Capture, Claims and Hope
~GCS~
My guess was that it must have been ten or eleven o’ clock. Everyone had bedded down already. We all tended to rise and sleep with the sun. When Brad found me, I was startled, but not frightened in the traditional sense. More like ‘Shit… He found me…’. I had expected to be embarrassed by my spying but, instead, I had been paraded around the fire like a trophy – like Brad had gone out on a hunt and come back with a twelve-point buck. He even cut a lock of my hair and tied it onto the leather cord he had strung with pig’s teeth and rabbit’s feet and wore around his neck – a sign of conquest.
I think some in this camp might have thought that I defected – at first, anyway. Some smiled as Brad pulled me around the site but the smiles were not victorious or superior. Many were fairly light and welcoming, as if the people behind the smiles were offering a friendly greeting – a ‘Hello – nice to see you.’. Some of those smiles shifted and twisted into bafflement when Brad grabbed a small length of rope and tethered my wrist to his. He raised his arms then, forcing me to raise mine and whooped. I noticed Shirley’s frown…
“She will be my mate!”
Now I was frightened. I stared into the
faces around the fire. Many had gone blank
and some people looked away. I couldn’t believe
what was happening and I began to shake my head violently in protest.
This made Brad angry and he jerked the rope so hard that I
fell into the sand. As he started dragging
me towards his shack, I looked once more towards the faces which had
become familiar to me over the last few months, hoping to find a hint
of concern, support or sympathy through the tears that were filling
my eyes. I was kicking and fighting Brad’s
steps as much as I could but he seemed to almost enjoy my attempts
to stop this. My silent prayer was answered
as an older man. Lloyd Hunter, from
“You can’t do this, yet!” he called across the fire. “Remember the ritual! No mating until after the ceremony!” Then, as an afterthought, “You insisted on this rule, Brad, remember? You said this society had to abide by strict rules if we were to grow and repopulate…”
The scraping of sand against my bare legs suddenly stopped as Brad halted and turned to face the protester. All eyes were on him and I sensed that he was momentarily confused. Apparently, Brad was being restricted by his own words. His eyes became momentarily glazed and then they cleared.
“Yes, of course, Lloyd… The ritual…” He cast his eyes down at me to offer an explanation. “Marking must come before mating and all must be present to bear witness….”
Marking? I didn’t know what he was talking about and I guess my expression showed that. Brad began to touch his face with his fingers and pointed to a couple sitting back from the pit. They had identical markings on their faces and throats, probably made from soot or tar. Of course. We had noticed this before the group split. The markings identified couples. Brad smiled at the group like a benevolent slavemaster but his eyes were hard.
“Get up, Glynnis,” he ordered, as if I had a choice. My arm was snapped up by the rope and my body rose, out of my control. When I was on my feet, he pressed his fingers into my shoulders as if daring me to fight him. “We’ll rest for a while and then have the ritual. It will give Linda time to make your wedding crown.” Then he leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Don’t worry, Glynnis. There will be no vows. No words need be spoken by you. I’ll mark you and then you’ll be mine. The end…”
I couldn’t look into his face any longer. He had the eyes of a crazy man. I actually felt faint as I looked towards the trees, hoping that I might be rescued. He must have read my mind.
“No one’s coming, Glynnis. There are no heroes here…”
When we reached Brad’s hut, he untied the end of rope from his wrist and wound it around a stake that supported his shack. I wasn’t going anywhere. He issued one last order before going inside.
“Linda! Make her a crown!”
Now I sat, leaning against the entry to Brad’s hut, unable to move away. I was exhausted but fear made rest impossible. All I could do was gaze out at the landscape before me and pray that I had been missed and that someone Kevin… would come looking for me. Was he still checking on me during the night? Would he worry or continue to give me space? What if he did come? Would there be a fight? Would he be hurt? Brad’s people had weapons…
My eyes studied the camp, trying to make some sense of what had been formed here. There wasn’t much here that seemed too different from the original settlement, however, there were a couple of exceptions. Near the fire was a small pot that was filled with a dark liquid that revealed shimmers of red in the fire’s light. It looked like blood and it probably was. Slaughtered animals were drained but we had never saved their blood. Although I rationalized that it may be used as some type of fertilizer, I couldn’t be sure. At the edge of the camp, a large cage had been fashioned from bamboo. It was too narrow and tall for an animal and, besides, animals were generally kept fenced. When I noticed a blanket piled in one corner, it dawned on me that this might have been the camp jail cell. It would be like Brad to insist on a prison, of sorts. What in the hell was wrong with these people?
I jumped as the sound of Brad’s voice snatched my thoughts.
“Get some sleep, Glynnis. You’ll need some energy in just a few hours when my dick is in your mouth…”
The menacing chuckle that followed his disgusting comment sent shivers up my spine and my thoughts were immediately filled with visions of sharp teeth biting into his manhood. Then, as if he read my mind, Brad issued a final warning:
“Don’t be getting any ideas about trying to hurt me, Glynn. My hands are gonna be around your neck. My fingers are gonna be against your throat….”
I got physically ill then and leaned away as far as I could. The only sounds I heard were my dry heaves, Brad’s tormenting laugh and the occasional popping of the fire.
**************
~KSR~
I think I surprised everyone by not bolting through the trees, hollering bloody murder and waving a machete. An unexpected sense of calm had taken over. Not peace. More like rationality. We’d all suspected that Brad was ‘off’ but now we knew that he was actually nuts. I know that’s not a politically correct description but, fuck me, I didn’t feel very ‘politically correct’. Despite my outward coolness, I was pissed beyond belief and scared. The factor that forced me to keep myself in line was that I had a mission. A serious mission. There could be no fuck-ups. I didn’t dare let go with my real feelings because my desires, at that time, involved serious injury….or worse. Although emotion bubbled just beneath the surface, I had gone past that. Emotion is what makes us human. I didn’t feel human anymore.
The mission would be fairly simple and straightforward. We would go into what had become the enemy camp and bring Glynnis home. If things went forward without any problem, we might discuss the general situation with the ones who had left. That second part was not my idea. I didn’t want to talk to these assholes. They were being led around by the balls by a crazy cocksucker. Part of me felt like I was going crazy, too.
It was after
“Try to keep you eye on him. I’m afraid he’s gonna blow and I don’t want him to get hurt. We’ve seen him drunk mad. We’ve seen him angry mad. We’ve seen him bossy mad. But, Nick – right now he’s crazy mad. Y’all just get Glynn and come back home…”
I felt the corners of my mouth turn up with some sick amusement. Brian was right. I was ‘crazy mad’. Brad would have nothing on me.
Ritual Interruptus
~KSR~
My ‘brothers’ tried to talk to me as we began to make our way down the beach. We had opted to take the long way ‘round, thinking we would make less noise on our approach and that would give us a chance to observe before we entered the camp. AJ, in particular, was practically dancing around me, making idle chatter. I guess that was his attempt to lighten things up. Wasn’t working. While he joked about feeling like he was playing a role on some TV espionage show and laughed at the absurdity of the situation, I kept quiet. Finally, at Howie’s urging, he shut the fuck up. I guess Howie thought I might get mad and start yelling or something, but I was beyond that. Funny what determination can do to you. I wouldn’t be distracted.
We must have looked ridiculous. Most had on shorts and tee-shirts or wife beaters. We were all barefoot, except for Howie who wore flip-flops. Nick carried a machete – more for intimidation than anything else and Jamal had one of the rifles. As we got closer to Brad’s camp, I would hand my weapon to Les. I didn’t want to walk into camp with ‘protection’. Instinctively, I knew I’d have to make a stand and I’d have to do it without the frills. It would have to be ‘man to man’, so to speak. I guess it was a psychological thing. Brad might have been nuts but he was undeniably proud. I didn’t think he would use a weapon against anyone who was unarmed. Wouldn’t have been ‘manly’. He couldn’t risk looking like a pussy in front of his ‘subjects’.
Anyway, there we were… All of us pony-tailed, except for me. All wore some type of shirt, except for me. All were a little nervous, except for me. I was tired of the territorial crap. If we had to lay ‘claims’ according to some type of delusions that Brad had conjured up, so be it - I would lay a claim. Reasoning with him wouldn’t work. I knew that now. Fine. I had spent a good deal of time playing a role in someone else’s fantasies. I knew what to do.
It didn’t take us too long to reach the camp once we came up from
the beach and walked into the trees. We crouched
behind some brush and took in the scene. Several
people stood around the central fire, talking and shuffling as if
they were waiting for something to happen. I
cold see
The fire was going well but I noticed that no one was sitting around
it. It was a little cool tonight but people
stood back. It was also late, yet it looked
like the entire camp was up and waiting. Just
a few minutes later, though, the action started.
We hadn’t gotten there a minute too soon.
No wonder
I detected movement over to the left and turned my eyes to see Brad approaching the fire. No one said anything. There were no questions or comments, like they all knew why they were there. He sat himself down in the sand, cross legged, at the left end of their fire pit, facing west. A minute later, he bellowed an order.
“It’s time for the marking! Get her!”
Marking?My stomach lurched. I could feel my friends
glancing in my direction but I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene
before me. Then, from behind a shack at the
rear of the camp, one of Brad’s buddies appeared, as well as that
English woman, Linda. They stood on either
side of my Glynnis. They had dressed her and
I couldn’t move my eyes from her form. Her
pale brown hair was down, hanging below her shoulders to her breasts. A garland of flowers, like a lei, covered her nakedness
– but just barely. Some type of flower printed
fabric, probably taken from one of the unclaimed suitcases, was wrapped
tightly around her hips and came almost to her knees.
Another garland sat on top of her head. She
looked like a bride – or a sacrifice. In
this case, both descriptions would be accurate.
Linda shoved her toward the fire and told her to sit down.
She shook her head and refused but was pushed down to her knees
by Brad’s friend. Now she kneeled next to Brad, facing south, into the fire.
Her eyes were as big as saucers and, like
***********
~GCS~
I kept my back to Brad as Linda rinsed me. Complete modesty was impossible, however, and I tried to keep my breasts covered. I could hear Brad chuckle as I tried to hide myself.
“Isn’t that cute, Linda?” he snickered. “She’s shy…”
Linda’s mouth tightened into a grim line. She didn’t respond to his remark. She barely looked me in the face and when she had to, her expression was tinged with anger and resentment. I recalled how she hung onto Brad when we all shared the same camp and suspected that she regarded me as an interloper. She had expected to be his mate. If I hadn’t come sneaking around, maybe she would have had her chance.
She stood behind me as she wrapped a girdle of flowery cotton around my hips. Then I felt a rope of flowers drop to my bare shoulders. I glanced at her with some degree of alarm. There was nothing between my skin and the petals. Linda understood my trepidation but had little patience with it.
“No shirt,” Linda growled. “The flowers will cover your tits.”
Behind me, Brad laughed. “And what fine tits they are…,” he muttered. “And they’re mine. All mine….”
“Not yet, they aren’t!” Linda snapped as she adjusted the lei.
Brad laughed once more. What an asshole.
Next, Linda placed a circle of flowers on the top of my head and stood back to appraise me. I almost felt sorry for her and would have given anything for her to be in my place. My shocked disbelief about this whole situation began to give way to tears. There was no Kevin. He probably didn’t know I was even missing. Maybe he didn’t really care. We had both found ourselves in a place where there was little time or room for romance or traditional love. Under these strange, frightening and pathetic circumstances, survival and practicality were what mattered. It occurred to me that things might not have changed so much since the time of early man. Men wanted territory, sex and power. Women wanted protection. I wanted protection now. But I wanted it from an enigmatic man that I barely knew.
“I’m going out,” Brad announced as he stood and wiped the sand from the back of his pants. “Bring her out. Let’s get on with it.”
A minute later, I was being ‘escorted’ to the camp fire. I didn’t want to go and I tried to dig in my heels. It was useless. When we got to the fire, I was pushed down to my knees next to Brad and sat there, on my heels, waiting. Waiting and praying… Please – please – please…. Not this! Not this – please! Send Kevin! Please! Let him come…
As I stared at Brad through a film of tears, I saw him dip two fingers into a small bowl of water that had been placed to his left. Then he stuck those same fingers into the ash near the edge of the pit, wetting the burned powder and causing it to darken into a thin paste. He studied the black film on his fingers and then placed them on his right cheek and drew then down towards his chin and into the stubble in his jawline. He repeated his actions, this time marking the left side of his face. Marking….. He glanced at me briefly before finishing his face-painting and then completed his ritual by drawing a solid line that started in the middle of his forehead, at the hairline, and continued down the center of his nose, across his lip, to his chin, effectively dividing his face in half. Then he dipped his fingers into the water and ash once more, mixing the two substances together. This time, however, he didn’t put his fingers to his face. He held out his hand and frowned – a command for me to come closer. It was time for me to be branded with his marks.
Dear God, I was paralyzed. I knew what all of this meant – not only to Brad but to the others in this camp of defectors. This wasn’t a wedding – a public pronouncement of love and devotion. This was a claim of possession. I would be his property. I would exist for his pleasure. There was no other relationship between us. I also knew that, as soon as I was ‘marked’, his pleasure would begin. His pleasure and my slow death. I couldn’t move. He became angry at my continued resistance and grabbed my arm in an attempt to pull me towards him.
That’s when we all heard it. The sound of breaking twigs and rustling brush came from the west and soon after the silhouettes of several men.
Kevin….
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