Predator (11 page)

‘Bloody weed-head!’ thought Goose, watching Prince take deep drags from the crumpled roll-up. But compared to their lot, Prince seemed calm, cool and content.

‘Stop staring at me, Goose! Here, try it. One of my fans got this for me from Africa; it’s the real deal you’ll see. By the way, you look constipated. Chill, bro! Go on then, take a deep drag and everything will be alright!’ Prince smiled and held out the cigarette for Goose.

‘Aw, really, bro? It reeks of some pansy malana cream. Dude, get a life, we’ve smoked alien shit!’ retorted Goose. He’d seen plenty of wannabes in life that would smoke weed just to look cool. Twisted losers …!

‘Hush! Bro, unless he’s read the book “
Horn OK Please
–
The Scrotum Scrolls
”, he’ll have no clue what you’re talking about. Does this idiot look like someone who can read anything beyond a menu card?’ guffawed Derek, succeeding to piss Prince off.

Prince flushed angrily, and Derek, continuing to ignore his presence, said, ‘Any news about Grace, Salmonella?’ hoping she’d have some new information. Chief couldn’t help but smile. Derek, he was well aware, could effectively piss off any pisser.

‘Unfortunately, no.’ Salmonella shook her head.

‘I’m sorry to hear that your sister’s gone missing, Hound,’ Prince said. ‘Maybe the devil took her or whatever. But I know that just last week, a beautiful, sexy twenty-five-year-old was abducted, and they found her body in the graveyard after six days. They said that she had been held captive for six days and gang raped many, many times over. When they found the body, the blood had been sucked out of her body, like a vampire had savaged her. They’d ripped open her vagina. Her intestines were hanging out of her body. They left her to die like that,’ said Prince. Although he spoke in a flat voice, Hound could see the gleam of sadistic satisfaction in his eyes.

Hound shuddered in revulsion, and Prince watched with interest as the blood drained from his face. He felt he’d succeeded in getting even.

‘It’s nothing compared to what will happen to you if you don’t shut up right now,’ said Derek, finally acknowledging Prince’s presence; and then, even though he had shut up, he stood up and grabbed Prince threateningly by the collar.

‘Whoa, Dude! Don’t get mad at me! I’m just trying to help! It’s nothing personal. It is always good to be prepared for the worst. I mean if you find Grace dead, lying naked with her intestines hanging out, it would be easy for you to guess what actually did happen. I’m just helping your friend over there. Let go!’ said Prince struggling to break away from Derek’s clasp of his collar.

‘Another word from you and we’ll have your intestines on the floor’, said Goose, looking at Prince menacingly, before turning to Salmonella. ‘Is there any trace of her, Salmonella? Why’d you have to bring this gigolo over here with you? Ask him to get his waxed-butt out of here right now!’

Salmonella flicked her loose hair back with her hand and said, ‘I’m sorry, guys. He’s just like Chris. Ignore him. Anyway, the cops are looking for her. It is confirmed that she is missing. We hope they’re able to find her by the morning.’ The worry was evident on her face as she went over to Hound and placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

The soft moonlight made Salmonella look beautiful. Her silky tresses moved softly in the slight breeze and a faint hint of gentle perfume lingered about her. Prince thought of the first time they made out. It had been tiring yet satisfying. He wanted to take her back to his room and have sex with her.

‘Stupid Grace, how I wish she were dead. The witch, she ruined my night … ’ muttered Prince under his breath.

‘She disappeared yesterday, so today is the second day already. We just have four days to find her if she’s … a victim of the urban legend … ’ sputtered Goose, groping for words as he found it hard to believe that the legend could perhaps be true.

‘Don’t worry, Goose, we’ll find her. She’s my best friend. I care for Grace just as much as Hound. We grew up together, and I’ll do everything I can to find her,’ she impatiently wiped a weak tear on her scarred cheek. ‘For starters, Chief, why don’t you join me today at my workplace and let’s see how to find her from her social media and telephonic footprint?’ said Salmonella.

They were all in this together; they had to sort it out anyway they could – and before it was too late.

‘Sure thing, Florence. Derek and I will be there at 7 a.m. sharp. No time to lose,’ said Chief, volunteering to work with Salmonella, and addressing her appropriately for the first time ever.

‘Chief! You … just called me … Florence … ’ said Salmonella with a faraway look in her eyes. She smiled and looked at Derek. It was obvious she was more than just fond of him. But Derek looked away.

‘I’ll just hang in here with Hound, cool my heels and check out the vineyard’, said Goose, taking the cue from Chief who wanted them to split up and do some investigating of their own. ‘Anyway, the cops should be doing a perimeter survey of the surrounding area.’

‘Yeah, who knows, you might just find her alive if the demon hasn’t killed her yet. She’s probably already been raped a few times by a pack of devils, but she may still be alive,’ said Prince, with morbid relish, a glint of evil in his eyes as he looked at Hound sitting quietly like a broken man. ‘I can stick around with Hound if it helps?’

Salmonella seem to snap, ‘Get lost, you insensitive bastard! You’re all the same!’ she glared at Prince, like an angry serpent ready to strike.

Prince shrugged, turned to walk away, ‘Well, I just tried to help, sweetheart! All right, folks! Time to make a move. If you find Grace alive, then we party up together, my music!’

They waited for Prince to leave. He’d done enough damage for the night.

Then, he seemed to think of something, and retraced his steps. Prince pointed at Derek’s shirt and said, ‘Look! There’s a picture of an elephant on your cheap shirt. If you notice, it doesn’t have a tail. It’s incomplete. Incomplete things signify awesomeness! You will be able to find Grace – dead
or
alive, but you will find her,’ he said mockingly. A furious Derek moved menacingly towards him, and Prince retreated giggling.

Hound slammed his fist against the wall. Prince’s maniacal laughter could be heard for some time from afar.

‘Ignore him. He’s just an asshole! Anyway, my father is with Inspector Khan who has promised all help to find Grace. He’ll come to meet Hound tomorrow morning. Let’s hope he’s got some good news for us,’ said Salmonella, trying to force a smile and make Hound feel better.

‘Since we’re talking about harmless assholes now, Salmonella, where’s that demented brother of yours?’ enquired Chief. Chris had appeared briefly at the party after the spat at Joe’s villa a short while ago, and then seemed to have disappeared altogether.

Salmonella made a wry face and shrugged.

The Predator

It was past 7 p.m., when the sturdy, black SUV drove into the woods. A cloud of darkness loomed over the forest and it suddenly turned deathly quiet. In the densely, wooded patch, a solitary vulture stared ominously at the slow moving vehicle.

As the driver eased the pedal and slammed the brakes, the crackling sound of breaking twigs wrestled grimly with the sounds of nature. The last rays of the setting sun made the tall and stringy eucalyptus trees look strangely ugly and twisted as though they were ashamed of hiding a predator in their midst. The cuckoos and owls bade the spectral glow of the twilight a hasty goodbye.

The evening sky was painted in fingers of red, yellow and a splattering of ghostly white. A slight wind rustled the leaves on the ground.

The driver pushed open the front door and stepped out of the vehicle to inspect the surroundings. The carpet of dry leaves crackled under heavy boots. The place seemed deserted and an eerie silence prevailed except for the occasional hoot of an owl and the opera of insect life.

A sudden rustling of leaves nearby and the driver tensed and whipped out a revolver in a flash and took aim in the direction of the sound. The sound drew closer and the driver held his breath. The mournful wind rearranged the skies and a crescent moon appeared among the clouds in the gloaming.

A dark silhouette sprang out of nowhere and darted past the SUV. With an evil-sounding laugh, the animal disappeared into the depths of the undergrowth that surrounded them.

‘Bloody hyenas!’ hissed the driver and wiped his brow. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead in the cool, evening air.

The man on the passenger side, Grace’s surprise visitor, alighted. ‘Stop messing around! Let’s get going before someone spots us. Quick! Hurry up!’

The thickset driver put away his gun, rolled up his sleeves and yanked open the rear door. He grunted as he slid his arms under the semi-conscious, limp body bundled in a soft, white robe. She wore no slippers.

‘Hurry up, take her through the trapdoor. And wait for me, I’ll see you in a bit’, said the tall man. He checked the perimeter with a quick glance, walked around the SUV and climbed into the driver’s seat. The SUV roared into life, made a wrenching U-turn, and headed for the road.

At the point where the dirt track met the highway, he slowed, slid open the window, and threw out a wallet.

The cicadas resumed their chirruping as the wind picked up and began a mournful dirge through the pale Eucalyptus trees.

The burly man carried Grace effortlessly, and purposefully strode off without looking back. He walked down the thorny, narrow path that led to the base of a hillock. A small mouth of a cave, partially hidden by thick thorny shrubs, lay at the bottom of the slope, along the side of the knoll. He manoeuvred carefully so the thorns wouldn’t hurt Grace.

As he bore Grace into the cave, he paused for moment, balancing his precious burden against the wall, his hip and one arm, while using his free hand to fish out a small flashlight from his pocket. The inside of the cave was quite dark, as the thorny scrub on the hillside not only veiled the entrance on the outside, it also effectively blocked out any light within. The stench of bats that lived in this permanent night state within the cavern was putrid.

A narrow, wooden staircase came into view. Tossing Grace over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift, he started the ascent.

The tunnel was damp; the stairs were slippery with algae and creaked with each step. There was the sound of water trickling down an underground stream somewhere nearby.

He climbed steadily for long minutes and the flight of stairs finally reached a narrow circular trapdoor overhead which opened through the floor of a dimly lit room. A naked low-wattage bulb hung from the damp muddy ceiling. The burly, thickset man placed Grace’s limp body gently on an old mattress on the floor and paused to catch his breath.

‘You lazy lump! Shut the trap door! What took you so long? Hurry up and paint your face before she comes around!’ the furious voice cracked at him like a whiplash, and he froze.

The tall figure from whom the instructions had come turned away impatiently, and the thickset man scrambled to his feet.

The entrance via the tunnel had now been sealed shut but the sounds of the outside world filtered through somehow and seemed to echo within the enclosed space.

The room, which seemed like the inside of a dome, was dark and damp. The mud and brick walls were lined with empty wine bottles to a height of about four feet on one wall and from the floor to the ceiling everywhere else.

The room was funky with a thick smell of blood and alcohol. There were only two entries into the room. One, through the trapdoor on the floor, and the second was a small, heavy wooden door at the far end, behind casks of wine.

A musty smell of damp wood and perspiration was the first thing that Grace grew aware of as she regained consciousness, and she moaned. Her throat felt dry. She lay numb and semi-naked on what seemed to be a rough mattress.

She tried to open her eyes, she couldn’t. She could hear the sound of people walking around her, the clink of metal against glass, gruff voices, and the sound of a heavy door creaking open. It finally dawned on her that this wasn’t just a horrendously bad dream, and she struggled to wake up in earnest.

Groggy, Grace felt a sharp pain shoot up between her thighs. The pain made her wake up fully and she froze. She heard herself screaming; a pair of strange hands was fumbling at her bathrobe while another pair had pinned her thighs down to the mattress. She felt a third pair of hands clasp her wrists.

She forced open her eyes and saw three looming shadows with hideous faces around her. Grace’s heart screamed in terror as the reality of her plight gripped her and ripped through her soul – she was being raped.

The ordeal continued for almost an hour, and she helplessly screamed, shouted and wept in vain. The three men took turns to violate her repeatedly. Physical pain and mental anguish vied for dominance.

Tucked away inconspicuously on the ceiling, hidden between the empty wine bottles, a tiny, video camera recorded every detail of the gruesome act. No one paid any attention to it. No one could see it. Probably no one even knew about it.

As two of them left satiated, the burly man stayed behind to manacle her wrists. Satisfied with his work, he grinned down at her as she lay helpless, smeared in blood and stains, on the mattress. He dragged her upright by her arms, and put her against the wall to shackle her feet.

‘We’ll be back for more’, said the burly man. He laughed into her face, ‘You are pretty tight, my little whore!’

An overwhelming sense of shame overcame Grace. Her soul died. Her belief in God was buried with it. This was not the world she wanted to live in. She was numb, bruised and hurting. She had been gang-raped. Her heart withered within her as it could no longer even remember the feelings associated with happiness.

She thought of the last happy moment in her life. She was excited as she got ready for the reunion. She imagined herself dancing with her batch mates, pure and pristine in the lovely white evening dress that she’d had specially made for the occasion. Reality slapped her hard as tears streamed down her blood-stained cheeks.