Keyholder Demoness Ch. 14

The elevator began to descend into the mountain. The wooden frame that housed the elevator car at the entry point in the shack soon gave away to bedrock. The lights from above soon grew dim as Charity descended into the darkness.

"What the hell am I doing?" she thought to herself. She had no idea where she was going. She didn't have a weapon to defend herself. She didn't even have a flashlight. Or shoes.

And what had happened to Faith? Charity had heard gunshots. Was Faith lying in a pool of blood somewhere above. Regardless, even if this was a fool's errand, Charity felt that the need to know Blue's fate or Hope's fate was more overpowering than concern for her own physical safety.

Charity descended for quite some time. She couldn't see anything but she knew she was going down by the gentle rocking and the rattle of chains. She thought she was starting to see some dim lights below.

The elevator braked and settled onto the bottom of the shaft with a bang. The door opened. A corridor had been carved into the stone with runner lights near the floor heading off to the left. Charity cautiously stepped out of the elevator. The ground was cold, wet, and muddy on her bare feet. She started to follow the corridor.

There was a buzzing sound and the elevator door closed behind her, the car slowly rising back up towards the surface. Who was it going to pick up from above? Charity decided she had better move along quickly.

She made her way along the corridor counting her steps. When she was at about 400 steps, Charity could see a glow in the distance. It was almost 1100 more steps before she found the source. She stepped into a large cavern.

The first thing to capture her attention was a large rectangular glowing... She wasn't sure what it was. Her first thought was that it was perhaps the gates to hell. The rectangle pulsed with a swirl of color whose palette seemed to imply burning flames. She imagined it looked like the surface of the sun - ever changing - a plasma of energy. However, it was not so bright as to hurt her eyes. Nor was there an excess of heat radiating from it. 'Portal' was the word that popped into her mind. A doorway to somewhere... somewhere not here.

The next thing she noticed was a large metal frame about eight feet tall next to the portal. It was shaped like an upside-down Y. A lambda. It looked very much like the symbol on the faceplate of her chastity belt. It looked very much like the symbol that Hope had tattooed on her crotch.

There was a human body fixed within the framework of the lambda! A woman! Her arms were pulled up vertically. Her hands fixed in black ovoid mitts. Her head was completely obscured by a spherical, black orb. She seemed to be wearing a sports bra type garment, but it reflected light like a dull, black metal surface would. She was wearing a metal bottom as well with tubes and cables mounted and leading to other ports. Her legs were separated and held open by the legs of the lambda. Metal cuffs at thigh, calf, and ankle, held her captive within the frame.

As Charity watched, she noticed that the foot of the bound woman flexed, her toes balling for a moment, then relaxing. The woman in the framework was alive! "Blue?"

"Hello, Charity."

Charity turned to the source of the voice. What she saw just did not make sense. Her brain could not process what her eyes were reporting. Charity's knees went weak and she collapsed to the floor like an unmanned string puppet.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I often have that effect on people."

The voice was pleasant... smooth... soothing. What was shocking was the being from which the voice emerged. She was a tall, athletically defined, perfectly proportioned naked woman. She was also a vibrant shade of green - not far off the shade that Charity had staining her own chest, but there was a glow to the woman's skin that suggested it was her natural color. She also had large horns growing from her head - first curving out and then up to sharp points - maybe like an impala's. Her hair descended to her waist in a plethora of long, thin, green braids.

"Here, let me help you up," the woman held out her hand which dwarfed Charity's. Her fingers ended in sharp claws. Charity felt she had no option but to accept the woman's assistance and she lay her own hand within the woman's.

When Charity stood, she realized the woman must be more than two feet taller.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you. I'm just sorry that we will have so little time together. I must say though that I am astonished at your mental resilience after all this time wearing the zoic amplifier," the woman said. The skin of her hand was warm and comforting.

"Huh?" Charity asked.

"The chastity belt."

"Oh."

"I'm afraid that it's something that you'll have to live with. I've got Blue all packaged up now," the woman pointed at the lambda shaped framework. "I need to fix her in the array. But, you know, it seems like you and my little pet have bonded quite well, so, it's a good trade for both of us, I think."

"Pet?"

The woman pointed up to the top of the cavern.

Charity looked up. Hope was suspended about thirty feet overhead. Chains descended from above to her wrists and ankle cuffs as well as to the metal eyelets drilled into her shoulder blades and at her hips. Her gag had apparently been engaged as she made no more than a barely audible mewling noise. Her eyes were wide with fear.

"Hope?" Charity said.

"I think that Blue gave you some good advice. You and Hope, as you call her, should stick together, but you need to find a mistress who will appreciate you, like, really quickly. You'll be much happier that way. Let's see... hmm... Stay away from Zenovia in Solyanka. She's really sadistic. Ah! Senora Carmen down in Puerto Montt has built a nice cage. It's big enough for two ferals like you and pet."

"Puerto Montt?" Charity asked, still looking up at Hope.

"Yeah. Puerto Montt, Chile. I'll have her come up and collect you and the pet as quickly as possible. I just don't know how much longer you have until you lose the concept of communication devices. Ha! You've surprised me this far... Who knows? Anyway, by all means, stay away from those people who call themselves 'The Feds'. They seem to have a preference to dissect things."

The woman gently lay a hand on Charity's head. "Well. I've got to go, sweetheart. Blue is waiting. Maybe we'll see each other again. Another time, another place. Love you! Oh! By the way, my name is Dammasch! I'm a Goddess!"

The woman moved across the room to the large lambda frame which held Blue. She turned back and blew Charity a kiss. Then she pushed the frame through the portal, following close behind. There was a flash of light and they were gone.

"Blue!" Charity screamed suddenly snapping out of her daze. She started running towards the portal. "Blue!"

There was a buzz and the sound of machinery firing up in the distance - a rattle of chains. Charity stopped running and turned around.

"Hope!" Charity screamed. The chains holding Hope started to descend from above. Charity looked at the portal. Maybe she could jump though, save Blue, and jump back from the other side and help release Hope from her chains when she landed on the floor of the cavern. Charity looked back at Hope slowly descending. She looked down and realized that there was no floor below Hope. There was just a hole descending into darkness.

"Mmmm!" Hope screamed.

Charity looked at the portal once again. Then she turned back. "Hope! I'm going to catch you! Somehow."

Charity looked around. There was a pole with a hook on one end. Charity grabbed the pole and, just as Hope was about to descend into the hole Charity snagged one of the chains hooked through a shoulder eyelet. Charity pulled on the chain and Hope's body swung away from the hole until she touched down on the muddy floor. "Mmm!"

Charity dropped the pole and helped Hope sit up. She kissed the top of Hope's head and hugged her - ever mindful of avoiding Hope's needle-like spikes. "Hope!"

Hope's body was shaking and tears were falling from her eyes. She made quiet mewling sounds. Charity started unhooking the chains from Hope's body. Maybe Hope knew what was on the other side of the portal. Maybe Hope knew how to help save Blue.

Just as Charity was helping Hope to stand up, They heard footsteps from down the hall. Someone was running towards them. Charity held her breath.

Faith emerged from the darkness. She had the revolver in her hand. "Charity!"

"Faith! What happened out there? I heard gunshots!"

"Yeah, I shot Tumalo," Faith said.

"What!?" Charity said, shocked.

"I just grazed her leg. I stalled her for a bit. But I think she's kind of pissed off now," Faith explained.

"Do you think?" Charity said.

Charity tried to explain what had happened. She tried to describe the tall woman and about Blue and the portal. Faith just frowned, looking at the portal skeptically.

In the distance there was a buzzing sound.

"That is going to be the cops," Faith said looking around the cavern. "We can't go back up the elevator. We'll have to find our way out through another passage."

"We don't even have a flashlight. And what about Blue," Charity said, pointing at the portal.

Hope shook her head vigorously, and pointed back toward the elevator. "Mmmm!"

"Tumalo is that way," Charity said. "Bitch!"

Hope frowned, then pointed at the portal and vigorously shook her head again.

"I don't know if we have a choice," Faith said. "The cops are coming this way. I don't think they'll be in a question-asking mood if they see me." She nodded at the portal. "What do we have to lose?"

Charity grabbed Hope's hand. "Come on, Hope. We can do this." She stood up and walked towards the portal. She stopped and turned to Hope. "I love you! Hope! I love you! Mi-ah(tock)oo-nah!"

Hope smiled and raised their joined hands up in the air. She nodded then turned towards the portal.

Faith walked up as well and grabbed Charity's other hand.

"3... 2... 1..." They stepped into the glowing plasma of the portal and disappeared in a flash of light.

Ten seconds later the glowing plasma of the portal began to grow dimmer, eventually fading altogether. Only a large, featureless black monolith remained.

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Journal Entry 8:

Subject: Ash Adams - p-FEAR Installation

The Lambda Frame

QM: Rainbow

Every choice spawns another universe. They are infinite and uncountable. Most slip into obscurity, slowly reclaimed by the ether. Some re-merge, no more than a minor glitch only noted by few or none. Many linger on. To suggest that one is a failure or not matters only to one's point-of-view. To those of that particular point-of-view, a failed universe is no longer relevant. Its inhabitants are inconsequential.

To lift a suitable subject from a failed universe to one that is successful is the greatest of gifts even if the use of that subject is completely utilitarian. Thus, we celebrate the blessings of the Goddess who lifts an individual from uselessness to a heralded life in the arousal amplification array.

Our current subject, Ash Adams, is ready to be permanently installed in her lambda frame. A slot is prepared in the vertical arm for the seating of the subject's orb. A heated solder is applied to wed the two metals together. Next her arms are raised and aligned within the confines of the vertical armature. A hook is available to slip through the center of the subject's hands, left over right. A clip snaps down to transform the hook to a circle and solder makes it a solid fing.

The subject's legs are comfortably spread and pressed into the left and right legs of the lambda. Padded metal staples are secured around the thigh, calf, and ankle. Only the subject's feet and metal capped toes are left to express the subject's thoughts and emotions. Flexing and curling through the throes of ecstasy forevermore.

The Goddess, herself, Dea Dammasch escorts her new acolyte and containing framework from the failed universe to her own. She is installed in the array with her sisters from anywhere and anywhen. Thus, the greatest universe is propelled strongly forwards in plentiful abundance for all its inhabitants.

Go forth, Acolyte Ash! Languish in the nebula of eternal arousal!

Dea Dammasch, aeternum amorem et obsequium meum spondeo.

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Federal Agent Chen closed the Journal of Ash Adams. She smirked as she dropped it on the desk in the temporary office set up for her in the asylum. "What a load of horseshit!" she said to the other two agents in the room, Agent Patel and Agent Smith. "Let's bring the local bozos in. I'm ready to meet them now."

Smith stepped out of the office.

"I actually stayed in this city once six or seven years ago," Chen said. "I met the mayor. She was a complete idiot. I liked the wine though. Ah!"

Smith returned with two other women, one of whom was limping. "This is Dr. Perit Huntington. She is the Chief Psychiatrist here at the asylum."

"Hello," Parit said.

"So, you chose to investigate this decorated woman's past without calling us?" Chen asked.

"Uh... Yes, ma'am. I felt that Dr. Charity McKenzie was uniquely qualified to develop a good rapport with the woman. She-"

"The same Dr. McKenzie," Agent Chen interrupted, "that is currently on the lam with this decorated woman and her sister?"

"Her step-sister, Faith McKenzie, yes."

"Fantastic!" Agent Chen said with a sidewards look at Agent Patel. "And you must be Detective Tumalo?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tumalo said.

"And you chose to not call us about what's going on here for over four months?" Agent Chen asked.

"Well... I didn't realize that we were getting close to your jurisdiction," Tumalo said.

"OK. I'd like to see the patients, Dr. Huntington. You can tell me about the mine as we walk, Tumalo." Agent Chen stood up and followed the others into the halls of the asylum.

"...And this is the hall where we normally keep patients who are considered dangerous to themselves or others," Perit explained as they walked down a corridor lined with heavy locked doors. Each door had a small barred window.

"This room contains Tam Fir. She was the woman who awoke one morning with rings piercing her upper and lower lips and a chain holding her mouth closed. We were able to remove the chain, but she still has the rings in her lips. We... uh... don't really have any justification for holding her."

"We'll take care of that," Agent Chen said.

"Next, we have Fedea Whychus," Perit said as the agents looked into the window. "She was found naked in a cage in the elevator shack at the Four Sisters Mine. She seems to have endured severe emotional trauma of some sort. We have not yet gotten her to say a single word.

"Finally, we have the woman that was found bound to a chair in a small room deep in the mine. She said she had been there for years. She apparently has had no human contact the entire time. She seems to be recovering though."

Chen lingered at the window. "She's bald. Why is that? Does she shave her head every day?"

"She does not shave her head. Nor do we. Her hair just does not seem to be growing back," Perit explained.

"I just wanted to make sure you don't let her near a razor," Agent Chen said. "What was her name?"

"Blue. Blue Barclay," Perit said.

"Ok," Agent Chen said. "You need to move this one to a padded cell. She must be locked in a head harness with a safety gag, a full body straitjacket - arms and legs - and segufix straps binding her to the floor. Do this immediately."

"Um... Isn't that a little excessive?" Perit asked.

Chen held up the Journal of Ash Adams. "Do you know who wrote this journal? Each entry was marked 'QM: Rainbow'. QM stands for Quarter Master - the person in charge of logging events. And Dr., what are the colors of the rainbow?"

"Uh... red, green, gold... all colors? I don't know."

"Red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet... And Blue!"

"Um... Blue was Charity's girlfriend. She was abducted four and half months ago," Perit said. "I don't think..."

"Are we going to have communication problems, Dr?" Chen said menacingly.

"No. No, ma'am."

"Then make it so. This Dea Dammasch bitch's henchmen always use names that are colors of the rainbow." Agent Chen said. "Now, Tumalo, your police never found any bodies in the mine, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. We haven't found any sign of the McKenzie sisters or the decorated woman. There are no footprints or other signs that they ever left that one particular cavern."

"Mmm-hmm. And your report mentioned a strange, large, rectangular monolith down in the mine," Chen said. "That is definitely something that I'd like to see as soon as possible..."

The End of Book 1

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Thank you very much for following along this story for 14 chapters! I hope that you all enjoyed reading the story. Is there a Book 2? There very well could be! I'm starting to hear plot threads weave inside my head. Let me know if you are interested in the comments. If you enjoyed this story, tell your friends. It's free entertainment!

Thanks again,

Syrynsmyth

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