Cheater's Paradise

by Keith Trimm

  Cindy spoke up first. “Do you know where we are?”

  “No, these woods are huge, I have no clue where we are.”

  “I have no idea what to do, do you have any ideas?” Cindy asked.

  “I think we should stay put for now, we could get injured very easily out here. We step in a hole and twist an ankle and we’re fucked.”

  “What about the dogs?” Cindy asked

  “Not all dogs are the same, I wouldn’t worry about them,” Laura replied.

  “What about food and water?”

  “Food, fuck I haven’t eaten in three days, I’m living off adrenaline right now. You can last a long time without eating. Water, that’s another story.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We have about three days to find help or we could die of dehydration.”

  “All we have to do is find the road,” Cindy said.

  “They will be monitoring the road,” Laura said.

  “Then what else is left?”

  “We might have to go back to the house and find transportation.”

  “You think they’ll just hand over the keys to the truck to us?” Cindy asked.

  “I don’t fucking know anything right now, stop tearing down all my ideas, I don’t see you coming up with any.”

  “I say we go for the road, we can flag down a car.”

  “What if the driver is one of these fucks relatives, or friends?” Laura asked.

  “I’ll take that chance over trying to steal a set of keys from a guy who wants to eat me.”

  Laura looked around at her surroundings and tried to find a place to sleep for the night. It was getting chilly and being naked didn’t help. “Help me move some stuff around, we need to get some sleep.”

  “I need a blanket,” Cindy said.

  “You left it in the basement,” Laura said. “And I don’t have another one.”

  “It’s getting freaking cold,” Cindy said. She was now shivering.

  “You’ll have to snuggle with me, keep each other warm,” Laura said.

  “Great, my first lesbian experience and I have to spend it in the freezing woods.”

  “I’m not a lesbian,” Laura said.

  “I was joking,” Cindy replied.

  The two women cleared a space and spooned with Laura behind Cindy. It was very uncomfortable and difficult to get in a position without a pillow. WIth the additional heat, they still shivered, especially when a cool breeze blew by. It took hours, but they both fell asleep.

  Bob was now chained to a large wood cutting machine in the main bay of the out building. A coupling was used to wrap around his ankle and a tack weld held it in place. A chain was attached to the coupling with another tack weld and the chair was locked around an axle. He was going nowhere. Henry walked over to the light switches and shut off a few. It got dark fast and Bob had to speak up. “Are you leaving me in the dark?”

  “No, I’ll leave a few lights on. I’ll want to come back later and check up on you.”

  Chapter 21

  Return of Momma

  As dawn broke over the woods, Laura and Cindy awoke to the shivering cold Colorado morning. Now covered in dew, they both have plant material and dirt clinging to them as well as the occasional insect. “Fuck this is gross,” Cindy said brushing the leaves and grass off her naked body.

  “I think I got bit a hundred times last night,” Laura said examining her body.

  “I sure could use a McDonald’s right about now.”

  “I know what you mean, we should get going so we can find one.”

  The two women stood up and looked around at their surroundings. Laura took notice of which direction the sun was rising. “That’s east, so we want to head in that direction to get to the road.”

  “I think we should stay off the road, maybe stay in the woods and keep it in view,” Cindy said.

  “We can make ten times the speed on the road, all we have to do is keep our eyes and ears open. If we hear a car, get back in the woods till it passes. You know, it sounds odd to me that we would actually avoid a car.”

  “I know, but these people may all be related to Jethro, or whatever the fuck his name is. Let’s go,” Cindy said and the two women walked in the direction of the rising sun. “What do you know about these guys?” Cindy asked.

  “Not a lot, all I know is they stopped me when I was jogging and asked me to use my phone, the next thing I know they are shoving me in a van.”

  “Did they seem creepy when they first stopped you?” Cindy asked.

  “Yeah, from the get go, but these woods are isolated, who’s going to stop them?” Laura asked.

  “Why the fuck were you jogging out here in the first place?” Cindy asked.

  “I like the view.”

  “How did you get out here? Did you drive?”

  “Yeah, but they took my car. I didn’t know it at the time, but they towed it to their place.”

  “You are the poster child for women who get abducted, you know that? Did you bother to call anyone before they grabbed you?” Cindy asked.

  “They pulled up and I didn’t have time to do shit. They didn’t even give me a chance to get my phone out before they grabbed me,” Laura replied.

  “So what happened after that?”

  “Two of them held me down in the back, they threatened to cut me up if I tried to fight back.”

  “Did they have a knife?” Cindy asked.

  “I never saw one, but I wasn’t going to push it.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “It was a short drive to the “compound” as I like to call it. They took me out of the van and forced me into that shed and down into the basement. Then one of them came in the room and decided he wanted to have a chit chat with me. He said his name was Henry.” Laura took a moment to pause as they strolled through the woods. It was much easier avoiding the sharp branches in the morning light. “We talked for about a half hour and then he raped me.”

  “What did you talk about?”

  “The basic stuff, who am I? What was I doing out here?” Laura replied.

  “Why did he give a shit if he was going to rape you anyway?”

  “Probably wanted to know if anyone would come looking for me.”

  “That’s a good question, is there anyone looking for you?”

  “I’ve been locked in a basement for three days, how do I know?” Laura replied.

  “I mean do you have a husband that would be out looking? Family?”

  “I’m single, but you’d think the state would have a search party out looking for me.”

  “I don’t know how long they search before they quit,” Cindy said. “Maybe they gave up on you?”

  “Probably, these woods are dangerous, I’m surprised we’re in as good of shape as we are. Three days and I might give up too. Lots of wolves and coyotes out here.”

  Cindy stopped for a moment to pull something out of her foot. “When you drove up here, how far away was the closest town you drove through?”

  “There was a little town about an hour away, it might have had a gas station, I don’t remember, it was basically a ghost town.”

  “When was the last time you saw a town with people?” Cindy asked.

  “That may have been in Wyoming,” Laura said.

  “We can’t walk all the way to Wyoming,” Cindy said.

  “No, but we might find a house or some people around that can help us.”

  “That’s the same problem we have now, the reason why we can’t be on the road. We don’t know who belongs to this clan and who doesn’t. We might walk right into a cousin’s farm and get hauled back to that basement. We have no idea who will help us and who will turn us back in.” Cindy said.

  With Cindy’s foot clean, the woman again took off to the east. “We have to take some chances, otherwise we will die out here in the open.”

  “What were they going to do with you after they raped you?” Cindy asked.

  “Henry said they
were going to cut me up and eat me.”

  “Yeah, they said the same thing to us. What kind of fucked up cult is that?”

  “Bunch of inbred sick fucks if you ask me,” Cindy said.

  The women trekked across the brush and woods for more than an hour when they came across a clearing covered in tall grass. Now they could see where they were heading and noticed right away a large lake that spread out for miles. Along the far edge of the lake were cabins and boats tied to a boat dock. They quickly crossed over the tall grass to the edge of the lake to a thin ribbon of sandy beach that went on for miles in both directions. Now it would be a quick trip around the lake, walking on the sand to what may be help on the other side.

  “I think somebody’s home, I can see smoke coming out of the cabins,” Laura said.

  “Good, if my feet get anymore cut up, I’ll need a wheelchair.” Cindy replied. “What if they are members of that family?” Cindy asked.

  “I’m willing to take a chance, I don’t know of any way out and we need help.”

  Bob woke when the lights in the building were turned on. He spent the night lying on the cold concrete floor shackled to a wood cutting machine. Three men approached and stood above him. “How was your night?” Henry asked.

  “Great,” Bob replied rubbing his eyes.

  “Mother will be here soon, she'll want to talk to you.”

  “I think you said that before.”

  “Yeah, I want to make sure you’re prepared, the way momma likes it,” Henry said with a smirk.

  One of the men tossed Bob some hot pockets and walked away.

  “Don’t I get a drink?” Bob said with a grin. “What’s up with this place anyway? How did you get so fucked up?”

  “I’m not going into some detailed history of my family with you, just suffice to say this is tradition and our family is built upon it.”

  “Like Thanksgiving and I’m the turkey?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” Henry replied.

  “What’s the chances you’ll let me go?”

  “Fairly slim.” Henry replied.

  “Had to ask,” Bob said biting into a hot pocket.

  “So tell me, what did you do that made my mother so pissed that she’d come all the way up to Colorado?”

  “I didn’t do anything. Chad killed your brother, your mother killed your dad. I had nothing to do with it.”

  “My mother didn’t kill my father, that’s ridiculous. She loved him.”

  “Jealousy is a bitch,” Bob replied.

  “Jealous of what? That fat whore you came with?”

  “You have to admit, she is a lot younger than your mother, Cindy may be a big girl but she is pretty, and young.”

  “Yeah, I can see how that would be tempting for a man in his seventies,” Henry said. “Fuck, I’d let her suck my dick.”

  “Tell her, she’d probably do it, she’s a nympho.”

  “How? She’s out in the woods with the other girl, probably half eaten by a coyote by now,” Henry said. “Those woods are pretty, but fucking dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

  “Cindy will survive, she’s a fighter.”

  Two thirty in the afternoon Bob hears a car drive up outside the big door of the building and stop. The engine is turned off and he heard a door slam, and another. Then the sounds of muffled voices and footsteps in the gravel of the driveway. He’s certain the mother has arrived from New Mexico.

  Then three figures walk in through the large bay door. One is definitely the mother. Bob sat calmly watching the three approach backlit from the light outside. He couldn’t make out their faces well until they were right up upon them.

  “Is that him momma?” one of the men asked.

  Bob squinted trying to get a better look at the mothers face. The light from behind was very bright in contrast to her face.

  “Yeah, that’s him. You need to find the girl,” momma said. She was humped over from years of wear but walked very well for a woman of her advanced age.

  “We’re trying momma,” the same man replied.

  “How many kids do you have?” Bob asked.

  “Three now, you fucker,” Momma replied with a slap across Bob’s face. “Did have four till you killed Dan.”

  “That wasn’t me, Chad killed Dan,” Bob said.

  “I’m sure you had something to do with it, Momma said.

  “I don’t suppose there’s a damn thing I can say that will convince you otherwise is there?” Bob asked.

  “No,” Momma replied and turned to Henry. “Find the girl first, I want them both before we do anything. If she gets out, we’ll have to leave and I don’t want to be in the middle of this and have to pack up.”

  “Yes momma,” Henry said. ”I don’t know if you knew but we had another girl locked up and she got away.”

  “What? How?”

  “This guy dug a hole in the basement and let them both go, we got there before he could get out,” Henry said.

  “Who is this girl?” Momma asked.

  “Just some girl we picked up jogging on the side of the road, we got her car here in storage, and there isn’t any trace back to us.”

  “There will be if she gets to the sheriff, find her now! Go rent some tracking dogs, do something!” Momma yelled.

  Bob fought back a smile watching this ass backwards family squabble. It was the only joy he had in a long time.

  “Kill him now and put him in the deep freeze, I don’t want him getting loose again,” Momma said. “We have enough trouble as it is with to two girls running around in the woods. Don’t need this bastard making things worse.”

  “Yes momma,” her son said.

  “Take him out back, shoot him and dress him first before you freeze him. I don’t want blood and guts out here in front, use a tree in back.” Momma took one last look at Bob and shuffled back out from where she came from and to the house.

  “Stand up,” the son said.

  “You realize I’m shackled to his machine don’t you?” Bob asked.

  The son walked over to the work bench and pulled down a pair of bolt cutters. He came back and snipped the chain with little effort. “Out,” he said pointing to the large open bay door.

  Bob followed direction and walked out of the building, the son continued to give direction until they were behind the building by the open hole that Bob had dug out with the bed frame. “So this is it?” Bob asked.

  “No, I’m not going to kill you,” the son said.

  “Won’t momma beat your ass?” Bob asked.

  “She’s an old lady, she isn’t beating anyone’s ass, besides my dad who was two years older than she was and should have been living in a home. My mother is a tyrant bitch, always has been.”

  “Are you letting me go?” Bob asked.

  “Thinking about it.”

  “Won’t they try to track me down as well?”

  “Yeah, but I could help you get away,” the son said.

  “Why are you doing this?” Bob asked.

  “I hate my mother, I wish she’d die. You think I like this life style? I think this is the most fucked up thing I’ve ever been a part of.”

  “What’s your name?” Bob asked.

  “Kane.”

  “Well Kane, you’re now my best friend. What do you say you get me out of here?”

  Chapter 22

  Smoke on the Water

  Upon reaching the cabins, the two women stopped to see if they could find anyone outside. They had been looking at the cabins all during the trip, but in their excitement they weren’t sure they were keeping track of everything going on. Cindy put her hand up to shade her eyes from the sun.

  “Do you see anything?” Laura asked.

  “I see a woman on the porch of the second cabin, she has a basket in her hands,” Cindy said.

  “Anyone else?”

  “She’s just went back in the house, no there she is again. And now she’s heading down the steps and heading to the back o
f the house,” Cindy said. “Something’s odd though.”

  “What is?” Laura asked.

  “She’s dressed in some sort of Quaker looking Puritan dress. Can’t you see?”

  “No, I’m nearsighted, and they took my glasses the first day.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  “Let’s go talk to her,” Laura replied and the two women continued down the beach to the rear of the house. “What should we do now? I don’t want to scare the fuck out of her.”

  “I can see her now, let me handle this,” Laura said walking closer to the woman who was digging in the ground next to the cabin. “Ma’am, excuse me.” Laura said.

  The woman bolted to her feet, took one look at the two nude women and ran back into the house. She was gone for a while and Cindy and Laura were at a loss as to what to do next. Then the door opened again and a group of people came out of the house and approached the two nude women.

  “Who are you? What are you doing on our property?” a man asked. He was also dressed like a throwback from the sixteen hundreds.

  “We need your help,” Laura said.

  “Why do you need our help?” the man asked.

  “We were being held prisoner, we escaped and need you to help us get back home!”

  The man looked the two nude women up and down and shook his head. “Witches,” he said.

  “What?” Laura asked.

  “You are witches, came from the lake.”

  “No, we came from the woods,” Laura said.

  “Don’t lie Witch, you came from the lake.”

  “I know we look a bit odd, but I can assure you we are not lake witches.”

  “What do you want Witch?” the man asked.

  Cindy whispered to Laura, “I don’t think he gets you.”

  “No shit,” Laura whispered back.

  The man began to yell, “Do not cast your evil spells here!”

  Laura stepped off the sand and up onto the grass. She stopped ten feet from the man in charge. “Look at my legs, look at my feet, do I look like I came from the lake? I’m all scratched up and bleeding.”