The Voice - Part Thirteen

(warning: contains non-consensual sex)

From the day he discovered where she lived and what her last name was, Lester made plans. He followed her as often as he could, noting all the things she did and when she did them, all the food she bought, all the people she met.

Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Sonia went to the gym between eight and nine PM. The gym was one of those trendy affairs on Upper Street, with lots of gleaming chrome and loud dance music blaring. They had free bottled water at the towel desk and, just before she left, Sonia would always grab one and drink it while walking to work.

Thursday evening, after her visit to the gym, before she went to work.

Lester had inherited the house of Upper Brook Street from his mother. One of the very few houses that hadn't been broken up into flats, it was enormous and mostly unused. No one had even been up to the top floor in years and it took him several weeks to clean the rooms, repair the window casings that the damp had eroded, and install the various safeguards, including a locking gate at the top of the landing.

He surveyed the room with the dormer window and smiled in satisfaction. The bathroom was old but still functional, the room itself was small but pleasant, and the window, set high up on the wall, looked out onto the rooftops of Mayfair. He put in new glass, the shatterproof kind they used in schools and hospitals, and installed bars.

The door had to be replaced. It was fine as doors went, but a couple of good hard kicks would have splintered it. He'd bought and hung a new one made of thick metal and installed a deadbolt lock that turned only with a key on either side of the door.

The bed was freshly made and old bathroom was clean. It had pained him to remove the mirror because he imagined her looking at herself in it and the thought made him very hard. But a mirror could be broken and the glass of it used to make trouble. Now he trailed his fingertips over all his various works, and felt proud.

Lester bought other things too. It would take Sonia a while, he reasoned, to understand that her life had changed and, during that time, it was important that she shouldn't hurt herself, or him. Because, after all, who would take care of her?

The shop he went to, to buy the restraints, was frightening to him. They didn't just sell restraints; they sold all sorts of horrible things too. Masks and uniforms, whips and other awful things that hurt. The woman behind the counter tried to be nice to him, but he didn't understand half of what she was saying to him.

"I only need some restraints - comfortable ones - for hands and feet. I don't want to hurt her. Just make her feel secure."

"Well," the woman said, grinning at him. "I've got just the thing. These just came in new, from America."

The things she showed him looked cruel. They were black and had metal buckles on them, the edges felt like they'd hurt. He shook his head to everything she showed him until she pulled out a pair of cuffs made of blue nylon. At least they weren't evil looking. He bought two pairs, some longer nylon straps to go with them.

"Will that be all?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Are you sure? This has just come in from Germany," she said, grabbing a box from the glass case behind her till. "It's getting rave reviews. Apparently, she'll love you for it."

"What is it?"

"It's a radio controlled vibe. Not like the old ones, this one really works. Strong too. I tried one myself and, I have to say, I just adore it."

"What does it do?"

The woman laughed. It was a nasty, tinny laugh, just like the one his mother had. "Well, it makes her come, silly!"

"How?"

"With the remote," she said, speaking to him as if he were stupid. She opened the box and pulled out a small, black wand. "Just like the remote on a telly. You push the button, and it sends her into a fit of ecstasy. You can make her your sex slave with this, I promise."

Lester didn't like the way she talked about Sonia. He didn't like the sales woman at all. But having something that would send Sonia into fits of ecstasy couldn't be a bad thing. He bought it, along with the restraints.

On Thursday morning, he took the train out to Heathrow and rented a car, getting back into town by noon. At four in the afternoon, he finished the last of his tasks: he opened a small bottle of Evian and dropped the contents of three sleeping capsules into it. They had been his mother's and were now a year beyond their expiry date, but he was sure they'd still work. The bitch had been good for something, after all. Painstakingly, he glued each of the tiny tabs on the plastic seal back together. Now all Lester had to do was wait.

At eight thirty PM, he drove to Angel Islington and parked the car in the lot behind the Sainsbury's. He arrived at the gym by quarter to nine, wearing a t-shirt and a pair of track pants, and carrying a gym bag. No one even asked him for a membership card. He watched Sonia finish her workout and go into the ladies changing room, and waited the ten minutes it would take her to have a shower. At five to nine, he pushed the five bottles of water behind the towel counter and replaced them with the one he'd brought in his bag.

He hovered by the counter, with his hand possessively on the bottle until he saw her exit the changing room door. Then he stood back and watched as she swept by, grabbing the bottle as she passed. As she pushed through the glass doors, and out onto the street, Lester saw her twist the cap off and take the first, long drink. Sometimes, life was just like magic.

An overwhelming sense of destiny overtook him as he followed her down the street. She strode down Upper Street, her printed cotton skirt fluttering in the breeze, the tail of her blouse doing the same. She was ethereal as she swung her arms in the warm night air.

Two blocks down, she finished the water and threw the empty bottle in a rubbish bin. Lester carefully retrieved it and had to hurry to catch up to her.

Her pace slowed a little as she reached Angel station and, as she turned off Upper Street, she stumbled as if her feet were made of lead. Lester caught up to her and was only a few paces behind her when she stopped and steadied herself against a wall.

"Are you alright?"

She turned and looked at him groggily. "Um...not really. I'm feeling very dizzy."

Then she closed her eyes and slid down the wall. Lester picked her up quickly, slipping an arm around her waist. "It's alright... you'll be fine. Can you walk?"

"I...I don't know," she slurred. "I feel so... oh... strange."

Not a single person inquired about her as Lester carried her into the parking lot. It was as if they were invisible. It was destiny.

 

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