After Midnight

57
SEARCHING THE DARK

“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…”
“F*cking…!” 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.”