Murdering Her Light

by Michael Clement

  Zebulon leaned back.

  Instantly, a bouncy woman cuddled up to him, handing him a large joint that he instantly took a puff from.

  Two other women entered the room with bowls of water and scrub brushes. Without asking, they began to wash our feet.

  It was a surreal experience, especially when the blonde that was kneeling in front of me took my hands and washed them as well.

  When they were done, they smiled, bowed low, and then left the room.

  “Bring ou r guest refreshments,” he instructed.

  More beautiful women rushed in with platters of meat and cheese, and goblets of cider.

  I looked at Tori, to see what I should do, as my stomach growled loudly.

  Several of the women laughed, hearing its complaints.

  Tori nodded that I could eat.

  I took a plate and filled it up with meat and cheese, then I noticed the fruit and happily added that as well.

  The three of us ate quietly. When we were finished , the women removed the platters and returned to wash our hands again.

  The blonde smiled at me, as she wiped the grease from my fingers. Her eyes were a dark brown, and she had a dimple when she smiled. While I stared at her, she dipped my little finger into her mouth and sucked on it.

  I drew in a breath when she pulled it back out, revealing her delicate fangs.

  Fuck, I almost sputtered out. What the hell was she?

  With a sinister twinkle in her eye, she bowed low and then scuttled away.

  Zebulon clapped his hands. “Now,” he said. “We will start.”

  The spider-thing leaned forward. “I have four men who need your blessing,” he began. Then, he added, “and three women.”

  That shocked me.

  “And, I need your assistance translating an ancient manuscript,” he finished.

  Tori nodded.

  Then, she said, “What else?”

  Zebulon fidgeted.

  I hadn’t expected that. Then, below my stomach, I began to get a cramp.

  He looked up at the silk ceiling, as he tried to figure out how to talk to her about something.

  Tori waited quietly.

  I looked around. Suddenly, I needed to go to the bathroom, as the cramp intensified and shifted lower.

  Leaning over, I whispered. “I have to go the bathroom.”

  “Now?” she asked.

  I nodded fiercely. The spicy meat wasn’t sitting well, at any moment, I was going to fart loudly.

  Tori rolled her eyes and pointed at an exit on the right.

  “Thanks,” I whispered, as I stood up and hurried to the entrance, keeping my ass cheeks firmly clenched.

  The walls in the hallway were covered in what looked like oak, or maybe polished walnut. It was beautiful, but right now, all I wanted was the bathroom.

  Left or right, I thought, my mind racing, as my stomach gurgled loudly.

  I didn’t have much time. Where the hell was the bathroom!

  “Over here,” the blonde who had sucked on my finger said. She was standing at the entrance to another room.

  “I need the bathroom,” I insisted, throwing caution to the wind.

  She nodded, holding the door open farther.

  Hurrying inside, I found an honest to god toilet.

  Fuck, I was so happy. I thought that I’d find a hole in the ground.

  Then, I realized that I had no idea how to get my clothes off, much less my underwear.

  Fidgeting and squirming, I tried to figure out how to not fill my only pair of clothes with shit, literally.

  Pulling on the fabric didn’t help.

  Yanking it to the side didn’t work.

  Desperate , I looked at her with panic in my eyes, as a massive cramp squeezed my stomach. I could feel my control of my bladder coming to a swift conclusion.

  “Let me help you,” she whispered, so close that I nearly peed myself through my gray clothes.

  Her fingers expertly removed my cloak and then began to unraveled my garments.

  The problem was, they unraveled from the top. So, by the time she was done, I was in my bra and panties, which were also attached in some foreign manner.

  By now, I was close to bursting. I was fidgeting like crazy. Sweat was beading down my face, as I fought to not shit yet.

  “How do I get these off!” I almost shouted at the top of my lungs.

  Chuckling, she twisted the end of my panties and pulled the cloth loose.

  With trembling fingers, I yanked the whole contraption off and collapsed onto the toilet.

  Normally, I wouldn’t be able to shit in front of someone else... but this was an emergency.

  Trapped on the toilet, I let loose, as I grabbed the sides of it in a death grip.

  The room filled with an abdominal stench that made me gag.

  The woman’s nose wrinkled.

  Then, she began gagging as well.

  Turning, she fled the room, as I continued to fill the toilet.

  - 10 -

  I emerged almost thirty minutes later.

  Thankfully, when she twisted and released my undergarments, my brain had remembered how she did it.

  And, even better, I was able to get my clothing back on by myself. At least the cloak covered my ass, in case I wasn’t as successful, as I assumed I was.

  Looking around, I didn’t see my rescuer anywhere.

  I thought she might have waited, but apparently, my little episode with their spicy meatballs had dissuaded her intentions of seducing me.

  Turning to the left, I prepared to return to the main room.

  But, then I heard gasps of pain from my right.

  For a second, I didn’t know what to do.

  Then, I went to the right.

  No one else was in the hallway.

  Quietly, I crept towards the now screams of pain.

  “Quiet,” I heard a male voice command. “Accept your punishment.”

  My blood began to boil when I peered into the room, through the door that was ajar.

  A man was in the room, stripped down to his waist. He was rippled with muscle, but I could sense cruelty in his stance.

  In his hands was a wooden switch.

  And, bent over a chair was the woman that helped me.

  Her panties were missing and brilliant red marks covered her ass. Drops of blood covered her hips and legs, which trembled in pain.

  The man threw back his hand and lashed out, smacking her across the ass again.

  She whimpered, biting her lip as tears poured down my face.

  “You stupid fuck,” I cursed, as I pushed into the room.

  Startled he turned towards me, as stomped right up to him and slapped him across the face.

  My brain was screaming in rage .

  I grabbed the switch and kicked him hard in the crotch.

  When he bent over, moaning in pain, I slammed my knee into his nose.

  He collapsed to the floor with blood spurting everywhere.

  Pissed, I helped the woman stand up.

  “Are you alright?” I asked.

  “You shouldn’t have done that,” she whimpered. “Now, he will kill me.”

  I walked over the bed, grabbed a shawl and wrapped it around her.

  Then, I dragged the woman out of the room, down the hall, and back into the main room.

  Zebulon and Tori were arguing the fine points of their negotiation yet.

  They both turned towards me, as I slammed into the room like a hurricane, dragging the bleeding woman behind me.

  “Lilly,” Zebulon asked. “Do we have a problem?”

  “Yes,” I said, answering for her.

  “She was being whipped,” I began.

  Zebulon interrupted me. “Why?” he asked Lilly.

  “I broke a dish,” she replied. Then, she threw herself to the floor.

  “Please forgive me, Master,” Lilly moaned.

  I wanted to scream.

  Tori reached over and took my hand.

 
“She is his slave,” Tori said, but I could hear anger buried in her voice.

  Anger that was directed at me.

  My hands began to tremble. I was so pissed.

  “Would you like to purchase her?” Zebulon asked.

  My American mind almost shattered. Slavery was abhorrent and wrong.

  Before I could tell him what a complete shit bag he was, Tori stepped in front of me.

  Then, she turned and faced me.

  “I have negotiated with Zebulon for the men and the women that he wants to be blessed,” she said, poking me to break me out of my rage. “If you want this slave, you will need to negotiate with him. Attacking him verbally or physically is not alright with me.”

  I looked up into her face and saw only stony determination... she didn’t see anything wrong with what Zebulon was doing.

  It shocked me.

  Then, I realized that this was not my world.

  They had different rules here.

  And, I could not lose Tori’s support. Without her, I would most likely become a slave as well. I wasn’t as strong as a human man, not to mention the alien races. Yes, I had successfully tricked a bunch of rabid monsters. But, a determined group of slave traders would capture me with ease.

  I needed to become strong enough to protect myself and anyone else that I wanted to, as long as I was here.

  “Alright,” I said.

  Then, I looked at Zebulon.

  Before I could speak, he said, “You will bless four men, in exchange for the slave.”

  I couldn’t help it, I laughed.

  The sheer narcissistic pride that permeated his soul confounded me. He saw nothing wrong with slave trading or prostitution.

  Crossing my arms, I stared at him, making believe that I was my mother, and he had just come in late for curfew.

  He looked back at me, mildly amused.

  “That will not work,” he replied.

  So, I took a step forward and imagined that I was now my mother, after she came home and found me -- under my boyfriend -- with our clothes littering the floor.

  Zebulon blinked.

  Then, quickly, he said, “You are only an apprentice. Your blessing isn’t valued as much as your master’s is.”

  Something strange happened. Black mist began to leak out of his mouth.

  My companion shuddered and then clenched within me, like it was trying to tell me something. Then, the tattoo on my upper right chest began growing warm.

  “That… is a lie,” I admonished.

  Zebulon sat up straight and glared at me.

  “Your tattoos barely cover your upper arm,” he spat out, making me wonder how he could see even that. “Your blessing is tiny.”

  Again, darkness escaped his lips, as they turned black.

  And, my tattoo began to ache.

  “Do you think that I’m pretty?” I asked, changing the subject.

  Zebulon looked stunned. Apparently, he wasn’t prepared for that question.

  He looked back and forth from one of his girls to another.

  “Yes,” he finally answered.

  His lips began changing back to their original color.

  Hmmm …. My mind thought, as my tattoo cooled.

  “Do you think Tori is pretty?” I questioned.

  “If I answer that… she will be mad,” he replied.

  No black smoke.

  And, his lips were not black.

  Just one more test.

  “Are you the best negotiator in Burning Tree?” I asked.

  Zebulon smiled and quickly answered, “Of course.”

  My tattoo grew warm again, and a wisp of darkness escaped his lips.

  Bingo.

  Now, I knew what my mysterious tattoo could do.

  It was a lie detector.

  - 11 -

  I looked down at Lilly who was still kneeling on her stomach, facing Zebulon. Tears coated her cheeks, and I could see blood dripping down her legs from the deep wounds on her ass. She looked uncomfortable and scared.

  Suddenly, a thought leaked into my cynical head.

  Before I could stop myself, I knelt so that I could see her face.

  “Are you a trap?” I whispered.

  Fear lit up her eyes. Quickly, she whispered back, “No, Mistress.”

  But, darkness poured from her eyes and mouth.

  “Fuck,” I cursed standing back up.

  Her whipping had been a trap... to attract the foolish female apprentice.

  Zebulon smiled at me, thinking that the spider had successfully drawn the fly into his web.

  Tori reached out and took my hand.

  Power flowed through her grip into me. It felt strange. Turning, I looked at her, and she said, “See the truth.”

  My vision flared and suddenly, I felt dizzy.

  I leaned against her while she held me tight.

  After a few minutes, I stopped leaning on her and stood upright again.

  “Holy fuck,” I whispered.

  Spiders stared back at me and webbing coated the ceilings of the room, hanging down in swirling entwined webs near each of the women.

  Only Zebulon hadn’t changed.

  The women now looked like huge black spiders with splashes of color on their underbellies. Gone were their feminine features. Unlike Zebulon, who was half spider and half human, these girls were all arachnid.

  Thick red scorpion stingers pressed up against their bellies. Venomous poison trickled out of the tips, exposing the women’s desire to sting and kill us.

  At my feet, Lilly was revealed to be a spider, not a woman.

  Even the blood had been fake . Her glossy black fur was whole and unharmed. Like the other arachnids, gems, silver and gold still coated her features, but she wasn’t anymore humanoid than they were.

  “We are the only humans in this room,” Tori informed me. “Everything else is a lie.”

  Anger and outrage filled my belly, as I scowled at Zebulon. He had fooled me once, by attacking my mind. When that hadn’t worked, he had attacked my heart instead.

  Looking down at Lilly, I hissed, “Get away from me.”

  Chittering mischievously, she skittered over to the other spiders.

  “What’s wrong, lover?” she purred contently. “Don’t you want me anymore?”

  My left hand began to twitch, as I fought to control my temper.

  I was tired of being lied to and pushed around.

  My palm began to grow hot.

  Then… flames erupted in my hand.

  It fluttered around my palm, growing larger.

  Zebulon’s eyes grew large and the female spiders began to chitter in fear.

  “Witchfire,” Zebulon squealed. “Impossible! Gray Walkers don’t use Witchfire!”

  “If you kill them, we will starve,” Tori murmured to me.

  I wanted to burn the bugs, squash them beneath my feet and dance on their ashes.

  Sweat began dripping down the sides of my face, as I envisioned roasting them alive. Demons and devils murmured in my ear, urging me to burn the monsters.

  “You will become as bad as Zebulon, if you give into their whispers and burn the spiders,” Tori told me. “You need to be better than him.”

  Her words touched me.

  I don’t know why. I really wanted to burn those fuckers to ash.

  Maybe it was how she touched my arm.

  But, something made me stop.

  I wish it was the good within me, but I don’t think that it was.

  Slowly, I closed my fist and snuffed my flames.

  The female spiders bolted from the room, leaving their Lord and Master to us.