Hey there folks, I just got done with this second part. It's a little long winded, and might not be as quick to the point as some would like. ^_____^
Hell, even I would read this and go "GOOD LORD Ace, STFU already." .
.. but I've always wanted to write a story like this, and I felt it was worth drawing out. It might not appeal to everyone, but I'd love the feedback just the same. 🙂
Thank you. ^^
The Cult I - The Awakening
http://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?t=96681&highlight=Cult
Part 2 – The Cleansing
Robin vaguely remembered when the young girl walked away. Leaving two men to the duties of transporting her to a shower, where she was hosed down with warm water from head to toe. The water wasn't hot, but she still winced at the stinging hose. She wept at the ordeal, not knowing if she was ever going to escape from this place. They never gave her much time to think alone. After her forced shower, she was dragged into a small room and after some forceful negotiation, had her tied down on what appeared to be a multi-functional gynecological table
Her arms were strapped down with leather cuffs outward to her left and right, and her feet were braced at the ankle and thigh above the knee with similar restraints. Knee cuffs pushed below her knees and placed her legs in a spread position, and made movement impossible. Her upper biceps were trapped down, and a soft leather cuff was placed around her head, her neck hugged by a malleable cushion which was formed to her shape as to allow virtually no head and neck movement whatsoever.
One of the robed men stopped then, the hood of his robe covering his eyes, but he seemed to stare at her as she held back tears fruitlessly. He brushed back the hair from her eyes with his hand and Robin tensed, flinching suddenly and feeling her inability to escape. She screamed, causing the man to retract his hand and quickly walk out. Her screaming lasting a good 5 minutes before the door opened again, and group of people walked in, one of them being Alice. This time Alice wore the traditional robe the others did, and she recognized Grant as leading the others in.
4 in total, two young men and Alice, with Grant standing by her side as they shut the door. Robin had many thoughts tearing through her mind at that moment. Should she plead to Grant? She thought that begging at this moment would be fruitless, instead she steeled herself and shut her eyes. Knowing her fate would soon come her way. She felt the need to cry again at the sudden thought of her hopeless situation, but she would remain strong at least for a few moments.
“Robin, wife of Lancing, witness to the tears of crimson daughters. I believe you know why I am here today.”
Robin clenched her fists. “You sick bastards are trying to kill me.”
The group laughed then, not ruthlessly so, but they giggled until Grant rose a hand. “We're not trying to kill you Robin, excuse my brothers and sister for their rudeness.” He said softly, nodding his head and causing Alice to walk behind Robin and position her hands just above Robin's underarms.
Her nails just briefly touched Robin's skin, but did not move. “Noooo, please...!”, the idea of those nails tickling her was too much too bear. She screamed and shook but found her bondage so hopeless that the table didn't even creak She tired out pretty easily in her bondage and the group said nothing until she calmed herself.
Her panting calmed itself as she shut her eyes again and steeled herself, she had given away too much even then, and cursed herself for it...
“Begin...”
Now Robin's newfound calmness was being tested as Alice lightly brushed her nails across her pits, spidering ever so softly, but Robin could resist it. Her eyes wincing as she refused to let her tickling make her laugh.
“You resist it Robin, despite those very same nails making you laugh so fully just a few hours ago, now you resist... Why is that?”
So I wouldn't give you the pleasure you asshole! ...is what she wanted to say, but she dare not open her mouth now, lest her words be transformed into giggling.
“You're holding onto something, which to you seems very dear, a pride I think that has caused you more trouble in life, than I think you're willing to admit. You fear letting go of that pride, because without it, how could you define the moments in which you held back from doing something you enjoyed, or from experiencing something others would look down on you for? If you let go now, it would make all of that in vain... wouldn't it?”
Alice pressured Robin with traveling fingers fluttering down to her ribs. Robin groaned, her eyes welling up into tears and her face saddened, realizing it wouldn't take long for them to break her will. She listened to his words, where she otherwise would have ignored him, they were the only thing she could concentrate on to avoid the tickling sensations, though she lost her grip steadily.
“You feel regret for having come here, yet you also must feel some regret to as to not have fully embraced those things we so often feel we need to resist. Temptations of life, of lust, of desire and greed. Yet deep down inside, you know, that what I am saying is true, despite your hate for me, you know, from experience what it's like to give in... to desire, don't you?
Robin couldn't bear it anymore. “Noo...nononoahahahaHaha!! Please, Pleaahahahahhase stahaa~~...ha...hahahap! HaAHhahha!”
Alice smiled then. “There you go, I was afraid I had lost that sweet little smile. Now, show my family what I've taught you.”
Robin screamed then as Alice applied wiggling fingers to her ribs, each individually in sequence, keeping her laughter high pitched. “You so didn't know you were ticklish like this before you met me huh Robin? Already you're learning so much. You're so sad, yet here you are laughing...”
“HahahahAHah!! Aaaah, I haaahahate youuuuhahahaha!!! Stop it nooOOOwwHahaha!!”
Alice stopped then, Grant waving a hand as they stood there in some slight shock. Robin panted heavily, looking upward and praying she would make it through this in one piece. She was startled then to hear Alice sniffle then, crying gently behind her.
One of the men clenched his fist. “How could she do th~...?”
“Silence Alfonso, ...she doesn't understand yet.”
“Teacher, how could she be asked the question, when she is so clearly not ready? She spits on our...”
“Alfonso!” Grant closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “All of you, leave the room...now.”
Alice briskly walked out of the room then, a sob escaping her lips as she crossed the thresh hold of the door followed then by the two men who shut the door behind them with a gentle click.
Robin was alone in the room with Grant then, she steeled herself to meet his gaze, but her eyes could not meet. Alone now with him, she felt even more naked than before. “What do you want from me?”
“I once believed it was what you wanted, however perhaps I have been mistaken. Drake is a passionate man...” Grant uttered, walking past Robin's bound body. She winced, feeling his hands come up by her sides and up her arms. “Perhaps, he did embellish his faith...”. She felt his hands squeeze by her wrists, and her wrists came free from their shackles, Robin gasped in surprise.
“What are you...?!”
“Come with me...I have much to show you.”
----
Robin didn't know what to think about this. One minute she was tied, and driven to hysterics by people she didn't even know. The next she was being cleaned and pampered by female members of the cult. They washed her with warm water, and tended to her hair. She was too nervous to deny them. Without her belongings or clothes she felt defenseless in this gigantic castle. Yet they were gentle with her...
They dressed her in a light blue robe, similar to that which they themselves wore, but of thinner fabric, and with no hood. It was a traveler's robe they told her, one worn by their ancestors. She didn't know what to make of it, but she was glad she was clothed again.
A few hours had passed when she was summoned to meet with Grant. Her eyes met his but only briefly. She grit her teeth and looked away...
“Angry at me I see...” Grant said. She didn't respond. Grant stepped down the hall and motioned for her to follow, she complied but looked around the dim light, perhaps there might be a way out of this after all. “I see you've been taken care of.”
“You've kept me captive, tickled me to hysteria. You've destroyed any chance of me listening to a damn thing you say. Where's my bastard husband?”
Grant took a breath. “I'm sorry you feel that way toward him, but I assure you... he didn't mean to hurt you. Neither did I.”
Liar. Robin thought. “What do you want from me?”, she said as they turned the corner into a large chamber, with intersecting halls at each side. It was busy here, she saw others dressed in robes, chattering amongst each other. Young women and men, some carrying books and others carrying cases as they conversed amongst themselves. The blue robes of Robin stood out, and they all turned their gaze on her. Some still smiled, but others simply looked at her with apprehension. Well, who cares if they like me or not? I won't be here much longer if I have any say in any of it.
“They are curious about you. You see, we have not had someone come to this castle in a very long time Robin. They are intoxicated by your features.”
“...it doesn't matter.”, their eyes, despite her words burned into her. She dare not meet the majority of them.
“Your husband brought you here, and gave us the impression that you were looking for something. He felt you were searching for something that wasn't quite spoken. When I met you, I had felt you understood why you were here...” Grant stepped through an archway, and opened a large wooden door. This gave way to a long flight of stairs which went downward into the castle. The walls were lit by lamps that gave incandescent light to the old halls. Much like dim torches would.
“I knew nothing...”
“That much seems to be obvious. Yet I felt it, and so did he. We did not bring you here to hurt you Robin... you must understand. We came here, to help you.”
“You talk such cryptic nonsense. My life was... fine, I don't need the help of the insane to bring me to happiness.”
Grant smirked. “None of us did, Robin.” They stopped at the end of a long hall. Doors lined each side, thick and sturdy, they blocked the sounds that were emanating from within. However it could be heard. Robin took a step back when she reached Grant's side... she could hear the panicked laughter within. “Until I discovered this place.”
“...what are you...”
“When I was younger, I used to be the manager to an old banking firm. I had money, a good home, a wonderful car.”, he stepped forward into the hall... Robin followed slowly after him. “I felt I was on top of the world. I had it all Robin, you see. Unstoppable.”
“Why did you leave...?”
“After the holidays those years ago, I was told I was to be promoted. I was going to move on up, become an enterprise leader of a large firm. It was flattering, yet... I felt I was slowly losing control of my own life.”
Robin stopped, looking incredulously at Grant. “You had all that money, and were moving on up, and you were losing control? What more could you possibly be losing control of?”
Grant turned toward her. “My own soul...”, his eyes met hers for a moment, then they stopped in front of a door. A plaque read “Maria” on the side. There Grant motioned Robin to step in front of it, and slid a viewing port to the side. The minute it opened with a thud, Robin heard a shriek pour out, causing her to flinch and look down the hall.
“I assure you, she is fine. Please...”
Robin, nervously looked at Grant and took a step forward, she bit her lip and built the nerve to look through the port and saw her, the girl named Maria, strapped so vigorously to a similar frame she herself had been tied to. A man stood in front of her, his hands deeply caressing and and massaging into her inner thigh. Forcing Maria's wild eyed laughter and screams. She shook the entire frame, forcing the joints to rattle and whine, but they never gave way.
She looked at her tickler, and pleaded for him. “Please, please...” she said, but he only shook his head. His smile sincere and honest as she continued laugh. His hands would explore her body, tease her ribs, her sides and her breasts in a sensual but constant effort. Giving her little pause, and moving his hands together in expert movements, his fingers wiggling out more music from her lips.
Robin couldn't look anymore and was to turn away, until she suddenly saw Maria arch her back as far as she could and shout out into the room. “Francisco, ple~heeheehease!!! Don't stooohaaap! Por favor doooohahahaa~nt...stooop...!”
“Nunca, never my love...”, his own eyes seemed damp with tears themselves. Robin stepped away, even more confused.
“That's her husband. Those two, are perhaps one of the most connected people I have ever seen in my time here. They have discovered something that others haven't.”
“...it's a fetish. They are expressing themselves sexually. How does that fill a void that a fetish cannot. There is nothing spiritual going on here.”
Grant smiled. “Maria and Francisco, lost a child some years ago in their hometown. It brought a rift between them and the world that nothing seemed to fill. It is a chasm of a void, that is irreplaceable. They grew attached to that void, and never let it go. It was that attachment that further brought them apart, it is here, that they learned to let go of those attachments. To bring them together.”
“It explains nothing to me...” Robin looked away, shutting the slider on the door. “Nothing at all...”
Yet it struck something within Robin, however all it did was make her angry.
“Laughter is the path to peace...” said a girl behind Robin. She had to have been in her teens. Robin turned to see other young cultists standing in the hall. All of them wearing faint smiles on their lips, the one in the front young and innocent with locks of red hair falling down the edges of her light blue robe... “It is the path to heaven.”
“It is the key that shatters all locks...” said a man behind her.
“The road to the life...” said yet another...
“It is Joy.”
“Love...”
“It is the will of God...”
Robin took a step back, inadvertently running into Grant, and turning quickly to see his bemused smile.
“It is joy Robin...” he said, and Robin felt her hands being grasped from behind her. She knew they were going to take her, they were going to convert her, whether she liked it or not. They were going to tickle her body until she was delirious and began to believe anything. She would laugh until she found reasons to laugh, she would be kept away from the real world so long that she'd sooner forget it than go crazy from the tickling.
She knew then she had to fight, now, or never, and with a sudden surge of courage she found herself thrusting her head back into the nose of the male cultist who tried to subdue her. It was so fast, that he did not expected it and he fell back with a scream. The crowd screamed at the sudden burst of violence but expected it, however they did not expect her to quickly turn and grab the young female cultist.
The young girl was unused to this sort of display of violence. She had been brought up in the castle walls from a younger age, and only knew joy. She knew that outsiders resisted, but she had never learned to defend herself from hostility, she soon began to cry as Robin grabbed her by the hair and wrapped a arm around her neck. “Don't get any fucking closer!!!”
The cultists in the room fanned out but did not approach. Robin put her back against the far wall in the hall and stared at Grant and the rest of them. Many of the members looked shocked, or had their hands covering their mouth in despair. The young girl in her arms shivered but did not resist. Grant only eyed her with a serious expression.
“You're making a mistake Ro~”
“The only mistake here is you keeping me here. Back the fuck off, or I swear I will break her neck.”
“Robin...”
“BACK OFF!” she tugged on the girls hair and she shrieked, forcing many of them back.
Grant sighed. “You're free to go as you please. Robin Lancing.” he said with a bow, but all he received from her was spite as she spat at him.
“I know no such name...I don't know that man anymore. Move!” she yanked the girl to the side and dragged her back with her as she took steps toward the stairway. The cultists stood to the sides of the walls, all of them staring down at her with cold eyes, disappointed eyes...
She didn't care, she had to escape and this was her only chance. It had taken her some time to reach among the many halls and open rooms, but she was finally outside, and to her surprise she saw her car in the courtyard just in the distance. If she was fast she could make it. She threw the girl to the side and made a mad sprint to the vehicle. Two cultists were outside sweeping the court at the time and they positioned themselves to intercept her.
She didn't know how she'd break free of them, but she braced herself for the inevitable, when they suddenly stood back, relaxing their stances and letting her through. She turned her head as she sprinted to see a large group of cultists at the main stairwell to the mansion. Grant had a hand to the side, gesturing to his members.
He had let her go truly...
The door was unlatched, and her keys were still in the ignition. A quick turn was all it took to get her engine started and the wheels spinning. Within moments she was flying down the road, the mansion in her rear view mirror getting farther and farther. She worried about them chasing her, about a pursuit, but she saw nobody coming. They had let her go.
She did not relax until she hit the freeway, it was becoming sunset by the time she felt she had to pull over to an exit and saw the glowing lights of a small city in front of her. A Walmart to her right was full of people, she would be safe there.
----
Robin walked into the department store and strolled through one of the isles. People at all sides were staring at her and her weird clothing. The robes were positively medieval looking, but she didn't care about their stares, she just wanted to sit down somewhere. She collapsed into a Mcdonald's booth by the exit and let her head fall forward into her arms, for the first time in hours she finally let go tears.
Her husband had betrayed her and now she felt lost. Her ordeal left her exhausted, and she truly didn't know what to make of any of it, or who to talk to. Should she talk to the police? Who would listen to her... Who would under~...
It was then that she saw there was a young girl looking at her. She had to have been 6... She looked at Robin with sad eyes and then was taken by the hand by her mother who smiled down at her daughter and made her laugh with some words Robin could not hear.
She would be around that age, right now... Robin knew. She would be somewhere else right now, whispering words to her little girl. If they had not gone for ice cream so late at night, Drake and her would not have been on the road that night. They would not have been the victims of a hit and run.
She would be a mother right now.
Robin cursed under her breath. Her husband had been so strong for so long, seeking jobs and working so hard to make a future after the miscarriage. He had even joined the Army Reserves and had gotten himself some education online, working to give them both a better life.
She had never realized just how it had affected him, how it had affected them both. Her tears ran freely now as she realized she herself had lost her ambitions. Putting them in Drake's hands wherever they went, she was guided by guilt over that night for making her husband go, been guided by emptiness that she thought only she could feel, but so could he...
If only she had stayed home, she could be happy right now... but she couldn't change the past. She couldn't make anything happen now, and now after all this she wondered if she could ever strive for anything again... how would she be able to find...joy...
Robin felt something tug at her robe and she turned with a start. The little girl was at her side, in her hand was one of those Mcdonald's ice cream cones.
“I said to mama that you were sad. I think you could use some ice cweam!” she smiled at her and held it up as high as she could, some of it dripping down her small hands...
Robin looked at her and then at the mother suddenly. The young lady looked at her and spoke in whispers. “It's ok, ...she really wanted to give it to you.”
Robin took it from her and smiled down... “Thank you...”
The girl looked up and gave a toothy grin before turning away with her mom. They walked away and left Robin there with the sticky cone, her eyes welling up with tears, but she had a smile on her face and suddenly she began to laugh, her laughs building louder getting attention from all of those around her who otherwise wouldn't have even noticed she was there..
Robin smirked and licked at her ice cream. “...laughter is the path to peace.” she whispered to herself.
“Joy...”
-----
The stars were out now, and the courtyard was dark. The car crept up toward the steps slowly rolling across the gravel road. She could see them all, standing outside, each holding a candle in hand. The candlelight illuminated the steps with a golden glow as Robin parked the car before them. They stood there, as if waiting for her this entire time. Each looked down with the idle reflection of the flames on their faces.
Among them stood Grant, and at his side her husband Drake. He looked at her with shame in his eyes, but they brightened up when he saw Robin step before them all with a smile on her face. At the foot of the flight, the young girl Robin had took hostage stood with a candle in her hand, behind her was Alice, the young woman who had worked at Robin just a day before. They both looked at her with loving smiles under the hoods of their robes.
“I'm sorry...” Robin tried to tell the girl.
She nodded her head. “No need to apologize Robin... I'm glad you're here.”
Robin nodded at her and looked up at the group, her eyes darting straight to Grant. She pulled back on the hood of her robe, letting her hair fly free into the evening wind, it flailed gently like streamers on the tail of a kite, her voice addressed them all, but was aimed at Grant... she wanted them all to hear.
“I saw something tonight most would call a vision. I called it a reality check. I called it a sign... when one is lost, sometimes they need signs to find themselves.” she caught her breath and paused for a moment. She could see many of them smiled at her. Alice had a hand in the shadow of her robe, wiping her tears...
“Someone told me that laughter is the road to life... I have been dead, for too long...I don't what may come of this, but I know where my road lies. It is with my husband, and it's with you...”
Grant nodded. He echoed into the night air. “So what will you do now Robin? What is the decision that the Robin we see before us today has made to herself. Has the Robin we see before us today truly desired to be a part of this insane world by her own choosing?”
Robin smirked, her hands falling down to her waist as she untied the sash at her waist and lifted the robe off her body. It fell to a clump at her side and she stood there, naked and proud, her eyes upward at Grant and her hands clenched to fists. “I want to find out...”
Robin tried not to show how fast her heart was racing. The wind was chilly and she felt more exposed than she had ever felt in her life being seen today as naked as the day she was born. The young girl grabbed hold of the robe on the ground and took her by the hand, guiding her up the steps as the cultists stepped to either side making a path for the two, as she climbed up the stairwell to the slowly opening doors of an ancient world...
Robin was brought to a different room, far into the castle. Down a deep hall, similar to the one Grant had showed her before, there were two rooms side by side. She was escorted to the leftmost door and within it she could see the rack that they would be binding her.
An older woman stepped behind her, reading from a small book. Within it she was told of her road to joy, words of happiness born of suffering. Peace born of conflict, and other things she could not understand. She felt the meaning inside her as they shackled her down and tightened the restraints that stretched her naked body. She understood that she felt at fault for her pains in life and felt she could not escape them. To laugh would be to abandon the memory of her mistakes. It would be to let go of everything she held dearly in such a fragile state.
She was afraid now as they left her in the room with 4 cultists she did not recognized. Not afraid of them, but afraid of what she might lose. Earlier she felt she would lose her sanity in this place, now she feared that she would never get it back. The years had left her tired and worn, and now there was a chance she could let go in this place, let go of the world that tied her down spiritually, and here where they bound her physically… truly be free.
It was hard to concentrate, her mental perusal of her thoughts suddenly stopped when she felt the first touches of nails to her feet. Light fluttering scratches from the tops of finely honed finger nails from the female cultists raked up and down and scratched softly at her toes, gliding down to the balls of her feet to the outer edge. She giggled then, hearing them smile as they let the rest of her body join in on the tickling, tickling her belly and letting nails dance around her navel and hips. One particular set of fingers was making opening and closing motions by her left thigh and it opened the floodwalls.
Robin was laughing now and for the next few minutes it did not stop. It escalated when her underarms were assaulted by the careful ministrations of one of the eldest ticklers in the room. She carefully tickled and tended to Robin’s underarms, whose arms were taut and stretched and was unable to escape the motionless and un-patterned tickling the older woman gave her. It was almost murder to Robin, but she did not plead, she did not ask for them to stop.
In her mind she felt this was punishment. This was penance for her guilt, this was retribution for letting herself fall to darkness for so long. Tears fell from the sides of her eyes and she felt one of her underarms was released from tickling long enough for the older woman to brush the tears from her eyes. When she finished she continued tickling Robin, the gesture did not help for Robin only let more go as she laughed for the hours it took for the women to do what they had to do.
The first evening was long, and a peaceful night of slumber followed, yet the second night it continued. This time they used brushes. If she felt it was torture the night prior, today was a nightmare. They soaked her feet gingerly in soapy, aromatic water and brought Robin to tears while she sat in heavy wooden stocks.
Her arms were hanging over her head, and two male members of the cult brushed feathers along her sides, underarms and neck, their fingers brushing along her ears as her feet were scrubbed clean from top to bottom by young female members of the order. It seemed there was a system of rank of duty in the order, and the older woman of the night prior watched the entire evening from across the room to ensure it went according to plan.
Robin suddenly felt herself growing weak “Hahahaahaa….please… please~ sto~”
“Stop?” the older woman said, lowering her hood and looking down on Robin. “Do you want us to cease now? Is this why you returned?”
Robin bit her lip as they all ceased… she caught her breath though, despite her remorse. “No… no, please tickle me… I deserve it. I deserve to be punished…” she said and lowered her head, danging from her chains wrists.
“Is that what you think this is Robin Lancing? That this is punishment? Look at me darling.” The woman walked to Robin’s side and placed a hand comfortingly on Robin’s cheek and met her gaze. “This is not punishment my sweet. This is an inauguration, the only one punishing you is yourself…”
Robin blinked… “What do you mean…?”
“Until you stop torturing yourself, we won’t stop. Until you realize you’re here of your own volition, that you are here to find joy then it will not stop.”
Robin frowned at her… “But…how…how am I to find joy. How am I going to be happy like this…?”
“Robin…” the woman said and skittered those expert nails across her left side. Robin flinched and winced at the touch, the timing was awful, she was feeling terrible… the last thing she wanted to do was laugh. She was good though, very good… just the touch of those nails made her want to scream, but she refused to let herself do it.
“Fight it Robin…”
“Aaaaah….I am…sto~”
“Fight the urge to fight, and laugh Robin! Let go already!”
It was then that Robin realized what a fool she had been. Here she was laughing this entire evening and now, under this challenge she had fought the desire to laugh. Why did she even drive back to the mansion…? Why did she even give in to these people? Why did she want to find happiness if she kept on fighting it off…? It was then that she buckled, shifting away from the nails but they followed and girlish giggling was its result. She giggled and soon felt her feet return to their ticklish torment and she returned to laughter.
“HahahahHahahaha!!! Oh my goooohahahahd!!!”
The woman smiled at her. “My name is Luana, Robin Lancing…be free young girl. You’ll learn…”
The second night was definitely an experience…
…and it continued, for two more nights. Before Robin was actually eager to come back. At first she questioned it for a moment, had she been brainwashed? Perhaps that would explain why she felt so light on her feet, and so eager to go back… but she had also realized that she no longer worried about home. She had probably been fired by now, assumed missing from her job, and it was the farthest thing from her mind. She had slept well these past few days, and ate well, having been taken care of well by the members.
She had realized she was, while that not all was perfect in the world, that she somehow felt she could begin healing. The tickling was not a cure-all for everything…but she saw it now as a guide. She saw it as a wake-up call…it was then that she wanted to speak to her husband, to talk to him and tell him how she felt.
When they came to her door, she undid her robe like she had these past few evenings but Luana stopped her. “No need child… you are finished with our hands. Your husband however is not.”
Robin looked puzzled. “Where… is my husband?”
Luana nodded. “Your husband is on his way to his own cleansing dear. He has been under the care of Mr. Grant and our best aids since the day you, left our premises. Indeed, Mr. Grant was not entirely aware of the trickery involved in your being brought here. As such, there are… methods to penance to such things.”
“He’s being tickled? Right now…?”
“He has been alongside you, in the next room each night. To be forced to listen to your journey, and tickled during the day whilst you slept. He has followed you step by step, and whilst in his case it was punishment, it was also his way of coping with his remorse.”
“I don’t want him to feel remorse… not anymore. Can I see him?”
Luana smiled at Robin. “There is only one way, amongst mates to end this. The timing is impeccable as well… if you’re willing to endure it.”
Robin was confident that after these last few nights, that she could endure anything. “Yes, I am willing…”
Luana shook her head. “Take this not as advice child, but a warning. If you choose this path, you will undergo everything he undergoes and worse. It will be in public view of the order, and you will be subject to…certain freedoms of the flesh. In front of your very husband in fact, he… too, will undergo similar trials. Emotions run high in such ritual, and I believe you may not be ready for such things my child.”
Robin swallowed. “I want to see my husband. I want him to know that I love him. I want him to be happy, just like me.”
Luana smiled… and lowered her head. “I look forward to the day I call you sister Robin Lancing…you’re braver than I ever was at your age.”
With that the elder cultist left Robin in her room, alone. She had no idea of the details of what was to follow, but she was prepared for it. She had exposed this much to chance, and had come out feeling confident. She loved her husband, now more than anything. Thinking about him not only made her smile, but it made her long for him. She had been tormented for so long that she didn’t truly realize how it was making her feel physically. She laid on the bed, gripping at the linen they provided for her and winced at a sudden rush of latent lust for her beloved. She missed him, and realizing he had undergone so much just to get her here just made her love him even more.
She would do anything now, to see that they lived happily from now on…little did she know just what ‘anything’ would truly mean in the hours to come…
Hell, even I would read this and go "GOOD LORD Ace, STFU already." .
.. but I've always wanted to write a story like this, and I felt it was worth drawing out. It might not appeal to everyone, but I'd love the feedback just the same. 🙂
Thank you. ^^
The Cult I - The Awakening
http://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?t=96681&highlight=Cult
Part 2 – The Cleansing
Robin vaguely remembered when the young girl walked away. Leaving two men to the duties of transporting her to a shower, where she was hosed down with warm water from head to toe. The water wasn't hot, but she still winced at the stinging hose. She wept at the ordeal, not knowing if she was ever going to escape from this place. They never gave her much time to think alone. After her forced shower, she was dragged into a small room and after some forceful negotiation, had her tied down on what appeared to be a multi-functional gynecological table
Her arms were strapped down with leather cuffs outward to her left and right, and her feet were braced at the ankle and thigh above the knee with similar restraints. Knee cuffs pushed below her knees and placed her legs in a spread position, and made movement impossible. Her upper biceps were trapped down, and a soft leather cuff was placed around her head, her neck hugged by a malleable cushion which was formed to her shape as to allow virtually no head and neck movement whatsoever.
One of the robed men stopped then, the hood of his robe covering his eyes, but he seemed to stare at her as she held back tears fruitlessly. He brushed back the hair from her eyes with his hand and Robin tensed, flinching suddenly and feeling her inability to escape. She screamed, causing the man to retract his hand and quickly walk out. Her screaming lasting a good 5 minutes before the door opened again, and group of people walked in, one of them being Alice. This time Alice wore the traditional robe the others did, and she recognized Grant as leading the others in.
4 in total, two young men and Alice, with Grant standing by her side as they shut the door. Robin had many thoughts tearing through her mind at that moment. Should she plead to Grant? She thought that begging at this moment would be fruitless, instead she steeled herself and shut her eyes. Knowing her fate would soon come her way. She felt the need to cry again at the sudden thought of her hopeless situation, but she would remain strong at least for a few moments.
“Robin, wife of Lancing, witness to the tears of crimson daughters. I believe you know why I am here today.”
Robin clenched her fists. “You sick bastards are trying to kill me.”
The group laughed then, not ruthlessly so, but they giggled until Grant rose a hand. “We're not trying to kill you Robin, excuse my brothers and sister for their rudeness.” He said softly, nodding his head and causing Alice to walk behind Robin and position her hands just above Robin's underarms.
Her nails just briefly touched Robin's skin, but did not move. “Noooo, please...!”, the idea of those nails tickling her was too much too bear. She screamed and shook but found her bondage so hopeless that the table didn't even creak She tired out pretty easily in her bondage and the group said nothing until she calmed herself.
Her panting calmed itself as she shut her eyes again and steeled herself, she had given away too much even then, and cursed herself for it...
“Begin...”
Now Robin's newfound calmness was being tested as Alice lightly brushed her nails across her pits, spidering ever so softly, but Robin could resist it. Her eyes wincing as she refused to let her tickling make her laugh.
“You resist it Robin, despite those very same nails making you laugh so fully just a few hours ago, now you resist... Why is that?”
So I wouldn't give you the pleasure you asshole! ...is what she wanted to say, but she dare not open her mouth now, lest her words be transformed into giggling.
“You're holding onto something, which to you seems very dear, a pride I think that has caused you more trouble in life, than I think you're willing to admit. You fear letting go of that pride, because without it, how could you define the moments in which you held back from doing something you enjoyed, or from experiencing something others would look down on you for? If you let go now, it would make all of that in vain... wouldn't it?”
Alice pressured Robin with traveling fingers fluttering down to her ribs. Robin groaned, her eyes welling up into tears and her face saddened, realizing it wouldn't take long for them to break her will. She listened to his words, where she otherwise would have ignored him, they were the only thing she could concentrate on to avoid the tickling sensations, though she lost her grip steadily.
“You feel regret for having come here, yet you also must feel some regret to as to not have fully embraced those things we so often feel we need to resist. Temptations of life, of lust, of desire and greed. Yet deep down inside, you know, that what I am saying is true, despite your hate for me, you know, from experience what it's like to give in... to desire, don't you?
Robin couldn't bear it anymore. “Noo...nononoahahahaHaha!! Please, Pleaahahahahhase stahaa~~...ha...hahahap! HaAHhahha!”
Alice smiled then. “There you go, I was afraid I had lost that sweet little smile. Now, show my family what I've taught you.”
Robin screamed then as Alice applied wiggling fingers to her ribs, each individually in sequence, keeping her laughter high pitched. “You so didn't know you were ticklish like this before you met me huh Robin? Already you're learning so much. You're so sad, yet here you are laughing...”
“HahahahAHah!! Aaaah, I haaahahate youuuuhahahaha!!! Stop it nooOOOwwHahaha!!”
Alice stopped then, Grant waving a hand as they stood there in some slight shock. Robin panted heavily, looking upward and praying she would make it through this in one piece. She was startled then to hear Alice sniffle then, crying gently behind her.
One of the men clenched his fist. “How could she do th~...?”
“Silence Alfonso, ...she doesn't understand yet.”
“Teacher, how could she be asked the question, when she is so clearly not ready? She spits on our...”
“Alfonso!” Grant closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “All of you, leave the room...now.”
Alice briskly walked out of the room then, a sob escaping her lips as she crossed the thresh hold of the door followed then by the two men who shut the door behind them with a gentle click.
Robin was alone in the room with Grant then, she steeled herself to meet his gaze, but her eyes could not meet. Alone now with him, she felt even more naked than before. “What do you want from me?”
“I once believed it was what you wanted, however perhaps I have been mistaken. Drake is a passionate man...” Grant uttered, walking past Robin's bound body. She winced, feeling his hands come up by her sides and up her arms. “Perhaps, he did embellish his faith...”. She felt his hands squeeze by her wrists, and her wrists came free from their shackles, Robin gasped in surprise.
“What are you...?!”
“Come with me...I have much to show you.”
----
Robin didn't know what to think about this. One minute she was tied, and driven to hysterics by people she didn't even know. The next she was being cleaned and pampered by female members of the cult. They washed her with warm water, and tended to her hair. She was too nervous to deny them. Without her belongings or clothes she felt defenseless in this gigantic castle. Yet they were gentle with her...
They dressed her in a light blue robe, similar to that which they themselves wore, but of thinner fabric, and with no hood. It was a traveler's robe they told her, one worn by their ancestors. She didn't know what to make of it, but she was glad she was clothed again.
A few hours had passed when she was summoned to meet with Grant. Her eyes met his but only briefly. She grit her teeth and looked away...
“Angry at me I see...” Grant said. She didn't respond. Grant stepped down the hall and motioned for her to follow, she complied but looked around the dim light, perhaps there might be a way out of this after all. “I see you've been taken care of.”
“You've kept me captive, tickled me to hysteria. You've destroyed any chance of me listening to a damn thing you say. Where's my bastard husband?”
Grant took a breath. “I'm sorry you feel that way toward him, but I assure you... he didn't mean to hurt you. Neither did I.”
Liar. Robin thought. “What do you want from me?”, she said as they turned the corner into a large chamber, with intersecting halls at each side. It was busy here, she saw others dressed in robes, chattering amongst each other. Young women and men, some carrying books and others carrying cases as they conversed amongst themselves. The blue robes of Robin stood out, and they all turned their gaze on her. Some still smiled, but others simply looked at her with apprehension. Well, who cares if they like me or not? I won't be here much longer if I have any say in any of it.
“They are curious about you. You see, we have not had someone come to this castle in a very long time Robin. They are intoxicated by your features.”
“...it doesn't matter.”, their eyes, despite her words burned into her. She dare not meet the majority of them.
“Your husband brought you here, and gave us the impression that you were looking for something. He felt you were searching for something that wasn't quite spoken. When I met you, I had felt you understood why you were here...” Grant stepped through an archway, and opened a large wooden door. This gave way to a long flight of stairs which went downward into the castle. The walls were lit by lamps that gave incandescent light to the old halls. Much like dim torches would.
“I knew nothing...”
“That much seems to be obvious. Yet I felt it, and so did he. We did not bring you here to hurt you Robin... you must understand. We came here, to help you.”
“You talk such cryptic nonsense. My life was... fine, I don't need the help of the insane to bring me to happiness.”
Grant smirked. “None of us did, Robin.” They stopped at the end of a long hall. Doors lined each side, thick and sturdy, they blocked the sounds that were emanating from within. However it could be heard. Robin took a step back when she reached Grant's side... she could hear the panicked laughter within. “Until I discovered this place.”
“...what are you...”
“When I was younger, I used to be the manager to an old banking firm. I had money, a good home, a wonderful car.”, he stepped forward into the hall... Robin followed slowly after him. “I felt I was on top of the world. I had it all Robin, you see. Unstoppable.”
“Why did you leave...?”
“After the holidays those years ago, I was told I was to be promoted. I was going to move on up, become an enterprise leader of a large firm. It was flattering, yet... I felt I was slowly losing control of my own life.”
Robin stopped, looking incredulously at Grant. “You had all that money, and were moving on up, and you were losing control? What more could you possibly be losing control of?”
Grant turned toward her. “My own soul...”, his eyes met hers for a moment, then they stopped in front of a door. A plaque read “Maria” on the side. There Grant motioned Robin to step in front of it, and slid a viewing port to the side. The minute it opened with a thud, Robin heard a shriek pour out, causing her to flinch and look down the hall.
“I assure you, she is fine. Please...”
Robin, nervously looked at Grant and took a step forward, she bit her lip and built the nerve to look through the port and saw her, the girl named Maria, strapped so vigorously to a similar frame she herself had been tied to. A man stood in front of her, his hands deeply caressing and and massaging into her inner thigh. Forcing Maria's wild eyed laughter and screams. She shook the entire frame, forcing the joints to rattle and whine, but they never gave way.
She looked at her tickler, and pleaded for him. “Please, please...” she said, but he only shook his head. His smile sincere and honest as she continued laugh. His hands would explore her body, tease her ribs, her sides and her breasts in a sensual but constant effort. Giving her little pause, and moving his hands together in expert movements, his fingers wiggling out more music from her lips.
Robin couldn't look anymore and was to turn away, until she suddenly saw Maria arch her back as far as she could and shout out into the room. “Francisco, ple~heeheehease!!! Don't stooohaaap! Por favor doooohahahaa~nt...stooop...!”
“Nunca, never my love...”, his own eyes seemed damp with tears themselves. Robin stepped away, even more confused.
“That's her husband. Those two, are perhaps one of the most connected people I have ever seen in my time here. They have discovered something that others haven't.”
“...it's a fetish. They are expressing themselves sexually. How does that fill a void that a fetish cannot. There is nothing spiritual going on here.”
Grant smiled. “Maria and Francisco, lost a child some years ago in their hometown. It brought a rift between them and the world that nothing seemed to fill. It is a chasm of a void, that is irreplaceable. They grew attached to that void, and never let it go. It was that attachment that further brought them apart, it is here, that they learned to let go of those attachments. To bring them together.”
“It explains nothing to me...” Robin looked away, shutting the slider on the door. “Nothing at all...”
Yet it struck something within Robin, however all it did was make her angry.
“Laughter is the path to peace...” said a girl behind Robin. She had to have been in her teens. Robin turned to see other young cultists standing in the hall. All of them wearing faint smiles on their lips, the one in the front young and innocent with locks of red hair falling down the edges of her light blue robe... “It is the path to heaven.”
“It is the key that shatters all locks...” said a man behind her.
“The road to the life...” said yet another...
“It is Joy.”
“Love...”
“It is the will of God...”
Robin took a step back, inadvertently running into Grant, and turning quickly to see his bemused smile.
“It is joy Robin...” he said, and Robin felt her hands being grasped from behind her. She knew they were going to take her, they were going to convert her, whether she liked it or not. They were going to tickle her body until she was delirious and began to believe anything. She would laugh until she found reasons to laugh, she would be kept away from the real world so long that she'd sooner forget it than go crazy from the tickling.
She knew then she had to fight, now, or never, and with a sudden surge of courage she found herself thrusting her head back into the nose of the male cultist who tried to subdue her. It was so fast, that he did not expected it and he fell back with a scream. The crowd screamed at the sudden burst of violence but expected it, however they did not expect her to quickly turn and grab the young female cultist.
The young girl was unused to this sort of display of violence. She had been brought up in the castle walls from a younger age, and only knew joy. She knew that outsiders resisted, but she had never learned to defend herself from hostility, she soon began to cry as Robin grabbed her by the hair and wrapped a arm around her neck. “Don't get any fucking closer!!!”
The cultists in the room fanned out but did not approach. Robin put her back against the far wall in the hall and stared at Grant and the rest of them. Many of the members looked shocked, or had their hands covering their mouth in despair. The young girl in her arms shivered but did not resist. Grant only eyed her with a serious expression.
“You're making a mistake Ro~”
“The only mistake here is you keeping me here. Back the fuck off, or I swear I will break her neck.”
“Robin...”
“BACK OFF!” she tugged on the girls hair and she shrieked, forcing many of them back.
Grant sighed. “You're free to go as you please. Robin Lancing.” he said with a bow, but all he received from her was spite as she spat at him.
“I know no such name...I don't know that man anymore. Move!” she yanked the girl to the side and dragged her back with her as she took steps toward the stairway. The cultists stood to the sides of the walls, all of them staring down at her with cold eyes, disappointed eyes...
She didn't care, she had to escape and this was her only chance. It had taken her some time to reach among the many halls and open rooms, but she was finally outside, and to her surprise she saw her car in the courtyard just in the distance. If she was fast she could make it. She threw the girl to the side and made a mad sprint to the vehicle. Two cultists were outside sweeping the court at the time and they positioned themselves to intercept her.
She didn't know how she'd break free of them, but she braced herself for the inevitable, when they suddenly stood back, relaxing their stances and letting her through. She turned her head as she sprinted to see a large group of cultists at the main stairwell to the mansion. Grant had a hand to the side, gesturing to his members.
He had let her go truly...
The door was unlatched, and her keys were still in the ignition. A quick turn was all it took to get her engine started and the wheels spinning. Within moments she was flying down the road, the mansion in her rear view mirror getting farther and farther. She worried about them chasing her, about a pursuit, but she saw nobody coming. They had let her go.
She did not relax until she hit the freeway, it was becoming sunset by the time she felt she had to pull over to an exit and saw the glowing lights of a small city in front of her. A Walmart to her right was full of people, she would be safe there.
----
Robin walked into the department store and strolled through one of the isles. People at all sides were staring at her and her weird clothing. The robes were positively medieval looking, but she didn't care about their stares, she just wanted to sit down somewhere. She collapsed into a Mcdonald's booth by the exit and let her head fall forward into her arms, for the first time in hours she finally let go tears.
Her husband had betrayed her and now she felt lost. Her ordeal left her exhausted, and she truly didn't know what to make of any of it, or who to talk to. Should she talk to the police? Who would listen to her... Who would under~...
It was then that she saw there was a young girl looking at her. She had to have been 6... She looked at Robin with sad eyes and then was taken by the hand by her mother who smiled down at her daughter and made her laugh with some words Robin could not hear.
She would be around that age, right now... Robin knew. She would be somewhere else right now, whispering words to her little girl. If they had not gone for ice cream so late at night, Drake and her would not have been on the road that night. They would not have been the victims of a hit and run.
She would be a mother right now.
Robin cursed under her breath. Her husband had been so strong for so long, seeking jobs and working so hard to make a future after the miscarriage. He had even joined the Army Reserves and had gotten himself some education online, working to give them both a better life.
She had never realized just how it had affected him, how it had affected them both. Her tears ran freely now as she realized she herself had lost her ambitions. Putting them in Drake's hands wherever they went, she was guided by guilt over that night for making her husband go, been guided by emptiness that she thought only she could feel, but so could he...
If only she had stayed home, she could be happy right now... but she couldn't change the past. She couldn't make anything happen now, and now after all this she wondered if she could ever strive for anything again... how would she be able to find...joy...
Robin felt something tug at her robe and she turned with a start. The little girl was at her side, in her hand was one of those Mcdonald's ice cream cones.
“I said to mama that you were sad. I think you could use some ice cweam!” she smiled at her and held it up as high as she could, some of it dripping down her small hands...
Robin looked at her and then at the mother suddenly. The young lady looked at her and spoke in whispers. “It's ok, ...she really wanted to give it to you.”
Robin took it from her and smiled down... “Thank you...”
The girl looked up and gave a toothy grin before turning away with her mom. They walked away and left Robin there with the sticky cone, her eyes welling up with tears, but she had a smile on her face and suddenly she began to laugh, her laughs building louder getting attention from all of those around her who otherwise wouldn't have even noticed she was there..
Robin smirked and licked at her ice cream. “...laughter is the path to peace.” she whispered to herself.
“Joy...”
-----
The stars were out now, and the courtyard was dark. The car crept up toward the steps slowly rolling across the gravel road. She could see them all, standing outside, each holding a candle in hand. The candlelight illuminated the steps with a golden glow as Robin parked the car before them. They stood there, as if waiting for her this entire time. Each looked down with the idle reflection of the flames on their faces.
Among them stood Grant, and at his side her husband Drake. He looked at her with shame in his eyes, but they brightened up when he saw Robin step before them all with a smile on her face. At the foot of the flight, the young girl Robin had took hostage stood with a candle in her hand, behind her was Alice, the young woman who had worked at Robin just a day before. They both looked at her with loving smiles under the hoods of their robes.
“I'm sorry...” Robin tried to tell the girl.
She nodded her head. “No need to apologize Robin... I'm glad you're here.”
Robin nodded at her and looked up at the group, her eyes darting straight to Grant. She pulled back on the hood of her robe, letting her hair fly free into the evening wind, it flailed gently like streamers on the tail of a kite, her voice addressed them all, but was aimed at Grant... she wanted them all to hear.
“I saw something tonight most would call a vision. I called it a reality check. I called it a sign... when one is lost, sometimes they need signs to find themselves.” she caught her breath and paused for a moment. She could see many of them smiled at her. Alice had a hand in the shadow of her robe, wiping her tears...
“Someone told me that laughter is the road to life... I have been dead, for too long...I don't what may come of this, but I know where my road lies. It is with my husband, and it's with you...”
Grant nodded. He echoed into the night air. “So what will you do now Robin? What is the decision that the Robin we see before us today has made to herself. Has the Robin we see before us today truly desired to be a part of this insane world by her own choosing?”
Robin smirked, her hands falling down to her waist as she untied the sash at her waist and lifted the robe off her body. It fell to a clump at her side and she stood there, naked and proud, her eyes upward at Grant and her hands clenched to fists. “I want to find out...”
Robin tried not to show how fast her heart was racing. The wind was chilly and she felt more exposed than she had ever felt in her life being seen today as naked as the day she was born. The young girl grabbed hold of the robe on the ground and took her by the hand, guiding her up the steps as the cultists stepped to either side making a path for the two, as she climbed up the stairwell to the slowly opening doors of an ancient world...
Robin was brought to a different room, far into the castle. Down a deep hall, similar to the one Grant had showed her before, there were two rooms side by side. She was escorted to the leftmost door and within it she could see the rack that they would be binding her.
An older woman stepped behind her, reading from a small book. Within it she was told of her road to joy, words of happiness born of suffering. Peace born of conflict, and other things she could not understand. She felt the meaning inside her as they shackled her down and tightened the restraints that stretched her naked body. She understood that she felt at fault for her pains in life and felt she could not escape them. To laugh would be to abandon the memory of her mistakes. It would be to let go of everything she held dearly in such a fragile state.
She was afraid now as they left her in the room with 4 cultists she did not recognized. Not afraid of them, but afraid of what she might lose. Earlier she felt she would lose her sanity in this place, now she feared that she would never get it back. The years had left her tired and worn, and now there was a chance she could let go in this place, let go of the world that tied her down spiritually, and here where they bound her physically… truly be free.
It was hard to concentrate, her mental perusal of her thoughts suddenly stopped when she felt the first touches of nails to her feet. Light fluttering scratches from the tops of finely honed finger nails from the female cultists raked up and down and scratched softly at her toes, gliding down to the balls of her feet to the outer edge. She giggled then, hearing them smile as they let the rest of her body join in on the tickling, tickling her belly and letting nails dance around her navel and hips. One particular set of fingers was making opening and closing motions by her left thigh and it opened the floodwalls.
Robin was laughing now and for the next few minutes it did not stop. It escalated when her underarms were assaulted by the careful ministrations of one of the eldest ticklers in the room. She carefully tickled and tended to Robin’s underarms, whose arms were taut and stretched and was unable to escape the motionless and un-patterned tickling the older woman gave her. It was almost murder to Robin, but she did not plead, she did not ask for them to stop.
In her mind she felt this was punishment. This was penance for her guilt, this was retribution for letting herself fall to darkness for so long. Tears fell from the sides of her eyes and she felt one of her underarms was released from tickling long enough for the older woman to brush the tears from her eyes. When she finished she continued tickling Robin, the gesture did not help for Robin only let more go as she laughed for the hours it took for the women to do what they had to do.
The first evening was long, and a peaceful night of slumber followed, yet the second night it continued. This time they used brushes. If she felt it was torture the night prior, today was a nightmare. They soaked her feet gingerly in soapy, aromatic water and brought Robin to tears while she sat in heavy wooden stocks.
Her arms were hanging over her head, and two male members of the cult brushed feathers along her sides, underarms and neck, their fingers brushing along her ears as her feet were scrubbed clean from top to bottom by young female members of the order. It seemed there was a system of rank of duty in the order, and the older woman of the night prior watched the entire evening from across the room to ensure it went according to plan.
Robin suddenly felt herself growing weak “Hahahaahaa….please… please~ sto~”
“Stop?” the older woman said, lowering her hood and looking down on Robin. “Do you want us to cease now? Is this why you returned?”
Robin bit her lip as they all ceased… she caught her breath though, despite her remorse. “No… no, please tickle me… I deserve it. I deserve to be punished…” she said and lowered her head, danging from her chains wrists.
“Is that what you think this is Robin Lancing? That this is punishment? Look at me darling.” The woman walked to Robin’s side and placed a hand comfortingly on Robin’s cheek and met her gaze. “This is not punishment my sweet. This is an inauguration, the only one punishing you is yourself…”
Robin blinked… “What do you mean…?”
“Until you stop torturing yourself, we won’t stop. Until you realize you’re here of your own volition, that you are here to find joy then it will not stop.”
Robin frowned at her… “But…how…how am I to find joy. How am I going to be happy like this…?”
“Robin…” the woman said and skittered those expert nails across her left side. Robin flinched and winced at the touch, the timing was awful, she was feeling terrible… the last thing she wanted to do was laugh. She was good though, very good… just the touch of those nails made her want to scream, but she refused to let herself do it.
“Fight it Robin…”
“Aaaaah….I am…sto~”
“Fight the urge to fight, and laugh Robin! Let go already!”
It was then that Robin realized what a fool she had been. Here she was laughing this entire evening and now, under this challenge she had fought the desire to laugh. Why did she even drive back to the mansion…? Why did she even give in to these people? Why did she want to find happiness if she kept on fighting it off…? It was then that she buckled, shifting away from the nails but they followed and girlish giggling was its result. She giggled and soon felt her feet return to their ticklish torment and she returned to laughter.
“HahahahHahahaha!!! Oh my goooohahahahd!!!”
The woman smiled at her. “My name is Luana, Robin Lancing…be free young girl. You’ll learn…”
The second night was definitely an experience…
…and it continued, for two more nights. Before Robin was actually eager to come back. At first she questioned it for a moment, had she been brainwashed? Perhaps that would explain why she felt so light on her feet, and so eager to go back… but she had also realized that she no longer worried about home. She had probably been fired by now, assumed missing from her job, and it was the farthest thing from her mind. She had slept well these past few days, and ate well, having been taken care of well by the members.
She had realized she was, while that not all was perfect in the world, that she somehow felt she could begin healing. The tickling was not a cure-all for everything…but she saw it now as a guide. She saw it as a wake-up call…it was then that she wanted to speak to her husband, to talk to him and tell him how she felt.
When they came to her door, she undid her robe like she had these past few evenings but Luana stopped her. “No need child… you are finished with our hands. Your husband however is not.”
Robin looked puzzled. “Where… is my husband?”
Luana nodded. “Your husband is on his way to his own cleansing dear. He has been under the care of Mr. Grant and our best aids since the day you, left our premises. Indeed, Mr. Grant was not entirely aware of the trickery involved in your being brought here. As such, there are… methods to penance to such things.”
“He’s being tickled? Right now…?”
“He has been alongside you, in the next room each night. To be forced to listen to your journey, and tickled during the day whilst you slept. He has followed you step by step, and whilst in his case it was punishment, it was also his way of coping with his remorse.”
“I don’t want him to feel remorse… not anymore. Can I see him?”
Luana smiled at Robin. “There is only one way, amongst mates to end this. The timing is impeccable as well… if you’re willing to endure it.”
Robin was confident that after these last few nights, that she could endure anything. “Yes, I am willing…”
Luana shook her head. “Take this not as advice child, but a warning. If you choose this path, you will undergo everything he undergoes and worse. It will be in public view of the order, and you will be subject to…certain freedoms of the flesh. In front of your very husband in fact, he… too, will undergo similar trials. Emotions run high in such ritual, and I believe you may not be ready for such things my child.”
Robin swallowed. “I want to see my husband. I want him to know that I love him. I want him to be happy, just like me.”
Luana smiled… and lowered her head. “I look forward to the day I call you sister Robin Lancing…you’re braver than I ever was at your age.”
With that the elder cultist left Robin in her room, alone. She had no idea of the details of what was to follow, but she was prepared for it. She had exposed this much to chance, and had come out feeling confident. She loved her husband, now more than anything. Thinking about him not only made her smile, but it made her long for him. She had been tormented for so long that she didn’t truly realize how it was making her feel physically. She laid on the bed, gripping at the linen they provided for her and winced at a sudden rush of latent lust for her beloved. She missed him, and realizing he had undergone so much just to get her here just made her love him even more.
She would do anything now, to see that they lived happily from now on…little did she know just what ‘anything’ would truly mean in the hours to come…
