Empty Bodies (Book 5): Damnation

by Zach Bohannon

  The original knob on the door had been replaced with one that locked from the outside. It clicked, and then swung open.

  Two men appeared in the doorway. One wore a baseball cap and the other had stringy long hair almost down to his shoulders. Each man carried a shotgun. Jessica wondered if either of the weapons had been stolen from the SUV. She stood there, staring at the men, still ready to swing the stool at them if they came closer. It wasn’t like the chair would be a match for the slugs in those guns the men held, though.

  “You’re gonna want to put that down,” Baseball Cap said.

  “Go to hell,” Jessica spat back.

  Baseball Cap sighed and said, “Ma’am, we don’t—”

  But before Baseball Cap could finish, Long Hair had apparently lost his patience.

  Long Hair withdrew something from his side. Jessica’s eyes widened as Long Hair fired a taser. The two prongs entered her skin and sent a jolt of electricity through her. Jessica’s legs gave out and she fell to her knees.

  She leaned over and threw up all over the tile floor. Then she fell forward, right into her own vomit, and passed out.

  ***

  When Jessica’s eyes fluttered open again, she was looking up at the ceiling. The tiles above her were moving, yet her legs were not. She was lying on something, and when she looked around, she saw the two men who’d just come into the science lab to get her. Leather held her arms and legs to the surface of the moving table.

  Both men looked down, not having noticed she’d woken up. If she’d had the ability to be smarter about it, she may have been able to jump off the cart and run away. Instead, she lay still, focusing on her breathing and blanking everything else out.

  Once she had found her composure, she looked around. She was on some kind of cart and that the two men were rolling her through a hallway in the school. Someone, a woman, cried out from one of the rooms they passed, and Jessica lifted her head up. One of the two men quickly pushed her back down onto the cart.

  “Stay down,” he said.

  “Where are you taking me?” Jessica asked.

  Neither of the men responded. She heard another scream, but this time the voice was that of a man’s.

  “Please, where are you—”

  “Quiet,” Baseball Cap said, “or I’ll take off my underwear and stuff it into your mouth.”

  Jessica gagged at the mere thought of it. She kept her mouth shut.

  Long Hair walked away from the cart and opened two double doors ahead of them. This room’s ceiling was at least three times as high as the hallway they’d just left. Long tables were arranged throughout the large space, and Jessica noticed a buffet line at the far side of the room. It was the school’s cafeteria.

  They crossed the room and came to another set of double doors. Baseball Cap coughed and it echoed throughout the vast, open and vacant space. Jessica wondered where everyone else was, and just how many people were here at the school. More than that, how many of them were prisoners like she was?

  The men pushed the cart through yet another set of double doors and they were now in the school’s gymnasium. Bleachers lined each side of the basketball court and Jessica saw a large Jaguars logo on the wall.

  “What’ve you got for me?”

  The voice came from a man on the other side of the gym. Jessica looked over and saw a gangly guy, no younger than 45, standing in front of a door. Above the door was a sign that read: Men’s Locker Room.

  “We’ve got one female for processing,” Long Hair said. “Her name’s Jessica Davies.”

  Jessica started to ask how the guy knew her name, and then remembered that her ID had been in her bag. Her eyes widened as a more immediate fear came to mind.

  Her journal.

  Jessica had spent so much time writing in that book and chronicling the past weeks. Now, the book was out of her possession and owned by a group of people who’d taken her prisoner.

  “She’s a pretty one,” Gangly said. “Much prettier than the others.” His voice made Jessica beyond uneasy.

  “Don’t even think about doing anything to her, Bruce,” Baseball Cap said. “Unless you want Ambrose down your fuckin’ throat.”

  Bruce chuckled and said, “Now, Lance, you think I’d do anything to her?” Jessica faced him in time to see him morph his face into some kind of disgusting smirk.

  Lance shook his head, mumbled something to himself, and then looked down at Jessica. He undid her restraints.

  “Get up,” Lance said.

  Jessica tried to push herself up off the cart, but apparently moved too slowly for the men’s liking. Lance and Long Hair reached down and picked her up off the cart. When she landed on her feet, she felt like her knees might buckle beneath her. Bruce took her hands, offering her assistance, but she quickly pulled away.

  “Just follow me,” Bruce said.

  Behind her, the other two men retreated. Bruce headed for the men’s locker room door.

  Jessica reluctantly followed.

  The next word that the gangly, disgusting man said sent a chill down Jessica’s spine.

  “Strip.”

  “What?”

  “You fucking heard me,” Bruce said. “Don’t play those games. Take off your fucking clothes.”

  He reached over and grabbed a fresh pair of latex gloves out of a box sitting on top of the long vanity. After he’d put them on and Jessica still hadn’t followed his instructions, he grew impatient.

  “Look, we have a procedure here. We can either do it the easy way, or we can do it the hard way.” He smiled at her. “Based on the way you’ve been looking at me, I don’t think you wanna do this the hard way.” His face had now returned to that grotesque ‘fuck me’ smirk.

  Knowing that she should comply, Jessica went to remove her shirt, but her shaking hands wouldn’t cooperate. In this moment of terror, she hated herself for leaving the campground. Hated herself for being jealous. How could she have allowed something so petty to put her in this situation? Part of her wanted to reach for the gun on the man’s hip, put a bullet in his head, and then push the gun to her own chin and fire. In the end, she did the smart thing and resisted that urge.

  Jessica took three deep breaths, calming herself, and then reached down to the tail of her shirt and pulled it up. Before her shirt raised over her face, she watched Bruce wrap his tongue around his lips as he continued to stare at her.

  After throwing her shirt to the ground, she reached down and began to unbuckle her jeans. As she did this, she kept her eyes to the ground, ignoring his disgusting gaze. Even so, she could feel him still staring at her. She closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing as she pushed her jeans off of her hips. Both the unflattering sports bra and the saggy panties she wore were dirty. She only owned a couple of sets of underwear. With no way to wash them since they’d left the hospital, she just rotated them out every few days. She’d hoped that this would turn Bruce off, but she could still feel his eyes on her and hear his panted breathing.

  When her pants had hit the ground, Jessica finally looked up to him again. He was, indeed, still staring at her, his eyes glowing.

  “There,” she said.

  Bruce shook his head. “That ain’t strippin’.” He pointed to her chest, and then to her midsection. “It’s all gotta come off.”

  Jessica narrowed her eyes and said, “Go to hell.”

  Bruce took two steps toward Jessica, and she felt her arms shaking again. Her legs quaked, her lips quivered.

  “Off,” he said.

  But Jessica no longer cared. The man could kill her. It would likely be better than being at this place.

  She spit in his face.

  The smirk went away as Bruce brought the back of his hand to his face and wiped the spittle away. He then used the same side of that hand to strike Jessica across her jaw. She fell back onto the ground and reached for her face. When she pulled her hand away from her lip, there was blood on it. Before she could look back to Bruce, he’d struck her in the b
ack of the head. Jessica fell down onto her stomach.

  Then he was on her.

  Bruce straddled Jessica’s backside and ripped her bra off. Jessica screamed, writhing on the ground, but unable to get his weight off of her. He smacked the back of her head before she could reach back and cover up. Bruce repositioned himself and ripped her panties away from her buttocks. Tears flowed from Jessica’s eyes.

  Once she was completely naked, Bruce pulled her hair, jerking her head back. He gripped her locks so hard that she felt like they might rip out. Bruce leaned down to her ear.

  “Bitch, I told you that you didn’t wanna do this the hard way,” he said. “Now unless you want this to be much worse, I suggest you let me do what I am ordered to do. Do that, and you might make it out of here in one piece, and just a little less violated. You got it?”

  Her eyes flooded with tears, Jessica grumbled the word, “Yes.”

  Jessica could sense him smiling. “Good.” He pulled her head back a little further, to where she thought her throat may rip, and licked her cheek. Then he let her head go, and she’d almost lost all control to where it nearly hit the ground.

  She continued to cry, looking down at the concrete floor of the locker room. Enough tears had fallen from her eyes to darken the ground beneath her.

  Bruce moaned, and then his non-lubricated, gloved index finger slid into her anus.

  It was in that moment that Jessica knew she would kill this man. Whether it meant the end of her own life or not, this disgrace for a human being would die at her hands.

  CHAPTER TEN

  By the time Bruce finished, Jessica had been stripped, assaulted, put through a full body cavity search, and bathed by the grotesque man. The bath had actually been the most painful part, physically. He’d used a scrub brush that was stained with dirt—likely the grit of other human beings. And he hadn’t been gentle, grinding the brush against her sensitive skin. After having been stripped and then searched, her mind had turned numb. She’d accepted what was happening to her. This had allowed her mind to absorb every single moment. And the memories would be as real as the demon she’d seen raised from Will’s throat. Memories of every moan that escaped from around Bruce’s black tongue between his yellow teeth. Every time he smacked his dry lips. She’d remember every bit of it.

  Jessica stood at the front of the locker room, drying off after the rough, cold bath. Bruce had at least allowed her the decency of being able to dry herself. He’d stepped to the other side of the room, removed his gloves, and was jotting a few notes down onto a clipboard.

  A knock came at the door, and the two men who’d brought her to this hell pit appeared in the doorway.

  “Good to go?” Lance asked.

  “Yeah, I’m through with her,” Bruce said.

  Jessica looked around for her clothes, but couldn’t find them. Long Hair must’ve seen the confusion in her face, because he reached into a bag he held and threw her a garment.

  “Where are my clothes?” Jessica asked.

  Bruce scoffed, and she felt a splash of spittle hit her bare shoulder. “Those aren’t your clothes anymore. Believe me, I’d rather see you walk around in that little sports bra than this.”

  Jessica dropped open the one piece jumpsuit in her hand, which unrolled like a sleeping bag. It was obviously too big for her, but she doubted if these men cared.

  “Put it on and let’s go,” Lance said.

  Jessica turned and started to make her way towards one of the stalls, but a hand reached out and grabbed her. It was Long Hair’s.

  “Now,” he said.

  Hanging her head in embarrassment, Jessica dropped the towel onto the ground. She opened the jumpsuit and proceeded to step inside it. As she’d expected, it was indeed at least one size too big. She zipped it up, having felt all six eyes in the room on her the entire time. Once she had it all the way zipped up, the two guards turned.

  “Come on,” Lance said.

  Jessica followed them out the door, walking like a penguin. She still felt a throb in her rectum where Bruce had dug his finger inside of her. It hurt to walk, and she chewed on her lips in just taking the first few steps.

  “See ya soon, buttercup,” Bruce said. “Hope it was as good for you as it was for me.”

  Jessica didn’t turn around. She kept her eyes closed and choked back tears, trying to focus on happy thoughts to help her put the pain in her buttocks aside.

  As the door shut behind her, Bruce’s predatory laugh turned into a muffled blur that had become her life.

  ***

  They came to a door in a hallway that was completely engulfed in darkness. One of the men used a flashlight to guide them. The two men had threatened Jessica several times, to use the taser on her again if she continued to move slowly. She dug deep and fought to ignore the pain.

  A door opened and Lance said, “Get in.”

  Jessica wobbled through the doorway. When she was just barely into the room, the door slammed behind her, leaving her in total darkness.

  As the boots stomped down the hallway, Jessica heard something inside the room.

  Breathing.

  Crying.

  “Hello?” Jessica asked.

  The crying seemed to stop.

  “Jessica? Is that you?” the person said.

  Jessica gasped. “Claire?” She followed to where the voice had come from until she and Claire touched hands.

  “I was worried that you guys were dead,” Claire said as the two women found each other in the dark and hugged. Jessica pulled away.

  “You haven’t seen the others either?” Jessica asked.

  “No,” Claire said. “I woke up in some room with other women, and then they took me to some real creepy guy to get a bath. Did they do that to you?”

  “Yes,” Jessica mumbled. Embarrassed, she opted to keep how the man had violated her to herself. “Did you say there were other women?”

  “Yeah,” Claire said. “It was a classroom, and there were about six other women in there.”

  “Did they say anything? Why they were here? Why we’re here?”

  “No. I think they may have been drugged or something.”

  “What the hell is this place?” Jessica wondered why she’d been put into a room by herself, while Claire had been placed with other supposed prisoners.

  “I’m just glad you’re here,” Claire said. “Maybe that means they’ll bring Thomas and Gabriel here, too.”

  Jessica didn’t respond. For some reason, she felt as if that wasn’t likely to be the case. She couldn’t put a finger on why, but she supposed that if these people had read the stories in her journal, they’d have to realize that putting all four of them together could be a bad idea. In fact, it may have been the exact reason that they’d decided to keep her and Claire away from the other women.

  They sat next to each other, absorbing one another’s body heat. An hour later, Jessica’s half-open eyes caught a glimpse of a beam of light coming from the hallway. Jessica tapped Claire on the arm, as she’d somehow managed to doze off.

  “What is it?” Claire asked as Jessica hopped to her feet.

  “Someone’s coming.”

  Claire shuffled, standing up. She patted down the front of her coveralls and moved next to Jessica.

  The light shined through the window, into Jessica and Claire’s eyes. Jessica turned, covering her face with her forearms.

  “Turn around and put your hands on the wall,” the male voice said.

  “What do we do?” Claire whispered.

  Reluctantly, Jessica said, “We listen to him.”

  “Now,” the male voice demanded.

  Jessica walked over to the wall behind her and put her hands on it, her back to the door. Claire stood beside her, and Jessica faced the ground, closing her eyes.

  The door clicked, then opened.

  Jessica opened her eyes as the flashlight illuminated the room. She heard something being set on the ground, followed by the same noise just a few momen
ts later.

  “I suggest you both get as much rest as you can,” the man said. “You can turn around again once I’ve left the room.” He flashed the light over toward them once more, and then the door closed. His heavy boots moved down the hallway, away from the room.

  Jessica pushed herself off of the wall and turned around. Neither of the women spoke. She crept to the door, her hands out in front of her. It was impossible to see, and she had trouble gauging how far away from the door she was. But the guard had placed something on the ground, and she was determined to find out what it was.

  When Jessica felt like she had come more than halfway to the door, she kneeled down and got on her hands and knees. She crawled until her hand hit the edge of something. It was glass, and had a rounded edge.

  “Food,” she mumbled to herself.

  “Did you say food?” Claire asked. “Please tell me you said food.”

  Claire started to rush over. Not wanting Claire to step on the food, Jessica quickly turned and said, “Wait.” When she did, Jessica lifted her hand and knocked something over. The glass tumbled over, and she heard the liquid pour out onto the ground. Claire stopped.

  “Did you just spill water?” Claire asked.

  “Don’t move,” Jessica said.

  “How could you spill water? Do you know how thirsty I am?”

  Jessica closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. Of course she knew how thirsty Claire was. Jessica hadn’t had a drop of water since some time before the accident. Both of them were starving, and Jessica refused the urge to snap at Claire. She refocused on where she’d found the plate and carefully felt around on the ground more. Please find another glass of water, she thought.

  Her hand came across a second plate, which gave her hope. She then moved her hand a little further over until she felt the bottom of a glass. She got so excited that she almost knocked it over, and then sighed in relief when she didn’t.

  “There’s another plate and another glass of water down here,” Jessica said.

  “Thank God.”

  Jessica reached over and felt around until she found the tipped glass. It was still in tact, and she picked it up.

  “We’ll each have our own plate of food, but we’ll have to split the water,” Jessica said. “I’ll transfer half into this other glass.”