The Center (Houdini and Nurse_K)

Brendan looked down at the pretty girl on her hands and knees as he closed the cage. Things seemed to be working out fairly well, he thought. Every time she seemed to be getting confident and emboldened, she had been doled out a portion of humiliation, not the least of which was the small 'cell' she was assigned. "Look, I know it's not much space, but we can probably get you something bigger tomorrow if you do OK.", he offered, almost apologetically. He looked over at the rail thin, topless blonde next door and remarked, "This one will be here a while, though. She bit her corrections officer while he was trying to punish her."

As he walked away, he looked down at his PDA, noticing readings indicating shame and sadness, with a bit of anger tossed in. "About right for the first night", he thought to himself. He also could bring up a live feed of Elsa's cell if he wished to, since there was a microscopic camera embedded in the wall across from her cell, monitoring her every activity.

A few minutes later, a young, thin orderly with trays of food started to head down the cell block, making his way towards Elsa. As he approached, he uncovered a plastic plate, steam rising from it, divided into three sections, with some chicken strips, peas, and salad in the respective divisions. He also poured a plastic cup full with water. "Are you hungry?", he asked her in a monotone voice.
 
She was determined to do 'OK' for the night so that she would get a bigger cell tomorrow. Being in a dog cage was absolutely horrible. She glanced over at the blonde girl again, it was hard to believe that such a small frail thing like that could cause any real pain from biting. But she supposed that her frame spoke nothing about her teeth. She sighed after Brendan left, sitting there staring at the wall for a little while. She could think of nothing to do. Well, there was nothing to do. She certainly wasn't going to speak to the biting girl and she wasn't tired.

She was actually a little happy when the orderly came around. "Yes sir," she said politely when he asked her if she was hungry. She wanted no reason for him to be angry at her and not give her food. She obviously hadn't eaten all day and was very hungry. The food even looked better than she had expected it to. She'd thought it would be a bowl of pig slop or something.
 
"Well I'll tell you what", he replied more energetically. "I like getting a good look at the new girls around here. I think you're officer has been too kind to you so far. So I'll trade you - your bra top for dinner", he said with a mean grin, stooped over and leering at her, still holding the food in one hand.
 
Her eyes grew wide and her heat began to thump. Was he trying to blackmail her? Give up something to eat? She swallowed nervously and stared at him for a few seconds, unable to speak. She opened her mouth once and then closed it. She clenched her fists together and then shook her head, "No. You're not my officer. You can't punish me." she spoke through gritted teeth, prepared to suffer through the night without food. She wasn't going to degrade herself for some worthless orderly.
 
The young orderly looked down at Elsa, crouched in her cage, and sneered at her "Suit yourself," before he turned away and rolled off with his cart. He seemed quite disappointed that he hadn't gotten to see what he wanted from Elsa. "Maybe tomorrow night it will cost you everything if you want to eat", he said as he walked away. He had thought about opening the cage and trying to punish Elsa herself, but he knew, sadly, that he wasn't allowed to give punishments, and didn't want to risk his job.

Meanwhile, Brendan turned on the closed circuit feed on his large monitor in his office and took a look at Elsa's cell. The orderly had already left by this time, and he wondered why Elsa wasn't eating. He thought about going down to check on her, but for the moment, continued to watch for another minute or two, before getting to some paperwork. She had the button to page him if she needed to, he thought.

As much as he tried to concentrate on his paperwork, his mind kept drifting off to Elsa down in her cell. Not in terms of how he might best punish her, but how she must feel down there. He did his best to put those thoughts out of his mind and finish his office work.
 
She glared at him as he rolled away with his cart, the food that was supposed to be hers still sitting there. And for a moment, she wasn't just mad at the orderly, she was also angry at Brendan. Didn't he have his little PDA thing? Couldn't he see that she was upset? Wouldn't he want to know why? Once the orderly was gone she growled angrily and banged her fists against the metal cage. He didn't care. He wanted her to suffer, she knew that he was just putting on a front. He was probably going to beat her senseless the next day for even believing that he might know kindness.

The anger flared up inside of her so much that she almost couldn't contain it. Her face turned red with fury and she clenched her fists so tightly that she thought her skin might begin to split. She'd never really allowed herself to be angry about her sentence, she'd always pushed it away. But now she was angry. She growled again and flung herself backwards onto her back. She rolled over onto her side and curled up into the fetal position. Tears welled up in her eyes but she kept them in. She would not cry because of this. She knew now, too, that she would not be calling Brendan tonight, no matter how much she needed something.
 
Brendan dozed off at his desk for a short while, once he got tired of his paperwork. But he was awakened from his nap shortly before midnight by a page from an inmate. It wasn't Elsa, it was another woman who had been there for some time, and didn't need too much attention from him anymore, but unfortunately, had lost many privileges, and apparently wanted something. As he strolled back down, he checked his PDA, viewing the information on several inmates. He was intrigued to see that 'anger' was off the charts for Elsa. He wondered what happened.

After escorting his other charge to the bathroom, he decided to go check on Elsa, since he was nearby. It was usually against his policy to check on the needs of an inmate, unless he was paged, or of course. It could lead to a subtle shift in the power perception between them.

As he approached her cell, he saw only her feet near the opening. He leaned down, placing his hands on the top of the cell. "So what's going on?", he asked.
 
She sat up slowly when he came to her cell. Luckily the tears had long since gone from her eyes and she had just been laying there stewing in her anger. She gave him a nasty look as she sat up, drawing her legs up to her chest. "The orderly thought he'd punish me himself. He told me to take off my bra or he wouldn't give me the food. I said no, he left with the food." she shrugged, "I'm dealing with it." she didn't want special treatment from Brendan, he would expect something back from her then, and she had nothing that she would or wanted to give him.

She laid back down again, keeping her legs pulled up. She hadn't paged Brendan, she didn't want him to be there. She closed her eyes, determined to force herself into sleep.
 
Brendan was actually a little annoyed that someone else had tried to punish his inmate. "Listen", he said, leaning his weight on the top of her cell, seeing her anger evident in her expression. "He wasn't supposed to do that, although I'm sure the warden wouldn't care. If I wanted to be a jerk about it, I would have him ask for your top and bottom in exchange for breakfast."

He mulled his options for a moment, unsure if Elsa had lay down to snub him, or whether she was hiding some more tears. She was a proud girl, he thought. She clearly hated to show weakness by crying, he thought, and chose starvation over humiliation. "Can you just sit up for a minute?", he asked her. "I'll go get your dinner for you. It probably won't be warm anymore, but nevertheless, it's food." And this doesn't mean you should expect anything more or less from me going forward", he warned. "I just don't like him overstepping his bounds. Having food withheld is perfectly allowable, but I don't think you deserved it, although you are being a little rude to me right now.", he told her.
 
"If you bring it, I'm not going to eat it." she said stubbornly, remaining there on the ground. She didn't care what his motives were in bringing her the food, she didn't want it anymore. She had chosen not to humiliate herself for the orderly and so she couldn't eat dinner. Once she made a decision she never went back on it, no matter how badly she wanted to. If she was told to get naked for breakfast, then she wouldn't eat breakfast either. She would starve herself before submitting herself to that kind of humiliation.

She wasn't trying to get on Brendan's bad side, she wasn't trying to disobey him. She was sticking by her moral code, and she wasn't going to break that just so she could eat. She could leave without eating for awhile. And if she couldn't, then she would just die. She didn't want to cause problems, but she also hadn't called Brendan to come to her cell. He'd come by himself, and if he hadn't, then they wouldn't be having this problem.
 
"Whatever you say. I'm obviously not going to bother then", he shot back, a bit miffed that what he viewed as a kind offer had been rebuffed. "I was just trying to be a human being. Clearly, you don't view me as one. This really is not the place to be proud or stubborn. You ought to take what you can get. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

He stood up and headed back to his office. He had planned to fall back asleep and get some needed rest in the cot he kept there for nights like this, but tossed and turned sleeplessly. Should he punish Elsa for her rejection of his offer?, he wondered as he lay in sleeplessness. As much as he felt worse for punishing her that he usually did with other inmates, he realized that something would be needed. After all, the other inmates had overheard Elsa proudly refuse his generous offer. She had to be taught to respect him. She hadn't even offered a simple "Thank You" after all, before refusing. As his eyes finally grew weary, he looked over in the shadows at the leash and gag that sat on one of his tables. He would get up early, and oversee her breakfast, he decided.
 
She shrugged as he chided her and walked away. She watched him silently as he made his way down the hallway until he disappeared. She sighed once he was gone and tightened her legs up around her more, trying to block out the entire world. Sadness began to overtake her as she laid there until she finally fell asleep. It was a dreamless sleep and a restless sleep, it was more like just existing in her unconciousness. She wondered if there would be a bell or a buzzer to wake the prisoners in the morning, however soon that would be.

(Sorry it's short. It's like an interlude post)
 
Sleep overtook Brendan shortly afterward, and considering he was on the job, he had a pleasant sleep. He woke at the sound of the alarm in his office at 7:00 AM, and headed into a full bathroom that was attached to the office, for nights like this where he stayed over. He took a quick shower after starting his coffee machine on his desk, shaved, ran a comb through his hair, and splashed on some aftershave. He dressed in a new uniform, khakis and a blue button-up shirt. The corrections officers at the center were expected to have a bit more of a professional look, since they were more than simple guards. He took a few sips of his coffee before setting it down on his desk, and leaving the room.

He headed down to the cell block, carrying the leather leash and collar that were on his desk. Once he got to the end of Elsa's row, he stooped over, looking inside to find the underwear-clad felon sleeping on the floor of the cell. It would be an overstatement to call her sleep peaceful, but she was sleeping. He knocked on the bars. "Elsa, wake up," he called out at a moderate volume. He swung the door of her cell open. "Come on out, Elsa. I imagine you must be both hungry, and in need of the bathroom."

((No problem. Welcome back. xD))
 
She didn't hear him come down the hall or even knock on the bars. When she heard his voice she woke, her eyes fluttering open as her muscles tensed up. She immediately went into defense mode, her teeth gritting and her eyes narrowing, almost like a feral animal. At first, she didn't know where she was. Her eyes scanned the ground and the other cell she was facing as she hadn't moved. Then she remembered. Her muscles untensed and she sat up slowly, her stomach growling loudly. She did have to use the bathroom, and badly. She looked up at him for a moment and then crawled out of the cage onto the cold cement floor. She shivered and then stood up, glancing up at him again.

Her face was full of guilt and sadness, her anger was gone. "I am hungry and I do need the bathroom....please," her please sounded awkward but somehow she felt it was necessary for her to add it at the end. She saw the leash and collar in his hand and her eyes widened a little and her heart rate sped up. He was really going to treat her like a dog.
 
He listened to her request, the pride that existed at his midnight visit all but gone. The need to eat and use the bathroom tended to do that to inmates. "I hope your first night at the Center wasn't too unpleasant, Elsa. And since you asked so nicely, I'm going to take you to use the bathroom." He opened the leather collar and placed it around the neck of the anxious-looking girl. "If you hadn't been so rude to me last night, I wouldn't have to use this," he explained. "When you talk like that to me in front of the other inmates, it will make them all think they can act that way, if they don't see discipline happen as a result." He nudged her with a pull of the leash to head past all the other cells.

He stopped again for a moment after they had traveled about halfway down the cell block. He knew that once using the bathroom was mentioned, taking taking their time getting there, and making needless delays only made the urge worse. "You know, staying at the center requires either a submissive personality, or at least the ability to act that way. Pride won't get you very far." Once he had finished his statement, he led the way slowly on again.
 
She cringed when he clasped the leather collar around her neck. It wasn't horribly tight, but every time she swallowed or moved her neck she could feel the leather move against her. She walked as briskly as she could when he nudged her, wanting to get to the bathroom as quickly as possible. They'd gone only a few steps when she realized that he was delaying on purpose. He wanted her to suffer for being rude to him.

She nodded slightly when he told her the rules about submissiveness, knowing that she had a lot of pride and that it was incredibly difficult for her to be submissive in any way. She was going to have to try extremely hard to keep a submissive front up, she was going to have to bury all of the anger and hate that would inevitably rise up inside of her. She could see the door to the bathroom in the distance and strained toward it, but he kept gently pulling her back. She didn't resist, going as slowly as he made her. She began to fidget a little, to the point where she would give up something just to be able to pee.
 
As they started walking again, he noticed Elsa squirm and fidget with her legs and feet, and realized how badly she had to go. Once the got to the entrance of the bathroom designated for use by inmates whose cells did not have one, he stopped again at the door, looking at her eyes wildly darting towards the bathroom.

"You really have to go, don't you?" he said, stating the obvious. He reached down and lightly scratched her stomach just above the top of her panties. "You really could have rang for me during the night. This unpleasantness could have all been avoided." With that, he reached up towards her collar, fumbling with it a little bit. "Hold still so I can take the leash off and let you in," he said. Finally, he unhooked the leash, leaving the collar in place. "Go ahead inside and come back out here once you're done," he instructed.
 
She was fidgeting wildly by the time they finally reached the bathroom door. She nodded silently when he stated the obvious, only slightly irritated that he would say something like that. When he scratched her stomach she was completely thrown off. She gasped and tightened her muscles, giving a small whimper afterwards. She knew that she had just shown a huge weakness, having slightly ticklish sensitive skin. She held still for only as long as it took him to undo the leash and then bolted towards the door.

She went inside and did her business, taking a little time but not anything excessive. She heaved a huge sigh of relief when she was done, washing her hands with the cheap soap that was in there afterwards. She tried not to think about what he had said, about how if she had just been nice to him he wouldn't have made her wait like this. She shook her head once to get the thoughts away and then opened the bathroom door, seeing him still standing there with the leash. "Thank you," she said awkwardly.
 
He was surprised at how ticklish Elsa was, as she writhed vigorously at his touch. He waited a few minutes for her to come out, and was surprised to hear her thank him for being able to use the bathroom. "You're welcome," he replied. She seemed to be reverting back to her ways of the day before, trying to play along with everything that came her way. Maybe she had listened to his little bit about being submissive, although he doubted it, since it seemed like all she had on her mind at the time was having to pee. "I'm going to have to put this back on you again," he told her, holding up the leash. After he fastened it back to the collar, he led her in a different direction, away from her cell.

After walking down a few corridors, they approached one with only several metal doors lining the corridor. He led her to one, with a sign on it stating "vacant". He flipped it around to read "in use" and opened the heavy door, leading her inside. "We're going to spend a while here, Elsa," he told her. He flipped on the light to illuminate the large, dark room. Inside were a wood table and some chairs, then beyond that, a padded table and chair with restraints built in, the table similar to the one the doctor's office had the previous day. There were also a number of hooks on the ceiling, floor, and walls, as well as a railing around the room. It clearly could be used for punishments. Brendan pulled out a wood chair from the table. "Have a seat," he told Elsa. "You're going to have breakfast first."
 
She cringed when he clasped the leash back on to the collar, again feeling like a dog. She really was a dog in every way -- she slept in a cage, was walked on a leash, had to be let out to use the bathroom, and was scratched by her 'owner'. The only privilege she seemed to have was the ability to walk upright (except when she was crawling out of her cage). She followed him as he led her in a different direction, looking around to try to make sure she knew the route so that if something were to happen she wouldn't get lost. When they got to the door that said "vacant" her blood ran cold. Before he even opened the door she knew she wasn't going to like what was inside.

When he did open it, she nearly fainted. It was like a high tech dungeon, a torture chamber. She swallowed nervously and backed up a couple of steps, but she was straining against her leash. She glanced at him once and then looked away, not wanting him to see her fear. She walked over to the wooden chair and sat in it, her legs pressed together and her arms curled around her stomach.
 
"Don't be too alarmed," he told her as she sat down. "Although the point of this room is to intimidate. I'm not planning to use this room to its full potential with you. As you can see, it's quite multi-purpose. These rooms can be used for almost any kind of discipline, training, or testing necessary here at the Center." He observed her fear from her body language, her body trying to curl up a bit in the chair. "I won't even tickle you again, okay," he added with a chuckle, feeling a bit bad that she was so scared. He stepped closer to her, removing both the leash and the collar and setting them on a small table. "I think this has served its purpose. Your attitude is much better this morning," he said rather pompously.

"The first lesson that I have scheduled for today is quite mental. It's imposed upon all prisoners here within their first few days, and now is as good a time as any, since I'm sure you're quite hungry, thanks to last night's incident." He opened a drawer and pulled out a blue gag. "Open up wide," he commanded, draping it in front of her face.
 
She only half listened to him when he spoke about the purposes of the room. She didn't really want to know what its purposes were, because then she would think about them, and she would feel punished even if she wasn't. She also wasn't very fond of his pompous attitude, like he had conquered her or something, which was ridiculous. She was a prisoner, she didn't really have much choice in her actions.

She was very hungry but she wasn't looking forward to this game he seemed to be presenting to her. She stared at the blue gag for a moment and then opened her mouth as wide as she could, looking at him dubiously. Why couldn't he just let her eat? Everything had to be a lesson or a punishment and even though she'd only been here a day, she was tired of it.
 
Brendan next tightened the gag until it was deep in her mouth, forcing her jaws wide open, but filling it completely at the same time. He took a key card, and held it next to the back of the gag, locking it in place. As there wasn't really the possibility of conversation now, he quickly left the room, leaving Elsa to rest on her chair, alone with her thoughts. "I'll be right back," he said, locking the door behind him.

He walked through the cold corridors, his footsteps echoing down the halls, not towards the inmate kitchen, but the one designed for the guards. He had the cook quickly make a ham-and-cheese omelette, with potato wedges on the side, a glass of orange juice, and two slices of toast. As he carried it back on a tray, he thought about how difficult it would be for her to see the food and not be able to eat it. He thought that he had fought off the feelings of trying to empathize with Elsa the previous day, but they seemed to keep returning. The hurt look that constantly appeared in her eyes seemed to have an effect on him, as if he were betraying some duty to protect her. In actuality, he did feel in a sense responsible for protecting his charges, but he never seemed to put himself in their place so much as with the pretty girl waiting for him now.

He unlocked the door and walked in, trying to avoid eye contact with her. He set the tray, complete with silverware and a napkin, down in front of her. "Your breakfast, Elsa. I guess you might wish now that you had paid the price for dinner last night?" Of course, she couldn't answer him any more than she could bring the food to her starved mouth, the aroma of the hearty meal wafting through the dank air.
 
She gagged a little when he shoved the gag into her mouth, which she figured was more than appropriate as it was a gag after all. Her eyes began to water and she blinked rapidly as to stop them from flowing over, she didn't want him to think that he was making her cry. It was a physical reaction to the gag, she wasn't upset. Well, she was, sort of, but she was going to try her absolute hardest not to show her fear or pain.

She breathed a small sigh of relief when he left the room, at least she was alone for a little while. He hadn't cuffed her hands so she touched the gag gingerly, afraid that it would explode or be pushed even deeper into her mouth. She sighed and tilted her head back, staring up at the blindingly white ceiling. The seconds seems to tick by horribly slowly, she felt like he had been alone in the room for hours and hours.

When he came back in she sat up straight, a strange surge of excitement flowing through her. When she saw the food the excitement grew and her eyes grew wide in anticipation. But then she remembered the gag in her mouth. When he began to speak the excitement slowly drained from her face and was replaced with sadness and pain. She looked from the food to him several times and then down at the ground, she couldn't communicate and she couldn't move much. This, more than even having to strip for the orderly, made her incredibly sad. This demonstrated punishment for her crime.
 
As he set the tray down, he saw Elsa perk up with anticipation and excitement at the sight of the food, before realizing that she would be unable to eat it at the moment. He knew seconds would seem like minutes with the food so close now. As the food created an involuntary salivation on her part, he observed a little bit of saliva come down her bottom lip, as she was unable to close her lips to keep it in. He handed her an extra napkin. "To wipe your mouth," he explained.

He sat across the table from her in an identical wood chair, daring to look into her eyes now. Those beautiful honey brown eyes were opened wide, like a sad puppy, pleading silently with him for the food. "You know, you're going to get to eat this. Just not now. I don't want you starving to death." He scooted the legs of his chair back a little from the table, folding his hands behind his head. "You may think that we're just doing this for kicks, but if you think about it, it's a lesson that ties in directly with your crime. You didn't show any restraint when you stole that car, instead of being patient, and earning it slowly working an honest job, even though maybe you needed the money. This is a lesson on holding back, even when you want something desperately."

He stood up and walked towards the door. "I've seen guards leave inmates like this for hours, until noontime. But I'm sure I won't leave you that long. Like I said, you've been pretty good this morning. So I'll be back in a little while."
 
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