Country Born
Author: Linda Lael Miller
Date: 2022-04-26 00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Romance; Contemporary
Description: AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“Curl up in your favorite reading chair and get lost in the pages of this book.”—Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author, on Country Strong Sometimes love is just out of reach… Rancher and military veteran J.P. McCall loves simple pleasures. The satisfaction of working his family’s land. The freedom to come and go as he pleases. But ever since his two closest friends have married and started families of their own, J.P. realizes what he’s been missing. He's known plenty of women, but now he craves finding The One. And then Sara Worth comes crash
Publisher: HQN

The Country Club

Tim Miller

Tim Miller

The Country Club
© 2014, Tim Miller

San Antonio, TX

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Edited by Angela Pratt of Lily Rose Editing

Cover image and design by M. Jet and Headtrip Productions

Chapter 1

Caleb looked out the window as his friend Denny drove the car to what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

“I thought you said we were going to a party,” Caleb said.

“We are. Trust me.”

Denny came from a family of great wealth and means. His dad was a big shot with one of the oil companies. So Denny never had to actually work for much of anything. Caleb, on the other hand, always had to work whatever shit job he could just to get by. He and Denny had been friends since childhood. Denny always managed to stay pretty grounded despite his money.

“It’s dark and freaky out here. Where are we?” Caleb asked again.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch, dude. We’re almost there. I promise, this place will blow your mind.”

Denny pulled onto a dirt road that Caleb didn’t even see until they were on it. They wound through some woods and trees until they reached a large steel gate. There was a post with a keypad just before the gate. Denny pulled up and punched in a code onto the pad as the gate swung open.

“You have the code?” Caleb asked.

“Yeah, all members here do.”

“Members?”

“You’ll see.”

As they pulled through the gate, they wound up another lane up a hill. At the top of the hill was a large house. It was more of a mansion than a house. Three stories tall, with a large fountain in front. In the dark it was hard for Caleb to make out the rest of the details. There were several cars parked along the front. Denny pulled the car up and parked in an open space and shut the car off.

“Here we are,” he said.

They got out and walked to the front door where Denny pushed the doorbell.

“Why did we have to wear suits?” Caleb asked. “This some kind of dinner party?”

Caleb hadn’t worn a suit since his cousin’s wedding a few years before. He wasn’t even sure if it would still fit. It did, but just barely. It seemed odd to wear a suit to a party in Austin, Texas on a Friday night but they weren’t exactly in Austin anymore either.

After a minute or so, a man in a tuxedo answered the door. He was a few years older than Caleb and Denny, who were in their mid-twenties. He had dark hair and glasses.

“Good evening gentleman. Mr. Dennis, we didn’t know you’d be bringing a friend.”

“Yes, this is Caleb,” Denny said.

“Well good to meet you Sir. Right this way please.”

They stepped inside. The main room looked like the ballroom from the movie “Titanic” with a huge chandelier and winding stairwell. Caleb looked around at the furniture and décor. Everything looked like it cost more than he’d make in a lifetime.

“What do you think man?” Denny asked. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“I’m afraid to touch anything,” Caleb answered.

“You’ll be fine.”

“Where is everyone?”

“You’ll see. It’s pretty awesome. Not your usual party.”

The butler type guy in the tuxedo walked over to them and handed them each a key.

“Here are your room keys, gentlemen. We made sure everything was just like you asked for Mr. Dennis,” the man said as he handed them each a key with a room number. Caleb’s read 303.

“I got, 302, cool. We’ll be right next door,” Denny said.

“Room for what? What is this?”

“Just come on. You’ll see. I told you this place, anything goes. And I mean, anything,” Denny said as he started up the stairs. Caleb followed behind until they were at their rooms.

“Here we are man. Time to play,” Denny said as he unlocked his door and stepped inside.

“Play what?” Caleb said, but Denny had already shut the door and locked it. “What the fuck dude? Not cool.” He stared at the key in his hand and at the number on the door. He wasn’t sure what he’d find behind that door other than the time of his life according to Denny. Slowly, he placed the key into the lock and turned it as he pushed the door open. The room was dark, so he couldn’t see much of anything.

There was a light switch along the wall, he flipped it and a dim light came on. The walls were lined with padding. A few feet from the door, was a table. There were various tools on the table along with sex toys. Everything from pliers, a hacksaw, hammer, drill, lubricant, dildos and a few things Caleb didn’t recognize. What the fuck was all this? Once he looked toward the back of the room, he saw her. A girl was tied to a chair.

She was wearing some kind of lingerie, but her head drooped to the side. He walked over to her and lifted her head.

“Hello? Can you hear me? Hey!” he shouted to her, but no response. He figured she’d been drugged. The other stuff in the room all made sense. The padding was sound proofing and the toys and tools were for things he didn’t want to think about. Where the fuck had Denny taken him? Was his childhood friend into this sick shit?”

The girl was Hispanic, and had a perfect body. He had no doubt she looked beautiful when she wasn’t passed out and tied up. Shaking his head, he turned and walked to the door, but it was locked. What the fuck? He rattled the door and pulled on the handle but it wouldn’t budge. There was no place for him to put the key in either. From the outside, the door appeared to be a standard wooden door. From the inside, was a thick plate of steel.

“Let me out of here!” He shouted as he pounded on the door. “Open this fucking door!”

“Can I help you sir?” a voice said from his right. He jumped as there was no one else in the room besides him and the girl. There was a speaker on the wall. The voice sounded like the butler guy’s who had let them in.

“What’s going on here? I’m locked in. And why is this girl tied up here? She needs medical attention.”

“Yes sir. Mr. Dennis should have explained this to you,” the voice said.

“Well he didn’t explain shit.”

“The door is locked until you are done with the girl. He told us you like Hispanic ladies, so I hope she is to your satisfaction. She is yours to do with as you will. If she is still alive when you are done, let us know, and one of our men will take care of her for you. Or you may end her life yourself. Totally up to you.”

“Yeah, well I don’t to do any of that. I want to get out of here and take her with me. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“I’m afraid that isn’t possible, sir. You cannot leave until you’ve finished with her, but you have to do something. You cannot just walk out of here. Not until you have participated.”

“What if I refuse?” Caleb asked.

“Then I’m afraid you’ll be here for a very long time.”

Chapter 2

Denny looked at the girl strapped to the dentist’s chair and smiled.

“Well hello there. Aren’t you pretty?” he said. She couldn’t reply due to the tape over her mouth. The girl looked like she could have been a cheerleader. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and perfect titties. Denny reached up and squeezed one of them.

“Oh yeah. This one is nice and firm.”

He reached up and pulled the tape off. Immediately the girl began to scream, but he ignored it as he walked over to the table. There was a white coat hanging up. He removed his suit jacket and put the white coat on and buttoned it up along the sides. The girl continued to scream until he finally had enough.

“All right! Stop that already!” Denny yelled. “No one can fucking hear you.”

She stopped screaming, but was breathing heavily.

“Let me go! Please!” she cried. “I haven’t done anything.”

“I’m afraid that is irrelevant. You’re here now. You are Club property, which makes you my property,” Denny explained as he brushed a strand of his black hair out of his face.

“That’s bullshit! This is a free country! I’m not anyone’s property!”

“The laws of this country make no difference. Once you came onto these grounds, you became our property. Whether you came here of your own free will or not.”

“What is this place? What are you going to do?”

He pulled up a stool and sat next to the chair, playing with her hair as he spoke.

“This place is where people like me get to fulfill their every dream, fantasy and desire. This is also a place where people like you will learn a new definition of pain and suffering like you never knew existed.”

“People like you and me? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“People like me as in the wealthiest one percent. Then there are people like you as in everyone else. This country, this planet, cannot function without the one percent. On the other hand, there are far too many of the rest of you. None of you serve any real purpose other than to provide laborers for us. You cook our meals, you work in our factories and you wait our tables. You are here on this earth to please us. As it stands right now, your lot in what remains of your life is to please me. I ordered you, the same way I would order a cheeseburger, and here you are.”

He walked to the little table and slid it over next to his stool. There were a variety of tools and instruments on the table. Denny was skilled in using each of them. He’d been coming to The Club for years, and it never got old. She began screaming again as he took a set of clamps and began fastening it to her lips. She tried to move her head, but it was strapped to the chair as well.

The clamps attached on four corners of her mouth as he forced the rest inside her mouth while turning a small crank. As he cranked, her mouth began to open further and further. It became harder for her to scream as he stretched her mouth as far open as it would go.

“There. How’s that? You comfortable?”

She let out some half screams, but couldn’t sustain it. He picked up a small drill and put on a pair of goggles as he smiled.

“Ok, this is going to hurt just a bit,” he said as he started drilling into one of her molars. Her body shuddered as he drilled clear through the enamel, and into the gums. Blood sprayed as he continued to drill. Her head jerked as he hit her jaw and kept drilling. He sat the drill down and picked up a set of pliers.

“Yeah, I’m afraid that tooth is going to have to come out.”

He gripped the tooth with the pliers and began pulling and twisting. It came out easier than usual since he had drilled it loose. He showed the girl her own tooth as blood dripped off and sat it on the table.

“There’s one. Just a few more to go.”

He went to work on the other teeth, drilling and pulling. The girl made different sounds with each new series of torments he’d inflict. Once he’d pulled all of her molars, he picked up the hammer and bashed in her front teeth. The clamps in her mouth kept the chunks of teeth from going down her throat, but she still gagged and screamed. He took the vacuum tube and suctioned the tooth fragments and blood from her mouth.

“Good, good. You’re doing great,” he said as he picked up a scalpel and began cutting off her right nipple. She shook and screamed as blood ran down her breast while he pulled the piece of skin away. He played with it in his fingers before sticking it onto her forehead.

“Looky there. You look like one of them Indian ladies,” he said. The bloody nipple stuck to her head as tears ran down her face. “Oh now don’t cry.”

His warning didn’t help as the tears kept flowing.

“Well, ok. We’ll do it your way.”

He picked up the scalpel and stood over by her head. Pulling her left eyelid open, she struggled against him as he lowered the scalpel.

“Hold still or this will hurt worse,” he said as he pressed the scalpel to the bottom of her eyeball. As the blade penetrated the sclera, milky fluid began to ooze out as the girl screamed. She bucked hard causing the scalpel to cut across the eye, slicing it wide open. Fluid sprayed everywhere as Denny tried to pull his face away in time, though he still got a mouthful of the bitter tasting eye juice.

He’d hoped to pull it out in one piece, but instead he was forced to dig it out in pieces. He used the scalpel, the suction tube and a dental scraper to clear the eye socket and cut the nerve stem. The girl had stopped bucking. She was whimpering in short breaths as her body trembled rapidly. Once that was completed, he walked over to the mini fridge in the corner and took out a bottle of water and drank it down. He was glad to have that nasty taste out of his mouth.

The other eye came out much easier. Once he removed it, he placed it into a little jar on his table and filled it with alcohol.

“Well, that should take care of the crying,” he said as he took a larger drill and walked to the foot of the chair and leaned over. He pulled her labia apart and placed the tip of the drill bit against her clitoris. He pulled the trigger on the drill for a few seconds. Just enough to make her jump.

“Yeah, you know what I’m gonna do, don’t you?” he said as she continued to whimper. Then he began drilling.  Before he got too far, the door swung open.

“What the fuck?” Denny yelled. “No one is to disturb me during my session!”

One of the large security guards, a man with a bald head and wearing a black suit was standing in the door way. All of them dressed that way, so there was no way to tell them apart. Next to him was the man in the tuxedo who had let them in.

“I’m so sorry sir. You have my apologies. We will comp you for this visit.”

“You’re goddamn right you will. What’s going on?” Denny asked.

“Mr. Dennis, there’s a slight problem with your friend.”

Chapter 3

Crystal typed furiously on her laptop as sweat beaded on her forehead. She was writing a long response to an internet troll on her blog, “Texas Urban Legends.” Her latest entry had been one in a series she’d been working on about the urban legend known as The Country Club. According to the legend, there was some place somewhere in Texas where the super wealthy could ask for anything they wanted, usually a girl. And this place would kidnap one for them and they were allowed to rape, torture, or whatever as much as they wanted.

She knew it sounded a bit like the film “Hostel” but she had some good reasons to believe in this one. In her college days at Austin Community College, she had first learned about the legend. Some girls had disappeared from the area and she suspected they were victims of The Country Club. Everyone told her she was nuts of course, including this online douchebag with the user name “Cuntbooger.” However, before she hit the post key, her laptop beeped and the screen went black.

“Goddamn this motherfucking piece of cheap ass bullshit!” Crystal yelled.

“What is the problem now?” her roommate Sophie said from the couch.

“This piece of shit laptop. The battery fucking died on me. I only had it on an hour. Stupid thing didn’t even warn me.”

“I told you to get a Mac,” Sophie said.

“Fuck that. I’m not paying $1200.00 for a fucking laptop. This one only cost me $250.00”

“That would explain why it’s a piece of shit.”

“Blow me,” Crystal said. As she sat up and walked the laptop over to her desk and plugged it in. “Besides. Macs are all hype anyway.”

“Mine never goes dead after an hour.”

“You barely use yours.”

“Whatever. Besides, don’t big shot journalists use Macs?” Sophie asked.

“I’m a blogger, hardly a big shot journalist.”

“Not a big demand for writers on mythical Country Clubs either probably.”

“Whatever. I’m gonna find this thing. I’m telling you, one of the missing girls from my freshman year. I talked to her parents. She thinks they took her. She had dated some guy from UT. His family had all kinds of money. He was the biggest suspect, but they didn’t have anything on him,” Crystal said.

“They never found a body, right?”

“Nope, no trace of her.”

“How do you know she didn’t just take off?” Sophie asked. “Maybe ran off with some other guy.”

“Why the fuck would she do that? She had everything going for her. I mean, she wasn’t rich, but she was a good student, pretty, and smart. She could’ve done anything. Doesn’t make any sense she’d just vanish. Besides, I’m not the only one who believes this place exists. I have over five-thousand subscribers on my blog and ten thousand on my Facebook page.”

“Oh, well be careful. Maybe they’ll come for you next!”

“I doubt it,” Crystal said. “Not much demand for a frizzy haired nerd with glasses and a big nose.”

“Your nose is not big. It’s distinguished.”

“It’s a fucking beak. Anyway, not that worried about it. I doubt those rich assholes give a shit what I am up to.” Crystal turned her laptop back on and waited for Windows to reload and go through ‘your-computer-did-not-shut-down-properly bullshit.’ Once it started up, she pulled up her browser and saw she had a new email through her website.

She clicked on it, and it filled her screen.

“Dear stupid whore,

Or should I say Crystal Ray at 4472 South 5th St apt 221, Austin, TX. We are sick and tired of reading about The Country Club and other bullshit stories. You seem to have grown quite the following, a following that seems to listen to you. We think it’s time you took down this blog and other stupid sites. Nothing good will come of them. No one believes you nor will they ever. Everyone already thinks you’re crazy, but it can and will get worse. Unless you take it down. Consider this your first and only warning.

Cuntbooger and friends.”

“What the fuck?” Crystal said as she pushed away from the desk. “Look at this shit.”

Sophie sat down and read the screen.

“So someone is fucking with you,” she said.

“I see that. But they know my name, my address? How would they know that?”

“It’s probably someone you know trying to scare you. And it’s working. Just delete that shit,” Sophie said.

“I can’t just delete it. It’s a fucking Yahoo account too. Could be anyone. What if it really is them?”

“Who? The Club or whatever? Why the fuck would they send you this? Say ‘Hey! It’s us, but we don’t exist!’ I think you’ve been at this for too long. Maybe you need a break.”

“Shut up. I’m gonna show this to Joel. Maybe he can see where it came from.”

“Joel? Not that dork,” Sophie said.

“Yes that dork. He’s the smartest computer guy I know. Let’s go.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes you are. This shit is freaking me the fuck out and I’m not leaving you here alone until I’m sure this is bullshit.” Crystal grabbed her hand and dragged her out the door. They walked down the stairs and got into Crystal’s car, a 2010 Toyota Prius and headed to Joel’s.

“I think you are way overreacting,” Sophie said.

“I’m not. What if Bob Woodward didn’t keep digging around about Watergate?”

“Yeah, this is a far cry from Watergate. It’s more like you chasing bigfoot or UFOs.”

“Hey, at least I have a cause,” Crystal said.

“I have better than a cause, I have a job.”

“Which you hate.”

“It pays more than your damn blog does.”

Crystal didn’t reply to the last jab. After a few blocks, they reached a tiny house that looked like it should have been condemned. The windows were even boarded up.

“Here we are,” Crystal said.

“Great. I think I’d feel safer at this Club place than here.”

“Be nice,” Crystal said as she got out of the car.

Chapter 4

Joel sat at his computer when he heard the car door slam. He stood and looked out the window to see Crystal and Sophie walking up. Holy shit! What were they doing here this late? Especially Sophie. She hated his guts for some reason. Though girls like her usually hated his guts. Girls like her being perfect girls. Sophie had long legs, long blonde hair and full lips that looked like they could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch.

Crystal was short, wore nerdy glasses, had wavy dark hair and probably had a cute body, but she wore baggy shirts all the time. Her glasses were actual prescription too, so they weren’t just hipster glasses, which was common around Austin. He sniffed his armpit and noticed the sweat stain on the front of his shirt and immediately wished he’d showered that day. He was standing by the door when the girls knocked.

“Hey!” he said opening the door.

“Hey Joel. Sorry to bother you so late, but I want you to look at something. This has me seriously creeped out,” Crystal said.

“Sure, what is it?”

She stepped inside, with Sophie following behind. Sophie looked Joel up and down and waved her hand in front of her face to let him know she could smell him. He gave her the finger as Crystal was setting up her laptop.

“It’s this weird email I got through my blog,” Crystal said.

“Oh, the urban legends one?” Joel asked.

“Yeah. You know how everyone tells me that Country Club place doesn’t exist? Well take a look at this.”

Joel sat down and looked at the email

“Holy shit, that’s fucked up,” he said wiping a strand of greasy hair out of his face.

“I told her it’s probably a troll fucking with her,” Sophie said.

“Is there any way to tell who it is or where it came from?” Crystal asked.

“Let me take a look,” Joel said as he wrote down the email address, then moved over to his computer and punched it in. His computer was no simple set up. He had custom built the whole system, which included four monitors as well as the top of the line processor and parts. He often referred to it as his “hot rod.”

“It’s a Yahoo account, but I’m running a few things to see what I can find.” He sat there for a moment before turning around. “Well whoever it is, was using a Tor browser.”

“What the fuck is a Tor browser?” Crystal asked.

“It’s a secure browser that hides your identity online. No one can trace you. All the hacker groups use it since they can’t be tracked through it.”

“So is it something really high tech? Like some stupid internet troll wouldn’t use that would they?” Crystal asked.

“Well they could. It’s not hard to set up, so if you’re a hardcore troll I could see using it. But unfortunately, I can’t tell who the account belongs to,” Joel explained.

“So how did they know my address?”

“Through your ISP. If they were able to look it up through your blog, they could find your name, home address and such. It really isn’t that hard.”

“So it probably is someone just fucking with me?”

“Or it could be evildoers from the scary Country Club coming for you,” Joel said.

“Fuck you,” Crystal said as she sat down.

“What’s wrong? You almost seem upset that it wasn’t them. If it was, wouldn’t that be a bad thing? Like if they are as bad as you think they are, if they’re real that is.”

“I guess so.”

“Why do you want this to be so true anyway?” Sophie asked. “If it were true, it’s a horrible place. You should be happy it’s just a myth.”

“That’s just it. It’s not a myth. I know it’s there. And they are doing these things, taking girls and doing God-knows-what to them, and getting away with it. I want to find them and expose them.”

Joel and Sophie exchanged glances.

“Yeah, don’t look at each other like that,” Crystal said.

Joel wasn’t sure what to say. He liked Crystal. She was cute and awkward, much like himself. She’d never shown much interest in him and he was too chicken to say anything to her. Either way, he didn’t want to piss her off either. So instead he did what he usually does. Opens his mouth and says something stupid.

“I believe you, Crystal. Want me to help you find it?”

Crystal’s eyes lit up.

“Really? You don’t think I’m crazy?”

“Well I do, but we’re all a bit nuts. So yeah. I think you may be onto something.”

“Great!”

Before Joel could reply her email pinged. This was from a different address. When she opened it, there were two words.

Round Rock

“Round Rock? That’s maybe an hour or so from here,” Crystal said.

“What’s in Round Rock?” Joel asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe The Country Club is there.”

“Why would it be in Round Rock of all places?” Sophie asked. “If this is some kind of secret place for the rich. Wouldn’t it be in Dallas or Houston or something?”

“Round Rock is out of the way. Lots of open country around there. It would be easy to hide a place like that,” Crystal explained.

“Where would you even look?” Sophie asked.

“I don’t know, but we need to go. Come on!” Crystal jumped up and closed her laptop.

“What? Now?” Sophie said.

“Yes now.”

“It’s like two in the morning,” Joel said.

“Yeah, so? You said you’d help me. Come on,” Crystal said as she grabbed his hand and began tugging at him to get up. Her touch took him by surprise and actually gave him shivers. He couldn’t remember the last time a girl had touched him in any way at all. He stood, and followed her as they headed for the door.

“You guys are actually going?” Sophie said.

“Yeah. May as well.”

“You’re both fucking insane, you know that? And Crystal, Joel fucking stinks. Do you even shower, dude?”

“Sophie!” Crystal shouted.

“No, she’s right. I don’t usually get company, let alone invited on a road trip. I’ll go clean up then we can go. I won’t take long,” Joel said as he headed to the bathroom. He was glad for the chance to shower. Mainly so he could rub one out quick while the sensation of Crystal’s touch was still fresh in his mind.

Chapter 5

Caleb woke up and tried to sit up, but could not. He was strapped to a chair in a room similar to the one he’d been in earlier. The girl was still tied to a chair sitting on the other side of the room but facing him. The back of his head hurt and was throbbing. Someone must have knocked him out. The girl had tape over her mouth, but he did not. He looked around, trying to get his wits about him when the door opened, and the tuxedo guy, Denny and some tall, bald headed douchebag stepped inside.

“Glad to see you’re awake, Mr. Caleb,” the tuxedo guy said. “Sorry we had to put you out like that.”

“I’m disappointed Caleb. I thought you were up for this,” Denny said.

“Up for this? What the fuck is this place?”

“This is The Country Club. Yes, it really exists. I’ve been a member here since I was eighteen. My dad since he was eighteen and on down the line. They don’t usually let common folks like yourself in here, but I vouched for you,” Denny explained.

“Yeah, well a little heads up would have been nice,” Caleb said.

“Dude. In college we used to fuck girls up all the time. This is just a step further is all.”

“A step further? There’s a fucking drill on that little cart, as well as shit like pliers and an ice pick. What the fuck? Yeah we banged girls and got a little rough. We never cut them to pieces.”

“Oh stop being so self-righteous,” Denny said. “They told me you tried to let her go.”

“That’s right. I unstrapped her and gave her my jacket and we tried to get out. Then I guess one of those assholes knocked me out.”

“With good reason. We can’t have these girls getting out and running their mouths to God knows who. Usually if someone acts like you, they put them in one of the rooms as a gift to a member. But I talked them into a deal for you.”

“A deal?” Caleb couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d known Denny since they were both playing in the sandbox together. He’d never shown any hint of this type of behavior. Maybe this place was why.

“Yeah. You’ll remain here and work for them. You’ll start out helping with cleanup, but eventually you’ll be able to help bring girls in, take care of members and so forth. You’ll live here at The Club. All your meals will be provided for. It will be a good life.”

“Fuck you man. I’m not staying here. Let me out of this damn chair. You made your point. Let’s get out of here,” Caleb said. He still refused to believe this was more than some kind of weird prank or initiation of some sort.

“I don’t think your friend is taking this very seriously Mr. Dennis,” Tuxedo guy said. “I think a demonstration is in order.”

He nodded to the big bald guy who walked over to the cart, picked up a large knife and slit the girl’s throat. She let out one final yelp as blood squirted from her neck. The guy had cut at such an angle, barely any blood got on him. He tossed the knife down and wiped his hands off as the whole thing had been like changing a light bulb.

“Holy shit!” Caleb yelled. “What the fuck? Why the fuck did you do that? Holy shit!”

“I told you. Trying to let her go didn’t save her. You maybe spared her a little suffering, but that’s it. She’s still dead,” Denny said. “So think about what I told you. You have two choices. Stay in that chair for the next Club member that walks through the door, or start your new job by cleaning this mess up.”

“What about my job? My family? Can I call my mom?”

“No, you’ll have no communication at first. I’ll make up something for your mom, don’t worry.”

“Fuck. You’re serious?” Caleb said, still in shock from this whole experience.

“Yes we’re serious. You want them to do another demonstration?”

“No! No! Jesus. Can you let me out of this chair?”

Denny looked at the tuxedo guy who nodded as the big bald douchebag walked over and undid the straps.

“Now when you get up, I don’t recommend doing anything crazy. Richard here will take you upstairs to change clothes and show you where supplies are. Won’t you Richard?” the bald douchebag nodded. He apparently couldn’t talk.

Caleb stood and rubbed the back of his head. He followed Richard out the door, glaring at Denny.

“Sorry man. This was supposed to be fun,” Denny said.

“Fuck you,” Caleb said.

Denny turned away as Caleb walked down the hallway with Richard. There was a set of decorative double sliding doors. Richard pushed a button on the wall and they slid open to reveal an elevator.

“Get in,” Richard said. The first time he’d spoken so far.

They got on and Richard pushed the “B” button. It dropped for several levels before coming to a stop and the doors slid open once again. The basement was not like the rest of the building at all. There was no fine décor down there. It was dark, mildewy, and smelled like rotten meat. Richard got out and turned to the right.

He took him to a locker room and going through a closet, dug out a pair of coveralls, boots, and gloves. Caleb got dressed as Richard stepped out of the room, and returned with a large case. He sat it on the bench and opened it. Inside was a hatchet, a hacksaw and other various cutting tools.

“You’ll go through each room at the end of the night. Use these to cut the bodies up into as small of pieces possible. Then you will come back down here and get the cart. It’s in the other room. You’ll see it, it’s a large stainless cart with a big drop slot at the top. You’ll place the body parts in there, and come back down here and place them in the incinerator,” Richard explained.

Caleb only heard bits and pieces of what the man was saying. He caught words like “body,” “pieces,” and “incinerator.” This night had not gone at all the way he’d planned. He thought he was on his way to a party where he’d get drunk, high, and laid. Instead, since he refused to kill some girl he didn’t even know, he know has to dispose of body parts for a bunch of rich assholes.

“You hear me?” Richard said, snapping him out of his trance.

“Oh. Yeah. I heard you,” Caleb said.

“Good. Now get up there. Start with your girl then go into any room with the door open. Got it?”

Caleb just nodded as Richard turned and left the room. He looked around and picked up the case and headed to the elevator. Once he was back in the room with the dead girl, he wasn’t sure where to start. First, he undid her straps and laid her onto the floor. Her eyes were frozen open in a death stare. He took the hatchet and spread her arm out to the side. His first swing with the hatchet was weak and half-hearted. He’d never dismembered a person before. As he went for another swing, he stopped and looked at her face.

He couldn’t cut her up with her eyes staring at him like that. He reached up and closed her eyelids and went to chop her arm again, but still he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead of her arm, he slid over by her head and turned it to the side. Maybe he should cut her head off first, then he won’t have to look at her face. He lined up the hatchet and looked away as he took the first swing. This time with a lot more force. The hatchet sliced partway through her neck, but got stuck. He swung again and again. It took him a good six blows before her head rolled free of her body.

Blood oozed from her neck, but there was very little since she was already dead. He sat the hatchet down as her head rolled by his leg and stopped with her eyes staring back up at him. He didn’t know how her eyes opened again, but didn’t know how much of this he could take. It hadn’t even seemed real until he was in the room ready to cut up her body. The hatchet fell to the floor as he began crying, covering his face with his bloody hands.

Chapter 6

Denny left the room and headed down the hall, down the stairs and into the lounge. The lounge was a large room separated from the rest of The Club. There were couches, chairs, as well as its own bar and bartender and other amenities. When he stepped inside, there was a group of men already engrossed in conversation about the night’s activities. One of them, Bernard Davis, was extra loud.

“So, I take the drill and start driving it into her fucking skull,” Bernard was saying. “And she starts like vibrating, all like this.” He rolled his eyes in his head and started gyrating in his chair. The rest of the men laughed at his demonstration. “Yeah, it was funny as hell. She was still alive. I never had one twitch like that.”

“I have,” George Robinson said. “It’s been awhile. If you can fuck up their brain just right when they’re still alive, you’ll get that twitching shit. Though usually they do it once they’re dead for a few seconds.”

Denny stood listening to them. He found the conversation at The Club much more entertaining than at a usual country club. He never liked golf anyway. Though he did bash a girl’s head in with a golf club once.

“Hey Denny, we didn’t see you there. Where’s your pal? I thought you were bringing a new guy tonight,” George asked.

“Eh, didn’t work out too well I’m afraid,” Denny said.

“Oh shit. What happened?”

“I guess I should have filled him in a bit more. He didn’t want to hurt her. Refused to even touch her. He really pussed out.”

“Shit man. What’d they do to him? They kill him?”

“Nah. I talked them into letting him stay here to work. So they put him on cleanup.”

“Holy shit,” George said. “He’s gonna wish they killed him. How long does he have to stay?”

“For good. That’s what they told me.”

“You serious? That’s fucked up. See, that’s why I don’t even have any friends outside of here. I can’t just tell someone about this place,” George said.

“Yeah. Oh well. I need a drink.” Denny walked to the bar and ordered a beer. He came back over and sat down with the other guys. There were about a dozen of them total sitting around. Denny didn’t know all of their names. Some members came every week. Others only showed up once in a while. Memberships are passed down generation to generation. So it’s not like someone can walk in off the street and sign up. It’s one way of many that The Club stays shielded from authorities. If someone is bringing a guest, they must be closely vetted. Caleb had been vetted but doesn’t mean they will follow through once they arrive.

Several years ago, Denny had heard an undercover cop or FBI agent had somehow made it in. They figured him out somehow and he was disposed of. There was no other word from law enforcement after that incident. Denny wasn’t sure what kind of safeguards they had in place, but he knew they were thorough.

“So I didn’t get to finish mine. It was going really well too,” Denny said.

“More dental work?” Bernard asked.

“Yeah,” Denny laughed. “Maybe I should have been a dentist. Not sure why I get such a kick out of it.”

“I don’t know man. I’ve never fucked with their teeth. I didn’t want to put my hands in their mouth,” Bernard said.

“I use a vice type thing to keep it open so they can’t bite me. Once I yanked out all a girl’s teeth and made her suck my dick.”

“Oh shit! What was that like?”

“Got my dick all bloody. She was so fucked up she didn’t do very well. So I cut her throat and fucked the hole in her throat,” Denny said as he took a sip of his beer.

“Oh! Boom! That is crazy shit man,” Bernard said as the other men broke out in laughter.

“Yeah. I like to be creative. Keeps things interesting.”

Denny finished off his beer and stood, walking into the lobby. He really did feel bad for Caleb. The plan had been to surprise him with the activities at The Club, and the two could exchange stories later of their conquests. Denny couldn’t think of a better male bonding experience. Forget golf or even hunting. Though there’d been talk of The Club adding hunting to the activities. That never happened though. While The Club’s property was large enough, they didn’t want to risk someone escaping the grounds. That or members accidentally shooting each other.

So they were left to kill and torture inside The Club. Some members had been coming there for years fairly regularly. Denny wasn’t sure how. He’d only been a member for a few years, and he already found himself getting bored. There wasn’t much of anything he had not yet done to a human being. He wasn’t sure what was left. It was still satisfying; it took care of his need. It just lacked the thrill it had when his father first brought him there for his college graduation present. That night, he and his father shared a room. His dad showed him what they did and how, and then let Denny have at it.

Ever since that first night, he’d tried to re-capture the thrill but each time he came, it was becoming less and less exciting. He walked to his guest room and grabbed a beer from the mini fridge. The Club provided a place for members to sleep so they didn’t have to drive home in the middle of the night. It was after two in the morning already. As he closed his eyes while stretching out on the bed, his thoughts were interrupted by screaming and yelling coming from the lobby. He sat up and opened the door to see a naked girl, covered in blood running through the lobby and out the front door.

Chapter 7

“How much further?” Joel whined.

“Stop being a little bitch,” Crystal said from behind the wheel. “We’re almost there.”

She had never taken a road trip with Joel before and didn’t realize how needy he would be. They’d had to stop three times for him to go to the bathroom and once because he was hungry. The sun was starting to creep up as they finally drove past the Round Rock city limit sign. Round Rock was only around twenty miles from Austin, but with all the stupid stops they made, it took much longer than Crystal had hoped.

“Ok, we’re here,” Sophie said. “Now what?”

“Well. I’m not sure. I’m really tired,” Crystal said.

“So am I. Can we get breakfast?” Joel asked.

“Jesus Christ Joel. This isn’t a fucking vacation. We’re looking for something important here.” Crystal scolded. She drove through the city into downtown.

“Maybe we should ask the police,” Joel said.

“Oh that’s great,” Sophie said. “Just walk in and ask the cops if they know where the top secret human trafficking-sex-torture club is. That won’t sound crazy at all.”

“You don’t have to be such a bitch about it,” Joel said.

“Some reporter did a story on it a few years ago. I’ll have to see if I can find the article,” Crystal said. There was a coffee shop just ahead. Crystal pulled the car in to see they were just opening. They went inside and she hooked her laptop up to the Wi-Fi and searched for the article she was looking for. She found it. It had been written by a guy named Brett Higgins. The article had nothing Crystal didn’t already know. It was for an El Paso newspaper. It was part of a series he’d done on Texas urban legends. The piece named some rumored places The Country Club could be located. He had mentioned north of Austin, but didn’t go into specifics.

Joel got online and worked his magic until he found a cell phone number for Higgins. Crystal dialed the number on her phone. Someone picked it up on the third ring.

“Hello?” a tired man’s voice mumbled from the other line.

“Yes, is this Brett Higgins?” Crystal asked.

“Maybe. Who is this?”

“I’m Crystal Brown, from Texas Urban Legends. I was calling about your article on The Country Club.”

“What the hell? Why in the hell would you call me at five in the morning about an article I did three years ago? Are you fucking nuts? And what is Texas Urban Legends anyway?”

“That’s my blog.”

“Oh Christ. Goodbye,” Brett said.

“No! Wait!”

“What?”

“From my blog, I got some threatening email from some weird email address. Then I got another one saying to go to Round Rock.”

“Round Rock?”

“Yeah. So that’s where we are now. We just got here. But I don’t know where to go from here. In your article you mentioned one idea for The Country Club being north of Austin. Had you been up this way or have any other info?”

“Shit, kid. How old are you?”

“Kid? I’m twenty-five.”

“Look. You’re not recording this are you?”

“Huh? No. I’m in a coffee shop on my cell phone.”

“Ok. Good. The piece I did on the Country Club was pretty much a fluff piece. That’s how it ended up anyway. But The Country Club is some shit,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I think it’s real. I did some checking around Austin, Dallas, Round Rock, and everywhere else. Everywhere else someone had a story about it. They knew someone who knew someone. They had a cousin whose best friend visited there or something. In Round Rock, everyone said they never heard of it. Don’t know nothing about it. And my second day there, a police captain came and escorted me out of town. Said I was causing trouble.”

“No shit?” Crystal said.

“No shit. You should get out of there. Shut your blog down. I don’t know what the deal is with that story, but if someone sent you a threatening email I’d forget the whole thing. You sound like a nice girl. Go to Schlitterbahn or something.” Schlitterbahn was a ginormous waterpark in the South and Central Texas area.

“Fuck that. I’m gonna find that place. I’m gonna expose them. They’re killing people!” Crystal said.

“I know. Unless you want to be one of them, I suggest you forget it.”

“I can’t. I’ve been doing this for years now. I feel like I’m getting closer. I’m not gonna just walk away because someone made a threat!”

“You should be a real reporter, kid. At least get paid for being nuts. Well, like I said. You shouldn’t stay there. If you plan on staying, which you probably will, then good luck,” Brett said as he hung up.

Crystal told the others what he had said.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Sophie said. “This is bullshit.”

“Yeah, Sophie’s right. This sounds dangerous,” Joel added.

“Wait a minute. Just last night you guys were saying I was chasing bigfoot and shit. Now you’re all scared?”

“What if he was just fucking with you?” Sophie said.

“Why would he do that?”

“You did wake him up. Do you not think of anyone else? Ever?” Sophie asked.

“Not when I got shit to do. So we know to steer clear of the cops. Wait a minute.”

She got back onto her laptop and into her email. The Round Rock email was still there. She replied to it.

Ok. I’m here

She hit send.

“Now we wait?” Joel asked.

“I guess so. I wonder who sent that,” Crystal said. As she looked back, her inbox refreshed with a new message.

Days Inn room 206. Knock four times.

Crystal closed up her laptop and stood.

“I guess we’re going to Days Inn,” she said. Joel and Sophie just sat looking at her. “What? Let’s go?”

“What is this? A fucking scavenger hunt?” Sophie asked.

“Real funny. Maybe this is the guy or whoever sent this shit,” Crystal said.

“Maybe it’s someone from the Country Club setting a trap!” Joel said.

“Not funny asshole,” Crystal said as she walked out to the car. The other two followed behind her for the next stage of the trip.

Chapter 8

Joel sat quietly in the back seat as they drove through town trying to find the Days Inn. It turned out there were two of them. Something the mystery emailer hadn’t specified. The first one was in their part of town, just a few blocks away. They went to the room and Crystal knocked, but there was no answer. So they left for the other one.

“What if this guy or whoever is fucking with us?” Sophie said. “Maybe there is no one there and this has been a waste of time.”

“I told you what that reporter said. It’s around here somewhere. So we have to follow through,” Crystal insisted.

Joel didn’t know why, but he found Crystal even more attractive when she was fired up and barking out orders. On the outside, she looked petite and reserved, but was totally the opposite. Her personality was far larger than her body. They finally reached the Days Inn and filed out of the car. They walked up to room 206 where Crystal knocked four times. There was no answer.

“Great,” Sophie said. “Any other great ideas?”

The room door opened a crack. It was a woman. She looked older, with brown hair and flecks of gray. She had on no makeup and her hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a week.

“Are you Crystal?” the woman said.

“Um, yes. That’s me. You sent the emails?” Crystal said.

“Yes. Did anyone follow you?”

“No…I don’t think so. I haven’t noticed anyone.”

She glared at Sophie and Joel. Joel thought she was trying to turn him to stone.

“Who are they?” she asked.

“They’re my friends. This is Sophie and this is Joel. They came with me. They’re ok. They’re my best friends.”

“Ok. Come in.” The woman opened the door the rest of the way and the three entered the room. It smelled like cigarette smoke and rotten cheese. There were dirty clothes everywhere along with fast food wrappers and cigarette butts.

“So who are you?” Crystal asked.

“I’m Eileen. I’m glad you came here. I didn’t know who else to contact.” She walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. “My husband is a member of The Country Club.”

“Holy shit,” Joel said. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. I’m very serious.”

“How do you know?” Crystal asked. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. He’s an investment banker. We live in Dallas. He’s always taking these long trips though. For years he’s been taking these trips. I finally hired a private investigator to follow him, I thought he was having an affair. The PI followed him here. Well, not just here but there is a property west of here quite a ways. He’s sure of it, but never made it that far.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was following my husband at a safe distance. I know my husband had no idea he was there. When he turned onto a side road that must have been near the place, a police car came out of nowhere and pulled him over.”

“No shit?” Joel said.

“Yeah, no shit kid,” Eileen said.

“Did they arrest him?”

“No. They told him he was on private property, even though it’s a public road. They also had him at shotgun point. Two officers. They said he needed to turn back, so he didn’t argue. That’s when I knew.”

“Wait a minute,” Sophie said. “How do you know this is The Country Club place? Maybe it really was private property. Maybe it was some out of the way casino, or a whore house even. How do you jump right to The Country Club?”

“What casino or brothel would have cops hanging out and turning motorists away? I don’t know. You could be right. But not long after that, I got a text message from an unknown number telling me to back off. The PI was scared shitless. After I got the text, I left. I haven’t heard from my husband either. He’s probably still there doing God knows what.”

“That’s crazy,” Joel said.

“So what do you want us to do?” Crystal said.

“I want you to find it. You want to prove it exists and expose it? I can help you. But it will be hard. That place has a lot of money and protection. My husband has some very powerful friends. I have no doubt that law enforcement and others in power know it’s there. They probably go there themselves. Sick fuckers.”

“Shit!” Crystal said. “Tell me where it is. We’ll find it and blow the lid wide open on that place.”

“Are you sure? You’ve written the stories of the horrible things that go on there. What if they catch you?”

“They won’t. I’ve done my share of sneaking around. We’ll be careful,” Crystal insisted.

“Ok, I hope so,” Eileen said as she took out a map and showed them about where it was. “The road the PI was on isn’t on the map. Once you’re on Highway 183 for about thirty minutes, you’ll see a side road. That isn’t the road it’s on, but it’s on the right. You’ll turn onto that and take that for ten to fifteen more minutes. On the left will be an unmarked dirt road. That is the one he got stopped on. So maybe find some other way, but once you get to that road, I’m sure the property is around there somewhere.”

“We got it,” Crystal said. She looked at Joel and Sophie. “You ready guys? This is it.”

Joel doubted some of this story, but was a bit concerned at the same time in case it was true. Bravery was not his strong suit. However, deep down he knew that he would do anything or go anywhere for Crystal. As ill-advised as that may have been, he felt powerless to stop himself from nodding and following her to the car.

Chapter 9

Denny stepped out of his room and saw several of the security guys chasing after the girl. He took off running along behind them to see what was going on. Girls had gotten loose in the past, but never made it out the door. Some guys liked to untie them and toy with them. Denny never did. If you’re going to do that though, you’d better make sure you can control them.

As he ran outside, one of the security guys had stopped and began firing at the girl. The third shot hit her in the shoulder, sending her sprawling face first to the ground. They ran up to her, but before Denny could get there, the guard shot her point blank in the face. Denny stopped just before he reached them. The guard put his gun back in his jacket as the two men walked passed him. The Tuxedo man, known only to members as Dominic, came outside and looked at the girl.

“Whose was she?” Dominic asked.

“Gerry’s. In 105A,” one of the guards answered.

“Goddammit. Where is he?”

Both the men shrugged and looked at each other. They all walked back inside as Denny tagged along. Because he was a fourth generation at The Club, he was allowed to go about anywhere in The Club he pleased. Certain areas and incidents were off limits to most members. They got to room 105A where there was moaning coming from the inside. As they stepped into the room, a man was lying on the ground, holding his hands over his crotch, blood oozing out from between his fingers. The man’s pants were also around his ankles.

“Oh for Christ’s sake,” Dominic said. “Gerry! What happened?”

“The bitch bit my dick off! Fuck!” Gerry cried.

Dominic knelt down next to him.

“Move your hands, let me see,” he said.

Gerry moved his hands and revealed his dick was not bitten off. It was bitten into and looked like a hot dog that had been in a microwave for too long. Except blood was oozing out of it.

“How did this happen?” Dominic asked.

“I told her I’d untie her if she’d promise to suck my dick. I like it when they play with my balls. They can’t do that all tied up. She said she would. She promised! She got going real good, then fucking clamped down and took off.”

Doors to rooms are only locked from the outside for first time visitors.

“Want me to take care of him?” one of the guards asked.

“Shit. His dad is on the Texas Supreme court. We can’t do that with him,” Dominic said.

Apparently they would kill members if they let a girl escape, even though this one got caught before she got anywhere. It was just a reminder not to take stupid risks while having your fun. All members knew it and were briefed on it when they joined.

“I’ll call his dad and have him pick him up. His father is a long time member. He’ll see to it this doesn’t happen again,” Dominic said.

“Don’t call my dad! Shit!” Gerry pleaded.

“Shut up. Get him some morphine out of the medical kit. That should keep him quiet until his dad picks him up.” Dominic said as he walked out. Denny stepped out behind him. “I’m so sorry you had to see all that Mr. Dennis. As you know, this doesn’t usually happen.”

“Oh its fine. Kind of livened up the evening. How is Caleb doing?” Denny said.

“He’s doing fine. I think he’s still taking care of his own mess, but he’s getting there. I don’t expect any trouble or resistance from him. As long as he stays that way, he’ll be just fine.”

“Good, good. I appreciate you giving him this chance. It’s really my fault.”

“No worries, sir. It happens,” Dominic said as he walked away. Denny headed back down to his room to try and get some rest. He was suddenly starting to feel exhausted. He wasn’t sure what he would tell Caleb’s mom. He’d have to make up a story; maybe tell her he took off with some girl and hasn’t called. He’ll think of something. Bringing him had been a mistake, but nothing he could do about it now.

He sat on the bed once again and took off his shoes, shirt and then his pants. As he crawled under the covers, he thought of how this place truly was his home away from home. There had been times he stayed at The Club more than his own home. When his girlfriend kicked him out the year before, he came to The Club to crash for a few days. Plus, it was nice being able to take out his frustrations on some strange, nameless girl.

It was too bad for her though. Thanks to his ex’s bad behavior, he’d put that girl through more suffering than he had to anyone. He would have loved to have done those things to his ex. It had been hard not to. He had almost given in and tortured and killed her instead of leaving, but knew that would be too risky. Over the years a few members had decided to try and play outsideThe Club. It was strictly against Club rules. If they were found out, and usually The Club would catch them before police would, they disappeared. Denny figured they were thrown into the incinerator in the basement. Maybe they were killed first, maybe not. Denny didn’t want to know.

As he closed his eyes, he thought of the drive back in the morning. Maybe he’d stay another day. He might ask for three girls at once. That would be a first. He’d done two at a time before but never three. That might be interesting. Sleep slowly came, as his dreams were filled with naked girls and their screams as he removed their various body parts. Had someone walked in at that moment, they’d have seen him sleeping with a smile on his face.

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 in 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 at 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 starting 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 fields,” 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 woken 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 wound 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 were 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.

Chapter 13

Caleb wanted to go home, but he knew that would never happen. He sat on a bench in the dreary basement as Dutch stepped out. Caleb was tired, hungry and scared. In the past few hours he’d seen things more horrible than he could have ever imagined. After a few minutes, he stood and wandered around the large basement. There was no one keeping tabs on him. They must have figured there was no way for him to escape, even if he tried.

He walked through some hallways and looked into some of the large rooms. Some of them had old, rusty torture devices. At least he assumed that was what they were. One item looked like a rack, but was covered in rust and corrosion. There was even a guillotine in one room, but it had been taken apart. As he walked in and looked at the blade, it was dull and cracked in places.

He turned a corner and heard several voices, women’s voices. The only girls he’d seen at this place were the ones being killed. Picking up his pace, he walked toward the sound until he turned a corner to see a large cage. Inside the cage were several naked girls, and one guy. One of them saw him before he could even figure out what was going on.

“Hey! You! Help us! Please!” the girl yelling was short with glasses. “Let us out of here.”

Caleb looked around as he ran closer to the cage.

“Shut up!” he said in a low, but firm voice. “They’ll hear you.”

“Who are you? Are you one of them?” the girl said.

“No. Kind of, but not really. I’m trapped here too. I have to clean up their messes.”

“Why don’t you just leave?” the guy asked.

“It’s not as simple as that.”

“Let us out of here. Just open this cage and get us out, we’ll take care of ourselves. No one will know,” the girl pleaded.

Caleb looked at the large steel door on the cage. The lock was built into the door.

“I don’t have a key. I have no way to open this,” he said.

“You have got to help us. I know what they are going to do to us,” the girl said. “You can’t just fucking leave us here.”

“Yes, I know. I want to help, but I can’t. I’m sorry.” He started to back away from the cage. The girl grabbed him by the wrist, but he jerked his hand away. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do. Just stop yelling. That will make it worse for all of us.”

He turned and walked quickly down the other hall, ignoring their cries behind him. If a place like hell really did exist, he was sure he’d be headed there. Even if he did have a key to the cage, he wouldn’t have let them out. Not without finding his own way out first. That was a horrible way to think, but they were strangers. Caleb had no tolerance for pain at all. He’d heard the screams and had seen what was done to those girls. The idea of him going through any of that made him shiver. If he could get them out while saving himself he would, but for the moment he needed to save himself.

“There you are,” one of the security goons said. “Come on. We have a shipment to unload.”

“Shipment?” Caleb said, but the goon was walking away.

He followed behind the guy as they walked toward a large overhead door that rolled up. They were then standing outside on a loading dock. The sun was bright and nearly blinded Caleb who had been down in the dark for too long. There was a large tractor trailer backed up to the dock. One man opened the tailgate to the trailer. In the back was a stack of pallets carrying tortilla chips. Several pallets were stacked to the top of the trailer. A guy drove up with a forklift and unloaded each pallet one by one. As he moved the last one away, Caleb saw the real cargo. There were several women bound and gagged in the back of the truck.

The goons herded them all out and walked them down through the hallways.

“Follow us,” one of the men said to Caleb. “And bring your cart.”

He ran and got his cart and followed the strange parade of prisoners and thugs through the dark passageways until they were standing in front of the cage again. One of the men removed each of their binds, while the others stood by. The large one told them all to remove their clothing and all personal belongings. When one of the girls removed her sweatshirt, she was obviously very pregnant. Caleb figured somewhere between four and six months if he had to guess. A couple of the girls had glasses, and they were allowed to keep those. The man ordered them all to walk by Caleb’s cart and to throw their clothing and belongings into his cart and file into the cage.

He was surprised that no one resisted. A few cried and tried to beg for their freedom and would ask what was happening. Though he hadn’t resisted at all either, so who was he to talk? Once they were all in the cage, the large man locked it with a big metal key and placed it into his jacket. The man looked at Caleb and nodded to his cart.

“Take this to the incinerator and burn everything. Their clothes, phones, wallets, purses, anything you find. Burn it all. Don’t dig through it or try to keep anything for yourself either. There’s cameras over there. We’ll see if you do. Understand?”

“I think so,” Caleb said. “Why burn all their stuff?”

“I know you only been here one night, but you should know,” the man said.

“Know what?”

“These guys,” he said pointing at the cage. “Are being erased.”

Chapter 14

Denny was sitting in his room watching TV when there was a knock on the door. After the knock, Dominic stuck his head inside.

“Mr. Dennis. Our shipment just arrived. I think you’ll like the selections we have in this one. One of the girls is pregnant even. Not sure if that is something that…um…interests you,” Dominic said.

“Pregnant huh? That just might liven things up a bit. I’ve been trying to think of a way to spruce it up a bit. I’ll be honest, I love this place, but it gets a bit repetitive.”

“I understand sir.”

“I’ll take the pregnant one, and bring me one more. I think I’d like an audience tonight as well.”

“Most certainly sir,” Dominic said as he stepped out.

Denny sat there looking at the TV screen but not paying attention. A pregnant girl. He had never had one before. He wasn’t one of those guys with some pregnant chick fetish either. The thought of a woman with child has never aroused him in anyway. Though for what he had planned tonight, could provide some interesting exploration.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been spacing out when there was another knock at the door.

“Mr. Dennis, the ladies are ready for you when you are sir.”

“Very good. That was fast,” Denny said as he stood. He walked out of the room and headed up to his usual work room, or play room as some members called them. He didn’t really have a name for it. It’s just where he did his thing, whatever exactly his thing was. When he opened the door, there were two girls strapped to chairs. One was the pregnant girl. Dominic wasn’t kidding, she was pregnant alright.

The other girl was much more petite, with wavy dark hair and glasses. Her nose was bigger than he usually liked, but the rest of her looked good.

“Hello ladies,” Denny said as he walked around looking at the pregnant girl, running his hand over here bare tummy. The girl tried to wiggle away but barely moved as whimpers escaped her throat. He reached up and pulled the tape off her mouth. “There you go. That’s better. What’s your name?”

“Elizabeth,” she whimpered.

“Hi Elizabeth. I’m sorry you ended up here.”

“Where am I? What is gonna happen to me?”

“You’re in a very special place,” Denny said as he ran his fingertips over each of her nipples. “As far as what is going to happen to you, I’m not gonna lie. It’s gonna hurt. A lot.”

“Why? Just let me go!” She started to cry as her voice grew louder.

“Now don’t start screaming. That shit drives me nuts and I’ll have to tape your face back up.” He stood and walked over to the other girl. She yelped as he ripped the tape off her mouth, but wasn’t crying.

“And who might you be?” he said.

“Crystal,” the girl said flatly.

“Crystal. I think I heard them talking about you. You’re that blogger aren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“Right. Well you were looking for The Country Club. Looks like you found it,” he said as he held his arms out. “So is it what you thought it would be? How you liking our accommodations so far?”

“Fuck you.”

“You’re a firecracker. I like it. Though I’m sure the tough talk will go away before long. It always does. Too bad you won’t be able to write about it, or post some pictures on your blog.”

She didn’t reply as he looked her over and nodded.

“Fortunately for you, you’ll get to watch first. I’m going to take good care of our friend Elizabeth here.” He walked to the cupboard and dug through the items. He came back with a hot plate and a frying pan. He plugged the plate into the wall as he positioned the pan on top of it and picked up a knife from the table.

“Ok, Elizabeth I need to warn you. I’m not an actual doctor. But I think we need to deliver that baby. Call it an emergency C-section. Except I don’t have any anesthesia. Sorry.”

“No! Not my baby!” she screamed as he slid the knife just below her belly. He made an incision lengthwise almost six inches long as she struggled against the restraints, screaming. Crystal was screaming behind him as well. Perhaps having two girls at a time wasn’t the best idea.

Once he made the incision, he reached into the incision until he felt the baby. He grabbed its arm and began to pull. With his other hand, he grabbed it also and pulled until the baby’s head was visible through the opening. Once he pulled it all the way out, it wiggled and moved in his arms.

“Oh my god! My baby! My baby!” she cried. “Please! Let me have my baby!”

“Oh I will. Just a moment,” he said.

He used the knife to cut the umbilical cord. This was his first time delivering a baby. He had to admit he was rather impressed with himself. Carefully he sat the baby on the table on its stomach. Elizabeth was still screaming and crying. Denny patted the baby on its back as he took a quick look and noticed it was a boy.

“He’s fine,” he said to Elizabeth. “You’ve got a big baby boy.”

“Oh my God! Please! Give him to me!”

“Be patient,” he said as he picked up the meat cleaver from the table, and quickly chopped the baby’s head off. He swung the cleaver with so much force, the baby’s head shot off the table and rolled onto the floor.

“No!” both women screamed.

“Did you see that?” Denny said. “His head took right off. Things about the size of a baseball too.”

“You sick fucker!” Elizabeth screamed. “I’m gonna kill you! I’ll kill you!”

“Oh, I don’t think you will,” Denny said as he bent over and picked up the baby’s head and dropped it into her lap. “There, hold that for me.”

She screamed again as he used the cleaver to chop off the baby’s arms and legs. Using the knife, he peeled the skin off the arms and legs and placed it into the frying pan. The meat sizzled as he stirred it around.

“Now this smells delicious. I’ve only eaten human a few times. I’m not some cannibal mind you. Doesn’t mean I don’t like a treat once in a while.”

Elizabeth was no longer screaming, she was sobbing uncontrollably and sounded like she was about to hyperventilate. He picked up a piece of the cooked meat and tasted it.

“Mmm, this isn’t bad. Not a lot of flavor though, could use some seasonings. Very tender like veal. Here. Try some.”

He walked over to her with a piece of the meat in his bloody fingertips. She became alert again as he walked toward her.

“Get away from me! Get that away from me!” She tried to turn her head, but couldn’t with the straps. He tried to push it into her mouth, but she pinched her mouth shut. Denny took his other hand and chopped her in the throat, hard enough to stun her and make her gasp for air. Once her mouth was open he stuffed the meat into her mouth and forced it shut. She struggled against him, trying to open her mouth, but couldn’t. After several minutes, she finally swallowed.

“There you go. Not bad huh?” he said.

“Leave her alone you sick mother fucker!” Crystal yelled from behind him. “Just kill us already if you’re going to kill us.”

“I can’t do that yet. I just started dinner. Don’t worry. We have plenty of time.”

Chapter 15

Crystal almost threw up after watching him eat that baby. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see anymore, but she could still hear and smell it. The horrible thing was, it smelled like sausage as he cooked the baby’s flesh. It made her stomach growl, since she hadn’t eaten in several hours. The sick fucker even fed that poor woman some of her own baby. Right away she realized The Country Club wasn’t at all what she thought it was. It was much worse.

This guy, Denny he called himself, already knew who she was and almost everything else about her. She couldn’t believe she’d played right into their hands so easily. She had been so desperate for answers, she’d have done anything. Her chase was going to cost her and her friends their lives, and some horrific suffering on top of that. Her thoughts turned to Sophie and Joel and if they had done anything to them. They were still in the cage when the men came and got her.

The cooked baby smell subsided finally, and she opened her eyes. Denny was sitting at the table drinking a beer. The baby’s carcass was in a heap of bones and tissue on a plate next to him. Off to his left, the recently pregnant woman was crying and sobbing softly. Denny turned and looked at Crystal.

“Oh you’re awake. I thought maybe you had fallen asleep. You missed dinner. Not one of my better dishes, but got the job done. There wasn’t much to go around anyway,” he said as he pulled a trash can to the edge of the table, and swept the baby’s remains into the can.

“You’re not gonna get away with this,” Crystal said.

“Actually I will. You should know more than anyone how long this place has been here. I heard Davy Crockett may have been a member.”

“Yeah, I doubt that.”

“You never know. Just think this place has been here for that long, and no member has been arrested yet. You may have noticed in your search for this place, we have a bit of support from some higher authorities.”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t die,” she said.

He laughed as he walked toward her.

“That’s a good one! I like that! I’m glad you’re with us though. You can watch the next part before I start on you.”

She didn’t even want to know what he was talking about. Maybe she should close her eyes again and make him think she’s asleep. He’d get bored with her and send her back to the cage. That was unlikely though. He seemed to enjoy making her watch his sick show. Denny walked over to the wall and pushed a button. On the speaker a man’s voice came over it.

“Yes Mr. Dennis?” the voice said.

“Could you bring me one of our little friends from the lab please? I want to try something.”

“Yes sir. Right away.” The box clicked off.

Denny sat at the table for a few minutes when the door opened. A man handed Denny a shoebox. Once the man left, Denny got a sewing kit from the cupboard and sat down next to Elizabeth.

“Ok, I want to be fair. I’m not a selfish person. I took something from you, so now I need to give you something back,” Denny said.

Elizabeth turned her head and spit right in his face. Denny’s back was to Crystal, so she couldn’t see his reaction.

“See? Now that wasn’t very nice. I delivered your baby. I cooked you dinner, fed you. And you want to act this way? That’s ok. I have a gift for you.”

“Fuck you!” Elizabeth screamed. “Shove your gift up your ass! You are a fucking monster!”

He ignored her as he opened the shoebox and took out a large, white rat. From across the room Crystal could see its pink tail and red eyes.

“My little friend here is hungry too. So I should feed him as well.”

He took the rat and slid it through the incision into Elizabeth’s stomach. She screamed as he began sewing up the opening until it was tightly sealed.

“No! Oh my god! Get it out of me! Get it out of me!” Elizabeth screamed as she struggled against her restraints. As Denny stood to the side and watched, Crystal could make out a small lump moving around the woman’s abdomen as her screams got louder.

“Holy shit! It’s eating me! It’s eating me! Fuck! Get it out!”

“I can’t do that. He’s got to eat his fill. I wonder how long it will take him to eat his way to your heart.”

Elizabeth continued to scream and struggle as Crystal closed her eyes, not wanting to watch this woman die. She couldn’t imagine having a rat sewn inside her stomach and letting the thing crawl around, eating its way through her insides. She wished she could cover her ears too and not hear the screams. With each second, Elizabeth’s screams got louder and shriller. As she tried to think of something else, there was one thought she could not push away; what was he going to do to her?

Chapter 16

Joel sat in the cage trying not to look at the others. Some men had come and gotten Crystal and the pregnant girl quite a while ago. He tried to intervene, but they knocked him on his ass rather easily. He had hoped that guy who had been talking to them earlier would come by. That guy looked like he worked at the place, but didn’t want to be there. Sophie hadn’t stopped crying since they took Crystal. Joel felt like crying, but held it in. It was already weird enough being naked around all these naked girls. Crying in front of them would only make him feel more awkward.

Footsteps came from nearby as he scooted away from the bars. It was one of the goons again. He opened the cage and pointed at Joel.

“You, come on,” the man said.

Immediately Joel’s stomach lurched and he threw up through the bars. This was it. They were going to take him somewhere and torture and kill him. He’d never had a big threshold for pain. Something as small as a hangnail almost put him in tears, let alone whatever they were about to do with him.

“Come on kid, let’s go!” the man yelled.

Joel scrambled to his feet and followed the man out. Sophie never looked up as he left. They walked down the dark hall and got onto an elevator.

“Am I gonna get some clothes?” Joel asked the man.

The goon looked at Joel and then looked straight ahead without responding. It was then it sank in to Joel that they were nothing but cattle, and this was their slaughterhouse. Just by the way the men looked at them, it was as if they weren’t even human. The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. They were inside the mansion, along a walkway with a stairway nearby. There was a large chandelier in the center of the large room. There were several doors along the walkway with room numbers on them.

They walked to one of the doors and the man slid a key card through a slot, opening the door. As he stepped inside, the room looked like it could be a doctor’s examination room. There was a woman covered in blood strapped down and reclined in what looked like a dentist’s chair. There was a man in a suit sitting near the bloody girl.

“There he is. You’re just in time for the party!” the man in the suit said.

Joel saw another chair to his left. He looked and saw Crystal strapped to the chair. She was still naked, but appeared unharmed.

“Crystal!” he said.

“Joel!” she said as she began crying. “Don’t hurt him. Please?”

“Oh, why would I hurt Joel?” The man said as the goon left the room. “He’s here to help! Aren’t ya buddy?”

Joel was confused and not sure what to say. He was glad Crystal was still alive, but couldn’t look at the other woman. There was a table next to the man in the suit with blood all over it.

“I’m being rude, I’m sorry. I’m Denny. And you’re Joel I know. So I know you all came in together. You have another friend down there, but we’ll worry about her later. The guys who brought you in told me you, Mr. Joel may have a thing for little Crystal here. Is that right?”

Joel was caught off guard by the question as he looked at Crystal.

“Um, no?” he said.

“Oh. Come on! She is a hot little thing. Look at that body on her! Look, I’m gonna do you a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yeah!” Denny said. “I got you both here, she’s naked, and you’re naked. So here is your chance.”

“Chance for what?”

“Stop being so dense! To fuck her! She’s right there, all ready to go for you. Have at it.”

“No way. She’s my friend,” Joel said.

“Right! Come on Joel. She’s your friend, but you’re not hers. I’ve known girls like her. Hot as hell, she knows you are nuts about her, but she just uses that to get what she wants from you. Sound familiar?”

Joel thought about it. It angered him, but Denny was right. As long as he’d known Crystal, the only times she ever called or came over was when she needed something. She rarely returned his texts other than with small talk unless she needed him for some reason. He had wanted her for as long as he could remember. Hell, as far as he knew he loved her. He’d been hanging on for a long time hoping she would also love him.

“Come on man. What are you waiting for?” Denny said.

Joel walked over to Crystal and looked her body up and down. As he looked at her face, her eyes were locked on him.

“Joel,” she whispered. “Help me. Please?”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Get me the fuck out of here!”

“You gonna whisper to her or fuck her stud? Come on!”

“Maybe I should fuck you, if that’s what he wants.”

“Look at that other girl Joel. That will be us!” she said as she struggled against the straps.

Joel looked back at Denny.

“Dude, if you don’t fuck her, I will. So you have about two seconds,” Denny said.

Joel reached down and touched Crystal’s thigh. He felt her recoil against his touch, but he kept his hand on her. Her skin was soft and smooth. As he ran his hand up and down her leg, he moved his other hand to her breast, rubbing her nipple and squeezing the breast.

“Joel, please don’t do this,” Crystal pleaded, but he ignored her.

He placed his fingers between her legs and spread her labia apart, running his finger up and down. This was the most he’d ever touched a girl before. As he slid his fingers around, her wetness ran onto his fingers. He held up his fingers too look at it.

“Oh come on! She’s not a science project! Fuck her!” Denny said.

Joel moved around to the front of the chair. Feeling Crystal up had gotten him hard. He climbed onto the chair and positioned himself between her. She was still looking up at him.

“Joel, please don’t,” she whimpered.

“I have to. I’m sorry.”

He slid his cock inside her and began slowly moving in and out. He’d never been with a girl, but had seen enough pornos to know how it was done. Within a minute, he was working it faster and faster, and then was pounding away. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he grunted with each thrust. The chair bounced as he humped Crystal up and down, pounding harder and harder until he exploded inside her, filling her with his jizz. He shook and trembled as he continued squirting. Finally, he stopped and climbed off her, almost stumbling as his legs felt like Jell-O.

He looked over at Crystal who was still crying and staring up at the ceiling.

“Hey,” he said. “You ok?”

But she didn’t reply.

“For what it’s worth, it felt really good,” he said, trying in a misguided attempt to cheer her up. She looked toward him finally.

“Well I’m glad you had fun, asshole.”

Denny began clapping from his side of the room.

“Bravo! Good show! A little short maybe, but interesting,” Denny said. He walked to the table and picked up a knife. “Ok, time for the real fun to begin. Come over here Joel.”

Joel walked over to the table and handed Joel a large hunting knife.

“What’s this for?”

“For you. You’re gonna cut your girlfriend up.”

“What? Why? No way.”

“Oh yes. It’ll be ok. You’re my little experiment, since the one I tried earlier didn’t work. I’m going to see if I can make you a real man before the night is over.”

Chapter 17

Caleb watched them walk the girl and pregnant girl to the elevator. He stayed around the corner out of sight, not wanting to imagine what was going to be done to them.

“What are you doing?” Dutch said from behind him, causing Caleb to jump.

“Oh, nothing.”

“Looks like something to me. Be careful. Don’t talk to the prisoners and don’t try to figure out where they go or what happens to them. You’ll find out soon enough when you get called for clean up.”

“I can’t do this. This is crazy. I have to get out of here.”

“I know you feel that way. I’ve felt the same over the years. You can’t do it though. Even if you made it out of here. What will you do? Go to the police? They own the police. The FBI? The Director used to be a member here. Presidents have been members here.”

“Are you serious?”

“Hell yes I’m serious. I watched several of them walk right through these halls. Many it was before they were president or shortly after they were elected. Even if they don’t take part, they know it’s here and they protect it.”

“Jesus. Why?”

“They say it’s primal. There’s nothing more manly or primitive than killing. From the beginning of time, men killed. They took women as their own and had their way with them. These guys see it as filling some basic need. They say it’s why they are all so successful. Once you’ve taken a life, you are changed for good. You become a monster, a force to be reckoned with.”

“You believe that?”

“I should have. I might not be cleaning up guts in the basement.”

Caleb looked around as he heard more men coming. Several goons were getting more girls from the cage. One actually took a swing at one of them. He almost knocked her out with a backhand. The other pulled her off the ground. She was still stunned and stumbling along as they got onto the elevator. Dutch had gone back in the other direction. Caleb watched him walk away. There was no way that would be him. He refused to believe it. There had to be a way out. Death would be better than hacking up human remains every day for the rest of his life.

He walked back past the cage and down the other hallway until he arrived at the loading dock. There was an exterior door next to the large overhead door. He tried it, but it was locked. Figures. He walked back toward the cage when one of the goons walked up to him.

“You’re needed upstairs,” the goon said.

“For what?” Caleb asked.

“Just shut up and come on.”

Caleb followed the man to the elevator. They rode it up a few floors until they were back in the mansion. The goon walked him to one of the doors and used a card to pop it open. When he stepped inside, Denny was standing there with a naked male prisoner.

“Caleb! Good buddy! I’m so sorry man. I know it’s only been a few hours, but it seems like forever. You doing ok? I heard you handled your first clean up like a pro.”

“What the fuck do you want?” Caleb asked.

“Hey, I get it. You’re upset. You still don’t understand the favor I did for you. I mean, you don’t want to know what they suggested doing to you.”

Caleb looked around the room and saw a bloody dead girl strapped to one chair, and a living naked girl strapped to the other. The naked guy was pale and his chest was all broken out. He kept looking down at the floor and was holding a knife.

“You call me up here to clean up your shit?” Caleb asked as he nodded to the dead girl.

“No, no. Not at all. I wanted you to meet Joel here. My new best friend.”

“New best friend huh? Did you tell him how you treat your friends?”

“Don’t listen to him Joel. Look,” Denny nudged Joel. “Look. This is Caleb. We came here last night to party. But once we got here, he decided to grow a vagina and didn’t want to play along.”

“So why’s he dressed like that?” Joel said.

“Because his choice was to join you and your friends downstairs until one of us was ready to play, or stay here as part of the cleanup crew. Only thing is, he can never leave.”

“Remember to tell him cleanup is cleaning up the dead bodies you get done cutting up. Including people like you, Joel.”

“I don’t wanna get cut up,” Joel said.

“Exactly! This is why you need to cut up your girlfriend. I don’t care what you do to her. Be creative. Do that, and you might get to leave unharmed. I’ll even go to bat for you,” Denny said.

“Really? What about Sophie?”

“Who the fuck is Sophie?” Denny asked.

“She’s our other friend, down stairs in the cage.”

“You can’t help her. You can’t help Crystal here. She is going to die a horrible, painful death no matter what you do. If you don’t do it, we’ll kill you and kill her anyway. Or you can do it and maybe save yourself.”

Caleb could see Joel actually thinking about it. He apparently knew this girl.

“Come on kid. You had fun fucking her didn’t you?”

“You fucking raped me asshole!” Crystal yelled from the chair.

“You shut the fuck up! No one is talking to you!” Denny said. “Why don’t you start by cutting her tongue out, then we don’t have to listen to her bitch.”

Joel looked up at Caleb as if he wanted to be told what to do.

“What?” Caleb asked. “Don’t look at me. You know her, I assume you care about her. But if you’re going to listen to this asshole, that’s on you.”

“I don’t want to die,” Joel said as he started to cry. “I don’t. I don’t like pain. I just don’t want to be hurt.” He walked over to the chair next to Crystal and raised the knife.

“Joel, no. Please. I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier. I liked fucking you. If you don’t do this, I will fuck you whenever you want, every day for the rest of your life. I promise.” Crystal pleaded.

“I’m sorry Crystal,” Joel was really sobbing now. “I’m sorry I’m so weak. This is gonna hurt though.”

Crystal screamed as he lifted the knife and began cutting along her stomach, from her waist in between her breasts. Blood ran down her naked skin and between her legs. When he lifted the knife to the top of her head, her screaming no longer sounded human.

Chapter 18

Brett Higgins walked off the airplane and into the terminal at the San Antonio International Airport. He couldn’t believe he flew all the way out there, but after the phone call from that girl, he knew she was about to get herself killed. He stopped by the Alamo car rental window and picked up his car. The only vehicle they had left was a Dodge Dart. At six foot three, it was hard for him to squeeze into the Dart, but he made it.

The drive to Round Rock didn’t take as long as he had remembered. The place looked much the same as before. He was taking a big risk by coming back there. The last time, the police chief warned him to leave and not come back. He hoped he could find the girl and her friends before they tried to locate The Club. He’d been calling her cell phone for hours but it was going straight to voice mail.

When he spoke to Crystal earlier, he hadn’t told her quite everything. He got much closer to The Country Club than he had let on. He ended up right inside the thing. Since that time, he’d tried to block out the things he’d seen and done there. It became easier to forget over time with the help of Jack Daniels and Xanax. He drove the Dart through town unnoticed and drove clear out to the road where The Club was located.

Once he reached the dirt road, he became more nervous. Last time, he had a Club member with him who had gotten him in. They figured out who he was, and he barely escaped with his life. He hoped they would at least listen to him this time. Though for all he knew, the girl and her friends were already dead.

He turned the car onto the road and barely made it a few hundred feet when he saw a black SUV headed his way. Brett stopped the car, reached into his bag and took out his bottle of Xanax. He took two pills and waited for the SUV to pull up. Once it stopped in front of him, he stepped out of the car as several men climbed out of the SUV.

“You sure have some balls coming back here,” one of the bigger men said.

“Hi guys. Yeah, I’m not exactly here on vacation,” Brett said.

“You know what we said would happen if you came back.”

“Yes. I remember. I’m just here for some kids. I guess they’re like college kids or bloggers or something. It was a girl and a few of her friends,” Brett explained.

“What about them?”

“Are they here? That girl is nuts. She’s hell bent on exposing this place. If they’re here, just let me take them with me. I promise they won’t be any more trouble.”

“What makes you think we can’t take care of things ourselves?”

“I have no doubt you guys can take care of it. I’d just hate to see these kids hurt for just being stupid. I can get them out of your hair. They are not a threat,” Brett insisted.

“Maybe not. You coming back here after what you pulled last time. Now that is a threat. So we need you to come with us.”

Brett knew he was going to say that. Without argument he walked to the SUV and climbed in. They drove the familiar route to the mansion. Once they pulled up he got out with the men and walked into the front. As they stepped inside, Dominic was there in the lobby.

“Well, I thought that was you. Couldn’t stay away could you?”

“I’m just here for the kids, this girl and her friends. She’s a blogger or something. She called me yesterday. I don’t want to see them hurt. They have no idea what they are getting into.”

“Neither did you,” Dominic said.

“Yes, I know. I was lucky, and thank you for that. I’m just trying to help.”

“Well, if they were here, they’d likely be getting put to use by now. So I’m afraid I can’t help you. On the other hand, I believe I had warned you what would happen if you returned here.”

“Yes. I know what you said. It’s not like I could call ahead. I tried to stop them before they came here, but I was too late,” Brett said.

“I see. Well that is unfortunate,” Dominic nodded to one of the goons. “Take him downstairs. Put him with the others.”

“What?” Brett said as two of the goons grabbed him, wrestling him to the ground. They twisted his wrists around and walked him to the elevator. Once on the elevator, they hit the down button. Brett began taking short, rapid breaths as he put his hand to his chest.

“I-I can’t. Bre-breathe,” he said as he knelt onto one knee.

“What the hell?” one of the men said.

“I-I just need my. P-pills,” Brett said as he reached into his right pocket until he felt his fingers wrap around it. One of the goons bent down to pull him back up.

“Let’s go. You won’t need your pills down here,” the goon said.

Brett took his hand out of his pocket, but instead he was holding a pocket knife. He thrust the pill into the closer goon’s throat, stabbing him in the neck repeatedly. The second goon began reaching for a gun, but in the close quarters, Brett was able to spin and stab him in the neck as well. In a matter of seconds, both men were lying dead on the floor. Brett stood in the elevator holding his knife, covered in their blood. He dug through each man’s pockets and removed their guns and extra magazines. The elevator doors opened into the darkness of the basement. Brett held a gun in each hand as he stepped into the darkness.

Chapter 19

Sophie sat in the cage looking at the floor. She had stopped crying a while ago. The men had come and taken several of the others to who knows where. Joel and Crystal were gone, she was sure they were both dead. This whole thing had been stupid. Why couldn’t Crystal have just been into drinking and guys like a normal girl their age? Why did she go along with her stupid ideas? She always followed Crystal on her crazy theories and nothing ever came of them. This time, only death will come.

Footsteps sounded from down the hall, but these weren’t like the ones from the goons. These were hurried steps, as if someone were running. A man carrying a gun appeared; he was breathing heavy. The other girls in the cage sat up when they saw him.

“What’s going on?” Sophie asked.

“I’m getting you out of here,” the man said.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Brett,” he said as he put one of the guns into his waistband and fumbled with a set of keys, until he found the larger one, inserting it into the lock, until the cage door popped open.

“You’re that reporter guy,” Sophie said.

“Right.”

“Why are you here?”

“You want to ask questions or get out of here? Let’s go!” She stood and stepped outside the cage. The four other girls followed along. All of them were naked. Their ages looked like they ranged from sixteen to forty. None of them spoke to Sophie though.

“Let’s go this way. We are going to have to go out through the main part of the house. Gonna have to shoot our way out. They won’t just let us stroll out. If we can get to one of the SUVs, we can get the hell out of here.”

“Are there any clothes anywhere?” Sophie asked.

“I don’t know. Trust me, I’m not checking any of you out. I know what they do here. I’ve seen it. Being naked is the least of our worries.”

They walked to the elevator and squeezed their way in.

“What about Joel and Crystal? We have to help them.”

“They are probably dead already,” Brett said.

“We have to try and find them!”

“Let’s clear the building first. We can go through after and see if they’re here. There is no way to sneak around this place.”

“Then I should have one of your guns,” Sophie said.

“You ever used a gun?”

“No. You just point and shoot, right?”

He pulled one out and showed it to her.

“There is no safety, it’s a Glock. You pull the trigger and when it’s empty the slide will lock back. I’ll get you another magazine, you put it in and push this button, and the slide will go forward and it’s ready to shoot again.”

“Sounds easy enough.”

“We’ll see,” he said as he handed it to her. The elevator door slid open as they stepped off. They were at the ground floor. There was no one in plain sight as they walked slowly through the lobby. The other women huddled together behind Brett and Sophie. Sophie saw the door just a hundred feet in front of them. She wanted to break into a full run for the door and be free from this place forever. But she knew that would only leave her vulnerable.

“Hey!” a man yelled from the stairway.

Sophie looked up and saw a goon standing there, reaching for his gun. Brett didn’t hesitate. He fired two shots, hitting the man in the chest and sending him toppling down the stairs.

“That’s it! Go! Go!” Brett yelled as the women took off running for the door. Gunfire erupted from the stairwell and from their right. Sophie kept her head down, but heard one of the girls behind her yelp and fall to the floor. Sophie turned and fired several shots at the men to her right. None of them hit, but it was enough to distract them. She turned and saw Brett shooting at several men coming down the stairs. Brett was a good shot, dropping one goon after the other.

Two more of the other women went down as Sophie was almost to the door. Just before she got there, it opened and two large goons stepped inside. She held up the gun and fired, hitting one of the men right in the face. The back of his head exploded, sending blood, skull, and brains onto the other man’s suit. She turned to fire at the other man, but he struck her in the side of the head with the butt of his pistol. The blow knocked her to the ground. She landed hard, her head bouncing off the tile floor.

As she looked up, the man shot the remaining girls behind Sophie. She still had her gun though. She held up the gun and pushed it into the goon’s crotch and pulled the trigger. His eyes went wide as blood showered over Sophie. His screams didn’t sound like the large man he was. They sounded like that of a ten year old girl. He put his hands over the hole where his nuts used to be and fell to the ground. Sophie stood up as the man lie on the floor whimpering and twitching.

She looked around the room saw several dead goons. Brett was nowhere in sight though. Sophie stepped over the man and pulled the front door open. She stepped outside looking around. There was a large driveway with several SUVs parked in the front. She ran over to one of them, but stopped. Crystal and Joel were still in there somewhere. Sophie knew she would never feel right if she escaped and left them there.

She walked to the back of the SUV and opened it. There was a large duffel bag there. She sifted through it and found a tactical vest, several more handguns and ammo. She pulled on the vest. It was big enough to cover most of her body. She placed several extra magazines into the pouches on the vest.

There was a hunting knife in the bag as well. She inserted that into the sheath on the shoulder of the vest. She wished she had some shoes, but this was the best she could do. Taking a deep breath, she stared at the front door. She looked at her reflection in one of the windows of the SUV and decided she looked like a total badass. Taking a gun in each hand, she walked to the mansion and stepped back inside.

Chapter 20

Crystal was almost numb from the pain. Joel had scalped her, cutting the skin and hair off the top of her head completely off. It hurt like nothing she had ever felt before. He may as well have set her head on fire it hurt so badly. Once he cut through the top part of her skin, he ripped the flesh away, she thought the whole top of her head would come off. Her vision got fuzzy and she wasn’t sure if she’d passed out or not.

One thing she did hear, was Denny clapping.

“All right! Joel! You animal. Fuck that shit up! That is what I’m talking about! How’s it feel man?”

“Felt pretty good I guess.”

“How can you say that? You just scalped your best friend!” Caleb said. “You enjoyed this?”

“I guess she wasn’t really my friend. Like Denny said. She just wants to use me. So I guess I’m using her now.”

“That’s right!” Denny said with another clap of his hands. “That is fuckin’-A right dude. These bitches, they string us along by our balls and play all the games. They think, oh they got the pussy so they can do what they want. That’s why this place is so special! All that shit is off here. Here, we are the ones in control. We take what we want from them. We are the ones playing the games, we are the ones who hold their lives in our hands. It’s perfect!”

Crystal couldn’t believe the bullshit he was saying. There was only one thing that hurt worse than the physical pain, and that was the guy she thought was one of her best friends raping her then torturing her. Though Denny had a point. She had strung Joel along for a long time. She knew how he felt about her and used that to get what she wanted from him. In all honesty, she hadn’t thought much about it. Girls do that to guys all the time. They have for centuries. When she really thought about it, she hadn’t even realized she was doing it.

The three men jumped as the sound of gunfire from outside the room. There were several repetitive shots. Some louder than others. In seconds it sounded like an all-out firefight.

“What the fuck is going on out there?” Denny said. He walked to the wall and pushed the button repeatedly, but no one answered. “Shit! What the fuck!!”

Joel, still naked backed away as Denny had a near meltdown. He fumbled with the door unable to open it right away. Crystal watched Caleb as he picked up a hammer from the table and cracked Denny on the back of the head. Denny had moved at the last second, so it wasn’t a clean hit, but enough to knock him to the ground. He turned and looked at Caleb who was standing over him.

“You little shit! You’re dead! You hear me! You’re fucking dead!” he screamed, but Caleb kicked him in the chest, knocking him to his back. Denny sat up and grabbed the hammer, biting into Caleb’s hand as they both tumbled to the floor. As they rolled around fighting, Crystal looked up at Joel who was frozen in place, still holding the knife.

“Joel? Joel?” she said until he finally looked at her. “Cut me loose. Please?”

“I-I can’t. They’ll kill me,” he said.

“Look at what is going on! We have to get out of here. Shit you can stay if you want. Please, I’ll forgive you of everything, just cut me loose!”

There was more gunfire from outside and screaming as Caleb and Denny struggled. Denny was on top, punching Caleb repeatedly, but Caleb jammed his thumb into Denny’s eye which distracted him long enough to knock him back. He grabbed Denny’s hair and began smashing his head into the metal table over and over. Denny reached up to the table and grabbed for a small knife and swiped it at Caleb, grazing his arm.

The door flew open and a tall guy stepped inside and looked around. Took one look at Denny and shot him in the face. The blast took the whole left side of his face off. He then pointed the gun at Caleb who was still wearing his coveralls and gloves. Once Caleb saw the gun, he held his hands up.

“No! I’m—” he began, but the man shot him twice in the chest. He spun around, pointing the gun at Joel, looked him up and down, and then looked at Crystal.

“Cut her loose,” he said. “We’re getting out of here.”

“Are we supposed to? Do you work here? Joel asked.

“Fucking cut her loose I said!” the man said pointing the gun at Joel.

Joel walked over to Crystal and cut the straps off her head, chest, hands and feet. The man with the gun helped her to her feet as Joel looked away from her.

“Thanks Joel,” she said. “Can I see that knife?”

“For what?”

“I just need it real quick.”

He handed it to her. The instant it was in her hand, she was on top of Joel. She lunged at him, stabbing him in the chest faster than he could react. As he fell to the ground, he tried to speak but his lungs were already filling with blood. Crystal let out a scream as she stabbed him over and over in the chest, stomach and neck. The look on his face registered both surprise and confusion as to why she was killing him. Crystal came to the realization then, that Joel was the stupidest fucking smart guy she had ever known.

She kept stabbing until the man with the gun was pulling her off him.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

“I’m gonna kill this motherfucker! He’s the one who did this to me!” she screamed.

“I don’t think he’s getting up. Come on. We gotta go.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Brett. You called me the other day. I didn’t tell you everything, and once you made it clear you weren’t going to stop, I had to come out here and end this.”

Several more gunshots erupted from outside. They walked out of the room and onto the walkway. Looking over the railing, Crystal saw none other than Sophie wearing nothing but a tactical vest and firing two handguns, one in each hand, killing everyone in her path.

Chapter 21

Dominic sat in the control room watching the mayhem ensue on the monitors. In all the years he’d been curator of The Country Club, this kind of thing had never happened. He’d never even heard of it happening in the past. He sat down and stared up at the screens, trying to figure out how this all had happened. There was pounding on the control room door. He tried to ignore it until gunshots sounded, blowing the knob off. It swung open to reveal Brett standing there.

“Hello Brett,” Dominic said.

“Hi Dominic.”

“You’re going to kill me I take it?”

“Looks like I don’t have much choice.”

There was a girl with him, one of the blogger kids they had captured. The top of her head had been skinned, with tufts of hair sticking out from the side of her head.

“Fuckin’ shoot his ass!” the girl said.

“She’s right. Shoot me.”

“I didn’t expect you to give up so easily. You were so cocky earlier,” Brett said.

“That’s what killed us. We were too cocky. How’d you get away from my guys?”

“They were cocky. They never searched me and I stabbed them with my pocket knife. So is anyone else coming? You hit a panic button or something?”

“No, there is no panic button. There’s no protocol for something like this. It’s never happened before. Not that I’ve heard of anyway. Does she know about you?” Dominic said.

“Know what?” the girl asked.

“Go on. Tell her.”

“Tell me what Brett? What the fuck?”

Brett stepped inside and closed the door. Dominic’s jacket was hanging over the back of a chair. He took it and wrapped it around the girl.

“You know I investigated this place before.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I had done more than that. I made it here. I went undercover and made friends with a trust fund kid in Dallas. His dad was some oil big shot, there’s no shortage of them in this state. So years ago he brought me here. I was on the inside. I got pictures and everything. Thing was, I had to kill somebody. I didn’t want to. It made me fucking sick to see what they were doing to girls here. Yet if I wanted to get out of here alive, I had no choice. My story would never be told. So I did it. I tried to be as merciful as I could. I cut her throat.” He stopped and looked at the girl who was trying to back away from him. “So they let me leave, but as we were leaving, someone there recognized me. They figured out I was a reporter. They took my phone, my camera and everything. I thought they were going to kill me for sure. But they made me a deal. Make my story vague and never speak of it again and they’d let me go unharmed. So I did.”

“You asshole! You let us walk right in here!”

“I didn’t think you’d actually find the fucking place. That’s why I got right on a plane. And I told you to let it go. But you had to push it.”

The girl stepped back and looked down.

“I should have had you skinned alive,” Dominic said.

“Well, that’s what you get for being merciful I suppose. A mistake I won’t be making.”

“You’re no different than me, Brett. You realize that don’t you?”

“How so?”

“How do you think I got this job? Craigslist?”

“I guess I never thought about it.”

“Well of course not. Unlike most members here, my family was new money. My dad found a construction company that ended up being one of the largest in Central Texas. He wanted all the perks that came with being rich. You might not realize this, but the old money in this state tends to look down on new money. They see us at trailer trash who won the lotto, even if we earned it. So when I was eighteen, my dad hooked up with the right people and they brought him here. But they would only consider him a guest. Despite all his money, they wouldn’t let him join. So he made a deal. Me. He traded me for membership. At first they put me to work in clean up. That sure was a coming of age experience. Other kids my age were going to college and getting laid. I was cutting up remains of co-eds and throwing them in the incinerator. Eventually I worked my way up, just by earning people’s trust and being as helpful as I could.”

“So you enjoyed it,” the girl said.

“No,” he said pointing a finger. “I have never enjoyed it. Not once.”

“That’s bullshit,” Brett said. “You just said you wished you had me skinned alive,” Brett said.

“Look, for the last twenty-five years, all I’ve known and seen is death. I’m around all these assholes who have more money and power than God. All I could do to survive was put on a happy face and pretend to enjoy this shit. I saw what they did to people here. I’d seen some employees who had tried to run off or go to authorities. It wasn’t fun to watch. I didn’t want that to be me. So I played along.”

“Well you don’t have to play anymore. You’re coming with us,” Brett said.

“What?”

“You heard me. Get up before I change my mind.”

Chapter 22

Sophie was in a blind rage as she fired at every asshole guard that came at her. She figured one of them would cut her down at some point, but no one did. Once she shot her way through the lobby, she walked up the stairs and began looking through the rooms. There were atrocities happening in several of them. Other girls she’d been held prisoner with had already been mutilated and maimed. Some were already dead. Sophie shot the assholes torturing them without so much as a word.

She went into one room and found Eileen there, with another man and some naked girl hanging upside down. Eileen was raping the girl with a chisel. She took the bloody tool out as she turned and looked at Sophie.

“Well looky who came to join us Gene. This is the girl I had wanted to play with. That was you making all that noise?” Eileen said.

Sophie turned and fired four shots into Gene. He slumped to the ground in a bloody heap.

“Now bitch,” Sophie said. “Take off your clothes,” as she pointed the gun at her.

“Gene! You killed my Gene!”

“No shit you wrinkled old cunt. Now take off your fucking clothes!”

Eileen removed her blouse and skirt, tossing them to the ground.

“Underwear too, bitch,” Sophie said.

“They’ll never let you leave here. They’ll tear out your uterus and feed it to you, while I watch.”

“I doubt that. Take the shit off now.”

Eileen removed her bra, revealing her wrinkly, saggy breasts. They looked like fried eggs running down a wall. She pulled off her panties and stood looking at Sophie.

“Happy now?” Eileen said. “You gonna fuck me?”

“Actually, I am. On the table, sit,” Sophie said pointing the gun at the metal table behind her.

Eileen climbed up onto the table and sat facing Sophie.

“This you torturing me? Making my bare ass sit on cold metal?”

“I got some different metal for you,” Sophie said as she walked up and jammed the gun in between Eileen’s legs. Eileen cried out as Sophie inserted it as far into Eileen’s vagina as it would go.

“There you sick bitch. You like that? That turn you on?”

“Fuck you, you little blonde cunt.”

Instead of a verbal reply, Sophie pulled the trigger. The shot sounded muffled as Eileen jerked and fell back. Blood poured from her mouth as she coughed and twitched. Sophie stepped back watching the spectacle as there was now a large bloody crater where her pussy had been seconds ago. Eileen continued to thrash and convulsed, so Sophie walked out of the room and into the hallway.

She looked at the end of the hall and saw three people coming toward her. Sophie pointed a gun at them, but one of them was running toward her. It was a girl, but she looked bald and wearing nothing but a jacket. Crystal! She lowered the gun and ran toward her until they nearly collided and held her friend in a tight hug.

“Jesus!” Sophie said looking at Crystal’s head. “What did they do to you?”

“I think you can see. It hurts like hell,” Crystal said.

“Where’s Joel?”

“He’s dead,” Crystal said. Brett came up behind them with another guy.

“I thought you were gonna leave,” Brett said.

“I told you I wasn’t leaving without her. Who is this asshole?” Sophie nodded at the other man.

“This is Dominic. He kind of works here. But we are helping him escape.”

“Helping him? What does he do here?”

“He kind of runs the place.”

“Are you fucking kidding? I’m gonna blow his fucking head off,” Sophie said as she raised the gun at Dominic.

“Don’t! Come on. I want to do one more thing and then we’re out of here,” Brett said.

“One more thing?”

“Follow me,” Brett said as he ran to the elevator. The girls and Dominic filed on with him as he pushed the button to take them into the basement. Once the elevator stopped, they stepped out into the cold, dark basement. Dominic led the way as they walked through the dark hallways.

“What the hell is going on out there?” a voice called from down the hall. An old man wearing bloody coveralls walked up as Brett and Sophie aimed their guns at him.

“Dutch,” Dominic said. “Something has happened. The Club is closed.”

“Closed? What the hell? Where is Caleb? That new kid?” Dutch asked.

“If he was the other guy dressed like you, I shot him,” Brett said. “I didn’t know who he was, so I shot anyone who looked like they worked here.”

“Jesus. So what are we doing?”

“We’re going to the incinerator.”

“All right. This way,” Dutch said as he turned and began walking. They followed him for several minutes until they arrived at the incinerator. It looked like a giant oven with a large door. “Here it is,” Dutch said. “Now what?”

“Can you open it?” Brett asked.

Dutch turned the large handled and pulled the heavy door open. Sophie felt the heat immediately as the large flames were revealed.

“So what’s your plan?” Dominic asked.

“This is part of it,” Brett said as he blasted Dominic in the face with the butt of his pistol. Blood shot from his nose as he stumbled backwards.

Brett grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pants and heaved him into the incinerator.

“No! No! No!” Dominic screamed, but Brett wasn’t stopping. “Ahh! Ahh! Ahh!” Dominic screamed as he disappeared inside the flames. Sophie couldn’t believe what she had just seen.

“Why’d you do that?” Crystal asked.

“He would have killed us. I remember last time I was here. All that shit he said was probably a lie. He’s a snake. He’ll say anything to anyone that will benefit him. When I was here last time, he took a lot of joy in watching people suffer and die here. He deserved to burn.”

Chapter 23

Brett looked around near the incinerator. He didn’t really have a plan, just an idea. The girls still looked freaked out after watching him throw Dominic into the fire. Despite his pity party act, Dominic was a slimy shitball. He probably sat in that control room and jerked his wang while watching girls get cut to shreds. Though he’d never have the balls to do any of that himself. Yeah, he deserved the fire. Brett just hoped it hurt real bad before he died.

“When we came down the other hallway, there were some barrels along the wall. What were those?” Brett asked.

“Just ammonia and some other cleaning stuff. Blood and bodily fluids are hard to clean. So we order in bulk and water it down,” Dutch explained.

“Bring one over here for me.”

Dutch turned and disappeared around the corner. He returned a few minutes later pushing a dolly with a 55-gallon drum.

“Here you go,” Dutch said. “What’re you gonna do?”

“Hey!” someone yelled from down the hall before gunshots rang out. Brett and the girls ducked to see a few more goons running toward them. Brett and Sophie both opened fire, hitting each one several times before they reached the group.

“Guess we didn’t get them all,” Sophie said.

Brett looked down and saw Dutch lying on the ground, gasping for breath. There was blood running out of his neck as he made a loud, wheezing sound.

“Oh shit,” Brett said as Dutch took a few more breaths, and then stopped.

Brett took the dolly and lined it up with the incinerator. He pushed it forward until it was up against the lip of the incinerator. He pulled the dolly away and pushed the top of the drum forward tilting it over the lip. He bent down and grabbed the bottom edge of the drum and pushed it forward until the whole thing tipped into the fire. He pushed it forward as far as he could and forced the door shut.

“Ok, let’s get out of here,” he said to the girls. They turned and ran, following Brett down another hallway. They arrived at the loading dock. Brett ran to the side door and shot at the handle until the door swung open. Daylight flooded the corridor as they ran outside into the parking lot behind the building. Several of the SUV’s were sitting parked along another building. They climbed into one of them as Brett jumped behind the wheel.

The keys were in the visor as Brett had figured. He started it up and stomped on the gas. They sped around the corner and down the long driveway. The girls were looking at the mansion when it exploded. The concussion was so powerful the SUV fishtailed. Debris and ash rained around them as they pulled onto the road. Brett looked in the rearview mirror to see The Country Club engulfed in flames.

“Holy shit,” Crystal said. “Did all that just happen?”

Sophie was staring out the window and didn’t respond. Brett couldn’t figure out how Crystal wasn’t passed out, with all the skin cut off the top of her head.

“I’m afraid it did,” Brett said. “What we did also might anger some people. That place had a lot of money in it, and it made a lot of money.”

“Well it won’t anymore,” Crystal said.

As they sped down the road, all that could be seen of The Country Club was a plume of black smoke in the sky. A police car appeared behind them, lights and siren blaring. Brett thought they might be headed to The Club, but instead they pulled up right behind the SUV.

“Shit,” Brett said.

“Are they pulling us over?” Crystal asked. “Why are they pulling us over?”

“Just sit tight,” Brett said as the officer approached them.

“Sir,” the officer said. “Could you step out of the car please?” He had on a khaki uniform, a cowboy hat and aviator glasses.

“Step out for what? Why did you stop us?” Brett asked.

“Do what I said sir. Now.”

Brett stepped out of the SUV as another police car pulled up. An older officer stepped out of the second car and approached them.

“Well, look what we have here. Brett Higgins.”

“Hello Chief,” Brett said.

“I know I told you not to come back here. Shit, you not only came back, but you blew the place to high heavens. I sure with you hadn’t a done that.”

“And why is that? Did I just blow up your meal ticket?”

“Oh, you have no idea. Lots of folks won’t be too happy about that. You’re gonna have to come with us. Who else is there with you?” the Chief asked as he looked in the window. Both Brett and the other cop jumped as a gunshot went off, blowing the top of the Chief’s head off. Sophie was leaning out the window holding a gun. The officer drew his gun and fired, as Sophie fired back while climbing into the driver’s seat.

“Get out of here!” Brett yelled. Several more police cars were approaching in the distance. “Go! Now!”

Sophie pounded on the gas as the SUV sped off. Brett looked at the officer who know had his gun pointed at Brett’s head.

“I should blow your fuckin’ head off right now asshole,” the officer said.

The other cars pulled up as cops surrounded them with their guns out. Brett looked around and put his hands on his head. Another officer can up behind him and hit him in the back of his knees with the butt of a shotgun. Brett fell face first to the ground as the officer bent down and handcuffed him. As they were placing him into the car, Brett figured wherever they take him, it won’t be as bad as where he just came from.

Chapter 24

Sophie kept her foot on the gas as the police cars and Brett grew smaller in the rearview mirror. Crystal climbed into the passenger seat next to her.

“Doesn’t your head hurt?” Sophie asked.

“It’s mostly numb and throbbing by now. Does it look bad?”

“Umm, maybe you should look for yourself.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so. We need to find a hospital,” Crystal said.

“What about Brett?”

“What about him? He told us to go.”

“I know. He came after you and he didn’t have to,” Sophie said. “You know those cops aren’t going to just take him to jail.”

“I don’t know, and I don’t really care. You didn’t go through the shit I went through. You said it yourself, fucking look at me. You know who killed Joel?”

Sophie just looked at her with a blank expression.

“I fucking killed him! That rich guy was using us as his little pawns. He told Joel to rape me. Told him that I been leading him on his whole life and he deserved my pussy. So Joel agrees with him and climbs on top of me and fucks me. Even came inside me, that nasty fucker.”

“Oh Crystal,” Sophie interrupted.

“Oh it didn’t end there. Then the guy tells him to start cutting on me. Told him to cut me up into his own work of art or some shit. So Joel cuts all over my body, then fucking scalps me,” she said pointing at her head. “So as soon as Brett came in, he shot the rich guy and some other dude and cut me loose. As soon as he did, I jumped on Joel, took his knife away and stabbed the fuck out of him.”

“Jesus Crystal. My God!”

“What?”

“Well nothing. That is horrible you went through all that. Maybe Joel was just playing along since that guy was forcing him.”

“I thought that too at first, but it was obvious he started believing that guy’s bullshit and was enjoying himself.”

“What the fuck?” Sophie said.

“What?”

“Look at that,” Sophie pointed ahead.

There was a Blackhawk helicopter hovering over the field several yards ahead. It landed and several men with guns and full tactical gear ran off the helicopter, running toward them.

“Jesus, those are Navy SEALs!” Crystal said. “What the fuck?”

Gun shots began to pepper the side of the SUV as the Blackhawk flew off. Sophie stopped the car and they both climbed out of the SUV on the passenger side. There was a thick woods on the right side of the road. They ran into the woods, as rocks and sticks cut into Sophie’s bare feet.

“Shit!” Sophie said. “We are fucked. We are so fucked.”

“Quiet! Let’s keep moving.”

“Those are SEALs. We can’t out run them! They probably have us surrounded already.”

“Let’s just move. We’re not dead yet,” Crystal said.

They moved through the trees to their right, backtracking from where they had come from. Sophie’s feet screamed in pain with each step. Somehow Crystal didn’t seem bothered, though her head was probably still in more pain than her feet. They reached a clearing and Sophie stopped to catch her breath. She looked up to Crystal to speak, but Crystal put a finger over her mouth as she looked around. A gunshot exploded on the tree just inches from Crystal’s head. She ducked to the right and both girls took off running again as several more shots were fired.

They turned to the left going deeper into the woods. The sun was beginning to set as they weaved through the trees and brush. A gunshot went off above them, this one was louder than the silenced shots the SEALs were firing. Five or six more shots sounded and then there was silence. The girls looked around but didn’t see anyone, and then they looked up. There was a man in a tree stand holding a rifle looking down at them.

“I got them all I think,” he said as he climbed down.

Sophie took a few steps back. The man was heavy set with short, cropped hair and about a week’s growth of beard.

“It’s ok. I’m not gonna hurt ya none. I’m a veteran myself. But no surprise to me to see them sending SEALs after you all,” he said.

“Who are you?” Crystal asked.

“Name’s Justice. Justice Montgomery.”

“Hi Justice, I’m Sophie, this is Crystal.”

“Good to meet ya ladies. Now let’s get out of here. Come with me.”

They walked through the woods for another twenty minutes until they reached a cabin. Justice took them inside where they finally sat down.

“You ladies thirsty?” he asked.

They both nodded vigorously as he walked over to a pump and filled a couple of tin cups with water. The girls chugged the water down, spilling some on themselves in the process.

“So who are you exactly?” Sophie asked.

“I told you. I’m Justice.”

“I know. I mean, why are you out here?”

“Well, I reckon you girls’ came from that fucked up club down the road.”

“You know about that place?”

“Hell yeah. I heard the explosion earlier. Was that The Club blowing up or something?”

“Yeah, we’re like reporters or bloggers or whatever. We were trying to expose that place and let the world know who they are and what they do. They caught us and, well you can see what they did to us,” Sophie said as Justice looked over at Crystal. The top of her head was started to look dry and scabbed over.

“Yeah, I didn’t figure she got that from brushing her hair. But yeah. I been here for several years. The Club people don’t know I’m here and I like to keep it that way. I was in the Marines and fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. I heard the Blackhawk earlier so I figured something was going on. I got this AR-15 rifle. A Marine with a rifle shooting from an elevated position will always win over any group of Navy SEALs. They thought they were just chasing a couple a girls I reckon.”

“So how you know about the Club?”

“That’s how I ended up here. They grabbed me and my girlfriend not long after I got back from Iraq. We were in San Diego. It was a Saturday night, we’d both been drinkin’. Some guys came up in a van and tasered us both and threw us into the van. When I woke up, she was already gone. I was in some cage, stripped nekkid.”

“When was this?”
“Oh, maybe 2007 or so. So yeah, they come and pull me out the cage, one of them big muscle guards. Don’t know why they only sent one. I beat his ass good, grabbed his gun and clothes and snuck out. We were about the same size. By the time they figured out what happened, I was already gone.”

“They told us no one ever escaped there,” Crystal said.

“Well yeah, they would say that. It’s happened a few times. I stayed here ‘cause I knew they’d send people for me. They got eyes everywhere except right under their own noses. I reckon they gave up looking for me at some point, but I stay off the grid.”

“You ever go back there?” Sophie asked.

“No ma’am. I keep to myself here, don’t go near that hell hole. So what they do to you?”

Sophie went on to explain their entire ordeal. He listened and even smiled as she told him about shooting all the goons and Brett blowing the place up.

“Hell yeah. That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Fuck their shit up good. But they got your guy friend, huh?”

“Yeah, some cops did down the road before the SEALs showed up.”

“Well, I reckon we need to go and find him.”

Chapter 25

Brett sat in the chair with his hands handcuffed behind his back. They hadn’t taken him to any police department. They took him to a small house a few miles away from The Club’s location. At the moment, he was alone in an empty room with only a set of chairs. The door swung open and a man in a suit came in and sat across from him in the other chair.

“So,” the man said. “Of all the media outlets, who’d have thought it would be the El Paso Sun to finally bring us down.”

The man’s suit was black and he had gray hair and a gray beard.

“Now what do I do with you?” The man asked.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m the owner of The Country Club, or I was.”

“I didn’t know The Club had an owner.”

“There’s probably a lot of things about The Club you don’t know.”

“So why am I here? Why haven’t you killed me, or had my fingernails ripped out or something?” Brett asked.

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll get to that. I wanted to meet the man who destroyed us. After over a century of living in obscurity, you managed to break through and not only expose us, but you blew the whole damn place up. I’m curious how you did it.”

“Why does that matter?”

“Well, I’m going to rebuild it, of course. Maybe not in that same spot, but we’ll find a place. I had some excellent security in place there. The best in the world. So I’d like to know how this happened.”

“Not that I care to help you in any way, but your guys were just too cocky. They turned their backs on people, they didn’t search me and always had their guard down. They had been so in control for so long, they didn’t think that others might always be looking for an opening. Once I had it, I took them by surprise and they were fucked.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense.”

“Why do you have that place? Of all the things you could own or run, why some horrible thing like that?” Brett asked.

“Well, I could tell you all kinds of bullshit about our primal nature and the most successful men know how to tap into that nature and use it to their advantage. But for me, it just brings in a lot of money. And I mean a lot of money. I’ve owned casinos that didn’t do as well as this place does. It’s so unique, I can charge whatever I want for our services and people will pay it.”

“So that’s all those people are to you? All those young women who have been tortured and killed in the most horrific ways imaginable. All over money? What kind of sick asshole are you?”

“People? Those weren’t people. They were cattle. Every person who we brought in there to be used by our members was a worthless human being. Many were prostitutes, college dropouts, drug heads, or just wasting their lives away waiting tables or something. Hell if anything, I did them a favor. I spared them a life of working shit jobs for nothing wages and dying old, broke and sick.”

“God you are a fucking psycho. All of you animals are.”

“Yes, I suppose you would say that. And just think. We are the ones who run the country. You know where I was this morning?” the man asked.

“I give up.”

“In Washington having breakfast with the President. I was supposed to fly to Paris tonight, but you caused a slight change in plans. Though I guess I should thank you. This spares me the long plane flight with the wife.”

“Sounds like a personal problem,” Brett said.

“Oh it is. But unfortunately for you, it is now your problem. In a few moments, I’ll be headed back to the airport. While some of my men will be coming in to dispose of you. I hope you don’t have any family, because your body won’t be found. They’ll see to that. I did tell them to give you a quick death though. You fought a good fight today. I figured I at least owed you the courtesy of a quick and painless death.”

The man stood and walked out of the room. Brett took a deep breath and waited for the end.

Chapter 26

Justice found some clothes for the girls. It was mostly flannel shirts and some cut off shorts he’d worn. The stuff was huge on them, but did the job for the moment. Sophie took a clean shirt and made a headscarf out of it. She helped Crystal wrap it around her head, covering her large wound. Once they were dressed, Justice grabbed his rifle and several magazines.

“You girls know how to shoot guns?” he asked.

“We do now,” Sophie answered.

“I’m sure you do.” He handed each of them .40 caliber semi-automatic handguns and extra magazines.

“Got everything? Let’s get going,” he said.

“Where are we going?” Crystal asked.

“I have an idea where they might be at. There’s an old house down the road. Not likely they took him into town. This way.”

They followed him out the back door. There was a 4-wheel ATV sitting behind the cabin.

“Climb on girls. It’s gonna be tight,” Justice said as he slung his rifle over his back and climbed on. Sophie climbed on behind Justice and Crystal squeezed in against Sophie. Justice fired up the ATV and off they went. Sophie held tight around Justice’s waist as he wove the ATV around the trees with great skill. It was obvious he knew his way around the area. Sophie noticed for a bigger guy, he was more firm to hold on to than she had expected. Not that it was the time to think such things.

They reached the roadside where Justice drove for several more miles before crossing the road through a field. He began to slow down as a house came into sight. It was a small house almost a hundred yards away, but sat by itself just off the road. Justice stopped the ATV and climbed off.

“Ok, here we are. It’s gonna be tough to approach it since there isn’t any cover,” he said as he lifted the AR-15 to his shoulder and looked through the scope. He fired a shot through a window. More gunshots rang out as he fired another single shot. Both girls fell to the ground as automatic gunfire erupted from the house.

Sophie tapped Justice on the arm and pointed out the big sedan pulling out of the house’s drive way. He fired a couple shots at the sedan, taking out the tires and the driver. The car sat motionless as Justice turned his focus back on the house.

“Ok girls. I’ll provide covering fire. You take a wide circle around and approach the house on the other side.” He made a wide circular motion with his arm as he explained. “Got it?”

They both nodded as they took off running. Sophie could hear Justice firing single shots as they ran in a wide circle through the field and closed in in the house from the other side. Justice’s plan had worked. When Sophie looked through the window, there were several men facing away from them shooting at Justice. Sophie took aim and fired, hitting one of the men in the back. The window in front of her shattered as she fired, spraying them both with glass.

Once the man went down, her and Crystal opened up, firing at each of the men. Some tried to turn around but either got hit by one of the girls, or was taken out by Justice’s marksmanship. After what seemed like several minutes, there were no more men left standing. The girls ran around the front of the house as they heard the ATV start up and head toward them. There was an old man climbing out of the sedan as they reached the front.

“Stop!” Sophie yelled. “Don’t move, or I’ll shoot you in the ass!”

The man stopped and turned around. He was wearing a suit which had blood spatter on the front. He placed his hands in the air as he faced he girls.

“Who the fuck are you?” Sophie asked.

“I’m the boss,” he said.

“Boss of what?”

“The Country Club. I own it. Or did own it anyway.”

“Well, now I own you. Get inside,” she said waving the gun at him as Justice arrived on the ATV.

“Well done ladies. That was some fine shootin’.”

“Not bad yourself,” Crystal said as they went into the house. There were dead bodies lying all over. One guy was hunkered in a corner. He looked to be unharmed until Crystal walked over and put one in his forehead. They searched each room until they found the one with Brett. He hadn’t been hurt. He was cuffed to a chair. Crystal dug around in the men’s pockets until she found one with a handcuff key. She undid them and Brett stood, rubbing his wrists.

“About time you guys showed up,” he said.

“Well, we had to think about it,” Sophie explained.

Brett nodded to the large man next to Sophie.

“So who is this guy?”

“This is Justice. He rescued us from a SEAL team they had sent after us,” Sophie said.

“Wow. A SEAL team. Impressive.” Brett looked over at The Boss. “Well look at you. Not so in charge now are you?”

“You still have no power over me. You wouldn’t even think of harming me,” The Boss said. Brett punched him so hard, he fell flat on his back, both feet flying into the air. The Boss lie on the ground, looking up at them, dazed.

“Tie him up,” Brett said. “Time to have our own fun.”

The girls and Justice hauled him over to one of the chairs, cut his clothes off him and used his torn clothing strips to securely tie him to his chair.

“You’ll fucking burn for this!” The Boss yelled. “I’m friends with the President!”

“Then where is he?” Brett asked.

Justice had gone into one of the rooms looking around. He returned with a power sander and plugged it in. He handed it to Brett who tested it.

“Now this looks like a useful tool,” Brett said as he revved the motor.

“What’re you gonna do?” The Boss asked.

“Oh, just going to sand away some unnecessary appendages,” Brett said as he lowered the sander to The Bosses crotch. He fired the motor up and as he got closer to The Boss’ nuts, the louder his screams became, until the only sound was that of sandpaper on flesh and the man’s screams.

Chapter 27

Crystal stepped outside as Brett and Sophie tortured the Boss. As much as she hated the guy and wanted him to suffer, she couldn’t take anymore suffering by anyone. Everything had happened so fast, she hadn’t had time to even contemplate her own injuries. The severing of her scalp was the worst, but only of what she could see. She had no doubt it would take years of therapy to overcome the events of the last few days, if ever.

She sat on the steps outside and tried to tune out the sound of the power sander and the screaming. For the first time since the ordeal began, she cried. Once the tears came they wouldn’t stop. Justice stepped outside and sat down next to her. She hoped he wouldn’t try to put his arm around her or anything creepy, but he didn’t.

“You ok?” he asked.

“I don’t think I’m ever gonna be ok again,” she said. “I’m sure you can guess why.”

“Yeah. I don’t blame you. The shit you been through would have broken most people. You hung in there and did what needed to be done. When I was in Afghanistan, I saw grown ass men break down when push came to shove. Guys lying on the ground crying for their mamas.”

“Really?”

“I’m serious. No matter how big and tough a person is. No tellin’ what they’re really made of until their life is in danger. Hell, you were put through shit that would have drove me nuts. Getting scalped like that? That’s some serious Wild West shit. But you not only survived, you came back and kicked their fuckin’ asses,” Justice said.

“Yeah, you have a point,” she said giving a half smile through her tears. “Thank you for helping us. You didn’t have to. When I first saw you come out of that tree stand, I thought for sure you were gonna capture us and rape us or something.”

“Yeah, I can see why you’d think that. But nah, I’ve never hurt a woman, not one that wasn’t pointing a gun at me anyway.”

She laughed, not wanting to know what he meant.

“Thank you Justice,” she said as she stood. “I’m going to check on Sophie.”

“Sure, though she seems to be doin’ just fine.”

Crystal walked back inside with Justice behind her. She came in the room and heard Sophie and Brett laughing. The Boss was in his chair still tied up, blood oozing from his groin and he was gagging.

“What’s wrong with him?” Crystal asked.

“I’m choking him with his own fucking dick. Though not sure how he could choke on it, it was tiny as hell. I shoved it as far in there as it would go.”

“Jesus Sophie!” Crystal said.

“This fucker had it coming. All the shit he’s caused?”

Crystal looked over at Brett who shrugged.

“She has a point,” he said.

The Boss gagged and thrashed about in his chair for another minute before he stopped moving. His face was blue and eyes wide open.

“Rot in Hell cocksucker,” Sophie said.

They all looked around to each other, with the same question on their minds. Now what? As if reading their minds, Brett spoke up.

“So I guess that’s it. We all just go back to our lives now?” he said.

“What life?” Crystal said. “Look at me. I can’t go back to Austin like this. Even if I go to a hospital, how would I explain what happened? I’ve been fucking scalped. Then what if The Club has people there? You heard how much reach they have? I doubt they’ll be too happy.”

“So what are you saying, Crystal?” Sophie asked.

“I’m not saying anything. I just don’t know what to do.”

“Well you have to get that treated. Your bare skull is almost showing through. I have an idea though,” Brett said. “I did a story on a doctor up in Dallas years ago. He’d been accused of misconduct with some patients. Turns out he was innocent. I broke the story that cleared him. So I can give him a call. Maybe we can sign you in under an alias or he can help you off the books.”

“Really?” Crystal asked. “That would be great. If anything can even be done.”

“I’ll go with you guys,” Sophie said. “You know I’ll stay with you Crystal.”

“I know, Soph. You’ve always been there for me,” Crystal said as she hugged Sophie.

“I reckon I’ll stay right where I’m at,” Justice said. “But know my door is always open to y’all. You know where to find me. Just as long as no one else does.” He laughed loudly as they all walked outside and climbed into one of the cars. Justice hopped onto the ATV and drove back toward his home in the woods.

Chapter 28

One year later

Crystal sat in the tree stand until she saw the feral hog about fifty yards away. She held up the rifle, just like Justice had shown her. The hog’s body was lined up in the scope’s crosshairs. Gently, she squeezed the trigger until she was surprised by the kick of the rifle. After the shot, she looked through the scope and saw the hog lying on the ground.

“I got it!” she said. “I got it!”

“Sure did!” Justice said. “Now let’s eat!”

She helped Justice butcher the hog and they had their own little hog roast. After The Country Club incident, Brett had taken her to Dallas where she saw his doctor friend. He took her to a clinic in the city who did a series of grafts onto her head. It was funny how they repaired the top of her head. They took skin off her ass and grafted it to the top of her head. So at least now she had skin over her head. No hair though. The grafts didn’t come with hair follicles. So she shaved off the rest of her hair and she looked like Frankenstein.

She could wear wigs, but after her surgeries, Justice told her she could stay with him. There was still a fear that former members of The Country Club were going to come after her. So she stayed with him, off the grid. It wasn’t as bad as she thought. They hunted for food. He occasionally would run into town for anything else they might need. He taught her to hunt and fish. It was fun, she enjoyed not being chained to her phone or laptop, not reading stupid comments from internet trolls and not obsessing over The Club and if it existed.

Justice had been a gentleman during her stay. He wasn’t unattractive, but not really her type. He never once made a move on her or tried to touch her in anyway, which she appreciated. He’d become like her big brother, which was nice.

Brett and Sophie went back to Austin together. She hadn’t heard from either of them since they left. Sophie had said she’d come by and visit, but never had. Part of her worried something had happened to them. Maybe the Club members who were left got to them. She didn’t think so though. They were both too smart and strong for that. In the meantime, she sat back and watched the hog roasting over the open fire. Justice began cutting away at the meat as it sizzled and popped. The longer she stayed there, the more she realized she didn’t have to wait for her life to get back to normal. This was her new normal.

***

Dallas, Texas

Sophie sat outside the home in the bushes. Brett was just behind her.

“You sure this is the right place?” she asked.

“I’m positive,” he said.

She walked around the back, sticking close to the house as Brett stayed near the front as a look out. When Sophie reached the back, she climbed up the ivy lining the walls onto the roof of the porch. She moved quietly to the window on the second floor. Just as she figured, it wasn’t locked. As she climbed in, she closed the window behind her and walked to the bedroom. The main room was just down the hallway. The couple was lying there sound asleep.

They looked much older than the picture. She pulled the printout from her pocket and took another look at it. No doubt it was them. Before they left for Austin after the incident, Brett had gone back through the rubble of The Country Club and dug out some of their laptops. One of his friends at the El Paso Sun was able to get into them and locate a list of all of The Country Club members for the last fifty years.

They knew they’d never rest until all of them were dead. So that is what their mission had become. That is what she was about to do. This man was a Federal judge, but had also been a Club member for decades. He’d also protected The Club from the law and prosecution over the years. That would all end this night. She took out her knife and in one quick motion, severed his jugular. Before his wife could even sit up, Sophie cut the woman’s throat. They both twitched and thrashed for a few seconds before lying still. The sheets were instantly dark and soaked with blood.

She wiped off the knife using the bed spread and hurried out of the house. Quickly she shimmied down the roof and down the wall, running to the front of the home. Brett ran alongside her as she ran by.

“Is it done?” he asked.

“Yep. Almost too easy,” she said as they reached the car. She climbed into the passenger side. “How many more on the list?”

“Only a few dozen. Though I’ve heard some rumors they might be rebuilding.”

“We already knew that,” she said.

“No, I mean like they’ve begun construction on a new Club.”

“Shit! Where?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out. I’ve been keeping my eyes out and I have some feelers out there.”

“We need to find it before its up and running. Burn that shit down.”

“I know. I’m working on it. Have you gone to see Crystal?” he asked.

She didn’t answer and turned away as Brett pulled onto the highway.

“You really should check on her.”

“I know. I’m just. I don’t know. Scared I guess,” she said.

“Scared of what?”

“I don’t know. It’s been months since I’ve seen her. Plus in case someone is watching us, I don’t want to lead them to her.”

“If someone were watching us, we’d be dead by now.”

“Could be. Hard to tell what those assholes would do,” she said. “I’ll go to her when I’m ready.”

“Ok, just thought I’d ask. The next person on the list is in Phoenix. So we have a bit of a drive.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” she said as she tilted the seat back and closed her eyes. “Wake me up when we get there.”

As the car drove through the night, somewhere in the Mohave Desert in California another Country Club was nearing completion. This one larger and more fortified than the old one. Surrounded by a large fence and even guard towers, the new Club was built partially underground and the fence was surrounded with motion sensors. There would be no one escaping this time. The new Club was a monument to technology and the inside would offer its members an experience beyond their wildest fantasies.

The End

(Or is it?)

A Note from Tim Miller

Hi everyone. Thank you for taking the time to read my book “The Country Club.” I truly hope you enjoyed it. Whether you enjoyed it or not, I would like to invite you to take a moment of your time and head to Amazon.com and/or Goodreads.com and write a short review with your thoughts.

Reviews are extremely helpful for authors for a variety of reasons. The most important of which, they give us your immediate feedback. I read all of my reviews, good or bad, and take all the readers’ input into consideration upon improving my next book. Writing isn’t just me telling you a story, but it is you joining me on a journey. So I want to make sure that journey is as much fun for each of you. Thank you all again for allowing me to do what I love.

Your friend,

Tim Miller

Also by Tim Miller

The Hand of God

Revenge of the Three

Dark Exorcist

Blood Slayer

Family Night

Hell Texas

Night of Vengeance

Bloody Bank Heist

About the Author

Tim began writing at a very young age. As a teenager he would write short stories of horror to entertain himself and his friends. Not knowing at the time this would one day lead to his dream of becoming a published author.

Tim has studied various religions and psychology as evident not only in his earlier religious publications, but also in his later work as an extreme horror author. Tim's true calling began in the horror genre with The Hand of God series.

Although the book still retains religious qualities it is a complete 180 from his earlier writings. His main character is Pastor Charlie who does "God's Work" by murdering those who sin. His four years serving as a U.S. Marine is also apparent in this series, with his realistic descriptions of weapons and tactics Pastor Charlie and various other characters use throughout the books.

He branches out further into the horror genre with the publication of Dark Exorcist. Tim's knowledge of religion still plays a major role in this book, along with his time spent working as a correctional officer.

In Family Night Tim begins his descent into extreme horror. Eddie is loving father with a very dark and sadistic side. Family Night is psychologically terrifying. His description of torture and gore push boundaries other authors would never dare to cross.

He is able to touch every nerve with the reality that this is something that could be happening right now. With similarities to one of Tim's favorite horror movies, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you will find that Eddie and his family are even harder to forget.

Tim currently lives in San Antonio, Texas with his loving wife and children. He enjoys going to Comic and Horror Cons as often as he can.

Tim is also playing the lead role in the upcoming horror film “The Keeper” currently in production.

Above all he loves meeting his fans and talking to them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TimMiller2011 and on his Goodreads page at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6153491.Tim_Miller

For more information on Tim Miller you can visit his website at http://timmiller.org

Table of Contents

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

A Note from Tim Miller

Also by Tim Miller

About the Author