Jolee rolled
away, shuddering. It wasn’t the animal that made her sick, it was
Carlos, the sneering smile on his face, the glint in his eyes.
“Wanna see something cool, chickie?” He
grabbed her upper arm, still holding the muskrat with the other,
and dragged her to her feet. She was doubled over in pain, looking
around with blurry eyes for another exit, but she was forced to
follow around the huge machine in front of them, down an aisle
way.
It was dark back here, although the light
coming from the doorway reflected against the ceiling, giving her
some ability to see. Could she crawl under? Get into a small space
and hide? But Carlos had a gun. He’d slipped it into his belt, but
it was still there. Could she reach it? It was worth a shot. She
took a step toward him, knocking him off balance, reaching for the
butt of the gun, but he turned, shoving her backward onto the
floor. She sprawled, hands thrown over her head behind her, hitting
her head again, the other side this time, leaving a lump she could
practically feel.
“Whoa!” He slammed his foot down on the zip
tie across her wrists, making her howl in pain. He’d just broken
her finger, at least one of them, maybe more. It hurt so bad she
thought she might pass out, the world fading to gray. “Careful.
Wouldn’t want to fall in there. That would be nasty.”
He squatted, turning her chin toward him and
looking down at her. His face filled her vision, upside down, like
a storm cloud. She tried to move her fingers under his foot and it
brought more bursts of pain so she held still, letting the tears
roll down her temples. Carlos was still holding the half-headless
muskrat by the tail and she could smell its decomposing body. It
made her gag, but not as much as what he did next.
Using his other hand, he yanked her t-shirt
up, exposing her bra, his gaze burning over her flesh. Then he
yanked her bra down too, his teeth showing in a sneering smile as
he squeezed and kneaded her flesh. She turned her head away again,
more in reaction to his mauling than to the smell of the dead
animal, wanting to scream, knowing it would do her no good.
“I forgot how beautiful you are.” Carlos
tweaked her nipple and then twisted it, making her wince, but she
didn’t cry out. “And we’ve got time for lots of fun before we get
down to the dirty work.”
He had to stretch to reach her crotch,
cupping and grinding his hand there. “I’m gonna fuck you so
good.”
“That would be new,” she gasped, trying to
twist away, the pain in her hands increasing enough to make her
still. “Besides, your brother’s been doing the job much better than
you ever could.”
He growled, bringing his fist down on her
pubic bone, making her scream and curl up, turning fetal in spite
of the pain in her hands. The hurt between her legs far outweighed
that of her fingers. They were going numb, but her pelvis was on
fire all the way to her bones.
“Cunt!” He stood, yanking her up again,
dragging her by her mangled hands, keeping his grip on the zip tie
between them. “Want to see what I’m gonna do to you?”
He let the muskrat drop, and Jolee heard a
splash. In spite of the pain radiating through every part of her
body, she turned her head to look. There was a vat sunk deep into
the floor beside them, the liquid a good ten feet down. She saw
something—a lid?—on the floor next to the hole, like huge manhole
cover, that had been taken off.
Carlos sighed, looking down at the hole.
"Would have been more effective if it had still been alive I
guess.”
“What?” Jolee glanced down again, still
dazed and in pain, seeing something white floating in the liquid.
She could hear a hissing noise, like steam escaping.
“Sulfuric acid.” He grinned, meeting her
eyes. “Gonna eat you right down to your bones.”
She looked down again at the muskrat
skeleton floating in acid and the realization rolled through her
like thunder. She struggled, trying to get away from him, she
didn’t
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