Powerless by Evelyn J. Steward (short novels in english txt) 📖

Powerless

She had stopped screaming. No one could hear her anyway.
She could tell she was in the boot of a car. Blindfolded, it was black, like deepest black velvet only not soft.
There was a smell of old oil, like that of her brother’s car. He tinkered with them a lot and the grease and oil clung to the tools and tarps he had stowed in his boot.
The car ran over a rut and her body bounced a little. A couple of car tools crashed against her body, then slid back.
Her head hurt and she was scared out of her wits but wisdom prevailed, somehow. Those films, t.v. programmes, what did they say? Try to see what is around you? Well, that was out for a start. Listen to sounds! She kept listening but all she heard was the sound of the car’s engine thrumming. It vibrated through her whole body as she lay inert in the boot.
He had grabbed her, knocked her on the head. That must been when he blindfolded her, tied her wrists behind her back and imprisoned her legs at the ankles.
She had woken up in this metal coffin. How long she had been out, she could not tell. All Marla could do right now was to endure.
They were on a straight road. No twists or turns. It seemed a long time she was shut in and travelling. Finally the car turned left and her body rolled slightly. The engine cut. They must be here wherever here was.
His feet crunched. Gravel?
Suddenly he was opening the boot and a gag was thrust in her mouth. Half dragging, half lifting her out, he threw her over his shoulder and carted her inside.
He must be strong, Marla thought fearfully. She was jolted and jarred as he hauled her down some stairs. Opening a door, he walked across what must be a room and flung her on a bed.
Marla twisted and turned only to earn a hard slap across her head and again she lost consciousness.
When she awoke her hands were bound to either side of the bed. Her legs also had been freed then re-tied, her legs wide apart. The gag had been removed, but she still wore the blindfold.
A scream issued from her mouth.
“If you scream again, you’ll get another clout.” His voice was indeterminate though menacing.
“What do you want from me?” she asked in a quivering tone, her body beginning to tremble involuntarily. Her throat was parched and sore where she had screamed.
“Hush now, love, we’ll be together in a minute.”
Then she realised what he meant to do to her and choked back a sob. Stray tears dripped from her eyes, wetting the blindfold.
Suddenly he was on top of her. She made an involuntary gasp as he penetrated. She was not a virgin but he felt like iron and he was large.
“Don’t worry Love,” he said, his voice growing rougher as he increased his pace. “I know you want me!”
Marla bit back the sobs. Now was not the time to be weak.
When it was over, more tears spilled onto the rag covering her eyes. She hurt, down there. It felt as though she were bleeding.
He walked away and then she heard running water. His footsteps came near the bed again and something wet was rubbing her. Was he actually washing her there? A dry towel followed.
“Do you want something to eat, Love,” he asked. This was incredulous. “I’ll be back in a minute.” His voice seemed to lose that hard edge as if he were a boyfriend.
Marla heard the door close and then his footsteps going upstairs and an outside door closing. She twisted and turned but could not move more than an inch either way. Her fear magnified. At least I’m alive, she told herself. Life! Hope! What was that old saying?
She tried screaming for help but gave up when she choked badly.
It wasn’t long before he was back. He loosened the ropes on her legs first. They were still tied but she could almost close them together. Then he did the same with her arms. They didn’t actually meet but they could hold food. He grabbed her around the shoulders. This is it, she thought, but strangely he sat her upright.
“Do you like burgers Love? I’ve got you one, and a drink.” He put something against her lips. “Open wide,” he said. She did. It was a straw and she sipped from it. Coke and it was refreshingly cold. He hadn’t been out very long. Were there places nearby or had time ceased for her?
“Here!” And he put a hamburger between her numb fingers. Bringing the food up to her mouth, she took a bite, grateful for it as she felt hunger now. Perhaps he wasn’t going to kill her after all. The thought was mesmerising.
She wolfed down the food, hearing him eating as well, sucking the last of his drink with a loud gurgle. “I need to pee,” she said.
Untying all her limbs he put a rope around her waist then walked her to the bathroom. Marla felt uneasy, vulnerable sitting there passing water whilst he stood watching, but it had to be done. At least the blindfold acted like a screen, she couldn’t see him staring at her, ogling her maybe! She called on some unspecified inner reserves and completed the task. What would happen she wondered when her bowels kicked in?
Then she was back on the bed in her previous condition, legs wide apart, hands tied tight. With a sharp intake of breath, her mind was aware of what was coming next, and steeled herself, her body, to get through the ordeal.
“Again Love?” and he was on top of her once more. His voice seemed to be far away. Her mind was blocking the happening. She thought of her garden, flowers nodding their heads in the summer breeze. Those luscious red strawberries she grew this summer, their sweet tartness oozing juice as she made a lovely coulis to go with her home made ice-cream.
There was a weight pressing on her. Marla’s mind came back to reality. He had fallen asleep laying on top of her. She tried to wriggle.
After a while he grunted and woke up. “Not again, Love. I’m tired.”
He extricated himself and lay down on her left side, his heavy arm lay across her waist. Eventually, she too fell into a fitful sleep.
It was well past dawn next morning when he woke and got up, disturbing Marla in the process.
“Gotta go out Love,” he said. “I’ll bring you back some breakfast.”
Marla’s groin hurt where he jabbed her whilst trying to penetrate last night. Everything down there was sore and stung. She hoped he would be gone forever, but knew that would not be the case.
Thinking about her predicament, she wondered what Gary would be doing. Her boyfriend would by now have reported her missing. How long did the police wait these days before acting on such information? Twenty four or was it forty eight hours?
The girls at work, her boss! They would not think it out of the ordinary for her not to turn up one day. Less than one day if she was being precise. No one else to tell if she were alive or dead which wasn’t a good thought. She had lost touch with her brother years ago.
He came back much later. Must have been hours for she had fallen asleep and not noticed the time.
“Sorry it took so long, Love, Got some food for you like I promised. Only a McMuffin but that’ll do, won’t it?”
What time did they stop serving the breakfast meals? Her mind in a whirl, she was not sure. Was it 11.00 a.m.? or later?
He sat her up and loosened all the ropes so she was more comfortable. She ate sullenly, he giving her sips from a polystyrene coffee cup every so often. The drink was lukewarm so what time was it?
The food was not that tasty but it wasn’t entirely cold and she was grateful.
After the food, he took her to the bathroom, still with the rope around her waist but it sounded as though he had closed the door this time. She purged everything and felt better.
“You finished?” he asked after a few minutes.
“Yes,” she replied curtly. Then it was back to the bed. She was tied up again, though this time her legs were up instead of across the bed. Must have rigged some kind of pulley so he could change her position. The fear was still there but her activated mind kept her from that dark place.
He climbed on her and her legs seemed to wrap around him, like a lover. He had tightened the ropes.
Moving her mind quickly into that secret place, she divorced herself from the events occurring. There was no pain. She was numb. There was only warmth and fresh air, birdsong. Afterwards, she felt him rub a wet cloth around her area, towelling her off as before. How could a man who had kidnapped and raped her, be so considerate in this way. Maybe she had bled. A sudden thought occurred. Had her period started? If it had, he wasn’t worried. Some men were.
Would anyone ever find