Megan knew this wasn’t the case and found herself growing irritated at how ignorant her father was when it came to people her age. Samantha King didn’t have many friends, and the ones she did have weren’t the type that would lose track of time on a school night.
What if she was kidnapped?
A shiver passed through her at the thought.
What if someone is raping her right now?
She remembered several summers back when all the kids had been disappearing around the country. Elisabeth Smart had been found alive, but most of the others were either still missing or had been found dead. Many of them had come from small towns. That was the thing people seemed to forget, small towns were just as big a target as the big cities like Chicago, or New York, or Los Angeles, maybe even a better target because no one suspected a kidnapping would happen, and the law enforcement was not really that good at handling those types of situations. She felt bad for thinking this, but it was true. The worst thing her father ever had to deal with as both a deputy and sheriff were kids having sex, drinking, and doing drugs. There also was the occasional traffic violation, and once her father had been called to the scene of a domestic disturbance that almost got out of hand. That was it though. There were no murders, and up until that day, no kidnappings.
“If you don’t hear from her in the next forty-eight hours we can put out a missing-person report,” Sheriff Reed said. “But I guarantee she’ll be back before then.”
No she won’t, Megan said to herself. No she won’t.
Her father hung up the phone and came out of the kitchen. Megan pretended she had been reading the entire time.
He said nothing and took a seat in the chair next to her and turned on the TV.
“Dad, I’m reading,” Megan said.
“I’ll keep it low sweetie.”
Megan hated being called sweetie. She also hated it when he just turned on the TV like this. The guy had no consideration for anyone but himself.
“Doesn’t matter, I can’t read with it on,” she snapped while closing her book. She wanted to say more but knew it would only lead to a pointless argument, one which wouldn’t resolve anything, and rather than letting that happen she stood up and left the room. Sadly her father probably didn’t even notice since his mind was always completely wrapped up in whatever he was watching.
* * *
Tina sat in her room thinking about Jimmy and wondered what would develop between them. She hoped they would start dating and have some sort of meaningful relationship, yet she couldn’t help but think about the way Jimmy was and how he would probably never make any moves to call her or do things with her. That meant the relationship would be solely up to her and she would have to do all the hard work. If she wanted a kiss, she would have to lean into him to get one. If she wanted sex she would have to touch him in a way that signaled this, or come out and tell him what she wanted - but then that was all for another day. Right now all she really needed to worry about was finding the right dress for prom, one that didn’t need a lot of alterations and fittings since it was such a short notice.
Or I could wear my homecoming dress from last year.
The dress had never actually been worn since her date had dumped her three days before, all because she had pulled away from him while the two had been in his car out by Scooby’s Hot Dog Stand in West Chicago just off of North Avenue. And it hadn’t even been sex that she was refusing, just sex without a condom, which they could have easily rectified. Instead her boyfriend had been a jerk about it and told her he would pull out in time. She still said no and when he started pawing at her she hit him in the testicles as hard as she could and then walked over to the hot dog stand to call her father, which of course sent the guy home, the words ‘It’s over’ echoing from his lips as he got back in his car.
Jimmy wouldn’t do that, she said to herself and smiled. If I said no he would be respectful and would stop.
Or, better yet, go out and buy the damn condoms.
I will pull out in time, she repeated to herself, the voice of the idiot boyfriend echoing in her mind. God, what a fool, and worse, she had known girls who would have believed him and then later would think life was unfair when they got knocked up.
The phone rang.
Tina hurried over and looked at the Caller ID hoping it was Jimmy. It wasn’t. Instead she saw the words CELL PHONE followed by a local number that she recognized.
“Rebecca’s House of Sinful Pleasure,” Tina said. “Rebecca’s not in right now, but if you’ll leave your name and sexual request she will get back to you.”
“Tina,” Scott Goldman said. “Your mother is here balling her eyes out about the way you treat her and I think you owe her an apology.”
“Oh gee, I’m so touched. It is moving how much drama she can create, isn’t it. I bet she even got all teary-eyed when she told you my father died even though she walked out on him sixteen years ago.”
“Just because she left him doesn’t mean she didn’t love him . . . or you.”
Tina liked how the last part was added on quickly. “Well, I appreciate you nosing yourself into a situation that doesn’t really require your help, so I’m going to give you some free advice about tonight. When you fuck my mother use a condom because the world doesn’t need any more male knitting genes in it, okay? Good. Bye, bye now!” Tina clicked off the phone, her mind completely disgusted with the fact that her mother was sleeping with a twenty-four-year-old guy who loved knitting.
* * *
Jimmy sat in his room for a long time after coming home, his hands holding a pair of handcuffs that he’d had since he was five. He had asked for them for his birthday, after the plastic pair that had come with a police costume had broken, and his parents had gotten them for him. Today most would probably think such a gift was crazy, but back then things had been a little different. The handcuffs had actually been geared toward kids, a tiny little switch making it so one could escape easily if need be. Young female friends had become familiar with the switch. His teenage babysitter had worn the handcuffs quite a bit as well and Jimmy actually had been startled to see a home video of himself sitting in the family room waiting for her to arrive one night, handcuffs in hand. It was weird and he wondered if his parents had ever thought something was odd about how much he enjoyed handcuffing the girls in his life? Being so young they probably hadn’t thought much about it. Looking back, especially if word about what he had done to Samantha ever came out, they would probably be horrified and even blame themselves for what he had done, their minds thinking they had triggered his desire at an early age just like some parents of homosexuals thought their parenting actions had caused the ‘abnormal’ desires. Jimmy knew this wasn’t the case though. He knew that the desires had already been in place. After all, why would he have asked for the handcuffs if they hadn’t been?
Chapter Four
Alan woke up early the next morning and discovered that Jimmy was gone. At first this startled him, but then, remembering about the bike riding thing the night before, he went out to the garage to see if the bike was still there. It wasn’t. Jimmy had gone on another bike ride.
It was about six o’clock.
Probably still nervous about prom, Alan said to himself, his mind thinking the bike rides helped him relax. What will he be like on Saturday?
Hopefully his brother would be able to relax by them and enjoy himself. At the same time he knew just how nerve-racking such a situation would be for him, after all, it wasn’t just his first dance, but his first date and girlfriend. Experiencing all of that during one night - Alan couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. It did, however, bring to mind his own first date two years ago and how much of a disaster it had been.
* * *
Samantha woke weary and tired, her body having been unable to relax enough for her mind to drift away for long periods of time due to the ropes. Every time she did mange to doze off, something would happen that would pull her back. The tug of the rope
s was the worst. People were not designed to sleep while standing so whenever her mind would enter the dream world the ropes would yank her back. Of course just relaxing enough to fall asleep was nearly impossible. All her mind could think about was her situation, which kept the fear of having to live the rest of her days tied up like this constant. To make matters worse, every time she did fall asleep and then woke up, she thought Jimmy was in the room with her, his body concealed somewhere in the darkness.
It was also very cold and her body had no way of keeping the heat in, which is why she was shaking when Jimmy did actually appear the next morning.
“Here,” Jimmy said while handing her a wool blanket. He had gotten it from the stack of wool blankets that had been folded and left in the rear corner of the shelter. Before doing that he had untied the ropes from her wrists and told her to sit against the wall.
Samantha nodded a thank you and wrapped herself with the warm blanket. It felt wonderful, despite the itchiness, yet didn’t get rid of the shakes right away. The comfort of finally being free from the ropes, however, made it difficult for her eyes to stay open.
Jimmy uncapped the bottle of water she had drunk from the day before and helped her take a few sips. For the first time in her life Samantha was glad the water was warm.
“Do you need to use the bathroom?” Jimmy asked.
“Y-yesss.”
“Okay, stay here a second.” Jimmy stood up and walked over to the wall with shelves and picked up a metal bucket. He then brought it back. “Use this.”
When he had asked, Samantha had assumed he would take her into the house and let her use one of those toilets since this little shelter didn’t have one. Now she just stared at the bucket with disgust and humiliation. “I ca-can’t go in th-that.”
“If you need to go you can.”
Samantha looked at Jimmy and then back at the bucket, disgusted. How could he be doing this to her? Why was he doing this to her?
“If you don’t use it now I’ll just tie you up so your legs are straddling it. But then you’ll be stuck with the smell until I get back from school.”
“S-school?” she asked. “What time is it?”
“It’s just after six o’clock in the morning.”
As soon as he said it the hunger that had been showing up on and off throughout the night hit full force. She was starving.
“Can I e-eat something?” she asked, hesitation gripping her as her eyes studied the shelf with canned goods.
“Oh, yeah.” Jimmy got up and walked to the shelf. “What do you want?”
Samantha didn’t know what was over there, so she didn’t respond. Anything would satisfy her as long as it put an end to her hunger.
Jimmy turned. “Crackers?”
Samantha nodded.
Jimmy moved a few cans around and took out a box of crackers and then returned to Samantha. “I bet this started out as the Hoods’ Y2K shelter, but then wasn’t enough for the coming nuclear war with Islam they thought was going to occur.”
Samantha wasn’t sure if she heard it correctly, but it seemed like Jimmy was trying to start up a simple conversation. Why would he do that? Rather than answering him, she just waited for him to bring the crackers.
A day earlier, crackers for breakfast would have been a joke unless she was dieting. Now her stomach opened up with just the thought of a single small square.
“Let me see your wrists,” Jimmy said once the box was open.
Her arms felt like they had gone through a heavy workout, and she had trouble holding them out to him.
Jimmy looked at the red marks the rope had left and slowly began rubbing them. He then asked, “What was it like standing there all night?”
Samantha didn’t respond. Last night had been the worst night of her life and now he was asking the question like it was nothing. It could have been a bed he was asking about, and how comfortable the new mattress had been.
“If you want some crackers you better answer me,” Jimmy said, his voice growing stern.
“It hurt,” she said. Her voice wasn’t as shaky as before and now her body actually felt warm.
“I’ve always wanted to know what it would be like,” Jimmy said. “Standing there like that, arms over your head, the bite of the ropes, knowing you couldn’t get free.” He shook his head. “I envy the experience you had.”
Samantha couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was he serious? Could he actually be envious of what he had forced her to do all night, and would force her to do again? He was crazy.
“That and the stocks, or pillory as they are really called; I’ve always wondered what it would be like to stand locked in the pillory all day, the way the girls in medieval and Puritan times were forced to do. I don’t know when that desire started, but I love looking at videos on YouTube of girls at Renaissance Events being locked in the pillory.”
Samantha didn’t reply. She had no idea how to.
Jimmy didn’t seem to care and continued. “One of these nights I might lock myself up with you. I’d tell my parents I was sleeping over somewhere and come here, put handcuffs on, tie them up like yours and just wait until morning before unlocking them. What do you think of that?”
Samantha struggled with a response. She didn’t know what to say but knew he was expecting an answer. “I guess it would be nice to have some company.”
“Was it lonely last night?” Jimmy asked.
“Yes.” Tears began to well inside her eyes again. She wasn’t sure why his comment about being lonely had gotten to her. Perhaps it was everything coming together. The tears did not fall. She wouldn’t let them. She didn’t want him to see her cry.
“Here,” Jimmy said while handing her some crackers. He waited with the water.
It was the most delicious thing Samantha had ever eaten. She had another handful before washing it all down with a sip of water.
Jimmy then handed her the box of crackers and set the water next to her. For a moment she thought he was going to leave and let her stay sitting there all day, but he was only getting up to stretch his legs and look at some of the things the Hood family had brought down.
“I wonder when they made this place,” Jimmy said while examining the concrete walls.
Samantha’s mouth was full of crackers.
“I don’t remember ever hearing about it being built, and no one ever mentioned it, so maybe they didn’t really build it? Maybe it was an old atomic shelter from the fifties that they converted into a Y2K shelter?”
Samantha took a big swallow of water and then said, “My dad talks about it all the time.” It was a lie but one she thought might work.
Jimmy whirled around. “What?”
It had worked.
“He remembers them asking him about concrete and cement and how much would be needed. He owns that construction company you know and so they asked him all about it.” She had tried to sound genuine but then her voice started to waver. “He talked about it with us at dinner a lot.”
Relief suddenly swept over his face.
“You’re lying,” he said.
“No.”
“Yes. I can tell, but just to make sure - ” he started to take off his belt “ - I’ll whip you until you admit it.”
Her eyes went wide. Why had she said that? “No wait, please.” She then thought of something else. “If you hurt me I’m just going to say it’s a lie so you stop.” She could still feel the belt hitting her the day before and did not want that again.
“Tell me, right now. Were you lying?”
Fear coiled itself throughout her body. If she said yes he was going to punish her, if she said no he was going to punish her until she admitted it. It was a lose lose situation.
“Were you lying?”
“Yes,” she cried. “I’m sorry.”
He came over and grabbed her right wrist. She tried to hold back but couldn’t. He forced her to her feet.
“Tell me, why’d you lie?”
“I-I - ”
/>
He swung the belt low and connected with her leg. Samantha cried out and tried to fall to her knees. Never in her life had anyone treated her this way.
“ANSWER ME!”
Somehow she spoke through her sobs and said, “I wanted you to think people knew about this place so you’d take me somewhere else.”
Jimmy calmed down.
Several seconds passed.
Her tears continued.
“That’s what I thought,” he said. “Come here.”
He pulled her to the rope. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“You’ve just earned yourself ten minutes of being hung from the wrists.”
“No, please, don’t.”
“If you fight me I’ll make it twenty minutes.” He was no longer angry. Actually, he seemed excited.
Samantha realized she was making things worse for herself and stopped fighting. She wiped away some tears and then held out her wrists. Ten minutes. It’s nothing. Don’t worry. However, she remembered the day before when he had pulled her off the ground and how there had been instant pain throughout her arms and wrists. That had been a few seconds. What would ten minutes be like?
Jimmy wrapped the rope around her wrists several times and then attached it to the one hanging from the ceiling.
“Please,” she tried again. “I’m sorry.”
“Too late for that.”
He gave the rope a pull. Samantha felt her arms rise up, but this time rather than stopping when she was on her toes he kept pulling until her feet left the ground and then tied off the rope. The pain was instantaneous, almost as if someone were putting a ring of fire around her already burned wrists.
Jimmy looked down at his watch. “Ten minutes,” he said.
“Please. I’m sorry.” She gasped for air, her chest feeling as if a giant weight were compressing it. “Let me down!”
Her toes stretched toward the ground trying to find the surface but fell short by nearly ten inches. This desperate attempt to reach the floor caused her body to slightly twist toward the left. It stopped once she was completely sideways and then twisted back.
Jimmy Page 4