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dommmu
Governor
Chapter 10: The Investigation (V)
Five minutes before eight, April's doorbell rang. It was Lucas. April had figured him to be the type who took appointments seriously and rather showed up five minutes earlier than one minute late. A character trait that April knew all to well from herself.
When she welcomed him in her apartment, April was uncertain if she should greet him in an amicable or in a more formal way. Technically, both of them were not on duty right now. If they were, and their bosses found out what they were about to do, they would be in trouble without question. It was not only that her Captain would not appreciate her continuing the investigations single-handedly without involving Parker in her next actions. What she and Lucas planned to do was certainly illegal, especially without an official permit.
But still, April did not know her prospective partner in crime that well. She had just met him a couple of hours ago. So she decided that a simple handshake would have to do for now.
"You can put that one away", Lucas said, pointing at April's private laptop, which she had already set up on the table of her living room. "We are not going to sacrifice your private data."
He reached into his bag and took out an old laptop, its casing full of dents and scratches.
"I had this lying around at home", he explained. "I wiped the harddrive and put on a brand new Linux, plus a ton of antivirus software. That's no guarantee, though. But if we catch ourselves anything nasty, I can just throw this one away without grieving too much about it. Would you be so kind to give me your Wifi password?"
"Sure", April agreed and handed him the little note that she usually kept in the bag of her laptop.
"Alright, let's get going", Lucas declared, full of energy. "I am just going to boot this up and then set up a VPN. We may use a throwaway computer, but we do not want anyone to track your access point, do we? But before we continue, I demand payment!"
What was the meaning of this statement? They had never talked about Lucas' compensation for helping April to follow her 'Dark Room' lead. She was confused about the look he gave her, his head slightly tilted, his eyebrows raised in expectation... He was not some little pervert expecting her to flash her boobs for him, was he?
"Cold beer, remember?", he finally reminded her.
"Oh, sure", April laughed and went to the kitchen. She pulled two bottles of beer from the fridge, one for Lucas, one for herself. She also fetched the last bag of crisps from the cabinet where she kept her snacks.
"Great, now we are talking!", Lucas responded after taking the first sip from his beer and throwing a handful of crisps into his mouth, making a crunching noise as he chewed them.
His fingers flew over the keyboard and the touchpad of the laptop, leaving behind greasy fingerprints. April was disgusted about this at first and thought about berating him, but then rembered that she needed Lucas if she wanted to find out if there actually was a 'Red Room'.
Lucas opened a program that looked like an internet browser, but none that April had ever seen before. Then he navigated to a strange website. It had a dark grey background color and its only contents were endless lists of cryptic links.
"Is this the darknet?", she asked.
"No, this is the deep web, actually", Lucas responded patiently. "You see, the darknet is a part of the deep web. The illegal part. Not everything on the deep web is illegal. Most of it is actually legit. Just hidden, so that not everyone can access it. People use it for private conversations, companies use it to share confidential data, dissidents use it to publish reports of what is wrong with their government... and some people use it to discuss with an open mind."
He searched the link list for a while until it seemed like he had found what he was looking for. When he followed the link, a website was opened that looked like a forum.
"This is my guilty pleasure. I love reading conspiracy theories. For entertainment, of course, and not because I believe in this weird shit. You see, a lot of speculation is going on about the stuff you can find on the darknet. While it has been proven countless times that it is used for buying and selling all kinds of stuff, like drugs, weapons or stolen identities for example, there are other things that have remained a myth so far. Hired killers, human trafficking and 'Red Rooms', just to name a few. But the other day, I found this one thread here on the forum where one user claimed that he had actually found a 'Red Room'. I just need to find the thread..."
Lucas kept browsing the forum for several minutes. April had the feeling that there was more to him than you could see right away. On the first glimpse, he looked like the typical nerd. But as she secretly inspected him while he was busy, she found that if he put on a fresh set of clothes, got a decent haircut, shaved his face and started working out to loose maybe ten or fifteen pounds, he could have been quite attractive. But then she sighed to herself and tried to focus on their research again. After all, this was her first week on the new job and she was working on her first case, which had really not gone so well until now. Romances with colleagues from work were the last thing she needed right now.
"How do you know all this stuff?", she asked to interrupt the awkward silence. "Why can you navigate the deep web so easily and know so much about the darknet?"
Lucas interrupted his search and took his glance away from the screen for a moment. April followed his eyes, which looked out of her living room window. Her apartment was on the eleventh floor of a big residential building. All the buildings around were significantly smaller. If you looked out of her living room window, which was pointed westward, around this time of day, and the weather was nice, which it unfortunately was not today, you would be rewarded with a spectacular sunset over the roofs of the district.
"I do have my experiences with illegal stuff on the darknet", Lucas answered after a moment of hesitation. "But this is in my past now. I would rather not talk about it."
He continued browsing the forum. For a moment, April thought if she should question him about what he had meant, but decided not to do so.
Lucas uttered a joyful grunt. It seemed like he had finally found the thread he had been looking for.
"The thing about the stuff on the deep web is, that you cannot just google for it", he explained. "You have to know where it is. This user posted a link together with his theory. I haven't followed it before. Blindly following links can be dangerous, especially on the deep web."
His index finger glided across the touchpad, directing the cursor over the link that the forum user had posted. He gave April a last look, silently asking the question 'Should I really do it?'. April nodded and Lucas opened the link.
A new website opened in the browser. They both looked at it for a moment.
"What the actual fuck?", was Lucas' first comment.
To be continued.
Five minutes before eight, April's doorbell rang. It was Lucas. April had figured him to be the type who took appointments seriously and rather showed up five minutes earlier than one minute late. A character trait that April knew all to well from herself.
When she welcomed him in her apartment, April was uncertain if she should greet him in an amicable or in a more formal way. Technically, both of them were not on duty right now. If they were, and their bosses found out what they were about to do, they would be in trouble without question. It was not only that her Captain would not appreciate her continuing the investigations single-handedly without involving Parker in her next actions. What she and Lucas planned to do was certainly illegal, especially without an official permit.
But still, April did not know her prospective partner in crime that well. She had just met him a couple of hours ago. So she decided that a simple handshake would have to do for now.
"You can put that one away", Lucas said, pointing at April's private laptop, which she had already set up on the table of her living room. "We are not going to sacrifice your private data."
He reached into his bag and took out an old laptop, its casing full of dents and scratches.
"I had this lying around at home", he explained. "I wiped the harddrive and put on a brand new Linux, plus a ton of antivirus software. That's no guarantee, though. But if we catch ourselves anything nasty, I can just throw this one away without grieving too much about it. Would you be so kind to give me your Wifi password?"
"Sure", April agreed and handed him the little note that she usually kept in the bag of her laptop.
"Alright, let's get going", Lucas declared, full of energy. "I am just going to boot this up and then set up a VPN. We may use a throwaway computer, but we do not want anyone to track your access point, do we? But before we continue, I demand payment!"
What was the meaning of this statement? They had never talked about Lucas' compensation for helping April to follow her 'Dark Room' lead. She was confused about the look he gave her, his head slightly tilted, his eyebrows raised in expectation... He was not some little pervert expecting her to flash her boobs for him, was he?
"Cold beer, remember?", he finally reminded her.
"Oh, sure", April laughed and went to the kitchen. She pulled two bottles of beer from the fridge, one for Lucas, one for herself. She also fetched the last bag of crisps from the cabinet where she kept her snacks.
"Great, now we are talking!", Lucas responded after taking the first sip from his beer and throwing a handful of crisps into his mouth, making a crunching noise as he chewed them.
His fingers flew over the keyboard and the touchpad of the laptop, leaving behind greasy fingerprints. April was disgusted about this at first and thought about berating him, but then rembered that she needed Lucas if she wanted to find out if there actually was a 'Red Room'.
Lucas opened a program that looked like an internet browser, but none that April had ever seen before. Then he navigated to a strange website. It had a dark grey background color and its only contents were endless lists of cryptic links.
"Is this the darknet?", she asked.
"No, this is the deep web, actually", Lucas responded patiently. "You see, the darknet is a part of the deep web. The illegal part. Not everything on the deep web is illegal. Most of it is actually legit. Just hidden, so that not everyone can access it. People use it for private conversations, companies use it to share confidential data, dissidents use it to publish reports of what is wrong with their government... and some people use it to discuss with an open mind."
He searched the link list for a while until it seemed like he had found what he was looking for. When he followed the link, a website was opened that looked like a forum.
"This is my guilty pleasure. I love reading conspiracy theories. For entertainment, of course, and not because I believe in this weird shit. You see, a lot of speculation is going on about the stuff you can find on the darknet. While it has been proven countless times that it is used for buying and selling all kinds of stuff, like drugs, weapons or stolen identities for example, there are other things that have remained a myth so far. Hired killers, human trafficking and 'Red Rooms', just to name a few. But the other day, I found this one thread here on the forum where one user claimed that he had actually found a 'Red Room'. I just need to find the thread..."
Lucas kept browsing the forum for several minutes. April had the feeling that there was more to him than you could see right away. On the first glimpse, he looked like the typical nerd. But as she secretly inspected him while he was busy, she found that if he put on a fresh set of clothes, got a decent haircut, shaved his face and started working out to loose maybe ten or fifteen pounds, he could have been quite attractive. But then she sighed to herself and tried to focus on their research again. After all, this was her first week on the new job and she was working on her first case, which had really not gone so well until now. Romances with colleagues from work were the last thing she needed right now.
"How do you know all this stuff?", she asked to interrupt the awkward silence. "Why can you navigate the deep web so easily and know so much about the darknet?"
Lucas interrupted his search and took his glance away from the screen for a moment. April followed his eyes, which looked out of her living room window. Her apartment was on the eleventh floor of a big residential building. All the buildings around were significantly smaller. If you looked out of her living room window, which was pointed westward, around this time of day, and the weather was nice, which it unfortunately was not today, you would be rewarded with a spectacular sunset over the roofs of the district.
"I do have my experiences with illegal stuff on the darknet", Lucas answered after a moment of hesitation. "But this is in my past now. I would rather not talk about it."
He continued browsing the forum. For a moment, April thought if she should question him about what he had meant, but decided not to do so.
Lucas uttered a joyful grunt. It seemed like he had finally found the thread he had been looking for.
"The thing about the stuff on the deep web is, that you cannot just google for it", he explained. "You have to know where it is. This user posted a link together with his theory. I haven't followed it before. Blindly following links can be dangerous, especially on the deep web."
His index finger glided across the touchpad, directing the cursor over the link that the forum user had posted. He gave April a last look, silently asking the question 'Should I really do it?'. April nodded and Lucas opened the link.
A new website opened in the browser. They both looked at it for a moment.
"What the actual fuck?", was Lucas' first comment.
To be continued.
Loinclothslave
slave to the whip
Oooh very nice cliffhanger episode!
dommmu
Governor
Chapter 11: The Investigation (VI)
The website they saw on the screen had a pretty simple structure. There was a black background and a headline in large red letters, greeting the visitors with a cheerful 'Welcome to Hell!'. Below that, there was a smaller headline, this time in yellow letters: 'The Dakota Trilogy'.
April's heart skipped a beat. Was this 'Dakota' actually Dakota Morales, the girl whose murder she was investigating? Lucas scrolled down a bit. Under another headline, 'Watch Dakota's trailer for free!', there was a small embedded video player. Lucas maneuvered the curser over the cursor over the play button and paused for a moment, waiting for April's approval to go head. She gave him a nod and he clicked it.
The video player started buffering, indicated by a rotating loading icon. It took a lot longer than when April usually visited the public video platforms. Lucas pointed out that his was probably due to the complicated VPN connection they had built up for their own protection. Just when April thought that the videoplayer or the entire website might be broken, the video started playing.
It began with the camera zooming in on a naked woman. She was squatting on the floor, wrapping her arms around her chest. Her face was turned away from the camera and her blonde hair was hiding most of it. When she noticed the camera, she turned around a bit, looking directly into the lense for a moment. She was crying. Her tears were smearing the heavy makeup on her face.
The camera was so close now, that April could make out the details of her face. She looked a lot like Dakota Morales. Her right arm was also visible in the lower part of the frame. She had the distinctive 'Live & Love' tatto, which April had seen on the body in the morgue yesterday. This was Dakota Morales!
In the video, Dakota turned her face away from the lens, appearing to look at something or someone that was behind the camera at the moment. Her eyes widened with fear.
"Please, don't hurt me!", she begged. "I..."
Dakota never got the chance to finish her sentence. A man stepped into the picture. He wore black pants, a black shirt and a black ski mask. The man reached out for Dakota and grabbed her by her hair, brutally tugging on it and pulling her out of the frame.
There was a cut in the video. The next scene showed Dakota standing with her back against some kind of post. Her hands were tied above her head and there also was a strap around her neck that held her in place. In this position, she was forced to expose her naked front to the camera. But that was not the worst of it: All the way from her chest down to her tighs, her skin showed red welts from the whiplashes she was receiving. Judging by the great number, the whipping must have been going for a while already. And it already had taken a toll on Dakota. She was rather hanging in her bondage than standing. A sheen of sweat under her arms and on her chest reflected the artificial lights that illuminated the scene. Her breathing was irregular, Dakota's panting from the exhaustion fought with her sobbing. Just when it seemed like she was about to pass out, a heavy bullwhip flew into the picture from the left side, landing across both of her breasts with a snapping sound. This made Dakota wake up from her trance, uttering a bloodcurdling scream.
April quickly looked away from the screen and checked if her living room windows were closed. She did not want to alert her neighbors with these disturbing sounds. When she looked back on the screen, the trailer had ended and and the picture had faded to black.
Lucas quietly continued scrolling down. Below the video player, there were three thumbnails, captioned with 'Episode 1', 'Episode 2' and 'Episode 3'. The thumbnail of 'Episode 1' showed a picture similar to the scene in the trailer, of Dakota tied to the post receiving a whipping. The thumbnail for 'Episode 2' showed a closeup of her crotch. It appeared like Dakota had been suspended upside down. Some kind of metallic funnel had been rammed into her vagina and the man in the black clothes stood behind her, pouring what appeared to be hot wax into the funnel. The thumbnail for 'Episode 3' showed Dakota's face. A noose was wrapped around her neck, pulling her up. She already showed signs of severe strangulation, since her eyes were beginning to roll back.
There was a banner under the three thumbails, announcing that you could either unlock the videos for $99 each or the entire trilogy for $269, payable in Bitcoin at the current conversion rate.
April could not believe it. Someone had actually filmed Dakota's ordeal, including her death, and was now selling the videos online!
"There actually is a 'Red Room' after all", she concluded.
"Are you certain?", Lucas doubted. "Maybe this is just a hoax. It would not be the first time that some trolls build a fake 'Red Room'. They could have just taken this from the internet."
April gave him a confused look. "You can find stuff like this on the internet?"
"Sure", Lucas shrugged his shoulders. "You can find all kinds of weird stuff on the internet, especially on porn sites. Some people do a lot of crazy shoots for money. There is this one website were the women can take the challenge to receive 100 heavy whiplashes. And if they make it to the end, they get the price money. And then there is this other side that stages execution videos. Of course, they use clever editing techniques and special effects and the actresses are never in real danger."
"Maybe. But I am sure that this is a real 'Red Room'."
"How?"
April took the control of the laptop and rewinded 'Dakota's trailer' to the earlier part.
"This is Dakota Morales, the victim in my murder case", she explained, pointing at the paused video on the screen. "Do you see this tattoo? Pretty unique, right? Dakota Morales had exactly the same tattoo. And her face matches, too. And her cause of death was strangulation."
April clarified her reasoning by pointing at the thumbnail for 'Episode 3'.
"Fucking hell", Lucas yelled, clasping his hands behind his head, either from shock or from amazement. April could not really tell. "We have just made history. We have found the first real 'Red Room'!"
"And I have a new lead", April added. "If this video had been uploaded on the internet, you would be able to track from where it had been uploaded, right? Does this work on the deep web, too?"
Lucas seemed to consider this for a moment. "I would not say that it is impossible, but it will be very difficult. And it definately would not work with the means we have here. Maybe the cybercrime department can help?"
"Which means I have to talk to my Captain", April concluded, wondering how Holt and Parker would react if she confessed going off the book to them. "It is easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission, right?"
"Right", Lucas smiled. "So, tomorrow morning, in the detectives' office?"
"Wait, Lucas. You have already done more than you had to. If your boss finds out about this, you will get in trouble, too."
"It is worth it", he waved off her protest. "I am in! Hell, they may even offer me a job at the cybercrime department for this!"
April took another look at the computer, lost in thoughts. Then she noticed something at the bottom of the screen.
"There is more", she said and scrolled down.
Another headline appeared on the screen, together with another video player. 'Meet our new girl: Millicent', the headline announced. April clicked the play button and the next video started.
It began similiar to Dakota's video. But this time, it was a brunette woman whose face was being filmed. She seemed to be confused, like she was still trying to find out what was going on. Unlike Dakota, this woman was tied up and wore a ballgag.
April flinched at the sight. During her academy training, she visited a forensics class where the students had been shown pictures taken during the raid of a human trafficking ring. One of these photos would remain burned into her memory forever: It was the picture of a filthy mattres. Between a couple chains, a ballgag had been on this mattress, still wet from the saliva of the recently freed girl who had been held captive there.
The woman in the video wore a similar ballgag now. The man from the first video was also there. He kneeled next to the tied up woman. His hands grabbed her head and made her look directly into the camera. He introduced her to the viewers and announced that they were going to have a lot of fun with her. That marked the end of the video.
"Shit, they have caught another girl", Lucas commented.
"Yes, but they have not uploaded any episodes with her, yet."
"Do you mean to say..."
"Yes", April confirmed. "I think that Millicent is still alive. And that they still have her!"
To be continued.
The website they saw on the screen had a pretty simple structure. There was a black background and a headline in large red letters, greeting the visitors with a cheerful 'Welcome to Hell!'. Below that, there was a smaller headline, this time in yellow letters: 'The Dakota Trilogy'.
April's heart skipped a beat. Was this 'Dakota' actually Dakota Morales, the girl whose murder she was investigating? Lucas scrolled down a bit. Under another headline, 'Watch Dakota's trailer for free!', there was a small embedded video player. Lucas maneuvered the curser over the cursor over the play button and paused for a moment, waiting for April's approval to go head. She gave him a nod and he clicked it.
The video player started buffering, indicated by a rotating loading icon. It took a lot longer than when April usually visited the public video platforms. Lucas pointed out that his was probably due to the complicated VPN connection they had built up for their own protection. Just when April thought that the videoplayer or the entire website might be broken, the video started playing.
It began with the camera zooming in on a naked woman. She was squatting on the floor, wrapping her arms around her chest. Her face was turned away from the camera and her blonde hair was hiding most of it. When she noticed the camera, she turned around a bit, looking directly into the lense for a moment. She was crying. Her tears were smearing the heavy makeup on her face.
The camera was so close now, that April could make out the details of her face. She looked a lot like Dakota Morales. Her right arm was also visible in the lower part of the frame. She had the distinctive 'Live & Love' tatto, which April had seen on the body in the morgue yesterday. This was Dakota Morales!
In the video, Dakota turned her face away from the lens, appearing to look at something or someone that was behind the camera at the moment. Her eyes widened with fear.
"Please, don't hurt me!", she begged. "I..."
Dakota never got the chance to finish her sentence. A man stepped into the picture. He wore black pants, a black shirt and a black ski mask. The man reached out for Dakota and grabbed her by her hair, brutally tugging on it and pulling her out of the frame.
There was a cut in the video. The next scene showed Dakota standing with her back against some kind of post. Her hands were tied above her head and there also was a strap around her neck that held her in place. In this position, she was forced to expose her naked front to the camera. But that was not the worst of it: All the way from her chest down to her tighs, her skin showed red welts from the whiplashes she was receiving. Judging by the great number, the whipping must have been going for a while already. And it already had taken a toll on Dakota. She was rather hanging in her bondage than standing. A sheen of sweat under her arms and on her chest reflected the artificial lights that illuminated the scene. Her breathing was irregular, Dakota's panting from the exhaustion fought with her sobbing. Just when it seemed like she was about to pass out, a heavy bullwhip flew into the picture from the left side, landing across both of her breasts with a snapping sound. This made Dakota wake up from her trance, uttering a bloodcurdling scream.
April quickly looked away from the screen and checked if her living room windows were closed. She did not want to alert her neighbors with these disturbing sounds. When she looked back on the screen, the trailer had ended and and the picture had faded to black.
Lucas quietly continued scrolling down. Below the video player, there were three thumbnails, captioned with 'Episode 1', 'Episode 2' and 'Episode 3'. The thumbnail of 'Episode 1' showed a picture similar to the scene in the trailer, of Dakota tied to the post receiving a whipping. The thumbnail for 'Episode 2' showed a closeup of her crotch. It appeared like Dakota had been suspended upside down. Some kind of metallic funnel had been rammed into her vagina and the man in the black clothes stood behind her, pouring what appeared to be hot wax into the funnel. The thumbnail for 'Episode 3' showed Dakota's face. A noose was wrapped around her neck, pulling her up. She already showed signs of severe strangulation, since her eyes were beginning to roll back.
There was a banner under the three thumbails, announcing that you could either unlock the videos for $99 each or the entire trilogy for $269, payable in Bitcoin at the current conversion rate.
April could not believe it. Someone had actually filmed Dakota's ordeal, including her death, and was now selling the videos online!
"There actually is a 'Red Room' after all", she concluded.
"Are you certain?", Lucas doubted. "Maybe this is just a hoax. It would not be the first time that some trolls build a fake 'Red Room'. They could have just taken this from the internet."
April gave him a confused look. "You can find stuff like this on the internet?"
"Sure", Lucas shrugged his shoulders. "You can find all kinds of weird stuff on the internet, especially on porn sites. Some people do a lot of crazy shoots for money. There is this one website were the women can take the challenge to receive 100 heavy whiplashes. And if they make it to the end, they get the price money. And then there is this other side that stages execution videos. Of course, they use clever editing techniques and special effects and the actresses are never in real danger."
"Maybe. But I am sure that this is a real 'Red Room'."
"How?"
April took the control of the laptop and rewinded 'Dakota's trailer' to the earlier part.
"This is Dakota Morales, the victim in my murder case", she explained, pointing at the paused video on the screen. "Do you see this tattoo? Pretty unique, right? Dakota Morales had exactly the same tattoo. And her face matches, too. And her cause of death was strangulation."
April clarified her reasoning by pointing at the thumbnail for 'Episode 3'.
"Fucking hell", Lucas yelled, clasping his hands behind his head, either from shock or from amazement. April could not really tell. "We have just made history. We have found the first real 'Red Room'!"
"And I have a new lead", April added. "If this video had been uploaded on the internet, you would be able to track from where it had been uploaded, right? Does this work on the deep web, too?"
Lucas seemed to consider this for a moment. "I would not say that it is impossible, but it will be very difficult. And it definately would not work with the means we have here. Maybe the cybercrime department can help?"
"Which means I have to talk to my Captain", April concluded, wondering how Holt and Parker would react if she confessed going off the book to them. "It is easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission, right?"
"Right", Lucas smiled. "So, tomorrow morning, in the detectives' office?"
"Wait, Lucas. You have already done more than you had to. If your boss finds out about this, you will get in trouble, too."
"It is worth it", he waved off her protest. "I am in! Hell, they may even offer me a job at the cybercrime department for this!"
April took another look at the computer, lost in thoughts. Then she noticed something at the bottom of the screen.
"There is more", she said and scrolled down.
Another headline appeared on the screen, together with another video player. 'Meet our new girl: Millicent', the headline announced. April clicked the play button and the next video started.
It began similiar to Dakota's video. But this time, it was a brunette woman whose face was being filmed. She seemed to be confused, like she was still trying to find out what was going on. Unlike Dakota, this woman was tied up and wore a ballgag.
April flinched at the sight. During her academy training, she visited a forensics class where the students had been shown pictures taken during the raid of a human trafficking ring. One of these photos would remain burned into her memory forever: It was the picture of a filthy mattres. Between a couple chains, a ballgag had been on this mattress, still wet from the saliva of the recently freed girl who had been held captive there.
The woman in the video wore a similar ballgag now. The man from the first video was also there. He kneeled next to the tied up woman. His hands grabbed her head and made her look directly into the camera. He introduced her to the viewers and announced that they were going to have a lot of fun with her. That marked the end of the video.
"Shit, they have caught another girl", Lucas commented.
"Yes, but they have not uploaded any episodes with her, yet."
"Do you mean to say..."
"Yes", April confirmed. "I think that Millicent is still alive. And that they still have her!"
To be continued.
dommmu
Governor
Chapter 12: The Captive (VI)
I wake up on some kind of bed. It must be quite an old one, since the frame shakes creaks from every small movement I make. The mattress is worn down. It proves practically no resistance against my body lying on it. I am halfway covered with a thin blanket, which is made out of some scratchy fabric. And there is no pillow. You wouldn't find a bed like this even in the shabbiest hotel imaginable, but compared to the wooden floor I had found myself on the last time woke up, this is pure comfort.
My entire body aches from the torment it has endured so far. I try to stretch my limbs in an attempt to ease the tenseness the bondage has caused them. I can actually do this now. My arms and elbows have been freed from the rope. There is a funny feeling of numbness in them. My fingers and wrists even hurt a little as I move them to get the blood circulation going again.
As I sit up on my bed, the initial relieve of not being in bondage anymore quickly fades. There is an iron ring closed around my neck, with a chain attached to it. I am not free, after all. Where the hell have my captors taken me now?
I am not in the big hall anymore, but in a considerably smaller room. Problably a former storage space for tools or something like that. It is about ten feet wide and twenty feet long. The bed stands against one of the shorter walls and there is a metal door on the wall opposite of it. High up on the wall behind me, there is a small window, letting in cold white-blue light. Moonlight. It must be nighttime already. When I blacked out after hours of torture, it had been in the afternoon. Have I really been out this long?
That question is unimportant, at least for the moment. Zach and Zoey have left me alone for now. That gives me time to come up with an escape plan. But for that, I first have to search the cell for anything that could aid me.
First, I test the chain that is attached to the iron ring around my neck. It is quite long, several feet probably, before it ends in another, smaller, iron ring embedded in the wall next to the bed. Long enough to allow me to stand up and walk around a bit in the room.
While getting up, I almost make the terrible mistake of tipping over the metal bucket, which stands at the foot end of the bed. Followed by the sound of metal scratching over concrete, I hear the fluid sloshing back and forth in the bucket. Its stench is unmistakeable: This bucket serves as toilet and has already been used by someone else before. Has it been Zach or Zoey? Or a previous occupant of this cell? With my bare feet, I carefully push the bucket further in a corner of the room, where it is less exposed und less likely to be accidentally toppled.
The chain allows me to walk around almost freely in the room. It only straightens and holds me back when I am about three feet short of the door. Shit, that destroys my plan of hiding right next to the door until someone enters and then surprise them by jumping them, wresteling for the key to the collar's lock.
There is not much else in the cell that could help me, either. Within my reach, there is a small pile of clothes. My heart skips a beat as I recognize the top that I hade worn when I was abducted, but the joy leaves me quickly when I notice that it has been cut to shreds with scissors or a knife, rendering it unusable. This was one of my favorite shirts! I get angry about this thoughtlessness. While I was drugged, they could have taken all their sweet time to undress me properly. How should I have resisted to that? But no, they had to destroy my clothes! I also find my bra, my panties and my skirt in the pile, everything damaged beyond repair. The same applies for all the other clothes, all of them women's clothing, all of them ruined. But they are not mine, which can only mean one thing: I am not the first prisoner who was locked up here!
I wonder were my purse is. I had it with me in the last moment that I can remember. My wallet and my phone are inside. Too bad, that they have not left it in the cell with me, though. My shoes are nowehre to be seen, as well. The only useable item I find is one of my socks. Although I know that it won't change much, I demostratively put it on my right foot.
Let me summarize my situation: I am screwed. I am in a cell that reeks of feces. I am naked (apart from one sock) and chained up and with nothing to defend myself should my captors return. Still a little groggy from my unconscious sleep and battered from the abuse (the punches and the kicks have left some pretty nasty bruises on me), I probably would not put up a good fight after all.
Frustrated, I sit back down on the bed, pull my knees up against my chest and wrap my arms around them. I spend the next couple of hours brooding of what might await me next. Nothing is happening. The place is deserted and there is almost no sound, just the howling of the wind making its way through the ruins. I am not sure if my situation makes imagine things, but I could swear that the wind is not the only howling I hear. It sounds like there is something else, noises that sound more human. Is the woman who was locked up in this cell before me still around?
The moonlight fades and gives way to a purple sunrise after a while. I hear steps outside. The door is opened and Zach enters, assessing me with a cheeky grin.
"Did you sleep well, princess?", he asks tauntingly.
"Oh, yes! The best hotel stay ever!", I cannot help but to reply with the same sarcasm. "Especially with that nice chain! It makes me feel really secure."
Zach scoffs. "Be glad that you got the bed. The other bitch spent the night hanging from her wrists. We had to improvise a little, since we are not really prepared to entertain two guests at the same time. Her lazy ass had been in bed all day long while we were busy with you yesterday. So we propped her up against a wall, ziptied her hands to a pipe and threw a bag over her head for a good night's sleep."
So, there is another woman who is also being kept here! I have no doubt that they are doing the same evil things to her, or even meaner ones, than they did to me. Spending the whole night suspended from the wrists, what a horrible imagination!
"Now, it is time to take care of your needs", Zach says.
He reaches out of the door and produces a plastic bottle with water, which he rolls over the ground towards me. I quickly pick it up and greedily take a long gulp. I haven't had water in more than 24 hours and are thirsty as hell. I only lower the bottle once I feel the need to breathe. It is a big bottle, probably half a gallon, but I have already emptied it halfway. Zach stares at me, saying nothing. I get a feeling that he is going to take the water away from me once I stop drinking, so I decide to drink all of it as fast as possible. My gulps get smaller everytime I put the bottle on and the breaks between them get longer, but I ultimately manage to take all of the water in.
"Just that you know", Zach sneers. "That is all the water you get. I would have divided it up a little better if I had been in your place."
I curse myself for being this foolish. Now I have wasted my water and my stomach hurts. But that is not the end of it. Zach leaves the room for a second and comes back with a can, a knife and a dog bowl. He opens the can with the knife and pours its contents into the bowl before sliding it over to me. Again, I reach out to the floor it to pick it up.
When I bring the dog bowl up to my nose, I instantly retch. The food he has poured in is some kind of potato soup with little bits of bacon. But it must be the cheapest canned soup you could possibly buy. It is of such low quality, that it actually smells like dog food, the bowl only completing the picture. And the imagination of eating meat! I haven't eaten meat in the last 10 years or so!
"What is it, do you not like your breakfast? Eat!"
"I am a vegetarian", I try to evade the disgusting food, putting the bowl back on the floor.
That was a mistake. Zach pulls out the knife again, presenting its menacing long blade to me. Then he approaches me, getting a firm grip on my hair, pulling my head back and placing the knife against my chest.
"If you don't eat this right now, I will cut one of your tits off and make you eat it instead of the soup!", he warns me.
Proving that this is not an empty threat, he lets the blade slide across the skin of my right breast, giving me a small cut, about an inch long, just shy of the nipple. I wail as I see the fresh blood seeping out.
When Zach finally lets go of me, I drop to the ground, rolling myself together in a fetal position, holding my arms up in front of my chest to defend them from another attack.
"Eat!", I hear Zach shout.
Slowly, I crawl over to the bowl. Trying my best to fight off my repulsion, I eat the cold soup. Zach did not give me a spoon, so I have to scoop it out with my fingers. In its cold state, it is more of a mash than a soup and eating it with my fingers works surpisingly well. It gets especially disgusting when I arrive at the sediment of pure fat, which has deposited at the top of the can.
When I am done, my stomach hurts even worse than before. I am beginning to feel sick. But Zach is happy. When he leaves, he does not even bother closing the door. In fact, he says thet he is going to leave it open on purpose.
"I want you to hear the other cunt scream and think about what we are going to do to you once we are done with her!"
To be continued.
I wake up on some kind of bed. It must be quite an old one, since the frame shakes creaks from every small movement I make. The mattress is worn down. It proves practically no resistance against my body lying on it. I am halfway covered with a thin blanket, which is made out of some scratchy fabric. And there is no pillow. You wouldn't find a bed like this even in the shabbiest hotel imaginable, but compared to the wooden floor I had found myself on the last time woke up, this is pure comfort.
My entire body aches from the torment it has endured so far. I try to stretch my limbs in an attempt to ease the tenseness the bondage has caused them. I can actually do this now. My arms and elbows have been freed from the rope. There is a funny feeling of numbness in them. My fingers and wrists even hurt a little as I move them to get the blood circulation going again.
As I sit up on my bed, the initial relieve of not being in bondage anymore quickly fades. There is an iron ring closed around my neck, with a chain attached to it. I am not free, after all. Where the hell have my captors taken me now?
I am not in the big hall anymore, but in a considerably smaller room. Problably a former storage space for tools or something like that. It is about ten feet wide and twenty feet long. The bed stands against one of the shorter walls and there is a metal door on the wall opposite of it. High up on the wall behind me, there is a small window, letting in cold white-blue light. Moonlight. It must be nighttime already. When I blacked out after hours of torture, it had been in the afternoon. Have I really been out this long?
That question is unimportant, at least for the moment. Zach and Zoey have left me alone for now. That gives me time to come up with an escape plan. But for that, I first have to search the cell for anything that could aid me.
First, I test the chain that is attached to the iron ring around my neck. It is quite long, several feet probably, before it ends in another, smaller, iron ring embedded in the wall next to the bed. Long enough to allow me to stand up and walk around a bit in the room.
While getting up, I almost make the terrible mistake of tipping over the metal bucket, which stands at the foot end of the bed. Followed by the sound of metal scratching over concrete, I hear the fluid sloshing back and forth in the bucket. Its stench is unmistakeable: This bucket serves as toilet and has already been used by someone else before. Has it been Zach or Zoey? Or a previous occupant of this cell? With my bare feet, I carefully push the bucket further in a corner of the room, where it is less exposed und less likely to be accidentally toppled.
The chain allows me to walk around almost freely in the room. It only straightens and holds me back when I am about three feet short of the door. Shit, that destroys my plan of hiding right next to the door until someone enters and then surprise them by jumping them, wresteling for the key to the collar's lock.
There is not much else in the cell that could help me, either. Within my reach, there is a small pile of clothes. My heart skips a beat as I recognize the top that I hade worn when I was abducted, but the joy leaves me quickly when I notice that it has been cut to shreds with scissors or a knife, rendering it unusable. This was one of my favorite shirts! I get angry about this thoughtlessness. While I was drugged, they could have taken all their sweet time to undress me properly. How should I have resisted to that? But no, they had to destroy my clothes! I also find my bra, my panties and my skirt in the pile, everything damaged beyond repair. The same applies for all the other clothes, all of them women's clothing, all of them ruined. But they are not mine, which can only mean one thing: I am not the first prisoner who was locked up here!
I wonder were my purse is. I had it with me in the last moment that I can remember. My wallet and my phone are inside. Too bad, that they have not left it in the cell with me, though. My shoes are nowehre to be seen, as well. The only useable item I find is one of my socks. Although I know that it won't change much, I demostratively put it on my right foot.
Let me summarize my situation: I am screwed. I am in a cell that reeks of feces. I am naked (apart from one sock) and chained up and with nothing to defend myself should my captors return. Still a little groggy from my unconscious sleep and battered from the abuse (the punches and the kicks have left some pretty nasty bruises on me), I probably would not put up a good fight after all.
Frustrated, I sit back down on the bed, pull my knees up against my chest and wrap my arms around them. I spend the next couple of hours brooding of what might await me next. Nothing is happening. The place is deserted and there is almost no sound, just the howling of the wind making its way through the ruins. I am not sure if my situation makes imagine things, but I could swear that the wind is not the only howling I hear. It sounds like there is something else, noises that sound more human. Is the woman who was locked up in this cell before me still around?
The moonlight fades and gives way to a purple sunrise after a while. I hear steps outside. The door is opened and Zach enters, assessing me with a cheeky grin.
"Did you sleep well, princess?", he asks tauntingly.
"Oh, yes! The best hotel stay ever!", I cannot help but to reply with the same sarcasm. "Especially with that nice chain! It makes me feel really secure."
Zach scoffs. "Be glad that you got the bed. The other bitch spent the night hanging from her wrists. We had to improvise a little, since we are not really prepared to entertain two guests at the same time. Her lazy ass had been in bed all day long while we were busy with you yesterday. So we propped her up against a wall, ziptied her hands to a pipe and threw a bag over her head for a good night's sleep."
So, there is another woman who is also being kept here! I have no doubt that they are doing the same evil things to her, or even meaner ones, than they did to me. Spending the whole night suspended from the wrists, what a horrible imagination!
"Now, it is time to take care of your needs", Zach says.
He reaches out of the door and produces a plastic bottle with water, which he rolls over the ground towards me. I quickly pick it up and greedily take a long gulp. I haven't had water in more than 24 hours and are thirsty as hell. I only lower the bottle once I feel the need to breathe. It is a big bottle, probably half a gallon, but I have already emptied it halfway. Zach stares at me, saying nothing. I get a feeling that he is going to take the water away from me once I stop drinking, so I decide to drink all of it as fast as possible. My gulps get smaller everytime I put the bottle on and the breaks between them get longer, but I ultimately manage to take all of the water in.
"Just that you know", Zach sneers. "That is all the water you get. I would have divided it up a little better if I had been in your place."
I curse myself for being this foolish. Now I have wasted my water and my stomach hurts. But that is not the end of it. Zach leaves the room for a second and comes back with a can, a knife and a dog bowl. He opens the can with the knife and pours its contents into the bowl before sliding it over to me. Again, I reach out to the floor it to pick it up.
When I bring the dog bowl up to my nose, I instantly retch. The food he has poured in is some kind of potato soup with little bits of bacon. But it must be the cheapest canned soup you could possibly buy. It is of such low quality, that it actually smells like dog food, the bowl only completing the picture. And the imagination of eating meat! I haven't eaten meat in the last 10 years or so!
"What is it, do you not like your breakfast? Eat!"
"I am a vegetarian", I try to evade the disgusting food, putting the bowl back on the floor.
That was a mistake. Zach pulls out the knife again, presenting its menacing long blade to me. Then he approaches me, getting a firm grip on my hair, pulling my head back and placing the knife against my chest.
"If you don't eat this right now, I will cut one of your tits off and make you eat it instead of the soup!", he warns me.
Proving that this is not an empty threat, he lets the blade slide across the skin of my right breast, giving me a small cut, about an inch long, just shy of the nipple. I wail as I see the fresh blood seeping out.
When Zach finally lets go of me, I drop to the ground, rolling myself together in a fetal position, holding my arms up in front of my chest to defend them from another attack.
"Eat!", I hear Zach shout.
Slowly, I crawl over to the bowl. Trying my best to fight off my repulsion, I eat the cold soup. Zach did not give me a spoon, so I have to scoop it out with my fingers. In its cold state, it is more of a mash than a soup and eating it with my fingers works surpisingly well. It gets especially disgusting when I arrive at the sediment of pure fat, which has deposited at the top of the can.
When I am done, my stomach hurts even worse than before. I am beginning to feel sick. But Zach is happy. When he leaves, he does not even bother closing the door. In fact, he says thet he is going to leave it open on purpose.
"I want you to hear the other cunt scream and think about what we are going to do to you once we are done with her!"
To be continued.
Loinclothslave
slave to the whip
@dommmu
These captive chapters get more and more interesting! Another fascinating read, more of an anticipation chapter. Hearing that other girls screaming is s nice touch, Dakota’s mind will probably imagine even worse torture than the girl probably receives. And the timing is wrong for Millicent. Apparently the Red Room website has existed longer than the cute detective and Lucas surmised? thank you!
These captive chapters get more and more interesting! Another fascinating read, more of an anticipation chapter. Hearing that other girls screaming is s nice touch, Dakota’s mind will probably imagine even worse torture than the girl probably receives. And the timing is wrong for Millicent. Apparently the Red Room website has existed longer than the cute detective and Lucas surmised? thank you!
dommmu
Governor
Hi, just to avoid any confusion: 'The Captive' is not Dakota Morales...
Some of these once belonged to Dakota, though.
Loinclothslave
slave to the whip
I caused you a spoiler? This entire time I had assumed the captive part was a flashback! LolHi, just to avoid any confusion: 'The Captive' is not Dakota Morales...
Some of these once belonged to Dakota, though.
I figure now that was a deliberate impression intended by the author! Bravo!
I’m not even going to try to guess if either captive is Millicent now, I have zero confidence in myself! Lol
dommmu
Governor
dommmu
Governor
Picture Credits for Chapter 12:
chapter_12_on_the_bed.jpg - Sasha Swift in "Bound Gang Bangs" Shoot ID 18815, Kink.com, 2013
chapter_12_tied_overnight.jpg - Megan Murray in "Sex and Submission" Shoot ID 5975, Kink.com, 2008
chapter_12_defending.jpg - Kelly McCart in "Locked Up", White Pearl Movies, 2017
chapter_12_on_the_bed.jpg - Sasha Swift in "Bound Gang Bangs" Shoot ID 18815, Kink.com, 2013
chapter_12_tied_overnight.jpg - Megan Murray in "Sex and Submission" Shoot ID 5975, Kink.com, 2008
chapter_12_defending.jpg - Kelly McCart in "Locked Up", White Pearl Movies, 2017
dommmu
Governor
Chapter 13: The Investigation (VII)
April could not sleep. The disturbing images she had seen earlier had stuck with her since. This and the knowledge that at this very moment an unfortunate young women named Millicent was at the mercy of the same bastards who had tortured and killed Dakota Morales did not allow her to rest. How could she sleep when she knew that another person's life was at risk and that every minute counted if she wanted to save her?
When she spotted the dawn through her open window just short after 5:30 a.m., April gave up the hope of finding any sleep that night. Instead she rose from her bed, put on the same clothes she had worn the day before and had a quick breakfast consisting of two granola bars and a glass of orange juice. The cool liquid, straight out of the fridge was a welcome refreshment after the sleepless night in the humid summer air. A thunderstorm had been lingering over the city since the previous evening, but the clouds had not released their cooling rain. Her skin and her hair were sweaty, but she did not feel like she had the time for a shower.
April arrived at the office a few minutes before 7:00 a.m. and ran into the rest of the cleaning crew, who where just finishing their job. Apart from them and the guys from the night duty, she was alone in the building. The official office hours for the detectives began at 8:30 a.m., so it would be quite a while until the others arrived.
April spent the time she had to wait brooding over her new findings and impressions of the last night. They mostly revolved around Lucas. The longer she thought about it, the more doubts overcame her, if she could really trust him. Why did he know so well how to navigate the deep web and find shady sites like the one they had visted yesterday? Had he done this before? There had to be something he was not telling her. April concluded to be careful when he was around. It might have even been stupid to invite him to her apartment yesterday.
The first one to arrive at the detectives' office after April that morning was Captain Holt around 8:05 a.m. He was visibly confused when he spotted April at her desk. Probably, since he was used to being the first one at work in the morning and the last one in the afternoon. Still, he quickly greeted her in his formal attitude and then retreated to his private office.
The other detectives graudally came in over the next 20 or so minutes. Lucas arrived about 10 minutes ahead of the agreed time. April sent him into one of the two conference rooms, where he pretended to work on the projector in order not to raise any suspision among the others. In reality, he was setting up his computer and preparing everything for the upcoming meeting.
Parker arrived at 8:30 a.m. sharp. Althogh he and April still were not on the best terms with each other, at least he managed a "good morning" towards her. April smiled back insecurely and then asked him to go to into the conference room where Lucas was waiting without offering him any further explanation. Parker hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to make of this, but then shrugged his shoulders, dropped his jacket over his chair and joined Lucas.
April went to the Captain's office and carefully knocked on his door, hoping not to disturb him during an important phone call or anything else that would occupy his time. She was not and when she told the Captain that she had an important update on the Dakota Morales case, he eagerly stood up and followed her.
"Hey, before we start this, shouldn't we kick the computer clown out?", Parker mocked, pointing his finger at Lucas. "Unless we want to talk about how the Freemasons are spraying us with chemtrails or how the Illuminati staged 9/11. I bet he can tell us a lot about that!"
Why did he have to bring his private feud with Lucas into this again? April threw back her head and let out an annoyed sigh. She was getting a headache. The symptoms of the sleep deprivation were beginning to show on her.
"Nothing of what you just said made any sense", Lucas countered calmly. April was amazed how he could stay this cool despite Parker's obvious attacks on his credibility.
"I am not interested in any of these conspiracy theories", Holt intervened. "But Mr. ... uh, Barnes, right? I also doubt that your participation on this meeting is required."
"It is", April confirmed. "Lucas helped me finding out how Dakota Morales was killed."
Over the next couple of minutes, April filled in Parker and Holt about what she and Lucas had found out. While doing so, she went around the room and closed the blinds on the glass wall separating the conference room from the detectives' office. No one who was not involved in the case needed to see what her Captain and her co-detective were about to see. She also hoped that the door and the walls of the room were soundproof.
After April was done with her explanations, Lucas showed them the 'Red Room' website on the darknet and played the two trailer videos. This time, April focussed on the masked man while watching. The shirt he wore was sleeveless and left his arms exposed. She tried to spot any distinctive tattoos or scars that could help to identify him, but there were none.
When the videos had ended, April turned her look back on Parker and Holt. What she saw surprised her. There was a genuine shock visible in Parker's face, who a couple minutes earlier had still played the asshole. His hand covered his mouth. April could see that it was shaking and she could have sworn that he had quietly said something like "Oh my god".
Holt's face, however, was unreadable. April wondered how he managed to keep his composure everytime, no matter what situation he was confronted with. He seemed to evaluate his next steps for a moment, then he turned to Lucas.
"Did you just visit an illegal torture porn website on police hardware?", he asked suspiciously.
"No, this is one of my private computers", Lucas answered, not quite als calm as earlier. "I have turned my phone into a mobile hotspot and I'm using a VPN to..."
"Yes, yes, enough of that", Holt interrupted him. "Mr. Barnes, I am not your direct supervisor, but I strongly suggest that you carefully consider if your free time activities go along with the law and the police work. However, I think that you can be very helpful in this. I will instruct the cybercrime department to track down the device these videos where uploaded from. I will also call your supervisor and ask him to provide you to them as temoparily assigned support personnel."
That last sentence made Lucas' face glow with excitement. So he was getting his desired job in the cybercrime department after all, albeit only temporarily.
"As for you, detective Coleman", Holt turned back to April. "We will need to have an honest word regarding the rules of police work, especially when it comes to cooperating with your assigned co-detective and your supervisor. But this is a matter for another time. I agree with you that our top priority should be to find this Millicent woman, alive. Detective Parker, you will search the missing persons database for any women named Millicent, especially the cases reported within the last couple of days."
Parker was still staring at the now empty screen, almost apathetic, not moving or reacting to anything around him. Only when the Captain adressed him a second time, he nodded, confirming that he had understood the order. Then Holt spoke to April again.
"And you, detective Coleman, will go home."
"What?", April protested. "I cannot go home! We have a person to rescue!"
"Did you take a look at yourself? It is obvious that you haven't gotten a single minute of sleep last night. When you are overtired like this, you are no help for our investigation. Quite the opposite, in fact, you are prone to make mistakes. Mistakes that could be dangerous for the case or for yourself. I do understand that this must be frustrating for you to hear, but as your Captain, it is my responsibility to take care of your safety. I am releasing you for the rest of the day. This is my final word!"
To be continued.
April could not sleep. The disturbing images she had seen earlier had stuck with her since. This and the knowledge that at this very moment an unfortunate young women named Millicent was at the mercy of the same bastards who had tortured and killed Dakota Morales did not allow her to rest. How could she sleep when she knew that another person's life was at risk and that every minute counted if she wanted to save her?
When she spotted the dawn through her open window just short after 5:30 a.m., April gave up the hope of finding any sleep that night. Instead she rose from her bed, put on the same clothes she had worn the day before and had a quick breakfast consisting of two granola bars and a glass of orange juice. The cool liquid, straight out of the fridge was a welcome refreshment after the sleepless night in the humid summer air. A thunderstorm had been lingering over the city since the previous evening, but the clouds had not released their cooling rain. Her skin and her hair were sweaty, but she did not feel like she had the time for a shower.
April arrived at the office a few minutes before 7:00 a.m. and ran into the rest of the cleaning crew, who where just finishing their job. Apart from them and the guys from the night duty, she was alone in the building. The official office hours for the detectives began at 8:30 a.m., so it would be quite a while until the others arrived.
April spent the time she had to wait brooding over her new findings and impressions of the last night. They mostly revolved around Lucas. The longer she thought about it, the more doubts overcame her, if she could really trust him. Why did he know so well how to navigate the deep web and find shady sites like the one they had visted yesterday? Had he done this before? There had to be something he was not telling her. April concluded to be careful when he was around. It might have even been stupid to invite him to her apartment yesterday.
The first one to arrive at the detectives' office after April that morning was Captain Holt around 8:05 a.m. He was visibly confused when he spotted April at her desk. Probably, since he was used to being the first one at work in the morning and the last one in the afternoon. Still, he quickly greeted her in his formal attitude and then retreated to his private office.
The other detectives graudally came in over the next 20 or so minutes. Lucas arrived about 10 minutes ahead of the agreed time. April sent him into one of the two conference rooms, where he pretended to work on the projector in order not to raise any suspision among the others. In reality, he was setting up his computer and preparing everything for the upcoming meeting.
Parker arrived at 8:30 a.m. sharp. Althogh he and April still were not on the best terms with each other, at least he managed a "good morning" towards her. April smiled back insecurely and then asked him to go to into the conference room where Lucas was waiting without offering him any further explanation. Parker hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to make of this, but then shrugged his shoulders, dropped his jacket over his chair and joined Lucas.
April went to the Captain's office and carefully knocked on his door, hoping not to disturb him during an important phone call or anything else that would occupy his time. She was not and when she told the Captain that she had an important update on the Dakota Morales case, he eagerly stood up and followed her.
"Hey, before we start this, shouldn't we kick the computer clown out?", Parker mocked, pointing his finger at Lucas. "Unless we want to talk about how the Freemasons are spraying us with chemtrails or how the Illuminati staged 9/11. I bet he can tell us a lot about that!"
Why did he have to bring his private feud with Lucas into this again? April threw back her head and let out an annoyed sigh. She was getting a headache. The symptoms of the sleep deprivation were beginning to show on her.
"Nothing of what you just said made any sense", Lucas countered calmly. April was amazed how he could stay this cool despite Parker's obvious attacks on his credibility.
"I am not interested in any of these conspiracy theories", Holt intervened. "But Mr. ... uh, Barnes, right? I also doubt that your participation on this meeting is required."
"It is", April confirmed. "Lucas helped me finding out how Dakota Morales was killed."
Over the next couple of minutes, April filled in Parker and Holt about what she and Lucas had found out. While doing so, she went around the room and closed the blinds on the glass wall separating the conference room from the detectives' office. No one who was not involved in the case needed to see what her Captain and her co-detective were about to see. She also hoped that the door and the walls of the room were soundproof.
After April was done with her explanations, Lucas showed them the 'Red Room' website on the darknet and played the two trailer videos. This time, April focussed on the masked man while watching. The shirt he wore was sleeveless and left his arms exposed. She tried to spot any distinctive tattoos or scars that could help to identify him, but there were none.
When the videos had ended, April turned her look back on Parker and Holt. What she saw surprised her. There was a genuine shock visible in Parker's face, who a couple minutes earlier had still played the asshole. His hand covered his mouth. April could see that it was shaking and she could have sworn that he had quietly said something like "Oh my god".
Holt's face, however, was unreadable. April wondered how he managed to keep his composure everytime, no matter what situation he was confronted with. He seemed to evaluate his next steps for a moment, then he turned to Lucas.
"Did you just visit an illegal torture porn website on police hardware?", he asked suspiciously.
"No, this is one of my private computers", Lucas answered, not quite als calm as earlier. "I have turned my phone into a mobile hotspot and I'm using a VPN to..."
"Yes, yes, enough of that", Holt interrupted him. "Mr. Barnes, I am not your direct supervisor, but I strongly suggest that you carefully consider if your free time activities go along with the law and the police work. However, I think that you can be very helpful in this. I will instruct the cybercrime department to track down the device these videos where uploaded from. I will also call your supervisor and ask him to provide you to them as temoparily assigned support personnel."
That last sentence made Lucas' face glow with excitement. So he was getting his desired job in the cybercrime department after all, albeit only temporarily.
"As for you, detective Coleman", Holt turned back to April. "We will need to have an honest word regarding the rules of police work, especially when it comes to cooperating with your assigned co-detective and your supervisor. But this is a matter for another time. I agree with you that our top priority should be to find this Millicent woman, alive. Detective Parker, you will search the missing persons database for any women named Millicent, especially the cases reported within the last couple of days."
Parker was still staring at the now empty screen, almost apathetic, not moving or reacting to anything around him. Only when the Captain adressed him a second time, he nodded, confirming that he had understood the order. Then Holt spoke to April again.
"And you, detective Coleman, will go home."
"What?", April protested. "I cannot go home! We have a person to rescue!"
"Did you take a look at yourself? It is obvious that you haven't gotten a single minute of sleep last night. When you are overtired like this, you are no help for our investigation. Quite the opposite, in fact, you are prone to make mistakes. Mistakes that could be dangerous for the case or for yourself. I do understand that this must be frustrating for you to hear, but as your Captain, it is my responsibility to take care of your safety. I am releasing you for the rest of the day. This is my final word!"
To be continued.
dommmu
Governor
Chapter 14: The Captive (VII)
I feel sick. The large portion of water I drank earlier and the disgusting food Zach forced me to consume have brought my stomach to its limits. I have retreated myself back on the bed, in the hope that moving as little as possible will help me to cope with the rumbling in my intestines and the aching of my belly.
Any hope I had of finding rest is shattered when I hear the all to familiar sound of a whip being swung through the air and landing on delicate female skin. A shriek follows. I hear this clearly through the open door. Zach has left it open on purpose, to horrify me with the torture of my fellow captive.
They must be close. The room I am kept in is likely directly connected to the large hall where they have set up their 'torture chamber' film set. I bet that Zoey and her camera are there, too.
Zach applies his whiplashes in quick succession, without a given rythm and certainly not without a given number in mind. He is likely going to thrash her until he is too tired to continue. Just like he did when he flogged me yesterday.
The victim begs him to stop, although her pleas do not sound as enthusiatic as mine when I tried to secape the whipping. There is something in her voice, that scares me. She sounds... broken. Like she knows that she will have to endure this, regardless if she agrees or not.
Involuntarily, I recall my whipping. It was painful, although Zach has used a relatively light whip. It broke some tiny spots on my skin, but the wounds aren't that deep. On me, he used a flogger with several thin strands. The whip I hear now, however, sounds heavier, like a single tail whip able to do a lot more damage.
The whip falls silent after a couple of minutes. There is a break where only the woman's sobbing can be heard. That is until Zach starts with what sounds like a re-decoration of the set. Heavy wooden and metal objects are being moved around. I also hear the occasional rattling of an impact wrench.
"What are you doing?", the woman asks.
Apparently, she cannot see what is going on as well. Maybe, they have left the bag Zach had mentioned earlier over her head? I am sure that it is the same one that I have had over my head yesterday.
Neither Zach nor Zoey bother to answer. Their captive learns soon enough what they are preparing for her when the zip ties are cut and she is freed from the wall. Whatever it is she sees now, I am certain that she would have preferred remaining tied to that wall instead.
"No, please don't do this to me!"
What is it that scares her so much? There are sounds of turmoil, like she is resisting Zach leading her to her new place of agony.
"I'll do anything", she laments. "I will suck your cock, I will lick your pu..."
She doesn't get to finish the sentence. Zach has his own ways to make stubborn captives comply. I have experienced them myself. I hear punches land home and when she drops to the ground, kicks follow.
"Get me the ballgag, Zoey", Zach's command interrupts the eery silence that follows the beating. "She is talking too much, it ruins the scene. Here, get a closeup of me pulling the gag thight, down to the last notch."
The woman must be unconscious. There are no protests or pleas while Zach manhandles her into position. The impact wrench is required again. I can only assume what they are doing, but get the feeling that all of this is to set up an elaborate precidament, which offers a spectacular display for the abuse.
"She's coming around. Get the camera going, Zoey!"
I pray for her to be strong and outlast whatever comes next for her.
"Hey, bitch!", Zach sneers after slapping her twice to make sure that she is really awake. "I think you have already figured out what we are going to do with these, right? We are going to ram them up your ass! We will start with this one: 1.5 inches in diameter, 10 inches long. This is like big dick. Like the slut that you are, you are probably familiar with taking dicks up your ass, right? This is number two: 3 inches in diameter, 15 inches long. This one will likely already rip your ass open. But then comes number three: 5 inches in diameter, 30 inches long. This one will literally impale you! Oh, and if you are wondering: There is no lube, by the way! We will use a hammer to drive them in."
Over the next hour, my mind paints a vivid picture of how they are defiling the woman next door. What I heard was enough to stick the pieces together. She screams into her gag with every click of the hammer that drives the infernal lifeless shafts into her rectum without mercy. In between the thuds, she wails and howls. I weep together with her in sympathy.
Her pained cries turn into mad screeches over time. When Zach happily announces that they will now move on to the third dildo, the sounds that the woman makes are barely human. Even if she was not wearing a gag, she would now be hardly able to speak intelligible words anymore.
I try to distract myself, or else I will go mad, too, just from listening. I focus on the lone sock that I am wearing on my right foot. It reminds me that there is a world outside of this hell. A world where me and the other women used to live in before we became the stars of this sick torture show. A world we might never return to...
At a certain point, I get the sudden urge to puke. Not a second too early, I jump up from the bed and reach for the bucket. My stomach's contents shoot up through my gullet and my mouth and land in the bucket, joining the disgusting mix of urine and feces. Only now do I discover the roll of toilet paper in the corner and gladly rip off a few pieces to wipe my mouth clean. The sour taste, however, remains in my mouth and scratches the inside of my throat. If I only had some of the water left to get rid of it!
After I am done vomiting my soul out, I feel weak. So weak that I don't even manage to crawl back into the bed. Instead, I sit down on the floor, leaning against the wall with one shoulder. My hands cover my ears. They deafen the cacophony of screams and hammer clicks from the massacre outside, but it is not enough to shield me entirely. The horror stops with a final weak moan from the agonized woman. I dare to lower my hands again.
"Is she dead?", I hear Zoey ask.
"Not yet", Zach answers. "But she will be in an hour or two. That thing has messed up her insides for good."
There is a slipping noise. Then, a wooden object lands on a conrete floor. I know what happened, but my mind refuses to accept it. Zach has pulled the giant dildo he had used to impale the woman out of her rear.
"I bring her back to the cell."
A few seconds later, Zach stands in the doorframe of the cell, with the lifeless woman thrown over his shoulder. Their silhouettes are black against the backlight from the spotlights.
To be continued.
I feel sick. The large portion of water I drank earlier and the disgusting food Zach forced me to consume have brought my stomach to its limits. I have retreated myself back on the bed, in the hope that moving as little as possible will help me to cope with the rumbling in my intestines and the aching of my belly.
Any hope I had of finding rest is shattered when I hear the all to familiar sound of a whip being swung through the air and landing on delicate female skin. A shriek follows. I hear this clearly through the open door. Zach has left it open on purpose, to horrify me with the torture of my fellow captive.
They must be close. The room I am kept in is likely directly connected to the large hall where they have set up their 'torture chamber' film set. I bet that Zoey and her camera are there, too.
Zach applies his whiplashes in quick succession, without a given rythm and certainly not without a given number in mind. He is likely going to thrash her until he is too tired to continue. Just like he did when he flogged me yesterday.
The victim begs him to stop, although her pleas do not sound as enthusiatic as mine when I tried to secape the whipping. There is something in her voice, that scares me. She sounds... broken. Like she knows that she will have to endure this, regardless if she agrees or not.
Involuntarily, I recall my whipping. It was painful, although Zach has used a relatively light whip. It broke some tiny spots on my skin, but the wounds aren't that deep. On me, he used a flogger with several thin strands. The whip I hear now, however, sounds heavier, like a single tail whip able to do a lot more damage.
The whip falls silent after a couple of minutes. There is a break where only the woman's sobbing can be heard. That is until Zach starts with what sounds like a re-decoration of the set. Heavy wooden and metal objects are being moved around. I also hear the occasional rattling of an impact wrench.
"What are you doing?", the woman asks.
Apparently, she cannot see what is going on as well. Maybe, they have left the bag Zach had mentioned earlier over her head? I am sure that it is the same one that I have had over my head yesterday.
Neither Zach nor Zoey bother to answer. Their captive learns soon enough what they are preparing for her when the zip ties are cut and she is freed from the wall. Whatever it is she sees now, I am certain that she would have preferred remaining tied to that wall instead.
"No, please don't do this to me!"
What is it that scares her so much? There are sounds of turmoil, like she is resisting Zach leading her to her new place of agony.
"I'll do anything", she laments. "I will suck your cock, I will lick your pu..."
She doesn't get to finish the sentence. Zach has his own ways to make stubborn captives comply. I have experienced them myself. I hear punches land home and when she drops to the ground, kicks follow.
"Get me the ballgag, Zoey", Zach's command interrupts the eery silence that follows the beating. "She is talking too much, it ruins the scene. Here, get a closeup of me pulling the gag thight, down to the last notch."
The woman must be unconscious. There are no protests or pleas while Zach manhandles her into position. The impact wrench is required again. I can only assume what they are doing, but get the feeling that all of this is to set up an elaborate precidament, which offers a spectacular display for the abuse.
"She's coming around. Get the camera going, Zoey!"
I pray for her to be strong and outlast whatever comes next for her.
"Hey, bitch!", Zach sneers after slapping her twice to make sure that she is really awake. "I think you have already figured out what we are going to do with these, right? We are going to ram them up your ass! We will start with this one: 1.5 inches in diameter, 10 inches long. This is like big dick. Like the slut that you are, you are probably familiar with taking dicks up your ass, right? This is number two: 3 inches in diameter, 15 inches long. This one will likely already rip your ass open. But then comes number three: 5 inches in diameter, 30 inches long. This one will literally impale you! Oh, and if you are wondering: There is no lube, by the way! We will use a hammer to drive them in."
Over the next hour, my mind paints a vivid picture of how they are defiling the woman next door. What I heard was enough to stick the pieces together. She screams into her gag with every click of the hammer that drives the infernal lifeless shafts into her rectum without mercy. In between the thuds, she wails and howls. I weep together with her in sympathy.
Her pained cries turn into mad screeches over time. When Zach happily announces that they will now move on to the third dildo, the sounds that the woman makes are barely human. Even if she was not wearing a gag, she would now be hardly able to speak intelligible words anymore.
I try to distract myself, or else I will go mad, too, just from listening. I focus on the lone sock that I am wearing on my right foot. It reminds me that there is a world outside of this hell. A world where me and the other women used to live in before we became the stars of this sick torture show. A world we might never return to...
At a certain point, I get the sudden urge to puke. Not a second too early, I jump up from the bed and reach for the bucket. My stomach's contents shoot up through my gullet and my mouth and land in the bucket, joining the disgusting mix of urine and feces. Only now do I discover the roll of toilet paper in the corner and gladly rip off a few pieces to wipe my mouth clean. The sour taste, however, remains in my mouth and scratches the inside of my throat. If I only had some of the water left to get rid of it!
After I am done vomiting my soul out, I feel weak. So weak that I don't even manage to crawl back into the bed. Instead, I sit down on the floor, leaning against the wall with one shoulder. My hands cover my ears. They deafen the cacophony of screams and hammer clicks from the massacre outside, but it is not enough to shield me entirely. The horror stops with a final weak moan from the agonized woman. I dare to lower my hands again.
"Is she dead?", I hear Zoey ask.
"Not yet", Zach answers. "But she will be in an hour or two. That thing has messed up her insides for good."
There is a slipping noise. Then, a wooden object lands on a conrete floor. I know what happened, but my mind refuses to accept it. Zach has pulled the giant dildo he had used to impale the woman out of her rear.
"I bring her back to the cell."
A few seconds later, Zach stands in the doorframe of the cell, with the lifeless woman thrown over his shoulder. Their silhouettes are black against the backlight from the spotlights.
To be continued.
dommmu
Governor
Chapter 15: The Investigation (VIII)
The Captain had benched her! While everyone else had received a task contributing to the case, she had been told to go home. When she arrived back at her desk, April kicked against the bin in frustration and was instantly glad, that Holt had not seen her doing so. It certainly would have earned her a lecture about being professional and keeping her emotions under control.
Before leaving, Lucas came by and gave her some reassuring words. He still agreed with the Captain, though, that it was best if April took the rest of the day off. He just said it less directly. Holt came back a few minutes later, surprised that Lucas was still around. He told him that he had just been on the phone with Lucas' supervisor and had been able to convince him. Lucas was to report directly at the cybercrime department and wait for further instructions.
When Lucas heard this, he jumped into an almost military pose and said "Thank you, Sir!". Then he made his way to his new location of operation. April had not expected him to be such a suck-up when it came to authority figures. But maybe she was too hard on him and this was just a misjudgement caused by her bad mood. Her tiredness was mercilessly getting at her. At least Lucas did what he was told to and helped solving the case. Unlike April's partner detective.
Instead of approaching the task that had been given to him, Parker had headed up the stairs to the roof right after leaving the conference room. He was probably taking another smoke break. But when he came back about fifteen minutes later, he held a phone instead of a pack of cigarettes in his hand. His face was still white as a sheet. He apologized himself to April, claiming he had an urgent family matter to resolve and then left the office without further explanation.
'Great', April thought bitterly. If he was not going to do his job, she had to do it for him. On her computer, she logged into the police database for missing persons. She entered her search parameters: female, first name Millicent, then set the search radius to the city plus 200 miles around. This area also included the jurisdiction of many other precincts, but the database contained all missing persons cases on federal level.
After she had sent the search request, the result was... disappointing. There was only one missing woman named Millicent, but she was 87 years old and had been reported missing two months ago. The comment that was attached to the entry said that she was senile and a sleepwalker and that she had disappeared from her senior home overnight. This was not the Millicent April was looking for.
April decided to try a more general search: female, caucasian, brunette, age between 20 and 30. This time, the database took a longer time to process the request, promising a larger search result. While waiting, she was overcome by a sudden shudder as she realized that she matched the search parameters herself. If she had been reported missing, her picture would now appear on the screen along with the other women. April did her best to shake this thought off quickly.
This time, the search yielded over 300 matches. What an overwhelming result! But it included all cases that had been filed since 1993 when the database had first been implemented. April had not even been born back then. She limited the cases to those reported within the last four weeks. Three cases were left, but neither woman bore a resemblance to Millicent.
Over the course of the next two hours, April tried various searches, but none of them lead her to success. In the end, she concluded that the Millicent from the 'Red Room' simply had not been reported missing yet.
"Detective Coleman!", Holt suddenly called. He just had returned from another meeting that had him kept occupied for the better part of the morning. "What are your still doing here? Did I not give you the explicit order to go home and rest?"
His tone was only slightly louder than usual, but April still could tell that he was pissed at her. The other detectives had also noticed this, and the usual office chatter died within a second, as everyone watched their Captain and the new detective.
"If you have not left the building in five minutes, I will remove you from the case and suspend you for two weeks without payment!"
April was dumbfounded. She just looked back at Holt, feeling paralyzed both verbally and physically.
"Would you also like me to add an insubordination remark to your file?", Holt challenged. "During your first week? Move! Now!"
Everyone around was staring at her. Objecting to her Captain once more was a fight that she could only loose. April understood this immediately. So she quickly shut down her computer, grabbed her stuff and made a beeline for the elevator, without looking back at anyone or anything.
On her way out, she met Parker, who was just returning from whatever he had been doing instead of police work. His face color had still not entirely returned to normal. Something was bothering him. What kind of 'urgent family matter' had made him leave so suddenly, almost in panic? April did not know anything about Parker's family. She did not really know anything about his private life at all.
"April!", he seemed to be almost relieved when he saw her. That was strange. Not only that he was genuinely excited to see her, but also that he was adressing her by her first name for the first time since she had introduced herself. Had someone already told him about the verbal rubdown the Captain had given her? Was he now going to taunt her about it?
"I was hoping to catch you before you left!"
"I am sorry, but I need to go", she excused herself, not in the mood for another berating. "If the Captain sees me, still in the building..."
"I won't bother you for long, I promise." His tone was nearly amicable. "Listen, I wanted to apologize to you. For my behavior in the last days. You were so dedicated to the case and I have been such an asshole, thinking you were just some little brat wanting to play the big investigator."
"Alright, but what made you change your mind about me?"
"I want to make it up to you." He did not even recognize her question. "Do you already have dinner plans for tonight?"
She slowly shook her head.
"Great! Then you have now. I am inviting you, at my expense. Just a casual dinner between colleagues, to make peace with each other and to get to know each other better."
"I don't know, Parker, I..."
"Please don't say no, April! I feel like complete idiot for treating you like that. Just give me your address and I will pick you up tonight at eight."
April finally gave in and noted her adress on a paper. Just like she had done the day before with Lucas. For the entire way home, she could not get rid of the impression that something was off with Parker. But that could also have been due to her tiredness.
To be continued.
The Captain had benched her! While everyone else had received a task contributing to the case, she had been told to go home. When she arrived back at her desk, April kicked against the bin in frustration and was instantly glad, that Holt had not seen her doing so. It certainly would have earned her a lecture about being professional and keeping her emotions under control.
Before leaving, Lucas came by and gave her some reassuring words. He still agreed with the Captain, though, that it was best if April took the rest of the day off. He just said it less directly. Holt came back a few minutes later, surprised that Lucas was still around. He told him that he had just been on the phone with Lucas' supervisor and had been able to convince him. Lucas was to report directly at the cybercrime department and wait for further instructions.
When Lucas heard this, he jumped into an almost military pose and said "Thank you, Sir!". Then he made his way to his new location of operation. April had not expected him to be such a suck-up when it came to authority figures. But maybe she was too hard on him and this was just a misjudgement caused by her bad mood. Her tiredness was mercilessly getting at her. At least Lucas did what he was told to and helped solving the case. Unlike April's partner detective.
Instead of approaching the task that had been given to him, Parker had headed up the stairs to the roof right after leaving the conference room. He was probably taking another smoke break. But when he came back about fifteen minutes later, he held a phone instead of a pack of cigarettes in his hand. His face was still white as a sheet. He apologized himself to April, claiming he had an urgent family matter to resolve and then left the office without further explanation.
'Great', April thought bitterly. If he was not going to do his job, she had to do it for him. On her computer, she logged into the police database for missing persons. She entered her search parameters: female, first name Millicent, then set the search radius to the city plus 200 miles around. This area also included the jurisdiction of many other precincts, but the database contained all missing persons cases on federal level.
After she had sent the search request, the result was... disappointing. There was only one missing woman named Millicent, but she was 87 years old and had been reported missing two months ago. The comment that was attached to the entry said that she was senile and a sleepwalker and that she had disappeared from her senior home overnight. This was not the Millicent April was looking for.
April decided to try a more general search: female, caucasian, brunette, age between 20 and 30. This time, the database took a longer time to process the request, promising a larger search result. While waiting, she was overcome by a sudden shudder as she realized that she matched the search parameters herself. If she had been reported missing, her picture would now appear on the screen along with the other women. April did her best to shake this thought off quickly.
This time, the search yielded over 300 matches. What an overwhelming result! But it included all cases that had been filed since 1993 when the database had first been implemented. April had not even been born back then. She limited the cases to those reported within the last four weeks. Three cases were left, but neither woman bore a resemblance to Millicent.
Over the course of the next two hours, April tried various searches, but none of them lead her to success. In the end, she concluded that the Millicent from the 'Red Room' simply had not been reported missing yet.
"Detective Coleman!", Holt suddenly called. He just had returned from another meeting that had him kept occupied for the better part of the morning. "What are your still doing here? Did I not give you the explicit order to go home and rest?"
His tone was only slightly louder than usual, but April still could tell that he was pissed at her. The other detectives had also noticed this, and the usual office chatter died within a second, as everyone watched their Captain and the new detective.
"If you have not left the building in five minutes, I will remove you from the case and suspend you for two weeks without payment!"
April was dumbfounded. She just looked back at Holt, feeling paralyzed both verbally and physically.
"Would you also like me to add an insubordination remark to your file?", Holt challenged. "During your first week? Move! Now!"
Everyone around was staring at her. Objecting to her Captain once more was a fight that she could only loose. April understood this immediately. So she quickly shut down her computer, grabbed her stuff and made a beeline for the elevator, without looking back at anyone or anything.
On her way out, she met Parker, who was just returning from whatever he had been doing instead of police work. His face color had still not entirely returned to normal. Something was bothering him. What kind of 'urgent family matter' had made him leave so suddenly, almost in panic? April did not know anything about Parker's family. She did not really know anything about his private life at all.
"April!", he seemed to be almost relieved when he saw her. That was strange. Not only that he was genuinely excited to see her, but also that he was adressing her by her first name for the first time since she had introduced herself. Had someone already told him about the verbal rubdown the Captain had given her? Was he now going to taunt her about it?
"I was hoping to catch you before you left!"
"I am sorry, but I need to go", she excused herself, not in the mood for another berating. "If the Captain sees me, still in the building..."
"I won't bother you for long, I promise." His tone was nearly amicable. "Listen, I wanted to apologize to you. For my behavior in the last days. You were so dedicated to the case and I have been such an asshole, thinking you were just some little brat wanting to play the big investigator."
"Alright, but what made you change your mind about me?"
"I want to make it up to you." He did not even recognize her question. "Do you already have dinner plans for tonight?"
She slowly shook her head.
"Great! Then you have now. I am inviting you, at my expense. Just a casual dinner between colleagues, to make peace with each other and to get to know each other better."
"I don't know, Parker, I..."
"Please don't say no, April! I feel like complete idiot for treating you like that. Just give me your address and I will pick you up tonight at eight."
April finally gave in and noted her adress on a paper. Just like she had done the day before with Lucas. For the entire way home, she could not get rid of the impression that something was off with Parker. But that could also have been due to her tiredness.
To be continued.
thecuriousone
Governor
I got the feeling that parker is involved somehow......
Loinclothslave
slave to the whip
Plot clues dropping but I’m suspicious about Lucas
dommmu
Governor
Chapter 16: The Investigation (IX)
When April arrived back home, she threw her purse and her keys into the corner in frustration. Then, after a short moment of contemplation, she had figured out what was necessary now. Even if she knew that it was impossible, she had to take her mind off the case for a while, or else she would go insane.
Maybe watching TV was a good distraction? Zapping through the channels, she looked for something that was at least mildly interesting. Apart from the news stations, most of the other channels where just broadcasting their mid-day trash. She came across a talk show were the guests and the host were currently discussing if Egypt's ancient pyramids had been built as a navigational aid for UFOs. April snorted. Lucas would certainly have been entertained by this. She finally found a station on which a sitcom was running and stuck with it.
What had been denied to her during the night before, now almost overcame her: She fell asleep within minutes after sitting down in the armchair in front of the TV. And she did not wake up until the alarm on her phone rang at 6:30 p.m. Luckily, she had set it before planting herself in the armchair.
Parker had invited her for dinner and had said that he would pick her up at eight. And although she still was confused about his sudden change of heart, being this amicable to her out of nowhere, she had no intention of backing out and cancelling their appointment. She was curious to find out what was going on with Parker. And more importantly, if they had learned anything new about the case or Millicent over the day.
She had 90 minutes left to get ready, and she would use them well. After taking an extensive shower (she only realized how bad she smelled when she took her old clothes off and saw how messy her hair was when she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror), she dried herself off and went to her bedroom to get dressed.
Parker had not told her to which kind of restaurant he was taking her, so she had no idea what to put on. But judging Parker, she guessed that it was probably some shabby fast food place or a shady corner pub. Hence, she decided to leave her gowns in the cabinet and opted for a more practical attire. After all, the night promised to be as hot and humid as the one before, so wearing something breathable and comfortable would be the wisest choice.
She picked her favorite blue top. It was tight fitting, but the fabric was a special make that actually had a cooling effect on the skin. While the top was figure-hugging and even left an inch or two of her flat tummy exposed (which was intended by design), it did not show too much cleavage. This resulted in a nice look without appearing too sexy. She did not want Parker to get the idea that she was trying to seduce him with a slutty outfit. For her wear below the waistline, she selected a tan summer skirt, long enough to cover her knees, but still light enough to allow some ventilation between her tighs. She put on a pair of blue sneakers. They almost matched the color of her top and complemented her outfit perfectly.
Parker rang April's doorbell at eight sharp. Typically for him. Not a minute too soon, not a minute too late. When she opened the door, she was pleasantly suprised to see that Parker had dropped his disgusting old leather jacket and instead wore a light blue buttoned shirt, dark blue dress pants and brown leather shoes. The tuxedo matching his pants hung leisurely from his elbow. Only the dented old dark blue sedan Parker drove as a private car reminded April of the Parker she had met initially, although he had been so friendly to clear it from the cigarette butts that were usually overflowing from the ashtray.
The next surprise awaited April when they arrived the restaurant he had made his reservation at. It was one of those fancy restaurants thad had no prices written on the menu. Parker's guilty conscience must have been really bad if he was ready to spend a small fortune on their dinner.
After having been seated, April let her gaze wander around the place. Looking at all the other guests, especially the women, she suddenly felt underdressed. She wondered what the other guests were thinking about her and Parker. A good looking woman in her mid-20s and togehter with a guy who was more than twice her age. The assumable scenarios apart from two colleagues having dinner together were plenty. A father and his long-lost daughter reconciling after years apart? Or a rich old dude trying to impress his way too young love affair in hopes of getting a blowjob later that evening?
The service personnell, however, was very courteous and took their orders without further questioning April's and Parker's relationship. While they waited for their food, they engaged in some chitchat to get the conversation going and to actually get to know each other. April learned from Parker, that football played a big role in his private life. He was a fan of the New England Patriots and back in time, when he had visited highschool, he had played in the school's team as quarterback. That was at least until a complicated shoulder injury, the result of a nasty defensive hit, had been the untimely end of his sports career. In return, April told him some random facts about herself, like that her favorite freetime activites were hiking and photography, two hobbies that often went along perfectly.
When their dinner was served, April had a porcini mushroom risotto accompanied by a glass of Chardonnay. It was delicious! After they were done, Parker insisted that they stayed for dessert. The new waiting time was the perfect occasion for April to ask him a more private question.
"Do you have a family, Cameron?", she asked. Using his first name felt strange, but he had offerd it and April thought that this was a good sign.
"Well", he sighed. "I was married twice, but both marriages didn't last long enough to get serious about having children. But my brother has two kids, a girl and a boy. They are about your age."
"I'm 25, Cameron!", April snickered. "At that age you can hardly refer to a person as a kid anymore."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. Anyways, I am the godfather of the boy. Our relationship, and the one to his sister too, is so close that I often regard them as my own kids."
"This morning you said, that there was an urgent family matter. Did it have something to do with them, your niece and your nephew?"
"Yes", Parker admitted after having paused for a moment. "You see, my nephew is ambitous and courageous. But I hate to admit, that he is not very bright. He tends to get himself into trouble from time to time."
"And were you able to resolve his latest trouble?"
"I am working on it."
Dessert came and interrupted April's little interrogation of her senior colleague. April had ordered the sorbet of assorted wild berries. And against the advice of the waiter to select another white wine, she had chosen a Merlot this time. When the waiter served her drink, the offended look about her unfitting wine choice was still written in his face. The dessert was just as amazing as the main course.
"April, I bet you are anxious to find out if there are any news on our case", Parker detected as April wanted to pick up the conversation again. "But this is not the right place for it. Let me handle the check, then we go to a more private place and I will fill you in on the latest developments."
April happily nodded, then excused herself for the toilet, having the courtesy not to learn how much Parker would have to pay for their dinner. Walking towards the ladies room, she noticed that the two glasses of wine had already been enough to make her a little tipsy. Good that she was wearing sneakers and not some shaky high heels!
Back in the car, Parker asked her if she minded a little detour. Of course, it was a rethorical question. If April wanted to learn anything new about the case, she would have to play along with him. They drove out into an industrial district on the city edge, where there was a large inland port, serving the canal running by the city. After leaving the car parked between two cargo containers, they both stood at the waterfront. The port was not in operation tonight and so they were the only ones around.
"Simon and I used to come here whenever we cracked another case or had a big breakthrough in one", Parker finally explained the mysterious circumstances. "Well, we have not yet cracked our current one, but we're close, April. I was at the cybercrime office today and they are making excellent progress tracing the upload device. This calls for the ceremonial can of beer Simon and I enjoyed in situations like these. Let me quickly grab it from the trunk."
Parker left April standing where she was and went for the car. He seemed to be in high spirits, but April did not share his euphoria. If they had not yet found the location where the videos had been uploaded from, it also meant that they had no clue to Millicent's current whereabouts.
Lost in thoughts, April looked out at the silent waters of the canal slowly passing by. She did not see the person approaching her from behind. Only when she felt a sting in her neck, she realized that something was happening. Within seconds, she lost her orientation and the abilty to control her movements. The world around her was spinning and she quickly got dizzy. Then she fell to the ground, landing in the dirty gravel. The last thing she saw before passing out was Parker, standing over her, with a syringe in his hand.
To be continued.
When April arrived back home, she threw her purse and her keys into the corner in frustration. Then, after a short moment of contemplation, she had figured out what was necessary now. Even if she knew that it was impossible, she had to take her mind off the case for a while, or else she would go insane.
Maybe watching TV was a good distraction? Zapping through the channels, she looked for something that was at least mildly interesting. Apart from the news stations, most of the other channels where just broadcasting their mid-day trash. She came across a talk show were the guests and the host were currently discussing if Egypt's ancient pyramids had been built as a navigational aid for UFOs. April snorted. Lucas would certainly have been entertained by this. She finally found a station on which a sitcom was running and stuck with it.
What had been denied to her during the night before, now almost overcame her: She fell asleep within minutes after sitting down in the armchair in front of the TV. And she did not wake up until the alarm on her phone rang at 6:30 p.m. Luckily, she had set it before planting herself in the armchair.
Parker had invited her for dinner and had said that he would pick her up at eight. And although she still was confused about his sudden change of heart, being this amicable to her out of nowhere, she had no intention of backing out and cancelling their appointment. She was curious to find out what was going on with Parker. And more importantly, if they had learned anything new about the case or Millicent over the day.
She had 90 minutes left to get ready, and she would use them well. After taking an extensive shower (she only realized how bad she smelled when she took her old clothes off and saw how messy her hair was when she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror), she dried herself off and went to her bedroom to get dressed.
Parker had not told her to which kind of restaurant he was taking her, so she had no idea what to put on. But judging Parker, she guessed that it was probably some shabby fast food place or a shady corner pub. Hence, she decided to leave her gowns in the cabinet and opted for a more practical attire. After all, the night promised to be as hot and humid as the one before, so wearing something breathable and comfortable would be the wisest choice.
She picked her favorite blue top. It was tight fitting, but the fabric was a special make that actually had a cooling effect on the skin. While the top was figure-hugging and even left an inch or two of her flat tummy exposed (which was intended by design), it did not show too much cleavage. This resulted in a nice look without appearing too sexy. She did not want Parker to get the idea that she was trying to seduce him with a slutty outfit. For her wear below the waistline, she selected a tan summer skirt, long enough to cover her knees, but still light enough to allow some ventilation between her tighs. She put on a pair of blue sneakers. They almost matched the color of her top and complemented her outfit perfectly.
Parker rang April's doorbell at eight sharp. Typically for him. Not a minute too soon, not a minute too late. When she opened the door, she was pleasantly suprised to see that Parker had dropped his disgusting old leather jacket and instead wore a light blue buttoned shirt, dark blue dress pants and brown leather shoes. The tuxedo matching his pants hung leisurely from his elbow. Only the dented old dark blue sedan Parker drove as a private car reminded April of the Parker she had met initially, although he had been so friendly to clear it from the cigarette butts that were usually overflowing from the ashtray.
The next surprise awaited April when they arrived the restaurant he had made his reservation at. It was one of those fancy restaurants thad had no prices written on the menu. Parker's guilty conscience must have been really bad if he was ready to spend a small fortune on their dinner.
After having been seated, April let her gaze wander around the place. Looking at all the other guests, especially the women, she suddenly felt underdressed. She wondered what the other guests were thinking about her and Parker. A good looking woman in her mid-20s and togehter with a guy who was more than twice her age. The assumable scenarios apart from two colleagues having dinner together were plenty. A father and his long-lost daughter reconciling after years apart? Or a rich old dude trying to impress his way too young love affair in hopes of getting a blowjob later that evening?
The service personnell, however, was very courteous and took their orders without further questioning April's and Parker's relationship. While they waited for their food, they engaged in some chitchat to get the conversation going and to actually get to know each other. April learned from Parker, that football played a big role in his private life. He was a fan of the New England Patriots and back in time, when he had visited highschool, he had played in the school's team as quarterback. That was at least until a complicated shoulder injury, the result of a nasty defensive hit, had been the untimely end of his sports career. In return, April told him some random facts about herself, like that her favorite freetime activites were hiking and photography, two hobbies that often went along perfectly.
When their dinner was served, April had a porcini mushroom risotto accompanied by a glass of Chardonnay. It was delicious! After they were done, Parker insisted that they stayed for dessert. The new waiting time was the perfect occasion for April to ask him a more private question.
"Do you have a family, Cameron?", she asked. Using his first name felt strange, but he had offerd it and April thought that this was a good sign.
"Well", he sighed. "I was married twice, but both marriages didn't last long enough to get serious about having children. But my brother has two kids, a girl and a boy. They are about your age."
"I'm 25, Cameron!", April snickered. "At that age you can hardly refer to a person as a kid anymore."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. Anyways, I am the godfather of the boy. Our relationship, and the one to his sister too, is so close that I often regard them as my own kids."
"This morning you said, that there was an urgent family matter. Did it have something to do with them, your niece and your nephew?"
"Yes", Parker admitted after having paused for a moment. "You see, my nephew is ambitous and courageous. But I hate to admit, that he is not very bright. He tends to get himself into trouble from time to time."
"And were you able to resolve his latest trouble?"
"I am working on it."
Dessert came and interrupted April's little interrogation of her senior colleague. April had ordered the sorbet of assorted wild berries. And against the advice of the waiter to select another white wine, she had chosen a Merlot this time. When the waiter served her drink, the offended look about her unfitting wine choice was still written in his face. The dessert was just as amazing as the main course.
"April, I bet you are anxious to find out if there are any news on our case", Parker detected as April wanted to pick up the conversation again. "But this is not the right place for it. Let me handle the check, then we go to a more private place and I will fill you in on the latest developments."
April happily nodded, then excused herself for the toilet, having the courtesy not to learn how much Parker would have to pay for their dinner. Walking towards the ladies room, she noticed that the two glasses of wine had already been enough to make her a little tipsy. Good that she was wearing sneakers and not some shaky high heels!
Back in the car, Parker asked her if she minded a little detour. Of course, it was a rethorical question. If April wanted to learn anything new about the case, she would have to play along with him. They drove out into an industrial district on the city edge, where there was a large inland port, serving the canal running by the city. After leaving the car parked between two cargo containers, they both stood at the waterfront. The port was not in operation tonight and so they were the only ones around.
"Simon and I used to come here whenever we cracked another case or had a big breakthrough in one", Parker finally explained the mysterious circumstances. "Well, we have not yet cracked our current one, but we're close, April. I was at the cybercrime office today and they are making excellent progress tracing the upload device. This calls for the ceremonial can of beer Simon and I enjoyed in situations like these. Let me quickly grab it from the trunk."
Parker left April standing where she was and went for the car. He seemed to be in high spirits, but April did not share his euphoria. If they had not yet found the location where the videos had been uploaded from, it also meant that they had no clue to Millicent's current whereabouts.
Lost in thoughts, April looked out at the silent waters of the canal slowly passing by. She did not see the person approaching her from behind. Only when she felt a sting in her neck, she realized that something was happening. Within seconds, she lost her orientation and the abilty to control her movements. The world around her was spinning and she quickly got dizzy. Then she fell to the ground, landing in the dirty gravel. The last thing she saw before passing out was Parker, standing over her, with a syringe in his hand.
To be continued.
thecuriousone
Governor
I had the gut feeling that Parker was involved and April would end up being a victim. I like the story. Each day when I stroll through cruxforum, I just have to stop at this topic to read the next chapter.
dommmu
Governor
Chapter 17: The Captive (VIII)
Zach enters the cell, the mistreated woman thrown over his shoulder. He carries her with no great effort. No wonder, he is big and strong and she seems to be quite petite, maybe just a little over five feet tall and not even 100 lbs in weight. Without taking care of a safe landing, he dumps her in the middle of the room. She is barley conscious and in such a bad condition, that he does not even bother tying her up or securing her in a different way before leaving.
I wait a couple of seconds to make sure that Zach is really gone after he shut the door. Then, I carefully crawl over to her. The chain around my neck scratches across the concrete floor as I drag it behind me. It has enough slack so that I can reach my fellow captive.
She lies on her side with her back turned towards me. Her breath must be flat and weak, considering that her ribcage is barely extending. I notice that my hand is shaking as I touch her on her shoulder and cautiously turn her around, so that she is lying on her back. With her face turned upwards, illuminated by the little light that falls in through the window, I finally recognize her. This is the woman that I have been looking for, the woman I had been so determined to save. This is Millicent!
I sit down next to her, my hand still resting on her left shoulder, and begin to sob. Not only do I cry because I have failed her. What Zach and Zoey have done to her leaves me with no doubts of what my own fate will be: For them, it is not enough to mistreat me in front of their camera. They will kill me and capture it all on video and then I will end up on that dreadful 'Red Room' website Lucas and I have discovered. I wonder if they already have uploaded 'April's trailer', a short video showing me being kicked around or being shocked with the cattle prod by Zach.
Just as these dark thoughts bring me to the verge of a nervous breakdown, Millicent opens her eyes and gasps. She starts breathing rapidly. Gently, I put both of my hands on her chest, trying to calm her down, but it has no effect. Her gaze is searching the room, aimlessly, meeting mine for a second but then immediately moving on. She is delirious, unaware of her surroundings. Her pain must be terrible. This goes on for a couple of minutes. I feel so helpless, not knowing how I should comfort her. Her consciousness finally shows the mercy of leaving her and she lies still again.
Only now I see the considerable puddle of blood that has formed between her legs. Shuddering, I realize where it is coming from. When Zach had sodomized her with the monstrous wooden dildos earlier, he must have torn her rectum, and he likely damaged her intestines, too. I have to stop the bleeding, or she will die on me. I cannot let this happen! Thinking quickly, I grab the roll of toilet paper from the corner and press it between her buttocks.
"This is pointless", I hear Zach calling from the door. He is back, with Zoey in tow. "Get up bitch, we have a job for you!"
"We cannot just leave Millicent behind!", I protest. "She is going to die! She needs medical assistance! Can't you see that she is suffering?"
The next thing happens so fast that I hardly register it. Zach grabs a gun from behind his back, aims and shoots. The noise of the gunshot deafens me for a couple of seconds, especially in this small room where the soundwaves have nowhere else to go. Only when the whistling in my ear is gone a good deal of moments later, I see where the shot has hit. During my police training, I had lessons about the human anatomy, especially which parts of the body should be targeted if you only wanted to maim your opponent, and where the impact would be lethal. In Millicent's case, the bullet entered her torso on the left side, just below her last rib. From the angle the bullet had come from, it must have found its way straight into her heart. She is dead.
"She isn't suffering anymore. Happy now?"
Aghast, I stare at Zach. I have no idea how to comment what just happened. Zach, however, does not seem to bothered a bit by the fact that he just killed a person. Instead, he seems to be in the mood for jokes.
"Do you think, that this makes you a free elf, Dobby?", he laughs, pointing the gun at the lone sock I still wear. "Take it off, you don't need it."
Every last bit of me wants to resist against doing anything he tells me, but I have to be smart. He is the one holding the gun and has proven that he is not hesitant about using it. For now, I should better do as he says. So I pull the sock off my right foot and toss it at him. He only smirks when it hits him in the crotch, not doing any damage before it falls to the ground.
"Get up and let Zoey prepare you!", he commands.
Zoey enters the room, dragging a seemingly heavy wooden crate behind her. When she lifts the hood, I see where the weight is coming from: Manacles and chains. She spends the next couple of minutes equipping me with them. My ankles are connected with a set of cuffs that allows me to take small steps, but not to make wide enough ones to run. There is also a metal ball that she attaches to the chain connecting the ankle cuffs. A similar set is put on my wrists, but without the ball. Finally, there is a third chain, connecting my wrist chain with the ankle chain. When Zoey is done, I feel like a quarry slave being prepared for the chain gang.
That is not too far away from what they have planned for me now. After unlocking me from the wall, they drag me through the derelict building and outside. The morning has passed, the sun is up and the heat is scorching already. We live in a part of the country where the majority of the landscape outside of the cities, apart from the few laboriously irrigated agricultural areas, is a rocky desert with only sparse vegetation. After my eyes have adjusted more or less to the bright light, I look around. But apart from the old brick buildings and corrugated iron huts of the old mine, there is nothing around but a dry plain, only populated by smaller or bigger hills with rocks and a few dry bushes.
There is one thing that does not really fit the scene: An old camper, parked in the shadow of one of the larger buildings. For a moment, I have to think about the iconic scene from the first season of 'Breaking Bad', in which Walter White jumps out his RV, wearing nothing but his undies and an apron. If he actually came to my help right now, I would even turn a blind eye on him cooking meth. But no such thing happens.
While using the chain coming from my iron collar as a leash to drag me behind, Zach picks up a spade that had been waiting leaned against the base of a rusted silo. He wears his ski mask again, since Zoey is following us with her camera, filming my next ordeal. I barely manage to keep up with his pace, not only because my restraints are impeding my movement, but also because their weight is slowing me down. I guess that the manacles and chains they have put on me, including the iron ball, easily weigh 50 lbs or more combined.
When we finally arrive at the location he was heading for, an unpaved courtyard sorrounded by a couple of smaller buildings, he lets go of me for a moment. Of course, I am not silly enough to run. I would never make it more than a couple of feet before they catch me. The only thing I can do is hope for them to make a mistake and, when my chance to flee comes, make use of it.
For the moment, I watch Zach as he uses the tip of the spade to draw a rectangle in the sand, about six feet long and two feet wide. Then he comes back to me, handing me the spade.
"Dig until you are down to your hips!"
His instructions are clear and the purpose of the hole I am about to excavate is unquestionable. This will be Millicent's grave. How cruel is it that she will be laid to rest in a place where no one will ever find her? For myself, I make the resolution that if I actually get out of this alive, I will make sure that her body will be recovered and returned to her family for a proper funeral, and to give them closure.
Lost in my thoughts I hesitate to start working. Zach loses his patience. He has brought along the flogger he used on me yesterday. A few lashes on my butt and tighs wake me up and get me working.
Digging in this terrain is hard. It is not anything linke digging a hole in your garden when you want to plant a new tree or remove a larger portion in order to pour the foundation for a gazebo. The earth here isn't moist and giving. The sand is dried in a thick crust, permeated with gravel and smaller stones. Most of the time, I don't even use the spade as a shovel but as a pickaxe.
It does not take long until my skin is covered with a sheen of sweat and my wet hair is sticking to my face. My hands and feet are bleeding from using the tool. The slave work is hard and the desert sun is unforgiving. Zach and Zoey have retreated into the shadow of one of the buildings. They only emerge when Zach feels like I need some more incentive from the whip (or the cattle prod, which he has also fetched in the meantime) or Zoey wants to capture me from another angle.
By the time I am finished with the hole, I am barely able to hold myself upright and need the shovel as support. My throat is burning from thirst and my head is swimming from baking in the sun.
"Good, cunt!", Zach enters the scene once more, pulling me out of the shallow grave, "Now we get the other whore and finish this!"
He leads me back into the cell where we find Millicent's body, just as we have left her. I try to lift her up to carry her away, but I can't do it. Even if I wasn't as exhausted as I am now, it would hardly be possible for me. I do not weigh a lot more than she does. Her weight, combined with the chains I am wearing, would make my load a lot heavier than my own weight. My only option is to grab her by her feet and pull her away.
While being dragged across the floor, she leaves a blood trail that gets thinner the further we progress. When we arrive at the grave, I use the last bit of my strength to properly place her, ensuring that she lies straight, her legs are closed and her hands a folded over her chest.
I hope that this will satisfy Zach and Zoey for now, but they make it clear that I am far away from a rest. Of course, they make me finish the burial by shoveling all of the sand and stones back into the grave. I do it with tears running down my face, both from my grief for Millicent and my weariness. The sun has reached its highest point by now, telling me that it is noon. When I am done, fatigue overcomes me. I let go of the spade and fall on my knees, panting, sweating and crying. I feel my urine splashing against my thighs. Zoey moves in with the camera to get close-ups, first of my wet legs and then of my desperate face.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zach picking up the spade and drawing another six by two feet rectangle in the sand, just next to Millicent's fresh grave.
"Again", Zach orders as he throws the spade down in front of me. "This one will be for you!"
"And then?", I challenge him, barely able to utter an intelligible word. "Are you going to kill me when I'm done?"
"No, first we need some more footage from you. But don't worry, you will die today."
A jab with the cattle prod gets me working again.
To be continued.
Zach enters the cell, the mistreated woman thrown over his shoulder. He carries her with no great effort. No wonder, he is big and strong and she seems to be quite petite, maybe just a little over five feet tall and not even 100 lbs in weight. Without taking care of a safe landing, he dumps her in the middle of the room. She is barley conscious and in such a bad condition, that he does not even bother tying her up or securing her in a different way before leaving.
I wait a couple of seconds to make sure that Zach is really gone after he shut the door. Then, I carefully crawl over to her. The chain around my neck scratches across the concrete floor as I drag it behind me. It has enough slack so that I can reach my fellow captive.
She lies on her side with her back turned towards me. Her breath must be flat and weak, considering that her ribcage is barely extending. I notice that my hand is shaking as I touch her on her shoulder and cautiously turn her around, so that she is lying on her back. With her face turned upwards, illuminated by the little light that falls in through the window, I finally recognize her. This is the woman that I have been looking for, the woman I had been so determined to save. This is Millicent!
I sit down next to her, my hand still resting on her left shoulder, and begin to sob. Not only do I cry because I have failed her. What Zach and Zoey have done to her leaves me with no doubts of what my own fate will be: For them, it is not enough to mistreat me in front of their camera. They will kill me and capture it all on video and then I will end up on that dreadful 'Red Room' website Lucas and I have discovered. I wonder if they already have uploaded 'April's trailer', a short video showing me being kicked around or being shocked with the cattle prod by Zach.
Just as these dark thoughts bring me to the verge of a nervous breakdown, Millicent opens her eyes and gasps. She starts breathing rapidly. Gently, I put both of my hands on her chest, trying to calm her down, but it has no effect. Her gaze is searching the room, aimlessly, meeting mine for a second but then immediately moving on. She is delirious, unaware of her surroundings. Her pain must be terrible. This goes on for a couple of minutes. I feel so helpless, not knowing how I should comfort her. Her consciousness finally shows the mercy of leaving her and she lies still again.
Only now I see the considerable puddle of blood that has formed between her legs. Shuddering, I realize where it is coming from. When Zach had sodomized her with the monstrous wooden dildos earlier, he must have torn her rectum, and he likely damaged her intestines, too. I have to stop the bleeding, or she will die on me. I cannot let this happen! Thinking quickly, I grab the roll of toilet paper from the corner and press it between her buttocks.
"This is pointless", I hear Zach calling from the door. He is back, with Zoey in tow. "Get up bitch, we have a job for you!"
"We cannot just leave Millicent behind!", I protest. "She is going to die! She needs medical assistance! Can't you see that she is suffering?"
The next thing happens so fast that I hardly register it. Zach grabs a gun from behind his back, aims and shoots. The noise of the gunshot deafens me for a couple of seconds, especially in this small room where the soundwaves have nowhere else to go. Only when the whistling in my ear is gone a good deal of moments later, I see where the shot has hit. During my police training, I had lessons about the human anatomy, especially which parts of the body should be targeted if you only wanted to maim your opponent, and where the impact would be lethal. In Millicent's case, the bullet entered her torso on the left side, just below her last rib. From the angle the bullet had come from, it must have found its way straight into her heart. She is dead.
"She isn't suffering anymore. Happy now?"
Aghast, I stare at Zach. I have no idea how to comment what just happened. Zach, however, does not seem to bothered a bit by the fact that he just killed a person. Instead, he seems to be in the mood for jokes.
"Do you think, that this makes you a free elf, Dobby?", he laughs, pointing the gun at the lone sock I still wear. "Take it off, you don't need it."
Every last bit of me wants to resist against doing anything he tells me, but I have to be smart. He is the one holding the gun and has proven that he is not hesitant about using it. For now, I should better do as he says. So I pull the sock off my right foot and toss it at him. He only smirks when it hits him in the crotch, not doing any damage before it falls to the ground.
"Get up and let Zoey prepare you!", he commands.
Zoey enters the room, dragging a seemingly heavy wooden crate behind her. When she lifts the hood, I see where the weight is coming from: Manacles and chains. She spends the next couple of minutes equipping me with them. My ankles are connected with a set of cuffs that allows me to take small steps, but not to make wide enough ones to run. There is also a metal ball that she attaches to the chain connecting the ankle cuffs. A similar set is put on my wrists, but without the ball. Finally, there is a third chain, connecting my wrist chain with the ankle chain. When Zoey is done, I feel like a quarry slave being prepared for the chain gang.
That is not too far away from what they have planned for me now. After unlocking me from the wall, they drag me through the derelict building and outside. The morning has passed, the sun is up and the heat is scorching already. We live in a part of the country where the majority of the landscape outside of the cities, apart from the few laboriously irrigated agricultural areas, is a rocky desert with only sparse vegetation. After my eyes have adjusted more or less to the bright light, I look around. But apart from the old brick buildings and corrugated iron huts of the old mine, there is nothing around but a dry plain, only populated by smaller or bigger hills with rocks and a few dry bushes.
There is one thing that does not really fit the scene: An old camper, parked in the shadow of one of the larger buildings. For a moment, I have to think about the iconic scene from the first season of 'Breaking Bad', in which Walter White jumps out his RV, wearing nothing but his undies and an apron. If he actually came to my help right now, I would even turn a blind eye on him cooking meth. But no such thing happens.
While using the chain coming from my iron collar as a leash to drag me behind, Zach picks up a spade that had been waiting leaned against the base of a rusted silo. He wears his ski mask again, since Zoey is following us with her camera, filming my next ordeal. I barely manage to keep up with his pace, not only because my restraints are impeding my movement, but also because their weight is slowing me down. I guess that the manacles and chains they have put on me, including the iron ball, easily weigh 50 lbs or more combined.
When we finally arrive at the location he was heading for, an unpaved courtyard sorrounded by a couple of smaller buildings, he lets go of me for a moment. Of course, I am not silly enough to run. I would never make it more than a couple of feet before they catch me. The only thing I can do is hope for them to make a mistake and, when my chance to flee comes, make use of it.
For the moment, I watch Zach as he uses the tip of the spade to draw a rectangle in the sand, about six feet long and two feet wide. Then he comes back to me, handing me the spade.
"Dig until you are down to your hips!"
His instructions are clear and the purpose of the hole I am about to excavate is unquestionable. This will be Millicent's grave. How cruel is it that she will be laid to rest in a place where no one will ever find her? For myself, I make the resolution that if I actually get out of this alive, I will make sure that her body will be recovered and returned to her family for a proper funeral, and to give them closure.
Lost in my thoughts I hesitate to start working. Zach loses his patience. He has brought along the flogger he used on me yesterday. A few lashes on my butt and tighs wake me up and get me working.
Digging in this terrain is hard. It is not anything linke digging a hole in your garden when you want to plant a new tree or remove a larger portion in order to pour the foundation for a gazebo. The earth here isn't moist and giving. The sand is dried in a thick crust, permeated with gravel and smaller stones. Most of the time, I don't even use the spade as a shovel but as a pickaxe.
It does not take long until my skin is covered with a sheen of sweat and my wet hair is sticking to my face. My hands and feet are bleeding from using the tool. The slave work is hard and the desert sun is unforgiving. Zach and Zoey have retreated into the shadow of one of the buildings. They only emerge when Zach feels like I need some more incentive from the whip (or the cattle prod, which he has also fetched in the meantime) or Zoey wants to capture me from another angle.
By the time I am finished with the hole, I am barely able to hold myself upright and need the shovel as support. My throat is burning from thirst and my head is swimming from baking in the sun.
"Good, cunt!", Zach enters the scene once more, pulling me out of the shallow grave, "Now we get the other whore and finish this!"
He leads me back into the cell where we find Millicent's body, just as we have left her. I try to lift her up to carry her away, but I can't do it. Even if I wasn't as exhausted as I am now, it would hardly be possible for me. I do not weigh a lot more than she does. Her weight, combined with the chains I am wearing, would make my load a lot heavier than my own weight. My only option is to grab her by her feet and pull her away.
While being dragged across the floor, she leaves a blood trail that gets thinner the further we progress. When we arrive at the grave, I use the last bit of my strength to properly place her, ensuring that she lies straight, her legs are closed and her hands a folded over her chest.
I hope that this will satisfy Zach and Zoey for now, but they make it clear that I am far away from a rest. Of course, they make me finish the burial by shoveling all of the sand and stones back into the grave. I do it with tears running down my face, both from my grief for Millicent and my weariness. The sun has reached its highest point by now, telling me that it is noon. When I am done, fatigue overcomes me. I let go of the spade and fall on my knees, panting, sweating and crying. I feel my urine splashing against my thighs. Zoey moves in with the camera to get close-ups, first of my wet legs and then of my desperate face.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zach picking up the spade and drawing another six by two feet rectangle in the sand, just next to Millicent's fresh grave.
"Again", Zach orders as he throws the spade down in front of me. "This one will be for you!"
"And then?", I challenge him, barely able to utter an intelligible word. "Are you going to kill me when I'm done?"
"No, first we need some more footage from you. But don't worry, you will die today."
A jab with the cattle prod gets me working again.
To be continued.