The Man in Black stood there watching Red Feline hang, watching her bleed, watching her twist. He wasn't done, not at all. Just like the Governor who watched as Piroska's back received fifty lashes of the bull whip, always hanging at an angle of 45 degrees, her arms and legs stretched out. He watched as she was lowered, unconscious, into the dark pit and he left only after the gates were closed over her while the chains kept rolling down.

Red Feline watched from her perch up in her safe dimension, at the two bodies hanging in the dark. One, hanging from her wrists, her feet an inch above the ground, her body beaten, pierced and bleeding. The other, hanging from the chains, her arms and legs spread, her breasts almost touching the ground beneath her, her head down and her hair almost sweeping the dirt below as the chains rocked slowly back and forth.

Red Feline wondered which of those two was the true reality? Was Piroska an hallucination? Brought about by the pain of her real suffering in the dark room? An escape from the pain?

Red Feline decided to go back into her darkness in the room so Piroska could wake up. And she did.

Piroska felt the hands of the Man in Black pushing Red Feline's body back and forth to make her swing from her chains. She felt the pain of the nails imbedded in her body. This pain made her aware of her own situation. Her back hurt beyond her expectations, the beating was severe and she was afraid that she woouldn't be able to help herself. But she also noticed that she was closer to the ground now, that she had a better handle of her chains. And she saw a large bag hanging from a rope near her head. She recognized it. It was her aunt's.

Re-animated, she struggled to free herself from the chains again. When she did she opened the bag and found the paste to heal her wounds, the drink to make her strong, the plants to make her healing bed. She had all she needed to live another 7 days.

After a night of healing, drinking, hunting, eating and exploring the cave, she returned to her chains to sleep the day off. After seven days and seven nights, she was pulled back up where the Governor waited for an answer.

Her legs were lowered this time, her toes almost touching the gates below her. Her arms and legs were stretched more to prevent her from moving. Forming a naked X, Piroska knew what would come to her and she was prepared. "One day I will kill you!", she said proudly before the Governor had a chance to talk. "Fifty lashes and back to the pit for another 7 days!", the Governor responded to the defiance.

Red Feline heard the loud sound of the bull whip crashing on Piroska's chest. She felt the burning pain as if she were absorbing it to help her alter ego endure.

The Man in Black decided that it was time for the next experience. Or was it Red Feline who put that idea into his head?. She still believed she controlled him, he was her creation, her assistant in a fantasy.

The Man in Black obeyed and approached the tortured woman. She heard his steps and the echoes of fifty lashes falling on Piroska's chest.

The Governor watched in silence, almost with pity, as the bullwhip shook Piroska with each blow. The soldier beating her grew tired and was replaced by another who continued. At the count of fifty, she was no longer conscious. The Governor ordered the soldiers to lower her and walked away.

Piroska's feet were raised into position and she was lowered into the pit once more. This time her whole body touched the ground. She didn't feel it, but Red Feline did.

The Man in Black reached up to her wrists to free her. She did not react, she needed to remain in the dark, to help Piroska wake up.

Piroska felt the dirt under her body, saw the bag of magic near her and she knew what to do. She freed herself from the chains, each time it became easier, and took the bag to begin the process. Her breasts, belly, waist, shoulders, all of her body was sore and in pain. She could see what she could not see on her back, the large red welts covering her like the lines of a tiger. "I look like a red cat.", she said to herself. "That animal is so familiar to me", she thought while she rubbed the paste over the wounds on her breast.

Red Feline agreed with Piroska...or herself in her other body, and it was at that moment that the Man in Black released the shackles from the the wood and lowered her naked body to the cold wooden floor.

Red Feline felt the wood under her, she loved the feeling of having her whole body resting and not hanging. She decided to enjoy that bit of time she had before she would be taken to a new ordeal, perhaps worse than what she has endured. And she knew that because that was how she had planned it.

She closed her eyes eager to return to the dark where she could continue living the experience of Piroska who was on a quest of discovery.

Piroska flexed her hands and found that her fingernails obeyed her commands. She could make them grow as a cat does, as a tiger does. "My weapons.", she thought, savoring those words. "My suffering is giving me this.", she tried to understand. To test the strength of her nails, she walked to a wall of the cave and began to climb it. She reached a high point and jumped down. She was amazed at the flexibility of her legs as she fell to the ground. "What am I?", she asked herself.

She hunted for delicious rodents and insects, deeper into the cave. It was very large and she hoped she could find an exit. There had to be one.

Red Feline rested happily, immersed in Piroska's experience.