The air was cool and crisp this night. Small breezes picked up every now and again and ruffled the fallen leaves beneath their feet. The shadow of the woods swallowed one half of the dirt path, moonlight peeking over the canopy illuminated the other. The perfect temperature for a night stroll, Sybil Cotterill and Brigham Mallory paced the moonlit path together, warm with each other's company.
"Sybil Cotterill!" Brigham suddenly bellowed, dramatically falling to one knee and grasping for her hands. She jumped at the noise then blushed and laughed at his spontaneous exclamation.
"Yes?" She giggled, suddenly aware of the cool air crawling up her legs and colliding with the heat from her thighs. The wind picked up and carried leaves across the glowing moonlit path and back into the shadows of the forest that surrounded it. Brigham smiled up at her and his eyes squinted. His mahogany hair looked nearly silver in this light. His eyes closed and his square jaw fell towards the ground, eyes at her feet.
"My Love. Marry me?" He begged, warm hands enveloping hers. His eyes darted upwards at her smile and as she looked down, she saw the boy she fell in love with upon their first meeting.
"I've said yes three times today! How many more agreements must you need?" She laughed and pulled his hands upwards, prompting his body to follow.
"I just can't resist the happiness I feel every time you say it." He admitted, positively beaming. He placed both his hands over her ears and pulled her close to press their lips together. "This time next year we'll be the heads of this estate, won't we?"
He asked, placing her hand around his arm to continue their way down the path.
"I suppose we will. I never dreamed I would be here as a guest, much less as the lady of the house. But that was never what I wanted. I just wanted to be with you." She fawned.
"Sybil I don't believe there is another woman out there as driven and kind-hearted as you a-"
At that moment her foot caught on an exposed root. Her arm flew up to Brigham's and she managed to evade a nasty fall by clinging to him. He gripped her close to his body to help her regain balance.
"Are you alright my dear?" He asked, searching her face for expression. She had put a hand over her mouth and tilted her head down so her maroon hat covered her eyes. For a moment she said nothing. "Sybil?" He was about to halt their walk when he heard a snort followed by contained laughter. She hugged her sides and breathed through a tight smile, "I'm so ungainly though Brig, with my grace I'll be injured half the time we're married!"
"I shall just have to accompany you on any perilous journey then." He chortled.
"Do you consider an evening stroll perilous?" Her smile jerked on her face and quickly faded as a loud twig snapped in the shadows of the woods not far from them. They stopped to listen more closely. "Did you hear that?" She asked, voice suddenly hushed.
"It must have been an animal," Brigham said reassuringly, "My father used to hunt in these woods every year. Hundreds of deer must live here."
"Seems problematic for our garden's future." She smiled. A shadow fell upon them and she looked up to the moon, clouds with a silvery lining blocked the moons rays. Stars peeked out from behind them, like watching eyes.
"Sybil." Brigham whispered in an urgent tone that made her eyes shoot down to the path in front of them. She saw the outline of a tall figure with a large build not ten feet in front them. It stood completely still. Brigham's left arm reached across the front of Sybil's body and tucked her partially behind him, pushing them five steps backwards.
"Who are you?" He asked. The figure remained motionless and said nothing. "What are you doing here?" Sybil took another step backwards and bumped into a large warm body. She shouted and sprang forward and to the right, into the shadows of the woods, pulling Brigham by her side tightly. Her eyes darted from one figure to the next.
"Brigham…" She whispered, her throat clenched in fear.
"What is you want?" He shouted. "Money? I don't have any on my person but follow me to my estate and I can help you. What is it you need?" His voice calmed but still retained a small tremble of fear. Their backs pressed firmly against a large tree. Before they had time to react, a gloved hand grabbed Sybil's arm and wrenched her away from Brigham. Her hat fell to ground. Her free hand grasped for his but the person pulling her was too strong.
"SYBIL!" Brigham shouted, lunging towards her in the dark. He almost gripped the gloved hand that reached out to him when a loud bang erupted from the direction of the tallest figure.
Sybil's eyes widened and her face peeled back in shock. As his lunging shadow fell to the ground with a thud
"BRIGHAM!" She screamed. The clouds broke and the moon shone through the canopy to the leafy forest floor. Brigham's eyes looked frozen staring into nothing. The air was sucked out of her lungs as she realized he had been shot. Breathlessly she kicked at his knees and managed to elbow his eye socket with all the strength she had. He stumbled back and she pried herself free, kneeling at Brighams side. She had barely gripped his head when a new pair of bigger arms gripped her waist and threw her nearly four feet back onto the dirt path. She hit the ground on her back and had the wind knocked out of her lungs. Gasping for air, she got to her feet and attempted to run the opposite direction. She was not fast enough to escape the darting figure that pulled her away from Brigham. She was pushed forward and fell onto the uneven leaf strewn forest floor, smashing her lip against a tree root. The pain erupted in her face and skull. She tasted blood and felt it running down her chin. The body that had done it was now straddling her lower back. In a frantic hurry, she tried to turn round and gouge an eye out to get away but was met with a strong blow to the back of the head with an object she assumed to be a gun. She had enough time to see that the man on top of her was wearing a dark cloak that covered his eyes. Long black hair fell to his shoulders and his thin lips rested upon his face as if he was reading a boring novel. A hooded cloak covered his eyes and a shadow cut across his face just above a small pointed nose. He didn't look a day over twenty. Blackness overtook her vision and a throbbing agony began in her skull.
She couldn't move as she heard the other figures walking to where she had fallen. Her head and vision throbbed so badly she wanted to vomit. She began to feel cold gloved hands run twine around her wrists behind her back.
No, She repeated, This isn't happening. I'm having a nightmare and this is where I wake up,over and over while they stood over her body and tied her limbs together.
She regained enough consciousness to try to tug her hands free from the bonds but it was no use. The man on top of her got to his feet and for a minute, they all just stood over her, silently watching. Fear once again swelled inside of her, tightening her chest so much she was gasping for air. This was no dream. Warm blood spilled down her face and into her mouth. The cool autumn air glided over her cheeks and stung her broken lip. Her neck was bending at an awkward angle. The three men loomed over her like a pack of angry wolves. She couldn't see it but she could feel it. The pain in her head magnified when she tried to move it, once again causing a wave of nausea to pass through her. She blinked rapidly and tried to see through the spots in her vision.
"We can do with her what we like…" The voice at her feet said. It was disturbingly playful, light and soft yet deep and menacing.
No
"I don't think she's seen our faces," A gruff voice added. His was clearly british like the other men. This came from the man furthest away. She heard a grin in his tone.
They won't touch me.
The third man nearest her head who had tied her hands remained silent.
The man furthest away walked to her and grabbed her side, rolling to her back. She couldn't bring herself to open her eyes. Tears erupted from them and rolled down her cheeks into her ears.
"Please…" She begged. Even talking made her head sear in pain. "Please" She cried out.
Opening her eyes she saw the two men who tied her feet standing over her, brandishing knives that caught the small amount of moonlight shining through the leaves that had yet to fall. Tears clouded her vision but she could see that both men were wearing hooded cloaks. One was a giant above her, both tall and large. The other was shorter and leaner. Both faced were covered by shadows from their hoods but red hair stuck out in jagged spikes from the shorter of the two's hood.
The larger man straddled her and pulled up the bottom of her blue dress and underskirt, pinching the fabric and beginning to cut directly up the center of her dress.
"No!" She screamed, bringing her knees up in an attempt to kick the man on top of her. He simply moved his body on top her knees and continued cutting. He reached her thighs and paused to spread the newly cut dress to reveal them. He ran a finger along them.
"Get the hell off me you fucking bastard!" She screamed, no longer able to care about the pain in her head. Fear gripped her whole body and her muscles shook. The man breathed out and cut above her groin now. He turned the knife towards him and cut under her bloomers, tugging the fabric hard out from under her. He brought knife up under the center of her dress above her navel where he left off and sawed at the fabric, stabbing her in the process. She screamed out as felt the knife pierce her stomach. Warm wetness spread around the wound. It wasn't deep but it burned with pain. He paused and looked up at the man who was watching this. Her eyes looked up the shorter figure and through her peripheral vision she saw the man who had tied her hands facing the opposite direction looking away from them, into the forest.
"Please!" She screamed at him, "Don't do this, please. You've already taken so much from me… Please just kill me!" She began to sob as the shorter man bent down and shoved his knife between her breasts and met the other mans cut in the middle. The ripped away the spent fabric and Sybil tried rolling to her side to cover herself as best she could. Her head throbbed and her stomach stung. The shorter man threw his knife aside and rolled her back to the way she had been, exposed. He pinned both her shoulders down while the man on top her placed his hands on her breasts.
She spat into his face but it yielded little reaction from either man.
"Brigham! BRIGHAM!" She screamed. She screamed his name over and over. The men were on her, there was not much struggling she could do. She clamped her eyes so tightly shut that it hurt. They unbound her feet and one man held them for the other. The acts were worse than any torture that she imagined any person could endure. She was screaming for as long as her voice would allow. Struggling for as long a her muscles would obey. But silence fell and all the was left was the sound of man finishing inside of her. Burning pain and rage filled a limp body. Grief poured out of her face. Fear had her heart in a vice grip. She could vomit at any second. These men were murdering her, but somehow her heart was still beating and she remained conscious. Her soul was choking and every feeling that made her human began to melt away. A shocked and frightened animal remained.
"It's time to get going," The larger man said. The man on top of her pulled his pants up and secured them on his knees. They said nothing as they joined the man standing on the dirt path. The three of them walked away at a sickening slow pace. As leisurely as a midnight stroll.
Their footsteps faded and a wind picked up. She gasped. Her eyes felt like lead in her face. There was pain all over her body. Wetness was everywhere. In her blood. In her tears… inside her.
"Help…" She screamed. It came out nothing more than silent whimper. "Help…Please… Help… Brigham."
She lost the concept of time. The shock that gripped her was fading. Her body shuddered and her teeth began to chatter. It took all her strength to roll to one side and partly cover herself with the remains of her dress. Her body ached. Her arms were still tied behind her back. She had lost all feeling in them save for a cramping pain in her shoulders. mix of physical and mental agony made her vomit.
She laid there, lifeless and naked, praying for death.