Blessed (34 page)

Focus, woman,
she thought fiercely,
you can't look, but you can hear and smell. Use what sense you can.

Trying to hear over her hammering heart was difficult, so she went with smell first. Wet cement, oil, some funky mold smell. The floor was rough and cold under her cheek, and slightly gritty. She still wore her clothes and jacket, but it felt as though her hands and feet were tied.

She counted the beats of her heart and willed them to slow and was finally able to hear the hum of crickets. There were no sounds of breathing other than her own, so she opened her eyes the tiniest fraction of a sliver. In front of her stood nothing but a wooden wall and a stained cement floor. Opening her eyes wider, she saw that she was lying, facing a wall. There must have been a window because enough moonlight shone through to illuminate the room.

She rolled her eyes as far as she could in all directions while trying to keep her breathing deep and even. The edge of a table was visible adjacent to the wall by her feet and cobwebs hung on the open beam ceiling. Lying there for another few minutes, she debated if she should move her head to try to see more details of where she was. Tension filled her body, and she almost lifted her head half a dozen times before chickening out.

If only there was some way to know if anyone else was here,
she thought, wanting to cry but afraid that someone would notice.

A breeze brought a faint whiff of trees and the sound of rustling leaves to her.
Okay, I'm in a forest. Now if Smokey the Bear would come rescue me, that would be wonderful.

She summoned her courage and gave one of her fingers a twitch, hoping it seemed like an involuntary reaction. She waited and waited, listening for all she was worth.

What if you're blowing your only chance at escape? What if no one is out there? What if they are coming right now, and you're almost out of time?
The little voice of panic screamed in her mind.

What if you're wrong, and they are watching us right now? Besides, it's time for brass-balls bitches, not whiney girls, so shut the fuck up and let me get us out of here,
she said to that little chattering voice in her head. The voice of panic had nothing to say back, so she dismissed it and let her foot twitch. Still nothing happened beyond an occasional breeze over her cheek.

She was about to lift her head when she heard the sound of a cell phone ringing. She nearly reached for her pocket when she realized that wasn't her ring tone.

“Hello, David,” Kyle's voice said from the other side of the wall. “Yeah, make a left right there and follow the dirt road. We're in the old barn on the right. She's still out of it, but the tranquilizer you gave me should wear off soon, and the aphrodisiac should kick in.”

Kyle paused to listen to the person on the other end of the phone. “I know. Yeah, I get it, no touching her until you get here. As long as the drugs you gave me worked, she should be confused and panting for a dick, virgin or not. I see your headlights. Talk to you in a minute.”

Eliana's mind raced as the sound of tires rolling over gravel came from somewhere in front of her.
Think, woman. Use that brain that got you a full ride at the university. Kyle thinks you're going to wake up horny and hot for him, and he thinks you're a virgin. That has to mean something. And Kyle can’t be a Chosen, the ring Jack gave me never turned black around him. That means that maybe you’re strong enough to take him. You know he's on the other side of the wall, so now is the time to look.
She felt sick to her stomach as the engine turned off.

Taking a deep breath, Eliana lifted her head and rolled her shoulders to see where she was. She heard the sound of a car door open and then Kyle and another man talking not too far away. She was in a small room of what Kyle had said was a barn. This was probably a workroom. It was abandoned and dusty, empty except for a workbench and some buckets. The windows were broken out, and she could see only the outline of a tree and darkness beyond its branches.

There was a pile of blankets on the other side of the room along with Kyle's backpack with a blue tarp underneath it. Hearing the sounds of the voices getting closer, Eliana glanced at her ring and felt her stomach clench. It was a dead black in the moonlight.

Hastily, she rolled back into the position Kyle had left her in. Hands bound in front of her, knees drawn up in a fetal position, hair obscuring a portion of her face. Keeping the thought of being in Aiden's bed with his breath in her ear, she slowed her own breathing to what she hoped someone in a drugged stupor would sound like.

She almost flinched when a light swept over her eyes. Keeping her breathing even, she watched the glow behind her lids brighten.

Heavy footsteps rattled on the boards and stopped next to her.

An unfamiliar voice said, “For some reason I thought she would be bigger. With all the fuss that's being made over her, I expected some scary warrior bitch. I could stomp this little girl into the floor with one foot.”

Must be David, whoever the fuck that is. When should I start to wake up? I need to get them to untie my hands or legs. I'm not going to be able to do anything like this.

Kyle nudged her feet. “Don't worry. She's got tits like a porn star. Little big in the ass though. I like my women skinnier.”

She felt a brush of energy over her. It felt slimy and made her want to shudder and scrub her skin with scouring powder.

“Well, she's shielded pretty tight,” the unfamiliar voice said. “Looks like Aiden had time to teach her that much. If she doesn't wake soon, I'm going to give her a shot of adrenaline. That'll get her going.”

Feet rattled the boards next to her head as the men moved to the other side of the room. The thought of another drug in her system gave her the strength to stop playing possum. She let her eyelids flutter and began to groan from low in her throat. The sound of footsteps rushed back to her side, and two pairs of hands rolled her onto her back. She stretched her legs out and mumbled something incoherent as she tested the bonds around her hands.

Finally opening her eyes, she looked to see Kyle and a skinny older guy with black hair looking at her.
They think I'm still drugged out of my gourd. I need to play it up.

She let out what she hoped was a sexually frustrated groan. Blinking her eyes and squinting as they adjusted to the lights, she said with a slight slur, “Kyle, what's going on? I feel so...funny.”

The older guy leaned next to her and peered into her face. His eyes were as black as stones, seeming to have no pupil in the low light.
He must be shielding like a motherfucker,
she thought as she fought the urge to recoil from him.
I can't smell him at all.

“Hello, Eliana. I'm David. I'm afraid you're in a bad situation at the moment,” he said with mock pity.

Trying to appear confused, she said, “David, what happened? Was I in an accident? I feel so warm, and my body feels funny.”

Kyle laughed over David's shoulder and rubbed his groin while looking at her. She tried to not let the disgust show in her eyes, keeping them focused on David's chin.

David stroked her hair. “I need to know something. It's very important, Eliana. Are you a virgin?”

Trying her best to fake a blush, she lowered her eyes. “I know it's old-fashioned, but I'm trying to save myself for when I get married...like my mom did.”

David patted her head as he stood and turned to Kyle. “Take care of it.” David started to walk out the door.

“Hey, aren't you going to stay and watch?” Kyle asked in surprise.

David didn't turn around, but his shoulders tightened. “I've lost my taste for rape. I'll be waiting for you at the house. Our goddess will be pleased at your devotion. After you're done, dump her on the side of the road. Remember, keep her alive and bring me her virgin's blood on her panties. If you kill her I will be very, very upset. I need her for additional rituals and trust me when I say you don’t want to take her place.”

She groaned and ran her bound hands over her breasts with a gasp of pleasure. Kyle glanced back at her with a disturbing grin. “Can't rape the willing.”

Gods, is that the motto of the creepy molester handbook?
She thought as she writhed on the dirty floor.

“Wait, David.” Kyle lifted his backpack. “I brought some of my knives with me. Can I cut her?”

David turned and looked at Kyle with a soft smile. “You can cut her, Kyle. But if she dies before you bring her to me, I will keep you alive for nine long days and peel your skin off like a banana.”

“I won't fail you, David.” Kyle's voice shook.

“No, you won't fail our goddess.” David closed the door after himself with a soft click.

With his legs spread and his hand massaging himself, Kyle stood looking at the backdoor for a minute before turning around to her.

Time to go for broke.
She tried to purse her lips into a sexy pout, licking them with the tip of her tongue.

“Kyle, my body is burning. I need...I need something. My clothes feel so tight.” She groaned softly as he knelt next to her.

He smiled and adjusted himself. “Ellie, I want to help you. You need my dick inside of you to make that burn go away.”

She blinked at him and rubbed her chest across his knee. “I don't know. Everyone says it hurts bad the first time. I'm scared.”

His breathing hitched in his chest. She had hit his pervert button just right. She’d figured him for a sadist when he started talking about knives and scaring the shit out of her.

With her bound hands, she reached out and ran her hands along his leg. “Please help me. I've always wanted you, but I was too scared to ask. With this fire in my body, I know the time is right for me to give myself to you. To surrender to your strength.”

Preening, Kyle leaned down and gave her a wet and sloppy kiss that felt more like he was trying to lick her throat than anything else. Hoping to end it as soon as possible, Eliana moaned into his mouth and tried to lift herself. He tasted like stale coffee and bad breath. “I want to touch you, but it's hard with my hands bound like this.”

Kyle frowned at her and began to unzip her jacket and unbutton her shirt. Fearing that she had overplayed her hand, she tried to moan as he slipped his sweaty palm beneath her shirt and forced her bra over to the side. She closed her eyes so she didn't have to look at his face as he groped and squeezed her breast as if it were a water balloon.

Come on. Take the bait.
Aloud she said, “Oh Gods, it feels so good. I didn't know it would feel like that. More, please more!”

“Hold on, baby.” Kneeling next to her, Kyle unbuckled his pants and pulled out his dick.

Making her eyes big and round, she said, “I've never seen one up close before. Can I touch it, Kyle?”

“Yeah, baby, you can touch it. I'll even let you suck it.”

She pretended to reach for him with her hands bound and purposely lost her balance before she could touch him. “Shit, I can't with my hands tied. Please untie me. I want to touch myself while I taste you.”

He stared at her for a minute, and she moved her shoulders so that a portion of her breast slid out. With that, he reached a decision, and Kyle reached into his backpack and held up a scalpel, turning it in the light.

Don't think about what he wants to do with that. You will start screaming and not be able to stop,
she thought fiercely as she held out her hands and licked her lips.

“Hold still, baby. I don't want to cut you on accident,” Kyle said as he watched the flash of the blade as it sawed through her bindings in the lamplight. She kept her hands limp and said a prayer for help to anyone who was listening.

Aiden leaned forward and gripped the steering wheel of the Hummer so hard his fingers turned white. In the passenger seat, Devon slapped a silencer onto his Heckler and Koch MP5. Jack sat in the backseat, sorting out various amulets and charms. He wasn't saying anything because he didn't want to accidentally invoke any of their powers and turn everyone in the car into a pile of bones and goo. Jack had told Aiden that after Aiden kept asking him questions about what he’d brought, annoying Jack and interrupting his train of thought.

Devon gazed into the dark hills through the windshield. “We're getting closer. I can feel her somewhere to the north of us,” he said as he glanced at the GPS on Aiden's dashboard.

“Got it,” Aiden replied as he floored the Hummer.

He was going as fast as he dared on the dark country roads. Whoever’d taken her had held her for close to three hours now, and all the terrible things that could have been done to her in that time tortured Aiden. Images of his dream, with her crying and in terrible pain, kept filling his mind.

Devon was silent in the seat next to him, as he had been for most of the ride. Everyone had met at Aiden's house, where they’d packed the Hummer full of gear before heading out. Jack had brought a RPG 7 grenade launcher, and Devon added some C-4 plastique to the assortment of guns and night vision goggles in the trunk. They drove around until Aiden and Devon could feel her getting farther away and then they’d driven in the opposite direction. It was time consuming, and the car was full of pent-up hostility and frustration.

Heading west out of the city on I-68, they soon began to climb into the hills. The darkness became more absolute as civilization fell behind them. Aiden had to slow on the steep curves as the roads became less maintained. Trees surrounded the road on all sides, broke up by an occasional house or farm.

All three were dressed from head to toe in black, with Dragon Skin Kevlar vests in the trunk. They had all been on rescue missions like this before, and they had all returned with a body instead of a person.

“I can feel an edge of anger and fear from her now,” Devon rumbled. He leaned forward and pointed to a spot on the GPS. “Somewhere around here I think.”

Hoping that anger was a good sign, Aiden turned north and prayed.