The Kingdom Ch. 08

CHAPTER 8 - HAZARDOUS PLANTS AND EXTRACTS

Naked, gagged, hooded, and tied spread-eagle, I tugged ferociously at my bonds. It had probably been 20 minutes since Brandy had left and I was still nowhere closer to freedom. The pillow had slid out from under my head, giving me a clearer view of the restraints that bound me.

After having studied dozens of types of knots the night prior, I could see that Brandy had used a variation of what looked like a "bowline on a bight" knot to restrain each of my limbs to the corners of the bed. This meant that the only knot was bud-up against the bed's poster. And since this was a king-sized bed, and I was positioned squarely in the middle, that made the knot over a foot out of my reach. I had managed to shift my body a few inches toward my dominant hand, but I was still well out of reach. I shouted in rage as I thrashed about in tantrum. I hated this! Brandy could return any second!

To make matters worse, by tugging and pulling so hard against the ropes, I was pretty sure that I'd only managed to cinch the knots tighter. Even if I could get my fingers around them, I'm not sure I'd have a chance at prying knot apart. I arched my back and shrieked pointlessly at the ceiling. I still couldn't believe this was happening! I kept hoping that I was going to wake up and find that this had all been a terrible dream.

Just then, I heard the door to the suite open. My heart dropped and I instantly felt a sob forming in the base of my throat. My chance to escape had expired. Brandy had returned.

"Housekeeping!" I heard a chirpy high-pitched voice call out.

My spirits suddenly spiked. Housekeeping! I craned my head upward and hollered into my gag. It wasn't Brandy! The sound of heels clicked across the foyer toward the bedroom.

"Hello?" the voice called from the doorway. A dark, curly haired woman leaned in. It was none other than the head of Katie from check-in!

"Aieee?!" I squealed into my gag

"Why, hello there, little one," Katie said pleasantly. As she stepped through the doorway, I could see that she wore a revealing sexy maid's outfit just like the woman from who had visited the previous day. Around her neck was a burgundy employee choker with her nametag in the middle.

Hallelujah! I exhaled in relief and relaxed in my bonds. After sticking up for her at check-in, surely she would help me out of this!

But as Katie stepped into the room, I could tell that something was off... She laid a stack of fresh towels on the dresser and turned to face me with a faux pouty face.

"Aww," she chuckled. "You look so unhappy!"

"Aiee! Hall ee awogh dicht!" I shouted unintelligibly at her. Katie smiled as she stepped casually up to the foot of the bed.

"Aw, don't worry, sweetie," she said as she placed her hand on my bare foot. "I'm sure Mistress Jodie will be back to tend to your needs in no time," she cooed playfully.

Holy shit, she didn't recognize me! My heart sank as I suddenly remembered the latex hood covering the majority of my face. I frantically shook my head back and forth, hollering nonsense into my gag. Katie just giggled and walked around the bed to inspect my restraints. I continued to holler and thrash about, desperate to get through to Katie.

"Wow. It looks like Mistress Jodie certainly knows her knots!" she cooed in admiration.

I groaned, throwing my head back and forth in frustration. Katie took a seat on the bed beside me.

"Here," she said as she reached over and readjusted the pillow to rest once more beneath my head. "There we go."

I continued to plead my case, hollering desperately through the gag and tugging at my bonds. I had to figure out a way to convey to Katie that I was Jodie. She HAD to help me! She was literally the only one who could. But a stupid latex hood stood between me and my freedom. Why the fuck did Brandy have to put the hood on?!

"Aw, sweetie," Katie mused compassionately. "Your lips look so chapped. Hold on a sec. Let me get you some chapstick." She lifted up her skirt and reached her fingers into what looked like a hidden pocket on the inside. Pulling out a small tin pillbox, her face grimaced as she struggled to pry it open. Seconds later, the lid sprang open, sending the contents of the pillbox flying through the air. I rolled my eyes as breath mints showered down on me, along with a tube of chapstick, and what looked like... wait- were those marijuana joints? I tilted my head down to get a closer look. Yep- landing on the bed beside me were three unmistakable rolls of cannabis.

"Shit!" Katie whispered. She quickly snatched up them up and returned them to the pillbox. "Those aren't mine, I swear," she stammered, as her cheeks suddenly became bright red. She leaned across me and continued gathering all of the breath mints off the bed. "I've never even used marijuana. I found those in one of the rooms I cleaned earlier." I could see her fingers trembling in embarrassment. "Technically, I'm supposed to report any illegal drugs that I find during my rounds, but the punishment is a minimum sentence of seven days in the kennel. Seven days!" Katie shuddered dramatically. "And the slave has to serve the same sentence as her master! Yeah- I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, I just confiscated them so I could destroy after my shift ends."

Though Katie appeared genuine in her explanation, I honestly couldn't have cared less who the pot belonged to. I had much bigger things on my mind than Katie and a few joints.

"Hold still," she continued as she removed the cap to the chapstick and lifted it to my mouth.

I sighed in irritation as Katie applied the balm to my gagged lips. I know she wasn't trying to patronize me, but it still felt pretty demeaning.

"There we go," she said with a half smile. "You know, I met your Mistress a few days ago. I really think you lucked out by getting her." I groaned loudly. How the hell was I going to get through to this nitwit? "She actually did me a huge favor," she continued, returning the chapstick back to her pillbox while she talked. "I was the one who checked her in back at the train station. I guess I was being too loud, because my boss came over and reprimanded me. But Jodie intervened on my behalf. I'm pretty sure my boss was about to fire me or transfer me to another department. But she told him off right in front of everyone and insisted that I say. It was..." Katie shivered giddily, as if recalling a pleasant dream, "-it was pretty incredible."

"UGGGH!" I groaned loudly in frustration. Katie jumped in surprise. I had heard all that I could bear. "I KNOW! I KNOW! THAT WAS ME!" I tried to articulate. Only, with the gag in my mouth, it came out something like-"AI-OH! AI-OH! AMP ULPH HEEE!" I continued to holler as loud as I could, utterly desperate now to communicate.

"Oh sweetie," Katie said, smiling. "I'd trade places with you in a heartbeat." She patted my abdomen softly as she stood to her feet. "A million dollar paycheck and getting to be a slave to a gorgeous red-head for three months... Mmm. To be completely honest, if I got someone like Jodie as a mistress, I'm not sure I'd ever want to leave-"

Just then, I heard the sound of the front door opening. Katie's face turned sharply toward the bedroom doorway. She hurriedly lifted her skirt again and stowed the pillbox in the hidden pocket. She straightened her uniform, stood up straight, and pulled her curly hair behind her ears. She skipped giddily toward the doorway, propping up her breasts with her hands. It certainly seemed like she'd become smitten with me. But as she stood in the doorway, the smile on her face suddenly vanished.

"Oh- hello" Katie said awkwardly as Brandy entered the room.

Brandy stopped in her tracks. She was holding several shopping bags in her hands. She stared at Katie, stone-faced.

"...Can I help you?" Brandy replied suspiciously.

"Oh- sorry, I uh, I'm house-keeping. I'm Katie-" Katie said, pointing awkwardly at her name tag on her neck. "I was just dropping off some linens." She motioned her hand towards the towels on the dresser. Brandy stared at her silently. "Doooo... uh, do you need anything before I go? Does anything need to be cleaned, or-?"

"No," Brandy replied bluntly, not breaking her stoic gaze with Katie. After a moment of awkward silence, Brandy added, "Bye."

"Oh, right. Sorry," Katie replied, walking past Brandy with her head down. Brandy's eyes followed Katie as she walked away. At the doorway, Katie stopped and turned back toward Brandy. "Have a nice day, Miss-..."

"McConnell," Brandy replied. "Jodie McConnell."

It was at this moment that I saw the lights finally dawn on Katie. I held my breath as I watched Katie's eyes widen. She froze like a deer in headlights. Her face had drained of all color and looked as if she'd seen a ghost. There was little doubt that she knew what was going on. Albeit, she was now too late to actually do anything. At this point, short of going to security and pleading for them to intervene, I really wasn't sure what she could do to help...

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Miss McConnell," she said, breaking the silence with a forced smile. She glanced back over to me, visibly nervous. "I'll- uh, give you two some privacy," she added. "Bye." And with that, she turned and quickly exited the room, her heels clicking behind her.

Brandy looked over and studied me with what looked to be mild suspicion. I scowled back at her silently wearing my best poker face. Moments later, I heard the front door close, leaving me alone once more with my captor. Without saying anything, Brandy stepped into the bathroom and laid her shopping bags on the floor. Then, she exited the bedroom altogether.

Dammit, this mysterious silent shit was really starting to piss me off. I hated not knowing what my future had in store. It was unnerving not to being able to get a read on this bitch. From what I could gather, contrasting from her bio that I read on the train, she didn't appear to be a sadist or masochist. While she had been full of sass and spunk during our previous encounters, she now carried herself like an executive or some sort of intelligence operative. She had either been pretending before or managing a multiple-personality disorder. Considering her cryptic phone call from earlier, it was almost certainly the former.

I craned my head upward as I heard something being dragged from the other room. Moments later, Brandy entered the room pulling a wooden armchair behind her. She sat the chair at the foot of the bed and disappeared once more into the bathroom. For the next several minutes, I could hear her unpacking and tinkering with the contents of her shopping bags.

I stubbornly gave several last minute tugs to my bonds. But Katie had been right. Brandy certainly did seem to know how to tie her knots.

After about a minute, Brandy stepped back into the room and walked over to stand next to me.

"I'm going to untie you now," she explained calmly. "Once you're free, please take a seat in that chair over there. If you fight me or try to escape, I'll have no choice but to shock you. Understand?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed dramatically through my gag. The response must have been sufficient for Brandy because she proceeded to untie the ropes from the bed posters at each corner. First, at my ankles, and then at my wrists. Once my hands were free, I reached over and began pulling the ropes out from the D-rings of my cuffs.

"Leave them," Brandy said, grabbing my wrist. I shot a glare at her, which prompted her to tighten her grip. "Leave them, and take a seat," she repeated authoritatively.

For a split second, I contemplated lunging at Brandy. I would have loved nothing more than to throw down in this moment. But with the ropes still attached to all of my cuffs, it would have been only too easy for Brandy to simply retie me. So, I choose to comply. For now... I stood to my feet and walked over the armchair at the foot of the bed. Dramatically, I sat down, folding my arms across my naked chest.

"Thank you," Brandy said.

She stepped over to me and grabbed ahold of the rope still attached to my right wrist cuff. Then, she began to wrap the rope around the arm of the chair. I shrieked into the gag, yanking my hand away, and jumping to my feet. She wanted to tie me to the chair? Bullshit! I thought she wanted to sit so we could talk! But with lightning speed, Brandy had stepped back and whipped my smartphone out of her back pocket. She held it up warningly.

"Cooperate, or I will put you down," Brandy ordered in a deep voice.

"Ai hot awig oowet oo ai me ackot!!" I hollered unintelligibly at her.

"Take your seat," Brandy repeated. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you force me to." I could see that there was zero emotion in her eyes. Just ice-cold determination. "Now," she ordered in a louder voice.

After glaring at her for several seconds, I sat back down in defeat. I hated this!! As long as Brandy was in possession of my phone, she had the upper hand. I eyed the device with loathing. Who could have predicted that my shitty scratched-up Android would become the key to my future?

Upon sitting back down, Brandy began to wrap the ropes around the arms and legs of the chair, securing me in my seated position. After the last knot cinched tight, Brandy straightened up and stepped back.

"Thank you," Brandy said softly.

"UCK OO!" I spat back at her. Brandy ignored me and pulled out a pair of scissors from her pocket.

"I'm going to cut your hood off now, okay?" I simply glared back at her.

Brandy proceeded to insert the blade of the scissors beneath the bottom of my latex hood. I held my breath as I felt the metal of the long blade slide against my throat. I closed my eyes, praying silently that she wouldn't accidentally slice my neck open. After a few seconds, she had cut a line straight down the middle of my face, past my mouth opening, along my nose, and right up to my forehead. Then, she pulled the flaps of the hood away from each other, exposing my skin. Moments later, she tugged the latex off of my head altogether, freeing my face from it's rubber prison. Now if only she could do the same for my damn gag.

Then, Brandy stepped around the chair to stand behind me. I squealed in surprise as I felt the chair tipping backwards. My weight was now balanced on the chair's two hind legs and I was being dragged toward the bathroom. As soon as I passed through the doorway, my nostrils were filled with the overwhelming scent of bleach and peroxide. What the hell? I twisted as best as I could to see what the smell was coming from but the high back of the chair hindered my view.

But my curiosity was short-lived. Brandy spun the armchair around to have me face the bathroom mirror and counter. On the counter was an opened box that read 'ARORA Hair-Coloring Kit' and a clear plastic container filled with white goo. Off to the opposite end of the counter was a styrofoam mannequin head with a long red wig perched on top.

It took me a split second to process everything that I was looking at. But once I had, it's safe to say that I officially LOST. MY. SHIT. This bitch was planning on switching places with me!! She was fixing to bleach my red hair to be blonde like hers! And based on the red wig on the counter, I could only guess that she planned to wear that in order to pass herself off as ME!! Oh HELL NO!!

"OO UCKID ICT!!" I shrieked at her. I continued screaming louder than I'd ever screamed before. I tugged and twisted with every ounce of my might. This was NOT going to happen. I wasn't going to let it! I didn't care if she shocked me to oblivion. I was prepared to fight to the death to stop her from doing this.

Suddenly, my neck was pelted with electricity. I shrieked as my back arched involuntarily. My entire body trembled as the shocks continued to radiate from my collar. Finally, after a few seconds, it ended, causing me to slump over, panting.

"Stop!" Brandy ordered, grabbing a fist-full of my hair and yanking it backwards. I glared at her through the mirror in front of us, snarling like a rabid animal. I twisted my head back and forth, desperate to pull my hair from her grip. But I could feel her grip tighten and pull back harder, making me wince in pain. But pain was no longer a deterrent for me. Now, I was here to fight.

Seeing that I was not giving in, I saw Brandy lift her phone again and tap on the screen. More electricity coursed through my neck, causing me to tense and quiver uncontrollably. Brandy released my hair and stepped in front of the chair to face me. She leaned over so that her face was right in front of mine. We were so close that I could feel her breath on my cheek.

"This is going to happen," she said coldly. "Whether you like it or not."

Seizing my opportunity, I lunged my head forward. Brandy leaned back, but not quickly enough. My forehead made hard contact with her mouth, causing her to yelp in pain.

"Ugh, dammit!" she shouted, raising her hand to her mouth as she stumbled backward. As she straightened up, she pulled her hand away from her mouth to reveal a bloody grimace. I had busted her bottom lip! As proud as that made me, the look of rage that was now on Brandy's face sent chills down my spine.

"Shit!" she said as she turned toward the mirror and saw the blood. She spat a mouthful of blood into the sink before turning back toward me. "Now you've done it, bitch." I saw her lift her cellphone, and I clenched my eyes shut in preparation for another round of shocks.

Just then, I heard loud knocking at the front door of the suite, followed by the sound of the door opening. Both Brandy and I turned to look in shock.

"Miss O'Connell, this is security!" a male voice called out.

"What the fuck?" Brandy muttered, her face contorted in confusion. She grabbed a hand-towel from the hook on the wall and frantically wiped the blood off of her face and hands. After briefly inspecting herself in the mirror, she walked past me and out of the bathroom.

"Uh, can I help you?!" I heard Brandy call out.

I craned my head back, but I couldn't see out of the room.

"We received a report of illicit drugs on the premises," the male voice said.

"What?" Brandy challenged. "From who?"

"If I could ask you to stand back, ma'am-" the voice continued.

"No, I'm not going to stand back!" Brandy argued loudly. "You have no right to be here. Article 4 dash 2 states that no security personnel can enter a private residence-"

"-Without cause," the security guard interrupted forcefully. "Which as you can see by this permit, we now have."

"Right there, officer," I heard an unidentified female voice say. "That's where I saw it." There was a brief pause where nobody said anything.

"What the fuck is that?" I heard Brandy ask. "Okay, I swear to god that's not mine! I've never seen shit that before!"

"Ma'am, I'm going to ask you step back and place your hands against the wall," another male stated.

"What?! No fucking way! That shit's not mine!" Brandy hollered.

"Ma'am, I'm not going to ask again-" the guard continued.

"This is bullshit!" Brandy spat, "I'm not taking responsibility for that! Hey- back off."

"Ma'am-"

"I said BACK OFF!" Brandy yelled. I could hear the sounds of a scuffle beginning to break out. "What are you- Hey!" Brandy demanded. "No! Get... OFF OF ME! STOP!! I said Stompph! Nooompph! MMMPHHH!!"