Nothing Ordinary, M J Marlow [ebook and pdf reader .TXT] 📗

was put to the problem of escape. Once she had eaten, he pulled into a roadside motel and locked her in the trunk while he rented a room for the night. “I’ve been very patient with you, Annie,” he said as he cut her free and turned on the radio; “but from tonight, you are going to be the woman I choose you to be.” He held out his hand. “Dance with me.” It was too cruel, her mind screamed even as he hand went up to his. He was taking everything! They danced and he began to remove her clothing one piece at a time. By the time the music ended, she was naked and he had her down on the mattress. He sat beside her, stroking her body slowly with a smile of pleasure mounting on his face. “He had his hands all over you, Annie,” McManus said as he remained in his clothing. “Before I make you mine, I am going to scrub every inch of your body. I will not touch you until his scent is off of you.” He took her into the bathroom and set her down in the tub. He taped her wrists to the bar above the soap dish. Then he took the soap and began to lather it on her body, scrubbing every last inch of her body until she was red. He brought in a pair of scissors and cut her hair until it was just two inches long. Then he shampooed it, massaging her scalp until it was tingling from his scrubbing. He looked down at her and smiled. “Now you are ready for me, Annie,” he said as he cut her loose. He helped her out of the tub and made her remove his clothing. Then he led her to the bed and took her as she lay sobbing beneath him. “You’re mine, Annie!” he crowed as he rocked inside of her. “From now until the day you die; you are mine alone!” He fell asleep still inside of her and Annie lay there, biting her lip to keep from crying aloud. He brought her awake and took her again before they got dressed and drove east. Evening had come when they pulled into a farm that looked remarkably like the one where she’d gone through the first transformation, this one run by an old gray haired woman and her son. “Shame on you, boy,” the woman chided McManus, “for not telling me you had a woman!” She put Annie through the same examination the old man had. “Pretty thing and already seeded.” She smiled as McManus carried her into the kitchen and sat her down at the table. “Only names I have available right now are Martin and Anne Clarence.” “Works just fine,” McManus nodded. “Brown eyes, I think.” “You’ve stirred up quite the hornet’s nest, boy,” the old woman smiled as she ladled out some soup. “Her father-in-law as posted a reward for her safe return.” She looked over at Annie. “You’re not letting her go, are you?” “No, ma’am,” McManus shook his head. “This one is forever. I’ve already marked her.” His head snapped up as he heard sirens and he looked at the woman. “What have you done, old woman?” he snarled. He slapped the woman and she went flying against the wall. Then he yanked Annie from the chair under the dryer and headed out the back. He got to the door when the son cut him off, holding a shotgun on him. “Let us go, Willy,” he said as he pulled Annie to him and held the knife to her throat. “You don’t want to be responsible for her dying now, do you?” “Heard you telling Ma this one was a keeper, Mac,” Willy replied. “I got no reason to want the girl to be harmed, but I got a very powerful reason to want to see you dead.” Annie drove her elbow into McManus side and stomped on his foot and he let her go. She crouched down as the shotgun went off and turned to see McManus sliding down the wall with a stunned expression on his face and a large hole in his chest. Willy helped her up but the expression on his face did not make her feel safe. “That money will come in handy, little girl,” Willy said as he pushed her back into the kitchen. “Sit down at the table,” he ordered her as his mother came in. “Ma, tied her good and tight while I get rid of Mac’s body.” “Bury him in his empty coffin, Willy,” the woman said as she got the rope and did as he instructed. “Please don’t do this to me,” Annie cried as the rope bit into her wrists. “Let me call my…” “Sorry, darling,” the woman said as she gagged Annie. “We want that pretty money. If they’re willing to spend all this money to chase you cross country, then your family should be willing to pay a ransom for your safe return.” Annie pulled on the ropes and the woman slapped her. “You best be a good girl,” she snapped at Annie, “or you’ll be getting a hiding. That wouldn’t be good for your baby now, would it?” Annie looked at the woman in outright disbelief. She didn’t know what she was doing if she thought her family was just going to fork over money. They would know it wasn’t McManus doing it. He had no reason to sell her back to them. The woman left her alone for a minute and came back with a contact lens case. “Mac asked us to give you brown eyes,” she said as she opened the case and Annie saw white lenses, “but since you’re our hostage now you’re going to have to be blindfolded.“ She picked one of the lenses up and held Annie’s head so she could slide it into the girl’s eye. “See what this does, girl? You can’t see a thing through it, can you?” Annie shook her head, pleading silently with the woman not to do this to her. “Anyone who sees you now will think you blind.” The other lens went in and she was blind. “That should keep you in place.” She heard the woman walk to the door and open it. “Willy, hurry up with that burial.” “Having trouble, Ma,” Willy called back. “Open up the coffin and stick your brother in it,” the woman snapped. She sighed. “Men! Don’t have brains worth spit!” She slammed the door and Annie was alone. She worked on the ropes and almost got the knot loose when someone opened the door. Whoever it was did not come into the room for a moment. Then they came up to her and she felt a large rough hand on her chin, turning her head from side to side. “So you’re the golden goose, are you?” a man’s voice, deep and filled with amusement, entered her ears. “Pretty little thing.” She felt his hand move along her arm and she shuddered in horror. Not again, her mind screamed. Please no! “Don’t be frightened, little girl,” the man said in concern. “We don’t abuse females around here.” She felt his hands on her wrists. “I’m going to untie you now. Blind girl shouldn’t have to be tied up. Where could you go?” Annie moved the instant he let her free. She shoved him back and ran, right into a door. He put his hands on her shoulders and she whirled to slug him. He caught her hand and laughed as she struggled to get free of him. He pressed her up against the door and pinned her there. The horror that flooded through her and appeared in her expression made him step back. “My God!” he cried in shock. “What did he do to you?” “Your brother told me he marked her, Jared,” the woman said as she came in the back door. “Why did you let her up?” “There’s no need to tie her, Ma,” Jared replied calmly. “She’s blind and she has no idea how to navigate around this room, much less the farm. Where is she going to go?” “I suppose you have a point,” the woman admitted. “Oh very well, put her in the housekeeper’s old room. You can lose the gag, too. No one’s going to hear her screaming way out here.” The gag came off and the woman grabbed Annie’s arm and twisted it painfully. “But I’m warning you, girl; you do anything to annoy me and I will whip you. Is that clear?” “Yes, ma’am,” Annie replied. “I need the bathroom, please.” “Open the door behind you then,” the woman said. “It’s a bedroom with a bathroom attached. That will be your place until your family sends the money.” She watched Annie turn to open the door. “What’s your name, girl? Your real name?” “Annie Owens,” Annie replied. She stopped and turned back and they saw the anguish in her eyes. “Could I please call them and let them know I’m all right?” “Later,” the woman told her. “You go to your room now. I’ll come get you when it’s time to make the call.” Annie opened the door and walked ahead slowly, her hands moving along the wall. She had done this once, her mind remembered; when she was training as an emergency technician. They had been made to experience a week blind, a week crippled, a week deaf, so that they understood how to handle people with handicaps. Walk slowly and feel your way her mind bade her and she listened. She could feel eyes on her now and knew the man was watching her. She found a door and opened it. A closet, she frowned as she closed the door. She moved and her hand touched something wooden. A dresser, she decided as she moved past it. “You move well for a blind person,” Jared said softly. “Have you been blind long?” He didn’t know about the lenses? She thought the entire family knew the truth. She decided not to talk to him, but continued moving. She found another door and opened it, smelling soap and linens. She knew he was still there when she came out; closer now than the doorway. She remained where she was and refused to move. The air grew warmer around her as he moved up to her and she backed away from him, her body poised to run or fight. “I am not going to hurt you, Annie,” he said gently. He touched her hair and she pulled away, shaking her head. “If Willy hadn’t already shot him, I would kill him for hurting you so much you fear a touch.” “Thomas McManus was your brother?” Annie asked him. “Thomas McManus was my friend,” Jared replied, confusion in his tone. “My brother was using his name?” “Yes,” his mother said before Annie could speak. “Jared,” she continued as she looked at the girl in warning, “there’s the back field needs tilling. Get on that and leave the girl alone.” “Sure, Ma,” Jared got to his feet and left the room. Annie did not see the look of concern on his face as he went. “You will not speak to him again,” the woman said. “I’m the only person who will have access to you from now on.” Annie heard her leave the room and then the sound of keys rattling on a ring. She was being locked in the room. She was not letting this happen to her again, she told herself. She got up and found a window. It was an old type of window and she opened it easily. She climbed up on the ledge and lowered herself to the ground slowly. “That’s not wise, girl,” Willy’s voice entered her ear. Annie put her hand out and moved in a circle. He watched from beyond her reach and laughed. “Ma is