Dark & Familiar

Chapter 3: Anima

She led me off the stage, behind the red curtain, and I knew my life would never be the same. From that moment on, she had complete control of me. She told me to obey, and I did. She told me to walk, and my feet moved on their own. She told me when to stop, where to stand, and what to feel. The compulsion she had over me was absolute.

At some point she told me to forget, and I forgot what little I had seen since the auction. So I had no idea how I got from that naked cage to her castle. A veil was thrown over my memory and so I cannot tell you how I came to be sat in a tub with two beautiful women.

One of the women was short, with long straight brown hair. She had a simple, wholesome smile on her face as she dunked a sponge in the water. Then she lifted it out and began scrubbing my chest in circles. The other woman was a full-bodied brunette, with mocha skin, already maneuvering a sponge in-hand, lifting my arms one at a time to soap my pits.

When I woke up in the giant marble bath house, I reflexively tried to pull away, to shout, to make a run for it, but I found I still had no possession over my body. Whatever happened, I would be at their mercy.

Fortunately, they didn't seem to mean me any harm. Their eyes were far away and vacant as they slowly sponged each of my limbs, careful to leave no trace of filth. First my chest and arms. Then they moved onto my legs, sliding their way up my calf, to my thigh, and then my groin. Thankfully, they were careful in that area.

The experience was an odd one. On the one hand, deeply pleasurable. Under normal circumstances, I'd think I was in a fantastic dream. I had never been in a tub with two women so beautiful, and part of me felt lucky. But on the other hand, my position was deeply disturbing. I did not know how I'd gotten here, and I could not leave. I was powerless.

These two women could do as they like, and they positioned my limbs this way and that like I was little more than a living doll until a man entered the bathhouse.

"Anima." He said, and I saw a spark of life enter the women's eyes. It was then that I realized that they were like me, under a compulsion. When the man spoke, he returned some semblance of freedom to his living slaves. The women themselves didn't have much of a reaction. They appeared to be used to this, to being activated and deactivated on command.

The man was clearly in charge here, and I found it disgusting that one person should have so much power. He exuded a power as deep as his dark eyes were constant. His features were slight and delicate. He wore a dark bun in his long hair that flowed down around his face to his shoulders. He looked to be of persian descent with old-world eastern attire to match. He was absolutely gorgeous. Even as a straight man, I couldn't deny that.

But despite his attractiveness, there was something about him that was completely repulsive. Maybe I just felt threatened by him, or maybe it was something else...

The man took a seat at the edge of the bathtub and reached down to cup a handful of soapy water. He drizzled the water along the shoulders of the mocha skinned woman.

"How are we today, ladies?" He asked.

Neither of them said a word.

"You may speak." He said, and the mocha-skinned woman opened her mouth to say something, but she was silenced, "Not you!" He shouted abruptly. "Just you..." He looked at the brunette. "Tara, what do you make of our newest acquisition?"

She shrugged.

"Tell me truthfully," The man said, and I could see something change in Tara's eyes when he asked again, "what do you make of him?"

"He's handsome." Tara replied.

"No, I mean, why do you think he's worth so much to Lady Sarafia?"

"Because he's so handsome."