NB:I was pretty sure I'd made a start posting this excellent story earlier,but my memory faded if I had.
Anyway,this was a story request by the highly talented author:Achast.
I had originally asked him to do a Lara Croft story,but he wasn't comfortable with that.So,I decided to ask for a new female,archeologist character,and he kindly obliged.
I loved the final piece,although it didn't go down well with everyone,as it includes dark,sexual content,including rape.
However,that's not the author's fault,as I asked for it.The reaction was the same,with my requests to KP,for the same type of story.
Whatever,it was my dark fantasies wanting something,but that's all it was,just a fantasy.
Anyway,I'll start posting this,and I must sincerely apologise to Achast,as I've decided to include a few,extra details of my own to it.
Many thanks to Achast for allowing me to post all the stories he kindly did for me here on my blog.
===
The office had been thoroughly ransacked.Shelves had been overturned,spilling their heavy academic books everywhere.Desk drawers and a filing cabinet had been pulled open,and the papers within scattered across the floor.Clay figurines and carved plagues,reproductions of Meso-American pieces from around the world had been callously knocked off shelves and torn from the walls and smashed.
Professor Angelica Cardosa whimpered softly into her gag,looking at the ruin that had been made of her life's work.It would take her years,if not decades to undo the damage these thugs had done in minutes....assuming the anthropologist was given a chance to try and put this nightmare behind her.
The 30 year old professor sat on a heavy wooden chair,in the centre of the ruined office.Her arms were behind her back,pinned uncomfortably between,her short slender body and the hardwood back of the chair,wrists crossed and bound with rope.More rope circled Angelica's torso,running above and below her bust,and around the back of the chair,lashing the young woman to it.Her legs,covered by a long,brown skirt,had also been tied with rope,at the knees and ankles,which were then tethered to one of the chair's lower struts.
The sturdy chair and the thick tight coils of rope,were more than enough to convince the slender woman she had no chance of struggling free,so after being taken captive at gunpoint,she had sat meekly,watching in horror as the men systematically tore apart her tidy,ordered academic world,looking for something.When she had attempted to protest,they had responded by stuffing a wadded up rag between her lips.A single,large and rectangular strip of silver duct tape sealed the rag in,which had kept her tongue completely flattened on the base of her mouth,making it a highly effective and tight gag.Initially,Angelica had thought the four men,dressed in dark jackets,wearing black balaclavas,were just ordinary thieves,perhaps looking for a valuable artefact or trinket they could sell on the black market.But soon enough,from the way the men turned over every drawer and went through each book before tossing it aside,it became apparent that the intruders were looking for one thing in particular.
Just then,Angelica heard the front door of the house open.A figure entered,crossing the house quickly to the office.The anthropoligist's eyes widened in recognition,as she suddenly realized what this was all about.The new arrival was a young woman,in her late twenties.She had pale,white skin and fair blonde hair,almost to the point of being white,worn in a long braided ponytail.The woman had on a khaki uniform shirt and shorts,with hiking boots and tall socks that were pulled up high on her long slender legs.Angelica recognized her at once;Katherine von Gruan,infamous in the antiquities community,as a notorious grave robber,not above stealing other,honest archeologists' work and selling artifacts on the black market for personal profit.
The four thugs,hired muscle,stood up from their ransacking as Katherine entered.She crossed the room to where Angelica sat bound and gagged,picking her way around the mess scattered around the floor.Angelica glared up at her,defiantly.
''This place is a mess...''Katherine teased her captive.'you really should tidy it up when you have the chance.''She turned towards her men.''Have you found the journal yet? And the key?'' She spoke perfect English,but her voice had an unmistakeable German accent to it.
The leader of the thugs,a man named Smith,shook his head.''We've searched this place from top to bottom.It ain't here...''
I was right to send it away,Angelica thought to herself.It wouldn't do her any good,but it might keep a very important historical discovery,out of this wicked bitch's hands.
Katherine frowned.''I suppose we'd better ask our hostess then...'' She turned back to Angelica.With little ceremony,she tore the tape away from the other woman's mouth.With a retch,the professor spat out the balled up rag that had been forcibly stuffed into her mouth.''So,Dr Cardosa,tell me...''Katherine asked the captive in accented Portugese.''What have you done with the map and the key?''
Angelica tried to put on a defiant face,despite the fear she felt.''I've already sent off both of them.Just before you came,''she replied.''Somewhere far from here.You will never find the Lost City of the Gods!''
Katherine frowned.''You will tell me who you've sent them to,'' her voice was very stern and ominous,as she nodded towards her thugs.''These gentlemen can be quite persuasive...''
The men grinned,gathering around the two women.Helpless in her bonds,Angelica trembled with fear,knowing full well what this meant.Nevertheless,she managed to find the voice to speak.
''Go ahead.It...it won't do you any good..I won't help you!''
'Er,boss,''Smith said,'wonder if the good doctor might be more pliant if we start talkin' to her friends.''
He nodded his head to one side.In that direction was an open door,leading to the kitchen.From the room,came the sounds of muffled sobs.Visible through the open door,were two more young women in their early twenties.Like Angelica,they had been securely bound to two sturdy chairs and gagged with silver duct tape.
The first was a tall,slender Brazilian girl with long dark hair.She was dressed in a maid's uniform,and had been the professor's housekeeper.The girl beside her was shorter,with pale freckled skin and auburn hair.She had on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.She was a student,attending at the university and the professor's student-assistant.
''No! Please!'' Angelica begged,but the men ignored her,as Smith turned to one of his companions.
''Morris,'' Smith ordered him,''run out to the truck and grab the spare car battery,and the jumper cables..''
Hearing this made Angelica go pale,as she watched the man leave,who stomped the pages of a research page on the floor indifferently.She was full of dread at what was possibly coming next.
''Well,Dr Cardosa,''Katherine said,''I'll give you one more chance to be reasonable,and to save yourself and your companions a great deal of pain.Tell me,who did you send the map to?''
+++
Louise was sitting at the bar in her hotel,nursing a drink.Since it was still early in the afternoon and the place was all but empty,the bartender,a middle aged Brazilian man,dressed in a white dress shirt hadn't shot her any ill-will looks of taking up space more profitable customers might have used.
Sitting on the table in front of the young woman were two items,which had brought here from London.The first was a metal disc,roughly six inches in diameter.The gold had been worked with the glyphs and figures of a Meso-American people,done with such startling detail and craftsmanship,it was hard to believe the gold medallion was at least half a millennia old,maybe older.Set in the centre was a white crystal of some sort.
The other object was a small,black,leather bound booklet.Idly,she flipped through page after page of small,dense writing,done in a very neat hand.Scattered here and there were hand drawn illustrations,sketches of native pictograms and artifacts,alongside maps showing the Amazon River basin in great detail.About three quarters of the way through,the notes trailed off.On the last filled page,was a half finished sketch of a Mayan Ziggurat.
''Why did you send this to me?'' Louise thought to herself,troubled.Idly,she ran her hands through her long brown hair.She had known that Professor Cardosa,one of her old teachers and a mentor,had been working on discovering the location of the Lost City.It had been a pet project of hers for some time.Last she heard,the professor had been making a good bit of progress.So why had she suddenly decided to post her life's work to her student,with no explaination as if on a whim?
''And unfinished too...''Louise muttered.The final pages of theories and calculations were extremely promising,enough to convince Louise to set up this expedition,but though the book had narrowed things down to a relatively small patch of jungle,having a definite location would have been far better.
''That book make any more sense,Lo?'' A voice asked from behind Louise.A second later,the person who had asked that walked around the young woman into view.She was also a young woman,with shoulder length brown hair.She was dressed like Louise,in a white T-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts.
''Not really,Naomi,'' Louise told her friend and colleague.''We'll just have to hope when we're out there on the river,that things will make a bit more sense...''
''Yeah,''Naomi replied,''speaking of which,I've got in touch with a captain who has a boat for hire that fits what we need.Want to come with me and check it out?''
''Alright,''Louise stood from the table,scooping the book and talisman into the leather satchel at her side.
The two young women walked out of the hotel onto the bustling street.Naomi flagged down a taxi.As they got in,she gave the driver the address of a small,riverside Marina.The driver fought his way through the crush of traffic;cars,cyclsts and pedastrians everywhere before dropping the women off at the riverside.
As Naomi counted out coins for the fare,Louise scanned the long line of piers and the myriad of boats tied up on them;motor boats,sailing boats,yachts,barges,tiny one-man dinghies and boats large enough to sail across the ocean.
''So what boat are we hiring?'' Louise asked.
''Um...that one right there.The....Duchess it's called,''Naomi answered,pointing with her finger as she picked out the boat from the others at the marina.Louise followed her outstretched arm,to a splendid white riverboat,maybe fifty six feet long.The boat had a raised structure on deck,with a pilot house up front,another cabin behind and an open deck area near the stern.A white awning stretched over the deck,to give shade against the hot jungle sun.The whole boat had a look of clean tidiness,especially set alongside some of the other disreputable vessels tied up along the river.
As the two archeologists walked up,they saw a young woman on deck,checking over some of the equipment stored in lockers by the pilot house.Seeing them,she called down an open hatch below deck.A second woman soon appeared.In looks,the two women were very similar;dark hair,dressed in nice,white uniforms that had a distinctly military air to them.The well cut,military naval shirts showed off their nice,athletic bodies.
''Ahoy!'' One of the sailors called down as Louise and Naomi reached the gangplank.''Are you the gang that called ahead and said they were interested in renting my boat for a few days?''
''Yes!'' Louise nodded,''may we come up,captain...?''
''Powell,'' the other woman replied.''Jennifer Powell,and this is my partner,Paula Smith.We run this boat.''
''It's good to meet you,Captain Powell,''Louise said,walking up the gangplank,her hand extended.''We would very much like to hire your boat to take us upriver.''
''Where to?'' Jennifer asked.
''We're not sure,'' Louise admitted.''We're looking for some ruins,a lost city.We have a general idea of where it is,but we don't know for certain.We're hoping once we get into the jungle we'll have more luck figuring out the clues laid down to its exact location.''
''Hmmm....intriguing,''the captain responded thoughtfully.''Well,in that case,I guess I can give you a daily rate.Paid in cash'' The amount she named wasn't as bad as Louise thought it might be,but it was still steep.Frowning,the two archeologists put their heads together.
''With the money we've got,that will only give us a couple of weeks,a month at most,''Naomi said,doing the maths in her head.''Do you think we'll be able to find the city in that time frame?''
''I...think so,''Louise replied,perhaps a little less certain than she would have liked.
''That also doesn't give us much time to excavate,even if we do find any ruins.''
''If we can find the ruins location,dig up a few artifacts to show back at the university,we shouldn't have much trouble getting the funds for a second expedition.She turned back to Jennifer.''It's a deal.When do we sail?''
''Bring your whole group and any luggage you want to bring back here tomorrow,say,abour seven a.m.'' Louise nodded,and the two women shook hands.
As the two archeologists descended the gangplank and walked to hail a taxi back to the hotel to make final preparations for the trip,they didn't notice a man,dressed like a tourist,raise a camera and take a quick picture of the two women.He also took several pictures of the boat Louise and Naomi had just left,and of the two pretty crew women on board.
+++
Katherine paced anxiously across the cheap hotel bedroom floor.She gave the appearance of a caged predator,waiting for its cage to open,and allowing her to continue her hunt.She and her hired thugs had flown down here,following the clues the unfortunate Dr Cordosa had given them,though not before she had subjected herself,and her two pretty companions to some unnecessary torment.
From the next room over,a chorus of muffled moans reached Katherine's ears.Their torments hadn't ended there.Unfortunately for the professor and her two friends,their nightmare was far from over.The three women had been brought along,tightly bound and gagged in a shipping container,both to keep them from raising any sort of alarm and also as an insurance,should this lead prove to be false.
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