Cammy Caballero in: Strings of the Puppet

Note: Although part of a larger series, this can be read as a standalone story

Thwack, thwack, thwack, the sickening sound of flesh slapping against flesh was all that could be heard in the newsroom of the Uptown Tribune, as every journalist on the floor gathered around to watch the horrifying video footage. The tape had arrived earlier that day in an unmarked package and sat all morning on the desk of Henry Marling, the paper’s crime correspondent, being ignored in favour of more promising leads. It wasn’t until noon that he finally decided to open it, and along with the tape he found a letter that was intriguing enough. It simply demanded that a story be published about the tape, one that included stills of the video, and it ended with a vague threat that was hard to interpret. By that point a small crowd had gathered around and someone rushed to grab a tv set and a tape player from the common room and set it up on a spare desk. The front of the tape was ominously labelled in black marker with a woman’s name, Summer Davis. Henry swore that he recognised the name but he couldn’t put his finger on it as the tape started playing, and a video clearly recorded with a handheld camera began in a dark apartment building. The small crowd watched in horror as the video continued, a tall blonde woman who had clearly been beaten to the point of submission was filmed lying on a bare metal bed frame, stripped naked, begging for mercy. Slowly and sickeningly, the recorder filmed himself turning her over onto her stomach and sliding his dick between her asscheeks from behind, violating her as she sobbed loudly. No one wanted to continue watching but at the same time everyone was frozen in place, unable to look away or stop the tape. Henry recognised her face from the few seconds it appeared in frame and remembered who the woman was, Summer Davis was one of the city’s top prosecutors. The vague threat in the letter was clear now in context; Publish the story or a worse tape would be arriving soon.

Cammy Caballero watched from near the back of the crowd. She was a junior reporter with a lot of talent, but more importantly she had something to prove. She had caught her boss’ attention after she was sent to report on a prestigious high school’s centennial celebrations and came back with a huge story on illegal misconduct among the school’s top students and evidence of cover ups from the staff and some very wealthy and prestigious families. Despite all this, she was still mostly being assigned to routine jobs while she waited for some kind of opportunity to break into something more interesting. To make matters worse, an old college friend of hers had just been hired by the paper to write a gossip column, and Cammy knew that it was only because her father was so well connected in the city. Cammy and Victoria Rochefort had grown distant since their college days, following a traumatic experience they both went through that Cammy couldn’t help but partly blame herself for instigating. Still, she resented Victoria having her own daily column thanks to her family’s name while Cammy herself still fought for every publication despite clearly proving her merit already. Along with her talent, Cammy also had a habit of getting herself into trouble, and if this feeling of resentment was the fuel ready to ignite her latest ordeal, the mysterious package was the spark that would light it.

Shortly after viewing the tape and taking a few minutes to process what they had just seen, the entire newsroom burst into a flurry of trying to gather as much information as possible. Cammy joined in of course, wondering if there was some detail she could crack first, but she had no contacts in that world and like with most interesting things in the newsroom she was relegated to watch it evolve from afar. It wasn’t long before the basic facts were straightened out and the chief of police himself was in the building, the woman was just who Henry had thought, she had gone missing a few days prior and there was no apparent suspect for who might have taken her. She had certainly made a lot of enemies in her career as a prosecutor but at that time they were all either in jail or had their alibis checked by the police already. Equally hot as the mystery of who this kidnapper was, a debate quickly started on what the newspaper was actually going to do with the tape. The men who wrote on crime and knew Summer argued that they had no choice, if they didn’t publish they could be responsible for her death, whereas the police chief insisted that they not cooperate, warning against the clear danger of playing this sick man’s game. He admitted that due to something of an oversight in the city’s evidence laws it was ultimately the decision of the paper, and the editor was inclined to agree with most of his staff. Cammy could see both sides, she believed that this guy might kill Summer if they didn’t comply, but at the same time she couldn’t help but consider the larger effect of publishing pictures of one of the most powerful women in the city being used like a sex slave. Not that she had a vote anyway. Eventually the editor solemnly made the call that they would publish, stills were taken from the video, and the next day the front page of The Uptown Tribune was plastered with Summer’s naked and bruised body being used like a piece of meat.

It was a dark day for everyone at the paper, Cammy included, as they all waited desperately for news from the police. No one could bring themselves to do any real work, most people were just standing around their desks in hushed conversations. As Cammy sat in her tiny cubicle absently tracing her pencil over the list of criminals Summer had helped put away, she suddenly noticed a familiar face on the floor. A number of police officers had been in and out of the building recently, but Cammy recognised this one. Her name was Officer Zoe Sweeney, and she was the one who had taken her initial statement after she exposed a money laundering conspiracy at her university and was almost killed for it. She still remembered how much easier her cool and patient attitude had made it to explain what had happened. It was only around a year ago, though it felt like much longer.

“Hey!” Cammy called over to her, smiling for the first time that day. The young brunette turned and after recognising her smiled back and walked over.

“Cammy! Cammy Caballero, it’s been a while!” She said warmly, the two women embracing each other. Though they hadn’t spoken since the university case was wrapped up, they greeted each other like old friends and got to work catching up on each other’s lives. It was a welcome respite from the grim situation that neither of them could do anything to help resolve. Cammy was surprised to learn that she had given Zoe something of a boost in her career by letting her be the person she told her story to first. Zoe had managed to involve herself heavily in the investigation and it was a huge opportunity for her, earning her a promotion. Cammy was pleased to hear it, but she couldn’t help but pivot into her own frustrations with her position at the paper.

“Come on, you’re just starting out and look how far you’ve come already!” Zoe answered, almost scolding her, but Cammy shrugged and looked away.

“I know I’m being impatient, but I also know that I deserve more than this. I’ve proven it already.” She said flatly. Zoe looked thoughtful for a second, as if she was considering something, before she slowly explained herself.

“Well… I might know a way you could get a foot in the door with something big. But I’ll have to ask my boss, it’s a real long shot.” Zoe started, and before she even explained what it was she was talking about Cammy had her notebook and pen ready to go. The two girls relocated to the female bathrooms, which were practically empty since all the secretaries had been sent home for the day. Zoe turned on one of the taps to drown out her voice, making Cammy lean in close to hear.

“Sorry, but there are certain things the police know that we’re not sharing with the press yet, if something leaked I would be in huge trouble.” She explained, “But I can trust you, right?” Cammy nodded in response, ready to furiously write down whatever came next. Zoe explained that the police didn’t have any suspects, but they did have an idea of the kidnapper based on several other incidents they believed were related. A month ago a female officer was ambushed in her squad car, knocked unconscious, and stripped of her clothing, and before that a forensic expert who worked with the police department was attacked in her own home by an intruder. Before they were assumed to be unrelated crimes but with the addition of Summer a pattern emerged, all the women were involved in the case of one man, a serial rapist who had been caught a few years ago. The press had dubbed him ‘The Puppeteer’ after his MO of tying up his victims and contorting their bodies to his liking. All the women targeted so far had been involved in his capture or sentencing, and though the man himself was still in prison they couldn’t rule out that he was somehow orchestrating this from inside. Cammy listened intently, enthralled by the fact that she was hearing this before anyone else outside the police. But that wasn’t even the most interesting part, the police had a good idea of who might be targeted next, and they were setting up a sting operation to catch this new attacker in the act.

“There’s one more woman who he might target, and that’s the officer who made the actual arrest, put The Puppeteer in handcuffs and took him into the station.” Zoe went on.

“Who is it?” Cammy almost demanded, leaning forward.

“Me!” Zoe exclaimed, much to Cammy’s immediate shock and deep concern.

“Don’t worry, I’m being guarded like I’m the president right now, I’m in no danger. But this guy doesn’t know we’ve caught onto him and when I go out ‘on patrol’ he’ll fall right into our trap.” She explained. Cammy couldn’t hide the look of worry on her face, but it quickly evaporated when Zoe explained that if she asked, Cammy might be able to report on it first hand. The opportunity was massive, sure it was scary, but Zoe assured her over and over that there was no way it could go south, other officers would be watching her at all times and she would have a tracking device on her. When Cammy came around to the idea Zoe clapped her on the shoulder enthusiastically.

“Great, we’d just have to find you an officer’s uniform that fits, partner.” She winked.

“What are you talking about? Partner? I would actually come with you on patrol?” Cammy asked, flabbergasted.

“That’s right, if my boss approves you coming along, and I think he will. This whole thing has really shaken the city’s trust in us, a good story about bringing the bastard in could do wonders for the chief’s reputation.” Zoe assured her. They went around in circles for another half hour, Cammy almost in complete disbelief, although she knew it was only a matter of time before she acquiesced. Ultimately, she was never going to turn down an opportunity like this.

***

Cammy tugged a little at her clothing in the slightly too tight police uniform, a blue dress shirt tucked into her black pants under the waistband of her belt. She may have looked like a policewoman but she didn’t feel like one, in fact as she crept through the pouring rain, heading down a dark alley in some forgotten corner of the city, the only thing she felt was fear. The last few days had gone by in a blur, first Summer was found alive, barely, having been released by her assailant but with no useful information for the police. With nothing else to go on they had no choice but to proceed with the sting operation, and with Zoe’s insistence, Cammy had been allowed to join her. The two girls left the station in a squad car, Zoe making sure to let herself be seen from the street so she would be followed, her first patrol since Summer’s release. After a few hours of slowly cruising around the city pretending to do police work and occasionally stopping so Zoe could take a walk down a quiet side street that was secretly being monitored by the police, they finally stopped to take a break. That’s when Zoe had spotted someone skulking about in the shadows and gone to investigate, and after not hearing from her for fifteen minutes Cammy had followed.

When she got out of the car she was driven by some mad determination not to miss out on witnessing something first hand and had convinced herself that they weren’t being followed anyway, but now as she found herself wandering through the tiny side streets calling out Zoe’s name, her nerves had come back. She clung tightly to the can of mace in her pocket, keeping it concealed for now, not sure if she was still being monitored by the police or if she had wandered too far. She suddenly deeply regretted leaving the car. Where was Zoe? She turned another corner and to her horror the answer presented itself. On the other side of the street was what looked like a body on the ground, though it was hard to see much else in the rain and darkness.

“Zoe!” Cammy called out, rushing over as fast as she could. With her guard down, she never expected the sudden hand swinging out of the darkness and going straight for her throat, nor did she see where it came from. Out of nowhere there was someone behind her holding her neck tightly, choking her and grappling at her arms at the same time. She tried to take out the mace but it slipped from her wet fingers and flew through the air before clattering to the ground nearby. Adrenaline coursed through her as she tried to blindly fight back, wrestling against her assailant’s superior strength. She couldn’t scream with her throat being clenched so tight, but a glimmer of hope surfaced as she broke her arms free. It was a short lived triumph however, as she realised her attacker had let go on purpose and swiftly delivered a blow to her stomach that almost knocked her over. A part of her knew what was coming, as the dark figure proceeded to beat her swiftly and savagely, delivering blow after blow until she couldn’t do anything to resist. Only then did he lean down and sling her limp body over his shoulder, barely conscious, and carry her away. Her last blurred memories of the scene were being dumped in the trunk of a car, and watching as the lid was slammed down over her by the horrifying silhouette of her assailant.

***

As Cammy slowly regained consciousness, the first thing she became aware of was a pounding headache that drowned out the aches and bruises all over the rest of her. She had taken a nasty blow to the head, she could feel it throbbing and even as her vision returned she felt fuzzy. She was in a dark room, lying on her back, and she could hear rain outside. As the dizziness subsided she realised her arms were pulled back behind her, but when she tried to move them she felt not only the metallic rims of a pair of handcuffs biting into her skin but something tightening around her bare neck, choking her and forcing her to stop moving. She quickly realised that the handcuffs had been tethered to a coil of rope that was elaborately woven into the bare metallic frame she was lying on, looping down and back up around her neck. The noose was made of two separate threads that tightened in opposite directions around her delicate skin. She tested her legs and found that her ankles were bound to the bottom of the frame, one to each corner, keeping her firmly in place. Knowing she couldn’t move, she looked around and slowly took in the scene, the pounding headache refusing to let up. She was wearing the same blue uniform dress shirt she was taken in, but the fake badge and tie had disappeared, the top button undone. The shirt was tucked into her belt and black slacks but her shoes and socks were gone. A deep feeling of dread joined the fear and pain as she realised she recognised her surroundings. This is where that video was filmed, it was obvious now that for whatever reason she had become the next victim of this violent psychopath. She screamed out for help as loud as she could but after a few minutes she gave up, assuming that since no one had heard her so far and her kidnapper hadn’t bothered to gag her there was probably no one around to hear. She recalled that Summer Davis hadn’t been gagged in the video either. Where in the world was she?

The minutes ticked by uneventfully, the rain refusing to let up outside and her bonds refusing to budge. The sense of dread in her stomach slowly intensified, she tried to tell herself that since she wasn’t involved in the Puppeteer case she might not meet the same fate as Summer Davis, but it became harder and harder to deny the position she was in. Maybe the kidnapper had mistaken her and Zoe’s identities, but even if that was the case would he really spare her? It seemed more likely that she would simply take Zoe’s role in the next video. As if cued by that thought, Cammy suddenly jolted against her restraints in shock as she noticed a figure in the corner of the room. He was tall and stocky but stood in an odd way, almost hunched over a little, giving him a slightly monstrous appearance. He was wearing black utility pants and a black top, both soaked from the rain, and to cover his face he was wearing a white cardboard mask, totally plain and featureless. He stood there staring at her, making every hair on her body stand on end.

“Listen, you have the wrong person. I wasn’t involved with The Puppeteer.” Cammy explained carefully, trying to remain calm. She didn’t know what she expected him to say but somehow nothing prepared her for what followed, which was total silence as he shambled over to her, never breaking eye contact from behind the tiny slits in the mask. She noticed there was a camcorder strapped to his right hand and a little red light indicated that it was recording already. Something told her that he wasn’t going to respond while the tape was running. Soon he was looming over her, and she couldn’t help but struggle against the bonds again as he raised the camera to get a good view of the bed. She looked straight at the lens, knowing that in all likelihood her colleagues would be seeing this soon. She closed her eyes in fear as he leant down, half expecting him to start beating her again, but instead he reached down to her shirt and slowly undid more buttons, until it was sitting there open, revealing her red bra underneath. From behind his back somewhere he produced a small penknife and took it to her chest, slipping it under the shirt and carefully slicing apart the bra’s shoulder straps. He undid the clasp at the front with one hand before pulling the garment away from her body and tossing it aside, leaving her bare nipples only just hidden by the fabric of the shirt draped over them.

With swift and expertly accurate movements, the man took the ropes binding her ankles and moved them up one at a time to either side of her chest, threading the strands under the metal slats of the bedframe and back up, so he could pull them tight to force Cammy’s legs up above her waist and against the frame. The resulting position was humiliatingly vulgar, but Cammy already knew what was going to happen, and she couldn’t take her eyes off the camera, which was pointing directly between her legs, the tight slacks almost ripping at the seams. All it took was the lightest graze against her crotch from the knife for the material to break apart with a loud tearing sound, revealing her red satin panties, bunched up into her ass crack and barely covering her labia. Cammy groaned in humiliation as he brought the camera up close to her crotch, grabbing the delicate fabric in a fist and pulling it tight against her pussy lips. He took his time playing with her body on tape, giving more of a show than she had seen with Summer. He pulled the panties to the side and spread her lips wide, teasing her clit lightly with his fingers, making her muscles strain against the rope and her body squirm as much as it could. Then unexpectedly, he flicked her right on the clit with his index finger, hard, making her stomach churn with pain. She couldn’t help but let out a pained yell, and sure enough the camera came up to capture her wounded expression. Next he cut away the panties entirely with the knife, tossing aside the material and completely exposing her with her legs up either side of her chest. He brought the camera up to her tightly puckered asshole and rubbed his thumb over it, finally making her break her silence.

“Please… Not there…” She groaned, but of course he didn’t even react to her words. Sickeningly, he pressed his index finger against her asshole and slowly applied pressure, eventually sinking it in despite her strongest effort to resist him. Her mind had to race to catch up with reality, this had to be a bad dream, how could this be happening to her? After fingering her ass for half a minute he moved on, pulling back with the camera and reaching one hand to his own pants, undoing them and letting them drop. He was naked underneath, and of course his cock was already hard, long and thick, as if it was built for violation. Cammy couldn’t help it anymore, tears started to roll down her cheeks as he leant forward, towering over her and resting the head of his cock against her pussy lips. She made no noise as he perfectly framed his member penetrating her body, burying itself inside and skewering her all the way in one slow thrust until he was resting his hips against her, the camera now inches from her face, capturing the pain in her eyes and the fresh tears that emerged. With his free hand he slipped two fingers between her lips, making her gag as she tasted her own asshole. She tried to bite down but he was so strong even in those two fingers, holding her jaw open. As he slowly began to thrust in and out of her, drilling her down against the bed frame, he reached up and pulled her wrists up in the handcuffs, making the ropes around her neck tighten and choke her. She spluttered desperately as her air supply was cut off and she was slowly fucked harder and harder, the camera capturing every strained muscle in her face as it went red. She was already in a weakened state and she wasn’t sure how much more punishment her body could take, she felt herself fading even as she tried to focus herself on keeping it together. Despite her best efforts to fight the urge to give up, the rough fucking only got rougher, and as her pussy was pounded into oblivion her vision started to blur. It wasn’t long before she felt her concentration fading away and she slowly lost consciousness, still with his cock deep inside her.

***

Cammy awoke sometime later to find that she had been moved. Her body still ached with pain but her head wasn’t hurting anymore. She was kneeling on the floor of the same dingy room, but her body was bent backwards so that she was angled up at the ceiling. Her arms were wrenched behind her and bound tightly to a piece of exposed piping sticking straight up out of the floor, bindings at her wrists, elbows and shoulders keeping them locked in a vertical position, bending her back painfully as she rested on her knees. She was a flexible girl, but as she tried to get to her feet in a crouching position she found her ankles were bound to her wrists at the bottom of the pipe, keeping her completely ensnared in the position. Her clothing had been entirely stripped from her body, leaving her full, perky breasts pointing up at the ceiling, her light brown nipples jutting out in the cold apartment air. She felt incredibly exposed, but no amount of struggling or squirming offered her any modesty. As she slowly, helplessly tried to get her wrists free, the only thing she could think of was why she had been taken and not Zoe. Not that she would wish this on anyone, but it made no sense. The attack was so personal, so intimate, yet she had nothing to do with The Puppeteer. Whoever her kidnapper was he was certainly good with ropes, hours passed and her wrists turned red from straining against the rough bindings before she finally gave up. Too terrified and uncomfortable to sleep, she simply waited until, like some waking nightmare, the freakish figure wandered into the room in front of her again. The mask still covered his face, the camcorder in his hand but at his side, not recording.

“You know you won’t get away with this, you can’t keep attacking whoever you want. Every officer in the city is looking for you.” Cammy said, as the man slowly approached her. Then, unexpectedly, he spoke back, his voice coming out in a thin rasp, so unnatural it was almost otherworldly.

“They’ll search and find nothing. But they will see your performance, this is my greatest piece yet.” He said, the strange words leaving Cammy almost without any of her own to respond with.

“But why… Me?” She asked, bewildered.

“You think I work for The Puppeteer… An understandable mistake, your friend would have made a fine target but you are a much better one.” He murmured. Cammy would have tried to keep him talking but she was weak and it was clear to her that whatever she said wasn’t going to get her out of this. He stepped forward, dropping a small piece of metal attached to a string, holding it up from his fingers. It looked like a little two pronged hook, and it wasn’t until he brought it up to her face that she realised what it was. She struggled at first, but after a few brutal slaps across the face from which she physically couldn’t defend herself, she stopped resisting and let him hook the prongs into her nose, the metal bulbs digging in and making her eyes water. He pulled the string back, bending her head back and forcing her to look up as he tied the other end to the top of the pipe where her shoulders were bound. Now she was truly on display, not even able to move her neck around, only able to squirm ever so slightly in the bindings.

“You were weak before. Our story needs an ending.” He said, bringing the camcorder back up and turning it on, the small machine whirring to life.

“You sick bastard…” Cammy groaned through gritted teeth, as he zoomed in on her contorted face until it filled the viewfinder. Her nose was pulled back painfully, making her look almost more like a wild animal than a woman. Next he panned the camera down, displaying every inch of her perfect body, showing it what a woman she really was while she helplessly squirmed in place. Quickly he unclothed himself again, revealing his cock to her once more, stepping up close so it was towering over her figure. While it was still semi erect he slapped it down against her face, using one hand to smack it against her cheeks, then against her closed lips. She could see it getting harder, and soon he was stroking with his free hand, keeping the camera on her. As if needing more excitement to get himself off, he crudely grabbed her nipples and pulled her tits up, giving the same treatment to each one at a time, making her groan in pain. He followed it up with a couple of hard smacks against the same tender flesh, and she gritted her teeth to stop herself screaming. It seemed to be enough to make him want to start stroking his cock again, and she could tell he was getting close to climax. With the nose hook holding her in place she couldn’t turn her head away, and something in her refused to let her close her eyes as he held his cock over her body, the camera perfectly catching the explosion of cum that erupted from his member, spraying her torso and face with his seed. It came in bursts, and there was plenty of it, giving her eyes a coating, dripping down her lips, spraying her breasts. He made sure to capture the scene perfectly, and spent a long time afterwards getting close ups of every part of her, while tears started to pour down her face and mix in with the disgusting mess. In the end, all she could do was look pleadingly into the camera, trying to blink the cum out of her eyes, hoping that whoever would watch this could help her somehow. The camera was then placed on the floor, facing the back wall so the two of them were out of frame completely. As the man descended on her yet again the only evidence collected would be the sound of his belt unbuckling and a series of sharp claps, followed by her unfettered screams.

***

The next time Cammy awoke, she had yet again been moved, this time far more dramatically. Her battered and bruised body had been stuffed back into the police outfit she was wearing when she was taken, only with the huge hole still in the crotch and no underwear to give her any modesty. Her hair was tied up in a bun, her face still plastered with dried cum. She was barely conscious, her entire body ached and her vision was slightly blurry. She was sitting in what she quickly realised was a car. Her arms were up in front of her, her wrists handcuffed with the chain running through the handle above the passenger side door. She was strapped into the passenger seat by the seat belt, which had been pulled as tight as possible against her body and somehow jammed in place. Her ankles were also cuffed to something below the seat, leaving her completely stuck. She was gagged too, a large red rubber ball strapped in between her teeth. Slowly looking around, she saw a copy of The Uptown Tribune sitting on the driver's seat, turned to face her. The headline on the frontpage read: WE SAY NO, NO MORE COOPERATION WITH CRAZED KIDNAPPER. Tears welled in Cammy’s eyes as a flurry of different emotions poured through her. First the humiliation, knowing that her tape had been sent to the paper and the whole floor had probably watched it like they did with Summer’s. Then the relief seeing that they had clearly refused to publish the tape, then the horror, realising that she was about to face the punishment for such a refusal. The car was only lit by the dim interior light, and outside was pitch black. With what little strength she had left she struggled, trying to slip free of the cuffs or get off the seat, but it was hopeless. After some amount of time the car suddenly came to life, the electronics turning on and the dashboard lighting up. She could see now that the steering wheel had been removed and the exposed wires underneath had been looped around to some kind of device sitting on the floor near the pedals. This device was attached to a digital clock which had just turned to midnight, and it seemed to have started the ignition. The car slowly lurched forward at the same time that a roller door in front of it inched up, dim light pouring into the room, which was apparently some kind of cluttered garage. The opening led out to a dim alleyway, nothing getting in the way as the car accelerated by itself. Slowly it sped up, steadily gaining speed as it kept a straight bearing and exited the alleyway onto an actual street. At first it seemed that she was in some totally abandoned corner of the city, but as she continued to gain speed she saw another car passing across a junction in front of her. Her heart raced - She was strapped into a car that she had no control over, and it was going straight down the street, gaining speed. She started to struggle again, harder this time, yelling into the gag and desperately looking out the windows. There were a few other cars around but no one seemed to take notice. She was speeding up more now, nearing the speed limit as another intersection rapidly approached. As she zoomed straight through a red light another car slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting her, the horn sounding through the quiet night as she careened away, exceeding the limit. Cammy was panicking, she jumped herself up and down in the seat, trying to gain enough force to open the seat belt, but it was holding in the latch. She quickly spotted a speed bump ahead and timed her next attempt. As the car launched itself over the hump with a heavy thud, she flung her weight upwards and sure enough the seat belt came loose, partly freeing her body, even though she was still cuffed in at both ends. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out a next move, the speed bump slowed her down a little but the car was still picking up speed and the street was becoming busier as it led deeper into the city. There were lots more cars around now, desperately swerving to avoid her as she drifted between two lanes at high speed. Her options were limited when she couldn’t use her hands, so she began to swing herself from side to side, trying to somehow break the fixtures she was latched onto. Her eyes were fixed ahead on the rapidly accelerating cityscape, cars constantly darting out of the way now, when something poked hard against the side of her ass, hitting a bruise and sending pain shooting through her body. She looked down and saw that she had bumped the emergency brake, which was sitting intact in the centre despite everything else that seemed to have been stripped out. She knew she had seconds left before disaster, so she wasted no time in sidling around and, terrifyingly, turning her back to the windshield, stretching her body at an awkward angle to jam her knee under the lever. She bent her neck back to see where she was going, just as the car launched over another speed bump, the impact as it hit the ground almost knocking Cammy out, her head spinning. Somehow keeping her knee in place, she watched as the car started to drift hard to the side towards a block of apartments. She yanked the brake up as hard as she could manage and an awful screeching sound rang out as the wheels lost traction and she skidded around sideways, careening into the sidewalk and hitting a bus stop, albeit at a suddenly reduced speed. Still, the car turned over itself, and Cammy closed her eyes as the world spun and she rolled through the air. She didn’t have a hope of staying conscious, her last feeling being pure terror as she saw the newspaper tumbling through the air around her.

***

Cammy was told by the doctors that she was lucky to not only survive but avoid any serious injury, but as she lay in the hospital bed she felt anything but lucky. She could still feel that man’s hands on her, still feel the total humiliation and perversion he had put her through, not to mention the pain. Sure, she had been abused before, but this was different. Before she had always had the last word, she had done what it took to get justice, but not this time. For a while there was a police officer posted outside her hospital room at all hours, but eventually they told her the threat had been downgraded and she was no longer in immediate danger. Somehow she agreed, she had a feeling that he wouldn’t come after her again, but he was still out there, still a threat to whoever his next target was. Her boss had insisted she take a break from the paper, even offered to send her out on a retreat so she could get her head back together, a gesture that she could only interpret as pity, knowing that he had probably seen every second of what happened to her on video. She would take the retreat, she didn’t want to stay in the city anyway, but there was no way she was taking a break. Scribbling onto a tiny pad of note paper from her hospital room, she started to write.

Feedback/comments encouraged, tell me what you'd like to see Cammy investigate next! More of Cammy and other stories here.