Merry Go Round
Chapter 23
It wasn't certain what time it was when the men returned. Although they weren't quiet, the two girls were far too exhausted from their 'activities' to stir from the commotion caused. Grabbing a bottle of alcohol from the metal rack stacked against the wall, they started talking.
"I'm going first."
"What?! I was the one who spotted her."
"I'm the leader here. Shouldn't I get piority?"
When they finally decided on the order, they tossed their half drunk bottles to the side carelessly, breaking them into pieces of broken shards. Scanning the rusty furniture for any additional tools which might add them in their act, some torn pieces of rope were picked up along with a mental pipe.
The enormous noise emitted from the door flinging open reverberating throughout the quiet night jolted Risa awake. Still groggy from her weary frame of mind and injured state, she wasn't able to process what was going on around them until the garment covering their bodies was roughly snatched away.
"Look at what we have here! Seems like the lady is all ready for the taking!"
Loud guffaws ensured and it was only now that Risa realized how inappropriately they were dressed. Or rather, how dangerously little Ai was clad in. Her shorts were barely pulled up to her waist and they were not yet buttoned or zipped. Furthermore, she wasn't wearing anything on her upper body. Frightened for her safety, the younger scrambled to shove the visibly scared girl behind herself.
“Oh no no, young lady, you don't have to wear that back again.”
"Yeah. Saves us all some trouble."
Agreeing with his partner, the first man who spoke tore away Risa's shirt which Ai was trying to put on. Throwing it to another member of the gang, the one who caught it brought the plait pattern top up to his nose for a deep sniff.
"Ummmm you sure smell good."
Finding his actions disgusting, Risa's brows curled into a frown as she surveyed the scene before her. It was clear what was going through the minds of these sick men and she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread rise up within her.
“There there, pretty ladies shouldn't frown.”
Unable to contain her fury at knowing what would soon befall them, Risa exploded with rage.
"SHUT THE F*** UP!"
Undeterred by her shout, the tallest of the men sauntered up to where Ai cowered behind Risa and slowly ran his fingers through her hair. Shifting himself exceedingly close to Ai on purpose to stare down her bra, he hollered to the rest of his gang.
"Looks yummy!"
One of the four who had been quiet till this moment finally spoke up.
“Then you should know what to do.”
Nodding back at him to acknowledge his instructions, he subsequently tugged Ai to her feet by pulling on her left upper arm. Seeing that he had made his move, Risa sprang up immediately with the intention to grab hold of Ai. Unfortunately, her efforts were foiled by a hard kick to her chest.
Although she was thrown backwards from the force of the blow, Risa didn't give up. She knew what was waiting for the love of her life if she didn't help her. Ai's captor continued to tease her by snaking an arm around her waist and leaning his face near to her lips.
"DON’T TOUCH HER!"
Struggling to push herself up, Risa lugged for the men but was thrown off with her back connecting first to the rusty metal shelf. Landing face first on the dirt ground, she groaned against her wishes when another boot connected to her torso.
"Gaki-san!"
Struggling against the leader who was now holding her, an endless stream of tears fell from Ai's already swollen eyes. Fed up of Risa interrupting his advances on such a pretty woman, the leader ordered before pulling Ai towards the door.
"Fix her good."
A stocky built gruffly dressed brute stepped away from the rest to tower above the injured bean still lying on the ground. Raising the metal bar in his hands, he swung it down with all his strength.
"This is for what you did to me in the alley!"
It was the first time Risa experienced such intense pain. It was so excruciating that her entire mind went blank. Bringing her arms up to cradle her stomach, she could not protect her chest from the relentless blows as the stomping and kicking rained on.
"As for you..."
Using his hands to caress Ai's cheek then fondle her thigh, the leader then ran his tongue over her ears to enjoy the succulent texture of this rare beauty. However, he didn't expect her to bite him. Sinking her perfectly white teeth into the flesh on his arm, Ai tried to take the opportunity to break free.
Despite her valiant attempt, it proved futile when the angry man countered her defiance with a hard slap. Losing her balance and falling backwards, a tiny stream of red began to trickle from the corner of her mouth. The force from the smack made her head swim and Ai found it hard to focus. Blinking to try and gather her senses, she reached out blindly while muttering weakly.
"Risa-chan..."
It was a twist of fate that she fell near where Risa lay as it enabled her to crawl to where the younger was writhing in pain. Using one trembling hand to brush the bangs drenched with sweat away from her eyes, Ai's heart felt as if it was being wretched out of her body when she noticed how dull looking those usually beautiful honey brown eyes were.
It took tremendous effort for Risa to shift any part of her body as every inch of her torso exploded in pain with the slightest movement. Despite that, she placed a hand over Ai's which was resting on her cheek in order to comfort her.
The touching scene did nothing to waver the evil resolute of the men as after taking their cue from the leader who was smirking to himself, they dragged Ai forcefully to the shelf and roughly tied her wrists to the metal structure. Pulling on the ripped bondage helplessly, Ai struggled to get free.
"No...."
Ignoring her desperate pleas, the head shouted out in glee.
"Who wants to tear off her panties?"
Recognizing that this was their ringleader's usual behavior whenever an innocent girl had fallen prey into their hands, they knew better than to go against him.
"You!"
Pulling at her restraints frantically resulted in the rope cutting through the flesh of her wrists and crimson red blood started to drip from the lesions.
"No...please..."
"You are undoubtedly the best I've ever tasted."
Lowering his head to hover above Ai's exposed stomach, he took a small part of her skin between his teeth and bit down. Deriving extreme pleasure from seeing Ai squirm beneath his gaze, he stuck his fingers through the leg of her shorts.
"YOU BASTARD!"
In a burst energy, Risa rolled over to her front and pushed herself up. Dashing over to where Ai was, she aimed for the scoundrel’s head. Alas her strike was easily avoided by the agile man and his followers managed to restrain her once more. This time they decided to stop her from wrecking their plans for good.
-----
The journey in the taxi was unusually quiet as none of it’s occupants were speaking. Sandwiched in the middle between Reina who was staring out the window and Eri who was fidgeting with her hands, Sayumi signed softly. She wondered if she was right to inform Reina about the mysterious text message that Risa had sent.
Instead of leaving the task of finding the missing Gokkie pair up to their company staff, the trio had pleaded to be allowed to tag along when there was news about locating the car in question.
“I don’t know why you three insist on coming. We don’t know what we might find.”
Somehow the manager’s words sent a chill down Sayumi’s spine. Not sure what they might find…as long as it’s not the cold and stiff bodies of their band mates, then everything would be fine…right?
Casting a sideways glance at her best friend, the bunny noticed that Eri had stiffened in her seat. After knowing each other for so many years, the middle Rokkie was convinced that her friend was thinking of the same issue.
Frankly, it was crazy for them to suspect that their leader and sub-leader were kidnapped considering they weren’t from prestigious backgrounds or anywhere near the top idol status that some other girl groups were enjoying now.
Yet if they weren’t forcefully taken away, why couldn’t they be contacted? And going by the information that one of the staff had received from a ‘friend,’ that license plate belonged to a car which was recently stolen.
“Please let them be safe. Gaki-san, please be okay…”
Reina’s repeated mutterings in a low voice weren’t lost on Sayumi and as she twisted slightly to study the kitten’s reflection in the car window, for the first time after realizing the complicated relationship affairs within their group, Sayumi felt that Reina was just as pitiful as the rest of them.
-----
“Please stop hurting her. I’ll do anything you say!”
The beatings being inflicted on Risa were so brutal that Ai couldn’t bear to watch a second longer. Blood had splattered across the floor and ran down the weapons that the men were gripping in their hands. Left sprawled on her back in an awkward position, Risa didn’t even have the strength to whimper with each blow that was thrusted upon her battered body.
Satisfied that he had gotten the reply he wanted, the chief motioned for them to stop.
“Anything? You’ll do anything I say?”
“Y…y..es…”
As he approached her with an evil and victorious smirk, Ai let her shoulders fall limp, in turn ending her struggles. It was useless to resist. Not when they were in such perilous circumstances. Squeezing her eyes shut and willing herself to not think of her impending fate, Ai cried. It was a heart wrenching sight and any normal person would have felt sorry for her. Nevertheless, the chief empathetic side wasn’t stirred.
-----
The dark and heavy cloud slowly lifted itself from around her and gradually, the image of the shed they were imprisoned in reappeared. The first sounds that entered her ears were the tormented sobs of Ai. Turning towards where the cries originated, Risa’s eyes widened when she realized what was happening in the scene before her.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
The scum had just finished violating Ai. He had marred the perfect and innocent Ai.
“I see you are awake.”
Buttoning his shirt and pulling up his pants, he stepped aside on purpose so that Risa could take in the full view of how Ai looked in that moment.
Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, her shorts were ripped open and dangled from around her ankles. Naked with cuts and bruises covering her body, she tried to cover as much as herself as she could with her limps.
The bastard couldn’t even cover her up after he was done!
Risa thought through gritted teeth, as she imagined herself tearing the fiend to pieces.
In that moment, Risa wished upon every fiber in her body that she could somehow get to Ai and hole her in her arms. That she could remove her from this vile place and bring her back to the safe and secure home that she knew.
I brought this upon you Ai-chan. Oh god, please let me be the one tortured instead. Just not Ai. Just not her.
She couldn’t stop the tears that fell from her eyes even when the saltiness in them stung the wounds on her lips and face. Her heart ached for Ai. Her entire being burned from seeing how Ai was being treated.
“Ai-chan…Ai-chan…”
With every time that Risa uttered her name, Ai felt as if she would die. She didn’t want Risa to see her like this, to see the torture she had to endure and how broken she had become. The glimmer of hope that the worst was over and that the men would finally leave them alone was shattered when the chief announced to his followers.
“Don’t say I’m not good to you guys. It’s your turn to enjoy.”
Hoots of cheers and laughter resonated throughout the small shack as all of them began to remove their clothing.
She was stunned, she was shocked. But she was also too tired to defy them. Having lost count of how many times they had forced themselves on her or which of the men have had their turn, she could only lie motionless on the ground as the beasts had their way with her. Even when they used small knives to slice across her skin and licked at the blood which seeped through, Ai barely flinched. She could no longer fight them. Neither the slaps that they meted out on her for fun nor the rough hands which forced her to kiss them back.
Every now and then, they would pause for a moment to say. “This is revenge for calling me a bastard and hitting my head just now.” Or “no wonder you f***ed her earlier. She is truly delicious!”
Risa felt sick. She wanted to vomit and the pain from before came flooding back as soon as she looked away from Ai. This was too much. Both physically and emotionally. If there was ever a time she wished for someone to search for them, this was it. Where were their family? Where were the people who loved them? Where was Eri? If she was here, Risa was sure she would do all she can to protect Ai.
I’m sorry Ai-chan. I couldn’t protect you.
The stifled and pitiful moan which escaped Ai’s lips brought a sudden and renewed vigor into her weak body. And once again, Risa found the strength to stop their perverted actions. They were hurting her Ai, causing her pain and suffering.
“Stop this. Stop what you’re doing to Ai!”
The grimace on her face and how hard she bit on her split lips told Risa that Ai was hurting. She was so in pain that she would probably collapse any second. And before she did, Risa swore to get to her first.
Not caring that the rope the men wound around her wrists was cutting into her flesh or that the pain from her various injuries were warning her brain that she would not be able to take anymore physical abuse, Risa pulled on the bindings restrains with all her strength until the cord miraculously snapped. She could feel the warm and sticky substance trickle down her forearm and staining her sullied clothes. But more than that, she could sense that Ai was hurt, afraid, and shivering.
-----
“That’s the car isn’t it?!”
Reina’s astute eyesight glimpsed the image of the stolen automobile as soon as the car they were in neared the deserted spot hidden at the fringe of the woods.
“PL658G. That’s it!”
Sayumi replied in an agitated manner while reading off the screen of her cellphone.
“Alright, you girls stay here while I call the police.”
Opening the car door and getting out of the car where the reception was stronger, their manager didn’t notice that Reina had stealthily exited the vehicle as well. Once outside, she made a run towards the hut which was located further down the dirt path. Seeing her actions, Eri followed suit and ended up overtaking her fellow generation member as she sprinted on ahead.
Against her better judgment, Sayumi cried out Eri’s name when she realized the danger that the turtle was putting all of them in. Her shout alerted their manager who had just ended the call to the police. Ordering Sayumi to return to the car, he immediately chased after the runaway pair. However, she couldn’t bring herself to stay behind alone especially when the lives of her friends were at stake. Ignoring the elder man’s caution, the bunny too followed the rest and made her way to the shack.
Topic: Merry Go Round - Chapter 23 (110615) (Read 70271 times)