy said.
And as he spoke both he and Gary noticed that the spiral began to slow; voices from the voids in their mind began to sing in tatters; and the sweet melody of the men riding the spiral, now sounded like warbled dirge. Also, the boy and Gary noticed the brilliance of The Singularity was starting the fade. Its light barely glowed in orange. The voice of The Master continued to slur to the point that the words came as intelligible.
"Master," the boy said, "I love you too much to let you do this."
And as soon as the boy spoke the words, The Singularity shone its most brilliant, flickered a short circuit, and exploded into nothingness.
Gary opened his eyes and staggered to the boy. He quickly undid the restraints and eased the boy to the floor. The boy's eyes fluttered open and a weak smile crossed his face.
"Are we dead?" he asked.
"No, we are very much alive," Gary said.
"Oh, My Master, I have failed you. We are banished forever."
"Yes, we are, but you saved us. I didn't understand before, but you save us with--with love.
Gary helped the boy to the bed. After gently swabbing the welts, and sitting at his side, he stroked the boy's hair, and spoke words that years ago slipped from his lips like silk. "I love you, Bernie."
The boy rose and looked at Gary with fascination. "It has been a long time since you said my name, Master," he said and smiled.
"Yes, because I don't have a slave anymore," Gary said. I have a man that I love, and I hope loves me."
"Yes, Master, I have always loved you."
"I truly didn't know until tonight. You saved us with that love, and I want to keep you in my life as long as you want to be there, Bernie."
"Yes, Master," Bernie said.
"Will you do one more thing for me, then?" Gary asked and stroked the side of the boy's sweaty face.
"Anything, Master."
"Call me Gary. My name is Gary."
The boy looked into Gary's eyes, saw the tears, and let fall his own. "Yes...Gary," he said and repeated the name until he fell asleep in Gary's lap.
EPILOGUE
Since that night, no voices and no flashes of a spiral had come into Gary or Bernie's mind. Bernie's place had moved beside Gary, and although their initial conversations began awkwardly for Bernie, he soon realized that Gary no longer wanted a slave; he wanted a partner. Slowly they began the life of a committed couple, and in another six months they will be buying a house in the suburbs.
This ends the Bath, Bed, and Beyond series. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any comments or suggestions about the overall piece, please e-mail me at siktici@sbcglobal.net. I am trying to improve my skills. Any comments (hopefully constructive) will be very helpful to me.