SLAVE TO THE LASH - THE ONLY LANGUAGE HE UNDERSTOOD WAS THE WHIP by Matthew Kernowski
PART FIVE
"Matthew!... Matthew!... Wake up!" Matthew slowly opened his eyes and amidst the feeling of disorientation he saw the face of Travis leaning over him. "Are you okay?" A concerned Travis asked, "It looked like you were having one hell of bad dream."
"Wh..What?" Was the only word Matthew could muster as he re-accustomed himself to the familiar surroundings of the tree-house. Travis continued talking but he was only half taking it in. Matthew quickly got up and scooted over to the hatch to look out of the tree-house as though he needed to convince himself that Ed Danvers wasn't waiting at the foot of the tree.
"You were kicking and screaming in your sleep, I was afraid Paw was gonna hear you."
"I'm sorry, Travis." Matthew replied as he lay back down. Travis could see he was sincere and smiled a reassuring smile to his friend. "It's okay, Matthew, that Danvers guy sure must have messed up your head." Although Travis often came across as slow, sometimes he'd surprise Matthew by saying something really profound and this was one of those times. Matthew smiled back, he was touched by Travis' concern. Soon they were looking deep into each other's eyes and their lips locked together.
The following morning, after another steamy session of lovemaking, Matt and Travis spoke at length about Matthew's future and in particular, their future together. After due consideration, Matthew decided to stick around providing Travis' father could offer him work. Travis introduced Matthew to his father, telling him he was just a drifter looking for work and a place to stay. As luck had it, Clem Foster had been thinking about taking on hired help to take care of the work that he felt he himself was getting too old to handle and Travis was too incompetent to do. He told Matthew he probably could only offer him three months work, which was good enough for Matthew. It would also give him enough time to decide what he wanted to do next. In the meantime he and Travis would be able to continue with their intimate relationship, unbeknowns to Travis' father, of course. Clem didn't mind them sleeping in the tree-house, he just didn't know they were sleeping together.
Unfortunately for Matthew, the nightmares of Danvers coming and taking him back to the slave camp to be crucified became a regular occurence, but it was good to have Travis there to comfort him following those bad dreams. After several weeks the nightmares got less and less as Matthew's confidence grew in the belief that if Danvers had been searching for him and actually used tracking devices implanted in slaves, he would have well and truly caught up with him by now.
The three months work actually lasted two years and then some. During that time there had been one or two awkward moments when it had been impossible to keep the scars on his body hidden from Clem. In the end he felt it was best to come clean and tell him about his time at a slave camp and how he'd escaped from there. He was so relieved when Clem was sympathetic on hearing his story. Even though Clem had dished out harsh punishment to Travis in the past, it seemed relatively tame compared to that of Ed Danvers.
One morning Matthew made a rather odd but understandable request to Clem, he asked him would he help him to remove the ring from his penis. He told him he could never truly feel free of Danvers until the ring was gone. He hoped that what Ben had told him about the only way to remove the ring was by cutting your cock off was a gross exaggeration on Ben's part. Surely, given the right tools, it would be possible to remove the ring. Clem examined the ring for a few minutes before speaking, "It's tungsten steel, it'll take some doing, but if it went on I'm sure it'll come off."
Matthew smiled on hearing this but Clem felt it best not to raise his hopes too much. "I can't make any promises but I'll give it my best shot."
He told Matthew to pick up a hacksaw and two-dozen heavy-duty blades on his next trip to the general store and he would attempt to remove the ring that evening after supper. Matthew and Travis smiled slyly at one another thinking of all the fun they could have with Matt's un-slaved cock.
Matthew couldn't wait until after supper. Clem told him to wrap his penis in a towel and just leave the ring exposed. Clem attempted to saw through the ring but the first three blades snapped without even scratching the steel. Matthew was beginning to lose heart when suddenly the teeth of the fourth blade started to bite into the metal ring. It was a long and slow process and one after the other, the blades soon became blunt and had to be discarded. Both Clem and Matthew started wondering if maybe they should have bought more than two-dozen blades. Every so often Clem had to stop sawing because the ring was getting hot and burning the sensitive flesh of Matt's penis. It took Clem the best part of three hours and nineteen blades to saw completely through the ring. Matthew felt a huge sense of relief when that cursed ring was finally removed. It was a little after midnight, Travis had already turned in for the night but Matthew couldn't wait to climb up into the tree-house and show him his newly released cock. Travis opened his eyes as soon as Matthew came into the tree-house, he too, had clearly been waiting for this moment. Even though he was still half-asleep, Travis started sucking Matthew's dick and when it got fully hard he pleaded with Matthew, "Put it in me." Matthew wasted no time in granting Travis' request. It felt so good for both of them to finally be free of that ring.
Travis spent most of the night riding Matthew's cock until he had drained every last drop of cum from him. It was only when they were thoroughly content and exhausted did they fall asleep, their sweat-soaked bodies lovingly locked together in sweet embrace. They would make love again first thing in the morning, as they always did, when they woke up with their usual morning boners and feeling horny as hell. "I love you, Matthew." Travis said just before they difted off to sleep. "I love you too, Travis." Matthew reciprocated. And within the next few minutes both of them were fast asleep, smiling with a truly satisfied expression on their faces.
It was exactly three years and five months to the day since Matthew had escaped from the evil clutches of Ed Danvers when he was in town picking up supplies from the general store. As usual, Travis had come along to help him load the supplies onto to the truck. Matthew spotted a stack of flyers laying on the counter of Hank Davidson's store and absently picked one up. It was notice of an upcoming slave auction in Drayton, a couple of towns north, and the very same auction where Matthew had been sold to Danvers. He never said anything about it to Travis but his thoughts kept drifting to it on the journey home. He was curious and very tempted to attend the auction. He was pretty sure Danvers would be there and Matthew was confident he himself wouldn't be recognised because his appearance had changed greatly since Danvers had last seen him. Matthew now sported thick black hair, sideburns and moustach, where before, during his time as a slave, his hair was close cropped and the rest of him kept smooth and clean shaven, just the way Danvers liked it. Matthew was still thinking about attending the auction as they reached the last mile of the journey home. He figured as long as he didn't expose the branding on his arm, then everything would be all right. Perhaps he'd even get close enough to Danvers to plunge a knife into the heart of the evil bastard. Ideally, he'd love to abduct him and subject him to a slow and painful death but he doubted very much he'd get the opportunity to do that. He knew that killing Danvers would inevitably lead to his own death but he was prepared to make that sacrifice. Especially if it meant other young men would be saved from the ill-treatment of Danvers in the future. Matthew knew there would always be other slavemasters to take Danvers' place but he truly believed none could ever be as cruel as him.
During the weeks that followed, Matthew became more and more convinced he should go to the auction to settle the score with Danvers for once and for all. Every time he looked at his body in the mirror he was reminded of the sadistic brutality at the hands of Danvers. By the time it reached two weeks before the auction he'd made up his mind he was going to attend and without divulging too much to Clem and Travis he told them he had some unfinished business in Drayton to take care of. Clem offered to loan him the truck but Matthew declined his offer knowing he probably wouldn't be coming back. Clem however, sensed something was wrong and insisted on driving him to Drayton.
On the night before he was due to leave Matthew spent hours and hours making passionate love to Travis and although Travis was thoroughly enjoying all the attention he knew something was amiss. "What's wrong, Matthew? You seem so tense tonight." "It's nothing, Travis, I'm just thinking about my trip tomorrow, is all." But this failed to reassure Travis. "I think there's something you're not telling me... What is this unfinished business you have to take care of?"
Matthew started kissing Travis in the hope that he'd get him so engrossed in lovemaking that he'd forget all about his question, but Travis was like a dog with a bone and wouldn't let the matter drop. "Matthew, if you really love me, you'd tell me."
Matthew rolled off Travis and lay in silence for a few minutes before finally speaking. "It's Danvers, he's going to be at a slave auction in Drayton tomorrow... I'm going there to kill him." Travis gasped in horror. "But why, Matthew? It's been more than three years." "It's something I really need to do." "But I thought I made you happy?" "You do, Travis, but I can't settle while that man is still living and breathing." "Please Matthew, don't go.. I just know I'll never see you again if you do." "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. I knew it would make things awkward between us." "Then let me come with you... Let me help you kill him." "No, Travis, this is something personal between me and Danvers."
Travis turned away from Matthew, he was clearly upset and angry. Matthew tried to put a reassuring arm around him but Travis pushed him away. Despite the tension between them, both boys fell asleep.
The following morning after breakfast, Clem and Matthew got the truck ready for the journey. Clem's pick-up truck had a detachable canopy which they were in the process of re-attaching. Travis was nowhere to be found, he wasn't in the tree-house when Matthew woke up, nor had he showed up for breakfast. He had, however, been speaking with his father earlier that morning. "I know why you're going to Drayton." Clem said, as he clicked the last canopy latch into its locking position. "Travis told you then?" Matthew asked, already knowing the answer. Clem nodded. "You know Travis looks up to you like an older brother?" It was Matthew's turn to nod, but of course he knew that Travis saw him as much more than just an older brother. "And in the last three years I've grown mighty attached to you too that I see you as a son." "That means a lot to me, Clem." Matthew begun, "And I see you as the father I never had." "So why do you need to do this thing?" "Clem, I'm probably the only guy to have successfully escaped from Danvers and I think it's down to me to avenge all the young men whose lives have been cut short by that evil bastard."
They continued talking for a while but it was clear to Clem that nothing was going to change Matthew's mind. In the end, Clem agreed to help him providing they abducted Danvers as oppose to Matthew killing him right there on the spot. If he wanted to kill him later on then that would be up to Matt but at least he wouldn't wind up losing his own life in the process. Before they set off they made sure there was a rope and gag in the back of the truck to restrain Danvers with and a large sheet of tarpaulin. Clem got his rifle from the house and both men got in the truck, Matthew rode shotgun while Clem drove. Matt had been hoping to say Goodbye to Travis before they left, just in case things went wrong and he didn't return. He figured Travis had gone off to sulk somewhere, thinking Matthew wouldn't be coming back. Matthew would have liked to have told him his new plans he'd made with his father.
Ed Danvers instructed his men to prepare the young slave for a whipping and they duly secured him spread-eagled fashion to the whipping frame that consisted of two vertical beams, five-feet apart, and an horizontal beam across the top, connecting the two. The young slave had been complaining of lower abdominal pains, but in Danvers' world, slaves weren't allowed to get sick. He believed the boy was swinging the lead in the hope of gaining sympathy and a few days sick leave. Danvers could not tolerate slackers and decided the slave needed to be taught a lesson. He was to be whipped with the "flesh-stripper". The slave in question had never experienced the flesh-stripper before today. In usual Danvers' style, the blacksmith was summoned to remove the slave's chastity devices prior to the commencement of he whipping. Danvers positioned himself behind the slave and was just about to raise his arm to deliver the first lash when another of his men approached to remind him they'd need to be leaving shortly for the slave auction in Drayton. Danvers nodded in acknowledgement and said, "Just as soon as I'm done here." and proceeded to administer the flogging. The boy screamed in agony as the jagged shards of metal and bone snagged onto his flesh and savagely gouged chunk after bloody chunk from his helpless body. "SCHWISH!... SCHLAKKKK!... SKRRRRRRTT!" "SCHWISH!... SCHLAKKKK!... SKRRRRRRTT!" "SCHWISH!... SCHLAKKKK!... SKRRRRRRTT!" "SCHWISH!... SCHLAKKKK!... SKRRRRRRTT!" "SCHWISH!... SCHLAKKKK!... SKRRRRRRTT!" "SCHWISH!... SCHLAKKKK!... SKRRRRRRTT!"
The boy was screaming so loudly and unlike any other slave before, that even Danvers' men eyed each other with concern. But as far as Danvers himself was concerned, those cries fell on deaf ears and he continued with the punishment. After approximately thirty lashes he repositioned himself to administer a frontal whipping but before the number reached a further twenty, the boy was dead. It would later be discovered the cause of his death to be peritonitis brought on by perforated appendix and accelerated by trauma to the body. His death however, was of no concern to Danvers, to him slaves were expendable. Just then, the same man who'd reminded Danvers about the slave auction in Drayton, brought the horse-drawn wagon around to the front of the house ready for the journey and as usual, there was a slave shackled to the back of the wagon. Danvers walked toward the wagon and casually threw the blood-soaked flesh-stripper into the back of it. He went into the house to get cleaned up, completely ignoring the corpse of the young slave still hanging from the whipping post. He emerged from the house a few minutes later wearing a clean shirt and jeans and carrying his faithful bullwhip. Danvers and two of his men climbed aboard the front seat of the wagon and started on their journey to the auction, with the slave in tow.
When Matt and Clem eventually arrived in Drayton you could almost sense the adrenalin pumping through Matthew's veins. The slave auction itself was held on the edge of town so it wasn't necessary for them to drive too far into Drayton. Matt told Clem to stop the truck behind the auction as though they were potential bidders. They remained in the truck for a few minutes longer and from where they were sitting they could see a line of about twelve naked and unblemished slaves, all attached by a communal chain being led from a transportable steel cage to the backstage of the auction in readiness to be sold. Matthew could remember being just like one of those naive young slaves, not knowing what fate lay ahead and thinking the worse that could happen would be he'd be made to work hard and occasionally whipped if he stepped out of line...but of course, that was before he encountered Danvers. Just then, Matthew glanced in the door mirror and caught sight of a familiar horse-drawn wagon parked a little way back. There was a slave chained to the back of the wagon. As usual, the slave was naked, his body was heavily scarred and he was wearing chastity devices. He reminded Matthew of Ben and the whole scenario was like history repeating itself. Matt turned to Clem and suggested they get out of the truck and go watch the auction, which had evidently already begun.
In order to go around to the front of the auction they would have to pass by Danvers' horse-drawn wagon. As they did, Matthew tried to make eye contact with the slave chained to the back, but the slave kept his eyes firmly fixed on the ground. Matthew realised that for all the slave knew, they could be prospective slave buyers and slaves must never make eye contact with their superiors. Just then, Matt noticed the flesh-stripper lying in the back of the wagon. Even though it was covered with chunks of flesh and congealed blood. Matt picked it up by the handle and turned to Clem. "We may need this for later." And swiftly ran over to their pick-up and threw it in the back. It was only then did the slave dare to steal a glance at Matt's odd behavior. Matt returned and rejoined Clem as they continued their journey around to the front of the auction.
A few minutes later they were standing among the throng of people at the auction. Matt and Clem bustled their way through the crowd until they were near the front where all the serious bidders congregated. Matt stopped dead in his tracks and whispered to Clem, "There he is!" Clem looked over to where Matt was looking and even though Clem had never met Ed Danvers he could tell right away who Matthew had meant. The man looked exactly the way Clem had always imagined him to look. Danvers had a cigar butt sticking out of the left side of his mouth, like a man who didn't have a care in the world. The anger showed in Matthew's face and he instinctively started to make his way toward Danvers but Clem grabbed hold of his arm and spoke to him like a father reprimanding his son. "Matthew, remember what we agreed." With that, Matthew seemed to come to his senses. They watched Danvers bidding on a young man who was not unlike himself, or at least not unlike how Matthew had looked when he stood on this very stage. The bidding reached $3600 and Danvers of course was the highest bidder. Matt and Clem looked on as two of Danvers' men led the slave away and off the stage via the backstage steps where they'd no doubt shackle him to the back of the wagon along with the slave that was already there. Matthew hoped that just like the time he'd been bought, Danvers only intended on buying one slave. Matthew whispered to Clem that they should make their way back to the truck.
By the time they got back to where their truck was parked, the newly purchased slave had already been shackled to the back of Danvers' wagon. Danvers' men however, were nowhere to be seen. Clem and Matthew were standing by the rear of their truck. Just as he unlatched the tailgate and dropped it down, Matthew saw Danvers emerging from the back of the auction, he was alone and he would have to pass by their truck to get to his wagon. No doubt his cronies would be along to join him shortly, but right now, here was the golden opportunity Matthew had been hoping for. Danvers still had the cigar butt clenched between his teeth and was carrying his coiled up whip in one hand and a bunch of keys hung from one of his belt loops and jangled like a wind-chime. Matthew quickly whispered something to Clem before concealing himself behind the truck. As Danvers walked past their truck, Clem quickly pulled a cigarette from his pocket and said, "Hey fella, you got a light?" Danvers paused in his tracks and turned around. He let out an impatient sigh, like a man who didn't really care to be friendly to strangers. He pulled a Zippo lighter from his pocket and extended his arm to give Clem a light. Danvers had his back to the road and suddenly, Matthew leapt up and onto Danvers' back, throwing his arms around his neck and grasping his throat in a bid to overpower him. Clem meanwhile, who was every bit as big a man as Danvers was, started pounding Danvers' jaw with a barrage of punches. Danvers however, had no intention of going down quite so easily and at one point it seemed like Matthew and Clem had failed in their efforts to overpower him. He managed to wrestle both of them to the ground. He stood there towering over them menacingly. His bloodshot eyes bulged with rage as he suddenly realized who Matthew was.
"Why.... It's you!" Before instinctively raising his whip, ready to deliver a lash to the familiar slave that lay on the ground before him. But before another word came from his lips, there was a sickening thud and Danvers fell to the ground like a sack of shit.
At first, Clem and Matt thought he'd had a heart attack until they saw Travis standing there holding a baseball bat, with a smile stretching from ear to ear. "You didn't really think I was gonna stay at home, did you?" "But how...?" Matt asked, bewildered but relieved Travis was there to help them out. "Quite easy really. I just snuck in the back of the truck and hid under the tarpaulin while you two weren't lookin." "Good work, son," Clem said, "but I think we'd better get this guy in the back of the truck before somebody sees us." And without further ado, they lifted up Danvers and bundled him into the back of the truck.
Fortunately, the only witnesses were the two slaves shackled to the back of Danvers' horse-drawn wagon. Seeing the slaves chained there, reminded Matthew of that fateful day he was bought at this very auction. Meanwhile in the back of the truck, Clem kept his rifle steadily trained on Danvers' temple while Travis securely tied his hands and feet and gagged him. Matthew told Travis to remove the bunch of keys that were hanging from Danvers' belt. Matthew took the keys and threw them over to the slaves as he spoke to them but kept his voice low. "You guys do yourselves a favor and get the hell as far away from this place as possible." The slaves smiled at Matthew and he knew it was one of total gratitude. He watched as one of them picked up the keys and started to unlock their chains. Matthew nonchalantly slammed the tailgate shut, leapt into the driver's seat and sped away as fast as the truck would take them.
Matthew, Clem and Travis decided to drive miles and miles away to a secluded spot, deep in the woods, where they stripped Danvers naked, tied him to a tree and whipped him to death with his own flesh-stripper. Matthew administered the flogging and finally felt the satisfaction of giving Danvers a taste of his own sadistic medicine. It was interesting to see the man who'd once took great pleasure in the torturing and cold-blooded murder of others, now squealing like a stuck pig and begging for his life. Matthew wished all the other slaves had been there to witness his whipping; to see that Ed Danvers was nothing but a snivelling coward when the shoe was on the other foot. Matthew delivered every lash with the anger of all the years of hatred he'd held for Danvers. All three watched as the flesh stripper, the same whip that Danvers had had specially made, ripped into the body of the biggest sonofabitch evermore. At one point it coiled around Danvers' fat head and gouged out his left eye. Danvers screamed to the skies but no one would here him in this secluded place. Matthew continued whipping him and had no intention of stopping until he was dead. Another lash strategically aimed at his groin completely ripped away his manhood. It took just under an hour for Matthew to whip Ed Danvers to death; just under an hour to rid the world of this evil bastard. Afterwards, as a precautionary measure, Matt picked up Clem's rifle, pushed the barrel in the center of Danvers' forehead and pulled the trigger. The single gunshot echoed angrily amid the trees. They buried him in a shallow, unmarked grave not far from where he'd been killed. They knew nobody would come looking for Ed Danvers.
No one ever misses people like Ed Danvers.
EPILOGUE
It wasn't long after that the Danvers' empire collapsed. No one at the ranch thought for one moment that he had been abducted or murdered. His faithful cronies tried to keep everything going as normal in his absence but even they found it a struggle to maintain the smooth running of the ranch without Danvers at the helm. They lived in hope that one day he would return just as suddenly as he'd vanished and everything would go back to the way it was, but after a while it all became too much for them. They were unable to meet the high financial demands of the ranch and most of his men were no longer receiving a salary and as loyal as they wanted to remain to Danvers, it wasn't feasible to be expected to work for nothing. Gradually, one by one, Danvers' workforce got smaller and smaller, and without a workforce there was no one to stand guard over the slaves. Soon, the bank was breathing down their necks and a foreclosure notice was posted on the property. Danvers' remaining loyalists couldn't sell the slaves to another slavemaster because they were damaged goods so they had no choice but to release them before handing the property over to the bank.
It was fifteen years later that Matthew, together with Travis, decided to revisit the wasteland that had once been Ed Danvers' pride and joy. A yellowed 'For Sale' sign had long ago been planted in the ground just outside the gate, but had clearly failed to attract any takers. The now defunct ranch was now overgrown with weeds and in a state of total disrepair. The doors and windows of the main house were boarded up. The barn was still partially standing and Matthew showed Travis where, almost two decades before, he'd been branded and had chastity devices fitted. He looked at the mess now covering the floor and ironically caught sight of a rusted chastity cage laying there amongst the rubble. He picked it up to show Travis and demonstrated how it would be fitted before throwing it back to the ground. A short distance away was the equally rusted brazier. A branding iron, now minus its wooden handle protruded from its dust covered ash. Matthew withdrew the iron and saw it was the original Danvers' "D" inside the center of a star.. The same iron that had seared the arm of every slave unfortunate enough to be bought by Danvers. Looking at the iron, made Matthew's flesh crawl, he quickly pushed it back into the brazier. He continued to give Travis an impromptu tour of the ranch, showing him some of the many whipping posts around the place. The wood was now weather beaten and rotted but the old sepia-colored blood stains could clearly still be seen. Matt told Travis how he'd probably been whipped on each and every one of the thirty posts dotted throughout the ranch during his time there. He showed him the remains of the compound behind the barn and from where Matthew had affected his escape plan. He showed him the cells themselves where many a slave was beaten senseless and repeatedly raped by Danvers' men.
Matthew and Travis spent the best part of an hour at the ranch before heading back to the pick-up parked just outside the gate. Matt's body would always bear the scars of his time at that dreadful place but at least he could hold his head high with pride that he'd played a vital role in the downfall of Ed Danvers and the subsequent demise of his evil slave camp.
As they drove away and the image of the ranch became smaller and smaller in the rear-view mirror, Matthew knew he could finally lay his demons to rest and he and Travis could get on with their lives.
THE END