A Very Schticky Thing To Do - 13. Chapter 13

“Where are we?” a very confused Thabbt asked.

“Nowhere,” Zzppd said. “Go back to sleep.”

“I can’t,” Thabbt whined. “Call the Minto, they can help me meditate.”

“You are no longer the Mistress of Oodri,” Zzppd said. “The Minto are not at your beck and call. Go back to sleep, now.”

“I’m not the Mistress?” Thabbt asked. “Why not?”

“Because you need me to tell you what to do,” Zzppd said. “Now, go back to sleep. I’m in no mood to get physical.”

“Will you tell me later?” Thabbt asked.

“I will tell you all about how I saved your life,” Zzppd said. “Now, go back to sleep.”

Thabbt turned onto his side facing away from Zzppd, who stared at the water stains on the ceiling. This place was a big let down from their apartment in the city and the Mistress’s rooms in Oodri. This was on the edge of Minto. The only place they deemed safest against an expected assassination attempt by the Oodri. All three of them would die because that’s how the Oodri did things.

Zzppd, though, didn’t really mind being close to the Minto. Sure they were cannibals, but it wasn’t an everyday thing. Servings were special events and it wasn’t like in the early days when they kidnapped children or later when they invited people to their death. Zzppd wondered how the honored guests reacted to being devoured. Certainly they screamed, but for how long? Doesn’t the brain shut down after experiencing too much pain? Isn’t there a limit to pain?

He turned to face Thabbt’s back and wondered what Bazts tasted like. Did they taste like bumpti, too? Now, that would be a good Schtickist joke. His cock was hard and nearly half as long as it was before the pregnancy. He spread some spit over the head and scooted up to Thabbt.

Zzppd laid a wad of saliva on Thabbt’s hole and pressed in. It was rough going, but he knew now was the time to do this. The Bazt needed to be debased and when Thabbt woke, probably from the pain, Zzppd whispered, “You wanted this, now you have it. Roll onto to your stomach.”

Thabbt complied and, then, Zzppd gave the most important command in a relationship such as this, “You are not allowed an erection and you may not have an orgasm.”

The fuck wasn’t as long as Zzppd wanted, but its effect was perfect. Thabbt wasn’t going to be straying outside the family anymore.

* * * * * * *

The young girl was dressed in a simple frock of plain blue cotton. The young boy had a tunic and trousers of the same material. Both had closely cropped hair and were barefoot. They spoke very little.

Thabbt was intrigued by them as the only Minto he’d seen were the two who served the Mistress. Now, these two came to help with Doopo and play with her, giving Zzppd and Thabbt time to figure out where their lives were going. At the moment, though, they weren’t going anywhere because of an implied threat from the Oodri or that’s what Zzppd told him.

As he watched the two youngsters, he tried to guess their ages, but they weren’t the same as Bazt. He couldn’t quite figure out the differences, but they were enough to confuse him about how old the children might be.

“Excuse me, may I ask your names?” Thabbt said with a weak smile.

“We cannot tell you because outsiders are not allowed to know the names of Minto,” the girl said.

“But you’re helping with our daughter,” Thabbt said trying to smile. “I thought it might be nice if I knew who you were.”

“You were the Mistress and now you’re not,” the boy said, not looking up from Doopo who was actually catching a ball tossed by the boy.

“Hush, Bindi, we’re not supposed to talk to him,” the girl said. “Oh! You didn’t hear that.”

“But, I did,” Thabbt said. “So, he is Bindi and what is your name?”

“It’s Thum,” Bindi said.

“You’re not supposed to talk to him,” Thum said. “You heard what the friend of Minto said.”

“You talked to him first,” Bindi said. Doopo tossed the ball, striking Bindi in the chest. “Ow, you throw hard for a baby.”

“She’s half Schtickist,” Thabbt offered. “She’s growing and maturing faster than Bazt babies.”

The children turned their backs to Thabbt and returned to ignoring him.

“Is Thabbt bothering you two?” Zzppd asked as he stepped into the room.

“No, but he found out our names,” Thum said. “I would kill him, but you said I can’t. I wish he would’ve come to us as an honored guest. Daddy said that he would’ve lived with us until we held a Serving. Are you sure I can’t at least hurt him?”

“No, Thum, you may not hurt my betrothed,” Zzppd said. “Someday soon we will marry and I can’t have you hurting the man I love.”

“Daddy said he was going to let me eat his foreskin,” Bindi said.

“I know for a fact you’re too young to be eating anything close to a man’s penis,” Zzppd said. “Do you know the entire Oath?”

“No,” Bindi whispered.

“You know you have to recite the Oath at an Assembly before you’re allowed to eat any part of an honored guest,” Zzppd said.

“How do you know that?” Thum asked.

“I am a friend of the Minto,” Zzppd said. “I know lots of things about you. Now, I think it’s time for you to go home. Give Doopo a kiss.”

“Can we come back tomorrow?” Bindi asked.

“What are the first two lines of the Oath?” Zzppd asked. “And, don’t help him Thum. Bindi has to do it on his own.”

“Um, oh, yeah. In the beginning there was Minto and we became Minto. We journeyed far to find our home among the stars,” Bindi said.

“Do you know the next two lines?” Zzppd asked.

“Kind of,” Bindi said.

“Kind of doesn’t cut it,” Zzppd said with a smile. “Tomorrow when you come back you will recite the first five lines of the Oath. If you do that, then you can stay and help Thabbt with Doopo’s bath. Thum?”

“Yes, Friend?”

“Do you know your Catechism?” Zzppd asked.

“I’m working on it,” Thum said with half a smile.

“The Mistress held out her right hand,” Zzppd said.

“The Minto took her right hand in, uh, um, don’t tell me, the Minto took her right hand in, uh,” Thum said, finally biting her lip.

“I think two little Minto need to work on their lessons,” Zzppd said. “That was the condition to coming here wasn’t it? Huh?”

“Yes, Friend,” Thum said, nudging her brother.

“Yes, Friend, sir,” Bindi said with a weak smile.

“When you get home I want both of you to go to your mama and tell her I said you weren’t studying your lessons hard enough and that you, Bindi, must know the first five lines of the Oath, and you, Thum, must know the first four responses of the Catechism, before you can come back,” Zzppd said. “If you come tomorrow and either of you can’t perform, I’ll send you back. Understood?”

“Yes, Friend,” Thum and Bindi said in unison, which is common for the Minto.

“Good, come, kneel and I’ll give the blessing,” Zzppd said.

The children came to where Zzppd was standing and knelt before him. He placed his right hand on Thum’s head and his left on Bindi.

“May the stars bless you, may Minto return your souls to Terra, may an honored guest nourish you,” Zzppd intoned and then took his hands from the children’s heads and clapped once.

“Thank you, Friend of Minto,” the children said in unison. They stood up and walked out the door.

Thabbt, who had been trying very hard to appear inconspicuous, looked up at Zzppd.

“Yes?” Zzppd asked.

“Did he say he wanted to eat my foreskin?” Thabbt asked.

“Yes, he did,” Zzppd said. “If the Oodri had gotten to you before the Minto were able to bring us here, they might have given you to the Minto as an honored guest. Trust me; you do not want to be an honored guest.”

“I take it honored guests die,” Thabbt said.

“They are tortured mercilessly, often for many years, and finally when they no longer scream loud enough or suffer long enough, they become the honored guest at a Serving,” Zzppd said.

“What’s that?” Thabbt said.

“The Minto who come to a Serving, young and old, devour the honored guest alive,” Zzppd said, flatly.

“They’re cannibals? How can that be?” Thabbt asked in horror.

“It is part of their culture to eat humans,” Zzppd said. “And, according to all the known laws of the multiverse, the culture of every human must be respected and honored, even though you believe parts of their culture are wrong. That’s the problem with the Argotteans. They don’t honor the Schtickists. Well, their day is coming, soon.”

“He would’ve eaten my foreskin?” Thabbt asked.

“You probably wouldn’t have noticed as the partakers at a Serving usually eat the limbs first,” Zzppd said. “But, if you were still aware after all the meat had been eaten from your hands, feet, arms, and legs, on a man the foreskin is eaten and then the entire penis. After that, they eat into the abdomen. Some Minto eat everything, some only eat the liver, kidneys, and heart. You are certainly dead by the time they get to your head. Some Minto, after peeling away all the flesh, crack open the head and eat the brains, some do not. What is left is crushed and pulverized and used as fertilizer for their vegetable crops as they’re mostly vegetarians, except at Servings. Now, I told you not to disturb them. Plus, you found out their names, which is forbidden. Thum would’ve been within her rights to kill you, if she had the weapon to do it and my permission. Therefore, my dear Thabbt, you will go into the empty room and kneel before the whip. You will not get an erection and you will not have an orgasm. I will decide if you are to be punished further. Now, go.”

“Yes, Zzppd,” Thabbt said as he stood and walked out the door.

“And, Thabbt?”

“Yes, Zzppd?”

“You are not allowed to urinate or have a bowel movement until I say you can. Understood?”

“Yes, Zzppd.”

Zzppd sat down next to Doopo who had been quietly playing with some colored blocks. She looked up at Zzppd and said, “Dadi, bad. Yes, Pubi?”

“Yes, Doopo, Dadi was naughty,” Zzppd said with a sigh. He didn’t like being Thabbt’s master, but that was how the Bazt wanted things to be. He knew he had to change Thabbt’s behavior, but didn’t quite know how to go about it. Plus, he was worried the Oodri might make a serious attempt on their lives and thinking about that made him angry at Thabbt for all his foolishness. Thabbt was going to be in the empty room for a long time.

* * * * * * *

Thabbt walked into the empty room with trepidation. The room was truly empty as there was nothing in there, except for a whip. Thabbt wasn’t certain if it was the one used on him, not that it mattered. It was a whip and he had been whipped. Just seeing the thing sent shivers down his back as memories of the lash tearing into his skin ran through his mind. He fully expected Zzppd to come in, pick it up and use it to punish him for all his transgressions.

He knelt in front of it and felt tears begin to dribble down his cheeks. He was about as worthless as a smear of shit on a sidewalk, yet he wanted Zzppd to love him and wanted to do what was right; except, he had failed Zzppd, his father, and the Oodri.

Maybe it would’ve been better for him to go to the Minto and suffer endless pain until the day when they ate him. He tried to imagine what it might feel like to have many mouths biting into his flesh. At what point would his mind simply shut down due to the overwhelming amount of pain coursing through his body as all those teeth sank into his skin? How long would he last? Would he be alive when some young boy started eating his cock? He felt himself getting hard.

He glared at his cock as it filled with blood and became rock hard. He tried to think of something to make it go away, but all his mind could see was all those mouths, all those teeth, all that blood draining away as he was slowly devoured by the Minto.

“What are you doing?” Zzppd screamed. He slapped Thabbt’s cheek so hard the Bazt nearly fell over.

Thabbt stared at his cock in horror as semen spewed out as it never had before.

“You’re pathetic,” Zzppd said. He walked out of the room and locked the door.

* * * * * * *

“How many days have you kept him in there?” the One asked.

Zzppd had gone to the Minto to see if someone there might have an idea about what he could do with Thabbt. He knew Thabbt sought pain and humiliation for sexual release, but he couldn’t bring himself to become an ogre to Thabbt while being Doopo’s Pubi. Plus, Doopo needed her Dadi, not some pathetic excuse for a man.

Whichever Minto he spoke to suggested he speak with the One as she was practically the mind and conscience of the Minto. She wasn’t just chosen because of her large breasts, although that was a major requirement for the position, the One also needed to have a clear idea of right and wrong to decide disagreements among the Minto.

“Two days, now,” Zzppd said.

“Have you heard him ask for food or water?” she asked.

“No, but I know he’s in there because I can see him through the peep hole,” Zzppd said with a sigh. “He mostly meditates.”

“First, I want you to go into him and allow him to suckle at your breast. When he has satisfied his hunger and thirst leave him and I’ll send a collection team. I believe because he thrives on pain he must experience so much pain his mind will undo itself.”

“I don’t understand,” Zzppd said as he pictured Thabbt having orgasm after orgasm as the Minto tortured him. “If he needs pain, whether physically or mentally, to achieve an orgasm, how will more pain cure him?”

“We know how to withhold what the victim desires most, while inflicting pain beyond a person’s wildest dreams. He will suffer so horribly he won’t be able to have an orgasm because his mind will be totally focused on the pain. You must understand, though, the young Bazt you know and love may not come out at the end. We will strive to maintain his basic personality, but there is always the risk he is so damaged already, we will only destroy what little hope he has. There is a chance he might be no better than an honored guest at the end.”

“They don’t know they are being eaten, do they?” Zzppd asked as he pictured Thabbt lying on a Serving table being devoured by many, many Minto mouths.

“No and they do not scream, either,” she said. “They are beyond screaming. Their brains are unable to process pain signals. In the beginning, as you’ve read, the Servings were meant to inflict pain, but we’ve learned over many centuries that the administration of pain can damage a person so much they are totally unaware they are being eaten to death. Many live up to the point where their heart is eaten, yet they still do not scream.”

“I do not wish Thabbt to become an honored guest at a Serving,” Zzppd said.

“No, he will not have that honor, but if he does not learn or chooses to not learn from this experience, what is your desire?” she asked. She had a look of concern only a mother could have.

“If Thabbt is not at the end of the journey, then he is dead to me,” Zzppd said as a tear dribbled down his cheek. “He is practically dead to me now and I can’t marry him if he insists on being my slave. So, I guess, I would wish that he be peaceably allowed to cross into the unknown. He must not know he is going. I will grieve horribly if he does.”

“He will be bled,” she said. She came and sat beside Zzppd and embraced him. “We will bring you to say goodbye. When you give the word, for it will be your choice, we will pierce the arteries. He will go quickly and not know he is leaving. What do you wish for his body?”

“That he feed the Minto,” Zzppd said.

“Thank you, that is a good gesture,” she said.

* * * * * * *

Pain.

So much pain.

Thabbt never believed he could suffer so much pain in so many places.

He stood in a cage of needles that pierced the soles of his feet and nearly every other part of his body. Wires were attached to the needles above his feet and electric current passed through him in excruciating waves.

And, it didn’t end.

He wasn’t allowed to sleep or, at least, he didn’t think he slept as the pain continued through all hours of his awareness. He was fed through a tube down his nose. There was pain when he had to pee or shit. At first, he got an erection from the pain, but there was a special treatment for that. It was so intense all thoughts of sexual relief passed out of his mind. His total focus was on the pain.

And, it didn’t end.

* * * * * * *

He was suspended in a pool of some sort of liquid that pushed at his body as if he was in a vise, except he was being pushed at every point on his body. It was as if he was being slowly crushed. The pain was nearly unbearable.

He screamed.

He screamed so much his throat hurt and still the pressure pushed on him.

He begged to be put back in the needle cage.

* * * * * * *

Someone was screaming because he was experiencing unbelievable pain.

Thabbt slowly became aware that he was the one who was screaming. Pain was all over him, but he could not describe the source. All he knew, all he was aware of was total pain.

* * * * * * *

When the word got out among Minto parents and adults that Zzppd knew both the Oath for Neophytes, the Catechism of the Mistress, and the Oath of Allegiance, children began showing up at his door to help with Doopo. Some days there were over twenty children wanting to help with the baby. Doopo loved all the attention.

Then, one day, Zzppd had a visitor. He was with Oodri security and wanted to speak to him and Thabbt about a possible solution to the problem of the false Mistress, as they were now calling Thabbt.

“We offer a painless death,” the man said, “but I need to speak with Thabbt, personally.”

“He is with the Minto,” Zzppd said. “They are listening to him scream. When he stops screaming, they will ask me if I think he is alive or if they should kill him.”

“What if I don’t believe you?” the man asked.

“We are all Minto,” a group of children said in unison. “Harm the friend of Minto and you will die a horrible, excruciating death.”

“You’re only children,” the man said.

“We are Minto,” the children said in unison.

“I have a pass from the Thirteen,” the man said holding up a piece of paper.

“We are Minto,” the children intoned.

Two adult Minto walked into the room. The Oodri looked at them and held up his piece of paper.

“I have been granted free passage by the Thirteen,” the Oodri said with a scared, trembling voice.

“We are honored you have chosen to come to us,” the adults intoned.

“No, I have a pass,” the Oodri said.

“You have soiled the habitat of our friend,” the adults intoned.

Two more Minto adults came into the room and grabbed the Oodri. He struggled for a moment until going limp. Zzppd wondered what had happened to him and then saw a long, thin piece of metal sticking in the back of the Oodri’s neck.

“He will only be paralyzed for a short time,” one of the Minto said.

“Then he will experience more pain than he ever imagined,” another said.

“And, then he’ll be a special honored guest,” another said.

“We invite you, our friend, to the special honored guest’s Serving,” another said.

“I accept,” Zzppd said knowing there was nothing worse than refusing a Minto invitation to a Serving. They wouldn’t expect him to participate, but he was expected to observe the proceedings. The Oodri would be fully aware he was being eaten alive.

* * * * * * *

The ceremony began with a long prayer to Minto, Terra, and the stars. Two young Minto, a boy and a girl who Zzppd had coached, stood and recited the Oath with each doing a line at a time. Two boys stood and recited the Catechism with one doing the statement and the other doing the responses. Finally, an older boy stood and recited the Oath of Allegiance. When he finished he leaned over the Oodri, who was secured to the Serving table with spikes, and chewed off his foreskin. The Oodri screamed so loud Zzppd thought the man was going to spit blood.

The assembled waited for the boy to swallow the foreskin and then they asked Zzppd if he would bite off the bloody end of the Oodri’s penis. He hadn’t expected to be asked and was somewhat taken aback by the invitation. One of the older women came to him and gave him a small leaf.

“I believe you call this meethi,” the woman said. “We call it peppermint. Chew the leaf and it will help mask the flavor of the Oodri’s flesh. You do not have to eat the Oodri’s flesh, but we would like you to put your mark on him.”

Zzppd took the leaf and chewed it. It did taste like meethi. Then he leaned over the Oodri, took the penis in his hand and bit through the end, completely severing the glans from the shaft. Blood spurted out all over his face. The boy who bit off the foreskin took the glans from Zzppd and put it into his mouth and began to chew. One of the boys who recited the Catechism came up to Zzppd and before the Zzt could react, the boy began to lick the Oodri’s blood from his face.

For a moment Zzppd was totally unaware what was happening until the Oodri’s screaming finally brought him back to the Serving. He turned and saw each of the partakers of flesh lean in and take a bite out of the Oodri’s body. They weren’t starting with the limbs, this time. They were going into the abdomen and chest.

The Oodri had stopped screaming, but Zzppd could tell the man was still partially aware of what was happening to him. One of the adult Minto tore apart the bared ribs over the heart and a young woman, obviously pregnant, leaned over and took a large bite out of the Oodri’s heart. Blood spewed out of the punctured heart, quickly bringing death to the honored guest.

“It is done,” one of the Minto announced and the partakers of flesh stepped away from the dead Oodri.

“Thank you, friend, for joining us,” said the woman who gave Zzppd the leaf.

“Take the Oodri’s body back to his kind and inform them the friend of Minto, his betrothed, and their child have been avenged,” the One said.

Not realizing she had been in attendance, Zzppd went over to her.

“May I see Thabbt?” he asked.

“Yes, I believe he wants to see you,” she said.

“Has he suffered?” he asked.

“As much as we hoped,” she said with a smile. “I think you will be pleased.”

* * * * * * *

Zzppd was horrified at the sight of Thabbt lying on a low metal table in an otherwise featureless room. A young Minto boy was standing next to the Bazt and urinating in his face. There were many needles piercing Thabbt’s skin and each had a wire attached. All the wires came together in long cables that led to a large box beside the metal table. An adult Minto woman stood there pressing different buttons on the box and each time she did Zzppd saw Thabbt’s body stiffen and quiver in different places or, sometimes, all over as electric current was applied to the needles. She smiled when she saw Zzppd. She flipped a switch which caused Thabbt’s whole body to suddenly stiffen, quiver horribly for a moment, and then become still before the cycle repeated.

“Come Peeto, Friend wants to talk to our guest,” she said to the boy, who turned and smiled at Zzppd.

“Hello, Friend,” Peeto whispered.

“Hello, Peeto, and thank you for peeing on Thabbt,” Zzppd said, knowing the proper protocol in situations such as this.

“He’s nice, for a guest,” Peeto said.

“Peeto!” the woman exclaimed.

The boy, clearly chastised, quickly ran from the room.

“He is young,” the woman said.

“Yes, and sometimes the young forget,” Zzppd said, thinking of his childhood friend who had been vaporized by the Normals.

After the woman followed the boy out of the room, Zzppd knelt beside Thabbt. He would’ve kissed his betrothed, but there were many needles piercing his lips. He laid a hand on a bare patch of Thabbt’s skin.

Thabbt opened one eye. It glared at Zzppd.

“You are suffering,” Zzppd said.

“You have blood all over you,” Thabbt whispered between shocks.

“I was invited to the Serving of an Oodri prisoner,” Zzppd said. “I believe we will not be troubled by the Oodri anymore. I think we’re free to leave.”

“Will you take me home?” Thabbt asked. “I’ll do whatever you ask.”

“Will you forgive yourself?”

“I have.”

“Will you stop insisting on being my slave?”

“I am not a slave.”

“Will you marry me?”

“We are betrothed.”

Zzppd smiled, leaned close to Thabbt, and kissed a small, urine soaked spot on his face.

“Zzppd?”

“Yes?”

“They are different.”

“How?”

“They have small bags of skin under their penises.”

“They are Terrans, from long ago. Those bags are scrotums. They hold their testicles.”

“Oh. Zzppd?”

“Yes?”

“Do you love me?”

“With all my heart.”