It was not easy to maneuver the pole through his body without rupturing vital organs, and the squishy sounds, like those of preparing a Thanksgiving turkey, almost caused Katja to lose the contents of her stomach; but after about five minutes all but the sharp tip of the pole was inserted. Once I was completed I stood up and pulled her off Myers, “There. Now all we have to do is prop him up!” Katja looked at Meyers, then at me dripping in blood – and suddenly started mumbling, “Oh my God, oh my God!” She turned away and fell down on her knees and began to pray as she crossed her heart in some sort of Orthodox ritualistic manner. I wiped the blood onto the grass, disregarding the painful moans now coming from him, and approached Katja. I put my hand on her shoulder but she pulled away slightly. I struggled to think of what to say to her, but then I decided to kneel down beside her and ask, “Katja, do you remember what he did to you, and to me? He deserves this and more, okay? Aslan had helped kill your sister and rape you and you removed his manhood. That was symbolic. Now it’s his turn to pay for what we had to go through. ” She looked at me and began to cry – and despite the blood still smeared on my body she grabbed me in an embrace so tight I could barely breath. I caressed her back and continued to whisper to her it would all be okay.
After what seemed a lifetime, she released me and asked, “Now what?” I inquired, “You up for what comes next?” She nodded, although she would not look directly at me. I pointed to the maple tree next to the house, “We’ll prop him up over there and give him time to sober up. He may as well be reminded of why he had to have such a painful demise. Wait here and I’ll go get the rope in the car.” Katja nodded her head and begged, “Please forgive me for being so…” I stopped her in mid-sentence and said, “No, come on…it’s not every day someone spikes a worthless monster, is it?” She closed her eyes and nodded, “I guess not.”
I noticed a hose against the house so I went over and washed the blood off my hands, feet and anyplace else Meyer’s had splattered me, and then cleaned off the knife. The water was so cold it numbed my fingers, but I rushed to clean off before getting my shoes on and jogging to the car. I only hoped that nobody would drive past – the last thing I needed was someone seeing a nude woman racing down the road.
Once I had retrieved the needed materials I quickly returned to Katja. She was sitting on the ground, somewhat curled up to stay warm, or maybe still in shock at what we had done, and smoking nervously on a cigarette. I joked, “You know those things will kill you!” and she began to laugh. We then started our final ritualistic humiliation of Meyers.
Once we had him against the tree I wrapped the rope around him and secured it in place. He began to come around – clenching his teeth and trying to reposition his body in some sort of way to escape the pain. Surprisingly he was not bleeding that much as the wooden object plugged the incision. Then, after a few minutes he sprung into total consciousness and stared at us. He screamed, “What have you done to me?” I walked over to him and quietly asked, “You ever hear of Vlad the Impaler?” He looked at me in complete agony and begged, “Oh please, help me…I will do anything!” I yelled, “What? You will bring back her sister from the dead? Can you turn back time and not burn down my home?” He struggled and started crying loudly, then stopping a moment and looking at me. He yelled out, “You….you…you are that Lindberg…but…I mean, oh…” He looked away and screamed, “Please, have mercy – none of your family died!” Suddenly Katja ran over, “No? What about my sister, you bastard?” I looked at her – it seemed the fear and revulsion of our actions had been replaced with the kind of hate that only a sense of deserved revenge can bring out; the same expression she had moments after castrating Aslan. He continued to plead, but at that point we just stood together staring at him, our arms folded – in defiance as well as to stay warm – and we waited for him to give out. Strangely enough though, after a long period of struggling he groaned, “What time is it?” I was puzzled at such a question but I walked over to my clothes and retrieved the watch Nazir had given me. As I returned I tossed it to the ground and said, “Well, it seems like it is already 12:30. Is it your lunchtime or something?” He then went silent, still twisting to ease the pain and moaning but for some reason not begging for mercy anymore.
Katja and I then began to discuss what to do to cover up what had taken place. We came to the conclusion that burning the house down, but disposing of the two bodies elsewhere, maybe back in the Columbia, might be the best course of action. We figured there had to be sleeping bags somewhere in the house. If anyone suspected any foul play then perhaps they would tie Meyers and Smith to the Zagriev brothers and conclude they had killed each other, or had taken off together.
Just then, Meyers began to shake in violent convulsions. He had a panicked look on his face, more so than ever, and he began to gasp for air. We observed as his body suddenly contracted to the point of almost standing, but then falling back to the sitting position. Suddenly he went totally quiet…his face motionless except for a blank stare and his eyelids twitching in a weird manner. I asked, “Hey, you! Are you still alive?” There was no answer. I put my finger on his neck to check for a pulse but felt nothing.
Katja asked, “Is he dead?” I nodded. I stood up and stared at the grotesque sight. Then I felt Katja take my left hand. I looked at her and we both broke into a smile. I took the opportunity to joke, “Feeling romantic?” She giggled and rolled her eyes before giving me a quick kiss on the lips and replying, “After we take care of this mess you can do with me anything you want! I will be your slave forever!” Speaking of slavery I suddenly became aware of the bracelets. I supposed that once they were off our ordeal could finally be put behind us. I suggested, “Hey, I guess it is time to start the process, huh?” She laughed and released me.
I asked her to look around first to make sure we had not forgotten anything that could tie us back to the events of the day. We would then gather the bodies up, get dressed and figure out what to do with them and the house. Katja said everything seemed to be in order so I began to walk back to my clothes. I knelt down to pick up the watch but suddenly Katja darted to me and frantically yelled, “Run, Melanie…go!” Yet before I could even wonder what was happening I heard the sound of a gun go off! Katja pushed me away, turned her back to me and then another shot rang out – this time Katja screamed and tumbled to the ground!
I quickly looked up and saw the image of a woman rushing towards us with a gun drawn! She yelled, “Freeze right there bitch!” I did not move a muscle, but my eyes focused on her, then Katja, and then back to her. Everything happened so fast – and I, for once in my life, had no idea what to do. It was Joyce Sanger! She ran up and ordered me to move back – of course I complied. I was too far from my clothing to even dare rush for the 9mm. Sanger, noticing my things, kept the gun aimed at me as she rushed over to them and immediately found my weapon. She hurled it into the bushes and then warned me, “I swear, if you move I will kill you, do you understand!” I nodded my head. She then ran over to Meyer’s body, and upon seeing what we had done to him she let out a horrific scream as she jumped back. She looked at me and then at Katja, who was writhing in pain on the ground, leaving streaks of bright red blood on the grass as she twisted back and forth. Sanger then looked at me and screamed, “You butchering, worthless whore – you murdered him!” I struggled to find something to say, but she kept the gun aimed at me while her hand appeared to be trembling and I prayed she would not pull the trigger by mistake as she slowly approached Katja.
As Katja continued to grasp the right side of her pelvic area, and cry out, “Help me, it hurts. Oh God it hurts, please help!” Sanger looked at her with an eerie sort of contempt and arrogance and then pointed the gun at her chest and appeared as if she was going to fire. I helplessly looked on…awaiting Katja’s execution. Katja’s agony appeared to make her oblivious to the woman standing beside her and her intentions. Then, as Katja whimpered, “It hurts…please make it stop.” Sanger snickered and stepped away from he
r saying, in an arrogant tone, “Go ahead and bleed to death bitch!” and lunged forward to deliver a kick into her ribs. Katja screamed out in pain, which amused Sanger, who began to laugh. Then, perhaps noting that Katja was in no position to pose a threat to her, she walked over to me and said, “Oh, don’t you worry…you’ll get what’s coming to you too!” She then took a pose in which both hands grasped the gun and pointed it at me. I was waiting to hear the loud “bang” but I was soon to discover she had a different plan for me – one that let me know I was dealing with a true psychopath with a sadistic urge for revenge.
Chapter 20
Sanger motioned for me to move towards the grape arbor. She then yelled, “Wait!” and she asked, “Where are the keys for the handcuffs you worthless slut?” Having no alternative I pointed to my purse, which she retrieved and began to search through, never taking the gun off me. She retrieved them and opened my wallet. She suddenly exclaimed, “For fucks sake, no way!” She stared at my driver’s license, shook her head and then ran up to get a closer look at me. She had the most amused look on her face as she said, “Melanie Lindberg? You are Melanie Lindberg? This is just too much!” She threw my license down and walked backwards to Meyer’s body. She quickly unlocked the handcuffs and brought them over and demanded, “You see that plank up there?” pointing at the top board in the arbor, “Lock your left hand and then reach over and cuff your right one.” I reluctantly complied with her demands, despite knowing full well what had been Meyers’ fate a short time earlier.
I stretched my arms upwards and struggled to snap both hands into the cuffs. Once in place I looked at her. She smiled and then ran over to the maple tree. She picked up the knife and cut the rope that was around Meyers. She returned and demanded I move my legs apart – and warned that if I tried to kick her she would cut my feet off. I complied and she wrapped part of the rope around my right leg and an arbor post. She stretched it tight and repeated the action with my left leg. I was forced to stand on my toes in order to touch the ground. I was now at her complete mercy.
By the time she was through, I felt like some sacrificial virgin – stretched out, naked, and waiting for her demise. I looked over at Katja – she was still crying, but she was not squirming around as much. I looked at Sanger and asked, “What are you going to do with us?” She scowled at me and then took a swing at my face with her outstretched hand, “You killed Craig! He was everything to me and you killed him!” I answered, “He tried to kill my family!” to which she replied, “Oh you stupid, stupid girl…he was only doing what I told him to do. And now he’s dead, but I get the pleasure of deciding how you will die.” I yelled back, “You want to kill a state legislator? You will never get away with it!” She hit me again and growled as she looked me in the eyes, “Nobody will ever know, will they?”
Sanger put her gun down and picked up the knife. I was terrified at what was about to take place. I figured that I would probably experience the same pain that Meyers had gone through before he died. Sanger looked at me and began to arrogantly brag as pressed the knife blade against my breast, “You know what Mrs. Lindberg? We had a good thing going here. Craig was an incredible lover, and we earned a pile of money with our little arrangement with Adlan. Oh, by the way, where is my dear friend Adlan?” I did not answer her and she looked at me inquisitively and asked, “Him too? You are full of surprises! No matter though, I will soon derive great satisfaction putting you through unimaginable misery and suffering – you first and then your whore friend over there if she is still alive, although the way she’s bleeding out I rather doubt she will be with us much longer. How does that make you feel? No matter; before this day is over you will beg me to cut your miserable throat. Oh wait, I need one more thing.”
Sanger ran back to the house and I desperately struggled to get out of my trap, but it was useless. There I was, immobilized and strung out like some condemned criminal in the days of drawing and quartering. She could do pretty much whatever she wanted to do to me and there was nothing I could do. I suddenly thought about my family who I concluded would never see me again. I wondered why I had not just let well enough alone. I may have come close to gaining absolute revenge, but if I had stayed in my own little world in the first place I would be with my loved ones rather than waiting nervously for a cruel death; and ironically because I had actually done something to help others.
Sanger came out of the house and checked on Katja. She swung her foot into her side again and I could hear a slight scream. She kicked her again before turning her attention back to me and walking in a determined, forceful manner towards me. Her voice was more a hiss, “Smile you filthy creature!” I looked at her and to my horror she had a pair of pliers in her hand. I swallowed hard and asked, “Look, can’t we work something out here? I have a lot of power and we can maybe make an arrangement beneficial to both of us perhaps?” Of course I just wanted out of the predicament I was in – I had no intention of honoring any deal with a woman like this. Unfortunately, she laughed and, with her face so close I could smell the coffee on her breath, she said, “No, the only deal I will make is to send you through realms of pain that will make what you did to Craig seem like pure pleasure.”
She moved back a little, sneered, and sked, “Did you know that there are no people on this old road close enough to hear any screaming? Why…I can do anything to you, and I assure you I will, and nobody will know except that dying bitch over there and you and I. Pretty cool, huh Mrs. Lindberg? I mean, I could skin you alive. I wonder how long you would live.” My heart raced as I became more and more aware of my impending doom. She moved out of my sight and I could feel the cold blade caress the top of my back. She asked in an inquisitive voice, “So what do you think, if I make an incision up here would I be able to just…just pull the skin right off your shoulders? My dad used to skin rabbits and you would think it would work the same with a meddlesome woman, wouldn’t it?” I did not give her the pleasure of answering. She must have been frustrated since she moved back in front of me and sighed, “Oh, let’s get the show on the road.” She looked at me in the eyes, smiled, and then I felt the cold prick of the knife just above my pelvic bone! I yelled, “No, please – stop!” but then I felt the blade push into my flesh, lodging itself just inside my body!” Sanger laughed, “Oh… that must hurt, huh?” I could feel her twist the knife but all I could do was scream in pain as I saw her tilt her head and look at me in mocking curiosity. She asked, “Wonder why I am not pushing further?” I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, but could hear every word she said, “If I push further I puncture your intestine and you might bleed to death in only an hour or so.”
Sanger pulled the knife out of me and commented, “See, your skin folded over nicely and there are only a few drops of blood oozing out. I once came across a prostitute who had been stabbed forty times by her pimp – and she was still alive. She did not finally die until she was almost at the hospital. So don’t you worry none, you and I will spend a lot of time here talking – oh wait, you might have a little trouble speaking.” I was breathing heavily in terror as I saw her lift the pliers up with her left hand and smile. She continued, “Nice smile you have on your license picture. Pity you won’t have it in what, about twenty minutes? It will probably take me that long to pull every one of your cute little teeth out!” I struggled as she placed her hand on my chin. Her grip was too strong to break but I did my best to resist, even when she slammed her other hand, the one with the pliers, against the side of my head with such force I actually could see stars in front of my eyes. I was so disoriented…then I could feel the cold metal of the pliers take hold of my one of my front teeth. I could feel a cracking sensation, and I dreaded what was soon to occur, but suddenly I thought I heard a scream!
The voice, a male’s voice, again could be heard, but this time I could tell what he said…he was yelling, “Stop right there!” I felt the grip of the pliers release from my tooth. My first though was not what was going on, but feeling my tooth with my tong
ue – it seemed that the end corner of my tooth had shattered and I could feel the jagged edge where once it had been smooth. I then looked at what was happening and, to my utter surprise, I saw the two older men from the club approaching.
Sanger appeared to be in the motion of picking up her gun when the older white man yelled, “Leave the gun there Miss Sanger – I don’t want to shoot you!” She stood up and looked at him, “Who are you?” He began to answer as he rapidly approached us, “I am a friend of the Zagrievs, I was supposed to meet with them but for some reason I saw their car, but not them.” She seemed relieved and pointed to me, “This bitch killed Adlan! She also killed my assistant – look what she did!” The man glanced over at Meyers and then to us. He held up some sort of identification and asked Sanger to come over and look at it. As he held it out at arm’s length, I could hear him promise her, “Look, I need to ask you some questions, and then you can get back to your fun, okay?” At that point she turned and shrieked at me, “Don’t go away darling, I’ll finish that dental work in a few minutes.”
Just then I noticed the black man; he looked at Katja, then strolled over and looked at Meyers, he shook his head and came over to me, “Wow girl, I have not seen anything like that since I was in Afghanistan.” He then walked over to Sanger and the white guy. I have to admit that even though I was terrified at the prospect of being tortured to death, it felt strangely surreal to be stretched out and nobody really even taking notice of me as a person – all I was, it seemed, was an activity waiting to be accomplished.
Katja began to cry out and moan again, apparently summoning some remaining strength. Sanger yelled at her, “Shut up!” and then I pleaded with the men, “Please, just let us live! Help us!” Sanger walked over to me, “Sorry dear, these men are not here for you – I am though. Now shut up!” Katja continued to cry and then the white guy, now only a few feet from me, directed his friend, “Hey Isaiah, take that Russian girl around the house and shut her up, okay?” He nodded his head and said, “With pleasure!” and walked over to her, grabbed her by the feet and dragged her around the house and out of our sight. Sanger laughed and then I heard a blood curdling scream – then nothing. I figured the girl I had fallen in love with was now as dead as I was going to be.
Descent Into Darkness Page 32