The Dark Place Read Online Free PDF Page A

word … I … I ppppromise …”
    “Don’t try to talk. You’re safe now, my dear. Everything is going to be fine. You must let our little friends do their work.”
    Cupping her neck gently in his arm, he tilted her head slightly, easing a small amount of strange-looking liquid into her bruised mouth. The liquid punched its way to her stomach, staying down only for a few moments before erupting from her busted lips.
    “Easy … easy …” he encouraged. “Don’t try to rush.”
    He tried again, more successful this time.
    “Good. Much better,” he encouraged. “Now relax and let the medicine do its job.”
    Suddenly, her stomach was in turmoil. A sensation of growing pressure started in her gut, stabbing down into her bowels, seething like a geyser.
    “I … I ccccan’t hold … hhhhold it in …”
    “You can and you will!” he hissed, the tone of his voice suddenlychanging. “Control is
everything
… it always brings its rewards … control is god. Repeat that.”
    “Control … cccccontrol is … ggggg … god …”
    “Good! Now, again.”
    Before she could repeat the words, her bowels let go, funnelling everything on to the steel table.
    “Filthy creature!” he shouted, pushing away from the table, a look of revulsion on his face. “Now look what you’ve done! Can’t you even control your own shit!”
    A mixture of shame and relief bit into her as the stench of shit and piss grew.
    “I … ccccouldn’t help myself. Don’t … don’t bbbbbbe angry with mmmmme … Please …” Tears ran freely down her petrified face.
    “Please! Please! Please! Always the
please
. Now I’ve got to wash you all over again,” he said, shaking his head with disgust. “This time, I won’t be so gentle.”
    Opening a small medicine cabinet, he produced a long silicone tube.
    Her eyes widened with terror.
    “Please … nnnnot that … please … I … I’ll take mmmmy medicine … ppplease …”
    “
Shhhh
. You must remain quiet and still. It’s only dangerous when you talk. Now, open wide.”
    She thought of resisting, but remembering the last time she was foolish enough to try, quickly relented.
    “That’s better,” he praised. “Nice and wide. Good girl.”
    She felt the greased tube slide down her throat, worming into her stomach. She wanted to vomit, but the tube’s placement made it impossible.
    He began pouring the brown liquid into a funnel attached to the tube’s other end.
    Almost immediately, her stomach began swelling. She could feel the liquid rattling inside. She believed her stomach was about to explode.
    Oh God … oh God … let him kill me … get it over with
…
    Ah, much better,” he proclaimed, touching her stomach gently. “Much much better, indeed. You’ve almost reached the golden weight.Soon. Very soon, indeed. Then it’ll all be over, I promise.”

C HAPTER F IVE
    “Let them be brought to the house of ‘She-who-must-be-obeyed’. Bring forth the men, and let that which they have with them be brought forth also.”
    H. Rider Haggard,
She
    K arl revisited the note handed to him this morning by Alison. The young girl’s handwriting was difficult to decipher, but with Naomi’s help and patience, they eventually managed to decode it. Martina, apparently, had been living with a group of homeless people over at Custom House Square, not too far from the hostel. Alison had managed to speak with Martina on a couple of occasions, bringing her some smuggled-out food from the hostel’s kitchen. Ominously, contact stopped when Martina no longer showed at the prearranged meeting place.
    “I’ll be back in about an hour,” said Karl, pocketing the note.
    “Where’re you going?” asked Naomi.
    “To the going place.”
    “Don’t be flippant.”
    “Don’t flipping ask, then,” said Karl, gathering keys and wallet from atop the kitchen counter. “I’m cranky enough in this bastarding heat wave without you cranking me up further.”
    “You’re not serious about going