From Obsession to Redemption Ch. 02

Steve entered the dimly light lounge, scanning the room looking for his old college buddy. At this time of day, it was packed with bored businessmen and neglected housewives, each trying hard to outdo the stories of their companions. Suddenly a tall, well built and well dressed man rose from a barstool and approached him.

"Steve? Steve O'Donnell?"

"Klaus, is that you? Good lord, man, I hardly recognized you!"

Gone was the scruffy shy young student; in his place stood a man exuding self-confidence and success. Steve was impressed and more than a little surprised at his transformation. The two made their way to a booth and quickly ordered drinks, each surreptitiously taking stock of the other.

Klaus was equally surprised at Steve's appearance. In college, his roommate had been quite the ladies' man, handsome and fit. Now he saw seated before him a man to whom time had not been kind. His dark hair was now thinning and heavily streaked with gray and his face was creased and jowly. His belly strained against the edge of the table and Klaus could swear his former friend had somehow shrunk a few inches.

"It is good to see you, Steve. I have not been in town for many years and I was pleased to learn you are still here."

"Yeah, man," Steve laughed heartily. "Ol' Steve has done pretty well for himself. Got a cushy job at my father-in-laws's company and no money worries. Guess even the ones that graduate at the bottom of the class do okay, huh?"

"Ja, ja, " Klaus agreed. "And how is Callie? I have not seen her since your wedding."

"Callie? The ball and chain is just fine, although she sure ain't the girl I married, know what I mean? I guess it's just harder on women, getting older. She's a good mother to the kids though, although they're both grown and gone, you know. What about you, man? You're looking pretty dapper, what are you up to? Still chasing after that acting thing?"

"Oh ja, you could say that, Steve," he chuckled. "I've had a little success, and it seems more to come. You might see my name up in lights yet."

The two men continued catching up on old times and old friends, and Klaus made sure Steve was outdrinking him, having made an arrangement with the bartender earlier to keep his own drinks watered down. Soon Steve was slurring his words and ready to spill his guts.

"Hey, man, you oughta see my secretary. She is one hot little slut; I've been banging her almost every day for a year now. Blonde, body to die for, and not a brain in her head to make things complicated." Steve cackled. "And she could suck a golf ball through a garden hose, not to mention that tight little pussy. She makes my wife look like dog food. Callie USED to be hot, but Kelly is hot NOW. I promised to take her on my next business trip; I got plans for that ass of hers. She hasn't let me go back door on her yet, but once we're in that hotel..." Steve winked obscenely across the table.

"And you're going on this trip soon?"

"Oh, yeah. We're leaving Sunday, for three weeks. The conference is only for 8 days, but Callie doesn't have to know that. You oughta give her a call, or stop by and see her, man. She always thought a lot of you, d'you know that?"

Late that night in his hotel room, Klaus pulled the revolver from the nightstand and emptied out the rounds. After all these years, he'd come so far just to find he no longer hated Steve O'Donnell. In fact, he felt sorry for him. The man was a pitiful shadow of what he'd been and Klaus was no longer in awe of him. He realized his fantastic fantasy of killing Steve was just a tool he'd used to motivate himself through the years to succeed, to persevere. He'd finally outgrown it and saw it for what it was - the last remnant of his jealous imaginings and youthful insecurity. Now he could move on with the rest of his plan. Now he could help Callie. It was Wednesday night; there was much to do by Sunday.

At the O'Donnell house, Steve casually announced, "Guess who I had drinks with today? Klaus Schmidt!"

"Klaus? Oh my God, you're kidding me! How is he?"

"Looks good actually. I told him he should call you, but I doubt he will. He's still a pretty quiet guy."

Callie kept her eyes on the television screen as her mind wandered back in time. She had always liked Klaus and was sorry when he'd changed dorm rooms about a year after she started dating Steve. They'd stayed in regular contact though, and when she'd discovered she was pregnant their senior year, it was on Klaus' shoulder she cried. He came to their "shotgun" wedding, but disappeared before the reception. She'd not seen nor heard from him since. She sorely missed her friend, but soon had little time for anything other than the baby. As it has a way of doing, life continued and memories faded.

"No, he won't call," she told herself quietly. "Why would he care anything about seeing me?"

Sunday evening, she returned from a trip to the grocery store and began carrying the bags into the kitchen of the quiet, empty house. As she was placing the milk and eggs into the refrigerator, she was shocked to feel an arm snake around her waist, pulling her backwards. A hand reached up from the other side and pressed something, a cloth she thought, over her mouth and nose. An odd smell... and then blackness.

She woke, unsure of how long she'd been out struggling to recall what happened and even to realize where she was. Her eyes were open, but she could see nothing. Blindfolded, oh my God, she was blindfolded and her hands were tied behind her back; her ankles were tied as well. She was lying on something soft. The air was cool, but not cold. Suddenly she recognized a noise, the annoying clicking of their furnace, and knew without a doubt she was in her own basement. She was on the couch in the kid's old rec room!

"Help, help!" she tried to scream but barely eked out a whisper.

Footsteps... someone was coming. She froze, her heart pounding in her ears.

"Callie? Please do not be afraid. I will not hurt you as long as you do as I say."

That voice... smooth and calming. It almost sounded familiar. If only her mind were clearer, she thought.

"If you understand, please nod, Callie."

She nodded, her entire body shaking with fear but listening intently. It struck her how perfectly articulated his words were.

"I am here to help you. In time, you will know that. Now I have a few modifications to make down here, so please just lie still. I will not hurt you as long as you obey. Remember that. It is your first lesson."

Although her captor did not sound deranged or even remotely agitated, his tone indicated he meant every word he said. Callie knew that screaming would get her nowhere anyway. Steve was gone for weeks and the nearest neighbors were too far away to hear. She decided to concentrate on calming herself so that she could think... and plan.

She could hear noises - banging, ripping, sawing. That last sound chilled her to the bone. It went on and on, for hours it seemed. At one point, the intruder came over and tenderly covered her with an old afghan she'd kept thrown across the back of the couch. "It is a bit chilly in here," he said softly.

At last, the room grew quiet and the footsteps approached her once more.

"I'm going to untie you now; do you remember your first lesson?"

Callie nodded.

"Repeat it, please."

"You will n-n-not hurt me if I o-b-bey," she stuttered.

"Very good!"

She thought his voice sounded a bit different and once her blindfold was removed, she saw why. He was wearing a Spiderman mask that covered his entire head! She stared, blinking. It was just so incongruous to the situation that she almost laughed.

It must have shown on her face, as "Spiderman" asked her, "And just what is so funny?"

"I've been kidnapped by Toby McGuire?" She couldn't help it and giggled.

"Spidey" laughed too. "Kidnapped? Not exactly, my dear. There won't be a ransom demand."

"Oh, good," her smile turned wry. "I doubt my husband would pay a dime for me."

"Then he is a bigger fool than I thought."

His comment barely registered as she was busy looking around, and was startled to see the few small windows in the room had been blacked out. The door to the small bathroom had been removed from its hinges, and a heavy door had been installed at the foot of the stairs that led up to the kitchen.

"You're admiring my handiwork? You can't see it from here, but I've also put locks on the outside of the basement door that leads to the back yard. You see, what I want is not money. I want time, time alone with you."

"Are you crazy? You can't just keep me locked up here in my own house!"

"Yes, Callie, I can. I am quite larger than you and then, there is also this." He pulled out the gun, which had been tucked into a shoulder holster, hidden under his faded denim jacket. He was sure she would have no way of knowing it wasn't loaded. Hopefully, he would not need it much longer, even if only for display. He just needed to intimidate her a bit at the beginning.

"Now, I want you to go over and try the door. Try to escape."

She looked at him doubtfully, pushing her dark hair behind her ears, a habit from old he remembered. She'd always done that when she was nervous.

"I am serious. Now remember lesson one!"

She rose on quaking knees and went to the door and tugged weakly.

"No, try HARD!"

She took both hands and yanked as hard as she could. Nothing.

"Now try and break the windows. Use your shoe, anything."

She took off one of her clunky shoes and heaved it at the door's window. It merely bounced off. Looking around, she spotted a heavy glass paperweight on Steve's old desk. Again, it only rebounded and shattered on the floor.

"Ah, now we'll have to clean that up. We wouldn't want anyone to get cut." He waved the gun over at the sofa. "Please take your seat."

He quickly scraped the glass shards into a paper bag and placed it on the kitchen stairs. As he worked, he calmly explained, "I have replaced all the windows down here with unbreakable plexiglass. The bathroom mirror has been removed and I think I've done a pretty good job of taking out anything that could hurt either of us."

"How could you do that so quickly?"

"I did it earlier this week. Luckily, you and Steve are not home during the day much."

How did he know her husband's name? Did he know Steve? "What do you want from me?" she blurted out.

"Good question! What I want is to help you. I want you to discover the woman you were meant to be. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"Why... I don't understand."

"You will in time."

"In time? How much time?"

She thought she discerned a smile underneath the mask. "We have three weeks," he said. "Now, it is getting late and you must be hungry. I will go upstairs and prepare a nice supper for us. While I do that, I suggest you take a shower and put on the clothing I have left for you in the bathroom."

She started to balk, but then decided to play along. He knew that Steve was away and for how long. If Steve were behind this, she wanted to find out how and why. And there was the gun to consider.

"Alright, lesson one, I remember." As she headed into the bathroom, she wondered about the missing bathroom door and the lack of privacy. She needn't have worried; Spiderman was already locking the kitchen door behind him.

"Hey," she called. "If we're spending all this time together, what do I call you?"

After a moment of silence, his voice came back through the door. "Jack," he said, "you can call me Jack for now."

Thousands of miles away in Toronto, Steve couldn't have cared less what his wife was having for dinner or if she were eating at all. Pussy was on Steve's menu and he was busily working on his entrée.

Kelly realistically moaned and thrashed about on the bed in response. Being not as dumb as anyone thought, she had learned that a girl like herself could get a lot more out of a man like Steve if he believed he were the stud of all time.

"Oh baby, baby, stop! You're going to make me come again!"

Grabbing her thighs with both hands, he pushed them up and out, opening her more fully to his lapping tongue. Up and down, he licked as if her cunt were an ice cream cone. Not much of a believer at varying his technique, he was under the impression it got the job done. He began licking a little lower, then still lower, until he was rimming what he'd been assured was her virgin asshole. Damn, he was going to get in there this trip if it killed him.

"Oh, sweetie, don't do that! You know it makes me crazy!" Kelly began squirming frantically. "Fuck me, now!"

Steve lumbered up onto his knees and tried to position himself at the puckered opening of his goal, but Kelly suddenly scrambled to reach down and thwart his aim. Pulling his cock swiftly into her slick greedy pussy, she immediately clamped down on him with all the internal muscle control she could muster. Rocking her hips, she began babbling a stream of dirty talk designed to get him off in record time. It always worked like a charm.

As he fell onto his side of the bed and began the rapid downhill slide into sleep that inevitably followed orgasm and alcohol, his mistress curled up behind him.

"Don't worry, baby," she whispered into his ear. "I promise I'll let you next time."

A snore was his only response, so she rolled over onto her side of the bed. "Fat chance," she giggled to herself. She saved ass fucking for her REAL boyfriends.

Unlike her husband, Callie was nowhere near sleep on the basement sofa bed. Sure, it was comfortable enough but her mind was still reeling with the evening's events. Left alone for her shower, she'd turned the water on and hoped the sound camouflaged her movements. She'd explored every inch of the lower level and found nothing that could be used for a weapon, no missed avenues of escape. After a few moments, she'd become fearful of Jack's return and any repercussion for not obeying his request. She took the quickest shower in her life and dried herself even more quickly, anxious at the possibility of being caught naked. She was stunned to find the clothing left for her to don was not her own. The bra and underwear, while the correct sizes, were much nicer than anything she'd normally buy for herself. As she slipped them on, she couldn't help smoothing the luxurious fabric with her fingertips. Folded neatly were a silky long red tunic top and comfortably soft white cotton lounging pants. Completing the outfit was a pair of cushiony plush slippers. On the open shelves of the medicine cabinet were bottles of creams, lotions, a new toothbrush, all the toiletries she would need. Again, they were expensive brands, items she never allowed herself to purchase, although money had not been a problem for the O'Donnells for years.

She was struck by the oddest sensation given the situation. She felt spoiled, pampered even. Not since she was a child had her needs so obviously been considered. The sound of the kitchen door unlocking shook her from her reverie.

She padded out of the bathroom self-consciously. Now wearing a Batman cowl, Jack stared at her for a moment, and then nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Yes, I knew that color would suit you. You look quite lovely, Callie."

"What happened to Spiderman?" She was never good at accepting compliments.

"Can't eat with that one on. One superhero will do as well as another though, ja-yes?" He stuttered momentarily, then caught himself. It had taken years of training to lose his German accent, but once in a great while he still slipped. He'd have to watch that.

He set down a tray laden with two plates of food and some wine on the coffee table. It was not lost on Callie that all the tableware was plastic or paper. For safety's sake, she assumed.

"Please, sit and eat with me. I hope you enjoy it." He sounded so eager to please; she once again wondered at his motives. Out of the blue it occurred to her that maybe there was something in the food – poison, a date rape drug, it could be anything.

As if reading her mind, Jack calmly took a bite from each of her portions. "See? Nothing to worry about, I assure you."

The food was indeed delicious. It was a simple meal of a baked chicken breast and some fresh vegetables, but everything was seasoned to perfection. The light white wine was the perfect accompaniment to the meal and in spite of her trepidation, she found supper to be quite pleasant. They spoke sparingly, about the food and the wine, but her fears were slowly being quieted, if by no other means than the mundane act of dining. Once they were finished, she looked expectantly at her captor. What next, her expression said.

"I have some things for you; let me get them." Retrieving three enormous shopping bags from the kitchen stairway, he placed two of them gently on the sofa. "Go on, look, please."

Inside each bag was more beautiful clothing – everything the right size, the most sensual fabrics, things she'd seen in the windows of fashionable stores she never shopped in. She didn't know what to say. Thank you didn't seem appropriate, but it was plain he'd taken great care in choosing each item. How could a complete stranger have such an unerring feel for what would look good on her when her husband of twenty-five years couldn't so much as buy her a sweatshirt. Steve always just gave her money and told her to "get something nice" every year on her birthday and Christmas.

"It is okay?" he asked anxiously.

"Yes, it is all...fine. Um, thank you," she answered awkwardly.

They stared at one another for a moment, then Jack abruptly stood and began clearing the dishes, piling everything onto the tray. She was not sure if she had done something to upset him, but he suddenly seemed perturbed.

He pushed the coffee table to the side of the room and motioned for her to help open up the sofa bed. She suddenly panicked. The bed!

He reached across the sofa and touched her arm softly. "Callie, I'm not going to rape you or hurt you. I just think it's time you went to bed as we have much to do tomorrow."

She believed him. She didn't know why, but she did.

She smiled as she saw the new sheets already placed on the sofa bed. Of course, he had thought of everything and the bedding was no exception. Reaching into the third shopping bag, he produced a fluffy down comforter and two bed pillows. The bed , beautifully made, its presence between them still made her uncomfortable, despite his assurances that he meant her no harm.

"I will bid you goodnight, Callie. Please try and get some sleep." His somewhat formal, but sweet manner of speaking touched her somehow. If Steve had some part in this whole escapade, she was sure he would have never specified such good care of her. She was starting to doubt her earlier suspicions that her husband played some part in this.

"Oh, hell," she muttered, settling herself more comfortably in the bed. "Maybe I'll figure out more tomorrow."

Upstairs, she was being watched on a closed circuit monitor. Finally, it looked like she was going to sleep. "You dummkopf, what were you thinking after dinner?" It had been all Klaus could do to keep from confession his identity and love to her. Only leaving the room quickly have saved him. All in all, the first day had gone well for a beginning, he thought. Tomorrow, he could build on that.