Book by: Cobber

Chapter 17: Captured

Reads: 611

She lay at the corner of the pit, as far away from him as she could. At first, he had tried to explain his action, or lack of it but she had only huddled tighter into her ball and sobbed louder. He could only imagine the shock that she was going through.

Around their necks they both wore collars that were attached to thick chains. The chains were anchored to a pole at the center of the pit. He had tried to lift the pole and free them, but it was useless. It was stuck firmly in the ground, and the chains were too thick to be broken or bent. He imagined that the humiliation and degradation was worse for her. She was naked and the mud and dirt had already begun to cling and dry to her smooth skin.

Luis had tried to sleep in order to escape from the hell but it was useless. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could see her pleading face looking up from the floor, asking for help. He had been a coward and his conscience was not going to let him forget it. Nor could he ignore the arousal he had felt at the brutality Martin had shown her. He wondered if he was any better than the little monster.

He was also distracted from sleep by whatever was going on around them. The ground shook occasionally from an explosion and loud jack hammering frequently punctuated the night. Always, there was the constant movement of machinery and the marching of many feet. Martin would not tell him what was going on and the leash did not allow Luis to reach the top of the pit in order to look out.

There was an especially loud explosion and Kathy jumped. The blast seemed to have rattled something in her and she cocked her head around and looked at him.

"What was that?" she asked quietly. Luis shrugged.

"I don't know. I can't reach the top of the pit and I haven't been told anything," he said jiggling the chain. He sat with his knees out and avoided looking into her eyes.

"Are we going to die?" It was a logical question and he supposed it showed that her mind was functioning with some semblance of clarity. What did anything matter if death was around the corner?

"No idea," he said, not wanting to tell her that their fate may well have been worse than death. He could hear the flies buzzing around her. "You should probably go to the bathroom in the corner, over there." He wanted to change the subject.

"Why did he do this to me?" she sobbed at him.

"He has some kind of crush on you; he had some kind of pubescent dream with you as the star. At least that's what I would guess." She started to sob again and Luis felt terrible.

"I'm sorry, I'm very very sorry Kathy. I really don't know the answer."

"You just watched it happen, how could you?" Luis closed his eyes and said nothing. He searched his mind for something to say, something to console the young woman that lay naked in her own slop. The journalist who had never been for a lack of a word in his career simply said nothing.

***

For a brief instant when Kathy had lain underneath him, her body heaving with fear, he had been able to break out. It had only been for an instant. He had mastered his fears and almost repulsed the Collaq until he had heard the familiar whisper.

"What are you doing Martin? Do you want to ruin it all? Go ahead, help her up, let them go. I'll let you, I'll leave you alone. But when I leave you will die, you will cease to exist." He heard the words and realized he wanted that death. Or at least most of him did. There was a dark sliver inside of him that he had never really known before. It was where his deepest darkest fantasies had resided, and it was this area that the Collaq had been able master and utilize to pry open his mind and eventually enslave it.

It was the part of his mind that often imagined Ms. Leer naked, or that dreamed of skewering Preston alive in revenge for the cruelty. It was the part of his mind that wanted to vent his frustration on all of mankind for the pity and the looks people gave him when they realized one leg was slightly shorter than the other.

He supposed everyone had just such a crevice, and that almost everyone was able to control and suppress the more deviant sides of that personality. The Collaq had embraced this side, augmented it, and released it, unleashing a torrent of emotion and desire which roared through him after years of being held back and denied.

"Martin, you can let the girl up and suffer her pity, or be strong and make her into the object you have always dreamed of. Go ahead Martin, do what you want." The Collaq seemed to indicate he had a choice but in reality he didn't. His mind was clouded with the emotions and the dark sliver had expanded, driving him back deep into the nightmare of his own mind. The Collaq laughed and taunted him until he blocked everything out and surrendered his body once again to alien presence.

He had ripped the girl's clothes off, felt the flesh of her breast, and he had enjoyed it. A part of him knew there was horror and cruelty in the act, but it was numbed and sedated, like a tooth that is being drilled for a cavity. He had enjoyed seeing Luis stand before him, the horror clearly etched on his face, but enable to move or act to help the girl. The power had been exhilarating and when he had slipped the collar around Kathy's neck, he felt that the entire world was within his grasp. A few days earlier such a feat would have seemed absurd and unbelievable. Now it was only what he was due.

That moment of doubt had only lasted for a moment. Martin stood at the edge of the huge pit opening before him and felt a sense of approval. In the last several days the pace of progress had quickened. Down at the bottom of the pit he could see several bulldozers and tractors moving back and forth, scooping up and unloading earth and rock. Figures moved and he realized with satisfaction that the movement was growing. With every passing hour more of the revived walked into the camp, awaiting the instructions that would fulfill Monarch's destiny.

The Collaq had not told him much, but he realized that in the next couple of weeks there were several tasks at hand. The first was to spread the movement as fast as possible beyond Wellow Falls. This, he would accomplish with the advice that Luis had given him. With the journalist's assistance he would descend upon the resort and initiate the party goers into a new and quite different type of holiday.

The second task was more confusing but it was the one that he sensed was the most important. There was something immensely powerful buried beneath Wellow Falls and Martin knew that Monarch intended to have it. Whatever it was, the Collaq had alluded that it was the key to ultimate Nirvana. To a power that would allow him to escape from all of the bonds placed upon him by nature and to truly be free.

For now he was content to expand the movement, listen to the Collaq and have his fun with Kathy and the others.

Martin listened intently to see if the Collaq was there, whispering an instruction. He cocked his head and realized it was only his own mind.

There was no turning back, no reverting to the Martin of before, he thought with satisfaction as he walked back from the edge of the pit.

Submitted: January 29, 2007

Horror fantasy horror evil forces monarch