"Come on, Selter.
Prove it."
"But why does it have to be this way? Come on,
guys. He's just a kit."
"Yeah. He's just a kit. He's
perfect. Come on, let's go get him."
"Lanceney, I just
don't feel right about this…"
"Oh, come on. You say
you're with us, so prove it!"
"Yeah, prove it!" came a
chorus of two other voices nearby. Selter swallowed and felt three
pairs of eyes bore into his.
"You… you sure we won't… um…
you sure we'll let him go back?"
"Yeah, once we're done.
If you do everything right."
Selter glanced down the street
again at the young kitten, no more than seven, playing by himself in
the playground. Why no one was around was a mystery to him, but it
was a relatively safe neighborhood. He swallowed a pang of guilt in
his stomach. He didn't have to do this… Why should he hurt this
kitten? Lanceney's voice cut into his thoughts. "If you're
chicken, you can cut out of the deal."
"No," he said
hastily. "No, I'm not out."
"Then you'll do it?"
Selter swallowed and glanced at the kitten once more. Why
couldn't say no? It seemed so unfair for the poor kit… "Y…
Yeah. Yeah, I'll do it," he said softly. "But after that, no
more, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Got the stuff?"
Selter
numbly pulled two handkerchiefs and a coil of rope from inside his
jacket. Lanceney nodded, then looked over at the other two toms who
pulled similar items from their jackets as well. "Okay, no
screw-ups, got it?" Lanceney pulled a switchblade from his back
pocket and flashed it menacingly.
Selter's eyes widened. "What
are you gonna do with that?"
"None of your business. Just do
your part."
"Lanceney, don't hurt him."
"You do
what you're supposed to, I won't have to." He looked. "Everyone
ready? Let's go."…
Seven-year-old Victor was on his knees,
playing in the sandbox by the swings. It was such a nice day out, but
most of his neighbors were older with no young kittens to play with,
so he spent much of his time in the playground alone. His mother was
out shopping, and his dad was working in his woodshop behind their
house, which was across the street from the little park. Victor
hummed to himself as he patted down the edges of his sand castle. It
was the first sand castle he had ever built himself that had stayed
up, and he was excited to show his dad his accomplishment. Just one
more pat to make sure it stayed up-
Suddenly a heavy sneaker
landed right on the crumbly castle, and the whole thing collapsed
back into the pile it had formerly been. "Hey!" Victor protested,
looking up at the perpetrator with tears in his innocent, green eyes.
"Aw, did we wreck your sand castle?" asked the large, light
gray tom with cruel-looking, yellow eyes. Victor swallowed and shrank
back. "Where are your parents, kit?"
His mom always told him
never to speak to strangers and to come right home if anyone ever
bothered him. He scrambled to his feet and turned to run, but
suddenly two other cats blocked his way. "Going somewhere, kitty?"
the older one taunted.
Victor turned again, but he suddenly found
himself trapped in a ring of four toms, three of who grinned wickedly
at him, one who seemed like he'd rather be anywhere but there. He
decided to make a break for that one, but before he had taken two
steps, the light gray tom grabbed him from behind, securing his arms
behind him. Victor opened his mouth to scream, but the
reluctant-looking tom forced a cloth into his mouth, momentarily
choking him. He began to kick and struggle furiously, crying loudly
through the gag, but suddenly he felt a deep pain on the back of his
neck, right by his spine. Lights danced before his eyes just before
the world went black…
Victor woke up with a stabbing pain in
his head. His eyelids fluttered as he desperately tried to open them.
After several moments, his ears kicked in. There were voices… first
slow and low, then high and fast, then finally leveling out to a
normal voice. "…should do it now, before he can fight back."
"I don't know, Lanceney. I don't feel right about all this.
I mean, he's just a kit-."
"Exactly! He's just a kit.
He's easy prey, Selter!"
"Too easy, Lance. Can't
we just send him back? Please?"
A suddenly sharp sound echoed
through the room, and Victor involuntarily winced. It was about that
moment his eyes began to work, and he saw Selter rubbing his cheek
painfully as Lanceney, the gray tom that had grabbed him, watched
with glowing eyes. He felt bad that the poor tom was getting hurt
because of him, but he couldn't help feeling sorrier for himself,
not sure where he was or when he would get to go home, or even what
he was there for. He tried to sit up from where he had been laying on
a cold, cement floor, but he couldn't move his paws, which were
behind him. He could feel something rough on his wrists and suddenly
realized he was tied up. He mewed softly, struggling. The soft sound
seemed to attract the attention of the two teens standing nearby.
Lanceney smirked and sauntered over, his gray face a sinister smile.
Victor felt a shiver go through him. He cowered, his ears pressed
flat to his head, staring up in terror.
"Nice to see you're
up, kitten."
"Where am I?"
"Somewhere."
That
was not helpful or comforting. Victor moaned and twisted a little on
the hard floor, feeling very, very small under the standing tom's
gaze. "What… what do you want?" he demanded, trying to sound
courageous, though his voice trembled.
Lanceney smiled again and
gave Selter a light push forward. "You'll find out. Til then, I
suggest you behave." He turned to Selter. "I'm gonna go find
Larsen and Colt. You watch him. If he gets away…" Lanceney flexed
his claws lazily. Selter gulped and nodded. "I'll be back soon,
and you better be ready when we get back." Lanceney turned and
walked away.
Victor turned to look up at Selter with teary,
scared eyes. "Who are you?"
Selter's tired, brown eyes
seemed too old for his teenage body as they smiled gently at the
kitten. "My name's Selter. What's yours?"
Victor
hesitated. Was it better to tell or not to tell? "V… Victor,"
he squeaked softly.
Selter smiled again. "Victor. That's
nice."
Feeling safer with this tom than the gray one, Victor
asked again, "Why am I here? What do you want?"
Selter's
friendly eyes suddenly turned soft and very sad. "Well… whatever
Lanceney says is what will happen."
"What does he
want?"
Selter licked his lips slowly, his mouth gone dry. "I…
I can't say…"
"When can I go home?" Victor pleaded.
"Please, let me go. Please. I wanna go home."
Suddenly Selter
began to cry. His large, brown eyes filled with hot tears, and he
dropped to his knees by the trembling kitten. "Oh, Heavyside, I
can't do it. I can't!"
"Can't do what?" Victor asked,
worried.
"Can't… can't…"
"You can, and you
will!" came a growl from the doorway, and both looked up in terror
to see Lanceney and the two he had gone to find standing watching
them.
Selter seemed to shrink under Lanceney's steely gaze.
"Lanceney, I…"
In a few deliberate steps, Lanceney had
crossed the room and smacked Selter in the jaw. Still on his knees,
Selter tumbled to the ground next to Victor with a cry. "Don't!"
Victor couldn't help pleading, not wanting the only kind tom in the
bunch to be hurt.
Lanceney raised an eyebrow, and suddenly Victor
found his head resting against Selter's hip, a stinging pain in his
cheek. He cried out loudly and began to sob. Lanceney uncurled his
fist and straightened up. "Now, Selter. Do it now."
Selter
groaned in pain and shifted. "Lanceney, please no…"
"Do
it!" Lanceney yelled, his voice reverberating off the cement walls.
Everyone flinched.
"Do what?" Victor whimpered, ears flat to
his skull as Lanceney's shout died away.
Selter hesitated. With
a growl, Lanceney stalked over and yanked Victor onto his back, then
grabbed Selter and literally dropped him on top of the poor kitten.
"Do it now, or I kill him," he hissed, his voice guttural and not
even cat-like anymore, but more like the snarl of a demon. He grabbed
Selter by the back of the head and shoved him roughly towards the
kitten's own.
Victor gasped as Selter's mouth suddenly met
his, and he began to struggle, feeling his stomach lurch. But with
his paws behind his back and the heavy tom holding him down, he
couldn't get away. Suddenly something came over his eyes, blocking
his vision. He felt it being tied at the back of his head. He began
to cry, trying to kick his legs at anything nearby, but he could
hardly move. "Don't struggle, kitten," came Lanceney's voice.
"It'll be easier for you."
Victor cried harder, then yelped
as he felt his pants sliding off his waist. He mewed and struggled
blindly. He suddenly felt Selter's mouth next to his ear. "I'm
so sorry, Victor," Selter whispered, sounding like he was crying.
Then the pain began. A pain unlike anything he had ever felt
before in a place that he knew no one was supposed to touch. But,
being only a kitten, he knew nothing about the world of sexuality and
what it was. He just knew he hurt and that whatever was happening
should not be happening to him.
The pain grew and grew until
Victor's cried turned to screams that echoed off the wall. His tiny
body shook with pain as he tried to fight away from it, but he could
not.
How long the pain lasted, he couldn't tell, but it seemed
like an eternity before the horrible feelings subsided and the weight
that had been holding him down went away. He lay, shivering, on the
floor, sobbing, curling into a tiny ball of half-naked fur, his eyes
still covered with the damp cloth.
Selter stared down in horror
at the sobbing kitten at his feet. How could he have…? It didn't
seem possible… He suddenly felt Lanceney's paw on his shoulder
and flinched. "We knew you could do it. See? It's easy."
"Just
shut up and leave me alone!" Selter hissed, jerking away from
Lanceney and storming away. Lanceney watched him go, then turned to
the kitten in front of him. With a grin, he reached for his jeans…
Victor hissed as someone leaned over him, then gagged as he felt
something in his mouth. Something unfamiliar but something he decided
was not supposed to be there. He struggled, but someone was holding
his face in place with a rough paw. "No teeth or you're dead!"
He wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but Lanceney ordered
him to do something else. Victor's face burned with shame, unsure
whether or not he'd even be able to follow the disgraceful
instructions. His mouth hurt as he tried to do what Lanceney
commanded, deciding in his mind that if he did what they wanted him
to, they'd let him go home. He heard Lanceney start to pant and
wondered what he could be doing to the tom, still unable to see
through his blindfold.
This went on longer than he thought it
would, until he wanted to gag, but he couldn't. His mouth felt like
it was bleeding, and his whole body was racked with pain so bad that
he wondered for a moment if he was going to faint. Suddenly Lanceney
forced himself hard against Victor's mouth, and Victor panicked to
feel something else in his mouth, then in his throat. Something
horrible-tasting that he was sure was not supposed to be there.
Suddenly Lanceney pulled away from him. Victor didn't hesitate,
rolling onto his side and retching painfully. Whatever it had been in
his mouth splashed onto the floor, tainted red by blood from his torn
mouth. He coughed a few times, panting, praying this shameful torture
was over.
After that, he heard some talking, which he could not
make out through the violent headache that suddenly came upon him. He
curled into a ball, drenched in sweat and his own vomit, praying that
everything was over and he could just go home.
Just when he
thought he might be allowed to rest, someone grabbed him by the
shoulders and forced him onto his back again, and the pain down there
began again. And all he could do was scream and bear it…
Selter listened to the
kitten's cries through the wall, unable to do anything. He leaned
weakly against the cold, cement wall. He hadn't moved since he had
raped the poor kitten almost four hours ago. Lanceney, Colt, and
Larsen, however, had not stopped since they had begun. Lanceney, in
particular, had been extremely brutal, not giving the kitten a
moment's rest before forcing himself on the kit again. He felt so
awful, but he was helpless against Lanceney, and with Larsen and Colt
with him, he'd have no chance.
After a very long time, the
kitten's screams died away, and Lanceney came stalking past Selter
with a smug smile on his twisted face. "See how easy that was?"
Selter looked away shamefully, his eyes burning hate. "Okay,
Lanceney, I proved myself to the gang. You guys had your fun. Let's
let him go now."
Lanceney gazed at Selter a moment, then simply
shrugged. "No."
Selter's eyes widened. "But… but, why?"
Lanceney rolled his eyes. "He knows who we are. There's no
reason to let him go. We can just keep him here for a while and do
whatever we want."
Selter felt tears in his eyes. "Lance,
please. He's suffered enough. No kitten should have to go through
th-."
Smack! Lanceney's palm landed across Selter's face,
leaving a red palm mark on Selter's face. Selter gasped in pain,
holding his cheek, his eyes squeezed shut. Lanceney growled softly.
"Any more objections?"
Selter slowly shook his head, tears
stinging his eyes. Lanceney smirked. "Good. Now get out of my
sight." He crossed the long, cement room into the next room where
Larsen and Colt had vanished only minutes ago.
Selter turned and
headed for the other room. He stumbled into the empty room where
Victor was still on the floor, sobbing softly. His movements seemed
to get the kitten's attention. He whimpered and shied away from the
sound, the blindfold still over his eyes, soaking wet from his tears.
Selter stopped short, horrified at what he saw. Someone had been nice
enough to pull the kitten's pants back up. A wave of nausea ran
through him when he saw the seat of the kitten's pants was crusted
with sticky, drying blood. He looked pathetic, tears on his cheeks,
fur matted. His paws were still tied behind his back. Selter felt his
heart break into a million sharp shards in his chest watching the
poor, violated kitten. He could at least untie the poor kit, if
nothing else. He took a step closer. "Victor…"
The kitten
whimpered again and curled into a ball against the wall. Selter
slowly reached out and ever so gently touched the blindfold. Victor
yelped and twisted away from him. Selter froze. "Victor… I'm
not going to hurt you. I promise."
"S… Sel-ter?" the
kitten whimpered.
"Yeah, it's me…" Selter reached out and
gently tugged the blindfold. It slowly fell away from the kitten's
eyes. Almost instantly he wished he hadn't as Victor pegged him
with the most sorrow-filled gaze of betrayal, those beautiful, green
eyes filled with heavy tears. The eyes that only hours ago belonged
to an innocent, carefree kitten now showed the same fear and pain and
confusion that he felt. Those green eyes seemed to have aged from
seven to seventeen to seventy.
Victor stared up at the older tom,
his knees pressed to his chest as he waited for Selter to hurt him.
How could Selter have betrayed him like that? Have hurt him and then
left him alone to endure the cruel torture of his three friends? But
the hurt did not come.
"Are… are you all right?" Selter
asked gently, kneeling down next to the frightened kit.
Victor
whimpered, his ears plastered to his head. "Can… can I go home
now?" His voice was thick with tears, hoarse from screaming, and
barely understandable through the blood and other things that still
lingered at the corners of his mouth.
Selter sighed and leaned
his head against the cement wall, gazing at the kitten with
remorseful eyes. "Not… not yet…"
"When?" Victor
croaked, then turned aside and retched, but he had nothing left in
his stomach to get rid of.
"I… I don't know," Selter
admitted.
Victor began to cry tearlessly, not having any tears
left in him either. "Why are you all hurting me?" he asked
painfully, looking Selter straight in the eyes. The brown eyes held
the green for a moment before Selter forced himself to look away,
tears blinding him. Victor watched him a moment, then sighed and
shifted painfully. His arms were numb behind his back, and every
muscle he had hurt as if he had been hit by a truck.
Selter
gently reached behind Victor. "Here, hold still." The kitten
froze as Selter struggled a moment, then succeeded in undoing the
knot, and Victor's arms were freed. "There… At least… you're
not tied up now…"
As soon as he was free, Victor pulled his
knees closer to his chest, hugging them tightly. He began to rock
himself back and forth, trying to comfort himself, to stop the pain
that seemed to be spreading from between his legs to the rest of his
body. He felt so dirty. His fur was encrusted with sweat that made
him cold. He was bleeding, but from where, he was unsure. He slowly
turned his gaze up to Selter, and a moment later, smiled a bit, the
first smile since earlier that afternoon. "Th… thank you," he
said softly.
Selter smiled too, a real, genuine smile. "You're
welcome, kid." He ever so slowly reached over and brushed Victor's
sweat-soaked fur out of his eyes. "You look horrible…"
"I
feel horrible too," Victor said softly.
Selter nodded slowly.
"I… I know…"
Victor suddenly shifted just a tiny bit so
he could lay his cheek on Selter's chest. Selter stared down at him
in surprise. He was so trusting, even when he had hurt him… He ever
so slowly, so as not to scare him, put his arms around him and pulled
him closer in a big brother hug. Victor nestled into it, needing the
comfort in whatever way it could come.
"Aw, how cute," came a
voice from the doorway. The two looked up in terror. Lanceney stood
in the doorway watching them. Victor gasped and curled closer to
Selter.
"Don't let him hurt me," he pleaded, looking up at
Selter with wide, scared eyes.
"Shh. I won't." Selter gave
him a gentle squeeze, then stood up, planting himself in front of the
frightened kitten. "What do you want, Lanceney?"
"Came to
find you."
"Why?"
"Just to make sure you weren't
doing anything stupid, like letting him go."
"Lance, you've
had your fun, okay? I think it's time we let him go home." He
felt a tiny arm grip his leg, just below his knee, and took a small
comfort that the kitten trusted him.
Lanceney, however, didn't
seem to like that request. "Let him go home? What kind of stupid
mother f-- are you? We can't let him go now."
"But…
but you said-."
"You wouldn't have gone along with it if I
said otherwise."
"But… Lanceney… what are you going to do
with him?"
Lanceney shrugged one slender shoulder carelessly.
"Keep him around a while. We'll get rid of him later on."
"But-."
"But nothing, Selter. We can't have him go
talking to the police."
Victor began to cry. Selter darted over
to Lanceney and hissed. "You bastard! He's just a kit!"
Lanceney's yellow eyes seemed to darken. "You're out of
line, Selter. I suggest you get back in your place before something
really bad happens."
Selter glanced over at Victor, whose whole
body was shaking in terror, then back at Lanceney. "I think you're
the one out of line, Lanceney. You let Victor go now, or I cut out.
It's not worth it."
The next few seconds seemed to move in
slow motion. Lanceney's hand went behind his back while his other
hand grabbed Selter's shoulder. Victor's eyes widened as Lanceney
suddenly whipped out his switchblade, and, before either of them
could react, had buried it up to the handle in Selter's stomach.
Selter's eyes widened in shock, and he seemed to freeze in
Lanceney's grip. "No!" Victor screamed, struggling to his feet,
but his legs wobbled, and he collapsed again.
Lanceney pulled the
switchblade free sharply, and Selter dropped to his knees, both hands
pressed tightly against his stomach, trickles of red starting to ooze
between his fingers. He didn't seem to be able to focus on
anything. Victor somehow found an ounce of strength and raced over to
Selter, but he didn't dare touch him, unsure of what to do.
Lanceney smirked as Selter's brown eyes turned to him. "I
warned you, Selter. Now your little f-- toy gets to watch you die.
On your knees, where you belong."
Victor's eyes were full of
tears, and he began to sob again. Selter's eyes closed in pain a
moment before he looked over at Victor, his eyes filled with hot
tears. "I… I'm…" He had to swallow. "I'm sorry, V…
Victor…"
Victor threw his arms around Selter and held him
tight. "You can't die! You can't!" he sobbed. Selter's eyes
were glazing over as he looked up at Victor with sad, scared eyes. In
those eyes, Victor could see the fear, the pain, the humiliation, the
same things he had been feeling all afternoon in the deep brown. He
held Selter tightly to himself, and, a moment later, Selter's body
went limp. Victor screamed and buried his face in Selter's chest,
sobbing.
Lanceney looked on with a disgusted look. "Oh, come
off it, kit. Trash like that isn't worthy to live."
Victor's
eyes burned hate as he looked up at the older tom. How could anyone
have such little disregard for a life? He had Selter's blood
staining the fur on his hands, the blood on the switchblade… It
didn't seem real, but it was. It all seemed like some horrible
nightmare. All he could do was force himself to breathe, his hands
still gripping the fur of the dead teen tightly, as if holding onto
him long enough would bring him back.
Lanceney smirked, pocketing
the knife, then turned to Victor with a horrible smile he wouldn't
soon forget. "Wanna play, kitten?"
Victor's eyes went wide,
and he scrambled to his feet, his heart racing, the blood pounding in
his ears. He whimpered softly, backing away from the tomcat, his
hands up in front of him to protect himself, but he knew he wouldn't
stand a chance. Lance moved closer to him, grabbing his hands and
forcing his arms down by his side as his mouth sealed over Victor's
in a hot, penetrating kiss. Victor felt his head going light, as if
he were about to throw up and pass out at the same time. Lance's
hand went for Victor's jeans-
"Lance!" came a call from the
door. Lanceney turned to see both Colt and Larsen in the doorway.
"You ain't gonna believe this. Someone reported this place to the
police. They're circling the block. We gotta get out of here! Now!"
Lanceney growled and glanced down at Victor whose green eyes were
wide. With a hiss, he gave Victor a blow to the cheek that sent the
kitten reeling backwards across the room. He smacked his head on the
hard cement wall. The world swam before his eyes, and the world went
black