Out in the van, Sarah got in the passenger seat, and Brian took off the jacket before getting in. He had Sarah pass him the guns, and he put both shoulder holsters on, then covered them up with the jacket. Once in the van, he practiced drawing them a few times, then nodded to himself and started it up.
He thought about driving past once, just to get the scope of it, but then decided not. He didn't want to give away the advantage of surprise when someone other than Brad was seen behind the wheel.
There was an open spot out front, so he pulled in to it and shut the van off.
“Stay out here for two minutes, then come inside like everything is normal.” Brian told her. He went up the walk and entered without knocking, using one of the extra keys on the ring that Brad had given him with the van.
“Who the fuck are you?” asked a man sitting on a chair, lust inside.
“Brad sold me his van.” Brian said. “Are we going to have a problem?”
“Hey, I got no problem.” the man said, sizing Brian up. He could easily spot the pistols hiding beneath the suit jacket. He knew those guns well. “Ain't my pay scale.”
Just then, Sarah came in.
“Hi, Joe.” she said brightly. “I'm home.”
“Hi, Sarah, welcome back!” Joe smiled. “Your room is just how you left it.”
“Thanks, Joe.” Sarah said, giving him a hug. “It's really good to be back; I missed this everyone so much!”
“Sarah, the rules have changed, remember?” Brian said, gently. “You're allowed to visit your sister now.”
“What the fuck?” Joe asked.
Brian turned on him, and the anger was back. Immediately, and with full force. He swallowed hard, then decided to let his guard down for a single second and give the van control, just to see what it would do.
A tenth of that second was spent drawing the gun out of the left holster. Two tenths were spent bringing the weapon to bear on Joe's face, and the remainder was spent while Joe blinked a few times, standing as still as he knew how.
“Brad retired to Europe.” Brain said. “He sold me his van this morning before he left. The keys to these houses were on the ring, so I'm assuming responsibility for them, too. Is there a problem?”
“Nope, not a single one.” Joe said, sweating. “Eddie might have a problem, but not me.”
“Right.” Brian said, un-cocking the pistol and putting it back away. “I suggest you not question me again.”
“Yes sir, I'll remember that, sir.” Joe said, with new respect in his eyes. That draw had been faster than anything he'd ever seen.
“Joe, do me a favor and call all the girls into the living room, please.” Brian said. Joe went over to an intercom and hesitated before pushing a button.
“Both houses, sir?” he asked. Brian nodded, so he pushed the button and spole.
“Attention, ladies. Please come to the living room at 418.” he said. “You have one minute. Come as you are.”
There was a sudden flurry of motion and a swarm of girls came downstairs together, herding into the living room and chattering excitedly. Three seconds later, the front door burst open and another group of girls swept in, bathrobes and evening wear on pretty much all of them. The din in the living room tripled.
Brian went and stood in the doorway, his arms folded across his chest and a stern look on his face. Sarah was standing meekly behind him.
“Go take your place, Sarah.” he told her, and she scurried to an empty spot on the couch with a big smile on her face. At the sound of his voice, a sudden hush fell over the room and every eye turned toward him.
He did a quick head count and saw that there were a total of sixteen girls in there. The oldest look to be in her early twenties, and the youngest he recognized as a girl from his own class who had dropped out unexpectedly in the third week of the year and never heard from again.
“Hello, Marissa.” he said quietly. She jumped, startled that he knew her name, and then she recognized him, sort of. His appearance had changed so much!
“Brian? Brian Matthews?” she asked, astounded.
“It's me.” he said, grinning. “Are you sure you don't want to go to the Spring Dance with me?”
“Oh my God!” she whispered. Her old life seemed such a distant memory, and it had only been a few months since... since she'd been a virgin.
“Don't worry, I'm your new Master.” he told her. “All of your have a new Master now.” he said to the room. A little buzz started up at that, but one look from him was all it took to silence it.
“I'm driving the van.” he told them. “It tried to drive me, but I'm much stronger than the van. I'm stronger than you, too; all of you alone and all of you together, I'm stronger than you. Test me, and you WILL fail. I promise. And if there's one thing I have in common with Brad, it's that I keep my promises.”
“With a new Master come new rules.” he told them. “That means the old rules no longer apply, and you may respectfully ask respectful questions of me. All outstanding punishments are hereby canceled.”
Sarah raised her hand and asked a question that she already knew the answer to, so she could show the other girls how it should be done properly. Brian nodded and smiled at her, indicating that she may speak.
“If punishments are canceled, that means I may visit with my sister?” she asked.
Brian smiled wider. 'That is correct. You may sit beside Heather right now if would like.”
Sarah practically darted over to the other couch and sat next to her identical twin sister, who had tears of joy in her face.
Heather was afraid to take her eyes off Brian, afraid she would displease him somehow and this fragile bubble of happiness she lived in would burst. His voice was like music to her ears, however, and it wouldn't stop playing.
“In fact,” he said, “Since you two haven't seen each other in so long, you are both dismissed from duties for the rest of the day and may be together.”
The two sisters weren't the only ones crying tears of happiness. There was hardly a dry eye in the room.
“Now, on to the unpleasantness.” he continued. “I know for a fact that every one of you has punishment money due to Brad. Every single one of you, and I know how much they are. I hereby command you to bring me half it it, in a nondescript bag. You have fifteen minutes to return to this room with it.”
In less than one minute the whole room was empty, save Sarah. In less than five minutes, everyone was back, and there were 15 duffle bags and day packs in the middle of the room.
“The other half of the punishment money is yours to keep.” he told them. “Go shopping with it. Buy stuff for yourselves, stuff that you want. No cars, and only one third of the money may be spent on lingerie for men to look at.”
“Andrea, would you come here, please?” Brian asked one of the girls. She was about twenty, with long dark hair and brilliant green eyes. She had the most modest clothing on as well. Instead of push up or half-cup bras, she was wearing an opaque red kimono, fully closed. Nothing could hide the hourglass of her figure, and anything she wore would be sexy, even gray sweats. Small wonder she was here.
“Andrea, you were tricked into the van, weren't you?” he asked gently. “You didn't go over to it by yourself, did you? Brad brought you to his van and didn't tell you what would happen once you got in.”
“Yes, that's true.” she said, her eyes tearing up. “It was the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
“Do you want to be free?” he asked. She looked at him hopefully. “Do you want to take your punishment money and walk away from this life forever?”
“Is that possible?” she asked.
“I think so.” he said. “For your sake, I truly hope so. I know how much you don't want to be here. I know how much taking you would strengthen me, and I'm not willing to pay that price, even if Brad was.”
Brian led her to the door and out to the van. Inside, he made her kneel before him, while he sat in the Captain's chair. He took a dog collar and leash out of his pocket, something he'd brought with him from Rebecca's house. Their terrier could get new ones, if she didn't have a spare already.
He took the kimono off her, exposing her nakedness as she knelt, then buckled the collar around her neck. I was blue and studded with fake gemstones.
“Brad took you, but I own you now.” he told her. “Sayit, if it's true.”
“Brad took me, and you own me now.” she repeated. He clipped the shiny metal chain leash to the collar at the throat, then ran his hand the length of the chain to find the leather handle, letting her feel the tug of it.
“I own your mouth, your pussy, and your ass.” he smiled at her. “I own your heart, mind, and soul, too.”
“Yes sir.” she said, then he got up and led her out of the van and back into the house.
“Kneel.” he ordered her, pointing to a spot in the middle of the floor. He made a show of putting the leash on the floor in front of her, then went over to the biggest duffel bag and zipped it open. He took her day pack out of the pile and pit it into the duffel and brought it over to her.
He picked up her leash and showed her the handle. “I'm going to remove that collar forever, if you wish.”
She looked at him, pleading. “No, I need it.” she said. 'Please don't take it off.”
“If you need it, then I won't.” he said. “What I will do is this.”
He handed her the leather handle. “You may give this to whomever you wish. You may also take it back and give it to someone else, if the first one wasn't a good Master. Go up to your room and pack, and if you cannot find a good Master, you may return here and present yourself to me. Go to your room and pack. In one week, if you're not back, another girl will be living in your room and there will be no place for you here.”
To his great surprise, when he went out to the van with his first load of money bags, he was surprised to see a girl sitting in the passenger seat, looking anxious. Brian threw the side door open, startling her.
“Hello, can I help you?” he smiled at her. She was young, maybe seventeen at the oldest, still in high school for sure. This city had nine high schools, though, so it was no surprise he didn't recognize her.
“I sure hope so.” she said, licking her lips. “I saw this van across the street when I was walking home from school, and I couldn't help myself. I'm sorry, I know I'm not supposed to be over here, my Mom has told me a million times, and it always scared me before, but today... I was scared at all, and the feeling I had inside me... I just had to come over here and sit in it.”
Her words came all in a gush, and she seemed unable to stem the flow.
“I know it's... naughty to sit in a stranger's van, mister, but I couldn't help myself. I'll do whatever you want to make up for it.” Her eyes flicked to the back, where the bed was.
“How old are you, and what's your name?” he asked, starting the van.
“I'm Morgan Miller and I'll be seventeen next July.” she said.
“Next July? You know it's September, right? That means you just turned sixteen.”
“Yes sir.” she said, hanging her head in shame. “I'm sorry I lied.”
“Hey!” he said sharply, making her look at him. “You're not a liar, especially to me, got it?”
“Yes sir.” she said, shivering.
“Where do you live?” he asked her. She pointed at the house on the end of this street, the only one on the other side. A fire had swept through the neighbourhood a decade ago, and it had never been rebuilt, just the blackened shells torn down.