Double Fated (Book One)

by C.K. Mullinax

  Chapter Forty One

  Calculating the odds of performing another triple, aerial somersault to go over them got back-burnered. I couldn’t see the guys through the blinding bank of fog. Plus, the floor was already too slippery.

  This chilling scenario was not covered by my big brothers. Improvising, I crouched down and waited. Within seconds I saw two sets of shoes approaching.

  Creator, please help me!

  I slid to the left and punched him behind his kneecap. That is a vulnerable area of the body. Taken by surprise, the guy was lying on the floor in no time.

  “Oowww…she’s…” was all he got out before I kicked him in the neck.

  The kick I landed was hard enough to send his suddenly, limp body sailing. He rammed into someone. That person shrieked, hit the floor with a thud and got silent.

  The other guy nearest to me lunged in my direction. That was a massive mistake. The slick floor brought him down…no help from me, required. He hit his forehead and knocked himself out.

  Blood mixed with the primordial ooze as the moisture saturated the concrete.

  Four to go…

  I took another guy out by spinning my body and performing a leg sweep. The back of his head cracked open.

  The three that were left couldn’t see each other – much less find me.

  “She should be out…” one of them informed the others.

  “Stop pushin’ Man! It’s not like she’s goin’ anywhere…” someone else said.

  “Whoever finds her gets dibs…” another one said.

  “I’m hitting it, first…don’t care who does what, after…” Lyle informed the others.

  “Got her!” someone exclaimed.

  “That’s me you’re feeling up!” another one declared.

  “I’m bleeding…can’t get my footing,” one of the guys who had hit the ground obviously came to.

  I’m back to four…well, three and a half.

  “Our coach will destroy us if we get injured playing around in snot, Stick…”

  So, his friends are from another football team.

  “Dude, that’s nasty! Harring, this better not be snot I just landed in…”

  “It’s not snot, Moron! Just stand still…let it settle,” Lyle ordered.

  My ex didn’t think this through. Another one of the players regained consciousness. He was trying to rouse his fallen comrade. The comment he made suggested they have a different coach too. So, these guys are athletes, but from at least three universities.

  Talk of being benched for head injuries and catching some snot-related disease, stirred Lyle’s posse into hysterical anarchy.

  I was slithering on my belly out of necessity. Unlike the wall ooze that avoided me, the ooze on the floor wasn’t so cooperative. I was getting slimed from head-to-toe. My heart was pounding as I worked my way toward what I thought was the door.

  Then, the unthinkable happened…

  “Here she is!” one of the jocks told the others – and he really did have a hold of me.

  Lifting me up by the waist, he was expecting a fight. So, I went limp. Like Lester, he reflexively tried to stop my fall. Slipping through his arms, my shirt was pulled up. It covered my eyes.

  My sandwich baggie of valuables had nothing holding them against me anymore. It crash landed and slid away. In the commotion, I had forgotten all about my cell phone that used to be hidden in my cleavage.

  I fell to the ground, blinded by fabric but I still started scrambling. I was trying to get away from my captor, pull my shirt down and simultaneously, retrieve my items. If I can power up my phone, my family will track it.

  Feeling nothing but slime, I removed my shirt from my eyes just in time to see my captor slip. I moved as fast as I could, but I still unintentionally cushioned his fall with my back. Pain radiated through every fiber of my body.

  “Come here!” he yelled as he turned to grab me.

  Even though I got away, my escape from his grasp would be a hollow victory. I was having a hard time breathing, which can only mean I broke a rib or two. That particular fracture can puncture my lung. I could internally bleed to death. But, equally important, I can’t fight for my life if I can’t breathe!

  Maker, please I need you to do something!

  “Dude, you said she was out…” one of the other guys informed them, sounding scared.

  “Enough…everyone shut up! And for Kripe’s sake, stop moving…” Lyle commanded.

  The slime and blood were being absorbed as the floor started transforming into something that I thought was a sponge.

  Oh heaven help me…the fog bank was slowly lifting and a room-sized bed is rising!

  “She’s buzzed, man…takes different amounts for different people…” one of the guys informed the others once Lyle gave them permission to speak.

  “I thought it was measured by weight. She should be dead! I didn’t sign…” the guy closest to me tried to back out, but Lyle wouldn’t let him.

  “Smitt, you were the first to sign up, remember? Stop whinin’ like a scared baby. It’s not like she’ll remember any of this. Even if she does remember something, it’ll be scrambled. I’ve seen it before…no cop is gonna believe her. So, you’re gonna take your turn just like you were bragging about earlier – got it?” he threatened him.

  “I’m still in, man…let go of me!”

  “You didn’t listen and started moving around. You’re acting like a pack of wild animals. I told you – you’ve gotta wait for it…” Lyle said, snidely.

  “Hey Treemar, where do you think you’re going?” Smitt asked him when he noticed one of the players trying to turn the handle on the door.

  “He’s not goin’ anywhere – right, my Man? That door’s made of solid steel and Malfo won’t unlock it until I give the say so. He won’t turn the key anyway…until he’s been entertained…” Lyle informed them.

  “I wasn’t leavin’…I was just goin’ to get that Audrey chick. You said she’d be joining us…” he nervously made an obvious excuse, but they took the bait.

  “Malfo, our girl wants to entertain with some chick named Audrey…” Lyle shouted through the small pane of glass.

  I didn’t get a glimpse of our would-be voyeur, but I could see my attackers clearly. Lyle’s gang looked like they had been involved in a train wreck carrying toxic waste, but my ex was spotless.

  Assuming I was buzzed and compliant, they ignored me and waited in anticipation for their delivery.

  Malfo returned and unlocked the door without a word from Lyle. Audrey stumbled inside – partially dressed and woozy. Her eyes were vacant. She couldn’t get her bearings and fell to the padded ground.

  Her hand landed across the face of her son. My valuables…

  “Who’s stuff is this??” Smitt questioned, anxiously as he inspected the baggie.

  “That’s a phone!” a guy wearing a bright red shirt exclaimed.

  “Give it…” Lyle said casually and Smitt handed my things to him.

  He didn’t even look at the contents before he smashed my phone against the wall.

  “There…happy, now…Nervous Skirt?” Lyle asked.

  “Austell’s shakin’ like a wuss…” the red shirt guy commented.

  “Everyone knows guards are the wusses…” Austell shot back.

  “Cells don’t work back here for nothing…” a guy wearing a yellow shirt informed the others.

  “‘…don’t work back here for nothing?’ – man, how’d you get into college?” Smitt asked him, sarcastically.

  “Cell phone signals are jammed back here. The camera doesn’t even work…” Lyle offered, before he smashed my phone against the wall one more time, to make sure it was busted.

  I guess he doesn’t have much faith in the jammer.

  “Everyone shut it about the phone…it’s destroyed. Now, which one of you Ding-Dongs made the comment about, why my girl is still moving? This is what happens when the hook
goes too deep…drooling…jabbering…like doing a dead fish,” Lyle told them, holding Audrey up by her hair to exhibit her for his buddies.

  Her hairline was bleeding from being tugged. Even though my friend didn’t react like Lyle was hurting her, at some point the pain will catch up. This psychedelic hook they’re using works better than any date rape drug I have ever heard of. It doesn’t render a person unconscious. It makes them numb and unconcerned about what’s happening to them.

  I just went through my own brief experience of being caught on that hook. I suppose Lyle pulled me out of it before the drug got too tight of a grip on my mind.

  But, why are the football players not feeling any effects? They were with me in this inordinately long and enclosed room.

  Wait, better question, why am I not buzzed this time around? I didn’t have an answer for either one. I tossed the inquiry on my “answer later” stack.

  The guys were excitedly working out the details of their impending violations. Lyle has decided he will rape me alone because the others have another female to play with. He will be generous and let the others watch if they want to. But, he’s no longer willing to share me with them.

  Audrey is their unexpected bonus. The other players had to decide which order to violate her – all of them feel they deserve to go first. The only thing they could agree on was that Lyle has to go last with her.

  They were debating, calling each by their football positions instead of their names. Austell wasn’t the only guard in the room. One of the other guys was also a guard for a different team. One guy was a safety, one was a full back, one was a tackle and one guy was on his college’s special teams. They never did say which actual position he played, but they referred to him as Special-P. At least, I have some way to identify all of them.

  Audrey will know what they are doing to her and will be aware that she’s being raped. But, she won’t fight against it or say no. She’s incapable of acting in her own interest while she’s on the hook. She can’t do anything to stop them. She’ll just lie where they toss her and suffer through the violations. The pain won’t register until the drug wears off. And, she won’t be able to identify her attackers.

  Her memory will be fragmented. After all, I hallucinated seeing a demon when I walked inside. Although I figure it was a guy in a very convincing demon mask, I wasn’t exposed to the drug for very long.

  The players were still debating as Audrey started reaching out. At first, I thought she was trying to touch me, but I was mistaken. She fought through the drug-induced effects to get my valuables.

  Tucker’s smile was the only visible part of the photograph. That was all she needed to see…

  A solitary tear slid down her cheek as she stroked it with her fingertip…

  And something…from somewhere deep inside my spirit…broke free.

  I could feel whatever it was overwhelming my body, my thoughts and my intentions. But, like all mental breakdowns I couldn’t do anything to stop it.

  Audrey is helpless…but, I’m not.

  I’ve got to get her out of this place…

  Or I will die making the attempt!

  Part Three

  “Out of the deep and timeless darkness…rises the undisturbed hidden…

  The Fated, once unleashed...never returns to its gentle resting place…”