A Tangled Web Ch. 01

For Vera this was nearly all too much but she had burnt all her bridges and, if she backed out now she would never get in, the only option was to swallow her pride and do as she was told. She leaned forward and lowered herself down until she was lying full length on the ground. She shivered as the water seeped though her clothes and onto her skin; it wasn't only her stockings that were ruined now, her dress, even her undergarments were fast getting soaked by the foul liquids that the rain had washed into the street. Desperately she sought out the words. Madam Hong had ordered her to beg and had called her names.

"Please, Madam Hong, this round eye filth begs to be allows in your club," she tried.

"And if I let you in will you do exactly as you're told?" Madam Hong stood, her toes just in front of Vera's eyes.

"Yes, yes, of course, Madam Hong."

"Very sweet, very sweet indeed. Maybe I will buy you a drink," Xui-Li laughed as she made some signal to her guards and turned towards the door, which was instantly opened. As she swept into the club the guards grabbed Vera by the arms and lifted her up, frogmarching her inside. Xui-Li obviously had some importance, as she was bustled straight through to a semi private area at the back of the club. Her coat was removed and she sat down on a long couch. Vera, held by a guard at either side, stood in front of her.

Xui-Li was all too aware of how to humble and humiliate; she had suffered both many times at the hands of the English. This girl before her had already lost most of her pride but she still had some dignity; that would be next to go. Still distrusting the girl's motives, Xui-Li moved on to the next step. She turned towards Vera. "You had best strip, my dear; we can't have you lounging around in filthy rags like these."

"What, here?" Vera asked, amazed. "But... but...."

"In my club you obey my orders," Xui-Li snapped. "I seem to remember you agreeing to that - or maybe you'd like to be thrown back in the gutter where you belong."

Vera took off her hat, shoes and coat, that was easy enough, but she was being watched with an air of anticipation by not just Madam Hong but the guards as well. Her nerve nearly cracked but, as she looked around for an escape she realised she had painted herself into a corner; she had no option but to continue.

"Come along now," Xui-Lig ordered, "or perhaps you need some assistance?"

"No... no... I'll do it." Vera reached for the buttons of her dress and started to undo them. In the quiet little alcove you could have heard a pin drop, all eyes were firmly fixed on her. Taking her courage in both hands she peeled off her dress to expose her corset, chemise and bloomers underneath. She handed the dress to one of the guards who whipped it away. Blushing deeply from being so exposed in front of all these strangers, she unfastened her corset and handed it over. Her ruined stockings followed and now her modesty was protected by the light silk of her chemise and bloomers. She crossed her hands over her chest; surely this was enough.

"Very pretty, very pretty indeed but if you're going to prove you're worthy of my time then the rest will have to go."

"I can't. Please, I can't." Tears started in Vera's eyes as an overwhelming feeling of exposure gripped her. "Please, Madam Hong, please leave me some modesty," Vera pleaded.

"Modesty, there's no modesty due to your sort, not in my club anyway. If you're not going to do as you're told we'll have to give you a little assistance." Xui-Li motioned to one of the guards who retrieved the knife from her belt and, in one swift movement grabbed the top of the chemise and slashed it open, exposing Vera to the waist. Vera tried again to cover herself with her arms but she was held too strongly and, with no further ceremony the knife made short work of the rest of her clothes and they were ripped from her leaving her open and naked for all to see. Firm hands still gripped her arms and her squirming was in vain.

"There, that's better," Xui-Li said, looking her up and down. She was actually quite impressed; the girl had more guts than she had, at first, expected. Either that or her motives for wanting to be inside the club had to quite extreme. Whilst she knew she was being a heartless bully, she was intrigued by what would push this slip of a thing so far and how much further she could go. Anyway she would make sure the girl didn't come to any real harm, which was saying a lot, seeing which part of town she'd wandered into. "Now why don't you come and kneel down next to me and we'll have a drink and a chat," she continued.

Vera didn't have any choice in the matter. She was forced to her knees by the guards before they retreated and stood back, watching closely. Almost immediately, and without any apparent orders being given, a waitress arrived with a bottle of rice wine and two glasses. She put them on the table that lay between the Xui-Li and Vera, bowed gracefully and left.

"Now then, my name is Xui-Li. You may call me that, now that we're being informal; we'll save the Madam Hong for other, more formal, occasions," Xui-Li said, suddenly friendly, as she poured out the drinks. "What is your name and what brings you to my club?"

"I'm called Vera. I heard it was a good place for a drink." Vera sniffed back her tears and stuck to her cover story, however flimsy.

"Nonsense," Xui-Li retorted. "A round eye girl like you, all on her own, drinking in a slant eye bar. You're not just here for a drink. You'll have to do better than that."

"I heard... I heard..." Vera stuttered, thinking wildly. Forced to come up with something, and fast, she settled on an approximation of the truth. "I'd heard that the people here... that they believe in the emancipation of the oppressed classes. I... I... I was a member of the WSPU. I believe in the struggle."

"What would a rich little English girl like you know about 'the struggle'?" Xui-Li said as soon as she had stopped laughing. "And what on earth is the WSPU?"

"The Women's Social and Political Union," Vera said rather haughtily. "It was a group of suffragettes, struggling together to bring emancipation to women."

"Spoiled little brat, shouting the odds, playing at being a grown up! Oh, have you come to the wrong club!" Xui-Li laughed. "Now, this is not the time or the place for politics, that is work and this club is for pleasure. Drink your wine and relax."

Vera shivered slightly but had no other option than to comply. She glanced around, the club was quite full but they had a certain amount of privacy here in Madam Hong's alcove. To her surprise no one seemed to be staring at her nakedness.

For her part Xui-Li looked down at the naked girl shivering at her feet. There was something very wrong here; she didn't for one moment believe the tale about wanting to join in 'the struggle'. And yet she had seemed all too eager to debase herself, making only the feeblest of protests at treatment that would have had others running a mile. Xui-Li was aware that she had many enemies but surely no one would be dumb enough to send in this little chit of a girl as a spy, would they?

Still, whatever the girl's motives, there was plenty of fun to be had here. It would do the girls good to see this, to see the English being made fools of, to see a round eye stripped naked and bowing before them for a change. As for the spy theory, well, she'd drop a few red herrings along the way and see what happened. Sometimes it's good to know what the opposition thinks you're planning.

At that point another woman approached and bowed her head to Xui-Li.

"Greetings, Xui-Li," she said. "I have news from up-river and the cadre wish to know details of tomorrow's meeting."

"Greetings Mei-Xing. News and details will have to wait for a more auspicious time." Xui-Li's eyes flicked to Vera who had perked up and was visibly taking interest in the exchange. "Come sit for a while." Xui-Li motioned to a serving girl who hurried off and fetched another glass.

"So, you've found yourself a round eye," Mei-Xing said conversationally as she sat down. "Where did you pick this one up?"

"I found her lying in the gutter with the rest of the filth. She has ideas far above her station but I took pity on her and brought her in."

"And do you plan to keep her, she's hardly one of us," Mei-Xing commented.

"I haven't decided yet," Xui-Li replied. "It would appear that our young friend would like to join the 'struggle', as she put it. I'm just testing her resolve."

"A round eye? Join the struggle?" Mei-Xing snorted. "Over my dead body."

"I will decide her fate," Xui-Li retorted. "May I remind you who's in charge here?"

"Mistresses." A serving girl approached and bowed respectfully. "The games... we are ready to begin."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Mei-Xing. "There's a new girl in town. They say she's rather good. I may have a little wager."

"I know your 'little wagers'," laughed Xui-Li. She turned to the serving girl. "Would you be so kind as to fetch me a leash; you know the sort."

The serving girl hurried off and returned moments later with a leather leash and, more significantly, a collar attached to the end of it. Horrified Vera realized just what Xui-Li had in store for her.

"Please, please, Madam Hong!" she exclaimed. "Please don't make me wear that. Please leave me some dignity."

"Silence, little Jun-Nui, for that is what I am going to call you. You begged for admittance, you agreed my terms. How very British to break your word now, to make such a fuss when things aren't quite what you want." Xui-Li spoke as if to a little child, with patience but an undertone that patience had its limits. Vera was genuinely scared. She was in far, far deeper than she'd ever imagined and this woman, this tyrant, was forcing her into ever more degrading positions. Naked in this quiet alcove was one thing, paraded through the club was another. Her mind whirled as she considered her options, or rather her lack of them. She had been accused of breaking her word and she could not deny this; she had indeed made stupid promises back there in the alleyway. To add to that Mei-Xing had talked about 'news' and 'meetings'. If she could just swallow her pride she might get to hear something substantive. Another redeeming aspect was that Mei-Xing had taken her nudity quite calmly, as if it were normal. Although she had not seen any other naked women in the club maybe it was part and parcel of the experience. However unpleasant, however distasteful, she had to keep playing along, more than that, she felt she had to atone for her outburst.

"My humble apologies, Madam Hong," she said, bowing her head. "Please may I wear your collar?"

"That's better," Xui-Li said and she sat up and fastened the collar around Vera's neck whilst Mei-Xing looked on. "Now that you're properly attired come, the games are waiting. No, don't get up, stay on your hands and knees."

Xui-Li stood up and made her way through the club to an open arena in the back. They seemed to take a circuitous route and Vera, scampering after her, felt as if every eye in the place was upon her and, given that she was the only 'round eye' in the club, let alone the only one naked, that was probably the case. She had definitely heard plenty of sniggering and felt sick to her stomach with the humiliation. When they reached the arena she saw that it had a fenced off centre and raised seating all around and, at first, Vera was expecting something like cock fighting. Xui-Li, as befitted a women of her importance, had a reserved seat and space was made so that Mei-Xing could sit next to her and Vera was ordered to kneel on the floor between them.

They had hardly sat down before two women, each wearing the loose cotton pyjamas that the peasants wore, entered the ring, strode to the centre, bowed to Xui-Li, bowed to each other and parted. There was a flurry of betting before Xui-Li reached up and rang a bell that hung above her seat. Immediately the two women set to, punching, kicking, grabbing and twisting. Vera found it hard to make out the rules, or indeed, if there were any. With the heat, and the shouting, and the violent action in the ring, there was something deeply animal about the whole thing and it was hard not to get carried away, so much so that Vera was soon cheering away with the rest, much to the amusement of Xui-Li.

"How do you think you would do?" Xui-Li leant forward and asked Vera in the calm between two bouts. "Could you stand up to any of my girls down there?"

"I don't know, Madam Hong, I've never tried anything like that. Fighting, it's unladylike," Vera replied.

"Unladylike!" Xui-Li scoffed. "These girls, they fight for their honour, they fight for their meals, sometimes they fight for their lives. Are you so much better than them?"

"No, no, of course not," Vera replied but it was too late, the die had been cast.

"I think little Jun-Nui needs a lesson in just how much of a 'lady' she is." Xui-Li stood up and called out, her voice cutting across the din of the arena and demanding attention. "Sisters, we have a visitor tonight who thinks she is too much of a 'lady' to fight. Which of you would like to teach her otherwise?"

There was a roar from the contestants, each and every one of them, offering to do combat, each pushing themselves forward.

"Ling-si," Xui-Li called out to what must have been the youngest, frailest of the contestants. "You shall defend the honour of your sisters."

"Please, no, please..." Vera called out as Xui-Li unclipped the leash from her collar and rough hands reached out to grab her, dragging her to the ring. The ribald and derisive laughter of the crowd rang in her ears as she stood, shaking with fear with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. She was only half aware of the warm trickle from between her thighs as her bladder betrayed her but the crowd were all too delighted to point it out.

From across the ring Ling-Si bowed to her and, trying desperately to pull some dignity together Vera bowed back. She was bigger, older and probably stronger. Maybe she did have a chance, maybe, just maybe. She remembered some of the scrapes she had got into in the dorms at school, some tussles that were far from ladylike. She'd learnt a few tricks, she might just....

As quick as the blink of an eye Ling-si spun and her foot lashed out, catching Vera on the jaw. Vera staggered back, reeling from the blow and was completely off balance as another kick scythed her feet from under her causing her to fall heavily, completely winding her much to the delight of the crowd. Ling-si stood back, letting her recover a bit but, as soon as she started to get back on her feet she was back with a quick kick, this time to the stomach. Time and time again this pattern was repeated and Vera realised that Ling-si was playing with her, giving the crowd a show, letting them see the round eye take her beating time after time after time. Nor could she just lie there and surrender. If she stayed down too long the overseer, Vera refused to think of the woman as the referee, would pull her up and the fight would continue. Evidently seeing her being beaten to a pulp was very much part of the show.

Vera was barely conscious when, through the baying of the crowd, she heard Xui-Li shout "Enough, finish it," and the next assault was final. A well-aimed kick from Ling-si had her down and out and everything went black.

When Vera came too she found herself lying back in the alley outside the club. With a shock she realised that she was still naked but a bundle lying beside her turned out to be her clothes and her bag. She quickly found her coat and pulled it around her before huddling into the shadows to take stock. Every muscle was aching and even the slightest movement was painful. Her clothes were ripped and filthy, her under things were in shreds and she felt lucky to have got out of the club with her life. She glanced through her purse in the half-light and was somewhat surprised to find it hadn't been emptied. She pulled herself to her feet. There was nowhere here where she could get back into her dress again; her coat would have to do. Sobbing gently, she limped through the streets heading back to the British compound. She knew where a tree overhung the fence, she could sneak in unnoticed and, unaware of the silent figure shadowing her, she finally reached sanctuary.