by A. D. Spicer
Marnie says, “Hold on, I may have something in the back of the van,” as she hops out and makes her way to where she has left the black shopping bag.
Before getting the bag, Marnie opens the boot door and shuffles some things around, then quickly but quietly goes to grab the black shopping bag she has left for Andrew, then comes back to the back of the van and throws the black bag close to the side sliding door, and closes the boot door. Then she comes around the driver’s side as Clifford pops the bonnet and gets out of the car. Marnie opens the side sliding door of the van and says, “Ah! There it is!” as she pulls out the black bag.
Andrew comes around the corner to the alley way and gasps as Marnie opens the bag, head butts Amanda and shoves the bag over her head. Clifford and Marnie both grab Amanda and shove her into the back of the van. Andrew approaches them as Marnie gives him a filthy look and says, “And you weren’t here, why? Because you’re a pussy! Your balls haven’t dropped, and you don’t know what’s good for ya!”
Andrew, surprised at what Marnie and Cliff just did, attempts to back himself up, “I did not know it is going to go this way! I didn’t know she was going to go to the toilet and that the toilet is out here!”
She replies, “Whatever! See you at out farm barn. Be there before us!”
Marnie slams the sliding door closed as she power marches away to the passenger side of the van. As Andrew slowly backs up, Marnie gets into the van. The van starts up and begins reversing out. Andrew cuts across and makes his way to his car as they nearly miss him and take off. Andrew gets into his car, reverses out and drives off quickly to catch up with them.
A few suburbs away, they arrive in Berkshire Park. Marnie and Clifford have an old shack in which either one of them has ‘time apart’ when they get through with each other’s company. So, they and Andrew pull into the driveway and park their cars beside the shack. Then Marnie and Clifford open the side door by dragging it across and wreath out Amanda to drag her into the house.
Andrew goes to the back of the van to grab out a folded orange towel with ‘equipment’ in it. Grabbing the towel, he makes his way into the house and makes a right into the bedroom which is out the back area. Marnie and Clifford holster Amanda to an old wooden chair in front of the bed and tie her up with rope that is sitting on top of the bedside table next to the bed.
After tying Amanda up, Marnie reaches into her handbag, which she consciously hasn’t forgotten, and grabs out some Zopiclone. Marnie says to Clifford, “Hold her mouth open.” grunting as he grabs Amanda’s chin with his left hand, and uses his right hand to pinch her nose so she gasps for air. Marnie slips a few Zopiclone tablets into her mouth as Clifford forces her mouth shut. Marnie says in a demanding voice to Amanda, “Swallow it, SWALLOW IT!” Then she screams out, “SWALLOW IT!” as Amanda takes a gulp. Andrew comes in with some water; Marnie snatches the glass from him and shoves it to Amanda’s chest saying, “Drink the fuckin’ water.” Amanda unwillingly grabs the glass with her shaky hands, clearing her hair away from her face as she brings the glass to her mouth and drinks half it.
Marnie looks at Amanda with pity and laughs hysterically. As Amanda begins feeling drowsy and starts to weaken, Amanda drops the glass with water onto the floor as she doesn’t have the strength to keep hold of it. It smashes; her hair falls around to the front of her face as her head droops from weakness. The only thing keeping her from falling from the chair is the rope that has her tied to it. After about a minute or so, mouth wide open as you’d imagine being under the influence of a substance that basically knocks you out, Amanda starts drooling.
Marnie then uses the back of her right hand and backhands Amanda across the face with a fair bit of force. She spurts out, “Stay awake! I want you to feel every second of the next part!” leaving a bright red mark across Amanda’s face, Marnie grabs a metal baseball bat, and swings it up anti-clockwise. Using force coming down clockwise, aiming for Amanda’s left kneecap, she makes contact with it as a loud ‘crunch’ breaks out, Amanda screams for mercy in immense pain as Marnie cracks and dislocates her left kneecap.
Heading over to the other side of her, Marnie swings the bat clockwise up and with force again bringing the bat down anti-clockwise, Marnie just misses Amanda’s right knee and clobbers the chair leg. Breaking the chair leg, the chair under Amanda’s weight leans over and tumbles down onto the floor with Amanda tied to it. Smacking her head against the pieces of shattered glass as she meets the floor. Amanda becomes unconscious as Marnie, Cliff and Andrew yell, it vapours from what Amanda could hear.
Glimpsing in and out of consciousness, Amanda spears to see blurs of silhouettes grabbing her arms as another silhouette unties her from the chair, dragging her heavy unconscious body out from the room to the back door. All she feels after seeing the light from the blue sky and the sun, is a harsh thump of numbed pain on her right side as the two silhouettes throw her onto a hardened floor. From what Amanda could gather it is Marine’s van.
Blanking in and out of consciousness, Amanda feels every bump from the van driving down a corrugated road. This road goes from the little hut of Marines’ to the back of the property where there is an old rusted out garage with concrete flooring. As the van comes to a stop, the rear door opens where Amanda is placed. The two silhouettes grab Amanda again and drag her by her arms to the old shed. Sighing and moaning in pain, Amanda tries and tries to twist and turn, and weasel out of the hold from their arms; as the silhouettes scream at her, words she could barely comprehend.
Feeling the cold concrete floor under her weakened body, Amanda is released from the hold of her arms and onto the floor of this shed which smelt like chicken manure. Baring the smell as the shed door closes with a screech, Amanda tries wriggling and crawling towards what looks like a bench leg. Just as she tries to reach out with her left arm, her face draws with sadness. Amanda’s vision blurs as she goes unconscious again.
Time passes as the two silhouettes, Marnie and Clifford, had thrown Amanda into this dreaded shed where she lies strung up by the influence of Zopiclone and beaten to the point of unworthiness. Amanda comes to, as she opens her eyes and rolls onto her back in agony. Unable to move her left leg as it is dislocated and partially shattered, she brings her hands up to her head as she experiences a severe migraine from when she had hit the floor in the shack.
Panting with frustration and confusion as to where she is, Amanda drags herself to the leg of the bench which she couldn’t get to before. Using that bench leg, she wreathes herself up so she’s leaning back into the bench leg. Taking a few breaths, she feels a pulsating pain in and around the outside of the right side of her face, from when she fell to the ground and the tiny pieces of shattered glass that had stuck to her face. Feeling around that area she notices it swelling around her eye.
Looking around her, and down at her clothes covered in grit, dirt and who knows what else. She attempts to stand up. Pulling herself up via the bench which she is leaning against, she hollers out in pain as she drops back down on the floor. She starts crying and moping as she slices herself on the forearm from the corner of the bench.
Blood starts dripping down her left forearm, as her face becomes emotionless. Amanda conjures up the anger of emotion that drastically overcomes her weakness which empowers her to ignore her pains. Grabbing the top of the bench again, Amanda forcibly throws the most part of both of her arms onto the bench and wreathes herself up onto it. Using the only good leg she has; Amanda brings herself up on it. As she starts coughing and refluxing, she quickly turns to the left side of the table, placing her right arm and elbow to the middle of the table and her hand just off the edge to keep her from falling back down. She power spews as she coughs repeatedly.
Bringing herself to a dominant over standing stance on the table to keep her up. As she lowers her head, she sways a little side to side from dehydration. Testing the strength in the right leg, she begins to hop, and drag her painful, unresponsive leg towards the shed door. Using the side of the shed for assistance to l
ean on, Amanda grabs the door and wreathes it open, looking up towards the other end of the property she’s on and sees a shack that may have water.
Hopping along, Amanda falls once or twice, but manages to get herself back up. Upon reaching the shack, getting to the back door which is left open, Amanda makes her way inside. Coming to a kitchen, she heads straight to the sink and turns on the tap. Burying her head under the tap she gulps in as much water as she can take, sighting a jar of peanut butter spread on the countertop beside the sink. Opening it and seeing that there is still a fair bit in it, Amanda shoves a few fingers into the spread and draws out about a tablespoon and a half with each go.
Still puffing and panting as she continues to munch out on the peanut butter; she stops as she starts to get that unsettling feeling by eating too much peanut butter. She drops the container onto the floor, grabbing another drink of water from the tap. Making her way to the front door, she opens it. Just as she opens it, arms come at her and grab her and practically drag her to the car as she screams and tries to throw punches, she gets thrown into the back of a car.
Coming to realisation of who it is, Amanda looks into the rear-view mirror of the car, as Andrew peers back at her and mutters out, “I’m sorry.” With a grieving look on his face, he continues, “Please don’t talk, I didn’t mean anything that has happened.” Taking a pause, he continues, “I, umm,” as he takes a break, Amanda stares at him with disbelief. Andrew continues, “I’m going to take you to a safe place, where no one can find you.” Glancing into the rear-view mirror at Amanda, he continues, “I do still love you, Amanda.” Amanda continues to stare blankly at him, with hurt in her eyes. She turns her head to peer out the window. Being in the mind space and pain that she’s in, would you care? As Andrew smiles back at her, he starts the car and drives away from the shack.
Chapter Ten
A Taste of Fresh Meat
After specifically placing all the colour-bond pieces into place, I fetch some leftover framing poles, in which to be a little more specific, there are more than half of them left, that I have. I then line them up between the already vertically fixed framing poles. Using angle brackets, I fix all framing poles that run along the bottom, one metre from the floor, from the loading door to the main door; fixing more at the top, one metre from the top of the framing.
Completing this, I start fixing the colour-bond pieces to the framing, from the loading door to the main door. Hours later, I step back to take a good look at the job I’ve done by myself. Smiling away, with a bit of a giggle, I make my way from the loading door up to the main door, just admiring the work that I have completed.
Now it’s time to step past my newly acquired wall and get a start on my little projects I have drawn up. Looking around, I picture having one project after the other. So, if an escapee would happen, the next project would be awaiting their presence for capture; smart thinking to not have ‘the one that got away.’
A moment of time passes as I venture outside to the little shed to grab an old TIG welder to bring it back inside. Laying down one of my plans, I begin grabbing the necessary items to weld them together. After doing so, I gather all the pieces I have welded together and wheel them on a flatbed trolley to the desired location beyond my wall inside the open warehouse.
Putting them all together, I also find some more barbed wire to add to what I already have, that’ll help make the cage harder to get out of, with an opening at the top in the middle, where I can drop my opponent in for the suffering from the drop zone of this contraption. There is also twisting barbed wire going from the top to the floor, which is set up in such a way that if there is movement, the barbed wire will tighten and strangle its prey located on just the other side of the wall adjacent from the loading door.
Happy with my work, I sigh as I make my way over to an esky which I have brought with me. Opening the esky, I grab myself out a beer and crack it open. Gracing this moment, I take a few swigs, then hop up, placing my beer on the ground beside the esky, as I make my way down into the basement. Turning the lights on, I hop over the trip wire, as I make my way to the table. Finding an old tablecloth that is on the bench near the table and stairway, I throw it over the table and pull out some random snapper candles to set them up like a dinner date with plates, spoons, knives and forks prepped for the foreseeable evening.
Taking a seat at the table, I smirk as I imagine what’s going to take place at the table, I start laughing with evil enthusiasm, combusting with laughter that soon stops as I slam both of my open palms onto the table, expressing a, ‘tis’. Looking around the table with a devilish look upon my face, with a smile greater than the devil himself, as I slowly stand up. Pushing the chair back from me, I dart around the table to fly up the stairs just missing the trip wire I have placed, with anticipation.
After I come out from the basement door, I gulp down the rest of my beer and sigh with completion, “Ahhh, I’ve got you now, MOTHER FUCKER!” I say in a hysterical voice, pulling up the chair next to the table in the warehouse whilst grabbing another beer. Delighting myself in it, I await the knowing of the near future, putting on some metal music to sooth my soul just a little more.
Time goes by as a few more beers go down the hatch. Now coming into the evening, I hear a few noises. Suspicious, I prepare myself and take a walk into the open warehouse to make myself look busy and unconscious of the idea that Jackson will return.
On the outside of the warehouse, near enough, stumbling through the foliage of broken sticks and fallen leaves, Jackson crouches down to make less noise by separating his weight along the ground. Crouching and crawling towards the warehouse in obliviousness of what to expect, he makes his way to the loading door and has a sneaky look in.
Thrown off by the new wall that has been installed, he enters the warehouse and sneaks up against the new wall as he comes to an opening in which there’s no door or colour-bond. He peers his head around the corner of it, seeing myself working on something. Assuming his concentration, Jackson makes a sneaky run across the opening.
Suspicious of what’s about to happen, but not showing any intention that I know, I look up and across to the opening just after Jackson crossed it, I smile delightfully, waiting for the signal to stop my latest project to suss things out.
After Jackson makes his way across the opening, he pants with anxiety of being caught. As he makes his way to the open door of the basement, he looks around to make sure his entry is safe and out of sight. Entering the basement, he makes his way down the stairs, tripping over the wire, he falls headfirst into the second step before the corner.
A loud thump, then the bang of the basement door sounds, confirming to me that the trap has gone through as planned. I stop what I’m doing, smiling intently as I drastically make my way to the basement. Opening the basement door, I startle myself a little as I watch Jackson squirm in agony.
As Jackson moans in pain, he looks up and sees a blurry figure approaching from the top of the stairs. Gasping for help, he phases in and out of consciousness as the blurry figure grabs his arms and drags him the rest of the way down the stairs. He feels pressure under his arms as he becomes lifted and seated at the table he originally escaped from.
Turning his head around to see what’s going on and make out who it obviously is, with blurry vision, he sees the figure place two oval looking objects on a bench behind him. As he comes back to consciousness, Jackson sees those two oval figures as both of his mates’ heads. As he turns his head and shoulders back around, he becomes nauseous with a gut-wrenching feeling; he begins to reflux as he bows his head down and throws up on the floor to the right of him.
Approaching him, I bring his head back, running my left hand, with my fingers slightly spread, through his hair as I come near to face him, “Oh boy, what’s wrong? You feeling a little lightheaded?” I state in a phase to interpret what Jackson had just seen with his beheaded mates.
Taking a seat where I stand, placing both hands on the table, one on top of
the other, I look at Jackson and smile, “Don’t worry, I’ll get you back into shape. I mean, after all those nutrients you just threw up, the least I could do is replace them for you. I mean, you will need your strength.” I whisper in a shallow creepy voice.
Getting up from the chair I’m sitting in, I giggle as I walk back up the stairs. Jackson, barely conscious, looks around the small room with the intent to escape but couldn’t bring himself around to physically doing it. At this point, he places his head onto the table and blacks out just after he hears the basement door close from me exiting.
In a dream of Jackson’s:
Sitting at the table I originally am, I wake up. Looking around me, I get up out of the chair and start looking through things for clues of this bloke. Like who is he? What does he want from me? Looking around, kicking things and shuffling things, I then make my way over to the stairs and start to walk up them. Just as I get to the door, it wreathes open as the guy holds an axe and swings it straight at me, clobbering me straight in the forehead, as I fall back, and do a half summersault with the axe still stuck in my head.
Then I wake up at the sound of the basement door opening. Immediately, I prepare myself for the worst. As he comes down the stairs, he approaches me and pulls out the seat to the left of me; he sits down and puts his hands on mine and looks at me with those deep eyes. He then brings me towards him and starts kissing me; I try to shove him away. Then my mouth opens as he starts making out with me; I feel his teeth clench down on my tongue. As he starts pulling on my tongue and biting down hard, my tongue rips out as he pulls a meat cleaver out from behind him and cuts my head off.
Waking up, his heart starts beating rapidly with anxiousness of what to expect next. A few minutes go by. This time he knew it is real. Calming himself down, saying to himself, “It was just a dream, Jackson, it was just a dream.” The door opens. Taking a deep breath, he holds it in as the footsteps make their way down the steps, clop, clop, clop, clop, clop, until I reach the bottom.