To Hell and Back

When they were gone I gave my buddy Mike a wave that he -from the rooftop

across the street- returned.

Working with that long-praised military precision, my buddies and I managed to strip my sister's apartment bare of everything worth taking, boxing it all up, and loading it all into the big truck within two hours. I handed them each a hundred for their time and waved them on their way as John and I headed back inside.

"You know she will knife you in your sleep, right?" John looked at my sister squirming on her dirty mattress. Zip ties bound her ankles and knees. Her wrists were together as well and then zipped down to the belt around her waist. The gag in her mouth had been necessary. Becca was currently looking daggers at me, chewing at the gag to try and scream profanity at me.

I gave John a grin. "Well it wouldn't be the first time a woman tried to do that, right? Well, come on, now for the fun part."

Moving around I caught her up under her armpits and John got her by first her feet then behind her knees. Carrying my sister like a rolled-up carpet -admittedly one that wiggled and tried to kick - we walked her out of the apartment, down the steps, and across to my truck. The back door opened enough for John to get her legs in, then he ran around to the other side and pulled her through as I pushed her wiggling struggling upper body.

Becca was trying to hit me with her head the whole time.

Holding her with a hand on both sides of her head, I leaned over and looked down into her face. "It's a long ride to my place in South Dakota. Try and get some rest, sis."

She squirmed and mumbled at me.

"Yeah, I love you too." Leaning in, I placed a kiss on her forehead. "Rest."

** ** ** ** ** ** **

The darkness beyond my headlights was absolute. Just the muddy road before me appearing like magic, and the tall prairie grass to either side.

As always when out here, I would have loved to pull over and just stand and stare at the sky overhead. The great river of stars in all its majestic glory.

A flash of gray concrete out the window to my left. My eyes tracked to the numbers on the empty ammo bunker. Next one and I was home. A measly three hundred yards.

The headlights showed my home to me and I slowed, turning into the board driveway of crushed stone before the door. The greenhouse to the left and solar panel field to the right were the only thing to distinguish this place, my home from the dozens of other empty ones that looked just like it that I had already passed. Shutting off the truck, I sat back and breathed a sigh of relief.

Taking the key, I hopped out and opened the back door. My sister lay where we had put her hours earlier, and if anything she looked even more pissed off now than then. I gave her a grin. Catching her under the shoulders, I yanked Becca out of the truck and into my arms. She gave a squirm and I nearly dropped her on her head.

"Stop that."

She ignored me.

Carrying her wiggling struggling weight wasn't easy but I managed. Getting the front door unlocked while holding her proved all but impossible, but I managed. I hit the light switch with my elbow and walked her across the main room, down the hallway, and into the spare bedroom. With a bit of sadistic pleasure, I tossed her up a bit before letting her drop onto the mattress.

Walking to the kitchen, I grabbed a set of wire snips from the junk drawer and returned. Catching my sister's foot I snipped away first the ones around her ankles, then the two around her knees. She immediately tried to kick me. I had of course been expecting that, she was my sister after all.

I pointed the cutters at her. "That is not encouraging me to cut off the ones on your hands. Settle down."

Clipping first her wrists free from the belt, I then freed her hands. She immediately grabbed at the gag in her mouth and yanked it free.

"You son of a bitch!"

I sat back out of convenient striking range. "That would be Mom, and she doesn't deserve that. Nor should you speak ill of the dead."

Becca wiped the spit from her lips onto her sleeves. "Bastard!"

I nodded. "Yeah, Dad probably does deserve that. Long dead or not."

She spun her legs around and jumped up to stagger because her legs had been tied up for so long. I watched her flee the room and after a second to give her a head start followed. I smiled when I saw her bolt out the front door only to stop about ten feet out. I patted my pocket to double-check where my keys were as I followed after her.

My sister stood looking around in shock.

I stopped and leaned against the door frame. "We left the paved road about forty miles ago. It's twenty miles from that point to the closest thing you could call a town. Mind you, nothing is open or going to be open there till about eight in the morning. The nearest thing you could call a city is two hours past that point. If you head north you can get to Sturgis and Deadwood ... eventually. Mind you, everything that you own in this world is in a box truck headed here."

Becca spun around looking at me with eyes filled with hate.

"Want to come in for something to eat before you go?" I jerked my thumb back towards my kitchen.

"This is kidnapping, you fucker!" She stomped over to me and began to swing at me. I dodged those blows or blocked them. "I'll ... I'll get the police to arrest you!"

"Excellent idea. That would be the Rapid City police department. They are bout sixty miles in ... that general direction." I pointed off towards the dark horizon. "Follow the North Star and you should get there in a few days. Want some soup? Maybe a sandwich?" I shrugged. "How about a beer? I'm going to have a beer."

Turning, I walked back inside and left her there, sure she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Her only shoes were in the box van.

** ** ** ** ** ** **

It took two beers and the offer of a plate of spaghetti to get Becca to come inside and sit down in my kitchen. She ate like she hadn't seen food in weeks. Which, to be honest from the look of her and - what my memories of her naked earlier told me - she probably hadn't.

Her belly full and a hint of a buzz trying to build my sister popped the top on a third beer and looked around at my house.

"What the hell is this place?"

I took a good sip of my own beer. "It my home, but it used to be an Army ammo bunker. The government built about a thousand of them out here on the prairie to store ordnance in. A guy bought the land about a decade ago and is fixing them out as houses."

"It's a hole in the ground." She gave me a snarky look. "You're too tall to be a hobbit."

I shrugged. "I took a long look at the way the world is turning and decided that I wanted to be as far away from any big city as I could get. My buddies are either working to fix theirs up like I've got mine, or are trying to talk their wives into buying one."

"It's a hole. A concrete hole." She gave her head a shake. "Stupid waste of money."

I pointed to the front door. "I can close that door and live in here without opening it for six months." I began to tick things off on my fingers. "I have water, power, and gas. Both solar and a multi-fuel generator, with a battery bank that will last three days between charges. That is a three-ton blast door. It would take military-grade explosives to dig me out. Or some pretty major construction equipment. It is as safe as it is humanly possible to live."

"It's a hole."

Knowing I couldn't impress her, I just nodded. "With hardwood floors, comfortable beds, and an endless hot water shower. Speaking of which, you still smell like two-day-old road kill. Did you forget the soap? I said to use soap."

"I took a shower, asshole." My sister flung one of her empty beer bottles at me. I caught it and sat it down. And the second one as well. She - for a moment - thought about throwing the third, but took a drink instead. "Fucking kidnapping prick!"

Leaning back, I took slow sips of my beer. "As Mom was dying she made me promise to find you and take care of you. That's what I'm going to do. I made her a promise."

"I don't give a fuck what you told that dead bitch. As soon as I get access to my phone and give Kenny a call, I'm out of here."

"Yeah, good luck with that one." I smiled a smirky grin. "Oh, I'm sure it's in one of the boxes headed this way in the truck, but Kenny isn't going to talk to you anytime soon."

Becca looks at me, her brows knitting together. "Why not?"

"Cause I told him if he talked to you I would kill him ... in a very painful way. He believed me, which is smart." Picking up one of her empty bottles, I absently hooked a thumbnail behind the foil label and began to peel the bottle. "What was he to you anyway? Boyfriend? Landlord? Seemed more like a pimp from the way he talked."

She was looking at me too angry for words. With a snarl, she flung the half-empty third bottle at me.

Catching it I placed it next to the other one and my own. "If you don't stop throwing things, I'm going to -"

"What? What ya gonna do, huh? Gonna spank me again? I love that shit, brother! I love my ass getting spanked." She stood up trying to loom over me. "Huh, what ya gonna do, big man. Big bad army man? Gonna call Mom and tell him I threw something at you? Oh, too late ... too late ... the damn.. the damn bitch ... died."

Standing up, I caught Becca's arm as she went to run and pulled her into a hug. For a moment she pounded her fists against my side and chest, then her hands grabbed hold of my shirt and she clung to me. I felt the shudders begin to shake her as tears started to flow down her face to soak my shirt.

"She fucking ... died. She went and fucking died!" Becca began to rock herself against my chest.

I held her all the tighter.

** ** ** ** ** ** **

I'm not sure how long I stood there holding her. I'm sure it wasn't the hours it felt like. Finally, when the tears ended and the shaking stopped, I looked down into her dark eyes to find an empty shell looking back at me. As if all emotional pain and loss had drained

out of her with those tears. She didn't speak, didn't react to any questions I asked, just stood there.

Numb.

I have seen that same look on guys who just had roadside bombs kill all of the people in the Hummer they were driving.

Taking her by the shoulders I moved her out of the kitchen, down the hall, and into the main bathroom. With no protest or reaction from her, I removed her clothes and then my own. Turning on the shower, it took only moments for it to warm.

With my sister as malleable as clay and as controllable as a marionette, I guided her into the shower and used a washcloth to cover her in soapy bubbles. Gently lifting and cleaning under her breasts. I wiped her face clean of tear tracks and then washed her hair. She gave a little response when I did that, but nothing more than a pleasant moan. Turning her, I let the warm jets of the massager hit her back and shoulders while I soaped myself up.

Her eyes were on the middle of my chest the whole time.

Uncaring.

Lost.

I rinsed, and then let her stand there leaning against me just hoping Becca was getting some enjoyment from the warm spray of water. After a good long while, much longer than I normally shower at least. I turned off the water and stepped out into the bathroom. She stood there, unmoving while I dried myself. I wrapped a towel around my hips and then returned to her. She moved when I moved her, stood when I turned her loose. I took a soft towel and with gentle and hesitant care dried my sister's bruised and thin body. I hid as best I could the instinctive wincing of sympathetic pain whenever I found another half-healed bruise or cigarette burn. There were dozens of small round scars on her inner thighs, old marks telling of years of this abuse.

From the hook on the back of the door, I took down my white terrycloth robe and draped it about her. I wasn't wise enough in the way of women to turban her hair in a a towel, in the way I have seen so many do. I moved her across the hall to the slightly small of the three bedrooms. Sitting Becca on the bed I returned with a hairbrush and with more care than I would handle a live landmine brushed the tangles out of her brown locks.

She sat on the edge of the bed and just looked off into the distance, uncaring of what I did.

When the last of the snarls was vanquished, and the last tangle had retreated, I placed the brush beside the bed and got to my feet. Her gaze somewhere around my knees Becca didn't seem to care. Leaning down, I placed a kiss on the crown of her head, lips on damp hair.

"Get some sleep," I told her softly.

As I went to move away, her hand caught mine. I looked down at her but her eyes were still lowered, still vacant. My sister gently tugged me back into place then slowly, ever so slowly she looked up. Her eyes crossed my belly button, chest, and throat and finally came to rest around my dimpled chin, not meeting my gaze. She turned loose of my fingers.

For a half second, she glanced up, met my eyes ... then looked down. With practiced speed, her hand moved to my towel, yanked it free, and leaned forward into me. I was into her mouth and she was tonguing and sucking on me before I was even fully aware of what she was doing.

Shocked beyond belief, I caught at her head, trying to stop her. A rippled of pleasure like nothing I had ever felt before ran the length of me and I all but screamed. Gasping for breath I stepped back. Her nails left four scratches on my hips my sister was trying to hold onto me so tightly. She moved off the bed and knelt on the floor in front of me trying to get me back in her mouth.

"Stop!"

Sitting back on her heels, Becca looked up at me, meeting my eyes now. Her expression was hot and lusty but at the same time as uncaring as it had been.

"Why not?" she asked looking at my face. "I'm good at it. It's the only thing I'm good for, I might as well do it, right?" My sister gave me a sultry smile, while her eyes were dead. "All the guys say I'm the best they ever had. A true-born cocksucker. Come here, let me give you a good time, brother, and maybe you will let me go back home where I belong and stop fucking with my fucked up life."

As I took another step back she stopped and rose to her feet with fluid grace.

"Or maybe you are in the mood to stuff a hole?" Becca gave me a hooker's smirk. "Need a bit of your sister's dirty snatch to get you through the night? Well, go ahead. Bend me over the bed and pound away. Pick which hole gets you off best, I don't care. All the same to me."

Reaching down I grabbed her arm. I was going to tell her off but before I could speak her mouth was on mine in a scorching hot kiss. Her lips were warm, wet, and smelling of my flesh. Her tongue drove its way into my mouth before I could move her away and Becca clung to my head with all of her strength when I tried.

With a surge of strength, I tossed her from me and onto the bed. She landed with a raunchy laugh.

"That's it, just like that. I love it rough. Come here, my big strong brother." Becca opened her legs incredibly wide and her hand went between her legs to open up her wet sex. It was red-lipped with desire and open ready to receive me or any man. " Come get your little sister's tight little hole."

I fled the room with her laughter chasing me.

Standing in my room, my forehead to my closed door I heard her laughter soon stop. And then there was a softer sound. A deep throaty moan. It took little imagination to place Becca where I had left her, but with my sister now fingering herself. Her moans became louder and louder till they were true screams of pleasure.

And with myself naked and harder than I had ever been in my life, it took all of my will not to go back and join her in making such sounds.

** ** ** ** ** ** **

Awakening at my normal too-damn-early-to-be-awake time, I sat on the edge of my bed my head in my hands trying to make sense of the mess that had suddenly become my life.

It is amazing how quickly things could go from "same old same old" to "what in the ever-living fuck is going on?"

A month?

A single month ago I had been happy. Working here at my own pace to get this place finished. I had my buddies over for barbecues, and we drank and listened to music, having a great time telling bull shit stories.

A single month?

Then came the phone call that sent me driving like a lunatic across three state lines to sit at the side of my dying mother. To hold her hand as she made me promise to save my sister. To watch after her. Protect her, especially from herself. And I had promised. I would have promised to cut off my hand at that point just to make her last moments happy. To let my mom leave this world with no worries. I had promised the impossible. Knowing it was impossible.

I just hadn't know how impossible.

My mind wandered back to last night. The way Becca had all but sexually attacked me. Old memories of her as a little girl, such a sweet child ... well, as sweet as any pain-in-the-ass younger sister could be. To see her now ... as she is now. I know from talking to our Mom over the years when and how my sister had gone off the rails and drifted into a bad crowd.

The lying, the drinking, and the drugs had finally gotten her tossed out of our parent's house for attacking our mother with a knife while drunk and stoned.

Dad told me that one. Not long before he passed from a heart attack.

Our Mom lost track of Becca after that.

Thank God she died not knowing where her daughter was, and what Becca had become.

I had promised!

"Who the hell did you think you were that you could make promises like that Jordan?" I shook my head. "You damn dumb ass grunt. You aren't a fucking miracle worker."

Getting to my feet I went to my bathroom and washed my face. I couldn't look into the mirror, too ashamed of those fleeting moments of surprise when I had enjoyed what she was doing before I could stop her. I felt sick to my soul in shame for the raging hardon that hadn't gone away. The memories flashed back... over and over for half the night. A thousand questions for every second that played back inside my brain.

Why didn't you stop her? Why didn't you stop her sooner once she ... once she ... Fuck! How could you have gotten hard? How could you have been turned on by her, she's your sister you sick fuck?

Stepping out of my room, I looked across the hall dreading what I would see. Becca was curled up in a tight ball around a pillow, covered by a single sheet. The Indian patterned blankets on the bed had been tossed aside. Her foot looking tiny was stuck out from under the sheet. For a second I was about to step inside there and cover it up, but then paused. I could not enter that room.

A single step within that door and I would again feel her lips upon me. The memory of such powerful pleasure would overwhelm me. I knew it. Just knew it would happen.

Leaving her to sleep with her foot cold, I moved past that door to the main bathroom and picked up all of the discarded clothes on the floor. Hers, mine, the towels. I had to walk past her open door once more to get to the laundry room at the back of the house. I set things going there then made my way once more down the hall. Unable to help myself I glanced inside.

She had moved.

Becca had turned over and was now sleeping on her back, her breasts bare to any passing eyes. I gently pulled the door closed and took a moment to curse my brain for trying to keep that image as I made my way to the kitchen. Last nights dinner needed to be cleaned up from before I could fix anything for breakfast. I had that task done and was fixing bacon and eggs to go with the biscuits I was baking when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.

Looking over, I saw my sister standing naked at the door watching me.