ACADEMY OF THE UNDEAD; BOOK TWO Stand Together ... Or Fall Together
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Organised Torture

Drowsy, feeling immobilized, Taylee panted, her throat dry and sore. As awareness began filtering back in, she realised she was still lying down, although something was different.

“Ohhh, hello, you’re back with us.”

She snapped her head in the direction of the voice, then gulped; him. Looking around, she saw that she was in a dark hallway, and after taking a quick glance, she realised that she was handcuffed to a movable trolley.

“I like to be fair vampire, so I’ll let you make the choice.”

“Huh, what?”

“Pick a leg.”

Beyond the dark hallway, she could see a suggestion of light, and as she was lying down on a movable trolley, she didn’t need too many guesses as to what the next phase of her nightmare held in store for her. It must be daylight, and possibly for the first time in thirty-odd years, she was going to greet it.

“He said pick a leg, vampire.” Iveta said coldly.

Taylee glared at her, then snarled, “I pick your leg Zombie Freak, both of them!”

“My, she is funny Clinton.”

“Yes, although maybe a dose of morning sunshine will help to diminish her strange sense of humour.” Stanley replied. “So pick a leg Crezenski.”

“Go fuck yourself!”

“Hmmm, maybe I should pick for her,” Iveta suggested, “And I pick the left leg.”

“Excellent choice Darling,” Stanley said, then he asked, “Get the roll, would you?”

Not long after, Taylee saw the woman march back to the hallway, carrying a large silver roll which was three feet in width. Iveta placed it on the ground and cut the plastic packaging off. Stanley stood on the first piece of the roll, then kicked the bulk of the roll, and it let out a flickering sound as it uncurled itself down the hallway. The silver sheeting stetched out for more than thirty feet, and Stanley picked up one end of the sheeting and placed it across Taylee’s chest, then he curled in under the trolley, brought it back up and wrapped it across her stomach, then curled it under the trolley again.

“The finest insulation money can buy,” Stanley began, “With your well-being in mind, I thought that no expense should be spared when we send you out for a little sun-bathing. I’ll wrap you up like a mummy, and that way you won’t be damaged as you frolick in the sunshine, ohhh, that is except for your leg.” He glanced at Iveta and asked cheerfully, “Which leg was it Darling?”

“Left leg Clinton.” she replied, then she added, “Just the calf Clinton, don’t damage her thighs, because I like her thighs.”

“Yes, so do I dearest, so I will wrap her smooth left thigh up nice and securely.”

Taylee lost vision as the sheeting was wrapped around her head and shoulders, then she felt the sheeting wrapping over her thighs. One of them lifted her restrained right leg slightly, and she felt the sheeting curling around her lower leg and foot. Sounds of tape being ripped and torn caught her attention, and she felt hands securing the tape to the underside of the trolley.

“What a shame you can’t join me Darling.”

“Yes, I am despondent, so tell me all about it husband, tell me if the vampire enjoyed her time in the sunshine.”

Taylee felt the trolley wheel into motion, knew that Stanley was behind her pushing the trolley, and he pushed for thirty seconds, then stopped. She heard a door open, then Stanley said brightly, “Ohhh, what a glorious day! Not a cloud in the sky.”

He was behind her again, and the trolley rolled into motion, and she didn’t need to be told that they were out in the open, for she felt it, immediately. Her breath caught as a burning sensation hit her left foot, and soon the searing sensation sizzled its way up her left calf. Exposed to sunlight for not even ten seconds, and she wanted to scream, instead she clenched her teeth, although unfortunately, her fangs were out, and she grimaced as the fangs speared through her bottom lip. Flopping her mouth open, she panted, the burning sensation constant now, as if her leg was suspended on a rotisserie over an open fire.

The pain was already unbearable, and Taylee shivered uncontrollably as her left calf roasted. She was tough, fearless and tenacious, and she knew that she could absorb and fight through all the sexual abuse and torture that they threw at her, yet there was one thing that she couldn’t defend against. Weakened already, she grimaced, then stiffened, and as her survival instinct kicked in, she fought against her restraints, her efforts frantic and despertate, all limbs pulling, then yanking, but as the pain became overwhelming, her limbs and her tortured mind lost the fight, and Taylee Crezenski yielded.

She was still and motionless now, yet the pain was unrelenting. She was aware enough to realise that her teeth-clenching grimace meant that her fangs had imbedded themselves in her bottom lip, and every facial twitch saw the cavities becoming deeper. The pain was so intense that she felt herself drifting in and out of consciousness, and in her final lucid moment, she prayed, You win, so end this, take me, take me please …

*

Drowsy, tired, yet in pain, so much pain, she forced her eyes open.

A voice said brightly, “Husband, I believe she is back with us.”

Taylee weakly flopped her head to the right, then the left. Back in the basement. Hand-cuffed to the table. The needle in her arm, red drops dripping into the bag.

“How are you vampire?” Stanley asked.

Taylee wanted to scream or roar at him, although she needed time to adjust to the pain. Her lower left leg felt as if it were on fire, and so intense was the pain, that her head throbbed incessantly.

“If I was to offer a comment Clinton, I would suggest that the vampire doesn’t appear to be in a conversational frame of mind.”

“You may well be right Darling. I wonder if she’s mad at me for introducing her to the sunshine?”

“Worry not little vampire, it is night-time now, and that naughty sun won’t hurt you anymore.” Iveta advised.

“Maybe I should I leave you two alone, and hopefully the vampire will tell you all about her sun-bathing experience.”

“Yes Clinton, I would like some more alone time with the vampire.”

“Certainly, although just one instruction my Darling …”

“What Clinton?”

“Don’t kill her.”

Iveta gazed at Taylee, and then asked timidly, “No?”

“Please no. We want all her blood, and Darling …”

“What?”

“We want her to suffer, we want to watch her die in agony.”

“I will never disobey you Clinton.”

Stanley kissed Iveta, then walked out of the basement.

“Ohhh, this is so nice,” Iveta cooed as she moved into Taylee’s line of vision, “Just the two of us, alone together.”

Taylee gulped, her throat so dry that the gulp forced her to shudder. Trying to compose herself, Taylee snarled, “Just kill me bitch!”

“Maybe you didn’t understand what Clinton said; we won’t be killing you, because you will die of natural causes.” Iveta thought about her statement, then said, “Or maybe un-natural causes.”

Her left calf burned, a searing, blistering, continuous pain, the pain causing her arms to shake, and Taylee anticipated that it was only going to get worse. Not much movement was available in her arms, although she saw the blood drops quickening, and she thought, Yeah, come and take me. She shook her left arm as much as she was able, pleased as the drops seemed quicker.

Iveta smirked, then pulled the needle out. “Very clever vampire, try and hasten your own demise, but we will decide when you die.” Iveta licked the buds of blood off her forearm, then stuck a band-aid over the puncture.

“With you, I will engage in sexual intercourse again, because I have had sex with you when you had hair, and now I will engage with you when you don’t have any hair.”

“Fucking Zombie Freak!” Taylee snorted.

“Names do not upset me, dying vampire.”

It hurt to talk, although Taylee blurted out, “I should’ve ripped your whole fucking head off when I killed you!”

“Alas creature, you did not, and now here we are.” Iveta said as she tickled her fingers over Taylee’s left calf, and she saw Taylee grimace. “Does that hurt vampire?” Taylee remained silent, so Iveta asked, “What about if I do this?” Iveta skimmed her long fingernails over the developing boils on the calf, and two of the boils split open, which resulted in blood slowly trickling out.

Enjoying the moment, enjoying the vampire’s obvious distress, Iveta picked up a slimline pair of pliers, and she waved them around in front of the vampire’s face. “This is a guessing game vampire, and I want you to guess what I’m going to do with these?”

Taylee gazed at her own right hand, looked at her fingernails, and very quickly, she suspected that the finger-nails may well become the focus of the game. “I believe that the most suitable outcome,” Taylee began quietly, “Is that you stick the pliers up your ass!” she roared.

Iveta frowned, then said, “You are a very crude person, or vampire.” Then she clasped the pliers around the fingernail of her right index finger, and after giving a knowing smile, she ripped the finger-nail out.

Taylee grimaced again, then with a new burst of pain appearing, she let her head flop back as she opened her mouth wide. Because of the agony she was in, and also due to her rising anger, her fangs were fully extended, and the last grimace had resulted in the fangs spearing into her damaged bottom lip again.

Enjoying the agony, Iveta said, “Vampire, you were responsible for my death.”

Taylee snorted, then fired back, “Hey fuckhead, I’m looking at you, and you seem pretty alive to me!”

“The point you make is true, but I am a new being, I am not who I used to be.”

Taylee tried to gulp and moisten her throat, and she coughed, then laughed mockingly as she said, “Yeah, well all the poor homeless young girls in the area are thanking their lucky stars that you’re not who you used to be.”

Iveta stared at her, then she asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“What, are you kidding?”

“What do you mean by kidding?”

“Fuck, wait up, you remember why I killed you, don’t you?”

“Clinton said that you are a vampire, and you violated me horrifically, then killed me.”

“Yeah, sure I killed you, but I didn’t violate you, I killed you because you were a monster!”

Iveta squeezed the pliers and yanked another fingernail out, then she said curtly, “I was a house-wife.”

Taylee gritted her teeth and fought against the scream, then when the pounding in her head reduced to semi-volcanic, she spluttered, “You, you killed young girls, you subjected them to the same kind of torture that you’re inflicting on me.”

Iveta tensed, and she had to work hard to keep the contempt out of her voice as she said coldly, “The dying vampire lies.”

Taylee raised her head as far as she able, then she asked in surprise, “Wait up, you know what you did, don’t you, I mean as a human being?”

“I was Clinton’s wife until you killed me.”

“Yes you were, but you were also a murderer, you were a monster!”

Iveta glared at her, then she rested Taylee’s hand in hers as she said, “You choose.”

“Huh, what?”

Iveta avoided her gaze as she said calmly, “You have three finger-nails remaining on your right hand, and I will let you choose which one comes out next.”

“Hey Monster Bitch, I don’t give a fuck!” Taylee yelled.

Iveta jiggled the pliers underneath a fingernail, then squeezed down.

Taylee didn’t know much about Zombie-fuckers, but she began suspecting that this creature didn’t remember who she was or what she had done. While wincing in anticipation of the next yank, Taylee blurted, “You, you as a human being were a monster, and that’s why I killed you!”

Iveta ripped the pliers back, and Taylee shuddered, trying to will herself to not cry out in pain. Clenching her teeth, she snorted, “You, you killed young, helpless girls!” She shuddered as she felt her fangs spear into her bottom lip again, and she opened her mouth, panting.

Iveta glared at her, then said coldly, “The vampire continues to lie.” Then she glanced at one of the candles sitting at the end of the table, and she said, “Maybe I should heat these pliers for your next finger-nail.”

As far Taylee was concerned, it didn’t matter much, because it hurt like all-fuck anyway, and she sneered, “Monster, I killed you so that you wouldn’t kill any more innocent, helpless girls.”

Iveta was unsettled, and she tracked through her memory bank, all the memories revolving around Clinton; how he had always been there to save her, and care for her, and love her.

“You vampire, are the monster, because you killed me!”

“Yes, I did kill you, but I killed you because you weren’t going to stop, and more girls were going to die!”

Strangely, Iveta remembered Chester muttering, Yeah, she’s an improvement on what she used to be. She glared at Taylee, then said, “I don’t believe you vampire, but tell me what you are talking about.”

Taylee saw the pliers grip onto her thumbnail, and she said shakily, “You, as a human, you killed six girls that I know of, but I believe there may have been more.”

Iveta glanced at her and asked tersely, “How do you know this?”

“I, I watched you for more than four years, and that asshole would bring girls here and then you would torture them and kill them.”

Iveta ripped her hand back, and Taylee tried to keep her mouth open, arching her back as she rode through the pain, but by now, most of the fingers on her right hand were throbbing in relentless agony.

“I was a house-wife before you killed me.” Iveta sneered.

Taylee blew out, her cheeks puffed as she waited for the pain to lessen, then she said shakily, “I, I killed you, because, fuck … because I kill bad people, and you weren’t just a bad person, you were a monster.”

Unsettled and upset by the vampires lies, Iveta picked up a knife and inserted it into Taylee’s mouth, then she swung it back and forward, clinking each of the fangs. With a hint of menace, Iveta said, “The vampire is in danger of losing her tongue for speaking such despicable lies.”

Conscious of the swinging blade, Taylee muttered, “Look, I mean look in the corner! The prison cell, that’s where you locked the girls up!”

Iveta glanced at the cell, then frowned. She remembered asking her husband why they had a prison cell in the basement, and he had turned away from her and mumbled, When we capture the vampire, we will keep her in there. The vampire had been captured, although she wasn’t in the prison cell, she was handcuffed to the table. Like all the other vampires had been.

Iveta was experiencing moments of confusion, although she said dismissively, “So, I understand now; a vampire in distress will speak lies.”

“No, come on Zombie, you must remember what you did!”

Iveta glared at her as her mind tracked back again, all of the memories featuring her husband, all of the memories seeming to be of recent times, Clinton, Clinton, Clinton; making love, killing vampires, being on the farm with Chester, then the memories jittered back until they hit a brick wall. No childhood memories, no memory of marrying Clinton, no memory of family or friends. The strange memory rallied again, Chester muttering, Yeah, she’s an improvement on what she used to be.

Iveta inserted the needle back into her arm, fastened it with tape, then stared at her as she said coldly, “You are getting weaker vampire, so I will leave you be and allow you to wallow in your agony.”

“Iveta, Iveta Stanley, you must remember, you killed innocent girls!”

Iveta stormed out of the room, slamming the door closed. Out of the room, she leant back and rested her head against the wall, then she closed her eyes. She was a resurrected being; she had been killed by the vampire but then brought back to life, and her husband had told her that she would have no memory of anything prior to her resurrection. That put him in control, that meant that he could tell her whatever he liked about her former life, and she would know no better. There seemed to be no reason why he would lie to her, for they hunted and killed vampires together, although something niggled, something scuffed at the brick wall of her memories.

Hesistantly, Iveta approached him and asked, “Clinton, may I speak?”

He held her hands and gazed at her as he said affectionately, “Yes Darling, you may speak.”

“Why is there a prison cell in the basement?”

He let go of her hands, turned away, then mumbled, “The prison cell is where we put the vampires.”

With her mind ticking over, Iveta said uncertainly, “The vampire is on the table.”

Stanley moved over and poured himself an inch of whiskey, then said, “If we take her off the table, we will put her in the cell.”

Iveta thought about it, then said, “You took her outside, then we put her back on the table.”

Stanley faced her and said grittily, “Iveta, no more talk of this.”

Iveta could sense the discomfort of her Master, although she needed a few answers. Looking directly into his eyes, she asked, “Have I ever killed anyone?”

He lowered his gaze as he replied, “Yes you have, six vampires, and another one awaits your delicate touch.”

“Clinton, please look at me.”

When his gaze raised to meet hers, she asked, “As a human, did I ever kill anyone?”

Stanley walked away and threw his arms in the air as he huffed, “Iveta, I am a vampire hunter, we are vampire hunters, and that is all that matters!”

“Clinton tell me; did I ever kill anyone as a human?”

“Why, why do you need to know?”

“The vampire told me things.”

“What things?”

“She said that she killed me because I used to kill innocent young girls.”

From ten feet away, Stanley faced her and said, “The vampire will say anything to try and save her life.”

“I understand, but Clinton, answer me; as a human being, did I ever kill anyone?”

He glared at her, said gruffly, “No.” then walked out of the room.

Confused by her Masters defensive attitude, and with the vampires rantings rattling around her mind, she walked into the hallway and saw him sitting in the study, sipping on a glass of whiskey. She walked up the stairs and into the bedroom, then went to his bedside drawer. She pulled the small plastic container out of the bottom draw, then began flicking through the cards. Dozens of cards, mostly of business acquaintances, then she stopped when she came to the card she was after. Iveta stared at the card, genuinely confused. The vampire’s declarations had stirred something in her, although she was too confused to understand what it was. She did understand that she was a resurrected being, a zombie, and her existence was all about obeying her Master. She had seen it in his eyes though, the uncertainty, the evasiness, the clear refusal to answer her questions honestly. She sat on the bed and hung her head, staring at the card. Iveta closed her eyes and thought about her existence. She remembered the dark excitement shooting through her when she first looked upon her restrained murderer, remembered the vampire’s eyes blazing with uncertainty and fear. And she remembered the six other vampires, remembered torturing them and then killing them. She remembered the months on an isolated farm, remembered the relentless training; This is how you defend … This is how you attack … And this is how you kill … She clearly remembered her tutor, the tutor who not only taught her how to kill, she had taught her how to love as well. Images trinkled into her mind, water, splashing, a buzz, a rope … and her Master, saving her. Her memories went back no further than the fear of being in the water, although things pinged in her mind, like snapshots, images, all of them too fleeting to understand.

Iveta picked up the phone, and soon a young voice responded, “Hello?”

“Hello, this is Iveta, Iveta Stanley.”

“Hi, what can I do for you?”

Disturbed by Iveta’s questions, Stanley stomped into the basement and glared at her. “Tomorrow is the fifteenth of November vampire.” Stanley said bluntly.

Taylee felt so weak, and she lolled her head to the side, the red drops still tinking into the now half-filled bag. Her leg still burned, the pain excruciating, and angry red boils on the leg itched like crazy. She looked down and saw sickly cream coloured puss ouze out of the boils that had opened, the cream colour vivid against her blackened calf, and she made a mental note not to look at the leg again. But that wasn’t the only thing that was burning, because the hunger inside her was burning to fever level. Having lost so much blood, the need to feed was insatiable, her stomach tightening and clenching agonisingly, every one of her organs feeling as if it were being scraped with a blunt razor, and as the blood continued to drip out of her body, her head thumped continuously, making her grimace with the pain of each thud. With the need to feed overwhelming her entire body, her fangs had been extended for hours, and every time she grimaced, the fangs deepened the severe cuts on her bottom lip.

“Do you want to know why that date is significant, vampire?”

Taylee closed her eyes and let her head flop to the side.

“After midnight tonight, as the fifteenth of November ushers itself in, you will die … ohhh, not immediately of course. While you are in your death throes, I will cut out your jawbone, and I hope, I wish that you will still be coherent enough to appreciate the new level of pain that I’m going to introduce you to.”

Her head throbbed every few seconds, and the pain was so severe, that it was almost like she was beating her head against a brick wall, but still she heard him, every single word, and as she squirmed against the unrelenting agony, three words stuck; you will die. She was suffering through a relentless, debilitating agony, and she now understood the phrase, A fate worse than death … because she was experiencing it right now. In the pounding, clenching, burning, scraping agony that she was in, death would be the release, death would be the prize, and unfortunately, her captor knew that.