Fragments I

Two new girls. Hailey and Ariel. They hand themselves over—flesh to be twisted, bound, and worked over hard. Ariel is green to this. She pauses, then nods yes. They cage her head first. A steel sphere seals tight. Inside, darkness and her own hot breath smother her. Every inhale feels thick. She waits. When the sphere lifts, she thinks it’s done. Then cold metal locks around her neck and the chain yanks her face-down toward the floor. Her thighs shake from holding the pose. The collar bites. She’s learning fast what she signed up for. Hailey gets none of the easy parts. She drops to her knees, legs forced wide. A spreader bar traps neck and wrists together. A clamp grips her nose and drags down with a heavy weight. She stays crouched low, answering one question after another while drool slips past her lips. Later they haul her up by the wrists, knees barely skimming the ground, and the single-tail cracks across her skin, again and again, until the muscles in her back jump with every stroke.