The stranger went up the snow-lined walk to the front porch. He set down a very large duffle bag before ringing the bell. The parents met him together, a sign to the man that they were both behind this thing that needed to be done.

The stranger doffed his fedora as he entered. The wife took his hat and coat, revealing a perfectly pressed and natty three-piece suit. The husband brought in the duffle bag, surprised at its weight.

"Is everything ready?", the stranger asked.

"Yes, sir," the wife said, "They are both in the family room, just as you instructed."

"Good. Enjoy your cruise."

The parents shook hands with the stranger, handed him a set of keys and then left the house. The stranger stood in the open doorway and watched as the parents got into their car and drove away.

He locked the door and set the keys on the table. There was a family portrait there. He picked it up and looked at it like a museum curator might examine a piece of artwork from some long dead civilization. After a time, he set the photograph face down on the table and picked up his bag.

The stranger knew the house intimately. He had been there before, to study it; to study them. He had watched them, but they did not know that they were being watched, which suited the stranger just fine. He wanted their first sighting of him to be...special. One that they would remember, though not fondly, for the rest of their days.

Before entering the family room he paused and looked at them. He wondered, as he always did at the beginning of an assignment, whether or not a month would be enough time. It always was enough time however, but he still couldn't break the habit...the ritual perhaps, of worrying over it.

He left his bag in the hallway before entering the room. As quiet as a church mouse, he walked over to one of the couches and sat comfortably crossing his legs. He regarded his charges.

The oldest, Honey, was ten years old. She had blonde hair that had been cut short in that sassy boyish look that is so popular. Her file said that she had blue eyes, though that wasn't apparent right at the moment. She stood about fifty-nine inches tall and weighed about seventy pounds, average weight for a girl of her age. Her chest was flat, no signs of budding which was uncommon for her age.

The younger was named Krissy by birth, but everyone called her Kiki. She was seven years old. Blonde like her sister, her hair in bangs in the front was cut to her waist, though today it was up in pigtails held in white ribbons. She had hazel eyes. She stood about forty-four inches tall and was a little plump, and weighed sixty-eight pounds. Because of the baby fat, she had small budding nippies.

They were prepped according to his instructions. Both wore identical outfits, if they could be called that, consisting of a sheer white thong panty, suntan colored stockings that snuggled right near their cunnies, and high heels. The older girl wore pumps with ankle straps that had five-inch heels. Her sister wore open-toed sandals with four-inch heels. The ankle straps on both sets of shoes were locked with tiny locks. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for the girls to walk in these shoes. But walk they would.

The only other "garment" was a white leather collar that had a bow-tie on the front and a large chrome ring hanging below.

Both had full lips which were painted satiny red. Their eyes were made-up with light mascara and medium brown eye shadow. Small pearl dangles hung from their pierced ears.

They were seated side by side on a hard wooden chair, Honey on the right and Kiki on the left, from the strangers perspective; and per his instructions had spent the night sitting there, both having skipped supper. Each had their wrists cuffed behind them, both wrists pressed into a single side of individual handcuffs. These would be tight on the younger girl, who had smaller wrists. But the older was probably in pain, her wrist pressed very tightly together. The other side of the handcuffs were locked to the upright bars at the back of the chair.

Their legs were crossed, Honey's right leg over her left and Kiki's left leg over her right. The ankles of their crossed legs were locked together in a pair of handcuffs ratcheted down tight. Their other ankles were handcuffed to the leg of the chair on their respective sides.

Both wore red rubber ball gags, strapped very tight and locked on with tiny locks. Both were custom fit to their mouths, just large enough to cut out any sound, but if they stretched their jaws wider they could draw a bit of breath. The straps pulled back on the corners of their mouths. Both also wore blindfolds that consisted of small swimming goggles that had been sprayed black. Small holes were drilled in the top where the ridges of their eye sockets prevented them from looking. This let in a smidgen of light. They could open their eyes and look around but all they would see is the black insides of the goggles. This tended to create a claustrophobic effect that added to the discomfort and disorientation of the charges.

Finally, cotton balls had been pressed into their ears, muffling all but the sharpest sounds.

Sitting forward and reaching into his back pocket, the stranger pulled out a well-worn leather strop. He hefted it a few times, eyes locked on the girls. Finally, he leaned forward and using the top surface of the coffee table he made a sharp sound.

The sound of the strop hitting the table caused both girls to jump, their chains rattling against the wood of the chair. The stranger watched carefully. The older sister began to cry and wail. The younger and obviously stronger sister sat very still, turning her head slowly as if trying to pinpoint the sound. The stranger knew that he would concentrate most of his efforts on that one. Change her ways and the other would follow.

The stranger laid his strop on the table. Rising slowly he approached the girls, standing over them, marveling at how such little ones could look so much like miniature women.

He reached down and removed the cotton from their ears. Putting his hand on the back of Honey's head, he forced her forward until he could unbuckle the strap holding the blindfold in place. As soon as it was off she looked up at him and as expected her eyes flew wide in surprise and she panicked, trying to get free from her bonds and away from the mean looking giant hovering above her helpless form.

He stepped back and folded his arms swinging the blindfold idly against his side as he watched, with some amusement, the affect that her struggles were having on her sister. With all the jerking around going on, still the little one showed no fear. She was going to be a tough egg to crack.

The stranger stepped back up to the girls and removed the blindfold from Kiki. Her response was natural, eyes wide and leaning back for a moment. But she recovered quickly and sat ramrod straight, staring at the stranger in a fashion that was far beyond her small bodies ability to back up. Yes, she was definitely challenging him. This wasn't the first time and he kept something in his pocket that would soften her look up a bit. Taking out a little squeeze bottle, he put two drops of onion extract on the inside of the lenses, one drop on each lens. Capping the bottle carefully and then blowing on the lenses to dry them, he walked up to the girls. The older one stared at the blindfold. She was already completely given over to fear. The little one stared defiantly. She didn't move or deflect her glare even as he put the blindfold over her eyes and strapped it tighter than before.

He stepped back and waited. He could tell by the flaring of her nostrils that the extract was doing its job. Her eyes felt like they were on fire. The older sister looked like she was at a tennis match, swiveling her head as she looked from her sisters face to the strangers.

Finally Kiki let out a low moan around her gag and the stranger removed the blindfold. Her eyes were as red as her sisters, though the latter was from the tears that she was still shedding. Her eyes were still hard, but not challenging. The girl blinked and tried to clear her eyes.

The Stranger reached into a pocket on the other side of his coat and pulled out another bottle. He unscrewed the cap and walked up to the girls. He held Kiki's head back and her eyelids open so he could put soothing drops into her eyes. She blinked a few times and then looked up at the stranger with a momentary flash of gratitude before she looked sharply away and stared at a fixed point in the room.

Honey, seeing what her sister was doing, tried it herself, but the tears still streaming down her face gave lie to her intent.

The stranger strode casually to the couch, putting the drops back into his pocket. He sat comfortably and crossed his legs.

"Good morning, girls. My name is Mr. Master and I will be your teacher for the next month."