A Crossing of Paths

Chapter Three

Melissa sipped her coffee sitting on her front porch, while the sun was still rising from behind the tops of the forrest to the East. She could barely make out the cabin down the road that she'd passed on the way, and thus would not be able to see anybody moving about around it. So she finished up her coffee and made her way back inside to unpack the remainder of her things. She was amazed at how much she had brought with her, considering she went to great lengths to reduce the clutter of her life up till then. By lunch time she had her Macintosh up and running, and finally figured out how to get the satellite modem configured. The download speeds were not that great, the uploads even worse, but that was the price she paid for being off the grid.....not a bad sacrifice all told. Technology marches on, she assured herself, so it could only get better. By dinner time she had her office organized somewhat, so she made herself a simple meal, poured a glass of wine, and settled onto her couch to watch a movie. Daniel had picked out the huge flat screen monitor himself, and she was glad she hadn't been left to her own devices in that regard......she'd have picked out any old tube tv.
The movie she'd selected was an old chick-flick she'd seen a dozen times, and halfway thru, she dozed off on the couch, and found herself back on the pillow, next to the stranger in the basement, waiting for the answer to the question she had asked him in the last dream. It was as if no other reality had interrupted the moment, and he leaned towards her and said, "You came here to reclaim something you lost long ago..........your grief, your anger, your ability to truly FEEL." She studied him, not able to disagree, yet not truly understanding why she found herself sharing something so personal with a complete stranger, in a dungeon, no less. "And I suppose you, Sir, are here to show me the way, I presume?"
He leaned back, took a sip from a goblet that was perched on the table beside him. He stared back at her, like some wise old sage with all the answers, and replied, "We all are faced with choices, my dear, throughout our lives, some we are to afraid to make, and thus leave ourselves in a sort of emotional limbo, unable to find peace in our lives. I can open doors for you, Melissa, and allow you to face your demons, giving you an opportunity to make a choice, one way or another, but I cannot make those choices for you. If you are brave enough to trust me, I CAN help you, but as always, the choice is always yours......YOU have the control."
His reply seemed to pose more questions than answers, but within the confines of this strange dream, the courage that had failed her before when it came to dealing with the pain seemed to be within easy reach. The trust this man engendered seemed to provide the safety she needed. Logic seemed to have no importance here, but her instincts did. For once, she decided to give in to them and she smiled as she asked him, "Then what is it you'd have me do, Sir?"
"I would have you surrender complete control to me. Anything I ask of you is understood to be something you NEED to do, and want has nothing to do with it. Understanding fully that I will be asking you to suffer, to some degree, you will place all your faith in me, truly believing that whatever I do or say is best for you. This requires a courage and faith that transcends even any religious beliefs you might have. And to ensure that you know you can turn back at any time, I shall ask you to make up a word; we will call it a "safe" word, that you can use to put a stop to this if you cannot tolerate it. I will honor that word, but you must understand that once you use it, those doors will slam shut, and there's no guarantee you will find them again. Do you understand fully what I have said to you?"
She soaked up what he'd told her and glanced around at the walls with their chains, and the funny looking furniture that was scattered about the room. It made her uneasy, but she could not detect an evil intent in this man. "This isn't just some excuse to perform kinky sex with me, is it?", she halfheartedly joked, for as ignorant as she was about most of the weirder aspects of sex, she knew a perfect set-up for S & M when she saw it. He smiled at her, that smile that seemed so sincere, and replied, "Although you could use some help with your sensuality, my dear, this is not about sex; this is about control, so no, there will be none of that." With that, he took one more sip from his goblet, then rose from the chair and faced her, looking down at her sitting on the pillow. "What is your "safe" word, Melissa?"
She gazed up at him and thought for a moment. The word came to her easier than she would have imagined. "My safe word, Dear Sir, shall be "Rumplestillskin!" She beamed up at him, and he laughed. "I doubt you will have trouble remembering that one, my dear, no matter how discombobulated you become. Now get up, go over behind that divider there, and remove your clothing. Then put on the outfit I have for you hanging there. Return and kneel in front of me when you are finished." She rose as he had instructed, still not as frightened as she thought she should be by now, and headed for the partition. And then the morning rays of the sun crept into her face, and she awoke laying on the couch in her great room, and the dream faded as rapidly as it had before. She sat up, stretched, and headed to the bathroom with a strange sense of anticipation.