Kate tried to move to find a slightly more comfortable position, but the plastic wrap held her very secure. The bark of the tree pressed into her skin painfully and the plastic was already uncomfortably hot. She could feel sweat dripping down her body. At first, she put it off to her imagination, but then she realized that it wasn't just her mind. There was something crawling on her body under the plastic.
She couldn't help herself; she screamed as she realized that the crawling was all over her body. Frantic to get whatever it was off her body, she began to struggle. She could hear the men laughing and then felt the hands on one touching her roughly.
"Hold still, Bitch. It's just ants. I'll pour some of this on you and they'll go away," She could hear the amusement in his voice.
She bit her lip trying to calm herself and be still. She could feel him pouring some liquid on her head and felt it drip down under the plastic, sliding down the cracks and crevices. The hands pinched at her nipples until she cried out in pain. There was more laughter as he walked away.
Kate waited for the crawling to stop, but it didn't, it only seemed to get worse. And then something bit her. She gasped and then began struggling again as there were more bites. She could feel one crawling on her face.
"Get them off! Get them off!" she begged frantically, tears rolling down her face. She could hear someone coming closer and sobbed in relief. To her surprise, they did nothing about the ants, but shoved a filthy cloth in her mouth, pushing it in until she thought she was going to choke on it. She heard a rip of tape and then felt it put over her mouth, forcing the gag in.
"Shut the fuck up, whore. You are ruining our game. Stand still and they won't bite."
Kate fought with herself to be still, to calm herself. They were only ants after all she told herself. It was hell. The heat, the sweat, the bugs, the pain in her body, her blindness, her growing thirst and her need to use the bathroom all fed on each other until she would have done anything Malachi asked had he only given her the chance.
She didn't start crying until her muscles gave out and she felt the hot stream of urine down her thighs. The humiliation was worse than anything else they had done to her so far. Surely this was the bottom of the pit.
"Pissed yourself, did you?"
She recognized Doc's voice and realized that it was about to get worse.
"The Prince would be very upset if I let you die out here from dehydration. Would you like some water?"
A spark of hope grew inside her. Was he being kind to her? Did being bought make that much of a difference? She felt Doc pull off the tape and then remove the rag gag. The plastic around her face was cut free.
"Thank you," she managed to whisper gratefully.