THE CRUEL SEVEN

by Terence Mitford

  It was Carlos’s black hair.

  Her eyes continued right and focused on a human skull. Next to that was another, and to the right of them were more human remains in varying stages of decay, including the naked body of at least one girl. Long, disheveled blonde hair covered her face. She lay where thrown. Tossed away like garbage. No thought for her as a person with hopes and dreams, and family. She had served her purpose. She was disposable.

  Lisa dropped the board and stepped back. The decomposing body of their pilot was there among the rotting animal corpses, the flies, and several other human bodies that must surely belong to the girls that Meg had told her were never seen again.

  Her legs had turned to lead, and her stomach was trying to escape through her throat. She turned to run.

  Too late.

  Ed, Luke, and the twins were behind her, fanned out, blocking her escape. She shook her head in slow disbelief. Investigating the pit had cost her freedom.

  Luke walked over and smiled a cold, thin smile. “Why did you have to empty my belongings from the box? If you had just left my things alone, you would be no wiser and everything would be good, just like we planned.”

  She stared at him but couldn’t speak.

  “Did you think I hadn’t noticed the shock on your face as you stared at the pendant? I just had to see what you planned to do about it. I hoped you would ask me and I would have told you how he had stumbled in a few hours before you and died from his injuries. But now you’ve seen the pit with all its secrets, I guess that won’t work, will it?”

  Lisa shook her head and found her voice. “Who are the others, the girls Harvey brought out here?”

  Luke nodded.

  “So when were you planning to put me in there?”

  He shrugged. “We weren’t. You are different to those girls. I told you the truth when I said we want you to give us babies.”

  “Babies? You said baby. That means one.”

  “I didn’t tell you Ma’s plan in full.”

  Lisa glanced at Ed and the twins. They were smirking at her. They obviously knew the plan.

  “Let me guess,” she said. “You told me the family shares everything. Were you planning to share me?”

  Luke nodded. “Would it be so bad?”

  She took a couple of deep breaths and studied Luke. It was critical to get her response right to have any chance of surviving this. They had deceived her about their lifestyle and their intentions for her, and now it was her turn to deceive them if she didn’t want to end up in the pit behind her. She looked into Luke’s eyes. “Do you know the funniest thing about all this?”

  “What’s that?”

  “I don’t care anymore. Mike’s gone. I’m here with you now. So whatever you want is fine by me.”

  He stared at her. “Really? Or are you just saying that to save your skin?”

  “Maybe. I really don’t know. I suppose only time will tell, that’s if I have any time left. But I know I’ve been happy here recently. So why should a few skeletons spoil it all?” She held her breath and watched for Luke’s reaction.

  He nodded. “Let’s go back to the house. It will be Ma’s decision what happens to you now.”

  Erica was waiting on the veranda, and as they approached, she turned and opened the door wide for them to pass. Lisa was told to sit at the far end of the table, and the family sat down and turned their chairs to face her.

  Erica sat at the other end and glanced at Luke. “Okay, tell me what’s going on.”

  Luke gave his ma an account of how Lisa had discovered the horrors of the pit, and that she now knew the plan regarding her bearing children. He also told her what Lisa had just said outside.

  Erica studied her.

  Lisa held her gaze. This woman will be harder to convince than the men. The next few minutes could determine whether she lives or dies.

  Erica’s eyes seemed to burrow right into Lisa’s soul. “So, are you saying you are prepared to have my sons’ babies?”

  Lisa twitched the side of her mouth. “I guess so.”

  “So the pit and its contents don’t bother you?”

  She took a deep breath. This would have to be good. “Hell, yes. I nearly threw up when I looked inside. But if you mean the ethics of it all, well, I must admit, it did for a moment. But then I had to put it into context.” She paused to plan, because she was making this up as she went along.

  Erica’s stare remained fixed. “Go on.”

  “I have smuggled drugs, been unfaithful to my husband, and complicit in the disposal of four dead bodies. So why should a few additional corpses worry me? Especially that of our pilot, Carlos. He didn’t think of me when he took off with us in a plane with fuel problems and a bag full of drugs on the seat next to him. And he didn’t think of me when he left us in the wreckage without so much as an adios. So why should I mourn his passing? And as for the girls, well, from what the twins told me, they were undisciplined little brats and probably deserved what they got.”

  Lisa surprised herself at how easy it had been to lie. She doubted that even her mother would have spotted any tells, and she almost believed it herself. Maybe the realization that she had already lost Mike and her own freedom had enabled her to speak so convincingly.

  But from the narrow-eyed look Erica gave her, Lisa wasn’t so sure her little speech had done enough to convince the woman.

  Erica nodded slowly and said, “Okay, here’s how it will work. You stay here as our servant. You’ll do what we tell you when we tell you. You don’t talk back. You don’t share your opinions. They don’t matter. All that matters is you get pregnant and give us beautiful babies. First by Luke, then the twins, and maybe Ed. Do you understand?”

  Ed shuffled in his seat and grinned. The twins shared a glance with each other and nodded. Summer remained quiet, and Billy frowned as he raised his hand. ‘What about me?’

  Erica looked at him. “What about you?”

  “I didn’t hear my name just then. When does she have my baby?”

  Erica scowled at him. “She doesn’t.”

  Billy scowled back. “Then I’ll veto the plan.”

  Everyone except for Lisa and Billy laughed out loud.

  Erica slapped the table. “Quiet you lot. Billy, you don’t even have a vote. How can you veto anything?”

  Billy shrugged. “It was worth a try.”

  Lisa wanted to throw up, but she sighed and looked at Erica. “I don’t suppose I get a vote either?”

  Another round of laughter erupted, and Erica nodded. “Quite right, Sweetie. Now, I asked if you understand and agree with the terms of your stay here?”

  “Is this a negotiation?”

  Erica raised her brow.

  “Because if it is, I was hoping we could reach a compromise.”

  Erica glanced at Ed and then Luke. “We need to watch her. She’s smart. Maybe too smart for her own good.”

  She turned back to Lisa. “I told you we have rules here and consequences for those who break them. So now we will play a little game to decide your punishment.”

  Erica walked over to a cupboard and returned with a small pad of paper and a few pens. She tore out several pages and handed one to each family member. “We have played this game before. I want you to write down your wish for what you think Lisa’s punishment should be, then fold the paper and pass it back to me.”

  Lisa’s heart raced as each of them studied her for a moment before writing. Even Billy got to join in this display of family democracy.

  Erica collected the wishes and placed them into a silver tankard that Summer had brought from the kitchen. She shook the tankard before spilling the contents back onto the table. “Right then, let’s see what delights we have to choose from.”

  She opened the first folded paper, smirked, and glanced around as if trying to guess its author. “Tie a rope around her ankles, lower her down the well, and dunk her headfirst into the water ten times.” Erica nodded, as if she approved.

  She
opened another piece of paper. “Strip her naked and tie her spreadeagled over the anthill behind the cabin for an hour.” Erica grinned. “I like that one.”

  She opened the next. “Strip her and bury her up to her neck in the ground next to the anthill.” Erica scanned the family. “Was someone peeping over someone’s shoulder? The last two are very similar, but I do like them both.”

  She opened the forth. “Have sex with one of the men in the family while everyone else watches.” Erica glanced around from Luke to the twins, to Billy, to Ed. “This must be one of you five.”

  They all shrugged and shook their heads.

  She opened number five. “Carry out her chores naked for a day.” Erica glanced at the five men again. “Ditto.”

  She opened number six. “Lock her in the pit over night.” Erica grimaced. “That one’s a little sick.”

  She folded the six pieces of paper and placed them back into the tankard. “That just leaves mine.” She tore out another page and covered it with her hand as she wrote. Then she folded the paper, put it with the others, and placed her hand over the rim. She shook the tankard then placed it on the table in front of Lisa. “Pick one.”

  Lisa couldn’t think straight. Her heart had pounded faster with each wish Erica had read out. She could hardly believe the choices they had all written down. She looked at Erica. “Is this a joke?”

  Erica scowled at her. “Of course not. We have played this game with the girls before you. We take it very seriously.”

  “I can’t pick one. They are all horrible.”

  “They wouldn’t serve any purpose if they weren’t. They are meant to be a deterrent. But at least none of them are fatal.”

  “Well, you might as well kill me now. I’d rather die than endure any of those.”

  “If you don’t pick one, you might get your wish, but you will experience all of these first. One every day.”

  Lisa looked around the table, pausing on each family member. “You are all sick. I told you I wanted to stay. How could you write such things?”

  Erica answered. “You need to prove your commitment. If you take your punishment, you will be unlikely to disobey us again.”

  43

  LISA

  Lisa stared into the tankard. How could little pieces of paper be so terrifying? Each one so filled with horror. And how could she pick one?

  Ed was next to her. He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “The sooner you choose, the sooner the punishment will be over.”

  Lisa’s mind was on freeze frame. Her heart thumped in her chest. Her vision had tunneled until all she could see was the tankard with its evil contents.

  It was hard to breathe.

  The room began to spin.

  She fell.

  She hit the floor.

  When she opened her eyes, she was lying on the couch in front of the fireplace, and the family had gathered around and were watching her. “What happened?” she asked.

  “You fainted,” Erica said.

  “Thank God for that. I’ve just had the worst nightmare ever.” She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then blinked hard as she saw the tankard in Erica’s hand.

  Erica thrust it forward. “You still have to pick one.”

  Lisa sat up and sighed, then reached in and grabbed a slip of paper and thrust it towards Erica.

  The woman smiled. “Good girl.” She glanced at the twins. “Bring her back to the table.”

  The boys pulled Lisa from the couch and each held an arm as they escorted her back to her seat. Erica waited for the others to sit down before she took her place at the opposite end. She held the tankard in one hand and the slip of paper Lisa had picked out in the other. She slid the tankard onto the table, held the paper between the fingers of both hands, and smirked at Lisa. “Are you ready to see what you picked.”

  “Would it make any difference if I said no?”

  Erica slowly unfolded the paper until the page was fully open. Then she glanced down and laughed.

  Ed showed his impatience. “What, Erica, what does it say?”

  “She chose mine.” Erica turned the paper around for everyone to see. They leaned forward, read the single word written on the page, and sat back. A chorus of sighs filled with disappointment rang out.

  Lisa read the single word Joker, then frowned at Erica. “What does it mean?”

  Erica grinned. “Choose another and I’ll tell you.”

  “I thought it was just one.”

  “Pick another and it will all become clear.”

  Lisa gritted her teeth. They were toying with her. “What if I don’t?”

  “We will activate them all.”

  “But I picked one.”

  “Have you ever played cards?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Then you know what the joker is. You just picked it, although it has a different meaning in this game.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Pick another and I’ll tell you.”

  Lisa shrugged, leaned across, and snatched another folded page from the tankard. The room fell quiet again as they all focused on her.

  Erica pointed to the paper in Lisa’s hand. “Open it and read it out loud.”

  Lisa opened it up and stared at the scrawled writing across the page. “Oh, this is ridiculous.”

  “What does it say?” Erica asked.

  “Have sex with one of the men while everyone watches.” She threw down the paper and glanced at each of the five men, hoping to identify the author by their reactions. But they were the same. They all just smirked at her.

  She looked back at Erica. “That’s clearly a popular choice with the men.”

  Erica nodded.

  Lisa grabbed the paper again, held it up, and scowled at the men. “Who wrote this?”

  Their grins dissolved as each of them shrugged their shoulders and shook their heads.

  Summer held up a finger. “Actually, that one was mine.”

  Lisa’s mouth dropped open as she stared at Summer. “You wrote it?”

  Summer nodded. “It was that or fifty lashes with the whip.”

  Lisa shook her head. “Why couldn’t you have chosen something like clean the floor with a toothbrush, or go without dinner for a night?”

  Summer frowned. “Oh, I never thought of those.”

  Lisa looked back at Erica. “So what does the joker mean?”

  “It means you are lucky. Your punishment is suspended unless you disobey us. It acts like a regular suspended sentence. Just stay out of trouble and don’t be disobedient, and Summer’s wish won’t be activated. Any questions?”

  Lisa sighed with relief. “Just one. Who decides if I’m disobedient?”

  “If an allegation is made, we’ll reconvene this committee, present the evidence, and vote on your guilt.”

  “No doubt it would be a foregone conclusion. There would be five men voting, each of whom would stand to gain from a guilty verdict.”

  “Are you questioning our integrity?”

  “Of course not.” She pointed to the tankard. “Anyone who can write those wishes must be a fair and honorable person, mustn’t they?”

  Erica got to her feet. “Careful, Lisa, insolence and sarcasm are as bad as disobedience and carry the same risk of a trial. Now, get over there and prepare breakfast.”

  Lisa pressed her lips together tight. She had pushed the boundaries to their limit. Now it was time to shut up and comply until an opportunity presented itself. She stood up and dropped the offensive piece of paper onto the table. “Yes, Ma’am.”

  For the rest of the day, the family seemed to enjoy ordering her around.

  “Hey, girl, get me a drink.”

  “Wash my clothes.”

  “Bring in the logs for the stove.”

  “Clean the bathroom.”

  “Sweep the floor.”

  “Get the dinner ready.”

  Maybe they were hoping she would refuse and give them the excuse to activate the wish.
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  By the evening she was wondering how long she could continue with this compliance before rebelling, and as she cleared away the dinner plates, she asked herself if this was worse than death. Especially with the threat of the wish hanging over her every move. Maybe if she rebelled and refused to comply with the wish, they would make it quick so she wouldn’t feel pain or suffer. And at least she would see Mike again. She was sure that whatever was on the other side, he would be there, waiting for her. They would be together again.

  But what if she was already pregnant? It was certainly possible. Could she kill her own unborn child? Even though it would be smaller than a thumbnail, it would still be a life. She wasn’t against abortion for the right reasons, but had always known she could never terminate her own baby, no matter what the circumstances. And there couldn’t be many worse than having this family’s blood running through her own child’s veins. But it would have her family’s blood, too. Her own, and her parents, and her grandparents, and so on. So she had a reason to persevere, and maybe, just maybe, she would get an opportunity to escape.

  As Luke rolled on top of her that night, she closed her eyes. She didn’t expect to respond to his kisses or his touch, so her orgasms would have to be feigned. But as he forced himself inside her and began to move, she couldn’t control her own body’s response. Like Billy, she had no veto.

  After he withdrew and rolled over next to her, she lay still, disgusted with herself. How could her body have responded like that with a cruel murderer inside her? She had been sure that, knowing what he had done, she would have felt nothing this time. Because she despised him as much as it’s possible to despise someone and had expected to feel sick with him on top of her. But that didn’t happen.

  Now she was sure she was under some kind of spell. It was the only explanation she could live with. Because the alternative was too horrible to think about. Then she remembered a South African documentary in which a victim who had been raped and beaten and left for dead had told of how her body had betrayed her by responding during the initial assault. Lisa had thought it strange and that it would never be like that with her if, god forbid, she was ever in a similar situation. But now she felt guilty for having had those thoughts, because now she knew there could be a disconnect between the rational mind and the body. And it didn’t diminish the horror the victim felt during and after such a crime.