“It’s not my fault!” she screams as Stanton gives her ear an especially vicious twist. “That cow Juniper was asking for it!”
What? Is this about me? I dash to another room to get a better vantage point, pressing my nose against the glass and holding my breath as the scene unfolds. To my complete and utter shock, I watch as the twins hoist Karina up onto a small platform and shove her arms and head down on a vertical board decorated with hollowed out semi-circles. Then, the top part of the contraption is lowered, encasing her neck and wrists in three wooden holes. Holy shit, this is like the Middle Ages! The brothers are dispensing some good old fashioned justice and have placed Karina in stocks.
I watch with astonishment as the other girls begin taunting Karina, each of them with their own bone to pick. Evidently, Karina ruled her flock using fear, and now that she’s bound and helpless, her cronies have turned against her. I watch as a maxi-pad flies through the air, striking Karina on the cheek. Then someone’s underwear comes soaring in an arc, landing on her head comically.
“You fuckers!” she screams, trying to lift her face to see who’s doing this. “I’ll get you!” Unfortunately, because of the stocks, Karina can’t lift her neck at all, and before we realize it, a tomato is splatting against her forehead, coating her in slimy vegetable juice.
Meanwhile, Stanton and Shane stand to one side, their muscular arms crossed over their equally muscular chests, watching the spectacle. It’s a rough sort of punishment, but not undeserved.
However, after another few minutes, I decide that I can’t watch any more. It’s not that I’m upset with Karina’s sentence – quite the opposite – but still, I’m overwhelmed by how easily she attempted murder. Seeing my tormentor’s face makes me queasy, and I sit down heavily in a nearby armchair.
A few minutes later, I hear the back door open and the men stride in. I smile weakly, but in truth I’m still upset from my harrowing night, and seeing Karina has made it all come back sharply into focus. Stanton and Shane stride over, their faces somber.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” Shane asks.
“What is it?” Stanton inquires simultaneously.
I shake my head at their questions. “I’m okay,” I assure them quickly. Each man sits to either side of me, their eyes filled with passion and concern.
“You sure?”
I take a deep breath, my hand on my belly.
“Yes, I’m sure,” I say slowly, “Especially now that Karina is getting her just deserts.”
At this statement, the twins laugh and then grow somber.
“Yeah, we’re not much on martial punishment, so we find other ways to discipline our students. We’ve found the stocks to be a great asset,” Stanton says coolly. “No one’s going to be physically hurt, but the jeering taunts will ring in her ears forever.”
“What she did to you, Juniper…” Shane growls, his voice low with anger.
“She could have killed you,” Stanton finishes the thought, his normally composed face dark with rage. I take their hands in mine.
“I know,” I say softly. “But how did you find out? I was terrified, and thought I was a goner too.”
The brothers look at each other and shake their heads.
“A girl named Sarah came over in the middle of the night to confess,” Stanton rasps. “We didn’t even bother to listen to the whole story. We just heard the bit about you being left to die of exposure, and that was it. The search began.”
“But just now, as you were in the tub,” Shane continues. “We confronted Sarah again, and she directed us to Karina. It wasn’t really a shock, truth be told. That woman has been nothing but a bully since she got here, and her punishment is well deserved.”
I stare at Shane, surprised by their swift justice.
“And all the other girls out there?” I ask hesitantly.
“They’ve had enough of Karina’s misbehavior,” Shane says with a shrug. “You weren’t her only victim. Lots of girls are taking their revenge now, jeering at her and taunting her. Nothing’s going to happen physically. She won’t have marks or anything.”
“Yeah, but she did shit herself,” Stanton interjects, his blue eyes cold. “So we can add embarrassment to the list.”
I feel my jaw drop at this detail. “She did?”
The brothers nod.
“Oh yeah, sweetheart. You weren’t out there, so you couldn’t smell it, but there are streaks of brown running down her legs right now and she stinks to high heaven. That girl’s going to need disinfectant to get clean afterwards. Perhaps I should offer the other girls N-95 masks in the meantime.”
The comment is so funny that I laugh out loud, my first laugh in what feels like ages. With that, the twins startle, but then pull me close to their big forms.