Chapter 3

When Hilary woke up the first sensation that assailed was the stench of piss. Drearily she looked around her. She was in a dank dungeon, humid and dusty. Both her wrists and ankles were free so she tried to rise. Gingerly she got to her feet but the moment she tried to walk the iron manacle around her slender neck made itself known. With little real hope Hilary tugged at it to try to get it loose. Wouldn't budge.

"Bugger!"

This noise elicited a low moan came from the other side of the gloomy room. Hilary twisted her head and squinted hard, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light. Chained to the far wall, a young Western woman with shoulder-length blonde hair was struggling weakly against her bonds. Like Hilary she was naked. Unlike Hilary she was more securely restrained, her wrists were chained over her head, her legs spread wide and cuffed at the ankles. From her bedraggled state, it was plain that she had been subjected to a brutal ordeal, a fact that came as no surprise to Hilary.

"Hello?" she ventured.

Slowly the chained girl raised her head, noticed her new cell-mate and flopped her chin back down.

"They got you as well?" she eventually murmured.

"Err, ... yes," Hilary replied, "where are we?"

"I think it's southern Sudan, Ethiopia maybe ... I ... I have been here so long I can't think straight..."

"My name's Hilary. I work for the BBC. What's your name?"

"Claire," responded the blonde, "I was working as a volunteer at an Ethiopian school until I was abducted... ," she paused, seemingly on the point of sobbing, " ... and ended up here."

Hilary didn't want to ask the next question but did anyway.

"What will happen to us?"

"Us?" Claire snorted, "You're new so the guy in charge - a Sheikh or something - will play with you for a while. He played with me for several weeks ... horrible, bestial things... ," she paused again, " ... but eventually you'll end up back here. Where the guards do want they want with you."

The prospect of ending up chained to a wall as an Arab sex machine appalled Hilary. In a burst of frightened, righteous energy she pulled at the chain linking her manacle to the wall. Grunting with exertion Hilary tugged and tugged. And it didn't move a millimetre.

Utterly exasperated Hilary gave up her struggling, slumping back down onto the dusty floor, as the hopelessness of their plight began to sink in.

"This is a nightmare," she groaned.

Claire just nodded her agreement.

The unwelcome opportunity to dwell on their plight was cut short by the arrival of their masters. The heavy steel door to the dungeon suddenly swung inwards, smashing noisily against the cold brick wall. A huge brute of a Negro stood in the opening, hands on his hips, a sadistic leer creasing his craggy face. Easily six and a half feet tall, his chest was bare, and a pair of loose pants did nothing to disguise the enormous bulge between his legs.

The man moved down the steps, glanced only briefly at Hilary, before crossing to where Claire was hanging from her chains. More men filed through the door behind him, almost a dozen in total. These must be the guards that Claire mentioned earlier. All of them gathered in front of Claire, whose head was again slumped down. The leader smirked and tickled one of her feet. The sudden touch brought a gasp and Claire looked up. When she saw what stood before her her shoulders slumped and she uttered a groan of despair. This drew a chorus of chuckles from the men who started to strip, throwing their discarded clothes into the corner. Many of them already had impressive erections, their thick, hard cocks jutting out in front of them. Hilary saw that some were rubbing their hands with anticipation.

Hilary squirmed uncomfortably in her corner. It was obvious what would happen next and she was desperate to stop it or at least not be forced to watch. But deep inside she was hoping that if she kept quiet the men wouldn't notice her.