The Naughty Nymph Ch. 06

"Why didn't the cops tell her the charges?" I asked.

"I'm sure they did, that's the law. But some people are in total denial, they think if they ignore the payment reminders and the summons then it'll all magically go away. Until the cops are at their door to arrest them, then it all comes crashing down. And when they're in here, some take it harder than others. Your girl in particular, she was a real pain in the butt."

"How is she?" I asked, remembering the feeling of dread when I had gotten my permanent slave tattoo and that collar welded around my neck.

Mills scratched his chin. "She's got a talent for making things worse for herself. Broke a colleague's nose on day two and got her lashes doubled."

"So she's getting a hundred per day? That's harsh."

"That assault could have added years to her sentence. With her priors and a less friendly judge it could have been a lot worse. Not that it matters much, this is just delaying the inevitable."

"You don't think she'll keep her nose clean after this?"

He shrugged. "I wish her all the best, but I've seen it too many times. This one will be back and the next collar is probably for life."

*

We finally made it through the labyrinth of corridors and stopped in front of one of the cells. Mills peeked through the food slot in the door, then he touched the radio on his collar.

"This is Mills, open three twenty-five."

"No, no, no, please, no!" I heard a voice and when the door finally opened, I could see that she was peeing herself.

She was cowering on the floor of her small, unfurnished cell, hands cuffed to a belly chain behind her back, feet shackled, and her collar tethered to the back wall by a chain. The girl looked about as scared and desperate as anyone would in this situation, but I had to remind myself that this was a situation of her own making.

"Relax," said Mills. "It's not whipping time yet. You're getting your chance to apologize and then this will be behind you. Deep breaths, okay?"

She took a moment to compose herself. With some effort, she managed to get on her knees in the puddle she had made and moved forward towards the door.

"Please, Cassie, I'm so sorry that I stole from you."

"And what about turning off the girls' birth control? Are you fucking crazy? Imagine we wouldn't have noticed!"

I was still furious about that, even more so than about the stolen money. Getting knocked up against your will was bad enough, but for a serf it was a disaster, not to mention illegal. The authorities would cancel the contract and if I couldn't prove that it wasn't my fault, there was a good chance that I would spend the next decade at a labor camp myself. After all, Elvira wasn't the only one with priors.

"It was a joke, I'm sorry! I will never do anything like that ever again, I swear. Please, I just can't take it anymore! Please! This is killing me, I beg you!"

She moved forward on her knees towards me until she reached the end of her chain. I could see that she already had her tattoo and wore her slave collar -- apparently, she was now property of Reznikov Inc, a large and somewhat notorious operator of labor camps. If she hadn't already, she would sooner rather than later regret every decision that got her there.

"Whatever," I said. "Stay out of trouble and good luck. You'll need it."

"Can I record that you accepted the apology?" asked Mills. "In two weeks time she'll be in Taruna, she'll need every last bit of strength at that camp, trust me. At least spare her some lashes here."

I nodded and she broke down crying.

"Thank you," she said, sobbing. "That means no more whippings, right? I'm done?"

Mills grimaced. "Sorry. You're scheduled in twenty minutes and the judge is probably on his lunch break right now. For what it's worth, the one hundred you get today are your last ones from us."

Her wail was heartbreaking and I was glad when the cell door finally slammed shut.

"I'm surprised that you're keeping her chained up," I said. "I thought conditions on Zesta were more relaxed."

"Well, after the incident we decided to put her in transport restraints a couple of hours before the whipping, that's when she's still relatively calm. Otherwise we'd need four guys and the shock prod to get her ready."

I bit my lower lip. "She's a scrappy little bitch, that's for sure."

"Did she really turn off someone's birth control?"

"Yes, but we caught it in time, nobody got pregnant. I wanna whip her myself when I even think about it. The amount of trouble that could have caused for everyone, gods!"

"You can still reject that apology, it's not entered in the system yet."

"It's okay, I know what it's like being whipped, I don't wanna be cruel. But I'm not feeling particularly sorry for the lashes she's still getting."