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I promised Debbie I would work tonight, even though it's Halloween. She wanted to be home for the trick or treaters, and since I didn't really have plans - unless I wanted to sit around Daphne's with some giggling girls - I readily agreed.
Walking towards the diner for my 4 o'clock shift, I couldn't believe all the people already in costume for the evening's festivities. I must admit that on a normal day on Liberty Avenue you could see some pretty wild get-ups. But it looks like this year, everyone is getting into horror and appearing ghoulish. I wonder if there's a contest at Babylon tonight.
I was just passing a dim alleyway near the diner when I was grabbed from behind and dragged between two buildings. I tried to scream, but a hand was pressed over my mouth, stifling any sound. I was pulled along until we came to a nondescript car that already had the trunk popped open.
I was shoved inside and right before the trunk was slammed closed, I caught sight of my abductor, who was wearing coveralls and a mask.
Seriously??? I was just kidnapped by Michael Myers? This was like something out of a horror movie. Feeling around the trunk for something to make noise with, or a weapon to use when the trunk reopened, I immediately started navigating around as well as I could, hoping I could find a jack or some other way to protect myself. But all my search produced was a blanket, so I shoved that under my head for a pillow, figuring I may as well get as comfortable as I could. Despite my predicament, I was unable to prevent my mind from mulling over my current living situation.
It had been a week since the dreadful Rage party. I'm still not sure why I let Brian's backroom antics with the trick portraying Rage bother me. I mean, this is Brian. I know him and what he does. I guess I was just hoping that for one night, it could be only Brian and me, celebrating something I felt was an accomplishment. Because wasn't that Brian's mantra? To celebrate accomplishments? Yet he left me alone to have his little rendezvous with Rage. Rage fucking Rage. How utterly pathetic.
So, when I walked out of there, I had decided to ditch the party and head to Debbie's. That's when I saw Ethan. Throwing caution to the wind, and because I was feeling devastated, I wanted someone to hold me and say everything would be okay. And when Ethan started kissing me, I went with it, needing to feel cared for. Loved. It wasn't until his eyes focused on something behind me that I felt my heart plummet to my stomach. It took all the strength I had to turn around. The look on Brian's face still haunts my dreams.
Ethan and I were about a block from his apartment when I realized this was not what I wanted. Besides, ever since we had left Babylon, I'd been having nagging thoughts about how the evening had turned out. Why had Ethan shown up at Babylon? When I mentioned the Rage launch party, he had scoffed at the idea. I knew he wasn't happy with me ‘throwing away my talent' on - in his opinion - crass, pornographic content. I hadn't voiced my suspicions, but I think it had to do more with the fact that the characters were based on Brian and me. Then there were the images of how Ethan's attention was diverted when he kissed me... had he seen Brian before he kissed me? Is that why he kissed me?
With all these conflicting emotions going on inside me, I knew I couldn't go with Ethan. I couldn't let myself live with him. Too many things didn't add up. So, I had bid Ethan a goodbye and had headed off to Daphne's, stopping first to pick up the required ice cream and junk food.
After a half-hour of my ‘woe-is-me' pity party, Daphne had made me get up and shower while she made popcorn and figured out which movie we should watch. With Halloween a week away, we spent the rest of the evening and well into the night watching our favorite slasher films.
I haven't even been to Brian's to get my stuff yet. I still had some of my older clothes at Mom's that I collected though, that I've been using. Daphne has been putting her two cents' worth in all week to just 'get it over with' and go talk to Brian, but I just can't seem to make myself do that. I figured this time HE was the one who had royally screwed up and I had hoped he'd try and talk to me.
This brings me to wonder why I was getting the silent treatment from him. The guys have all been into the diner, but Brian has been surprisingly absent. Emmett has been really great. Ted acted like usual, kind of friendly. Michael... well, let's not get started on him. The snide comments are getting old. I just acted like they didn't bother me, and instead, I smirked inwardly as I focused on how idiotic he looked as a thirty-year-old man holding his spoon like some toddler demanding his meal.
Now, as I said, Brian has been absent. No morning coffee. No stopping off for his dry turkey sandwich... I mean, seriously. He's like the only guy on Liberty Avenue that does not use mayo or any other condiment.
But then he showed up last night. He grabbed the paper and went and sat in his normal booth. When I went over to wait on him, he didn't even look up from the paper. He ordered his coffee and the same old turkey sandwich as always. Why he feels he should reiterate it is beyond me.
I don't know why I did it, but I grabbed an extra sugar jar and brought it over with his coffee. Was I trying to sweeten him up? Ha! I doubt that would help. I suppose I was trying to get his attention, maybe see that little quirk of his lips that I love so much. Have him look at me. But nothing. There wasn't even a pause. He grabbed the sugar jar that I just placed on the table, pouring an obscene amount in, and just kept right on reading. I was also ignored when I set his sandwich in front of him. He ate about half of it, stood up, put a twenty on the table, and walked out. The son of a bitch! Would it have killed him to say 'hi'?
Well, back to my current dilemma. Who the hell would kidnap me and why? I have nothing. My father certainly isn't going to pay any ransom for me. If they plan on killing me, they are going through a lot of trouble. They could have just stabbed me in the alley and been done with it.
Have I been taken for some sort of sex ring? I've heard about trafficking; was this some guy's sick way of making me into a hustler or a sex slave? If so, they would be in for one hell of a fight from me. Besides, could you imagine being a sex slave to a big, old fat, hairy, stinky man? That thought caused me to shudder.
What could I do? I was in a damn trunk, for God's sake! Then it came to me. Ironically, Daphne and I had talked about just this type of scenario during one of our movie-a-thons.
I twisted around until I could grip the edge of the trunk carpet and pulled hard, getting access to the taillight. Not sure if I could wiggle back around and kick it hard enough to break it all the way through, I decided I'd try to unscrew the wing nuts.
Accomplishing that, I pushed the light out, glad to see it was still daylight outside. I stuck my hand out as far as it would go, waving it frantically, hoping to attract someone's attention so they could alert the police. I started hearing horns honking, and my hopes soared. Then I heard a car zipping past us, the horn still blaring. The same thing happened with the next car. People were honking, but oddly enough I wasn't hearing any police sirens.
Time seemed to stand still inside the trunk. My arm was sore, and I was both bewildered and anxious, wondering why no one had seemed concerned enough about my hand waving out of a fucking car to call the police. My heart beat rapidly with trepidation. What the hell was happening to me?
It was a short time later that I felt the car veer off the highway. The road noise diminished, and I was being jostled as the vehicle drove over bumps.
Finally, the vehicle stopped, and I heard the car door open. I realized the daylight had dwindled towards dusk, and fear gripped me as I wondered where this person had taken me to and what lay in store for me.
The trunk started to open as I prepared to stare at my masked perpetrator, but after a couple of inches, my eyes widened when I saw the blade of a 17" butcher appear instead. I barely discerned there was an eye mask dangling at the end of it. Knowing instinctively what I was being commanded to do, I slid it over my eyes with shaky hands. I can hear what sounded like the creak of the trunk being lifted higher, and then I jumped as I felt my kidnapper grab my arm and drag me out. If I hadn't been holding onto my assailant's arm, I would have stumbled and fallen as I frantically struggled to maintain my balance.
I felt all hope was lost; everything around me was quiet and still, and I realized that inexplicably no one had bothered to call the police. My only hope was that Debbie had notified someone when I hadn't shown up at the diner for my shift. Then the realization that an adult couldn't be reported as missing before forty-eight hours had passed filled me with despair. The desolation sank in, and I was even more afraid than before.
As the other guy tugged on my arm and we began to walk, I noticed the evening air was turning chilly, and I shivered despite myself. I started talking, blubbering, really. "What do you want with me? Why me? Trust me; you won't get any ransom money." When my captor remained silent, I resorted to begging. "Please...just let me go; I promise I won't say anything." But I heard nothing but the crunch of gravel under my feet until he squeezed my arm in a silent demand to stop, and I heard a key inserted into a lock.
Warmth immediately assailed me as the door opened, and I could smell and hear real wood crackling in a fireplace. I felt hands grip my upper arms to make me stop; my heart threatened to burst out of my chest as I felt my blindfold being lifted. I blinked a couple of times, not sure if I was really seeing what I was seeing. Instead of some dank hellhole, I was in a beautiful log cabin. There were a couple of glasses of wine sitting out, and as thirsty as I was, I didn't dare drink anything offered by my kidnapper. The whole scene was surreal as I squeezed my eyes shut and then reopened them to see if I still saw what was in front of me, or was just imagining it. But nothing changed.
The next thing I felt was someone's hands running up my arms, up to my neck, and I had flashes of being strangled in this warm, beautiful place.
Then I felt myself being turned around and I closed my eyes again, afraid of what or who I might see. I heard a male voice whisper, open them. I tried to peek through the tiny slits that I had allowed myself, when it was whispered again. Open your eyes.
I finally did as I was commanded and relief flooded through my veins when I finally peered into the eyes of my attacker. Brian. Brian? What the hell? I pushed away from him, relief quickly replaced with fury.
"You goddamn fucking asshole! What were you thinking? You're my kidnapper? I thought someone had brought me here to rape and kill me! Or worse yet, make me their sex slave!" And then my anger got the better of me, and I started pounding on his chest.
He grabbed my wrists, stilling their movement before chiding me. "Sex slave? Hmm, I could do with a sex slave."
I yanked my arms away from his grasp as my mouth dropped open with incredulity. "Now you're making a joke out of this?" I gazed around at the intimate, cozy setting and shook my head. "Why did you even do something like this? You don't talk to me for a week; hell, last night you wouldn't even look at me! So, what the hell do you want from me?"
Brian sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose briefly. "If I say I missed you, would you believe me and just drop it at that?"
"No way, Mister. You are not getting off that easy. Not after what I've been through! Do you know I even unscrewed the taillight and pushed it out so I could stick my hand through the hole? Here I am, waving my hand like some idiot, and people just ignored me! People just don't give a fuck anymore! Not one person called the police or came to my rescue!"
Brian averted his eyes, his right hand on his hip as he shuffled nervously. "About that...uh, I think I can shed some light on that."
"Really? Well, then, do tell, because I'm all ears!"
He gave me a half-smile. "Well, it might have had something to do with the neon-orange sign on the back of the car that said, "Trunk or Treat! Honk for Halloween!"
I stared at him in disbelief. "Son of a bitch! What in the fuck? How could you do that to me?!" As Brian reached out toward me, I shook my head. "I'm out of here." I didn't care if I had to WALK home; I wasn't going to listen to any more of his drivel; I felt like a damn fool.
But Brian was too fast for me to escape as he grabbed my left wrist. "No, Justin, wait!" I began to struggle to escape his hold until I heard a distinct word uttered from his mouth that I don't think I had ever heard before: "Please." I let out a heavy sigh and stopped as I looked into eyes that were clearly full of contrition.
Brian's grip on my wrist eased as he explained, "I realized I had been a huge jerk the night of the Rage party... and I wanted to apologize."
I huffed. "You could have done that in the diner last night. But you just sat there in silence... and you chose this way instead?"
"Well, you know me. Go big or go home. But it was sweet of you to bring me my own personal sugar container," he replied with a smirk.
"I was hoping it might sweeten you up," I retorted with a snort, unable to prevent the slight smile that appeared on my lips as he gave me that ‘puppy-dog' look and roll of his lips that always got to me and belied his true nature. There was nothing innocent about THIS man. But he always had been and always would be irresistible to me.
Relieved by my capitulation, he leaned in closer to me - our lips almost touching - but he paused, hesitant. "May I kiss you?"
"Hmm...I don't cheat on my boyfriend. Usually. But I might make an exception this one time."
"Good to know. So, I was wondering if you might want to live with that b-b- boyfriend?"
"Why do I get the feeling my best friend might have a big mouth? I just might need to have a talk with that girl." Brian grinned back at me and gazed deeply into my eyes, causing me to actually blush, before he softly pressed his lips to mine and then pulled back, our foreheads touching. That simple but oh-so-familiar touch erased all the previous chill I had felt.
His hot breath in my ear made me shiver as he responded softly, "Think of this as our missed trip to Vermont. I have three days; what do you say?"
"Oh, shit the diner! I'm sure Debbie is frantic! I bet they called her."
"Oh, you mean the same Debbie that wanted tonight off to be home for the trick or treaters?" He said with that tongue-in-cheek smirk that he KNOWS I can't resist.
"Yes, that one. Is anyone else in on this little kidnapping?"
"No. They all think I'm out of town trying to acquire another account. And besides, I left my cell phone at home. So, do you want to be my sex slave for the next three days? I'd hate to deprive you of that experience."
"Is this an equal opportunity activity?"
"Nice try, Sunshine. But, hmm. I suppose I could possibly ‘bend' the rules a couple of times."
"Hmm... okay. I can think of at least a couple of places where you could bend the rules," I told him huskily as I gazed around at the possibilities, noticing something I hadn't before. "By the way, where is the bedroom? If you think I'm sleeping on some musty old sleeping bag..."
"Down, Tiger. I mean, really, Sunshine? This ass doesn't EVER sleep in a sleeping bag. The bedroom's upstairs," he told me, moving his eyes over to a staircase near the far wall that I hadn't realized was there. I sighed in relief; after being in that trunk, I damn well wanted to make sure I slept in comfort tonight...if I got any sleep at all, that is.
"Now, let's grab these wine glasses and I'll show it to you."
"Wait! How did you know about this place, anyway?"
"Oh, that. It belongs to one of my clients. He's looking to sell, actually. I'll have to see how well we like it."
"Well, then... Master; lead the way."
I could barely keep the smile from my face as I turned to scoop up the two glasses by the stem while Brian grabbed the chilling bottle sitting nearby. He might not realize he said we, but I certainly did. To me, that said much more than any words could say. It meant us; it meant... permanence; home.
True to his word, my captor made me his sex slave for three glorious days. Well, he was kind of mine, too. We didn't leave the big bed very often, but we occasionally made our way downstairs for nourishment. After all, liquid protein only goes so far.
All in all, it was the best fucking Halloween of my life!
~ THE END ~
