With a stick

Day 2

In the morning, the lights switched on suddenly, from complete darkness to maximum brightness in an instant. Jen, who was unable to fall asleep and lay staring at the pitch black ceiling, tried to scream as her eyes burned at the light, but the sound caught in her throat, held back by some unknown ****.

"Good morning, everyone." The voice from the day before called out from all around them as the eight captives woke, startled by the bright light and the loud greeting. "I must say, I was sorely disappointed by your performances yesterday. Most of you were not entertaining to watch at all. Today, I will be issuing a challenge to make things more exciting. The challenge shall be as follows: All living males must ejaculate, without a condom, within a female's vagina by midnight. One female can take multiple ejaculations, or multiple females can take fewer, but each living male must perform at least one unprotected vaginal ejaculation. If, at midnight, there are any living males who have not succeeded in the challenge, then, two randomly chosen people in the room will die as punishment. Now, I hope that you all succeed in this challenge. Once more, farewell, and good luck."

Just as before, when the voice stopped talking, the room was thrust into a flurry of activity. Jen rubbed her already teary eyes and cried at the news of the challenge, hugging her fearful daughter close. Anne and Jack dressed quickly and slipped out of their bedroom to meet with the others. Greco struggled in his bindings, his anger towards their captor reignited. Frank and Ed looked flustered, unsure of what to do first. Only Leticia sat up calmly, giving a loud yawn and a stretching her arms towards the ceiling as if she didn't care about anything the voice had said.

"I guess we can't ignore things any longer," Anne said flatly to the group.

"What to do?" Ed muttered, not trying to take charge of the discussion as he did on the first day.

Anne looked at her notes and wrote down the important parts of what the voice had just said. "I don't want to risk the punishment, but that means we have to complete the 'challenge.'"

Jen sobbed louder, not wanting to hear anymore about what they were talking about.

"So," Leticia said, moving to take a seat at the table. "Who's fucking who?"

"That's what we've got to decide, I guess," Anne said as Frank and Ed also moved to the table. "Can we eat first? Or maybe while we talk it over." Anne looked at the still crying mother and daughter pair, wondering if they could calm down enough to sit at the table and join the discussion.

Ed encouraged her, saying, "Yes, please. Let's eat first, and talk about it all later. We can't all focus with an empty stomach, after all."

Anne nodded and purchased some food and drink for breakfast, bringing it to the table with Jack's help. Jen took some deep breaths, and a few minutes later, she and her daughter reigned in their emotions and moved to the table to eat together with the others. She noticeably shifted her seat closer to her daughter, and away from Frank, who sat on her other side.

The meal was quiet, and even after everyone else was done eating, Jen continued to take small pieces of food and put them on her plate, chewing slowly and sipping gingerly at her drink. It was obvious to the others that she was just stalling for time, after Ed had suggested that they leave the discussion for after the meal.

"Mom, that's enough," Emery said, embarrassed at her mother's stubborn and childish display.

"What do you mean? I'm hungry, Em." Jen said, feigning innocence.

"Can we talk now, Jen?" Anne asked, trying to help Emery get her mom to move on.

Jen snapped, "Can you let me finish eating, first?!"

Anne didn't know what to say back, and paused with her mouth open. A moment later, Ed spoke up, "I'm sorry, Jen, but I believe we've waited long enough."

Jen glared at him, slamming her fork into her plate. She shouted back, "You, you just want to **** me and my daughter!"

"Now hold on," Frank said, turning in his seat to face Jen.

She shrieked and jumped from her chair, pulling her daughter away from the others.

"Mom, stop!" Emery yelled, "You're hurting me!"

"I'm protecting you!" Jen yelled back, digging her nails into her daughter's wrist. She turned to Frank, "Stay away!"

"No one wants to **** anybody," Frank asserted, staying in his seat. "We're just trying to survive, Jen."

Ed nodded, adding, "We're not going to do anything without your consent, Jen."

"Bullshit," she snapped. Her eyes were red and wet, close to tears.

"You don't have to worry so much. I'll protect you," Leticia said, laying a hand on Jen's shoulder.

"No," Jen answered, shaking her head, "No, no, no!" She slapped away Leticia's hand and backed into a corner, cradling her daughter against her chest.

Finally, when the skin around her wrist broke and warm blood dripped down her hand, Emery decided she had suffered enough **** from her mother. She pulled away and Leticia helped her, easily peeling off Jen's grip around her wrist, and placing herself between the woman and her daughter.

Jen struggled to speak through her sobs. "Why, Em?"

"Mom…" Emery held her bruised wrist, staring at her mother as tears rolled over her cheeks. The tension snapped, and Jen slid down, holding her face with her hands. Emery hesitated to reach out to her, blood still dripping along her wrist.

Leticia was the one who stepped forward, squatting down to rest a hand softly on the weeping mother's back. "No one is going to lay a finger on you or your daughter, do you understand?"

It took Jen a minute to compose herself enough to squeak out a reply between sobs, "Then... how?"