Part 3
…That heavy steel door is the only way in or out, the concrete walls at least a foot thick - at least based on the depth of the threshold itself - and even with just the single unlocked door latch holding it closed I was pretty much a prisoner in a jail cell; solitary-confinement style. I called out to Alice, telling her I was stuck, but I had low expectations of actually being heard as the room itself felt like it absorbed my voice. I also remember seeing five very strong industrial-type hinges on the outside of that door, so it was obviously heavier than any ordinary interior door that closing its significant mass a few moments earlier with an ear-popping thud had confirmed. Even without hearing my call for rescue Alice knows where I am though, so it should only be a matter of time until she checks on me and rescues me; or so I hope.
It's also obvious to me that every misbehavior so far with Alice - and even Jess too lately - comes at a price; I further humble myself, receive corporal punishment, or even both. My mind is all over the place here though, maybe it's the forced-introspection from brief total isolation, or maybe I'm just losing my mind, but I come back to the five hinges on the outside of the door; the pins could theoretically be knocked out with even simple fabricated tools. I have no tools obviously, but this door was designed to open out, maximizing space in the tiny room yes, but also keeping the easiest method of escape from the one trapped inside. In other words, this room wasn't constructed to keep people out like a safe might, but to keep them in instead, the simple addition of a cot and a bucket making this the rough equivalent of solitary confinement in a prison.
This technically makes Alice my jailer, and I reflect back to just this morning, when she instructed me on the only proper way to present myself to her going forward. New crazy thoughts roll around inside my head while reviewing Jess' odd behavior this morning; "did Jess know about this room beforehand?" Anyway, my crazy unfocused mind is suddenly focused like a laser beam on a target as the single light goes off in the room, plunging it into total darkness as the bulb's illumination slowly fades to black. It seems like such a thing would be instantaneous, but there was an actual time associated with the bulb going off, all as I willed it to stay on. Go into a dark room, put a thick black blindfold on, and then close your eyes and cover everything with your hands; this was even darker than that! Dead silent and pitch black...
So in my mind one of two things just happened, either we just had a power outage with the storm outside knocking down a tree, which then just happened to hit a powerline, or Alice is standing just outside my jail cell's door with her hand on the switch, in effect toying with me. I feel the anxiety of helplessness building in my mind over the former, but then the logical part of me realizes the conditioned air is still flowing in the dark room, leading to the singular logical conclusion that Alice is standing just outside that door, telling me what is expected of me. I get to my knees, head down, hands as if they're handcuffed behind me, expecting to hear that door open at any second. I expect to not only be freed, but also punished for my curiosity, and Alice most certainly expects me to submit to such willingly too; I just know it.
"I remember elementary school, not my disciplinarian-principal specifically, but my third grade teacher turning the lights off to get the entire classes' attention when we were all going wild. It's as effective here now with Alice as it was all those years ago..."
I wait for what feels like an eternity - but in reality was probably only a minute - until the door rattles and opens, Alice my jailer looking in on me with a disappointed face as I risk looking up at her with just my eyes ever so sheepishly, her head shaking back and forth slightly. That door being opened, the flood of light invading my dark space has me feeling euphoric though, like there wasn't an earthly limit to my gratitude for the simple gesture of opening that door.
She just stands there with maybe a third of her body behind the mass of the door though, purposely in a well-leveraged position to close that heavy door on me again in an instant with as far away as I was. I'm on my knees, she'd easily have it closed before I ever got to it, but if I had been actually handcuffed, or leg shackled and handcuffed, even easier yet. I'm so elated to see that door open again that I risk an impertinence though, and I ask Alice if I'm in trouble.
She tells me I'm not, that both Miss Jessica and herself anticipated my curiosity, that the high probability was that I'd actually want to try out her little secure room with the door fully closed. She further tells me that the two had a little wager on the very subject. This also means Alice is speaking directly to me now, so I can legitimately lift my head and make full eye contact myself without further consequences.
"May I ask what the wager was ma'am?" I ask respectfully. "Did Jess bet on me, or against me?" I wonder.
"You kinda just did!" she observes with a chuckle. She's right obviously, it was a foolishly constructed question, and I feel a bit less than intelligent for asking it as I did. Truth be told though, there was a lot going on here with Alice, so much new ground to be covered, and deep down she also intimidated me just a bit. Now mixed in with all those conflicting emotions was the fact that there was also something sexual in Alice that I found alluring, deny it as I may; but then I had to wonder if it was actually Alice herself, or the omnipotent control Alice seemed to so easily have over me?
"Powerful and 'in-control' women do turn me on though" I remind myself, "even apparently ones that should be off-limits for my married self."
"So first things first, you have to trust me, trust that neither I, nor obviously Miss Jessica, have anything but good intentions towards you. Can we agree to that?" Alice asks.
I respectfully tell her that I can, but while also wondering at this proverbial "bitter pill" that's being suggested.
"This is what we called the 'meditation room,' although a bit 'tongue and cheek' to be honest. Imagine if friends and family ever learned that I locked my dearly departed Benjamin away in here for his own minor misbehavior, or even just on a pretense to center his thoughts? The deadbolts extend on the hinge side of the door too by the way," Alice proudly showed me this little detail herself, letting me know that any incarceration within, with all the bolts locked closed, was therefore most secure.
"As you may have guessed it's soundproof too, but if you pounded hard enough on the door, and I was actually down in the basement, I'd still likely hear it. A warning for you though, if you actually do that to my door and you're not dying, you may be very sorry!"
"Yes ma'am," I answer contritely.
"So, how to correct your own documented misbehavior? I obviously have your belt, and trust me when I say that I have a fair bit of experience with many different leather straps. But truthfully such stinging corrections aren't really appropriate here, nor are they my preference, and they likely won't give you any greater self-control either, which is what Miss Jessica desires for you. My special room however would allow you some necessary time for contemplation, so unless you're extremely claustrophobic or something like that, I propose a few hours inside my room to center your own thoughts instead."
"There is an obvious pattern here, I freely give Alice that which she then uses against me," I remind myself, but it's like a mild form of "slow-motion" torment as I can't alter the future once my actions set things in motion. Alice will do what she wishes, apparently what my Miss Jessica wishes as well; there's simply no point in resisting. The proof is in the renaming of my lovely wife to "Miss Jessica," so something a bit more elevating and formal I suppose. "A version of her single name too, the one she had before she married me and took my last name for her own" I also realize.
Despite the potential implications of Jess' new name here this entire situation has a bit of an "unserious" feel to it, but I'm also compelled by good manners to mind Alice, but being naked and caged makes that a bit easier too. I'm still a guest in Alice's fine home, and just as I could theoretically still leave - if not actually locked in her special room - she could just as easily give me the proverbial boot as well.
I honestly tell Alice that I'm not claustrophobic - lying to her seems unfathomable - but also that I think I might get tired of kneeling on the concrete floor. Both statements are easily seen as cooperative permission to proceed, so I'm bypassing yet another opportunity to tell both ladies that I don't like this; because secretly, deep down, I really do like being the center of both ladies' attention. So these are the tangible issues for me here, no this won't kill me, nor even harm me, hell it could even be fun if I knew for certain that Alice would let me out.
There's just "something" about this particular woman taking this kind of control over me, it's a near-sexual thrill to be handled so. So it's a mental incarceration as much as a physical one; but I also trust both ladies, and if they wanted me to have a certain experience; why not play along? Knowing Jess approves makes this easier, but I'm still curious as to the wager, and of course what specifically my lovely bride is up to at the moment.
Alice tells me kneeling on the concrete floor isn't quite what she and Miss Jessica had in mind, and I'm directed to stand up and fetch a few things from another part of the basement, namely a four inch thick foam wrestling mat with the rough dimensions of a single mattress, and a plastic bucket. "The addition of cuffs and leg irons would make this like the cliche maximum security solitary experience" I tell myself. I've seen the ads on-line, there are companies out there that offer this kind of an "experience," as in something similar where you get picked up, transported to a decommissioned "for-real" jail in the middle of nowhere, and spend the night, or even the whole weekend behind bars. So while I initially thought the fantasy of losing one's freedom was somewhat unique, those ads told me differently, and Alice's own private accommodations even confirms that such things aren't just a fringe kink either.
"Alice and her husband not only had these kinky desires, but they acted on them, decisively, in a fully invested way by building a very special room to accommodate their shared kink" I realized. I then imagine what it must be like to have such "personal" skills and not constructively use them any longer...
Alice is early-retired herself, in a "pillar of the community" kind of outwardly-appearing stability, she also has an educated and "comfortable with leadership" way of speaking, not to mention that she apparently lives quite comfortably. I therefore assume money wasn't one of her and Benjamin's problems in their happier times; so other than Alice's basement jail cell, she appears as normal as anybody; really somebody to aspire to emulate on so many levels.
"Does Jess want this kind of life for herself, her natural leadership coupled to anothers followership, and if so am I the one to help her achieve such?" I wonder. If so, Alice is like the perfect mentor for her, and that makes me her proverbial lump of clay - if I choose to continue to play along - to be formed and reformed as she sees fit throughout our - hopefully - long life together.
"You will stand there with your nose to the far wall until I return" Alice tells me sternly once back in my cell, so it's clear to me that she's back in full-authoritative mode with me again.
"Minutes or hours?" I wonder, but I stand there anyway with my hands clasped behind my back as she closes the door on me, her "don't go away" sarcasm a bit of a taunt to be sure. I feel like a fool, but I stand there anyway and listen to the ear-pop dead silence of the room as the heavy door closes behind me. She's left the light on for me at least, so a small gift I assume, but I also don't hear the other deadbolts being actuated either. It's odd, but so much of this new reality of mine is, so it almost has a feel of normality to it, at least without any other good options. "Normal," after all, is just what one is conditioned to; or I suppose in my case reconditioned to.
"Why have me get the bucket, or even the crude mattress, if I'm not allowed to use either of them?" I wonder.
So I've lost track of time here, with no sounds, nor even the traveling sun behind the heavy rain clouds, or dare I say my cellphone's clock and perpetual news updates, so I feel especially isolated and alone. But I also strangely feel at peace, it's a unique dichotomy to be sure. All too soon my peace is interrupted by the metallic clack of the door's mechanism, announcing that Alice has returned, all while I obediently still have my nose on the wall.
The door opens and I feel the swish of moving air accompanied by the thump of two soft-sounding objects being thrown into "my" room, but I dare not look. Alice asks me if I have moved, and I tell her honestly that I haven't, but I also have a feeling that she somehow knows this. "Camera; likely one that's very good in low light conditions, most certainly with a microphone too. How else would one be able to insure there wasn't some medical emergency happening inside this soundproof room with the door closed and bolted? I'm further assuming it's concealed within the light fixture; but where would Alice be watching the feed?" I wondered.
My silent questions and natural curiosity are interrupted by Alice telling me that I now have a wool blanket, a pillow, and wrapped up in my blanket are two water bottles. She further tells me that I'll have precisely one minute to arrange said items where I can find them easily, as she has no intention of wasting any electricity by leaving the light on...
"Yes ma'am," I reply, wondering if some quality time with my leather belt would have been a better option. The now familiar ear popping swoosh of the door comes next, the key rattling in the door knob's lock follows, the turn-over sounds heavy; something I haven't heard before. The top deadbolt is next, followed by the lower one, the sounds having a metallic finality to them. I'm simply here until released, presumably when Miss Jessica decides to come around to collect me... after doing whatever it was that seemed so important...