Conduit - M J Marlow (best short books to read txt) 📗

Conduit

High in the mountains between Switzerland and Italy was a hidden valley. Here the refugees from the horrors of plague and greed had fled to make a new life for themselves. For almost seven generations they had been at peace, needing and wanting nothing from the outside world. But that ended when five strangers stepped out of a blizzard. They found the peaceful valley quite rich and decided to make it their own. The inhabitants, having lost the will to fight, accepted them into the fold and life went on much as it had before. Men and women began to find their way to the valley and they settled into the monastery, allowing the five strangers to rule over them. The original ruling family became nothing more than figureheads and, some said, breeding material, for the strangers. All the negative emotions and actions they had protected themselves from came back to them and the more zealous among them decided that the valley had to be cleansed. The Magistrate, the voice of the Five, ended the conflict by destroying the village with all the villages inside it. Horrified by what had been done, the ruling family smuggled their heir out of the valley and killed themselves to prevent all possibility of future heirs. People who wandered into the valley, never came back out; and the villages and towns on trails leading in destroyed all knowledge of it. “So we’re to believe that there is a monastery with mad monks and inbred slaves hidden up in the mountains?” one of the students of Professor Henri Boussard laughed as he finished translating the record they had found. “This is a story someone made up to punish Latin students with.” “One could believe that, Justin,” Henri smiled indulgently at his graduate student, “if I had not come upon someone who had stumbled upon the genealogy of the child who was smuggled out of the valley.” He saw he had his students’ attention. “Her descendants, all female, were rumored to possess greatparanormal talents.” “Rumored?” Samantha Bryant perked up. “Nothing definite?” “The rumors ended with the woman disappearing,” Henri told them; “after a night of frenzy in the general area she had been in. People were left dead, maimed…” “And they think the women were responsible?” Yvette Corbeau shivered delicately. “It’s like an old horror novel.” “Do we have any idea where they wound up?” Francesca Quintera asked the question they were all dying to know the answer to. “The final descendant was lost to the foster care system when her parents were murdered. The Abbott has made her return to the valley his only requirement for our dig. We must,” he pointed to three of his best, including the young man who had first spoken up, “find Dulcinea Santos and bring her here.” “Why should we?” one of the girls who had remained silent to that point protested. “Their ancestor sent their daughter out to keep her safe. If we bring her descendant back here, aren’t we undoing all of that?” “You always were a soft-hearted person, Charlotte,” Justin sniffed. “Imagine what it would be like for her to see the place her ancestors came from!” “What if she doesn’t want to know, Justin?” Char argued. She saw the confident young man balk. “You didn’t think of that, did you?” “Find a way to convince her,” Henri told the three as he pulled them aside. “If she is not among us, five years of research and preparation work will be wasted. We will be barred from taking our work to the next step.” He looked over at Char. “Don’t worry. Charlotte will understand soon enough why this is so important.” The three moved off quickly, intent to do their best and Henri turned to Charlotte. She followed him out of the hotel and they walked out of the village. Char began to grow uneasy as moments passed and they did not speak. The further they got from the mountains, the worse her fears grew. When they finally came to the main road, a half hour later, she was shaking. There was a man waiting by a car. Henri shoved her forward. “This one is becoming a problem,” Henri said as the man bound Char’s wrists. “I think it is time you added her to the breeding pool.” He smiled as the man gagged Char as the girl began to scream. “As agreed, she is intelligent and quite healthy. She is also a virgin.” “And the princess?” “I have sent a team to bring her to us,” Henri replied, as he watched the man knot a rope around Char’s neck. She was glaring at him now. “Did you never stop to wonder why all of the young women in my team are orphans, Charlotte? Why I have been so strict about their remaining pure?” He laughed at her look. “Those who became problems could simply vanish without anyone caring what happened to them. Yvette, Samantha, Francesca, Hannah, and Karen will be joining you if they create any problems for me.” He cupped her chin in his hand and ran his fingers over her lips. “My associates need new toys for their men.” “Do you wish this one for yourself, Henri?” “No,” Henri shook his head. “I have not worn out my last toy.” He patted Char on the cheek. “I will miss you, child, but I am certain the team can get along without you just fine.” He nodded to the man. “I will send word when they have found the princess.” “We look forward to that day with great anticipation.” He pulled on the rope and forced Char to the car. “Come along pretty animal. It is time for you to join the other hens.” Henri laughed as he saw them drive away. He was certain it would not take the trainer long to make the girl understand her new role in life. For a brief moment, he wished he had been given that role. But he enjoyed his task as hunter. There were so many young women in the world who needed a purpose. Over the past three decades, he had seen to it that over fifty of them had found their way to their complex on the other side of this valley. The criteria for breeder status was exacting; set forth by the Senator himself: the girls had to be intelligent, healthy, of breeding age, and orphans. They could have no family who would miss them and send out hunters. Char could not believe this was happening to her; a man she had come to admire and respect had set her and the other girls up. When she had answered the advertisement in Paris, asking for research assistants she had been over the world. At last, she would have a chance to learn archaeology from a man who was world-renowned. For the past seven months, she and the others had learned. But to find that the females on the team were sent to provide breeding material for a secretive people who had kept their existence hidden from the rest of the world if they questioned the Professor, was just wrong! The car pulled to a stop in front of a large building and she pulled on the rope. The monk shortened the distance between them, making her choke. His eyes told her he would strike her, if he had to. “Welcome to your new home, female.” Char looked at the military styled building in confusion. It was completely out of sorts with the farm fields and orchards on the other side of the valley. Livestock grazed on the hillsides. Did those farmers know their neighbors were kidnappers and worse? She choked at that. Why would the people who worked in this place need sex slaves? They weren’t that far from cities. What were they doing here that kept them in the building? Did it have anything to do with the hidden valley on the other side of the mountains? He pulled her into the building and they passed by a security station. The way the guards eyed her made her blood run cold. They got into an elevator and went down several levels. Char was dragged out into gray corridors and taken along a dizzying path to a set of double doors. Her escort knocked on the door and a woman in with flame red hair, poured into a midnight blue gown, smiled as she saw Char. “Mr. Johnson,” she smiled as she took the rope in her hand, “you always bring me such lovely toys.” “A new candidate, Senator,” the man laughed as he followed the woman into a room straight out of the Arabian Nights fantasies. He watched as the woman forced Char to her knees before a large, cold-eyed man seated on a throne. He couldn’t have fit the setting better; unless he was wearing robes. “Boussard sends her to us with word that he has sent hunters for the princess. Once they secure her, he will arrange for her to be brought here.” “Get up, girl.” The Senator smiled coldly. “Let us see you.” Char was helped to her feet and freed from her bonds. The gag remained in place and she realized that these men had no wish to hear her protests. They had probably heard plenty over the years. The woman stripped off her clothing with such speed and efficiency that she was stunned. The Senator got to his feet and approached her and Char backed up into the woman, who held her in place. The Senator ran his hands over her and she stiffened in shock at his touches. He smiled and nodded. “Henri has done well,” the Senator said as he returned to his chair. “Make sure she receives the proper training. I am looking forward to initiating her.” Char was given a simple white sleeveless gown to wear that hit at her knees. They did not return her shoes or other clothing to her. The woman pulled her out of the room through an archway and down a series of corridors until they came to a door. There was a blank card on it. The woman took it out and raised a pen she had pulled from somewhere. “You have a name, sweet?” “Charlotte,” Char replied. She looked at the woman in horror. “Please don’t let them do this to me!” “Don’t be afraid, little one,” the woman laughed as she wrote the name on the card and stuck it back in the holder. Her dark eyes were warm with regard as she pushed Char up against the door and stroked her cheek. “I am very strict about how the men are allowed to treat my chicks. You will have the best of everything, as long as you perform your service to the best of your ability.” The woman opened the door and pushed Char inside. It was a little apartment. The main room with a fake window next to an electric fireplace lent the cell a coziness that only made Char feel more horrified. Near that was a large leather chair and footrest. There was a stereo system with a selection of CDs to provide mood music. There was a bedroom beyond that with a brass bed and Char shuddered as she saw wrist shackles hanging from the frame. In the last room was a small bathroom with a bath and shower combination and a sink and toilet. The woman put a collar around Char’s throat and patted her cheek. “You will not have to wait long, pretty bird,” the woman said as she took the rope and gag with her. “There are several eligible males who will challenge for the right to bed you after the