Bound

Bound, the official prequel to Cornered, is an expansion of Goedenacht Maan. The opening paraphrases a section, while the rest of this chapter goes into greater detail on the bar scene. (Bound, Goedenacht Maan and Cornered are all stories of mine.)

One

“Who was Frank Breitkopf?”

Ananke jumped when she realized that Tom was in the doorway.

“What makes you think I know?”

“I’m surprised you’re playing stupid,” he replied after giving her a long look. He took a seat across from her. “Based on what Deputy Kassmeyer said, you and Frank had a lot in common.”

 “He liked to think we had a lot in common,” Ananke said, reaching for her glass. “That was just Frank’s way.”

She took a long draft and sat back on the couch.

“I wish I could tell you that our relationship was completely professional, that I was only his protégé,” Ananke said at length. “But that’s not the way it started…”

Ananke’s intuition flickered seconds before he leaned in to kiss her. She rounded on him, but the haymaker missed by a quarter of an inch. He caught her hand and made as if to kiss it.

“May I help you?”

“I love a woman with an accent.” His voice was as hypnotic as his eyes, his smile.

Ananke stared at the stranger for a moment before returning to her nachos. He immediately sat beside her, ignoring four other seats along the bar.

“Let me buy you a drink.”

“I can afford my own, thanks,” she replied, resisting the urge to flick cheese sauce in his face.

The bartender came by to refresh Ananke’s drink and the stranger ordered a scotch, neat. When they were alone, the man took a long drink and turned to her.

“Frank Breitkopf.”

“Not caring!”

Ananke saw him watching her out of the corner of her eye, as if he found her fascinating. Frank attempted to speak again, but she cut him off with a string of derogatory French.

“I—”

“If you cannot leave me alone,” she said icily. “We will take this outside.”

In a heartbeat, Frank grabbed Ananke’s hand and dragged her toward the back of the bar. Barely glancing around, he shoved her into the unisex restroom and bolted the door behind them. Reeling, Ananke spun around to face her captor, but her back was already up against the wall.

With a surety he hadn’t had a few minutes before; Frank slipped his left hand into her shirt and thrust the right into her pants. Ananke tried to use his distraction to her advantage, but Frank merely squeezed the breast he’d been fondling and pressed their bodies closer together. By the time his left hand slipped around to cup her ass, it was too late. Grinning, Frank shoved a finger inside her and made a “come hither” gesture.

Ananke screamed.

He seized her lips in a scorching kiss as his finger took on a new rhythm. Ananke tried to shove him away, but Frank held the balance of the power. Several agonizing minutes later, he pulled away.

“Did you enjoy that?”

“Let me out of here!” Ananke shrieked, lunging for the door. Her fingers were fumbling at the lock when he caught her and threw her face-first into a nearby wall.

“Oh no,” Frank murmured in her ear. “You’re much too pretty to let go!”

Ananke tried to stomp on his foot, but got a knife resting on her carotid artery for her trouble.

“We’re going to go out there and you’re not going to create a fuss.” His murmurs had turned into a hiss. “We had lots of fun in here, didn’t we?”

Frank eased up on the knife long enough for her to nod.

“That’s right. We’ll go out there arm-in-arm. I’ll pay the bill and we’ll leave together.”

He released her slowly, gently…and unlocked the door. Ananke tried to run when they entered the corridor, but Frank caught her wrist and dragged her to his side. With his arm firmly around Ananke’s waist, Frank paid the bartender and stepped out into the chilly autumn evening.

“Stay with me or the knife comes out.”

Ananke said nothing, being careful to match his pace. They made it to the back of the parking lot without incident, but when they reached an old Airstream, Ananke shied away.

“No…”

This time, he caught her in a headlock.

“You will look at what I have to show you or I will forget to ease up!”

She made a choking noise and Frank reached out to unlock the door. Ananke covered her eyes as a voice shrilled in her mind, but Frank tore them away.

“Isn’t it lovely? So clean, so unblemished…” His voice was warm and wet in her ear. “I bring all my Honored Guests here…”

Before Frank could finish his sentence, Ananke screamed. It was a scream like none he had ever heard, making his very bones vibrate. Ananke drew breath to scream again, but the first had already done its job—Frank threw her to the ground and stumbled toward the trailer. Despite the clamoring in his head, Frank was able to grab the emergency syringe of Ketamine and jam the needle into her neck. Then he, too, collapsed.

~*~

Ananke awoke to a penlight in her eyes. She moaned, then lashed out, cursing in Dutch.

“Get up!”

She didn’t move.

“Come on! Up!”

Ananke rolled to her side and sat up, sluggish. When he realized she wasn’t going to move any faster, Frank helped her off the bed.

“Stay there and don’t move,” he growled.

Frank stepped aside and Ananke caught sight of her naked body in the mirror.

“What are you doing?!”

Ananke scrambled onto the bed in an attempt to cover herself, but Frank was faster. Cursing, he clobbered her over the head and hauled her to her feet.

“I said, stand still!”

After waiting to see if she would obey, Frank began to walk around her, taking great care to examine everything from her hair down to her toenails. Ananke allowed her eyes to stray long enough to determine that they were in a cheap motel room, then resolutely stood still until Frank gestured her back to the bed.

“Before you chose to imitate a banshee, I was about to tell you that you could avoid becoming an Honored Guest.”

Ananke thought back to the trailer. It had been pristine, almost antiseptic, but she knew what it was used for.

“How?” she whispered.

“Become my protégé.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Your ribs will make lovely wind chimes.”

Without waiting for her to answer, he added, “You must obey me totally. No questions. If I say you go, you go. If I say you stay, you stay. And if I say you kill…”

“I kill.”