Chapter Two: The Escape

Aurora squirmed nervously on the hard steel examining table; the thin, waxy paper that was all that separated her naked bottom from the cold metal crinkled and rustled with even the smallest movement. She hated that the sound gave away her terror: her heart was pounding, she couldn't stop twitching and shaking, and despite being nude in the cold examining room she had broken into a cold sweat.

She had been vaguely aware that this was part of the process, though she was admittedly thin on the details. Her father had tried to explain what attending Rattangrove as a locked girl would mean, but deep down she had never really believed it would happen to her. She regretted throwing a fit, tearing up the brochure and throwing the ragged scraps in her father's face before bolting out of the house. Why hadn't she just listened for once?

Having watched Emily be so neatly shaved, inspected, and sealed back into chastity with hardly an argument gave her chills. Would that happen to her after her time at Rattangrove? Would she just be another subby, desperate, "please and thank you" locked girl after her four years? Would it even take that long? What fresh hells did this place visit on its students to achieve the compliant and docile graduates they were famed for?

She was filled with a queasy fear as she realized that all her vain and foolish plans to bribe, flirt or fuck her way out of this awful situation had come to naught. She felt stupid for believing that such naive plans were sure to succeed and furious at herself for not having any kind of backup plan.

Watching Emily blandly accept being locked away, knowing that the same would soon heappen to her was bad enough. Worse was the unknown; having fled her father's attempt at preparing her she didn't really know what to expect from Rattangrove. She had assumed that orientation would be a simple, dull assembly; not this invasive examination. If she had been so ill-informed, so immeasurably unprepared for her first day, what awful surprises would the rest of the day, the week, the rest of the school year hold for her?

She felt a helpless dread and a bitter sense of self-recrimination for her lack of preparedness. At home it had been so easy to blame everyone else, but sitting nude in this sterile room, under its harsh lights, there was nowhere for her to hide from her own anger. She wrapped her slim arms around her breasts as she shivered; naked, cold, frightened, and suddenly very alone. The inevitability of her situation was beginning to sink in.

This last handful of weeks that Aurora's parents had kept her locked had been difficult. Her cage hadn't been fully enclosed like Emily's had been. She had thrown an absolute fit at the chastity centre in the pharmacy at the suggestion she wear anything that restrictive. She had whined, begged, and when all else failed screamed until she got something she felt she could just barely live with.

The Motivator cage didn't strike her as particularly motivating; you could hardly feel anything at all, but that was apparently the most "generous" option available. She had, naturally, thrown the book and paddle that came with it straight into the trash where they belonged but she still hated how it felt.

Her current chastity device allowed her some freedom to touch between the bars, and was even quite pretty in a way. The bars were arranged like a flower or snowflake, making it fashionable, feminine, and surprisingly generous, or so they advertised.

Aurora still loathed it. She had never experienced being locked until this past summer, after her behaviour had finally become completely intolerable to her parents. She thought that chastity was a backwards and outmoded idea that normal, healthy people would never subject their beautiful if occasionally... free-spirited daughters to.

She'd been fortunate not to ever have to wear it to school. The incident that had finally gotten her locked had occurred a few weeks after graduation. That was one of the few silver linings in this whole wretched situation. She had mercilessly bullied the locked girls, and seeing the smug looks in their eyes when she got her comeuppance would have been unbearable. Stupid little locked sluts... Chastity cage or not Aurora would never be one of them.

Further, it was clear to Aurora that she was not cut out to be locked. The cage chafed against her sensitive skin; a lifetime of freedom had left her unused to the ring rubbing as she walked and tugging if she bent the wrong way. Never mind the sensation of tight, uncomfortable straining when she tried to get hard. The locked girls never complained about their cages, at least not to her; she was clearly not meant for any of this.

Much as she hated the feeling of being contained and controlled that was so unavoidable any time she became aroused, the real problem was that she was getting used to it. She felt a sick, creeping horror at how increasingly normal her cage felt with each passing week and she bitterly hated that this no longer felt new and strange. Adding a quick daub of lube around the cage after her shower, making sure to wipe the tip after she went to the bathroom... she tried not to think about all the ways this had become an ordinary, private, part of her life.

Privacy was the key. Aurora had been breathlessly careful to keep it a secret from everyone she could. It was bad enough just having her parents and the servants know. She had already noticed a change in how they treated her, and much more alarmingly a change in how she treated them. She had barely argued about being locked back up after Susan the maid let her out for her weekly cum a few days before she had left for school.

She had managed to keep it quiet so far but there would be no hiding her new status at Rattangrove, she feared. She had hidden it from her friends, but that had meant no swimming, no cute, tight little shorts, and worst of all: no sex.

Now Aurora was by no means a strict top; she most certainly appreciated the incredibly feminine pleasures of taking a lover inside her and riding them to a mutual climax. Sex was wonderful from both sides, but deep down she really did love topping. Topping was always wonderful, but especially with a locked girl; the ability to control not just her own pleasure, but to have the desperate, begging girl's full attention. This cage had ruined her whole summer.

She could run her fingers along the small gaps in the bars, certainly. It felt nice enough but the straining was uncomfortable, and despite her best efforts she couldn't cum from such a tiny amount of sensation. Looking over at the new cage that Emily was wearing, it appeared that the fully enclosed cage she had managed to avoid all summer was now inevitable.

Bitterly, she hadn't even been able to enjoy her last squirt before her father had insisted on dropping her off at this wretched school. Susan was locked of course; all of her family's maids were. She had unlocked Aurora, but she had been insufferably smug about it. Aurora had been hoping to cum on Susan's pretty little face, but instead Susan had made her kneel and stroke herself to orgasm the way all the maids did. It had been intolerable.

The thought of four years of her life locked away in a frustrating little steel tube weighed on her mind. It seemed an eternity when just the last few weeks had been a nightmare. She needed a way out of this place.

As the Headmaster prepared her new steel cage Aurora made a snap decision. The Headmaster's back was turned, and the path to the door was clear. She hopped off the table and bolted for freedom. Nude but for the cage, and with no plan for what she was going to do once she was across the threshold, she ran for the door.

Within a few steps she realized that this was almost certainly a mistake but she was committed now; her bare feet slapped on the tile floor as she sprinted for the door. She caught a quick glimpse of Emily watching her, blue eyes wide with shock, but then she was at the door and the very threshold of escape. She flung it open, dashed forward and WHUD!

She had run straight into a tall chestnut-haired young woman who had been about to knock on the door with an armload of neatly folded clothes. Skirts, panties, socks, and shoes flew everywhere as Aurora and the surprised new arrival hit the floor together in a confused tangle of limbs. Aurora tried frantically to get her bearings; she had skinned her knee and banged her elbow but she could see the empty hallway ahead.

She scrambled to extricate herself from the clothing and the unfortunate person she had run into, feet scrabbling for purchase on the tile. Once she was on her feet she could run down the hall, through the lobby, across campus, straight out into the countryside, steal some clothes off of a farmer's clothesline and then...

Before she could even make it fully to her feet, much less begin her flight to freedom she felt a strong hand seize her by the upper arm and pull her to her feet. It wasn't painful, but it was far from gentle. She was whirled around and found herself inches away from the Headmaster's face.

His grey eyes, which had seemed watery and pallid before were now hard and steely; they were pale grey as before, but she could see now the strength and determination those eyes held. His face remained unlined by any obvious emotion, but she could read his controlled fury at what she had done. Suddenly all her anxieties about Rattangrove and its many uncertainties crystallized into one fear: The Headmaster. She was afraid of the Headmaster.

The Headmaster steered Aurora back to the examining table, her arm tucked tightly but not painfully into the small of her back. He guided her up onto the table, and then into a prone position; lying flat on her back. She tried to apologize, to explain, but he cut her off immediately each time with a short, sharp shush.

With a sharp motion he opened a drawer on the side of the table and withdrew a pair of thick leather straps. Seizing Aurora's wrist, he pinned her left wrist to the table and wrapped the leather cuff around a steel loop in the table, binding it down tight. It hurt, and Aurora tried to squirm away but the Headmaster's grip was far too strong.

In just a moment he had her other wrist strapped down as well, and he turned smoothly to help the rather shell-shocked dark-haired woman who was only now getting to her feet; "My dear Sandra, are you quite alright?" he asked gently; "Let's get you a nice cup of tea, and you can take the rest of the day off..." his voice faltered as he saw the dark look on her face.

She had been surprised, hurt, and a little embarrassed when Aurora had run smack into her As she got to her feet those feelings were fading, replaced with a white hot rage. She drew herself up to her full height, brushing away the Headmaster's attempts to help. She was reasserting her authority and dignity; in her sensible black leather heels she was scarcely shorter than the Headmaster himself. In other circumstances she would seem mousy, unremarkable; but the firestorm of indignation that roared behind her eyes was terrifying.

"Thank you, Headmaster, but I think I'll stay to... observe the next part of the orientation."

Emily had seen the Headmaster control his frustration with Aurora; he was good at it. Sandra was doing her best but Emily could see from her balled fists, flushed cheeks and bunched shoulders just how upset she was. She was attractive enough, Emily had to admit -- tall and lean in a bookish sort of way, with the generous bust Emily always envied in other women.

Her blouse was loose and flowing to not draw attention to her chest and her pencil skirt a modest length. Her heels were maybe a little taller than they absolutely needed to be, but that was the only part of her ensemble that was in any way impractical. The careful and measured wardrobe seemed a poorly fitting mask as Emily watched her struggle with her emotions.

The Headmaster raised one slim finger to his pursed lips for a moment, thinking. "Alright, Sandra, why don't you head down to Lecture Hall 4 and you may assist me for the next stage of Miss Black and Miss Idris 'orientation. I trust you know everything I will require?"

"Of course, Headmaster. Thank you." She smoothed out a nonexistent wrinkle in her dark wool skirt and tucked a lock of hair back behind her ear. She gave a curt, professional nod to Emily on the way out the door and was gone, her heels clicking on the tile as she walked down the hall. Pointedly she didn't look at Aurora at all.

"I hope that you will forgive me, but there is something in the other room that I require. I was not expecting Ms. Idris's... athletic exploits... and as such I find myself ill-prepared to address her misbehaviour." The Headmaster had turned, and was addressing Emily directly. "If you are cold, there are robes in the large drawer on the far end of the cabinet."

He paused a moment, waiting for Emily to respond, but she just shook her head. She was eager for this to be over, she had very low expectations of privacy with authority figures, and she really wasn't terribly cold.

Satisfied that Emily was comfortable enough the Headmaster left the room, and both girls heard the sharp snap of the deadbolt as it fell into place, leaving the two of them alone and preventing any further escape attempts.

"Oh God... What were you trying to do?" Emily whispered incredulously. The question had been burning inside her, and it came out in a breathy rush.

Aurora looked over; the skinny brunette on the table next to hers was staring at her with obvious shock and a touch of awe. Whether she was awed by her boldness or her stupidity Aurora didn't care to consider. She flushed, furious that this naïve and compliant little teacher's pet was to witness her humiliation. That she had been witness to Emily's own "orientation" was irrelevant in her eyes.

The girl was immediately irritating with her braces, freckles, and "Oh Yes Sir" attitude to the Headmaster locking her right back up after a few short seconds of freedom. She hadn't even needed to be restrained. Aurora had known girls like this all her life. Simple girls with strict parents who kept them sweet, submissive, more than a little slutty, and above all: boring. She noted Emily's small silver belly button piercing, and she gave a derisive snort: Pathetic. A real rebel.

"Did your Mommy paddle your little ass for getting your widdle tummy pierced?" She didn't mean for the words to be so cutting, but she was scared and alone, strapped to a table with some awful and unknown punishment looming. She felt a need to spread the pain around, and Emily was the only one there. Once she began she let it flow from her, the fear and humiliation pouring out of her as petty spite.

The girl visibly winced and blushed scarlet across her cheekbones; "I... it was my dad... but they let me keep it." Aurora saw the girl's blue eyes flick down to her stomach and the small piercing. "I thought it looked cute..." she finished, looking crestfallen. She moved her arms, which had been covering her small breasts down to instead shield her navel from Aurora's scorn.

Aurora cackled, her voice ringing harsh off the metal table and tile floor. The irony that her navel was pierced as well did not temper her condemnation. "I knew it. Just another sweet little Daddy's girl, all too happy to have the Headmaster lock her little bits right back up where they belong, right? Well I don't belong here. Not locked up like... like you!" she hissed. "This is all a mistake, and the sooner everyone realizes it, the better."

Aurora took a deep breath. Her mood had improved a little, even if she was still strapped to the table at this dreadful school. She had shut Little Miss Braces up and put her firmly back in her place, which made her feel a little more herself. She tried on what she hoped was a brave smile, but it disappeared the moment the Headmaster returned.

His every movement spoke to both efficiency and carefully controlled emotion. While he remained silent and his face impassive his anger showed through in small telltale signs: His joints were just a touch too stiff, his footsteps a decibel or two too loud, and his pace just a heartbeat faster than they ought to be. On their own you'd never have noticed them, but together they were unmistakable.

The Headmaster placed two bundles of carefully re-folded clothing and shoes neatly on the plastic chair next to the door before locking the door behind him once again. "We will address your flight to freedom shortly, Miss Idris. For the moment we will pick up where we left off. It would be unfair to Miss Black to keep her waiting, at least until she has had the opportunity to get dressed." He gave Emily a small smile of reassurance. "Please bear with me just a moment young lady, this won't take long."

The Headmaster stepped back to the table Aurora was laid upon and continued restraining her. The sturdy leather bands around her wrists were joined by another wide strap buckled around her waist, and then slim steel cuffs that bound her ankles to the steel stirrups that the Headmaster had attached to the table. Aurora didn't like the sound of "addressing her flight to freedom" but she could do no more than squirm as she was firmly bound in place.

She hated how exposed this position left her; unable to move with her legs spread and ankles locked to the stirrups she was completely at the mercy of the Headmaster. Her legs were parted, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.

The Headmaster took a deep breath, and smoothed his jacket with the palms of his hands. "Let us try this again: Welcome to Rattangrove Academy, girls. While we take a rather old-fashioned approach to dress, decorum, and discipline here, I can promise you that we offer a truly first class education in a safe and orderly environment. You come from rather... different backgrounds to be sure but from this day forward I hope that you'll see that you have far more in common now than you did before."

He picked up the white cage he had chosen for Aurora, turning it over in his hands as he spoke. "As you are both registered as locked girls, these cages will be a daily fact of life. A point that I can assure you is most definitely not negotiable. While this esteemed tradition is sadly beginning to fade from daily life it is still the position of our school, its Board of Governors, and myself that they are an indispensable aid in encouraging you develop into wonderful young women."

He turned to Emily: "Miss Black, as I understand it enforced chastity is not a new state of affairs for you, so I assume that your new cage will not be an issue." He smiled faintly at her, his approval of her strict upbringing clear in both his body language and in his words.

Emily couldn't think of any way of answering that question that wouldn't be deeply embarrassing, at least in front of Aurora, so she simply nodded. Aurora's cutting words had stung her deeply. She still had her rebellious side, mostly. Was it such a bad thing if she found life a lot easier simply by not getting herself deliberately in trouble?

He turned his attention back to Aurora: "As for you, Miss Idris; I understand that this is a new and almost certainly unwelcome experience for you."

Aurora didn't respond. She looked uncomfortable and sour strapped to the examination table.

He drew himself up to a formal pose with a smile, tucking his hands behind his back; "I trust that you understand that outbursts like today, while not unforeseen, are unacceptable and will be corrected. Your cage is a preventative tool, not a punitive one; its purpose is to help shape you into a proper young lady by curtailing both self-abuse and promiscuity while encouraging femininity in all things."