4 comments/ 15274 views/ 4 favorites Down to the Woods Ch. 01 By: BlackVelvetRose Caitlin awoke to the sound of music, a beautiful haunting melody on the violin... She was a slight young woman, lovely even dressed, as she was, in an everyday black t-shirt and jeans. The simple clothing showed off soft, full breasts that narrowed into a slender waist and gently rounded hips. Her clear, pale skin was a beautiful contrast to the ebony of her hair that fell softly to her shoulders, and when her eyelids slowly fluttered open, they revealed deep, brown eyes, as expressive as her sweet smile. Sitting up slowly, she realised that it was growing dark, and got to her feet, brushing fallen leaves from her trousers, picking one out of her hair. ...home...he'll be worried... she thought vaguely, and set off in the direction of the path. After a while, she realised that she was on the wrong track, but now she could hear a voice, singing softly, yearningly over the achingly beautiful notes of the violin. "...I must go walk the wood so wild, And wander here and there..." It couldn't hurt to find out who that singer was. And maybe he can tell me a quicker path back to the road, she told herself. "...In dred and deadly fere, For where I trusted, I am begheld..." As she made her way through the trees, they slowly became more sparse until she came out onto the grassy bank of a stream. "...And all for love of one..." On a small island in the middle of the stream sat a young man, slender fingers gracefully playing a beautiful violin. His hair was so blonde it was almost white, and the fine strands blew around his face in the slight breeze like thistledown in the wind. That same breeze caught the full sleeves of his slate-blue silken shirt, making them billow, and ruffled the swift-flowing waters around him on each side. "...Thus am I banished from my bliss, By craft and false pretence As one from joy were fledde As from my lief day by day I flee..." As she approached, he continued to play, continued to sing, and she felt herself get swept away in the music. She didn't dare speak for fear that he would stop, that the wonderful melody would be cut short, so she stopped, and sat down on the bank. The stream tugged at her toes, but that didn't seem to matter. "...And all for love of one..." His handsome face was turned to his violin, as if singing for the pleasure of his instrument, but now it turned, slowly, to face her. His smile was dazzling, and his lovely eyes were the colour of the sky after rain. He stood, graceful as a bird, never ceasing his song, and she felt compelled to stand with him, not heeding that she was now calf-deep in the swift-running stream. "...My bed shall be the greenwood tree The running stremes my drinke And acorns be my food When of your beauty I do think..." The sound was all around her, and as he walked towards her, sure-footed, leaving barely a ripple on the surface of the water, she walked to meet him. That song was so very, very beautiful... and she felt her thoughts growing misty. Then the stream-bed dropped sharply under her, and the strong currents dragged her down under the surface. "...And all for love of one..." The last thing Caitlin saw was his beautiful face looking down at her through a rippling curtain of water, bubbles erupting upwards, and then everything went black, and there was nothing but the song, clear and haunting even under water, as though he were right next to her... ~ * ~ Then it was cut off, abruptly, and she tried to breathe, but there was nothing but water all around her. She kicked wildly, trying to struggle back to the surface, but the water was dark, and she had no idea what was up and what was down, and her head was pounding and it felt like an iron band was crushing her lungs... ...then she felt cold lips on hers, and oxygen flooded her lungs. She opened her eyes to see large, luminous eyes in a pale, greenish face gazing back at her. The creature tilted its head, making masses of dark hair billow around it like a squid's ink. It raised a long-fingered hand to stroke her cheek, and she saw that its fingers were webbed. It pulled back from her in one swift motion, letting her see that it was female- the creature wore no clothes, and her skin shimmered like mother-of-pearl in the shafts of light that now filtered down from the surface. She opened her mouth, revealing sharp little teeth, and let out a keening cry that somehow travelled through the water, then, with a flick of her limbs she was beside Caitlin once more, tugging curiously at the girl's black shirt and jeans. Her shoes had already been kicked off, and the creature drew one cold finger up the bare sole of Caitlin's foot, making her gasp involuntarily, drawing in a mouthful of water. She began to choke, and kicked frantically, trying to reach the surface, but the nixie caught her wrist in one strong, long-fingered hand and pulled her down again. Placing one hand on either side of the girl's head, she placed her lips on Caitlin's once more, and ...breathed in the water that was choking her. Then she breathed oxygen into the girl's lungs once more, holding her upright. Dimly, Caitlin registered other slender shapes swimming towards them in the underwater dusk. She concentrated on making her one breath last for as long as she could, but realised they had now been joined by four other nixies, two females, two males, all with the same shimmering skin and clouds of dark hair, all eerily beautiful. They crowded round her now, ducking and weaving round her in curiosity, tugging at her clothes. One drew a finger down the length of her arm and she winced in pain- their nails were razor sharp. She felt another burning scratch along her thigh and looked down in alarm- one of the females had sliced right through the denim. She began to struggle in earnest now, but the graceful creatures laughingly evaded her feeble kicks, and the first nixie shook her head reproachfully at the girl, holding her shoulders tightly. They were playing with her now, circling her, darting in to slice at her clothes or her arms, and every so often the nixie holding her would give her another breath to hold onto for dear life. Her clothes were in tatters, and a half-hearted swipe from one of the females tore her shirt away as another cut through the waistband of her jeans, leaving her in her underwear. Her struggles were getting weaker, she was running out of energy with the small amount of oxygen her captor was allowing her. Then her underwear was mercilessly ripped away, leaving her exposed, her nipples pebbled from the cold of the water. Now that her clothes no longer hid her form, the creatures writhed around her, pulling her even lower and smearing the blood seeping from the small, stinging cuts all over her body. Then one bit her thigh, and as she cried out in pain and panic, the nixie holding her locked their mouths together in a vicious kiss, her sharp teeth scoring the girl's lips and tongue. She felt sharp teeth nipping at her calves, her ribs, and then one of the males was behind her, and the first nixie bent over Caitlin's shoulder to kiss him with the girl's blood still on her lips. She could feel the evidence of his arousal pressing hard and long against her back, and shuddered as he slid his hands up her sides to grasp her full breasts, digging in those sharp nails so that skeins of blood billowed from ten tiny, vicious wounds. Out of the corner of her eye she could see his lovely face pressed against her cheek, pale eyes closed as he licked at her skin. The nixies pulled her down even further, the light from the surface dwindling until Caitlin could see that they glowed with an eerie luminescence, and then they were on the bed of the lake... it must be a lake, no woodland stream ran this deep...and she was being pressed down, forced onto all fours. She was shaking in fear now, and began to struggle with all her might, but two of the other females grasped hold of her legs, effectively imprisoning her as he began to probe at her opening. Then he gave a satisfied grunt...and thrust. Caitlin screamed, bubbles erupting from her mouth as her body arched against the creatures holding her. Agony ripped through the centre of her being as the beautiful, merciless being pounded into her, his fingers digging cruelly into her tender breasts while her limbs were restrained by his unyielding kin. The one who had found her gave her another breath, then pulled away. Again and again he wracked her body with pain, the five creatures around them laughing at her terror, and then she felt her head being forced up, and looked up into the eyes of the second male, who knelt in front of her, long fingers wrapped around his own strong shaft. She shook her head desperately, but he forced her lips down onto it, causing bubbles of precious air to billow out of her mouth and bruising the back of her throat. She heard him hiss with pleasure as he began to thrust into her mouth, matching the pace and force of the other male. The pounding pain rose with a throbbing ache, and she began to feel the loss of air even more keenly. Just before she passed out, the male kneeling before her withdrew and kissed her deeply, breathing life back into her lungs. But that lightheaded feeling stayed with her, and somehow that tearing pain was dulling into a kind of twisted pleasure, and when the second male thrust into her mouth again, she could still feel the sensation of his lips on hers... Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her nixie (...why do I think of her as mine?) begin to kiss the female that was not holding her down, evidently bored of waiting for her turn. The other female responded fervently, kissing her back with wanton passion. She saw the nixie press the other female down into the silt of the lake bed, kissing her way down the other's neck to nip and suckle at her shimmering breast, making the nixie writhe beneath her. She slid a long-fingered hand down the female's side, tracing swirling spirals over that pearlescent skin until it found the hairless juncture of her thighs, urging them open to delve between them. The other female cried out, an eerie, inhuman sound that echoed through the water. ...and then the male behind Caitlin was pounding into her with a greater force than she had ever thought possible. She felt him pulsing inside her as he climaxed with a keening cry that mingled with the female's moans. The other male withdrew from her mouth and Caitlin collapsed to the lake bed, shaking,and raised her mouth gratefully to his as he bent to breathe more air into her lungs. She curled into a ball, miserable, stinging and aching from countless cuts and bruises, and stiffened when she felt the male move behind her to fit his body to hers. She tried to push herself away but he held her tightly, trapping her arms beneath his, and when he moved his hips, the tip of his questing shaft was directed not to her now ragged and painful slit, but the small, puckered opening behind it. It caught, and he thrust, and Caitlin screamed... ...it felt like she was being ripped in two. Even as one of the females came forward with another mouthful of air, she was fighting to get away, to rid her wracked and painful body of this agonising intruder, but he rolled over and pinned her to the lake bed. Again, she heard him hiss with pleasure as he ground into her, filling her with burning, excruciating pain, rocking her back and forth as his manhood tore at the tender opening that was never meant to withstand this torture, but it continued. She felt that iron band of pressure begin to close around her chest once more, and her thoughts began to cloud, and that hideous pain began to...change. The small part of herself that could still form thoughts fought against this shameful realisation. ...I can't be ...enjoying this...no, please no... ...but she was, and as her head began to throb, she slumped to the silt floor of the lake, letting the creature pounding so cruelly into her have his way...until he jerked, letting out a jagged cry, his nails raking painful scrapes in her sides as he arched his back and his seed pumped into her. His softening shaft slipped out of her mistreated body, and she lay there, shivering, and the edges of her vision began to fade to black... Then Caitlin felt herself being flipped onto her back. One of the females that had been pinioning her before rose up above her, flashed the girl a dazzling, sharp-toothed smile, and kissed her hungrily, breathing air into her lungs as she did so. She felt a spark of desire flare up as those cool, passionate lips closed over hers, and found herself kissing the creature back, even as she dragged in that precious breath. The nixie ran webbed fingers over the girl's pebbled nipples, sending a jolt of pleasure through her, and Caitlin raised her own hands to the shimmering breasts of the creature above her. ...maybe...if I keep them happy...they won't leave me to drown...she thought, trying to ignore the fact that she now wanted this so very, very badly...and as the nixie brought a thigh up between her legs, she shivered for an entirely different reason. Then she saw a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye, and saw that the first nixie and her...friend had become curious once more. They darted around her, and settled one on each side, and began to stroke her tender breasts as the nixie atop her continued to kiss her, licking at her tongue. She was vaguely conscious that their sharp nails were drawing blood once more, but the pain no longer seemed so...wrong, and as they each lowered their mouths to lick at her nipples, she ceased to think entirely as wave after wave of conflicting and mixing sensations washed over her. Somehow Caitlin's questing fingers slipped from the ardent nixie's breast to slide between her thighs, and she felt an immense satisfaction when the shimmering being writhed above her. Then she yelped as cruel fingers thrust between her own raw and tortured folds. They flicked and pinched and scraped at her tender, sensitive flesh, but through the pain, the girl felt something rising, yearning, and it hurt like nothing she had ever wanted so much... Then that wave of sensation crested, and broke, and a thousand ripples of glorious, painful pleasure washed through her, leaving her shaking and numb. Suddenly the nixies were gone, and she was alone, floating in dark water. It slowly sank in that she wasn't going to get another breath, that they wanted her to drown like this, bloody, bruised and violated... Caitlin held her breath until she could take it no longer, her vision began to cloud and her lungs expanded of their own accord, trying to drag in air that they believed she was withholding from them...and dragging in water. Everything went dark, and there was nothing but the pain, before that, too, faded into nothingness... Down to the Woods Ch. 02 Caitlin awoke to the sound of bubbling, rippling water. It took her a while to identify the sound... a stream... Then the pain hit her, and she moaned involuntarily, curling herself up into a ball. This made her wince, as her tender skin dragged over sandy earth. Everything ached, and as she blinked her eyes slowly open to the bright daylight, she could see that she was naked, covered in bloody cuts and dark bruises that marred the creamy white of her soft skin. ...why am I still alive... she thought to herself, gingerly dragging herself onto all fours. She was on the bank of a stream, the shelving beach she crouched on formed in opposition to the overhang cut out of the grassy bank across the stream, as it wound its way through the woods. Caitlin staggered to her feet, her utter mortification at her unclothed state only just outweighed by her need to find some kind of help in this unfamiliar place. It was then that she heard a soft voice, only just discernible over the inane babble of the stream, singing. She stood there, swaying, for a moment, torn between the recollection of the last time she followed such a song, and the faint hope that the singer might be able to provide some aid. In the end, she gave in, following the course of the shallow stream, between deep-cut banks, the cool water soothing on her scratched and bloody feet. As she grew nearer to the source of the singing, she began to see bubbles floating downstream towards her, from the direction of that voice. One frothy white clump brushed by her ankle, and she winced as the soap stung in her scratches. The voice was getting louder now, as though the unseen singer recognised that she had an audience, and Caitlin began to make out the words of her song. "...they setten down all three, Under a faire impe tree. That faire quene... ...and slepe upon y grene..." Yet again, she recognised some of the words, but the song still made no sense to her, though it was beautiful. As she rounded a corner of the stream, she caught a glimpse of white on the opposite bank, and drew back sharply before she could be seen. Peering through the roots of a tree that grew high up above her, overhanging the stream, Caitlin saw a young woman, dressed in a flowing green gown of an archaic style, apparently engaged in washing her laundry in a little pool aside from the main flow of the stream. She was beautiful- chestnut hair cascaded in glossy curls down her back, well below her waist, and as she lifted her head, wringing out whatever garment she was washing, Caitlin noticed her full lips, the colour of old English roses, and the palest hint of pink in her cheeks. Then her eye was caught by a splash of colour, dripping from the pristine linen that the maiden held in her white hands. Blood, dripping down into the stream, and mingling with the bubbles drifting towards her, turning them pink. She edged away, closer into the warm damp earth of the overhanging bank, loath to let that stream of bloody water touch even her feet. She tried to do it silently, but her hand, reaching out for support from the tree-roots behind her, knocked loose a clod of earth, which splashed into the stream with a loud gloop. The lady in the green dress looked up, revealing startling eyes, the same bright hue as her gown, under full, sweeping lashes. Dropping the half-washed garment in her hands, she rose swiftly, stepping sure-footed through the rippling water without bothering to lift the hem of her lovely dress, which floated around her in graceful folds. Caitlin shrank back into the relative shelter of the tree roots, praying she would not be noticed, suddenly certain that she would get no aid from this beautiful creature. She was not in luck, and soon found herself gazing into those deep emerald eyes. "Now, what have we here...?" the woman murmured, taking a firm hold on Caitlin's arm and pulling her gently out into the sunlight. The girl tried to resist, but the grip on her bruised arm hurt too much to struggle for long, so she stood up straight, doing her best to ignore the fact that she was naked and bloody and bruised, and met the woman's gaze. "...mortal?" The perfect, rose-pink lips curled into what would have been called a smile, had it reached her eyes. "The stromkarl said he'd sung down a pretty little thing for his nixie cousins. They must have enjoyed you..." Caitlin felt a soft finger brush over her breast, flicking over a nipple stiff from exposure and embarrassment, and winced. "...they don't normally leave them alive." Suddenly she laughed, and Caitlin caught a glimpse of sharp, white teeth as the woman turned, pulling Caitlin with her. The girl almost overbalanced, but caught herself in time, stumbling on the streambed after this strange creature. "Come along dear, you can't wander around the forest looking like that. Someone might take it as an invitation. Luckily for you I'm in a benevolent mood today." They turned the corner, and Caitlin saw that behind the washing pool was a snug cave, the opening draped with green velvet curtains embroidered in gold. The woman had released her arm to pull back one drape, and Caitlin hung back, somehow wary, but the cave interior did not seem at all sinister. There was a comfortable-looking bed set in a little alcove in the stone, and more bright hangings were draped around the sizeable room, making it feel more like the inside of a gypsy caravan than a hole in a hill. A small brazier obviously provided warmth on cooler nights, but there were no cooking implements or food to be seen. Caitlin stepped inside, warily, and sighed suddenly as her sore and aching feet sank into the warm comfort of a soft, sheepskin rug. Now sat on the bed, the green-eyed woman beckoned, smiling. "Come, sweetling, you'll have to trust me." "...Why?" It was the first word Caitlin had spoken in this beautiful, alien place, and it nearly came out as a croak- her throat was raw from silent screams and breathing water. "...what are you going to do with me?" Sighing in a slightly exasperated tone, the woman stood, stepping forward to meet Caitlin, her shoes clicking on the stone floor. "I'm going to make you well, dearling, if you'll only let me. I told you, I'm in a benevolent mood today." She flashed the girl a brilliant, razor-sharp smile, and before Caitlin could move, had dipped her head to a deep gash in the girl's shoulder, and licked at the wound. Caitlin cried out in alarm, and leaped back, stumbling on the rug as it shifted beneath her...as the pain in her shoulder numbed and faded. She landed hard on the floor, and whimpered as it brought a fresh wave of pain through her side. Looking up, she found those startling green eyes gazing down at her. "I'm not going to hurt you." She lowered her head once more to run her soft, warm tongue down the scratches in Caitlin's right arm, and as she did so, bruises faded, and the smaller wounds healed outright, leaving blissful...nothing... in their wake. The girl sighed as the pain melted away, and she sank into the soft curls of the rug beneath her. And as the pain disappeared, that warm, damp tongue licking down her arms, down her legs, over her scratched ribs and mauled breasts, it began to leave a sensation that was quite different... As the faerie's tongue swept over one peaked nipple, Caitlin gasped, eyes snapping open, and she sat up with a start, pushing the creature away. "Thankyou..." she murmured, hugging her knees, and the faerie woman laughed. "I'm not finished yet, sweetling. There's one last place that needs my attention..." and before Caitlin had the chance to protest or struggle, she found herself swept up in the woman's arms and deposited gently on the bed. Scrambling upright, Caitlin huddled in the corner, grabbing the coverlet to herself. "Please, just let me leave... let me beg a sheet or something and tell me how I get home? I'm grateful for the healing, truly I am...but I don't...I want..." She subsided into silence, and a solitary tear slid down her cheek. The creature stood before her sat down, swinging her legs up onto the bed. It was a strange motion, like she was crippled in some way, though you would never know it from her graceful walk. "I no longer know how, dearling." She leaned forward to brush the tear from Caitlin's cheek. "I haven't visited your world for many years, I have forgotten the paths, the way through the mists is closed to me now. I will tell you where you might find the stromkarl again- if he is disposed to be friendly, he might lead you back. And I shall not send you on your way unclothed, there are worse than nixies in these woods. But for now, I am not stopping until you are fit and well." Caitlin raised her head to protest, but the creature placed a slender finger to the girl's lips. "Until all of you is fit and well." As Caitlin looked into those deep, green eyes, she felt her resolve weakening, and the coverlet slipped from her fingers. "Now, will you be good? Or must I be less gentle with you?" Caitlin nodded, feeling slightly dazed, and the faerie woman bent her head to one of the few scratches remaining, a long, shallow cut sloping over the girl's stomach and between her legs. As she lay back once more, she felt her legs being nudged apart, and the touch of that gentle tongue licking lower, and lower, until the dull, burning soreness, the reminder of just what those nixies had done to her, began to fade, blissfully, and a quite different sensation rose in its place. She wanted to protest, to curl herself up into a ball and shut the world out, shut this woman out, but that flickering, stroking tongue felt so enchantingly wonderful as it swept up over her aching slit, and... "...oh...OH!" ...and darted inside. Caitlin found that her hands were somehow buried in those chestnut curls, soft as silk, her legs locked around that slender neck as that glorious tongue swirled inside her, healing the ravages of those beautiful, terrifying creatures, sending waves of pleasure through her quivering body. It felt like molten gold was running through her veins, warm and sparkling, tantalising, almost unbearable... ...but she couldn't. She shouldn't be enjoying this, surely this woman should have finished by now... ...oh...ohhhh...I have to stop her, have to...HAVE TO... ...and with a great effort, she managed to wrench her mind free of the fog of pleasure that dulled her thoughts even as it heightened her senses. She pushed that enchanting woman away from her, even as her body screamed at her in loss...or she tried to. Instead, she felt those slender fingers tighten around her thighs, nails digging into her flesh. "You still want to fight me?" whispered the faerie in something approaching a growl. "But you want this, dearling...every fibre of your being is begging for this...don't you want to know just how much pleasure I can give you?" She lowered her head to Caitlin's smooth stomach, kissing it lightly, moving up the girl's ribs, lipping at the curve of her heaving breasts. "..don't you want me to make you...scream..." and she fastened her lips to the girl's pebbled, rose-pink nipple, making her gasp. "...oh...No!" Caitlin managed to gasp out, and the fey creature laughed nastily. "No? Is that a lie?" She flicked a finger over the throbbing bud at the girl's very centre, making her writhe. "No!" she whimpered once more. "No? Are you lying to me, little one?" she asked, cruelly flicking that little nub once more. "No!" "Your body says you are. Your body wants this. It wants my tongue..." and she lowered her head to lick oh-so-gently up the girl's breast. "It wants my fingers..." she continued, thrusting two of them into Caitlin's dripping slit. "...no...please, no.." Caitlin moaned, her words little more than a breath in the air, eyes screwed shut, as if she could close out this pleasure that she should not be feeling. "No?" the woman said, and suddenly her voice was harsh. "Then maybe I should take you at your word. You don't want pleasure?" ...and suddenly Caitlin was filled with a fear that made her heart beat faster that even that woman's skilful tongue had. "Then I shall give you pain!" the fey creature hissed, eyes gleaming, and she sank her sharp, white teeth into the girl's slender throat. Caitlin screamed, and struggled, but her tormentor was surprisingly strong for one so slender, and pinned the girl's arms firmly to the bed, straddling her chest. Caitlin's scream of pain and shock ended in a sobbing whimper as she looked down to see her own blood running in rivulets down her left breast. The sharp pain of the double crescent of tiny wounds that marred her pale throat seemed to fill her whole world, and she barely registered the touch of the faerie's tongue as it caught up the bright beads trickling from the girl's neck. "Delicious..." she heard the faerie whisper, with a bloody smile. She felt the lip of a cold silver goblet held to the open gashes in her throat, blinked at the sight of those emerald eyes bright with hunger and desire, and let the red mist claim her as she fell into darkness... ...and opened her eyes once more, to find herself strung up by the ankles, tight cords binding her arms and legs as she swung slightly, her loose hair brushing the stone floor. She struggled, but her bonds held tight. The faerie woman was seated cross-legged on the sheepskin rug, her face level with Caitlin's own, sipping from a silver goblet and watching the girl with an impassionate eye. As she lowered the goblet, Caitlin's blood stained her lips red, and they curled up in a cruel smile. Completely disoriented, her head swimming from the pain in her neck and the blood rushing to her head, Caitlin managed to speak, her words barely audible. "Please... please let me down.." The woman set down the goblet, and regarded her thoughtfully. "No." Caitlin gasped in another breath, the blood from the still-open wound in her neck trickling down over her cheek, stinging in her eye. The woman stood up, her face rising out of Caitlin's line of vision until all she could see was the vivid green of the creature's embroidered skirts rippling towards her. "I invite you into my home," she said, standing so close that Caitlin turned her head aside to avoid brushing her gown. "I make you comfortable, tend your wounds, and offer you...unimaginable pleasure..." she continued, and Caitlin felt something long, narrow and unyielding tracing over the straining contours of her ribs. "And you dare to insult me so?" She stepped back. There was a crack, and Caitlin screamed as a line of white-hot pain streaked across her right breast. She struggled wildly, only succeeding in cracking her head against the stone wall of the cave, then fell limp, breathing in heaving sobs, the welt on her breast throbbing. Suddenly the willow switch cracked down an inch from her nose, and she froze in terror, tears mingling with the blood trickling over her brow into her hair. She heard the woman speak again, almost wistfully. "...and I was having such a lovely day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and a pretty little mortal landed in my lap. I was going to be so good to you...and then you had to go and spoil it!" A swish, and a crack, and Caitlin screamed again as that burning pain erupted along her left side, and with no flesh over her ribs, the pain was so much worse... "...please..." she sobbed. "...what do you want from me?" She felt cool fingers wrapping around her sore breast, and heard a swishing of fabric as the woman bent to look into Caitlin's eyes. There was no mirth in her gaze any longer, just cool, hard cruelty. "I want to hurt you." Her fingers tightened on Caitlin's breast, digging into the pain left by the switch, twisting painfully at the girl's nipple, making her cry out. As Caitlin's face twisted up in pain, she heard the woman give a short sound of annoyance, and a moment later, a slap to her left cheek snapped her head back into the wall. She felt a hand grab her hair, and tug it cruelly tight, holding her head in place. "LOOK at me when I'm talking to you!" Loath to do anything more to offend her, Caitlin bit her lip and kept her eyes on the woman's face, doing her best to ignore the pounding pain in her head, and the fact that it felt like a chunk of her hair was being pulled out by the roots. " That's better. Now, I want to hurt you, and there's nothing you can do about that, is there?" When Caitlin made no move to respond, the woman slapped her again. "IS THERE?" Gasping in pain, Caitlin shook her head, mumbling, "...no..." "I'm glad you know that. But how long this goes on for depends entirely upon you, my dear." She kissed the girl lightly on the lips, pausing to lick up a drop of blood from the girl's cheek, and stood up once more. This time, she did not pause, but swung the switch with a vicious accuracy, laying blow after cutting blow on the girl's pale thighs and belly, as though she wished to stripe every inch of Caitlin's tender skin with red. The girl cried out again and again, writhing and sobbing under the relentless onslaught. She wasn't even aware of the moment her wordless cries turned into begging, only that she just wanted this to end. "..please! Please, please...please..." Suddenly it did stop. She felt slender fingers trailing down her leg, over her hip and side to brush lightly over her breast. "What was that, dear? Please what?" Those gentle caresses felt like heaven after the cutting torment of the switch, but... "...please stop..." ...and another blow landed across her breast, biting deep enough to draw blood. "I will stop. Eventually." Caitlin's vision filled with green once more as the woman stepped forward to suck at the blood oozing from the girl's breast. "All you have to do is to apologise." Her tongue circled Caitlin's nipple. "Apologise like a good little mortal child for being so very...very rude to me." Her sharp, white teeth bit down once more, and she began to suck... and Caitlin whimpered as she felt a familiar thrill run through her core. The woman pulled free with a happy, lustful little gasp, and locked her hand in Caitlin's soft, black hair. Then she spoke again, almost thoughtfully... "...and I want to hear you beg, little one. I want to hear you beg for my touch, to hear you admit that you want me so very, very badly." She dropped to her knees, so that her face was on a level with Caitlin's once more. "Well, sweetling? Are you sorry for hurting my feelings?" A soft hand stroked Caitlin's cheek, and she instinctively leaned into the caress. "...yes.." she breathed, her head swimming with pain and...so strange... arousal... "I'm so sorry...I didn't mean..." "And don't you want me to forgive you? Don't you want..." and Caitlin found herself being kissed softly, sweetly...hungrily... "...don't you want me?" She heard an almost plaintive note in the woman's voice...the same woman who had wanted to cause her so much pain. "I...can't..." And another slap sent her head crashing back into the wall. As she swung wildly, the room span around her, and she screamed as the switch lashed her across the cheek, across the breasts, over her arms, her belly, her buttocks. Again and again it struck her, mercilessly, endlessly, and she screamed until her throat was raw. The welts crisscrossing her white skin dripped with blood, and by the time the switch broke, she had been begging for what seemed like forever. The faerie woman threw away the broken willow branch in disgust, and dropped down once more to gaze into Caitlin's eyes, her hand uncomfortably tight in the girl's hair. Down to the Woods Ch. 02 "Tell me," she hissed, her eyes mere inches from Caitlin's own. "Admit that you want me, that you long for me to make you feel things you've never felt before. ADMIT IT!" Sobbing, bloody, bruised and bound...Caitlin nodded. "I can't hear you, dearling...." the faerie sang softly. "...yes..." Caitlin breathed. "...yes...I want you..." Caitlin looked over her own shoulder in the mirror into the eyes of the strange woman behind her, smiling her thanks. The burnished silver of the mirror lent her features a strangeness of their own- it was as if the raven-tressed girl she saw was not herself, but some faerie maid, skin pale as milk, a soft wool gown moulding to the contours of her full breasts and slender waist, falling in graceful folds to the floor, the long sleeves tight to her slim arms. Her ebony hair tumbled in shining waves about her shoulders, and the deep forest green of the gown made her eyes seem an even richer brown. "No shoes, I am afraid," said her faerie friend, softly breaking Caitlin from her reverie. "I have no use for them, and therefore own none." "You don't?" Caitlin turned, confused. Maybe she had imagined the click of shoes on the stone of the cave floor- but before she could say more, the woman had ducked out of the cave, returning with a double handful of dry leaves a few moments later. Turning her back on the girl, she laid the bundle of leaves on the table and spoke some words that Caitlin could not quite hear. There was a subtle change, a little like a pressure drop that dulls your hearing for a moment... and as the woman turned back to her guest, she held in her hands an exquisite pair of brown leather shoes, stamped with a pattern of green vines. "There you are. They should last until you are home." Caitlin slipped on the shoes, grateful for the comfort and protection of the soft leather, and straightened to see the faerie woman beckoning to her from outside the small dwelling. "Come. I shall set you on the right path." She led the girl up a winding little path to the top of the high riverbank, and as the woman lifted her skirts so as not to tread on her embroidered hem, Caitlin caught a glimpse of shining cloven hooves, and short, curling fur the same glossy chestnut as the fey creature's curling locks. She hid her surprise well, and turned her gaze to follow the faerie's outstretched arm, pointing her down the hill along a narrow path that meandered lazily through the ancient trees, their gnarled and rugged roots often stretching right across the bare earth to the lush grass on the other side. "Now, I have no food to give you- yet another thing I have no use for- but nothing growing in these woods is poison to you- berries, mushrooms, nuts fallen from the tree- you should find enough of these to feed you." Caitlin smiled. "Thankyou. For the dress, and the shoes...and the healing." She paused, taking a breath, thinking to herself...I'm quite sure you could have been just as vicious as the nixies if I'd caught you in a bad mood...but she didn't voice that thought, suspecting it wasn't wise to offend this ally, fickle though she may be. "You're welcome, my dear," the woman replied, her green eyes gleaming, a predatory smile curling her lip as she leaned forward to kiss Caitlin goodbye. She lingered, her lips soft and warm against Caitlin's own, then with a flick of her tongue, drew back once more. "Well, you know your way. The path will take you past the stromkarl's river, and the pool where he plays. Take care, watch your tongue, and be respectful. Cyfan is older and more powerful than he looks." The lovely creature paused for a moment, cocking her head to one side as she looked thoughtfully at the girl. "But then, so are most of us." She chuckled softly. "And if you ever pass this way again...well, I believe I shall always have a soft spot for pretty little mortals. Do bring a friend next time." The smile on Caitlin's face strained slightly, but she nodded her thanks once more, and set off down the path, not sure if she was more relieved or nervous to be out of the company of the Lady of the Green Kirtle.