Part 2: Made to Talk
Her cell was soundproof. The first indication that anyone was at the door was
when it slid open, and two intimidating-looking men walked in. One of them made
a point of aiming his gun at her knee in silent warning. Wordlessly, the other
grabbed her arm and pulled her up. Even as she was being pulled to her feet,
her wrists were handcuffed behind her back. Laura was more carried than walked
out of her cell, down a hallway and to the secure elevator. She thought of the
room with the chair that she had been in earlier, and momentarily, panic made it
hard for her to breathe. But they walked past the room, and to another
elevator. This elevator had a standard panel and went up to the first, second
and third levels of the building.
They got off at the second level. Laura took in the impressive surroundings.
The hall was softly lit; the hardwood floors gleamed where plush Oriental rug
didn't cover them. There were some very expensive pieces of art on the walls,
and the few pieces of furniture looked like equally expensive antiques. They
paused in front of an elaborately carved oak door, and one of the guards knocked
softly.
"Enter." It was Snake's voice. Laura shivered, and tried to pull away...it was
instinct, she knew that she wasn't going anywhere but where they wanted her to
go. She was pushed forward into the room, and fell on the floor in front of an
enormous hardwood desk. She looked up to see Snake sitting behind the desk,
listening to someone on the phone, and at the same time, writing something down
on a piece of paper. He continued doing business for at least ten minutes, as
he left Laura where she had fallen on the floor. The two men had taken up
position on either side of the wooden door.
The ten minutes was enough to remind Laura that she had information they very
much wanted. She worked her meditation techniques to calm herself down. Snake
put down the phone, got up from his desk and to where Laura was still on the
floor. She had not been able to get up with her wrists cuffed behind her.
Snake nudged her breast with the tip of his boots...not too hard, just enough to
get her attention. Laura turned her face up to look at him, and found herself
wondering what his lips would feel like on her breasts. She pushed the thought
out of her mind. What was wrong with her? To think of sex when her life was at
stake?
"Are you hungry?" he asked, just as he had before. It was a dose of reality
that brought Laura back to her situation. "Yes," she answered, as she had
before. "Yes, what?" He demanded. Laura hesitated a moment before she said,
"Yes, Snake."
"Thirsty?" Laura just looked at him...he knew damn well that she was hungry and
thirsty. "That was a question, bitch," he reminded her. "Yes, Snake," her
voice was barely louder than a whisper. She was very thirsty and her stomach
ached from hunger.
"And are you afraid?" "Yes," she replied. Then quickly added, "Snake."
Snake nodded, and started to move away. He paused, and turned back to her. He
drew back his booted foot, and this time, put considerable force behind it when
he kicked her in the stomach.
Laura gave out a loud gasp of pain, her eyes filled with tears, and she tried to
draw herself up into a ball. He swung his foot again, and this time he kicked
her breast. Laura screamed at the pain. Again, he kicked her stomach. "That
was to condition you," Snake told her. "It's just a taste of what you're going
to get." Laura was gasping to catch her breath. Snake pulled her up by her
hair, and signaled one of the men at the door that he should take charge of
Laura.
Laura was dragged back to the elevator and this time, they went into the
interrogation room. The room was well lit this time, and Laura was able to see
clearly what the shadows had hid before. There were hooks on the walls and the
ceiling, a menacing looking wooden frame had eyebolts fastened in several
places, there were whips, straps and canes mounted on the walls. An unusual
device that looked almost like a table, but was made up of hinged panels of wood
stood in one corner. Near it was a wheeled trolley that held what looked like
some kind of electrical device.
She struggled against the grip that held her as she was dragged over to the
wooden frame. Her handcuffs were exchanged for leather wrist restraints with
D-rings. First her right hand then her left were pulled up to the top eyebolts
of the frame and locked in place. The same was done to her ankles, and she was
now bound spread-eagled on the frame, most of her weight on her wrists. She was
stretched out tightly, and any movement was painful. Laura was very securely
restrained against the table. It was a terrifying feeling, yet, like before,
Laura also found herself aroused.
Snake walked into the room and without looking at her, walked over to the wall
that held the whips. He took a particularly nasty looking whip off the wall and
tested it. "Crack!" The sound was loud as he swung it through the air. He put
the whip back, but only to pick up another one that looked even more
frightening. "Crack!" he tested this whip, and seemed to be satisfied because
he tucked the handle into his belt and turned toward Laura.
Snake walked across the room to where she was bound. Beads of perspiration were
showing on Laura's forehead, both from fear as well as from the strain of being
mounted on the frame. Snake stood in front of her, and lit a cigarette. Laura
drew in her breath, and tried to calm herself.
"Who do you work for?" He repeated the question he had asked her the other day,
the question to which they both knew he had the answer. She only hesitated a
second before she answered him, "CDX." Snake nodded his head. "What is your
assignment?" Laura remained silent.
Snake gave a heavy sigh. "Laura, Laura, why are you making this so difficult
for yourself?" This time, he made a fist and punched her hard in her stomach.
With the air that was driven out of her, she gave a cry of pain. She was
sucking in air as fast as she could, her face scrunched up in pain, and a tear
started to fall down her cheek.
"What is your assignment?" He repeated calmly.
Snake was ready to punch her again, when she quickly gasped out. "Wait,
please!" "Snake." He reminded her. "Wait, please, Snake," she said more
calmly than before. Snake took another drag on his cigarette, and the tip
glowed bright red. Laura was mesmerized by the glow. "I...my..." she started.
"Yes, get on it with," ordered Snake. "It was to infiltrate.... Brenford."
"For what reason?" Snake asked, taking another drag on his cigarette. It was
almost down to the filter. Laura couldn't keep her eyes off it. She was too
slow in answering him. Snake pushed the glowing end of the cigarette against
the base of her neck and held it there, letting it burn for a few seconds before
he pushed it hard against her to put it out. Laura gave out a piercing scream.
Tears were streaming down her face. She was shivering.
"It was to find out your pickup points, the codes for the agents, your
schedule..." he knew anyway, she thought, as she answered him.
"And did you?" Snake stroked the burn with his finger. His touch was
excruciating.
"Yes," she said. Snake slapped her across the face. "Snake." He said only the
one word. "Yes, Snake," she quickly said to avoid another slap. She had to
remember to keep saying his name.
"And where is that list now, Laura?" He asked calmly, and waited for her reply.
She kept silent.
"Laura, where is the list?" He repeated, his voice still calm and patient,
though Laura knew he was anything but.
"Please, Snake, could I have some water," she begged, as she futilely tried to
wet her parched and cracked lips. Snake's response was to take a knife out of
his pocket and open it. Laura turned pale, and frantically struggled against
her bonds, even though her logical mind knew that it was impossible to break
free. Snake brought the blade up to her throat. She whimpered. He drew the
knife down toward the cleavage in her dress. Abruptly he sliced through the
fabric, exposing her bra and her body down to the waist. Another quick flick
with the knife, and he had cut through her bra. Snake ripped her dress, slip and
bra to her shoulders. He drew her breasts out from the top of the very thin
slip she was wearing. Laura was reminded of erotic bondage scenes in books and
movies, and felt her arousal growing.
"Where is the list, Laura?" He asked her, as the knife traveled down to her
waist. He started to cut through her slip, her dress and her pants. The knife
traveled downward until the front of her body was exposed to him. Snake grabbed
the ends of the fabric on either side of her body and pulled hard. The fabric
ripped, and now the only thing that clung to her was a small piece of fabric on
one arm. She was bound naked and open to him. She was trembling all over. Was
it fear? Arousal at being displayed naked before him? Or both?
She was very thirsty. "Snake, please...just a little bit of water, please. I
can't...I can't think straight, I'm so dehydrated. Please, Snake." She was
begging.
"You're making a big mistake, Laura," he warned her. "Not only will I take the
information from you, but I'm going to punish you for not being cooperative."
One part of Laura very much wanted to talk, to tell him what he wanted to know.
She desperately needed water. She was trembling all over from fear. But still,
she decided to stand firm and refuse to talk. She begged him for water again.
In response, Snake went to a small table that had been put to one side and
poured a glass of water. He stood in front of Laura and drank it
appreciatively, then put the glass down on the table, empty. His message to
Laura was clear. She wasn't going to get any water from him.
Laura's eyes widened in fear when Snake took the whip out of his belt loop and
again tested it. She winced at the cracking sound it made. She shivered to
think that in a few seconds, she would be feeling it on her body. Laura tensed
her muscles and tried to prepare herself for the blows.
The whip flew through the air and the wicked straps hit her body across her
abdomen, a couple of strands wrapping themselves around one of her breasts. As
prepared as Laura thought she was she was still not prepared enough for what the
stroke of the whip felt like against her bare skin. Again, Snake brought the
whip down, this time directly across one of her nipples. Without pausing, the
whip connected with her pussy not once, but four times. He went around and
started to hit her buttocks, the backs of her thighs, her back. Laura was
screaming for him to stop. It hurt, it hurt! Snake was working on her breasts
again. "Please," she was whimpering by this time. "Please, Snake, please
stop...please, please...no more!"
Snake stopped. He had worked up a good sweat beating her. He made a show of
pouring some more water and drinking it down noisily. Laura foolishly dared
hope that he was done whipping her for now, and relaxed into her restraints.
Crack! The whip struck her against both nipples at once. Laura looked down at
herself, and from what she could see from her bound position, knew that her body
was covered with red stripes and that her nipples were engorged with blood,
swollen and bright red. It no longer felt arousing, it only felt painful.
There was no lust left in her, only pain and fear.
"Stubborn bitch," shouted Snake. "Break, damn you!" The whip cut across her
body again, and then, mercifully, Laura passed out.
Snake threw down the whip, and wiped his forehead. He snapped his fingers at
the men at the door, and together as a pair, they came to where Laura was
stretched out on the wooden frame, and took her down. They didn't bother with
restraints as they took her unconscious body back to her cell. Laura moaned
when they put her down on the cold cement floor. They were taking her pulse
and checking her blood pressure when Snake came in with a glass of water.
"Laura, Laura, wake up!" a voice was calling her back into consciousness, her
cheeks were being slapped. She half opened her eyes and groaned. A glass of
water was held up to her lips, but Laura was having a hard time moving her
parched tongue to swallow. The water dribbled into her throat. She regained a
bit more consciousness, and quickly, her hands moved up to the glass, bringing
it to her lips. She took a long swallow, and then the man holding it pulled it
away from her. Laura tried to hold onto the glass, but she never had a chance.
"That's enough," Snake said. "I'll give you more in a few seconds."
Laura closed her eyes and nodded her thanks. She was leaning against the hard
concrete wall and felt its roughness against her welted and naked back. She was
throbbing with pain everywhere. There was no lust in her now, although she was
naked and exposed to Snake.
Snake held the water up to her lips again, and she took a mouthful. The water
felt so good...how long had he made her go without water? She had lost track of
time.
Snake pulled the glass away from her. "Laura, where is the list?" He demanded.
"Laura, tell me where you hid the list." Laura tried to focus her eyes, she hurt
so badly. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt...the words kept going through her mind like
a mantra. She was trying to distract herself from the pain.
Laura weakly shook her head, "No," it was barely a whisper. Snake threw the
glass against the stone and it shattered loudly. "Stupid bitch!" He said with
clenched teeth. "What are you, a pain slut? Is that it? You can't get enough
of the whip? I have even more painful ways to extract information. This was
just a warm-up for what's coming to you now, unless you tell me where you hid
the list."
Snake pulled her up to her feet and pushed her towards the men. She staggered
and would have fallen if they hadn't grabbed her. Laura couldn't stand on her
own. They brought her downstairs, back to the interrogation room.
"Put her on the table," Snake said. "Let's see how long she can hold out with
electric current running through her ass and her pussy
Terror gave Laura her voice back. "No!" she screamed loudly, "Please, Snake,
please no! Oh no! " The men lifted her up off the ground by her arms and
brought her over to the strange table-like device Laura had noticed earlier.
She was still screaming and begging Snake not to do it to her. Laura wasn't
quite sure what he had planned, but she had read about how painful electrical
stimulation in the genital area could be. She had just experienced a brutal
whipping at Snake's hands, and she believed him when he said that there was more
pain coming.
Laura was placed on the wooden table on her back. A control moved four panels
at the bottom and at the side of the table slightly outward. Laura's legs were
bound to each panel by five leather straps - at the ankle, her calf, her knee,
her lower thigh and her upper thigh. Her arms were also bound to panels - her
fingers, except for her thumb, her wrist, her lower arm, her elbow and her upper
arm. Straps went around her chest above her breasts, then below them, around
her waist and across her hips. And last a strap went over her forehead and over
her chin, holding her head firmly in place. Laura was held immobile on the
table. Snake pushed another control to spread her legs and arms out as far as
possible. Her hips were raised and her legs were lowered, making her ass and
her vagina easily accessible. Snake put a metal rod into her vagina and another
one into her ass. They were large and cold, and the one that went into her ass
was painful. Laura had never had anything up there other than her
gynecologist's finger during a physical. She was no longer screaming, but the
tears kept streaming down her face, and she was trembling all over in spite of
her bonds. Snake then put wicked alligator clips on her nipples, and another on
her clit.
Snake attached wires that went from a control unit to the metal rods. The clips
were also wired to the box. He checked her, and when he was sure everything was
in place, he hit a switch and pain shot through Laura, starting at the point of
origin and then spreading out all over her body, burning, searing pain. She
screamed one long howl until Snake let go of the switch. She no longer
remembered the pain from the whipping. This had cleared her mind of everything
but the pain she was feeling at the moment.
Laura was dazed from the pain. "That was the lowest setting, Laura," Snake
informed her. "I plan to start at least ten points higher, and see how close to
the threshold of fifty I can take you." Snake moved a dial and hit the switch
again. The pain hit Laura and rode through her body like a wave. Unlike the
first time, the waves kept coursing through her, gathering in intensity. She
opened her mouth for a soundless scream. She couldn't breath. She felt that
her heart was going to stop. The pain slowly receded. Laura understood why she
had been tied down the way she had. Her body was convulsing as the current ran
through her.
"This leaves no permanent damage...it just gives you pain. So we can keep
going with this all night until you decide you can't take it any longer and tell
me where the list is."
Laura looked at him pitifully and pleaded with her eyes. She couldn't make a
sound.... She was still gripped by the aftermath of the pain.
Snake started to work the controls again. No, her mind screamed, he couldn't be
doing this again so soon. "Let's bring it up to twenty and see how you do," he
smiled at her. He was enjoying this, the thought crossed her mind just as the
nerves in her body were once again flooded with pain.
Laura passed out from the pain. Snake quickly brought her back by breaking open
a vial of ammonia under her nose. Laura groaned. The pain was still with her.
"That was a setting of twenty, Laura," he said. "What do you think you'll be
doing by the time we get to fifty? Will you be begging me to listen to you?"
"We're starting to get serious here," Snake said. He took a rubber bit off the
trolley and put it into her mouth. "Bite down on this," he told her. He didn't
give her time to think as the current shot through her again. "That was still
twenty," he told her.
Laura's teeth were clamped down on the bit, and she was grunting at the pain
from the shocks she was being given. Her genital areas felt as if they were on
fire. She was trembling uncontrollably. "Are you ready to tell me where you
hid the list?" Snake asked.
Laura shook her head, no. Snake raised the setting yet again. She was once
more unprepared when the pain took over and she howled like an animal. The bit
fell out of her mouth. Her eyes were wild, her body trying to writhe under the
bonds. Snake replaced the bit, and again, he sent the pain through her. Not
giving her a chance to recover, he jolted her once more. She passed out again.
Snake let her come back on her own. As soon as he saw her eyes open, he shoved
the bit into her mouth and hit the button that send the electricity to the rods
in her vagina and her ass, and to the tender tips of her nipples. Laura had
bitten down on the bit, and it stayed in her mouth this time. The straps that
held her down bit into her skin cruelly as her body arched from the pain and her
arms and legs pushed against them.
Laura's clothes were still on the floor in shreds. Snake picked up her blouse
and tore off a long strip. He put it over her mouth, securing the bit in place.
Again, he sent the current through her.
"That was four at thirty." He told her. "Very painful, isn't it??"
He raised the setting again. "We're at forty now." He told her. "When do you
think you'll have had enough? Or are you ready to talk now?"
Laura looked back at him, eyes wide with pain and fear. "Blink your eyes
quickly if you want to talk," he said. Laura held herself still. The
electricity seemed to target every nerve in her body. The pain going from ten
to twenty to thirty was noticeable, but each setting was just a bit more painful
than the previous. The leap from thirty to forty was incomprehensible. Laura's
eyes rolled back in her head, and the convulsions raised her off the table as
far as the bonds allowed, each strap embedded in her skin from the pressure.
Again he gave her pain.
Snake's hands were on the switch to give her a third dose at forty. Laura
couldn't take it any longer. She grunted frantically into the gag, desperately
trying to get Snake's attention before he pushed the button again.
"You're ready to talk?" He asked. She blinked her eyes three times as quickly
as she could. Her face soaked with perspiration and tears. Snake took off the
gag. It had taken him less than five minutes to break her.
"Where did you hide the files."
"Please, get me off this," she begged.
Snake just stared at her. "Snake, please, get me off this." She repeated, and
although she sounded as though she was verging on hysteria, she remembered to
use his name this time.
"The files, Laura. Don't waste my time." Snake's hand hovered over the button.
Laura only wanted the pain to stop. She hadn't thought beyond that. She
couldn't tell him where the files were...there was much too much at stake.
The bit was back in her mouth before she could draw another breath, and the pain
went searing through every cell in her body. Snake was surprised at how she was
holding out. She wasn't a trained agent; she had never been taught how to
resist talking under torture. Yet she was doing as well as any hardened agent
would have under the circumstances.
She has a high tolerance of pain, he thought, speculatively. He looked her over
appraisingly. Even disheveled and bruised as she was, she was attractive. She
had a nice shape, her breasts were perfect. He was liked with what he saw.
Snake was beginning to admire her, and he would have felt bad about taking her
out after the interrogation was over. He now saw another very viable and
profitable option.
When she had recovered enough to be aware, Snake informed her that the setting
was still forty. "I'm going to raise the setting by two points," he told her.
"Notice how much more painful it's going to be." He was ready to push the
button again. "I'm only going up to fifty in today's session," he told her.
"When we continue tomorrow, I'm starting you at thirty and we'll go up to
seventy-five. Do you think you can take it?" He pushed down on the button to
send the pain through her, to let her think about how forty-two felt compared to
forty, and that seventy-five was a long ways off.
This realization was coming to Laura at the same time that Snake was pushing the
button. Every cell in her body screamed out in pain, pain that she never
thought it was possible for anyone to feel and still live. She thought that she
would probably be dead long before he reached a setting of seventy-five. But if
she broke down and talked now, he would kill her anyway once he had the
information he was going after, and he would have won.
Laura tried to prepare herself for what was coming. She just had to hold
on...her body would give out eventually and she would be free from the pain.
Laura felt a tear run down her cheek. She knew that death was a possibility
when she agreed to the assignment, but it hadn't seemed real to her until now.
Snake had been watching her and he could see the point at which she resigned
herself to enduring the pain without talking. This wasn't going anywhere today,
he realized. He was disappointed...he thought he had her after five minutes.
It seemed she was going to be much tougher than that.
Snake went over to her and unplugged the wires. He and the two men began to
remove the straps. "Snake," she whispered hoarsely when the gag and bit were
removed. Her eyes were questioning.
"Why did I stop?" He finished her question for her. "Laura, I'm a
professional. You won't do me much good if you're dead, will you? I'm not
going to let you die on me, Laura, either during or after questioning. There is
something else in store for you."
He could see the despair settle into her eyes. Yes, he had read her
correctly...she was resigned to dying under torture. And he had taken that away
from her.
Laura was placed on her feet. She was shaking, and her legs couldn't hold her
up. The two men were on either side of her, and they carried her more than
dragged her back to her cell. Snake was going to give her some time to chill,
and then he would have another conversation with her. There are some things
worst than death, Laura, he said to himself.
Laura slept for a long time. She woke up to raging hunger and thirst. And of
course, fear. His questions were a permanent fixture in her mind. Are you
hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you afraid?
Every attempt at movement hurt. She lay back and tried to remember some of the
techniques for resisting interrogation she had been told about. There hadn't
been time for more than a briefing and some pointers. But then, no one thought
that she would end up in this situation. It was to be a quick job, and the
chances of discovery were considered slim. But the odds had been against her.
Her mind was drifting. She still felt the pain, although she knew that it was
her mind that was recalling how much it hurt, and not her body. A sound at the
door startled her, and she was facing the door when Snake walked in with his two
henchmen. Snake saw her eyes widen in fear and she began babbling incoherently
when she saw him come into the cell. "Please...I
can't...no...please...don't..."
"Quiet," he ordered her. She went still. "So you thought I would just allow
you to die without talking?" He asked her. She didn't need to answer out loud;
her response was in her eyes. "Stupid bitch."
Snake snapped his fingers and one of the men brought a chair in from the
hallway. Snake sat down and faced her.
"Let me clear something up for you," he began. "I have no plans to let you die
or to kill you." Snake lit a cigarette and took a long drag.
"I told you earlier that it didn't matter to me how long you held out. I have a
lot of time. And although we need the files, we can get by without them for a
month or so." Snake paused to give her time to process what he was saying.
Laura licked her dry lips, and her stomach growled. "See how hungry and thirsty
you are," he pointed out the obvious. "How hungry do you think you'll be if I
wait until next week to feed you? What about if I waited another day or two to
give you more water?" Snake continued talking to her, his voice emotionless.
"And the pain...it's going to continue, and get worse daily. Even the same
things are going to hurt more." To prove his point, he put out the cigarette he
had been smoking against the side of her neck, an inch from where he had burnt
her before. Laura gasped at the pain. He was right, it did hurt more.
Laura dared a question. "And if I tell you...what then?" Talking was
difficult.
"When...not if, Laura, when...you talk, I am going to sell you into slavery."
Snake enjoyed the play of emotions on her face. At first, she didn't think she
heard him right. Then she thought, well, at least I'll still be alive. And
then the realization of what he said hit her, and she paled.
"That's what I meant when I said there were worse things that could happen to
you than dying," he said. "But this is the deal...if you make things easy for
me, I'll make them easy for you. My association and I will make sure that you
are sold to someone who will keep you locked away securely, but won't be too
cruel. If you keep resisting and make my job difficult for me, I'm going to take
it out on you and make sure that whoever buys you is an insensitive sadist."
In spite of the pain she was in, Laura almost laughed when he said that...what
did he think he was, she thought.
"We're starting your interrogation again, in about an hour, right after lunch."
He made a point of letting her know that he and the others would be eating and
drinking while she was locked in her cell, dreading what was coming to her.
"Give this careful thought, Laura."
Snake got up and left the room, leaving her there with questions she hadn't been
able to articulate in time. Her first thoughts were that she didn't know what
she should do...should she talk? give in to him? let him know where the files
were hidden?...but then she told herself that this wasn't an option, no matter
what. If he meant what he said, about selling her, then, she told herself, as
bad as the pain was going to be this afternoon, she wasn't going to die from it.
She told herself that even if she was sold to a sadist, at least she would still
be alive, and perhaps, it would be possible to escape. She made up her mind.
She would not give him the information he was trying to torture out of her. She
lay back, and proceeded to blank out her mind, to find something that she could
focus on when the pain took over her body, to disassociate her mind from the
body.
