The Country Club (5 page)

Chapter 10

          Caleb wiped the sweat from his forehead as he tossed a severed arm into the incinerator. The heat made his face feel like it was sunburned already. He’d only been in the basement for a few minutes. It had taken him over an hour to cut the girl’s body up. He didn’t even know her name. That was all he could think of. This girl was someone’s daughter, sister, or even wife or mom. Someone would be missing her. Yet there she was, sitting in his cart in a dozen pieces.

     As he reached for another limb, an older man came walking up pushing a similar cart to his own.
The man looked up at Caleb and nodded.

     “Hello there,” the man said. “You must be the new guy.”

     The old man was thin with gray hair. He may have been in his fifties, but looked much older.

     “Yeah. I’m the new guy I guess. Who are you?”

     “Name’s Dutch. Good to meet ya. Sorry if I don’t shake hands.  I got this kid’s guts all over them.”

     “I’m Caleb. So you work here too or whatever?”

     “Yeah. For almost thirty years now.”

     “Holy shit. That long? Why? Do you like it or something?”

     “Yeah, I love it. It’s my dream job,” Dutch said. “Are you kidding?”

     “Well why stay here so long?”

     “Why are you here kid? Same thing for me. Except a lot longer ago.”

     “How long has this place been here?” Caleb asked.

     “I don’t know. How long has Texas been a state? Something like that.”

     “Are you fucking kidding? This place has been here that long?”

     “At least. My dad dragged me here on my twenty-first birthday. Thought he was gonna make a man out of me. Not just get me laid, but show me how a real man takes care of a lady. Then he made me watch him skin some poor girl alive.”

     “Jesus Christ.”

     “Yeah, I know. Apparently reactions like mine aren’t unusual. Shock, horror, and disgust, but other new guys seem to come around and join in the fun. I wouldn’t do it. I’d have no part of it. My dad wasn’t too happy about it. Not one bit. He called me a big pussy, even smacked me around in front of the poor girl, but I wouldn’t hurt her. So he made me watch as he skinned her alive. I still hear her screams in my nightmares. Poor girl wasn’t more than eighteen or nineteen years old.”

     “Jesus, that’s like this one. She was maybe in her twenties.” Caleb said.

     “Yeah, I heard. So yeah. My dad dragged me downstairs and he told them to take me out back and shoot me, he was so mad.”

     “Your own dad wanted to have you shot?”

     “He sure did. Not sure why he just didn’t do it himself. My older brother was with us. He’d been coming a few years. He talked them into letting me stay here to work. So that’s what I did. Sometimes I wish I’d have taken the bullet,” Dutch said. “So they put me to work doing this dirty job.”

     “So you’ve been trapped here all these years?”

     “No. Not completely. After a few years, they started letting me leave. I don’t have to live here anymore. I have my own place. They pay me a good salary. Hell, I even have health insurance.”

     “Then why not just quit?” Caleb asked.

     “It’s not that simple. Once they knew I wasn’t going to do anything crazy, they let me leave and have somewhat of a normal life. But you don’t quit. They know everything about you. I guarantee it. If you have come through those doors, they can know what you ate for breakfast this morning,” Dutch said.

    
“Bullshit. How would they even know that?”

     “Look. You came with a friend, so you don’t understand. It’s not just people with money who run this place. Denny’s dad is rich, and they are members. There are politicians who are involved here, judges, CEO’s. Even if they don’t take part i
n things here, they support it. Membership is limited and expensive. And they all want their cut. So none of them will shut it down, and they’ll do anything to protect it.”

     “That all sounds crazy.”

     “It may sound crazy, but it’s true. The people you see here running it, they are just workers like the rest of us. Not sure how guys like Dominic or the security assholes ended up here. But there is a whole network behind the scenes keeping this place going.”

     Caleb looked down at his cart, but he wasn’t looking a
t its contents. It was starting to sink it just what he was in for. His life as he knew it was over. No more parties. No more girlfriend, at least not anytime soon.

     “Can you make phone calls here?” Caleb asked.

     “Only if they approve it, which I doubt they will for you anytime soon. You’ll be fine. Eventually the body parts don’t bother you. It just looks like meat after a while. Do your job and don’t cause trouble, and do not ever try to escape.”

     “What will they do?”

     “A few years after I started, one worker they had just let move out decided not to show up. The next day when I came in, his head was mounted on a spike by the front door. I’m guessing as a warning to the rest of us.”

     “That’s fucked up
,” Caleb said.

     “It’s fucked up all right. His face was all beat up, so God knows what they did to him before cutting his head off. So my advice to you, accept your fate as much as you hate it. Do your job and be loyal to these guys, and you’ll have some semblance of a life. Trust me, there is no retirement plan. I guess when the time comes I can no longer work, that will be the end of me.”

     “I just can’t believe this.”

     “It will take a
while to accept it. Trust me. It wasn’t easy watching my older and younger brothers coming and going having a grand old time while I had to go clean up their messes.”

     Dutch looked down and tossed several body parts into the incinerator as Caleb stood by amazed by the casualness of the work. Dutch disposed of some girl’s dismembered corpse as if he were tossing logs onto a campfire.
He looked up at Caleb and nodded to his cart.

     “Better get to work son. There’s a lot more to do before the night is over.”

Chapter 11

     Crystal drove in silence as Sophie navigated using the map Eileen had drawn up. Joel had fallen asleep in the backseat. Crystal was start
ing to feel exhausted herself. They’d been driving all night and it was starting to weigh on her.

     “How much farther?” Crystal asked.

     “Should be a few minutes. Get off the highway up here,” Sophie said.

     Crystal drove for another quarter mile and pulled off the exit ramp. Less than a mile on the access road, she took a right and followed the road as she slowed down.

     “It should be up here on the left,” Sophie said.

     After almost a mile, Crystal saw it. There was a field and a long, gravel road running through it.
She pulled to the shoulder and stopped the car.

     “Looks like we’re here. What now?” Sophie said.

     Crystal took a deep breath and looked down the long road. She was sure at the end of that road was The Country Club she had been longing to discover.

     “I’m not sure. If we drive through there, the cops might stop us like Eileen said.”

     “We could walk up.”

     “That’d be obvious too. It’s all wide open field
s,” Crystal said.

     Sophie sat up straight and pointed down the road.

     “Shit. Looks like it’s too late,” she said.

     Crystal turned and saw a big black SUV speeding toward them from the gravel road.

     “Shit!” Crystal said as she started the car and threw it in drive. As she accelerated, another SUV came pulling up in front of them, and blocked the road. She put it in reverse, but the first SUV had pulled in behind her. Both of them drove up and stopped against each of her bumpers.

     “What the fuck?” Crystal said.

     “What’s going on?” Joel said as he woke up from the backseat.

     “Shit! Crystal, get us out of here!” Sophie screamed.

     “I’m trying!”

     A large man in a suit climbed out of the SUV in front of them. He was wearing sunglasses and towered over them as he approached her car. He stood in next to Crystal’s door and did a gesture with his hands for her to roll the window down. She shook her head “no” at him. Crystal had no doubt these guys were from The Country Club and wasn’t going to just give herself up to them.

     He gestured again, this time yelling.

     “Roll your window down!”
he shouted.

     Once again, Crystal shook her head.

     “Maybe we should do what he says,” Joel said. “Maybe he’s a cop.”

     “He’s not a fucking cop, Joel. They’re from the Country Club, they’ve blocked our car.”

     The big man took out a pocket knife and unfolded a short, pointy attachment. He pressed it to the center of Crystal’s window and it exploded. Crystal leaned back and screamed as shattered glass sprayed around her. She felt some pieces scraping her face. The man reached in, unlocked the door and pulled the door open. In one motion, he cut Crystal’s seatbelt and pulled her out of the car.

     Both Joel and Sophie started to scream. Sophie opened her door and took off running through the field in the other direction. Another man hopped out of one of the SUV’s and took off after her. He was much faster and ran Sophie down in no time. He gave her a single shove, and she went flying to the ground face first. Crystal screamed as the large man backhanded her, sending her tumbling to the pavement.

     “Who the fuck are you assholes?” Crystal said. “You can’t do this.”

     “You know exactly who we are, Crystal. And I’m sure you know there is no one to stop us from doing what we are about to do
,” the man said.

     She sat on the ground looking up at him and froze. All this time, she’d had no doubt The Country Club existed.
At that moment, the reality of it sank it. The Club did exist, it was real. They had a lot of money, power, and a long reach. The things they did there were horrible, and she was about to be their prisoner.

     “We tried to warn you to stay away,” he said. “But you couldn’t let it go.”

     The door to one of the SUV’s opened and a woman stepped out. It was Eileen.

     “Eileen! What’s going on? They caught you?” Crystal asked

     “No, they didn’t get me dumbass. I figured you were smarter. My husband and I have enjoyed The Club for years. You were too easy to string along. Sorry kid,” Eileen said as she took out a cigarette and lit it. “You should have stuck to gaming or something.”

     Crystal watched as another goon pulled Joel out of the car. He looked like he hadn’t fully w
oken up and had no clue what was happening. The other goon dragged Sophie through the field and back to the road.

     “Let’s go, get up
,” the man standing over her said. Crystal just sat there glaring at him. “You can stand up and get in the car, or I will cut one of your friend’s throats right here and now.”

     She looked to Sophie, and then Joel and stood up. They walked the three to the larger SUV behind their car and shoved them all into the backseat.

     “It’s a short ride, so don’t try anything cute,” the man said.

     Eileen sat in the seat just in front of them. She reached out and felt Sophie’s hair.

     “Hmmm,” Eileen said. “I like this blonde. Maybe me and Blake can play with her later.”

Chapter 12

     Joel looked out the window as the SUV sped along the road and a dust cloud kicked up behind them. As they went over a hill, he could see the large mansion on the other side. The mansion could have been a castle had they wanted to add a drawbridge and moat around it.

     “Holy shit,” he said. “Look at that!”

     Crystal and Sophie were looking down at the floor.

     “Crystal, check this place out
,” he whispered again.

    “Shut up man!”
she whispered back. “They aren’t gonna take us on a fucking tour. You know what they do here?”

     “They aren’t gonna do all that. It’s probably some tourist deal.”

     “Shut up kids,” one of the men said from the front seat. “I’d hate to have to put duct tape over your mouths.”

     They did as he said while the SUV drove right up to the mansion. The gravel road turned into a concrete driveway that wou
nd around the back of the building. The SUV turned and went down a long ramp and through a large garage door below ground level. The basement or wherever they were was dark, Joel couldn’t make anything out. They drove on for another minute or two before coming to a stop. Someone opened the door on Joel’s side.

     “Ok, everybody out
,” the man said. It was a different goon. This one had short black hair and a neatly trimmed beard. They all filed out of the SUV looking around. Joel noticed the drop in temperature, it was quite cold wherever they were.

     “Where are we?” Joel asked.

     “Just follow me,” the man said, ignoring his question.

     Another man walked behind them as they followed the goon down a long hallway. Near the end of the hall, there was screaming.

     “What the fuck?” Crystal said as Joel turned and caught her eye for a second. She had been so sure and brave the night before. Now she looked more terrified, even sad as if she’d given up. He had believed her about The Club, or mostly had anyway though it was hard to believe such a place actually existed. He figured there was some truth to it. Maybe it was a bondage club or something, so it seemed like torture but wasn’t.

     Those doubts went away as they reached the end of the hall. There was a large cage with steel bars and a small light shining onto the inside. Inside the cage w
ere two naked girls. They were sitting up against the bars with their knees pulled to their chests and shivering. Before Joel could even process what he was seeing, the man turned to them.

     “Ok, everybody take off your clothes,”
he said.

     “Fuck you,” Crystal said. “I’m not doing that!” So much for her giving up.

     Without a word, the man behind them pressed a cattle prod against Crystal’s side and gave her a jolt. She screamed as she fell in front of Joel. He knelt down to help her, but the other goon grabbed him.

     “Don’t touch her! Now. You fuckheads can either remove your clothing and step into the cage, or
we can incapacitate you and do it ourselves. However, we don’t like doing that, so if we do it will probably hurt. A lot. So, what will it be?”

     Joel looked at the girls in the cage. They were looking away, but he could hear them sobbing. Sophie started to remove her shirt, and jeans. Joel started to undress as well. Once Crystal had gathered herself, she undressed and they all filed into the cage.
The man slammed the door behind them and locked it.

     “What is this place?” Joel called to them as the men walked away. “Why are here? What are you doing with us?”

     Joel turned around toward the girls. Both Crystal and Sophie were standing along the bars with their arms crossed. He noticed for the first time what a great body Crystal had. She always wore baggy clothes, but to his surprise she was tight pretty much everywhere. He couldn’t see her boobs since she was covering them. He even noticed her pubic hair trimmed into a nice landing strip.

     He caught himself staring and looked away. This was neither the time nor place to even think that way, yet he felt himself getting a boner. Great.

     “Joel!” Crystal yelled. “What the fuck man? Seriously?”

     He turned away and tried to push it down.

     “Sorry, I can’t help it.”

     “You’re such a freak,” Sophie said. “I told you he was gross.”

     “Gimme a break, ok? Guys get boners all the time. You just can’t see it usually.”

     “Will you guys all shut up?”
one of the girls sitting down said. “Save your fucking energy. Nothing is gonna matter in a while anyway.”

     “Who are you?” Crystal asked.

     “I’m Courtney. This is Denise. We been here a few days, wherever here is.”

     “I know where we are,” Crystal said.

     “What state are we in even?” Courtney asked.

     “State?”

     “Yeah. We’re from California, but they had us in the back of some truck for days.”

     “Jesus Christ. This is Texas, a ways outside of Round Rock.”

     “Shit. There were almost ten of us. But the other night they took a bunch out. A couple guys were here too. None of them came back.”

     Joel stood by watching the conversation. Whatever doubts he had about Crystal’s theory were fading fast. He wondered if Crystal would tell the girls where they were and what was going to happen to them, or if they even should.

     “They won’t either,” Crystal said.

     “So what is this place? You said you knew. How do you know?”

     “I’m a reporter. Well, a blogger, but I investigate stuff. This place is called The Country Club. It’s an urban legend, or thought to be. I was looking to prove it was real.”

     “Well, you know it is now
,” Courtney said.

     “Yeah, a lot of good this does me.”

     “So what do they do here? Like sex slaves or something?”

     “Worse. Much worse. Story goes rich guys come here and pay for people, usually girls, who they can torture and kill
,” Crystal explained. “It’s pretty awful.”

     Courtney looked around at Joel and Sophie. Joel noticed whatever hope Courtney had been holding onto was now gone. He figured she was resigning herself to living as a prostitute, maybe even hoping she could escape. Joel knew as much as Crystal did, there was no hope for any of them. That was why they took their clothes, to keep them from hanging themselves before they could be utilized.

     Courtney began to cry as Crystal sat next to her and put her arm around her. Sophie had her back to them all staring out of the cage and into the darkness. Joel’s boner finally went away as he walked to his own corner and sat down, putting his hands over his face. He regretted listening to Crystal. This trip had been a horrible idea.