The day of – part 2.

“How much longer are you going to keep me waiting, Mister Liu?”

Bella was fidgeting. She stood up on her tip toes and then dropped back down again. Mark continued to fiddle around with the access card the reception had given them.

“Ahuh!” he said, as the door beeped affirmatively.

She bounced forward towards the door as he opened it wide.

“After you, Missus Liu…”

She felt a warm feeling as he said it, and she giggled. As much fun as it was to be around all of her friends and family, the reception had drained a lot from Bella – from both of them really. But that was all past her now, along with the embarrassing memories from the ceremony proper. All that remained was the hotel suite, an unlimited (within reason) budget for room service and then the best part of all. She smiled, thinking about some of the exciting new things she’d like to try. Her imagination had undergone such an expansion lately. She was confident she could be such a good little bitch.

Mark whistled.

“Not bad. Not bad at all,” he said.

It’s definitely a nice room, she thought. Modern furnishings all round, enormous bed, beautiful paintings on the walls. The hotel was an old grain silo, and you could see the curvature along the far wall.

“I think I’m going to have a quick shower to start with,” she said. “Do you want to join me?” she said with a smile.

“Sure thing,” he said, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. He planted a gentle kiss on her cheek and a hand on her thigh. She shivered, then pressed back into him. She could feel him growing harder, then broke away.

It was not a very water efficient shower. She teased him and he did his best to act like he wasn’t on the verge of losing control of himself. She showered with her collar still on her. It simply felt right to leave it there. Mark didn’t seem to mind.

He was done well before Bella. He stood near her, planting small kisses on her cheek as she dodged around tried to pat the towel onto the spots of her hair that she hadn’t managed to keep dry.

“Go wait on the bed, honey. I’ll just be a few more minutes,” she said.

“Alright,” he said, slapping her on the ass on the way out of the bathroom.

“Mmmm. And shut the door behind you!”

He made an exaggerated show of grumbling about it, but she knew he was just teasing. She turned on the hair dryer to expedite the process. With her other hand, she started gently unzipping her handbag. There were a few little surprises she’d kept in there.

The first was a set of thigh high stockings. The kind she knew Aiden liked, and the kind she’d noticed Mark’s eyes lingering on in shops over the years. She briefly wondered why she knew that Aiden liked that sort of thing, but it was nothing to worry about, after all he was the kindest, warmest, most wonderful human being she’d ever known in her life. Then she pulled out the remainder of the lingerie – the bra and panties, a matching black, partly see-through but concealing just enough in a sufficiently classy pattern that it made it seem exquisitely tantalizing.

The next surprise was four short lengths of rope. She’d never actually tried anything of the sort, and she wasn’t sure if he had – but the idea had become more and more appealing to her over the last few days. A lot of ideas had.

The final item was the one that made her feel safe and comfortable. And she wanted to feel safe and comfortable on her wedding day. Just the sight of the pistol in her handbag made her feel so safe and warm. She breathed a sigh of contentment. She’d been so worried over the last week. So many things had been going wrong. But as long as she had this near her, she knew it’d be ok. She just hoped Mark would understand.

The phone rang. She automatically picked it up and answered.

“Hello?” she said.

“Why don’t you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?”

She was going to go out and surprise Mark, but a quick round of solitaire did sound like a great idea. She walked back to the bench, put her phone down and started dealing her cards. The way they fell into such perfectly formed piles was a great comfort to Isobel. Three of spades. Nine of clubs. Two of clubs. King of diamonds. Queen of Hearts.

She froze, and a few more seconds passed.

“Do you see the Red Queen, Isobel?”

“Yes Sir,” she replied. It was all she could see. The one thing that remained in a rapidly shrinking universe around her.

“Where’s your husband, Isobel?”

“He is in the other room, Sir.”

“Good. I have new orders for you.”

* * *

“Hello? Are you ok in there?”

Mark was laying on his stomach at the end of the bed. He had no idea what size this was officially. Huge, in any case. He’d started on his back in a mock-seductive pose, but she’d been taking a while. He had taken the bold step of actually switching his phone off. He wanted to give his full, undivided attention to their wedding night.

“Bella?” he continued.

He eventually rolled off and hopped up. He’d worked up a slight buzz at the party and he was planning to keep that going at a nice level.

“Just opening some of the bubbly,” he called out. “I’ll pour some of you.”

He metered out a serve for them and took a sip. He wasn’t a connoisseur, but he liked it a lot. He looked at the label, then nodded approvingly to nobody in particular.

The door to the bathroom opened, and he perked up.

“There you are,” he said, trying and failing to sound seductive.

Bella was looking absolutely stunning. They’d both made an extra effort to be in good shape for the wedding, but seeing her there in lingerie was really doing something to him. She was toned, and her long black hair and striking red lipstick framed her face beautifully.

“Wow,” he said, then smirked. “What are the gloves for?”

Bella completely ignored him. She walked straight past him over towards the door.

“Uhh… Bella? Bella what are you doing?”

She unlocked it and pulled it open. He reflexively ducked out of the line of sight of the door and reached for his shirt and pants.

“Hello Isobel, good to see you”, said a cold voice from the doorway. “Oh- thank you, yes I was just looking for that, but why don’t you hold onto it for a minute,” he continued. Mark couldn’t see what he was talking about. He buckled up his belt and walked out into the entrance.

“Can we help you?” said Mark. Bella was just standing at the door staring at the man. A chill ran up his spine. The man was dressed well, in a vest, tie and pale blue dress shirt, not too differently than any one of the guests he’d just recently said goodbye to, other than the gloves he was wearing.

“Oh, I was just coming here to congratulate you both. You especially, Mister Liu. Isobel here really is quite a catch.”

“And you are?” he said, incredulously.

The man’s face lit up. He moved inside, and the person behind him followed in lock step. Wait, what?

“Maddy?” said Mark.

She didn’t reply. Her face was expressionless. She was still wearing her bridesmaid’s dress, floral and red.

“I am Malloc the Magnificent!” he proclaimed, then took a small bow. “Or at least that is my most recent nom de guerre. Or perhaps nom de scene?”

“You’re a magician?” said Mark.

“I dabble,” Malloc replied. “Card tricks, hats, a bit of mesmerism, you know how it goes,” he said. “That’s not my day job though. No, I work for some… well it’s none of your business really.”

Mark looked around the room, then back at them. Mesmerism? Bella looked half asleep, even from behind.

“Is that what you’ve done to them? You’ve hypnotized them? Hey! Wake up!” he said, snapping his fingers.

“I must ask you to forgive their somewhat lackadaisical manners, but I have conditioned them – or brain-washed them, in common parlance – to ignore voices other than my own when in trance.”

Mark’s breathing was getting faster. He felt a surge of adrenaline. This Malloc character was a full head shorter and didn’t look like he’d ever been near a gym.

“Oh yeah? Well how about I just beat the shit out of you then.”

“Isobel, now” the man said, and snapped his fingers.

Isobel sprang to life. She turned, and raised her hand.

“Don’t move,” she said. There was nothing in her voice. None of the love, not even a trace of recognition.

She was holding a gun. He immediately backed up. How had he not seen that in her hand?

“Woah, Bella, what are you doing? Don’t listen to him!”

The man’s smile only grew larger. He ran a hand along her cheek.

“If you touch her…”

“You’ll do what, Mister Liu? Go back there and sit on the end of the bed.”

He stared at them. He’d never had a gun pointed at him before. He’d never felt this way. Like death was staring him right in the face. And it had her eyes. He stepped back slowly.

“Come on. Faster. Isobel, what will you do if he tries to approach me?”

“I will... eliminate the threat?” He saw a hint of expression creep into her face. “But… Mark...”

“Oh for fucks sake,” said the man. “New orders – hand me the weapon immediately.”

She relaxed.

“Yes Sir.”

Mark reversed course. He took a step forward and was about to leap. But it was too late. Malloc was pointing the weapon straight at him. He froze up.

“I said, sit down!”

His body was begging him to run or fight but he was trapped. He collapsed backwards onto the bed. Malloc reached into his pockets and produced a small bottle. With one hand still on the gun, he awkwardly held it with his shoulder and cheek and used his off-hand to unscrew the lid. It looked like he was struggling a little but with manual dexterity through the gloves he was wearing.

“It’s time to take your medicine, Isobel.”

His wife sprung to life again and opened her mouth, sticking out her tongue. In another context it might have seemed erotic, but all he could think about was how he was going to strangle the life out of that little fuck.

“What the fuck are you dosing her with?” he said.

“Oh don’t worry about this,” he said, as a drop fell onto her tongue. “Swallow. That’s right, that’s a good girl.” He looked back at Mark. “It’s just a little something to help her behave. It’s perfectly safe. For her at least.”

He leaned into her ear, never taking his eyes off mark. He wrapped an arm around her and grasped her breast. He started whispering things.

“Don’t listen to him! He’s trying to control you! Bella!”

She stepped forward and took the gun out of his hand. She pointed it straight at him.

“Bella, stop! It’s me!”

The man simply laughed. He paused, then laughed harder. Bella halted her advance several paces away from him. There was nothing in her eyes.

“Don’t waste your breath. Madison,” said Malloc, raising hand and gesturing slightly. Maddy took a step forward and stood at attention. “Madison, when I snap my fingers, until I tap you on the head, you cannot hear anything. The world around you will be completely silent. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand...”

“Good,” he said, then snapped his fingers. He turned to look at Mark again. “Now she surprised me. Did she share her suspicions with you?”

“No. I...”

The neurons in Mark’s brain made a sudden connection. He felt the hum of slow revelation unfold as he sat there, momentarily dumbfounded.

“Putting the pieces together yourself now?”

“So you’re the reason she’s been acting so weird. The dress, the sounds...”

“Among other things, yes. But I’m afraid you’ve both put it together a little too late.”

“So you’re going to just kill me?” said Mark. The knot in his stomach grew. He scanned the room again. Bella was standing a little too far away for him to tackle her before she could pull the trigger.

“Not just you, I’m afraid. This lovely creature knows far too much and is not nearly deeply enough under my control,” he said, stroking Maddy’s hair with his left hand. “I only had one session with the bridesmaids, and even with this medicine, there are severe limits to what I can accomplish in so short a timeframe. If it makes you feel any better, this wasn’t my first choice. I wanted Isobel to simply call the wedding off and break up with you.”

He walked over to Bella, still aiming at Mark and standing perfectly still.

“But this stubborn little bitch kept resisting,” he said. At being called a bitch, Bella shivered and let out a small moan. “The chemical aids only lets me control her behavior completely for a very short period of time. Tens of minutes. I needed to make changes to her personality, and to do that I had to move slowly. If she broke free of my control the whole project might be jeopardized.”

The specifics seemed irrelevant. His newlywed wife was about to shoot him to death. There was only one lingering question that seemed significant.

“Why?”

The man smiled. He looked like a kid who was weighing up the pros and cons of sticking his hand in the cookie jar.

“Oh hell. You promise you won’t tell anyone, right?” he said dryly.

“Cross my heart.”

“Good to hear. Just one moment.”

Malloc walked forwards. Mark could finally see what he was holding – a roll of tape.

“Isobel, where did you leave the rope?”

“In the bathroom, Sir,” she replied with no feeling.

The man disappeared around the corner. Mark could do nothing but stay in place as his wife and one of her best friends stared at him. The fact that he was half naked didn’t seem important anymore.

The man returned.

“Isobel, if he tries to resist, I want you to fire at him.”

“Yes Sir.”

A minute later, he was tied to the bed, with Bella’s panties in his mouth and duct tape sealing it up. He pulled against the restraints, but they were fastened tight.

“Now where was I? Oh yes – why. It’s nothing personal. I have an associate. A very powerful and influential associate, shall we say. One with political aspirations – and particular tastes.”

Oh.

“Your bride has quite the family, I must say”, he continued. “A sitting congressman, and a local mayor on the other side. To say nothing of the money. We both believe that Isobel would be wasted marrying you. A sentiment that I’m sure parts of her family would share. So I’m going to have her marry him, instead. And for that, we’re going to need you out of the picture.”

Mark had taken an early dislike to her family, and meeting the more powerful members of it hadn’t done anything to win him over. But such things seemed incredibly distant and unimportant now.

“Of course, my associate is himself a small cog in in a much larger machine. A machine with vision for this country and it’s future. Your wife will work for me, not for him. And she will be working for me in a lot more ways than one, if you follow my meaning,” he said, grinning. Mark believed he did, unfortunately.

“After we’re done here today,” he continued, “I’ll be able to get straight back to work on her. By the time I’m done her brain will not only be washed, as they say, it’ll be dry-cleaned. She will marry whomever I command her to. She will fuck whomever I order her to fuck. She will kill whomever I want dead. And she will remember and believe whatever I tell her to.”

He circled around behind Madison started rubbing her shoulders.

“But there I go getting ahead of myself again. I’m going to need to sell a particular fiction here first. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do tonight. Obviously I don’t want a murder investigation with my new asset as the prime suspect. No no no. Not good! But the nosy detective here gave me a much neater opportunity. The way I see it, you and Madison were having an affair. Not so hard to believe, I think, you two had a history together, and she is a hot little piece of ass. I think she was trying to persuade you to run away with her. You led her along for a while, but in the end decided to stick with your wealthy fiance instead. She did not take it well. She killed you, and then she killed herself. Very tragic, just an absolutely awful loss.”

Malloc started laughing to himself again.

“Well, it’s been fun,” said Malloc. “I thought I’d leave you a little parting gift. I think it’s only fair that I make your last moments as enjoyable as I can. And hell, when the coroner pumps her stomach and finds your cum in there, I think that’ll help add to the verisimilitude, don’t you? The gun will be found in Madison’s hands. And of course the text messages I sent from her phone on the way here. And the false memories I will plant in your wife’s precious little head.”

Mark struggled against the restraints once again. He had no more luck this time than the last.

Malloc tapped Madison on the head.

“It’s time. You remember what we discussed, don’t you? You know how long you’ve wanted this,” he said in a hushed voice, looming just behind her.

Maddy stared at him hungrily. She licked her lips and advanced on him.

“That’s right, that’s a good girl,” Malloc continued. “You want him so badly.”

Maddy scaled the bed and pounced on him. She pushed him down and started planting kisses on his neck, making her way up to his lips. She kissed him deeply, passionately. She writhed and gyrated on top of him as she did. He was ashamed to admit it, but in spite of everything, he was getting aroused.

She unbuckled and lowered his pants, then slid down his briefs and started rubbing his cock directly. He let out an involuntary sound, but felt embarrassed because of it. Bella was standing there, watching him. She may not have been full conscious of what was happening, but he didn’t want this. He didn’t want any of it. At least, he wouldn’t have chosen it. But that line was starting to become increasingly blurred.

“You know how to please him, Madison,” Malloc said. “You know what he’d like most of all, don’t you?”

Maddy nodded.

She looked him in the eyes. She started stroking more firmly and quickly. He tensed up briefly before relaxing into it. It felt very, very good. Then, she whispered something. So quietly he couldn’t quite make it out. He tried to lean forward slightly. She opened her mouth again and he focused all of his attention on trying to catch what she was saying. It was four words.

“Please don’t hate me.”

She’s still in there, he thought, although he was not yet sure how this would help him. Then, she lowered her mouth over his cock. Mark involuntarily tried to gasp through the gag as the tip hit the side of her mouth at the same time as her hand gently squeezed the base of his shaft. She moved away in one smooth motion, then ran her tongue along the entire length and started again. She settled into a rhythm of bobbing up and down, using her hand to make sure the rest of his dick wasn’t feeling left out.

Mark had received head before, but never with such enthusiasm. Never from somebody who looked like their life depended on sucking his soul out through his cock.

“You’re a very lucky man, Mister Liu. Such a beautiful wife, and now this girl can’t get enough of you either. I’m honestly feeling a little bit left out right now.”

Mark didn’t bother even trying to respond.

“You know,” continued the man, who simply would not shut up, “Fuck it. Isobel is still under the direct effects. I’m sure it won’t hurt to sample some of the goods now.”

He grabbed Bella by the neck, pulled her towards him and started whispering in her ear once again. She crawled up onto the mattress beside Mark and he slid her panties down, then unbuckled his belt and dropped his pants to the ground. Bella sat in that lovely position – face down on the mattress, ass sticking right up in the air. Her legs were separated, presumably to provide easy access to the man.

“Sorry you don’t have a better angle,” he said, then let out a laugh. He held something in his hand, which he tore open to reveal a condom. “Safety first,” he continued. He slipped it on with a few practiced motions – a feat Mark had never in his life managed to replicate without a comical amount of blundering first – and then pushed inside her.

He was fucking her. He was fucking Bella half a meter away from him. While you’re getting the best head of your life, an unwelcome part of his brain corrected. It was a deeply confusing mix of emotions. He still wanted to split the man’s skull open, but it could probably wait until he’d cum.

“My, oh, my associate has me training her to be a little dog for him too, you know? Tell me Isobel, how do you like to be fucked by your master?”

“I love to be fucked like a little dog, Sir, like the little bitch that I am,” she replied, smiling back up at him.

“And who is your Master, Isobel?”

“My Husband is my master, Sir.”

“And who is your true master, the one you obey above all?”

“My true master is the one who knows the command phrase, Sir.”

“That’s right,” he said. “You’re such a good little bitch,” he said. She moaned loudly.

For her part, Maddy didn’t miss a beat. She made sure to maintain eye contact for as much of the performance as was physically possible. It didn’t take long before Mark was almost ready to cum. As if by some infernal providence, that was the moment he chose to speak again.

“Don’t let him blow his load too quickly, I want to… oh shit… I want to make sure he enjoys himself,” he said between enthusiastic thrusts into Bella from behind.

Maddy paused. She reached up and kissed him on the forehead.

“It’s ok,” she whispered. She looked over her shoulder at the two beside them. She looked back at Mark, and started rubbing him again, but more slowly and from this new angle. She kissed him on the neck and side of the head. She grabbed his tied hand for leverage and then slowly shifted back down and swallowed his cock once again. Once again, his gag stifled a moan.

For the next few minutes, Mark just gave in to the sensations. He filtered out the moaning and taunting coming from the other man. It was a whole lot of information he did not want. He scarcely noticed when Malloc had finished with Bella. He heard him groaning, but it didn’t really register until he saw them standing up in his peripheral vision.

“Alright, that’s enough,” said a panting Malloc, “finish him. And don’t forget to swallow every last drop.”

Maddy was reinvigorated. She took him deep inside her mouth and started deep throating him. She let out little gagging sounds, but was determined not to give up. Her face went red. She started squeezing the base of his cock more firmly. Up and down, up and down.

He came.

True to her master’s commands, Maddy swallowed. He felt a little more coming out in small waves. Finally, after she was thoroughly satisfied he was done, she withdrew.

Everyone in the room bar Bella was breathing heavily. As the post coital clarity washed over Mark, the guilt set in once more. He realized something that he already knew, but had briefly forgotten – he was about to die. He also realized something else – his restraints were not as tight as they were before. In fact, as he pulled on them, he started to become confident that with a few seconds of effort, he’d be able to slip his left hand out of the knot. Did Maddy loosen that?

Considering that Bella had stood back up and taken a few steps back again, he wasn’t sure it was going to do him much good. If you’re going to die anyway… he thought, interrupted by another announcement.

“Well I don’t know about you, but I had a pretty good time. It certainly sounded like you were enjoying yourself,” said Malloc.

“Fuck you,” he managed to convey purely through the tone and rhythm of a sound he transmitted through the gag.

“No, I don’t think I will, but thank you for the offer. Madison, move to the side.”

Maddy complied.

“Oh don’t look so sad. It won’t hurt. And don’t worry about Isobel. I’ll make sure she’s well taken care of.”

There was no other choice. He had to make a break for it. He started pulling in the direction he felt it was weakest.

“It’s time to obey again, Isobel. Execute order six.”

Mark kicked and flailed. His arm came loose, as predicted. Bella took a step forward and raised her arm. He went to work with his now free hand to remove the other arm. But it was too late.

Bella pulled the trigger.

Click.

Nothing happened. She pulled the trigger again, two more times, but was met by the same half click.

“What’s going on? Give that here!”

“Yes Sir,” Isobel said.

Malloc fiddled with the weapon. To his side, Madison stirred, although Mark couldn’t worry about that. He pulled his other arm loose. He leaned forward and quickly untied his feet.

“Fuck you!” Malloc shouted as he loaded the magazine back in and racked the slide. The bullet that was already in the chamber fell to the ground as it was replaced by a new one. He attempted to fire once again. Nothing.

Suddenly, Madison grabbed the weapon out of his hands and threw it to the ground. It made a dramatic sound as it struck the floor, metal on tile.

“You little cunt! Isobel, restrain her.”

“Yes Sir.”

Bella turned stiffly and tried to grab her, but she was expecting it. The two quickly became locked into a kind of wrestle.

Mark was free. He rolled off the bed, stood up, and charged Malloc. The man really had no chance. The scramble ended almost as soon as it began, with Malloc cowering and Mark standing up over him.

Still surging with adrenaline, he ripped the tape off his mouth and spat out the panties. He coughed.

“I’ve got you now, you piece of shit.”