Semi-Hard by Candace Smith

us to do what he wants.   He’s smart, Audrey.   I know you feel an ache that it’s over, just like I do; even though it makes no sense after all that he did to us.”
    “God, I can’t go back to Sandersville.   Everyone in town is going to know what happened to me,” Audrey cried.
    Tiana thought about the few people she knew on campus, and she decided that she might have to change schools.   Their thoughts were interrupted when the heavy clang of what turned out to be bolt cutters banged against the back doors of the rig.   As the fluorescent lamps in the parking lot lit the space, Tiana and Audrey cried silently at the five patrolmen staring at them with gaping mouths.
    Other than Dillon’s description, and an even vaguer remembrance of the Russian, the girls had very little information to give the police.   The description of the garage was ambiguous and held no information as to a possible location.   By the time the authorities had learned Dillon’s address, the old house had been reduced to ashes.   There was no evidence to help lead them to a likely location the Highway Slasher might have run to.
    There was almost a relieved glance that passed between the young women when they learned that Dillon had escaped.   As months passed by, everyone assumed that he was cruising the highways again, and the police waited on edge for the news of another abduction.
    Audrey had been right about the reaction of people in her small hometown.   Her parents seemed almost embarrassed that she had survived the ordeal, and her friends kept on pressing for the lurid details of her captivity.   She escaped her notoriety by moving to LA, where she quickly became lost in a city of people as fucked up as her experience with Dillon had left her.
    Audrey took a job at a dress shop in a mall within walking distance of her small apartment.   She kept to herself and did not bother to learn her neighbors’ names.   Tiana had only spoken to her once after they were released from the hospital, and Audrey made it clear she did not want to be reminded of the incident that had stolen two months of her life.
    Tiana transferred to a northern college, and eventually hid behind her studies.   The few dates she tried had ended in disaster, as she would either flash back to her experiences with Dillon or picture his handsome face when she closed her eyes on her date.   Now, she stayed in her apartment alone, and at night she would stroke her bald pussy, envisioning the cowboy as she orgasmed.
    The holidays were approaching and most of the kids had gone home, but Tiana stayed behind in the deserted building, promising to water the plants in the empty apartment beside hers.   Jenna said she would be back a few days after New Year’s, and she was pissed off at her neighbor when she returned to withered dead stalks.
    It was three days until Christmas, and Tiana did not bother with a tree.   She had no gifts to exchange, and she curled up on the sofa in her flannel pajamas, reading a book after watching the falling snow coat the parking lot for a while.   She finished her eggnog and yawned, marked her page, and turned out the light before shuffling towards her bedroom.
    Mikhail had spiked the carton earlier with enough sedative to knock the girl out.   He patiently waited, hidden behind clothes in her closet until he heard the bed creak and the even breathing of the girl.   The former secret service officer was well used to covert operations such as this, and although he did not understand why Viktor wanted the girls, he did not question his orders.   Audrey had been collected and shipped to Russia two days ago.
    He unfurled the duffle bag, and after injecting the girl he gagged and bound her and wrestled her inside the thickly padded canvas.   The extra material altered the appearance of a body, and he checked to make sure she could get enough air through the hole at the top of the bag.   He could take her out when they got to the