Birdcage Ch. 10

Hey everyone,

I sincerely apologise to the loyal Birdcage fans that have been awaiting this chapter. The Covid crisis has hit hard where I'm from and as I work in healthcare I've been none stop.

I'm sorry for the long delay and hope it's worth it <3

These chapters will be considerably less 'sexy' than the others, and more plot focused.

I have also decided to collate my last couple of chapters to try and get them out to you sooner. The series will either be 11 or 12 chapters in total.

Happy fapping,

G

Music I listened to writing this chapter:

Visions of Gideon, Sufjan Stevens

Hurricane, 30 seconds to mars

Boris, Lo Fang

Bottom Of The River, Delta Rae

Chapter 10 broken wing

It had been 3 days since the Joni had last 'worked'. The welts and bruises had grown in size and colour in that time, and what once was deep shocking purple, had faded into sepia tones. They still spread across her cheekbones and down her jawline, where they met the round yellowing fingerprint bruises along her neck and shoulders. Her body ached and it only seemed to hurt worse for having lain nearly motionless for those 3 days. Her muscles had seized up in her flesh, protesting against more movement, and begging her to stay in bed.

Marnie had forced her to eat. 'Little and often' she repeated her mantra. She had also helped her clean around her eye when it had swollen shut. Nobody had mentioned calling one of the doctors, and nobody had come around to see her, so Joni assumed she wasn't deemed injured enough to warrant it. Looking at the state Hope had been in when the guards had scraped her of the floor, it was clear that Joni had gotten off easily.

When the guard had marched in after lunch on the third day, Joni had fixed her eyes on the dull beige bedspread and prayed that he kept on walking past her as they had the days before.

"Up."

"Fucks sake-" Joni had cursed quietly under her breath.

"What did you say?"

The guard's hand shot out and had gripped the back of her hair tightly in his fist, hoisting her up to standing. The skin around her hairline was pinched back painfully and Joni couldn't help but yelp out as the swollen skin throbbed.

"Say it once more." He spat the words into her ear and brought his hand up to palm her breast roughly. Joni heard him snicker.

The chaperone guards were known to be firm, but generally they were happy to just get you from A to B if you cooperated. They rarely raised an eyebrow at a smart comment or eye roll, let alone raised a hand to you. Joni was shocked to silence, and she remained that way for the quiet march towards 2's office.

- - -

The unsettling coolness of the metal chair was familiar against Joni's back as she sat waiting. She suspected that 2 was smart enough to leave people waiting here intentionally, allowing the brisk chill and deafening silence of the room to creep in and intimidate before she even spoke a word. When she finally breezed in and took her place opposite, she wore a small smug smile across her ruby red lips.

"Hello again Joni."

...

Joni didn't reply, but simply looked ahead, her eyes fixed to the wall directly behind 2's head.

"...I have been more than nice to you since I have taken you on have I not?...and yet you still meet me with such defiance...I have ensured you have steady work, both in the club and with customers have I not? And I have allowed your various transgressions with very little punishment...have I not? I was gracious enough to let you rest these past days, where I could have had you working out the back of the club, lifting barrels or mopping up cum from the private booths...so now all I ask is that you are cooperative. That is all."

The firm but gentle tone she used seemed to stir something up in Joni's gut, and her eyes flicked to meet 2's of their own accord. The smug smile remained and her hands were outstretched, palms up, on the desk in front of her. A gesture of welcoming. The flutter in her stomach grew.

"So one more time I will ask you...cooperate. Where is 4's room?"

Joni's breathed hitched in her throat, the blood cooling in her veins. Henri's face flashed in her mind and with it came a lancing pain through her temples.

"We know he has somewhere other than his office, but until now we believe he has been manipulating the surveillance system to avoid detection...I do not doubt for one second that you have been there...there are large portions of your time missing from the surveillance also. I would just like you to tell me where it is...Joni, we know more than you think. Save yourself while you can...I want to help you. I'm trying to. But you need to give me this."

Joni took a deep breath and filled her lungs with cool air. White knuckles gripping the edge of the chair tightly, clinging on for dear life. Clinging onto reality.

"...Would you like to go home Joni?"

Her heart fell in her chest. Smashing down with a thundering 'whoosh' that filled her ears. Joni's mind scrambled with the gravity of 2's words. She was lying. She had to be.

"...But I assure you, this will be my last offer..."

Henri's face once more flashed up behind Joni's closed eyelids. He was naked. A warm smile on his face and a large hand outstretched toward her. She found her fingers twitching against the metal armrest, eager to reach out towards his shadowy form. And in that second he transformed. Wide eyes turning from their cool blue to a demonic firey red and full lips pulling down into a grimace. His hand turned to make a tight fist, and his knuckles stretched white.

When Joni's eyes shot open again, 2 was leaned forward toward her. Her cool and gentle smile struggling to hide the blazing determination behind her eyes.

Joni wanted more than anything else to go home. She wanted to curl up in her own warm bed with the worn sheets. She wanted to binge watch daytime tv and eat greasy chips out of a rolled of newspaper. She wanted to visit the tiny corner shop at the end of her street and buy a white paper bag of stale pick and mix. She wanted home. The door out felt temptingly close and the devil at her shoulder told her to give Henri up. Who was he to her really? He had shown her affection yes, but did she crave him simply because he was a warm burning candle of hope in an otherwise cold and desperate dungeon. Would she feel the same way about him if she had met him in the real world? The dark streak that ran through us all was deeper than most in him. That much was obvious. Did she trust him? No. In all honesty she didn't. She felt something for him, lust definitely, but also something else that she hadn't yet been able to put her finger on.

One thing was truer than anything in that moment. She didn't trust 2. Joni knew she had seen too much for them to ever consider letting her go. She had too much ammunition against them, and had seen many of the famous faces that walked these halls. If Joni was to get out of the Fort, she would need Henri's help, and any other ally's she could get. The rest she would figure out later.

"Joni..." 2 was arched over the desk now, her eyebrows raised in anticipation.

"I know where 4 hides."

"Tell me."

"I really shouldn't say. He'll kill me if he finds out."

"Joni. I will protect you. I will get you home." 2's eyes were wide awaiting her answer.

"He hides...up your arse... I've seen him there many times. That's where you will find him. Search deep."

Joni let the smile break across her face, giddy with childish joy. She knew should have been steeling herself for what she knew would likely follow, but she allowed herself a moment of freedom in her otherwise calculated thoughts. She could have tried to lie her way out; make empty promises to work against Henri and play the spy. But she knew 2 would know better than to trust that. In that moment she just allowed herself the satisfaction of showing her hand.

2's face glitched like that of a video game character. Her eyes glazed over and her mouth hung open.

"GUARDS!"

- - -

When the burly henchmen had finished with Joni, she was strung up like a side of lamb in a slaughter house. Her arms were pulled high and tightly bound to a hook in the ceiling. Her feet dangled, suspended inches from the floor and bound together too, in a thick coil of wirey rope. Her clothes had been torn from her in the skirmish, and a thick wad of material had been forced into her mouth.

"My dear. You must understand that I do not do this to gain information from you. No no. I do this simply because I want to. Because nothing would give me more pleasure now than to wipe that smile off your face for good and to send you back to 4 in broken little pieces."

The guard moved in as 2 moved back. Taking no time to unlatch the wooden box at her feet and pull out a colourful tangle of wires. At the end of each wire was a vicious looking crocodile clip, and Joni could only wince into her gag as he attached one to each nipple and one to each big toe. Joni watched the second guard drop what looked like a car battery onto a small table beside her. She had seen enough films to know what happens next but she couldn't bring herself to feel the fear she should have. Her mind slowly fogged over and she allowed herself to be swallowed up by it.

"-and her pretty little cunt."

The guard nodded towards 2's direction and pulled out two more lengths of wire as Joni took as deep a breath as she could. He pulled her legs apart roughly and clamped each to her sensitive outer lips, giving each a testing tug before stepping away once more.

"Perfect."

2 nodded tightly and in a fraction of a second, lighting coursed through Joni's body. Every muscle felt like it screamed out in agony, every nerve ending short circuited at once. Her body arched up and jerked involuntarily and every inch of skin seems to stretch and pull painfully taut. The fog dissipated in moments and she was thrown violently back to reality.

If Joni could form coherent thought in that moment, she would have conjured every swear word she had ever learnt. But her brain had been reduced to a mess of pain signals only. Pain. Pain. Pain. It screeched in her mind like a deafening siren. Pain. Pain. Pain.

Her lungs blazed also, unable to suck in even a single desperate breath. Only pain. No concept of time. Only pain. It could have been seconds or hours for all she knew.

Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain.

...

And then the world went silent. Joni hadn't noticed 2 give a signal to stop, but when she was next able to gulp in air, the lightning was gone and her body was slack in her bonds. Only a ghost of the pain remained as evidence; her muscles softly crying out.

She tried to wrench her eyes open but found them heavy.

"Again."

Her body rippled up again; pulled taut like a knot of fabric, threatening to rip.

The lightning filled her lungs and her stomach and her throat. It filled her wholly until she was nothing more than the fire.

Pain pain pain.

The siren sounded louder than ever in Joni's mind and the pain seemed worse for having known it once before.

Pain.

Please.

Pain pain pain.

Please.

Once more the machine was flicked off and Joni sagged down, her chest heaving with gasping breaths. The corners of her mouth were moist. She tasted the tears that had tracked down her cheeks and the coppery tang of blood from somewhere.

Please.

The fog cleared for a moment and she knew that she would tell 2 anything she wanted. She would give 4 up. Anything. Make. It. Stop. Please. Her lips parted further as the words rolled up her throat.

"-Mr. Hargreaves will be here in 6 days. And you will leave with him...I will try to keep you busy during your last week here...oh and your new Master has left you a gift."

Joni felt a cool sliver of metal against her neck and heard a soft click. 2's mouth was only inches from her nape and she could feel the warmth of her breath.

"You're more a fool than I thought Joni. And so is 4...now take her away."

Joni pried her eyes apart quick enough to see 2's slender frame disappearing through the door.

- - -

"Oh my god!"

Marnie lay crumpled in her bed when Joni entered the dorm. Still clad in her club uniform and high heels, but with her right arm pulled awkwardly into her chest, cradled tightly by her other. It was instantly clear to Joni that it was broken. The limb was bent, mid-forearm, at a 30 degree angle. Her fingers were turning blue and were already swollen to twice their normal size. If the arm itself wasn't evidence enough that Marnie was in pain, the expression on her sickly pale face told the story clearly. Her mouth was open a fraction, revealing clenched teeth, and her eyes were squeezed tightly shut. The stray hairs on her forehead were slick with sweat and clung around her temples.

"Marnie, what the fuck!?"

Joni's body still felt an empty shell. The pain from earlier had scorched her nerves and left a dull aching memory behind. But seeing Marnie as she was, Joni pushed it to the back of her mind.

"Hey J...I don't feel great...rough day"

When she opened her eyes to glance at Joni, they rolled in her head, not quite managing to focus. Joni couldn't tell whether her daze was due to the pain or if she should be worrying about a head injury too. She tried desperately to recall the first aid training she'd had so many years ago.

"What happened? Your arm Marnie?"

"Oh...yer I-ssssshit!"

Marnie lifted her injured arm as if she had forgotten it was broken, and the pain that had lanced through her was evident. It did however seemed to help clear the fog, because her eyes then focused clearly on Joni.

"A customer...the club...new guy...Mike something..." She spoke in fractured sentences, taking the time to gulp in breaths.

"We need to get you to a doctor! I'll find a guard to speak to 2"

"She...she knows. Told me to 'walk it off' the fucking bitch." Marnie sniggered and again the motion shifted her arm, causing her to hiss loudly once more.

A small spiteful voice told Joni this was her fault. That this was in retaliation. 2 was sending a not so subtle warning, or maybe it was just a 'fuck you'.

"Maybe I can find Doctor J then." She stood up from the edge of the bed but Marnie's left hand swung out to catch the hem of Joni's dress.

"He's...he's with 2. In her office. She wouldn't let him...Just leave it...if we make a fuss...they'll just kill me J...I'm not worth them fixing it...just let me sleep and...we'll bandage it or something tomorrow. I'm really tired now."

Joni was pleased to see that Marnie seemed to be speaking more clearly with each passing minute, but that was offset by the fact that the colour was draining from her cheeks at the same rate. She didn't dare let her friend sleep.

The white room. Henri would kill her of course, for taking anyone else there. But this was life or death. He would understand. He'd have to.

Joni glanced back to the door.

The guards would change over soon. She'd slip right out before they even knew. If anyone found her she could play innocent, say she was delivering an injured girl to the hospital wing.

Neither of them had anything to lose now.

Joni was already trying to think three steps ahead. If 2 had done this, what else would she do? Was it revenge or a threat? Would she continue? They had a whole week before Hargreaves came for her. A lot of damage could be done in a week.

She had no intent of ever seeing Hargreaves again. Whatever happened she would not leave with that man.

- - -

When they entered the room Joni laid her friend carefully down on the bed and let her rest for a moment. The exertion along with the pain had taken it out of her, but her gasping breaths seemed to slow to a normal rate as she lay cushioned on the crisp white sheet.

Joni stepped back. Marnie's arm was still jutting out at a grotesque angle, and her fingers were now a deep purple. Her eyes were closed, not tightly in pain as they had been, but just gently shut as if she slept soundly. Her teeth were no longer gritted but her mouth hung open, a small trail of saliva trickling down one edge of her mouth and onto the pillow before.

"What do I do?" Joni whispered into the near silent room. The only reply was the sound of blood rushing violently in her ears.

"Please Henri...please come. I need you. Doctor J...please. Fucking anybody."

She took another step back and found her legs in contact with the armchair in the corner, allowing her aching body to fall back into it with a soft thud. Joni brought her shaking knees up to her chin, and let the torrent of tears begin to fall.

"Please."

As if conjured from her own desperate prayers, Joni heard the electronic keypad dialling outside. When the door swung open and Henri's glacial blue eyes found hers, her legs moved of their own volition. She found herself running across the room and before she knew otherwise she had crashed into the firm wall of his chest.

"It's ok." He hushed into her ear and embraced her tightly, his arms a cage around her shrinking frame.

"I've got you."

Joni heard the shrieking sobs before she knew they came from her own mouth, and felt the dampness on his shirt growing.

Henri made a move as if to release her, but she found her arms clinging to his neck, so he lifted her gently from the ground and led them both over to the bedside to take a closer look at Marnie.

"Fuck."

"I did this. I fucking did this! I should never have opened my stupid fucking mouth Henri. 2...she...I fucking goaded her and she's hurt Marnie...is she going to be ok?!"

Henri was pressing two fingers to the side of Marnie's neck and lifting her eyelids gingerly to check the glazed eyes beneath.

*beep*

The unmistakable sound of the electronic keypad on the other side of the door stilled both Joni and Henri where they stood.

*beep beep beep*

Someone was mashing the buttons.

"...Henri-"

"Shh."

One more beep sounded out and then the lock turned heavily in its latch.

"What in gods name!?"

Doctor J stood with his mouth agape, his eyes scanning over Marnie's pale face, Joni's tear streaked cheeks and Henri's furrowed brow.

"Jesus Jack, I couldn't get hold of you, how did you know to come?"

"I was in a meeting, and then when I missed your calls I just thought to come here...is she?...Christ."

The doctor had slowly stepped towards Marnie and with each step Joni felt her body relax. She had always felt reassured by the doctors calm presence, and even more so today.

"Why don't you go freshen up? Take a minute to yourself?"

Henri's words were low and gentle, as if speaking to a child. Joni wanted to stay by Marnie's side but in her sleep deprived and frail state, she didn't have the strength to fight him when he led her towards the bathroom.

She was thankful for it when she stood facing the mirror. Her hair was a wild tangle of knots and the usual healthy pink of her cheeks had been replaced by blotches of scarlet. Her eyes were bloodshot too. She splashed a few handfuls of refreshingly cold water against her skin and combed her hair with her fingers until it was in some semblance of order.

It was then she noticed it; under the mat of hair at her neck it had been hidden, but now she could see clearly the necklace that 2 had given her. Or Hargreaves rather. It was a solid circlet of silver, thin but with a weight that indicated it's worth. At the bottom, sat nestled in the dip of her throat, was a small lock, beautifully and intricately crafted. It felt cool still as her fingertips grazed over it.

Joni pulled at it firmly.

It took only a moment for the panic to rise. She had never felt so caged in, in all her time at the fort. The lock was a visual and obvious reminder of her impending captivity in Hargreaves 'care'.

She pulled again. But the lock was surprisingly sturdy. She scanned the bathroom shelves but was quite sure that Henri wouldn't have a set of pliers handy. Or would he? Joni was reminded of the tool chests she had so often seen and let out an involuntary shudder.