A Vulnerable Broken Mind Read online

  “Now, you listen to me,” the man whispered with an unbelievable amount of anger. “You are going to learn to follow orders, especially if you want to live.” Amber’s vision grew whiter. She could feel her life slipping away from her. “You are going to be a whore to whomever I tell you to and you will enjoy it. I’ve dealt with women like you before and I can easily kill you and get another one. So, you’d better learn.” Her eyes began to close and she felt that she could not hold on any longer; he finally relinquished the pressure from the belt.

  She coughed and gagged as she tried to get air back into her lungs. She wasn’t allowed much time as she was pulled up to her feet by her hair. “Spread your legs, whore, time for your first lesson.” She wasn’t given the option to protest as he kicked her legs apart himself. She could hear him undoing his pants. He wrapped his arm around her to pull her closer. She felt mortified as his penis pressed against her.

  “No,” she said with a whimper. Her tears were seeping through the blindfold.

  “You’re not getting out of this,” he said, satisfied. She could feel him reposition himself behind her and could feel his penis against her vagina. “This is what a whore does.” She took a deep breath and tried to prepare herself but there was no way to do that. He thrust forward and she screamed in agony as he forced himself inside of her. He then put a hand on top of her mouth. “Be quiet, bitch.” Every thrust was like a gunshot to her body.

  She fought to stay quiet. “Where is the dignity in this?” She thought to herself but there wasn’t any answer. She had been stripped of all of her rights, her humanity, and her soul and this man who was abusing her simply didn’t care.

  All she could do was stand there and take it. Her pain meant nothing to him. He was hurting her to the point where she wished for death. “How can someone be so heartless and be so cruel?” She continued to think to herself.

  It seemed to go on forever. Amber’s body was sweating from the heat that was generated by their bodies. She wanted to scream badly until her voice was no more but feared what he would do to her. Her eyes were closed as she tried to clear her mind and hide the pain. She finally realized that she would be fooling herself the same way she was fooling him.

  After a long while, his thrusts were finally slowing down. She could feel his heavy breathing on her back. He finally stopped and pulled out of her. As soon as he pulled out, Amber’s legs collapsed from underneath her and she fell back down to her knees.

  “I will admit, baby, you’re really good,” the man said as he tried to catch his breath. She could hear him pull up his pants and, once he was done, he walked in front of her.

  Amber just sat there; she didn’t have the strength to move. If it weren’t for the chains, she would have been flat on the floor. He grabbed her by the neck, pulled her head up and started to choke her unexpectedly. Her exhaustion made the air in her body completely evaporate within seconds.

  “Now, you’re going to start listening and doing what you’re told, right?” The man asked sharply. Amber was unable to answer right away. “RIGHT,” he then shouted.

  “Y…Yes,” she choked out and he let go. She once again collapsed and tried to catch her breath.

  “Good, now get some rest. I’ll be back in an hour. I’m not done with you yet,” he said in a self-satisfied tone and then he walked out. Amber was left to hang there, sweaty, violated and humiliated.

  With the blindfold still in front of her eyes, it was easy to doze off. While her better judgment told her not to sleep, her body was far too drained to handle anything else. She closed her eyes and almost instantly fell into a deep sleep. The type of sleep where it didn’t matter where you were or what position you were lying in, you were comfortable.

  Through her sleep, she began to hear footsteps approaching her. These weren’t the heavy footsteps that the man had. These footsteps were much smaller and had a tapping sound to them.

  The feet got louder and louder and, soon enough, they stopped in front of Amber. A hand began brushing through Amber’s hair. It wasn’t the big, rough hand that the man had. These hands were small and pleasant and very comforting to her.

  The hand slipped down to the blindfold. It pulled the blindfold off and Amber looked up to see who had done it. Standing before Amber was the same little girl she had seen before. “What are you doing here?” Amber whispered.

  The little girl put her finger to her mouth to indicate to her to keep quiet. She then leaned in to whisper to Amber. “He’s coming for you.”

  “Who?” Amber asked.

  “The man you love,” the girl replied simply.

  “John,” Amber whispered loudly but still not loud enough to be heard. “He’s still alive,” she said excitedly.

  “Yes, he’s searching for you now and he’s going to save you.” The little girl said, smiling at Amber. “Stay calm, he’ll be here soon.”

  Despite her excitement, Amber had one question that had been burning in her head since the first time she had set her eyes on the little girl. “Who are you?”

  The little girl smiled more brightly at Amber. “You’ll know who I am.”

  This answer perplexed Amber. “What do you mean?” She asked quickly as the little girl continued to back up.

  “In time,” the girl said shortly and was soon out of sight.

  “Wait,” Amber shouted, not bothering to whisper. There was no answer. She wanted to know more about her. The room around her faded away. Her body was then lifted from the room she was in and she was soon waking up. She opened her eyes to still find the blindfold over her eyes.

  “It was a dream?” Amber thought to herself. It couldn’t have been. It felt too real to be a dream. Amber just stayed still, pondering what had just happened. “It couldn’t have been a dream.” She kept telling herself. She wanted to believe it but she had no one to convince but herself.

  Chapter 5: Do Not Trespass

  “Mr. Robinson!” Still in a deep sleep, John felt himself being shaken. His eyes opened slightly to see Hanson trying to wake him up. “Mr. Robinson,” he said again and John began to stir in his chair and finally sat up.

  “How long was I out?” John asked groggily.

  “About an hour,” Hanson replied. “My shift has ended. Officer Sparks has arrived and I wanted you to meet him before I left.”

  “Where is he?” John asked as he opened his eyes and began looking around.

  “He just pulled up. He should be walking in any second,” Hanson explained and only seconds later a man in a police uniform approached. Unlike Hanson, this man was thinner, had no beard, short blond hair and looked much younger. He looked almost military-like in his appearance. Once he was inside, Hanson gestured for John to stand up and they both approached him. “Good evening, Ken.” Both noticed that Sparks was walking slow and gingerly when he approached them. “What happened to you?”

  “My dog played a little too rough,” Hanson said lightly. Given his appearance, John expected the voice to be deeper.

  “He bit you?” Hanson asked, looking surprised.

  “Yeah, he was chasing after his ball and accidentally got mine.” Sparks said, wincing as he said it.

  “That had to really hurt,” Hanson said sympathetically. He immediately changed the subject. “Sparks, this is Mr. John Robinson.” He indicated to John and Sparks held out his hand for John to shake, which he did. “ He got into a car accident in the woods near the highway. When he woke up, he noticed that his wife was missing. He believes that she is here.” He then took out the photo of Amber and handed it to Sparks, who looked it over.

  Sparks then looked from Hanson to John. “You believe that she was kidnapped?”

  “Yes, I do.” John said very seriously.

  “Have you guys questioned anyone?” Sparks asked Hanson and John was actually rather surprised and relieved that Sparks didn’t question him about Amber being kidnapped. He didn’t question John like Hanson had done.

  “Yes, we questioned Tom and Mary earlier to
night.” Hanson explained.

  “And what did they tell you?” Sparks asked.

  “Well, that’s actually why I’m glad you’re here.” Hanson said. “The only name they gave us was Ralph Hunt. I figured since you are in better standings with him then I am, you could take John up there and ask him some questions.”

  Sparks nodded. “I think I can do that for you. Just give me a couple of minutes and we’ll head up there.”

  John wanted to argue against this because he didn’t want to waste any more time. But seeing how he had just met Sparks, he wasn’t going to test his limits. So he begrudgingly agreed to wait and tried his best to hide his impatience. He gritted his teeth and stayed silent.

  “Alright I’m going to head out for the night,” Hanson said and he then put his hand on John’s shoulder. “I really hope you find her, Mr. Robinson.”

  John gave a forced smile and nodded his head. “I hope so too.”

  “You have a goodnight, Hanson,” Sparks said as he walked into the bathroom, which was in the back of the room. Before long, John was watching Hanson drive off.

  Only seconds after he drove off, Sparks came out of the bathroom. “Okay, my car doesn’t do well going up that hill of his, so we’ll have to walk but it will only take a few minutes. Let’s get going.”

  With that, they walked out of the office and walked across the street to the hill. It was the first time John had taken the time to notice a trail or road imprinted into the dirt, which led its way up the hill. “Has this trail always been here?” John asked, breaking the silence.

  “No, Hunt put it here when he built the house. The road that he had built near the house to go to the highway is paved but since he rarely comes down here, he didn’t see the point of paving this one,” Sparks explained as they began to walk up the hill.

  “Why does Officer Hanson not get along with Hunt?” John asked curiously.

  “A case gone wrong,” Spark’s said simply. “We had a case a couple of years back concerning a murder; the only murder case in the history of this town. Hunt was suspected by Hanson because he viewed Hunt as a suspicious character. However, with no evidence and Hunt’s extreme financial power, he threw a huge fist into our department, particularly at Hanson. He said if he was ever falsely accused again, he would use all of his power to see that none of us would ever work again.”

  “Seems like a pretty hollow threat to me,” John said.

  “Not from a guy as rich and powerful as Hunt,” Sparks explained with a great deal of seriousness. “His threat has forced us to be afraid of him. One wrong move, and it could mean our entire department. Our captain is not willing to take that risk.”

  “Then why is it that you get along with him better than most?” John asked without thinking. He was worried that his question might overstep his boundaries.

  Sparks merely shrugged at the question. “I don’t necessarily get along with him. Yes, I do get along with him better then Hanson does but I still hate him. He’s an arrogant rich man who cares for no one but himself. Trust me, I’m just as disappointed to be up here as Hanson would be.”

  As he said that, the house was coming into view. It bared the same demonic feel when it was silhouetted by the moonlight; big, dark grey and had many windows on both stories but all were covered by black curtains. A black paved horseshoe shaped driveway looped around the front of the house, almost looking like a moat. One side of the driveway veered left and John could just barely make out the road that led to the highway. It looked like a place that could pass for a haunted house.

  “He lives here?” John asked wide-eyed.

  Sparks couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “That’s the exact same reaction I had when I first saw this place. You’ll be able to tell as we talk to him, how much this fits his personality.”

  The front door was a big, thick two door entrance that looked blacker than the curtains, it sat in the center of the house with a marble set of stairs leading up to it. There was a porch light that sat to the left side of the door but it was not on. John stared around the area, actually feeling slightly scared. “Who is this Ralph Hunt?” He asked himself.

  They walked up the steps to the front door. Sparks sighed and looked annoyed just being there. He knocked on the door. The knock echoed, which made John jump slightly.

  They waited for a few seconds and got no answer. “I was expecting a butler to answer,” John said.

  “He doesn’t have one. He hates anybody that’s able to snoop in on his privacy,” Sparks explained and this made John suspicious. He was more curious about Hunt.

  After about a minute, John was starting to worry. “Is he not home?”

  Sparks shook his head. “No, he’s home. He’s always home at this hour.” Almost immediately after he said that, footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door. They got closer and closer until they both heard the lock being unlocked.

  The door opened and a shabby looking middle aged man opened the door. He was a chubby, hairless and almost black eyed man with no eyebrows. He was in a blue bathrobe and stared at both John and Sparks with a bored expression.

  “Officer Sparks, to what do I owe the pleasure?” His voice was like a deep hiss. It was almost snake-like to John. His words were welcoming but his tone was not.

  “I came here just to ask a few questions, Mr. Hunt, nothing else,” Spark’s explained in a straightforward tone, not daring to acknowledge Hunt’s darker tone. “I will only take a couple of minutes of your time.”

  “Do you honestly think I want to waste my precious couple of minutes on you?” Hunt asked sarcastically.

  “Listen,” Sparks said more roughly, losing his patience. “This is an emergency and I just need a couple of minutes.”

  Hunt gave an arrogant smile and shook his head. “I would watch that temper, Sparks. I’m pretty sure that you don’t want to lose your job.”

  Sparks took a deep breath and looked very angry. He was trying hard to contain himself. In doing so, his face turned red. “Okay, this is Mr. John Robinson,” He said, pointing to John. Hunt showed no interest. “He’s here looking for his wife, who has gone missing and…”

  “And you’re accusing me,” Hunt replied hotly, his arrogance turning into anger.

  “No, just asking what you were up to today?” Sparks said, trying to keep calm. “The last time I checked, that wasn’t an accusation.”

  Hunt rolled his eyes, looking irritated. “I was at my main store; where I always am. You should all know that by now. Is that all you needed to know?”

  “No, I have one more thing to add,” Sparks said and he then took out the photo of Amber. “If you see this woman, let us know.” He handed the photo to Hunt. He took a quick glance at it and then handed it back.

  “I highly doubt I’ll see her but if it appeases you, I’ll say okay,” Hunt replied. “But let me tell you this Sparks, if I even catch a hint that your department is accusing me of anything, I’ll make sure that your department never gets any work again.”

  “Yeah, sure.” Sparks said, rolling his eyes. “Thank you for your time. Have a wonderful night, Mr. Cunt…I mean, Mr. Hunt.” Sparks gave a small smirk, while Hunt looked positively furious and he slammed the door in both their faces. Sparks then looked to John. “Well, that went well.” He then made his way down the steps with John close behind.

  “You don’t think he acted the least bit suspicious?” John asked.

  “No,” Sparks said. “He acts that way every time we talk to him.” While John had his doubts, he didn’t argue. “Come on, let’s go back to the office. We’ll discuss a new game plan,” Sparks said and they started down the hill. John kept looking back at the house, which was slowly disappearing behind the view of the hill. There was something more to Hunt. It was almost like a gut instinct that hit him as soon as he met him; something was off.

  When they arrived back at the office, the phone was ringing. Sparks ran to the desk to answer it. “Hello?” There was a long pause and then he final
ly spoke to whoever it was on the other end. “I’m so sorry, dear. I forgot I had them.” He then took out a set of keys from of his pocket. “That is a good idea. I’ll meet you there,” he hung up the phone.

  He gave John a look that screamed for sympathy. “You have to go somewhere don’t you,” John asked disappointed.

  Sparks nodded. “Just for a bit. My wife needs a set of keys that I grabbed by accident. I’ll only be gone for a half hour at most because she’s going to meet me halfway.” A half hour meant a great deal to John. They could have accomplished a lot in that half hour.

  While upset, John didn’t want to show it to Sparks. “You gotta do what you gotta do.” He said flatly.

  “I promise to be back as soon as I can,” Sparks reassured him. “Please don’t leave the office while I’m gone. We’ll figure something out when I get back.” John nodded but remained silent. He wasn’t sure how he was going to do absolutely nothing for that long.

  Sparks walked out the door and John walked to the door to watch him leave. He got into his car and took off. He looked around the office, still wondering what he was going to do. It’s never fun to wait in dead silence. Time moves at a snail’s pace.

  John stared out the window at the hill across the street. He looked in the direction of Ralph Hunt’s house, which was not visible from the office. He had suspicions about Hunt and many questions. He wanted to know more about him and see what he was hiding, if anything.

  He debated on waiting for Sparks but didn’t want to wait that long. He quickly decided to walk out of the office. When he was finally walking towards the hill, he looked back at the office. A tinge of regret hit him but his curiosity about Hunt overtook his regret.

  He began walking up the trail towards the house. Since he was now going alone, his nerves doubled. He was almost shaking as he took small steps up the hill.

  “Hello.” John jumped and almost fell as someone spoke to him. He looked over to the side where the voice was coming from and sitting on a big rock was the same little girl he had seen earlier in the woods. “What are you doing?” She asked kindly, ignoring his near fall.