His hair was matted to his scalp. His shirt had been ripped from his body and there were deep cuts across his back and under his arms. There were minute burn marks on his hands and on his shoulders. His trousers were still on, but the zip had been torn open, and there were few parts of his body that were not covered in bruises.
'Hi, Princess,' he said softly, his eyes warm through the puffiness of his swollen lids.
'Hi, tough guy.' She didn't know what else to say, she was horrified by what they had done to him.
He smiled. Then he passed out.
She rushed over to him, gathered him in her arms and held him to her. After some time, she lay him down on his back and checked his body. She found nothing broken and his breathing was regular. Then she licked his face, washed away some of the dirt and blood that spread across it, cooled the swelling round his eyes and cheeks. It seemed the natural thing to do.
With her tongue she tried to wash off the blood that covered him. It seemed to work; her saliva and dampness helped his body fight the damage.
She did that for half an hour and he only came round for a short time. She didn't catch what he said — his words too soft and indistinct — but his half grin told her it had smutty connotations. God knows what he thought in his dream world as he watched her licking his body.
The second time he came round, he suddenly pulled himself up into a sitting position. She could see him trying to concentrate, trying to control his mind and body, trying to focus. She moved away, left him in the corner of the room and stayed where he could see her clearly.
'No danger,' she said.
'Where are we?' He spoke painfully and slowly.
'Somewhere in their camp.' She cursed herself for stating the obvious, wished she had taken more note of where they had brought her. 'I'm sorry. I don't…' She stopped, her inadequacy confused with her compassion for him. He looked so vulnerable, so damaged.
'I'm all right.' He understood her feelings and tried to reassure her. 'Have you been here all the time?'
'Yes.'
'And nothing happened?'
'Nothing. They just stuck me in here. I've seen no-one.'
He nodded, relieved that they had left her alone although he knew this thing had only just started.
'What sort of building is this?'
'How do you mean?'
'Is it in a big complex?'
'No. It's in the trees.'
'Brick or wooden?'
'Wooden.'
'Like a big Swiss chalet?'
'Yes.'
'I know it.' He didn't tell her that they had brought him here unconscious after torturing him in the main building. He didn't tell her how they had beaten him with plastic tubes filled with sand so that he would hurt and bruise without breaking his bones. Or how they had inflicted cuts with a small sharp knife, then sprinkled salt into the wounds and kicked him round the room so he had to twist sharply and feel the pain of the salt crystals in the raw open flesh. They had hosed him down after that, then poured urine over him. The next time he awoke, they blistered the back of his hands with cigarette burns, but this time, mercifully, he had had passed out within ten minutes and didn't regain his senses for nearly two hours. Then they beat him with the pipes once again, but when they realised that he had managed to keep his secrets from them, that this small Englishman was not for talking, they turned on him in their fury and kicked and beat him until they feared they had killed him. Finally Kaas ordered his torturers to stop and they dragged Adam down to the wooden chalet and threw him in with Billie. Maybe that would soften the Englishman up, or give Kaas the opportunity to break the woman. It had been Frick's order that the girl should not be tortured. But now things were bound to change, once he found out that the Englishman hadn't been broken.
'They need to know why we are here,' Adam said. 'They seem as confused as we are. They don't seem to have any idea about who's behind these killings.'
'Do you believe them?'
'Got to. Why go through all this if they already have the answers. No, they need to keep us alive. Until they get their answers, anyway.'
'I won't be able to stand up to them like you, Adam.' She couldn't hide the fear that engulfed her.
'Take it easy, Billie. All we've got to think about is how to get out of here.'
'Adam! How do you think…?'
'It's not my intention to stay cooped up in here, waiting for them to go on with their little games.'
She started to laugh.
'What's so funny?' he asked, hoping that her mood didn't suddenly break into hysteria.
But she continued, her laughter growing until her body started to shake with the force of it. He didn't react, just watched her with deep concern. After a while she brought herself under control.
'You're priceless,' she said.
'Why?'
'Because you're sitting there, all beat up, in a real mess, can't even stand up, let alone walk, and all you can talk about is getting out of here. You're some tough guy, my love.'
'We'll be out of here.' There was a certainty in his tone that surprised her. She felt his strength reach out to her. Damn it, if he believed it, then why shouldn't she?
He moved forward towards her and cupped her face in his hands. Then he kissed her softly; and they took the warmth of living from each other.
'They singed your hair,' he said.
'I thought you'd like it short.'
'Why's your lip cut?'
'Because I shouted at them. One of them slugged me to shut me up.'
'Big mouth.'
'Always was my problem.'
He held her for a while and they said nothing. Time was short and they needed each other's strength.
'Was Marcus with you?' she asked suddenly.
'You both were.' He didn't tell her how difficult it had been to withstand the pain they inflicted on him. He didn't tell her that he had been so worried about her that it had been hard to concentrate on sharing the hurt with Marcus, on blocking out the punishment they put him through.
Half an hour later the door clanged open and Kaas entered. He laughed when he saw them huddled together. But he was angry, having just been hauled over the coals by Kragan and Frick for not getting the Englishman to talk. He'd asked if he could work on the girl, but Frick had refused. If that ever got out, Frick was concerned about his public image. That was the difference between Kragan and Frick. Kragan would simply have done what was necessary. He would've found out what these two were up to by now.
'Pretty little lovebirds.' Kaas signalled two of the Stermabeitalung into the room. They moved past Kaas and grabbed Adam, wrenching him away from Billie. She screamed, but it had little effect, just added to the confusion that reigned in the room. Adam struggled, but he was too weak and the storm troopers tore his trousers off, leaving him stark naked. Then they held him down, flat on his back, as another Stermabeitalung poured a bucket of salt over the Englishman. It stuck to Adam's body, burnt into the jigsaw of cuts that had been carved into his body. Adam screamed, loud and violent, in his attempt to absorb the pain. The two storm troopers who pinned him down now rubbed the salt all over his body, massaging it into his skin, tearing the cuts wider as they did so.
Billie hurled herself at them, tried to push them away from Adam, but the storm-trooper with the bucket hit her across the head with it, sent her sprawling backwards across the room. He then knelt down, took out his small, sharp penknife and cut into the fleshy area between Adam's toes. He picked up what salt was left in the bucket and rubbed it between them.
Then the guards were gone.
Billie crawled over to Adam, who was still yelling loudly, and knelt next to him, waiting for him to bring himself under control. It was five minutes before he stopped yelling, before he started to absorb the terrible pain that burnt through his flesh.