Lesser Gods Ch. 14-16

Fourteen

The first thing Zoe felt upon awakening was a pounding headache, followed quickly by extreme nausea. She was lying on her back and the bag was still over her head. She was sure she was going to be sick, so she rolled on her side and pulled off the hood, emptying the little in her stomach onto the floor. She noticed with disinterest, between heaves, that the floor was bare concrete, and there wasn't much light in the room. She hung there after finishing vomiting to get a feel for her surroundings. From what she could see from this vantage point, between her strands of falling hair, she was on a camp bunk, against a wall, in what appeared to be an unremarkable, two-car, suburban garage. She lifted up slowly until she was propped on her left elbow on the bunk. A huge man was seated beside the door into the house, staring at her but making no move toward her.

She wasn't feeling very threatened, given the averageness of her surroundings, so she tried sitting up, but got dizzy and rested back on her elbow again.

The double garage door was closed, and the little bit of light in the room was coming from a spotlight above and outside that door. No cars were in the garage, but there was a tool bench and some shelves filled with boxes. She did a double-take on the workbench. The tools weren't your regular car-care/household tools. There were things that looked like machetes, and knives of every length. There were tools that reminded her of the things she'd seen in museum displays of old-time barber-surgeon implements, and some torture devices she was sure she had seen when she toured the Tower of London. So much for average and non-threatening.

Suddenly a voice boomed from the other side of the door beside the man. He sat up straighter and looked off in the distance with a blank face. The door opened and a tall, slim, muscular man of about fifty looked through. The light from inside hit Zoe in the eyes, forcing her to shield them with her right hand. The man laughed, an unpleasant sound, and flipped a switch beside him. The offending light went out, but other lights still illuminated enough that she could see the man was smiling.

"Our guest is awake," he said, sounding excited, "but that smell is awful! Hasad! Clean that up!" he said, waving the man beside the door toward her puddle of vomit. The man immediately hurried forward, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket. He bent in front of her, slowing just enough to leer in her face for a split second, before scooping up the vomit and backing away.

"Come, my dear. There's no reason we should have our meeting in the garage! Come inside. Can I get you anything? A drink perhaps, or a toothbrush maybe," the slim man enthused at her, waving her toward himself.

Zoe stood cautiously as the man waited expectantly. She weighed her chances of rushing him and then heading for a door, but as she took a tentative step, realized she'd be lucky to make it into the house if she tried to move faster than a walk. She took a few steps, then hesitated, not knowing what to expect.

"Well, come on, Zoe! I'm not a patient man. I've waited a long time for this meeting," he said, "Oh, you must think I'm rude, I haven't introduced myself! You can call me Z. I only let my friends call me Z. Do your friends ever call you Z? I'm sure we'll be great friends."

She continued to walk slowly toward the doorway. He seemed to get disgusted waiting for her, and with a "Hmph," turned and headed inside ahead of her. She followed, closing the door as she entered a typical development dining/kitchen/family room. She turned the direction Z had turned, and saw him through a door that stood in the middle of the family room. The door shouldn't be there, and the room beyond it absolutely shouldn't be where it was. She glanced out the French doors off the dining area, only to see two huge men with big guns flanking the doors. Another large man stepped through that doorway that shouldn't be, into the family room, and started toward her. She took a couple of steps away from him, only to have this new guy take her arm in his massive paw and pull her through the door that shouldn't be.

This room was not typical. Z had walked to the head of a table and seated himself in a chair that looked more like a throne. He waved to the seat next to him, and Zoe's escort deposited her, none-too-gently, into it. The table was covered with more food than a regiment could eat, and there were more than a dozen men seated at the table, eating or pawing the scantily clad young women and men who wandered about the room.

Other couples, and in some case three or four people, were strewn across sofas and cushions around the perimeter of the room in various states of undress. Zoe's eyes were riveted to a group engaged in chain sex. A man stood being sucked by a woman on all fours who was being pounded from behind by another man who was likewise being had from behind.

Zoe had some limited sexual experience, and had seen some things in alleys she wished she hadn't seen, but this was by far the most blatant act she had ever seen, and involving more people than she had ever imagined. When the man receiving the blow-job finished, a new woman tucked her bum up to the face of the woman in the chain and was immediately accepted into the chain.

"Ah, you are interested in our playroom," Z said with glee. "You may join as soon as you give me what I want."

Zoe snapped her head around. "NO!" She nearly shrieked, "I mean, no, thank you. I was just...just...surprised."

"As I was saying," Z ignored Zoe's distress, "I'm so glad we are finally getting to meet. I've known about you for weeks, yet no one seemed able to find you. Stupid employees, never thought to look you up in the white pages. It's so hard to get good help. Anyway, we finally located you and that sweet neighbor of yours helped us get you away from that tiresome bodyguard. Of course, she didn't know she was helping us, but that doesn't matter," Z went on, "Now we can discuss the plans I have for you."

Zoe just stared at him.

"You don't say much, but that's all right, since I'm sure what you do say will prove very valuable to us. You see, I know you are a powerful oracle, and I plan to make you a deal you can't refuse, mostly because if you do refuse it, I have ways to make you work for me that are far less pleasant," he sneered at her, fangs glinting in the candle light.

Zoe had forgotten about praying since coming home. She prayed now for God to reveal himself, and preferably twenty or thirty of Grey's best men as well. In the meantime, she felt saying little was her safest bet, so she simply smiled demurely at Z, hoping his ADHD would send him off on some other tangent. She also tried to read him, but just as she suspected, he was too strong for her.

"There you go! Trying to read me is probably not the best use of your gift, but it is confirmation of your power. I actually felt pressure, not the tickle other supposed oracles caused when they tried to read me. You have real potential!" Z turned abruptly and said something in a tongue Zoe didn't understand to one of the men walking by. "We shall try a better test of your powers."

He picked up a goblet and drank deeply before grabbing a passing young woman and pulling her into his lap, groping her and biting her ear in a way that looked quite painful, though the glassy-eyed girl laughed and stroked his arm as if she was enjoying herself.

Z looked up and said to Zoe, "If you like one, any one, feel free. They are here for your pleasure," then he went back to groping and biting the woman in his lap. He paused when he heard a door close, and shoved her out of his lap without ceremony to jump up and stand beside Zoe. A man was being dragged across the room toward them. His head hung down, filthy hair hanging over his face. He was shackled wrist and ankle, and didn't seem to have the strength to fight the two large men half carrying him.

Z was practically hopping up and down in his excitement. Zoe cringed away from him, wondering what she would do if the man was someone she recognized. He was dropped directly in front of Z, who spun Zoe's chair around to face the prostrate man. "Lift his face," Z demanded.

Zoe held her breath as one of the guards grabbed a handful of dark hair and yanked the man's head back. She let the air escape in a small sigh as she realized she had never seen him before. Still, he caused her heart to ache in sympathy. He had cuts and bruises all over his face that had not been treated, and he looked like he had been wallowing in his own filth for several days. One cut on his cheek was black in the center and oozed puss down his neck.

"This is a traitor," Z said, "I need for you to read him, to tell me what his plans were."

Zoe didn't know what to do. She looked at the man and felt only pity for him. She let the visions come, but all she saw were more beatings, and eventually his death. What could she tell Z?

"I can only see what is likely to happen. He is here, so all I see are more beatings. I can't look into the past, nor read intentions," she said in a small, quiet voice.

Z turned on her, hand raised. She flinched down in her seat, but the hit never came. She peeked up at him. He had lowered his hand to his chin and seemed to be thinking.

"What," he said, "if I tell him I'm releasing him?"

"You would have to mean it, or the future won't change," she answered, shrinking down again.

Z began to pace. "This is harder than I thought it would be. Maybe he isn't a good test of your powers," he turned to the guards and muttered in that strange language again. They grabbed the prisoner and started dragging him away. "Hectar, come here!" he demanded toward one of the couches.

A half-clad man got up and came over. He went down onto one knee, head bent, in front of Z. Z grabbed his hair and yanked his head up. "Read him!" he demanded.

The man looked surprised, but said nothing. Zoe saw images as lewd as the ones from Jason's head, as well as violent clashes. She saw Z laughing as the man, Hectar, was whipped. She didn't know what Z wanted, so she shrugged at him.

"Tell me what you see!" ordered Z.

"Sex, violence, a beating...I don't know what you want," she responded, nearly in tears.

Z threw Hectar to the side and screamed for Abigail. A Woman Zoe hadn't noticed got up from the far end of the table and came in front of Z where she too dropped to one knee, then looked up, directly at Zoe. This woman had the dark features of someone from the middle east, and the beauty and bearing of a queen.

Looking into the woman's mind, Zoe saw Abigail standing aside, looking on as two groups of exceptionally large men fought viciously. She watched as Abigail pocketed something and turned away. Zoe saw Abigail standing behind Z at this very table as she pulled a dagger from her pocket and imbedded it into Z's throat. She saw him collapse to the floor, choking on his own blood, pulling at the dagger handle, unable to remove it.

She shook away the vision and looked with physical eyes at the woman before her. Abigail looked back at Zoe with clear eyes and no fear.

Zoe wasn't sure which of them was more evil. This might be a trick to get her to lie, so they could beat her and force her to work for them through less pleasant means, or it might be the real future, in which case lying might lead to her release. That was unlikely, but still, it held more potential than telling Z the truth did.

"I see a violent battle between two groups of men, and I see a celebration banquet here," which was not a lie, it just wasn't the entire truth.

Abigail smiled ever so slightly. Z seemed bored and called for another crew member. This continued for the next hour, with Zoe seeing every form of depravity and violence in image after image. She felt sick to her stomach in a way quite different from when she awoke in the garage. Finally, Z seemed satisfied that her powers were short-range at best, and gave another order in that foreign tongue that caused a guard to lead her to a room off the hall.

The room contained a bed, and a small bathroom off to the side. There was no other door, and no window. Zoe lay on the bed and prayed again for God to get her out of here. She wondered if her distress was strong enough for Grey to feel it, wherever he was from here. She wished she had stayed at his mansion, but realized her headstrong behavior had gotten her into this, even with all the warnings of Grey, Enrique, Travis, and even that other guy, Lloyd, who had no reason what-so-ever to lie or exaggerate to her. They were all right. It was dangerous for her to be away from Grey, and this is what she got for needing her space.

She felt as if she would never be able to sleep, so maybe it was the drugs still in her system from her kidnapping, or the exhaustion caused by fear, but for whatever reason, she dozed off.

A noise made her jump. The light was off in the room, so she couldn't tell if someone was there. She held perfectly still, barely breathing. She heard a shuffling step, then felt hands on her. She started to squirm away, but the hands clamped her in place. While one hand held her firmly across the hips, another pulled at her shirt, lifting it above her bra and molesting her breasts as she pushed at it to no effect.

The weight of a body climbed on top of her and foul breath wafted in her face. The hands began to undo the button of her jeans. She screamed and began to fight in earnest, but that just seemed to make her assailant more excited. He had her pants and underwear to her knees and she could tell from his movements he was removing his own clothing. She screamed again and redoubled her efforts to get away from him. She felt a pressure at her lower lips and nearly fainted in revulsion. He was going to rape her and she was powerless to prevent it.

Suddenly her attacker let out an "ooof" and stopped moving. She shoved as hard as she could and he rolled off of her and hit the floor with a thud.

She quickly jumped out the other side of the bed, feeling a warm, sticky liquid smear her hand as she pushed herself off the bed. She pulled up her pants and closed the button and zipper, just as a hand brushed her arm.

"Get away from me," she screamed.

"Shh," whispered someone working to disguise his or her voice, "I've come to help you escape, but you have to be quiet!"

Zoe had no idea who this was, but it was the best chance she had at the moment, so she whispered, "Okay, what should I do?"

"Come with me," the voice said, touching her hand.

She followed the person in front of her as best she could through the pitch dark of her room, then through the semi-dark hall, and out a well hidden door in the opposite wall. Once outside, she saw that they were on an estate similar to Grey's, and apparently just as secluded. Her rescuer led her along the house, sticking to the shadows, until they were at the point closest to the gates at the end of the driveway. It was still a long way to go, and well lit for the first twenty of thirty yards.

The hooded figure asked, "Ready to run for it?"

Zoe nodded and they started to run. Immediately a yell rang out and people emerged from the building. Zoe ran so hard she thought her heart would explode. They were never going to make it to those gates, and even if they did, then what?

They ran in darkness for the last hundred yards. Zoe felt her pursuers hot on her heals and remembered her nightmares. This was it. They were so close she could feel their footfalls.

They cleared the gate and her rescuer grabbed her hand. She was about to ask how they were going to get away when the scenery changed abruptly and she recognized she was back in her neighborhood, standing behind a Burger King.

Her rescuer dropped her hand and whispered, "They will find you in a few seconds," and disappeared.

Fifteen

Zoe immediately looked for her pursuers and started to run toward home. Why would her rescuer take her here and then just leave her to be recaptured?

After only taking a few steps, Travis came around the corner of the building, followed by Grey, Enrique, and several people she didn't know. Enrique immediately gathered her into his arms, thanking God in a mixture of English and Spanish. The others looked relieved for a moment, followed by alertness as they formed a circle around her, Enrique, and Grey.

Grey put one arm around her and Enrique, and grabbed Travis with the other, and they were transported to Grey's front hall. Enrique backed up to look her over, talking at such a speed, and in such a mixture of languages, that she had no clear idea of what he was saying.

Grey touched Enrique's shoulder and said, "Let's give her a chance to tell us if she's all right."

Enrique stopped chattering and looked her in the eye. "You're bloody! Did they hurt you?"

"No," Zoe said, "they didn't do anything to me, unless you include drugging me, making me see horrible visions, and trying to rape me, but no, I'm fine. This isn't my blood."

"Rape!" Enrique shouted.

"Attempted," Zoe assured, "My rescuer must have stabbed him, 'cause this is his blood, and he quit really suddenly."

"Your rescuer?" Grey asked, looking confused.

"Yeah. I thought you must have sent him... or her, because they showed up in my room just in time to prevent the rape, got me out of the building and off the property, then transported me right to you," Zoe explained, "they even knew you'd be coming around that corner any second."

"It wasn't one of mine," Grey said, mystified.

"Well, I never would have made it out without him... or her," Zoe stated with absolute assurance.

Grey looked thoughtful. "I wonder who it could have been."

Zoe thought of the only person in Z's mansion who might be working against him, "Maybe it was Abigail. She plans to kill Z sometime soon, after she gets some kind of dagger at a big fight."

"Abigail?" Grey asked in surprise, paused, then continued, "And he's calling himself "Z" these days?" He shook his head, then walked up to Zoe and put his hands on her arms, "I'm so glad you are safe. I was beginning to think we had lost you forever," and he pulled her into an embrace.

Zoe felt safe in his arms, and didn't want the hug to end, but suddenly it registered what Grey had just said. "Why would you think that I was gone forever? It's not even morning yet?"

Grey pulled back enough to look at her, but didn't let go, "You've been gone three days. We didn't have a clue where they had taken you, and none of our sources could tell us anything. The only reason we were there when you showed up is that we were combing the area yet again for any remnants of power use. They took you without using any special abilities, so we have had nothing to trace."

"Three days?" Zoe asked in wonder, "How can it have been three days? I woke up in suburbia not long after they took me, I was with Z for maybe two hours, then I fell asleep briefly. That doesn't add up."

"They must have been drugging you, either to keep you asleep, or to make you forget the time you were with them," Grey postulated, "either way, you probably need food and rest. Men, let's give her some time to recuperate," and he let go of her to turn her to go up the stairs.

"I feel fine," she assured him, but he urged her up the stairs all the same.

Enrique said, "I'll get a tray of food and bring it up."

Grey just nodded and continued to lead her up the stairs. When he got her into her room, he shut the door and turned back to her. She noticed that he looked haggard, and she reached up to touch his face, he grabbed her hand and held it against his cheek.

"I'm sorry, Grey. You knew it wasn't safe, but I insisted. You were right," she said, eyes tearing up.

He wrapped both arms around her and held her tightly. "I'm so glad you're back," he whispered raggedly into her hair, "I was so worried. Please don't ever do that to me again."