Tortured Souls

                                                Chapter One

                                      Where Once Stood Gods.



         By the year 2010 of our lord Jesus Christ, human civilization had reached its peak. Signs of man’s majesty and power dotted the landscape, and the great nations of the world began to expand beyond the borders of our atmosphere, proclaiming to the cosmos that we were the new Gods of the universe. But ahead lay a violent and abrupt collapse, as the knowledge which had once allowed man to tame nature turned on its masters.  Cities burned and the complex and sophisticated technologies of the world hurtled into the dark abyss of time, as mankind struggled to survive through the long twilight years that lay ahead…



July 2nd, 2531 AD.

South Carolina (Carilon Empire).



         The sun descended across the hills of western Carilon, sending a dull orange glow rippling across the darkening land. The Empires Third Regiment stood with weapons at the ready, awaiting the order to descend from the hills and attack the village that lay before them.

          Fourteen year old Mathew Patti stood at attention with the rest of his unit staring off into infinity and listening for his orders. The regiment’s priest, a thirty year man who went by the name Hester, stood in front of his troops, glaring at them like a mad cat, his large nose sticking out from under his veiled hood.   

“What is our pledge?” he shouted at his troops.

“To serve and protect the Carilon Empire and its king,” they replied in unison, trying to sound like cheerful, dedicated troops instead of insecure teenage boys.

          “What is our duty?”

         “To preserve the human race and the knowledge of the ancients.”

         “What is our quest?”

         “To find a Pure Land free of the deserts poisons.”

         Hester, content with the reply, turned to face the village.

         “King Charlemagne has ordered that this army unit requisition new soldiers for his majesty’s armed forces. If anyone tries to resist, execute them on the spot. Any failure to comply with these orders will result in capital punishment. Is that understood?!”

         “Yes Father!”

         “Then with God’s speed, move out!”

         Mathew shouldered his gun and marched lock step with the soldiers beside him. Mat hated these missions. As a soldier he was willing to fight for his king, but this? But like every other soldier in the army, willing or not, he had to obey his orders if he wanted to live, and he did. Even if living meant committing murder on a regular basis, even if living meant a harsh existence of ruthless beatings under the boot of the warrior priests, even if living meant kidnapping children and subjecting them to the same kind of life, he wanted to live. Oh yes, he wanted to live, even if it meant all that. 

         Beside Mathew stood his friend Zimmerman who, like Mat, had been taken from his home at a young age and forced into the service of King Charlemagne. Zim, although he was younger than Mathew by one year had been taken when he was six and so had spent three more years in the army then his friend. Being ripped out of his mothers arms at such a young age and forced to endure the hardships of military life had turned Zim into a cold, cynical boy who not only obeyed his orders without question, but often times enjoyed doing so. He relished his chances to inflict injury on others, to lash out in blind aggression at those too weak to stop him. Mat wasn’t that way, not yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time.

         The village before them was called Pathig, barely large enough to support one-hundred people and so far away from any major cities that nobody would notice if it suddenly disappeared. It was surrounded by a small wooden palisade, probably built to keep out wild animals instead of well trained soldiers. The troops moved in quietly, their training kicking in as they approached the wall, but before they could reach it three men came out of the village, carrying with them baskets of food and jars of water. As they approached the regiment Hester rode out in front of his troops to meet them.

         “That is close enough. Give me your message.”          

         “My lords, please, accept these gifts as a token of our loyalty to his highness.” They said, lying down at the priest’s feet and kissing his sandals.

         “You pitiful swine,” Hester replied with a hissing growl “Get on your feet. We haven’t come for food, we need soldiers. Go round up your people and bring them here.”

         “My lord please, leave our village in peace. My people have done nothing to offend the great Holy Emperor, I beg of you to please accept the food and leave our people in peace.”

         “I said enough!” Hester shouted, bringing his fist down on the head of the village elder. The old man crumpled under the weight of Hester’s blow and fell to the ground and dropping the food he had brought, “How dare you defy a Holy Priest. You will do as ordered, understand!?”

         “Please sir, we are a small village, our people are good. I beg you, leave us in…”          

         Before the man could finish Hester lifted his rifle over his head and struck the man in the skull, knocking him unconscious. Then he turned to the other two and glared at them with hatred in his eyes.          

         “You two, pick him up and get him out of my sight. I don’t want any more dissent from you villagers, you will comply with my orders or you will be executed for obstruction.” He turned to face his troops once more, “Men, these villagers have refused to cooperate with our mission. Enter the village and gather every woman and child you find out here. Go!”

         “Finally some action huh Mat?” Zim whispered into Mats ear, “Now we can do our job and get home.”

         “Yeah, it’s about time.” But Mat wasn’t very exited. He remembered the day they had taken him from his village all those years ago, remembered his mothers wailing and his fathers curses as Charlemagne’s soldiers shoved him into the back of a small truck along with every other child they could find, and now he was about to do the same thing to the inhabitants of this little village. But this was what he needed to do in order to live, and if living meant he had to become a monster that was a price he was willing to pay.

         “Come on Mat, the faster we get this done the faster we can leave.” Once inside the village the troops began their search, going through every house and building and dragging out women and children by their hair and feet. The sound of a woman crying out in grief could be heard from outside, but Mat blocked it out, not wanting to hear the pain that his actions were causing. Better to just follow orders without thinking.

         As he searched his designated house he heard a faint whimpering sound coming from under one of the beds.

         “Whoever is hiding under the bed come on out,” he ordered. He trained his gun on the bed ready if someone should throw a grenade out from under it.          

         The whimpering stopped. Mathew bent down, took a look under the bed, and found a young girl, a little younger than he, holding her knees and sobbing gently into her shirt. She was very beautiful, long blond hair covered her face and flowed down her back like a golden waterfall, and her pale skin, covered in dirt and grime, radiated from her body.

         “It’s all right, come on out now.”

         “Please sir, don’t kill me, please don’t kill me. Just leave me alone, I don’t want to die. I’ll be good …”

         “Its okay, everything will be all right, nobody wants to kill you.” She looked up at him, her lovely green eyes trying to focus on him from behind a layer of tears.  Mathew considered for a moment leaving her where she was. He knew what the adult soldiers would do to her, knew what would happen if he took her now. But he wanted to live, and to live he had to obey his orders.

          “What’s your name?” he asked, hoping the question would calm her down. “My name is Mathew, what’s your name?”

         “Ta…Tabitha.”

         “Tabitha. Will you come with me Tabitha? I promise everything will be all right.” He reached out his hand to her, hating his priests for forcing him, hating himself more for what he was doing. The fear was still in her eyes but she was calm now and took his hand, allowing him to lead her outside. There was a line of women and children being led out of the village through the gate, the men sat on the ground with soldiers watching them to make sure they didn’t try to interfere. The hands of the older woman were shackled together to prevent them from escaping. Tabitha refused to look at the village that she would never see again. She was trying not to cry, trying to be brave in the face of such tremendous loss, but the tears found their way to her eyes anyway and slowly rolled down her pale face. Mathew didn’t look; he was, after all, only obeying orders.

         As the troops moved out Mathew saw a large man run out of the village, yelling like a man possessed at a young woman that two other soldiers were carrying away.

         “Sarah! Sarah!” he yelled after them as the soldiers moved in around him.

         “Daddy, please, help me! Don’t let them take me! Please!”

         “Sarah!” the soldiers closed around him then, ready to open fire if he tried to get too close to her, “Please sir my daughter is sickly, she can’t possibly…”

         “Shut up!” the nearest soldier yelled, swinging the butt of his gun into the mans face. The man collapsed, knocked unconscious by the blow. Blood streamed from his nose and mouth creating a dark stain in the sand. The soldiers dragged his daughter away with the rest of the woman, gagging her mouth to muffle her screams. Mathew led Tabitha away from the scene and hoped that she wouldn’t try to resist. She didn’t.

         “Mathew,” she said, looking up into his face, her orb like eyes pleading with him, “Promise me everything will be all right”

         He turned away, not having the strength to look her in the face. Her eyes pierced him like daggers stripping him of the emotionless mask he normally wore. She wanted to trust him, needed to, but he knew that her trust would be misplaced. He was a liar, a damned liar. How could she trust someone like him? It was absurd, to trust the one who had kidnapped her and was even now dragging her away. But she did. One look at her face told him that. She would believe anything he said. Still looking away, still not able to look her in the face, he answered.

         “Yes, I promise. Just do as you’re told and everything will be all right.”

         He still couldn’t look her in the face because her eyes made it impossible to distance himself from what he was doing. He couldn’t look at her as an object that could serve the empire anymore, now he saw a fragile young girl whom he was stealing away from her home and family.

            The army didn’t spend long in the village after that. The sun had set in the horizon and the men left in the village might try to reclaim some of their people as night set in. Mathew sat by a campfire eating his daily rations, stale bread and a mouthful of water, and watched as Hester eyed the girls they had taken from the village. Tabitha was asleep now, twisting and turning as she tried to find a comfortable position, looking all the more lovely because of it. Hester noticed her too but his gaze wasn’t one of admiration as was Mathews. He eyed Tabitha, as a lion would gaze upon a helpless newborn deer, hungrily, lustful, his stare full of deceit and perversion. The evil in the mans heart was typical of the Priests. After all, the King didn’t train them to preach the word of Christ and help the people live better lives but rather to convince the people that the king was divine, a descendent from God Himself. Being above the law, these men had been known to rape and murder thousands, all in the name of their God. Hester was no different; in fact his taste for young girls had made him notorious throughout the empire.

             He didn’t stay long. He had other things to do, other girls to look at. As he left Mathew gave out a small sigh of relief. Hopefully Hester would find another girl he liked better than Tabitha. She was far too young to be subjected to a monster like that.



                                              Chapter Two.

                                          Ballet of Fallen Angels.



Human history has been a long cycle of death and rebirth from the time God created Adam in the Garden of Eden to the rise and fall of America. Every triumph of mankind, every surge in learning and the arts has been followed by a period of unrest and suffering. The majesty of Egypt was followed by the evil of Assyria and Babylon; the greatness of the Rome followed by the dark ages, and the splendor of colonial Europe followed by two World Wars. Throughout history only one common trait has endured from the beginning of human civilization to the modern day, our unfailing ability to destroy the things we love…



July 4th.          

3rd Regiment Headquarters; Charleston South Carolina.          



         After two days of constant marching the army reached their headquarters on the coast of the Atlantic Sea, a small stone fort built out in the bay during ancient times to fight off pirates. The fort had been rebuilt to serve as a military barracks some time ago by one of the previous emperors, but signs of ancient battles still scarred its tattered walls. Surrounding the fortification stood the ruins of the ancient city of Charleston. The city had been a major industrial center almost seventy years ago, but it had revolted against the emperor, sending the nation into a civil war which had lasted more than ten years. Now Charleston was nothing but a burnt out rubble, its charred remains lay on the ground like ancient bones while rats scurried along the ground looking for scraps of food left behind. A small parasite city had grown to take its place but was nothing more than a place where soldiers could go to get drunk and fight without facing punishment.

         Upon reaching the fort the soldiers separated their prisoners based on age and sex, the boys being taken away to begin their training as future soldiers while the women were separated by age and thrown into their prison cells to await their fate.                             

          Mathew led Tabitha down into the cold depths of the forts underground, her hands tied and Zim holding a gun to her back to keep her from escaping. The gun was really unnecessary but Zim liked having people know he could kill them in an instant if he ever felt like it. They reached the cell blocks and Mathew opened the door, motioning for Tabitha to go inside. Tabitha didn’t respond her eyes scanned the dark interior of the cell, moving from the old cobwebs hanging from the ceiling to a half eaten rat in the corner.

         “Well, get in!” Zim shouted, and gave her a hard shove. She fell forward, violently hitting her head of the concrete floor.  A small streak of blood oozed out of a cut on her lip.

         “Have fun in there darling. Hey Hannah, we brought someone to keep you company. Ha ha.” He said and slammed the door shut.

         Mathew was appalled by what he saw Zim do, but he was too tired by the long march to do anything about. It just wasn’t worth to make a big deal about it. Mathew and Zim left the room, locking the door behind them and went back to their living quarters to sleep.

***

Tabitha lay on the floor curled in a ball, holding her stomach to fight off her hunger pains. She hadn’t eaten in two days and the throbbing in her stomach had grown worse. Saliva built up in her mouth and started making its way past her clenched teeth onto the floor, mixing with her dried blood. She looked around for anything that looked even slightly edible and her eyes gazed upon the half eaten rat she had seen earlier. The sound of a girl crying floated to her ears. Tabitha looked up and saw a small figure sitting in the corner with its back up against the wall. As Tabitha’s eyes adjusted to the light she saw that it was another girl, no older than eighteen, holding herself in her arms and crying quietly into her lap. Tabitha looked closer and saw that her feet were bare, her cloths torn and a thick layer of grime covered her arms and legs. A large bruise could be seen on her bare shoulder. The girl didn’t seem to notice Tabitha; her face was blank, showing no emotions except for a single tear which slowly made its way down her cheek to her chin where it dropped off into her lap. Could this be Hannah? Tabitha wondered how long she had been here, and more importantly, what had happened to her. What sort of horrible things had she been put though? Tabitha looked once again at the rat, its legs thrust into the air and many of its bones sticking out through its fur. She had assumed at first that other rats had eaten most of its body, now she wasn’t so sure.

         “Hannah?”

         Hannah looked over and stared right into Tabitha’s eyes as the tears which had been building behind her eyes flooded through.

         “But… but you’re… you’re just a child.” 

         Hannah lowered her head into her arms and sobbed violently; snot started spewing from her nose as she took deep gasping breaths. The cell was filled with the sound of her tormented weeping.

         “What are you doing here!?” she shouted through her tears, “You shouldn’t be here! You’re just a child! You’re just... a child…”

         Her loud screeches ended but Hannah continued to cry, gasping for breath as her sobs grew weaker and weaker. As Hannah’s sobbing peppered out the door to the cell opened once again sending in a bright ray of light which illuminated the walls of the cell. Hannah looked up and saw a man come into the cell. Her eyes filled with terror and she gave out a horrified shriek. The man looked in Hannah’s direction and smiled, a wicked, disgusting smile which made him look like a young bobcat learning how to become a killer. He motioned for another man, this one carrying a gun, to enter the room and pointed in Hannah’s direction, “Her.” 

         Hannah shrieked again and backed into the corner of the room, trying to put as much distance between her and the men as she possibly could. The man with the gun walked over to her and reached down, grabbing her by the hair and lifting her to her feet. Hannah kicked the mans leg, throwing him off balance and sending him toppling to the floor. Hannah landed on top of him. The mans gun slid in Tabitha’s direction but before she could grab hold of it the other man rushed over, kicking her in the chest and knocking the wind out of her.  Tabitha could do nothing but watch as the two men overpowered Hannah and dragged her out of the cell kicking and screaming until one of them smacked her in the face, knocking her out and making their job that much easier. As they left they shut the door behind them, hurling the room back into utter darkness.



***

         Mathew lay in his bed late that night trying hard to fall asleep but having no luck. Tabitha’s face flashed across his mind refusing to let him sleep. Her words echoed in his mind, her pure, lovely voice resonating in his dreams.

         Do you promise everything will be fine? You promise...?

         He saw her hair flowing in a breeze like a gentle stream and saw her bright green eyes, those sad, terrified eyes, staring up at him as tears swelled from inside of her. He saw Hester with his big toothy grin gazing intently at her, grabbing her hair and…

         Promise everything will be fine?

         Yes, just do as you’re told and you’ll be all right.

         At least she was still alive. That was something at least. On the journey to Charleston they had had to leave that one girl, Sarah, alone in the desert. Her sickness had created too much trouble for her to be worth dragging along with them. Doubtless she was dead by now, her body probably eaten by buzzards and other heinous looking scavengers.  He remembered the girl’s father trying to convince Mathew’s fellow soldiers to let her go, that she was of no use to them. They hadn’t listened. They had obeyed orders, and now she was dead. 

         Promise everything will be fine?

         Yes.

         “No…” he whispered softly so that no one would hear him. 

         “What was that?” Zim asked in a dazed voice.  He lay on the cot closest to Mathews and apparently couldn’t get to sleep either.

         “Nothing.”

         “Well shut up then, I’m trying to sleep.”

          Do you promise?

         “No, please…”

         Do you promise, Mathew? Will it be all right?

         Why does this girl make me feel this way? he thought. After all he had been on other requisition missions before; he’d done the same to others. So why was this one any different? Why did her voice haunt his dreams and her face stand irresolute on the inside of his eyes? Her face brought back long hidden memories long since forgotten. He laid his head in his pillow and cried as his past flooded through his head like the breaking of a dam, drowning him in sorrow.

         

         Nine year old Mathew snuck down the stairs of his house and tiptoed his way across the floor trying his best not to attract the attention of his mother who was stirring a pot of soup for dinner in the kitchen. He inched his way over to the door and heard his mom singing an old lullaby to herself. Her sweet voice filled the house with warmth as it floated from her mouth like a soft cloud.

         “Oh how the great years of time pass us by,

         We await the return

         The return of the one called Healer

         Bringer of peace

         We await His return to this world of death and suffering.

         Please return to us, man of the light.

         Return to us and lead us to a pure land.”

         Mat needed to sneak out while she was distracted by dinner. She was so protective that if she knew where he wanted to go she’d probably refuse to let him leave the house. She’d say she was only trying to protect him and that she didn’t want him to get hurt and that would be the end of it. He’d never get out after that.

         He moved himself closer and closer to the door, inching his way forward and tiptoeing lightly on the floor.

         Ten feet.

         He took another look at his mother in the kitchen. Still stirring dinner. Good.

          Five feet.          

         Almost there, almost there… got it. His hand flattened itself on the frame of the door and he gave it a light push. The door squeaked loudly, flew open, and banged against the outside wall of the house.

         “Mathew? Where are you going?”

         Mathew froze. He turned and looked over his shoulder and saw his mother walking towards him with a look of concern on her face. Uh oh, what now? He couldn’t tell her where he was really going but at the same time he couldn’t just lie to her.

         “Uh, well, just over to Emma’s house. Can I go mom, please?” Well, at least that was half the truth. God wouldn’t strike him down for a half truth; at least he was pretty sure He wouldn’t.

         “Hold on, you can’t just run out the door like that. Come here.”

         “But mom, I promised Emma I would meet her soon.”

         “Well she can wait just a little while lounger can’t she? Now come here.”

         She bent down in front of him, licked her finger, and started wiping the smudges off his face. Her delicate fingers felt like silk against his rough and dirty skin. It hurt though, to have her perfect, gentle, smooth hands dirty themselves to make him clean.

         “My goodness Mathew, why do you always have to get yourself so dirty all the time? Ahh, why can’t you just stay clean for more than a minute? Boys.”

         “Sorry mom.”

         “Ahh, forget it. Go play with your friends.”

         “Thanks mom.” He gave her a big kiss and was off. As he ran rushed out the door his mom called out one final warning;

         “Be careful sweetheart and if you get yourself all muddy again you’ll go to bed tonight without any dinner.”

         “Okay mom. Bye.”

         Mathew ran down the street to the house of his best friend, Emma, who lived just six doors down. Her house, like every other house belonging to commoners in the small village of Layhome, was made of rotten wood and dried clay which made it look like some deformed mans face. As he ran a pack of old, scraggly dogs limp up to him hoping that he would give them some food. Without a second thought Mat kicked the closest dog to him, knocking it to the ground and forcing it to crawl away limping with its tail hanging between its legs. Rabid dogs roaming around free in town had become somewhat of a problem lately and Mat didn’t feel bad at all about kicking a dog. After all, three people had been killed by wild dogs in the past month and he didn’t really feel like becoming the fourth.

         The rest of the dogs ran off to join their friend and avoid similar injuries. The dogs might have been old and worn out but they weren’t stupid; they knew that if they stuck around that he would kick them too.

         When Mat reached Emma’s house he quietly snuck around back, avoiding the front door and sneaking past the windows. Emma’s dad didn’t like him very much, said he was a “no good trouble maker” who just wanted to have a go with his daughter. Mat wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that but Emma sure found it funny. He laughed as he thought back on the day when Emma’s dad had found him laying on top his daughter in the tall grass outside the village. She had been lying on her back and he had unwittingly tripped over her and landed on top her like the clumsy fool he was. Of course her dad didn’t see him trip, just that they were laying down in the grass in a compromising position, and so must be doing something they weren’t supposed to. Emma had tried to explain but it didn’t do any good, her dad was convinced that Mat was no good and was bound and determined to keep them from seeing each other.

         But Emma’s mom loved him, thought he was the cutest little boy in the whole village and couldn’t have been more thrilled about her daughter being friends with him. Because of her Mat and Emma had been able to remain friends despite her dad’s insistence that they never see each other.

         Mat crawled to the back of Emma’s house and quietly waited for her to come out. He had told her to meet him behind her house at noon so she should already be here.

         “Boo!” Emma popped up behind him and grabbed him by the arm.

         “Oh my God!” Mat lashed out behind him in fright and almost smacked her in the face. She just laughed as his eyes settled on her face and recognition came into his eyes.

         “Oh, Emma, you almost scared me to death.”

         “I know, you should have seen the look on your face… ha…ha, ha… oh my god… ha… you nearly jump out of your skin...”

         “Yeah, yeah very funny. Ha, ha.”

         She fell on her back and started rolling around as she laughed hysterically, holding her hands close to her chest and gasping for breath. Her long reddish/orange hair was the color of the sunset sky as day light slowly receded and allowed the darkness of night to conquer the land. 

         “All right, all right it wasn’t that funny.”

         “I know, I just feel like… ha…ha… laughing…”

         Her eyes teared up, as her laughs grew louder and louder. Unable to help himself Mat joined her and they both lay in the grass rolling on their backs together laughing at absolutely nothing; just enjoying each other’s company. They were just two kids then, the problems of the world seemed so far away and distant. They didn’t care about disease, or war or starvation; those things didn’t have any effect on them right now. They were just… having fun.

         In the far corner of the room a phone rang which jerked Mat out of his memories. Its loud bell echoed off the walls like the sound of a thousand rockets flying off towards their targets. Sergeant Malarkey, a forty year old veteran soldier whose sole reason for existing, it seemed, was to watch the barracks at night and make everyone’s lives as miserable as humanly possible, lifted himself out of his bed to answerer it.

         “God damn it, why does this fucking thing always have to go off in the middle of the fucking night?” he grumbled as he picked up the receiver and place it against his ear.          “Hello...? Yes this is he…good evening sir what can I do for you…?  Yes he’s here… yes sir…” there was a long pause “yes I understand sir, which one would you like…? Yes sir… right away sir…”

         Malarkey put down the phone and turned to face the barracks.

         “All right, Cadets Patti and Fort front and center, NOW!” 

         Mathew bolted out of bed and rushed over to his sergeant, Zim following close behind. No matter how tired they both were they knew what would happen if they delayed for even a second. Mat still wore the scars of past beatings.          

         “Sir, Cadet Patti reporting as ordered sir!” Mathew shouted raising his right hand to his forehead in salute.

         “Sir, Cadet Fort reporting as ordered sir!” Zimmerman saluted a split second later.

         Malarkey eyed Zim a moment for being the second one to reach him and then turned his attention over to Mathew. He didn’t return the salute.

         “Father Hester wants you to bring the girl you took from Pathig up to his living quarters immediately. Take Fort with you so there isn’t any trouble.”

         “Sir?”

         “You heard me cadet, get your ass into gear!”

         “But sir…”

         “NOW!”

         “Yes sir, right away sir.” Zim said from behind. “Come on Mat, it’s an order.”

         Mat couldn’t move, his legs felt like they were made of concrete and he sensed the blood drain from his head. What to do? What to do? Obey the order and live with the guilt, or disobey and face possible execution?

         “Well… is there something you want to say cadet?”

         “No sir, the order will be carried out sir!”

         “Then get the hell out of my sight you filthy pile of shit! Get moving!”



***

Time in the cell seemed to have stalled when Hannah was taken out. Tabitha had managed to free her hands some time ago using her teeth and now lay on her back trying to ignore the pain she felt in her stomach. They still hadn’t fed her and the rat in the corner was beginning to look very tempting.  How long had she been there? An hour, maybe a day? Could have been a week for all she knew, all without food and the only water coming from a leaky pipe in the ceiling. The sound of dripping water echoed off the cell walls like an enormous gong. Tabitha held her hands over her ears to muffle out the despicable sound.

         Drip... drip… drip… drip…

         The door to the cell opened and filled the cell with a dazzling white light once again. Two men entered the room dragging, Hannah’s limp body behind them as they came in, and setting her down lying on her chest. Hannah looked even more abused than before. A patch of hair seemed to have been completely pulled from her head and blood seeped out of her body through a gash on her cheek. The smell of vomit lingered on her lifeless body.  The older girl was still awake but she was exhausted, the life seemed to have been drained out of her. She looked like an old woman on the brink of death, not even having the energy to cry. 

         Drip…drip…drip…

         The doors opened once again and two more dark figures walked in, the light behind their backs hiding their faces and casting long shadows across the floor. Then they walked in and Tabitha recognized Mathews face. Mathew looked around the cell until his eyes found what they were looking for.

         “All right now, time to go. Get up,” he said pointing at her.

         She didn’t respond. Fear quickly spread throughout her body causing it to shake ferociously. The other boy approached her, lifted his pistol from its holster and pointed it at her head.

         “That’s an order sweetheart. Get up.”

         Hannah crawled over to them, grabbing the boy by his pants and putting herself between him and Tabitha.

         “Please don’t take her. Please, she’s so young… you can’t…”

         “Get off of me you stupid tramp!” He lifted his leg up and kicked her in the jaw, knocking her to the floor. Then he turned his attention back to Tabitha. Tabitha shrieked and started crawling backwards away from him but he grabbed her foot and started dragging her towards the door.

         “No, no! Let me go! Let me go!” she cried, trying to grab hold of the wall, the floor, anything. But the boy only dragged her harder, jerking her violently and scraping her body against the rough surface of the prison floor. Mathew stood at the entrance of the cell looking away from the scene before him.

         “Mathew!” she howled, “what’s happening! What’s going on?”

         “Shut up!” She felt a sharp pain in her head, the light faded from her eyes, and everything went black...          

         Drip… drip… drip…

         When she woke up she found that her hands were once again tied in front of her. Another rope had been tied to her hands so that she could be led out like a dog on a leash. She looked up and saw that the boy who tried to drag her out of the cell was the one holding the rope. Mathew leaned against the entrance the cell, gun in hand, bent over like he was going to throw up.

         “Mat, she’s awake.”

         “What’s that Zim?”          

         “I said she’s awake!”

         “Oh, good,” he sounded tired, sluggish even, almost as if he were sick. “Please Tabitha, don’t make this harder than it has to be. Everything will be fine, I promise.” 

         He put his gun away and walked over to her. She tried to back away but Zim held the rope tightly, not allowing her to get away.

         “It’s okay, here.” He took a piece of dried fruit out of his breast pocket and handed it out to her, his shaky hand barely able to hold it. The food smelled like honey, its sweet aroma floated up her nostrils and tickled her brain with its warmth. Slowly she reached out her hands to grab it.

         “Go ahead, here, take it.”

         Unable to resist the urge she snatched the food out of his hand and shoved it into her mouth, allowing its sweet nectar to massage her taste buds and          flow down her throat to alleviate the pain in her chest.

         “See?” Mathew put his arm under her arm and gently lifted her to her feet. She allowed him to do so, not having the strength or the will to fight him. Zim gave the rope a sharp tug and she tumbled forward out of the cell and into the light. Tabitha took one last glance at the cell and saw Hannah’s frail body on her knees, with her head bowed and arms limp, crying just as Mathew closed the door.

         Drip… drip… clang!

         Zim led them up a flight of stairs and then down a long, well lit passage with large metallic doors lining the walls on each side. Mathew refused to look at her, his eyes darted around the corridor trying to find something to distract him.

         Zim stopped in front of one of the doors and knocked. From inside a gruff old voice replied.

         “It’s open.”

         “Yes sir.”

         Zim opened the door and stepped out of the way. The room was pitch black, not a single light could be seen coming from inside. Mathew turned Tabitha to face him and drew a blade, cutting the bonds from her hands.

         “Wha…?”

         “I’m sorry.” He said and gave her a hard shove. She fell into the room and the door closed behind her with a defining clang! Tabitha looked around the room and made out a dark figure in the back corner coming towards her.

         “How are you tonight my child?”



***

“He likes it when they struggle huh? That why you cut her lose?”

Mathew didn’t reply.

They returned to the barracks together and lay their heads down on their pillows. Mats body was ready to shut down again, exhausted from the long day, but Zim was as alive as ever.

         “Can you believe this Mat? He wakes us up in the middle of the night just so that he can get it on with one of the prisoners.”

         Mathew kept his head down, not wanting to talk, only wanting to sleep and to forget the whole day had ever happened.

         “Hey Mat, you don’t look so good. Are you getting sick or something?”

         “No I’m fine. Just need some sleep.” 

         “Well you can forget about that. He’ll call us back up in thirty minutes or something to take her back to her cell, I bet you.” 

         “We shouldn’t be doing this,” Mathew whispered under his breath.

         “What?”

         “Nothing. Let’s just get some slee...”

         RING!!! RING!!!

         “Well that was fast.” Zim remarked as he bolted out of bed. “Father Hester must be getting old huh?” 

         “GOD DAMNED FUCKING THING!!!!!” Sergeant Malarkey shouted from inside his room.  “I swear to God if it’s that damned priest again I’ll rip his balls off... Hello...!? Yes sir… yes I understand sir... yes... okay they’ll be right u...” he pulled the phone away from his head and stared into the receiver for a moment and then howled in anger, “That bastard hung up on me! That son of a bitch hung up on me!” He slammed the phone down which made the entire barracks shake violently, “Patti, Fort, front and center NOW!!!”

         Zim reached him first this time and raised his hand in salute. 

         “Sir, Cadet...”                              

         “SHUT UP!” Malarkey swung his fist and caught Zim squarely in the nose, knocking him down and causing a thin stream of blood to trickle down his face. Mat stopped short, not wanting to provoke his sergeant’s wrath upon himself, and bent over to help his friend. “You and Patti get back up to Father Hester’s room on the double! GO!”

         “Yes sir, right away sir” Mat said in a rushed, frightened voice. He helped Zim to his feet and they ran off to Hester’s room, leaving behind one monster for another.

Zim rubbed his face and his arm came away a crimson red. Blood flowed freely from his nose. Tears began to build up in his eyes but he choked them back, not wanting to look weak in front on his friend. Although he looked tough on the outside, inside he was still a thirteen year old boy and the tears slowly flowed down his cheeks. 

         “Mat?” sniff, “Mat… is my…” sniff, “is my nose broken?”

         “Yeah, it’s broken.”

         “Shouldn’t we…” sniff, “shouldn’t we go” sniff, “see the doctor or something?”

         “No, no not yet. We need to carry out the order first.” Mathew looked down at his friend and saw blood rush into his face, making his nose bleed that much faster. Zim lifted himself up; his eyes glowed with hatred as he wiped the blood from his face.

         “We have to deal with that bitch first?”  He said still trying to stifle out tears, “okay” sniff, “we’ll deal with her first.” Zim stomped off to find Hester’s room, his hurt replaced by an unrelenting anger, anger towards Hester for waking him up in the middle of the night, anger towards Malarkey for making him cry, but mostly anger towards Tabitha for causing it all. The two of them made their way back to Hester’s room and stopped in front of his door. Zim knocked and they heard Hester’s voice from inside telling them to come in.

         “Okay” Zim said, “Let’s deal with her…”

         “I’ll go in, you stay here.”

         “What!?”

         “I don’t want you going crazy in there. You stay here and wait for me to come out. Understand?”

         Zim didn’t reply, he merely wiped more blood off his face and stared Mathew in the eye. Mat turned away from his friend and entered the room, closing the door behind him.  In the back of the room a small lamp stood, its faint light casting shadows across the small apartment. In the corner stood Hester, buckling up his belt with his right hand and pulling on a robe with his left. He motioned with his head over to another corner of the room. Mathew looked in that direction and saw Tabitha lying face down on the floor, naked from the waist down, her arms held beneath her body and her legs curled up beside her. Bruises covered her frail body, especially on her face, her arms, and her thighs. As Mat walked in she turned her head away from him, trying to keep him from seeing her face. Hester sneered at her from across the room, his hand held over a small cut on his forehead.

         “That stupid bitch. All she did was kick and scream. I almost had to tie her down. But after a nice little beating she calmed down.”

         Mathew ignored him and took a look around the room. Clothes littered the floor, he saw Hester’s priest hood in one corner with Tabitha’s pants resting on top of it like a discarded rag, her sandals and other pieces of clothing lay in a pile on Hester’s bed.

         “Hurry up and get her out of here. I need to get some sleep.”

         “Yes sir.” Mat looked at Tabitha’s naked body and felt a great sorrow wash over him. She had done nothing to deserve this, to be stolen away from her home, deliberately weakened through starvation, beaten, and now violated. She was just a girl, a young caterpillar crushed in its cocoon before it could spread its wings.

         Mat took a step toward her but stopped short.  She was so pitiful, so vulnerable and utterly helpless. He couldn’t look at her like this, not like this. He turned around, walked over to Hester’s bed, and gathered her clothes in his arms. He couldn’t give her back her innocence, but at least he could clothe her nakedness. Hester watched him from the back of the room, a look of contempt on his face, but he didn’t interfere.

         “Make it quick cadet.”

         “Yes sir.” Mat walked over to Tabitha and sat down beside her, lifting her so she was sitting with her back against him. Her body lay limp in his arms. Without saying a word he began dressing her, gently pulling her pants on and buttoning them into place.

         After Mathew had fully dressed her he put her arm around his shoulder and lifted her to her feet. She was so tired that she couldn’t even support her own body weight, her feet dragged across the floor as Mat carried her to the door. As he opened the door he found Zim outside waiting for him, dry blood crusted on his face and a crooked smile extending from one ear to the other. He reached out his hand, grabbed her hair and gave it a slight tug.

         “Have fun in there princess?”

         “Cut it out Zim, I mean it.”

         “Why?” he looked Tabitha in the face, “you see my nose honey? You see that? Guess whose fault that is. Yeah, yours bitch. This is your fucking fault.”

         “I said shut the fuck up!” Mathew shouted, “Go see the doctor; I’ll take her back to her cell.”

         “That’s not regulations Mat. We’re supposed to work in pairs when dealing with prisoners.”

         “I don’t care what regulations say, you are not coming with me. Now you can either have the doctor fix your nose or go back to the barracks and try to explain to Malarkey why you came back without me.”

         “Fine!”

         Zim turned around a strutted out down the hall with his head held into the air while Mat turned and walked in the opposite direction towards the cell blocks. Tabitha lifted her head and gazed around, her eyes filled with fright as she looked into his face.

         “No, NO! Leave me alone! Let me go!”

         She tried to wiggle away from him but the effort was too much for her damaged body to take. She passed out.  Mat held her tight, not allowing her to fall on the floor, and then lifted her into his arms, cradling her as if she were a baby, and walked on.

         By the time he reached the cells Tabitha had regained consciousness but was still too weak to stand on her own. He took out his key and inserted it into the lock then entered the room and set her down as gently as he could on the floor. Hannah crawled over to them from the back of the room. She sat next to the to her, put Tabitha’s head in her lap and started stroking her head, like a mother hen taking care of her chick.  Hannah looked up into Mat’s eyes and stared him down.

         “You bastard. How could you do such a thing? HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING? YOU SON OF A BITCH!” she turned away from him and gave her attention back to Tabitha who held her head in the palms of her hands and was choking back tears, “Shh, shh, it’s alright, shh. You’re safe now.” Tabitha lifted her head and buried it in Hannah’s chest, allowing the tears to flow freely from her eyes. The pain she felt inside of her came out in a series of long ear piercing screams. Mathew fled from the room, quickly locking the door behind him and running down the passageway, holding his hands over his ears to drown out the sound of Tabitha’s eternal weeping. He ran through a door and fell to the ground. The sobbing stopped but he could still hear her in his head.

         “Oh God” he cried out in shame, “what have I done?”



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