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No Trespassing!
- Thread starter Loxuru
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Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
NO TRESPASSING – VIA APPIA (3).
Another working day was over. Ellen had stepped out of the 17:34 train and climbed the stairs leading from the platform to the footbridge over the tracks. It had been one of these typical summer days at work. Holiday time. Empty corridors, empty offices, empty desks. Easy and quiet working. Fortunately, it had not been too warm today.
Ellen said goodbye to man she had been traveling with. Usually, he accompanied her to the parking, as she did not like to go alone in that wide open space. Today, she had something else to do. Ellen, who had a living apart relationship, and lived in an apartment alone, had recently bought a house, for putting it for rent. It needed some refurbishment first. She wanted to look for a contractor, but she waited until the end of the holidays. Meanwhile, she regularly went to inspect her house, before driving home.
The house was only a five minutes’ walk from the station. Ellen first checked the mailbox. Strange enough, the former owner, although deceased, still received letters and even official mail. He may have been death for months, in some databases he clearly was still marked as alive. Ellen did not open these letters, but brought them to a relative of the former owner, living nearby.
The house was a few years older than Ellen herself, but it had been maintained well. The central heating was brand new, the windows had been renovated some fifteen years ago. Only the roof needed to be isolated and the electricity had to be upgraded to contemporaneous safety standards. Hopefully, that would not require too much breaking works in the walls. Only when these works were finished, she could decide about what to do with the floor. It was covered with carpet, which needed to be replaced. She was considering stone tiles or parquet, making it look more attractive and modern. But on the other hand, the house had some of its original elements preserved, making it look ‘vintage”, something she actually would like to keep. But would the modern floor go together with the vintage look?
As she entered, she first listened around for suspicious sounds. Imagine there would be intruders in the house. On entering, noticed how refreshing cool it was inside the house, despite the warm weather. It was a contrast with her own apartment, that felt like a greenhouse, this time of the year.
The lower floor had a garage and a laundry room. The living space was on the first floor. Arrived in the living room, Ellen kicked out her shoes, and walked barefoot over the carpet. It gave a warm feeling. And so, her dilemma emerged again. Why not coming to live in this house, and putting her apartment for rent? It would save her all together at least an hour in traveling time to and from her work. Then she could only the electricity have carried out immediately, decide about the floor, and the other works could follow at a slower pace. Because, she admitted to herself, she suddenly had got a little bit overwhelmed by the work she had to get carried out in the house in a short time, in order to prepare it for putting it for rent.
She walked around, contemplating the work to do. Where it needed a painting. Where something should be replaced. How she would fix the internet connections. How she would decorate the house. She imagined living in it herself. The largest opponent of any project to remove to this house, would without doubt be her boyfriend. Since a year, he has been insisting she should put her apartment for rent and come to live together in his house. She always had waved his proposal. For him, removal was no option, as he had a business practice attached to his house. If, on the other hand, she would decide to remove to this house, they would go living considerably further away from each other?
Looking through the rear window, she oversaw the other attractive feature of this house, something she missed in her apartment : a small but cozy garden. Easy to maintain! Although, the grass needed urgently a mowing!
Still barefoot, she went to the upper floor. She was always cautious about that. She had recently heard a story how burglars tried to avoid car registration cameras by hiding in empty houses in the vicinity of the places they had robbed. They left only after one or two days, so that the link between the time of their crime and the time of their car number registration were well separated. Suppose some were somewhere up there! What would they do with her? The sleeping room at the backside was dark, as the roll shutter was down. Imagine they would be hiding in there? Silently, she climbed the stairs, as always cautious to suspicious noises.
She inspected the upper floor. Then she went on to the attic, the only place in the house where it was really warm after a sunny summer day. The attic had to be cleaned up, for sure. Ellen went downstairs again, back to the living room. On entering the kitchen, she was suddenly grabbed from the back, while a hand was laid on her mouth to prevent her from screaming.
Minutes later, she was back on her way upstairs to the attic, naked, terrified, her hands tied on her back. In the attic, they would tie her hands over head to a roof beam and leave her like that. She would be completely left to their mercy, all the time they would hide in the house.
****
In the shower room of the abandoned factory, silent terror ruled. The restraints were fixed tightly. So was the gag either. Attempts to make them loose were futile, futile and fatiguing. The efforts made me sweating. Soon, I gave up. I noticed most of the other captives had already given up similar attempts. The gag made breathing heavy. Trying to move was difficult. As a result, the captives all behaved very resigning.
Outside, a train stopped. The station was so nearby, that I could hear the announcement that is was the 18:34 train. Unbelievable, I only had arrived about an hour ago. It already seemed I had been sitting there for an eternity. Outside the building, very nearby, people approached, talking, entering their cars, starting engines. Cars drove away, the 18:34 train departed. It became silent again outside.
Somewhat later, the door of the shower room was opened and a naked and tied man was brought in, with shame, fear and disbelief on his face. He was also put on the ground and strapped by his legs, next to me.
****
Ellen got hungry. Time to go home. She put on her clothes again and made a last inspection of the upper floors, then put on her shoes and prepared to go home. After a last check, she went out and, somewhat sadly, she thoroughly locked the front door. She was sad because she could not stay and live in the house. All the way to her car, her mind was tormented with confusion. She had started to love that house, and she now felt reluctant to leave it to the mercy of a tenant. At this moment, she hated her clinically clean apartment. On one hand, she knew the idea of living in this house could be a whim, instigated by these kinky burglar-in-the-house or home invasion fantasies she liked to play during her inspections. A whim, she maybe would regret later. But on the other hand, she saw it as an opportunity and a challenge to change something to her life, to avoid getting stuck in boring routine.
Five minutes later, still in thoughts, she had reached the railroad. She had planned to take the station tunnel under the tracks to go to the rear parking. But when she arrived at the footbridge, she noticed two police officers walking over it, and therefore she considered it on this occasion safe enough to gain a few minutes time by taking the shorter way over the footbridge.
(to be continued)
Another working day was over. Ellen had stepped out of the 17:34 train and climbed the stairs leading from the platform to the footbridge over the tracks. It had been one of these typical summer days at work. Holiday time. Empty corridors, empty offices, empty desks. Easy and quiet working. Fortunately, it had not been too warm today.
Ellen said goodbye to man she had been traveling with. Usually, he accompanied her to the parking, as she did not like to go alone in that wide open space. Today, she had something else to do. Ellen, who had a living apart relationship, and lived in an apartment alone, had recently bought a house, for putting it for rent. It needed some refurbishment first. She wanted to look for a contractor, but she waited until the end of the holidays. Meanwhile, she regularly went to inspect her house, before driving home.
The house was only a five minutes’ walk from the station. Ellen first checked the mailbox. Strange enough, the former owner, although deceased, still received letters and even official mail. He may have been death for months, in some databases he clearly was still marked as alive. Ellen did not open these letters, but brought them to a relative of the former owner, living nearby.
The house was a few years older than Ellen herself, but it had been maintained well. The central heating was brand new, the windows had been renovated some fifteen years ago. Only the roof needed to be isolated and the electricity had to be upgraded to contemporaneous safety standards. Hopefully, that would not require too much breaking works in the walls. Only when these works were finished, she could decide about what to do with the floor. It was covered with carpet, which needed to be replaced. She was considering stone tiles or parquet, making it look more attractive and modern. But on the other hand, the house had some of its original elements preserved, making it look ‘vintage”, something she actually would like to keep. But would the modern floor go together with the vintage look?
As she entered, she first listened around for suspicious sounds. Imagine there would be intruders in the house. On entering, noticed how refreshing cool it was inside the house, despite the warm weather. It was a contrast with her own apartment, that felt like a greenhouse, this time of the year.
The lower floor had a garage and a laundry room. The living space was on the first floor. Arrived in the living room, Ellen kicked out her shoes, and walked barefoot over the carpet. It gave a warm feeling. And so, her dilemma emerged again. Why not coming to live in this house, and putting her apartment for rent? It would save her all together at least an hour in traveling time to and from her work. Then she could only the electricity have carried out immediately, decide about the floor, and the other works could follow at a slower pace. Because, she admitted to herself, she suddenly had got a little bit overwhelmed by the work she had to get carried out in the house in a short time, in order to prepare it for putting it for rent.
She walked around, contemplating the work to do. Where it needed a painting. Where something should be replaced. How she would fix the internet connections. How she would decorate the house. She imagined living in it herself. The largest opponent of any project to remove to this house, would without doubt be her boyfriend. Since a year, he has been insisting she should put her apartment for rent and come to live together in his house. She always had waved his proposal. For him, removal was no option, as he had a business practice attached to his house. If, on the other hand, she would decide to remove to this house, they would go living considerably further away from each other?
Looking through the rear window, she oversaw the other attractive feature of this house, something she missed in her apartment : a small but cozy garden. Easy to maintain! Although, the grass needed urgently a mowing!
Still barefoot, she went to the upper floor. She was always cautious about that. She had recently heard a story how burglars tried to avoid car registration cameras by hiding in empty houses in the vicinity of the places they had robbed. They left only after one or two days, so that the link between the time of their crime and the time of their car number registration were well separated. Suppose some were somewhere up there! What would they do with her? The sleeping room at the backside was dark, as the roll shutter was down. Imagine they would be hiding in there? Silently, she climbed the stairs, as always cautious to suspicious noises.
She inspected the upper floor. Then she went on to the attic, the only place in the house where it was really warm after a sunny summer day. The attic had to be cleaned up, for sure. Ellen went downstairs again, back to the living room. On entering the kitchen, she was suddenly grabbed from the back, while a hand was laid on her mouth to prevent her from screaming.
Minutes later, she was back on her way upstairs to the attic, naked, terrified, her hands tied on her back. In the attic, they would tie her hands over head to a roof beam and leave her like that. She would be completely left to their mercy, all the time they would hide in the house.
****
In the shower room of the abandoned factory, silent terror ruled. The restraints were fixed tightly. So was the gag either. Attempts to make them loose were futile, futile and fatiguing. The efforts made me sweating. Soon, I gave up. I noticed most of the other captives had already given up similar attempts. The gag made breathing heavy. Trying to move was difficult. As a result, the captives all behaved very resigning.
Outside, a train stopped. The station was so nearby, that I could hear the announcement that is was the 18:34 train. Unbelievable, I only had arrived about an hour ago. It already seemed I had been sitting there for an eternity. Outside the building, very nearby, people approached, talking, entering their cars, starting engines. Cars drove away, the 18:34 train departed. It became silent again outside.
Somewhat later, the door of the shower room was opened and a naked and tied man was brought in, with shame, fear and disbelief on his face. He was also put on the ground and strapped by his legs, next to me.
****
Ellen got hungry. Time to go home. She put on her clothes again and made a last inspection of the upper floors, then put on her shoes and prepared to go home. After a last check, she went out and, somewhat sadly, she thoroughly locked the front door. She was sad because she could not stay and live in the house. All the way to her car, her mind was tormented with confusion. She had started to love that house, and she now felt reluctant to leave it to the mercy of a tenant. At this moment, she hated her clinically clean apartment. On one hand, she knew the idea of living in this house could be a whim, instigated by these kinky burglar-in-the-house or home invasion fantasies she liked to play during her inspections. A whim, she maybe would regret later. But on the other hand, she saw it as an opportunity and a challenge to change something to her life, to avoid getting stuck in boring routine.
Five minutes later, still in thoughts, she had reached the railroad. She had planned to take the station tunnel under the tracks to go to the rear parking. But when she arrived at the footbridge, she noticed two police officers walking over it, and therefore she considered it on this occasion safe enough to gain a few minutes time by taking the shorter way over the footbridge.
(to be continued)
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
NO TRESPASSING – VIA APPIA (4).
From the footbridge, Ellen could oversee the nearly empty parking area very well. She always took care not to park her car near the abandoned factory, fearing someone with bad intentions could be hiding behind the bushes. She had heard years ago of one such an incident, but that was enough to make her very cautious. Her boyfriend had once given her the advice to carry her key ring hidden in her fist, letting her car and house keys point outward between her fingers. It would be an ideal makeshift knuckle-duster to hit an assaulter in the face by surprise. Before someone would be recovered from such a hit, she could run away and search for help. But this moment, she did not consider it necessary to prepare herself for such eventualities.
A lazy summer evening was about to start. The city seemed to be asleep, still hiding for the hot weather of the afternoon. The quiet was only interrupted by the loud metal on metal rattling of a cargo train, passing by at high speed under the footbridge.
Near the base of the stairs, she noticed a group of youngsters. Two girls and two boys, all about 18 years old. Just normal kids of that age, it appeared to her. One girl had pale, curly blond hair, the other one straight black hair. The blonde always wore a jeans and some kind of a top, usually in pale colours like pink. The other one was also mostly in jeans, but she dressed darker. Jeans seemed to be their common dress.
The youngsters were dwelling around again, just ignorantly sitting on the stairs and talking. As she approached, they stood up and started walking around. She passed along them and was about to enter the parking space.
“Ma’am!?”
Ellen heard a voice of a girl behind her.
“Ma’am, can we ask you something?”
“Yes, what is the problem?”
“Are you from here, Ma’am?”
“No, I am not, I ‘ll take my car to get home.”
“Do you know who owns this space, Ma’am?”
“No, I don’t. It is public parking space I guess?”
“The city owns this space, Ma’am!”
“So?”
“As a non-inhabitant, and hence no taxpayer of this city, you are trespassing private property, Ma’am!”
“That is ridiculous, it is clearly a public parking, it is even indicated on signposts underway!”
“For us, as citizens of this town, it does matter, Ma’am! The pennies they pay to offer space like this to people foreign to the city, cannot be used for other purposes that benefit the inhabitants!”
“Listen, I am not going to discuss the city’s policy on using tax payer’s money and parking spaces, right? I just put my car here to take the train, because I am allowed to do so”.
“By the way, do you like dance festivals, Ma’am?”
“Actually not, thank you. I don’t like such crowded events.”
“We do, Ma’am!”
“What do I have to do with it?”
“Tickets for such festivals are expensive, Ma’am. We cannot afford them. Our parents can’t neither, because they have to pay tax to provide you parking space! Could you please give us a little, please? Twenty to forty euros, Ma’am, as a compensation for the use of this public space, and we forget about the trespassing?”
“Come on, leave me alone and go away, before I call the police for attempting to rob me!”
“We don’t want to rob you, Ma’am, we just ask some financial support. As a compensation for the free use of city owned parking space.”
“If you need money for whatever, then don’t hang around here, just get a job! Right!? Goodbye!”
Ellen turned around to go away, but her way to the parking was blocked, by the boys, who must have approached her from her back unnoticed.
“Ma’am! You stay here!”
Ellen decided not to insist, but to turn back and run upstairs to the footbridge. Maybe these two police officers were still in the neighborhood to help her. Before the girls would block her way back. For the trick with the key ring, it was too late. Her keys were deep inside her purse.
“Do not try to run, Ma’am!”
But she already had passed along the girls. She would try to make a dash upstairs, hoping her open shoes would not slow her down, as the youngsters were wearing boots.
“What is going on here!?”
To her relief, the two police offers, a man and a woman, had returned. They descended the stairs of the footbridge.
“These guys threatened me, officer!”
“Kevin! Were you guys begging again for money for the dance festival?”
“Yes, but..?”
“Just find a job, man! It cannot be that difficult!”
“That is what I told them too, officer!”
“No true, officer! This woman had proposed us to present us to some men who would pay for sex with the girls. She also said she could arrange drugs we could deal!”
“WHAT!? That is a lie officer! They threatened me!”
“Yes, officer!”, one of the girls said, “she has made such proposals!”
“You liars! Officer, that is not true, I just wanted to go to my car. They stopped me and requested money from me because they said I have parked my car on city property!”
“Officer, we were just trying to make that woman aware of the problems around here! How she profits from the generosity of the town council…”
“Out of my way and let me go!” Ellen shouted, pushing the boy in front of her aside.
“Calm down, Madam, please!” the male police officer said, “Don’t make it worse by using violence! If you wish, you can always settle things in our patrol car! You can make a statement about what happened here. Afterwards, you can always file a complaint within seven days, if you want. But just think about it! If necessary, come to talk about it at the police station first.”
“I think I am at least entitled to make a formal statement after having been menaced and falsely accused like this! And I strongly suggest you take the identity of these youngsters too!”
“No problem, Madam, follow us to our patrol car, please.”
The police car had been parked next to the abandoned factory building. Underway, the officer explained her that they patrolled regularly around the parking area, in order to prevent drug addicts from using the building. So far, they assured her, there were no problems about that, but the city council preferred preemptive security measures, in order to keep the area behind the station safe. The youngsters on the other hand, he emphasized were rather an insignificant problem of holiday bore-out. But he understood they could behave disturbingly.
Ellen figured she could do nothing than following them. They approached the abandoned industrial building. Behind the bushes stood a police car. They went through a gap in the bushes standing along the building. Just before reaching the police car, they went along an iron door.
“Get in!”
The officers pushed her inside building.
“What…? Ellen said.
“This is a better place, more discrete.” the male officer said. “You kids, give me your identity cards!”
The kids obeyed.
“Now, you go outside and wait there until we call you back inside!”
The four youngsters left the building and closed the door.
“Your papers please!” said the female officer.
Ellen handed over her papers.
“Put down your wallet and your purse!”
Ellen put them down on the factory floor.
“Now stand over there!”
“But!”
“Just do what you are asked!” the female officer said insistently. Ellen obeyed the order.
“Now”, the female officer said, “take off all your clothes!”
“But,… why?”
“We told you, Madam, there is a potential risk of drug dealing in an abandoned place like this! We cannot afford any risk about that. From the legal viewpoint, we are at least obliged to take that youngsters allegations seriously. Let us just settle it right here! Or would you rather had done it outside at the footbridge, in public?”
Ellen put down the blazer she had been wearing over her arm and took off her dress.
“Everything, Madam!”
Ellen took off her bra and hesitated.
“Everything Madam! We cannot be careful enough! Or do you want to come back one evening and find your car burgled and ransacked by one or other drug addict hanging around here? Or being assaulted by some junk hiding behind the bushes?”
Ellen could hardly object these arguments and obediently continued to undress. Moments later, she stood stark naked in the middle of the huge, large, empty factory hall, feeling uneasily exposed and vulnerable.
“Hands in your neck, Madam!” the male officer said to her. And to his colleague : “Search her!”
After they had searched her clothes and her body, Ellen was ordered to face the wall, hands against the wall and legs spread. Behind her, the officers searched her wallet and her purse.
“Any identification?”
“Here, an identity card : Miss Ellen… Humblebum, forty-six years old!”
“Switch off that mobile phone of her and put it with all the stuff in his wallet. Just keep the money apart!”
Ellen heard them busy for a while behind her, searching in her possessions. She still wondered what they were up to. She knew the police had the authority to do body searches, as a matter of safety, but she always had thought this could only happen to other people, because she, as she always had considered, had nothing to hide. She felt something was possibly not all right, but, being naked and ordered to stand against the wall, she did not dare to protest. But somehow, she felt herself the victim of power abuse. She even started to think the unbelievable, that these were no real police officers, but that she was being robbed, or even worse. She still wanted to believe they were just doing their jobs meticulously, for the sake of public security.
“Hands behind your back!”
They put a belt around her waist, tied her wrists together and attached the rope to the belt. Then they additionally secured her upper arms around her chest.
“What are you…?” She noticed her voice sounded confused.
“Shut up! We have to investigate some suspicious things in your wallet more closely!”
“But…!”Then they but a ball gag in her mouth and secured it around her neck.
“Move!”
Her situation started to appear more and more perilous. She wondered what they were up to with her. Would they bring her to the police station in a state like that? They brought her to the side of the hall. They went through a double door, apparently once the worker’s entry. Then they went just to the right, through another, largely worn out, double door into what had been the dressing room of the workers. Behind it was the former shower room, a space of about ten by five meters. And there, waited another surprise for Ellen.
On the shower floor, which was, like the walls, remarkably clean, sat two rows of naked people, firmly tied and gagged just like her.
“Here is another trespasser!”
Ellen was so surprised and overwhelmed that she did not even consider resisting, although her mind told her that this was absolutely wrong! But her will was completely paralyzed. They put her down at the end of a row. Like the other people, her ankles were securely tied, with an extra restraint just above her knees. Then, they went on and barred the door.
(to be continued)
From the footbridge, Ellen could oversee the nearly empty parking area very well. She always took care not to park her car near the abandoned factory, fearing someone with bad intentions could be hiding behind the bushes. She had heard years ago of one such an incident, but that was enough to make her very cautious. Her boyfriend had once given her the advice to carry her key ring hidden in her fist, letting her car and house keys point outward between her fingers. It would be an ideal makeshift knuckle-duster to hit an assaulter in the face by surprise. Before someone would be recovered from such a hit, she could run away and search for help. But this moment, she did not consider it necessary to prepare herself for such eventualities.
A lazy summer evening was about to start. The city seemed to be asleep, still hiding for the hot weather of the afternoon. The quiet was only interrupted by the loud metal on metal rattling of a cargo train, passing by at high speed under the footbridge.
Near the base of the stairs, she noticed a group of youngsters. Two girls and two boys, all about 18 years old. Just normal kids of that age, it appeared to her. One girl had pale, curly blond hair, the other one straight black hair. The blonde always wore a jeans and some kind of a top, usually in pale colours like pink. The other one was also mostly in jeans, but she dressed darker. Jeans seemed to be their common dress.
The youngsters were dwelling around again, just ignorantly sitting on the stairs and talking. As she approached, they stood up and started walking around. She passed along them and was about to enter the parking space.
“Ma’am!?”
Ellen heard a voice of a girl behind her.
“Ma’am, can we ask you something?”
“Yes, what is the problem?”
“Are you from here, Ma’am?”
“No, I am not, I ‘ll take my car to get home.”
“Do you know who owns this space, Ma’am?”
“No, I don’t. It is public parking space I guess?”
“The city owns this space, Ma’am!”
“So?”
“As a non-inhabitant, and hence no taxpayer of this city, you are trespassing private property, Ma’am!”
“That is ridiculous, it is clearly a public parking, it is even indicated on signposts underway!”
“For us, as citizens of this town, it does matter, Ma’am! The pennies they pay to offer space like this to people foreign to the city, cannot be used for other purposes that benefit the inhabitants!”
“Listen, I am not going to discuss the city’s policy on using tax payer’s money and parking spaces, right? I just put my car here to take the train, because I am allowed to do so”.
“By the way, do you like dance festivals, Ma’am?”
“Actually not, thank you. I don’t like such crowded events.”
“We do, Ma’am!”
“What do I have to do with it?”
“Tickets for such festivals are expensive, Ma’am. We cannot afford them. Our parents can’t neither, because they have to pay tax to provide you parking space! Could you please give us a little, please? Twenty to forty euros, Ma’am, as a compensation for the use of this public space, and we forget about the trespassing?”
“Come on, leave me alone and go away, before I call the police for attempting to rob me!”
“We don’t want to rob you, Ma’am, we just ask some financial support. As a compensation for the free use of city owned parking space.”
“If you need money for whatever, then don’t hang around here, just get a job! Right!? Goodbye!”
Ellen turned around to go away, but her way to the parking was blocked, by the boys, who must have approached her from her back unnoticed.
“Ma’am! You stay here!”
Ellen decided not to insist, but to turn back and run upstairs to the footbridge. Maybe these two police officers were still in the neighborhood to help her. Before the girls would block her way back. For the trick with the key ring, it was too late. Her keys were deep inside her purse.
“Do not try to run, Ma’am!”
But she already had passed along the girls. She would try to make a dash upstairs, hoping her open shoes would not slow her down, as the youngsters were wearing boots.
“What is going on here!?”
To her relief, the two police offers, a man and a woman, had returned. They descended the stairs of the footbridge.
“These guys threatened me, officer!”
“Kevin! Were you guys begging again for money for the dance festival?”
“Yes, but..?”
“Just find a job, man! It cannot be that difficult!”
“That is what I told them too, officer!”
“No true, officer! This woman had proposed us to present us to some men who would pay for sex with the girls. She also said she could arrange drugs we could deal!”
“WHAT!? That is a lie officer! They threatened me!”
“Yes, officer!”, one of the girls said, “she has made such proposals!”
“You liars! Officer, that is not true, I just wanted to go to my car. They stopped me and requested money from me because they said I have parked my car on city property!”
“Officer, we were just trying to make that woman aware of the problems around here! How she profits from the generosity of the town council…”
“Out of my way and let me go!” Ellen shouted, pushing the boy in front of her aside.
“Calm down, Madam, please!” the male police officer said, “Don’t make it worse by using violence! If you wish, you can always settle things in our patrol car! You can make a statement about what happened here. Afterwards, you can always file a complaint within seven days, if you want. But just think about it! If necessary, come to talk about it at the police station first.”
“I think I am at least entitled to make a formal statement after having been menaced and falsely accused like this! And I strongly suggest you take the identity of these youngsters too!”
“No problem, Madam, follow us to our patrol car, please.”
The police car had been parked next to the abandoned factory building. Underway, the officer explained her that they patrolled regularly around the parking area, in order to prevent drug addicts from using the building. So far, they assured her, there were no problems about that, but the city council preferred preemptive security measures, in order to keep the area behind the station safe. The youngsters on the other hand, he emphasized were rather an insignificant problem of holiday bore-out. But he understood they could behave disturbingly.
Ellen figured she could do nothing than following them. They approached the abandoned industrial building. Behind the bushes stood a police car. They went through a gap in the bushes standing along the building. Just before reaching the police car, they went along an iron door.
“Get in!”
The officers pushed her inside building.
“What…? Ellen said.
“This is a better place, more discrete.” the male officer said. “You kids, give me your identity cards!”
The kids obeyed.
“Now, you go outside and wait there until we call you back inside!”
The four youngsters left the building and closed the door.
“Your papers please!” said the female officer.
Ellen handed over her papers.
“Put down your wallet and your purse!”
Ellen put them down on the factory floor.
“Now stand over there!”
“But!”
“Just do what you are asked!” the female officer said insistently. Ellen obeyed the order.
“Now”, the female officer said, “take off all your clothes!”
“But,… why?”
“We told you, Madam, there is a potential risk of drug dealing in an abandoned place like this! We cannot afford any risk about that. From the legal viewpoint, we are at least obliged to take that youngsters allegations seriously. Let us just settle it right here! Or would you rather had done it outside at the footbridge, in public?”
Ellen put down the blazer she had been wearing over her arm and took off her dress.
“Everything, Madam!”
Ellen took off her bra and hesitated.
“Everything Madam! We cannot be careful enough! Or do you want to come back one evening and find your car burgled and ransacked by one or other drug addict hanging around here? Or being assaulted by some junk hiding behind the bushes?”
Ellen could hardly object these arguments and obediently continued to undress. Moments later, she stood stark naked in the middle of the huge, large, empty factory hall, feeling uneasily exposed and vulnerable.
“Hands in your neck, Madam!” the male officer said to her. And to his colleague : “Search her!”
After they had searched her clothes and her body, Ellen was ordered to face the wall, hands against the wall and legs spread. Behind her, the officers searched her wallet and her purse.
“Any identification?”
“Here, an identity card : Miss Ellen… Humblebum, forty-six years old!”
“Switch off that mobile phone of her and put it with all the stuff in his wallet. Just keep the money apart!”
Ellen heard them busy for a while behind her, searching in her possessions. She still wondered what they were up to. She knew the police had the authority to do body searches, as a matter of safety, but she always had thought this could only happen to other people, because she, as she always had considered, had nothing to hide. She felt something was possibly not all right, but, being naked and ordered to stand against the wall, she did not dare to protest. But somehow, she felt herself the victim of power abuse. She even started to think the unbelievable, that these were no real police officers, but that she was being robbed, or even worse. She still wanted to believe they were just doing their jobs meticulously, for the sake of public security.
“Hands behind your back!”
They put a belt around her waist, tied her wrists together and attached the rope to the belt. Then they additionally secured her upper arms around her chest.
“What are you…?” She noticed her voice sounded confused.
“Shut up! We have to investigate some suspicious things in your wallet more closely!”
“But…!”Then they but a ball gag in her mouth and secured it around her neck.
“Move!”
Her situation started to appear more and more perilous. She wondered what they were up to with her. Would they bring her to the police station in a state like that? They brought her to the side of the hall. They went through a double door, apparently once the worker’s entry. Then they went just to the right, through another, largely worn out, double door into what had been the dressing room of the workers. Behind it was the former shower room, a space of about ten by five meters. And there, waited another surprise for Ellen.
On the shower floor, which was, like the walls, remarkably clean, sat two rows of naked people, firmly tied and gagged just like her.
“Here is another trespasser!”
Ellen was so surprised and overwhelmed that she did not even consider resisting, although her mind told her that this was absolutely wrong! But her will was completely paralyzed. They put her down at the end of a row. Like the other people, her ankles were securely tied, with an extra restraint just above her knees. Then, they went on and barred the door.
(to be continued)
malins
Stumbling Seeker
I guess she really wants a change in her life... maybe not quite the way she got it in the next episode
...how she connects to the house, walking barefoot, naked, ...
...living out her private dreams alone in that place...
I guess she isn't living out any of that in her 'clinically clean apartment' - probably right out of the design catalog... or with that boyfriend, who's probably of that kind too...?
...now someone else gets to live out darker dreams at her expense...
Oh Ellen, if you ever get any chance or choice again in your life (or anything remains of your life for that matter)
...dump him already!
- (not that relationships at geographic distance are always bad - but there is another distance opening here?)Anyway, I've been fixing up an old house too! but for living in with no doubt. Very weird attic, inspiring cellar vaults (shouldn't be renovated too much
) ...
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
NO TRESPASSING – VIA APPIA (5).
The door of the shower room was opened again. The two police officers brought in a naked woman. I could not see immediately who it was, because of the dim lightning of the room, but then, to my horror, I recognized Ellen. It made me angry they had abducted her too and I desparately started writhing, but there was little I could do. They put her amidst the others, restrained her legs and went on.
****
Ellen’s eyes had adapted to the dim lightning. She looked around. All these naked people, tied and gagged, what were they doing here? She tried to make out who they were. Some of them looked at her, with a strange facial expression as their mouth was kept forcedly open by a ball gag. They all showed confusion and fear in their eyes. They all were silently asking questions no one heard and no one could answer. But even unspoken, the questions were obvious. One thing was sure for her. They all had been abducted on the parking area by these four kids and two (real or false) police officers, likely on a basis of false accusations. But this was not an ordinary situation they had ended up. She never had heard the police worked like this, gathering suspects tied and gagged in an abandoned building. Including herself, she counted seventeen people. Mostly men, and three women, all of about her age. No really young people. Some of them, she recognized from having seen them on the train. And the man she had been traveling with her on the train was there too, she suddenly noticed!
****
In the distance we heard the rumbling of trains passing by or stopping in the station. We heard the messages for the travelers on the platforms. We heard, very nearby, people talking, car doors clacking and engines being started. People drove away from the parking, unaware of what was happening just twenty meters further, behind that factory wall. We had no way to draw their attention. It gave a sense of helplessness.
I looked for Ellen, but she was badly visible in the half dark place she sat. Although I guess she must have recognized me. Petite, wide thighs, dark blonde ponytail, prematurely wrinkled face to my opinion. Always dressed well to go to work. Now she was naked and tied and abducted.
Another captive arrived, a man, with that characteristic anxious look in his face. ‘Where am I’?
Night came. Spotlights on high masts on the station emplacement faintly illuminated the old shower room through the matte windows. So, it was not completely dark inside. But nevertheless, night brought cold, hunger, discomfort, unrest and growing fear. My only hope was, that the disappearance of eighteen people, all near this railway station, could not remain unnoticed. I figured out that police forces must have been warned already, and that this had already become a highly worrying case. It would be just a matter of time before they would find the cars of the missing people around the station, and that hence the first place to search would be the vicinity of the station itself. But night passed, and after a very difficult sleeping, the old shower room woke up, haunted by the fear of the captives, and by all the physical and bodily discomforts of sitting motionless, restrained, for nearly twelve hours. Dawn came and nothing happened. Outside, I heard already the rumbling of the first morning trains. Early travelers arrived and parked their cars. Anytime I heard a car arriving, I got hope that help had arrived, but the absence of the flashing blue light of a police car made that hope futile.
****
Ellen was sitting under a window. She tried to rest her back against the wall and started thinking. But she could not get any further than confused thoughts. She heard the noises coming from outside, trains, cars, people passing by. Just nearby. But the captives were well restrained and had no means to draw attention or to escape.
Shortly after her arrival, the door of the shower room had been opened again and a naked man was brought in, with shame, fear and disbelief on his face. He was also put on the ground and tied, next to her. He would be the last one to be brought in. After his arrival, he kept writhing for a while, his anxious cries for help being muffled by the ball gag. It was as if he sought help from the other captives, but obviously, they were powerless too. Finally he gave up, to the relief of Ellen. The man’s fear had stirred her own anxiety. She rather preferred it quiet around her, for coping with her fear and confusion.
Ellen feared that no one would miss her that evening. Her friend had a busy time this evening. Clients! Important clients! On such occasions, he did not like to be disturbed! But all these other people? They would not come home this evening. That could not remain unnoticed? All of them disappeared, around this station? She was annoyed with herself that she had not accepted the offer of that man from the train, to go together to the parking. Or why she had waved his suggestion to have a look in her house, in case she would need advice. Obviously, she could not tell him that she had not only intended to inspect the house, but also to enjoy herself with some ‘hiding burglar’ play. Unaware that the real danger was just waiting underway in the open. If she would have let him accompany her, they would not be here. With two, they would have had more chances, as these kids clearly lured solitary passers.
Ellen thought back about the events, now several weeks ago. Buying the house could be an opportunity. But it was to be sold on an auction. She never had attended such an event, so, she considered, for everything there was a first time. She had intended to participate to the bidding, but she had set her limit at two hundred thousand euro. Ellen rather had seen it as a game, because she was convinced that this house would be an opportunity for young couples, as it was not too large, not too expensive, and it needed not too much refurbishment. So the chances were real the bidding would exceed her limit. To her surprise, the bidding stopped at fourteen thousand euros below her limit. And she had been the highest bidder at that moment. It was a bigger surprise, when the auctioneer had revealed to her that the estimated value of the house was two hundred and twenty thousand euro! Almost delirious about this lucky deal, she went to tell the news to her boyfriend. But then came a third surprise : her boyfriend frankly told her that she had done something very stupid. He said she had bought real estate with absolutely no potential for a project development. Neither the size and type, nor the local regulations were appropriate for that. Ellen argued that the house had a character, a soul, shaped by its past and its former inhabitants, and that it could be made easily attractive for tenants. And that she had not the financial resources to fund a ‘project’. For him, on the other hand, there weren’t such things as ‘a house with a soul’, only real estate! But his arguments about added value gains, return on investment and other leverage effect benefits, did not impress her at all. So, Ellen decided to make it her own little project (after all she was two times twenty-three), and seek advice from people who were more of the same opinion as her. Like the man on the train. They met each other already two and a half year, but she still did know his name. Nevertheless, she had told him about her house and sought his advice on several things. As he had given her already interesting information, she would have asked his opinion about her further plans. But now, it seemed to have all gone wrong, and they had ended up both in this room, naked, without any secrets for each other, but restrained and gagged, unable to move or talk. Both awaiting an uncertain fate?
Night passed. It was a long and sleepless night for all the captives, suffering from the physical and bodily discomforts of sitting motionless, restrained, for nearly twelve hours. Suffering also from fear. An uneasy smell was hanging around in the old shower room. Falling asleep, the captive slid against each other, making them wake up again. The night seemed to last endless. Ellen got thirsty, hungry, she got cramped from the restraints.
One moment, Ellen saw the blue flashing light of an emergency car coming through the windows. Some hope rose among those who were awake, but it became soon clear that it was from a vehicle passing by in the distance. Dawn came and nothing happened. She heard cars arriving on the parking. The first passenger trains stopped in the station. Anytime she heard a car getting parked outside, she got hope that help had arrived, but that hope turned out to be futile.
And by the way, who could trust the police any more after this?
Ellen’s hope rose again when she heard another sound. It was a rumbling, but it came from another direction. It came from the factory hall. Voices sounded at the other side of the door. She could see on the faces of the others, the sudden hope that their ordeal was over. That help had arrived. Moments later, the door of the shower room was opened.
***
Like everyone else in the room, my hope was smashed, as the four teens came in. They were accompanied by men in a jumpsuit and with masks on. They took up the person closest to the door and carried him away. Shortly thereafter, they came for the second, and so on. Anytime, there were strange noises in the background. Among those who were still in the shower room, fear began to turn into light panic. We were to be taken somewhere. Meanwhile, just outside, on the parking, life went on, as more and more people arrived, unaware of what happened inside the old factory, so close by.
I was carried to the hall. There was a large spray of water on the floor. There were two vehicles. A truck, and a SUV with a trailer with a water tank and a pump on it. I was made standing up, and I got cleaned with a jet of water. Then they rudimentarily dried me. Next, they removed the ball gag and let me drink water from a hose. I had become so terribly thirsty, that I desperately drunk as much as I could. I had been so thirsty that I even did not think of using the opportunity to try crying for help. I drunk, or rather swallowed as much of the water they offered me, although it had a metal-like taste. Finally they fixed the gag back and carried me into the cargo hold of the truck, where the others were sitting already, including Ellen, all still half-wet.
****
While the remaining men were brought inside the truck, Ellen had noticed that there were not eighteen in the hold, but twenty-one. Apparently, when the truck had arrived, three more abducted men must have been in it already.
When the last man had been loaded, the doors of the cargo hold were closed and the truck moved on. Ellen realized that they just had left the most obvious place to find them. All they could do was wonder about their destination. Meanwhile, for that obvious reason, the moral among the prisoners dropped. They soon found out, by the way, that it had little use to kick on the sides of the cargo hold, in order to draw attention from the outside world, as these sides were entirely covered with soft material, absorbing all kicks and noises.
After a not so long ride, the truck stopped and apparently parked backwards. Shortly thereafter, the doors were opened. Ellen noticed they were somewhere in a hall again. To Ellen’s surprise, more people were loaded. Eleven, among which two women. Then the doors were closed and the truck moved on again.
What followed was a much longer ride. It was warm in the cargo hold and the captives were tired, hungry and exhausted. Most of them fell asleep again. Ellen had lost all notice of time and orientation. At last, the truck was parked again. The doors were opened, and this time the captives were unloaded. They took away five men, then they picked out the women. Ellen and the other women were carried out to an adjacent hall. The truck was again inside a hangar or so. They were given water again, and then they were locked all six into a container. There, they stayed for a while. At this time, her concern had created the most fantasist fears. This was indeed no ‘ordinary’ robbery, or a game of bored teens. Were they going to be sold as slaves? Or getting processed for meat or something like that? It became more and more clear that she had fallen in the hands of an organization that had nasty plans with her.
(to be continued)
The door of the shower room was opened again. The two police officers brought in a naked woman. I could not see immediately who it was, because of the dim lightning of the room, but then, to my horror, I recognized Ellen. It made me angry they had abducted her too and I desparately started writhing, but there was little I could do. They put her amidst the others, restrained her legs and went on.
****
Ellen’s eyes had adapted to the dim lightning. She looked around. All these naked people, tied and gagged, what were they doing here? She tried to make out who they were. Some of them looked at her, with a strange facial expression as their mouth was kept forcedly open by a ball gag. They all showed confusion and fear in their eyes. They all were silently asking questions no one heard and no one could answer. But even unspoken, the questions were obvious. One thing was sure for her. They all had been abducted on the parking area by these four kids and two (real or false) police officers, likely on a basis of false accusations. But this was not an ordinary situation they had ended up. She never had heard the police worked like this, gathering suspects tied and gagged in an abandoned building. Including herself, she counted seventeen people. Mostly men, and three women, all of about her age. No really young people. Some of them, she recognized from having seen them on the train. And the man she had been traveling with her on the train was there too, she suddenly noticed!
****
In the distance we heard the rumbling of trains passing by or stopping in the station. We heard the messages for the travelers on the platforms. We heard, very nearby, people talking, car doors clacking and engines being started. People drove away from the parking, unaware of what was happening just twenty meters further, behind that factory wall. We had no way to draw their attention. It gave a sense of helplessness.
I looked for Ellen, but she was badly visible in the half dark place she sat. Although I guess she must have recognized me. Petite, wide thighs, dark blonde ponytail, prematurely wrinkled face to my opinion. Always dressed well to go to work. Now she was naked and tied and abducted.
Another captive arrived, a man, with that characteristic anxious look in his face. ‘Where am I’?
Night came. Spotlights on high masts on the station emplacement faintly illuminated the old shower room through the matte windows. So, it was not completely dark inside. But nevertheless, night brought cold, hunger, discomfort, unrest and growing fear. My only hope was, that the disappearance of eighteen people, all near this railway station, could not remain unnoticed. I figured out that police forces must have been warned already, and that this had already become a highly worrying case. It would be just a matter of time before they would find the cars of the missing people around the station, and that hence the first place to search would be the vicinity of the station itself. But night passed, and after a very difficult sleeping, the old shower room woke up, haunted by the fear of the captives, and by all the physical and bodily discomforts of sitting motionless, restrained, for nearly twelve hours. Dawn came and nothing happened. Outside, I heard already the rumbling of the first morning trains. Early travelers arrived and parked their cars. Anytime I heard a car arriving, I got hope that help had arrived, but the absence of the flashing blue light of a police car made that hope futile.
****
Ellen was sitting under a window. She tried to rest her back against the wall and started thinking. But she could not get any further than confused thoughts. She heard the noises coming from outside, trains, cars, people passing by. Just nearby. But the captives were well restrained and had no means to draw attention or to escape.
Shortly after her arrival, the door of the shower room had been opened again and a naked man was brought in, with shame, fear and disbelief on his face. He was also put on the ground and tied, next to her. He would be the last one to be brought in. After his arrival, he kept writhing for a while, his anxious cries for help being muffled by the ball gag. It was as if he sought help from the other captives, but obviously, they were powerless too. Finally he gave up, to the relief of Ellen. The man’s fear had stirred her own anxiety. She rather preferred it quiet around her, for coping with her fear and confusion.
Ellen feared that no one would miss her that evening. Her friend had a busy time this evening. Clients! Important clients! On such occasions, he did not like to be disturbed! But all these other people? They would not come home this evening. That could not remain unnoticed? All of them disappeared, around this station? She was annoyed with herself that she had not accepted the offer of that man from the train, to go together to the parking. Or why she had waved his suggestion to have a look in her house, in case she would need advice. Obviously, she could not tell him that she had not only intended to inspect the house, but also to enjoy herself with some ‘hiding burglar’ play. Unaware that the real danger was just waiting underway in the open. If she would have let him accompany her, they would not be here. With two, they would have had more chances, as these kids clearly lured solitary passers.
Ellen thought back about the events, now several weeks ago. Buying the house could be an opportunity. But it was to be sold on an auction. She never had attended such an event, so, she considered, for everything there was a first time. She had intended to participate to the bidding, but she had set her limit at two hundred thousand euro. Ellen rather had seen it as a game, because she was convinced that this house would be an opportunity for young couples, as it was not too large, not too expensive, and it needed not too much refurbishment. So the chances were real the bidding would exceed her limit. To her surprise, the bidding stopped at fourteen thousand euros below her limit. And she had been the highest bidder at that moment. It was a bigger surprise, when the auctioneer had revealed to her that the estimated value of the house was two hundred and twenty thousand euro! Almost delirious about this lucky deal, she went to tell the news to her boyfriend. But then came a third surprise : her boyfriend frankly told her that she had done something very stupid. He said she had bought real estate with absolutely no potential for a project development. Neither the size and type, nor the local regulations were appropriate for that. Ellen argued that the house had a character, a soul, shaped by its past and its former inhabitants, and that it could be made easily attractive for tenants. And that she had not the financial resources to fund a ‘project’. For him, on the other hand, there weren’t such things as ‘a house with a soul’, only real estate! But his arguments about added value gains, return on investment and other leverage effect benefits, did not impress her at all. So, Ellen decided to make it her own little project (after all she was two times twenty-three), and seek advice from people who were more of the same opinion as her. Like the man on the train. They met each other already two and a half year, but she still did know his name. Nevertheless, she had told him about her house and sought his advice on several things. As he had given her already interesting information, she would have asked his opinion about her further plans. But now, it seemed to have all gone wrong, and they had ended up both in this room, naked, without any secrets for each other, but restrained and gagged, unable to move or talk. Both awaiting an uncertain fate?
Night passed. It was a long and sleepless night for all the captives, suffering from the physical and bodily discomforts of sitting motionless, restrained, for nearly twelve hours. Suffering also from fear. An uneasy smell was hanging around in the old shower room. Falling asleep, the captive slid against each other, making them wake up again. The night seemed to last endless. Ellen got thirsty, hungry, she got cramped from the restraints.
One moment, Ellen saw the blue flashing light of an emergency car coming through the windows. Some hope rose among those who were awake, but it became soon clear that it was from a vehicle passing by in the distance. Dawn came and nothing happened. She heard cars arriving on the parking. The first passenger trains stopped in the station. Anytime she heard a car getting parked outside, she got hope that help had arrived, but that hope turned out to be futile.
And by the way, who could trust the police any more after this?
Ellen’s hope rose again when she heard another sound. It was a rumbling, but it came from another direction. It came from the factory hall. Voices sounded at the other side of the door. She could see on the faces of the others, the sudden hope that their ordeal was over. That help had arrived. Moments later, the door of the shower room was opened.
***
Like everyone else in the room, my hope was smashed, as the four teens came in. They were accompanied by men in a jumpsuit and with masks on. They took up the person closest to the door and carried him away. Shortly thereafter, they came for the second, and so on. Anytime, there were strange noises in the background. Among those who were still in the shower room, fear began to turn into light panic. We were to be taken somewhere. Meanwhile, just outside, on the parking, life went on, as more and more people arrived, unaware of what happened inside the old factory, so close by.
I was carried to the hall. There was a large spray of water on the floor. There were two vehicles. A truck, and a SUV with a trailer with a water tank and a pump on it. I was made standing up, and I got cleaned with a jet of water. Then they rudimentarily dried me. Next, they removed the ball gag and let me drink water from a hose. I had become so terribly thirsty, that I desperately drunk as much as I could. I had been so thirsty that I even did not think of using the opportunity to try crying for help. I drunk, or rather swallowed as much of the water they offered me, although it had a metal-like taste. Finally they fixed the gag back and carried me into the cargo hold of the truck, where the others were sitting already, including Ellen, all still half-wet.
****
While the remaining men were brought inside the truck, Ellen had noticed that there were not eighteen in the hold, but twenty-one. Apparently, when the truck had arrived, three more abducted men must have been in it already.
When the last man had been loaded, the doors of the cargo hold were closed and the truck moved on. Ellen realized that they just had left the most obvious place to find them. All they could do was wonder about their destination. Meanwhile, for that obvious reason, the moral among the prisoners dropped. They soon found out, by the way, that it had little use to kick on the sides of the cargo hold, in order to draw attention from the outside world, as these sides were entirely covered with soft material, absorbing all kicks and noises.
After a not so long ride, the truck stopped and apparently parked backwards. Shortly thereafter, the doors were opened. Ellen noticed they were somewhere in a hall again. To Ellen’s surprise, more people were loaded. Eleven, among which two women. Then the doors were closed and the truck moved on again.
What followed was a much longer ride. It was warm in the cargo hold and the captives were tired, hungry and exhausted. Most of them fell asleep again. Ellen had lost all notice of time and orientation. At last, the truck was parked again. The doors were opened, and this time the captives were unloaded. They took away five men, then they picked out the women. Ellen and the other women were carried out to an adjacent hall. The truck was again inside a hangar or so. They were given water again, and then they were locked all six into a container. There, they stayed for a while. At this time, her concern had created the most fantasist fears. This was indeed no ‘ordinary’ robbery, or a game of bored teens. Were they going to be sold as slaves? Or getting processed for meat or something like that? It became more and more clear that she had fallen in the hands of an organization that had nasty plans with her.
(to be continued)
malins
Stumbling Seeker
What I like about this kind of scenario is that progression.
You know, we all have our illusions of how we'll resist. And it's shown here so well...
For the man, "Protective assertiveness? Forget it!"
For the woman, "Her boyfriend had once given her the advice to carry her key ring hidden in her fist, letting her car and house keys point outward between her fingers. It would be an ideal makeshift knuckle-duster to hit an assaulter in the face by surprise. Before someone would be recovered from such a hit, she could run away and search for help. But this moment, she did not consider it"
... When is the moment?
So you've learned it.
You've run it through a thousand times in your head.
That fear of assault and victimization; for a man perhaps more the fear of humiliation from being dominated by others.
All the techniques to overwhelm that fear which is your worst enemy and remain capable of acting against it.
But when exactly do you run those programs you've learned?
Especially as the weaker one, or the outnumbered one, you will need to go from "zero to 100".
One chance.
Stun or dazzle or surprise your attacker(s) just so you can disengage, break off, run away, involve witnesses, get help, whatever, break the progression of abuse they started.
When do you do it?
When do you take that risk of going from 0 to 100?
When do you seize the privilige of escalation for yourself, with all risk that goes with it?
Or do you let them escalate... .
...one more step at a time...
...one more of your borders overstepped and your defenses taken...
..until you realize it's far far far too late for any of your imaginations of resistance or assertiveness to make any any any difference at all?
You know, we all have our illusions of how we'll resist. And it's shown here so well...
For the man, "Protective assertiveness? Forget it!"
For the woman, "Her boyfriend had once given her the advice to carry her key ring hidden in her fist, letting her car and house keys point outward between her fingers. It would be an ideal makeshift knuckle-duster to hit an assaulter in the face by surprise. Before someone would be recovered from such a hit, she could run away and search for help. But this moment, she did not consider it"
... When is the moment?
So you've learned it.
You've run it through a thousand times in your head.
That fear of assault and victimization; for a man perhaps more the fear of humiliation from being dominated by others.
All the techniques to overwhelm that fear which is your worst enemy and remain capable of acting against it.
But when exactly do you run those programs you've learned?
Especially as the weaker one, or the outnumbered one, you will need to go from "zero to 100".
One chance.
Stun or dazzle or surprise your attacker(s) just so you can disengage, break off, run away, involve witnesses, get help, whatever, break the progression of abuse they started.
When do you do it?
When do you take that risk of going from 0 to 100?
When do you seize the privilige of escalation for yourself, with all risk that goes with it?
Or do you let them escalate... .
...one more step at a time...
...one more of your borders overstepped and your defenses taken...
..until you realize it's far far far too late for any of your imaginations of resistance or assertiveness to make any any any difference at all?
I really don't remember this, Eul...well the one time I did get grabbed by a drunk
quite instinctively, I punched him hard on the chin and legged it
as he toppled backwards looking as surprised as I was -
I'd never have imagined myself doing that, it was an instant reaction.
short of memory perhaps?
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
NO TRESPASSING – VIA APPIA (6).
After a long ride, the truck was parked again. The doors were opened, and this time we were unloaded. They took away five men, followed by the women, and then they unloaded the rest of the men. The truck stood in a hangar. I was relieved to get to drink once more. We were carried out to an adjacent hall, and locked into a container with groups of ten men. There, we stayed for a while. At this time, my concern had created the most fantasist fears. This was indeed no ‘ordinary’ robbery, or a game of bored teens. Were we going to be sold as slaves? Or processed for meat or something like that? It became more and more clear that we had fallen in the hands of an organization that had nasty plans with us. But what?
****
After, Ellen had guessed, one and a half hour, the container door was opened and five women were brought away, leaving her alone. Later, they came for her. They put her on her feet and removed the restraints around her legs. Four masked men pushed her forward – not easy walking after her legs had been tied for eighteen hours or so. They brought her through a corridor into some hangar. They put her under a bar, detached her arms and wrists and shackled her left hand above her head to the bar, then her right hand.
****
I was taken out of the container. They put me on my feet and removed the restraints around my legs. Then four masked men pushed me forward – not easy walking after my legs had been tied for such a long time. Through a corridor we entered into a yet another hall. There I could see a woman, standing with her hands above her head attached to a bar. They put me also under the bar, detached my arms and wrists and shackled my left hand to the bar, then my right hand. I suddenly noticed, they had put me next to Ellen. Very close to her, and yet very far. Shortly thereafter, three more men were attached to the bar.
Without warning, they started to whip the man at the beginning of the row. I heard him shout and yell through his gag. They give him ten strokes. Surprised, I looked at Ellen. Finally, the man hung from his wrist shackles, moaning and crying from pain. Then they started with the second one on the row. And then the third one. I saw red streaks all over his body, some of them with blood trickles coming out. I was so preoccupied and frightened to what was happening, that I actually had ignored they would start with me now. The first stroke, which suddenly came down, made me shiver and yell from pain. Pitiless, the strokes landed on my body, one by one. Each one almost kicked me of my feet. Each one caused a gut of intense pain that rose and spread to an unbearable crescendo, just as the next one came. I desperately tried to get away, each stroke, but that was obviously impossible. Every stroke made me gasp to air. They hit me everywhere : on my back, on my belly, on my buttocks, on my thighs, on my genitals… They hit to hit hard! When it was over, I was in an agony of pain, sweat, mental delusion, disorientation.
Far away, and yet very close by, I heard the cries of Ellen, and I vaguely noticed her squirming, next to me.
****
To Ellen’s horror, they started to whip the man at the end of the row. She heard him shout and scream through his gag. Then they started with the next one. She felt horrified and confused, realizing that it would happen to her too, and wondering why! She looked the man next to her, whom she had recognized as her train companion, in the eyes. She realized all they could do was anticipating on what was about to come. Ironically, she thought, she had been playing this arms over head position on the attic of her house, never considering that her game would become so real soon. One moment, she even had imagined he would have been with her there, when the imaginary burglars would have captured them. The problem was, she neither could explain all that to him, nor tell the fact that her play was the reason why they were both here. Ellen saw the fear in his eyes when it was his turn. She saw him writhing on each stroke, trying in vain to avoid the whip. It was clear they hit hard. When it was over, the man hung from his wrist shackles, moaning and crying from pain. She saw red streaks and welts all over his body, some of them with blood trickles coming out. Then it was her turn. She tried to look over her shoulder, but the whip was already under way before she could look behind. From the first stroke, she shivered and yelled from pain. Pitiless, the strokes landed on her body, one by one. Each one almost kicked her off her feet. Each one caused a gut of intense pain that rose and spread through he body to an unbearable crescendo, just as the next one came. She desperately tried to avoid each stroke, but that was obviously impossible. Every stroke made her gasp to air. They hit her everywhere : on her back, on her belly, on her buttocks, on her thighs, on her groin, on her breasts… When it was over, she was in a terrible agony of pain, arising from everywhere on her body. She was sweating, she was in mental delusion, she was completely disorientated.
****
When the whipping had finished, they detached us, put us on a stretcher, shackled our ankles and wrists together, and brought us away to another place, to a room with white walls, as far as I could remember. Two men in white coats came to me. One of them examined me with a stethoscope.
“All right this one!”
“Good,” the other one said to me. “Listen, old man, we are going to let you go away for a while. Here is some mushroom extract. Sleep well!”
****
Ellen was detached and put her on a stretcher, her ankles and wrists were shackled, and she was brought her away to another place, a room with white walls, as far as she could remember. Then two men in white coats came to her. One of them examined her with a stethoscope.
“All right this one!”
“Good,” the other one said to her. “Listen, woman, we are going to let you go away for a while. Here is some mushroom extract. Sleep well!”
Whatever they had given her, it did not make her sleep. It gave her hallucinations. She was in a room where all the time, naked people were brought in, on a stretcher. It was strange because the room never seemed to get overcrowded, no matter how many people they kept bringing in. Even more, the walls seemed to move all the time, making it look like the room kept shrinking. The room, which suddenly resembled the living room of her house. All the time, there was a nervous motion of people that never stopped and that always seemed to start again. Ellen wondered what all these people were doing in her house. She wanted to talk to these people but they seemed to ignore her, as if she was not there. It looked as if there were millions of insects crawling and flying nervously against the white walls (the walls in her house were not white?). And there was no way to stop that. She felt as a prisoner, isolated amidst a crowded place full of naked people. She could not get away from that illusion, and for some reason, she could not stop it all. The man from the train was there too, naked. She wanted to ask advice how to redo the floor of the living room. He answered her question, but she did not understand his words. She wanted to ask him to inspect the upper floors, to see if there were no burglars hiding, but suddenly he had disappeared.
She was still in her new house, naked, dwelling around on the carpet floor of her empty living room. Her boyfriend was there. The four kids from the footbridge were there too and they claimed she had been trespassing into their house. Her boyfriend said she had to sell her apartment, and come to live with him, or he would call the police. And he did not want her to discuss with other men anymore about the refurbishment of the house, and he urged her that she would better sell drugs to get the money for funding a big development project with her new house, because that would be good for his business. She wanted to make them all go away. They did not.
“Get out of my house!” she shouted, but her voice was muted. She shouted the words, but the words did not sound. The teens did not hear them, they ignored her.
The two police officers came downstairs from the attic. And they seemed to believe these kids! Outside, a crowd had gathered in front of her house, claiming that she had trespassed city’s property. The kids cried out that she was a burglar hiding in the house. Outside was ancient Rome. She stood naked in Ancient Rome, in front of her house, on a place that also resembled the parking space behind the station. The parking space was full of people. From the footbridge, the police officers shouted that she was guilty of instigating youngsters to sell drugs, of claiming city housing and of illegally trespassing a city parking.
People grabbed her arms and stretched them horizontally, sideward of her body. They kept them stretched while they carried her to the old factory which was suddenly looking like a Roman temple which turned out to be a huge tent. They lifted her from the ground, still keeping her arms forcedly stretched. It did hurt! It hurt terribly! She saw the sky above her. For a moment she felt as she stepped out of her body. But it was not a smooth separation, it felt as if she was ripped off from her body. She still could not move anymore. Neither her arms nor her ankles. They were fixed. Then, she noticed that no one was holding her anymore. Suddenly, she noticed she was actually hanging on a cross, amidst other naked crucified people.
Panic engulfed her. She wanted to get off the cross. But nobody seemed to hear her cries for help. Everybody ignored her. She wanted to wake up, but she could not escape from the hallucination. It kept tormenting her. Then she heard people say from there crosses :
“Stay with us!”
The cross hallucination continued. Ellen realized she could not get off anymore indeed! It started to scare her. She wanted to cry for help again, but once more, either she had no voice, or they all ignored her. She wanted to get down and go to her car and just drive home. But her car wasn’t there. She hung motionless on the cross. People went by. Were they going to their car? They stopped and stared at her. But they did not help her. They enjoyed the scene. Ellen wondered how they could let her hanging naked and nailed to a cross at this public place. Why did not they go for help? She tried once more to get off but in vain.
“Stay with us!”
Would this claustrophobic hallucination never end?
Suddenly, there was lightning and thunder everywhere around her.
A thunderstorm was arriving, her mind concluded. She wondered why it was not raining yet. But soon, she feared, she would be hanging in the open air, exposed to rain showers, and to lightning! Lightning! One of her outmost fears! Hanging on a cross, soon getting showered! The cross getting showered, the cross anchored in the ground! All wet! She would be a huge lightning rod, hanging on that cross! What if lightning would strike her? She panicked. She wanted to get off.
But she could not move! She was nailed to a cross! She could not get off!
(to be continued)
After a long ride, the truck was parked again. The doors were opened, and this time we were unloaded. They took away five men, followed by the women, and then they unloaded the rest of the men. The truck stood in a hangar. I was relieved to get to drink once more. We were carried out to an adjacent hall, and locked into a container with groups of ten men. There, we stayed for a while. At this time, my concern had created the most fantasist fears. This was indeed no ‘ordinary’ robbery, or a game of bored teens. Were we going to be sold as slaves? Or processed for meat or something like that? It became more and more clear that we had fallen in the hands of an organization that had nasty plans with us. But what?
****
After, Ellen had guessed, one and a half hour, the container door was opened and five women were brought away, leaving her alone. Later, they came for her. They put her on her feet and removed the restraints around her legs. Four masked men pushed her forward – not easy walking after her legs had been tied for eighteen hours or so. They brought her through a corridor into some hangar. They put her under a bar, detached her arms and wrists and shackled her left hand above her head to the bar, then her right hand.
****
I was taken out of the container. They put me on my feet and removed the restraints around my legs. Then four masked men pushed me forward – not easy walking after my legs had been tied for such a long time. Through a corridor we entered into a yet another hall. There I could see a woman, standing with her hands above her head attached to a bar. They put me also under the bar, detached my arms and wrists and shackled my left hand to the bar, then my right hand. I suddenly noticed, they had put me next to Ellen. Very close to her, and yet very far. Shortly thereafter, three more men were attached to the bar.
Without warning, they started to whip the man at the beginning of the row. I heard him shout and yell through his gag. They give him ten strokes. Surprised, I looked at Ellen. Finally, the man hung from his wrist shackles, moaning and crying from pain. Then they started with the second one on the row. And then the third one. I saw red streaks all over his body, some of them with blood trickles coming out. I was so preoccupied and frightened to what was happening, that I actually had ignored they would start with me now. The first stroke, which suddenly came down, made me shiver and yell from pain. Pitiless, the strokes landed on my body, one by one. Each one almost kicked me of my feet. Each one caused a gut of intense pain that rose and spread to an unbearable crescendo, just as the next one came. I desperately tried to get away, each stroke, but that was obviously impossible. Every stroke made me gasp to air. They hit me everywhere : on my back, on my belly, on my buttocks, on my thighs, on my genitals… They hit to hit hard! When it was over, I was in an agony of pain, sweat, mental delusion, disorientation.
Far away, and yet very close by, I heard the cries of Ellen, and I vaguely noticed her squirming, next to me.
****
To Ellen’s horror, they started to whip the man at the end of the row. She heard him shout and scream through his gag. Then they started with the next one. She felt horrified and confused, realizing that it would happen to her too, and wondering why! She looked the man next to her, whom she had recognized as her train companion, in the eyes. She realized all they could do was anticipating on what was about to come. Ironically, she thought, she had been playing this arms over head position on the attic of her house, never considering that her game would become so real soon. One moment, she even had imagined he would have been with her there, when the imaginary burglars would have captured them. The problem was, she neither could explain all that to him, nor tell the fact that her play was the reason why they were both here. Ellen saw the fear in his eyes when it was his turn. She saw him writhing on each stroke, trying in vain to avoid the whip. It was clear they hit hard. When it was over, the man hung from his wrist shackles, moaning and crying from pain. She saw red streaks and welts all over his body, some of them with blood trickles coming out. Then it was her turn. She tried to look over her shoulder, but the whip was already under way before she could look behind. From the first stroke, she shivered and yelled from pain. Pitiless, the strokes landed on her body, one by one. Each one almost kicked her off her feet. Each one caused a gut of intense pain that rose and spread through he body to an unbearable crescendo, just as the next one came. She desperately tried to avoid each stroke, but that was obviously impossible. Every stroke made her gasp to air. They hit her everywhere : on her back, on her belly, on her buttocks, on her thighs, on her groin, on her breasts… When it was over, she was in a terrible agony of pain, arising from everywhere on her body. She was sweating, she was in mental delusion, she was completely disorientated.
****
When the whipping had finished, they detached us, put us on a stretcher, shackled our ankles and wrists together, and brought us away to another place, to a room with white walls, as far as I could remember. Two men in white coats came to me. One of them examined me with a stethoscope.
“All right this one!”
“Good,” the other one said to me. “Listen, old man, we are going to let you go away for a while. Here is some mushroom extract. Sleep well!”
****
Ellen was detached and put her on a stretcher, her ankles and wrists were shackled, and she was brought her away to another place, a room with white walls, as far as she could remember. Then two men in white coats came to her. One of them examined her with a stethoscope.
“All right this one!”
“Good,” the other one said to her. “Listen, woman, we are going to let you go away for a while. Here is some mushroom extract. Sleep well!”
Whatever they had given her, it did not make her sleep. It gave her hallucinations. She was in a room where all the time, naked people were brought in, on a stretcher. It was strange because the room never seemed to get overcrowded, no matter how many people they kept bringing in. Even more, the walls seemed to move all the time, making it look like the room kept shrinking. The room, which suddenly resembled the living room of her house. All the time, there was a nervous motion of people that never stopped and that always seemed to start again. Ellen wondered what all these people were doing in her house. She wanted to talk to these people but they seemed to ignore her, as if she was not there. It looked as if there were millions of insects crawling and flying nervously against the white walls (the walls in her house were not white?). And there was no way to stop that. She felt as a prisoner, isolated amidst a crowded place full of naked people. She could not get away from that illusion, and for some reason, she could not stop it all. The man from the train was there too, naked. She wanted to ask advice how to redo the floor of the living room. He answered her question, but she did not understand his words. She wanted to ask him to inspect the upper floors, to see if there were no burglars hiding, but suddenly he had disappeared.
She was still in her new house, naked, dwelling around on the carpet floor of her empty living room. Her boyfriend was there. The four kids from the footbridge were there too and they claimed she had been trespassing into their house. Her boyfriend said she had to sell her apartment, and come to live with him, or he would call the police. And he did not want her to discuss with other men anymore about the refurbishment of the house, and he urged her that she would better sell drugs to get the money for funding a big development project with her new house, because that would be good for his business. She wanted to make them all go away. They did not.
“Get out of my house!” she shouted, but her voice was muted. She shouted the words, but the words did not sound. The teens did not hear them, they ignored her.
The two police officers came downstairs from the attic. And they seemed to believe these kids! Outside, a crowd had gathered in front of her house, claiming that she had trespassed city’s property. The kids cried out that she was a burglar hiding in the house. Outside was ancient Rome. She stood naked in Ancient Rome, in front of her house, on a place that also resembled the parking space behind the station. The parking space was full of people. From the footbridge, the police officers shouted that she was guilty of instigating youngsters to sell drugs, of claiming city housing and of illegally trespassing a city parking.
People grabbed her arms and stretched them horizontally, sideward of her body. They kept them stretched while they carried her to the old factory which was suddenly looking like a Roman temple which turned out to be a huge tent. They lifted her from the ground, still keeping her arms forcedly stretched. It did hurt! It hurt terribly! She saw the sky above her. For a moment she felt as she stepped out of her body. But it was not a smooth separation, it felt as if she was ripped off from her body. She still could not move anymore. Neither her arms nor her ankles. They were fixed. Then, she noticed that no one was holding her anymore. Suddenly, she noticed she was actually hanging on a cross, amidst other naked crucified people.
Panic engulfed her. She wanted to get off the cross. But nobody seemed to hear her cries for help. Everybody ignored her. She wanted to wake up, but she could not escape from the hallucination. It kept tormenting her. Then she heard people say from there crosses :
“Stay with us!”
The cross hallucination continued. Ellen realized she could not get off anymore indeed! It started to scare her. She wanted to cry for help again, but once more, either she had no voice, or they all ignored her. She wanted to get down and go to her car and just drive home. But her car wasn’t there. She hung motionless on the cross. People went by. Were they going to their car? They stopped and stared at her. But they did not help her. They enjoyed the scene. Ellen wondered how they could let her hanging naked and nailed to a cross at this public place. Why did not they go for help? She tried once more to get off but in vain.
“Stay with us!”
Would this claustrophobic hallucination never end?
Suddenly, there was lightning and thunder everywhere around her.
A thunderstorm was arriving, her mind concluded. She wondered why it was not raining yet. But soon, she feared, she would be hanging in the open air, exposed to rain showers, and to lightning! Lightning! One of her outmost fears! Hanging on a cross, soon getting showered! The cross getting showered, the cross anchored in the ground! All wet! She would be a huge lightning rod, hanging on that cross! What if lightning would strike her? She panicked. She wanted to get off.
But she could not move! She was nailed to a cross! She could not get off!
(to be continued)
malins
Stumbling Seeker
Now this scene already appeared in the prologue. I think it's a very strong image! I definitely have the projector in my mind-cinema casting this scene in full panorama!
mongo
Governor
Never omit the knee to the knuts......well the one time I did get grabbed by a drunk
quite instinctively, I punched him hard on the chin and legged it
as he toppled backwards looking as surprised as I was -
I'd never have imagined myself doing that, it was an instant reaction.
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
NO TRESPASSING – VIA APPIA (7).
I don’t know what kind of mushroom stuff they had given me, but it did not make me fall asleep. It gave me hallucinations. I was all the time in a room where all the time, naked people were brought in, on a stretcher. It was strange because the room never seemed to get full. Even more, the walls seemed to move all the time, making it look like the room kept shrinking. All the time, there was a nervous moving around of people that never stopped and always seemed to start again. I wanted to talk to the people but they seemed to ignore me, as if I was not there. The white walls of the room became alive, with a halo of bright colors that flickered constantly, as if millions of colored ants were crawling on it. And there was no way to stop that. I felt as a prisoner, isolated in a crowded spot full of naked people. I could not get away, for some reason, and I could not stop it. I was awake all the time but a prisoner of my hallucinations.
I was in Ancient Rome, in a place that resembled the parking space behind the station. The parking space was crowded with people. The four teens were there, on the first row. I stood naked on the stairs of the footbridge. From the footbridge, the male police officer addressed accusations to me. I had occupied space on the parking area, by putting my car there, day after day, without paying for the use of it. So, I had illegally occupied space belonging to the people of Rome. Furthermore, I had arrogantly turned down a proposal to settle things, by refusing to donate money for the people to allow them to attend the dance festival. The policeman found me guilty of theft. The people of Rome wanted a fair sentence for that. So I would be crucified. That was the sentence. The people cheered and acclaimed the praetor for his wise judgment. The crowd approached me, more and more threatening. I got dragged to the bridge over the railroad. It was not the footbridge, but a wide road bridge.
I suddenly felt being ripped away from my body. From above, saw myself being crucified. The cross was hoisted along the road, on the ramp leading to the bridge. Other naked people had also been crucified along the road, on both sides of it. I recognized the men and the women from in the shower room. On the road walked another woman. I also recognized her from the train (it was not Ellen). A tall, blonde woman. She was all naked. She said she was not to be crucified, because she had settled things with the police officers. She said she was going home now. Then the teens came up to me and one said I should not walk around on the footbridge during my sentence and I had to get on my cross now, because I had proposed the girls to get paid for sex in order to get money. The people on the cross also urged me too to get on my cross.
“Just do it”, they said,” it is not as terrible as it looks like.”
Ellen was hanging on a cross.
“Join us!” she said.
So I joined my body hanging on the cross. And when I was on it, they all said :
“Now you can’t get off anymore.”
The crucifixion hallucination continued. I realized I could not get of anymore indeed! It started to scare me. I wanted to cry for help, but either I had no voice, or everybody ignored me. I wanted to get down to my car and just drive home. But my car wasn’t there. I was naked, I did not have my key cars. I needed them to get off from my cross. Nobody was there. I suddenly was all alone. I hung motionless on the cross.
Motionless on the cross…Slowly I felt my senses return. In my hallucination, I had felt weightless while hanging on the cross. But now, I regained my sense of weight and this sensation made me aware I was stuck in an unusual and uncomfortable position. My hands were stretched upward. My wrists were attached to something. I now recalled the whipping. Was I still attached to that bar? I thought they had released me from it!? I felt a numb but irritating pain in my wrists, as if they were carrying a weight from inside my arms. I felt a similar unusual irritating pressure in my ankles. Then I noticed that my wrists were really fixed firmly. I saw a battered iron nail head, holding a washer, protruding from each of my wrists. During regaining my conscience, I suddenly saw that my arms were nailed to a wooden bar above and behind my head. I tried to walk, but when I wanted to move my feet, they were blocked by something that caused a terrible pain- I cried out – and that inhibited them to move. I looked down and saw my feet being attached –nailed – to the sides of a wooden pole. I also realized my head was also higher above the ground than normal. It became suddenly clear to me that I had been really crucified. Firmly attached. Five point crucifixion, as apparently I was sitting on a piece of wood and holding me in an upright position. Otherwise I certainly would have died from asphyxiation already, while still being unconscious.
At that moment I still did not comprehend the seriousness of the situation, as the hallucinating drug had not yet worked out fully. But the more its effect faded away, the more I became aware of my perilous situation. I noticed people passing by in front of me. Young people. Dressed for leisure. They looked happy. They were going to make fun, for sure! And gradually I also found out that I was not alone. Next to me were other crucified people. I was part of a whole row of crucified people. In front of me was another row. Two long rows of naked crucified people, facing each other. Mostly men, but I could discern some women too. And all of about my age. I recognized some of the people from the train. I saw Ellen crucified, three crosses away in the opposite row. But she still seemed unconscious, or at least more under influence of the drug. She looked very confused, her head nodding continuously up and down. Between the rows of crosses facing each other was a kind of pathway, with cobbles, or rather, something laid out with a cobble pattern, where these lots of happy young people passed by.
I became aware that it was a sunny day. I got thirsty. Man came along with a bucket and a sponge and gave us to drink. Some of the crucified were still too confused to accept it. Anyway, I was still too confused to ask about the purpose of all this. I accepted the water, noticing that the scene enjoyed the onlookers. I still had no idea what we were doing on that cross. No one of us protested. There was in fact little to protest, as the people giving us to drink spoke languages I did not understand and I did not recognize at all. Clearly, we had become a kind of attraction. And whatever it was, strange enough, I mentally accepted it. Had they done something in the water, to keep us tranquil? My greatest concern was that the action of the drugs would fade away, the pain in my wrists and ankles would get unbearable. The thought of that made me anxious. I wanted to get off the cross before it would get so far. But obviously, I could not get away at all.
It became dark. Suddenly, I heard a loud rumbling and the sound of detontations behind and above me. I saw flashes. I first thought about thunder, but it turned out to be the sound of fireworks, mixed with another, rolling sound! Then I saw lights, in all colours. I heard music, live music, from a stage, a nearby stage. And I heard loud cheering from an immense crowd. The festival had started. I was in a festival. Me and the other captured people would serve as accessories for the festival. They had crucified all of us and they would let us hang the full four days of the festival. It was unbelievable. I had heard of stories of people getting abducted to be crucified or sacrificed in some weird satanic festivals. But that, they said, were urban legends. Meanwhile, the urban legend as had become part of, was not a satanic happening, but one of the world’s largest festivals! How would they get away with that?
My crucifixion nightmare had become reality. The reality had become a nightmare. For the next hours, even the next few days, my companions and me, would struggle with our pain, discomfort and humiliation, the hanging on a cross. But the most terrible torture, at the end, would be the music we were forced to listen to.
****
“The Wolfram Gothic Festival has been once again a huge success. From Thursday till Sunday, more than 130 000 people have attended it. It had more than 150 performing groups. Again, the organizers have given the best of themselves in making this edition original. A particular feature this year was the Ancient Rome section, including a hundred thirty meter long Via Appia linking the two main stage areas, with no less than sixty real crucified people along it. As if you were really in Ancient Rome. The festivalgoers were fond of it and enjoyed the scene.”
“Really great! A tremendous realism! To see them deteriorate all these days. We had bets about whom would survive the longest.”
“Seeing them being fed and given to drink. And at the end how birds were picking on them and they had no more strength to resist! And at night with those torches in front of these crosses Absolutely creepily scary. Tremendous idea!”
“That realism. Real nails! Real whipping welts. To see them being turned into animal creatures. To see their dignity fade away! Gorgeous, absolutely fantastic! Great idea!”
“Is not that cruel, to crucify people and let them hang to die for the spectacle?”
“No! After all, I paid five hundred dollar for my entry and my stay for the entire festival. They got their entry free for the same period. So they should not complain for being naked and crucified. That is a small sacrifice for a free stay at such a fantastic event!”
****
The late afternoon of a hot summer day. For youngsters were sitting below the stairs of the footbridge. Two police officers, a man and a woman, descended the stairs.
“How was the Universe Dance Festival, Kevin?”
“Great! Amazing!”
“No wonder, Kevin, with your VIP tickets for the whole duration!”
“Thanks to our little business here!”
“You will have to adapt. Things are going to change around here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Kevin, the city council has decided to develop the area behind the station. First, the old factory will be flattened. On its grounds, a temporary parking will be installed. Paying! On the present parking space, an underground parking of three levels will be built. Paying too, of course! When that will be in use, the surface of the old factory and the present parking will be developed for housing, shops and offices. During the works for the underground parking, the exit of the tunnel under the tracks will be closed on that side. So, you can count on it that all commuters will use the footbridge to get to their cars., So, Kevin…”
“So, Kevin, what?”
“Try not to hang around and sit in the way too much here, when it will come so far!”
“Come on officer, we keep an eye on this desolate plain. Didn’t you hear the rumour of people being abducted on places like this, to be sold as accessories for the Wolfram Gothic Festival. They said they got really crucified and left hanging the whole festival until they died.”
“Leave the security issues here to professionals like us, Kevin, and by the way, that story about those people getting abducted and crucified on a festival, you don’t believe that, I presume? That is for sure an urban legend!”
THE END
I don’t know what kind of mushroom stuff they had given me, but it did not make me fall asleep. It gave me hallucinations. I was all the time in a room where all the time, naked people were brought in, on a stretcher. It was strange because the room never seemed to get full. Even more, the walls seemed to move all the time, making it look like the room kept shrinking. All the time, there was a nervous moving around of people that never stopped and always seemed to start again. I wanted to talk to the people but they seemed to ignore me, as if I was not there. The white walls of the room became alive, with a halo of bright colors that flickered constantly, as if millions of colored ants were crawling on it. And there was no way to stop that. I felt as a prisoner, isolated in a crowded spot full of naked people. I could not get away, for some reason, and I could not stop it. I was awake all the time but a prisoner of my hallucinations.
I was in Ancient Rome, in a place that resembled the parking space behind the station. The parking space was crowded with people. The four teens were there, on the first row. I stood naked on the stairs of the footbridge. From the footbridge, the male police officer addressed accusations to me. I had occupied space on the parking area, by putting my car there, day after day, without paying for the use of it. So, I had illegally occupied space belonging to the people of Rome. Furthermore, I had arrogantly turned down a proposal to settle things, by refusing to donate money for the people to allow them to attend the dance festival. The policeman found me guilty of theft. The people of Rome wanted a fair sentence for that. So I would be crucified. That was the sentence. The people cheered and acclaimed the praetor for his wise judgment. The crowd approached me, more and more threatening. I got dragged to the bridge over the railroad. It was not the footbridge, but a wide road bridge.
I suddenly felt being ripped away from my body. From above, saw myself being crucified. The cross was hoisted along the road, on the ramp leading to the bridge. Other naked people had also been crucified along the road, on both sides of it. I recognized the men and the women from in the shower room. On the road walked another woman. I also recognized her from the train (it was not Ellen). A tall, blonde woman. She was all naked. She said she was not to be crucified, because she had settled things with the police officers. She said she was going home now. Then the teens came up to me and one said I should not walk around on the footbridge during my sentence and I had to get on my cross now, because I had proposed the girls to get paid for sex in order to get money. The people on the cross also urged me too to get on my cross.
“Just do it”, they said,” it is not as terrible as it looks like.”
Ellen was hanging on a cross.
“Join us!” she said.
So I joined my body hanging on the cross. And when I was on it, they all said :
“Now you can’t get off anymore.”
The crucifixion hallucination continued. I realized I could not get of anymore indeed! It started to scare me. I wanted to cry for help, but either I had no voice, or everybody ignored me. I wanted to get down to my car and just drive home. But my car wasn’t there. I was naked, I did not have my key cars. I needed them to get off from my cross. Nobody was there. I suddenly was all alone. I hung motionless on the cross.
Motionless on the cross…Slowly I felt my senses return. In my hallucination, I had felt weightless while hanging on the cross. But now, I regained my sense of weight and this sensation made me aware I was stuck in an unusual and uncomfortable position. My hands were stretched upward. My wrists were attached to something. I now recalled the whipping. Was I still attached to that bar? I thought they had released me from it!? I felt a numb but irritating pain in my wrists, as if they were carrying a weight from inside my arms. I felt a similar unusual irritating pressure in my ankles. Then I noticed that my wrists were really fixed firmly. I saw a battered iron nail head, holding a washer, protruding from each of my wrists. During regaining my conscience, I suddenly saw that my arms were nailed to a wooden bar above and behind my head. I tried to walk, but when I wanted to move my feet, they were blocked by something that caused a terrible pain- I cried out – and that inhibited them to move. I looked down and saw my feet being attached –nailed – to the sides of a wooden pole. I also realized my head was also higher above the ground than normal. It became suddenly clear to me that I had been really crucified. Firmly attached. Five point crucifixion, as apparently I was sitting on a piece of wood and holding me in an upright position. Otherwise I certainly would have died from asphyxiation already, while still being unconscious.
At that moment I still did not comprehend the seriousness of the situation, as the hallucinating drug had not yet worked out fully. But the more its effect faded away, the more I became aware of my perilous situation. I noticed people passing by in front of me. Young people. Dressed for leisure. They looked happy. They were going to make fun, for sure! And gradually I also found out that I was not alone. Next to me were other crucified people. I was part of a whole row of crucified people. In front of me was another row. Two long rows of naked crucified people, facing each other. Mostly men, but I could discern some women too. And all of about my age. I recognized some of the people from the train. I saw Ellen crucified, three crosses away in the opposite row. But she still seemed unconscious, or at least more under influence of the drug. She looked very confused, her head nodding continuously up and down. Between the rows of crosses facing each other was a kind of pathway, with cobbles, or rather, something laid out with a cobble pattern, where these lots of happy young people passed by.
I became aware that it was a sunny day. I got thirsty. Man came along with a bucket and a sponge and gave us to drink. Some of the crucified were still too confused to accept it. Anyway, I was still too confused to ask about the purpose of all this. I accepted the water, noticing that the scene enjoyed the onlookers. I still had no idea what we were doing on that cross. No one of us protested. There was in fact little to protest, as the people giving us to drink spoke languages I did not understand and I did not recognize at all. Clearly, we had become a kind of attraction. And whatever it was, strange enough, I mentally accepted it. Had they done something in the water, to keep us tranquil? My greatest concern was that the action of the drugs would fade away, the pain in my wrists and ankles would get unbearable. The thought of that made me anxious. I wanted to get off the cross before it would get so far. But obviously, I could not get away at all.
It became dark. Suddenly, I heard a loud rumbling and the sound of detontations behind and above me. I saw flashes. I first thought about thunder, but it turned out to be the sound of fireworks, mixed with another, rolling sound! Then I saw lights, in all colours. I heard music, live music, from a stage, a nearby stage. And I heard loud cheering from an immense crowd. The festival had started. I was in a festival. Me and the other captured people would serve as accessories for the festival. They had crucified all of us and they would let us hang the full four days of the festival. It was unbelievable. I had heard of stories of people getting abducted to be crucified or sacrificed in some weird satanic festivals. But that, they said, were urban legends. Meanwhile, the urban legend as had become part of, was not a satanic happening, but one of the world’s largest festivals! How would they get away with that?
My crucifixion nightmare had become reality. The reality had become a nightmare. For the next hours, even the next few days, my companions and me, would struggle with our pain, discomfort and humiliation, the hanging on a cross. But the most terrible torture, at the end, would be the music we were forced to listen to.
****
“The Wolfram Gothic Festival has been once again a huge success. From Thursday till Sunday, more than 130 000 people have attended it. It had more than 150 performing groups. Again, the organizers have given the best of themselves in making this edition original. A particular feature this year was the Ancient Rome section, including a hundred thirty meter long Via Appia linking the two main stage areas, with no less than sixty real crucified people along it. As if you were really in Ancient Rome. The festivalgoers were fond of it and enjoyed the scene.”
“Really great! A tremendous realism! To see them deteriorate all these days. We had bets about whom would survive the longest.”
“Seeing them being fed and given to drink. And at the end how birds were picking on them and they had no more strength to resist! And at night with those torches in front of these crosses Absolutely creepily scary. Tremendous idea!”
“That realism. Real nails! Real whipping welts. To see them being turned into animal creatures. To see their dignity fade away! Gorgeous, absolutely fantastic! Great idea!”
“Is not that cruel, to crucify people and let them hang to die for the spectacle?”
“No! After all, I paid five hundred dollar for my entry and my stay for the entire festival. They got their entry free for the same period. So they should not complain for being naked and crucified. That is a small sacrifice for a free stay at such a fantastic event!”
****
The late afternoon of a hot summer day. For youngsters were sitting below the stairs of the footbridge. Two police officers, a man and a woman, descended the stairs.
“How was the Universe Dance Festival, Kevin?”
“Great! Amazing!”
“No wonder, Kevin, with your VIP tickets for the whole duration!”
“Thanks to our little business here!”
“You will have to adapt. Things are going to change around here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Kevin, the city council has decided to develop the area behind the station. First, the old factory will be flattened. On its grounds, a temporary parking will be installed. Paying! On the present parking space, an underground parking of three levels will be built. Paying too, of course! When that will be in use, the surface of the old factory and the present parking will be developed for housing, shops and offices. During the works for the underground parking, the exit of the tunnel under the tracks will be closed on that side. So, you can count on it that all commuters will use the footbridge to get to their cars., So, Kevin…”
“So, Kevin, what?”
“Try not to hang around and sit in the way too much here, when it will come so far!”
“Come on officer, we keep an eye on this desolate plain. Didn’t you hear the rumour of people being abducted on places like this, to be sold as accessories for the Wolfram Gothic Festival. They said they got really crucified and left hanging the whole festival until they died.”
“Leave the security issues here to professionals like us, Kevin, and by the way, that story about those people getting abducted and crucified on a festival, you don’t believe that, I presume? That is for sure an urban legend!”
THE END
Superb! A really effective, surreal sequence, where we don't know whether we're having a nightmare or it's for real,
just like the scariest kind of dream. This has certainly been a brilliant new angle on our favourite theme,
if you (or Madiosi?) can make a nice pdf, it must have a place in the Archive.
just like the scariest kind of dream. This has certainly been a brilliant new angle on our favourite theme,
if you (or Madiosi?) can make a nice pdf, it must have a place in the Archive.
malins
Stumbling Seeker
Well of course if the music is that bad, you need other attractions like
Hmmm, what was that band called again, Gorgoroth? Mentioned here on the Forum several times. So their on-stage crux has now been well outdone!
All in all I guess I'd prefer the 'more nightmare than entirely real' interpretation...
Wonderful Madiosi's already supplied a pdf,
(in spite of being very busy and having computer troubles
),
it's in the Archive now! And e-book on his thread:
http://www.cruxforums.com/xf/threads/crux-forums-e-book-libary.4744/page-5#post-215295
(in spite of being very busy and having computer troubles
),it's in the Archive now! And e-book on his thread:
http://www.cruxforums.com/xf/threads/crux-forums-e-book-libary.4744/page-5#post-215295
and in my library
