by: Marty Chrisman
Night comes early in the swamp and it gets cold quickly as the sun goes down. Cyrus and his boys sat comfortably around the fire, while Luke shivered from the chill of the night air. His mouth was dry and parched but he doubted if they would give him anything to drink even if he asked. As long as they were ignoring him, Luke didn’t want to draw their attention back to him. He was still in a tremendous amount of pain from the beating earlier that day. He was also tired and hungry but he knew that sleep was out of the question. And he doubted if they planned on giving him any food. Luke was relieved when they went to sleep without hurting him any more, at least not for tonight.
During the night Luke had a new torment to deal with along with the cold. The insects and mosquitoes that swarmed around him, biting him and crawling over the open wounds on his back. The only thing he could do was jerk his head to keep them away from his face but the rest of his body was vulnerable and being bitten relentlessly.
A shadowy figure watched from the dense foliage. The figure had been watching the camp site ever since the four men arrived. It was obvious that three of the men were there to deliberately torture and probably eventually kill the fourth man. It wasn’t the first time that someone had used the swamp to kill someone. It was the perfect place to leave a body. There wasn’t anything that could be done to stop was going on. Pulling the hooded cape that hid their features closer around them, the watcher disappeared back into the shadows.
Luke tried to shift positions somehow so he could relieve the cramping in his shoulders but it useless. He couldn’t move enough to do any good. His hands had gone numb the circulation hampered by the tightness of the ropes that bound him. Cyrus and his boys were up and fixing breakfast. The smell of fresh coffee and eggs filled the air. Luke’s stomach rumbled insisting on reminding him that he hadn’t eaten anything since early yesterday morning. Billy walked over to Luke, holding a cup of coffee in his hand. “Hey Duke,” he said with a sneer “How’d you like a cup of coffee to wake you up?” With those mocking words, he threw his coffee in Luke’s face. Luke cried out, jerking his head to one side as the scalding hot liquid hit the right side of his face and splashed down on to his right shoulder.
“Billy, git your ass over here!” Cyrus growled “Help git this mess cleaned up then you can have your turn at him…”
Luke closed his eyes and took a deep breath wondering what they had in store for him this morning. He didn’t have to wait long to find out. Billy quickly helped clear the left over mess from their breakfast, then sauntered back over to Luke with a cocky look on his face. Leaning in close he growled “How’d you like doing it to my little sister? Was she any good?” Without warning, he slammed his fist into Luke’s flank causing him to grunt with pain at the blow to his kidney. “Did you like making out with her?” With each question, Billy hit Luke again, concentrating on the area of his right kidney. Smiling and obviously enjoying himself, Billy continued “Was she hot? Did she like doing you too?” He punched Luke again, this time in the stomach. Luke gasped and struggled to catch his breath. “Did you go all the way? Was she a virgin?” He punched Luke again, three rapid punches this time that left no time in between for Luke to regain his breath. His lungs burned and screamed for oxygen as he gasped and struggled to catch his breath. “Come on…you can tell me…” Billy said, hitting Luke one last time, a vicious blow to the stomach that hurt like hell. Then he seemed to lose interest and simply walked away leaving Luke simply trying to breathe. Luke had to concentrate to keep his legs from giving away beneath him. If he did that it would leave his weight totally supported by his bound hands.
Cyrus walked over to Luke and said “You should never have messed with my family…especially my little girl.”
“And you should’ve never messed with my family.” Luke snapped back, his ragged nerves stretched to the breaking point.
“You always have had a smart mouth, Luke….” Cyrus said, backhanding him viciously with enough force that Luke’s head jerked to one side. He cursed as he bit his tongue hard enough to make it bleed.
Luke turned his gaze back on Cyrus, his eyes cold and deadly. “You’re going to kill me anyway so why not just get it over with?” he said defiantly
“Because I’m not through with you yet.” Cyrus told him with a mocking smile. He backhanded Luke again just as viciously as the first time, splitting open his bottom lip. Luke shook his head to regain his senses. His ears were ringing and his vision went blurry for a moment. Luke was a strong man physically and he was able to endure a lot of pain but even he had his limits. And he could feel his endurance starting to crumble. Bo…..Uncle Jesse……please help me! Get me out of this! Turning his head, Luke spit out the blood that had gathered in his mouth. Cyrus wandered back over to the fire and sat down leaving Luke alone for the time being.
Luke watched warily as Billy walked towards him wondering what the youngest Carson boy had in mind this time. As Billy slipped around behind him, Luke tried to turn his head to see what he was up to but he was out of his line of sight. Suddenly, Luke felt a nylon cord slip over his head and around his neck. Before he could react, the cord tightened choking him. Luke struggled against the ropes that bound him, his body jerking helplessly as his lungs burned, screaming for air. Blackness swirled around him just as the cord loosened. He took a painful gasp, filling his lungs with much needed oxygen, then the cord tightened again. Again and again, Billy played his sadistic little game, choking Luke almost to the point of unconsciousness, then letting him catch a breath and fill his lungs with air before choking him again. Finally, he got tired of tormenting Luke and walked away. Luke was left hanging there, gasping for air with his heart pounding frantically in his chest.
Cyrus walked over to Luke and grabbed his chin roughly, jerking his head up so they were looking in each other’s eyes. Smiling grimly, Cyrus pressed his thumb and forefinger against Luke’s jaw, forcing him to open his mouth. He poured something in Luke’s mouth and then tilted his head back leaving Luke no choice but to swallow whatever he had been given. Without a word, Cyrus turned and walked away. Within minutes, Luke began to feel nauseated and then became violently ill. With nothing in his stomach to vomit, he began to retch which was just as bad. His body shook with the violence of his retching. After what seemed like an eternity, the retching finally stopped, leaving Luke’s muscles trembling and him gasping for air.
Hidden away, the watcher saw the latest abuses the Carson family had heaped on Luke. They seemed determined to torture him as much as possible before they killed him. Hopefully there were people searching for him but the question was if they would find him in time. The trail wouldn’t be hard to follow once they found it. Till, all the watcher could do was watch and wait.