#3 Where Monsters Lay

Chap. 9_a cubic head and cautious cushioning?

Rob awoke through a hard and sharp slap to the face.

He winced and hissed through his teeth, resulting in a bout of laughter from somewhere around him.

He found it difficult to focus in on objects surrounding him, but the noise shattered into him like shards of glass.

The percussion was almost unbearable.

"It's good to get that reaction," he heard a voice say, "Alive bodies are so much better than dead ones."

Rob pinpointed the noise to somewhere ahead of him and he squinted his eyes out in that vague direction. His eyes finally adjusted.

The man stood in front of him was simply huge. Not in girth, but in breadth and musculature. His short, dirty blonde hair layered a rather cubic head, his facial features distinct and sunk-in. His shoulders reached out and his thick arms dropped down by his side, revealing his massive hands, red and raw.

He wore overalls - like he'd recently been working at a building site – brace-like straps looping over his shoulders, outlining their physique.

Most importantly, however, he held the whip in his left hand. And the other one was retracting from the slap on Rob's face.

"I mean, what we're doing is worthwhile. And practical. But you don't get that same feeling when you get a, like, contextual reaction. You know what he mean?"

He seemed to jest at someone on the other side of the room, but a sudden flush of pain zoomed quickly to Rob's face. He couldn't turn to see who it was. The pain tensed up his neck and face, clawing at his very soul.

"You awake yet, mister?" the bulky man addressed Rob.

Rob tried to speak but he was muted with fear. A man holding a whip wasn't anyone to make a fool out of. Especially when he'd just felt the force of one of his slaps.

He simply nodded, wincing.

"I see you thought it would be fun to do a little bit of snooping with your mates."

He gestured to Sarah and Frank.

Rob couldn't turn to look at them. But he guessed they were still out. They'd have wanted to ask him a few questions first. He was the oldest.

The man however decided to put a stop to that.

He drew back his right arm and, at the perfect distance away, snapped back his arm and flew it towards Sarah. The whip he held slapped her belly with a loud crack, tearing through her shirt.

Rob forced himself to look. The pain of his neck grew to insurmountable heights. But he could see blood pouring out from a huge gash that had been painted over her stomach.

He saw her eyes flicker and begin to well up.

She began to scream. And cry with pain.

The blood kept on flowing as she wept more, tainting her shirt and jacket with a crimson pool.

The man whipped her again.

And again.

It lasted for hours.

And Rob was awake for all of it.

*****

Frank was awake before Rob. Frank had woken quite normally, opening his eyes and getting the adjusted to the darkness.

What wasn't normal was his hands and feet being tied to the chair he was sitting on. Firstly, Frank never slept in chairs, and secondly, being tied up wasn't high on his agenda.