Chapter 18.5 – A Past Memory of the Two

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So fair warning. This chapter is dark and very cruel to Senna. (Which is censored in a spoiler box.)

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The Rimmer mansion is bustling as the servants make preparations for the Christmas holidays. In the courtyard, a bald, heavy-set man dressed in a fancy overcoat stands with a mature looking, black haired woman wearing a thick fur coat. The two of them watch as the servants get ready to light the Christmas tree.

“Christmas! A wonderful time to get away from the office, and spend it with my lovely mistress.” Rimmer holds the woman next to him tightly.

“It’s wonderful to spend this holiday with you too, Honey.” The woman kisses Rimmer’s large lips as she hugs him. They deeply kiss ignoring everything around them.

As they separate, they return to looking at the Christmas tree. “That’s right. Ritsuko, how are things in the mansion?” Rimmer questions his woman.

“Excellent. Everything is according to schedule. The servants have prepared a splendid dinner to celebrate your arrival. The mansion and the grounds have been cleaned and ready to welcome any visitors. The only thing left is…” The mistress, Ritsuko’s, voice trails as she looks at the solitary tower away from the mansion. She shoots the tower a hostile glare imagining the white haired slave locked inside. “Some food has been prepared to tide her over for the holidays. But the servants have not had the time to tidy up the tower to be presentable to any ‘guests’ you bring over.”

“Hahaha!” Rimmer lets out a hearty laugh as he holds his woman. “No one will be visiting that place. There’s no need to worry. As far as anyone else is concerned, that is my private room for relaxation.”

“I understand. I will inform the servants. Speaking of Her, may I borrow her this evening? I wish to give her a nice greeting before you have fun with her.” Ritsuko spits out the word ‘her’ in a particularly venomous voice as she clings to Rimmer.

“Haha. Sure. But don’t kill her. I still want to savor her pain tonight.” Rimmer laughs licking his lips.

“I will make sure she’s presentable for you when I’m done.” Ritsuko laughs darkly.

Shortly after dinnertime, a guard delivers some food to Senna’s room. He opens the door and places it on the ground. The guard immediately turns around closing the door behind him. Senna closes the book she was reading.

“Dinner already?” Senna sighs standing up from the desk. Picking up the plate, she places it on her desk. A dried piece of bread and a slice of dried turkey sit on the dish. “Thank you.” She murmurs silently to the guard.

Senna removes the bottom drawer of her desk. She takes out a large encyclopedia and opens it. The center of the pages has been cut out leaving only the edges. Inside the book is a slightly stained pillowcase. Senna picks up the bread and meat and stares at the food with an intense craving. Her stomach growls loudly. Taking a deep breath, she throws the food into the pillowcase and stuffs it into the book. Slamming the book shut Senna stops to stare at the book again with a yearning gaze.

Shaking her head, she tosses the book into the bottom of the desk and replaces the drawer. {I can’t eat it. I can’t eat it. No matter how hungry I am.} Senna’s stomach grumbles again desiring the food. She sits back down at the desk and tries to read suppressing her hunger. Blankly staring at the book, she gives up on reading anymore. “Uuu…I want to eat it.” Senna slouches in her seat. {If only Master didn’t come for the holidays, then I could eat my food without worrying about throwing it back up… It’s his first day back. He’s going to want to play with me.}

Senna forcefully represses some tears thinking about what’s going to happen. {My body is meant to obey his command. My mind is free to think in order to resist and please my master with my suffering. The day he loses interest in me is the day I die.} Senna walks over to the bathroom and starts washing her face. Splashing water and drying her face, she stares at herself in the mirror. Her long, white hair hangs down her back as her blue and gray eyes stare at her reflection. “Such is the fate of a slave owned by Master Rimmer.”

Leaving the bathroom, she stares at her bookcase. {No matter how much I read, I’m unable to stop thinking about my impending doom. I do not even know when his mood will change and he will execute me in that instant. I exist only as his toy.} Senna sits back down at her desk. Glancing again at the plate, her mind is filled with gratitude for the guard. {I really owe him a lot for secretly switching my food. He knows I secretly store my food, so he brought things that are solid and easy to store. Knowing the Mistress, she ordered soup to be delivered to force me to eat it and suffer later when I throw it up. Hahh… If I get the chance I would like to repay the favor. Not that my disfigured body would please anyone.} A knock sounds from the door. Senna tenses up as she shoots from her seat. Senna quickly stands in front of the door ready to receive her master.

The door opens and the guard enters the room. Senna tenses when she sees the guard. “The Mistress wants you to entertain her.” The blood drains from Senna’s face. Mistress Ritsuko never wants to meet Senna just to talk. Ritsuko is truly birds of a feather with Master Rimmer. They both have strong sadistic tendencies and take strong enjoyment in torturing Senna. Her throat tenses imaging a torture session from both Ritsuko and Master Rimmer. She shivers involuntarily imagining the previous times she has experienced both of their ‘entertainment’ sessions back to back, often leaving her at death’s doorstep.

“U-Understood.” Senna nods following the guard out of the room. They enter the elevator and descend down the tower. Exiting the elevator, the guard leads as Senna follows behind him. “Has she found out about your help?” Senna whispers the question on her mind.

The guard momentarily stops, but immediately continues walking. “No.” He whispers so softly that Senna almost misses the answer.

As they walk through the halls of the mansion, Senna looks around noticing the lack of servants. “Is it always this empty?” She whispers her question.

“The Madam has called many of the maids to her room.” The guard whispers.

A shiver runs through Senna’s body. {Whatever she has planned is nothing good for me.}

They stop as the guard knocks against the door. “Madam, I’ve brought Master’s toy.”

“Enter.” Mistress Ritsuko answers from the room. The guard enters the room with Senna in tow. The guard stands at the door as Senna walks further into the room. A feeling of dread spreads through her body with each step she takes. The Mistress sits in the center of the almost empty parlor room sitting in a fancy red chair with gold colored edges. Five maids stand on each side of the chair, while two guards stand against the left wall and another two against the right wall.

(Cruelty begins here)

Spoiler : Ritsuko stares at Senna with an increasingly displeased look. Senna stands silently in front of Ritsuko waiting for her orders. Senna wears a thin white one piece dress and simple sandals. Her arms, legs, neck and face are pale white, but unmarred giving Senna a very beautiful look. Her black slave collar contrasts with her body making her skin color stand out even further. Senna’s appearance only serves to irritate Ritsuko. The male guards have an enamored look as they gaze passionately at Senna. The maids have a bitter look as they compare their own appearance to Senna. “Strip.”

“Yes.” Senna expressionlessly begins to remove her dress. The guards gulp in anticipation to seeing her body, but that anticipation quickly turns to disgust. Senna allows the dress to fall as her scarred body is revealed to the group. The guards and maids all avert their gaze from Senna covering their mouths. When they imagine the pain that Senna experienced, they shiver as their stomachs turn over. Their skin itches imaging the experience.

A superior smile forms on Ritsuko’s face seeing Senna’s marred body. Ristuko has slept with Rimmer on many occasions, but he’s never harmed her. The worse parts of Rimmer’s habits are exerted fully on Senna leaving Ritsuko’s body undamaged. She always has a bitter complex when comparing how she looks to Senna when dressed. However, the yearly event of torturing Senna always brings a smile as she sees the increasingly worse condition of Senna’s body year after year. “Lie down.”

“Yes.” Senna answers apathetically. The commands of Rimmer and Ritsuko act as seal repressing her free will and mechanically following their commands. In contrast to her body, her mind increasingly dreads every moment of the display. Her stomach becomes ice cold imagining what comes next.

“Circle.” The head maid standing next to Ritsuko orders. The ten maids stand in a circle around Senna.

“Begin.” Ritsuko orders.

The head maid approaches Senna lifting one leg back. She releases a merciless kick to Senna’s side. Senna’s body turns shifting towards one of the maids. She desperately represses the groan as she face cringes from the pain. Three of the maids near Senna back away as Senna approaches. “What are you doing?! Kick her!” The head maid yells at the three girls.

“B-b-but…” One of the maids look at Senna in pain. The three of them hesitate to inflict any more pain on Senna.

“Do it now!” The head maid yells at them. The girls continue to hesitate with a bitter look on their face.

“If you don’t do it, you will be the next toy for my darling.” Ritsuko threatens them with an evil smile.

Two of the girls shiver and look at Senna. Imaging to suffer in the same way as Senna blows away all their hesitation. They kick at Senna striking her leg and head.

“Don’t hit her head. Only on her body. Everything else is up to the Master to damage.” The head maid scolds the two. “And you, hurry up and kick her.”

The third maid approaches Senna. Reluctantly, she draws her leg back strongly kicking Senna’s lower abdomen. Senna’s body moves towards another set of maids. The previous threat is extremely effective as the maids kick Senna without hesitation. A cycle forms as Senna’s body turns to a maid before being kicked to another maid. Occasionally, her body moves close enough to be kicked by two maids. A dark glee starts to form as the maids start to smile and move closer for more chance to kick Senna. Their faces redden as the blood rushes to their face. Soon enough, all ten maids are wildly kicking Senna. Some kicks stray from Senna’s chest kicking her head, arms, and legs, but they continue to single mindedly attack enjoying the rush of adrenaline.

As one maid kicks against Senna’s breast, their excitement is quickly drenched. Unable to repress the pain any further, Senna lets out a groan as well as a mouthful of blood. The ten maids stop as the ecstasy dies down. Their faces pale as they back away seeing Senna’s blood spill onto the floor.

Ritsuko clicks her tongue seeing the fun come to an end. She glances at the head maid who returns with a nod. The head maid takes out a bottle. A specially formulated and experimental item meant to stimulate cell growth to repair blood vessels and broken bones, a modern day healing potion. Force feeding Senna, the head maid empties the contents down Senna’s throat.

Senna swallows the drink, but lies on the ground groaning for some time. Ritsuko enjoys every moment watching Senna suffer. Eventually the potion takes enough of an effect for Senna to open her eyes and move slightly. Lying on her stomach, Senna tries to orient her spinning mind.

Ritsuko stands up from her chair and steps on Senna digging her heel into Senna’s head. “You trash! Look what you did! How dare you dirty my floor! Clean it up!”

Senna groans as her mind shakes from the stomp. Her body moves according to her orders, albeit weakly. However, the damage and fatigue from rebuilding her body has left her exhausted. She attempts to sit up, but her strength fails as she falls back to the ground. Ritsuko grins as she steps on Senna’s back for ‘failing to follow orders’, the maids nearby shiver from the treatment. If they had to endure such a thing, it would be better to die.

Giving up on sitting up, Senna inches forward like a caterpillar. Ritsuko cackles seeing Senna’s pathetic state. Reaching the pool of blood, Senna uses her tongue to lick up her blood. Senna dutifully cleans the blood without complaint.

“Slow!” For fun, Ristuko complains and stomps on Senna’s head pressing her face into the pool of blood. Senna moves mechanically following the orders cleaning up all the blood. Excluding Ritsuko’s dark laughter, the mood in the room is incredibly somber. The men frown as if they have eaten a large bug. The maids are teary eyed and draw back from Ritsuko. The most emotional of the maids is crying in her friend’s arms.

“Take her away.” Ritsuko orders. The five guards move. The one friendly with Senna tosses her clothes over Senna’s scarred body covering her slightly. The other four guards carry grabbing an arm or a leg and lifting her. Senna’s body dangles while the friendly guard lightly holds her head with the palm of his hand.

They silently carry Senna back to the tower. Normally, they would enjoy the touch of Senna’s soft skin, but after that display, they are unable to savor the sensation. As they carried her, they avoided touching Senna as much as possible to avoid incurring Rimmer’s wrath. The last guard that angered Rimmer had an unpleasant encounter with a guillotine, which was publicly displayed to everyone in the mansion.

Senna remains immobile the entire trip. Her consciousness fades in and out as she attempts to orient her mind. The guards reach Senna’s room. Opening the door, the toss her into the room like a piece of luggage. Senna rolls as her body hits the floor blacking out from the pain. Sprawled on the floor, Senna lies unconscious for over half an hour.

“Ugh……” Senna groans as she pushes herself off the floor. Her stomach roars in hunger. “Ugh. No choice.” As Senna crawls over to the desk, the door bursts open. Senna’s eyes dilate as Rimmer steps into the room. She forcefully pushes herself up in a hurry. Still feeling light headed, Senna lands on her feet, but is unable to keep her balance as she tips over falling right at Rimmer’s feet. Her body goes cold at her screw up.

Rimmer snickers as he continues walking. He steps directly on Senna’s arm without mercy. A distinct crack sounds as Senna feels her humerus bone break. Tears well up as the pain overwhelms her body. Rimmer shortens his stride taking the chance to directly step on Senna’s chest. “Agh…” Senna accidentally releases a groan as the wind is knocked from her chest.

“You trash!” Rimmer angrily yells as he places both feet on top of Senna. He stomps down on her stomach with full force. The attack makes Senna black out from the pain, but she successfully stifles any sound from her throat. Her earlier cry of pain was seen as a sign of disobedience. She has been living as his slave and toy for 8 years now and has been thoroughly trained by him. If he wants Senna to scream in pain, he will clearly say so. Otherwise, no sound is supposed to leave her lips as he plays with her and enjoys her face of quiet suffering. Whenever Senna slips up, he increases the severity of his torture correcting Senna for her misconduct.

Though that might be the rules, Senna slips up more often than not increasing Rimmer’s enjoyment. The severity of his tortures continues to escalate causing Senna to slip up in repressing her voice.

Finished with punishing her, Rimmer sits down on the bed. “Stand.” His raspy voice orders the suffering Senna.

“Yes.” Senna pushes herself to her feet repressing all the pain in her body. Her vision flickers black multiple times as she nearly blacks out. Despite her suffering, Senna avoids faltering in her movement as she stands. The slightest mistake would only be a reason for increased punishment. Completely naked, she stands straight up repressing the shaking of her legs.

Rimmer smiles darkly seeing her suffering face. He holds out a bottle in front of Senna. “Poison. Drink it.”

Senna’s expression falters hearing the word ‘poison’. Tears well up in her eyes, her breath quickens at the thought of death. Even in the face of her hellish life, she would still choose to live and hope for a better future. Despite her inner turmoil, Senna’s body acts under the influence of her slave collar and her Master’s orders. “Yes.” With a simple answer, Senna automatically moves her body forward.

Grabbing the bottle with her good hand, Senna is forced to use her broken arm to quickly open it. If Rimmer wasn’t in the room, she could slowly manipulate her single good arm to open the bottle with one hand. More tears form as she forcibly moves her broken arm, opening the bottle. There is no hesitation in her movements as Senna drinks the entire contents of the bottle.

“Toss it.” Rimmer orders.

“Yes,” Senna answers throwing the bottle into the trash. Pain consumes every inch of her body as she throws the bottle across the room. Senna returns to her standing position. The pain of her broken arm and ribs become far more unbearable with the casual throw she performed. Large globes of sweat continuously run down her face as she tries to suppress the pain by pure fortitude.

Rimmer laughs watching Senna squirm. He gives no further orders as he sits and waits. A look of glee appears on his face as Senna’s face becomes increasingly pale. Her breathing increases as her entire body is drenched in sweat. The large drops of sweat running down some of her fresher scars only serve to increase Senna’s pain.

Over the course of an hour, Senna’s face gradually turns blue. The chill of standing naked in combination with the poison working through her body continues to weaken her. Her legs shake visibly on more than one occasion. Rimmer smiles watching Senna attempt to repress the pain. He patiently waits for Senna to cry out or fall to punish her.

While they were waiting, servants lit the fireplace in the room on Rimmer’s orders. The fireplace poker was intentionally left in the burning fire. The sound of the crackling fire only serves to increase Senna’s dread in her muddled state. Her vision has completely blurred, unable to make out Rimmer’s figure. When her consciousness momentarily cuts, Senna loses strength in her legs.

Immediately after Senna falls, Rimmer kicks her stomach without mercy. Senna lies weakly on the ground too tired to even groan, pain encompassing every part of her being. Her unmarred skin starts to gradually darken to a deep purple color. The poison brought with it an icy chill as her body temperature plummets. Senna shivers making her vision flash from black to blood red with each shake irritating her open wounds even further. In her muddled state, she wonders if she’s on the verge of hemorrhaging to death. However, with her body shutting down, it remains no more than an idle thought.

Rimmer sneers looking at the unconscious Senna. “You have a lot of nerve disobeying my orders.” He puts on thick insulated gloves and picks up the red hot fireplace poker. He presses the poker directly on Senna’s skin. The smell of burnt flesh wafts to his nostrils bringing a large grin to his face.

“AAAAHHH!!” The searing pain forces Senna awake.

“Shut up! Hurry and get up!” Rimmer stabs the poker into Senna’s side. Senna frantically moves her body as Rimmer removes the burning poker from her side. The stab wound is heavily burnt sealing it and preventing any blood from escaping. Senna raises herself partway, but her legs weaken making her fall back to the ground. “How dare you disobey me?!” Rimmer stabs with the fireplace poker again into Senna’s upper leg.

“Agh…” Fiercely repressing her cry, Senna tries to stand again. She falls before she push herself up from a seated position. Stabbing her in the arm, he punishes her again. At this point, Senna can barely push herself up before falling over. Her hearing shuts down alongside her vision. He stabs her again, but Senna doesn’t react. Falling into shock, her body no longer responds to his punishment.

“Tch. Pathetic woman.” Rimmer scoffs as he calls the butler and guards in. The guards turn over Senna as the butler forcibly administers the antidote. Turning her back onto her stomach, the guards start applying an ointment to Senna’s burnt flesh. As they finish, they grab her clothes to dress her. “Leave her.” Rimmer orders. He leaves the room intent on spending the evening with his dear Ritsuko. The guards and butler quickly follow suit leaving the naked Senna alone on the floor. The kind guard secretly covers Senna with a blanket before he leaves.

Thus, the long night for Senna draws to a close.

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(Summary for those that skipped)

Ritsuko had Senna strip and lie on the ground as the maids surrounded Senna. Reluctant at first, they find a dark glee in kicking the non-resisting Senna. Healing her with an experimental 'potion', Senna is forced to lick up her spilled blood. The guards carry the barely conscious Senna back. Rimmer quickly intrudes on Senna before she has fully recovered. He takes the chance to punish her for 'disobeying him'. Forcing her to drink poison, Rimmer joyfully enjoys watching Senna suffer as the poison takes effect. Rimmer punishes her with a hot iron poker when she collapses. He enjoys himself until Senna falls into shock. Quickly tossing her aside, he leaves the aftercare to the servants leaving it up to Fate if Senna will survive the night.

Author's Note

I've finished my double release for this Thanksgiving Holiday. I channeled a bit of my dark mood a bit too much writing this chapter. I did my best to portray the scenes while holding down my inner disgust. I'm sorry if this chapter was too unpleasant to read.

On a random note about my gaming habits.

Spoiler : It looks like I've finally quelled my desire to play Picross. After beating the 400 stages on this Phone game and another 100 on another version, I'm mostly sick and tired of looking at it now. XD

The 400 stages that made up a giant picture.

How the game looked like after 2 weeks of gameplay.

An example of a picross puzzle. Using logic to figure out which blocks need to be filled in and which ones to be skipped.

And I hope the rest of your weekend is enjoyable~ Take care!