Beastess

A whole floor dedicated to recreation and exercise was the last thing that Zoe expected the Arch-Cathedral of Abraxas to have hidden within its towering walls—and yet here she was, entering it for the first time since she was captured.

The first thing about the gymnasium that she noticed was the large stained glass window on the opposite end from the entrance, covered in an iron cage of reinforced magitech bars. It depicted the Almighty Sun of the Supreme Church, in all His resplendent glory, casting long yellow beams down onto the green farmland and flocks of livestock below. Shepherds and farmers knelt in supplication to Father Sun, hands clasped in prayer.

They were probably as fuckin’ brainwashed as the sheep they tended, Zoe thought. Just like her family. At least Sophie would actually listen to Zoe, even if she agreed to disagree. She treated Zoe like a human being. Her parents saw her as nothing but property. A broken object to be ‘corrected’.

In her own flock, she was the black sheep.

Zoe shook her head. This place kept bringing up old memories she would prefer to leave behind. Her whole life had been wrapped up in this stupid fucking church, and just when she thought she had escaped it, here she was—trapped in its steel grip.

In Steele’s grip.

She nearly dry heaved again.

Trying to distract herself, Zoe continued looking around the gym area. The laminated hardwood floor was covered in shoddily-painted and rubbed-out boundaries and lines that vaguely resembled a basketball court if she squinted hard enough. On either end of the gym stood two basketball hoops, one near the entrance and one by the stained glass window. Exercise machines lined the other two sides of the gym, accompanied by racks of balls from all kinds of sports next to a locked closet that presumably held the equipment needed to play something besides basketball.

She wasn’t the only one here. Two armed paladin guards stood watch at the door behind her, with their shiny helmets, greaves, and gauntlets standing out in contrast to their navy double-breasted jackets and black pants. Around the gym floor, using the machines or shooting hoops, were her fellow captive beastesses. Everyone wore the same dingy beige jumpsuits and shackles around their wrists and ankles. A couple of them were part-beast—or whatever they called it, half-changed or something—but only enough to show some fur and claws, with the occasional tail here and there.

She had tried making small talk with a couple of them in the past few weeks, down in their cells or in the shower area, but it never really led anywhere useful. Talks of escape were shot down immediately. They all seemed pretty damn full of despair. Understandable, given their current situation. Who knows how long the others have been trapped here.

But hopelessness was never her speed. Zoe was more of a … spiteful gal. Spite can be a powerful motivator when nothing else inspires hope.

Zoe decided to take a crack at one of the exercise machines near the entrance, a decline leg press machine. Guess her first day back in the gym is leg day.

Hmm. She noticed that all the machines were modified to accommodate extra weight way beyond what even the strongest non-enhanced humans could lift. Seems like Archbishop Steele likes his pets to be as fit as possible. The bastard probably gets his rocks off to big buff women who—

Eugh. Eugh! That fucker really needs to get out of her head.

Unfortunately for Zoe, as she settled in to start her warm-up set, the two guards by the entrance were feeling particularly chatty.

“The boss sure is cranky today,” said the first guard, the one sporting a goatee. “Any idea what bug crawled up his ass this time?”

“Rumor has it,” said the second, the one with a shaved head, “that his beloved ‘magitech genius’ hasn’t been making as much progress lately as the boss wants.”

“Is that the, uh … the one at the academy?” asked Goatee Guy.

“Yeah,” replied Bald Dude. “You didn’t hear it from me, but Joey told me that he heard the archbishop ranting about how these beastess bitches—” he gestured to the captives, “—can’t get pregnant.”

“Reeeally? Hmm …” Goatee Guy’s gaze fell on Zoe, but he quickly looked away when she stared daggers at him.

“Yeah,” Bald Dude continued, “it’s something to do with their wild magic or something. Joey told me the boss was pissed that new beastesses keep appearing in the general population. Without his control. Without his, uh … influence. Genetically speaking, if you catch my drift.”

“So that ‘genius’ of his at the academy is trying to figure out how to do that?”

“Yeah. Among other, uh, ‘experiments’ on beastesses that the boss won’t explain. Kinda weird to focus so much on these pagan mutant freaks, if you ask me.” Bald Dude sighed. “But the boss gets what the boss wants, so—”

All right. Zoe had heard enough.

She got up off the leg press machine and walked away from the two paladins.

Hmm … what to do, what to do? She could join in the next basketball game … but she was never any good at basketball. Another exercise machine? Yeah, that sounded better. Maybe she could try the one in the corner there, the one next to—

Tanya.

God above, how the hell did she miss that huge woman standing right fuckin’ there in the corner? It must have been the bright sunshine coming through the stained glass window that distracted her.

Since the last time Zoe had seen her, Tanya’s too-small jumpsuit had been mended, or she had been given a new one. Otherwise she looked the same as last time—still sporting her shaggy bleach blonde hair, still as tall as ever (a couple of feet shy of the rim of the basketball hoop, Zoe noticed), and still wearing that weird-ass Gnosis-branded magitech collar.

This giant polar bear woman was the only handhold she could see to start climbing her way out of this hellhole, and she needed to make a leap for it. Zoe smoothed her hair back and sauntered as casually as she could over to Tanya, with her hands in her pockets and a slight upward curl of her lips.

Time to shoot her shot.

“Hey,” Zoe said. “You’re Tanya, right? Are you free right now?”

Tanya, who had until this point had been staring blankly at the floor with her hands in her pockets, briefly glanced over at Zoe before returning her gaze to the hardwood.

Zoe raised an eyebrow and said, “… I’ll take that as a ‘Yes’. First of all, to clear the air—no hard feelings about what happened when we were, uh … ‘introduced’. Trust me. I get it. I understand what it’s like having someone control you, forcing you to do things you don’t wanna do.”

No response. Playing ‘hard to get’, huh? This was going to be tougher than Zoe thought.

That didn’t bother her. She liked a bit of a challenge. She’s got all the time in the world in here anyway.

“I mean, fuck that old bastard,” Zoe continued. “He probably threatened you when you first tried to escape, right? Put that collar on you and everything? Yeah, I get it.”

One of Tanya’s hands shot up out of her pocket and rubbed her collar for a brief moment, before coming back down to her side.

Hmm. Touchy subject. Switch tactics.

“You like sports?” Zoe gestured to the basketball hoop. “You look like a sporty gal. So big and tall and strong … you’d probably have no trouble dunking on the basket if you tried. All you’d have to do is reach up without even jumping!”

Zoe giggled a bit, but Tanya remained stone-faced. Better try something else.

“I, uh … I like your hair. Same color as mine. But, of course, yours looks cooler. I dig the shaggy look.”

Nothing. No response from Tanya. Weren’t bears supposed to do something if you poked them enough?

Fucking hell, she thought, you’re flailing here, Zoe! You’re a dyke, for fuck’s sake! Don’t you remember how to talk to girls?

Maybe she should ask Tanya more serious questions? Skip the small talk? Fuck it, it’s worth a shot.

“So,” Zoe said, “I was wondering: what were you up to before you ended up here? I mean, you kinda stand out in a crowd. A girl like you probably has an interesting life story.”

Still nothing. Keep going, Zoe. Deeper. Go for the heartstrings.

“Anyone on the outside you really miss? Your friends? A lover, perhaps? Your family?”

Tanya glanced over at Zoe again.

… But this time, she didn’t look away.

Yes! Score one for Zoe! Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.

“You miss your family?” Zoe asked. Tanya looked out the stained-glass window for a moment, then looked back at Zoe and … nodded? It was very subtle, but that was definitely a nod, right?

All right, time to get vulnerable. Offer the olive branch.

“I miss mine too,” Zoe said. “Wait, scratch that—not all of them. My parents are the fuckin’ worst.” Zoe leaned against the wall next to Tanya, putting her shackled hands in her pockets to imitate the other beastess’ pose, and scornfully looked up at the ceiling. “They’re the reason I got sent here. Wanna know how? It’s so stupid.” She looked up at Tanya, who stared down at her without a word.

“I’ll cut to the chase,” she continued, staring down at the floor. “Mom caught me one day. Saw my tail in the shower. She was hollering for me and saw my big long striped tail, stickin’ out from behind the goddamn shower curtain. And y’know, fuck me, right? Fuck me, for locking the door and thinking, assuming, that my parents would respect my goddamn privacy for once. The same parents who had put bars on the windows of my childhood bedroom when I moved back home after losing my job, so that I wouldn’t sneak out again—or the way dear old Dad put it, so they could ‘keep an eye on me to look out for any sinful behavior’. Just, fuckin’ … ugh, I just wanted them to leave me the fuck alone so I could get my shit together and figure out how to leave that godawful place! But nooo—she had something ‘really urgent’ to talk to me about, something about my ‘unemployment situation’, something apparently so fucking important that she had to pick the fucking lock on my bathroom door to tell me while I’m showering?!”

Zoe sighed, rubbed the bridge of her nose, and collected herself.

“God above, I had gotten so fuckin’ careless. I used to be so much better at hiding it. They might have caught me sneaking out at night growing up, but they had never caught me going wild before.” She laughed dryly. “At least they never caught me sleeping over at other girls’ places. Never caught me sleeping with other girls at their places, either. The only one who ever caught me even kissing a girl was Sophie, and I convinced her to stay quiet about it.” Zoe wrung her hands in front of her, fidgeting with the wrist shackles. “God above … I miss my Big Sis, Tanya. I miss her a lot. I dunno how I would’ve gotten away with half the shit I did if it weren’t for my sister looking out for me.”

A silent moment passed between the two of them.

“… Same.”

Zoe looked up suddenly.

“D-did you just …” Zoe stammered. She cleared her throat. “I mean, do you have a sister too?”

Tanya shuffled in place. The weight of her movement creaked the wooden floorboards beneath both of the beastesses.

“Y-yeah,” Tanya replied.

“Is she older or younger?”

“… Older.”

“Same. So we’re both the Little Sis, I guess.”

“I guess,” Tanya repeated.

Words? An actual back-and-forth?! Score two for Zoe! She’s on a roll!

“Do you miss her, Tanya?”

Tanya simply nodded. Zoe looked across the room at the guards, who were too busy chatting to notice.

“Do you wanna see her again?” Zoe whispered. “See your family again?”

Tanya suddenly froze up and stared into space. Her mighty fists clenched tight.

“Whoa,” Zoe said, raising her hands up. “Easy, big girl. Did I touch a nerve?”

After a very tense couple of seconds, Tanya exhaled and opened her hands.

“Mama and Sis …” the polar bear beastess said, “… don’t get along. They fight. A lot. Mama always liked me more. Always pushed me. Sis hated Mama. Hated that Mama pushed me. Hated that Mama didn’t ever trust her.” Tanya wrapped her gigantic arms around herself, hugging tight and rubbing herself while swaying slightly. “The archbishop said he’d tell ‘em. Tell ‘em I’ve been a bad girl. ‘Cuz I tried to escape. Put this collar on me for bein’ a bad girl.” She pointed at the magitech collar on her neck. “I don’t wanna make anyone mad. I … I wanna be a good girl. A good girl, yeah.”

Ah, fuck.

Zoe had her work cut out for her. She expected an uphill climb, but this … this was gonna be more like climbing under the overhang of a cliff. She would have to really dig her claws into this handhold and figure out what to do, if she didn’t want to fall back down to where she started.

It was kinda sad, really, seeing this giant, strong, soft-spoken woman reduced to talking like some fuckin’ pet, to being treated like an object by someone who didn’t care about her.

Someone like her deserved to be treated better. What the hell had the archbishop done to her?

… Did it have something to do with that collar she’s wearing?

Zoe squinted at Tanya’s collar. It was covered in magitech runes and circuitry, with the largest runes being ankhs—the telltale trademark of a Gnosis Industries magitech product. The collar looked familiar, somehow, but she couldn’t put her finger on why …

Oh.

God above, it’s one of those collars.

Zoe had, ahem, ‘researched’ collars like this one before, back in her more adventurous days as a young and budding lesbian. They were outrageously expensive though, and she had never been able to scrounge up the funds to buy one herself. It had remained a kinky fantasy to her, that’s all. A fantasy to put it on someone else, to be her pet … someone as submissive as, say, Tanya here …

Focus, Zoe. Clearly Tanya didn’t consent to this. It’s not sexy when it’s forced.

That’s another thing she didn’t get. The magitech in the collars was hypnotic, yes, but it wasn’t capable of brainwashing someone who didn’t consent.

Unless.

“Hey, uh, Tanya,” Zoe said, “this is gonna sound weird but, like, could you … get on your knees for a sec?”

Tanya silently did as she was told. The polar bear woman was now eye level with Zoe … on her knees … awaiting her next command from—

FOCUS, Zoe.

The tiger beastess carefully examined the collar around Tanya’s neck. Her hunch was right—the runes carved into it were completely different from any hypno-erotic model that Gnosis produced. Zoe had never come across anything like it in her ‘research’, which meant it had to be custom modified.

Wait, of course! It was probably altered by the archbishop’s ‘magitech genius’ those two pala-dimwits by the door were talking about! But if Tanya’s collar really had put her under the archbishop’s control without her consent … why was she talking with Zoe?

“Can I touch your collar?” Zoe asked. Tanya nodded, and Zoe traced her fingers along the gleaming metal, examining the runes. Not that it did much good—she really didn’t know much about how this magitech stuff worked.

“Do you know what this collar does, Tanya?” she asked. Tanya shook her head.

“All I know is my head’s been feelin’ funny since the archbishop put it on ‘bout a year ago,” the polar bear beastess replied. “Like … sorta hard to … remember. Easier lately, though. Like fog clearin’ in the mornin’ sun.”

“When did you start feeling less foggy?”

“Well … ever since I met you.”

Zoe’s fingers stopped at a very specific spot. On one side of Tanya’s collar were several long gashes carved into the runic circuitry. It was hard to see unless the light caught it just right, but under Zoe’s fingertips it was unmistakeable what they were—her claw marks.

The same ones Zoe had seen on Tanya’s collar when they first met, when Zoe had tried to claw her way out of Tanya’s grasp.

When Tanya had stopped moving, and had looked at Zoe with tears in the corners of her eyes.

“Tanya …” Zoe whispered, “… I think I broke your collar with my claws.”

The large woman’s dark brown eyes went wide as dinner plates.

“N-NO!” Tanya nearly shouted, clutching the collar like a lifeline. “He’s gonna be so m-mad at me!” she hissed as her eyes began to water.

Fuck fuck fuck! Minus one point for Zoe!

“Hey!” Goatee Guy yelled from across the room. “What’s going on over there, ladies?”

“Nothing!” Zoe said, giving her best fake smile at the sleaze-ball guard. “She just stubbed her toe, that’s all!”

With a grunt, Goatee Guy went back to talking with Bald Dude.

Zoe let out a sigh of relief, but she wasn’t out of the woods yet. This is bad! She needed to calm down Tanya and salvage this!

“Hey, you’ll be fine!” she said, in the most calming tone she could muster while speaking to a woman who could probably rip her in half like a phone book if she wanted to. “Listen, girl: the archbishop doesn’t have to find out. Besides, I’m the one who broke it, so I’ll take the blame if he asks, okay?”

Still tearing up and looking down at the floor, her collar firmly in her grasp, Tanya whispered to herself, “I don’t wanna be a bad girl …”

At least she stopped shouting, Zoe thought.

“You’re not,” Zoe said sympathetically, gently rubbing Tanya on the shoulder. “You’re … you’re a good girl.” With a sniffle, Tanya looked up at Zoe.

“I’m … a good girl?”

“Yes, Tanya,” Zoe said as she nodded and put one hand on the polar bear woman’s cheek. “Yes you are.”

Tanya gave Zoe a half-hearted smile. The first real sign of happiness she’s shown since they met.

…

Oh sweet God above, Zoe thought … she’s actually really cute.

Fuck it. She was only planning on getting herself out of here, but this girl … she doesn’t deserve to be the brainwashed plaything of some asshole church leader, doing God knows what to her mind and body. No one deserves that.

“You may not realize it yet,” Zoe said, keeping her voice down and gently prying Tanya’s hands free from the collar and taking them in her own, “but you don’t have to listen to the archbishop anymore.” Before Tanya could protest, Zoe put a finger up to Tanya’s lips. “Wait. I’m not done. Let me explain.” Tanya immediately steadied herself, listening to Zoe with rapt attention. “That collar has been keeping your brain under his control ever since he put it on you. And ever since I scratched it, my guess is you’ve been having more thoughts lately. More coherent thoughts. Less foggy. Right?”

“Y-yeah,” Tanya replied. “I reckon so.”

“Well,” Zoe said, “I ‘reckon’ that’s because you’re getting your autonomy back. But you gotta keep that our little secret, got it? You wanna see your Mama and Sis again, right?”

“Yeah, but—” Tanya said, her body tensing up.

“I know what you’re gonna say, and no, they won’t think you’re a bad girl. They’re probably worried sick about you, and they’ll just be glad to know you’re alive! Think about it! You can think for yourself now—use that brain of yours, good girl.” Zoe gently rubbed the shaggy blonde hair on Tanya’s head as the Amazonian woman blushed.

She blushed! Fucking hell, keep it together, Zoe, you raging lesbian.

“I guess you’re right,” Tanya said sheepishly. She frowned. “They might still fight over me though. They might still get mad at me.”

“I’ll tell them myself what a good girl you’ve been for helping me, if—” Zoe held up one finger, “—you can help me bust us out of here.”

Tanya looked like she might shout again, and Zoe steeled herself for the worst. But after the moment passed, Tanya closed her mouth and furrowed her brow, lost in thought.

“Gonna need to think ‘bout it,” the gigantic woman said softly.

“Of course, take all the time in the world,” Zoe said warmly. “Not like we’re going anywhere, really.”

Hopefully she doesn’t need too long to think, Zoe thought to herself. Zoe’s patience for being in captivity was growing thinner and thinner by the day. She was having nightmares about being in Archbishop Steele’s arms, being held down and … and used, like some sort of—

Nope, nope, NOPE. Not fucking happening, ever.

She’d rather die.

… But she would rather escape more.

She made a breakthrough today with Tanya, but that’s just step one. She’s gonna need to keep building trust with Tanya. Can’t push the girl too hard. Her brains are probably more scrambled than eggs in an omelette. It’s gonna take time for the collar’s effects to wear off after … what did Tanya say? A year on her? God above.

“If you wanna chat more, ya big cutie,” Zoe said, grabbing a basketball off of a nearby rack and dribbling it casually, “You know where to find me. The archbishop seems to give you free reign to wander around this place ‘cuz he trusts ya, but you can think for yourself now, remember?” Zoe tapped a blonde lock of her hair with one finger, right at the temple. “Just keep it on the down-low. Our little secret, remember?” She winked at Tanya.

Tanya nodded, still on her knees, watching Zoe dribble the basketball intently.

“Sleep on it a bit. You help me escape and see my big sister Sophie again, and I’ll help you see your Mama and your sister … wait, what’s your big sister’s name? You never mentioned it.”

“Megara,” said Tanya. “Most everyone calls her Meg, though.”

Zoe smiled warmly. “I’ll make sure you see Meg again. I promise.”

And with that, as she wandered off, Zoe took her best three-point shot at the nearest basketball hoop.

It missed.

Ah, well.

At least she sank her shot today where it counts.