7. Brynn
Fuck. I had drawn attention to myself and that wasn’t what I wanted to do. At least, not yet. I knew I should have kept my fingers still and not given in to temptation to ask what that other woman meant, but my curiosity had gotten away from me.
And curiosity killed the cat .
“Stuff it,” I said aloud to my inner voice and stared at the question a bit longer. My mind frantically went to Blair’s diary and some of the things she had written in it, specifically about “the lifestyle”, as she had called it.
I knew from what I had read that the private chats were reserved for Doms and any submissive they specifically reached out to. EREBUS69 had reached out to me, and by the implied tone of his message, he was not pleased. I felt like I was being called into the Principal’s office. Maybe I was.
It was important I maintain some sort of cover by playing along. I needed to understand my sister and possibly figure out what had happened to her. I knew it was extremely important that I show respect to any male who reached out to me on this server. My fingers trembled slightly while I suspended them above my keyboard.
Karma_is_a_B : No, Sir. Again, I apologize. I just logged on and was trying to navigate around the server space. It was not my intent to offend or break any rules.
EREBUS69: What is your intent, then?
Oh. My. God.
Why would he ask that? Had he figured out who I was already? Was there something on the back end that linked me to Blair? IP Address? No, I was being paranoid. Inhaling deeply, I forced my fingers to type, swearing as I had to keep correcting my typos.
Karma_is_a_B : Truly, Sir, I am trying to get my feet wet. This space is brand new to me. I am also new to the lifestyle, and had no idea something like this existed. I like the fact that someone can log on any time of day and find someone to talk to. I believe I will need some guidance.
I hoped that by slightly diverting the direction, I would take some of the heat off myself.
EREBUS69 : I'd be willing to offer some guidance, and to let you know if this space is right for you. First, interesting name choice, Karma. Tell me a little about yourself, including how new you are to the lifestyle.
Karma_is_a_B : I'm sure you are familiar with Karma, Sir, aren't you? I've been fortunate enough to see several people meet her. I admire Karma very much, so I felt it only fitting that I incorporate her into my username.
My heart pounded when the phrase ‘EREBUS69 is typing…’ popped up and I waited to see if I had passed this first test. I sat back in my chair feeling relieved when his comment posted.
EREBUS69: Touché! I'm quite familiar with her myself, on the giving end versus the receiving end, of course. How long have you been in the lifestyle?
Shit. What was I going to say now? I was in majorly unchartered territory, and while I scrambled for some sort of reply, I quickly grabbed Blair’s diary and flipped to one of the sections I had marked.
There were multiple entries flagged with colored sticky notes for easy reference. I scanned the contents and was able to put a response together that sounded plausible.
Karma_is_a_B : Just a few months. I've primarily been doing a lot of research to try and reconcile my feelings and preferences. I've always been... different. Nothing ever seemed to be enough, so I wanted to figure out why. Now that I have, I wanted totake it to the next level and join a community with others who were like me. What about you, Sir? How long have you been in the lifestyle?
Everything I had just typed out was lifted from my sister’s words. I’d had no idea she’d had these feelings and interests. I certainly had no clue she was leading a secret life.
I waited for the dots to appear indicating He was typing. It took a minute, and the dots appeared, then disappeared, then reappeared, as though he was taking his time. I started to get a pit in my stomach. I couldn’t afford to make a mistake, not now. Not ever.
Finally, his words posted.
EREBUS69: Long enough to know that you’re topping from the bottom. STOP THAT! If you want to see what the lifestyle is like, meet me back on Olympus Saturday night at 22:43. Do NOT be late!!! I don't tolerate tardiness.
My breath hitched in my chest. He was asking…no, he was directing me to meet him online this weekend. My hands were shaking while I typed my next question. I had to know.
Karma_is_a_B : What happens if for some unforeseen circumstance I am tardy, Sir?
EREBUS69: The lesson you still haven't seemed to master is that I ask the questions. Not you! If you’re serious about wanting to explore this lifestyle, I suggest that you show up and be on time. If you do not, I’ll have no further use for you, and no one else here will either. Goodnight, Karma.
With that, he was gone and I found myself back in a general channel where other women were chatting about various topics, the newest Netflix show, and lamenting what to wear at Lotus the next time they went. I still didn’t understand how one ended up at Lotus.
What is the big deal about this club?
Blair had been so irritated that she didn’t know where it was located. From what I’d read, it was invitation only. The women were driven to the club and could take nothing with them. She’d written about one who’d had the nerve, or was it stupidity, to tape an air tag inside her shoe. She set off some sort of sensor when she got in the car.
The driver searched her person, felt around inside her shoe, and when he discovered the air tag, the woman was sent home, was blackballed from the club, and her Olympus membership was immediately revoked. The only way she would ever get another invite to a club now was to move to another state.
That seemed rather heavy-handed to me when I’d first read Blair’s words, but as I kept reading, it made sense. There were too many people who didn’t understand BDSM, me included. While I didn’t consider it abuse, others certainly did, and those people would try everything possible to run a club like that out of business. The desire to stay a secret was self-preservation, really.
I stayed in the server channel for a bit longer but became bored because the women said the same things over and over again. Absently, I scrolled the navigation bar, and spotted a channel labelled ‘Server Rules’. Based on the conversation I’d just had with EREBUS69, I clicked on it and began reading. I didn’t want to unknowingly violate something and get booted. Or yeeted, as I’d seen someone write. Neither word sounded like a good thing.
There were ten rules, very explicit about how to address Doms, how to engage Admins, and how to interact with other server members. There was also mention of a separate set of rules for those who secured invites to Lotus. I’d not considered that maybe some members didn’t get invites. Surely no one was left out. Maybe it just took time for the Doms to extend them?
This was all so foreign to me, and I still couldn’t believe Blair had ever been involved in something like this. She was always so in control of herself and of her life. It was difficult for me to imagine that she’d want to be told what to do and when to do it.
What’s the appeal?
I still had so much more to read in this particular diary, and more diaries to read in general. Since the remaining ones were more recent, I knew there would be additional entries about Olympus, Lotus, and other things BDSM related. I would study those in earnest to make sure I sounded authentic to any Dom I might encounter on that server. I felt so strongly that Olympus and Lotus were key components in finding out what happened to my sister. I would never forgive myself if I squandered this chance that I had been given to find the truth.
While I finished up the rules, and clicked the checkmark emote to indicate I had read them like we were instructed, the woman I had chatted with briefly before sent me a DM, asking if I’d like to watch the soft-core porn movie she was about to stream in one of the Theater rooms.
Curious, I joined the Theater, got connected to the stream, and then joined the Event Chat channel where other women had already started commenting about the movie.
The next couple of hours passed by quickly. I watched, chatted, and even laughed about the “plot” along with the others. At one point, we joined a voice channel and were verbally commenting on the over-acting. When I finally logged off for the evening, I gave myself a little pat on the back. It seemed like I was passing the initial tests of Olympus. Let’s hope I passed the next one on Saturday.