The Citadel Ch. 03: The Streets

Without waiting for an answer he pulled her leash vigorously forward and dragged her on, and the group left the marketplace. She trotted along while the thoughts about her last encounter whirled through her mind. There was some hope that Miriam wouldn't forget about her message. With the passing of the years the old junk dealer had become more muddle-headed with each day. Normally she would have given her a copper piece for her service, but regretfully that was denied her. Still, Miriam had surely recognized her desperate situation. Maybe she understood the urgency of her message. Not that Jean could do much about her abduction, but at least her disappearance would not go unnoticed and the people in her neighborhood would know about her whereabouts.

The traffic on the street got busier and a lot of carts, either pulled by horses or oxen, were coming their way. The street broadened notably, as storehouses and trading stations followed each other. When Annie craned her neck she could just catch sight of the massively built city wall towering above the rooftops. Scarface must have recognized that circumstance, too, because he started to whisper urgently with Slaphead, behind her back. Due to the tumultuously going-ons around her she could only pick up some scraps of their conversation: "The city gates are near.... What if some of the watchmen know her?... Troublesome bitch... she talks big.... Better not, how should we?"

Then they fell silent again. After a few more steps Scarface overtook her and talked to Stinker at the front of the group. Stinker nodded slightly, and when they passed a small side street, all of them turned on their heel and dragged her into the shadowy space between the narrow house walls.

"What are you lousy guys up to now?" she hissed at them with a nervous voice, when they encircled her with sour faces.

"Just a small precaution, we don't want our small bird to twitter in the wrong ears," Scarface answered, while he pulled out the oily, dirty rag that he usually used to clean his knife and scrunched it into a ball.

"No, you can't do this!" Annie protested, feeling certain that he intended to gag her with it. Yet she already knew that she could hardly do anything to stop him from stuffing that disgusting and dirty thing into her mouth. Still, she didn't want to give in easily or show them that that she was afraid of them. Looking defiantly at Scarface, she clenched her jaws and tucked her chin in. Annie's main focus was still on Scarface, but out of the corner of her eye she kept a check on the other two stooges. Stinker was standing idly beside her, the leash in his feisty hands. Slaphead had moved down into the alley and was rummaging through some piles of scraps and refuse the residents had dumped in front of their street door.

Annie couldn't continue on with her watch, or determine with what trash he was returning, because Scarface was ready with knotting his cloth into a sizeable yet tight ball.

"You won't make it easy, stubborn bitch?" he snarled when he recognized the scowl on her face and her bowed head. Unimpressed, he stepped in front of her and pressed the cloth ball against her pouting lips.

"Shove it up your ass!" she hissed through her clenched teeth and tried to turn her head away from the vile thing that was rubbed greasily over her tightly-pressed lips. But they didn't want to dally away time with her. With a sudden jerk Stinker pulled the leash down behind her back. She grunted when the strain on the rope forced her to arch her back and pressed her breasts forward up into the air. Both of her boobs felt ready to jump straight out of her untucked bodice, wantonly presented like apples ripe enough to be picked. Even though she shuddered inwardly at the thought of what harm would be done to her leaping bosom, she didn't give in, instead keeping her jaws clenched tight.

Scarface didn't leave her waiting for long. She was only briefly taken aback when she felt one of his callous hands tugging at the neckline of her tucker. His fingers easily found their way beneath her bodice and inside her chemise, rubbing roughly over her bare skin. A shiver ran down her spine when he groped her left breast and started to squeeze it.

"Nice boobies!" he laughed as he found one of her nipples and began to play with it. Not for long, though; when he had it wedged closely between his thumb and forefinger he pressed his fingers forcefully together while he raked his nails claw like over the tender flesh. A jolt of pain like a hot searing flash shot through her tortured nipple, and her startled shriek resounded through the narrow alleyway.

"Owwww...! -" Annie's howl of pain was interrupted when the prepared ball was thrust forward deep into her mouth and pressed her outstretched tongue down. The oily taste made her retch and she tried to spit it out, but the greasy cloth seemed to swell up twice its size and occupied the space behind her teeth completely. While she worked her tongue desperately to force the gag out of her mouth, Slaphead moved behind her and snapped a rolled towel down over her bulging mouth. A hard yank backward jammed the sturdy cloth deeply into her cheeks and wedged it firmly between her gritted teeth. She shuddered when she felt him wrap the towel around her head, knotting it firmly at the nap of her neck.

Scarface groped her boobs with a last, almost playful squeeze, and then withdrew his hand from her bodice. Her nipple felt sore, and the delicate skin burned like fire from his assault. She didn't know what was worse, the insidious violation of one of her most intimate body parts or the revolting disgrace to be displayed like a tethered and muzzled beast. A crushing feeling of anguish and shame overcame her, and made her scream into the gag. Her strangled wail was accompanied by large drops of drool that sprayed unstoppably between her forcibly opened lips and dripped down over her chin onto the front of her bodice. Frustrated, she bit hard down on the gag, but the sturdy material was too firmly clamped between her teeth and didn't budge.

Yet the towel was not the only one thing Slaphead had found. Her eyes widened in disbelief when she spotted a brownish jute sack in his hand, all dusty and filthy from the earthy crops that had been formerly transported inside. "You didn't think the gag was all, did you? Better not to show your pretty face around too much at the gate!" he grinned wolfishly, as he pulled the bag open with both hands.

A desperate plea formed in Annie's mind, but the thick cloth ball that had been stuffed into her mouth had robbed her of any ability to make herself understood. She pressed her tongue frantically against the maddening intruder inside her mouth, but there wasn't much room left to articulate any comprehensible speech. The towel held the bloated cloth deep inside her throat and transformed her soliciting words into unintelligible grunts. Humiliatingly, her futile attempt unleashed another thick stream of saliva that poured down disgustingly onto her breasts and bodice, further soaking the garment.

Although Slaphead had followed her wild stammering with an amused smile, he had worked further on the bag in his hands. The sturdy jute sack was now stretched wide open and ready to be enveloped around Annie's head. All that was left to her to delay the inevitable were a few meager steps backward, which were halted much too soon by Stinker's stocky frame that barred her way. She had never felt so helpless before as Slaphead stretched his hands high above her. The opening of the sack looked like a gapping maw to her, and she tried desperately to twist her arms out of the looping ropes that prevented her from raising them up and slapping away his threatening hands. Despite all her efforts, the unyielding bonds didn't give way and kept her hands uselessly tucked behind her back.

In a final step of opposition she tried to duck away. But there wasn't much space left and Slaphead was dexterous enough to slip the bag with one motion over her head and down to the neck. A stifling darkness settled over her eyes as the thick and rigid fabric stuck firmly to her hair and face. She shook her head furiously from side to side, but a pull on the cord of the sack closed its mouth tight and sealed it around her neck. She sensed how their hands pushed the sack into place, and then the cord was repeatedly slung around her throat and knotted in place. A muted cry escaped her lips, but there was no more way to get rid of the oppressive shroud cloaking her head. Bereft of her vision and no longer able to see her environment, Annie was now fully at the mercy of her abductors.

Annie's shoulders sagged forward and she bowed her head in shame. She could hear them shuffling around, but their voices were muffled by the thick cloth and sounded like they came from a distance. Within a few moments her world has been reduced to a small bubble of stifling gloom. When her vision adjusted and the homogenous darkness inside changed to a murky fog of different shades of grey, she was able to quell the rising feelings of panic that tried to constrict her throat like a serpentine root creeping out of her agitated stomach.

When she felt a pull on the leash, Annie took a hesitant step forward. The lack of light inside the hood left her blind and disorientated, and each of her further moves was made with a clumsy and wobbly feeling in her legs. Her hands were not able to help even out her unsteady steps. Every time she stumbled and threatened to fall on the ground they merely twitched uselessly in the tight bonds at her back. With time, though, her sense of balance returned somewhat, but all she could do was totter slowly on with small insecure steps. Annie moaned a muffled protest into her gag when they turned out of the small alley and then increased their walking speed on the main street. But of course they didn't care, and dragged her mercilessly on towards their final destination beyond the city gate.