by Riley Moreno
“Can… can I ask you something?”
Yes! Absolutely. He wanted her to trust him.
“Just ask.”
Her eyes moved towards a small barred window and the moonlit night.
“What’s today?”
Today. Oh thank God. So maybe it had only been a matter of a week or so. It could never erase what had happened to her, but Ethan was already thinking of a way to stop it from going any further. He was fairly certain that he could remember the route from here back to country club. It wasn’t long, but it was without signposts. Okay. So he just had to make it back to the front door and take off in a straight line until the main road materialized. Once there, he would keep running until he found the country club. And then he’d beg for help. But would anyone even believe the story? Ethan barely believed it, and he was living it. But for her, for the other girl, it had to seem unendingly real.
“Can you please tell me?”
He remembered her question.
“It’s Saturday. Saturday night. Does that help?”
Julie’s gaze became a glare.
“Oh sure. Means you can all go to church tomorrow and wipe it away with a confession or whatever. Aren’t you lucky?”
Ethan heard and envisioned the sins being committed in the other room. Geoffrey and Carter had other plans for their Sunday morning, but there was something dead on in Julie’s observation. They would leave this place after hurting these women and just carry on as if nothing had ever happened. How could they do that? How could anyone? He already knew the answer to that question.
“Julie, does it help you remember how long you’ve been here?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Hardly,” she said. “What month is it?”
No. He couldn’t bear to think that she had been living this nightmare in an endless loop to the point where she needed that information to measure her suffering.
“It’s… it’s August. It’s the end of August.”
Julie whined pitifully, and he head fell to her chest.
“We’ve been here all summer,” she cried. Ethan felt sick.
“How… how did this happen?”
“How do you think?” she said.
Ethan imagined them snatched from a lonely road or lured to this place with promises that were never meant to be honored. It didn’t really matter. The only thing of any consequence was a way out. If there was one.
She suddenly lifted her head, and her eyes went wide. For the first time, he saw a glimmer of hope in her moist brown eyes.
“Have you… have you seen my face on the news or in a paper or something?”
He wished he could say yes. He wanted to give her some hope to latch onto. But there was no point in leading her on with a lie. The simple truth was that he had never seen her before this night.
Ethan slowly shook his head, and Julie anxiously ran her hands across her face.
“How… why isn’t anyone looking for us?”
Her sobs intensified, and Ethan felt his own eyes filling with tears in the face of her anguish.
“I can’t take this anymore. I can’t stand it. I’m gonna die here.”
No. He wouldn’t let that happen.
He slid up the back of the door and took a few tentative steps towards her. When she felt his shadow fall across her body, she stared desperately into his eyes.
“Please don’t hurt me.”
Ethan gently touched her miserable face. Again she flinched, and he drew his hand back.
“I won’t. I swear.”
He sat beside her on the bed and was careful not to make contact.
“What are you going to do?” she nervously asked.
“I’m going to help you.”
She wanted to believe him. He could feel it. But too much had happened to truly convince her of his intentions.
“How?”
That was the question. Besides the bound girls, no one else in the house was on his side. Wait! If the help wasn’t already present, he could bring it to the door. Ethan reached into his pocket and retrieved his cell phone. Julie gasped gratefully at the sight, but Ethan’s face fell when he realized that there was beyond no reception in this isolated place. But still he dialed, futilely, for any kind of assistance.
Call after call was simply lost.
“Dammit,” he said. He met Julie’s eyes and saw her on the brink of more tears.
“Don’t cry,” he said. “I’ll… think of something else.”
Ethan stood and started to pace the room. Think of what else? There was no way out, and even if there was, Geoffrey had the car keys. It seemed as if the only option was to just get through this night. Under no circumstances would he join in the supposed fun, and his stomach churned at the thought of having to hear Julie scream. Without question, the others would hurt her before the night was out. No doubt Geoffrey and Carter would mock him as less than a man when he didn’t take part, but Ethan no longer cared what they thought of him, and he regretted that he ever had. But when it was done, after he was forced to endure the trip back to the country club in Geoffrey’s car, he’d finally place a call and return in short order.
But when he told her as much, she sadly shook her head.
“It’s no good.”
“What? Why?”
She sniffled and rubbed her hands over her bruised throat.
“Because as soon as you go, Pete ties us up. He gags us. He blindfolds us. I haven’t actually seen Kim in forever.”
Kim. The redhead. Ethan deduced that they were friends and the fact that they were deprived of even consoling one another served to put a point of the blonde boys’ cruelty. What must it be like to live from day to day, from month to month, with no human contact save for monsters?
“Then… then what happens?”
“They take us somewhere else. And… and it starts all over again.”
Her sad eyes pierced his soul. How he longed to hold her, but what good would that really do? To her, men’s arms were the enemy.
But Ethan wasn’t.
Okay. If he didn’t do something now, they would vanish before he ever had a hope of saving them. So it had to be tonight. There was no other choice. His mind filled with the craziest ideas. It was said that people developed previously unknown strengths in moments of crisis. This was one of those moments. Maybe he could somehow incapacitate all four of them with one blow. He liked the idea of watching them groaning and bleeding in agony. They deserved all that and more. But despite the adrenaline pumping through his body, Ethan knew it was just a fantasy.
What else?
Could he make Matt and Pete an offer? Could he pull off the illusion of wanting the girls for himself and no one else and purchase them for his pleasure alone? There was time to explain the idea to Julie, but Kim would be ignorant of his true intentions. He imagined her protests only aiding his cause, but the plan stopped short before he could even suggest it. If he actually tried it, he would either be mercilessly mocked or quickly disposed of because a secret like this was never meant to leave their inner circle. But then he imagined something worse. Geoffrey or Carter might take to the idea all too eagerly and outbid Ethan. He knew they had the money to do that, and leading the girls from one pair of hellish captors to another repulsed him.
But he still had to help her, and there was only one other stab in the dark to take.
“Julie? Julie, listen to me.”
He knelt before her again but didn’t touch her.
“I need you to listen to me.”
She slowly raised her head and didn’t make a sound.
“I… I hate that I have to do this.”
Julie looked at him in confusion as he wiped the sweat from his upper lip.
“I have to go.”
“What?”
“I’m leaving you now. Okay?”
Her bewilderment gave way to a hateful grin.
“Of course you are. Gonna play this scene with Kim now, right?”
“What?
No. No I’m not---”
Julie fell against the bed and clutched a pillow close to her body. He thought he had assured her that he would do no harm, and even though abandoning her to the others was the last thing he wanted to do, he hated her thinking that this had just been some mind fuck meant only to suggest an end to her suffering only to add to it. He climbed on the bed and grabbed her face.
“Oh God no!” she screamed.
He pressed a shaking, sweating palm over her mouth and stared deeply into her teary eyes.
“I’m leaving now. I’m going to tell them that I’m done with you, and it’s their turn.”
She shook her head under his hand. Ethan’s new plan was to leave her to the others and excuse himself to take a breath of fresh air or a leak or whatever.
“And then I’m going to run,” he said. “I’ll keep going until I find help or I can make the call but I will come back. And then… then it will be over.”
He wanted her to trust in the idea, but her eyes left his. As she cried into his hand, he could feel her imagining only what would happen when Carter made his way back to her prison. The practical part of him that was still intact almost told her that she could survive just one more session of humiliation and torture because he would come back. But why had she had to endure even one in the first place? He stopped himself from uttering such an idiotic statement and removed his hand from her mouth. Slowly, he guided her back to the edge of the bed.
“Just… just hang on, Julie. I promise I’ll come back.”
He touched her hair lightly, and she still cringed at his hands on any part of her body. He got to his feet and started for the door. He had almost turned the knob when he remembered his jacket. The plan would never work if the others saw the one kindest bestowed on her all summer. Ethan sighed and moved back to the bed. Julie kept her eyes on his feet as he hovered over her.
“Uh… Julie?”
“What?” she asked, her eyes still on the floor.
“I need the jacket back.”
She gripped the collar and sniffed at the idea of having to be exposed again. With a resigned groan, she peeled the jacket from her body and was once again naked under his eyes.
“Here.”
She didn’t look at him as she handed it back. Ethan hated her so defenseless. He hated leaving her period. But the plan was all he had to go on, and he kept telling himself that it would somehow work. He put the jacket on and returned to the door. Her soft cries forced his head over his shoulder.
“Julie?”
She curled up on the bed and ignored the sound of his voice.
“It’s going to end. Tonight. I promise.”
Resolving to prove as good as his word, Ethan opened the door and gently closed it with one last look at the damaged girl. He swallowed and started down the hallway.
As he neared the room where Kim was being held, he realized that the evil laughs and the screams of torment were now replaced by an array of angry, panicked accusations. Not knowing what else to expect, Ethan pressed his body into the wall and glided past the other closed doors until he saw the source of the commotion.
The redhead, Kim, was still hanging from the ceiling. There were fresh bruises all over her body and a shining stream of blood trickling from her open mouth. Her eyes were fixed in a stare of terror, and they didn’t blink.
Oh no. Oh God no.
Pete and Matt examined the body as Carter sat on the floor. He couldn’t stop giggling as a naked Geoffrey Troxel slapped the back of his head.
“What was that about?” Geoffrey demanded.
“Geoff, come on. She was just so hot.”
Geoffrey hit him again before returning his attention to the suddenly nervous blonde boys.
“How bad is this?” Geoffrey asked.
“Bad,” Pete said flatly. “We got big spenders on tap for tomorrow night and they’re expecting two girls.”
He watched Matt poke her ribs for any sign of life, but then he just shook his head.
“Well this one’s not giving it up anymore.”
Pete grabbed a hunk of Kim’s red hair and lifted her face from her stilled chest. He examined her for a second, then released her head roughly. Reaching into his pocket, he removed a pocket knife and cut her body down. Kim fell to floor in a heavy heap. Ethan pressed his hand to his mouth and wanted to be sick.
“Whatever,” Pete said. “Guess Jules is just going to have to work overtime until we find a replacement.”
Ethan’s eyes darted back down the hallway.
“She’s working for me first,” Carter said.
Pete stepped forward and pulled Carter up by his throat.
“She’s occupied right now. Let your friend have his fun.”
His face softened, and he patted Carter’s cheek.
“Help us clean up the mess, then you get your chance.”
No. He couldn’t leave Julie with him. The thought that Julie might be become another mess turned his plan from foolish to irrelevant. He had to get Julie out now.
Without another thought, Ethan hurried back to Julie’s room and burst inside. She shuddered when she saw him. Once again, Ethan removed his jacket. Then his shirt. Julie twisted her head at what had to seem like his desire to do all that she’d always dreaded. Ethan didn’t stop to explain as he pulled her from the bed and started to button his shirt around her chest.
“What… what are you doing now?” she asked.
Once he had her clothed, he put his jacket back on and took her hand.
“Now, Julie. It has to be now. Just keep quiet.”
He started to lead her from the room, and he pulled her away from the place where her friend’s body was already being disposed of.
“Wait,” Julie whispered.
Ethan ignored her and just kept moving. They turned a corner and found a back door. Ethan reached for the knob and found the door locked. He shook it and then pressed his entire body against the barrier. It still didn’t budge. He searched the room desperately for another point of escape, and then he saw a window. Keeping Julie’s hand in his, Ethan opened the window and grabbed her waist.
“Come on,” he said as he lifted her off the ground and pushed her out of the house.
“But Kim?” she asked.
There was no Kim. He started to tell her as much when he was seized by the thought that she might go to pieces if she knew what had happened to her friend. He could lie again and tell her that they’d be back for her before anyone knew that they were gone, but she’d never believe that.
Still, he couldn’t tell her.
“She’s gone. She… I guess she got away or something. They’re out looking for her.”
Julie’s face brightened at his false confession, and she looked into the night as she bit her lip.
“We have to find her. Before… before they do.”
Ethan climbed out of the house and hated himself as he took her hand. Finding her meant turning back, but they couldn’t return. Ethan knew that he would reveal everything he now knew with one glance, and their only hope was the cover of the dark.
He grabbed her hand and stated to lead her away from the cabin.
“Okay. Let’s go then.”
11
They rushed from the house and moved deep into the forest. Julie had come back to life at the chance to find Kim, and she pulled Ethan further into the dark. He barely noticed the stones creeping under his socks, and when he glanced down at the dirt, her saw the soles of her feet breaking and bleeding against the soil. Julie kept moving, and her eyes raced among the shadows of the trees. He could sense her expecting Kim around every corner, and he struggled to keep pace with the lie he’d told. She would be there. As soon as they made the next turn. Ethan had to keep her believing that until they were far enough away from the cabin for the whole truth.
He stumbled and lost her hand as he fell to the ground.
Ethan raised his eyes and saw her fully free from any man’s grasp. She would leave him now, and al
though he wanted her to stay, although he wanted to stay with her, Ethan had no way to blame her if she took off in search of her friend.
Julie stepped back to him and knelt at his feet.
“Are you hurt?”
The question invited denial or a cry of pain to be soothed. Right now he was only relieved that she hadn’t left, and he reached for her hand. Julie helped him off the ground, and he folded his arm around her slim body. He felt her tense under his touch and pulled back.
“I’m good. Let’s keep moving.”
Ethan was already racing towards the moment when he’d have to tell her that there was no going back for Kim. Right now he could focus on nothing but moving away from the cabin. If they could make it that far, she wouldn’t ever have to endure another night with the likes of Carter McCord. If nothing else, he would never touch her again. Ethan would see to that.
As they ran, a shot rang out. Ethan hit the ground and covered Julie with his body. He was glad when she didn’t scream at the sound, and he stayed with her for a moment. Despite the presence of his shirt, he could still feel her shaking, and Ethan folded his arms around her body and tried to make her forget the threat as he led her back to her feet.
Another shot rang out, and he held her close. He could feel her tears against his neck.
“It’s okay. Come on.”
Ethan kept her close as they moved. He felt Julie’s eyes drift over his shoulder. It had to be in search of Kim, and he could sense her wanting to go back. Maybe Kim was off in the other direction, and she needed Julie’s help. He could see the idea of returning washing over her face, but there was nothing and no one to save. As abhorrent as it was, Ethan had to wrestle her to the ground, and he placed a soft hand over her mouth.
Julie squirmed, and Ethan stared at her like a man possessed.
“Not that way, Julie.”
When he lifted his hand, she only spoke the words but Kim.
It had to be now. He would have preferred never, but Julie needed to know the score if they had any hope of moving forward.
“Kim is gone.”
Julie shifted her head from side to side, and she seemed unable to comprehend the truth of his words. All she could do was shake and cry at the thought of her friend torn from the world without any hope of rescue. Such was Kim’s unhappy end under Carter McCord’s hands. Ethan had been unable to save her from death, but he’d be damned if Julie would suffer the same fate.