It had been a hot, dry spring in the Midwest and the fields and roads showed it. Clouds of dust marked the passing of cars or a breath of the wind, and added an air of desolation to the world about.

On that early May morning it was cool, cooler than it had been. Melissa Coleridge and Kristal Harper both commented on this as they made their way to the bus stop.

The two second graders also looked warily around them as they walked. Since the school district had run low on funds, many of the bus routes had been cut down and the kids had been forced to walk, sometimes up to a mile, to catch the bus. This was not why the girls looked around so warily, however. Six young girls had disappeared since mid-April, all young, pretty girls like themselves.

Normally Melissa's father would have given them a ride, just to be safe, but he was busy today, as were Kristal's parents. Besides, her mother had reasoned, all the girls had vanished from a nearby county, not here.

Kristal stopped to look around anyway. She was the younger and smaller of the two girls, seven to Melissa's eight. She was pretty, four feet tall, sixty two pounds. A slender girl with a pretty, freckled face, creamy white skin, blue eyes and thick, wavy golden blonde hair that played about her shoulders and grew to her waist.

"Will you come on?", Melissa urged. "We'll be late." She pulled her best friend along with her. Melissa was as pretty as Kristal, an inch taller but the same weight and build. Her face was oval and spattered with freckles, her eyes brown. Her hair was dark mahogany red and almost straight, and fell to her waist, like Kristal's.

Kristal let her friend lead her. Melissa had always been the braver of the two girls, but not by much. She wasn't scared of disappearing like the other girls.

"What if somebody tries to kidnap us?", Kristal asked.

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Kris, there's two of us. We're safe that way. Buddy system." She flashed a white smile. "Now come on." She started off again.

Kristal stared after her a moment. Melissa's family were one of the better off farmers in the area, and Melissa showed it. She wore a red short sleeve dress that stopped at mid-thigh, with a white sweater over that, hanging open. On her legs were clear pantyhose, which Kristal's mother felt a little girl didn't need, and white slippers. Kristal herself wore a white short sleeve blouse, a short denim skirt with a belt, orange sweater and white slippers. Both girls carried white shoulder purses and had their schoolbooks clutched to their chests.

Melissa turned the conversation elsewhere, and the disappearances were soon forgotten. Neither girl, then, noticed the cloud of dust coming up the road behind them.

xxx Nate had been watching the girls since they left the house a few minutes back. Their youth, as well as their looks, had caught his attention. He'd licked his lips as he stared at their long, slender legs, thinking how nice that tender flesh would feel pressed against his hips as he slammed into them.

He nodded to the others in the van. There were six, including himself: Carl, Pete, Tony, Rich and John. The past few weeks had been good to them, almost. He looked at the little bundle under the blanket, between the seats. She'd been too young and fragile. She'd died...before her time.

He started the van, signalling the others to get ready. It was party time.

xxx

Melissa heard the van coming before she even saw it. She pulled Kristal off to the side, already cringing in anticipation of the dust cloud it would kick up when it passed.

But it didn't pass. Instead it skidded to a stop on the road, kicking up a cloud of dust that blinded both girls momentarily. When Melissa looked again, there were men coming out of the back doors, straight toward her and Kristal.

Melissa screamed and threw down her books, trying to run away, but it was too late. A strong arm encirlced her tiny body and a strong hand clamped over her mouth, silencing her screams.

Melissa kicked and struggled. Another man had Kristal around the waist, his hand over her mouth. Kristal wasn't fighting him, however; she wasn't the type to fight. Melissa saw the man force her into the van.

Melissa kicked down hard, hitting the man's knee. He cried out and jerked her head back, snapping, "Stop fighting or I'll break your neck!" Melissa stopped, her courage evaporated.

The men pushed both girls face down in the back of the van, which was lined with blankets. None too gently they yanked the girl's hands behind their backs and bound them. The doors closed and the van started off.

"Leave us alone! Leave us go!", Melissa pleaded. Her abductor boxed her ears, making her cry out. A moment later a cloth was pulled into her open mouth and tied behind her head. More rope was bound around her ankles. She looked over at Kristal and saw the same had been done to her friend.

The men hauled the girls up and shoved them into a sitting position against the van wall. Melissa saw the men rifling their purses, pulling out wallets with library cards and tupes of lipstick. Kristal started crying, so Melissa did, too. The men ignored them, searching their purses.

"Which one is Melissa?", one man asked. He was big, ugly and blonde. Melissa nodded. He looked at Kristal. "So you must be Kristal. Pull your legs up!"

Both girls had been sitting with their legs outstretched. Hurriedly they pulled them up, causing their skirts to slide back and reveal not only thigh, but a flash of panties that clung to their tight behinds.

"Now you listen up and listen good. You'll do everything we tell you to, got that? You don't have to like it and I don't give a fuck if you do. You resist, you scream, you try to get away and I'll beat you black and blue. Got that?"

Both girls nodded, crying even harder. The blonde haired man grabbed Melissa's arm and shoved her down onto the van floor. The little girl screamed and he slapped her. That quieted her a little, down to muffled sobs. The man flipped her skirt up and tore her panties off while a horrified Kristal watched.

"Give me the jelly", the man demanded. "Don't want to hurt her too much."

From where she lay, Melissa watched him take down his pants and hold out his cock. She'd seen one before, when she'd accidentally saw her father in the shower. This one was bigger and thicker. She watched the man squeeze some Vaseline out of a tube and rub it up and down the length of his shaft. The man turned around and put the end of his cock against the lips of her tiny, hairless slit. His hands pressed down on her shoulders and she felt pressure between her legs. He was going to put it in her!

Melissa shut her eyes, but she could feel him pushing into her. It hurt, worse than anything. The pain got worse and she felt like she was being stretched and split in two. She cried out but the gag muffled it. The men were laughing and shouting. Kristal was crying.

She felt something tear inside of her. Pain filled her middle and made light dance in front of her eyes. She screamed and screamed, but the men didn't care. The man on her was moving back and forth now, fast then slow, then he thrust in, moaned, and she felt his cock jumping in her. Then it stopped and he pulled out. She could see blood and something white on his glistening cock. Then he got off and another man took his place.

***

Kristal shut her eyes so she couldn't see the men hurt her friend. She could still hear Melissa's screams though. They went on and on.

Then she was being put on the floor. She opened her eyes and saw Melissa next to her, eyes half-closed. One of the men was wiping her legs and slit off with a rag, cleaning up blood. Melissa was sobbing.

In a flash, Kristal's panties were torn off. She felt cool air waft across her bare slit. She looked up as the blonde hair man pinned her shoulders down and lowered himself to her. Then he was pushing, and it was hurting, and she was screaming.

Kristal felt it push inside of her. She felt her hymen tear and watched as her blouse lifted, her abdomen rising as he penetrated her womb. Then he stopped.

"What the fuck you doing?", one of the men asked.

"Give her a chance. She didn't fight me. I'll be nice to her." He pumped slowly. It hurt, burning Kristal's insides, but it also sort of felt good. When the man pulled out the feeling got better, then the pain took over when he moved in. But the feeling was still there. Kristal felt stretched and tried to shift, but her legs were still tied. Again and again the man went in and out, slowly. Kristal still screamed, out of fear more than pain. Then she felt him swell inside of her and something warm, barely noticeable, filled her. She closed her eyes when he pulled out, but not soon enough to see that she, too was bleeding.

She felt nothing but pain as the other men raped her. By the time it was over she was exhausted and barely able to even emit a whimper. She rolled her head to look at Melissa, who had by now drifted into unconsciousness. A moment later, she joined her.

***

Kristal was shaken roughly awake. She was forced into a sitting position, next to a bleary eyed Melissa. The van had stopped, and outside the windows she could see trees. The blonde haired man was kneeling over a bundle under a blanket between the front seats.

"Just want to show you something", he said. "This is what'll happen if you don't cooperate." He pulled the blanket back.

Underneath lay a girl, no older than either of them. Her skin was a pale blue color. Her eyes were closed and she wasn't breathing. She wore no clothes, either, and Kristal immediately knew they had killed her. She immediately got sick.

"Shit!", one of the men shouted, catching the girl by the shoulders and propelling her toward the back door. He yanked her gag down and flung the door open just in time, as she vomited all over the ground.

She felt another pair of hands take her shoulders, holding while dry heaves wracked her and she sobbed. A wet cloth was wiped over her face, then somebody was thrusting a jug of water to her lips. "Wash your mouth out", she was told. She took a drink from the jug, swished, and spat. Then she did it again. The a hand shoved a breath mint in and she was pulled back, the gag left down.

Kristal closed her eyes as the men carried the dead girl out. She couldn't know that the girl hadn't been meant to die; she was asthmatic and had suffered a severe asthma attack when she was being raped. All the same, she was dead.

Once the dead girl was gone, the van took off again. The blonde haired man came back and sat down next to her. She didn't look at him.

"My name's Nate", he told her. His voice was gentle, but he still didn't seem very nice. "You still sick?"

Kristal nodded. "Still hurt?", Nate asked, and she nodded. "It'll get better. You just have to cooperate and pretty soon you'll like it. Then we've got some men who want to try you. They'll pay us a lot of money for a little blonde like you."

"Let me go", Kristal whispered.

"Can't do that, sweet thing. You're worth too much, you and your friend. So get used to it." He got up and went to the front of the van.

Not more than five minutes later they stopped again. Suddenly the two of them were being lifted and taken out of the van. Kristal looked around and saw an old barn, a farmhouse and acres of overgrown fields. Then she was carried inside.

The farmhouse was sparsely furnished but liveable. Nate dropped Kristal onto a couch, while the man with Melissa and two others carried her upstairs. Nate and the others turned to Kristal, grinning...

The End