She wondered how long she had been here. Wondered if it was hours, or days. Another man fell on her bruised nakedness, spreading her legs, forcing his way into her, grunting his dubious pleasure as he worked in and out of her. Jane Ann had learned early on that to fight them only meant more pain, with the end result being the same. Better not to resist.
She opened her eyes, watching the last of the sun's rays fade in colors beyond the western horizon. She'd stopped counting the men assaulting her when she reached twenty, and there had been many more after that.
Jake, Jean Zagone's foreman, had been the first, and he had been furious when she did not cry out as he assaulted her.
'Come on, bitch!' he had yelled, plunging his maleness into her. 'I bet you ain't never had this much meat before.'
And she had made a mistake by saying, 'My first husband was bigger.'
That had gotten her a hard fist on the jaw.
Jake had then proceeded to tell her—in great detail, with many four-letter words—what he would do to make her beg … later. This was bad enough, Jane Ann thought; she was not at all looking forward to Jake's promise.
The man lunging at her shivered as he ejaculated, and she felt the wetness of him on her thighs, and then the coolness of approaching night fanned her nakedness. Still abnormally warm for this time of year, she thought, then fought to keep a smile from her lips. How ludicrous, she thought. I am lying here on the ground, naked and sore from the assault of … only God knows how many men, wondering what is next for me, and thinking about the weather. I must be going insane.
But she knew she was not losing her mind; knew she had been, as so many prolonged rape victims, learning to detach herself from reality.
She was left alone for a time, lying on the ground next to the dark altar. Someone tossed a stinking rag of a blanket over her, and she closed her eyes.
She must have dozed off, for when she opened her eyes, returning to her world of pain, it was fully dark, the circle of stones torch-lit. Someone kicked her on the buttocks with a sharp-pointed boot. She looked up into he hard, evil eyes of Jake. She let her eyes drift downward to his erect maleness. He held the throbbing organ in one hand, stroking it.
'Get up,' he ordered. 'And bend over that altar, whore. I'm gonna shove this meat up where I think your God lives. This'll make you beg to Him.'
Painfully, stiffly, Jane Ann rose to her feet, looking around her. The crowd had swelled to several hundred men and women, with more arriving each minute. But it was a silent, sullen gathering watching her.
Jake reached out, fondling Jane Ann's breasts, brutally twisting the nipples. She flinched, but made no sound. 'Real gutsy gal.' He grinned nastily.
He pushed her face down on the altar, her body bent at the waist. Male hands grabbed her wrists, holding her firm. She felt the smaller hands of a woman parting the cheeks of her buttocks, then something hot and hard pushing at her anus.
A moment later, her screams were echoing over the circle of stones, mingling with the dirty laughter of the now huge crowd. She screamed out her pain and humiliation.
But she would not beg.
'You have twenty-four hours, young warrior,' the heavy voice boomed into Sam's brain. 'Forget the tablet, for it is gone.'
'Where is it?'
'Taken by the Dark One.'
'Then he must know he is going to lose here?'
'He never loses entirely. Something of importance to him will have been gained here, delivered elsewhere, bursting forth on this earth. Perhaps twice. But time is growing short. Twenty-four hours, young warrior. But you must be gone from this place by the twenty-second hour. Do not ask me why that must be. You have a task before you. Good luck, young warrior.'
The force of good was gone.
Sam leaned back against a tree trunk, his mind racing, tossing out ideas and plans almost as soon as they formed. Only one course of action was certain: he had to go inside the mansion.
Sam needed sleep, but was afraid to doze for fear they would find him and kill him. His eyes closed, resting for a moment. Exhaustion quickly overcame anxiety and the young man slept.
The mightiest of all warriors was amused as he watched over his young charge. Sleep for a few hours, young warrior, he thought. I will bend the rules a bit and watch over you. Bending the rules is not that uncommon for me.
Jane Ann lay on her back on the dark alter, blood from her torn anus staining the dark evil stone. She shifted position, softly whimpering as pain cut through her.
'Beg for mercy from your God!' Jean and the others had screamed at her while Jake anally assaulted her.
But Jane Ann had shaken her head no, all the while biting her lips against the pain being forced in and out of her.
When Jake was finished, another took his place, then another … it seemed never to stop.
Jane Ann wept when Tony stepped forward. 'I always wanted it this way,' he said. 'But you never would let me—remember?' His words had been barely audible over the waves of pain washing her. He mounted her brutally, laughing at her cries of pain. 'Good, isn't it, baby?' he shouted.
