Whipped by the Ringmaster (2 page)

At that moment, the Ringmaster turned and
looked directly at her. Julie felt her whole body go limp and weak
as though just by his gaze he had taken total control over her,
body and soul. He opened his mouth and smiled a smile that was full
of dark and sinful intimations.

***

She had to get out of here. She must have
been crazy to sneak in here, to break the law like that. It wasn’t
like her at all and now, now she just knew that he’d spotted
her.

She decided to wait until he turned his
attention away from her to make her move, but it seemed like he was
always at least partially watching her out of the corner of his
eye. Finally, she stood up and slowly started walking to the exit.
There must have been another twenty minutes or more left in the
show so it wasn’t like he’d be able to stop her now anyway.

She turned her back to the circus ring and
walked to the door, gaining speed as she went. Behind her the dark
ringmaster whispered something in one of the clown’s ears and he
went cycling off at speed out of the tent.

***

Outside, the evening was beginning to get
dark and Julie shivered as she pulled her blazer tighter around
herself. Suddenly she just wanted to get home, to make a nice cup
of hot chocolate and settle down in her dressing gown in front of
the TV. Whatever it was that was going on out here, she would just
have to remain ignorant of it. Maybe she wasn’t so adventurous
after all.

“I thought I told you to come back
tomorrow.”

Julie froze in shock. There in front of her
was the muscular goth from the ticket stand. Behind him stood two
identical brothers with shaggy brown hair and beards, dressed in
tight green leotards. Though slimmer, they were just as ripped as
he was.

“I… I’m sorry,” Julie began, “I got
lost.”

“Bullshit,” the ticket vendor said, “you were
just inside the circus. You were spotted there.”

Julie backed away from them. She was
frightened and wanted to go home, but also… she was excited. Maybe
more than she’d ever been in her entire boring life.

“Look,” she said, “I can pay you for whatever
you think it’s worth. I have money.”

The vendor smiled darkly and shook his head.
“That’s not how we do things here. You’ve got two choices. Either
you let Saul and Paul here escort you somewhere to wait for the
Ringmaster or we call the cops and have you arrested for
trespassing. Either way you’re going to be confined.”

Julie couldn’t believe her ears. She felt a
flush of heat between her legs and felt herself moisten.
That
tape
.

“What will he want from me?” she asked.

“What will he want?” the vendor chuckled and
the two brothers sniggered behind him, “well that’s for him to say,
isn’t it? You’ll just have to wait to find out.”

Julie said nothing. She was so confused, she
didn’t know what she wanted. It was like her mind and her flesh
were pulling her in two totally different directions. And the flesh
was winning.

“Look,” the hulk said, “Miss, we’re not going
to restrain you against your will, but we already know that you
work for the local paper so it won’t be hard for the police to
track you down and arrest you if you leave now. So you can do it
that way if you want to, but maybe it would be better just to stick
around. All he wants is to talk to you anyway.”

Julie looked from him to the two twins behind
either shoulder. She sighed an uneven and flustered breath. “Ok,”
she said, “I’ll wait.”

***

The two brothers took her by each arm, not
without gentleness, and began to lead her away through the maze of
trailers and tents. They took her to the back of a large white
truck and ushered her up the steps inside.

“In here,” they grunted.

Julie paused. She was reluctant to continue,
even though her gut told her they meant her no harm. One of them
sighed.

“Hey,” he said, “you heard Chuck back there.
Either you do it our way or we hand you over to the police and let
them deal with you. It’s that simple.”

“Fine,” Julie said, “ok.” She climbed onboard
the truck.

“There’s a good girl.”

They pushed her forward through the darkness
and as her eyes adjusted, Julie let out a gasp of shock. Ahead of
her was what appeared to be some kind of large animal cage. Before
she had time to think, they’d already led her inside and closed the
door behind her.

“Ok,” one of the brothers smiled, “you will
wait here until the Ringmaster has finished his performance.
Perhaps then you’ll have some time to think about why what you did
was wrong.”

Julie put her hands around the bars. This was
ridiculous, totally humiliating, and yet… and yet it felt like the
hottest thing in the world right now.

“You can’t leave me here,” she protested,
“locked up like a wild animal.”

“Are you sure?” the brother laughed as they
left, “because I have a feeling you’re quite enjoying it.”

They closed the door over almost all the way,
leaving just a sliver of light coming into the truck and then they
were gone.

***

They were right, she was enjoying it. Ever
since she’d heard that tape Julie had felt something deep inside
her grow. Something bad, something dark. Something that felt so
powerful it could set the whole night on fire.

She brushed her fingers against the rough
metal bars, savoring the feeling against her palms. Between her
legs she felt the juices seep out of her pussy, dampening her
panties completely. With one hand, she began to stroke her warm
stomach, finally sliding her fingers down beneath her pants. As she
pressed them against her quivering folds she leaned forward and
opened her mouth around the iron bar.

She didn’t know why she’d done it. It tasted
cold and metallic and somehow it made her feel so naughty and
depraved. She stroked her fingers up and down her slippery slit,
rocking her hips forward in time with her stroke. In her mind, she
saw the Ringmaster coming towards her, growing bigger and more
powerful with each step, his smile widening as those piercing
golden eyes held her captive in their gaze. She let out a soft moan
and the doors at the back of the truck suddenly swung open.

Julie gasped and pulled her hand out of her
pants, stepping back into the darkness and hoping against hope that
she hadn’t been seen.

She peered down to the doors and felt her
heart race as she saw him, the Ringmaster. Beside him stood the two
brothers from earlier and though they were pretty tall they seemed
completely overshadowed by him, even though he couldn’t have been
much bigger than they were. It was like he had a presence that
stretched far and wide around his actual physical body.

“I see her,” he said in his deep foreign
voice, “you may leave us now.”

The two brothers walked away and the
Ringmaster stepped up into the truck and began walking towards her.
Even in the darkness his eyes shone and his wicked smile spread
across his face as he approached her. Julie shivered. It was just
like she’d imagined in her fantasy.

The Ringmaster sniffed the air as he came
closer. “It smells like a wild animal in here… feral and potent,
visceral.”

He arrived outside the bars and for the first
time Julie could see his whole face. It was almost impossibly
handsome, so dark and European. He reached through the bars and for
a second Julie thought he’d snatch her and drag her towards him,
when instead he elegantly presented his hand for a handshake.

“My name is Samuel Delacroix,” he said, “and
I believe you have offended my circus.”

Julie came closer and tentatively reached out
to shake his hand. When they touched it was like she’d been zapped
with a hundred volts of electricity, shooting up through her wrist
and lighting her whole body with sensation.

“I… I’m sorry,” she said.

The Ringmaster smiled, still holding her
hand. His grip tightened slightly as though he bore no intention
whatsoever of ever letting her go again. “What good is sorry after
the fact?” he asked, “what is your name girl?”

“Julie, Julie Sampson,” Normally she wouldn’t
have much appreciated being referred to as “girl”, but somehow when
it was him it was different. It was maddeningly hot.

“Julie,” the Ringmaster smiled, “I don’t
blame you for what you did, I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist
my call. But the others, they feel you have affronted their art.
They desire retribution Julie.”

Julie felt her loins go hot again as her
juices started to flow. The way he spoke, it was like every single
word was a command to obey. She felt weak, all her strength going
to the wrist where he held her and the burning crevice between her
legs.

“I have money,” she said, knowing only too
well that this wasn’t about money at all.

The Ringmaster laughed darkly. “Oh, we have
money,” he said, “more money than you can possibly imagine. If we
are to right this wrong it will take a different kind of
punishment.”

Julie knew exactly what kind of punishment he
meant. Thinking about it made her heart race and her face
flush.

“All you have to do is say yes,” the
Ringmaster smiled. He reached underneath his cape and unclasped a
small leather leash. He held it up for her to see, his fingers
tightening on her wrist and his sparkling eyes almost yellow in the
darkness. “Just say yes Julie and I will awaken you to a world of
pleasures that you never thought possible.”

Her breathing heavy and uneven, Julie rocked
herself towards him. “Yes,” she sighed.

***

“Ladies and gentleman!” the ringmaster
bellowed, “you have spent the day entertaining the townspeople but
now it is time for your own titillation! I present for your
delectation, Miss Julie Sampson, hereafter to be known as Lady
Worm!”

The big top erupted with cheers as the
Ringmaster strode through the main entrance towards the center
ring. In his hand he held the handle to the leather leash, the
other end of which was tied around Julie’s throat. It was so tight
that it stung the flesh underneath, but it was hardly the only pain
she felt as she followed after him on her hands and knees. The
rough ground was sore against her bare skin and the leather corset
he had fastened around her waist was so tight that it was hard to
breathe. He had stripped her of all other clothing.

The bleachers were even more filled out than
they had been earlier, but now the audience was made up entirely of
the strange gothic performers and freaks of the Hellfire Circus.
They jeered and shouted at her as the Ringmaster led her towards
the middle of the ring. Some even hurled soft tomatoes and
plums.

Wincing, Julie looked ahead of her as she
followed the Ringmaster. In her mouth he had inserted a metal
bar-gag and it was causing her to drool at the corners of her lips
despite any efforts to the otherwise. As she crawled forward she
saw that the contortionist woman and the dwarf were already waiting
ahead of them. The woman looked her up and down with sadistic glee
and then stepped towards the Ringmaster. She wrapped her arms
around him and they kissed long and hard as Julie watched
helplessly from the floor. From the crowd someone hurled a hunk of
fruit and it hit her square in the thigh, hard enough to leave a
welt. She whimpered from the pain and the humiliation. The pain and
humiliation that felt better than anything she’d ever known in her
entire life.

The crowd roared and the Ringmaster turned
and looked down at her. “Oh,” he sighed in mock sympathy, “did they
hurt you, worm?”

Julie nodded her head, lost in the pleasure
of such intense disgrace. Never in a million years could she have
seen herself in such a position and yet now… She thought she might
never be able to go back to normality ever again.

“Good,” the Ringmaster smiled, “you deserve
to be punished, you dirty little slut.” He walked around to her
side and lifted his boot, kicking her square in the leg and
knocking her over.

She squeaked with pleasure and the crowd
cheered.

“Look at you,” he continued, “You’re so
worthless that you even desire to be treated that way. You’re pussy
is bright red with lust, you filthy whore!”

He came closer to her again and turned her
over on her back, holding the toe of his boot against her throat
and looking down on her sternly.

“Francois!” he called, “Remove her gag and
then get me my whip. I want to see what the worm has to say for
herself before I punish her.”

The dwarf clown hurried over. “Yes master,”
he called in a thick French accent.

He got down on his knees and leaned over
Julie where she lay with the Ringmaster’s boot still against her
throat. He pulled off her gag and smiled at her. “Oh she’s a pretty
one, this one master!” he said.

“No! She is just a worm,” the Ringmaster
replied, “and she is my worm, so keep your hands to yourself
Francois. Fetch me my whip.”

The dwarf clown got up on his feet and
hurried away.

“Well,” the Ringmaster said, peering down at
her with delight, “have you anything to say worm?”

Julie stared up at him, she thought she might
explode at any minute. The lights, the noises, the physical
sensations, she was almost completely overwhelmed by it all.
Whoever she was now, she was no longer Julie Sampson. Maybe she
really was Lady Worm.

“I… I’m sorry,” she stuttered.

“Not good enough,” the Ringmaster shouted,
“get back up on your hands and knees. Hurry up!”

Julie did as she was told and immediately the
Ringmaster leaned down and wrapped his hand around her chin. He
jerked her head to face the contortionist woman, who was watching
her now with predatory hunger and licking her lips.