After Midnight (47 page)
“There you go again. But you know what? Considering your many wonderful attributes, I might just be willing to let you have a go at it.”
“At being your partner?”
“Exactly.”
This was pretty much what I’d been hoping to hear, but I sensed trouble. “What’s the catch?” I asked.
“No catch. There will be an audition, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t know what an audition is?”
“Of course I do. But I don’t see the point. I mean, you’ve already seen me in action.”
“My dear, I’ve
felt
you in action.”
“So why do I have to prove myself?”
“It’s simple. You’re not the only sweet young thing interested in the role.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Judy.”
“
Judy?
”
He laughed. “Of course! Who else
would
it be? Marilyn? Marilyn’s a looker, but she’s much too stiff for the part. Of course it’s Judy.”
“She really is alive?”
Steve had claimed, before, that he hadn’t killed her. But I’d figured he must be lying.
Now
I believed him. Now that I’d have to be going up against her for the “role” of Steve’s partner.
It made me feel strange, somehow, to find out she wasn’t dead. Relieved, I guess. Nervous. Excited.
I felt dread, too.
Because I would probably
have
to kill her, this time.
“What makes you think Judy wants to be your partner?” I asked.
“Told me so, herself. Fact is, until
you
came along shouting all that shit for the whole world to hear, I’d say that Judy pretty much had it in the bag. I don’t think she’ll be very pleased to find out she has competition.”
“She’d make a lousy partner for you,” I said.
“Oh, I’m not so sure of that. I happen to think she’ll make a spectacular partner. Better than you, in some ways. She’s younger than you, certainly more beautiful. Though she’s lacking your magnificent figure, she has a certain innocence that I find very appealing, tremendously sexy.”
“Yeah, well, that’s her problem. She can’t be partners with a
thrill-killer
. She’s a fuckin’ goody-two-shoes.”
“Which is why we need the audition,” Steve said. “She’ll have to prove that she has what it takes.”
“Let’s head over in that direction,” Steve said. Stepping up close behind me, he pointed to the right with the saber. “We don’t have much farther to go.”
I could see nothing over there except more dark forest. I stepped off the trail, though, and started hiking through the undergrowth. The ground was rougher, littered with rocks and fallen limbs. There were also plenty of unexpected dips and rises. I walked very carefully. I’d already had too many falls, and sure didn’t want to go down with my hands tied together.
As I made my way along, low bushes clawed at my skirt and pushed at my legs as if trying to keep me back. Higher limbs slid their moist leaves against my bare arms and breasts and face. Some limbs scraped across my skin like dull claws. Others poked and scratched me, drawing blood. I couldn’t see the blood, but felt it dribbling down my skin, here and there.
Every so often, Steve gave me instructions about which way to turn. I tried to do what he said. Sometimes, though, I displeased him. Either I didn’t move fast enough, or my turn wasn’t exactly what he wanted. He’d jerk the cord, hurting my wrists and twisting me around. Or he’d smack me with the flat of the saber blade. Once, he even jabbed me in the right buttock hard enough to make me bleed. The seat of my skirt got so wet that it stuck to my rump, and I felt blood trickling down the back of my leg.
After he did that, I said, “I’ll make you a better partner if you don’t wreck me.”
“But I enjoy wrecking you. Anyway, I need to soften you up a little for Judy.”
“What do you mean, soften me up?”
“You’re bigger and stronger than she is.”
“So?”
“We need a level playing-field.”
“What for?”
“The audition, of course.”
“What’re you gonna do, have us
fight
?”
“Among other things,” he said, sounding very chipper. “Winner becomes my partner. Loser loses.”
“But I’ve got to be ‘softened up’?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s not fair.”
“We’ve got to be fair to Judy, don’t we? You have all the natural advantages. Besides, she’s been through a lot.”
“
I’ve
been through a lot.”
“Not as much as Judy. She was rather roughly used by Milo, myself
and
you. In her present condition, she wouldn’t stand much of a chance.”
“Then let’s just skip this ‘audition’ crap, and you can declare me winner by default.”
“Not a chance. I think you’d better hang a left about now.”
“If I’m so much better than she is…”
He jabbed my other buttock.
“OW!”
I turned left and kept on walking.
He kept giving directions.
After a while, he kicked one of my feet sideways, tripping me. As I stumbled forward out of control, he said, “Oops!” Then I fell. With my hands bound together, I couldn’t catch myself. I struck the ground hard.
“What a klutz!” he said, and laughed.
I pushed myself up, and we continued through the woods. Finally, Steve took the lead. He stayed well ahead of me, pulling the cord so it stayed taut between us. This went on for a while.
“Are we lost?” I asked.
“We’ll find it. I know we’re close. I had no way to keep the fire going, though. I was gone most of the day, and Judy was certainly in no position to add any wood.”
“How’ll we find it if there isn’t a fire?”
“I know the area pretty well.”
“Not well enough, apparently.”
He gave the cord a rough tug. It jerked my wrists, stretched my arms, and made me lurch forward, staggering. This time, though, I didn’t fall.
We kept walking.
After a while, I said, “Do you mind if I make a suggestion?”
“Suggest away.”
“Not if you’re gonna hurt me for it.”
“What have you got in mind?”
“Maybe you should try calling out to Judy.”
“I don’t think she’ll answer.”
“What kind of partner
is
she?”
“I left her with a gag on.”
“Maybe she got it off. Why don’t you at least
try
calling her? These are big woods. We might
never
find your camp.”
Stopping, Steve turned around and faced me. “You call her,” he said. “She’s more likely to answer if it’s you.”
“After everything I did to her?”
“It’s not half what I did. Tell her you ran into me and killed me and now you want to help her get free.”
“She won’t believe that.”
“Make her believe it.”
I gazed through the darkness at Steve.
If I refused to call Judy, maybe we
wouldn’t
be able to find her.
It might save her life. Or mine.
“Do it,” he said.
“What if I don’t?” I asked.
Steve walked slowly toward me. “You want to find her as much as I do,” he said.
“So she and I can have some sort of
fight to the death
?”
“Against her, you stand a chance.” He raised the saber blade and moved it slowly torward my chest. Because of the way my wrists were tied, my breasts were pushed close together by my upper arms. They had a deep, narrow crevice between them. Steve slipped the blade in. Then he flicked it from right to left to right to left, paddling the sides of my breasts a few times. Not very hard. Gentle slaps that didn’t hurt much, but made me flinch anyway. And worried me.
If he turns the blade…
“Think you stand a chance against
me
?” he asked.
“Not at the moment,” I said.
“Call out to Judy. Make her answer.”
He gave the saber a quick, hard flick. It slapped the side of my right breast.
“JUDY!” I shouted. “IT’S ME! ALICE! WHERE ARE YOU?”
Steve and I stood in silence, listening.
Nothing.
“CANYOU HEAR ME? STEVE’S DEAD. I TOOK HIM BY SURPRISE AND KILLED HIM! HE CAN’T HURT YOU ANYMORE! I WANT TO SET YOU FREE! ARE YOU AT THE CAMP? WHERE ARE YOU? MAKE SOME SOUNDS SO I CAN FIND YOU!”
No sounds came.
Just the breeze and the birds and the bugs.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” Steve whispered. He slipped the blade deeper into the crevice until its point met my chest.
“COME ON, JUDY! I’M SORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING, OKAY? I KNOW I HURT YOU. I WENT TOO FAR, AND I’M SORRY. NOW LET ME HELP YOU.”
Nothing.
“Maybe she couldn’t get the gag off,” I whispered to Steve.
“Or she might be afraid to speak up,” he said. “I knew the gag might not be enough to keep her quiet, so I gave her a gentle warning. I said if I heard her yelling, I’d come back and do some very nasty things to her. You know. With my teeth. With burning sticks.” I couldn’t see Steve’s smile, but I knew it had to be there. “In tender, intimate places.”
“You pig.”
He stuck me.
“
OW!
”
“Be nice to the man with the sword. Now, try again.”
I felt a thin stream of blood sliding down between my breasts. “What do you want me to say?” I asked.
“Whatever works.”
“Maybe she can’t hear me. Maybe she’s already gotten away.”
“I don’t think so. Try again.”
“JUDY!” I shouted. “HE’S ALIVE. HE’S GOT ME. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT, AND MAYBE HE WON’T FIND…”
“Fucking…!” he blurted, and jerked the blade up.
While I tried to back away, the point sliced a vertical slit up the middle of my chest, missed my throat, and nicked the front of my chin. Then I was falling backward.
I slammed the ground. It smashed my breath out, but at least I didn’t land on anything terribly hard or sharp.
Steve lunged at me with the sword.
Its tip popped through the front of my skirt, pierced my panties and poked me.
“No!” I cried out.
And Judy, somewhere not very far away, shouted, “STOP IT! I’M OVER HERE!”
Steve turned his head toward the sound of her voice.
“LEAVE HER ALONE, STEVE! DON’T HURT HER! I’M RIGHT HERE IN CAMP WHERE YOU LEFT ME.”
“Okay,” he called. “Stay put, and keep talking till we find you.”
He raised the saber and stepped away from me. When the slack was gone, the cord grew tight and pulled at my wrists. To save myself pain, I didn’t resist. I sat up, then struggled to my feet.
“Speak to me, Judy,” Steve said.
“I’m over here.”
He towed me in that direction.
“Speak up.”
“Are you okay, Alice?” Judy asked.
“Sure. Dandy. How about you?”
“I’ve been better.”
“What’d Steve do to you?”
“He…”
“All right, all right, ladies. Knock it off. Just count, Judy.”
“Just die,” Judy said.
“Count. One, two, three, four…”
“Go to hell.”
When she said that, Steve jerked my cord. I stumbled forward. Arms stretched forward like a diver (thanks to the cord), I flew off my feet.
Not again!
I cried out, “
AHH!
” and crashed down to the ground in front of Steve’s feet.
“What’d you do to her?” Judy called.
“
I
didn’t do anything to her—
you
did.”
Instead of giving me time to stand up, he trudged backward, pulling the cord, dragging me.
“Alice?” Judy asked.
She sounded no more than a few yards away.
“RUN!” I shouted as Steve dragged me closer to her. “GET AWAY!”
“I can’t.”
He made me lie flat on the ground, face down, my legs spread wide apart and my arms stretched overhead. “Don’t move,” he told me.
Crouching just beyond my bound hands, he worked on the fire. He got a small blaze going, then added sticks from a nearby pile. The flames grew. I could feel their warmth. The fire crackled and hissed and popped. He added larger chunks of wood. Soon, he had a roaring, hot campfire with flames leaping two and three feet into the air.
“Okay,” he said. “Get up on your knees.”
I pushed myself up. Kneeling, I settled back on my haunches.
And scanned the campsite. It looked pretty much the same as last night, but Judy was no longer hanging by her wrists from the tree limb. I didn’t see her anywhere.
Leaving my hands tied together, Steve shoved my wrists in against my belly, then wrapped the cord around me a couple of times like a belt. He drew it backward and looped what was left of it around my ankles.
“Now,” he said, “stay put.”
He picked up the saber, then headed for the tent. Twisting sideways, I watched him. He flung one of the tent flaps aside, poked the saber into the ground nearby, then ducked into the dark opening.
A few moments later, he scuttled out backward. He was bent over, straddling Judy, dragging her by her upper arms. Her head was between his feet. She had it raised and turned sideways, trying to keep her face off the ground.
She was naked, of course.
And hogtied with rope—hands bound together behind her back, feet forced up and tied almost within reach of her hands.
As Steve dragged her toward me, she strained upward, arching her back. She managed to get her upper body off the ground so she was skidding along on just her thighs.
About six feet away from me, Steve hoisted her to her knees. Leaving her, he hurried over to the tent and retrieved the saber. With the weapon in his right hand, he took up a position midway between us but slightly off to the side where he wouldn’t obstruct our views.
Judy and I stared at each other.
The old, red bandana hung around her neck.
She looked awful. And beautiful.
Her sweaty body was smudged with dirt, smeared and streaked with blood. She gleamed like gold in the firelight. She was a battered ruin of welts, bruises, scratches and cuts. I’d given many of them to her myself.