Exit to Eden by Anne Rice Page A

And never will your punishment cause you real physical injury. Your skin will never be broken, burned, or in any way irrevocably marred. In almost any situation, you will be under surveillance, with your trainers near at hand. No accidents have ever occurred here, and we do our best to see that none ever will.
    "But you exist to give pleasure, and you are tended to that purpose, whipped to that purpose, humiliated, and relentlessly sexually aroused to that purpose, to be made an object of amusement in any way the masters and mistresses desire."
    He had stopped before me, his back turned still, and I saw him reach out and touch the breasts of one of the small female slaves who seemed most upset. She was crying, tears staining her small face. Her whole body seemed to bend to him as he ran his fingers across her small belly.
    "Now, you have all been presented in a casual way to The Club," he resumed, stepping back. "But tonight, that presentation will be more dramatic, with special performances in which you will play important parts."
    But did that include us? What the hell was going to happen to us?
    "And to prepare you for that, to prepare you for all your training, you will now be given over to a trainer who will pick you on the basis of your individual characteristics to be part of his or her stable of regular slaves.
    "Your individual trainer will come to know you better than you know yourself; he or she will supervise all your behavior, your physical condition, oversee your exercise and your special training, converse with the guests who request your presence and your services; he or she will discipline you, develop you, perfect you as you become one of the full-fledged slaves of The Club.
    "And let me warn you now that if you think you are trained, if you think the paddle and the strap and the trainer and the master and the mistress have no surprises for you, you have much to learn at The Club.
    "In fact, you would be wise to look upon your next few months of training as a series of shocks. That is: expect the unexpected, and resign yourself that the control of your mind and body in all their parts belongs to others.
    "If you give your cooperation, if you surrender to your trainer in all ways, then it shall be all the easier, but with or without your surrender it will be done.
    "What is mandatory from this moment forward," he went on, raising his voice as he glanced at us, the punished ones, "is your absolute silence and obedience, your absolute submission to all who train you and use you here and stand above you here. There is nothing on this island as lowly as you are, not the commonest servant in the kitchen or garden. You are true slaves, true property, and you must never make the slightest movement, gesture, or response—or lack of same—which can be construed as disobedience or pride.
    "But your most severe offense," he said turning back to the other slaves, "is any mention of, let alone attempt to, run away. Any begging to be liberated shall be counted just as severely as an attempt at escape. And need I add there is no escape? And punishment for these offenses means time out from your contracts, no matter how long that punishment must last. For example, if you are here for two years, severe punishment for escape or rebellion will not count towards that time."
    He paused and turned to face us. I could feel his eyes on me, though I still looked past him, forward, as that lovely black-haired female slave who was, in spite of her tears, looking back.
    I couldn't see the tall brown-haired female trainer, where was she? Her power to move about in this room like a normal human being while I stood here captive seemed mildly terrifying. The male trainer approached.
    I could see the soft glossy silk of his shirt, see the small band of lace stretched over his large-boned wrist. My legs ached. I struggled for steadiness as he moved up and down the row. I heard a loud whimpering from one of the others again.
    "But those are