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“What the hell are you doing?” The terror in the father’s voice, followed by a sharp grunt, brings me a sense of satisfaction as I push to my feet and round the tent, to find Cadmus dragging the naked man out by his foot. The blood on his face is where he clearly took the first hit of his punishment.
There will be more. Plenty more.
Across the camp, Cadmus drags his limp body over gravel and stones, until he disappears with the man over the hill.
Once they’re out of sight, I step inside the tent to see Tessa sitting curled up in the corner, naked and trembling. Light from the fire outside highlights the tears in her eyes. Beside her, the toddler girl sucks her thumb, untroubled, as if she’s used to these violent awakenings.
I lower to my knees and reach out a hand, but Tessa kicks herself away. “Are you okay?”
“Th-th-that man. He t-t-took my daddy. He’s gonna k-k-kill him.”
Her father’s scream echoes from somewhere beyond the hill, and Tessa whimpers, drawing her knees into her chest.
“He won’t kill him. Cadmus is just … punishing him for what he did to you.”
She doesn’t answer, but the tremble of her lips tells me she’s still afraid and doesn’t trust my words.
“Does your daddy punish you sometimes? When you do something bad?”
She gives a shaky nod, and the toddler beside her nods, too. “S-s-spanks us. Sometimes.”
“Well, that’s what my friend is doing. He’s punishing him, so he’ll never hurt you again.”
“He won’t k-k-kill him?”
“He won’t kill him. I promise you.”
I pray he doesn’t. As much as I wish I could rid the two of them of this man, I know they’d never make it out here on their own. From what I’ve personally come to know of the marauders roaming this desert, her father would be the lesser evil.
More screams echo in the distance, and Tessa lifts her head, as if trying to determine whether they’re by punishment, or death.
“He’s probably going to be in a lot of pain after, though. Can you take care of yourselves for a couple days?”
She nods, releasing her legs, and when she flattens them, I can see her small budding breasts over a pregnant belly, bruised with what I imagine were pinches and smacks. I shift my attention toward the youngest, to keep from staring at what only goads my anger, and I feel a level of satisfaction like nothing else when I hear the man beg Cadmus to stop his torment.
“Okay, I want you to get some clothes on. Your father will sleep by the fire. He won’t hurt you again. I promise.”
Lips downturned, she lowers her gaze and sniffles. “Okay.”
I reach for her again, and this time, she reaches back. With a smile, I give her hand a squeeze and exit the tent, closing the flap behind me.
In the distance, I see a shadowy form come over the hill, and Tessa’s father moans as Cadmus drags him back into the camp. He brings him to a stop beside the fire, and drops his leg. The moment he steps aside, I’m taken aback by the sight of the man’s bloody groin where only a piece of mangled flesh remains in place of his penis.
When Cadmus holds his blade over the flame, I slap a hand to my mouth and look away, knowing what comes next.
The flap on the tent remains closed, thankfully, so the girls won’t be privy to it, but just in case, I step in front of it.
Standing with a cigarette pressed between his lips, Cadmus lights his smoke with the orange-hot glow of the metal.
Immediately after, screams crackle like thunder, as the man’s gurgled cry nearly drowns out the sound of sizzling flesh, where Cadmus cauterizes his severed organ. The toddler inside finally cries, and I hear Tessa say, “It’s okay, Hannah. It’s going to be okay. Shhh.”
The cries die down to moaning, and Cadmus crosses the camp, nabbing one of the blankets hanging on the line. He returns to toss it over the man’s body, covering up his mutilation, while the man writhes and moans beneath, sobbing in agony.
“He’ll live,” Cadmus says, and blows off the smoke from his cigarette, as he passes me on the way back toward the truck.
Chapter 4
Wren
