Chapter 34

Lauren trudged in front of Nikki and Rebecca towards the house. They looked like prisoners of war, refugees from another land. They had no possessions, and shuffled along with their heads bowed, their clothing tattered. Rebecca was naked, her body filthy from her evening of abuse. Simone led them to the house and guided them through the rear door. She clicked on the light. A piercing scream from above filled the house - a man’s voice, desperately, frantically screaming. A dull thud followed, and then silence.

“Don’t worry. Probably ghosts” said Simone, marching down the hallway to the door downstairs. Lauren shook, hungry, tired and scared out of her wits. She needed the toilet so badly, she needed some privacy as well, some time alone to pull her thoughts together and try and understand what had happened to them this evening. More than anything though, she wanted her mother, her bed and familiar surroundings. The dark house was quite now except for their shuffling. Simone unlocked the door and flicked on the light.

“See you in a couple of hours. Get cleaned up and have something to eat.” She watched as the three girls unsteadily negotiated the steps down into the reception area. Lauren turned at the bottom to help Rebecca, and saw the door close above. They were alone again.

Nikki went ahead and flicked on the lights.

“Oh my God!” screamed Lauren, bringing her hands to her face in terror. She stared at Nikki, her robe shredded to ribbons, cuts and red raw weal’s showing through the rents. “Nik, Oh Nik” she wailed, tears rolling down her face.

“My God, when did that happen?” asked Rebecca, letting the threads of the robe run through her fingers.

“Rebecca, I think you were hypnotized or something. You’ve been in a trance for ages.”

“Rubbish. I’d know if I had. I told them to stop hurting you anyway.” she said indignantly.

“So how did you get all this shit in your hair, eh? All this cum on your face? And where did these bruises come from?” sobbed Lauren.

“These people are nutters, you stupid cow! We’ve got to get out of here!” said Nikki, herself close to tears.

“Listen. Here’s what’s happening next” said Lauren, standing in front of Rebecca. “We get cleaned up and taken back. The priest wants to fuck me. A girl up there said someone died who didn’t do what they wanted. When I refused to get on their stupid altar, that little-bastard-best-man’s-friend fucked Nikki’s arse!” shouted Lauren, her face red with rage.

“Not before I’d got these marks from the priest whipping me. I tell you, you were hypnotized and ordered to do things! Don’t you remember drinking one man’s piss? demanded Nikki.

“Or being passed around the congregation to be touched up, smacked and kicked? They don’t love you or want you. They just want to be amused by you. Feel your pussy. Find out what they rammed up there for fun” said Lauren, walking towards the bathroom. “I’m going to the toilet.”

Rebecca stood there, still staring at Nikki’s injuries, dumbfounded. Nikki shook her head, trying to fight back her tears. She walked through to the bedroom and flopped onto the bed. The toilet flushed after several minutes and Nikki made her way to the bathroom and knocked.

“It’s me. I need to go too”

“Come in”

Lauren was sitting on the toilet, her head in her hands, still crying to herself. Her robe was discarded down by the Jacuzzi, and her naked body looked thin, blemished, like a street urchin might have done a century earlier.

“We need Rebecca on our side. We can’t make it without her.” said Nikki.

“I don’t know if I trust her. She must have known what goes on in this stupid place!”

“What choice have we?”

Neither girl said anything. Lauren shuffled over to the side of the Jacuzzi and stared at the taps. Nikki attempted to sit on the toilet but her bottom refused to support her. She wandered slowly across to the wash basin like an old woman and picked up a pair of white towels, laying them down on the toilet seat. She urinated loudly as she stared at the floor, her arms wrapped around her chest, trying to control her shaking. Lauren turned on the water and let the tub fill up, recoiling like a frightened animal as the door opened. She relaxed slightly when she saw Rebecca in the doorway.

“Look” said Rebecca, “I really don’t understand what’s been happening. This is supposed to be my special day!”

“Hey, do you remember having you picture taken?” asked Lauren.

“Yeah, outside with you two” said Rebecca, pleased with her recall.

“What about coming back in and talking to people?”

“Yeah, pretty much. Suzy gave me some flowers”

“Then what?” asked Nikki, still sitting on the toilet, shaking.

“Er, well, now were having a break. Seems you’re going to join as well”

“When you got the flowers it was about five thirty, right? Now it’s almost half past eight!” said Nikki. “And they’ve got this film of Lori!”

“Don’t worry about the film!” stated Lauren emphatically. “That’s nothing to do with it!”

“I think it is.” said Nikki.

“What film?”

“Nothing” hissed Lauren.

“Someone - like the priestess - seems to know Lori and has taken film of her and Jim without their knowing it. You know, when they were doing it together.” said Nikki, staring at Lauren.

“Oh shit. That’s not the first time.”

Lauren grabbed the taps and turned off the water. “Listen!” she said, looking at the ceiling. They heard the phone ringing. In between rings there was absolute silence, no footsteps, no shouts of `I’ll get it’. It stopped.

“That’s it!” whispered Lauren, with the trace of a smile on her face. “You two stay here, and I’ll call the police. There’s obviously nobody upstairs!”

“Yeah, that’s right!” said Nikki, joining in enthusiastically.

The girls hatched their plan quickly, deciding that they would turn out the lights and Lauren would find the phone - Nikki thought she had seen it near the front door and the recent ringing seemed to indicate it somewhere near the front of the house. They also decided that the robes were too bright, and in the absence of any dark clothing, she would be safer naked.

Stealthily, she climbed the stairs and tried the door knob. It turned easily, allowing a feint crack of light to fall across her face. She nodded down to Rebecca, who clicked off the lights. Lauren’s heart was pounding as she opened the door another few inches, trying to peer down the hallway towards the front door. She looked back, unable to see the other two girls in the darkness.

Lauren inched her way along the cold floor of the hallway, carefully ensuring that the door didn’t shut. Her hands shook again as she felt her way along the wall, identifying light switches and another door which she didn’t remember. Continuing towards the front of the house, she realised she had a choice of two rooms, one on either side of the hallway. Both doors were closed. Gently, she turned the knob on the left hand door. She was relieved to find that the door opened silently, giving way into a darkened room. Curtains were half drawn across the windows, and a large desk filled the majority of the opposite side.

Her legs shook now, her fear increasing as she progressed further from the others. Her outstretched hands felt across the desk top and found a small lamp. She debated whether to turn it on or not, deciding that maybe a momentary flash would be enough to confirm whether there was a phone or not. She found the switch and clicked it on.

She squinted in the bright light, looking away quickly as she tried to adjust to the brilliance of the room. She looked around quickly for no more than two seconds, noting the contents of the room, and then pushed the switch again. The light stayed on. She clicked it again. Still the light remained on, beaconing out through the window. Frantically, she found the power lead and pulled it. The room plunged into darkness. Lauren’s heart raced wildly as she held the corner of the desk to steady herself. Pressure was building in her anus, the muscles in her sphincter doing overtime to hold her together. She listened to the sounds of the house, half expecting any number of people to come rushing into the room to carry her back to the others. There was silence. The tears welled up again in her eyes as a sense of nausea began to rise in her stomach. She recalled in her mind the contents of the room. No phone.

Padding across the hallway, she turned the knob on the other door and pushed. A high- pitched squeak came from the old hinges as she peered round the corner. The room was dark, smelled slightly musty but had a warmth to it that was almost inviting. She ventured further, closing the door behind her so that the catch scraped her naked bottom. She fumbled for the light switch and flicked it on briefly, then off again. A small bed, a table with a washbasin. Fireplace. Junk to her right. Perhaps a phone. She was about to switch on the light when two rectangles of light traveled across the wall, followed by the sound of crunching gravel. Panic-stricken, she realised she could either run back downstairs or hide and hope the driver went straight to the barn.

She stretched her hands out and found the table. Crouching down, she hid underneath, waiting and listening as the engine stopped. She heard footsteps, only one person, she thought. She slid further under the table, pulling her knees up against her chest as tightly as possible, trying to make herself invisible. Her stomach heaved and she again felt the pressure from her gut pushing against her anus, trying hard to find a way out. She breathed deeply, searching for thoughts that might save her from soiling herself in the room. The front door opened. She froze, her heart beating wildly as she heard heavy boots clumping on the stone hallway. She almost cried out as the door to her room opened and the light was snapped on. Through half-closed eyes, she saw a pair of legs walk past the table. A man’s legs covered in big, heavy trousers. Heavy boots, covered in ice and snow. A loud clank resounded in the room as Lauren saw a big gardening spade fall to the floor. A bag landed on the little bed with a thump. Lauren realised that if the man sat on the bed, he would see her, cowering under the table. As if on cue, her sphincter relaxed, and she defecated silently on the floor. She closed her eyes, praying that the man would leave as she felt the warm sticky mess spreading out underneath her buttocks. Within seconds she smelled the familiar stench and knew that she would soon be discovered.