Sera Ch. 30

"Well," Auntie corrected herself, "Rebecca did, but not in that sense. Considering their very comfortable position relative to the position of so many others in the city, both Odette and Rebecca saw opportunity for future growth, but Rebecca saw... additional opportunity. While Odette concentrated on the business of keeping their financial boat afloat, Rebecca saw to another aspect of survivability, that being the politics of social appearances.

"To those of their tenants who could no longer afford their mid-level housing, Rebecca offered low-level housing that they could pay for. Those who could no longer even afford their low level housing were moved to the mid-level housing, sharing the larger accommodations with others and told to pay what and when they could. These arrangements saw some buildings designated for families, some designated for childless couples, some for single men, some for single women and some for seniors. The high-level living accommodations that became vacant were used as schoolrooms where previously laid off teachers were paid to teach children and adults alike. See, as Odette and Rebecca saw it, those properties wouldn't have a chance in hell at making money if they were standing empty, and unoccupied buildings very quickly lose their value. Fully occupied by communal housing, these mid-level buildings often made enough to at least break even, but even when they didn't, people still needed shelter and having people freeze outside wouldn't help pay the lights and heat any more than if they were warm inside, paying their way or not.

"Meanwhile, Rebecca started up a soup kitchen at the building they'd bought and donated to Saint Augustine Chapel. From there, she quickly filled any housing vacancies from the hundreds of homeless who would show up looking for something to fill an empty stomach. The kitchen was easily stocked with food from their agriculture and meat production, and just as easily transported there by their own cartage firms. The same efficient and self-sufficient business model that was to support the family turned out to be a somewhat easily sustainable godsend to so many in need.

"Needless to say, both Odette and Rebecca were practically seen as saints for this, which is a little curious and definitely ironic given Rebecca's attitude at the time. As I said, she'd seen other opportunities in the mess of the great depression, and not all of them were benevolent. In fact, I'd say a third of her humanitarian efforts were motivated by sincere caring for those in need, another third for the sensible practice of the family politics which had always protected Sera so well, and another third out of her base perversion and lust for control over others.

"So, to explain what I mentioned concerning Rebecca's attitude at the time, she made a habit of going to visit her buildings. She would be courteous enough to knock on apartment doors but, once inside, she would go where she wished, opening doors, looking around as though on a military inspection. She would speak to the groveling tenants with tolerant smiles on the days she was in a good mood, asking how they were, if they'd found work and how much rent they could comfortably pay that month. She enjoyed it and was very good at creating the respect they gave her with a balance between aloof power and righteous generosity.

"As to the generosity, heh... At the senior buildings, she would sometimes arrive with John and Jane carrying boxes of food, the same as at the buildings she'd designated for families with children, but with toys included. At the single male buildings, however, she'd sometimes leave her slaves behind when she left, giving her tenants permission to do as they wished with them as long as neither were harmed. Sometimes she'd stay to watch Jane get gangbanged while John serviced her. She also writes that she very much enjoyed directing what her tenants did with them, which I can completely understand... (Ahem) As for the single female buildings, she would often take one or more of them home with her for her own brand of BDSM fun. Of course, that term didn't exist then, but the BDSM lifestyle has always existed in some form or another, and she was becoming a very well experienced Domina with a large population of possible playthings to choose from. Soon, she began bringing males home as well, who she particularly enjoyed practicing the fine art of humiliation with. Of course, most of these people, with the exception of those who'd enjoyed her treatment of them, never remembered anything of the bondage, humiliation or pain she'd inflicted on them. Usually, they returned home with false memories of having worked for their rent and with a little money in their pocket to show for it besides.

"In time, she began picking people out from all her buildings, directing them to one of their high-level flats where private sex parties would take place. This was something Odette enjoyed as well, but expressed concerns when Rebecca started organizing massive orgies involving almost a hundred people and discretion was becoming difficult. So, Rebecca reorganized again. Those without children and who enjoyed these orgies were left to stay in these high-level units. This way, there was no real need to influence silence because that wasn't a lifestyle anybody could very well run around bragging about in those days. However, this wasn't to Odette's liking either, as all it did was to create an orgy lifestyle in one of their high-end buildings that wasn't even controlled and would sooner or later be discovered. Furthermore, it soon wasn't preferable for Rebecca that these people enjoyed her new arrangement for them. In a larger sense, it took the fun out of it for her. From her perspective, what good was it to watch the willing when she could watch couples under her influence trading partners or screwing their own family members with that... that look... The one we all so enjoy..." Auntie trailed off with a horny smile.

"So the massive orgies resumed behind Odette's back, where some would be helplessly bound and used by others, some introduced fully clothed and to a circle of people so sexually keyed up by Rebecca's influence that it was a wonder they even survived. And over it all, Rebecca would preside, wearing nothing but a black bustier, black gloves, boots and a choker, directing with a riding crop and ordering her pleasures where and how she wished.

"But not even this was enough. See, above all, Rebecca loved to watch sexual humiliation. Pain, bondage and even control only served this ultimate little hobby of hers, and that's where the real trouble resided. As we all know and as I've just hinted, it's most fun when people are only influenced to do as they're told, but with their awareness still intact so we can watch their expressions as they find themselves doing things that their personal moral codes would never allow. It's fun to see if they enjoy it, if they've maybe always fantasized about it despite their morals or... when they learn to enjoy it. Speaking for myself, there's no bigger turn on than watching someone's own socially acceptable behaviour being slowly defeated by their own opposing, sometimes hidden, completely undeniable attraction to total carnal depravity. For Rebecca, it was a drug. An addiction that she could never really satisfy, and the further she took it, the further she needed to take things the next time. And the older she got, the worse this perverted addiction became."

At this point in Auntie's story, I couldn't help remembering what Auntie Kathleen had related to me about the family she'd influenced at that motel, how she'd let them go without making them forget because it turned her on to think they'd go on like that, remembering that the best sex of their lives was had with each other. From there, my mind hopped to Gina and the things I'd had her do. I remembered the excitement I'd felt at watching the woman I knew so well, the decent wife of my father, the mother of his only son being used like a prostitute. Compressing my lips in sudden shame, I glanced at Stevie, also remembering the things he'd tried to tell me and understanding yet a little better how he was only trying to protect Gina. Protect her from me. Ultimately protecting me from me. Horribly, the truth of what Auntie Ashleigh said regarding the turn on to be gotten from this was undeniable. We all had it. Stevie tried to resist it, but he very much enjoyed watching both his mummy and I getting used by a bunch of strange guys as much as his mummy and I enjoyed being used. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. He was trying so hard to retain an ideal of decency while we all encouraged him to turn his back on those very ideals. I wondered if he felt alone. I also wondered what it would be like to watch his morals being overrun by his own perversions. This duality was hard to accommodate in my mind and I wondered if guilt went hand in hand with perversion. Would perversion be any fun without it? Was that Rebecca's problem?

"And so," Aunty Ashleigh went on as I ran from my guilty perversion back to the distraction of her voice, "this worsening form of sexual addiction is why Rebecca started attending chapel services more often. No, she wasn't there seeking spiritual help from the Almighty, whatever that is; rather, she was seeking those who weren't under her social control, people who she'd get off on watching sexually compromise themselves. And where better than at the chapel where the De la Garde name had begun to attract other social elites who wanted to be associated, wanted to have their names spoken of in the same philanthropical terms? To say nothing of the devoutly religious. Her ideal mark was a combination of these two types, the godly elites, one might say, but she took what she could get.

"And she took them to back alleys where homeless men cohabitated, camps near the railroads where hobo's stayed while riding the rails, or anywhere the down and out could be found. She writes of how she would masturbate while watching these women being groped, giving head, being fucked... She also writes that, while she would have to influence them a little in order to make them do these things, she would allow them to go back home with the memory and personal humiliation of their actions completely intact. She knew how dangerous this was but, as an alcoholic knows how he's ruining his life with every drink, she rationalized her actions whatever way she could in the interests of her addiction's great need for gratification, and so this continued.

"As Rebecca engaged in this ever more risky behaviour, her personality became harder, her treatment of others more harsh, especially the staff at their home on Adelaide Street. Her expectations became unreasonable and, when Odette became aware of her attitude towards them, she tried to talk to her. Rebecca, however, was no longer as receptive to her mother as she'd once been, and relations between them again became chilly over what she saw as her mother's interference. Grammie, however, was bearing the biggest brunt of her mother's increasing tyranny.

Growing up, it was clear that Samantha wasn't the same as Odette or Rebecca. She liked quiet spaces, spoke very quietly and didn't often meet people's eyes. Her preferred pastimes were also quiet, such as reading, writing and studying. Grammie told me of how her favourite game as a girl was to skulk around the house pretending to be a private detective, watching people and waiting for clues to some fictional mystery she'd previously worked out in her head. She was also an observer, one who was very interested in people and the things they do and say, especially when in groups, but not so interested in taking part. When she did speak, it was often only when first spoken to, and in a quiet voice with her gaze cast down at the floor in front of her.

"Unfortunately, this quiet and unobtrusive personality was not approved of by her mother. I suppose, as people sometimes have a tendency to see their children as little extensions of themselves, Rebecca wouldn't have liked this particular extension of self. Furthermore, she knew that her daughter had to be a lot more forward, more extroverted as she grew into a woman in order to handle the business responsibilities that came along with her last name and those of bearing Sera. In her daughter, she did not see a strong family leader, a one day matriarch, but a soft little weakling. Her treatment of her became harsher as time went on, but Samantha didn't change any more than anyone else can simply change their core personality to suit another. Rebecca took this failure to comply as defiance, which resulted in physical abuse and, one day, when Odette saw her granddaughter with a black eye, the proverbial shit hit the fan.

"Odette marched right up to the fourth floor and beat the daylights out of Rebecca. She actually had to call for their private physician to come and tend to her once she'd calmed down a little herself, and it's pretty much a given that, had Rebecca not been her own daughter, she'd have beaten her to death. To give you an idea, not only did Grammie hear much of the altercation, but she also remembers seeing Odette with blood spatter on her face and dress when she returned from the top floor. From then on, Samantha stayed on the third floor with her grandmother, but that wasn't the only change.

"With the distraction of many of their business pressures sold off, Odette had begun to see more and more how her daughter was changing. I suppose, having seen what a problem her own mother had been, she knew enough to be concerned and had been keeping tabs on Rebecca, well aware of all her activities with their tenants and the women from Saint Augustine's. She'd forbade her daughter from so much as setting foot inside that chapel without Odette being there with her and told her to clear out the high-end apartments where her orgy people were living and to control herself. If she couldn't be satisfied with easily controlled sex parties where those attending would be made to forget everything afterward, Odette promised to sell every tenant building the family owned for whatever she could get out of them. Finally, she'd told her that if she ever laid another hand on Grammie, she'd kill her. Considering our very strong suspicions regarding Dolanna's fate, I think we can safely assume that this was no idle threat.

"Rebecca didn't leave the fourth floor for almost a month after that beating. All of Grammie's belongings were moved down to the third by servants, who also delivered all of Rebecca's food and removed empty trays. Even though Odette instructed her not to go up there, Grammie wouldn't have dared to satisfy her curiosity even if she hadn't.

"The positive side to this event was how Odette actually did manage to get through to Rebecca. Once she did come down from the fourth, she was a lot more manageable where the staff was concerned and her sexual exploits were kept to small, private parties in the second floor parlour. On the downside, a gulf now existed between she and Odette. Their relations were then polite and distant, almost cold. Where Samantha was concerned... well, Rebecca ignored her as best she could. She was ashamed about her previous behaviour and embarrassed about the beating, finding it difficult to face either of them, but especially Samantha. She says she could barely look at her for the guilt the mere sight of her face would bring up in her. She also says that, at the same time, a seething resentment for them both lived inside her.

"This is one of the reasons we know of the duality that existed in Rebecca. On the one hand, she had this form of sexual addiction that could virtually rule her but, on the other, she was aware of its existence and the negative effect it was having, not just on Sera and her family, but in her own life as well. It was as if her sensible awareness was at war with another within her soul, who demanded that her deviant pleasures be satisfied at whatever cost and hated all those that blocked that satisfaction.

"Just the same, she'd decided to make an effort at controlling that ever present side of herself. Her chief method in this was the compilation of our family's history. As I've said, history was a personal interest of hers, probably the only one she and Grammie ever shared, and she used that interest to the best of her ability to distract herself from the cravings of her dark side."

Here, Auntie closed her eyes and shook her head with a little grin, injecting, "Jeez, another Star Wars analogy. Sorry, it just popped out."

We all laughed a little before she opened her eyes and went on, her grin lingering.

"So, things got a little better as tensions eased. In addition, Rebecca began spending time away on her research, sometimes weeks on end. Of course, like any addict, there were times when she fell off the wagon, so to speak. In fact, she describes some sexual adventures in other towns where she could use an alias that were... wow. I won't get into them here, but it should suffice to say that she was getting worse, not better, and her effort to distract herself with the family history really only succeeded in keeping it out of the family's back yard, so to speak.

"Then, one day in nineteen-thirty-four, less than two months after she had bonded Samantha on the evening of her eighteenth birthday, Odette was hit by a car on Yonge Street. She was rushed to the hospital, but died there before Rebecca and Samantha could arrive. Rebecca really didn't take this well. Neither did Samantha, but Rebecca... well, it didn't help her, that's for sure. As a footnote, the man who'd accidently hit her walked out in front of a train less than a week later, and that was the end of him. I don't think I have to explain how that could have happened.

"During the next year, Rebecca began to deteriorate again. She spent a lot of time running the business from her office, the door closed so she couldn't see the empty one across from hers, a depressingly dark, mute reminder of Odette's absence from her life. A heavy depression that settled on her mind had an opposite side, like that of two sides to a coin, and that side was sudden rage directed at the person who caused it for the slightest little reason. She tried to keep it away from her daughter, but Samantha obviously wasn't going to be of any use to the business and probably not even to running the house. In some cases, she still did what her nurse directed of her as she had when she was a child, and Rebecca's patience with her grew shorter.

"She took it out on the staff, slapping them around at times, verbally abusing them and even locking them in closets for a day. Then, as though seeing how this could have a very serious and negative effect on the home front, she began attending chapel services again. Soon, she was up to her old tricks, but this time her games with the other members of the congregation were different. They involved both men and women and it was no longer merely about satisfying her sexual addiction, but also taking out on them a deep seated anger that had been growing for years, now brought out into the open by her mother's death.

"One Sunday..." Auntie trailed off with a thoughtful expression, clearly debating how to put into words what she wanted to say next. "Well, she'd had everyone in the congregation influenced and... one Sunday morning, she locked the door and, instead of having mass, they had a mass orgy where she... Well, let's just say that, by the time it was over, even she realized that she had to do something about herself. She fixed everyone, telling them to forget about the orgy and giving them all the same story as to what happened to Father Bungay. When the hospital asked their inevitable questions about his bruises and legions, they were told by everyone that he, in a religious induced fit, began to engage in self-flagellation. He was committed to an insane asylum shortly thereafter, probably not only for the alleged religious fit, but also because he couldn't remember doing what everyone else attested to having seen.