Plagued (16 page)

Sarah spun around, thinking it was better on the
bus but the driver was already pulling away hastily. He looked around wide-eyed
from inside the cabin as people ran into the side of the bus, screaming
frantically at him. The passengers looked on with terrified faces as the bus
driver sped off, knocking people over as he went.

A blood chilling scream came from directly behind
Sarah and she turned around to see who owned the voice. The last thing she saw
was a man running for her; blood covered his mouth and his right cheek dangled
freely on his chin. Then she passed out.

Sarah and Emily awoke to the sound of laughter
outside the caravan. The candle had burned out long ago and it was still dark
outside.

The door opened and Duke entered, closely followed
by Mitch, who was laughing hysterically.

“Who turned out the lights?” Duke said in the
darkness.

Sarah heard a click and then a warm glow radiated
around the room. Duke stood with a candle in his hand, which he placed on the
side of the sink and then lit another.

“Naw, ain’t that sweet, Duke. They’re all cuddled
up waiting for us,” Mitch giggled and swayed on his feet.

Duke watched Sarah with a smile on his face, his
arms crossed in front of him. She stared back at him apathetically. The
revelations of the day had numbed her.

“Well, I’m knackered,” Mitch said and yawned. “It’s
been one hell of a night while you two were here relaxing.” He took off his
boots and sat next to them on his bed.

Duke went over to his bed and took off his boots,
placing his gun on the bedside table.

“Looks like the freaks are coming from Winding
now, seen a few old friends with them; they ain’t looking so hot anymore. But
we can hold ‘em off, don’t worry.” Mitch winked at Emily, flashing his
plaque-covered teeth. She turned to Sarah, her face white with revulsion. “Come
on now pretty, out of my bed. I want to spend some time with my lady,” he said
to Sarah, putting his arm around Emily.

Emily grabbed Sarah’s arm and shook her head frantically,
begging her not to go.

Sarah stroked her cheek and smiled as reassuringly
as she could.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’ll be right over
there. Be
strong
.”

Sarah stood up and turned to Mitch, eyeing him
threateningly. He got to his feet and stood in front of her, their faces inches
apart. Sarah looked up into his eyes and whispered, “You hurt her and I’ll kill
you.”

Mitch was clearly unnerved, his smile faltered for
a second then—knowing Duke would be watching—it returned, even cockier than before.
“You’ve got a feisty one here, Duke!” he laughed, his voice shaking, still
watching Sarah with uncertainty.

Duke laughed heartily as he took off his vest and
dropped it on the floor. He was a well-built man, black hair covered his
muscular chest and his biceps flexed heavily as he unbuckled his belt and took
off his cargo pants. He dwarfed his fellow men when standing near them, in both
height and mass. Sarah could see why they were intimidated by him. He climbed
into bed and he patted the space next to him with his hand.

“Come here,” he said coldly, looking at Sarah.

She walked to him, expressionless and stood at the
foot of the bed.

“Get in,” he ordered.

She took off her shoes, leaving the rest of her
clothes on, trying to keep a stern face and avoiding his gaze. He watched her
intently as she climbed into bed with him, leaving a large space between them.

Duke grinned as he examined her body under the
sheets and he moved across the bed to be closer to her. Sarah turned to him and
gave him her best ‘don’t even think about it’
stare but as she looked
into his eyes, she felt her anxiety creep back in. Her courage began to fail as
he made a grab for her breast and she slapped his hand away in surprise. He
laughed, clearly amused by it.

“No! Get off me!” Emily shrieked from across the
room, and Mitch laughed squeakily at her pleas.

Duke shook his head at them and turned his
attention back to Sarah. He turned on his side, facing her and as he moved, she
saw the handle of his knife under his pillow. A pang of fear stabbed her
stomach and she realised she wasn’t in any position to piss him off. He smiled
at her with a raised eyebrow and she knew what his intentions were, she had to
delay it as long as she could.

“You met Jack in prison, didn’t you?” she asked,
as an attempt to distract him.

“Yes, ma’am,” Duke smiled. “For years. He was
never very good at his job.” He laughed and watched her intently, his eyes
shooting up and down her body. “Doesn’t that surprise you?”

“Nothing surprises me about him anymore,” she
said, sneering at the thought of Jack. “I’m going to kill him, you know.”

Both Duke and Mitch laughed thunderously.

“I highly doubt it darlin’ but it would be fucking
good to watch you try!” he grinned and slapped her thigh over the covers. “He’s
not as considerate as I am, when it comes to the ladies.”

The candle in the sink went out, leaving only the
candle that Duke put on his bedside table lit. Emily screamed in the darkness.

“Don’t worry, babe, I’ll be gentle.” Mitch laughed.

Sarah’s skin prickled. She couldn’t see what was
happening from the other side of the room, but she could hear Emily struggling
against Mitch.

Suddenly, she felt Duke’s hand move slowly up her
thigh. She pushed it off of her quickly but this made him squeeze it harder and
she cried out in pain. She dug her fingernails deep into his hand, gritting her
teeth as she did so.

“Argh!” Duke’s hand recoiled.

A hard blow hit her across her face and heat
spread across her cheek. She held in a scream.

“Stop struggling or I’ll make you stop,” he
whispered, spit flying from his mouth.

His hand returned to her thigh and he squeezed it
gently, warning her not to move. She lay still this time, conscious of the
knife under his pillow. He climbed clumsily on top of her, his enormous weight
pressing against her chest. She let out a small cry as she adjusted to his
weight.

Sickeningly, she felt his hardness against the
seat of her jeans and his hot breath was putrid on her face. He grabbed a hold
of her right breast and roughly squeezed it, making Sarah’s eyes water.
Don’t
cry, Sarah. Whatever you do, don’t cry.

Somewhere in the darkness, Emily whimpered and
Mitch began grunting breathlessly. Hopelessness drowned Sarah’s thoughts and
she closed her eyes tight, trying to black out the world around her. She felt the
warmth of his naked legs over her jeans. He pushed his erection onto her mound
so hard it hurt her.

“I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised after
having had Jack for so long. He was never the man I was.” He laughed out loud. “You
know, he told me to ease off you tonight. Isn’t that funny? He didn’t tell me
not
to fuck your brains out, just to be gentle. Hah! What a gentleman.”

“I don’t care anymore,” Sarah said. Her voice was
dull and mechanical.

“Good. ‘Cos neither do I,” Duke laughed. “He
wasn’t going to come back for you, know you.”

“I gathered.”

Duke reached over to the candle on the side table
and extinguished it with his fingers. The room plunged into darkness. Duke began
fumbling with Sarah’s jeans. She closed her eyes and thought of a desert
island, somewhere far away. She thought of the warm breeze blowing her skin as
she sat on the beach, watching the waves lap the shore. She heard her zip fly
down and the fantasy was dashed. Panic crept in. Mark flashed into her head
then—the morning they spent on Annie’s farm, laid in each other’s arms. Her
head lay on his warm chest, listening to his heart beat.

Her eyes shot open. She had to get out of there
and get back to him. She reached across to Duke’s pillow and searched for his
knife—it wasn’t there. Where is it?! She felt around the bed, thinking it had
been dislodged, but felt nothing but mattress.

Suddenly, Duke moved a hand to her throat and
squeezed gently. Sarah clawed at it and wiggled her hips from side to side
frantically, trying to knock him off but was too heavy to move. Duke’s grip on
her throat tightened and Sarah stopped fighting, as she struggled for breath.
Her throat began to hurt. 

“If you’re not going to play nice, then neither am
I,” Duke whispered, and she felt his hot, stale breath on her face. 

He pulled off her jeans with one hand and then
started on her underwear, trying to get between her legs. She resisted, closing
her thighs against him, but he tightened his grasp on her throat in response. Her
throat was closing now and pressure building inside her head. Her lungs began
to burn. She held her legs closed still, knowing he would stop if she would
just let him inside—but not caring. She wasn’t going without a fight.

 Her thoughts turned to Mark again, and the mistake
she’d made in choosing Jack. She knew she would never see him again—never get
to tell him she was sorry. Her body grew weaker by the second as it lacked
enough oxygen to survive, and Duke finally managed to overpower her. He opened her
legs and climbed between them. She felt his hot erection against her naked skin
as he tried to find his way inside her, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t in the
caravan anymore. Her thoughts were with Mark.

He had saved her life on multiple occasions and
she had run straight to Jack without a moment’s thought.
Stupid girl
. A
wave of dizziness came over her and white speckles filled the darkness. She
thought about her family and mentally told them she loved them. Duke was still desperately
trying to get inside her, viciously pushing his hardness against her and
missing in his frustration.

The sound of Mitch raping her best friend was a
distant one now. Ringing filled her ears and her lungs were on fire. She
desperately clawed Duke for breath, but her strength had diminished. She let go
of him and her arms flopped to her side. She was dying.
I’m so sorry, Mark.

“Get the
fuck
off her.” Sarah heard in the
darkness; it sounded like the world was underwater.

The room flooded with light and she caught a
glimpse of Duke shielding his eyes, releasing his grasp of her throat in the
process. Feeling her airwaves clear, she desperately sucked in for breath.
Sweet oxygen filled her lungs and the fuzzy world quickly began to clear. She
choked and coughed uncontrollably as she held her raw throat in her hands.

“Mitch!” Duke shouted in a panicky voice.

“Mitch is a little busy right now,” a woman’s
voice said from the other side of the room.

Sarah cried out involuntarily. Her voice was raspy
and it burned her throat to speak but she didn’t care—a smile came to her lips
as she saw the scene in front of her.

Duke was still perched over Sarah on the bed,
completely still. Above him—with a shotgun pointed straight at his head—was
Mark. At the other side of the room, next to naked Mitch was Annie. The knife
she held to his throat seemed to be having a dampening effect on his erection.
He was whimpering and Emily was struggling to get her clothes back on.

“They came, Sarah! Can you believe it?!” Emily
cried as she pulled up her jeans.

“Of course I did.” Mark winked at Sarah. “Your
boyfriend came back without you, smelling of booze. I got suspicious. Plus it
got a little quiet without you both.”

Sarah stood up on the bed, towering over Duke. She
lifted her right leg up and kicked him hard in the balls. A loud groan left his
throat as he fell into the foetal position.

“Fucking bastard!” Sarah said, looking down at him
with her fists clenched.

She found her underwear and jeans and put them
back on. Mark looked away modestly and she shook her head.
Still considerate
in a hostage situation
. She pulled on her boots and then ran to him,
wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his chest. He
grunted at the impact and hugged her with one arm—the other was still pointing
the shotgun at Duke.

 “I’m
so
sorry,” Sarah said, muffled in his
chest.

 “It’s not your fault—”

“It is my fault!” Sarah had tears rolling down her
face. “He was never the one for me, you
are.”

Mark pulled away to look at her. “Are you having
me on?”

“No,” Sarah laughed at his comical look of
surprise. “I knew something wasn’t right when we found Jack again. I knew it
but I ignored it. I thought I needed him to survive but I was wrong.”

“You don’t need anyone, Sarah. You can do
anything. I keep telling you that,” Mark said, gently.

 “I know that now. You taught me that, and that’s
part of the reason why I love you.”

 Mark’s eyes began to fill up. “I love you too,
Sarah, I always have,” he said.

Annie smirked in the background.

“Wait a minute,” Duke said, recovering from his
blow enough to sit on the end of the bed. “How the hell did you get in through
the gate?”

Mark turned his attention back to Duke, still
pointing the shotgun. “A girl opened the gate and ran out, just as we were
coming in.”

Duke’s eyes went wide. “Fuck! Did you close it?”

A series of roars and wails began bellowing outside
the caravan. Mark ran to the window just in time to see an explosion of fire
outside. The caravan shook violently and he just managed to duck as one of the
windows blew to pieces, showering the inhabitants with safety glass.

“Holy fuck!” Mitch squeaked. “What’s happening?”