Lamia (11 page)

Eventually there was a knock at the door and more words were exchanged with the bodyguard.  Then Mateo closed the door and threw the riding crop into the corner.  It was obvious that he had found out I was telling the truth and he addressed me as Lamia, before slipping off my gown and pushing me onto the bed.  With all the things Maria had allowed the men to do
to her
, sex with Mateo promised to be an excruciating experience!  I rolled off the other side of the bed
and told him that I wanted him to take me like a virgin.  Then I took the jar of petroleum jelly, bent over the end of the bed and greased my anus.  It felt ex
citing to be slipping my finger
in and out of that vir
ginal hole, knowing that Mateo was watching and that his stiff
cock would shortly be plunging inside me.  I gripped the edges of the mattress, squeezed my eyes tightly shut and waited.  I wasn’t disappointed!
  At some point there was an explosion outside followed by gunfire, but I knew that Mateo
had arranged for the plan to go ahead as a trap for Almero
, and besides, I felt
the
explosions
inside
!
”

I was determined not to look shocked, even though I could hardly bring myself to speak.  I took another few gulps of water.

“I suppose this was just another power struggle,” I said.  “Letting him know that you could have a say as well?”

“And it worked.  Where do you think Maria would have been by now, always assuming she had survived La Bestia?  I had something to offer and I had proved that I could carry it through.  I had now risen from being a mere possession
to being a valuable ally, all achieved by using the power I had inside me; the power you have inside you, if only you knew how to access it.
”

“But how did you know that it would work?  He might have beaten you to death anyway!”

“It is said that the old Chinese jade merchants negotiated price while studying the eyes of the buyer.  When the buyer reached a price that was attractive to him, his pupils would dilate, telling the merchant that he was willing to pay that price.  The merchant therefore wouldn’t drop the price any lower.  You can tell a lot from the eyes and from studying body language.  As soon as true power is shown, negotiations change.  If you show power to someone who doesn’t possess it, he will back down; if it’s someone with power,
this power is swapped around and a conclusion is reached.
”

I was certain at this point that she believed she was teaching me something and also that I was probably beginning to learn it; if only I knew what it was!

“
Mateo slept in his own room and I slept easier, knowing that I had shown my
true
power. 
The following morning
I rose, washed and chose my clothes carefully from the wardrobe.  Mateo came to see me early, to reiterate what I had told him of the plan to depose him.  Clearly he had no idea about any of it and I was the hero of the hour, but the main thing was that he now spoke to me as an equal. 
He still called me Lamia and when the rest of the household heard this and saw us talking as equals, there was no further need for an announcement to be made.  I was now the mistress of the house.”

“But surely the servants must have been informed,” I said, amazed at her sudden transformation from captive to mistress.

“Why?  Servants are there to follow orders.  At first I would give them orders when I was with Mateo.  Once they understood that Mateo was au fait with it, it then became the norm.  It was the same thing with the mountain-men.”

“What about the five men who raped you,” I said
,
before a stare from Lamia made me correct myself.  “I mean the ones who raped Maria.”

“Pablo, Cesar, Leandro and Luis Almero were tied up in the shed.  This was a strong wooden building used to keep captives prior to punishment. 
Almero’s men had been shot and killed. 
Guillermo had apparently run off in fear, so he was also assumed guilty.  He had stolen a Jeep which he had abandoned high in the mountains.  It didn’t take them long to find him.  In his fear an
d haste he had blundered into an Andean bear which, instead of running away as they usually do, proceeded to dismember him.  As soon as the news was brought to Mateo, I simply announced in front of the servants that nobody escapes from the Lamia.  Mateo smiled; he knew that I knew exactly what I was doing.  Some of the servants crossed themselves and I knew that word would soon get around.
”

“What about Alejo?”

“Alejo tugged on my sleeve when I was in the corridor, just outside my room.  I took him inside where he dropped to his knees, distraught at what he had done, kissed my hand repeatedly and begged for forgiveness.  I told him that the incident would never again be mentioned but that I would use him as my personal servant
, to do my bidding whenever I wanted.  He was so grateful and I had to order him to stop kissing my hand and to leave my room.

CHAPTER 9

The prisoners were kept locked up for a week, so that word of the Lamia could be spread.  Mateo sent word to Almero’s house that they must
surrender all contracts
with the drug barons,
to secure
his release; a release that would never happen.  Mateo could not afford to release someone who had tried to kill him.

We spent some time deciding how the Lamia could be used to our advantage.  I bought a pair of snakeskin trousers, some wild makeup and jewellery and some ethnic tops to go with the Lamia legend.
  Mateo and I plotted how we could quickly spread the word.  Once the legend took off,
there would be no stopping it.
  I always wore a scarf when we were out, so that nobody would remember me for my blond hair.  Mateo’s woman and the Lamia must be kept separate
outside the house
.

We were almost like a couple as we shopped in the nearest large town.  We ate out and even stopped for drinks in one of the bars.  The people around us would never know anything about our lives.
  We spent hours together, caught up in the excitement of our new venture.  There were talks about vast areas of land and I impressed him by my knowledge of the terrain and the culture.  The details of exactly how Mateo was going to take over Almero’s territory, I left to him.  He didn’t see any problem.  I was more inter
ested in working out a strategy to control such a large area once we had secured it.

We agreed to send spies roaming the villages and farms, picking up information both good and bad.  It took me some time to convince Mateo that love and fear together would gain us far more control than just fear alone.  Organised religion has been using those tactics for millennia.”

I was shocked by her last comment.  Maria was the daughter of a preacher; Lamia was Maria and yet she seemed to have a low opinion of religion.

“Religion doesn’t preach fear!” I said.

“Not now maybe, but that’s only because nobody is afraid anymore.  It used to preach hell and eternal damnation in the fiery pit, coupled with God is your loving father.  It’s a great way to control the masses; give them a choice of two opposites with nothing in between. That was how I planned to work our little enterprise.  The more we talked, the more Mateo grew to trust my opinion.  Now when I went to his room it was by enticement and mutual consent.”

I was becoming very uneasy with the conversation.  She was now talking about a relationship with the man who had her captured, had her parents killed and physically abused her.  I had once read ab
out something called Stockholm S
yndrome in which the victim becomes sympathetic with the captors
, the most famous case being that of Patty Hearst who even robbed banks with her captors.  This seemed to me to be way beyond that.  At this point the only explanation I could come up with was that she was trying to change him; to make Mateo good.  It seemed a dangerous path to take!
  I then asked the question, the answer of which I still rep
eat to myself from time to time, when I think about those who have wronged me.

“Lamia, did you never consider revenge for the past things Mateo did to you and Maria?”

Lamia looked puzzled, almost as if she had misunderstood the question.

“How would that have helped me?” she asked.

I opened my mouth to speak, but when nothing came out I simply closed it
again and let her continue
.

“There was some revenge, but only constructive revenge.
 
Mateo wanted to
handle Almero but agreed to allow me to handle the other three
.
  
I saw it as a good
way to spread the name of the
Lamia
.

It was before breakfast that Mateo had Almero
tied to
a
whipping frame.  It was
one of three
vertical metal frame
s
where
men
could be tied
spread-eagled
.  We had breakfast on the patio as they stripped him naked and gagged him with a piece of wood which was secured by a string round his neck.
  He tugged at his bonds with rage before finally resigning himself to the fact that he could not break free.  The mountain-men taunted and physically abused him while we drank coffee and looked on.  When a man is spread-eagled, naked and gagged, there is little
he can do to defend himself, and
I watched dispassionately as they caused him pain.

After breakfast
Mateo appeared on the lawn with a palillo dentado in his hand.  He stood in front of Almero who panicked as much as anybody in his position could.  The fear in his eyes was intense and I was fascinated as Mateo took up a position behind him and aimed the first blow.
  The high-pitched squeals that came from Almero were repeated time and again as the toothed stick was aimed with dreadful accuracy.  I moved closer to witness the raised weals with the familiar canoe-shaped scallops, quickly filling with blood
,
which soon began to seep down his body.  The whole of his back, thighs, legs and buttocks looked like they had been through a mincer.  Then Mateo moved
to
the front, at which point I could not stand there watching any longer.”

I was relieved that Lamia had finally had enough of this violence
, but my relief was short lived.

“I asked Mateo to coach me so that I could wield the palillo as well. 
He showed me how to aim it for maximum effect and how I should begin at the lowest point, otherwise, once the blood began to flow, it could be difficult to see where the last strike was.  It was almost a science
as I aimed the first blow at the calf of his right leg, ignoring his pleading eyes and pig-like grunting noises as he fought for air through the gag.  It was hot work and Mateo ordered some fresh lemonade while I finished up.
  I noticed that I had caught his cock a couple of times
which made it look as if it had been gnawed by rats.  Mateo explained that he would get another beating after about an hour and then a third one sometime later still, after which he should be dead.  I told him that he didn’t have to trouble himself because I had other plans for him.  After I explained my plans, Mateo laughed and nodded his approval.

Later that day I arrived at a village high in the mountains with Alejo and three other mountain-men.  Almero was
covered over
in the back, every bump in the road bring more pain to his injured body.
  The mountain-men assembled the villagers in the main square, close to a burnt-out house.  As soon as we led him out, Almero once again panicked as he recognised the family whose parents he had locked in the burning house.  I told them that he was a present from the Lamia and that they
may despatch him in any way they chose.