The night was completely black except for the occasional headlights from passing cars or the glare of the overhead streetlights tossing eerie shadows across the walls. Frank’s limp body bounced and rolled beside her as Alicia lay in the back of the van headed up the California coastline, taking the 101 North toward Tacoma, Washington.
She was thirsty, hungry, and scared. Joe was getting worse. He had come back twice in the last couple of hours to take pieces of flesh from Frank’s buttocks, which he greedily stuffed into his mouth without waiting until he was at least in the front seat and out of her sight.
Again she’d watched as he masturbated himself to orgasm while chewing on the thick chunks of human flesh. The little man that he was feasting on ejaculated as well and Alicia thought she would scream. This was completely insane.
The last time the van stopped Joe crawled back into the van with them again and cut off the wounded little man’s remaining testicle, which she assumed he later consumed as well, though gratefully he’d done so out of her sight. Her fellow captive had not lost his erection during the entire procedure and Alicia was certain that he would have ejaculated again had he still had his testes. His screams of pain were horrific, even more so for their similarity to ecstasy.
Frank was still leaking blood from his many wounds despite Joe’s attempt to cauterize the deep cuts with a Bic lighter. The flesh had curdled and blackened and Frank had yelled his vocal chords raw while Joe held the flame to the masochist’s ransacked scrotum. The screams had loosened the tape that Joe had clamped over his mouth and Joe had not replaced it before climbing back into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. The slender little man drifted in and out of consciousness, mumbling to himself as they drove along the freeway. Alicia kept reminding herself that eventually they would have to stop for gas and then she would have her chance to escape, though the restraints still presented a problem.
The van turned sharply and began to bounce along what was apparently an unpaved road. Alicia was sure that they were on some type of dirt trail. She and Frank accumulated more bumps and bruises as they were tossed around in the back of the van. Frank began to mumble to himself again, delirious with pain. Alicia listened for a moment to his incoherent ramblings. At first it just seemed to be random words thrown out in no discernable order. Then she began to make sense of what he was saying.
‘…Cut cleanly and swiftly. Remove from the chest as quickly as … For the best taste it should still be beating … when seasoning is added … Bay leaves, three garlic cloves, one whole onion … one beef bullion cube, cook on a low … twenty minutes …’
Alicia scampered away from him when she realized that he was reciting a recipe; a recipe for a soup made from a human heart. She hummed to herself to drown out the sound of Frank’s ranting and tried to keep track of how long they had been driving off-road. When the van finally rolled to a halt there were no sounds from other cars. No gas pump noises or sounds of pedestrian foot traffic like you would expect to hear at a rest stop. There was only the sound of crickets chirping to their mates in the distance.
Alicia heard the van shut off and the driver’s-side door slam. Joe was coming back again.
The van door opened and Joe reached in and scooped Frank up like a sack of dirty laundry. The terrified little man was mumbling about roasted thighs in garlic butter when Joe tossed him over his shoulder and reached a hand out for Alicia. Alicia wanted to tell Frank to shut up, not to give their captor any ideas. She’d seen that glazed look in Joe’s eyes often enough to know that it preceded violence. She looked beyond the big man and saw that they were parked in a dark, heavily wooded area.
The full moon shone overhead like an omen. A werewolf’s moon. There was not another human being in sight. No one to hear them scream.
Alicia shook her head defiantly when Joe motioned for her to take his hand.
Then she began to cry.
Something in Joe’s eyes softened as he watched the terrified woman sobbing in the dark. She was so beautiful. Something innocent remained untouched within her. Something that her long procession of lovers had not despoiled. Something that even Joe could not corrupt. It humbled him. It was like looking at the face of an angel. He felt like a vicious savage ripping and tearing through the Garden of Eden in pursuit of Eve.
Joe’s own face cracked with sorrow and confusion. He withdrew his hand and ran it over his forehead and through his hair. He didn’t know exactly what he was about to do, but the monster was roaring and snarling within him, and he was certain that at least one of his captives would not survive a trip into the woods with him. His eyes darted around as he tried to make up his mind what to do. His eyelids shut and Joe let out a long slow breath, composing himself. When he opened them he looked right into Alicia’s watery eyes. The monster was quiet now. Now it was just Joseph Miles, looking at the pain and fear of another human being. He tossed Frank back into the van and slammed the door shut.
