Chapter 12

Kalista struggled, the blood pounding in her head. She dug her nails into the forearm around her throat, but barely made an impression through the thick fabric of her assailant’s shirt. Kalista tried to roll to the side, tried to throw her attacker off of her, but they were too heavy. The weight pressed her down onto the sand, and her lungs — already in dire straights from being winded moments earlier — burned.

Her vision darkened, shadows creeping in from the corners of her sight. Kalista’s eyelids shook and began to close ... and then the iron band around her throat was removed. She drew in a desperate, hacking breath. Sweet oxygen filling her lungs.

“Are you trying to kill her, you oaf?”

A man’s voice from above — rough and annoyed. It was also muffled, distorted through the balaclava worn over his face. There was movement, and then a pained grunt. Kalista sensed her attacker being kicked, knocked off of her. She tried to lift herself up, digging her fingers into the sand, but she only managed to raise her face up out of the sand. Kalista turned her head, trying to get a look at the two men.

Before she could, a swift kick to the ribs caused her to flop back down. Kalista whimpered in pain, hating herself for the sound.

The man spoke again, this time to her.

“None of that. Stay down if you know what’s good for you, bitch. Fucking complications...”

Kalista clutched at her side, keeping herself face down — for now. She heard the figure who had attacked her getting to his feet. She still hadn’t heard him speak.

Who are these people? And why would they — are they thieves or something? Kalista tried to surreptitiously look out of the corner of her eye at her attackers, but only got sand kicked into her face for her trouble. She heard him spit, felt the spittle hit the back of her head.

“Move again without me telling you to, and I’ll let my friend here finish what he started. Hell, I might even let him have some fun first. Would you like that, bitch?”

The man put his foot between her legs, rubbing the toe of his boot suggestively against her crotch — laughing when she flinched. He addressed the second man again.

“Tie her up. Blindfold her as well. Hurry up so that — don’t just stand there! Fuck, that blank look of yours ... There’s rope in the dinghy. Christ, I have to do everything myself...”

Kalista heard the man stomp off down to where the boat was resting near the waterline. She risked a quick glance up, and saw the second man was staring at her. Kalista flinched again, expecting another kick, but the man just stared at her. Almost passively. He was wearing a full balaclava, so she couldn’t see his face. Just his eyes.

Hearing the first man returning, Kalista hurriedly looked back down at the sand. He knelt down next to her, and wrenched her arms up behind her back. Kalista winced as her wrists were tied together — he wasn’t trying to be gentle. Her ankles were then bound, with a connecting line between them and her wrists. It was short enough so that Kalista’s legs were forced to curl around. The last thing he did was tie a dirty cloth across her eyes.

“Bet this isn’t the first time you’ve been tied, huh, baby? Not with a body like this.”

The man chuckled crudely, putting his hand familiarly on Kalista’s behind. Her fondled her buttocks, laughing louder when he felt her tense.

He’s dead. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I will. Kalista promised herself savagely as she enduring the groping. Anger was easier. It helped to distract her from the rising panic. She hadn’t seen these people doing anything incriminating — maybe trespassing, but she wasn’t sure how far the borders Serenity Falls actually went. Whatever it was, Kalista just spotting these two didn’t warrant them attacking and tying her up. Not unless they were planning on doing something actually bad. And if that was the case, she was seriously in danger.

The man squeezed her ass one last time, and then sighed.

“Fucking complications. I spend hours on the water, waiting for all these drunk idiots to finally fuck off — and what were they all even doing on the beach? — and yet there’s still one last nosy cunt running around. And to top it all off we land on the wrong fucking beach!”

Kalista considered staying silent, but decided she had to at least try.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I don’t care. Okay? I’m just staying here, I don’t care what — oof!”

The last was the breath rushing out of Kalista’s lungs for the second time that night. The man had punched her in the side without a moment’s hesitation. He ignored Kalista’s pained thrashing, addressing his companion.

“Pick the bitch up. We can’t leave her here, so we’ll take her with us.”

Kalista was in agony as she was picked up by the second man. Her bindings meant that she couldn’t even hunch over around her injured ribs. She was slung awkwardly over the shoulder of the silent man, wincing as his heavy gait caused her more discomfort.

Being picked up caused her blindfold to shift slightly over one eye, so at least she could see what was going on. To Kalista’s surprise, they weren’t heading towards the resort, or even back to the dinghy. Instead, they were carrying her along the beach, heading towards the distant headland.

What are they doing? Where are they taking me? I didn’t think there was even anything out here. They reached the headland of the far beach that Kalista had spotted earlier. There was a pause, and then she heard the talkative man clamber up, cursing under his breath as he slipped and scrabbled up the rocky outcrop. After a few moments he hissed back at them from the other side.

“Get up over here, damn you. If this has all been for nothing...”

To Kalista’s shock, the man carrying her started to make his way one-handed up the headland, steadying her over his shoulder with his other hand. She felt an odd sense of vertigo as was hauled up, even as she was surprised at the man’s easy strength. They paused at the top, right at the far edge looking down.

“Hurry up, don’t just stand there! You’re in plain view — a fucking silhouette!”

For the first time Kalista heard the man carrying her make a noise. He let out a bewildered grunt, hefting her a little as though making a point. Kalista realised that it was probably easier to go up carrying someone than down.

The man below sounded dangerously exasperated.

“You got up there with her, didn’t you? Stop giving me headaches. I don’t care if you fucking drop her on the way down — no, wait!”

In the middle of his sentence, Kalista felt herself being lifted higher — raised over the man’s head. Before she realised what was happening, he casually tossed her over the edge.

Kalista didn’t even have time to twist herself around into a better position. She felt a moment of weightlessness, and then she was falling. Thankfully not for long, but she cried out as she struck the beach. It wasn’t the more forgiving sand either — the beach was rocky, nothing but small stones and pebbles. The breath whooshed out of her, the bonds on her hands and feet cutting into her skin. She’d landed on her front, and she must have bitten the inside of her cheek because she could taste blood. Kalista felt woozy, dizzy.

A second later Kalista heard a loud and heavy crunch as the man who had thrown her jumped down onto the beach. She didn’t have a moment to react to that however, as she was rolled onto her side, with the first man lightly slapping her face.

“Are you trying to dash her brains out? That would be all I need. Hey, you. You still with us?”

Kalista tried to move away, letting out a gasping wheeze.

“Y-yeah...”

“Fuck that doesn’t sound good. Christ, if she croaks on me...”

Kalista started to struggle again as she felt the man put his hand on her front. He cursed her, and then put his ear on her chest, listening to her breath for a few moments. He straightened, leaving his hand where it was.