by E. E. Borton
Three weeks before his fourteenth birthday, he was temporarily out of the game. He convinced three classmates to sneak out after dark and meet him in an abandoned cabin in the state park near his home. The two boys and sole girl showed up as ordered. Joshua drugged the girl with over-the-counter sleeping pills his mother kept in ample supply. He stripped and bound her face down on a mattress he had brought the day before in preparation for the event. He directed one of the boys to place a dog choker around her neck. He was told to pull back hard on the leash while he raped her. When the second boy was ready for his turn, the young girl started to regain consciousness. Joshua instructed him to pull even harder until she stopped fighting. He followed each command without question.
Two hours into the assault, a park ranger on patrol noticed a light coming from the old deserted cabin. When he entered, he saw the second boy on top of the motionless girl yanking hard on the leash. The ranger was so fixated on the assault he didn’t notice Joshua quickly swallow several of the sleeping pills and fake being unconscious in a chair. The girl had been dead for nearly an hour.
All three were arrested for the murder of the fourteen-year-old girl, but Joshua was able to convince authorities he was a victim as well. There was no physical evidence he participated in the rape and murder. Test results showed he was drugged with the same substance as the victim, leaving reasonable doubt he had anything to do with the crime. The prosecution couldn’t legally introduce any of the evidence from the prior offense when Joshua was ten. The community wasn’t as easily convinced of his innocence, and the family was once again forced to move. Leaving the county didn’t satisfy the locals. Joshua’s parents didn’t resist the pressure and quickly moved out of the state.
Joshua looked at the move as a fresh start and immediately began the recruitment of players shortly after the family settled in their new home. He learned a great deal from his previous brushes with the law and honed his skills of deception and discretion. His juvenile records were sealed when he turned eighteen.
On his birthday, his parents gave him a gift of a two-week vacation to Miami with several of his friends. He returned home to discover his key no longer fit the lock on the front door. When he peered inside a window, all of the furniture was gone. Joshua may have deceived the authorities, but his parents weren’t as easily fooled. As soon as their legal obligation to allow him to live in their home was satisfied, they did their best to forget the pure evil they created.
With little money and no home, Joshua had very few options for survival in his new world. A few of his friends were looking forward to careers in the military and encouraged him to join. When his pockets were empty, he decided to join the Marines.
He soon discovered the military embraced his naturally aggressive behavior. For the first year, the lack of boredom removed the threat of pent up aggression turning into criminal violence. He easily displayed a deceptive respect for authority and excelled in the Corps. He scored high on both physical and mental aptitude tests and earned a position with the 2nd Special Operations Battalion.
Early into his second year, he was unable to suppress his sexually deviant behavior, but the Corps unknowingly had an answer for that problem as well. With extensive travel to underdeveloped countries, Joshua found an almost limitless supply of local women to assault with little worry of being caught by equally underdeveloped law enforcement. He no longer needed to live out his fantasies through manipulation of others. He’d wait patiently until the unit was scheduled to leave a foreign country before taking his victims. By the time the bodies were discovered, if they were discovered, he’d be safe back on American soil.
The new environment and rules to his games allowed for the rapid escalation of violence and brutality. Being left unchecked, the first murder was easy. Once he tasted the sweet completion of the game by taking a life, the result had to be achieved every time before he could feel satisfied. The Marine Corps became the perfect incubator to cultivate his antisocial personality disorder. When Colonel Brown approached his unit with the promise of greatly enhancing their ability to hunt and kill the enemy, Joshua jumped at the opportunity. He thought about his great fortune handed to him courtesy of the U.S. Government as the young couple stepped closer to its doom.
Their senses and reaction time, slowed considerably by the booze, made it easy for Joshua to step out of the shadows directly in front of them. Before they could adjust their stride, he simultaneously punched both in the stomach using only a fraction of his strength. They crumpled to the ground, unable to catch their breath, and unable to scream for help. Joshua calmly picked up the petite girl under his arm and carried the six-foot-two athlete by the back of his belt. When he returned to the car, he bound their hands and feet with plastic zip ties and duct taped their mouths. The boy made the mistake of trying to fight off the predator and was easily knocked unconscious. Joshua whistled during the drive to his hideout, occasionally looking in the rear view mirror at his prize. He whistled louder as each mile passed, bringing him closer to the playground.
Anne was a senior at the college and Brad was two years behind her. He’d been waiting anxiously for the moment he could possibly hook up with the gorgeous blonde. He regained consciousness as the car turned off the country asphalt onto dirt. A few minutes later, the car stopped in front of a large plantation style home. It had been on the market for nearly three years, but the last prospective buyer drove away six months earlier. The next closest occupied house was nearly a mile away on the other side of a small mountain. They were completely isolated.
Joshua grabbed them both by the hair and dragged them from the car into the house. He wasted no time throwing Brad down a set of stairs leading to the basement with no windows and thick boards covering the only door to freedom. He held on to Anne as he lit a lantern to guide him down the stairs. He didn’t want to toss her on top of Brad and run the risk of damaging her before he was ready. The lantern cast disorienting shadows along the stairwell wall as he carried her down to her fate. He dropped her on the hard ground and set the lantern on a long workbench. He turned up the flame to illuminate the rest of the cavernous room. Her red swollen eyes turned upward when she saw the medieval torture chamber he had created in the bowels of the house. She was silently begging God to save her life.
Joshua shackled Brad to a yoke he suspended with ropes from the ceiling. Two more shackles were anchored to the ground at his feet. With a tug on a chain, the yoke jerked violently upward, nearly dislocating both his arms. His muffled scream under the duct tape signaled to Joshua that he had achieved adequate tension on the rig. He didn’t bother to tie Anne to the metal table he set up in the center of the room. He cut through her restraints, releasing her arms and legs. He held on to the back of her neck and forced her on her knees in front of Brad. He ripped the tape off both their mouths.
“What do you want with us!” yelled Brad, terrified.
“I want you to listen to me,” said Joshua calmly. “If you speak again without my permission, I’ll cut off one of your fingers for every word.” He held up a pair of heavy-duty shears. “If you use more than ten, I’ll start working on your toes. If you use more than twenty, I’ll take your ears, nose, and lips. Twenty-four words and your tongue comes out. Most lose a few fingers. A few got all the way to the tongue. Of course, they didn’t speak English, so they were at a slight disadvantage learning the rules. But they all eventually figured it out. How many cuts until you learn the rules?”
Silence was held in the basement as Joshua stared into Brad’s eyes. “Good boy. Now, what’s your name?”
“Brad, sir.”
“Sir. Oh, yes, I forgot it’s a military college,” said Joshua with a sideways smile. “Would you believe I’m a Marine, Brad?”
“No, sir,” said Brad, shaking. “I mean, yes, sir. Fuck, I don’t know who you are and I don’t care. I won’t tell anyone about this place. I swear to God! Please, just let me go!”
“That’s a bunch of unauthorized words, Br
ad,” said Joshua, reaching up to his thumb with the shears.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood. Do you understand the game better now?”
“Yes, sir, absolutely.”
He looked down at Anne who was trembling, but still trying to hold back her hysteria. “And who do we have here? Such a beautiful girl. I bet you have a beautiful name.”
“Anne,” she said, crying.
“Oh, that is a beautiful name,” said Joshua, pulling her to her feet. “Is it okay if I call you Princess Anne?”
“Yes, sir,” she said, quickly grasping the rules.
“Brad, did you think you were going to fuck Princess Anne tonight?”
“No, no, sir. She’s just a friend.”
“Oh, come on now, Brad. Look at her. You wouldn’t fuck her? Are you gay? Are you a fag?”
No, sir, I’m not gay. It’s just that I didn’t expect anything from her tonight. I was only going to walk her to her dorm room and that’s it, I swear!”
“I’m not her goddamned father, Brad. But the same rules apply when you lie to me. For every word of the lie, I’ll take a piece of you. Now, were you going to try and fuck Princess Anne tonight?” asked Joshua brandishing the shears and stepping closer to him.
“Yes, sir. I was going to try. I’ve been trying for over a year. I’m sorry, Anne.”
“That’s better, Brad. But you don’t need to apologize to her. She’s known you’ve been trying since the first day you met her. That’s how whores operate. They know, but they keep you dangling on the line while they suck every other dick on campus. When they finally drain every other guy dry and get bored, they might consider giving it up to you. Does that piss you off, Brad? Remember, only honest answers.”
“It does, sir. I know she’s been with two other guys in my frat. They could give a shit about her. She was just a piece of ass to them. I actually care about her. I really wanted to date her, but she kept blowing me off.”
“Oh, no, Brad. She was blowing them, not you. She knew you cared, but that’s when they put you in their pocket. They know you’d do anything for them, and they’ll wait until they need something from you. They’ll let you stare at their tits through a small tank top or let you buy their drinks all night long, but they’ll never date you. She’ll just bleed you dry and fuck your entire frat house before she lets a guy like you even touch her.”
“Princess Anne, were you going to give it up to Brad tonight?”
“No, sir. I like him as a friend, but I wouldn’t date him.”
“Good, Princess. Good, honest answer,” said Joshua. “Obviously, you want to keep your fingers and toes.”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“Did he pay for your drinks tonight?”
“Yes, sir, he did.”
“Brad, do you understand now that she was never going to date or fuck you? Do you understand she was going to use you and bleed you dry?”
“Yes, sir,” said Brad, with a hint of anger. “I understand now. She was just using me.”
“Good, Brad. You’re doing so well. Here’s where we start having some fun,” said Joshua, putting Anne back on her knees and walking up close to Brad.
“Just follow my lead,” he whispered in Brad’s ear. “You and I are a team now. We’re going to make it through this together. You and I are going to change everything. You’re going to take from her what she would never give you. You’re going to take what you deserve. Are you with me, Brad? Do you understand?”
“I do,” he whispered.
He stepped back to Anne and pulled her up again. He started cutting her skirt with the shears and continued up through her tank top until she stood shaking in her bra and panties. He stood behind her for a moment, staring at Brad as tears were streaming down her face. Brad’s eyes were fixated on her body. In that moment, he knew Brad would do anything he told him to do to her. He cut through the back of her bra and tore off her panties. He began to whisper in her ear.
“Fight him. He’s going to try and rape you, but fight him off. He’ll pay for it, I promise. Do you understand, Anne? You’ll live if you fight him off.”
“I understand,” said Anne. “I want to live. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
Joshua left her standing naked in front of Brad. He unshackled his feet and grabbed the shackles on his wrists.
“Look at her,” he whispered. “She has an amazing body, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, sir, she does,” he whispered back.
“You can do anything you want to that body. She won’t be able to stop you, Brad. Pay her back for using you. Pay her back for teasing you then fucking all your friends. It’s your turn now. I want you to fuck her.”
“I can’t –”
Before he could finish his sentence, Joshua grabbed two of Brad’s fingers on his left hand and easily severed them with the shears. Brad tensed as soon as he heard the snapping of his bones, but didn’t scream until Joshua threw them on the floor in front of him. Anne didn’t make a sound or try to run. She was paralyzed with fear. Joshua let Brad scream for a moment, but ended the noise with a punch to his stomach.
“Enough, Brad,” said Joshua. “The Princess here is going to think you’re a pussy.”
“Now, where were we?” asked Joshua. “Oh, yes, I was telling you to fuck her. And then you said –?”
“I will, I will,” coughed Brad.
“That’s my boy,” said Joshua, wrapping his bleeding fingers in gauze. “When I release you, take off your clothes and get to work. Bend her over the table and show her no mercy. If she fights you, fight her back. If you make it hurt, you’ll live, I promise. Do you understand? If you hurt her, you’ll live.”
“I understand,” exhaled Brad. “I’ll hurt her.”
He released Brad from the shackles. For a brief moment, Joshua didn’t know what Brad would do. He was free to run up the stairs, but he didn’t. Joshua smiled when he ran straight at Anne who immediately attempted to kick him, but missed. Brad didn’t hesitate to punch her hard in the face. She stumbled back against the metal table, dazed and bleeding from her nose. She swung her arms wildly, but her watering eyes made it difficult to focus on the blurry attacker. He grabbed her under her arms and turned her over onto the table. In spite of the pain of losing two fingers, Brad quickly became erect. He knew his life depended on it.
“Fight him, Princess! Fight him off of you!” yelled Joshua, ringside. “Come on, Brad, don’t let that little whore kick your ass!”
She pounded her fist on the metal table and screamed as Brad penetrated her. She struggled and kicked, but couldn’t get him off of her. He yanked her hair, causing her to scream louder. They were both fighting for their lives as Joshua stood behind them laughing at the show.
He could no longer restrain himself and began to hyperventilate. He welcomed the pain of the transformation as his hands started to mutate. The blood drained from his face, unveiling the pale, almost translucent skin covering the swelling blue veins. He pulled out his front teeth and opened his mouth wide as fangs pushed through his gums.
He lunged at Brad, sinking his teeth into the soft flesh of his neck while forcing his clawed hands deep into his back. His fangs hooked and ripped through both his jugular vein and carotid artery. Blood erupted from the large wound and sprayed several feet across the room. Death was almost instantaneous. The last vision of Brad’s young life was the grotesque silhouette of the monster Joshua had become as he was tossed aside like human garbage.
Anne attempted to turn and look at Joshua, but he slammed her head into the table. It was his turn. He buried his claws into her ribcage while he brutally raped her. He leaned down and tore into her spine at the base of her neck with his powerful jaws. She stopped screaming and went limp when her cord was severed from his bite. He continued to force himself inside her until he was satisfied, several minutes after her heart stopped beating.
14
The Vigilant
Derek parked nearly a mile away from her house. He planned out his route days in advance. He walked along the most dimly lit roads leading to the woods near the house. When there was an absence of vehicles on the road, he would run. Derek wouldn’t hit his top speed of forty miles an hour, but he would sprint fast enough to close the distance without drawing attention from any possible witnesses. It was one o’clock in the morning and a bad time to call attention. When he approached an occupied home or a car, he would slow to a casual walk.
It only took him a few minutes to reach the woods leading him to her back door. With only a quarter mile left and clear trails lit by a full moon, his twenty mile an hour pace quickly brought him to the creek bordering the back of her property. He concealed himself in the creek bed and waited.
The hour was late, but he could see the back deck was lit with Tiki torches and candles. He heard soft music coming from the house. She usually went out with friends on Friday nights and afterwards would sit alone for a few cocktails in the peaceful setting. Two thickets of woods isolated her back yard from each neighbor. Derek thought about how dangerous it was for such an attractive woman to be cut off from help if a stalker were to make her his target. He chuckled at the irony as he crouched along the bank. Only a few minutes passed before she appeared.
She walked by the large French doors while moving towards the kitchen. In the summer heat of Atlanta, she only wore a thin robe barely reaching the top of her thigh. Standing in front of the kitchen window, he watched her pour a drink, and heard her turn up the music. He knew she’d be going outside to the unprotected deck in a matter of seconds.
