The Country Club by Tim Miller

can’t help it.”
         “You’re such a freak,” Sophie said. “I told you he was gross.”
         “Gimme a break, ok? Guys get boners all the time. You just can’t see it usually.”
         “Will you guys all shut up?” one of the girls sitting down said. “Save your fucking energy. Nothing is gonna matter in a while anyway.”
         “Who are you?” Crystal asked.
         “I’m Courtney. This is Denise. We been here a few days, wherever here is.”
         “I know where we are,” Crystal said.
         “What state are we in even?” Courtney asked.
         “State?”
         “Yeah. We’re from California, but they had us in the back of some truck for days.”
         “Jesus Christ. This is Texas, a ways outside of Round Rock.”
         “Shit. There were almost ten of us. But the other night they took a bunch out. A couple guys were here too. None of them came back.”
         Joel stood by watching the conversation. Whatever doubts he had about Crystal’s theory were fading fast. He wondered if Crystal would tell the girls where they were and what was going to happen to them, or if they even should.
         “They won’t either,” Crystal said.
         “So what is this place? You said you knew. How do you know?”
         “I’m a reporter. Well, a blogger, but I investigate stuff. This place is called The Country Club. It’s an urban legend, or thought to be. I was looking to prove it was real.”
         “Well, you know it is now ,” Courtney said.
         “Yeah, a lot of good this does me.”
         “So what do they do here? Like sex slaves or something?”
         “Worse. Much worse. Story goes rich guys come here and pay for people, usually girls, who they can torture and kill ,” Crystal explained. “It’s pretty awful.”
         Courtney looked around at Joel and Sophie. Joel noticed whatever hope Courtney had been holding onto was now gone. He figured she was resigning herself to living as a prostitute, maybe even hoping she could escape. Joel knew as much as Crystal did, there was no hope for any of them. That was why they took their clothes, to keep them from hanging themselves before they could be utilized.
         Courtney began to cry as Crystal sat next to her and put her arm around her. Sophie had her back to them all staring out of the cage and into the darkness. Joel’s boner finally went away as he walked to his own corner and sat down, putting his hands over his face. He regretted listening to Crystal. This trip had been a horrible idea.
     
     

Chapter 13
     
          Caleb wanted to go home, but he knew that would never happen. He sat on a bench in the dreary basement as Dutch stepped out. Caleb was tired, hungry and scared. In the past few hours he’d seen things more horrible than he could have ever imagined. After a few minutes, he stood and wandered around the large basement. There was no one keeping tabs on him. They must have figured there was no way for him to escape, even if he tried.
          He walked through some hallways and looked into some of the large rooms. Some of them had old, rusty torture devices. At least he assumed that was what they were. One item looked like a rack, but was covered in rust and corrosion. There was even a guillotine in one room, but it had been taken apart. As he walked in and looked at the blade, it was dull and cracked in places.
          He turned a corner and heard several voices, women’s voices. The only girls he’d seen at this place were the ones being killed. Picking up his pace, he walked toward the sound until he turned a corner to see a large cage. Inside the cage were several naked girls, and one guy. One of them saw him before he could even figure out what was going on.
          “Hey! You! Help us! Please!” the girl yelling was short with glasses. “Let us out of here.”
          Caleb looked around as he ran closer to the