John could remember all the times he had confided in Richard about his most secret thoughts and desires. Richard had always been there for him and always had the answers. John was always amazed how much Richard knew about women, considering that for as long as John knew him, he never had a girlfriend.
“They’ll play hard to get, but they only really want one thing,” he’d told John once. “And when they get it, they’ll slip their hand down there and stroke it, and then they’ll go a bit lower. But watch out pal, because once they’ve got you by the balls, they never let go.”
And with that, he would finish a sentence on the typewriter and press the return key and smile at John across the room.
“How do you know all this?” John had asked.
“I just do. It’s the experience of life.”
“What life? You sit at that typewriter all day every day.”
Richard wagged a finger at him, “Now, now, don’t let all that pent-up sexual frustration get between you and me. We’re buddies, remember? It’s not my fault you haven’t had a fuck in three months.”
“That’s not true,” John yelled back across the dorm from his bed.
“I know for a fact it is!”
John buried his head deeper into the chemistry book he was pretending to read.
“Well, it’s not,” he replied.
“You’re saving yourself, and I know who for.”
“You’re talking rubbish.”
“It’ll never happen, you know.”
“Shut up.”
“You’re fooling yourself.”
“I said shut up!”
“Whatever,” Richard shot back. “No use denying it.”
“At least I’m not having an affair with a typewriter!” John yelled back at him.
And Richard had laughed then, long and hard until his eyes had filled with tears.
Eventually, John had begun to laugh too.
And he was laughing now.
Alone in a church and handcuffed to a chair, John couldn’t believe he was laughing out loud.
Thinking back to that period in his life, remembering the good times he and Richard had both had, John realised just how dependent on each other he and Richard were. They were inseparable. And even after all these years, John found himself laughing again with Richard.
Happy times…
But that was then.
John looked down at his numb and useless body.
What would Richard say now?
He wished they had stayed in touch after college. They promised each other they would, but so does everyone else. And then life gets in the way.
Life.
John pulled at the handcuffs another few infuriating times.
No use.
Richard, if only you were here to get me out of this mess.
He missed their talks and their secret conversations. Heck, he even missed the old typewriter.
So many things to tell you, he thought. So many secrets…
He knew what Richard would say anyway. He had no doubt about it.
“I’ve told you about women,” he would’ve muttered, shaking his head at him. “How many times have I said it? First they screw you, and then they really screw you. Pal, it’s not worth the trouble, put it back in your pants and think with your big head, not your little one…”
John found himself smiling again. Maybe Richard was right.
But what would you think of Zoe, Richard?
“Just like all the others.”
But she isn’t, is she?
“Are you seriously telling me she’s totally different to any of the other girls you ever knew?”
Come on, she’s had a really rough life. And finally she’s got herself on her own two feet, telling this Fox prick where to go. It’s not her fault he’s all powerful and could track her down and drag her and Helen and me into this mess.
“You really believe that?” John could see Richard’s eyes squinting at him as he asked the question.
Of course I do, Richard.
“Are you sure?”
Why would she lie to me?
Richard was nodding, “Uh-huh. And I suppose she’s quite unlike any other girl you’ve ever met?”
John nodded to himself in the middle of the church.
“Really?”
Really.
“I’ve heard that before, you know.”
Huh?
“You’ve said that before, you know.”
Never!
“Yes, you have. I’ve heard it all before.”
Buddy, Zoe’s one of a kind!
John could hear Richard laughing in his mind.
“One of a kind?” he said between breaths.
Yes.
“Oh, John, how quickly you forget! You mean you don’t honestly remember?”
Remember what?
“Not what, but who!”
Who then?
“Laura Austin?”
A silence fell over the church, or so it seemed to John, as Richard evaporated from his mind and left his final two words dangling in the silence.
Laura…
Laura Austin.
John remembered her now.
How could I forget?
And he even remembered telling Richard that she was unlike any other girl he’d ever met.
Now it all came flooding back.
It was his senior year at college, as far as he could remember. He had no idea why, but for some reason he and Richard and some of his classmates attended a funeral service a few blocks from campus.
The service was probably for a teacher or a classmate; he couldn’t remember now. Either way, it didn’t matter.
It didn’t matter then either.
All he could remember was everyone tried to sit as close to the exit as possible, aiming for the back pews, and far from prying eyes. But it was a crowded room.
Was it at a church?
He couldn’t recall. John and his classmates found seats in about the middle of the room; teachers to one side, family members on the other.
And it was during the service, while they all sat there looking bored and thinking about other things, that John turned and looked along his row.
And saw Laura Austin staring back at him.
He didn’t know who she was at the time, didn’t even know her name, but he suddenly realised he wanted to know her.
Very badly.
She was sitting about fifteen feet away. She had a cheeky grin and she was staring intently at him.
He smiled at her.
She smiled back.
What passed between them was unspoken, but they both knew what they wanted.
John looked around to make sure no one was watching. Suddenly, he found his hands were sweating. He wiped them on his pants.
He couldn’t remember what happened then, but somehow he must have gestured to her, or nodded his head or something. All he remembered was she giggled loudly.
Heads turned towards her and she blushed and slumped down in her seat.
Harsh stares were aimed at her, but as she settled back down, the heads turned away and back to the priest, who was giving his sermon.
John continued to watch her, smiling at her…loving her.
He remembered he was hard and pulsing, his cock pushing to break through his pants. The room was hot and he felt almost claustrophobic. Too many people and too little space.
Some more time must have elapsed and somehow between them they agreed without speaking, maybe only with hand movements, he wasn’t sure. He couldn’t remember now.
It didn’t matter anyway.
What happened next did.
He stood up.
In the middle of the service, he stood up.
And walked out.
John shook his head now, thinking back.
You heartless bastard, he scolded himself. I can’t believe you did that!
He remembered the faces staring at him as he made his way along his row, excusing himself t
ime and time again, as his legs knocked the knees of classmates. Finally, he made it to the end of the row. He straightened himself up, kept his eyes on the floor in front of him and walked out of the room.
He remembered there being total silence in the room as he did so. Everyone’s eyes were upon him. He wondered if the priest had even stopped his sermon.
John didn’t know.
And, at the time, he didn’t care.
He remembered, they must’ve thought they were being so cunning, so sneaky. It was like a plan no one had thought of before.
First he got up to leave.
And then, a couple of minutes later, so did she.
What a plan!
Everyone must’ve known, John told himself now. How could they not? First I leave and then Laura? It’s obvious!
It may have been, but John didn’t care.
And neither did Laura.
He was waiting outside for her, his hands pushed deep into his pockets as he paced up and down nervously. His heart raced when she ran out to him. She was tall and thin and the most beautiful girl John had ever seen.
She ran to him, her dark curly long locks of hair bouncing on her shoulders and down her back.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” she had smiled a smile that made him melt.
“I’m John.”
“I’m Laura.”
“It’s real nice to meet you, Laura.”
“You too,” she replied. “That funeral is such a downer.”
“I know.”
“I got sooo bored.”
“I know, they’re not much fun,” he replied.
“And then I saw you.”
John didn’t know what to say. He just smiled back at her.
“And I knew I just wanted you,” her voice dropped in pitch to a husky tone as she took a step closer to him.
“Really?”
“I want to fuck you, John. I’m so horny I want to do it now!” she stepped forward and put her arms around him.
She bumped up against his erection.
“And you want to fuck me too, it seems,” she said, a wicked look transforming her face.
“Where?” was all John managed to say, looking around for somewhere they could easily hide.
“I know,” she replied as she took his hand. “Follow me.”
John shook his head as he remembered letting her lead him away. He followed after her without a second thought.
“See?” Richard returned to his mind, shattering John’s thoughts and memories. “They screw you, and then they screw you. I told you, pal!”
John nodded.
You were right.
“Of course I was! And you hit a new low there, John.”
A low? It was wonderful!
“It may have been, but think of the repercussions. There’s always repercussions, John, no matter what you do. But you didn’t think of that then, and it seems you still don’t think of things like that.”
I know, I know. You’d think I would have learnt by now.
“Exactly, but you haven’t. And remember what happened with Laura Austin?”
John nodded.
“Come on, tell me!”
She left me and –
“Exactly, she left you. Left you for dead.”
John nodded.
“Just like Zoe.”
John shut his eyes tight as the words sliced into his mind.
John pushed Richard aside, throwing him from his thoughts.
The silence was heavy.
The panic returned.
Just.
Like.
Zoe.
Twenty-six
It’s not true, John thought. She said she would come back, and she will. So will Helen. They’ll both return and then we can get out of this place.
Even as he told himself they would return, a growing feeling of panic began to crawl up his spine.
But what if they don’t?
They will!
But they haven’t! It shouldn’t take this long.
It might.
It should be over by now.
Maybe it is…
John opened his eyes and looked around the church for what must have been the hundredth time. The sunlight streaming through the windows to his right was now slowly making its way across to him. Soon he would be warm again.
He rocked from side to side, working his shoulder joints, trying to keep them from getting stiff and sore. He thought about trying to pull his hands through the metal slats of the chair once more, but there was no feeling left in his arms and he knew that the struggle was futile.
There’s got to be another way.
There isn’t. You’re stuck here for good.
There has to be.
You’re here until you die.
Forcing the panic from his mind, John looked through the wooden railing back towards the beds at the far end of the church and tried to think about escape.
There’s got to be a way. If only I could find that damn poker. Even the shovel might work…where the hell did she put them?
His eyes rested on the beds.
They looked so inviting, so relaxing.
If I could get down to the end of the church, maybe I could tip myself onto a bed and at least rest on my side.
It sounded like a wonderful idea, lying on his side on the bed, taking the pressure off his back and arms and legs, but he knew it would be almost impossible to climb onto the bed from his current position. The beds were high but his chair was low; he had no idea how he would manage to tip himself up onto one of them.
But anything is worth a try. Don’t worry about how you’re going to get on the bed until you manage to get there.
He licked his dry lips with an even drier tongue. Slowly, he focussed on his body and began by rubbing his hands together. The clanking of the handcuffs on the metal slats behind him told him he could still co-ordinate himself to rub them together.
Next, he moved his shoulders up and down, exercising the joints, waiting for feeling to return. Leaning forward slightly, he started to rock his legs side to side as far as his tied ankles would allow.
His body cried out in a dull agony that would’ve felt worse if he wasn’t already so numb.
I have to do this, he thought. No matter what.
Pins and needles started to flow once more in waves down his neck and back. It was a sure sign that the circulation was beginning again and feeling was returning to him.
“Come on,” he whispered to himself. “Keep going…”
Even these simple movements were incredibly exhausting. Sweat began to bead on his forehead again, and feeling its touch on his face reminded him how incredibly thirsty he was.
His tongue felt swollen, and his lips were as dry and rough as sandpaper.
Need a drink.
But the kitchenette was behind him and there was no way he would be able to reach the sink.
The beds are closer and if I can get down there and somehow tip myself onto one of them, I could get some rest and take some pressure off my body.
John liked that idea.
Rest.
If he could sleep through this nightmare…
But when will you wake up?
When Zoe and Helen return.
What if you never wake up?
I will.
What if they don’t return?
THEY WILL!
John moved his head to the right and looked down at the sunlight making its way across the floor towards him. It had moved quite a distance since he last looked. It was now halfway between the wall and his chair. It would soon be touching his feet and legs, warming them in its rays.
He was torn then, between the warmth of the sun and the comfort of the bed. He knew the sun would eventually reach him. But he couldn’t guarantee that he could make it to the bed and be able to somehow lie down on it.
His eyes darted between the beds and the sunlight on the floor.
He never thought a choice wou
ld be so hard.
He decided to wait.
At least until the sun goes down. I can wait that long.
If he was still tied to the chair by the time night fell, he would make for the beds.
How?
I’ll work that out when I have to.
But for the moment, the warm glow of the sunlight was too inviting. He craved it; he needed it. He wanted it to pour over his body, as if its rays would somehow re-energise him, give him back the strength and stamina he had lost.
He looked back down at the sunlight slowly crawling towards him on the floor. Time seemed to be dragging, like his life was in slow motion, but the sun’s tracking through the sky proved to him time was still moving at its normal speed.
But then, sometimes, time seemed to be passing quicker than he expected.
Either way, he was still tied to this chair.
Tied and helpless.
While the rest of the world went on with its normal life.
John wished he could have a normal life again.
“Normal?” Richard’s voice returned to his head. “There was nothing ever normal about your life, buddy.”
You again!
“Yes, me again. Caught you at a bad time? You all tied up with something?”
John could hear Richard’s laughter in his head.
Very funny.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh.”
No, you shouldn’t. You should help me.
“Not much I can do from here.”
You were always the one who gave me advice.
“Well, it’s a bit late for that now. You’re already in this mess.”
And I suppose you wouldn’t’ve been?
“No, sir! No way! These women, they’re trouble. If Zoe had dropped on my doorstep, I would’ve told her to pack her bags and leave. Sorry, sister, no room at the inn for the likes of you.”
I couldn’t do that.
“I know, and look where it got you.”
I couldn’t say no.
“I know that too. That’s always been your problem.”
Bullshit!
“You could never say no – especially to a pretty girl.”
It’s not true.
“Led around by your erect manhood all your life.”
John didn’t reply. He knew where Richard was going…
“Just like with Laura Austin.”
John sighed and closed his eyes, letting his head fall forward.
Once again, Richard was right.
He remembered Laura leading him by the hand, dragging him back towards the funeral they had just escaped from.
Love Lies Dying Page 25