Impeding Justice (20 page)

‘
Yes, sir.’ They said in
unison. Gary held his gaze, but to The Unicorn’s amusement didn’t
out stare him for long.

‘
See to things.’

As the Unicorn walked out of the room three
other guards came in. Ramon, one who had worked often with Gary and
had seen what had happened between them, put his hand on Gary’s
shoulder. ‘He’s on to you, Gary. Whatever you’re planning on doing,
you’d be wise to reconsider.’

‘
I ain’t planning nothing
and don’t know why he thinks I am. I follow his orders to the
letter…’

Yes
, thought The
Unicorn, who hadn’t missed this exchange from where he’d stopped
outside the room and leant against the wall.
You do, but there is something…And it is a
dangerous something as it is tied up with your feelings for that
bitch, Sasha…

Chapter
Forty-One.

‘
What do you think this is
all about?’

Sasha looked around her and shrugged. The
group of girls had been gathered together with specific
instructions to look their best. Now they were nervously sitting in
the same room the auction had taken place the previous evening.

The chairs were still laid out theatre style.
The catwalk, where some of them had paraded the night before had
gone and a huge screen now hung in front of the stage.

Sasha nudged Charlie, then motioned with her
head. To Charlie’s dismay Sasha had directed her gaze across the
room to where the shivering form of the girl from the bunk above
them sat.

Pity mixed with a sick fear settled in her as
she saw the evidence of what the girl had been subjected to. Her
eyes swollen so badly it was hard to imagine she could see out of
them, and every part of her that could be seen was covered in
terrible bruises and raw gaping wounds.

‘
Oh, God,’ Charlie
whispered, as her eyes ran the length of the tragic girl’s swollen
body.

‘
Ssh, please, Charlie, don’t
speak.’ Sasha pleaded.

Charlie heeded Sasha’s warning, but found it
impossible to take her eyes off the girl. Her conscience pricked
and an unexpected shame washed over her for wishing the girl harm.
No one, she thought, not even her worst enemy, deserved to be
treated like that. Her eyes welled up. Could she withstand such a
beating? What she had endured so far had been bad, but how far did
these men go. Her body trembled as the answer was a truth inside
her. They may even kill…

The Unicorn's appearance stopped her train of
thought. He came in flanked by his usual, muscle bound entourage.
He stepped onto the stage and stood alongside the screen. His evil
eyes scanned the room. The hatred emanating from him radiated
immense power over the girls. His stance dared them to challenge
him. A cold streak of ice chilled Charlie’s back bone when he
looked over at her and Sasha. She sought Sasha’s hand and they held
on to each other.

‘
You two.’ He
bellowed.

Charlie and Sasha looked at each other and
Charlie saw that Sasha’s eyes held the same terror that gripped
her. Panic sent messages of flight into her, but she couldn’t move.
The guards approached, their heavy footsteps resounding in the now
silent room. It took only seconds for them to reach them and grab
them roughly by the arms. Charlie tried to resist but it seemed the
iron man himself had hold of her and the force which dragged her
forward didn’t give her a chance.

‘
You two.’ The Unicorn
pointed at another two girls in the front row. ‘Get to the back. I
want Sasha and her new playmate to have a prime position for the
main event.’

Something like relief sank her fear until
they passed by The Unicorn. He put his hand up to halt their
progress. They stood trembling in front of him. But, his action,
though painful, didn’t scare Charlie or even humiliate her if
either were his intention. Instead she had to hold back a laugh. If
he thought after all he’d done to her he could get any reaction
from tweaking her nipple until it hurt, he had another think
coming. She didn’t even flinch as the other girls did. But, when
Sasha nudged her, she realised her defiant stand may only cause
pain for the rest of them so went through the same motions they
did.

As they sat down she noticed the guard who
had come into the dorm a few hours earlier. Sasha had told her he
was called Gary. He stood by the door just behind the screen. He
looked to her as if he was trying to calm himself by taking deep
breaths. She watched his chest inflate and deflate erratically. His
eyes never left Sasha. Charlie had the same feeling she’d had
before, it was as if he was trying to tell Sasha something and she
felt sure his look held an adoration for Sasha, too.

‘
Come, Gary, stand by me.’
The Unicorn ordered.

Gary wandered slowly over and as Charlie
watched she saw hatred in the look Gary gave his boss.

Once Gary was in position, The Unicorn draped
an arm across his shoulders. Gary looked worried and humiliated. It
looked as though The Unicorn was trying to wind him up. Charlie
held her breath unsure what would happen next.

Chapter Forty-Two.

Sasha too, had been reading Gary’s
expressions and now saw the defiance in him and knew the Unicorn
was aware of it. She could see the grip he had on Gary’s shoulder
held a warning. But, some hope entered her as she analysed the
meaning of how Gary had looked at her. Could it be conceivable that
Gary was on the turn? What could that mean? Was there a possibility
of him helping her get out of this mess? She couldn’t allow her
hope to be raised that high, could she? No, to do so would be
foolish.

Her attention came back to the Unicorn as he
clicked his fingers and speaking like a master of ceremonies
announced, ‘Draw the curtains. We’re about to see one of my
favourite movies. You’ll enjoy this girls, it’s a movie I shot with
a specific purpose in mind.’

The sickly smug smile on his face sent a
shiver through Sasha. She could feel the tension in the room.

The screen lit up. Sasha gasped, ‘
Familia mea
!
Mama şi Tatăl şi
Jordi
şi
Johan!’

‘
Your family?’ Charlie
whispered to her.

She nodded. Her joy at seeing them playing
and laughing together tinged with a sick worry.

A worry that
grew to a terror as the ball her brothers played with came to the
forefront of the screen and a man’s foot stopped its progress and
held it still. Her heart wouldn’t let the question of who he was
enter her mind. It focussed only on the apprehension she saw in her
parents as they clung together and called the boys to
them.

The camera panned round and as it circled,
Sasha saw her beloved home. Then, the surrounding fields and in the
distance, other homes of her neighbours, people she loved. Until
finally, it came to rest on the ugly, strong built, huge man with
his foot on her brother’s ball, his menacing laughter rippled from
the speakers and rebounded off the walls. When he stopped laughing
he motioned to other men, stood behind him, to come forward.

A
tight band wrapped around Sasha’s lungs and heart. Sweat beaded her
body. ‘
Nu, nu ... te rog ...
nu!’

She couldn’t bear it. They were rounding up her family as
if they were cattle! Again, but silently, she pleaded,
No…no… please… no!

The Unicorn’s scornful laugh penetrated her ears. She
looked over at him. Went to rise,
but the guard standing behind her, held her firmly in her
seat. Her head exploded with hate and the spittle ran down her chin
as the words rasped from her, ‘
TE URĂSC, NENOROCITULE.’

He laughed
back at her, ‘Yes, I am a bastard, aren’t I? And Sasha, dear, you
cannot hate me more than I hate you. But do keep watching, the next
bit is very entertaining.’

She saw Gary move as if to come to her, but
The Unicorn stayed him with a warning look and beside her she felt
Charlie surge forward as if to go towards The Unicorn, but she too
was restrained.

Her mama’s screams brought her attention back to the
screen. Jordi, ‘fiul meu, nu, pleae nu-l doare! Nu, Oh Hol Maria
Maica lu
i
Dumnezeu, ajută-ne!’

Oh
God!
Her mama was pleading
with the men who had dragged her brother Jordi away, not to hurt
him and had beseeched the Holy Mother to help her.

‘
Oh, Sasha, Sasha…’
Charlie’s arm came around her.

‘
Silence, hold your tongue girl or I promise you this, it’ll
be your family next.’

Charlie was pulled roughly away from her and
now sat still. Sasha could feel her fear and longed to hold her
hand. Loneliness crowded her and despair clogged her heart.

The scene in front of her stretched her
sanity to breaking point as her beloved brother’s heart-wrenching,
terrified screams pierced her very soul.

Two men held his writhing body as two others tied him to a
pole. Once secured, branches were placed around him, his screams
turned to pleading cries to his mama and father to help him:
‘
Mama, Tata, ajuta-ma ... Ajuta-ma ...’

Sasha couldn’t cry out. Agony had dried her
throat. The gasps, sobs and pleas coming from the girls around her,
all using their mother tongue, held her in limbo, between here and
her beloved Romania.

The screen held images so near to her heart,
scenes beyond her screaming family, which transported her back. It
was as if she floated, unseen, around them. But, all of it became
flashing, intermingled colours as a whooshing noise prompted the
camera to flash back to her brother, an eight year old boy, now
encased in flames.

The breath of pain she gasped in took her
into a black, black hole. Here she knew no pain, no sorrow, no
fear... mama smiled at her and papa held her hand… Everything was
going to be all right…

Ice cold water hit her face shaking her back
to reality. Vomit shot from her mouth, clogged her nose and slimed
down between her breasts. A stinging slap brought blood trickling
from her nose into her mouth.

Opening her eyes she saw The Unicorn’s face
swim before her. Saliva gathered around her teeth. She sucked it
together and spat with all the ferocity she could manage. The red
speckled spit splattered his face.

‘
Bitch! Stand her
up!’

She could not brace herself against the brutal, vicious
blows to her stomach. The air left her body and she couldn’t gasp
it back in. Her eyes bulged. Tears, snot and sweat mingled together
and ran down her face. And, all the time horrific scenes swam
before her. Flames crackled and hoarse, hollow moans, groaned ever
louder, ever nearer to death. Her mama’s voice, thick with agony:
‘
Sasha mea, te iubesc, fii
puternic ... live pentru noi ... Slavă Tatălui şi Fiului
...’

Sasha, I love you. Live for us. Be strong…Glory be to the
F
ather and to the
Son…

Flames licked around her body and blackened
her face until her prayer died on her lips.

Mama, scumpa mea, mama ... Mama, my sweet,
Mama…

Once more the blackness took her and she swooned against
the chest of the man who held her. With her into the black hole,
she took the image of her father’s and Johan’s burning bodies, the
sobs of the girls around her, the desperate cries of Charlie and
her father’s last message: ‘
Sasha viaţa noastră trăi în tine. Nimic din toate astea e
vina ta. Fii tare copilul meu, te iubesc’

Sasha, our lives live on in you. None of this
is your fault. Be strong my child. I love you….

‘
She’s coming to. Come on Sasha. It is over. Come on wake
up.’ The words came through to her as if they had been spoken from
the end of a long tunnel. They were spoken in a kind, caring way.
She recognised Gary’s voice.

She opened her eyes just as The Unicorn
shoved Gary out of the way.

A huge void, cold and detached, had taken
root in her where once she’d had feelings. The screen still mocked
her, though no images flashed there only large letters stating:

‘
THE STORY OF SASHA’S
FAMILY’

The End.

Next to her, Charlie sobbed, but they were
quiet and dignified sobs. Sasha knew she wept for her, not for
herself and the tenseness of her body told her that her brave
spirit still held strong.

‘
Sasha, you wronged me. What
you have seen is only part of my revenge for your deceit. I have a
further punishment for you. And you,’ The Unicorn now addressed
Charlie, ‘Spawned of a bitch, will suffer the same fate. Now,
Sasha, dear, I need four girls altogether, but the last two have to
be chosen by you…’

She did not respond. Something in her had
changed. Being void of feelings gave her a courage she’d only
dreamed of before and a sure knowledge came to her that she would
escape, for the sake of the memory of her family, she would be
free.

‘
Don’t ignore me,
bitch!’

The blow she expected didn’t materialise. The
Unicorn held her face and turned her to look at him.

‘
Choose, or they all
die!’

When she didn’t respond, he said, ‘Very well,
I’ll take the two baby girls who have just joined us…’

‘
No, choose us.’ Toni and
Carly two older girls who had been there nearly as long as Sasha
stood up.

‘
So there is honour amongst
whores after all.’