A Clockwork Green Ch. 08

The sunset is magnificent today. Feels like I'm using my goggles for the first time a decade. Forgot how dim they make everything, but I can stare straight at the sun in 'em. I take another sip of my mimosa and sigh contentedly.

"That looks delicious," The Cap'n says as he sits down next to me. "Got any more?"

"Naw. Pretty sure this is the last of it. It's funny though," I say, holding it up in front of my face. "I think I've had like five of these, and I'm still starving."

"You're starving because you haven't had anything to eat in six days, carrot top."

"I hate that name," I say sullenly.

"You hate everything," he says with a smile. He kicks his feet up, and we watch the sun sink farther and farther.

"So how is it being dead?"

"Quiet. No demands on my time. I liked Merc work, but there was never any let up. Permanent vacation suits me."

"I miss you, yanno."

"I know ya do, and it's admirable, but you can't spend your time dwelling on the past like that. And I'm not just-"

"I know what you're talkin' about," I say sullenly.

He smiles. "You're smarter than they give you credit for, Mack. Keep doin' what you're doin'. It's all you've got left..."

***

The hinges protest loudly as she opens the heavy wooden door. Her lips, a shade of deep red I have no adjective for, curl lasciviously as she walks across the nearly empty room. Her heels echo in the space.

Clack. Clack. Clack. "Hello Mackenzie."

"Hello corpse."

She stops in front of me, as is her custom. "And a one. And a two. And a one, two, three... Mackenzie, do you know how much easier this would go for you if you would only submit? If you would only kneel before me? If you would only bow your head?"

"I'm going to kill you."

"Charming." A patronizing smile, spoiled only slightly by a grin as she leans in to whisper. "I'm going to break Charlotte, you know. There will be nothing left of her when I am through. Just a pretty, vacuous doll that dances at my command." The restraining stocks buck violently, hammering against the floor briefly, but to no greater effect. Nothing is gained.

She clucks her tongue as she walks over to the selection of instruments on the wall, her voice resuming its normal volume. "You know, when He returns, he believes he only needs one of you. And considering how quickly and completely dear Charlotte has given herself over to me, you then would be the natural choice to turn over." She lets that hang in the air for a moment.

"But then I think about how wonderful our little chats are. Watching you twist while you think you're giving nothing away. Such fun!!" She laughs melodiously before laying her hand on a studded leather strap. "Let's start here and see where the mood takes us, shall we?"

She drags a fingertip down my back, tracing over welts and bruises that range from fresh to a week old. "Of course Charlotte will be the one I keep. So beautiful, don't you agree? There's such a grace to her form... and such a unique pet for my menagerie. One of only two in the world, you know. Where as you, Mackenzie... When you break," she says, with a soft intonation as she circles me, "you will shatter. You will be useless, and until then you're a rabid dog! Have you even thought about how that reflects on me? Have you?" The strap lands harshly, her voice rising in anger. "Have you thought about how it makes me look?" Again, on the same spot. "Your misguided resistance will put worms in the ears of others, and that simply Will. Not. Do." Again, and then a brief pause.

"And to think of all the trouble I have gone to for you! Why, just yesterday we moved you and this unwieldy contraption out onto my terrace. You got to see your precious Charlotte behaving herself so magnificently in my garden. Did you see her on that leash? Simply magnificent..." She trails off, lost in her memories, but only for a moment. "And what thanks did I get? What did you call me?"

"Corpse." The strap lands again, straight across my buttocks.

"Yes. That delightful little bit of resistance has given you no end of hope, hasn't it? You have but one dagger left, and you wield it like an animal. So predictable," she laughs. "Of course, you're used to only using one method. Do you know how quickly I had the measure of you, Mackenzie? How long it took me to realize you are a one trick pony? Attack!" Smack. "Attack!" Smack. "Attack!" Smack. The last one hardest of all and all straight across the buttocks.

"You have no depth, Mackenzie! No vision! " Smack. "You are a hammer!" Smack. "No finesse!" Smack. "It's no wonder you drove Charlotte away! She could only take you pounding on her for so long!" Smack. "...You know you pushed her into my arms, don't you? I did nothing more than show her the slightest glimpse of an alternative to your barbaric methods, and. She. Jumped."

"The real shame of it, you know, is that under different circumstances, I would have taken you as an apprentice. Taught you to become a Master." Smack. "Taught you to put all these petty insecurities behind you." Smack. "But I think it's too late for you now." Smack. "I think that, no matter what I say to you, and no matter how hard I hit you, you'll just keep staring at me with those dead eyes." Smack. And a smile. "Not that this isn't rewarding in and of itself, but I think it's time to try a different weapon." She walks back over to the wall, dragging the strap behind her and leaving a thin red trail across the stones.

She replaces the strap on the wall and steps back, bringing in the whole selection into her field of view. She puts her palms together before her, index fingers just touching her lips, and giggles. "So many toys..." She stalks to her left, and then back to the right upon reaching the end of the selection. Finally she settles her hand on the grip of a whip, and reverently lifts it from the wall. "We'll see how this works. I do so loath trial and error, but sometimes it is a necessary evil." Clack. Clack. Clack.

The door opening again is a bit of a surprise. "Charlotte, would you come in here please?" What? "Do you see how obedient she is? How wonderful? " A soft chiming precedes her, and Charlotte steps into the room a moment later with hands clasped at her waist. "She required no guard. No restraint. She stayed there because I told her to." The Duchess takes up her leash and leads her in front of me. Her eyes pass right over me, unrecognizingly. "Charlotte, would you please strip down?"

She slowly, and with what seems like practiced form, removes the long purple gown without it touching the ground. She reverently folds the fine silks, smoothing them out and placing them gently on the table, and stands before The Duchess in only her silver collar and matching bracelets. The Duchess takes her by the wrists, and with an action I can't see, snaps the bracelets together. Charlotte offers no resistance as her arms are raised above her head to a hook I hadn't noticed dangling from the ceiling. Amaranth turns her nude, extended form to face me.

"Don't look at me, Mackenzie," The Duchess says. "I'm not the one dragging this out. This is on you!" She rears back. Charlotte's face pinches in anticipation.

Crack.

Charlotte gasps, her eyes rolling wildly, but she remains otherwise silent. "Look at her, Mackenzie. Look at what you have wrought."

Crack.

"Look what measures you have driven me to!"

Crack.

"Do you see, Charlotte? Do you see how she makes me do this to you?" Crack. "Do you see how she tests me?!" Crack. "If she truly loved you, she would cry stop, but she sits there. She sits there while I beat you!!" Crack.

"Look at her, Charlotte! Look how smug she is!" Crack. "That is pride! The kind of pride that leaves only room to love oneself!" Crack. "Never another. Never you, Charlotte! NEVER YOU!" Crack. Charlotte's eyes bore holes into me. Her tears are a constant stream, but there is nothing but hate behind them. Crack. There is nothing left of her affection for me, no trace of the adoration that once resided there. The Duchess rears back again. "She can only love herself!!"

"No! I..."

Amaranth slowly, ever so slowly, turns to look at me, sighing happily and quivering. The whip lowers, and her eyes close dreamily. She twists her head back and forth as if in rapture, and pauses. I have lost.

"Do you see, Charlotte? How weak she is? How thin her resolve is? How little she thinks your strength?" Charlotte's eyes harden. "She was never good enough for you. Never strong enough for you. Never strong enough to handle you." She lightly traces her fingertips down Charlotte's cheek. "But that's over now, isn't it? You have seen her for what she truly is."

She reaches up and unclasps Charlotte's bracelets, and wraps an arm around her shoulder. "One of my ladies will meet you in my chambers with a new ointment to reduce the swelling. She also claims that if we use it regularly, it may help slim down your hips to a more desirable width." Charlotte's smile flickers and, with downcast eyes, she exits the room.

Amaranth only lingers a moment longer, her smile deep and wide. "I think it might be time to bring you something more than water. We made good progress today."