The Thirteenth Virgin

"Igor, you worthless scum! Get up here!" the speaker in my cell ceiling squawked.

I hurried up the long stone stairwell to his laboratory. "Yes, Master?"

"This one isn't a virgin! She's been used! Weren't you suspicious when you saw she was shaved, or did you fail to check? You've wasted my time!"

"But Master, she's a neophyte nun. I thought she would be a virgin."

"You thought? Since when do you think? Look at this! Look there, you cretin!"

He grabbed my head and forced it between the shapely blond's knees to see her womanhood, cruelly exposed, a speculum stuck inside her. I staggered back when he released me. "Master, her head is bleeding."

"Of course it is! YOU didn't drug her enough, so she fought with me. I had to hit her with a wrench!"

"Did you kill her, Master?

"Imbecile! That's your job! A dead subject is even less useful to me than an unclean one. Take her to the dungeon, wake her up, and chain her to the conveyor into the furnace, like the others. I want to complete my experiment by Halloween. Know this, Igor. If you don't bring me a suitable subject by then, I'll put YOU in the furnace!"

I undid her restraints and carried the young woman's limp body down to my world. Master would do it. He used to burn the women himself before he made it part of my duties. He would chain me to the conveyor and feed me inch by excruciating inch into the flames if I didn't fulfill his wishes. Either that, or he'd give me to the dogs.

When I first came to Master, I was a penniless young man, unable to get a job because of my appearance. My face and upper body are covered with burn scars, my body twisted from the crushing force of the car that burned as it lay on top of me with my parents inside. Real doctors at a real hospital saved my life. Master worked there then in the morgue. He befriended me, and offered me room and board and a low wage as his assistant in the laboratory in his home.

When my rehabilitation was as complete as it was going to get, I began working for master, running his errands, cleaning, and helping with his experiments. He treated me like a slave, forcing me to sleep in the dungeon below the medieval castle he called home so could I care for the animals he used in his gruesome research. He paid my medical bills for me, something I would have spent the rest of my life failing to do. He offered me food and shelter when I had none. He enticed me into servitude with a promise of restoring my appearance to something acceptable in public if he succeeded with his experiments.

When Master tired of his work on animals, he fed the few that remained to his dogs. Human research was next, and when he began, he sealed my fate. There was no place for me in the world. I was a criminal, forced to help Master with his diabolical work, bound to him by my complicity in so much horror. I was doomed even by my name, "Igor." Mom liked Stravinsky and never thought of the infamous creature by that name. Master did. He turned me into his fear-driven slave, powerless against his evil cunning.

I lay the body of the young woman on the ancient hospital gurney Master had me use to use to prepare subjects for experiments or disposal. She was beautiful, a voluptuous young woman torn from her life at its start.

She would live in the dungeon as long as I did. Master would kill me some time, but I was not going to my final judgment with the blood of a young girl on my hands. I had not done it yet. I would not start now.

After bathing her and tending to her wounds, I dressed her in a faded hospital gown and pushed the gurney to the large cell my other captives called home.

"Another one, Igor?" Belinda asked. I always liked this young woman. Though she was blind from Master's cruel attentions, she held no malice toward me. She was already hidden here when Master disposed of one of his subjects, before he left the task solely to me, so she knew where her loyalties must lie.

"Keep her quiet if she wakes up. If she screams and Master hears her, it won't go well for anyone."

"I'm good with the new ones, Igor. What's her story?"

"I don't know her name. I snatched her near the convent on the other side of town. She was dressed like a nun in training, so I thought she'd be pure, but she wasn't. Master was furious that I didn't check her."

"I remember when you took me," Belinda said, smiling at me with her ruined eyes. "I felt like someone was watching me when I left the library. I remember hearing footsteps, and then you grabbed me and held that cloth over my face. The next thing I knew, I was in your car, bound and naked, and you were looking at me."

"I'm so ashamed you caught me. I didn't want you to know what I did."

"Igor, please. We've talked about this. You know I don't care now. You could have been rough with me, but you weren't. You were kind to me, and you took care of me after that monster's machine blinded me. You're the only reason I'm still alive. I wanted to be a nurse anyway, so I'll do what I can."

She put her head on my chest, and I stroked her curly hair as I always do. She hadn't gotten a good look at me before Master's abominable acts. Maybe that was why acted like she did with me. She never saw me. People always said I had a nice voice.

It was easy to see Belinda as she should be. I imagine her in big sunglasses at a swim-up bar, sipping a drink and nibbling on fruit. She wears a white bikini, shocking against the rich bronze of her Jamaican heritage. Her wild black mane is held off her high forehead by clips made of mother-of-pearl to match the piece suspended by a thin gold chain from her navel.

That's how she should look, on her honeymoon with the man of her dreams, not dressed in rags in a dungeon with three other women and a disfigured kidnapper and accomplice to murder.

My nun replaced the last girl. She died of infection from Master's skin-grafting attempts. He kept her in a cell off his lab, watching her deteriorate, until he commanded me to dispose of her. She lasted a few days with us, and then I cremated her remains.

My oldest captive, Sharon, struggled to sit up on her bed. "Can you bring her to me, Igor?"

Life changed for Sharon in January. She was a nursery school teacher, waiting for her intended to come home from the Navy when I took her. Master was very pleased with her beauty and obvious intelligence. Knowing the rarity of an intact woman of that age, he attempted to impregnate her before consigning her to her intended use in his experiments with limb-reattachment. His technique failed, so I was ordered to feed the screaming, footless victim into the firebox, but I couldn't. Somehow, I kept her alive, cauterizing her stumps to destroy the infected tissue.

Sharon dangled her useless legs off the padded platform where she spent most of her time and examined their new roommate. "Are you going to be able to get us anything for her? We need antiseptic and bandages for that head wound."

"How does she look?" Belinda called.

"Beautiful. Long blond hair that should hide the scar. Her breathing and pulse are good. You did a nice job cleaning her, Igor. Let's see if she wakes up."

"I'll steal some clothing and things for you. I have to go out again to find a replacement for her."

Belinda groped her way over to me. "Don't Igor, please."

"Master will kill me if I don't. I'm ready for that, but what would happen to you?"

Belinda frowned for a minute. "I guess we'd die of thirst."

"Assuming the rats don't get us," Frieda said. "I read a book about that once. I hope I black out first. It's not like I could stop them."

Frieda was the result of Master's dabbling in spinal cord surgery. The girls and I took good care of her, bathing and feeding her, and working the muscles of her limbs. We wouldn't give up on the former gymnast. I knelt on the floor next to her and combed her hair with my fingers. "I must go. If I fail him tonight, Master will do horrible things to me, and then he'll put me in the furnace. If it would help you, I'd jump in myself, right now."

"I think you would, wouldn't you? Well, go do what you must. Hopefully you'll find a way to overpower him, and then we can all get out of here."

She blinked back a tear, and kissed my hand when I held it to her. It was her way of telling me she understood.

Guilt ruined the farewell kiss from Sharon and the tight hug from Belinda. In my cell, I dressed in my hunting clothes for the evening, nondescript dark things a young man would wear on an autumn night, a backpack with supplies ready. With my hoodie and glasses, I could get close before someone knew what I was.

In my car, I looked back at the castle. Master watched from the tower window.

Halloween was the one time I could be in public without a disguise. Master always gave me light duty that day and encouraged me to go out and enjoy myself. I wouldn't run. I couldn't tell anyone what we did, because Master would know. He'd find me and hide me from the police, doing things to me that would never happen in the worst prison for as long as it suited him to keep me alive.

Halloween was my brief escape from Hell.

Earning the privilege of surviving to enjoy my holiday would take work and luck this year. Master's horoscope told him that was the best night for success with his insane work, since the planned experiment would be number thirteen of his dastardly studies on young women, his lucky number.

I drove to a club near the university campus.

"Hey, Igor!" said a kid in killer clown make-up.

"How do you know my name?"

"What else would a dude call himself tonight in that costume? Hunchback and everything, like in old movies. Very nice."

"What kind of crowd does this place draw?"

The kid gave me a sly look. "What are you into?'

"Young."

"Whoa, dude, that's so wrong! Like, how young? The chicks in there are legal. They're all at least eighteen, 'cuz it's a campus crowd."

"I don't need trouble. That's fine, if they look young."

"You're a real sicko, buddy. There's a naughty schoolgirl contest in about twenty minutes. Have fun."

I was in a good seat sipping tomato juice when a spotlight illuminated a fat guy dressed as an Elvis-impersonating vampire.

"Good evening, girls and ghouls. We have a number of lovely entries (or maybe that's entrees, mwahahahaha!) for tonight's competition. If you don't remain in your seats while the girls are on stage, the zombie bouncers will eat your brains. Now, without further ado, naughty schoolgirls!"

A troupe of young woman walked onto the stage. A few wore traditional cute socks/pleated skirt/white blouse outfits like the little sluts they probably were. Some got more creative. The girl in the sports bra and spandex shorts with "Freshman Female" on the butt brought some applause. So did the one with the damp white "Spring Break Forever" tank top and bikini bottoms.

The last girl on stage was ignored as her predecessors strutted and posed. She was a slender little thing in skinny jeans, a polo shirt with the logo of the local university, and a baseball cap with a wavy dark ponytail sticking from it. The only thing naughty about this schoolgirl was the way the straps of her bag separated her little breasts. She looked embarrassed. I've seen it before -- sorority hazing or a stupid dare. She wasn't in costume, unless she borrowed the shirt from her big sister. Master might be happy enough with this one to get careless.

My first clear look at her came before the voting, when the girls were sent through the crowd to collect money for a local charity. Some allowed the patrons to stuff dollar bills in their bras or panties. When the girl with the backpack got to me, she looked at me closely.

"That isn't make-up, is it?"

Her cute breasts were almost in my face, bare under her knit shirt. "No. I don't have to wear any this time of year." I put a twenty-dollar bill in her hand. "Keep the change."

She grinned at me, a penetrating, genuine smile, and walked away. Master would be thrilled, but even I wouldn't stoop that low. There had to be another virgin in here tonight. Maybe I could find one like failure number five. She passed out when she got a good look at me. No chloroform, no roofies, no blackjack, nothing. It was like she was already dead from the shock of seeing me.

After another over-priced tomato juice, I walked to the campus. There must be virgins at Halloween parties.

Near the freshman dorms, I saw her -- the innocent-looking girl from the club.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, trotting from the shadows to stand on the sidewalk in front of me, hands on her slender hips. "Are you following me?"

"No, just going for a walk."

"Not without explaining yourself. Why were you in that club?"

"Me? What about you? You looked pretty uncomfortable up there on stage. Why were you there?"

"I'm not really sure. Someone told me I should go."

"You shouldn't listen to that person. You belong inside. It's not safe out here for a nice girl like you."

"I can take care of myself." She walked toward me until she was a foot from my chest and studied me. "What the hell? Oh! OH!" She winced for a second and then looked disgusted. "Really? That's what you do? Who is this guy?" she asked, glaring up at me.

"Huh?"

"Don't play innocent with me, Igor!"

"Do I know you, miss?"

"I could eliminate you right now, you know."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can read minds. Your name is Igor 'cuz your mom liked Russian music. You're a kidnapper hunting for virgins. When you take them home, they don't live long. You're sick. I'm for real, and I can make your life worse than your so-called Master can."

"Who are you?"

"Sadie Hawkins. You can explain what I saw, or I can call the cops."

"Calling the cops is a bad idea."

"Are you threatening me?"

What an attitude! I could easily overpower her. If she ran, I could use the dart-gun in my backpack.

"I will tear you arm off if you go for your backpack, Igor. Someone showed me how to rip a piano apart with my hands, so I could do it."

"Sadie, I don't know what you think you are, but,..." I was on my back on the ground, as paralyzed as Frieda, this strange young woman hovering over my chest.

"You're going to tell me exactly what's going on. I may be able to stop your Master from hurting anyone else." She floated away and resumed her belligerent posture on the sidewalk.

I struggled to my feet. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know after you tell me how you did that."

"Fair enough. Apparently, I'm the reincarnation of an ancient sorceress, or her spirit works through me or something. My driver's license looks real, but the address doesn't exist. I checked. The first memory I have is waking up in a freshman dorm with a closet full of nerdy clothes, a pile of books on the desk, and a schedule and car keys on the nightstand. Supposedly, I'll be nineteen Christmas day. My classes are easy but the kids aren't my type. That's all I've figured out. I think I used to be someone else, but now that this witch is in me, I don't know."

"My Master is very strong. He has powers. He says he'll put me in the furnace, and I believe him."

"Who is the blind girl?"

"Can I buy you a coffee, Sadie? We need to talk."

Huddled against a concrete retaining wall below the Student Union, I told her everything. When I tried to omit some horrible deed, she stopped me. She read me easily enough that I finally said, "Why do you keep asking questions? Let me stand here in peace. You'll pick up on most of it."

"Because you haven't said it yet. You're blocking the thought right now. You're a victim, too, Igor. The only reason you're out here is to stay alive for your girls."

I couldn't listen to any more. "It's been nice chatting with you, Sadie, but I need to find an unspoiled girl who will hopefully die quickly."

I found myself on the ground again, Sadie floating, seated on nothing, above the wall. "I'm unspoiled, but I don't have any plans to die. Watch." She somersaulted in the air and hovered, facing the poured concrete wall. The entire thing lifted as a unit, tearing sod and dropping pebbles and dirt on the pavement behind it. "You're going to listen to me."

A breath later, everything was as before, a big, ugly guy with a limp and a hunched back and a dark-haired girl who looked like she stopped growing in tenth grade, drinking coffee, standing in the lee of the wind.

"Told you I was for real," she muttered as she sipped from her cup. "If this Master of yours wants some Halloween fun, take me to him. Hold this for a second." She handed me her cup. "Will this work?"

She collapsed to the ground, doing nothing to break her fall. She breathed slowly, like she was in a coma.

Suddenly, she sprang to her feet. "I can turn that on and off. I heard everything you thought while I was gone. I can be a couple of places at once, like astral projection or something. Now, take me to your leader." She giggled at her corny joke and collapsed on the ground again.

She was still limp when I hauled her out of the trunk of my car at the castle. I threw her over my shoulder to carry her into the dungeon. On my gurney, I checked her to make sure she was alive and then trudged up the cold, long staircase to Master's laboratory, her dead weight in my arms.

He kept his back to me and pointed at the clock. "I was about to send the dogs to find you. You would not have liked that. What did you bring me?"

I placed Sadie gently on the examining table. "She has no family, Master. She lives in a private room in a freshman dorm at the university. I talked to her at a club. She claimed she was a virgin before I drugged her, and I checked. She's intact. I hope she pleases you, Master."

"She's adorable. Undress her."

"Yes, Master." I opened the zipper on her jeans again. She understood what Master expected when I told her my story, and she insisted I check to prove she was a virgin. I tried to keep my mind blank, but she knew I liked what I saw. Who wouldn't? Her natural, sparse dark hair covered a tiny peach. She needed a lot of lube on the speculum this time, too.

Master shone his light into her. "That part pleases me, Igor. Take her shirt off."

"Yes, Master." I lifted her upper body and pulled her polo shirt off. Sadie's small nipples were partially erect, just as they had been when I examined them in her dorm room before she dressed herself. She knew how I felt about that, too.

"Did you use chloroform?"

"Yes, Master," I lied. "It works fast and it's quiet."

"How much did you give her?"

"She may wake up soon, Master. I wanted to make sure you approved of her. If you don't, I'll have time to dispose of her and go get another one."

"I should remind you how the furnace will feel with one of my branding irons for thinking again when I told you not to!"

"If you wish, Master."

"We'll see. Move her around for me. I want to inspect her."

I hadn't actually drugged Sadie. It had been so much easier with the ones who weren't aware of the demeaning acts Master forced me to perform.

"Spread her with your fingers."

"Yes, Master."

"Tear her for me."

"Master?"

"I saw her hymen. I am pleased. She will be ideal. For this experiment, I need an unspoiled female, but having her loose her virginity to me could ruin the psychological effects of my new drug, so I want it done and healed before she sees me. Take the speculum out, stick your finger in there, and pop her."

She didn't say it, but I heard her voice. "Go ahead. I can block the pain."

I never took a virgin before, not even as a younger, normal man. The girl I dated before the accident was intimate with me, but she was the only woman I ever touched. Now, I see and touch women in terrible ways, living, half-living, and dead, but I had never rammed my finger into an unconscious captive in exam stirrups.