Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:09:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: "( )" <siktici@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Bath, Bed, and Beyond  Beyond Part II: The Test of a Master

Bath, Bed, and Beyond (No Relation to the Famous Chain of Stores) ^Ö
Beyond Part II: The Test of a Master

Siktici Copyright 2004

"I don't know what happened, Master," the boy said and looked as if
his world had come to an end.

"Don't you?" Gary asked.

"May I ask what happens now, Master?"

"No, you may not," Gary yelled. After such a long time of perfect
obedience, the boy truly didn't understand what fueled Gary's anger, or
perhaps, he didn't want to face the anger's true source. Yet, he knew
of the violation and knew the consequence.

"You must prepare for punishment," Gary said and lowered his head.

"Yes, My Master," the boy said and sat with his head down, his naked
boy shaking from the chilly air. Absently, he fingered the heavy chain
that tethered his heavy black collar to the dining table's leg. The
metal clinked against a dog dish that held cold scrambled eggs, water, a
hard buttermilk biscuit, leavings of the breakfast he had prepared for
Gary two days before.

Gary left wordlessly. He didn't really want to think about the
punishment, as he had a full day of work ahead of him. Yet, as he drove
the distant to the only tannery in the state, he knew he wouldn't think
of anything else.

Leaning against a pile of un-limed hides, he wondered why the rules had
to be strictly obeyed. Normally, he supervised the liming process, but
he needed to work hard and steady. Working with his hands, feeling the
pain in his muscles, made thinking less of a strain.

Actually, he didn't believe that the violation warranted such a severe
punishment; on the other hand, he fully understood the laws that governed
The Singularity. "If you accept the benefits of The Perfect
Knowledge," Marty once explained, "you must also accept the
consequences of misusing it."

"But the boy's misuse wasn't intentional," Gary thought. "He just
didn't understand the weight of what he had done." And as the day wore
on, and more hide waited for liming, tanning, and splitting, he recounted
how the boy brought about the violation.

******************

Gary woke to the squeak of the front door. He rose just in time to see
the clock stared back with green eyes 6:30 a.m. "Fuck," he muttered
and flopped back to sleep. A clink of chain against the dining room
chair, followed by a curse at pain, brought him to sitting and craning to
hear for more disturbances.

Again, a bump, another clink of chain, and Gary was out of bed with a
revolver in hand. He eased from the bedroom into a small hall that led
to the playroom or out to the living and dining rooms. Peeking around
the corner, Gary saw that all looked undisturbed. He moved quietly
through the dining room to see the light on over the stove and tried to
remember if he had left it on. Undoubtedly, the boy would have turned it
out before moving to the garage. As Gary moved to the threshold of the
kitchen, he heard another clink, the stumble of feet, and incoherent
mumbling.

He lowered to one knee and inched his hand to the kitchen's light
switch. On the count of three he quickly switched it on and pointed the
revolver in the direction of the movement. Against the refrigerator in a
tattered tee, and what look to Gary like muddy jeans, the boy sat swaying
and muttered.

Gary locked the revolver and sat it on the counter. Rising to standing,
he put his hands on his hips and looked at the pathetic sight. "The
fucker's drunk or high or something," he thought. And as soon as the
boy saw the disapproval stretching Gary's face, he began to cry.

"Oh, My Master, I have disgraced you."

"And how did you do that?" Gary asked, then raised a hand. I don't
want the full story now."

"I-I d-don't know..."

"Save it," Gary said and lifted the drunken man to his feet. A foul
smell of alcohol and vomit met Gary with such vengeance that he had to
move away his face. "Goddamn, boy, what the fuck did you do?" Gary
said exasperated and grabbed a handful of the boy's tee to pull him
toward the bathroom. Gary turned on the shower and shoved the boy under
its cold spray. The boy tried to throw blows, but his drunken state only
made his efforts comical.

"Just stand there and wash that crap off," Gary said, his patience
growing thin. Yet, he found the predicament more surprising than
anything, since the boy hadn't showed any signs that something was
wrong. Gary stripped away the wet clothing and turned the water to a
warmer temperature. The boy slowed his struggle, let his arms drop to
his side, but continued the incoherent mumbling.

"Wash up and take your drunk ass to bed," Gary said and stormed back to
his bed. But sleep didn't come; the night sounds seemed louder than
normal; and thoughts came to Gary's mind in a swirl of suspicion and
growing anger. The boy had a lot of explain to do.

Morning came quickly and came with the smell of coffee, bacon, and the
buttermilk biscuits Gary liked. He lay in bed, stroked his piss-inspired
hard-on, and played with the bull-size balls fuzzed in the same shocking
red as his buzz cut. But the boy's behavior flooded his mind and his
cock fell limp.

The boy moved quietly to Gary's bedside with a breakfast tray. He stood
avoiding Gary's eyes and waited for the command to place the tray across
Gary's lap. Gary looked at the boy's naked body and felt his cock
stir, but the anger starting to throb at his temple stifled any growing
horniness.

"Okay," Gary said.

The boy put down the tray and stood again with hands behind his back.
The chain swung aimlessly across his hairy torso that shook from the
chill of the air.

"Go to the garage," Gary said without looking up. "I'll call you
when I'm done."

"Yes, My Master."

"You don't get to call me that," Gary said. "Sir will do for now."

"Yes, Sir," the boy said, still looking straight ahead, but a single
tear traced its way to his chin. Gary briefly looked up to see the tear
dangling from the boy's chin and damped down a swell of emotion.

"Go, then," Gary said and returned to his breakfast. He didn't enjoy
the biscuits and eggs as he normally did. Anxiety took up too much room
in his stomach and the thoughts had filled his mind to capacity. He
didn't want to think about the punishment, but it had to be done. It
was the law of The Singularity, and all who knew its Perfect Knowledge
lived by it.

The week passed in thick silence. The boy went about his chores while
Gary read the paper, surfed, and watch college football. He suspended
sessions, as he remember rule number one of S-M: no sessions when a
problem had to be worked out. The anger would surely find its way into
any "play" envisioned. As Gary drifted off to sleep, Marty's words
enter his mind, "Go to The Singularity for the answer."

Work came and went, and Gary drove into the garage, ignoring the boy who
sat in the darkest corner with head down. He went to the bedroom,
quickly put on shorts and a tee, and head for the punching bag in the
playroom. Each punch pounded anger into the bag. He knew that he had to
rid himself of any negative emotion before proceeding with the boy's
punishment, but each time he let his arms fall to his side, visions of
the boy slumped beside the refrigerated flew to his mind's eye,
prompting a flurry of punches to the bag. He seemed to punch the bag for
hours; in fact, he had gone for at least two.

When he did regain composure, he went to the bathroom shucked off his
clothes, and hopped in the shower, where he stood under the hottest spray
he could stand. The sting of the hot water reddened his flesh and dulled
the thoughts in his head. Finally, they diminished to just whispers as
he breathed in clarity and purpose.

Next, he toweled off quickly and sat cross-legged on the bed. It was
time to move into The Singularity. With eyes closed, hands turned palm
up, he chanted the ancient words, sang the sweet melody, and let his mind
drift to the void of black infinity. In the distance a spiral moved
forward, its arms whirling toward him. He heard the familiar bee song
until the first of many arms approached. The men in their tunics
appeared, eyes closed, heads craned upward, singing the same sweet
melody.

When the spiral reached Gary, the center flashed before him. but nothing
could be seen. "You have not opened your mind to The Perfect
knowledge," the voices of the tunic men sang. "You must release the
block of anger within you. We feel it; it is painful too us. Breathe
deeply; open your mind and soul to us; and ask what you will."

Gary took deep breaths, continued his chant, and felt the blossoming of
his mind. Slowly the folds spread out the spiral, and a pink flow of
light moved into The Singularity.

"Now ask us what you will," the tunic men said.

Gary's chant increased as the ancient words telegraphically entered the
spiral.

"You know the rules of The Singularity," the men said. "Your duty is
clear. We do not understand why you summoned us."

"I cannot proceed," Gary said with his mind.

"Disrespect has breached your bond. The only way to repair it is
through punishment. Pain is cleansing, pain provokes learning, pain
saves us from ourselves."

"But I don't want..."

"You have no choice here. Do what is required of you or the bond
breaks, and you will be returned to you reality as it was: lifeless,
thoughtless, and meaningless. You will no longer be apart of us and you
will no longer experience the Perfect Knowledge." At this, the spiral
flash as if lit by fire. "Those who do not obey The Singularity brings
danger to us; this we cannot allow. You must choose. Do you
understand?"

Gary nodded.

"Swear your oat to The Singularity and leave us. We will know your
decision."

Gary chanted the ancient words and bowed his head. Again the spiral
flashed, but this time the center shimmered to a vision clear as if it
were an open window. Gary saw himself dressed in leather; saw the boy on
his knees and faced away; and in Gary's hand was a flogger, but this was
no ordinary flogger. Its strands were course and hard, and each end
twisted in a small knot. It was the vision he had dreaded, but one he
expected.

"It has to be done," the men in the tunic said. And for a last time,
the spiral flashed and sped back to its place in the void.

Gary opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and let the emotion overtake
him. Tears spilled over his cheeks and the heated anguish slicked his
body. He lay down and placed an arm over his eyes. It was time to
fulfill the order of The Singularity.

In the darkness of his corner, the boy heard a soft jingle, like wind
chimes that matched the gait of their owner: a slow almost ceremonious
gait. The boy saw that Gary wore the same tunic that the men had in The
Singularity. The tunic, slightly parted, revealed Gary's stiff horn
with its large ring slightly skimmed in precome.

Craning his head to the rafters, Gary stood in front of the boy chanted
the ancient words, "I stand before a violator of The Perfect Knowledge.
I understand my obligation. Those who disobey this knowledge must be
reborn," Gary sang in a solemn, yet slightly strained voice. He looked
into the eyes of the boy who saw the anguish mixed with resolve.

"Come," Gary said and pulled the chain on the boy's collar. As they
walked, the boy saw what he had heard. An anklet of small bells jangled
as Gary moved toward the playroom.

In the playroom, next to The Invader®, a large wooden cross leaned
against the wall. Cuffs hung from each of its arms, where symbols
unknown to the boy etched deeply into its wood. The symbols along the
arm of the cross met at a large spiral at the cross's center.

With a barely audible chant passing his lips, Gary led the boy to the
cross. He refused to meet the gaze of the boy, for doing so would break
the focus necessary to the carry out his obligation. Slowly and
deliberately he secured the restraints, and as a last act of shame, it
seemed to the boy, Gary removed the collar. From the table, Gary brought
a blindfold and gag. "These are non-negotiable," he said and put each
in place. The boy's fear that had lingered at the bottom of his stomach
lurched into his chest and slightly closed his throat.

Even if he wanted to protest, his need to repent overran any selfish
thoughts of getting out of the punishment. He had plenty of time to
think about what he had done, regardless of not explaining exactly what
it was. Yet, the boy knew that he didn't have to explain; Gary spotted
the violation as soon as he saw the boy slumped against the refrigerator.

Gary no longer saw the aura, its pink tendrils trailing brightly from the
boy's edges. Travelers to The Singularity lived in truth, and the pink
aura was evidence of that truth. For Gary, seeing its absence, made
discerning the violation quite easy.

The violation wasn't that the boy returned in a drunken state; Gary
could have forgiven that. The stench of another, the stench of a
nonbeliever had extinguished the boy's aura and corrupted his purity,
his sanctity. By the boy allowing himself to be soiled by such a person,
he breached the bond with Gary and the other members. The only way to
repair the breach, both the boy and Gary understood, was through
rebirth. In turn, the only way to achieve rebirth was through pain. And
this necessity of pain caused great anguish in Gary's heart.

Once Gary checked the security of the restraints, he began at the boy's
shoulders and rubbed the length of his back. He did this several times
before voicing a low tone, so low that the boy felt it in the basement of
his body. The tone rose in volume, and the boy wondered how Gary could
sustain it, but it continued, solidly low until the cross began to
vibrate. The warmth at its center radiated out to its arms, and had the
boy not been blindfolded, he would have seen the spiral at the cross's
center pulse a dim light until it glowed in dull yellow, on to orange,
then finally to red. As the spiral continued to glow its red eye, each
symbol on the cross's arms took on the same color. The cross began to
shake and its heat grew to an almost unbearable touch. The boy caved away
from the heat and pulled at the restraints until Gary's tone slowly
decreased.

"Look into The Singularity and despair!" Gary shouted.

In the boy's mind, a spiral flew quickly to him, flashed lightning from
its center, and grew in size. Its arms were absent of the men the boy
had seen before, and its color glowed in blood. A voice spoke from its
bloody center.

"Who dares to breach the bond of The Singularity," it asked in ancient
words, yet the boy understood.

"I have one who dares, Master," Gary said, not with his lips but with
his mind. The boy heard it, too, and his body began to shake in fear.

"What is your obligation to repair the breach?" The voice asked.

"Rebirth," Gary said.

"Is the violator worthy of this second chance? Can you be sure that a
second breach will not occur?"

"No, Master, I cannot," Gary said.

"You have answered correctly; or perhaps, you know your life and the
life of the violator depends on it?"

"Yes, Master, I am aware of our fates. I pray that you let me try
rebirth as the remedy."



"Very well, proceed," the voice said, "but if you fail, you and the
violator are banished forever. "

"Yes, Master, I understand," Gary said.

The boy listened as tears streamed his eyes. Even in his fear, he
didn't want to cause such problems for his master. He didn't know why
he had knowingly violated The Singularity and didn't know that his
consequences affected his master.

The spiral flashed a stroke of lightning and sped away.

Gary again took up the chant, causing the spiral and symbols to glow to
their brightest. "I began rebirth in the name of The Singularity. I
pray that we are redeemed," Gary said and let fly the flogger.

Pain clawed across the boy's back as if a panther had attacked. The
boy's cry, muffled by the gag, came as a long moan of agony. The sound
sat squarely in Gary's chest and caused an overwhelming feeling of
fatigue to overtake him.

"If rebirth is your aim, you are far from the task. Now proceed or
abandon your efforts," a voice said in Gary's mind.

Again, he let fly the flogger and flicked his wrist. The lash raised
welts on the boy's back. This wasn't a session where Gary could build
the intensity. Rebirth required his widest and strongest strokes. The
goal was cleansing pain if he was to save himself and the boy.

Another lash etched into the boy's flesh as he tried to escape the
restraints. He tried to breath through the searing pain, but nothing he
did lessen its intensity.

"Speak the words," the voice in Gary's mind ordered.

"Yes, My Master," Gary said, void of emotion.

"Look to The Singularity for your salvation," Gary said and let fly the
flogger.

"Harder! Instruct repentance!" the voice shouted.

"Give your soul to The Redeemer," Gary said and brought down another
lash. "You have breached the bond of a thousand years. You have broken
the circle of Power. You have violated the laws of The Singularity."

And the flogger came down again and again and again...

Lightning flashed simultaneously in Gary and boy's minds. "Why should
we forgive such a blatant act of insolence?" The voice asked.

"Speak to the Redeemer, boy," Gary said from his mind.

The boy didn't, couldn't respond. He boiled in the overwhelming pain
of at his back. Writhing through the heat of the flogger, and
desperately trying to free himself, he only focused on escaping THE PAIN!

"It is pain that sustain us, boy," Gary said and another lash
punctuated the statement.

"Pain cleanses us, boy." Another lash came down.

Each time Gary cited the instructions of repentance he brought down the
sting tendrils to the boy's now quivering and slightly bleeding flesh,
and each time Gary heard the sickening protest of the boy's flesh at the
flogger's attack, his stomach wrenched and his head swam.

"Say the words, boy, and the suffering will end," Gary said. Say the
ancient words that will end the pain. Say the words that will save us
from a life without The Singularity, a life without Perfect Knowledge."

"Say...the...words!"

"PAIN," screamed in Gary's mind. "I can't stand THE PAIN!"

"Save us, boy. Say the words."

Tears flowed from Gary's face as he continued to bring down the
flogger.

"Say...the...I CAN'T DO THIS!" Gary finally shouted and let the flogger
drop to his side.

At the same time the spiral sped to Gary and the boy's mind.

"What is this?" the voice asked. "Continue or be banished forever!"

"We choose BANISHMENT!" Gary shouted with his mind.

"Do you know what you seek?" the voice asked. "Those who have been
banished have not survived. Are you sure you want to take that
chance?"

"YES!" Gary said shouting as loudly in his mind as he could.

Then the boy's voice low and heavy with fatigue, whisper to Gary,
"Please, Master, do not sacrifice yourself for me."

Again the spiral flashed and lightning stroked from its center. The
voice that spoke of banishment began to slur. "If you do not continue,
your death is most certain."

"Continue, Master," the boy said. "Let me save you; I can endure the
pain."

"No," Gary said. "It's too much to bear. We must take our
chances."

"I could not live with that decision," the boy said.

And as he spoke both he and Gary noticed that the spiral began to slow;
voices from the voids in their mind began to sing in tatters; and the
sweet melody of the men riding the spiral, now sounded like warbled
dirge. Also, the boy and Gary noticed the brilliance of The Singularity
was starting the fade. Its light barely glowed in orange. The voice of
The Master continued to slur to the point that the words came as
intelligible.

"Master," the boy said, "I love you too much to let you do this."

And as soon as the boy spoke the words, The Singularity shone its most
brilliant, flickered a short circuit, and exploded into nothingness.

Gary opened his eyes and staggered to the boy. He quickly undid the
restraints and eased the boy to the floor. The boy's eyes fluttered
open and a weak smile crossed his face.

"Are we dead?" he asked.

"No, we are very much alive," Gary said.

"Oh, My Master, I have failed you. We are banished forever."

"Yes, we are, but you saved us. I didn't understand before, but you
save us with--with love.

Gary helped the boy to the bed. After gently swabbing the welts, and
sitting at his side, he stroked the boy's hair, and spoke words that
years ago slipped from his lips like silk. "I love you, Bernie."

The boy rose and looked at Gary with fascination. "It has been a long
time since you said my name, Master," he said and smiled.

"Yes, because I don't have a slave anymore," Gary said. I have a man
that I love, and I hope loves me."

"Yes, Master, I have always loved you."

"I truly didn't know until tonight. You saved us with that love, and I
want to keep you in my life as long as you want to be there, Bernie."

"Yes, Master," Bernie said.

"Will you do one more thing for me, then?" Gary asked and stroked the
side of the boy's sweaty face.

"Anything, Master."

"Call me Gary. My name is Gary."

The boy looked into Gary's eyes, saw the tears, and let fall his own.
"Yes...Gary," he said and repeated the name until he fell asleep in
Gary's lap.

EPILOGUE

Since that night, no voices and no flashes of a spiral had come into Gary
or Bernie's mind. Bernie's place had moved beside Gary, and although
their initial conversations began awkwardly for Bernie, he soon realized
that Gary no longer wanted a slave; he wanted a partner. Slowly they
began the life of a committed couple, and in another six months they will
be buying a house in the suburbs.

This ends the Bath, Bed, and Beyond series. I hope you enjoyed it as
much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any comments or suggestions
about the overall piece, please e-mail me at siktici@sbcglobal.net. I am
trying to improve my skills. Any comments (hopefully constructive) will
be very helpful to me.