He knew Jimmy had been riding his bike a lot. He had witnessed it a few times this past week, and others had as well, most concerned by the very idea Paul had planted in Jimmy’s head about him being a target in case he had seen something he didn’t realize. Paul, however also wondered if Jimmy could have had anything to do with the two girls having disappeared. Most in the department didn’t think a high school student could be behind something like that, but Paul knew differently. Paul had been overseas and had seen what people his age were capable off. Hell, Jimmy was eighteen and that had been the age Paul had been the first time he had ever killed someone, his eyes fascinated by the damage the grenade had done in the room where the insurgent had been waiting.
If another girl is reported missing this evening maybe… an image of a fingernail being ripped in a struggle filled his head.
Nothing behind the house pointed toward a struggle and so far all the reports of missing children that afternoon had been false alarms — most being the result of a late bus home from school, and one due to a parent that forgot their daughter had work that evening.
Paul’s radio came to life while he was walking behind the old shed on the corner of the Hood property and reported a car accident on the other side of town, one which sounded pretty bad.
“I can be there in eight minutes,” Paul said into the radio and quickly hurried back to his patrol car, thoughts on Jimmy Hawthorn and the missing girls quickly disappearing from his mind.
* * *
Brett sat in his room for a long time that night watching the videos Jimmy had thrown away, his mind playing with ideas on how to use the tapes against him. Earlier he had seen his stupid little girlfriend in the hallway during some odd commotion; one which had involved a deputy being called to the school and wondered what would happen if he gave some of the tapes to her.
What if she likes this stuff too and gets all freaky with Jimmy? Hell the two probably were making their own tapes and posting them on some obscure website.
Still, he wanted Jimmy to know he had these tapes and the best way to do that was to give one to the girl. And if it turned out she didn’t know about the tapes or how sick and twisted Jimmy was it would be even better because she would probably dump him right before the prom.
Now if only Jimmy were in some of these tapes.
Sadly he didn’t think this would be the case. If it was he would have made plans to somehow show the tape during the dance, maybe on a projector screen or something so that everyone could see what a freak he was.
On screen he watched as a girl was lifted off the ground by her wrists and then tormented with a pink vibrator. Kneeling next to her was another girl, this one sucking the man’s dick while he used the vibrator on the first girl.
Brett couldn’t believe people enjoyed stuff like this, especially people like the girls in the video. It was sick.
At the same time he wondered what he would do if he was one of those guys and knew he could do whatever he wanted with them. Would he join in? If so he wouldn’t have to live with the disgrace of still being a virgin, something that weighed heavily on his mind day in and day out, especially since he knew Matt was no longer one, the jerk having scored some pussy with his coworker at the video store last year.
It pissed him off.
Chapter Eleven
Megan peed herself halfway through the night while shivering from the cold, her wet clothes making it impossible for her body to stay warm as all the heat was sucked away from the underground shelter once the sun set. It was a miserable situation, one made even worse due to her position. Had she simply been tied up on the floor she could have scrunched herself into the fetal position, or in a corner, and maybe with one of those wool blankets. Instead she was stretched out, her entire body exposed to the air.
“You’ve been hung up to dry!”
She jerked her head toward the sound, but Samantha was the only other person in the room with her — as far as she could tell — and the voice had most certainly not been hers.
“Not funny,” she said.
No one replied.
Megan stretched open her eyes and looked around a second time, her body slowly twisting so that she could see the back of the shelter.
You’re imagining things, she said to herself.
It was the lack of sleep and food.
Her eyes relaxed, the heaviness of her lids making it hard to hold them focused. She could not sleep. At points she managed to doze off, but it was never deep, which was why her mind was now trying to dream while awake. It was trying to force her body into that much needed rejuvenating state.
Megan tried to fight it, but to no avail. Hanging like this in wet clothes made it impossible. Hell, hanging like this in dry clothes would have made it impossible too.
She twisted toward Samantha who was asleep and envied her position, again. The girl was lucky. Jimmy had allowed her to stay on the ground.
“The cold concrete ground.”
Again the voice didn’t seem to be her own, yet she knew it was.
“The two are working together!”
Megan shook the thought away and once again tried to focus her mind. It didn’t work. A permanent haze hung over everything, one that seemed to grow thicker and thicker with each passing moment. It was so bad that Megan didn’t even realize she was peeing in her own pants until after the fact. Instead she felt an annoying ache in her lower regions followed by relief and pleasant warmth, one which sadly faded quickly.
Disgust followed once she recognized the act.
It would have been one thing if she had been holding the need in for hours, the pressure building and building until she couldn’t take it anymore and had to open up. It was another for it to just happen.
Memories of Samantha lying on the ground the other day, urine flowing freely down her leg arrived.
No! No! No!
She didn’t want to become like that. Worse, she didn’t want to be aware that she was becoming like that.
“It will happen!” This time the voice seemed to echo across the shelter.
Please, God, NO!
She struggled at the ropes, the fresh scabs where the skin had torn the other day and then started to heal during her inactivity, tearing free.
A little bit of blood dripped down her right arm.
Shivers followed.
And then the haze grew even thicker. Several hours passed without her being aware of it.
Jimmy was now in the room.
Megan said something about him bringing back the warmth.
“What?” Jimmy asked.
Megan didn’t reply, though this time it wasn’t a result of defiance. Instead she simply had no idea what she had said, the words a minced up mess even within her own mind, and couldn’t repeat them, the thoughts that had generated them having quietly fled.
Jimmy yawned and then went back to the tin bucket, which he had filled with soapy water. He also had a pink loofa sitting on the floor.
Once finished with that he stood up and walked over toward her and said, “If you fight me this time I will really make you suffer.”
Megan heard the words but couldn’t really understand what he meant by them until he started undoing her pants. Once she realized this she started to struggle, but then found herself too exhausted and let him do what he needed.
It felt good having the wet clothes removed.
His work with the loofa felt even better despite how cold the water was.
Afterward she felt as if a pound of grime had come off her body.
Don’t let him do this, her mind screamed.
Megan ignored the statement. Later, once she got her strength back she would resist his advances. Right now she just didn’t have the energy.
“I’m going to lower you a little,” Jimmy said.
Her body fell before she even understood what his words meant, and had it not been for the rope and his hands, she would have hit the floor hard. Instead he eased her down until she was allowed t
o sit.
The relief was short lived as the cramps began; her muscles and blood vessels all springing into action as if an alarm had awakened them.
The pain was too much.
She had to scream.
Jimmy waited.
Once again the haze made it difficult for her to judge how much time had passed. Eventually the pain faded, though didn’t disappear completely. Thankfully it had retreated enough for her to drink some water and eat.
Jimmy regulated how much she could have.
“I don’t want you getting sick,” he said while pulling the water bottle away.
She cried as if he was taking it away for good. In reality it was only for a minute and then he would allow her to drink some more. Drink a little, take it away, drink a little take it away. Every now and then he would also give her some pretzels and other dry foods from the shelf, his hands having to hold it while she chewed because her fingers weren’t working. Some of it was stale but Megan didn’t care. It was the first thing she had eaten since… her mind couldn’t even figure it out and didn’t really care.
* * *
“She was so pissed off, it was great,” Tina said while the three were walking to school. “But she couldn’t really say anything because everyone at the school was saying I did the right thing and that it was better to be safe than sorry.”
“And the police actually took him away?” Jimmy asked even though she had already said they did.
“Just for questioning,” Tina said. “They didn’t arrest him or anything but they made sure the threat of that possibility happening if he didn’t cooperate was there.”
“God, I bet the sheriff just wanted to take him into some deep dark basement room and beat the shit out of him,” Alan said.
“Do you think he’s really responsible for the two girls?” Jimmy asked.
Tina shook her head. “No. The guy is odd, but harmless. I mean, his favorite pastime is knitting with a bunch of middle-age ladies.”
“Still, who knows what goes on inside his head? Maybe he has a thing for high school girls and that’s why he is spending so much time with your mother, and other mothers who knit, so he had easy access to you and their daughters.”
Tina seemed somewhat spooked by this statement but then brushed it away. “He and my mother have been seeing each other since before I moved here. I don’t even think he knew I existed back then.”
“Still…” Jimmy started but didn’t finish. He didn’t want to push it too far.
“Oh don’t worry, the guy is a creep, no question about that, and I won’t be caught dead alone with him. And I’m guessing he will think twice before offering to do my mother any favors in the future.”
The three went silent for a while and then Jimmy asked. “Do you have to stay after today?”
“My mother didn’t say anything about it. She probably wants me to but I won’t. I mean, we get out at what like noon today?”
“Yeah.” Jimmy turned toward Alan and smiled. “Two of us do.”
Alan gave him the finger.
“Then there is no way in hell I’m staying at school,” Tina said. “What would I do all day?”
“You know, this isn’t fair,” Alan snapped. “Instead of letting all the seniors have a half day they should let anyone with a ticket to the prom have a half day.”
“But then lower classmen like yourself would have one less day to prepare for finals, which wouldn’t be good.” Jimmy never understood why seniors didn’t have to take finals during the second semester, but didn’t mind. He had a feeling it had something to do with tallying up who had graduated and who had not; especially since the graduation ceremony was the weekend after finals. Still, it seemed odd.
“It’s still stupid, and why does everyone need a half day to prepare for a dance that isn’t until Saturday night?” He turned toward Tina and asked, “Do you need all day to do your hair?”
“Um, no,” Tina said. “I really have no idea what I’m going to do all afternoon in that empty house all by myself.”
Jimmy heard the words and then saw the look Alan gave him, but wasn’t sure what to say.
“It’s going to be lonely,” Tina added.
Jimmy stayed silent and calm, despite the questions jumping around in his mind. A fantasy also began, one that he couldn’t shake.
* * *
Brett watched and waited for the two to split up before classes, eager to give the girl the video he had picked out for her, his body barely able to hold back the desire to run up and down the hallway shouting that Jimmy liked watching bondage sex movies.
The two stood by her locker for a long time, both having gone right to it since Jimmy didn’t seem fond of using his own all that much, and instead just carried all his books from class to class.
Dork!
Anger at the guy oozed through his veins. He so desperately wanted to walk over there and punch him right in the face, consequences be damned.
Somehow he held back and waited for the two to part ways, Jimmy heading toward the science hallway, Tina toward math.
Halfway toward the math class Brett intercepted her, the words, “Hey cutie, how’s it hanging,” leaving his lips.
“What do you want?” she asked while trying to slip between him and the wall of lockers.
Brett put his hand up against the locker to stop her.
“Tina, isn’t it?” Brett asked.
“Yeah,” Tina said. She started to walk around him the other way, but he reached out and grabbed her by the arm. “Hey, let go of me.” She tried to twist away but his grip was too firm.
“Not so fast. I just have a question for you. Do you know if I can borrow Jimmy’s handcuffs one day?”
“What?”
“You mean you don’t know?” Brett asked.
“Know what?” She tried twisting away again to no avail.
“That Jimmy is a huge bondage freak and loves to see girls and boys all tied up.”
“You’re sick,” Tina said.
“Hey, you don’t have to believe me, just watch this tape.” He reached into his bag and pulled out the VHS tape, only she wouldn’t take it. “There are a whole bunch more where this one came from too and I’m sure Jimmy will show you his others if you want.”
“Why don’t you get a life,” Tina snapped and tried to pull free again.
In the hallway other students were rushing by them as they tried to get to class. No one paid much attention to them, and those that did made no move to intervene.
“It’s your little friend who needs to get a life,” Brett said. “Take the tape.”
“Let me go!”
“Take the tape and I will.”
Tina grabbed his arm and dug her nails into it.
Brett winced and grabbed hold of her backpack, his fingers easily opening the flap and dropping the tape inside.
Above them the bell rang.
“Enjoy,” he said and hurried away. In his mind he saw crowds cheering his brilliant move. Others came forward to shake his hand.
The excitement wore off quickly though as he headed into his English class. He hated the class and the teacher and would have gladly skipped the class if it wasn’t something he needed in order to graduate. Most had completed the English course the year before. He had failed it, and now had to sit in the class with a bunch of juniors while listening to the stupid fag tell them all about all these great authors. It was such a waste of his time. If they were so great why hadn’t he ever heard about them before?
* * *
“Samantha,” Megan said again. “Just try.”
Once again her friend ignored her, only now Megan wasn’t going to back down.
“Samantha, get off your lazy ass and start undoing those ropes!” Megan screamed.
Several hours earlier screaming like this would not have been possible, but the food and water Jimmy had given her during his morning visit had helped clear her mind a bit. She was still sluggish, and her exhaustion still felt like a bo
ulder strapped onto her head, but her thought process was once again able to focus on things, which was good. Even better, the hallucinations had disappeared for the time being, though she was sure they would return sooner than later, especially if she continued another day without sleep.
“Do it!”
“No,” Samantha moaned.
Megan couldn’t stand her friend anymore. Why wouldn’t she at least make an effort? Why not do everything in her power to get free?
You didn’t make an effort this morning either? her mind countered. Thankfully her inner voice no longer sounded like it was coming from someone else.
Frustration followed.
She had made no move against Jimmy while he was cleaning her even though he had been pretty vulnerable, especially when bending over to clean her feet.
Don’t let a moment like that slip by again!
She pictured an image of her getting the better of Jimmy and killing him. It was a pleasant fantasy, one which had permanently replaced the visions of her father coming to the rescue because that wasn’t going to happen — which is all your fault! If she had thought about calling him earlier while the phone was beeping Samantha and she would be free and Jimmy locked away. If she had called earlier she could have told her father exactly where the fallout shelter was and he would have come down, broken the door from its hinges and cut them free. After that he would have gone after Jimmy and made the bastard pay.
Now that wasn’t a viable possibility and if the two of them ever wanted to be free they would have to do it themselves. More important Samantha would have to undo her own ropes, and she would have to do it while in her current position, one which would allow her to stand up and put the knots to her mouth, knots that she could untie if her determination to be free inspired the strenuous activity.
Once you’re free you can untie me and we will both get Jimmy when he comes in. Megan had said this out loud several times since Jimmy had left for school that morning, but her friend didn’t seem to be able or willing to take part in the escape attempt.
“Samantha! Please!”
Her friend didn’t respond.
“All you have to do it stand up and untie the ropes with your mouth.”
Jimmy Page 20