From the hallway outside, she heard footsteps coming towards her, then the key in the large old lock. Light flooded in, hurting her eyes. Looking up, she saw a tall man filling the doorway. The huge man swayed as if he might fall over at any moment. With his wild red-blonde hair and beard, he looked to her like a wounded Viking berserker.
A party dress rag doll lay on the floor. Eyes open, looking up at me. Fawn eyes, caught in the headlights, more animal than human. A wave rolled across the floor, almost toppling me. I grabbed the doorjamb to keep from going down.
“This is what you came for, no?” Kolya’s voice traveled from miles away. I could feel his breath on my ear. The rag doll scrabbled away pinning her back against the wall.
“I don’t know why you have gone to so much trouble. She refuses to fuck. And what good is a pussy that won’t fuck?” The girl pressed her face into the wall. Kolya grabbed a handful of her tangled hair and dragged her to my feet. Tugging her hair back, he forced her face up. This is no rag doll. She is a beautiful child. The sound of her dress ripping exploded like thunder. I wanted to close my eyes, not have her see me leering at her young body. But I couldn’t.
“This one, she needs a good fucking, and you, well you look ready to help out.” He was looking down at the clear bulge in my jeans. I wasn’t a pedophile. I didn’t fuck children. But apparently my cock did. I hated the way it felt, blood-filled and ready. Hated that any part of me could want to fuck this child.
The girl looked out at me, her eyes pleading. Bile backed up into my throat, I was close to puking. Even in the face of that, the spinning room and the wanting to puke, the betrayer in my jeans throbbed out a rhythmic pulse. I leaned forward, forcing the chain tight, hoping to choke.
“You don’t look happy. Are you a faggot? You take this little bitch, or tell me where the big sister is hiding. Like god, I have given you free choice.” The sick bastard was enjoying this. Slowly I shook my head, the room spun slowly with the motion.
Kolya knelt down, a pair of wire cutters in his hand. “You don’t care if I hurt you, but what about her?”
“Don’t.” The choke chain turned my voice into a rasp.
“Don’t what? This?” One moment he was reaching for the girl’s foot and next she was screaming. Blood rushed from the stub that had been her little toe. He picked up the amputated toe and tossed it carelessly over his shoulder.
I charged in blind rage, but I only took two steps before the chain ripped me back. My feet skittered out from under me and I went down. Pockmark pinned me under his boot, pressing my face to the floor with a revolver barrel. Kolya wrapped a handkerchief around the squirming girl’s stump. Grabbing a fresh toe, he looked over at me, “I hope you will be a man before I get to her fingers.”
“Stop. I know where Anya is…”
“No!” Nika yelled through her tears. “Please. Don’t. Look at me. We are dead. Don’t kill my sister too. I want you to have me. Not one of these fat pigs.” Cries became whimpers, “Please take me… I want you… please…” She reached a hand toward me, pleading. Kolya released her foot, he had finally broken her. He looked down at her with pride in a job well done.
“Then it’s decided,” he said. “She wants you to have her precious cherry, to save her whore sister. How fucking sweet, no?”
Nika’s eyes locked on mine, they begged me to do this thing. I was a dead man. But if they saw her comply, she would live. Dead whores earn no cash. That was the only hope I could find in this ugly mess.
“Bring him,” Kolya snapped. Pockmark walked me, crawling like a dog on a tight leash until I was almost on top of the girl.
Something has gone wrong in the hacienda. A man, a flashlight, searches from above. A light beam cuts through the surrounding brush. It’s been thirty-four minutes since they took the big American. I doubt he is still alive. The hunter from below still stalks my moves. I have doubled back twice and not lost or caught him. Whoever he is, he is good enough to kill me. Dead, I do no good. Trapped between the two. I crawl up the hill. I stay on my belly. I move towards the moving light. He is overweight. He has a child’s face. He has a machine pistol in his hand. When he turns away from me, I move. Springing out, I stand. I swing the razor. He turns. Instead of jugular I slice chunk of neck meat, severing his tendon. His head flops to the left. He lets out a scream. I swing again. He uses the gun as a shield, blocking the blade. My left hand pulls the hunting knife from my belt. I bury it in his back. His scream becomes a death wail. He drops the gun. The razor slices through his throat, quieting his scream to a gurgle.
Somewhere beyond the walls I hear an inhuman scream. “No rescue coming. That will be your boy dying. Now get to the fucking before I get bored and shoot you both.”
Fumbling, I unzipped my pants. My eyes stayed locked on the girl’s. She opened her legs as I climbed on top of her. Her eyes dilated when she felt the tip of my penis brush against her pubic hair. Pockmark had his boot on my ass, and he was starting to laugh and chatter in Russian. I wanted to tell her nothing real could ever be taken from her. But I know that was a lie. Pockmark pushed down, forcing me into her. The girl let out a stifled cry. As I felt myself entering this dry unprepared child, something snapped deep inside my soul.
Driving my fist down, I arched my back and swung up. The motion knocked the boot off me, as Pockmark stumbled I grabbed the chain around my neck and yanked him toward me. Rolling to the left, I pulled him down onto me. His pistol clattered from his hand. Grabbing his ears, I twisted and turned over, landing on top of him. With his ears firmly held, I drove his head down onto the cold tiles. He screamed. I screamed. I slammed his head down again, his skull made a sickening wet crunch. I couldn’t stop. Down went his head, he stopped screaming. His body twitched wildly. Blood and brains slopped from his skull as I continued to pound him into the floor. Somewhere in a distant world, I heard a gun cock. Dropping the ruined man’s head, I glanced up. Kolya was aiming a small automatic at my face.
A roar and flash filled the dim room. Kolya looked down, amazed at the blood draining from his chest. The second shot took him in the gut. His face went from surprise to rage. Then the third shot clipped his shoulder. He fell against the wall. Sliding down, he left a slick trail of blood. He looked down at the oozing blood, surprised, the possibility of being shot had never crossed his mind.
“You bitch, who do you think you are?”
Nika answered by emptying the pistol into his chest. He was dead before the gun clicked onto an empty chamber. She kept squeezing the trigger, clicking on spent shells. Taking the gun from her hand, I tossed it away. She didn’t see me, she was focused on something much farther than the small room could hold. Lifting the automatic that the dead man had dropped, I pulled the girl to her feet. She swayed weakly, her knees buckled. Slipping my arm under hers, I kept her standing. Adrenaline was doing a fair job of countering the booze. The room was still swimming, but I could navigate it. I closed one eye to keep my vision from doubling up on me.
“Where… are the others?” She looked at me, without comprehension. Her eyes rolled up and she went slack. Lifting her over my good shoulder, I dragged my gun hand along the wall for balance. I pushed into the hall. The house was still, in the living room I laid the girl down on a leather sofa. Slumping down beside her, I wanted to sleep, drift off and wake in my bed with Angel. Like a shark, I knew I had to keep moving or die. I didn’t know how many thugs were still alive in the hacienda.
Stumbling from room to room, I opened doors, but found no one waiting to kill me. In the back of the hacienda stood a thick oak door, it was locked, when I rattled the knob I could hear soft voices. Leaning back, I kicked the door, it bowed and cracked but held tight. I bounced backward. Hitting the far wall, I stumbled down onto the tile.