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Kidnapped

Posted on June 20, 2007
Filed Under The Stories |

It was the hum that woke her. The hum of a tube light that pierced through her grogginess to remind her that she didn’t allow tube lights in her room. She didn’t care if they saved energy or if they were good for the environment. All she knew was white light made her sick and reminded her of hospitals. It was nothing but dimmer-controlled yellow light in her room. She liked to set the mood and very rarely would her mood require the lights to be turned all the way up. She loved to declare to her friends, “brightness is the enemy; a girl can only really have fun in the shadows.”

So what the hell was a tube light doing humming in her bedroom?

She sucked in a lungful of air ready to start yelling at her parents for doing another thing without asking her. They were constantly attempting to curtail her freedoms and she was not taking it anymore. This was no way for a girl to wake up. With a tube light in her room! What would they think of next? Shop in the bargain bin to save some money? She shuddered at the thought and prepared to let fly with a stream of invective. She was nearly sixteen and not allowed to swear so she would compensate with volume for what she was not allowed to say in words.

Except…

She couldn’t speak.

Her eyes flew open as she realised that she was gagged.

She looked around, and her eyes widened with terror when she realised that wherever she was, it most definitely wasn’t her room. She would never have agreed to live inside four grey walls that looked green in the disgusting white light. She would have claimed child abuse and accused her parents of intentionally wanting to make her life more miserable than it already was. It was bad enough when they didn’t allow her to trade in the first cellphone she got last year. She totally knew her friends called her Retro Girl behind her back. Retro was no longer cool so the name was not a compliment. She was so sure she would be able to communicate with actual dinosaurs using the phone she almost considered not using it. Then Karen texted her about a sale and she totally had to call her back to get details.

She didn’t get it. What the hell happened?

One minute she was falling asleep in her own bed thinking of the new guy in her class and wondering if he wanted to kiss her or whether he just liked to stare and the next minute she was waking up in this strange room…bound and gagged.

The hum was getting old really quickly. She tried calling out but ‘hello’ turned into ‘hmrho’ against the gag and even she couldn’t hear her early attempts. She told herself to stay calm, it was probably just somebody’s idea of a joke.

She tried to free her hands but they were bound really tight and all she did was cause the skin on her left hand to chafe. The sudden, sharp burst of pain brought tears to her eyes and the tears caused her to freak out and suddenly her face was contorted and big fat tears were swelling over her eyelids and being consumed by the rag around her mouth.

“Is anybody there?”

“Please, somebody, untie me.”

Not that the muffled words made any sense when they reached her ears.

She tried twisting this way and that, brought fresh pain to her wrists and for the first time she realised that her legs were bound as well. It was when she felt like her right foot was going to shear off at the ankle that she realised how thoroughly trapped she was. She tried raising her head and failed. She heaved short, sharp breaths and tried to remember how things had got this way. She had been at a party, on a week night.

Telling the truth was the easiest thing in the world.

She was going to Cheryl’s house and Cheryl was her study partner and best friend. However, there would be no studying that night. It was Cheryl’s way of allowing her to have a pre-birthday party after her mother said she could invite a few friends over on the weekend instead of having a big sweet sixteen blowout on the actual date of her birth. Parents could be lame she knew it and she tried to deal with it as best as she could.

What did they know?

So she had gone to Cheryl’s, who had managed to score enough beer to satisfy the small group of kids who were invited. She had a great time until eleven which is when she had to be home.

She was in her pajamas and in bed before her birthday and even though she had wanted to stay awake so that she could feel sorry for herself for being all alone at midnight she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the bed.

She felt a tug on her ropes and her spine went stiff. A voice echoed through the grey room, “Good, you are awake.”

Her eyes widened with horror her legs were pulled apart.

Oh my God! This can’t be happening.

She tried to force her knees together but the pain at her hips was so great that she felt like she was going to be ripped in two. When she could resist no more she settled for crying instead…

“Damn girl, I can see all the way up to your tonsils!”

Her eyes flew open. What that…Cheryl?

Sure enough, Cheryl turned up by her bedside and with a single flick of her wrist she undid the ropes binding her wrists.

She sat up in bed and looked around her. She knew it was Cheryl but she didn’t seem to believe it. With two more flicks of Cheryl’s wrist her ankles were free and she hurried to bring her knees together.

Cheryl nodded, “false modesty. I like it!”

She presented such a pitiful figure that Cheryl had to take the gag off her and through a parched throat she managed to pour out the words, “Why?”

Cheryl sighed, sat by her bedside and rubbed her left shin. She hadn’t yet noticed that she wasn’t wearing her pajamas anymore.

“It was a long time ago so you probably don’t remember…? I asked what you’d like to do for your sixteenth birthday. You were sort of distracted. We were shopping and you were trying to figure out how you were going to sit across from that guy Billy something…remember? Your slutty Avril phase? Which was kinda like early Britney but more punk? So you were thinking about whether you were gonna keep your knees together or open up and let him see the skull on your crotch and I don’t think you were properly thinking of what you said to me.”

The birthday girl was still struggling with a ragged bunch of emotions so she shook her head and continued to stare at her best friend through teary eyes.

Cheryl continued, “Yeah, you said you wanted to be scared out of your wits so that you could appreciate how great it was to be alive.”

She got to her feet and spread her arms wide, “Happy birthday bitch!”

The shadows parted and all of her friends stepped forward, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYLEY!”

She noticed two people in particular, “Mom? Dad? You knew about this?”

Her mother hugged her, “Happy Birthday sweetie.”

She held her at arm’s length and looked into her teary eyes, “When Cheryl came to me with this idea I wasn’t thrilled, I can tell you that. But we were drawing blanks and it seemed easier to play the ugly parents card than try to do something that wasn’t ‘you’ and you’d totally hate. At least this way, you’re not going to forget your sixteenth birthday in a hurry.”

Cheryl piped in, “Yeah, I was just hoping you wouldn’t have a heart attack or anything. That would be kind of hard to explain.”

Her mother glared at Cheryl before turning to her with a stern expression, “Now I don’t condone underage drinking, or any drinking at all as a matter of fact…” That last bit was directed at her father who had a ‘Who? Me?’ look of indignation on his face that was too theatrical to be genuine. She squeezed her arm, “but we’re going to be right outside in case anybody needs a ride. Have a good time sweetie and I’m sorry if we scared you.”

Her father hugged her and kissed her forehead and then they disappeared through the crowd.

A disco ball had appeared and a thumping bass signaled the commencement of festivities.

Cheryl sidled up to her with a smirk, “So now that you’ve learnt to appreciate life are you going to go make out with the new guy?”

Hayley punched her on the arm and hopped off the bed, “So who changed me?”

“I did. You like?”

“Kinda slutty.”

“So, you like.”

She shoved her and both of them giggled.

Cheryl scanned the guests and said, “So are you going to go talk to New Guy or do I have to bring him over and present him like a piece of meat?”

“I think I can manage.”

“Really?”

“New me, remember?”

Cheryl hugged her, “I hope you have the best day ever. Oh yeah, your parents asked me to give you this.”

Hayley tore into the package with gusto and when she was done a brand new cellphone sat on her palm.

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