Shuttered Truth

Leona

I drank the soup from the mug and stared at one of the cameras. If what Gustav said was true my men could be watching me now. I desperately wanted to be rescued but I didn't want anyone to get hurt on my account. I finished the last drop and Gustav took the mug and left the room again. Nigel, to my surprise, began to untie me from the bed. Soon I was free except for the metal padlocked collar around my neck that had a chain attached. The chain was secured to a hoist in the ceiling.

"So Leona would you say you're a strong woman?" Niamh asked as she entered.

"Not any more than the average woman, no," I replied honestly.

"If I was to use this whip on you, would you be able to stand it, do you think?"

I looked at the whip she held out from her body. It was one narrow strip of leather about four feet long. I was guessing it would sting and probably break skin if used with any force. The small amount of dabbling in BDSM I'd done hadn't taken me this far.

"I have no idea, Niamh. I've never been whipped before."

She shook out the whip and began to circle me.

"Is their theory right? Do you target strong women because of your mother?" I asked as I turned to keep her in my line of sight.

"It's rubbish. I fed that to the press and they ate it up," she boasted.

"So why are you killing them? Why do you want to kill me?"

"I didn't choose you, Gustav did."

"But I don't any longer, Mistress. I want to spare her..." she turned and cracked the whip and the tip lashed his cheek. Blood appeared immediately and he stumbled back.

"Subs on your knees," Nigel and Gustav both sank down.

The whip made contact with my upper back and I hissed at the sting. I tried to move out of the four foot range but she just followed me and kept swinging. If I didn't want it to land somewhere dangerous I had to stand still. I reached up and gripped the chain from the collar as an anchor. She kept going and when she wanted to change from front to back she circled me. She aimed at my breasts and I cried out in pain. She worked on my abdomen for what seemed like an age. Redness turned to welts and then the skin broke, lash after lash. My legs began to weaken and I wanted to sink to the floor but the collar pulled me painfully upright.

"Please Mistress, spare her," Nigel begged but just got a lash to his back for his trouble.

"Don't be stupid. I can't spare her. I can't pretend coercion if she's not dead."

Gustav stood up and so did Nigel.

"We can't let you kill her, Mistress."

They began to approach her but she bent to her boot and pulled out a gun. She aimed it at me.

"She's dead right now if you don't back up and obey me," she snarled.

She couldn't keep both of us in her sights and so I waited for her to look back to them and then I kicked out. The gun flew into the air and skidded across the floor. Nigel and Niamh both dived for it and began to struggle on the floor. They rolled around one another both with hands on the weapon and then suddenly it went off.

Time stood still as we waited to see if either of them had been injured. Niamh pushed Nigel's body off her and we saw the wound in his chest. His eyes stared blankly at me. He was dead.

Niamh scrambled to her feet and aimed the gun at Gustav.

"No, don't shoot," I called out but she ignored me.

"You going to turn on me too?"

"We love her, Mistress," Gustav replied, "we can still make the documentary and you can still be famous for getting away with all the other murders. Leave us here, now. I'll release the documentary and still die for you. You'll be long gone, you'll get plastic surgery and disappear. It can still work out..."

"No. I'm sorry Gustav but it's over..." she raised the gun and I ran at her but was snapped back by the collar.

Gustav dug into his trouser pocket and pulled something out.

"Catch," he called to me and something metal flew through the air as she pulled the trigger. He hit the floor hard and blood pooled around him quickly.

I caught the keys to the collar and quickly began to open the lock. I wrenched it off just as Niamh turned to me. I launched myself at her and we both crashed to the floor. She dropped the whip but still held the gun. I grabbed it and we began to struggle with it. I kicked her shins but her boots protected her. She returned the attack but I held onto that gun with all my strength. Using all the training Pavel had provided and the fact that we worked on the premise I'd be fighting a man I managed to knock her to the ground. But she got the gun between us and so I stumbled back.

"What's so fucking special about you?" she growled and I shook my head.

"Why have they all fallen for you? My submissives have been with me for years and you can get them to betray me in a heartbeat. How?"

"They decided that themselves. It wasn't my doing."

I inched closer to where the whip lay.

"It's over now. Those cameras are live streaming to the investigations team. You're not getting away with this even if you do kill me."

She glanced to the cameras and I dove for the whip, flicking my wrist and sending up a silent plea that it worked. The end of the whip wrapped around the gun and I pulled. It sprang from her hand and slid over me. I picked it up and aimed it at her.

"I don't want to have to kill you but I will..." I tried to sound sure but I really didn't want to have to take her life.

Suddenly she let out a blood curdling cry and charged towards me. The delay between the bang of the gun and the bullet entering her body seemed endless. The impact at such close quarters sent her careening backwards. She stumbled over Nigel's body and landed hard on her back. The blood was invisible against the black catsuit but when a drop fell to the wooden floor its colour returned. She clutched her thigh where I'd shot her.

I sighed with relief as I hadn't killed her but she seemed injured enough to not be any more trouble. I sank down onto the bed, still holding the gun aimed in her direction.

I looked to the cameras.

"Any time soon would be really good for a rescue, guys," I whispered.

After a few minutes I went to the door and tried it. It needed a code and a biometric scan.

"What's the code?" I asked Niamh but she didn't answer.

The sun had set and so I flicked on some lights. The horror of what had just happened was stark in the bright light. I looked around for something I could put on as the temperature was beginning to drop.

I walked over to Niamh. There was blood all around her leg and she seemed to be unconscious. I carefully leaned down and checked for a pulse at her neck. There wasn't one. I stumbled back and covered my mouth to stifle the scream that threatened.

I'd killed her. I'd hit an artery in her leg and she'd bled out. I was a murderer just like she was.

I went back to the bed and sat with my knees under my chin and my arms wrapped around my legs.

"They're all dead. Please come quickly. The door needs a code and a biometric scan."