beds, each separated by a fabric wall, on the other. Curtains were used for doors, suspended on a metal rod with brass rings. The trailer stank of sweat, metal, and mold.
“Who the fuck?” asked Jack from somewhere within. “Mac?”
Arthur climbed into the truck. He could tell that Jack was nearby and he heard someone rustling and moaning. He put his gun away in favor of his blade, not just for a silent kill, but also for a painful one.
He slid open the curtain in front of the first room, but Jack wasn’t inside. Instead he saw a young girl, not much older than Annie, bound by chains to the side of the truck. She had red hair that had been shorn nearly to her scalp. She was nude except for a studded leather belt tied around her waist. Her ribs protruded from her emaciated body. There was a ball gag in her mouth, tied in place by a white cord that was discolored by blood. Her lips bore a fresh wound, and at first Arthur thought someone had stitched the gag in place. Then he realized that someone had tattooed stitches over her lips as a cruel joke.
She was alive, and awake, but her eyes were filled with sorrow. When she saw Arthur, she didn’t recognize that he wasn’t there to rape her. The girl looked at him, and then hung her head.
“Who’s there?” asked Jack from the next room over. The curtain slid to the side and the burly man walked out. “How the hell?”
Arthur hit Jack with the hilt of his blade, causing the big man to stagger back. Then he moved to stand behind the bloodied raider and clasped his hand over Jack’s mouth.
“This is going to hurt,” said Arthur just be fore he stabbed The Bleeder into the fat man’s lower back, through his oblique muscles, just beside his spine. The agony that Jack experienced was intense enough to cause him to stand rigid and gasp. When his victim tried to move, The Bleeder nearly got caught in his muscles, but Arthur was determined to make this murder last. If anyone else had been hiding in the truck, Arthur assumed they would have revealed themselves by now. If he was alone with Jack, he planned to make the man suffer.
Arthur tore the blade free and stabbed again. Jack swiped his elbow backward, but Arthur easily avoided the strike. This time, when Arthur pulled his knife free, a jet of blood spewed forth.
Jack couldn’t scream, the pain silencing all but gasps as he twisted. Arthur pushed the globular man to his knees and then debated how to kill him. He wanted to cause the man as much pain as possible, but if he drew this out any longer he could put Annie in danger. Arthur clenched his teeth and resigned himself to end it.
“Who?” asked Jack, although his voice came out as a sputtering plea that Arthur wasn’t sure he heard correctly.
“Does it hurt?” asked Arthur.
“Yes.”
“Not enough.” He stabbed Jack in the throat and the tip of The Bleeder spiked through the other side of the man’s neck. Arthur knew this wouldn’t kill the rapist immediately, and would leave him struggling not to drown in his own blood. He pushed Jack over as the man convulsed, spewing crimson from his mouth and back. His flopping feet splashed in his blood as he stared up at Arthur, his eyes wide with terror, until his body finally fell silent.
Kim sobbed, uncertain what was happening behind her. She was nude and hogtied, with her backside facing Arthur.
In the months that followed, neither Arthur nor Kim ever spoke about what happened in the trailer. They rescued the other prisoner, a mysterious young woman that came to be known as Stitch because of the tattoo that Mac had given her , and then murdered the remaining raiders as they slept. Only the three of them ever knew what had occurred in the trailer on that horrible night, although Arthur suspected Annie knew as well, but she was kind enough not to ask.
Nine months later, David was born. He was, and always would be Arthur’s son. It never mattered that he couldn’t have been.
* * *
August
“Who the fuck?” asked Jack from somewhere within. “Mac?”
Arthur climbed into the truck. He could tell that Jack was nearby and he heard someone rustling and moaning. He put his gun away in favor of his blade, not just for a silent kill, but also for a painful one.
He slid open the curtain in front of the first room, but Jack wasn’t inside. Instead he saw a young girl, not much older than Annie, bound by chains to the side of the truck. She had red hair that had been shorn nearly to her scalp. She was nude except for a studded leather belt tied around her waist. Her ribs protruded from her emaciated body. There was a ball gag in her mouth, tied in place by a white cord that was discolored by blood. Her lips bore a fresh wound, and at first Arthur thought someone had stitched the gag in place. Then he realized that someone had tattooed stitches over her lips as a cruel joke.
She was alive, and awake, but her eyes were filled with sorrow. When she saw Arthur, she didn’t recognize that he wasn’t there to rape her. The girl looked at him, and then hung her head.
“Who’s there?” asked Jack from the next room over. The curtain slid to the side and the burly man walked out. “How the hell?”
Arthur hit Jack with the hilt of his blade, causing the big man to stagger back. Then he moved to stand behind the bloodied raider and clasped his hand over Jack’s mouth.
“This is going to hurt,” said Arthur just be fore he stabbed The Bleeder into the fat man’s lower back, through his oblique muscles, just beside his spine. The agony that Jack experienced was intense enough to cause him to stand rigid and gasp. When his victim tried to move, The Bleeder nearly got caught in his muscles, but Arthur was determined to make this murder last. If anyone else had been hiding in the truck, Arthur assumed they would have revealed themselves by now. If he was alone with Jack, he planned to make the man suffer.
Arthur tore the blade free and stabbed again. Jack swiped his elbow backward, but Arthur easily avoided the strike. This time, when Arthur pulled his knife free, a jet of blood spewed forth.
Jack couldn’t scream, the pain silencing all but gasps as he twisted. Arthur pushed the globular man to his knees and then debated how to kill him. He wanted to cause the man as much pain as possible, but if he drew this out any longer he could put Annie in danger. Arthur clenched his teeth and resigned himself to end it.
“Who?” asked Jack, although his voice came out as a sputtering plea that Arthur wasn’t sure he heard correctly.
“Does it hurt?” asked Arthur.
“Yes.”
“Not enough.” He stabbed Jack in the throat and the tip of The Bleeder spiked through the other side of the man’s neck. Arthur knew this wouldn’t kill the rapist immediately, and would leave him struggling not to drown in his own blood. He pushed Jack over as the man convulsed, spewing crimson from his mouth and back. His flopping feet splashed in his blood as he stared up at Arthur, his eyes wide with terror, until his body finally fell silent.
Kim sobbed, uncertain what was happening behind her. She was nude and hogtied, with her backside facing Arthur.
In the months that followed, neither Arthur nor Kim ever spoke about what happened in the trailer. They rescued the other prisoner, a mysterious young woman that came to be known as Stitch because of the tattoo that Mac had given her , and then murdered the remaining raiders as they slept. Only the three of them ever knew what had occurred in the trailer on that horrible night, although Arthur suspected Annie knew as well, but she was kind enough not to ask.
Nine months later, David was born. He was, and always would be Arthur’s son. It never mattered that he couldn’t have been.
* * *
August
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