both hands. Heather dropped her head back, facing the sky, and slowly lowered the rat into her ever-expanding jaw. Heather’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as she slowly sucked the rat down into the acidic bucket of her little stomach.
“You butchers!”
“Butchers? I’d say we did a great job, barely a scar on the girl. At least she’s eating now.”
Vanessa struggled to break free.
“I’m going to rip your head off.”
Dr. Phalanx walked over to the drum and put the lid back on.
“Sedate her and take her back to her room,” he said. “She’s got a big day tomorrow.”
Chapter 3
Detective Gill and Deputy Warren pulled up outside Vanessa’s house.
“I should have done this the first time I came here.”
“You didn’t have a warrant then.”
“No, but it could have saved her life.”
“No use dwelling on the shoulda coulda, Detective.”
They got out of the car and went up to the front door and broke it down. They walked slowly through the house.
“What are we looking for?”
“I don’t know. Anything that can give us some clue as to who these people are.”
They went separate ways, Gill towards the bedroom. He stood in Vanessa’s doorway and looked around at all the clothes sprawled out on the floor. The cot was in the corner, towels draped over the railings, a half eaten banana on the dressing table nearby — black and rotten. He went up to the dresser to examine a photograph of Vanessa holding her child in the hospital; the father next to her. They all looked so happy. He thought he should get in touch with the father, let him know what’s happened to his daughter. He wondered why he hadn’t already; could have been a good lead. He figured he was just getting sloppy; too old. He wasn’t cut out for a case like this anymore. Perhaps he never was. Hopetown had never had a case like this.
He opened a jewellery box and found a little collection of empty baggies. All of them had powder residue in them. He picked one up and sniffed it.
“A damn shame,” he said to himself.
“Detective!” Deputy Warren called out from the other side of the house, Gill made his way quickly towards him.
“What is it?”
The two men stood in the bathroom over the bathtub looking down at a pool of black slime.
“Smells like shit, Gill.”
“Yes, it does.”
“Should I take a sample?”
“You’d better.”
The two men searched the rest of the house and found nothing but mess, as if a child left to its own devices lived there. They stood at the door about to lock it up and tape it off. Gill stared down the length of the shadowy hallway.
“What is it?”
“I thought I heard something.”
“There’s nobody in there, we looked everywhere. Probably just a rat or something.”
“Or a snake.”
“Sure, but there ain’t no snakes around these parts. Not this time of year. More likely a rat.”
“More likely nothing at all.”
Chapter 4
Vanessa woke up tied to a king size bed in a lush hotel room. It looked like the Grand. The curtains were shut, but the light was on. There was a large room service food tray beside the bed. She’d been transported overnight to this place, with no memory of how she got there. She’d been showered, shaved, and the white bra and panties she had on were clean. The bedroom was empty, but sounds were coming from rest the of the hotel suite. She figured she was there for somebody’s entertainment. Somebody had paid for all this. She could only wait.
She shook at the neckties around her wrists. They were tight but with a bit of work she thought she might be able to loosen them.
Then something ran across the next room, a person, not a man, too small. She paused and listened. She could hear frantic footsteps building up into a frenzy and then stopping with a stomp. They came again and the person ran past the doorway another time. It looked like a boy, about 11 years old. She felt comforted, knowing there was a kid around. Perhaps he could help her. She sat still and stared at the doorway. After some time the boy peeked around the corner of the doorframe and looked at her.
“Hey, little boy. Can you untie me?”
The little boy vanished around the corner again, but she could see his shadow, he was still there.
“Come back. What’s your name?”
The boy peeked around the corner and revealed more of his face. He had light brown hair, green eyes, pale skin. He was wearing nothing but a pair of black, satin boxer shorts.
“Wanna help me out of this bed?”
The boy entered the room reluctantly. He came up to the end of the bed and bobbed down and peeked up at her.
“What’s your problem, kid? Are you a retard?”
The boy didn’t answer, but it was clear to her the boy was mentally disabled.
“Come up here and untie me.”
Vanessa jerked at the ties again, gradually loosening them.
The boy stood up and came over beside the bed. His hands didn’t tremble, nor his face show any fear as he pulled off Vanessa’s bra and panties. He hopped up on top of the bed and played with her boobs, rolling them around in circles over her chest.
“Did your daddy get you all this?”
The kid seemed to think for a moment then vaguely nodded. His attention reverted over to the food tray beside him. The boy looked at his blurred reflection in the silverware and smiled, before lifting the lid off to reveal a large platter with an enormous black dildo on it, as thick as a thigh, shaped like an overgrown penis. The boy picked it up clumsily.
“What are you going to do with that, kid?”
“Shove it down your throat.”
The kid lunged forward holding the dildo like a stabbing weapon high above his head. He slammed the end down on Vanessa’s mouth, almost breaking her teeth. She tried to push her head away, but the boy kept hitting her face with it, trying to get it inside her mouth. Eventually she gave up and opened her mouth and the boy pushed the enormous thing far down into her. Vanessa’s eyes opened wide in shock, then rolled back. The boy began to thrust the thing in and out of her mouth, her jaw easily taking the mass. The boy had a little erection sticking out from the top of his shorts and he smiled and squinted and cried, completely incapable of interpreting such stimulation with his jumbled, retarded brain.
Vanessa’s violent struggle eventually tore the ties from the bed and she grabbed the dildo from the boy and removed it from her throat. She pushed the kid to the end of the bed and watched his sudden panic. She ran to the
