“Take the sim card out Viktor and destroy the phone.”
The driver pulled the phone apart and discarded the battery and sim, then dropped it and crushed it with his heel. I could feel one of my wrists being released from the cuffs, enabling me to pull my arms back into my lap. The silver pair of cuffs were still attached to my right wrist and I quickly determined that I had to do something, because my time and the opportunities to escape were running out fast.
The blonde driver grabbed the open end of the handcuff and dragged me out of the car, into the dark, rubble strewn car park. The other man was just emerging from the back of the car so I began screaming hysterically.
“Aeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiii” I released an ear-piercing scream at the top of my voice. “HELP ME, SOMEONE HELP ME!” I yelled as loud as I could. The sounds bounced around the derelict concrete structures eerily.
“Shut the fuck up, bitch!” It was so dark, I didn’t see the punch coming. BAM! The last thing I remember, was my back thumping into the concrete pillar, which I slid down and collapsed into a heap on the ground.
* * *
I woke to the sound of a girl sobbing and moaning, as though she was injured and in terrible pain. I was horrified to discover I was naked and lying on a filthy vinyl tiled floor. I lifted my head from the cold floor, just in time to see two men bend over and grab my arms. They hauled me to my feet.
“Hello Beth,” said one of the men in smooth English.
I lifted my head and recognized the driver from London, who called himself John.
“You’ve been a stupid whore coming to Berlin,” he sneered.
Coming face to face with the man who nearly killed me, sent a shiver down my spine. The fair haired driver held my other arm, while the German ringleader was nowhere to be seen. My hands had been re-cuffed behind my back, so I was unable to resist as the two men began to frog march me toward the other end of the room.
Oil lamps hanging from the overhead pipes cast an eerie series of shifting shadows. I wondered if they had brought me to the place where they murdered all of their victims. In the dim light I thought I noticed items of my clothing, torn apart and discarded. The bastards had obviously ripped my clothes from my body and taken it in turns to rape me. The insides of my thighs were bruised and my body was covered in filthy grime.
“What a bunch of fucking animals,” I said groggily.
“Shut the fuck up, bitch!”
“Where’s Cherry? What have you done with her?”
I could hear her moans, but couldn’t see her. We were in an old boiler house, which I guessed had in the past, provided heat for the block of apartments above us. Huge metal cylinders stood along one wall, while old rust encrusted pipes headed in every direction above our heads.
We rounded one of the cylinders and when I saw what they had done to Cherry, I immediately began to struggle and scream. The blonde driver grabbed me by the neck and shook me.
“Shut your fucking mouth!” he hissed, with real venom.
The goon was even nastier than the other two. My stomach still hurt from where he’d punched me in the car.
Cherry, like me, was naked and had been made to stand on a stool. They had tied her hands behind her back and placed a noose round her neck. The rope was hanging over a pipe above her head and been pulled tight, before securing it to another pipe to one side. One false move and she would hang herself.
When she saw me, she burst into a fresh flood of tears.
“Beth, help me please,” she pleaded. “Tell them what they want to know and they’ll let us go.”
The animals had beaten her up badly. Her body, from the front of her thighs, up her belly and across her breasts, was covered in red angry welts. The weapon they had used, a three foot length of rubber piping lay on the floor in front of the stool.
“Yes, listen to your friend Beth. Tell us what we want to know.” I turned my head to see the ringleader sitting on a bench in the shadows, smoking a cigarette. The red glow of his fag highlighted the evil mask of his rosy red complexion.
“I will.” I rasped. “Tell me what you want. Please let my friend go. She’s not involved in this!” I began to think furiously. What could I say to stop him from killing us? One thing I was sure of was that once I had answered all his questions, he was going to kill me, for sure.
“String her up boys, let’s see if we can make her more comfortable,” chuckled the mysterious murderer.
“Sir,” I pleaded. “You don’t have to do this. Let us go and we’ll go away. I’ll take Cherry back to England.”
I was desperate to stop them. I had to try and do or say something or we were both doomed. Tears rolled down my face and my body was shaking uncontrollably. I tried desperately to keep it together, but was losing the battle.
“L… let us go please, you, you’ll never see us again.” I broke down, knowing that the three brutal men were enjoying my grief.
An identical stool stood in front of a 3″ metal pipe that ran parallel with the ground for about 10 feet, before turning and disappearing into the wall. The blonde haired driver let go of my arm and fetched a coil of rope that was lying to one side. He then threw the noose over the same pipe and let it drop until it was about the height of my shoulders.
The Englishman, who had a firm grip on my left arm, dragged me toward the rope. I started kicking and screaming but he tightened his grip.
“Jürgen, give us a hand with this whore!” John yelled across to the ringleader.
The big man came over and grabbed my right arm. The boiler room was chilly, but my body was slick with sweat, making it difficult for them to grip my slippery skin.
I squirmed and thrashed about, but wasn’t able to stop the men from lifting me onto the stool and slipping the noose over my neck, before pulling the slip knot until it gripped my neck firmly. Victor pulled the end of the rope, until my body was stretched. Fortunately, when he tied the end off, my heels were still on the wooden surface, just!
Cherry’s quivering body had stilled and she was staying quiet, trying to concentrate on keeping her balance and staying alive. Her noose, like mine had been pulled tightly round her neck and one false move would prove fatal. Everything that I’d feared had become a reality, but regrets were wasted, as I attempted to concentrate on extending my life for a few extra precious moments.