Black Harvest

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

Bright lights came on. Two large men brought a chair into the cell. Stephanie watched them. The chair was made of heavy wood. The seat was cut out in the middle, like a child's potty training chair. This chair was full size, with leather straps fixed to the arms and legs. Stephanie tried to hold down her fear. A third man entered, carrying an aluminum case. He reminded her of a bank clerk from a black and white movie about the Depression. He was short and balding and small, prissy looking, with a prim brown mustache and a pinched chin. He wore a vest and round, steel rimmed glasses. His lips were pursed. He eyed her with indifference. It chilled her.

"Strip her. Put her in the chair."

The men came over to her. One of them wrapped his huge arms around her while the other unshackled her from the cot. She struggled and tried to bite him.

He punched her in the stomach. She doubled over. They ripped off her clothes and tossed them aside. They carried her squirming to the chair while the prissy man watched and smoked a cigarette. They sat her in the chair and tied her down with the leather straps and left the room. A minute later they came back carrying a table and a box. They set the table down by the chair with the box on top of it.

"That's all." The third man dismissed them. "Close the door behind you."

"Yes, sir." They left the room. The door clanged shut. She was alone with the prim man.

He smiled, an unpleasant smile. "In this room we are going to get to know each other."

"Fuck you."

"No, not that. Something much more…intimate."

He hummed to himself and laid the aluminum case on the table. He opened it. The lid contained a row of rubber topped vials, three syringes, swabs, alcohol and something in a tube.

From the bottom of the case he took out a white cloth bundle. He unrolled it and placed it on the table. It contained a polished scalpel, a narrow forceps of surgical steel, a set of three different kinds of pliers and an assortment of odd shaped pointed probes.

He opened the box. It had a large car battery, wire leads and a smaller box with a dial.

Steph's breath came faster. It was just a battery. How much pain could he inflict with a battery? She could handle it. She told herself she could handle it. What did he want? Who was he?

"Let me explain why you are here. I advise you to speak civilly to me. Understand?" His voice was quiet.

Her lips were dry. "Yes."

"You are going to tell me about Demeter. How did you know about it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, they always say that. Of course you know what I am talking about. Please do not waste our time together. You are Stephanie Willits. You work for a covert unit called the Project. You found out about Demeter. I want to know how."

Steph was silent.

"Cat got your tongue? No matter."

The man seemed to be coming alive as he spoke. A light sheen of sweat covered his forehead. His eyes darted over her naked body. He took a syringe from the case, selected a vial of clear liquid, filled the syringe, squirted a bit into the air. Her upper and lower arms were clamped tight to the chair. He probed for a vein, swabbed the spot with alcohol and injected her. In a few seconds she felt a rush of heat over her body. Her pupils dilated. The room was suddenly too bright. She felt something else.

Sexual arousal.

"Interesting, isn't it?" he said. "The effect lasts about an hour. Our Chinese friends developed this as an aphrodisiac. Of course, they use a much smaller amount. It has other applications with a dose like yours. Let me show you."

He leaned close. She could smell his foul breath. He extended his forefinger and ran a yellowed nail lightly over her breast. The sensation was like nothing she'd ever experienced. Every nerve ending was incredibly alive. The feel of the nail across her skin was almost unbearable, intense, just short of pain, on the border between pain and ecstasy. She gasped. She couldn't help herself. She jerked away against the restraining straps. They felt like barbed wire

"That was just my finger." He picked up the scalpel. The edge gleamed. He held it up in front of her eyes. He moved it back and forth. Her eyes followed the shining blade. He smiled.

"Tell me how you found out about Demeter."

Steph tried to control her fear. "I don't know anything about Demeter. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a secretary."

"Oh, very good. I can see you will be entertaining."

He took the dull handle end of the scalpel and pushed it against her arm. The pain was intense, as if someone had stabbed her. She screamed and tried to pull away. The straps around her arms and legs were like bands of fire.

He set the scalpel down, reached over to the box and took out two wire leads with large metal alligator clips on the end. He turned the dial.

"Watch." He brought the clips close. A blue-white electric arc sparked between them. He took the clips and briefly touched them to her, one on each leg.

The pain was total, instant, overwhelming. Her bladder let go. When she opened her eyes he was watching her. He lit another cigarette.

"That was at the lowest voltage. The battery is only twelve volts. It won't kill you. The next time I use this I will clip one lead to your nipple. Guess where the other one goes?" He giggled. "Can you imagine what that will feel like?"

He took a deep drag on the cigarette and blew smoke at the ceiling.

"There is an interesting effect I haven't shared with you. As your body is overloaded with sensation, it will begin to shut down the response. That is when I increase the voltage."

"Fuck you, you creepy prick."

"Will you tell me what I want to know?"

She shook her head. He sighed, the sound of a disappointed parent.

"Why don't you think about it for a bit?" He glanced at his watch. "I am going to come back in exactly two hours. I will inject a new dose. Then you will tell me everything."

He put out the cigarette on her naked thigh. By the time she stopped screaming he had left the room.