The Beast Within

Almost a year later, the circumstances of Kathryn's brief disappearance remained a complete mystery.  Friends since childhood, Tina and Kathryn shared their secrets, hopes and dreams but this one event was forbidden territory.  For the two weeks of her absence, Tina had worried herself sick over her missing friend.  The police had been no help.  It was just another missing person case; a sad statistic with no immediate family and few close friends.  They found it more convenient to assume that she'd run off with a man but Tina knew better.  Her friend was too level headed for that and she had not been seeing anyone for some time.  Though attractive and charming, Kathryn was also shy and reserved around people she didn't know.  Tina felt certain she would never have done anything so irrational.

At the end of the first week Tina withdrew part of her savings to hire a private investigator.  He'd been highly recommended by her ex-boyfriend and she was desperate enough to give anything a try.  She'd met with the man only once, handed over a considerable sum of money, against her better judgement, and told him everything she could think of that might help.  After the meeting she'd been filled with hope.  Three days later he had phoned her, sounding strange, almost as if he were scared.  He told her he'd tracked down where Kathryn was being held but said there were complications.  He'd promised to phone her back soon with more information.   She never heard from him again.

At first she'd been terrified.  Had he too been captured? Was he still alive? Her imagination ran wild for a time.  When her panic settled down, however, her natural suspicions began to creep in.  Piecing the facts together she eventually admitted to herself that she'd been conned.

It was the last straw, the final shattering of all hope.  She broke down and cried for two days.  There was nothing left to do but face the most likely outcome that Kathryn was not coming back.

In that, she was wrong.

The end of her despair came in a most unexpected and anticlimactic way.  Sixteen days into the disappearance, Kathryn walked through the front door.

She was healthy and unharmed, though a little subdued.  A joyous, tearful reunion followed but upon being questioned, Kathryn had been unwilling to speak of her ordeal.  Tina was so relieved to see her alive and in good health that she let the matter drop, knowing that she would find out soon enough.

In that too, she was wrong.

The Police were pleased to close the case and Kathryn seemed content to resume her life as if nothing had happened.  Tina sensed, however, that something significant had happened, though she had not the slightest idea what it was.

The only obvious change was discovered by accident two nights after the cryptic reappearance.  Awakened one night by a strange distant sound, Tina had cautiously approached her friend's room, concerned that Kathryn was having bad dreams of her incident.  Instead she found herself standing outside the door listening with embarrassment to Kathryn's soft cries of pleasure.  Her capacity that night to bring herself to a climax seemed inexhaustible.

It became a regular occurrence which Tina thought little of at first, until it occurred to her that in their years together she had never once heard the slightest sound from the other's room.  Now, even of an evening in front of the TV she would sometimes catch her staring off into space, lost in her own private world, her thighs barely noticeably squeezing together as her breathing grew steadily deeper.

The sudden change was bewildering but it also provided considerable fuel for Tina's active imagination.  She found herself constantly speculating about Kathryn's disappearance.  The apparent lack of trauma on her friend's part gave her latitude to create the most pulse racing images.   She found herself becoming increasingly obsessed by each successive fantasy.  Whatever had happened had left the girl constantly preoccupied and in a near perpetual state of arousal.  Nevertheless, whenever she tried to coax Kathryn into talking, she repeatedly met a wall of resistance which she could not get past.  In the end she was forced to accept that she would probably never know what had happened.

Again, she was wrong.

In the early hours of a Saturday morning, precisely one calendar year after Kathryn's mysterious disappearance, Tina awoke to find she was not alone.

Three men stood around her bed, darkly clothed, their faces obscured by hoods.  She screamed; or at least, she tried to.  The sound came out weak and ineffective.  She tried to get up, desperate to escape but her limbs were heavy and refused to respond.  A fading sting in her upper left arm finally reached her awareness and she knew then, without a doubt, that she'd been drugged.  Uttering a feeble moan of protest, she collapsed back onto the bed.

A warm peaceful sensation flowed through her, dulling her fear and giving her a detached, almost curious perspective on all that was happening.  She watched in calm silence as one dark figure pulled back the covers and lifted her carefully from the bed.  Despite her physical weakness, her senses remained sharp and clear.  The coarse texture of his robe and the warm strength of his hands commanded her complete attention.

Without a sound, they carried her from the bedroom into the lounge beyond.  Their goal of reaching the front door unseen, however, was dashed by the sudden appearance of Kathryn.  Her sudden sharp gasp froze them in their tracks.  Calmly, they turned to face her where she stood, unmoving, at the door to her bedroom.  Her hand was clasped over her mouth and her eyes wide with shocked disbelief but she made no sound.

The three men remained motionless in tense seconds of silence that followed.  After many anxious moments the man closest to Kathryn raised his arm and pointed to the room behind her.  The loose sleeve of his cloak hung from his arm, reminding her of the caricature of Death.

'Go back to your toom.' He told her firmly.  'This does not concern you.'

Tina found his words strange but to her surprise, Kathryn nodded obediently and complied without hesitation.  It was only after the bedroom door closed that Tina began to understand.  The look on Kathryn's face which she had assumed to be fear had actually been one of recognition.  She knew these people!

Without further hesitation, the men glided out of the apartment and into the cool, crisp moonless night.  To her over-sensitive eyes the stars seemed dazzling and brilliant.  They were so beautiful she felt a simple child-like joy welling up inside her.  As she stared in wonder, the cool night air slowly filled her lungs and her mind faded to blackness.

Tina awoke, knowing instantly that she was not in her own bed.  Even before she opened her eyes, the touch of satin against her skin, the hint of a perfume that was not her own and the strange uncanny silence all served to confirm that her abduction dream had not been a dream at all.  A surge of panic welled up briefly, then faded like a vaporous breath on a cool winter's morning.

Slowly, almost unwillingly, she opened her eyes.  She was alone in a small softly lit bedroom.  It was far from a normal bedroom however.  The predominant colours were black and red, giving it a bizarre yet remarkable character.  Red satin sheets, carved black bed frame, black canopy, red carpet and black ceiling; it all seemed too carefully planned and balanced.  The timber panelled walls were the only exception but these were stained so dark they were almost black.  Even the small silk chemise she wore was red.  She tried not to think about the obvious fact that someone else had dressed her and instead tried to focus on where she was.

Trying to sit up, she found that her arms would barely support her.  Recalling a similar feeling when they'd abducted her, she realised that the drug was still in her system.  Most likely they were keeping her dosed, but for what purpose? And why too had Kathryn let them take her so easily? She dropped her head back to the pillow, so easily exhausted by her efforts.  Without realising it, she slipped back into an easy, light, floating sleep.

The sound of a door closing brought her slowly awake again.  When she opened her eyes this time, she found a woman, perhaps in her thirties, approaching the bed with a small metal tray.  She was dark haired and fair skinned with the most dazzling blue eyes she had ever seen.  Tina found her disturbingly attractive in a classic sense.

Apparently unconcerned that Tina was awake, the woman laid the tray down beside the bed before turning at last to face her.  Tina tried to sit up, succeeding only partially.  Her head was marginally clearer but her limbs were still weak.  The woman watched her in silence briefly, as if gauging her ability to function, then moved to aid her, propping up the pillows behind her.  The satin sheets made it hard to sit up and she felt self conscious about the scant garment she wore but she focused her attention on the woman.

"How are you feeling?" The woman asked in a soft, almost caring tone.  "No nausea? Cramps?"

The question caught Tina by surprise and she shook her head mutely.

"Excellent," came the other's warm response.

The woman's manner was so unthreatening that Tina found herself wanting to relax in spite of herself.  There were so many questions and her agitation was worsened by her helplessness.  She tried to talk but the sounds she made were mostly unintelligible.

The woman smiled without any hint of cruelty.  "Don't try to speak," she soothed.  "Just relax.  It will be so much more pleasant if you can do that."

Tina tried again to speak, concentrating on forming each syllable of each word.  "What...  will...  be...  pleasant?" She managed, weakly.

The woman turned away, attending to the tray she'd brought in.  "I'm not supposed to say," she replied after a considerable pause.  Clearly she wanted to, nevertheless.

It had not escaped Tina's attention that the woman was preparing another injection.  With a growing sense of desperation she tried again.

"Please," she urged.  "Tell me."

The woman paused in her task and seemed to consider her plea.  When she turned around her hands were empty.  There was a hint of something not unlike excitement in her eyes.

"Do you believe in the Devil?" she asked.  The startling blue eyes held Tina's without flinching.  The words were ludicrous and Tina began to wonder if the woman might perhaps be insane after all.

She took a step closer to the bed, almost trembling with what appeared to be excitement.

"They brought you here for Him.  He will take you as his mistress." She spoke in an animated whisper, her face showing a mixture of fear and excitement.  Seeing the scepticism in Tina's face, she composed herself slightly and continued.  "Consider yourself an offering, if you prefer.  They're not really supposed bring you here like this but He doesn't care whether you're willing or not, just as long as you're beautiful."

Tina felt more trapped and helpless than ever.  She began to shake her head, wanting the woman to stop.  It had to be a bad joke.  The woman was teasing her, surely.  There was no such thing as the Devil! She tried to tell her to stop but the woman continued relentlessly.

"They call you his Mistress but of course you're really just a pretty little play thing; something to expend his year long lust into." Her eyes had a far-away look as if she were remembering.  As insane as the words sounded, Tina had the impression that the woman believed them.  The shock must have registered on her face, for the woman's features softened with concern.  "Don't worry," she said, close enough now to stroke her forehead.  "You will survive, and your needs will be well looked after.  He always sees to that."

Tina never saw the needle.  Though she felt the tiny stab on her arm, she could not take her eyes from the woman's face.  There was something there that held her; a liveliness to the other's features that almost made her believe.  She again tried to speak but the woman pressed a finger softly to her lips.

'Shhhh,' she soothed.

The finger, instead of moving, brushed lightly across her lips in a soft caress.  Tracing a tender path across her cheek, she moved down to lightly explore her throat.  Her touch was hypnotic.  Tina was not sure if the drug had begun to take effect but she found herself entranced.  When eventually the delicate, searching fingers slipped beneath the red silk to caress Tina's breast, a dark pulse of excitement echoed within her.  Her deepening breathing left her dizzy.  She felt as if she were being drawn into those eyes, such vivid sparkling blue eyes, so alluring she could not look away.  The woman's lips brushed her own as a fingertip circled her hardening nipple.  She sighed softly as her consciousness slipped imperceptibly away.

She slept.

She dreamt.

In her dream she opened her eyes to see countless strange men standing around her bed.  They were all dressed in the same long black robes, with loose fitting hoods covering their heads.  The room was in darkness except for a single ornate candelabra held by one of the robed figures.  With ceremony, one of the men drew back the covers, bringing immediate attention to her nakedness.  She began to question whether she was truly dreaming as the man lifted her limp, unresisting form easily into his arms.

Surrounded by the others, he carried her slowly and reverently from the room.  The candles alone lit their way through an endless procession of dark winding corridors until the wood panelled walls gave way to rough hewed stone.  The ancient subterranean corridor led them ever downwards in a wide sloping spiral, lower and lower until she feared they would never stop.  They seemed to walk forever but her bearer's hold remained strong and tireless.  He seemed capable of carrying her like this indefinitely.  Lulled by gentle movements of his slow measured pace, she rested her head against his chest and her eyelids fluttered closed.

Time seemed to pass without measure.  It could have been minutes, hours or days, though it seemed more like the latter.  There were times when she thought she was dreaming but mostly she believed she was not.

For a time she slept and upon awakening was immediately aware that they had passed from the corridor.  The soft echoes of their footsteps, so lulling and comforting were now conspicuously absent.  The candle light failed to penetrate the darkness, giving her the impression they travelling through an empty void filled only with darkness.  The smooth stone floor beneath them was the only tenuous grasp on reality she had.  Reason told her they were traversing a large subterranean cavern but if that were so, the dimensions of it were phenomenal.

Eventually, in the direction of their travels she spied an area of light, still some distance away.  It looked like a small toy stage, circled by tiny smoking candles.  As they drew steadily closer however she began to appreciate its true size.  The candles were large flaming torches, mounted in tall iron supports, standing higher than all of the figures assembled there.  At the centre was an enormous stone altar that appeared to be carved from the very rock upon which it sat.

Her tireless bearer approached the great stone structure and placed her gently upon it.  She felt thick dark furs beneath her, the softness of which was welcoming against her nakedness.  In spite of herself, she could not resist writhing against them, luxuriating in the acuteness of her senses.  The others of their group had remained back, spreading out along the perimeter of the circle.  More figures moved in from the shadows until they were completely encircled by countless hooded spectres.  Her bearer took hold of her wrists and positioned her arms above her head.  There were no restraints but she knew she was meant to keep them there.  He next moved her legs, parting them enough so that her sex was just accessible.  It made her feel dreadfully vulnerable but she didn't dare move.

Producing a small vial from within his robes, he began to carefully anoint her body with the strange dark perfumed oil it contained.  His finger, tipped with the oil, led a slippery trail from the exposed wrist of her right hand, down her arm in a straight line to her breast.  With more oil he circled her nipple and led a path diagonally across her body, pausing briefly at her navel then continuing on his way down her opposite leg.  By the time he reached her sensitive ankle, her wrist felt warm and tingled pleasantly where the oil had first been applied.   As he started again at her left wrist, the sensation grew stronger wherever the oil had touched her.  When he had finished the second line she was squirming helplessly from the sensations it caused.

He then began to decorate the rest of her body with strange exotic symbols in a similar manner.  As time passed, each new symbol began to imprint itself on her mind as a pattern of burning, exquisite heat.  When his fingers gently parted the lips of her sex, her body grew tense with anticipation that bordered on dread.  A well oiled fingertip slid slowly along the length of her sex, mixing the oil with her own considerable moisture.  The man returned the vial to his robe and took his place at the outer circle, leaving Tina alone upon the dais.  She hardly noticed his sudden absence for the hot precious tingle was already starting to take hold.

For several long minutes she lost herself in a gasping realm of sexual heat that possessed her mind and senses utterly.  Her hips undulated slowly as she writhed helplessly upon the thick soft furs.

Lost as she was in her own world, she did not notice at first that the gathering was no longer silent.  An eerie low sound, strange yet musical, crept slowly into her awareness.  It was almost like a slow rhythmic chant, only far too hauntingly perfect to be real.  The dark figures began to approach, closing in from all directions like a featureless black seething tide.  Hands reached out from everywhere to softly touch her, stroke her, explore her.   Their dark robes obscured all but their hands, making them seem almost disembodied.

Amidst the countless soft caresses she felt the occasional gentle squeeze, or a nail raking lightly across her flesh.  A formless darkness descended over her right breast and her nipple was drawn into a hot wet mouth, thrummed rapidly with a raspy tongue and then released to the cool air.  Every accessible inch of her body - with the exception of her sex, which no one touched - was subject to their relentless exploration.

Then, something changed.

She didn't sense it directly but felt it in the reactions of those around her.  The hands and mouths withdrew as one and the room fell into sudden ominous silence.  The tide of black withdrew in a slowly expanding circle, leaving her alone again in the centre.  She felt suddenly vulnerable but she also burned with a need that was stronger than anything she had ever known.  The sudden lack of stimulus had left her trembling with frustration.

Despite her dazed state of mind, she knew what was about to happen.  Someone - or something - was coming for her.

It was coming for her now.

The black tide parted and a huge dark figure emerged, striding boldly forward.  Her throat constricted as she gazed upon the being, fearing that she already knew who it was.  He appeared to be older than the earth itself yet he held an aura of unquestionable strength and power.  The being's total attention was focused on her alone.  He strode towards her, his naked sinuous body glistening in the firelight.  His intentions were clear, a fact emphasised by the size and rigidity of his erection.

Tina did not believe in God or the Devil but the apparition before her struck a deeply hidden chord within.  She did not for one minute doubt the nature of this being.  She had seen evil before but the being that approached her now seemed the essence of all such evil.  How she knew this, she could not be certain.  She just knew, as did all those around her who were cringing in fear and respect in his presence.

The drug which calmed her and the oil which inflamed her passions, together kept her from succumbing to panic.  She faced her fate with a strange mixture of emotions.  Her body still craved the attention she had been denied and the rush of adrenalin served to heighten her need.  A part of her craved the attentions of this fearsome being even though she knew that the choice was not hers to make.

The beast closed the distance between them all too soon.  He stood at the foot of the altar, his huge frame towering above her.  Hot ashen breath bathed her skin, speaking of sinister places and deeds, things unknown and unimaginable.  Large ancient hands reached down to grasp her waist.  His skin felt hot and hard against her tender flesh.  She found herself unable to breath.  She stared up into the dark piercing eyes and trembled, though not entirely from fear.  She had the dreadful impression that those eyes were gleaning her every thought, her most intimate feelings and her darkest desires as easily as they perceived her naked body.

He pulled her easily along the furs towards him until, with knees fully bent, her heels rested upon the very edge of the stone slab.  His strength belied his apparent age.  He handled her as if she were weightless.  Without ceremony he placed a rough gnarled finger at the lips of her sex and forced it partly inside her.  She gasped in shock at the sudden unexpected action.  His finger withdrew, coated with the evidence of her arousal; proof of her readiness.   His boldness shocked her as much as the raw sensation it produced.  His manner conveyed beyond a doubt that she was simply an offering - a desirable female presented for his carnal desires.   There was no pretending otherwise.

As this last thought formed in her dazed mind the Beast, with casual ease, pulled her down onto his waiting erection.

His thick hardness invaded her easily, opening her wide and filling her deeply.  Her shocked cry pierced the air.  His size and the suddenness of his entry took her breath away but the shameful rush of pleasure she felt by far overwhelmed any discomfort or pain.  She gasped for breath as he held himself deep inside her, pulsing with incredible potency.  His hard body pressed firmly against hers and she realised that he had somehow managed to force his entire hugeness inside her.  She thought it impossible but no longer cared.

He began to withdraw from her, slowly, letting her feel the slick roughness of him moving inside her.  The gathering was in total silence.  Every sound she made seem amplified.  She found herself trying harder and harder to control her breathing, so loud it seemed already.  She remembered the countless hands that had touched her before, finding pleasure in the feel of her body.  Were there both men and women amongst them? Old and young?

Her attention returned to the Beast as his hugeness, clasped tightly by her warmth, continued to withdraw.  The Beast pulled almost entirely out until he was resting at her entrance.  His eyes seemed to burn brighter for an instant and then he filled her again in one smooth, devastating stroke.  Another cry burst from her lips, a cry that betrayed the pleasure she had felt.  Again, he slowly withdrew, inch by inch, then swiftly he filled her again.  He did this again and again, with uncanny precision, until she was shaking with suppressed passion.  Each time she tried to prepare herself but each time she cried out in shameful pleasure as he filled her.

She had not planned on losing herself so openly but it was no longer something she had any control over.  The Beast's measured thrusts gradually increased in both speed and strength.  He was toying with her, she knew, taunting her with the pleasure he forced upon her.  She could also sense its restraint gradually slipping and wondered what would happen when he finally reached a climax.  Would she truly be safe as the woman had insisted?

Her thoughts gave way to feelings as the sexual tension grew dizzying.  A small moan passed unbidden from her lips and she felt him pulse larger inside her in response.  For reasons she could not fathom - or perhaps refused to fathom - this filled her with a sudden rush of excitement.

She felt stunned by the strength of the sexual heat building inside her.  There were too many feelings, too many emotions and too much pleasure.  He plunged into her almost brutally now but she craved the things he was doing to her.   His hands, so inhumanly hot, explored her body, squeezing her breasts, her nipples, caressing her face, her hair, at once rough and tender.  Her body grew taut, her breathing erratic but release seemed so very far away.   She found it hard to believe that a creature so brutal and callous as this could control her so skilfully.  With each passing minute the excitement inside her grew until she feared she would lose her mind.

It was not until the Beast had tired of teasing her did she fully appreciate the power it had over her.  When the first exquisite tremors started within, she felt momentarily scared.  In the passing of a moment they flared up, building to such a blinding intensity that she lost all sense of herself.  Her existence consisted solely of the exquisite pleasure and the endless thrusting, so inhumanly perfectly, that refused to let her come down.

In the heat of it all, she perceived a great throbbing inside her and knew that at last the Beast was reaching a climax.  She felt awed by the strength of its release. A relief and a sadness passed over her.  It would soon be over.   There would be nothing again in her life to match this.

When the Beast's fearsome climax was over it remained inside her, still hard, unmoving except for a slight rhythmic pulsing.  She lay upon the furs, overcome by exhaustion, grateful for the chance to recover her breath.  A peaceful floating sensation spread over her.  She felt more relaxed than she could ever remember.  Unmoving, with eyes still closed, she allowed herself to sink into the experience as her body sank into the softness beneath her.   She shifted her hips slightly, reminding herself of the hardness that filled her.  Her cheeks flushed with warmth.

Above her, the Beast drew a deep rumbling breath.  With measured ease and inhuman skill, he began once again.

The gatherers parted in a flurry as the Beast strode out of the circle.  To those with the courage to look, he seemed stronger, the light in his eyes brighter.  The circle closed again and he was gone.

A wave of relief swept through the gathering.  Another offering had been accepted and now it was time to give thanks and prepare for the upcoming celebrations.  The orderly circle broke as the worshipers headed solemnly for the distant passageway.  Behind remained only The Appointed Ones, those who would stay behind to tend the unconscious woman. They had much to do to prepare her for the week ahead.

The End