Chapter Twenty Seven
Gabriel now found himself sitting on the curb in the parking lot. The sun was going down over the buildings in front of him. Looking around Gabriel could see Amber sitting next to him on the curb. She was transformed into a beacon of sexuality. She had on a red, low cut dress, with long black stockings. Her hair was in pig tails, and thick makeup plastered her face. Perfume radiated off of her in the evenings breeze.
Jerome quickly pulled up and Amber got in the car. Gabriel quickly jumped in and Jerome was pulling away before Gabriel was even in the car. Luckily he had just enough time to get in though. Jerome was blaring some rap music and driving very fast. Jerome turned the music down and looked over at Amber.
“You ready for your first john?” Jerome asked.
“John?” Amber asked confused.
“John is the code word we use for our customers. The men that you will be fucking.” Jerome said.
“Ohh, yeah I guess so..” Amber said looking out the passenger window.
“You will be alright, the first week will be rough. But then you will be a professional sex worker.” Jerome said.
“So do I get the money before or after?” Amber asked.
“After.... This guy knows the rates. It's sixty bucks every thirty minutes for everything. If they only want a blow job it's thirty bucks. Any weird fetish shit is an extra twenty. Oh and I almost forgot don't let them kiss you on the lips.” Jerome said. Amber just remained silent and looked out the window. Gabriel wondered why kissing on the lips was taboo. Yet giving up everything else was perfectly fine. It seemed absurd. Jerome pulled up into a run down motel in the ghetto.
“Room 15” Jerome said as he put the car in park.
“Okay...” Amber said sighing.
“Don't worry I will be right here, and this John knows you are new to the business.” Jerome said as Amber got out. Gabriel followed her as she searched for room 15. Amber gently knocked on the door and a man peeked through the curtains. After the sounds of the locks turning, the door opened. The man was in a suit and tie. He looked to be in his sixty’s and had gray hair that was balding.
“Come on in.” The man said. Amber and Gabriel walked in the motel room. The walls had holes and scratch marks on them. It was a strange place for a business man but a high end hotel might raise more alarms.
“What's your name dear?” The man asked.
“Am....Amanda.” Amber said.
“Well Amanda, I am John.” The man said smiling.
“So John what do you want?” Amber asked.
“Well lets just start on the bed...Go ahead and take off your clothes.” John said. Amber began striping down as the man watched.
“Slower.” John said. Amber slowed down and turned to face John. She did not look him in the eye's though and just looked at the ground. John began undoing his belt and threw it on the floor. Once Amber was undressed John grabbed her and threw her on the bed. John held her hand above her head with one hand and pulled down his pants with the other. He started kissing her neck and then moved to the lips. Once he did Amber quickly turned away. Johns face turned red and it was clear that he was hoping for a kiss on the lips.
“Wait, here pick a condom.” Amber said pointing at her purse. John went over and pulled one out and put it on.
Gabriel turned away and looked at the door as John began screwing Amber. Every once and awhile she would make a unconvincing moan. There was pain in the moan though rather than pleasure. Luckily it was all over very fast and Amber put her clothes on. John handed her a hand full of bills.
“Thanks Amber you did well.” The man said smiling.
“I thought I told you it was Amanda?” Amber said counting the bills.
“Oh right Amanda.” The man said still smiling. Once Amber was dressed she left the room. Gabriel followed her out and once outside she searched for Jerome's car. It was no where to be found though so Amber went and sat down on a stairwell. She just looked up at the night sky and waited. Time passed as people came and went, but Jerome was still no place to be found. The man could have raped and killed her and he would not have been there. Finally after a few hours Jerome pulled up and they walked over and got in the car.
“The money?” Jerome said holding out his hand. Amber gave him all the money the man gave her.
“Dammit only thirty minutes?” Jerome said counting the money.
“Yeah...Where were you?” Amber said frowning.
“Sorry had to drop off another girl. But I knew you would be alright with him. He is a regular customer of mine and I take all the new girls to him.” Jerome said.
“So whats my cut?” Amber asked.
“Bitch I paid your rent, or did you forget?” Jerome said as he speed out of the motel parking lot. Amber just looked out the window off into space.
“The way I see it is this. You owe me for the clothes, perfume, condoms, hair product, and the rent. But if you want I can buy you grocery's for the kids. Other than that you got a debt to pay.” Jerome said as he drove to another place to drop Amber off at. Things went black and Gabriel found himself waiting for the next glimpse of horror from Amber's life.
Now he found himself in Jerome's car once again. Another prostitute was sitting next to him and Amber sat in the front. Amber looked different though, older and more torn. The car smelled like an old brothel and cigarettes. The prostitute next to Gabriel was much older than Amber. Most likely in her late thirty's and she puffed on a cigarette.
“So this guy paid for the whole night. He said he is having a bachelor party for his friend so you girls are going to have a busy night.” Jerome said as he pulled into the same cheap motel. The girls got out and Amber looked back at Jerome.
“Room?” Amber asked.
“Oh 15.” Jerome said smiling. Amber turned and followed the other woman to the room.
“I will pick you up in the morning!” Jerome shouted as he drove away. The other woman knocked on the door and a middle aged man in a wife beater opened the door.
“Well howdy, come on in!” The man said. They walked into the room and there were two other men inside. They looked like they came off some farm in the swamp. The room stunk and their clothes were tattered. They all were in their late forty’s with full beards and rotten teeth. One man had a huge wad of chew hanging in his lip.
“Well lets get to it!” One man said getting up with a rope in his hand.
“Hands behind your backs lady's!” The man who opened the door said. Amber and the other woman reluctantly turned around and put their hands behind their backs. The man tied their hands and feet up and then pushed them onto the bed. Then two men quickly muffled both of the women.
“Heymmmph” Amber tried to scream at the men but couldn't.
“Oh we got ourselves a fighter!” One man said as he back handed Amber in the face. Amber just closed her eyes as a tear ran down her red cheek. The men blind folded the women and another man looked outside.
“Alright I will get the van.” Another man said as he walked out the door. A white work van pulled up in the parking spot in front of the Motel.
“Lets do this quick!” One man said as he grabbed Amber by the hair and dragged her out to the van. Gabriel followed behind in disgust. His heart ached for Amber and all that lead up to this horrible point in her life. The man dragged her into the van, while the other man dragged the other woman. The van door slid shut and the man driving sped off.
The other two men stayed in the back and beat the women whenever they would move. One man poured a beer all over Amber's face.
“Aww don't be wasting my beer on that cunt!” The driver said. Gabriel had seen enough and moved to the front seat. They were driving outside of the city and turned down a dirt road. The city lights faded out of view behind massive willow tree's. After driving down the road awhile they came up to a beat up trailer home. There were massive pig barns off to the side of the mobile home. It looked as though the pigs were living better than the people in the ho
use.
The men drug the women into the mobile home. Gabriel followed behind and looked up at the stars. The whole drive the men beat on the women and it was starting to show. The smell of pigs tainted the night air in more ways than one. Once inside they pulled the women into a bedroom and started stripping them down.
Gabriel sat in the hallway as he listened to the men beat and rape the women. It went on almost forever and the beatings were endless. Anger brewed in Gabriel but he knew it had already been done. Nothing he could do would change the corruption of the past. The more he seen the cruelty of sex ravenous men, the more he despised being a man.
“Alright guy's well have a good night, I will drop them off in an alley like usual.” One man said as the other two walked out of the room. They left the house and Gabriel could hear their vehicles roar to life. Their headlights shined through the windows and then vanished. Gabriel dared to look in the room to see the carnage that was done.
Amber was bloody and beaten. Bruises covered her skin and blood covered the mattress on the floor. The man watched the window as his so called friends drove off into the night. Once they were gone he turned to the women and smiled. He removed the gag from the one woman's mouth. As soon as he did she spit blood and teeth out at him.
“Fuck you pig!” The woman yelled. The man remained silent and went over to an old dresser. Gabriel stepped into the room to see what he was doing. Inside the dresser was an assortment of sex toys and he shuffled through them. He opened another drawer and there was an assortment of knifes. Mostly kitchen knifes stained with blood.
Turning around Gabriel went for the door. But it was now shut and locked, he was trapped in the room. Forced to see what the sick and twisted man was about to do. As he grabbed a skinning knife Gabriel started to throw up. He curled up on the dirt floor and started puking.
“Go ahead asshole do the world a favor!” The woman courageously shouted at the man.
“AHHHMMMHH” Amber cried into her muffle but no words came out. Laying on the floor Gabriel could hear the cries of the other woman as he began cutting into her. It was a slow and agonizing death. The man made small cuts down to the bone all over her body. Until finally she had bled to death. The man turned to Amber and started making the same cuts all over her arms and then he stopped.
“I think I will keep you for awhile.” The man said laughing. Gabriel wanted to grab the man and slit his throat with his own knife. But all he could do was curl up on the floor and try to drown the suffering out. The man turned and left the room and then came back with a meat hook in his hand. With a sudden thrust he drove it into the dead woman's back.
“The pigs are going to eat good tonight!” The man said laughing at Amber. Dragging the woman out of the room the man shut the door. Leaving Amber in the silence of a murder scene. Gabriel got up and looked at Amber.
“I am so sorry, I wish I could save you.” Gabriel said crying. Amber's arms were all sliced up from the knife. The man made a mistake though and the knife was still on the bed. Amber tried to get it in her hands but the were tied too tightly. Wincing in pain she tried to rub the ropes over the knife. She could hardly move though after the beating she had taken.
Gabriel was worried about how much blood she had already lost. She needed immediate medical attention and even if she could escape she had a long ways to town. After many hours though she finally cut her hands free. With the knife in her hand she painstakingly cut herself free. Getting up from the bed she tried to walk but just stumbled over into the wall.
Gabriel could not believe she even made it that far in her condition. With her last bit of energy she slid the window open and knocked out the screen. The night was one of the darkest Gabriel had ever seen. Somehow though Amber pulled herself out the window and fell to the ground below. Gabriel climbed out the window behind her. Amber was a smart girl and hung on to the knife with a death grip.
Amber slowly climbed to her feet and began stumbling away from the trailer. She tried to run but only fell down. So slowly and painstakingly she walked through the forest. Gabriel followed behind her, waiting for her to collapse and fall to her death. To his surprise she kept going until finally she made it to a highway. Then walked a short distance until headlights appeared from behind them.
Gabriel's heart sank as he and Amber turned around. Amber waved her hand at the car but it sped past them. Then the brake lights came on and an older couple jumped out of the car and ran over to help Amber.
“Ohhh my god what happened!” The old woman shouted. Amber dropped the skinning knife and they carried her over to the car. Amber tried to speak but the words came out in incoherent mumbles. Darkness came over Gabriel and now he found himself in the middle of a court room. Amber now healed from her assault and was on one end of the room. While the man who tried to kill her sat at the other end. The jury were being shown pictures of the murder weapon and Amber's wounds.
That appeared to be the only evidence that could be found of the attack. The jury and people in the court room looked at Amber. Not as one would look at a woman, but as a lying piece of trash. Gabriel could not believe the way they were looking at her. The man who attacked her got up and went over to testify. Amber's lawyer got up and walked over to ask him questions about what happened.
“Scott, can you tell me and the court what happened that night.” The lawyer said.
“I don't know how she came to be the way she was in the pictures. We had a huge bachelor party going that night and we hired her to be a stripper. We all had been drinking..” Scott said.
“Who is we can you tell us who all was there?” The lawyer asked.
“Well it was my brothers bachelor party, I know it was him and my friend Billy. Other than that it was a lot of people that I didn't even know. Friend's of friend's and that sort of thing.” Scott said.
“Okay so you don't really know who was at the bachelor party?” The lawyer said.
“Ehhh no I don't recall, I was very drunk that night.” Scott said.
“So you wouldn't recall if you had raped and murdered Lesly Ashton, or raped and attempted to murder ms Amber Archelleta?” The lawyer asked.
“I object!” Scott's lawyer said jumping from his seat. Suddenly Gabriel found himself in darkness and then right back in the court room standing in front of the jury.
“We the jury find Scott Anthony Billunions not guilty.” One of the jurors said as he sat back down in his seat. Gabriel could not believe how fucked up the legal system was. Sex workers had absolutely no protection from predators. While laws enabled them to beat, rape, and rob woman. They knew that if they went to the police then the sex worker would be arrested rather than the predator.
Darkness fell back over and things began to flash before Gabriel's eyes. He could not believe that sick man got away with murder. The people in the court room were treating Amber like she was the criminal. Now Gabriel found himself in some type of law office. Amber was sitting in a chair next to him with tears in her eye's.
“Hello Amber.” A man said walking in the room. Amber remained silent and slouched down in her chair. The man opened up a large file and began flipping through it.
“So it says here you do not know what happened to your mother?” The man asked.
“No.” Amber said.
“What did she just disappear?” The man said sitting back in his chair.
“One night she was there, the next she was gone. Everyone knew she had a drug problem.” Amber said.
“How long has she been missing?” The man asked.
“I don't know only about a week.” Amber said.
“Well....That's not what your sisters said. They said she has been in heaven for a long time now.” The man said frowning.
“They are just confused little girls.” Amber said looking away from the man.
“You know if you cooperate with me I can help you.” The man said.
“Yeah that's what all men want to do, help me heh.” Amber said sighing. The man flipped throu
gh some more files.
“You know you are looking at going to jail for prostitution. I think we can keep you out of jail if you testify against Jerome.” The man said.
“What about my brother and sisters?” Amber said looking back at the man.
“Well they will be placed in the foster system.” The man said looking down at the file. Amber started to cry and weep as Gabriel's vision filled with darkness. Now Gabriel was sitting in a jail cell with Amber. Sounds of footsteps on the concrete floor came up behind him. It was a prison guard and he removed his hat.
“Amber I am sorry to inform you. But the tests came back and you are HIV positive.” The guard said as Gabriel's vision turned to darkness again. Now he was sitting in a hospital and Amber was in the hospital bed. She looked as though she was maybe eighty pounds and beads of sweat rolled down her face. The heart monitor rang out Amber's freedom. Doctors and nurses ran in the room, they tried to revive her but nothing could be done.
Gabriel looked at one of her arms hanging off the hospital bed. He thought about all that had happened to her and all the other abused women in his life. He thought about how man's rage should never fall on a woman's skin. Her scars are from a primitive coward who understands nothing of love. Just as Gabriel was thinking about how sick this world and men are, Cain walked into the room smiling. She was now one more victim of heavens abominations.
Darkness came back over Gabriel and he found himself back in the forest holding Amber's hand. She was pleading for his help and her eye's begged him for mercy.
“Kill me!” Amber pleaded as tears fell from Gabriel's eyes. How could he do it, he was not a murderer like them. But then how could he possibly turn his back and leave her there to suffer.
“Amber.....I am going to set you free okay?” Gabriel said wanting more confirmation from Amber.
“Kill....Me.” Amber said again with a fading voice. Turning around Gabriel could see a spear from one of the men in the village. Gabriel picked it up with trembling hands and turned around to amber. Looking down at her he could see that she was dead again.
“Amber? Amber?” Gabriel cried out as he dropped the spear.
“Well I hope you are finally free of this hell. I hope that even heaven does not take you. Heaven and god is not good enough for you. They left you here to suffer and you didn't deserve any of this.” Gabriel said as he turned and walked away. Gabriel had not walked very far when he saw what he had been dreading. It was Tiffany with Albemlech by her side.
They both lay dead in the village. Gabriel's cries turned to sobbing as he held Tiffany's cold hand in his. She too was free of all of her suffering, while Gabriel's seemed to only continue on. After weeping next to Tiffany's corpse Gabriel looked around. Her pendant was missing from her neck and he knew whoever killed her had it. The sounds of an army running erupted from behind him. The ground shook as he turned around to see what was coming for him. It was a trap, a way to lure Gabriel back into Apollyon's webs of misery.
Foul abominations of Apollyon's legion were charging after him from the other end of the village. For a moment Gabriel felt like just laying down next to Tiffany and letting the demons take him. Though his hatred for them was now beyond his will to give in or die. Gabriel wanted to see Apollyon destroyed more now than ever.
Bursting to his feet Gabriel started to run away from the demons. He knew there was no place to go but why give up without a fight. Just as he reached the cliff side Gabriel stopped and turned to face the legion. They were only feet away from him and Gabriel took one fatal step back. Falling from the cliff side Gabriel looked up and a smile cracked through his tear filled face.
Most of the foul creatures followed him over the edge of the cliff and they were falling to their graves. Though some of them stopped at the edge of the cliff. But Gabriel had another small victory over Apollyon and it was enough to keep going. Gabriel waited to feel the impact of the river below and closed his eyes. Instead he felt the sudden jolt of claws rip into him. Could it be one of the demon's he thought opening his eye's.
It wasn't the demons but a familiar sight. The angel of death, or at least that's what Gabriel assumed it was. She carried him just as she had before when he refused to see the sins. Now she carried him from the demon's that had made their way to Axal. Gabriel was relieved that he did not crash into the river and jagged rocks below.
Although now he was just confused. Who was this angel of death's allegiance to and why did she take him. Could she be taking him to Apollyon, or maybe one of the kingdoms. Or did death have her own agenda for Gabriel. Her huge black wings sprawled out over the forest below. Her shadow hovered through the tops of tree's.
They flew over desolate forest for miles, going deeper and deeper into the unknown. Then finally she started to fly towards the forest below. She had carried him to an open meadow and dropped him near a old gate. There was nothing there and they were in the middle of no where. But here in the meadow was this strange gate.
“What is this place?” Gabriel asked turning around. The angel of death was flying away in the distance. Could this be....Heaven Gabriel thought turning around and taking in the beautiful sight.