Descent Into Darkness Read Online Free PDF

was doing.
     
    “The key for that girl is the only one not on you,” he explained powerfully, manhandling her back upright onto the impossibly high heels. Clipping a leash to the ring in front of her collar, he started to tug her towards the door of the room.
     
    Thoughts of being taken through the hotel horrified Katarina. She fought properly for the first time, leaning back and pulling against him with all the strength she could summon, desperate to remain within the relative haven that was her hotel room. With an increasing pressure on her neck, she felt herself being slowly dragged forward, heels snagging on the carpet. Her balance now her priority as the last semblance of dignity under her own control, she was unable to resist and was drawn inexorably towards the door by the chain attached to her neck.
     
    “The remaining key is taped to the front wheel, carriage eight of the overnight express to the city. It leaves at .... oh, 5:30pm. That’s thirty minutes if you really want release. This is your single chance at freedom, girl. Reach the train, get the key and you are free. Fail and I keep you.”
     
    The information hit her like a sledgehammer. The station was about two kilometres from her hotel; she knew that having walked from it yesterday when the bus dropped her off. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem but trussed as she was, time was already tight and her mind raced while he looped the leash over the hook on the back of the door, holding her in position.
     
    The thick leather of her collar prevented her watching as Immelmann strode into the bathroom but the cold of the water he poured over the leather laces in her corset and boots heralded his return.
     
    “The water will shrink the laces. It will make your journey all the more interesting as your corset and boots grip you all the tighter,” he explained in the same matter of fact way he would explain directions to a stranger on the street. The attention to every detail of her discomfort led her further down towards despair and as the excess water pooled onto the carpet, he prepared her for the world that waited beyond the door.
     
    First sunglasses were put carefully over her eyes; those outsize Jackie Onassis ones that had been resurrected by misguided fashionistas, large and dark enough to cover the many secrets that her eyes could reveal. This was followed by a large bulky coat that shapelessly covered her, hiding both her stunning figure and her dire situation beneath a shroud from neck to ankle, the arms cleverly stuffed and then stitched into the side pockets to resemble her own.
     
    Leaning back to survey his work and his prize, a nod saw him stretch beyond her. Material started to wrap around her neck and lower face, covering the gag. Turn after tight turn, tucking, knotting, tying, this silken scarf would ensure social acceptability was preserved.
     
    A wide-brimmed hat was crammed onto her head, leaving her earplugs in plain sight. He knew they wouldn't be questioned though. To the casual observer she would appear to be nothing more than a lady protectively bundled up against the cold, warmed by her own musical choice through her earplugs, hurrying through rush hour in the seedy part of town that surrounded the station in a bid to catch her train.
     
    Her preparation was finally finished. She had no money to catch a cab and no means to communicate anyway so her fate now lay on her ability to get to the station. With a grim determination, Katarina resolved to succeed, to show him, make that train and win her promised freedom, even if she had to crawl there in those damn boots.

CHAPTER III - The Outside World
     
    As h e swung the door open, Katarina tottered after it, attached as she still was to the hook on its inside. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the familiar hotel corridor yawn before her. Now though, it was not simply a route to the lift. Now it somehow seemed darker, the lights barely penetrating the gloom, more