Ensnared

by I N Foggarty

  Almost as if he had anticipated her next action before she did, a hand dragged her gag roughly from her mouth and held her out away from the feeling of the brick wall; she vomited. Part of her brain felt disgusted at her lack of composure and yet she found, despite this, that she could not stop. Eventually, she was left retching dryly, sweat beading on her forehead and feeling utterly drained. She became aware of the fact she had ended up kneeling on the concrete floor, rough and cold under her knees. A short distance away someone laughed, while someone else rubbed her back in small circular motions.

  “Shhhhhhh,” a man’s voice soothed softly in her ear as he pulled her in closer. The same voice from before; calm and eerily comforting. Immediately Anna tried to stand pushing away from him, he did not protest merely assisted her to her feet and caught her in his firm grip again when her knees wobbled. “It is going to be alright. Just relax.”

  Relax? A mirthless laugh born more of hysteria than humour escaped her. Yet Anna had to fight her own body to stop it from doing exactly what he had commanded. Her mouth tasted acidic. A motion from above her head seemed to indicate the man was nodding to someone. A plastic rim touched her lips. She recoiled into the man’s chest.

  “It’s water. Drink,” he said soothingly again.

  Unable to muster the strength to refuse him and desperate to rid herself of the taste, she did so. Allowing a little of the liquid to trickle into her mouth. She pulled away from the plastic and swirled the liquid then turning her head spat the lot out over the floor. The man’s grip did not lessen and he did not comment. The plastic rim came back and this time she swallowed the small amount before it was removed from her lips again. With each moment that ticked by, she could feel the energy sap out of her further until she had become almost limp in his grasp.

  “Much better.” It seemed he approved. “Now I am going to let you go. Will you be able to stand on your own?”

  Anna could not believe what she had just heard. It had not been so much what the man had asked, though that in itself was unnerving, but the tone with which he had said it that made her skin crawl. It had sounded like genuine concern. Biting down she ground her teeth and took a series of laboured breaths. The second you let me go, I am going to dart past you, she thought determinedly. Slowly she felt the man’s arms unwind. Only when he stepped away from her she staggered. No, she thought helplessly as she tried to make her limbs move. Her heart sank. It took all her remaining energy just to stay upright.

  Silence surrounded Anna and she knew that all eyes in the room were fixed upon her. No one spoke and she tried her best to regulate her breathing. To regain some form of composure.

  “What have you done with Chloe?” she asked through a laboured breath.

  “Chloe?” the man replied, pausing for the briefest of moments. “Ah, your friend. She is safe and well. You need not worry about her.”

  Anna almost let out a hollow laugh. How could she possibly consider Chloe safe if she resided in his clutches? Focusing her hearing, she could just pick out a faint clicking sound moving around her in a circle. She felt her cheeks burn, realising that the noise must belong to the man’s shoes while he viewed her from different angles. She was not some statue in an art gallery to be ogled at! She turned on the spot in an attempt to keep up with him.

  “You are eighteen are you not?”

  The sound of the man’s voice in her ear made her jump. His movements were so stealthy she had not realised that he had once again moved to stand behind her. Maybe it was out of fear, but for some reason, her throat constricted and not trusting herself to speak she nodded.

  “Excellent.”

  On hearing his apparent delight, she instantly hated herself. She was stronger than this. Somehow, she had to fortify her resolve and resist him.

  “Hmm,” the man said under his breath, causing her to spin in the direction she thought he stood.

  A rustling motion and she realised he had again moved without her being aware. She had no time to react in order to stop him once more pulling her close to his chest. She breathed deeply part in shock and part in fear and realised that he did not smell of anything in particular. A faint trace of soap at best but nothing to indicate a hobby or a vice. She mused this over a second and stiffened when she felt the back of a hand press gently against her forehead. Only then did she realise that he wore a pair of latex gloves.

  “You are rather flushed; I suspect you have a temperature. Have you been ill recently?”

  She clenched her jaw again and refused to respond. Gently he removed his hand and stepped back from her.

  “Come now… if I had wished for you to remain silent I would not have removed the material being used to gag you.”

  Without warning, cold flashed through her again and her hands struggled against the rope searching for something that she knew was not there. The gag… her bandana!

  “Give it back!” she demanded, her voice sounding much stronger in her head.

  The man let out a soft chuckle. “The gag?” he asked. “Well, I can honestly say that I have never heard that reply before.”

  “It belongs to me. Give it back.”

  Even without her sight, she knew that the man would be smiling. “Perhaps. Unless you give me a reason not to.”

  Damn it she cursed, sucking in an unhindered breath. She had just given him leverage and he knew it. Again someone, the big goon she reasoned, laughed. Only for it to be cut short wordlessly. The man continued.

  “Do as I ask and answer when I speak to you and you will have it returned. You have my word now… open your mouth, please.”

  Sighing shakily Anna weighed up her options. He seemed content to wait for her while the gears in her head tried to work out what to do. They came up blank and with another shiver, her eyes prickling under the blindfold she did what he commanded.

  She heard a soft clicking noise and the man took hold of her chin, tilting her head back and forward. She had to resist the urge to bite down hard when his fingers entered her mouth and began feeling around her teeth. Though she had not seen a dentist in well over a year she doubted he would find much fault. Despite herself, she felt a wave of embarrassment flood through her, turning her cheeks a burning red colour. She had not brushed her teeth since… she could not remember and had vomited too. Her breath must smell horrible. The man did not seem bothered, simply withdrew the finger and closed her mouth.

  She thought he would step back then but instead, he moved closer to her, his long fingers began to softly rub the sides of her neck and under her chin in deft circles. She swallowed, winced and recoiled from his touch as much in discomfort as revulsion. He moved with her and pressed his fingertips deeper causing her to pull her head out of his grip with a small gasp.

  “Dear me your glands are swollen and the back of her throat is quite red,” the man declared and she felt him take a step backwards.

  What was going on here? She felt like her clutch on reality had spiralled out of control. Surely, this behaviour could not be normal for such transactions. She felt her eyes prickle again, the confusion and fear wrestling each another for dominance.

  “We had a Doc look at her the other day. He gave her an antibiotic and said she would be fine in a few days.” When Rae spoke Anna turned her head in his direction. The nature of the concern in his tone, though evident, confused her. Was it a concern for her or for the deal going south?

  “If I wish for an explanation I will ask for it. Until such time I would appreciate if you let me carry out my inspection in peace.” The severity in the man’s tone could have split a rock cleanly in two. Neither Rae nor Roca said anything in retort. “Now then, shall we continue?”

  Anna’s body stiffened, her short reprieve from the man’s attention coming to an abrupt end. Frantically she moved her head to try to pinpoint where exactly he had moved. She gasped, his gloved hands gently resting on her shoulders from behind. Slowly his fingers crept down her back until they found the back strap of the tacky bra she had b
een forced to wear. He held it a second before she realised what he intended to do.

  “No!” Anna cried out and tried to wriggle away from him.

  Taking a firm grip on her bound wrists with one hand, he slid something cold and metallic to the straps of the bra. “I would advise you to hold still,” he whispered in her ear in that calm but chilling tone.

  She froze.

  A clipping sound and the straps seemed to snap loose relinquishing the biting hold they had held on her shoulders, the motion was repeated against her back and the material came free from her breasts, leaving her exceptionally exposed. Against her will, the man then spun her around on the spot so that she faced him. Before she had the chance to back away, his hands had a hold on her shoulders again.

  “I asked you to hold still,” he whispered in her ear again.

  Without thinking, Anna felt her body comply. The redness in her cheeks darkened and she suspected it would have been a close match for her hair. Biting down on her lip, she tried to force her mind to focus on anything other than what was happening to her, to no avail. Gently the man’s gloved fingers began to knead her breasts. When he softly pinched her nipples they began to stiffen and she let out a cry, an unfamiliar jolt shooting through her. Instinctively she recoiled and tried to force herself away from the man. Her breathing ragged.

  “Don’t touch me!” Anna yelled as she staggered backwards and almost lost her footing.

  In the background, Roca laughed. “Nice tits, Bitch.”

  “Enough!” Anna froze. The man’s singular word hung in the air and silenced the room. “I will not tolerate such vulgarity.”

  Of all the things, she could possibly have expected the man to say, that had not been it. With each passing minute, he somehow managed to confuse her further. More to the point by what screwed up logic was it ok for him to violate her but for Roca’s catcalling to be insulting? While the thoughts raced through her head Anna once more failed to notice the movement of the man.

  “Well, that interruption was most distasteful,” he said before taking hold of her by the waist. The look of shock must have shown on her face for he then added. “We are almost done.” His tone sounded reassuring. She struggled in his grasp as his fingers took hold of the sides of the G-string.

  “Let go of me!” she yelled. However, her struggles could not prevent the man from working what she now knew must be a pair of scissors into the sides of the underwear. In desperation, she lashed out at him with a kick. Hitting nothing but air, she left herself unbalanced and when her foot hit the ground something sharp pierced the thin stocking that covered her legs and bit into the sole of her foot.

  “Argh,” Anna cried out as she felt the object embed itself into her calloused skin. Losing her balance she tumbled over but never hit the ground.

  “That was careless of you,” the man said softly, righting her once again.

  “Argh,” she winced again on putting weight down on her injured foot.

  A heartbeat of silence and she could imagine this man looking at her contemplatively.

  “I had better take a look at that,” he then said, sounding genuinely concerned. “Bring in the gurney and the first aid kit.” A sharp click of his fingers accompanied the words.

  Gurney, Anna thought in confusion as the sound of wheels trundling across the floor filled the garage. Next second she had been hoisted up off her feet and sat down atop a padded surface that felt warm to the touch. It all happened so quickly it took her a moment to understand what this meant.

  “Let me go!” she yelled. A firm pair of un-gloved hands took her by the shoulders and pulled her down. She struggled. “Get the fuck off of me!”

  “Now, now… must you be so rude?” The man then lifted her right foot into the air and removed the nylon. “Ah… I see it.”

  She felt a sharp tug and the foreign object was expertly plucked from her flesh. Wincing she could feel the unmistakable sting associated with a wound being cleaned. The smell of blood and alcohol mixed to form some sort of vampiric cocktail and her stomach retched again. What sort of person went to such lengths when buying a… Anna stopped herself from thinking those last words. No, she would not allow that to happen to her. Could not think of herself as…

  “You must be more careful in future. That scrap of metal could quite easily have done a lot more damage,” the man said and placed a dressing over the cut. “Now I would like to finish my inspection so that we may leave.”

  “I am not going anywhere with you!” Anna spat viciously.

  “Indeed,” the man replied curtly sounding amused. With ease, he forced her leg down onto the surface of the gurney. Too late did she feel the soft leather of the restraint as it was buckled securely around her ankle. Cursing again, she kicked out with her other leg only for the man to catch it firmly and forcibly shackle it down. With all her might she struggled against the second man who held her shoulders, however, his grip did not lessen any. Helpless she could only thrash from side to side while the two men sat her up, undid the rope that bound her hands and restrained them to the surface of the gurney in the same manner as her legs. A thick collar was then fastened around her neck. A clipping sound at her ears told her that it too would help to hold her down.

  “Let me go!” Anna screamed. She could feel the rubbery texture of the man’s latex-clad hand softly rub across her stomach and steadily lower. “LET ME GO!” Slowly his fingers began to trace their way around the upper region of her private area. “AGHH!” she cried out as he gently squeezed causing another jolt to rip through her. “DON’T TOUCH ME!”

  Casually the man removed his hand. For the briefest of moments, she heard something that sounded like liquid being squeezed out a tube before a cold sensation spread across her private area. “No…, please… don’t,” Anna pleaded, the prickling in her eyes growing stronger. A feeling of pressure, alien and unwelcome. “NO!” Behind her blindfold, she screwed up her eyes and felt the tears come. She gritted her teeth as she felt a sharp hot pain surge through her. “…please... stop,” she sobbed in desperation.

  Minutes passed and Anna could feel cold beads of sweat form on her skin again. The man finally listened to her pleading. A snapping sound told her he had removed his gloves but she no longer cared. She felt the sobs racking her body and could no longer hold it in. A tunnelling sort of thing happened and she felt very far away from her body. Why was this happening to her?

  “I apologise if I hurt you. I had no desire to inflict pain upon you. I did not expect you to be quite so… tight,” the man’s voice said echoing from a distance and she heard herself weeping. Her head spun as she hopelessly tried to make sense of the entire situation. What sort of person apologised after violating you? She felt a soft warm material being draped across her naked form. What did it matter she had no dignity left to preserve.

  “Gentlemen, I believe we are done here. Let us step outside and discuss your payment, while I have the young lady loaded into our vehicle.”

  “You gotta pay for the clothes you cut too. That’s extra,” Rae’s voice said though it sounded flat like he did not want to be there.

  “No,” Anna whispered, “please…” the word stuck in her throat. This was it. She was about to be sold as a sex slave.

  Convergence

  The sun blazed brightly up above, large amounts of hazy heat rays hovered over the road in an almost mystic manner. Having left the motel Matt had been forced to take a detour back down towards Annawan in order to find a gas station to fill up the motorcycle. The round trip had taken half an hour longer than he would have liked. However, the last thing he needed was for them to run out in the middle of a getaway. About fifteen minutes after passing by the motel, he felt a nudge against his right leg Dylan’s method of getting his attention; Mark’s helmets had no radios. Pulling into a layby, he lifted the front section of his helmet and turned to face his unwilling passenger.

  “Something up?” Matt asked as the other teen flicked up his visor.

 
; “I think the turnoff is just up ahead on the right. Matt, listen I really think we should go back and call the cops. I mean we are two kids and a bike mate these are adult criminals we are talking about. They might hurt us, Matt, or worse…”

  He gave Dylan a stern look. Unable to control the anger he now felt towards his ‘best friend’. “No,” he replied, closing his helmet. The other boy had forfeited any right to dictate events after his actions last Friday. Anna was in trouble, he just knew it somehow and they were going to save her no matter what the cost.

  Ignoring another protest, Matt revved the engine before rejoining the highway. Keeping his gaze focused on the right-hand side of the road, he eventually spotted a narrow, overgrown dirt track. Had he not been paying attention would probably have missed it. Guiding the bike across the carriageway, it began to shudder in objection to being removed from its native asphalt.

  Going faster than advisable, he had to force the vehicle to comply with his wishes. “Come on,” he cursed under his breath as the bike skidded around yet another corner. “Just hang on a little longer Anna.”

  Eventually, over the top of the thick expanse of grass, he began to see an object on the horizon. Back at the gas station, he had demanded Dylan tell him everything he could remember about the area and the people who had held him captive. It transpired he had stumbled upon no other building, bar the one they had been imprisoned in, this must be it.

  Heart hammering Matt tentatively increased the throttle a notch. His left arm ached due to all the vibrations but he did not care. He could almost feel Anna’s presence. Slowly the garage came into view and with it a pair of vans, one white the other black. Alarm bells began to ring inside his head. What on earth, two vans? Had some third party become involved?