Page 58 of Kidnapped By the Beast
The brightness outside the Halls of Justice hit her like a slap. They were in a crowded place but at first she couldn’t make out any details, blinded as she was by the light.
“Come on now—up you get!”
The Terian officers hauled her up onto a raised dais in the middle of a public square. A sea of faces turned as one, the crowd surging closer, eager to see the spectacle. Voices rose, curious…hungry…laughing.
Lexi staggered, her eyes widening as she saw the contraption waiting for her.
Stocks—just like the ones she remembered from her childhood trip to Colonial Williamsburg with three holes—one for the neck in the center and one on either side for the wrists. Except these stocks were built from a dark alien wood that gleamed like obsidian—heavy and cruel. The boards were carved with sayings in Terian script, all about punishment and chastisement. They looked designed to bite into skin—to bruise and pinch as they held the prisoner in place.
Lexi’s knees went weak.
They’re really going to put me in those. In front of everyone, with this thing up inside me!
The officers shoved her down, bent at the waist as they forced her neck and wrists into place. The wood clamped shut, its weight pressing hard against the back of her neck. The scent of wood and blood and old sweat filled her nose, making her stomach turn.
One leaned down, his breath hot against her ear.
“Don’t cry, off-worlder—you’re lucky the Magistrate ordered you fitted with the officering device.”
“If you mean this thing you shoved inside me,” Lexi spat, her voice trembling, “I don’t feel lucky at all!”
He chuckled darkly.
“Then take a look at what happens without it.”
Lexi followed his gesture, turning her head with difficulty in the tight confines of the stocks. And then she saw it—another set of stocks stood nearby.
A Terian woman was locked into them, her skirt shoved up around her waist, her breasts dangling down like clusters of fruit. Her body was slack, her head hanging forward—hair plastered to her sweaty skin.
Behind her stretched a line of men, each waiting his turn.
The one currently inside her thrust hard, grunting with effort, his hips slamming against her bare backside. She whimpered weakly but didn’t resist—how could she when she was locked into such a vulnerable position?
When the Terian man assaulting her finished, he pulled out with a wet sound and the next man stepped forward, already hard, stroking himself eagerly as he pushed into her.
The crowd jeered and laughed, some shouting crude encouragements. Others cheered as if it were sport.
Lexi’s stomach roiled and she wished she couldn’t see the awful sight.
Oh God—they’re using her like a toy, like an animal! She doesn’t even look conscious anymore. And they’re all waiting their turn like it’s nothing—like she’s nothing.
The officer’s words echoed in her ear. You’re lucky.
Lucky. Because the iron device inside her meant she’d be spared that fate.
Lexi’s throat constricted.
Lucky. Sure. Except every step, every shift of my weight grinds this thing inside me until I want to scream. Except I’m naked, locked in wood, with everyone staring at me.
But still, it was better than what was happening to that poor woman beside her.
“It’ll all be over in an hour,” the officer said casually, as though announcing a lunch break. “Be good and don’t struggle—you don’t want to extend your time.”
An hour? Lexi thought. Right now even a minute in this position felt like an eternity. But there was nothing she could do. She was trapped.
The Terian officers stepped back, leaving her alone in the stocks. The crowd surged closer, pointing…whispering…laughing. She heard the words over and over: off-worlder, off-worlder. Fingers pointed at her bare breasts where they hung helplessly, swaying each time she shifted.
Her nipples hardened in the cool air, drawing even more attention. A man’s laugh rang out. A woman pointed. Children craned their necks to see.
