Veronica Kingston Dark Mansions (M/F)

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The rain was pounding on the roof of the car. Lightning flashes lit up the sky and the mountains in the distance. I was driving through deep countryside so I made sure I paid full attention to the road ahead. I had the car radio on. 'The Shadow' was saving some dame from a brain transplant. 'The Shadow knows' I murmured to myself in a deep voice. Just two hours before I’d been sitting in my dry office when I had a call.
‘Hello Veronica Kingston Private Investigations’ I said to the man at the other end of the line. It was a prospective client who had mislaid his daughter. He was an old colonel who agreed to pay me just to come and talk it over. I decided to take the case so I drove out to meet him. The storm had set in for the night as I was driving to his address some forty miles out of town. By my reckoning I had another five miles to go when peering into the gloom I could see the outline of a large old house looming up ahead. It looked lost and alone in the dark countryside. Just then the car lurched violently and I fought to control it. It ended up by the side of the road with a flat. I got out and ran for the house through the heavy rain. As I passed through the large metal gates at the entrance I noticed the sign 'Dark Mansions'. I hoped I would find a telephone.

There was no answer to my knock so I pushed the front door open and walked in. It looked semi-derelict but at least it was dry. I was wearing a dark navy suit jacket with smart matching slacks and wondered whether the rain or the dust would inflict the most damage. I went into the nearest room and tried a light switch. It worked and cast a dim glow over the sparsely furnished room.
‘Well someone must be here if the electricity is on’ I said out loud to myself. I started to holler 'Hello! Anyone home!' but the house was silent aside from a patter of rain on the windows.
I walked around in a vain search for a telephone drawing the odd circle in the furniture dust with my finger. Then I noticed a couple of books stacked on a shelf. They were horror story anthologies. I thought about the horror movie cliché of the lone young woman who goes into the old dark house at night all by herself. I always thought she was a sap but now I was playing out the role. I decided to make myself at home and settled down in an armchair with one of the books to pass the time. The chair was surprisingly comfortable and I was soon feeling warmly sleepy. I imagined myself bound with the curtain cords and gagged by a creeper as a menacing voice boomed 'what evil lurks in the hearts of men' and I began to fall asleep. I had a dim awareness of something in the room and I snapped awake as the smell of chloroform hit me but I slipped into a dark pit before I could resist.

When I came around I found myself in a small workroom lined with shelves holding tools and equipment. I assumed it was somewhere else in the house. I was tied to a plank balanced between two chairs. Coils of strong hemp rope had been repeatedly criss-crossed around me from my ankles to my shoulders firmly pinning my arms to my sides. I glanced around the room and in the semi-darkness saw an evil looking man grinning at me. He had a strange skull like face that sent chills down my spine. I fought the urge to scream my head off.
‘Good evening my dear.’ said the skull.
‘Good evening yourself. Would you mind letting me loose please!’
‘Would you care to explain why you are here?’
‘My car broke down. I’m a private detective. I was on my way to meet a client.’ I spluttered.
‘So no one knows where you are? he asked.
‘Actually yes they do. I telephoned the local police and asked them to send someone to pick me up.’
The man smiled at my feeble lie. ‘Clutching at straws Miss Kingston? There is no telephone in the house. I think you are quite alone and nobody knows you are here’
‘How did you know my name?’ I demanded.
‘How disappointing. You do not remember me?’
How could I forget that face! It all came vividly back into focus.
‘Dr Arlen Clay!’ I exclaimed.
‘That’s better!’ He clapped his hands.
My mind filled with a terrible apprehension. ‘But that’s impossible. You are in a state institution for the criminally insane.’
‘Well evidently not my little lady detective! Like you I arrived at this house quite by accident. Did you not hear about my escape? Perhaps it takes too long for news to come out of Idaho but I am so very pleased to see you here.’ he said with sadistic relish!
I struggled against the restraints. I was in serious trouble!
‘Let me go! Help! Help me! Someone help!’ I shouted at the top of my voice.
Clay laughed and came over. I winced as he stroked my hair.
‘Now please do not make so much noise. No one lives around here so there is no one to rescue you. I have you pinned like a butterfly to a board and I intend to enjoy our reunion.' He came closer. 'Do you remember why it was that I was imprisoned?’
I thought back to the case three years ago.
‘I remember that you were monkeying around with peoples’ nerves or something like that. It drove them insane’
‘You are not being very scientific but that is essentially true.' He stood over me and continued 'I was working on certain drugs which would increase the sensitivity of the nerve endings like a reverse anaesthetic. My work was curtained thanks to a meddlesome private detective!'
'Nothing personal!' I replied.
'Maybe not for you!' He laughed. 'Tonight I shall demonstrate my techniques. I have continued my research in this quiet place and I have managed to produce some startling results’
I strained against the ropes holding me down but Clay had me bound up good and tight. I was completely helpless in the power of this most fiendish of villains!
‘While you were unconscious I injected you with a mixture of chemicals which will gradually increase the sensitivity of your skin. As the drugs begin to work even the most delicate touch will become painful. The effects are not permanent but will temporarily render the victim susceptible to the most exquisite torture. Now to test the treatment I have designed this instrument.’
Clay produced a metronome-like apparatus. There was a stiff feather attached to the pendulum. As instruments of torture went it didn't look too bad. He pulled a small table over and positioned it near to my feet. He gradually moved it into position so the feather would brush against my soles. A small length of string was carefully wound around my big toes so I couldn’t move my feet. He gently pushed the pendulum and it began to move quickly - backwards and forwards.
I soon realised that I was feeling much more sensitive to touch.
‘Hey that tickles. Ha Ha Ha! Ha Ha Ha! Ohhhh! Hahahaha!’ My feet were lightly brushed by the feather and I couldn’t control my laughter.
‘Soon my dear it may not be so pleasant. I shall check on your progress shortly.’
Clay shambled out of the room leaving me helpless with the feather tickling my soles. I tried to position my feet so the feather didn’t catch them but it was futile! Clay had pulled all the coiled ropes tight and I was held fast. The feather brushed the sensitive arches of my soles every second and I was soon gasping for breath through my laughter.
‘Hahahaha! Oh my! Hahahaha! Get back in here! Clay! Clay! This is driving me mad! Hahahaha!’ I pleaded with my captor.
Long minutes went by and I began to feel a tingling in my skin and I realized that Clay's formula was taking more effect. Suddenly I felt my skin quiver and my hairs stand on end.
‘Ohhhhhh! Ohhhhhh! Hahahaha! Hahahaha!’ I wildly bucked in the restraints as the tickling felt so much more intense. ‘Hahahaha! Clay! Please! You’ve made your point! Get me out of this! Hahahaha! For pity’s sake! Hahahaha! Ahhhhhhhh! Ohhhh!’ My voice sounded more desperate as it reverberated around the empty room.
I began to panic as the drugs continued to sensitize my nerve ends. The tickling feather was becoming unbearable and feeling hotter on my vulnerable soles.
‘Hahahaha! Hahahaha! Ahhhhhh! Hahahaha! Clay! Stop this! Ahhhhhh!’ I begged.
I pushed and pulled against the ropes and realised that I could gradually move the plank slightly with enough effort.
'Ahhhhh! The torture! The torture! Ahhhhhh!' I sobbed for mercy from my captor!
I strained my whole body to drag the plank toward the edge of the chair but it was slow work.
‘Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhh! I can’t take this anymore! Ahhhhhhhhh! You're killing me! Please! Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhh!'
After a frantic struggle I pulled the plank clear of the chair and it crashed to the floor pulling my feet away from the dreadful torment! The fall to the ground had loosened the ropes and I somehow managed to wriggle free. I found my shoes then I made my way back to the front room to retrieve my handbag. I pulled out my gun and decided to turn the tables on my tormentor.
'I'm going to kill him for this.' I said out loud.
Just then I heard a floorboard creak and Clay was in the doorway. I raised my gun.
‘Don’t make me shoot you Clay!’
He moved towards me. There was a smile on his face.
‘That was very clever of you to escape but I’m afraid....’
I pulled the trigger. There was only an empty click. I tried again then dropped the useless gun. He had removed the bullets!
‘I’m afraid that we haven’t quite finished the experiment’.
I screamed then woke up in the armchair. I blinked in the cold light of the new dawn and remembered where I was. I glanced at my watch. It was 7.00 am and I realised that the rain had stopped. I stood up and straightened up my clothes. I still had an appointment to keep!
‘I think it is time to check out of this hotel!’ I said as I picked up my handbag and walked out to inspect the car.

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