Chapter 128

   That was how the rest of the trip passed. The man would stop at a rundown motel. He would bathe Byron before cuffing him to the bed. Byron would be permitted to eat before departing in the morning. His food was generally lukewarm, but he needed to eat. Every night he lay down anticipating that tonight would the night the man would rape him. Every little sound in the room had him waking up, thinking that he was about to be raped. He slept more soundly in the car, knowing that as long as the car was in motion, he was reasonably safe. As far as he knew the man never even touched him while he slept.

   Finally the man pulled into the driveway of a remote cabin.

   “Here we are. Your new home,” he announced as they got out of the car.

   Byron looked around in dismay. There was nothing around for miles. He didn’t know the first thing about surviving in the woods. He wasn’t even sure which direction home was. The man had driven over back roads whenever possible. The few town names Byron had seen were meaningless. He felt a wave of despair wash over him then. He should have tried to escape the first chance he’d gotten; now it was too late. He was trapped, at the mercy of this man.

   “You will be confined to the house. There is no phone and no computer. There are certain rooms that are locked. You may not enter those. There is enough food to last for a year. Tonight you may get settled him. Tomorrow we will have the ceremony.”

   “C-c-ceremony?”

   “The wedding ceremony.”

   “I-I-I c-c-can’t m-m-marry you. I-I-I’m only s-s-sixteen.”

   “You’re old enough.” The man brushed aside hid objection. “You are a virgin, correct?”

   Byron nodded his cheeks hot. Of course he was. He’d never even held the hand of someone he wasn’t related to.

   “Good. Let’s be clear about one thing: cooperate and I’ll make the experience as pleasant as possible, fight and suffer the consequences. Make no mistake, tomorrow night I will claim you, willing or no.”

    Byron nodded numb with fear. He now knew when the axe would fall. Tears dripped from his cheeks. The man ignored them as he led Byron into the house. He left Byron alone in a bedroom. Byron stared unseeing at the bed, the bed where his virginal blood would be spilled.

   He collapsed to the floor and wept.