Worship Ch. 01

The irony of the situation wasn't lost on him, as the stern feminine voice of his GPS system commanded him to turn right into the secluded cul-de-sac. The voice a strong reminder as was his nerves of the impending situation. Suppressing his usual sense of humour.

"You have reached your destination," The voice announced with clinical delivery as if the GPS knew what lie ahead.

He had always yearned for a stern female voice, and he hoped to experience it very soon. The nerves had made it increasingly hard to concentrate for the past week, now he was on a knife-edge. Split between impending joy and sheer nerves.

He pulled up and parked his car in the nearest space, and zapped the car deadlocked. As he walked across the empty concrete forecourt, he noticed the green vegetation sprouting through the cracked concrete and the rusty collapsed chain link fence. It didn't fit with his expectations.

In the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a sleek blue sports car tucked away in the corner. Not being one for fast cars, he didn't register much about it. Though in the flash of attention he gave it, he'd logged that the registration ended KRU. For a brief moment he pondered if it was short for anything Krug champagne, krugerrands, belonging to a champagne drinker or a South African, a champagne loving South African. Little did he know he would understand the significance sooner than he expected, and it would bring back his memories of a cool lion beer overlooking Table Mountain or the wealth and expensive gold coinage.

This thought last no longer than a moment, quickly drowned out by his fixation on the impending visitation concentrating his mind. He could feel his hairs on his body standing on end, and the blood coursing through his body. Lost in the thoughts of his impending fate, the short walk from his car to the doorway, virtually took no time. A non-descript glass frontage, with double doors and a window either side. The window covered in a metallic one-way film.

The sudden arrival at the door, with a choice of buttons on the tarnished silver plated intercom box flummoxed him. He fumbled with the zip of his coat pocket as he tried to quickly get to the email instructions he had printed off. Double-checking the print, he reached for the middle button; the box emitted its high-pitched electronically synthetic burst!

He was acutely aware of the tight schedule that had been imposed on him. He was frantically looking at his watch, worried about the seconds and minutes he may be late by. He looked around, left, right, and up to the sky, noticing the flashing red LED of the CCTV camera mounted over the doorway. Wondering who would be sat on the other end, and whether they would actually be watching and what was going in on their mind. His train of thought was interrupted by the low pitch buzz and the one side of doorway creaked open.

He pushed open the door and walked inside. The door shut and the darkness of the entrance lobby enveloped him. He let the door close behind him, pushing it shut. Pulling on the handle to ensure the latch had caught, the finality of the situation dawned on him. This was it! He had prepared himself for it. The point of no return was distant on the horizon. As his eyes got accustomed to the darkness he could make out small flickers of light around the room. At that moment, it didn't provide enough light for him to move from the spot he had landed on. As the following minute passed he was increasingly aware of his breathing and his pulse, feeling it pump through his neck. The small flickers of light became discernable as small tea lights on top of shelving unit.

He felt down on his waist and looked at the green backlit watch, confirming his worse fear, he was five minutes late. He was trying to find the marker and box that were put of the next part of Her instructions. He scanned the room, and then in the middle appeared a small grey marker on the floor and the cardboard box next to it. He wondered if the grey was chosen to make it hard to spot. But he didn't have the luxury to ponder on that thought. He quickly paced to the spot, dropping quickly to his knees. Looking in the box to find the collar, and set of matching cuffs. He carefully placed them to the side. Scrambling to become naked, almost ripping the buttons off his shirt, and ripping at the trouser zips. He neatly folded his jacket, shirt and trousers, making sure to check that his mobile was switched off. Neatly placing each item into the cardboard box, and lifting the flap lid over. He picked up the collar with reverence, never have experienced one before, feeling the rough inner and smooth outer surface. He wrapped it around his neck, buckling it up as per the instructions, to ensure a firm but comfortable fit. Pushing a finger into the gap, checking the tension, not too loose not too tight. Just perfect he thought, letting out a small titter as he thought of goldilocks. Repeating the process with the each cuff on each of his limbs, not pausing to think, hearing the second counting away his in head. TICK TOCK TICK TOCK.

He made one final sweep around to see if anything was amiss.

He flipped quickly and enthusiastically onto his front and lied out prostrate on the floor. Facing down, with the floor pushing back at his nose, squashing it with his hands to his side. Feeling the heat of his hot body being drawn into the cold concrete, the seconds turned into epoch, as he lied there still and calm, feeling his pulse dropping.

Unsure of the passage of time, the darkness never surrendering any clues he waited. The peace of the lobby disrupted by the clinical sharp clip of metal on concrete. He had heard of the noise, but had never experienced the nearing sound of a stiletto-wearing lady as she approached her prey. The noise was music to his ear, like a great symphony or oration, spellbinding. He started to loose himself as the clips fell hypnotically. Stopping suddenly for no reason! He felt little a bead of sweat form, from the stress. The peace once more was disrupted as by an earthy steel rumble, he saw a shaft of light come through a shutter doorway, as it slid open. The clip started once more, paced rhythmically.