Why? The thought screamed in her mind. Why would he be undoing his trousers? Her eyes widened. She threw her head to one side staring through the foliage in an attempt to make out how far into the bushes she was. Weakly, she called out, “Help!” She coughed and tried to inhale. Her stomach hurt so much where he’d hit her.
The man stopped what he was doing and leaned up close, so they were almost nose to nose. “Another noise and I’ll snap your neck.”
Alex stared unblinking.
“Nod so I know you understand.”
The stink of his breath made her tummy roll. Not now, she begged, please, don’t be sick now. She nodded, and he returned to his zip.
Was this the test Clive had told her about, was this the proof? The torch she’d packed was in her backpack and underneath her. As her attacker concentrated on his belt, Alex wiggled just enough to partly free her bag.
“Please don’t do this, I won’t tell anyone, I’ll go away and not tell a soul,” she begged, making sure the volume of her voice remained low.
He ignored her.
Alex turned away from the man and searched between the trees. If just one person wandered this way, they’d save her. A slight movement made her heart pound faster. Someone was there! Her heartbeat quickened. A squirrel twitched halfway down a tree trunk. It stared at her for a moment, flicked its tail and disappeared into the undergrowth. Disappointment filled her.
“Do you think we can let you live after this? Stupid girl,” he said. The man reached down and grabbed at her waistband. He was going to do it. Panic coursed through her, and she did everything she could to not buck and kick. She needed to think of a way to live through this. He yanked at her trousers and ripped them down to her knees. She clamped her legs together, and for a second, she realized he’d wrecked her trousers. She closed her eyes. What a stupid thought. I’m about to be raped. Please, please, someone find me, she prayed. If I have a guardian angel, someone watching above, please make him stop. A tear escaped her eye.
Alex lay silently. Something would happen, she had to believe something had to distract this monster. Stop him before things went too far. She opened her eyes and decided to memorize his face. She’d wait for her time. No point struggling and getting worse than a slap or punch. Alex’s jeans had come down too easily, too quickly. He grabbed a hold of her underwear and ripped them bodily from her. Alex yelped as the tearing fabric burned her skin. He reached down again and separated her legs. He was too strong. She tried to squeeze her thighs together, but he yanked them apart and got his own legs between hers.
This was nothing like the slow sensitive love of Jeremy or even the passionate clutching embraces of Clive. This was a caveman need. She was an object to be used and discarded. He shoved his hand inside her, tearing her skin as he forced his fist into her vagina. She gasped in a scream.
“Don’t make a noise,” he said with a grunt.
Pain flooded her as he pumped his hand in her. Was this it? Would he kill her anyway? What was his plan? Rising above the hurt she forced her eyes open and studied his features, the scar on his forehead, the lanky brown hair thinning but not gone. The cheeks were chubby, the man overweight in general, but by no means unfit. Sweat dribbled over his skin as he worked on her. Soon, drops would fall onto her. His movements felt slicker now. She briefly wondered how badly he’d torn her. The pain was immense, and she was certain blood was pouring from her. Alex held her breath against the jagged bolts of pain and searched the woods again for a rescuer. Was this Clive’s plan? Surely he wouldn’t let her die at this monster’s hands? He’d said so many times how he needed her alive. This was not part of the plan. Her future did not include being found in a heap under a tree by some passerby’s dog.
“Please, leave me alone.” She wept, pleading silently for forgiveness. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Jeremy,” she whispered. Alex receded within her mind, away from the man grunting above her and the caustic blue smoke that choked her lungs. In her mind she swapped places with Jeremy, and her body crunched under the wheels of a minibus, and Jeremy stayed at her side.
“Babe, don’t let him do this,” Jeremy whispered in her ear.
The man stuck his hand even deeper into her, and unable to cope, she shrieked in pain. Her attacker let go of her arms and punched with his left, his right still inside her.
“Shut the fuck up,” he said. But before he’d even finished shouting at her, his attention was back to between her legs.
“You can finish him, here, now…” Jeremy stroked her hair the way she had stroked his as he lay on the dirt, heart still and cooling.
The fist jabbed harder, ripping her more as she tilted her pelvis as far away as she could.
“The torch, don’t forget the torch,” Jeremy whispered in her ear, and she opened her eyes.
The monster had pulled his trousers down so a limp scrappy thing that resembled a dead slug fell from between his legs. With his right hand thrusting hard inside her, she moaned and rocked her head from side to side. Please, someone, anyone… She searched the woods again in the hope of finding a person nearby. He left her hands free, but the fight had gone out of her. He reached down and began fiddling with his little penis, trying to make it hard. It flapped in his grasp, unresponsive.
“The torch.” Alex heard Jeremy’s last words clearly.
She took her chance, reaching over and unzipping the bag far enough to squeeze her fingers inside and pull out the torch. The monster sweated above her, pulling hard on his penis. It was beginning to engorge now, and Alex wasn’t sure if she could lie placid when he tried to insert that inside her body. The torch finally secure in her sweaty grasp, Alex wasted no time. She swung her arm over so the back of her hand rested on the scrub. Then in one smooth and unfaltering movement, she aimed the torch at her attacker’s head with all her might.
A shrieking sound erupted from the monster as the torch hit. He whipped his hand out of her and held the palm to the back of his head. Blood spurted out from between his fingers. Alex squirmed, trying to get out from under him as the man collapsed to the side. She risked giving him a shove. He was so heavy. With her hands and feet wedged between them, she heaved him off. He flopped onto the ground, and rolled over onto his back.
“Get off me, get… off…!” Alex screamed and tried to crawl away. He still had one of her legs trapped under his. With an almighty shove, she got free. To her horror, she realized the hand that had been inside her was coated with blood—her blood—right up to the wrist.
“Clive,” Alex called out and looked around. Behind every tree, she seemed to find the shadow of a lurking Podis-infected person. What if they’d surrounded her? Was this their way of getting back at her for the murders she committed? She climbed to her feet and spun around in circles, unsure of which way to run. Thin clouds of blue mist blew in on the breeze, wisps curling off in her direction, as if searching for her.
The pain in her gut intensified, and silver sparkles filled her vision. “No…” Alex groaned. Don’t faint, not now. She collapsed next to her attacker, and took a few deep breaths. Her vision began to clear, and Alex crawled away fast, the torch still clutched in one fist. She stopped to put her other hand to her belly. She hurt so bad.
“Help me,” she called out. Please, let a normal person find me, she thought. Her voice was too weak, the pitiful cry she made soon swallowed up in the rustling of dry autumn leaves. A spasm of pain swept through her. Alex clutched at her stomach and fell against a tree trunk. The horrible man lay unmoving in a heap on the ground, a pool of blood on the leaves next to him.
Tears escaped her. Her own blood poured out from between her legs. Instinctively, she reached down and clasped a hand over her crotch, covering it with her palm and praying pressure would stop the flow. She needed to get to a hospital or at least somewhere safe, she couldn’t trust the Podis not to try again. Her breath hitched. Clive had been right. He told her to have faith in him, and she laughed at him. Made a joke of it. And now she was curled up against
the rough bark of a tree trying not to succumb to the pain, trying not to think of the things the man had done, of what he might still have been doing to her. Silver stars rained down again, and she fought the darkness that wanted to take her over.
The man lay sprawled in the space between the trees. Alex watched him, scared to take her eyes off him, but needing to focus her attention everywhere else. Were others creeping up on her right now? She needed to leave, get home. Wash her skin until the memory of his touch was erased. The urge to slice the skin from her sounded horribly reasonable. She could grow more skin later, a skin not touched by that foul creature.
Realizing she still clutched the torch in one hand, Alex stared at it. Had she used this on the monster? Had she hit him? Suddenly not able to remember hitting him, she felt panic rise. She must have, and hard enough to knock him out. The proof lay unmoving, a mere few feet in front of her.
Alex couldn’t think. Important concepts tried to form, a vague need to hurry away. But all she seemed to see was that man, that thing, ripping her jeans down. She frowned. There was something she had to do, but when she blinked, she had visions of him tearing her underwear off in one quick movement. She had more things to think about other than that incredible jolting pain she’d suffered when he shoved his hairy fist up inside her. Still hurting. She grabbed at her belly and rocked back and forth.
Alex searched between the trees restlessly. She’d go when the pain subsided. But until then, she kept a look out for signs of any more Podis. Shadows seemed to turn solid. The breeze appeared to thicken with tell-tale blue smoke. Were they closing in on her now, not yet aware she’d murdered another of their kind? She curled up tighter and pushed her body between the roots, afraid to move out of the copse of trees and go for help.
Something rustled—to her left. Alex gasped and turned that way. She tensed, the torch raised again and ready for action. Then a snapping branch sounded to her right as the torch began to fall into her lap. She threw her arm back up, the weapon clenched in her hand. Something was wrong. She knew it in her bones. Where were they? Hiding behind that big tree over there? She squinted, but her eyes rolled back in their sockets as another wave of pain filled her belly.
A movement made her turn forwards. Across from her, only a few feet away, the man-monster who’d attacked her sat up. With widening eyes, Alex stared as the creature before her clambered stiffly to his feet.
His face was stretched into a terrible sight. Earlier he wore a lecherous smile. Now all Alex recognized was the thought of death on his mind.
“Stupid girl, we don’t die so easily. Need more than being hit by a stupid girl. Now you, stupid girl, will find out what we want…” He grunted out a laugh and took a limping step towards her.
“No, you’re not going to! I will not allow you…!” Alex screamed as she jumped to her feet. She ignored the sensation of trickling down her legs, gripped the torch two handed in palms made sticky with her own blood and let out a terrifying scream. Alex ran at the man.
“Fuck me, she’s got life. What’s the little girly going to do…” he blocked her with a single thick limbed arm and used her own momentum to send her hurtling into the side of a tree. Rough bark scraped her bare legs and bottom. Alex fell to her knees. Her mind worked overtime. Do what you need to do. Stay alive, she thought and collapsed against the wood. She focused on the sound of his heavy steps across the leaf littered ground, slow steps, the sounds of someone sure of the act about to be committed.
Still Alex waited, unmoving, staring at a patch of dirt. She shook her head as if stunned, waiting until the last possible moment. One of the monster’s feet came into view. He planted it firmly in amongst the lichens and mosses, settling in as he gained his footing. He was preparing to strike, probably a fatal blow, but she was ready first.
Nimble and lithe, Alex shot up from her crouch and jumped at him. She dodged the fist that came at her and swinging the torch like a baseball bat, connected with the side of his head. The monster stared at her. For a moment, he didn’t move. Simply stood there, his trousers still pulled down to his knees, his limp penis shriveled and tiny. A look of confusion flashed in his eyes, and he reached up to where she’d hit him. As the blood started to pour from the new wound, Alex realized to her horror she’d dented his skull. Then a flood of blood erupted. He gently touched his hair. His eyebrows rose in surprise as he pulled his hand away and examined the fresh blood on his fingertips.
Without warning, the man-monster toppled to the floor. He landed heavily on his backside, the expression of disbelief still there. The man reached out grab her.
Alex didn’t require any more encouragement. “No, you’re not doing…” she raised her right arm and brought her weapon down on his head once more, “… anything else…” he toppled in a lazy sideways manner, so he lay in the shape of a letter ‘L’. Alex landed another blow, this one across his face, “…to me you sick…” Alex smashed into his face again and crushed his nose into pulp, “…fuck, nobody does this to me…” she hit him and dented his temple in a thumping blow, “…nobody…”
Alex caught herself. Panting, she backed a step away. The attacker’s eyes glazed over.
“Oh…what… oh my God…” Alex lurched off to the side and dropped the torch as she leaned against the nearest tree and vomited.
A hand touched her back, and gave a gentle rub. Alex sprung around, her mouth still wet, ready to hit out. Her torch was too far away to grab, not here where she was, where she needed it to protect her… Someone caught her swinging arm as she tried to punch them, blindly as she’d closed her eyes.
“Alex, it’s me. I’m here, I’m back.”
“Clive!” Alex took another swing, but her energy was spent. She staggered against him, her nerve collapsing. “How could you let him do that, he…” she shuddered as gasping sobs escaped, “…he stripped me bare, Clive, he took my clothes off and…” she remembered the hand, “…and he put… something inside me, he was going to kill me. How could you let him?”
Alex collapsed into Clive’s embrace. The demon wrapped his arms around her, patting and rubbing her back as she trembled and shook with emotion.
“We need to leave,” Alex whispered. “We have to go home, I’m injured. I might need a doctor.” She spoke slowly. The ache grew in her belly again. “Please Clive, I’m bleeding. Please protect me now, I believe you…” She pulled away and looked up at his face. “Please…” She grasped at her stomach and doubled over as pain racked her body.
Clive stepped back from her, Alex shrinking down into a crouch on the forest floor as he retrieved her jeans. A thick pool of blood surrounded the dead man’s head.
Without realizing fully what she was doing, Alex grabbed a handful of leaves. She stared at the clump for a moment then started wiping the blood off her legs. A flash of the man and his hand—his fist—up inside her made her stomach heave. She steadied herself and grabbed another handful of leaves. She rubbed them between her legs. It wasn’t enough. Tears fell down her cheeks. She slapped at her legs, as if his arm was still between them, pumping in and out of her.
The demon returned, her jeans in one hand.
“I can feel him inside me,” she said without looking up, instead she grabbed more leaves. Her eyes crept across the clearing to the man. Was he actually dead? She stared intensely, searching for any sign of movement. His brown eyes seemed to peer her way, glazed like Jeremy’s had after … after she ran him over. Her breath hitched.
The sun popped out from behind a cloud, shining through the canopy and dappling the monster-man’s skin. He was dead, she thought. Properly dead.
Alex returned to her scrubbing.
“Let me fix you,” Clive said.
The demon kneeled down beside Alex and gently removed her hands from between her legs and while she stared at him, an empty sensation formed in the pit of her stomach.
“You can’t fix this one, Clive.” She pushed his hands away and reached for another pile of leaves. He made anothe
r grab for her, but she slapped at him.
“My ability to heal is capacious, and Alex, you need this.”
He held onto her hands as she tried to wiggle out of his grasp. She averted her eyes from his, but they fell on the body of the man. The demon gave a little tug to bring her attention back to him. He concentrated on her, his touch so warm and comforting. After a moment, her body started to heal. He released his grip and let her hands slip away.
“I still hurt.” Her voice quivered as Clive cleared a patch of ground and helped her lie on her back. Gently, he pushed her legs apart and cleaned the last trickling flow with a soft lump of moss. Alex stared at the greens, yellow and reds of the leaves far up above as Clive pulled her jeans onto her legs, and tied her shoes.
“Come on Alex, let’s get you home.” Clive pulled her up off the ground and handed Alex her backpack. With his hands firmly around her waist, he forced her out from amongst the trees.
“I can’t live like this Clive.” Alex sagged against his arms. He’d stopped the bleeding and fixed the bruises and scrapes, but her legs still had no strength. The Monday evening rush hour had begun, and the pathways were filling. A woman moved out the way and waited, staring as Alex and the demon struggled by. Did she wonder how—why—Alex walked that way, like she was hung by invisible strings? Or maybe the blood splatters caught her attention.
The woman watched as Alex limped up the street, even opened her mouth a couple of times as if to say something, one arm twitching—maybe to signal to Alex. As they rounded a corner Alex glanced back to find the woman still stood there, her expression a mixture of surprise and concern. But still, her blood-covered appearance still wasn’t enough to convince the woman to help out. The world had turned unfeeling and uncaring. Alex shivered and tripped over her feet.
“Come on babydoll, not far now.”
Clive heaved her up a bit and put her arm around his neck. Her muscles seemed even weaker than before. Home was still so far away. Alex raised her head and found silver sparkles filling her vision. She shook her head in an attempt to stay conscious.
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