Flight 12

Flight 12 – a serial novel by Travis Creel

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: THIS COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING

Previously, on the island's surface:

• Augie, fleeing a libidinous Ray, and Jordan (trying to protect him) encounter the green dodecagon where it shouldn't be and disappear from sight. This occurs during a bathing/laundry session at the stream, and when it is over, the others discover their clothes have vanished.

• Seth, frustrated over Augie's capture, decides he must do something radically different: He will get captured himself. Harry is opposed to this idea, not wanting to be put in charge of those still left on the surface.

• Miles is captured by a `penis garden', which impales him anally, then whisks him underground.

Underground:

• Startled by Jordan's unexpected arrival with Augie, Hamish asks Stimulever for guidance: Jordan is put in the dildo chair, while Augie is put into bondage, chamber pots to be emptied over him. Unaware of this directive, Barry, ordered to fuck Augie, ironically vows to `fuck the shit out of him'.

• Earlier, Barry had fucked Abe quite roughly. Abe liked it.

• As punishment for the failed escape attempt, Piers and Theo are bound in the Dark Room and penetrated by fucking machines; Al is castrated and faces execution.

In flashbacks:

• During their second date, Seth freaked Abe out by handcuffing him to the bed.

• At Cambridge, a young Ed had a sexual encounter with a fellow student, Ryan Mackenzie.

• • • • • • • • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11 * * * * * * * *

THE DARK ROOM – JORDAN

I was a jumble of mixed emotions – I felt like a failure, failing to protect Augie. But once I got on the dodecagon, it was – I don't know, pleasant. Something penetrated my ass, thin at first, then thicker, as it `fucked' me. And – well, it felt good.

But it disintegrated as the ground collapsed beneath our feet and took us into the abyss. I fell into blackness, and landed on top of someone. He gave a terrific scream and yelled at me to get off him, his gut was burst. Augie fell on top of another guy and he screamed in pain as well. What WAS this place?

Augie and I got up and tried to release the two men but couldn't. They kept telling us to get help, their guts were ruptured and they might bleed to death. They weren't guys Augie knew from the Tower; they had Caribbean accents.

We couldn't see anything in the total darkness, but we felt around and found a door, and pounded on it for a while. Eventually some people came – as naked as we were. They took the two Caribbeans away and left Augie and me pondering what was coming next. An hour or so later, they came back, seized me by all four limbs, and forced me onto a chair with a dildo embedded into it. Then they took Augie. And I don't know why – or what's happening to him.

A SHOWER STALL – AUGIE

They stuck Jordan on some kind of bondage chair which was apparently painful and dragged me out of the room. The next thing I knew they had wrapped chains around me, tying me up so tight that I could hardly breathe, much less move. And they shoved me in this shower stall. Little did I know that was going to be the best part of the rest of my day.

I don't want to describe what happened after that. It was too disgusting, and too reminiscent of what I had done to myself the night Ray tried to rape me. It was like somehow they knew about that and were trying to torture me in the most revolting way possible. The smell was enough to knock you off your feet. I wanted to vomit, but fortunately had not eaten yet today and had nothing inside me.

And then they sent in this guy who – god, he must have been sick to want to even be there with me in that environment. Anyway he . . . well, he did to me what Lucas had done a few days ago. It was dirty and it was disgusting, but – Pastor Markson, forgive me – the physical sensation in itself wasn't awful. It was pain, but it was also pleasure. I tried to block out the pain and the humiliation and the smell and the disgust by focusing on what small amount of pleasure I was feeling.

I prayed for forgiveness afterwards. I shouldn't have liked even a little of it. And I think being locked up in a pile of shit was punishment for my sin. When I first arrived on the island, I wondered if I was in hell. Now, I truly was in hell – maybe not the real hell, I don't know, maybe it was. It doesn't matter. I'm doomed.

• • • • • • • • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12 * * * * * * * *

THE THRONE ROOM – PERCY

• Pussycat.

• Yes, Master?

• Would you prefer my cock in your mouth or your ass this morning?

• Ass, please.

• You are a good puss, aren't you? I've been wondering – you seemed to enjoy your encounter with Barry the other day.

Abe looked at me cautiously, evaluating whether it was too dangerous to tell the truth. I knew the answer to be `yes', but if he said that, would I fly into a jealous rage? Oh, Abe, you are so beautiful when you're trying to make up your mind.

• I must admit I did enjoy it.

• He was rather harsh with you.

• Yes, he was.

• And you liked that.

• . . . I did.

• Maybe we should give Barry more opportunities to fuck that nice cunt of yours, how would that be?

• If it's what you want, Master.

• I think it's what YOU want, Abe, even if you don't know it. Tell me, do you like to be spanked?

FLASHBACK: ABE (CLEVELAND) – December, two years ago

It was a full year before I met Seth and had that delightful first date – and the disastrous second one when he handcuffed me to the bed.

I had another boyfriend at the time.

• Come on, Abe, it's for charity.

• Ian.

• It's for homeless LGBTQ youth.

• That's not fair, Ian. You're trying to guilt me into this.

• Yes, I am. The more people who do this, the more money that gets raised.

• I know, but a slave auction? Really?

• Why not? You mostly bottom.

• Yeah, but being a guy's slave –

• For a night.

• – for a night, I mean, what are the limits?

• Minimum bid is $200.

• That's not what I meant, and you know it.

• It's between you and him to negotiate. BDSM is by mutual agreement, Abe. You can pre-establish limits, and he needs to respect them.

• Well . . .

• And you'll probably go for three times the minimum bid. Think of the good that money could do.

So that's how I found myself one of a dozen guys on auction in front of a crowd of about a hundred sweaty, testosterone-infused guys at The Blockhouse. Actually, Ian told me, there would be thirteen – to wind up the evening, a thirteenth slave would be selected at random from all those in attendance – everyone there was putting their ass on the line just by showing up.

• I hope it's you, Ian.

• You might get your wish. Only about a one-percent chance, but it has to be somebody.

I was eighth on the program. They dressed me in a leather harness, chaps, and boots. A good bit of skin showing. I was displayed from all angles, with a lot of catcalling and hooting – which was, frankly, a real turn-on. I knew I had a good body and my face wasn't bad either. Okay, let's just state it immodestly – I'm hot. My ass is classic and when they made me face the back of the stage I wiggled it around freely to roars from the crowd.

The guy who bought me had to go up to $900. He was two hundred twenty pounds of stud, covered in fur from head to toe, and covered in muscles everywhere it counted. Just my type. He came up on stage and picked me up bodily, draping me over his shoulder like he was carrying a captive woman off to be raped. Which, I guess, was my role. It wouldn't be rape – I was consenting to this. I knew he was going to stick his cock into me – that was welcome. The rest would be negotiated.

When he got me back to his apartment, one thing became clear. He had paid a lot of money for me, and expected to get his money's worth.

• Get your damn clothes off, boy, before I decide to hurt you more than you're prepared to be hurt.

• Yes, Sir! (playing the part enthusiastically – I WAS turned on by how authoritative he was)

I stripped for him and by the time I did, I was hard as a rock.

• Lookin' good, boy. Now get into the sling.

• Uh, Sir – before we get started. Limits? Safe words? That sort of thing?

He smacked me on the side of my head.

• You think I'm going to pay nine hundred dollars for you and then goddamn NEGOTIATE what I can do?

• I was given to understand that –

• Understand this, boy! You are mine for the evening. I paid a helluva lot of money for you. There are no limits and no safe words. I am your god and you will do what I say.

He saw the fear in my eyes.

• Oh, relax, boy. I'm not going to kill you. We're just going to have a little fun. I'll take you further than you've ever been, and you'll love it. But I call the shots – understood?

I did – and again, part of me – the part between my legs – thrilled at the prospect. He was a Grade A specimen of prime beef and the thought of being in his meaty hands put the fear of God into me, and pumped a lot of blood into my cock.

• Yes, sir, I understand, sir. Do with me what you will, sir.

• That's better. Only I find you a bit chatty. I don't want you calling out `red' in the middle of this like some goddam coward. So let's make sure you don't do that.

He rolled up my briefs, rubbed them against his crotch, and stuffed them in my mouth. Tape went around my head to secure my gag in place.

• You ever been fisted, boy?

• (No. I can't say it out loud, so I'll just shake my head.)

• Then you're in for a treat.

Advice: if you're going to have your first fisting experience, don't do it with a guy whose hands are the size of bowling balls. Okay, I exaggerate, but only slightly.

He went slow, a gallon or so of lubricant filling my asshole – or so it seemed. His gloved fingertips slid past my sphincter, and I thought, "this isn't so very, very bad". Until it got to the knuckles, which forced their way in, not gently. My empathy for women giving birth tripled, the concept of a large mass moving through a narrow channel being one with which I could suddenly identify.

• And now we're getting to the second sphincter.

The second sphincter? I had two? I had no idea. He seemed pleased that the entry was straight, explaining that not everyone's lower bowels were shaped the same, and some guys had twists and turns that made fisting more complicated.

Past the second sphincter. I felt like I had a boulder in my gut. He stayed there for a good three minutes, then slowly worked his way out, every square inch of my colon screaming in protest. My brain was confused – processing the pain transmitted from the nerve endings while simultaneously summoning endorphins. The pleasure was insufficient to overpower the pain, but might have managed it if he had had smaller hands.

He cleaned me up, and himself, and I was glad that was over with. I wondered if his hand was going to be replaced by his cock – if you've paid nine hundred dollars to buy a slave for the night, you surely expect to breed him. And tied up in the sling, I was in the perfect position for fucking – and helpless to prevent it. But I was exhausted, and wanted no more.

Instead, he released me from the restraints. Would his next words be permission for me to dress and go home? Maybe fisting was his thing, and we were finished for the evening. He had purchased me for charity, after all; perhaps it was time for him to display some charity of his own.

• Well, that's enough for the inside of your ass. Until I fuck you, of course. But first, let's concentrate on the outside.

He ordered me to bend over the arm of a wingchair. It was padded, but still dug into my ribs. He didn't care about that, only that it put my ass at the right height and right angle for spanking.

• Thin or thick? That's always the question, isn't it? The cane has a really nice sting to it, and produces lovely stripes. It can be excruciatingly painful if you hit the same spot repeatedly. But the broader implements can hit a larger area and change the color of your cheeks in a hurry. With a white boy like you, I like to see the color change, and see how rosy red I can get it, so I'm going to use a nice prison strap on you. And, rest assured, I'm going to be swinging it as hard as I can.

WHACK! Man, he wasn't kidding! I've occasionally indulged in some playful spanking, but nothing like this. This was major punishment. I held my breath, determined not to make a sound.

WHACK! Breathe, Abe, breathe. Don't let him –

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Okay, it was going to be difficult to keep silent if he went beyond ten or so.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Lost cause. The grunts came out. But I managed to keep it to that, soft grunts. I never asked him to stop, or even pause.

After fifty astonishingly painful whacks, he pulled me up and attached handcuffs to me – but not where I expected him to. One half went around my wrist. The other half went around my junk. The cold steel wrapped around my cock and balls like a cock ring gone crazy. It bit into my scrotum and tore into my pubic hair, which he acknowledged he should have shaved off. A second pair of handcuffs connected my two hands, so that my right hand was double-cuffed.

And then came another fifty whacks of the belt. I had to keep my body perfectly still or the impact on my balls would be excruciating. I refused to beg for him to stop, much as I wanted to.

• Well, you took that good, boy. Didn't worry you as much as it should. We'll have to up the ante. I want to hear you scream.

He removed the handcuffs connecting my two wrists, and freed my right wrist from the other pair. But still my cock and balls were enclosed in the metal ring. And then he brought out a little pen-like device and touched the end of it to the metal handcuffs.

I screamed. Electricity. Rapidly conducted through the metal and zapping my balls.

He laughed.

• That's the way, boy. That's getting my money's worth.

He continued to zap the handcuffs, ten, twenty times, and then turned the device directly onto my balls. I screamed my bloody head off, I have never felt anything so excruciating in my life.

And then he fucked me – twice – the second time with a spiked condom. Blood streamed from my asshole. He dipped a finger in it and smeared it over my face. I had no doubt he would have fed it to me had my mouth not been full of underwear.

I resolved then and there that I would walk out immediately on any man who even SHOWED me a pair of handcuffs. It traumatized me for months.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – HARRY

• I can't talk you out of this?

• Harry, you know it's right. All the twelves you found – today's the twelfth. Gotta shake things up. Gotta be today. What do I have to lose?

• Everything.

• Already lost my clothes.

• So did I. So did everybody.

• Jasper still has his pants and Tim has his briefs.

• And they both have shoes.

• That's six items of clothing, for six of you. You can divvy them up, one item apiece.

• I can see it now: Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Shoe.

• Glad to see you haven't lost your sense of humor.

• They might not take you, you know. You're special, Seth. They might want to keep you up here.

• The penis garden was ready to take me on Monday.

• I'm going to see you off.

• No. Harry. Not without clothes. You might not be able to resist the penis garden. Miles couldn't.

• What if I weren't COMPLETELY naked? I think I could get into one of Tim's shoes.

• I'm not sure if shoes are enough to deter it.

• Test it.

• Okay. If a shoe is enough, you can come. Though I have to warn you, it's not a pretty sight.

You're a pretty sight, I thought to myself. You're as pretty a sight as I've ever seen. And there are more reasons for not wanting you to go than just my fear of leadership.

• Seth.

• Yeah?

• I . . .

• What?

• . . . I might not see you again.

• Harry –

• Ever. This might be the last time we ever see each other.

• Well, if you're that anxious to join me, you can find a dodecagon on your birthday – that's Monday?

• Seth, we don't know where these things take us. We might not wind up in the same place. We might not wind up in the same universe. We might wind up dead.

• Time to find out, Harry. Time to find out. This could change everything.

Time to find out. Time to find out if I can manage without the one man who's given me more confidence in myself than I've ever had in my life. Oh, Seth, you gorgeous hunk of man, don't leave me. You were right in one respect:

This COULD change everything.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – JASPER

• It was my fault, Jasper. I caused them to get captured.

• Gary, don't be ridiculous. You weren't even there.

• If I were stronger, if I were more of a man, I wouldn't have let him take over like that.

• Cody let him take over. You weren't there.

• Same difference. I'm scared, Jasper. Ray . . . with you being naked and everything, he might. . . you should have kept your pants, Jasper. I appreciate your giving them to me, even if they are a little short – but Ray might come after you looking like that.

• Looking like what?

• In your birthday suit.

• I'm not in my birthday suit. I have shoes on.

• I don't think shoes would stop him, Jasper.

• Anyway, he didn't show any interest in me before.

• That's when Augie was here. He might now. Of everyone left, you're the one that . . .

• I'm the one that what?

• You're . . . like . . . you have the best . . . I mean, looking at you . . .

• Gary, are you trying to say you like me?

• . . .

• . . . Gary, stay with me.

• . . .

• . . . Gary?

• For corn's sake, Jasper, you can't go around stark naked. Maybe Seth has to, but nobody else does. Put some clothes on.

• I can't.

• Why the hell not?

• . . . I guess you don't know, Cody, you haven't been here. You're wearing the only pair of pants we have left.

• Yeah, well they're too damn short.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

I borrowed one of Tim's shoes – they didn't really fit but I could force my feet into them, as opposed to Jasper's, which were too small – and slipped away to the penis garden that had taken Miles. I conducted my second round of experiments. I stepped onto the mowed area – no effect.

I then slipped off my shoe and tried again. Instantly, little penises sprouted out of the ground. For a moment, I considered letting them take me right then and there, but I had made a promise to Harry and couldn't bear the thought of him wondering where I had gotten to without giving him a chance to say good-bye. I jumped quickly back to safety. A second test with the shoe – successful.

I returned to the tower and gathered the guys – Harry, Vic, Ed, Tim, Jasper and (from his body language) Cody. The only ones left. I explained to them what I was going to do and why. They were upset but supportive. I said I was putting Harry in charge and that I trusted him and they should listen to him like they had listened to me. Harry turned red but the others nodded in support – with one exception.

• (Ed) Harry? Harry's incompetent. He was supposed to guard Augie and lost him and Jordan both. And I hold him responsible for Leo – he couldn't keep up with us, so he stayed behind with the others.

• Now hold on, Ed –

• (Jasper) Ed, if you want to blame somebody for Leo, blame me. I let him wander off to do his business, I didn't go with him.

• (Cody) I was there, too.

• (Vic) So was I. That's three people you can blame, none of them named Harry. And get a mirror out to find a fourth. You were with him as well.

• (Ed) If we'd had proper leadership –

• Look, Ed. Leo's one reason I'm doing this. If I go where I think I'm going, I may be able to find him.

• (Ed) Oh, hell, Seth, he's dead and you know it. The earth swallowed him up, like Paul.

• Maybe, but I don't think he's dead, or Augie or Paul, any of them. I think he's in a different universe.

• (Ed) Well if he is, I hope it's a universe where everybody is straight.

FLASHBACK: ED (ATLANTA) – September, last year

There was a conference in Atlanta. I'd been invited to lecture about recent advances in the surgical technique I had developed over a dozen years ago – the one largely responsible for my knighthood.

It was Leo's first year at Georgia Tech, and, of course, Beatrice was anxious for me to check up on him. I called him and suggested we have dinner at my hotel. He seemed . . . less than enthusiastic.

As I sat at my table, waiting for him, a man approached.

• Ed! Ed Niemann! I caught your lecture! Brilliant.

• Thank you.

• You don't remember me.

• You certainly look familiar. (He didn't.) Remind me?

• Orson Threece. I don't expect you'd remember me – I was a year behind you at Cambridge.

• Ah, yes, of course. We were both a lot younger then – appearances change.

Bluff. I didn't remember him at all. But I didn't pay much attention to classes behind mine, and I was rather a rock star at Cambridge, so probably any pre-med student would be aware of who I was.

• Listen, may I join you?

• Well, actually I'm meeting my son, he's a freshman at Georgia Tech, and –

• Oh, that's terrific. I'd love to meet him.

He sat down at my table. I tried not to let my irritation show. We ordered drinks, which I charged to my room. We talked shop for a few minutes, then it was time to get rid of him.

• Orson, I don't mean to rush you, but Leo will be here any minute, and –

• Leo, that's your boy? Great name, Leo. It means `lion', you know.

• (Yeah. I know.)

• Amazing us both being at the same conference. Kind of even surprising we both settled in the States. I'm in Huntsville. United General. Head of surgery there.

• I'm –

• Brigham and Women's, like we don't all know that.

At this point, Leo walked in, and took Orson's presence with his usual indifference.

• (Leo) Hey, Dad. Who's your friend?

• (Orson, extending a hand) Orson Threece. Hey, Ed, he looks just like you.

• (Actually, he doesn't, to the extent that I have sometimes questioned my wife's fidelity.)

• (Orson) Leo, it's Friday night, and you're not out on a date? Or you got something lined up a little later, like me? You not shocked by that, are you, Leo? I mean, a man has needs, right? And when the cat's away from his spouse – the cat will play with a mouse.

• I don't think that's how the saying goes, Orson.

• (Orson) I'm sure your old man knows what I'm talking about. These conventions – what you going to do in the evenings, right? But in a big city like Atlanta, there's always ways you can connect, right? A little hanky, a little panky – what the old lady doesn't know won't hurt her, know what I mean? You know how it is, right, Ed?

• (Leo) Oh, my father's terribly faithful to my mother, aren't you dad. Of course, I'm not sure how often they've actually had sex, given that I don't have any little brothers or sisters. Well, not any full brothers or sisters – I don't know about half-siblings, Dad's rather close-mouthed about that.

• Leo!

• (Leo) Oops. Family skeletons, I shouldn't be so open about them. Sorry, Dad.

He was enjoying this, the little shit.

• (Orson) Ed, listen, the little something I have lined up for later – I bet she has a friend.

• I don't think –

• (Orson) Leo, you're not a prude, right? You don't mind our discussing this, huh? So how about it, Ed? Shall I send her friend up to your room? Let me make a phone call.

• Orson, please. That's not . . . necessary.

• (Orson) Oh, you already have something planned. You sly dog.

• No, I don't have something planned. I –

• (Orson) Great. Room 815, right?

• How did you –

• (Orson) You charged our drinks to your room.

• . . . Orson, if you don't mind, I'd like some time alone with my son.

• (Leo) Well, that's a first.

• (Orson) Yes, of course. A little father-and-son talk. Man-to-man. Go get `em, tiger. I mean, lion.

He gave me a knowing wink then, thankfully, left. I spent a torturous hour with Leo, then sent him on his way, while I escaped to the confines of my room.

It was late, and I undressed, got into bed, and switched off the light. Five minutes later, I heard a click, followed by something quiet. It sounded like footsteps approaching the bed, stealthily.

I reached for the phone, but it was on the other side of the bed. I felt a bounce; the center of gravity of the mattress had shifted. The other side of the bed had an occupant.

• Orson sent me. He said you were in the mood for some hot sex.

It was a British voice. A male British voice.

THE MEADOW – SETH

They all went with me – Cody wearing Jasper's slacks, Tim in his briefs, and all the others wearing exactly one shoe. Vic was struggling, memories being too painful from the last time he was here. Harry was struggling, too – for different reasons. Tim looked curious and Jasper looked thoughtful, but Ed and Cody both reacted with disgust. I was afraid the sight of the phallus would bring Ray out to play, but Cody remained in control of Gary's body. Maybe he needed protection from any emotion at all – and Cody was just the man for that.

I shook hands with each of them, but I hugged the bulk of Harry's body, my arms unable to surround him. He looked like he was on the verge of tears – but was not allowing himself that luxury of emotion.

• Harry, you'll be fine. You're a good man. And when we get back to civilization – and I mean WHEN, not if – we'll find someone for you. You sell yourself short – there's a bear-lover out there who would be perfect for you. I'll help you find him.

• (Jasper) Hear, hear.

Ed rolled his eyes.

And then I stepped onto the short grass and the six of them stared, transfixed, as one human-sized black dildo after another popped out of the ground until the entire semi-circle was blanketed. It would have been difficult to walk on them barefoot, as they were not even in height, but I had no need to walk. I just needed to wait.

It didn't take long. A single spear shot up and invaded my asshole with amazing speed and accuracy. I heard the others cry out in astonishment, even though I had prepared them for the spectacle. The super-dildo pushed up my rectum until it could go no further and then continued to rise, taking me with it. It was not comfortable – I might be gay, but I had not been on the receiving end of an anal penetration since my days with Sean. My rectum gripped the dildo like Velcro; it felt like a flashlight had been rammed up my ass, although it surely was not that thick.

A fence of dildos sprung up around the mown area, like the fence that had surrounded the green dodecagon when it swallowed Augie and Jordan. But soon I was raised up above it and could see the startled faces of the men I had grown so close to over the course of the last twelve days.

Harry was shaking his head, as if blaming himself for allowing me to go ahead with this crazy plan. Vic was stone-faced, undoubtedly reliving the trauma of watching Miles's impalement. Ed looked away. Jasper and Tim stood there transfixed and helpless. And Cody – Cody was sporting a spectacular erection. I knew he was no longer Cody; the sight of a dildo up my ass was too stimulating to keep Ray in hibernation.

They looked on as the super-dildo took me high, high in the air. I could see the phallic tower from here, sixty feet up, and a lot of the island, though not all the way to the shore. I felt unbalanced, like I was going to fall off, but the prong up my hole was so long and so strong that, even though I was waving my legs, it wasn't going to let me go.

And then it got hot. It got fiery hot, as if a hundred jalapeño peppers had been rammed up my ass. Jasper screamed; Harry looked like he was going to vomit. I began to kick wildly and wave my arms about – the pain was so intense and I was helpless to do anything about it. I knew, without seeing it, that the super-dildo had turned red, like iron forged by a blacksmith. I also knew, from having witnessed Miles' ordeal, that it would stop soon and that the climax was imminent.

I heard Tim say, `Oh, thank God' as the sensations in my ass cooled. And then – down I went. Plummeting earthward, like I had plummeted from the sky twelve days before. And, like then, I had no idea where I would land.

The ground approached.

AL'S CELL – STAN

• Listen, Al. They're going to come for you soon.

• (crying)

• I want you to know. I'm glad I got to know you. And . . . I know a little bit about this place.

• You mean how they're all perverts and like to fuck straight guys? And cut off their balls and then kill them? I know all that part, Stan.

• Yeah. I do, too. It will be over soon. You won't have to suffer anymore.

• I won't have to breathe anymore either.

• Al, you aren't really dying.

• I think when they chop off your head, you die, Stan.

• You're still alive. In the other universe.

• I'm not in the other universe.

• But there's still Al Casey. You'll exist.

• But he's like some other person. Will he know who I am? Will I . . . become him? Will I still have consciousness?

• I don't know, maybe. Maybe your memories will go into that Al Casey. It will be like sleeping and then you'll wake up as somebody else. And all of this will be like a dream.

• Will I have balls again?

• Yeah. He has balls. So you'll have balls. And you won't have been raped, and you won't have been beaten.

• And I won't have gone through this with you. I won't be aware I ever knew you, will I?

• We don't know that. We did both fly to Aruba, you know. Maybe our Alpha-selves became friends there. But even so – I mean, you have a life there. You were happy there.

• I was.

• And you will be again.

• Unless I'm just dead and that's it.

I hoped I could ever forgive myself – and Ian – for what was happening to Al. It was supposed to be me. I was supposed to be the eunuch. I was supposed to place my head on the chopping block. And now –

My reverie – and my good-bye – was interrupted when one of the lieutenants entered the room.

• (Al) Oh God it's time.

• (the lieutenant) Actually, it isn't. Something unexpected just happened. You've been reprieved. Temporarily. They have to sort things out, they said.

• So . . . they're not going to kill me?

• Not now. Maybe later.

• What happened?

• I'm not sure. Something about a trigger.

THE THRONE ROOM – BARRY

• Seriously, Master? You're going to let me do this?

• You've been a good boy, Barry. I told you that you'd be a dom again. And Percy specifically requested it. He wants to ratchet things up for the boy.

• What kind of limits?

• Well, technically, none, short of killing him or severing a body part. Anything else will heal overnight. But, Barry, don't go overboard. You want to leave room for things to escalate. This is his first time – at least, down here.

• Can I fuck him, Master?

• What a silly question. You're required to fuck him.

THE THRONE ROOM - ABE

Percy had asked me if I liked to be spanked. I did. But not five hundred times, with five different implements, not one of which was his hand. The last hundred were with a cane, which by the end of it seemed like it was cutting through my flesh like it was butter. I didn't want to see what my ass looked like – it was more than just striped. I'm sure I had lost skin. I was screaming my head off while Percy stood by, approving, urging him on.

• (Percy) Well, pussycat, you said you liked to be spanked. Barry went a little overboard, but your sweet little rump looks so beautiful all decorated like that.

• Mmmph.

• (Percy) Yes, yes, I know, gags are difficult to talk through, don't try, my pet. I wish I knew what Hamish's plans for you were. You're not one of The Twelve. That doesn't bode well for you. I've told him I want you with me permanently, but I just don't know if that's in the cards. So . . . I'll have to enjoy it while I have you.

• Mmmmph.

• (Percy) Barry?

• (Barry) Yes, Mistress Percy?

• (Percy) I may be Hamish's spouse, but I am not `Mistress Percy'.

• (Barry) Sorry – Master Percy.

• (Percy) That's better. I was going to punish you by withholding your fuck, but since you apologized –

• (Barry) Thank you, Master Percy.

• (Percy) Anyway, my pussycat likes your cock in his pussy.

With my ass in tatters, now was not really the time I wanted to feel his body bumping against it. But I did enjoy the way he humped me like there was no tomorrow. It made me feel both helpless and sexy. Particularly blindfolded, so I was cut off from all visual elements and could concentrate on the sensual.

Midway through the fuck, there was a commotion. And I heard Hamish's voice:

• Stefan, stop. Take the blindfold off Abe, we'll need him. Then leave – I need to talk to Percy.

Stefan. One of the Unholy Trio. They probably had the largest cocks of all the lieutenants – at least I hoped there was none larger than theirs.

Barry remained in the room, and Hamish ordered him between his legs. Hamish liked a blow-job while making decisions, and Percy liked to be similarly occupied. Hence, his `need' for me.

Percy sat on his chair, lifted his caftan and spread his legs. I took his shaft into my mouth and began working it, all the while listening intently. Something was going on.

• We need to call Switzerland. We've had another uninvited guest.

• Who?

• What would be the worst possible answer to that question?

• . . . Not the trigger.

• Exactly. This could change everything.

I had no idea what a trigger was, but if this could change everything, and they were worried about it – it might be a good thing.

ST. MORITZ, SWITZERLAND – JESÚS

• (Paolo) I don't understand how this could happen. His dodecagon's not active until the 31st.

• Sean, you took the call.

• (Sean) Apparently, he wandered into a penis portal.

• A penis portal?

• (Sean) Well, we've kept him in the nude. He was vulnerable.

• (Ari) He was vulnerable to an ACTIVE penis portal. But they were supposed to be shut down.

• Demetrius? You're in charge of the grounds.

• (Demetrius) They WERE shut down after all the left-siders were captured. But they automatically reactivated when King and Murdock landed on the island.

• (Thibaut) That's my fault, sir. We didn't foresee that as a consequence of them landing. Of course we realized that's what must have happened, after one of them snared King.

• So why wasn't the penis portal shut down after King was captured?

• (Demetrius) I was tied up – meeting with Thibaut, Dolph and Simon to see what other changes to the island were necessary – so I told Dion to do it.

• And Dion . . .

• (Demetrius) Was drunk, and must have forgotten.

• I think we need to have a serious discussion about whether Dion should continue as a member of this board. We might replace him with Estevan.

• (Sean) In the meantime, what do we tell Hamish?

• Keep Herrick under wraps for the time being. Thibaut, you know what to do.

• (Thibaut) Call Dolph and run the simulations.

• Be thorough. This could change everything.

THE WHITE ROOM – SETH

I looked around. It was as if I had landed on foam rubber, a big white fluffy mass in a room of four white walls and a white ceiling. If this was an alternate universe, it was certainly monochromatic – and not very interesting. I thought briefly again about this being an afterlife, no doubt associating the color white with heaven or something clichéd like that.

I walked around, finding a door, and couldn't open it. Okay, folks, if that's the way you want to play it.

I was alone, so either I had landed in a different spot from Miles or they had let him out. I felt certain they had let him out.

And they will let me out.

And then, my friends, watch out. Because I'm going to get to the bottom of this. And rescue Abe.

This WILL change everything.

[COMING UP NEXT: CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN – NOW THAT I'M HERE, I WANT OUT]