Discovering A Mute Boy
Chapter 17
Living A Nightmare
WARNING: this story contains sexual content, and contact between young boys. If the subject matter offends you, is not to your tastes, or if you are under legal age for your area, then find something else to read. In the following story all names and events are completely fictional. Although I may mention specific locations, places, or persons any resemblance to said people, locations, or places is completely unintentional.
Feel free to email me at ([email protected]). I respond to all of my readers.
This work is copyrighted © by Hunter Woods. No part of this story may be transmitted or reproduced in whole or in part in any form including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, and recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the express written consent of the author. For those of you who just blow this off and decide to steal anyway keep these thoughts below in mind:
“Intentionally using the quotes of others without author attribution is plagiarism and contributes to illiteracy.”
- Rain Bojangles
“Most plagiarists, like the drone, have neither taste to select, industry to acquire, nor skill to improve, but impudently pilfer the honey ready prepared, from the hive.”
- Walter Colton
“Borrowed thoughts, like borrowed money, only show the poverty of the borrower.”
- Lady Marguerite Blessington, Countess of Blessington
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EXCERPT FROM THE PAST CATCHES UP
As I finished tying my laces I suddenly smelled something odd just beneath the surface of the noxious fumes from the rumbling vehicle. My gaze shifted over towards Marty’s legs and I noticed a few drops of wetness drizzling past the left leg of his pants before it suddenly unleashed into a yellow colored torrential like rain catching me by complete surprise and filling my insides with dread. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end in alarm and my heart leaped into my chest. I stumbled to my feet only to feel my head explode in pain with everything going dark momentarily and with lights flashing all around my eyes. I felt myself stumbling forward and I reacted by automatically reaching out for some leverage, but suddenly found myself falling forward. I tried to clear my mind managing to get a quick glance around which only managed to panic me for a moment when I felt another blow which made me finally lose consciousness. The last thing I remembered was seeing an old beat up green van before I collapsed inside the side door opening.
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WARNING: Some readers may find this chapter a little disturbing since it covers some issues that might be a little unsettling. This is a dark story so some things are essential and need to be addressed within the context of the plot. Life is not only about the joys we enjoy, but also about the struggles and how we strive to overcome them. Have heart, and let's help one another through this perilous journey our characters must endure.
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LIVING A NIGHTMARE
There was an incessant pounding and achy feeling inside my head which refused to go away. I could feel the sensation of my body being momentarily lifted up and heard what sounded like a grunting and wheezing noise. It was an eerie feeling and I struggled to wake up trying to make sense of things, but each time I tried my head felt like it was going to explode so retreated back into darkness. The lifting impression lasted briefly before the sudden sinking sensation took over and then more pain, but this time along my rib cage and back. Then more grunting before a sort of rocking motion took over.
“Fucking kid is heavier than he looks.” I heard a deep gravely voice commenting.
“Stop complaining already.” A wheezy higher pitched toned voice barked back. “I swear you are getting lazy. It’s not as if you have to carry him since you have a wheelbarrow.”
Through the hazy fog of my mind I realized the deeper voiced person, who was obviously a man, must have dumped me into a wheelbarrow like so much garbage and was hauling me away. That was all I could muster strength for at the moment with my mind once more drifting into darkness.
Another jolting sensation managed to bring me slightly back out of my stupor and I once more struggled to wake up hearing my own voice moaning. “Oh mother…this one is going to be trouble for sure.” The deeper gravely voice commented with a sort of cackling laughter while another voice close by responded.
“Ha, we shall see. I can’t believe how we lucked out. If it wasn’t for the news station and that reporter on television we never would have known where to find the boy. He will pay for thinking he could get away, and I’m sure we can find some suitable punishment for this little shit who would steal away what rightly belongs to us.” I heard the higher pitched individual, which sounded like a woman, comment when suddenly the air seemed to whoosh out of my lungs and I felt a gut wrenching pain grip my stomach forcing my insides to writhe around and tighten up.
It felt like I had been kicked and by the sounds of the wheezing noises I suspected the woman must have done it. My body began to shiver and there was a damp coldness all around me which seemed to seep into my very bones. I could tell they must have dumped me onto the ground because it felt cold and rough on my skin. Something about that tickled at my thoughts, but my mind refused to wrap around it in my hazy state. Between the ache in my gut and the splitting pain of my head I once more drifted back into darkness with an odd sound of whimpering coming nearby from a tiny like voice which only fed the nagging feeling on the edges of my thoughts.
The way my head throbbed and my body ached I refused to wake up. If it weren’t for the iciness seeping into my very core I would have probably ignored the nagging dripping noises all around me along with the soft whispering voice inside my head. It kept urging me to wake up but there was this persistent achiness all over my body and inside my skull there was a surging roaring noise. It sounded like waves crashing against a coral reef during a typhoon. Deep inside the confines of my dark protective shield that I had erected for myself there was a sense of cognizance about my situation as I began to realize my body was shivering uncontrollably now. I could literally feel the coldness all around me licking at my skin, which now shook so badly even my teeth began to rattle making things worse for my already pounding head.
“Mmmmm…aaaargh.” I moaned softly willing myself into consciousness.
I felt sick to my stomach, my entire body ached, and the pounding noise in my skull blurred my vision, but I slowly forced my eyes open yet remained completely motionless. It wasn’t exactly dark around me, but the light seemed to be muted as a lay completely motionless afraid of moving because I knew there would be pain involved. Instead, I stayed motionless for several moments trying to get my body and mind to adjust while I continued to take in the surroundings.
The first thing I noticed was that it was freezing cold, with my slow breathing producing little white puffs that hung in the air for a second before dissipating. I couldn’t stop shaking because I was so cold. There was old rusted equipment and machinery scattered in the large mostly empty space making me realize I was in some sort of warehouse or long abandoned facility. This realization stirred old emotions with panic beginning to rise inside of me because it brought back the nightmare I had to live through several years back. It threatened to overwhelm me, but suddenly my eyes settled on a small naked figure sitting all hunched over with his legs drawn up tightly against his chest. His arms were wrapped around the front of his shin with his hands clasped together as if forcing himself to be balled up in a sitting position. His forehead was leaning up against his knees and he was shivering uncontrollably with small white puffs of his breaths curling up around him every so often before rapidly dispersing.
At first I thought it was Marty, but then realized it couldn’t be him because this kid was much smaller. It looked to be a boy about ten or eleven years old, or at least I assumed it was a boy. Even though the youngster was completely naked I couldn’t be sure from my angle of view and the positioning of the kid all curled up. All I had to go on was experience and something told me this was a boy.
The kid appeared to have longer hair about the same length as Marty, but lighter from what I could tell in this lighting. It was also difficult to be sure because it looked kind of damp as it hung around the youngster’s face hiding any features. The kid was rocking slightly and when I heard a raking sound my eyes were drawn to the source. It was a chain attached to a shackle which in turn was latched around the left ankle of the poor youngster. It immediately reminded me of Marty because when we first found him there was some chaffing around his ankle from what we now knew was from shackles while being moved.
Moaning softly I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it when my insides suddenly recoiled and I heaved throwing up a small amount of bile which left a bitter taste in my mouth. That wasn’t the bad part because the sudden contracting upheaval of my insides only managed to emphasize the pounding in my head and the aching of my body. It had caught me by surprise leaving me breathless and threatening to send me back into the dark abyss I had just struggled to escape from. Deep down I instinctively knew it was important to remain alert because it suddenly dawned on me what happened.
It had to be the man and woman Marty had escaped from as I tried to quickly piece things together. Everything had happened so fast, but the van I’d seen just before I blacked out had to be the one the long haired boy had described to us. It now became apparent that while I was tying my shoe someone had snuck up and knocked me cold. Just before it happened I recalled how Marty had been frozen in place, as if in sheer terror and the fact he had wet himself seemed to support this idea. Then, there was also the issue of what I had heard while in and out of consciousness and that’s when reality finally sunk in for me. We were in deep shit, and if we had any chance at all of getting out of this mess I needed to pull myself together and figure something out quickly. The longer we remained in this situation, the less likely we’d survive. I could only hope someone had witnessed our abduction and called the police, but I couldn’t take the chance and needed to do what I could to get away. In my mind there was no doubt these people would kill both me and Marty without a second thought.
Slowly I managed to get into a sitting position, suddenly realizing like the other kid I had been stripped completely naked. It was then that the nagging feeling I had in the back of my thoughts clicked into place. They stripped us to help discourage any escape and also as a form of punishment because it was so cold inside of this building. I knew the weather forecast had indicated a cooling in the region with rain, but inside the abandoned building it was much colder as I began to look around.
The pounding in my head began to recede into the back of my mind, but it still throbbed dully and ached making it difficult to concentrate as I tried to figure out where we were. It appeared to be one of the abandoned logging mills that had taken place in the region years ago. There were also old iron ore mines around with abandoned buildings, but this didn’t look like a place for such a thing. With the boom of iron ore mines there was a need for support beams in the shafts so several logging mills had sprung up years ago to provide the necessary timber. This building looked like such a place because it was huge and some of the old rusted machinery that had been all stripped down appeared to be designed for such an operation.
It was a massive place and reminded me of my own kidnapping a few years back, which once more threatened to overwhelm me. I could feel the cold grip of fear wrapping its fingers around my heart and giving me that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I began to breathe erratically with my mind drifting inwards when my eyes once more were drawn to the youngster hunched over his legs and shivering uncontrollably. Suddenly my mind snapped back into place with the realization I needed to remain as calm as possible if all of us were going to survive. This thought immediately reminded me about Marty and I quickly glanced around sighing in relief when I spotted him further away simply sitting there with his knees also drawn up and a blank look on his features. The odd thing about it was unlike the other youngster and myself he wasn’t even shivering. I suppose over the years he had become used to being cold and now his body had apparently adjusted once more.
Like me and the other kid, he was stripped completely naked, his mostly clean body gleaming in the dampened air. The roof had collapsed in several places and looking up I realized it was starting to get darker outside so had to be approaching evening. I could see the roiling grayness of the clouds gathering as well and knew before long it would begin to rain exposing all three of us to the real danger of exposure.
Shifting to get into a more comfortable position I felt the tug of chains around my left ankle and realized for the first time I was shackled as well. Reaching down I inspected the chain noticing it was attached to some sort of large equipment that had been abandoned long ago. The equipment was large and securely bolted to the hard flooring with the chain attached to it. Even though the machinery was rusted there still wasn’t any chance of me breaking free from it. Glancing over towards Marty and the other boy I realized that even though my chain was the same as the others it didn’t have an actual broad banded shackle like theirs. The other two had a wide cuff like clamp which fit around their ankle and required a key to open it up. Mine was only the thick large links of the chain wrapped around my ankle with a heavy key lock attached between the links securing it shut. I suppose they were probably only after Marty, but it did make me wonder about the other kid and how he fit into all of this mess.
My movement must have caught the youngster’s attention with the kid also shifting and looking towards my direction. It was then I caught a brief glimpse of his penis and tight ball sack confirming my suspicions about him being a boy before he moved his legs again a bit self consciously keeping his little boy bits concealed as much as possible. His eyes had automatically glanced downwards with them flaring slightly when they took in my own nakedness. At his age I’m sure he’s probably never seen another naked boy before unless he had a brother. His scrutiny only lasted a split second before he once more gazed up into my eyes.
They were intense with an inner kind of sparkle which radiated outwards and even from here I could tell they were a bright blue color that seemed to glow inside his smudged and tear streaked small rounded face. His long disheveled and angle layered cut hair framed his features making his face look kind of small for a boy his size. I couldn’t be sure from his huddled position his exact height and stature, but he looked to be around ten years old. I thought it kind of odd that Marty’s abductors would want to take someone so old if they were looking for a replacement making me wonder if the boy was simply an opportunity which had come along for them.
Looking about to make sure no one was around who could catch us talking, I gave the boy a reassuring smile and whispered just loud enough for him to hear. “What’s your name? Mine’s Latham and the other boy is Marty.” I added with the blond boy sniffling, and using both the heel and back of his hand he wiped away the dampness from his eyes and face, which only managed to smudge his cheeks even more with dirt and grime.
“C…Cody.” He whispered back just as softly, but his voice squeaking slightly from fear and the fact he was shivering so much.
We both fell silent for a couple of seconds while he looked at me intently with an almost hopeful kind of appeal. “M…Mr. Latham, w…what do they want and what is going to happen?” He asked, the boy catching me by surprise in referring to me like some adult.
It was obvious he had been taught manners, but I’ve never been deferred to in such a respectful comportment. “Just call me Latham, alright Cody?” I responded seeing the boy nodding in the affirmative. “I’m not exactly sure,” I lied not wanting to upset him with what I suspected. “But no matter what happens you have to promise to be very brave. We need to keep our eyes and ears open so when it comes time we can escape and get away from these people. Can you promise me that?” I asked with him perking up a little at the prospect of there possibly being an opportunity to get away.
“Y…yes.” He whispered nodding his head with a determined look.
“Good man. Things may get a bit dicey, but you need to be very brave no matter what happens and you need to be ready. We will only get one chance at it so be alert.” I tried to assure him my tone giving the boy some hope while my own stomach roiled with the little white lie because I wasn’t convinced we’d ever find an opportunity.
“Mom and dad always warned me about cutting through the alley saying I should just go around when I go to school. It’s only about a couple of blocks away so I usually walk, but this morning I was running a little late. I shouldn’t have gone through the alley.” He sniffled adding a couple of pieces to the puzzle as I realized this must have basically been an opportunity for the abductors and not actually planned.
If these people were looking for a replacement for Marty I’m sure they would be searching out a younger target. I began to wonder if they snatched up Cody as a temporary replacement until they could find a suitable one for their needs. It quickly became obvious that for the abductors it was a need they had to satiate some sort of mental depravity. Right now it really didn’t matter because I had a sinking feeling that if we didn’t get away it would be the end of us which included the new boy Cody.
“Marty…hey Marty…,” I whispered a little louder trying to get his attention.
All three of us were chained up with about four or five feet of loose chain allowing us to move around a little, but were separated just enough where we couldn’t touch one another. I suspected another form of punishment with them keeping us just far enough away from one another to prevent us providing each other any comfort.
“Mr. Latham…I mean Latham,” the smaller boy corrected flashing me a quick smile which simply melted my heart despite the seriousness of the situation. “I don’t think he talks. I tried when they chained him up and left us alone, but he hasn’t said a word and just sits there and doesn’t even move. I don’t know how he does it because I’m so cold I can’t stop shivering.” He told me softly his chattering teeth emphasizing his comment.
“I know. He doesn’t talk but he can hear us. I’m too far away from him can you get his attention?” I asked with the small boy biting his lower lip in thought hesitating as he glanced down at his nakedness a bit shyly.
“Listen Cody…I know being naked is a little embarrassing but we all pretty much have the same thing…you know…down there. It’s just some boys are bigger and some smaller, just like some boys are taller and some shorter. Don’t be embarrassed about it because we are in serious trouble here. Just ignore it and pretend like we are all wearing some clothes…alright?” I asked with Cody’s cheeks turning red as he screwed up his face but nodded.
Pausing for a second longer and glancing towards me I purposefully looked away and focused my attention on Marty. From the corner of my eye I saw the blond haired boy unwind and shift his weight onto his feet while squatting down. He was looking around and spotting a small piece of wood picked it up and tossed it underhanded towards Marty so it wouldn’t hurt. It looked fairly light and mostly rotted so I was fairly sure it wouldn’t hurt. Sure enough the small piece bounced off of Marty’s head with him reaching a hand up and running it through his hair.
“Marty,” I whispered in a hoarse voice finally capturing his attention. “Oh thank God you are alright.” I sighed and began to sign to him so we weren’t making as much noise.
“Are you alright?” I asked without saying a word just to be sure, my signing slow and deliberate as I had to muddle through it clumsily.
Big teardrops began to bubble up from Marty as he signed back. “This is all my fault. I should have warned you but I couldn’t move or do anything.” He finished in defeat while I shook my head.
“No, not your fault. You were afraid and you can’t help feeling that way. Even I panic when I see a lit up cigar and freeze not able to move. It’s not your fault.” I emphasized pausing for a moment to let it sink in. “Listen, we have to try and escape and we have to be strong for this other boy. His name is Cody. He’s just a little kid Marty so we have to be strong. We will figure something out together. Look around and let’s see if we can find something to help us out.” I finished giving Marty something to focus on other than his so called failures.
It seemed to work because he glanced towards the blond haired boy who blushed at the scrutiny keenly aware of his nakedness, but not hiding it trying to be brave about everything like I had asked of him. He was only a small boy, but with such a big heart being so brave despite everything. He must have been terrified being chained up and completely alone all day not knowing what his fate would be as Marty nodded his head towards the boy and signed.
Cody looked towards me with a puzzled look on his face. “Marty says hello and not to worry. We will find a way out of this. He’s escaped from them before and he will do it again.” I translated with the blond boy nodding as well.
“Thank you Mr. Marty…uh…Marty.” He amended at the last moment.
“Good man Cody. Now let’s look around for anything that can help us, but we need to be careful and keep our eyes and ear out for any danger.” I added as we all began to take a look around.
The younger boy was a big help pointing to a nail next to a door about twenty feet away. There was a set of keys on it and he explained that the big fat man used those on their shackles including one set of keys for the lock on my chain. He said the door led to another part of the building where they came in and out of and he suspected there were some heated rooms in that section. He recalled smelling smoke on the man and woman so maybe they had a fire or something keeping them warm.
At first I asked only general questions, but it soon became obvious the kid was pretty sharp despite the frightful situation because as I asked him questions he replied with very specific details. While we continued to look around I adjusted my questioning getting as much information the kid could answer. The more I looked around, along with what Cody was telling me, a general seed of a plan began to form in my mind. It wasn’t anything specific, just some rough ideas which would be very risky if things could fall in place, but it was the only way. Moving around like this kept us a little warmer; although, Cody and I continued to shiver while Marty seemed unaffected by the coldness all around us. All the while I kept whispering encouragingly to both Marty and Cody as things began to take shape for me.
“Listen guys there may be a way, I’m not sure, but it could be very risky. No matter what happens you guys will need to stay alert and don’t do anything stupid. No matter what you see or hear, promise me.” I emphasized biting my lower lip thinking my idea still needed time to become fully engrained in my thoughts. “Someone could still get hurt though.” I added the worry about doing something so rash making me nervous.
There were so many unknowns, and of course a lot of doubts on my part, but in reality I knew there really weren’t many options. If there was anything I learned at all in some of my history classes is that sometimes taking risks were necessary to achieve anything positive. Through adversity, it was the risk takers that tended to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles throughout our history. In the end whether I did something rash didn’t make any difference because doing nothing would result in something far worse.
Cody’s soft voice cut through my thoughts. “Y…you think if we don’t do anything something bad is going to happen don’t you?” He whispered so softly I could hardly hear him, but it was obvious the boy was now beginning to shake from fear as well and not just from the cold air as tears began to well up in his big blue eyes.
Movement caught my attention and I glanced over to Marty who began signing to me. I nodded my head realizing he was correct, but still wasn’t sure how much I should tell Cody. The boy was being so brave, but this was a lot for a kid, much less any of us to take in and handle. In the end I figured it was for the best he knew as much as possible.
“I’m sorry Cody but Marty is right.” I began shaking my head slowly. “You’re too old.” I added with him looking at me questioningly.
Glancing over towards Marty he nodded his head encouraging me to explain what he had just told me. “Listen Cody, I’m sure you’ve noticed the scars on Marty. These people stole him when he was really little. They were after an even younger boy but he tried to protect the other kid and they took him instead. He was still pretty young though so they kept him. They did awful things to him for a very long time and not long ago he finally escaped. He knew that he was getting too old and if he didn’t take the chance something awful was going to happen to him once they found another boy to take his place. They are evil people and sick in the head, but very dangerous. I don’t want to scare you Cody, but it is important you understand if we don’t get away it will be really bad for us.” I tried to explain as much as possible without getting into too much details.
The blond haired boy stared at me and suddenly his eyes got big as if something finally clicked. “He’s the boy they were talking about on the news a couple of weeks ago. The awful man and woman said something about it earlier how if it hadn’t been for the news they’d never know where to look, but I didn’t know what they were talking about until now. This must be awful for Marty after everything he’s been through.” He sniffled, tears threatening to overwhelm him when all three of us suddenly jumped in fear because we heard a loud banging noise coming from the other side of the door about twenty or thirty feet away.
Marty immediately sat down his features going completely blank with us following his lead, but we were much more alert since we simply couldn’t switch it off like the other boy could. There was a lot of banging noises going on and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out exactly what was going on, but I prepared myself for what may be coming. I didn’t have to wait long because suddenly I saw them for the first time and it just about made me want to puke. The man was fat with jowls that wiggled obscenely as he waddled towards us, a set of keys jingling on the keychain that was hooked into the side of his pocket. The woman was even worse, her face pockmarked with red splotches and the folds of her fat clinging to the fabric of her ragged clothes as she wheezed and literally waddled alongside the man. Even her legs had rolls of fat as they both made their way over towards Marty.
The woman bent over and grabbed a handful of Marty’s hair with her left hand and yanked on it harshly wrenching his neck over to the side and forcing him to look up at her. “I told you boy that if you ever escaped I’d hunt you down and make you pay you worthless piece of shit.” Her voice dripped with loathing and hatred making even me wince as I glanced over towards Cody who was now openly crying.
To Marty’s credit he didn’t even flinch, but I did when she suddenly yanked on his hair forcefully wrenching it even further over towards the side. I watched in horror as she raised her right hand and with the full force of her weight behind it slapped him firmly across the side of his mouth. It was so forceful hadn’t she been holding on to his hair so firmly I’m sure it would have spun his head around. Instead, it only jerked slightly taking the full brunt.
“You fucking cow.” I belted out standing up and noticing Cody begin to say something but I gave him a glaring warning and he immediately understood and tried to become invisible.
My words seemed to cut them both to the core because the man hurried towards me and without hesitating punched me right in the gut forcing me to double over and hold on to my mid-section. It caught me by surprise because for a big man he moved quickly and his punch was a lot more powerful than I expected. I heard the woman cackling waddling over towards me and like she had done with Marty grabbed my hair and yanked on it forcing me to stand up while she sized me up her eyes boring into me critically.
“Oh papa, look at his eyes. This one has spirit. I’m going to enjoy breaking this one after I get done with filthy boy first.” The woman cackled with alarm bells going off in my mind since I knew she meant Marty and if they got to him first she would literally beat him to death.
My gut ached and I was gasping for air barely able to stand so I did the only thing left to me, I spit in her face forcing myself to speak up. “You people are fucking nut jobs who belong in a loony bin. No that’s too kind, the electric chair.” I managed to get out with the woman yelling in outrage and rearing back to slap me like she had done Marty.
The offending slap never came though; instead, my head snapped back because the man had balled up his fist and hit me full on in my face. I could feel the warm splattering of my own blood spreading over my face and taste the iron like tang even before I hit the ground. The pounding in my head had been all but forgotten, but it once more made its presence known with me groaning and trying to stand back up nausea filling my insides.
“Bring the big filthy animal to me. I was going to do him last, but maybe it is best I save fucking ‘shit boy’ pet for last after all. This will make everything even that much sweeter. Yes, the big one first, then the little one, and then nasty little ‘shit boy.’ Damn wretched filthy animals. We will make things right until we can find a new pet to take nasty boy’s place. He never did learn properly, but the next one…yes the next one we need to make sure is much younger so his learning will be proper.” I heard her screeching as she disappeared behind the door while the fat man retrieved the keys from the hook and opened the padlock around my ankle.
My head was still spinning when he literally lifted me up on my feet and half dragged and half pushed me towards the door with the chain wrapped around my neck and cutting off the oxygen supply. I struggled but he was a lot stronger than I had anticipated. Still, I didn’t want to go meekly so the entire way I continued to push back against him grabbing on to anything I could along the way through the hallway. I could tell he was getting frustrated with me and he yanked on the chain around my neck cutting off even more air. But this was for all the marbles and I wasn’t giving in so easy so pushed back against him forcing the fat oaf to lose the grip on the chain around my neck as he struggled to keep me moving along.
The chain was still wrapped around my neck, but he no longer had a firm grip on it because he was forced to push me forward while I continued to push backwards against him. He was more powerful than me and weighed about four times as much as me so it was useless, but still important to resist. While he pushed me along and I resisted, I kept looking around getting my bearings. He was starting to get frustrated and punched me in the back of the head several times reigniting the pounding in my skull and making things a bit hazy, yet I continued to resist.
As we approached an open doorway I could feel the heat spilling into the hallway and noticed the fat woman sitting impatiently in a chair her rolls of fat literally oozing over the sides. The room was cluttered with supplies, rags, and all sorts of old containers, their labels long faded with age and unreadable. They still looked like they contained some sort of chemicals. Off to the one side was a large barrel with burning wood inside, the smoke billowing upwards disappearing somewhere I couldn’t see at the moment. There was another door a few feet away from the barrel leading to who knew where.
My eyes focused on the woman noticing she was holding a thin steel metal rod in her hand with a leering evil glint in her eyes as her ugly pockmark face split into a demonic grin. I noticed they had put bolts with large metal rings into the flooring on either side of the chair, which must have been the noise I had heard, and had leather straps attached which became perfectly clear what they were for as I began to push back even more as sheer panic began to take over. I immediately knew they planed on strapping my arms and legs down so I couldn’t resist during my beating.
As I pushed back against the fat slob of an excuse for a man I began to realize I was wearing him out a little. He wasn’t used to someone resisting so much, but he still outweighed me and was way stronger than he looked. Grabbing the edges of the doorway and planting me feet against them I pressed back in resistance.
The woman shrieked out her disgust and loathing all fired up to get cracking with meting out her punishment against me. “Get that filthy animal in here already. I will break his spirit soon enough.” She screeched her voice cracking in her excitement and shrillness.
The man behind me was used to following the woman’s order and I could feel him steeling himself to give me the final shove. I waited and at the right time I suddenly stopped resisting and instead launched myself at the fat woman sitting in the chair all smug and full of self righteousness. I saw her eyes bulging in surprise when the chain around my neck slipped from the stunned fat man’s grip and I was momentarily freed.
I literally launched my full weight into the fat woman slamming against her bulkiness. She was so fat for a second I thought she wouldn’t budge with the creaking chair momentarily resisting. I played plenty of sports so instinct immediately kicked in and I continued to pump my legs driving my force into her bulky weight feeling the chair finally giving way with a loud cracking breaking noise sending her crashing heavily into the back counter. My eyes flared open with satisfaction at the disgusting sight of her flabby bulges of fat rolling around as she waved her arms trying to regain her balance. I watched in horror as her head literally bounced off the edge of the counter and for a second I thought she might have broken her neck. There was a moment of regret because it looked like she was hurt pretty bad, but it was only for a split second because I knew deep down she deserved whatever horrible fate awaited her.
The shrieks of pain immediately pierced the smoky air and I saw blood gushing from the fat woman’s head when she slumped to the floor her rolls of fat nearly smothering her when they engulfed her reddened face. My body was still on top of her and I began to wail on her with my fists while she struggled and screamed for me to get off of her. Suddenly I felt something slamming against the back of my head and I struggled to remain awake as powerful arms wrapped around my body pulling me off the woman. I felt myself being flung into a wall my body crumpling to the ground as pain exploded inside my head and body. Moaning I opened my eyes just in time to see a large fist slamming into my face with blood once more gushing from my lips and nose.
It sent my head flying backwards into the wall and I struggled to remain awake. I slipped in and out of consciousness my mind flirting just at the edges of darkness. I could hear the man helping the fat woman who was shrieking in pain saying she needed to get to the doctor really fast, so for him to hurry up and get me secured with the others. She was wailing in pain and screeching her order. Everything was total chaos and the next thing I knew I was being hauled back with the others my body completely slumped up against the fat man while he struggled with my lifeless body all the while the woman screaming bloody murder for the man to hurry up and help her. I struggled to stay awake because I knew it was important as my arms grappled along the man’s side.
Everything was hazy and sluggish with me barely able to stay conscious. I was being jostled around so roughly that my hands kept grappling along the man’s side trying to find some sort of purchase and grounding as I willed myself to stay awake and push through the throbbing pain in my head and body. It was important; I couldn’t really remember why as I tried to clear my head while my hands continued to try finding a purchase for what I thought was some stability as they seemed to search all on their own. It was strange because there was something important I was supposed to do, but for the life of me I couldn’t recall why as I continued to grapple with my hands feeling the man suddenly rattle me around and ordering me to stop being difficult.
Within moments we were in the other room and I felt myself suddenly being thrown on to the ground with the air whooshing out of my lungs from the hard impact. Something inside of me screamed to curl myself up protectively and to try hiding. It was just a nagging thought which I thought odd, but instinct was all I had at the moment so immediately curled up. The man cursed because he was trying to get the chain around my ankle. He was being none too gentle with me as he gave me a swift kick in the front without doing too much damage since I was curled up with my hands hidden protectively which did leave my head open. Why I wasn’t protecting my head I couldn’t figure out as I suddenly felt my neck snapping back from his kick.
The fat man must have noticed as well and grunted in satisfaction when I moaned in pain with more blood trickling from my mouth. The shrilling shouts from the other woman was probably the only thing that saved me because the man stopped kicking me and secured the chain around my ankle before huffing hurriedly away just as blackness descended over me despite my resistance. It had been too much with my head feeling as if it had swollen up like a watermelon threatening to explode. It meant I probably had a concussion and I knew it wasn’t a good idea to pass out like this, but I couldn’t help it and drifted into darkness where my pain receded into the background.
There was an incessant buzzing noise nagging at the back of my senses which tugged at me. It sounded familiar urging me to wake up, but the cool darkness snatched at the fringes of my thoughts warning me not to. There was pain waiting for me if I climbed out of the safe confines of the cool gentle embrace of darkness, but the soft urgent voice continued to pull and prod me. Instinct finally won out because there was a sense of urgency and I knew it was important. Slowly I followed the voice finally recognizing it as belonging to that other boy. A name came to mind, Cody, just about the time pain also made its presence known with my head feeling like it had been rolled around like a bowling ball into pins all night long.
“Mmmmaaaargh,” I moaned even my own voice making me cringe and threatening to have that thundering noise inside my mind explode outwards into a million pieces.
“L…Latham…please get up. Oh please get up so I know you are alright. What did they do to you?” I heard the smaller boy openly crying with sobs wracking his body.
Taking a deep breath I forced myself into a sitting position trying desperately to ignore the pain all over my body and inside my skull. “H…How long?” I asked.
“W…what?” The other boy returned sounding surprised with me wincing and looking over towards Cody who was no longer concerned about keeping his nakedness covered.
“How long was I out?” I asked reaching my hand up towards my head and face pausing for a moment.
“Not long, maybe five minutes. I…I think they left. The woman was screaming something awful about getting to a doctor or some such thing and then they began to argue about the man’s keys. He must have lost them while struggling with you and the woman cursed him out for constantly losing the keys. He was going to look for them, but she was screaming bloody murder about her head or something and told him to grab her purse and use the ones inside there. What did you do to the woman?” Cody asked jumping from one thing to another.
“Nothing she didn’t deserve.” I responded back looking at the key ring in my hand finally recalling a part of my plan and why I had grabbed at the fat man when we struggled.
“The man’s keys.” Cody exclaimed with Marty standing up and signing towards me while I nodded my head.
“Yes Marty, I know the keys won’t work on our locks. Those are still over there by the door, but while we were looking around Cody pointed out the man kept his tools locked up in that cabinet over there.” I pointed to the locked heavy duty steel cabinet where Cody’s chains were attached to.
It was a cabinet that was part of the mill and bolted to the ground so wasn’t going anywhere just like the large piece of machinery I was chained to. The fat man had stored his tools inside the large steel doors and had it all locked up with another padlock. Cody had explained that the key used to open up the cabinet was on the man’s retractable keychain attached to the belt loop on his pants. To my amazement I had somehow managed to detach them from the man’s pants while keeping them concealed when he kicked me. It was simple dumb luck really and sheer instinct that had taken over allowing me to manage it.
Tossing the key to Cody I sighed in relief when he managed to get the cabinet open. “I don’t know how this is going to help us.” He added when I instructed him to dump all the tools on the floor.
I was hoping for a hack saw or something, but didn’t have any luck as I watched while Cody pilfered through the tools. My hopes were sinking fast when I spotted a sturdy looking chisel. The blond boy looked over towards me wondering what I was up to because my chains rattled when I shifted to get a better look. Then the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
“Cody, quick…toss me the hammer and that chisel.” I pointed to the general area while he scrunched up his eyes forcing me to explain what I was talking about.
The boy smiled understanding and tossed me the tools. I hurried over towards the big machinery where my chains were wrapped around and started studying it. It was a very thick linked chain and they were all solidly welded together without any seams making me cuss in disgust. I was hoping they were only clamped closed leaving a small gap so I could try to pry them apart, but instead they were all welded as I studied each link.
“Guy’s are your links all welded closed?” I asked glancing up with both Marty and Cody looking at their chains as well and nodding yes making me cuss again and once more study mine closer.
Then I spotted it, there was one that had a weld on it, but only partially. This would be my best bet. Focusing my attention on the piece of machinery I located a smooth solid flat spot and sat down close to it setting the link with the partial weld on top of the flat hard surface. I set the sharpened end of the chisel over the weld, picked up the hammer and gave it a good whack before removing the tool and taking a closer look.
“Fuck, this is going to take some work, but it will work.” I shook my head glancing towards the other boys who were watching me intently.
“Whoo-hoo,” Cody yelped and jumped up and down making me smile at his exuberance while Marty silently smiled and nodded approvingly.
Focusing my attention back to the chain link I got back to work being careful not to break the chisel by going too fast or using too much force. There had to be a bit of a balance with the force I exerted because I could tell my first strike had actually blunted the chisel. It took a lot longer than I first estimated with my body glistening with sweat from the exertion and pain. Every strike forced me to move muscles that screamed out in pain from my injuries. Every peeling ring of the hammer belting the chisel, and steel grating on steel, made my head pound even more to the point I could hardly focus anymore.
From the corner of my eyes I could see Cody moving around trying to keep warm while my body was on fire from the exertion and pain. Marty appeared to be the only one of us not affected by the cold wet temperature or the welt on his lips from the woman’s blow with him sitting on the floor and watching me intently. It was raining with huge puddles forming all around and getting us soaked; the water intermingling with the sweat on my skin. I could hear thunder off in the distance approaching fast making me shiver a bit frightened about fleeing in this type of weather, but I couldn’t think on that and with one final wallop the link was free. I pushed the chisel into the gap working them further apart and sighed in relief when I finally separated the pieces and unraveled the chain from the large machine finally freeing me from it.
The chain was still wrapped around my ankle and secured with the padlock so I picked it up and ran to the door grabbing the larger ring of keys hooked on the nail. With my fingers shaking I located the correct one and freed myself. Running over first to Marty I got his shackles unlocked before doing the same for Cody.
“We’ve got to make a run for it guys because I don’t think we have a lot of time before they come back. It took a lot longer than I thought. On the way out grab anything to keep us warm and if you find any clothes don’t stop to put them on just grab everything and let’s get the hell out of here.” I explained while making my way quickly to the door with the other two boys close on my heels.
The adrenalin was pumping through my insides, most of my aches and pains all but forgotten, as we rushed through the door and into the hallway. The floor was riddled with glass, which I hadn’t noticed the first time through; surprised I hadn’t cut up my feet during the struggle with the man. We were careful but quickly made our way down the hall stepping into the room where I had knocked over the woman. Just as we stepped inside the other door opened and the fat woman entered. She waddled on wobbly legs over to the barrel which was still burning and churning out heat rubbing her hands together, making me wonder if she was all drugged up with medication. I froze, unable to move from total shock and surprise as did Marty and Cody.
The woman’s head was wrapped in thick white bandaging and from behind I could see some blood had seeped through the material. “Twelve fucking stitches.” The woman moaned her speech slurred confirming my suspicions that she was drugged up.
“What the fuck!” I heard the man exclaim as he stepped into the room and froze as if completely shocked.
We were busted and I wasted no time instinct taking over. I launched myself forward catching the man by surprise and my body slammed into him as I shoved everything I had against him. To my shock he went flying into a stack of boxes getting all tangled up. From the corner of my eyes I saw the fat woman turning with an evil scowl on her features her mouth opening up as if to say something. Without waiting I turned on her, noticing her eyes bulging out in fear. I suppose no one’s ever managed to accomplish that before, but what I had done to her earlier must have made her afraid because she started to back pedal.
The woman bumped into the barrel just about the time my body crashed into her. It once more knocked her over with her fat body literally covering up the barrel tipping it over at the same time. At the last moment she had reached out and grabbed my arm bringing me with her as we both toppled over on to the floor with me landing on top of the foulest smelling thing I’ve ever experienced. The woman reeked of sewage as if she hadn’t bathed for months. There was an ear piercing scream of pain because she had landed on the blazing wood which had been knocked over on the floor.
Despite my injuries I was young and healthy so popped back on to my feet just in time to see the man charging towards Cody. At the last moment Marty stepped in front of the boy protectively and I watched him doubling over with the man’s fist buried in his mid-section. Without hesitation I launched myself towards the man to protect the other two boys, but stopped in mid-stride with the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.
The most horrific blood curdling scream pierced the small room as it suddenly lit up brightly. I only had enough time to see the whole wall where the fat woman was lying on the floor go up into flames when several chemical containers suddenly combusted filling the room with a choking like gaseous smoke. Everything was on fire now including the woman and it was the most grotesque sight I’ve ever seen in my entire life. My insides began to heave as if I was going to throw up, but flames suddenly leaped upwards when another chemical container caught fire making me panic.
“Run!” I shouted reaching for Marty and shoving him towards the door before the conflagration blocked our passage.
The boy stumbled, still stooped over, but suddenly made for the door with Cody close on his heels and me right behind as well. Just before I stepped out the door I reached out and snatched up a couple of blankets that was sitting on a chair just by the door. There was another corridor with a door and Marty slammed into it and before we knew it we were standing outside in the freezing cold rain coughing and sucking in fresh air.
The horrific screeches of the woman piercing our ears spurred us onwards as we stumbled our way on the gravely pathway towards the darkened woods. Glancing back I could see the entire structure lighting up the evening skies making me wonder if the man and woman escaped alive. I wasn’t taking any chances and hurried us all onto one of the many paths leading into the woods. We were barefoot and didn’t have any clothes, but the panic and adrenalin kept us moving forward without any thoughts to our feet and the wet cold weather.
Taking the lead I handed a blanket to Cody and one to Marty as I snuck past them. There were only two blankets, but I was more worried about getting as far away as possible and as soon as possible. I knew enough about the woods so made my way down the path until I could find a good spot to hide and take cover for the night. It was cold and wet but if we huddled together under the blankets we should be alright until the morning. After that we could figure out what to do. If nothing else the fire that was started would surely attract the attention of the authorities.
The thunderstorm had finally caught up to us and it began to pour down even harder. I was setting a fast pace with the other two boys having fallen behind slightly and I knew we needed to stop so started to slow down spotting a huge Red Pine tree. The large base looked relatively dry and could provide us enough cover to keep most of the rain off of us. It was slightly off to the side of the trail so I stepped over being cautious of my bare feet and walked around to the back side noticing a slight slope with soft pine needles piled up from over the years which would provide us a perfect place to bed down. On the back side we’d also be hidden from the trail.
“Latham.” I heard a small rasping voice that didn’t sound good so I quickly stepped back into view. “Latham,” I heard the soft voice again and stood in stunned disbelief because it had come from Marty.
It was the first time I’ve ever heard his voice and my spirits immediately soared. “Marty, you spoke!” I exclaimed excitedly stepping closer towards him when suddenly my whole world came crashing down around me.
The smaller boy’s features looked gaunt and pale as if all the blood had drained out of him and Cody had his arms wrapped around the other boy trying to support him. The younger boy was sniffling and crying as he spoke out. “Latham we have to stop. Marty’s bleeding to death.” He got out in-between huge sobs as I immediately ran up to them and reached out just in time for Marty to collapse into my arms. “I think that man stabbed him when he jumped out in front to protect me. Oh please Latham we have to stop and help him. I was going to say something and was shocked when Marty actually spoke. He told me not to say anything because we needed to get as far away as possible.” The younger boy explained his voice shaking with worry and fear.
Marty was like dead weight in my arms and his body was deathly cold as I dragged him around to the other side of the tree. The blanket that was wrapped around Marty had fallen to the ground when he collapsed into me and Cody had picked it up carrying over. I told him to put it on the ground and set the smaller teen on top of it. His hands were pressed up against his abdomen and I could see the runny blood intermingled with his completely rain soaked body. When I reached over to take a look the smaller boy shook his head for me to stop. Tears were rolling down my cheeks now and I got that gut wrenching sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I wrapped the ends of the blanket around his body which felt icy cold.
Oddly enough he wasn’t even shivering as his dull green eyes fluttered open and he looked deeply into my own green orbs. “I’m sorry,” he whispered wincing in pain with it being such an odd thing because I’ve never heard him speak until now.
“N…no Marty. I…I…,” my voice cracked and I couldn’t get out any words because for the life of me I didn’t know what to say or why he would apologize.
He looked so pale, even worse than when I had found him a few weeks back. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t run for any help because where would I go and I couldn’t build a fire with out any tools. It was pretty dark all around us with there being no star or moonlight to go by since it was so overcast.
“I’m so cold.” He whispered his eyes riveted on me and not shifting away as I snuggled up to him and wrapped my arms around him protectively.
“Thank you,” his voice so soft I could barely hear him.
“For what?” I asked openly crying now and barely able to see him through the tears while wondering why he was thanking me since I hadn’t really done anything.
“For saving me…for being my friend…for caring.” He whispered back our cheeks snuggled up closely so I could hear him since it seemed like his voice was so far away. “I’m sorry.” He apologized again making me tremble and shake my head.
“I…I don’t understand Marty…You don’t have to apologize because you did nothing wrong.” I spoke up holding him tightly in my arms.
“Because,” I heard him sigh and pause. For a second I thought he wasn’t going to finish, but then he shuddered slightly and with what seemed like a lot of effort spoke again. “I don’t think I can stay anymore.”
For a second I didn’t understand what he was saying then it suddenly sunk in. “No!” I snapped. “No Marty…don’t leave…you can’t leave me. You’ve got to fight. We are free from those awful people and I don’t think they will ever hurt anyone again. You have to fight Marty. It’s not fair.” I began to cry even harder hearing Cody begin to cry even more when he heard me.
The younger boy was on his haunches huddled up under the other blanket. I knew he was frightened and I thought he had been so brave while we were getting away. He was the one who had to help Marty through the woods while I had rushed headlong without realizing one of us was hurt so badly. If I had only stopped I could have probably helped and we wouldn’t be in this situation. It was all my fault that Marty was now in such danger.
“P…please Latham, it’s not your fault.” Marty seemed to see right through me shaking his head and looking at me with such sadness. “You are a good person. Please don’t cry. You have to look after him now. Cody, he seems like a sweet gentle boy. He didn’t deserve this. It was because of me, so promise to look after him…for me.” He tried to smile as a tear of his own trickled from the corner of his eye and ran downwards along his cheek.
“I promise.” I assured him thinking it such an unnecessary request.
“Please tell him…tell him I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait anymore. Tell him I finally understand.” Marty whispered not making any sense now at all because at first I thought he was talking about Cody, but from his expression it looked like there was also someone else he was talking about.
It had to be the severity of his injury making him talk in riddles because even his eyes seemed to glaze over in the dimness of this dark stormy evening. It was as if the light inside of him was flickering and threatening to go out.
“I…I don’t understand Marty…tell who…tell him what?” I asked trying to keep him conscious with the smaller boy’s eyes once more flickering awake as he scrunched up his face as if to make sense of my question.
“My journal, give him my journal. Soon, he’s coming.” He whispered his mind seemingly once more going on a tangent because he wasn’t making any sense.
It took me a second to realize he must be talking about his journal the psychiatrist had told him to write all of his personal thoughts inside hoping it might allow Marty to deal with some of his issue from the past. Still, I wasn’t sure who he wanted me to give his journal to. For a second I thought maybe it was the psychiatrist, but I didn’t think that’s what Marty really wanted. My mind was going a hundred miles an hour and I was simply frozen in place not knowing what to do or say.
“I’ve always loved the sound of your voice Latham. Will you sing to me? I…I’d really like to hear you sing right now.” He whispered softly.
“What?” I asked my mind unable to wrap around everything going on at the moment.
It was as if I was completely numb and totally perplexed. My mind was becoming sluggish. I knew up until now the adrenalin rush is what had been sustaining my state of alertness, but the high was now gone, replaced by the dullness of reality making my body and mind begin to crash. The cold wet weather was finally catching up to me and making its presence known in the harshest of ways with my head beginning to pound and my body aching all over.
“Sing something I like. Please Latham…for me…I want to hear your voice. It’s so beautiful and it’s the first thing I really remember about you.” He pleaded softly with me shaking my head.
“I…I can’t.” my voice cracked as I shook my head and through blurry eyes seeing him look back at me pleadingly.
This was simply too much, but it was Marty and he was begging me so I opened up my mouth. My voice cracked and a sob escaped threatening to overwhelm me. With great effort I remained in control and tried again. I knew the song he really wanted me to sing, but it was such a sad song; especially, at the moment. Still I began to sing, my voice shaking at first and slowly getting stronger.
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“Intentionally using the quotes of others without author attribution is plagiarism and contributes to illiteracy.”
- Rain Bojangles
“Most plagiarists, like the drone, have neither taste to select, industry to acquire, nor skill to improve, but impudently pilfer the honey ready prepared, from the hive.”
- Walter Colton
“Borrowed thoughts, like borrowed money, only show the poverty of the borrower.”
- Lady Marguerite Blessington, Countess of Blessington
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EXCERPT FROM THE PAST CATCHES UP
As I finished tying my laces I suddenly smelled something odd just beneath the surface of the noxious fumes from the rumbling vehicle. My gaze shifted over towards Marty’s legs and I noticed a few drops of wetness drizzling past the left leg of his pants before it suddenly unleashed into a yellow colored torrential like rain catching me by complete surprise and filling my insides with dread. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end in alarm and my heart leaped into my chest. I stumbled to my feet only to feel my head explode in pain with everything going dark momentarily and with lights flashing all around my eyes. I felt myself stumbling forward and I reacted by automatically reaching out for some leverage, but suddenly found myself falling forward. I tried to clear my mind managing to get a quick glance around which only managed to panic me for a moment when I felt another blow which made me finally lose consciousness. The last thing I remembered was seeing an old beat up green van before I collapsed inside the side door opening.
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WARNING: Some readers may find this chapter a little disturbing since it covers some issues that might be a little unsettling. This is a dark story so some things are essential and need to be addressed within the context of the plot. Life is not only about the joys we enjoy, but also about the struggles and how we strive to overcome them. Have heart, and let's help one another through this perilous journey our characters must endure.
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LIVING A NIGHTMARE
There was an incessant pounding and achy feeling inside my head which refused to go away. I could feel the sensation of my body being momentarily lifted up and heard what sounded like a grunting and wheezing noise. It was an eerie feeling and I struggled to wake up trying to make sense of things, but each time I tried my head felt like it was going to explode so retreated back into darkness. The lifting impression lasted briefly before the sudden sinking sensation took over and then more pain, but this time along my rib cage and back. Then more grunting before a sort of rocking motion took over.
“Fucking kid is heavier than he looks.” I heard a deep gravely voice commenting.
“Stop complaining already.” A wheezy higher pitched toned voice barked back. “I swear you are getting lazy. It’s not as if you have to carry him since you have a wheelbarrow.”
Through the hazy fog of my mind I realized the deeper voiced person, who was obviously a man, must have dumped me into a wheelbarrow like so much garbage and was hauling me away. That was all I could muster strength for at the moment with my mind once more drifting into darkness.
Another jolting sensation managed to bring me slightly back out of my stupor and I once more struggled to wake up hearing my own voice moaning. “Oh mother…this one is going to be trouble for sure.” The deeper gravely voice commented with a sort of cackling laughter while another voice close by responded.
“Ha, we shall see. I can’t believe how we lucked out. If it wasn’t for the news station and that reporter on television we never would have known where to find the boy. He will pay for thinking he could get away, and I’m sure we can find some suitable punishment for this little shit who would steal away what rightly belongs to us.” I heard the higher pitched individual, which sounded like a woman, comment when suddenly the air seemed to whoosh out of my lungs and I felt a gut wrenching pain grip my stomach forcing my insides to writhe around and tighten up.
It felt like I had been kicked and by the sounds of the wheezing noises I suspected the woman must have done it. My body began to shiver and there was a damp coldness all around me which seemed to seep into my very bones. I could tell they must have dumped me onto the ground because it felt cold and rough on my skin. Something about that tickled at my thoughts, but my mind refused to wrap around it in my hazy state. Between the ache in my gut and the splitting pain of my head I once more drifted back into darkness with an odd sound of whimpering coming nearby from a tiny like voice which only fed the nagging feeling on the edges of my thoughts.
The way my head throbbed and my body ached I refused to wake up. If it weren’t for the iciness seeping into my very core I would have probably ignored the nagging dripping noises all around me along with the soft whispering voice inside my head. It kept urging me to wake up but there was this persistent achiness all over my body and inside my skull there was a surging roaring noise. It sounded like waves crashing against a coral reef during a typhoon. Deep inside the confines of my dark protective shield that I had erected for myself there was a sense of cognizance about my situation as I began to realize my body was shivering uncontrollably now. I could literally feel the coldness all around me licking at my skin, which now shook so badly even my teeth began to rattle making things worse for my already pounding head.
“Mmmmm…aaaargh.” I moaned softly willing myself into consciousness.
I felt sick to my stomach, my entire body ached, and the pounding noise in my skull blurred my vision, but I slowly forced my eyes open yet remained completely motionless. It wasn’t exactly dark around me, but the light seemed to be muted as a lay completely motionless afraid of moving because I knew there would be pain involved. Instead, I stayed motionless for several moments trying to get my body and mind to adjust while I continued to take in the surroundings.
The first thing I noticed was that it was freezing cold, with my slow breathing producing little white puffs that hung in the air for a second before dissipating. I couldn’t stop shaking because I was so cold. There was old rusted equipment and machinery scattered in the large mostly empty space making me realize I was in some sort of warehouse or long abandoned facility. This realization stirred old emotions with panic beginning to rise inside of me because it brought back the nightmare I had to live through several years back. It threatened to overwhelm me, but suddenly my eyes settled on a small naked figure sitting all hunched over with his legs drawn up tightly against his chest. His arms were wrapped around the front of his shin with his hands clasped together as if forcing himself to be balled up in a sitting position. His forehead was leaning up against his knees and he was shivering uncontrollably with small white puffs of his breaths curling up around him every so often before rapidly dispersing.
At first I thought it was Marty, but then realized it couldn’t be him because this kid was much smaller. It looked to be a boy about ten or eleven years old, or at least I assumed it was a boy. Even though the youngster was completely naked I couldn’t be sure from my angle of view and the positioning of the kid all curled up. All I had to go on was experience and something told me this was a boy.
The kid appeared to have longer hair about the same length as Marty, but lighter from what I could tell in this lighting. It was also difficult to be sure because it looked kind of damp as it hung around the youngster’s face hiding any features. The kid was rocking slightly and when I heard a raking sound my eyes were drawn to the source. It was a chain attached to a shackle which in turn was latched around the left ankle of the poor youngster. It immediately reminded me of Marty because when we first found him there was some chaffing around his ankle from what we now knew was from shackles while being moved.
Moaning softly I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it when my insides suddenly recoiled and I heaved throwing up a small amount of bile which left a bitter taste in my mouth. That wasn’t the bad part because the sudden contracting upheaval of my insides only managed to emphasize the pounding in my head and the aching of my body. It had caught me by surprise leaving me breathless and threatening to send me back into the dark abyss I had just struggled to escape from. Deep down I instinctively knew it was important to remain alert because it suddenly dawned on me what happened.
It had to be the man and woman Marty had escaped from as I tried to quickly piece things together. Everything had happened so fast, but the van I’d seen just before I blacked out had to be the one the long haired boy had described to us. It now became apparent that while I was tying my shoe someone had snuck up and knocked me cold. Just before it happened I recalled how Marty had been frozen in place, as if in sheer terror and the fact he had wet himself seemed to support this idea. Then, there was also the issue of what I had heard while in and out of consciousness and that’s when reality finally sunk in for me. We were in deep shit, and if we had any chance at all of getting out of this mess I needed to pull myself together and figure something out quickly. The longer we remained in this situation, the less likely we’d survive. I could only hope someone had witnessed our abduction and called the police, but I couldn’t take the chance and needed to do what I could to get away. In my mind there was no doubt these people would kill both me and Marty without a second thought.
Slowly I managed to get into a sitting position, suddenly realizing like the other kid I had been stripped completely naked. It was then that the nagging feeling I had in the back of my thoughts clicked into place. They stripped us to help discourage any escape and also as a form of punishment because it was so cold inside of this building. I knew the weather forecast had indicated a cooling in the region with rain, but inside the abandoned building it was much colder as I began to look around.
The pounding in my head began to recede into the back of my mind, but it still throbbed dully and ached making it difficult to concentrate as I tried to figure out where we were. It appeared to be one of the abandoned logging mills that had taken place in the region years ago. There were also old iron ore mines around with abandoned buildings, but this didn’t look like a place for such a thing. With the boom of iron ore mines there was a need for support beams in the shafts so several logging mills had sprung up years ago to provide the necessary timber. This building looked like such a place because it was huge and some of the old rusted machinery that had been all stripped down appeared to be designed for such an operation.
It was a massive place and reminded me of my own kidnapping a few years back, which once more threatened to overwhelm me. I could feel the cold grip of fear wrapping its fingers around my heart and giving me that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I began to breathe erratically with my mind drifting inwards when my eyes once more were drawn to the youngster hunched over his legs and shivering uncontrollably. Suddenly my mind snapped back into place with the realization I needed to remain as calm as possible if all of us were going to survive. This thought immediately reminded me about Marty and I quickly glanced around sighing in relief when I spotted him further away simply sitting there with his knees also drawn up and a blank look on his features. The odd thing about it was unlike the other youngster and myself he wasn’t even shivering. I suppose over the years he had become used to being cold and now his body had apparently adjusted once more.
Like me and the other kid, he was stripped completely naked, his mostly clean body gleaming in the dampened air. The roof had collapsed in several places and looking up I realized it was starting to get darker outside so had to be approaching evening. I could see the roiling grayness of the clouds gathering as well and knew before long it would begin to rain exposing all three of us to the real danger of exposure.
Shifting to get into a more comfortable position I felt the tug of chains around my left ankle and realized for the first time I was shackled as well. Reaching down I inspected the chain noticing it was attached to some sort of large equipment that had been abandoned long ago. The equipment was large and securely bolted to the hard flooring with the chain attached to it. Even though the machinery was rusted there still wasn’t any chance of me breaking free from it. Glancing over towards Marty and the other boy I realized that even though my chain was the same as the others it didn’t have an actual broad banded shackle like theirs. The other two had a wide cuff like clamp which fit around their ankle and required a key to open it up. Mine was only the thick large links of the chain wrapped around my ankle with a heavy key lock attached between the links securing it shut. I suppose they were probably only after Marty, but it did make me wonder about the other kid and how he fit into all of this mess.
My movement must have caught the youngster’s attention with the kid also shifting and looking towards my direction. It was then I caught a brief glimpse of his penis and tight ball sack confirming my suspicions about him being a boy before he moved his legs again a bit self consciously keeping his little boy bits concealed as much as possible. His eyes had automatically glanced downwards with them flaring slightly when they took in my own nakedness. At his age I’m sure he’s probably never seen another naked boy before unless he had a brother. His scrutiny only lasted a split second before he once more gazed up into my eyes.
They were intense with an inner kind of sparkle which radiated outwards and even from here I could tell they were a bright blue color that seemed to glow inside his smudged and tear streaked small rounded face. His long disheveled and angle layered cut hair framed his features making his face look kind of small for a boy his size. I couldn’t be sure from his huddled position his exact height and stature, but he looked to be around ten years old. I thought it kind of odd that Marty’s abductors would want to take someone so old if they were looking for a replacement making me wonder if the boy was simply an opportunity which had come along for them.
Looking about to make sure no one was around who could catch us talking, I gave the boy a reassuring smile and whispered just loud enough for him to hear. “What’s your name? Mine’s Latham and the other boy is Marty.” I added with the blond boy sniffling, and using both the heel and back of his hand he wiped away the dampness from his eyes and face, which only managed to smudge his cheeks even more with dirt and grime.
“C…Cody.” He whispered back just as softly, but his voice squeaking slightly from fear and the fact he was shivering so much.
We both fell silent for a couple of seconds while he looked at me intently with an almost hopeful kind of appeal. “M…Mr. Latham, w…what do they want and what is going to happen?” He asked, the boy catching me by surprise in referring to me like some adult.
It was obvious he had been taught manners, but I’ve never been deferred to in such a respectful comportment. “Just call me Latham, alright Cody?” I responded seeing the boy nodding in the affirmative. “I’m not exactly sure,” I lied not wanting to upset him with what I suspected. “But no matter what happens you have to promise to be very brave. We need to keep our eyes and ears open so when it comes time we can escape and get away from these people. Can you promise me that?” I asked with him perking up a little at the prospect of there possibly being an opportunity to get away.
“Y…yes.” He whispered nodding his head with a determined look.
“Good man. Things may get a bit dicey, but you need to be very brave no matter what happens and you need to be ready. We will only get one chance at it so be alert.” I tried to assure him my tone giving the boy some hope while my own stomach roiled with the little white lie because I wasn’t convinced we’d ever find an opportunity.
“Mom and dad always warned me about cutting through the alley saying I should just go around when I go to school. It’s only about a couple of blocks away so I usually walk, but this morning I was running a little late. I shouldn’t have gone through the alley.” He sniffled adding a couple of pieces to the puzzle as I realized this must have basically been an opportunity for the abductors and not actually planned.
If these people were looking for a replacement for Marty I’m sure they would be searching out a younger target. I began to wonder if they snatched up Cody as a temporary replacement until they could find a suitable one for their needs. It quickly became obvious that for the abductors it was a need they had to satiate some sort of mental depravity. Right now it really didn’t matter because I had a sinking feeling that if we didn’t get away it would be the end of us which included the new boy Cody.
“Marty…hey Marty…,” I whispered a little louder trying to get his attention.
All three of us were chained up with about four or five feet of loose chain allowing us to move around a little, but were separated just enough where we couldn’t touch one another. I suspected another form of punishment with them keeping us just far enough away from one another to prevent us providing each other any comfort.
“Mr. Latham…I mean Latham,” the smaller boy corrected flashing me a quick smile which simply melted my heart despite the seriousness of the situation. “I don’t think he talks. I tried when they chained him up and left us alone, but he hasn’t said a word and just sits there and doesn’t even move. I don’t know how he does it because I’m so cold I can’t stop shivering.” He told me softly his chattering teeth emphasizing his comment.
“I know. He doesn’t talk but he can hear us. I’m too far away from him can you get his attention?” I asked with the small boy biting his lower lip in thought hesitating as he glanced down at his nakedness a bit shyly.
“Listen Cody…I know being naked is a little embarrassing but we all pretty much have the same thing…you know…down there. It’s just some boys are bigger and some smaller, just like some boys are taller and some shorter. Don’t be embarrassed about it because we are in serious trouble here. Just ignore it and pretend like we are all wearing some clothes…alright?” I asked with Cody’s cheeks turning red as he screwed up his face but nodded.
Pausing for a second longer and glancing towards me I purposefully looked away and focused my attention on Marty. From the corner of my eye I saw the blond haired boy unwind and shift his weight onto his feet while squatting down. He was looking around and spotting a small piece of wood picked it up and tossed it underhanded towards Marty so it wouldn’t hurt. It looked fairly light and mostly rotted so I was fairly sure it wouldn’t hurt. Sure enough the small piece bounced off of Marty’s head with him reaching a hand up and running it through his hair.
“Marty,” I whispered in a hoarse voice finally capturing his attention. “Oh thank God you are alright.” I sighed and began to sign to him so we weren’t making as much noise.
“Are you alright?” I asked without saying a word just to be sure, my signing slow and deliberate as I had to muddle through it clumsily.
Big teardrops began to bubble up from Marty as he signed back. “This is all my fault. I should have warned you but I couldn’t move or do anything.” He finished in defeat while I shook my head.
“No, not your fault. You were afraid and you can’t help feeling that way. Even I panic when I see a lit up cigar and freeze not able to move. It’s not your fault.” I emphasized pausing for a moment to let it sink in. “Listen, we have to try and escape and we have to be strong for this other boy. His name is Cody. He’s just a little kid Marty so we have to be strong. We will figure something out together. Look around and let’s see if we can find something to help us out.” I finished giving Marty something to focus on other than his so called failures.
It seemed to work because he glanced towards the blond haired boy who blushed at the scrutiny keenly aware of his nakedness, but not hiding it trying to be brave about everything like I had asked of him. He was only a small boy, but with such a big heart being so brave despite everything. He must have been terrified being chained up and completely alone all day not knowing what his fate would be as Marty nodded his head towards the boy and signed.
Cody looked towards me with a puzzled look on his face. “Marty says hello and not to worry. We will find a way out of this. He’s escaped from them before and he will do it again.” I translated with the blond boy nodding as well.
“Thank you Mr. Marty…uh…Marty.” He amended at the last moment.
“Good man Cody. Now let’s look around for anything that can help us, but we need to be careful and keep our eyes and ear out for any danger.” I added as we all began to take a look around.
The younger boy was a big help pointing to a nail next to a door about twenty feet away. There was a set of keys on it and he explained that the big fat man used those on their shackles including one set of keys for the lock on my chain. He said the door led to another part of the building where they came in and out of and he suspected there were some heated rooms in that section. He recalled smelling smoke on the man and woman so maybe they had a fire or something keeping them warm.
At first I asked only general questions, but it soon became obvious the kid was pretty sharp despite the frightful situation because as I asked him questions he replied with very specific details. While we continued to look around I adjusted my questioning getting as much information the kid could answer. The more I looked around, along with what Cody was telling me, a general seed of a plan began to form in my mind. It wasn’t anything specific, just some rough ideas which would be very risky if things could fall in place, but it was the only way. Moving around like this kept us a little warmer; although, Cody and I continued to shiver while Marty seemed unaffected by the coldness all around us. All the while I kept whispering encouragingly to both Marty and Cody as things began to take shape for me.
“Listen guys there may be a way, I’m not sure, but it could be very risky. No matter what happens you guys will need to stay alert and don’t do anything stupid. No matter what you see or hear, promise me.” I emphasized biting my lower lip thinking my idea still needed time to become fully engrained in my thoughts. “Someone could still get hurt though.” I added the worry about doing something so rash making me nervous.
There were so many unknowns, and of course a lot of doubts on my part, but in reality I knew there really weren’t many options. If there was anything I learned at all in some of my history classes is that sometimes taking risks were necessary to achieve anything positive. Through adversity, it was the risk takers that tended to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles throughout our history. In the end whether I did something rash didn’t make any difference because doing nothing would result in something far worse.
Cody’s soft voice cut through my thoughts. “Y…you think if we don’t do anything something bad is going to happen don’t you?” He whispered so softly I could hardly hear him, but it was obvious the boy was now beginning to shake from fear as well and not just from the cold air as tears began to well up in his big blue eyes.
Movement caught my attention and I glanced over to Marty who began signing to me. I nodded my head realizing he was correct, but still wasn’t sure how much I should tell Cody. The boy was being so brave, but this was a lot for a kid, much less any of us to take in and handle. In the end I figured it was for the best he knew as much as possible.
“I’m sorry Cody but Marty is right.” I began shaking my head slowly. “You’re too old.” I added with him looking at me questioningly.
Glancing over towards Marty he nodded his head encouraging me to explain what he had just told me. “Listen Cody, I’m sure you’ve noticed the scars on Marty. These people stole him when he was really little. They were after an even younger boy but he tried to protect the other kid and they took him instead. He was still pretty young though so they kept him. They did awful things to him for a very long time and not long ago he finally escaped. He knew that he was getting too old and if he didn’t take the chance something awful was going to happen to him once they found another boy to take his place. They are evil people and sick in the head, but very dangerous. I don’t want to scare you Cody, but it is important you understand if we don’t get away it will be really bad for us.” I tried to explain as much as possible without getting into too much details.
The blond haired boy stared at me and suddenly his eyes got big as if something finally clicked. “He’s the boy they were talking about on the news a couple of weeks ago. The awful man and woman said something about it earlier how if it hadn’t been for the news they’d never know where to look, but I didn’t know what they were talking about until now. This must be awful for Marty after everything he’s been through.” He sniffled, tears threatening to overwhelm him when all three of us suddenly jumped in fear because we heard a loud banging noise coming from the other side of the door about twenty or thirty feet away.
Marty immediately sat down his features going completely blank with us following his lead, but we were much more alert since we simply couldn’t switch it off like the other boy could. There was a lot of banging noises going on and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out exactly what was going on, but I prepared myself for what may be coming. I didn’t have to wait long because suddenly I saw them for the first time and it just about made me want to puke. The man was fat with jowls that wiggled obscenely as he waddled towards us, a set of keys jingling on the keychain that was hooked into the side of his pocket. The woman was even worse, her face pockmarked with red splotches and the folds of her fat clinging to the fabric of her ragged clothes as she wheezed and literally waddled alongside the man. Even her legs had rolls of fat as they both made their way over towards Marty.
The woman bent over and grabbed a handful of Marty’s hair with her left hand and yanked on it harshly wrenching his neck over to the side and forcing him to look up at her. “I told you boy that if you ever escaped I’d hunt you down and make you pay you worthless piece of shit.” Her voice dripped with loathing and hatred making even me wince as I glanced over towards Cody who was now openly crying.
To Marty’s credit he didn’t even flinch, but I did when she suddenly yanked on his hair forcefully wrenching it even further over towards the side. I watched in horror as she raised her right hand and with the full force of her weight behind it slapped him firmly across the side of his mouth. It was so forceful hadn’t she been holding on to his hair so firmly I’m sure it would have spun his head around. Instead, it only jerked slightly taking the full brunt.
“You fucking cow.” I belted out standing up and noticing Cody begin to say something but I gave him a glaring warning and he immediately understood and tried to become invisible.
My words seemed to cut them both to the core because the man hurried towards me and without hesitating punched me right in the gut forcing me to double over and hold on to my mid-section. It caught me by surprise because for a big man he moved quickly and his punch was a lot more powerful than I expected. I heard the woman cackling waddling over towards me and like she had done with Marty grabbed my hair and yanked on it forcing me to stand up while she sized me up her eyes boring into me critically.
“Oh papa, look at his eyes. This one has spirit. I’m going to enjoy breaking this one after I get done with filthy boy first.” The woman cackled with alarm bells going off in my mind since I knew she meant Marty and if they got to him first she would literally beat him to death.
My gut ached and I was gasping for air barely able to stand so I did the only thing left to me, I spit in her face forcing myself to speak up. “You people are fucking nut jobs who belong in a loony bin. No that’s too kind, the electric chair.” I managed to get out with the woman yelling in outrage and rearing back to slap me like she had done Marty.
The offending slap never came though; instead, my head snapped back because the man had balled up his fist and hit me full on in my face. I could feel the warm splattering of my own blood spreading over my face and taste the iron like tang even before I hit the ground. The pounding in my head had been all but forgotten, but it once more made its presence known with me groaning and trying to stand back up nausea filling my insides.
“Bring the big filthy animal to me. I was going to do him last, but maybe it is best I save fucking ‘shit boy’ pet for last after all. This will make everything even that much sweeter. Yes, the big one first, then the little one, and then nasty little ‘shit boy.’ Damn wretched filthy animals. We will make things right until we can find a new pet to take nasty boy’s place. He never did learn properly, but the next one…yes the next one we need to make sure is much younger so his learning will be proper.” I heard her screeching as she disappeared behind the door while the fat man retrieved the keys from the hook and opened the padlock around my ankle.
My head was still spinning when he literally lifted me up on my feet and half dragged and half pushed me towards the door with the chain wrapped around my neck and cutting off the oxygen supply. I struggled but he was a lot stronger than I had anticipated. Still, I didn’t want to go meekly so the entire way I continued to push back against him grabbing on to anything I could along the way through the hallway. I could tell he was getting frustrated with me and he yanked on the chain around my neck cutting off even more air. But this was for all the marbles and I wasn’t giving in so easy so pushed back against him forcing the fat oaf to lose the grip on the chain around my neck as he struggled to keep me moving along.
The chain was still wrapped around my neck, but he no longer had a firm grip on it because he was forced to push me forward while I continued to push backwards against him. He was more powerful than me and weighed about four times as much as me so it was useless, but still important to resist. While he pushed me along and I resisted, I kept looking around getting my bearings. He was starting to get frustrated and punched me in the back of the head several times reigniting the pounding in my skull and making things a bit hazy, yet I continued to resist.
As we approached an open doorway I could feel the heat spilling into the hallway and noticed the fat woman sitting impatiently in a chair her rolls of fat literally oozing over the sides. The room was cluttered with supplies, rags, and all sorts of old containers, their labels long faded with age and unreadable. They still looked like they contained some sort of chemicals. Off to the one side was a large barrel with burning wood inside, the smoke billowing upwards disappearing somewhere I couldn’t see at the moment. There was another door a few feet away from the barrel leading to who knew where.
My eyes focused on the woman noticing she was holding a thin steel metal rod in her hand with a leering evil glint in her eyes as her ugly pockmark face split into a demonic grin. I noticed they had put bolts with large metal rings into the flooring on either side of the chair, which must have been the noise I had heard, and had leather straps attached which became perfectly clear what they were for as I began to push back even more as sheer panic began to take over. I immediately knew they planed on strapping my arms and legs down so I couldn’t resist during my beating.
As I pushed back against the fat slob of an excuse for a man I began to realize I was wearing him out a little. He wasn’t used to someone resisting so much, but he still outweighed me and was way stronger than he looked. Grabbing the edges of the doorway and planting me feet against them I pressed back in resistance.
The woman shrieked out her disgust and loathing all fired up to get cracking with meting out her punishment against me. “Get that filthy animal in here already. I will break his spirit soon enough.” She screeched her voice cracking in her excitement and shrillness.
The man behind me was used to following the woman’s order and I could feel him steeling himself to give me the final shove. I waited and at the right time I suddenly stopped resisting and instead launched myself at the fat woman sitting in the chair all smug and full of self righteousness. I saw her eyes bulging in surprise when the chain around my neck slipped from the stunned fat man’s grip and I was momentarily freed.
I literally launched my full weight into the fat woman slamming against her bulkiness. She was so fat for a second I thought she wouldn’t budge with the creaking chair momentarily resisting. I played plenty of sports so instinct immediately kicked in and I continued to pump my legs driving my force into her bulky weight feeling the chair finally giving way with a loud cracking breaking noise sending her crashing heavily into the back counter. My eyes flared open with satisfaction at the disgusting sight of her flabby bulges of fat rolling around as she waved her arms trying to regain her balance. I watched in horror as her head literally bounced off the edge of the counter and for a second I thought she might have broken her neck. There was a moment of regret because it looked like she was hurt pretty bad, but it was only for a split second because I knew deep down she deserved whatever horrible fate awaited her.
The shrieks of pain immediately pierced the smoky air and I saw blood gushing from the fat woman’s head when she slumped to the floor her rolls of fat nearly smothering her when they engulfed her reddened face. My body was still on top of her and I began to wail on her with my fists while she struggled and screamed for me to get off of her. Suddenly I felt something slamming against the back of my head and I struggled to remain awake as powerful arms wrapped around my body pulling me off the woman. I felt myself being flung into a wall my body crumpling to the ground as pain exploded inside my head and body. Moaning I opened my eyes just in time to see a large fist slamming into my face with blood once more gushing from my lips and nose.
It sent my head flying backwards into the wall and I struggled to remain awake. I slipped in and out of consciousness my mind flirting just at the edges of darkness. I could hear the man helping the fat woman who was shrieking in pain saying she needed to get to the doctor really fast, so for him to hurry up and get me secured with the others. She was wailing in pain and screeching her order. Everything was total chaos and the next thing I knew I was being hauled back with the others my body completely slumped up against the fat man while he struggled with my lifeless body all the while the woman screaming bloody murder for the man to hurry up and help her. I struggled to stay awake because I knew it was important as my arms grappled along the man’s side.
Everything was hazy and sluggish with me barely able to stay conscious. I was being jostled around so roughly that my hands kept grappling along the man’s side trying to find some sort of purchase and grounding as I willed myself to stay awake and push through the throbbing pain in my head and body. It was important; I couldn’t really remember why as I tried to clear my head while my hands continued to try finding a purchase for what I thought was some stability as they seemed to search all on their own. It was strange because there was something important I was supposed to do, but for the life of me I couldn’t recall why as I continued to grapple with my hands feeling the man suddenly rattle me around and ordering me to stop being difficult.
Within moments we were in the other room and I felt myself suddenly being thrown on to the ground with the air whooshing out of my lungs from the hard impact. Something inside of me screamed to curl myself up protectively and to try hiding. It was just a nagging thought which I thought odd, but instinct was all I had at the moment so immediately curled up. The man cursed because he was trying to get the chain around my ankle. He was being none too gentle with me as he gave me a swift kick in the front without doing too much damage since I was curled up with my hands hidden protectively which did leave my head open. Why I wasn’t protecting my head I couldn’t figure out as I suddenly felt my neck snapping back from his kick.
The fat man must have noticed as well and grunted in satisfaction when I moaned in pain with more blood trickling from my mouth. The shrilling shouts from the other woman was probably the only thing that saved me because the man stopped kicking me and secured the chain around my ankle before huffing hurriedly away just as blackness descended over me despite my resistance. It had been too much with my head feeling as if it had swollen up like a watermelon threatening to explode. It meant I probably had a concussion and I knew it wasn’t a good idea to pass out like this, but I couldn’t help it and drifted into darkness where my pain receded into the background.
There was an incessant buzzing noise nagging at the back of my senses which tugged at me. It sounded familiar urging me to wake up, but the cool darkness snatched at the fringes of my thoughts warning me not to. There was pain waiting for me if I climbed out of the safe confines of the cool gentle embrace of darkness, but the soft urgent voice continued to pull and prod me. Instinct finally won out because there was a sense of urgency and I knew it was important. Slowly I followed the voice finally recognizing it as belonging to that other boy. A name came to mind, Cody, just about the time pain also made its presence known with my head feeling like it had been rolled around like a bowling ball into pins all night long.
“Mmmmaaaargh,” I moaned even my own voice making me cringe and threatening to have that thundering noise inside my mind explode outwards into a million pieces.
“L…Latham…please get up. Oh please get up so I know you are alright. What did they do to you?” I heard the smaller boy openly crying with sobs wracking his body.
Taking a deep breath I forced myself into a sitting position trying desperately to ignore the pain all over my body and inside my skull. “H…How long?” I asked.
“W…what?” The other boy returned sounding surprised with me wincing and looking over towards Cody who was no longer concerned about keeping his nakedness covered.
“How long was I out?” I asked reaching my hand up towards my head and face pausing for a moment.
“Not long, maybe five minutes. I…I think they left. The woman was screaming something awful about getting to a doctor or some such thing and then they began to argue about the man’s keys. He must have lost them while struggling with you and the woman cursed him out for constantly losing the keys. He was going to look for them, but she was screaming bloody murder about her head or something and told him to grab her purse and use the ones inside there. What did you do to the woman?” Cody asked jumping from one thing to another.
“Nothing she didn’t deserve.” I responded back looking at the key ring in my hand finally recalling a part of my plan and why I had grabbed at the fat man when we struggled.
“The man’s keys.” Cody exclaimed with Marty standing up and signing towards me while I nodded my head.
“Yes Marty, I know the keys won’t work on our locks. Those are still over there by the door, but while we were looking around Cody pointed out the man kept his tools locked up in that cabinet over there.” I pointed to the locked heavy duty steel cabinet where Cody’s chains were attached to.
It was a cabinet that was part of the mill and bolted to the ground so wasn’t going anywhere just like the large piece of machinery I was chained to. The fat man had stored his tools inside the large steel doors and had it all locked up with another padlock. Cody had explained that the key used to open up the cabinet was on the man’s retractable keychain attached to the belt loop on his pants. To my amazement I had somehow managed to detach them from the man’s pants while keeping them concealed when he kicked me. It was simple dumb luck really and sheer instinct that had taken over allowing me to manage it.
Tossing the key to Cody I sighed in relief when he managed to get the cabinet open. “I don’t know how this is going to help us.” He added when I instructed him to dump all the tools on the floor.
I was hoping for a hack saw or something, but didn’t have any luck as I watched while Cody pilfered through the tools. My hopes were sinking fast when I spotted a sturdy looking chisel. The blond boy looked over towards me wondering what I was up to because my chains rattled when I shifted to get a better look. Then the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
“Cody, quick…toss me the hammer and that chisel.” I pointed to the general area while he scrunched up his eyes forcing me to explain what I was talking about.
The boy smiled understanding and tossed me the tools. I hurried over towards the big machinery where my chains were wrapped around and started studying it. It was a very thick linked chain and they were all solidly welded together without any seams making me cuss in disgust. I was hoping they were only clamped closed leaving a small gap so I could try to pry them apart, but instead they were all welded as I studied each link.
“Guy’s are your links all welded closed?” I asked glancing up with both Marty and Cody looking at their chains as well and nodding yes making me cuss again and once more study mine closer.
Then I spotted it, there was one that had a weld on it, but only partially. This would be my best bet. Focusing my attention on the piece of machinery I located a smooth solid flat spot and sat down close to it setting the link with the partial weld on top of the flat hard surface. I set the sharpened end of the chisel over the weld, picked up the hammer and gave it a good whack before removing the tool and taking a closer look.
“Fuck, this is going to take some work, but it will work.” I shook my head glancing towards the other boys who were watching me intently.
“Whoo-hoo,” Cody yelped and jumped up and down making me smile at his exuberance while Marty silently smiled and nodded approvingly.
Focusing my attention back to the chain link I got back to work being careful not to break the chisel by going too fast or using too much force. There had to be a bit of a balance with the force I exerted because I could tell my first strike had actually blunted the chisel. It took a lot longer than I first estimated with my body glistening with sweat from the exertion and pain. Every strike forced me to move muscles that screamed out in pain from my injuries. Every peeling ring of the hammer belting the chisel, and steel grating on steel, made my head pound even more to the point I could hardly focus anymore.
From the corner of my eyes I could see Cody moving around trying to keep warm while my body was on fire from the exertion and pain. Marty appeared to be the only one of us not affected by the cold wet temperature or the welt on his lips from the woman’s blow with him sitting on the floor and watching me intently. It was raining with huge puddles forming all around and getting us soaked; the water intermingling with the sweat on my skin. I could hear thunder off in the distance approaching fast making me shiver a bit frightened about fleeing in this type of weather, but I couldn’t think on that and with one final wallop the link was free. I pushed the chisel into the gap working them further apart and sighed in relief when I finally separated the pieces and unraveled the chain from the large machine finally freeing me from it.
The chain was still wrapped around my ankle and secured with the padlock so I picked it up and ran to the door grabbing the larger ring of keys hooked on the nail. With my fingers shaking I located the correct one and freed myself. Running over first to Marty I got his shackles unlocked before doing the same for Cody.
“We’ve got to make a run for it guys because I don’t think we have a lot of time before they come back. It took a lot longer than I thought. On the way out grab anything to keep us warm and if you find any clothes don’t stop to put them on just grab everything and let’s get the hell out of here.” I explained while making my way quickly to the door with the other two boys close on my heels.
The adrenalin was pumping through my insides, most of my aches and pains all but forgotten, as we rushed through the door and into the hallway. The floor was riddled with glass, which I hadn’t noticed the first time through; surprised I hadn’t cut up my feet during the struggle with the man. We were careful but quickly made our way down the hall stepping into the room where I had knocked over the woman. Just as we stepped inside the other door opened and the fat woman entered. She waddled on wobbly legs over to the barrel which was still burning and churning out heat rubbing her hands together, making me wonder if she was all drugged up with medication. I froze, unable to move from total shock and surprise as did Marty and Cody.
The woman’s head was wrapped in thick white bandaging and from behind I could see some blood had seeped through the material. “Twelve fucking stitches.” The woman moaned her speech slurred confirming my suspicions that she was drugged up.
“What the fuck!” I heard the man exclaim as he stepped into the room and froze as if completely shocked.
We were busted and I wasted no time instinct taking over. I launched myself forward catching the man by surprise and my body slammed into him as I shoved everything I had against him. To my shock he went flying into a stack of boxes getting all tangled up. From the corner of my eyes I saw the fat woman turning with an evil scowl on her features her mouth opening up as if to say something. Without waiting I turned on her, noticing her eyes bulging out in fear. I suppose no one’s ever managed to accomplish that before, but what I had done to her earlier must have made her afraid because she started to back pedal.
The woman bumped into the barrel just about the time my body crashed into her. It once more knocked her over with her fat body literally covering up the barrel tipping it over at the same time. At the last moment she had reached out and grabbed my arm bringing me with her as we both toppled over on to the floor with me landing on top of the foulest smelling thing I’ve ever experienced. The woman reeked of sewage as if she hadn’t bathed for months. There was an ear piercing scream of pain because she had landed on the blazing wood which had been knocked over on the floor.
Despite my injuries I was young and healthy so popped back on to my feet just in time to see the man charging towards Cody. At the last moment Marty stepped in front of the boy protectively and I watched him doubling over with the man’s fist buried in his mid-section. Without hesitation I launched myself towards the man to protect the other two boys, but stopped in mid-stride with the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.
The most horrific blood curdling scream pierced the small room as it suddenly lit up brightly. I only had enough time to see the whole wall where the fat woman was lying on the floor go up into flames when several chemical containers suddenly combusted filling the room with a choking like gaseous smoke. Everything was on fire now including the woman and it was the most grotesque sight I’ve ever seen in my entire life. My insides began to heave as if I was going to throw up, but flames suddenly leaped upwards when another chemical container caught fire making me panic.
“Run!” I shouted reaching for Marty and shoving him towards the door before the conflagration blocked our passage.
The boy stumbled, still stooped over, but suddenly made for the door with Cody close on his heels and me right behind as well. Just before I stepped out the door I reached out and snatched up a couple of blankets that was sitting on a chair just by the door. There was another corridor with a door and Marty slammed into it and before we knew it we were standing outside in the freezing cold rain coughing and sucking in fresh air.
The horrific screeches of the woman piercing our ears spurred us onwards as we stumbled our way on the gravely pathway towards the darkened woods. Glancing back I could see the entire structure lighting up the evening skies making me wonder if the man and woman escaped alive. I wasn’t taking any chances and hurried us all onto one of the many paths leading into the woods. We were barefoot and didn’t have any clothes, but the panic and adrenalin kept us moving forward without any thoughts to our feet and the wet cold weather.
Taking the lead I handed a blanket to Cody and one to Marty as I snuck past them. There were only two blankets, but I was more worried about getting as far away as possible and as soon as possible. I knew enough about the woods so made my way down the path until I could find a good spot to hide and take cover for the night. It was cold and wet but if we huddled together under the blankets we should be alright until the morning. After that we could figure out what to do. If nothing else the fire that was started would surely attract the attention of the authorities.
The thunderstorm had finally caught up to us and it began to pour down even harder. I was setting a fast pace with the other two boys having fallen behind slightly and I knew we needed to stop so started to slow down spotting a huge Red Pine tree. The large base looked relatively dry and could provide us enough cover to keep most of the rain off of us. It was slightly off to the side of the trail so I stepped over being cautious of my bare feet and walked around to the back side noticing a slight slope with soft pine needles piled up from over the years which would provide us a perfect place to bed down. On the back side we’d also be hidden from the trail.
“Latham.” I heard a small rasping voice that didn’t sound good so I quickly stepped back into view. “Latham,” I heard the soft voice again and stood in stunned disbelief because it had come from Marty.
It was the first time I’ve ever heard his voice and my spirits immediately soared. “Marty, you spoke!” I exclaimed excitedly stepping closer towards him when suddenly my whole world came crashing down around me.
The smaller boy’s features looked gaunt and pale as if all the blood had drained out of him and Cody had his arms wrapped around the other boy trying to support him. The younger boy was sniffling and crying as he spoke out. “Latham we have to stop. Marty’s bleeding to death.” He got out in-between huge sobs as I immediately ran up to them and reached out just in time for Marty to collapse into my arms. “I think that man stabbed him when he jumped out in front to protect me. Oh please Latham we have to stop and help him. I was going to say something and was shocked when Marty actually spoke. He told me not to say anything because we needed to get as far away as possible.” The younger boy explained his voice shaking with worry and fear.
Marty was like dead weight in my arms and his body was deathly cold as I dragged him around to the other side of the tree. The blanket that was wrapped around Marty had fallen to the ground when he collapsed into me and Cody had picked it up carrying over. I told him to put it on the ground and set the smaller teen on top of it. His hands were pressed up against his abdomen and I could see the runny blood intermingled with his completely rain soaked body. When I reached over to take a look the smaller boy shook his head for me to stop. Tears were rolling down my cheeks now and I got that gut wrenching sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I wrapped the ends of the blanket around his body which felt icy cold.
Oddly enough he wasn’t even shivering as his dull green eyes fluttered open and he looked deeply into my own green orbs. “I’m sorry,” he whispered wincing in pain with it being such an odd thing because I’ve never heard him speak until now.
“N…no Marty. I…I…,” my voice cracked and I couldn’t get out any words because for the life of me I didn’t know what to say or why he would apologize.
He looked so pale, even worse than when I had found him a few weeks back. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t run for any help because where would I go and I couldn’t build a fire with out any tools. It was pretty dark all around us with there being no star or moonlight to go by since it was so overcast.
“I’m so cold.” He whispered his eyes riveted on me and not shifting away as I snuggled up to him and wrapped my arms around him protectively.
“Thank you,” his voice so soft I could barely hear him.
“For what?” I asked openly crying now and barely able to see him through the tears while wondering why he was thanking me since I hadn’t really done anything.
“For saving me…for being my friend…for caring.” He whispered back our cheeks snuggled up closely so I could hear him since it seemed like his voice was so far away. “I’m sorry.” He apologized again making me tremble and shake my head.
“I…I don’t understand Marty…You don’t have to apologize because you did nothing wrong.” I spoke up holding him tightly in my arms.
“Because,” I heard him sigh and pause. For a second I thought he wasn’t going to finish, but then he shuddered slightly and with what seemed like a lot of effort spoke again. “I don’t think I can stay anymore.”
For a second I didn’t understand what he was saying then it suddenly sunk in. “No!” I snapped. “No Marty…don’t leave…you can’t leave me. You’ve got to fight. We are free from those awful people and I don’t think they will ever hurt anyone again. You have to fight Marty. It’s not fair.” I began to cry even harder hearing Cody begin to cry even more when he heard me.
The younger boy was on his haunches huddled up under the other blanket. I knew he was frightened and I thought he had been so brave while we were getting away. He was the one who had to help Marty through the woods while I had rushed headlong without realizing one of us was hurt so badly. If I had only stopped I could have probably helped and we wouldn’t be in this situation. It was all my fault that Marty was now in such danger.
“P…please Latham, it’s not your fault.” Marty seemed to see right through me shaking his head and looking at me with such sadness. “You are a good person. Please don’t cry. You have to look after him now. Cody, he seems like a sweet gentle boy. He didn’t deserve this. It was because of me, so promise to look after him…for me.” He tried to smile as a tear of his own trickled from the corner of his eye and ran downwards along his cheek.
“I promise.” I assured him thinking it such an unnecessary request.
“Please tell him…tell him I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait anymore. Tell him I finally understand.” Marty whispered not making any sense now at all because at first I thought he was talking about Cody, but from his expression it looked like there was also someone else he was talking about.
It had to be the severity of his injury making him talk in riddles because even his eyes seemed to glaze over in the dimness of this dark stormy evening. It was as if the light inside of him was flickering and threatening to go out.
“I…I don’t understand Marty…tell who…tell him what?” I asked trying to keep him conscious with the smaller boy’s eyes once more flickering awake as he scrunched up his face as if to make sense of my question.
“My journal, give him my journal. Soon, he’s coming.” He whispered his mind seemingly once more going on a tangent because he wasn’t making any sense.
It took me a second to realize he must be talking about his journal the psychiatrist had told him to write all of his personal thoughts inside hoping it might allow Marty to deal with some of his issue from the past. Still, I wasn’t sure who he wanted me to give his journal to. For a second I thought maybe it was the psychiatrist, but I didn’t think that’s what Marty really wanted. My mind was going a hundred miles an hour and I was simply frozen in place not knowing what to do or say.
“I’ve always loved the sound of your voice Latham. Will you sing to me? I…I’d really like to hear you sing right now.” He whispered softly.
“What?” I asked my mind unable to wrap around everything going on at the moment.
It was as if I was completely numb and totally perplexed. My mind was becoming sluggish. I knew up until now the adrenalin rush is what had been sustaining my state of alertness, but the high was now gone, replaced by the dullness of reality making my body and mind begin to crash. The cold wet weather was finally catching up to me and making its presence known in the harshest of ways with my head beginning to pound and my body aching all over.
“Sing something I like. Please Latham…for me…I want to hear your voice. It’s so beautiful and it’s the first thing I really remember about you.” He pleaded softly with me shaking my head.
“I…I can’t.” my voice cracked as I shook my head and through blurry eyes seeing him look back at me pleadingly.
This was simply too much, but it was Marty and he was begging me so I opened up my mouth. My voice cracked and a sob escaped threatening to overwhelm me. With great effort I remained in control and tried again. I knew the song he really wanted me to sing, but it was such a sad song; especially, at the moment. Still I began to sing, my voice shaking at first and slowly getting stronger.
Spend all your time waiting
For that second chance
For a break that would make it okay
There's always some reason
To feel not good enough
And it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
Or a beautiful release
Memories seep from my veins
Let me be empty
Oh and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight
In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here
So tired of the straight line
And everywhere you turn
There's vultures and thieves at your back
The storm keeps on twisting
Keep on building the lies
That you make up for all that you lack
It don't make no difference
Escaping one last time
It's easier to believe
In this sweet madness
Oh this glorious sadness
That brings me to my knees
In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
For that second chance
For a break that would make it okay
There's always some reason
To feel not good enough
And it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
Or a beautiful release
Memories seep from my veins
Let me be empty
Oh and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight
In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here
So tired of the straight line
And everywhere you turn
There's vultures and thieves at your back
The storm keeps on twisting
Keep on building the lies
That you make up for all that you lack
It don't make no difference
Escaping one last time
It's easier to believe
In this sweet madness
Oh this glorious sadness
That brings me to my knees
In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
My voice faded into darkness with the entire world having gone deathly quiet in the stillness of the night. The only sounds were the droplets of raindrops somewhere above us in the canopies of the trees and further out along the edges of our dry little haven. Even Marty had become completely silent as the realizing finally sank in that at some point while I sang my friend had drifted away from his earthly chains. He was gone from my life, his flame snuffed out forever, just like my parents, my grandmother, and who knows how many more in the future. I’ve lost so many people in my short years on this earth and it threatened to overwhelm me right here and right now as I retched with nothing coming out; the dry heave making my insides lurch creating more pain.
Then I heard it, the soft small whispered like sobs coming from Cody. He was still sitting on his haunches, but the blanket had slipped from his shoulders spread around his legs. He must have realized Marty had passed away and was now sitting there in shock as if his mind had simply shut off. The boy was shivering uncontrollably and completely dazed. I wanted so desperately to crawl away into my own sorrows, but Marty’s voice cut through my thoughts. I had made a promise and intended to keep it.
Reaching down I pulled the edge of Marty’s blanket over the peaceful countenance of his face tears running down my cheeks. My head was thundering inside my skull and my limbs protested, but I managed to stand up on wobbly legs and walk over towards the younger boy stooping over to retrieve the blanket. Finding a nice soft dry spot under the tree I spread the blanket out on the gentle slope in a small like hollow piled high with soft pine needles that had dropped over the years and pulled the wool fabric partly up against the base of the tree. A large root rose up higher on the left side which would sort of wrap around us protectively. Between the insulation of pine needles and a wool blanket I was sure it would keep us warm even if it got wet. I nodded satisfied knowing this was the best I could do all things considering. Walking back over towards Cody I bent over and took him by the hand. The boy was crying and completely dazed, his eyes glazed over in shock, but he didn’t resist and stood up on wobbly legs following me over to the blanket.
Stepping lightly on the blanket I sat down on one side of it and got into a comfortable positing leaning up against the base of the tree in a sort of reclining position. It wasn’t too bad with the blanket separating my body from the ground and tree. Reaching out I once more grabbed Cody’s hand and pulled him towards me. The boy simply wasn’t there anymore, but I directed him and he stepped over my body placing his feet on either side of my hips. Giving him a slight tug downwards the younger boy complied sitting across my hip facing me. Wrapping my arms around him I pulled the boy into me feeling his chilled stomach and chest pressing up against the front of my own torso. He automatically shifted wrapping his arms around my body while getting into a comfortable position with his legs bent at the knees and resting along my hips and thighs. The front part of his weight settled into me with his head finally leaning up against my chest and the crook of my neck.
The soles of my feet were planted on the blanket close to my butt with my knees raised so in our reclining position Cody wouldn’t slide downwards. With the younger boy snuggled up safely in my arms I reached over and wrapped the blanket over our heads and across his exposed back to my left side. I tucked the end beneath the back of my head and left shoulder and beneath my butt. I also tucked it snuggly beneath my feet essentially wrapping us up in a blanket cocoon from head to toe as I leaned the weight of my legs against the root along our left side. I could feel the boy’s wet clammy skin begin to warm up against the front of my body while mine did the same thing. Our shared body temperature would keep us warm overnight. The boy felt soft and warm all wrapped up protectively in my arms. There was a soft smoothness about his body that seemed to mold perfectly into mine. We sort of melded together, the only oddity and inconsistency coming from the sensation of feeling his soft little boy bits which snuggled up against my body along my pubic mound. Even this didn’t feel uncomfortable with the softness of his boyhood simply becoming something natural in the way we snuggled up together.
It felt comforting having the younger boy so closely burrowed up against my body. This was completely innocent and nothing sexual about it in the least. Considering the changes I’ve been dealing with it was a kind of relief to know I wasn’t being turned on by the boy because I don’t know how I’d be able to handle such a thing under the circumstances. Instead, there was a kind of sweetness about it, despite the horrific situation we were dealing with at the moment, and I could tell Cody felt the same way as the tension of the day eased from his body and he began to relax in my arms. Leaning my cheek against the top of his head I felt his damp hair tickling my skin while his soft boyish scent drifted into my nostril. Even through the wetness and grime I could detect his soft innocent like boyish aroma which began to ease my own tensions.
The younger boy was crying softly now in my arms and I ran my hand lightly up and down his naked back trying to comfort him. “Why did he have to die?” I heard his soft voice. “It’s not fair. He didn’t do anything wrong.” Cody sobbed quietly while I held him even tighter towards me feeling the boy do the same as his arm hugged me closer.
“I don’t know Cody. It’s not fair, but he made me promise to look after you and I intend to keep my promise. Just get some sleep.” I whispered gently my own tears flooding from the gates of my eye sockets.
My entire body ached and the pounding in my skull was relentless as I tried to sooth the smaller boy in my arms. I probably had a concussion and I fervently hoped nothing was broken on my insides or that I had any internal bleeding. I could feel Cody finally slipping into a deep state of sleep as exhaustion took hold with me not far behind. The way I was lying in the hollow and all wrapped up like a cocoon I wasn’t worried about us coming undone in our sleep. In this gentle reclining position it was comfortable and even my legs were secured well enough with the blanket and the larger root sticking up on my one side that I knew it would remain in place even if I fell asleep. Deep down I knew I should try to stay awake if I had a concussion, but I was exhausted and the soft warmth of Cody’s body only managed to lull me even further. His scent, intermingling with the warm comfort like feeling I was experiencing, finally became too much for me as I slowly nodded off. Even the pounding in my head and the achiness of my body wasn’t enough to hold off sleep as it took me in its dark gentle embrace.
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End of Chapter Seventeen: Living A Nightmare
Coming soon Chapter Eighteen: A Time Of Grieving
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