MissTaken: Ch8

    If you haven't read the previous chapters, I recommend you go to this page which has links to all the chapters as I post them. 

Chapter 8

One girl after the other, crouching or crawling to stay below the level of the various scrub and brush, they made their way around the bend. Jessica checked the position of the sun. They weren’t going to make it to her camp. She’d been sleeping in the shelter of a cave, with a fire. Nighttime without a fire or cover was likely to be miserable.

Finally, Jessica began her journey. She searched and smoothed out any shoe prints left by the girls, and she redistributed leaves and debris where crawling girls had cleared spots. As she disappeared around the bend, she made one final check for any obvious signs of human passage. Satisfied, she turned and hurried to catch up with the girls walking together in a group ahead of her.

“My parents died in automobile crash when I was fifteen.” Alyona said as Jessica joined the group. “I was sent to live with my aunt and her husband. They were very poor. She was always very sad and quiet. He was always very drunk and vyrodzhennya.

“One day, about two years after the accident, he came home after midnight, and came into my bedroom. I woke up to him groping me and trying to kiss me.” She narrowed her eyes, and the corners of her mouth turned up in a vicious grin, “I clawed his eyes with my fingers, and I bit the tip of his tongue off.”

The girls gasped.

“What did he do then?” Meredith asked.

“He screamed and bled.” Alyona shrugged. “Not long after, he sold me to the son of a mobster, who was trying to make his reputation in the crime business. I found this out from him after two of his thugs kidnapped me and brought me to his mansion.” She snorted.

“I really think he believed I would just go along with his plans once he told me he had purchased me.”

“What did you do?”

“I bit the first thing he tried to put in my mouth too.” She paused and looked at the other’s, her eyes gleaming wickedly as she gave them time to consider the implications of what she said, “He also bled and screamed. Then he passed out, I think. I’m not quite certain, because one of his minions came into the room when he started screaming. I don’t really remember much after that until I woke up in the hospital with a broken jaw and a few cracked ribs.”

Alyona rubber her jaw, as if in memory. “His father heard the screaming too, apparently, and he came and saved me from being beaten to death. From, him I learned he didn’t care for his son—he thought he was a spoiled, selfish idiot. I also learned he wasn’t fond of the slave trade. He felt it was demeaning. He stuck to drugs, guns, the occasional extortion.”

Jessica gaped at Alyona as they kept walking. Alyona spoke so casually about her experiences.

“He was actually very polite to me. But he couldn’t just let me go. ‘Bad for business’, he said. Although, he actually sounded like he regretted it when he explained it to me,” She snorted disdainfully, “So he sold me to a group who worked out of Amsterdam.”

“I thought prostitution was legal there,” Meredith interjected.

“It is.” Alyona shrugged. “But that doesn’t mean the… willing supply… is enough to satisfy the demand. I was too unwilling though. A few cuts and bruises later, and I was sold to these Templarios. They said it was my last chance. I would either work for them, or they would kill me. So far, they are not making good on that promise.” Alyona smiled a small, grim smile.

“I’m so sorry,” Jess said.

Alyona waved her hand, as if chasing away an annoying fly. “And what about you? How did you come to be here?”

“I came here for spring break, with them,” She nodded toward Sarah and Meredith, “They slipped us some drugs and kidnapped us.”

Alyona look puzzled, “How then were you not with them? With us?”

Jess shook her head, “Don’t quite know for sure. When they took us out of the car, they took me to the house instead, and put me in a room alone. I managed to get loose and made a break for it.” She looked back to the others, apologetically. “I wanted to get y’all loose but…”

“But,” Alyona continued,” If you had tried, you would have most likely been caught again, and would be with us now recovering from our first day… on the job… Or you would be dead.”

They all walked in silence for a while, considering Alyona’s prediction.  She knew Alyona was right, but every glance at Sarah struggling along sent a stab of guilt through her gut. But trying and failing wouldn’t have changed that. The important thing was they were with her now, and she could keep them safe.

“You’re virgin?” Alyona queried, snapping Jess from her thoughts.

“Why do you ask?” Jessica asked cautiously.

“They took you to house, away from others. So, I’m guessing you’re special—more valuable. Virgin, yes?”

“Yes, but I don’t see how they would have known. They didn’t ask, and I didn’t offer. I guess I can’t be a hundred percent certain, but… I really don’t think they… Checked …”

Alyona stared at the ground, lost in thought. “The drugs, how did they give them to you?”

“They bought us all drinks.” Meredith offered, “They almost didn’t get Jess.”

“Oh?” Alyona looked at Meredith, eyebrow raised.

“Jess doesn’t drink,” Meredith explained, “They tried for a long time and finally persuaded her to accept some orange juice,”

“I should have been suspicious of that,” Jessica said, mostly to herself, “given how hard they were trying.”

Alyona pointed at Jessica, “Maybe they assumed you were virgin. If you don’t drink, you probably don’t party.”

“Oh my gosh!” Meredith looked horrified, the color draining from her face. “It’s my fault. Jess, I’m so sorry.”

“What, Mer?” Jessica stared blankly at Meredith, puzzled.

“I was a little buzzed, but I remember them asking why you wouldn’t accept a drink. I told them you didn’t ever drink, and they made some jokes about you being a prude. They said, ‘she’s probably a virgin, too, isn’t she?’ I said you were. Oh Jess, I’m so sorry—”

“Don’t be.” Jess placed a hand on Meredith’s shoulder and squeezed. “Them separating me is what allowed me to escape. It’s why I was able to rescue you guys.”

“If I hadn’t said anything, maybe they wouldn’t have thought to give you orange juice, though. Maybe they would have given up.”

“Maybe. Or maybe they would have taken you anyway, and I wouldn’t have known where to find you. Or maybe they would have found another way to get me, and there wouldn’t have been a way for me to escape, or maybe…” Jess looked skyward, “Maybe an asteroid would have crashed into the ocean causing a tidal wave that sunk Australia, and a lawyer would have come and informed you that you were adopted and that your real parents were the King and Queen of Siam, and they were visiting Australia when it sunk, so now you are the heir to the throne.”

Meredith furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to speak, but Jess cut her off.

“You can play the maybe game all day Mer,” Jess explained, “You’re just guessing at what might have happened. You can’t know for sure because it didn’t happen. And since it didn’t happen, it doesn’t matter.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Alyona said, smirking, “Leticia and I are very grateful to you for throwing your friend under the bus.”

Leticia looked confused but smiled and nodded at the mention of her name.

Jessica chuckled, then grew serious as she looked at the sky again.

“How much farther?” Leticia asked.

“Too far,” Jessica said. “We’ve covered, maybe two-thirds the total distance today.”

 “What’ll we do?” Meredith asked, her voice tinged with fear.

“See that big boulder up ahead? We’ll shelter under it. Everybody pick up a few dry pieces of wood and carry them with you.”

“Fire?” Alyona raised an eyebrow skeptically, then looked downstream.

“Small and concealed,” Jess replied reassuringly. Alyona’s gaze maintained its skepticism, but she veered off toward a cluster of trees and collected several dry branches from the ground.

The boulder was about four feet high, with a flat face on the downhill side. Jessica directed the girls to move the dirt at the base of the boulder outward, to create a flat area where they could huddle together.

“Why don’t you take a break Sarah,” Jessica suggested when the work was finished. She then set the rest of the girls to gathering more wood, and some medium-sized rocks, while she pulled the netting out of the pack. She anchored one side on and over the boulder with some heavy stones, then she stretched the corners of the other side out over the flattened area, creating a makeshift lean-to shelter.

Under the shelter, she quickly set about digging a fire hole right at the base of the boulder.

The sky was starting to darken as she struck a spark into a handful of tinder with the fire steel. Using gentle breaths, she nursed the spark into a small flame, then dropped the burning mass into the hole, along with several small twigs. She added fuel to the fire until it was a big as she dared make it. She dropped several of the rocks into the pit next to the fire.

Jess pointed to the flat area. “Let’s use a couple of these heavier sticks to dig out a couple trenches.”

“Where we just smoothed?” Leticia questioned.

Jessica nodded, “We’re going to get some of these rocks hot, then well push them into the trench, bury them. and smooth it all out again. That way we’ll have a cozy spot to sleep on.”

The girls set to work, digging down until Jessica was satisfied the holes were deep enough to cover the hot rocks. She used a couple of heavier sticks to push the hot rocks into the trenches, spacing them evenly, then the girls then filled in the trenches and smoothed everything out again.

They huddled together on the warm ground, most of them exhausted from exertion and from the effects of withdrawal. Alyona seemed mostly unaffected; she was intimidatingly stoic. Sarah was hit the worst. She was shivering violently, and the vomiting began before the night was fully black. She would make it no more than a couple of feet clear of the shelter before she would drop to her hands and knees, retching.

Before long the air in the shelter began to carry the faint aroma of stomach acid. Nobody complained though.

Then the diarrhea started. The vomiting was definitely preferable under current circumstances. Leaves just aren’t as gentle or effective as toilet paper.

Jessica wished there was something she could do to help. She knew Blackberry root tea could help with diarrhea. Witch-hazel could help with the inevitable rash. Did either of those grow in Mexico? She hadn’t seen any in her travels so far. Maybe Leticia would know of something. Nothing could be done now though. They couldn’t forage in the dark.

* * *

As the darkness began to recede in the early morning, Jessica helped Sarah down to the river’s edge to clean up as best she could. Sarah was weak and unstable, and she leaned heavily on Jessica for support.

 “Rough night, eh?” Jessica cast her a sympathetic glance.

Sarah was quiet as she crouched in the river and sluggishly splashed water on her face, washing away dried bits of vomitus from her face.

“I was a virgin too.” Sarah said. It was barely more than a whisper.

“What?” Jessica asked.

“I was a virgin too,” Sarah stopped washing and stared at the water directly in front of her. Jess stared at the ground and shifted uncomfortably, uncertain how to respond.

“I mean, I’ve made out with guys before,” Sarah continued, “but, most normal girls do.” Jessica detected an almost accusatory tone in the way Sarah emphasized the word ’normal’. She decided it would be best to ignore it.

“Why didn’t they take me with you?” Sarah fixed her gaze on Jessica, her eyes a storm of emotions; grief, anger, pain.

“They probably didn’t know …” Jess started. “They were probably about the same age as us, and they were guys. They only knew I was ‘cause Merideth said so.”

“They asked,” Sarah corrected a tear escaping from the corner of her eye.

“Well … yeah ...” Jessica slid a hand under her hair to rub the back of her neck, “after they were making jokes about me being strait-laced and all. Maybe it’s like Alyona said. Because I didn’t drink, which was strange to them, they thought to ask.”

“They just assumed because I was drinking, I was loose,” Sarah spat.

Jess felt a twinge of guilt, vowing to herself to never again make those assumptions about anyone. “I’m so sorry Sarah.”

“And now I’m worthless.”

“What? No! Why would you say that?”

Sarah rolled her eyes, “I’ve read the bible. People who drink do that too you know. It says something like ‘a virtuous woman is worth more than rubies’ she paraphrased in a sarcastic, sing-song voice. It says something about some guys stealing ‘their most precious possession; their virtue.’” A fit of coughing interrupted her train of thought.

“I don’t think it means that.” Jess said.

Sarah shot Jessica a hard look and snorted. “Really.”

“Do you remember my Uncle Daxon? He visited our apartment just before thanksgiving.”

Sarah thought for a minute, “Yeah, he was really quiet.”

“Yeah,” Jessica said sadly, “He wasn’t always that way. He used to be super outgoing before he joined the army. He got stationed in the middle east and wound up in an area where there was heavy fighting. Now he hides in his basement on New Year’s Eve and for a week around the fourth of July. The fireworks remind him of the gunfire and mortars and stuff. He’s a wreck a week or so before, just anticipating it. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

“PTSD.” Sarah nodded.

“I think that’s what the scripture means. It’s not what they took from your body, it’s what they took from your mind.” Jessica placed a hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “I imagine it would be hard to be trusting and open after something like that. Seems to me that everything and everyone would seem a bit more … sinister.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” Sarah acknowledged.

“Makes more sense than God kicking you to the curb because of something that wasn’t in your control,” Jess checked the sky. The sun was well above the horizon “C’mon, we need to get moving.”

As she helped Sarah back up to the shelter, Alyona and Meredith’s voice carried through the air, the conversation becoming heated.

“We need to rest for a while,” Meredith said firmly. “At least for a day or two until we get over the worst of the withdrawal symptoms. We need to rest, and we need to hydrate.”

“We can’t stay here,” Alyona replied through gritted teeth, “We are still too close to where they are searching for us. This is not a good place to hide.”

“Jess,” Meredith asked as she approached, “What do you think?”

“Sorry, Mer,” Jessica responded, “we have to keep going.  Another half-day to a day, depending on how fast we can move. There’s a place in the rock where can hunker down for a while. There’s some food there, and a way to get safe water. There’s shelter from the sun too.” She added, noting the bright red skin on exposed arms, shoulders and backs.

Meridith looked around desperately. “What about Sarah? She’s completely trashed.”

Jessica glanced to Sarah. She was struggling to keep her eyes open, let alone stand. Could she make it?

“We carry her,” Alyona said.

Meredith furrowed her brow. “How far are we going?”

“We carry her, or we drag her.” Alyona responded without the faintest hint of humor. There was an awkward pause as the others stared blankly, trying to decide if she was serious.

“Let’s clean up the campsite,” Jessica sighed, as she started taking down the netting. “We need to cover up the campfire and the piles of sick, and we need to re-landscape the sleeping area. Leave no trace.  Nothing that will give them a clue we were ever here.”