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Candy looked at herself in the mirror and was pleased with what she saw. Her best feature was her eyes; she had been told they were alluring, bedroom eyes. She had invested in a boob job to help compete with the younger girls. She needed this job to feed her costly coke habit.
She reveled in the power she had when dancing. These men couldn’t take their eyes off of her. Most that came in here didn’t know what to do with a naked woman. Hell, most of these weirdos probably never even saw a naked woman. As disgusting as the men could be, they had money. Besides, she loved teasing them. She liked the way it felt when their eyes roamed over her body, lingering on her breasts.
***
THE TRAVELER ENTERED the strip club on a mission and saw his next victim right away. The lights were dimmed and the music was blaring. She wore sheer pasties and her G-string had less material than if made with dental floss. The Traveler gave the woman on stage his full attention. She started to dance right in front of him, putting on a show for him. He had to hold back a laugh – if only she had an inkling of why he really wanted her. His skin tingled in anticipation of what he wanted to do to that body of hers. And it didn’t involve sex. Besides, there was no telling how many diseases he could catch from her.
He dug out a twenty dollar bill and tucked it into her G-string to catch her attention. He caught a whiff of her perfume, a heavy musky scent. She had a pouty expression on her face, as she moved closer to him. He would enjoy making her frown permanent, to hear her screams as he struck her with his whip and forced the flesh to peel away from her body with each lash. He could almost hear her pleas and desperate cries, begging for him to stop. He could feel his hands wrapping around her throat, slowly squeezing the life out of her.
"Come on, sugar, let's move this party to a back room."
This would give him a perfect opportunity to slip the drug into her drink. "Why don’t you order some champagne for us? All this dancing must have you parched."
As she led him to the back he asked, "What’s your name, honey?"
She let out a husky smoker's laugh and replied, "Candy with a ‘y’. I'm sweet enough to eat."
"You look too young to work here."
She rolled her eyes. "You’re not a narc or anything, are you? I don’t need any trouble. Besides, sugar, I'm not all that young,” she said as she straddled him. Her finger traced his jaw line as she settled in for a lap dance.
***
CANDY FELT AS IF HER head was about to explode. She hadn’t drank that much last night, but she woke up disoriented, unable to clear the fog from her head. She didn’t even remember leaving the club.
She tried to sit up, but something prevented her from moving. She slowly forced her eyes open and saw a small amount of light seeping in from under the door frame. Panic burned through the fog in her head. Where was she?
As she waited for her vision to adjust to the darkness, terror coursed through her like molten lava. She needed to remain calm. Complete horror gripped her when she realized she was restrained to a bed. What the hell? She had found herself in some pretty dire situations before, but nothing like this. An eerie silence surrounded her.
A shadow moved in the faint light coming from beneath the doorway. Someone was out there. “Please help me. Is someone out there?” Her apprehension grew as her skin tingled from fear. “Please, I know someone is out there.”
As the door opened, the man from the bar walked in. Surprise shot through her body. There had to be some mistake. The last thing she remembered was giving the guy a lap dance. He must have drugged her drink. What kind of game was he playing?
***
HIS EYES ROAMED OVER the woman on the bed. The torture he would unleash on her body turned him on more than her perfect little body. She couldn’t be more than twenty-five years old. She may be young, but looking at her up close, she looked as if she had been ridden hard and put away wet. She wouldn’t have to worry about growing old any longer. He doubted anyone would even miss her. Who would miss a harlot who sold her body for money?
A voice in his head told him to kill her now, but he ignored that voice. He wanted to have fun first.
The Traveler positioned a stool in front of her and pulled his sharpening stone and knife from his belt. With slow deliberation, he moved the blade along the stone, making sure she saw the glint of metal. He watched as her eyes were wide with fear as she followed each pass the blade made along the stone. Once finished, he ran it along the skin of his arm and shaved off a fine layer of hair. A smile of satisfaction formed across his face. “Perfect, don’t you think? It should be sharp enough now.”
“For what? ” Her eyes glistened with fresh tears.
He rose to his feet to move the stool. “For us to have some fun.”
***
CANDY’S MIND RACED with images of vicious, vile things he could do to her. Fear reignited her attempt to escape. A dozen promises and resolutions ran off her lips as she bartered with God to save her miserable life. She vowed to change her ways, to go on the straight and narrow if she lived. Then a miracle took place, she heard a commotion. Someone else was in the room. Had her prayers been answered? Was she saved?
The other person stood in front of her with a sneer on his face and her stomach coiled in surprise. He was also wielding a knife. He hadn’t come to save her, but to join the creep in torturing her. She screamed in horror as he peered at her through dark, soulless eyes. Her heart beat so hard against her ribcage she swore the bones would break.
“Oh, sorry I didn’t introduce you earlier. Candy with a ‘y’, this is my friend, The Hunter. He’s going to keep you company as well.”
She tried to look at the other man, but white hot pain tore through her body. Suddenly, a wire tightened around her neck. She struggled to gasp for air as her lungs began to feel like they were on fire.
She felt the strength leaving her body as blackness enveloped her. When she was about to pass out, the wire loosened a fraction. Only enough for her to gasp for some much needed air, and then the wire tightened again.
The monsters refused to stop. While one man raped her in ways she could never have imagined and tortured her with whips and knives, the other continued to tighten the wire around her neck. She was now lying on her stomach with her arms and legs restrained tightly behind her. Her muscles screamed in protest.
Her attackers were unrelenting. Why was this happening to her? Why didn’t they allow her to die? She had lost track of time. Neither man let up. Instead, they continued to revive her.
She never realized the human body held so much blood. Surely, with losing the amount that she had, she should be dead. It seemed to coat the room, and it was all hers. There was no escape; no one would come to her rescue. She could feel the stickiness of the blood on her skin and smell its coppery scent. Stab wounds riddled her body, but none deep enough to kill her. Her tormentors were relentless, cutting her shallow enough to draw blood and cause her pain, but not fatal enough to allow death to free her from this place.
She whimpered when she saw them enter the room yet again. She attempted to hide her fear, but that had become an impossible feat. Fear had taken away all logical thinking. She couldn’t stop thinking that this was all her fault, if only she had chosen a different path in life. Then, perhaps this wouldn’t be happening to her.
***
THE TRAVELER HAD HER hogtied in an unnatural position. After The Hunter had his fun with her, they inserted the meat hooks into her body to suspend her in the air and continued the torture.
The Hunter was pleased with how well they worked together. At first, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to perform in front of an audience, but he quickly overcame his fear. As he pulled out some of the woman’s teeth, he informed The Traveler, “This is a little memento for me.” However, The Hunter intended to send it to Sheriff Hamilton to let her know he was back in business.