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Larra shivered in the biting cold. She stood in the castle courtyard, stripped to the waist, and watched with growing horror as the village carpenter, with the help of the SS guards, constructed what was to be the instrument of her death. So far she had remained calm, refusing to acknowledge that anything out of the ordinary was taking place. But her mouth was so dry it felt as if her tongue had swollen to twice its size.
A few paces away Melissa fought to control her shivering. Like Larra she was nude from the waist up and her hands were bound behind her. She was being watched by two very alert SS guards, but it would not have mattered much if she was not; von Jagger had taken the precaution of shackling her ankles. She could not step more than a foot before the chain forced her to change feet.
Watching the carpenter at work filled her with a sense of foreboding, just as von Jagger had known it would. How could it not? What the carpenter was building was designed to chill the blood of the bravest captive.
After their capture, she had expected the usual brutal round of rape and torture, but to her surprise, von Jagger had remained coldly calm. All that he had done to humiliate her and Larra was order that their upper garments be cut from their bodies. Then he had ordered them taken to the castle entrance where they waited for two hours until the carpenter showed up. Only after the carpenter had gone to work did she and Larra realize what von Jagger had planned for them. Now she watched in growing fear as step by step the carpenter along with the SS guards methodically hammered together the heavy wooden beams.
Von Jagger sidled up to Larra.
“Enjoying the preparations,
Larra did not answer or even look at the SS officer. She was trying hard not to shiver in the chill winter air. Her breasts rose and fell slowly with the effort, a sight that was not lost on von Jagger or any of the SS guards.
“It is good that you and Miss Gallant are so strong,” von Jagger continued. “I expect your suffering will be long and agonizing. Who do you think will last the longest, you or Miss Gallant? I think it will be a near thing, but my money is on you.”
“Why are you doing this, von Jagger?” Larra asked. She hated to beg for her life, but the ordeal that the Nazi commandant had planned for her and Melissa had her terrified. The fear she had, however, was not for herself, but for Melissa. The tall, beautiful Canadian girl had been Larra’s companion for just two years, but in that short time they had shared many hardships and adventures and had bonded strongly. Larra would do almost anything to prevent her plucky companion form meeting a cruel and brutal end as a result of one of her adventures. Von Jagger must want something and if begging for her life would do it Larra was willing to undergo that humiliation.
Von Jagger gave her a look of pure hatred. That should have been answer enough, but the Nazi did not hesitate to elaborate. “Why am I doing this?” he repeated. “You destroyed months of work. I should have killed you the day you were captured, but I overlooked your resourcefulness. I do not intend the make that mistake again. As you why I have chosen this method of execution, let’s just say that it will give me more pleasure than I can describe to inflict a Biblical punishment on a woman who fancies herself as a champion of civilization. It will give me even more pleasure to see your face as you watch your companion suffer the same fate.”
“That is insane,” Larra protested. “You will gain nothing by torturing my companion to death. Spare her and I will tell you what you want to know.”
“Von Jagger curled his lip.
“Do you think after your previous treachery that I would trust
anything you say? I am going
to watch you die,
“You are a sick monster,” Larra cried. She realized with sudden dread that Von Jagger was completely insane. No appeal to reason would influence his twisted mind. She and Melissa were going to be subjected to the most brutal death imaginable in order to satisfy his bloodthirsty and sadistic passions.
Von Jagger’s sneer was his only reply to Larra’s last remark. Without a word he turned away to check the progress of his crew. He gave a nod of satisfaction and motioned to his men. “Let’s get started. Tie them between the whipping posts.”
Larra and Melissa were helpless as the guards muscled them forward, positioning them between two sets of upright wooden posts. Heavy eyebolts were screwed into the posts about seven feet from the ground. Held by two men, Larra’s hands were untied and then lashed to each of the eyebolts. About five feet away and bound in an identical position was Melissa. The girl struggled futilely, her heavy breasts quivering as her arms were lifted to the eyebolts and tied in place.
Von Jagger moved between the two helpless women. Leering in triumph he turned to Larra. “Since this is to be a classic execution it is fitting that we follow all of the traditions.” He raised his gloved hands and Larra saw that her held a wreath woven from the thorn-laden branches of a rosebush. Devoid of leaves, the bare branches revealed cruel barbs up to an inch long. With a grimace von Jagger placed it on Larra’s head, jamming it down until the hardened thorns ripped into her scalp and forehead.
“A crown of thorns for our heroine,” Jagger sneered. Turning he took a second wreath from one of his henchmen and placed it on Melissa’s brow. “And one for her companion,” he concluded.
Larra winced as blood from her lacerated forehead dripped into her eyes. Her scalp and forehead had been pierced in several dozen places, firmly and painfully securing her “crown” to her head. Through the haze of blood she saw Melissa flinch as she suffered the same punishment.
“Now for the ritual scourging,” von Jagger sneered. He was still standing where Larra and Melissa could see him. In his hand he held a whip, but this whip bore little resemblance to the buggy whip he had used previously. Where the buggy whip had been intended to cause pain, this whip was designed to cripple the victim it was used on. Nine flails attached to a heavy leather bound handle trailed from the whip. It was a traditional cat o’ nine tails, designed to strip the living flesh from the victim’s back.
This time von Jagger did not apply the whip himself, instead handing it to one of his heftier henchmen. The first blow of the cat was so painful that Larra almost unable to contain her shriek of agony. The lash struck her with enough force that if she had not heard the swish of the whips as they hurled toward her back she would have had the breath knocked out of her. Blood and pieces of skin and flesh splattered the snow-covered ground around her. She knew immediately that a few more such blows would reduce her to little more than a bloody shell.
Melissa’s face reflected Larra’s agony. She could see everything that was being done to her mentor and flinched each time the lash came down, almost as if she was receiving a flogging as well. In a few minutes the positions were reversed.
Von Jagger had the flogging spaced out. It took five minutes for Larra to receive five lashes. The man wielding the whip waited patiently after each blow, von Jagger signaling him each time with a slight nod of his head. He appeared to be studying Larra’s reaction to the brutal beating and ordered a stop after five lashes. By that time Larra’s once exquisite back was a bloody mess crisscrossed with forty-five ugly welts. Her breath came in harsh gasps, her quivering legs barely able to support her weight. He signaled his henchman to switch his attention to Melissa.
Melissa managed to endure the flogging almost as well as Larra. Bravely, she bit back her cries of anguish as the flesh was stripped from her back, but five lashes left her almost weeping in agony. Then von Jagger ordered a return to Larra.
The next five lashes were much harder to take than the first five. Larra cried out as the sixth lash struck her lacerated back. Bloody and swollen from the previous five lashes, the pain seemed to increase tenfold. On the seventh blow she screamed, her body jerking spasmodically as she broke under the terrible thrashing.
Melissa, tears streaming down her face, watched as Larra writhed in agony. Her own back burned, but that agony was pushed into the background as she watched Larra’s torment. A few minutes later, however, she was reminded of just how hideous her own pain was as von Jagger had five more lashes applied to her already throbbing back.
The dual flogging left both women sobbing in pain, the strength gone from their legs. But their sadistic captor was just warming up. From a charcoal brazier next to the two helpless victims he took the glowing branding iron. Even in her almost delirious state, Melissa’s gut wrenched as she remembered the frightening pain of the burning brand. Larra, close to fainting from the flogging, blanched when she saw the glowing swastika.
“A little something to remind you of what you stupidly thought you could defeat,” von Jagger gloated. His revenge was almost complete and his two victims were still conscious enough to experience the full pain of their final defeat. He touched the glowing brand to Larra’s left breast.
Larra’s entire body arched in pain as the hot iron seared her flesh. A scream of pain and despair ripped from her perfect lips as the stench of her own burning flesh assailed her nostrils. As von Jagger returned the iron to the brazier she wept uncontrollably.
Melissa thought her previous experience would prepare her for the pain of the brand. It didn’t. As the red hot metal touched the inside of her left breast she shrieked like a banshee, her voice breaking into hysterical sobs.
Von Jagger left his sobbing victims for an hour. He wanted them to fully appreciate the pain he had inflicted upon them. He remembered, however, that in the freezing temperatures the two women would probably die of hypothermia if left too long, and there was one last ritual to perform.
Larra whimpered as her body was removed from the posts. Although almost numb from the cold, her back felt as if it was on fire and the swastika brand on her breast throbbed agonizingly. A few feet away she could hear Melissa sobbing in agony as she too was cut down and her tortured body dragged away from the whipping posts.
“Now
Larra whimpered as she was half-walked, half dragged across the courtyard. She knew what was coming and in spite of the torment of her tortured body she struggled feebly in the hands of her captors. Melissa too, cried out as she was hauled sobbing softly to the object that had filled her with such terror.
Brutally the guards forced the two women onto the heavy beams, spreading their arms out to the sides and holding them in place. Fear allowed them to draw on hidden reserves of strength. With a powerful wrench of her arms, Larra temporarily broke free, but she was immediately seized by two more men and held down while a smirking von Jagger approached.
“Oh God, no!” Larra moaned. Her arms were pinned to the heavy wooden cross and a heavy metal washer was placed over her right wrist. Von Jagger placed a heavy metal spike in the centre of the washer and raising his hammer drove the spike between the bones of her wrist, nailing her right arm to the cross.
Larra screamed in pain as the heavy spike was driven home. The spike forced the bones of her wrist apart as it penetrated her flesh. Added to the torment she was already in, she almost fainted, but some perverse strength kept her conscious and moaning in agony.
Her left wrist was next, von Jagger driving the nail in with slow deliberation. A red haze drifted before Larra’s eyes as pain seized hold of her body with an intensity that equaled anything she had ever experienced. Added to the horror and torment was the scream that tore from Melissa’s throat as von Jagger turned his attention to her.
Melissa wept as she was nailed to the cross and she cried like a child as the heavy wooden beams were raised from the ground and gravity shifted her entire body weight onto her impaled wrists. Another scream ripped from her throat as the cross was dropped into its prepared socket. Fifteen feet above the ground her agonized eyes looked down on von Jagger’s smirking face.
Von Jagger looked up at the two women. His triumph was complete. The two women hung nailed to the crosses, their statuesque bodies stretched full length, their body weight suspended from their nailed wrists. Even in their bloodied condition he could not help admiring their incredible beauty. Their full breasts hung sweetly, quivering slightly as the chests of the tormented women heaved. Already they were experiencing difficulty breathing. Soon their torment would increase to levels so great that they would be shrieking in agony, provided they had the strength and breath to scream.
Their strength was their weakness. He had never seen two women possessed of such great physical strength. It would take them a long time to die, and they would die most horribly as their body organs slowly settled and their blood pooled in their lower extremities. Only the cold might speed their deaths, but it would still take them hours before death brought them relief.
Von Jagger smiled. He watched
them for a full hour before the cold got to
him.
“
Consumed by pain, Larra did not even notice von Jagger’s absence. She was dying. She knew that without a doubt. Even her strength and endurance could not hold out for much longer. She lived in a nightmare of pain. But even worse was the guilt. A few feet away, and directly in her line of vision, Melissa hung in torment. The girl’s head lolled limply, but her chest still moved. Larra knew that her friend and companion was very near death and she felt fully responsible for what had happened. Tears she could not hold back welled up and she wept bitterly as minute by minute her body weakened. Death was slow in coming, but its approach was inexorable. She closed her eyes and let it come.
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