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This is a fictional short story I wrote back when I was dating a writer who was experiencing writers block. As I tried to help by offering ideas, this story just came to me and I felt compelled to write it down. Though it is a work of fiction, it's message is one that everyone can learn from. ~ DBCII
Alive and Free.
The taste of his blood filled my mouth as I closed my eyes away from the sight before me. His scream was a howl from the deep depths of his lungs, which caused my eyes to snap open. It was real. This was really happening. There was no going back from here. It was either fight, or die.
*
The night was young at the local club and so was most of the crowd. Within the desolate, back alley of the city, dozens waited in line to drink, dance, and possibly find a savoir from the night's lonely chill. The music pulsed against the walls and the floor seemed to move in the rhythm of the dancing that was taking place. I had just finished my first year in college and was celebrating my academic success alone.
The club was dank, but colored lights reflecting from the mirror ball above lit the dance floor in a mind altering fashion. The sporadic movements of the dancers blended together losing all form and shape. I shouldn't have been alone. I should have gone with friends. But I needed to escape. My prerogative for the night was not to socialize with those who either envied me or belittled me. Instead, I sought to drift into the sea of dancers. The adrenaline pumped through my veins and as I whirled around, I closed my eyes and stretched my arms skyward. I was lost within the melodies blasting from the speakers above and my hands caressed my body as if they were the hands of my past lovers.
Despite my desire to fade into the crowd, the spot light seemed to shine on me as I looked up towards the rafters. All along the banister of the floor above were the wall flowers who watched with sneers of lust for a taste of the sweetness that had gathered below to dance. I smiled up at the onlookers, moved my hand to my backside and winked. It was my way of saying, "look all you want, but you'll never have me." I had had my full of meaningless hookups with such men and their endless games tired me. Like I said, my prerogative that night was not to socialize. However, the hooting from the lechers above egged on my little provocative display as I bent down to reveal the nylon thong I had worn underneath my tight jeans. I felt their eyes burning into my backside, their desire to experience the pleasures of physical intimacy intoxicated me as I raised my head to look back at them.
Almost in unison, the expressions on their faces slowly faded from excitement to a look of loss. Before I could ponder why, strong hands grasped my hips and moved my legs close to another pair. I looked forward and saw that I was being held by the hands of an adonis. He was a hulking man of pure muscle and strength, with dark eyes that held a penetrating stare. As we danced, his hands explored my back side causing electric currents to explode beneath my skin. His lips held a slight smile as his eyes burned into me. His short, black hair was silky to the touch as he ground his body into mine. He cocked his head forward and forcefully kissed my lips. I was immediately drunk on the strong smell of his cologne and the taste of beer that was on his tongue.
Continuing to kiss me with his hands held firmly at my waist, he led me to the back alley outside the club. Once there, the only noise that could be heard was our heavy breathing and the muffled sound of the music playing inside. His hands explored beneath my shirt as he moved his lips to my ear where he softly whispered, "What's your name?" Breathlessly, I replied with a soft, "James . And yours?"
"Caleb " he grunted as he moved his lips to my neck where he began to suck feverishly.
And that was the night we met. Maybe if I had gone with friends, he wouldn't have approached me. Maybe if I hadn't been alone, his power wouldn't have been able to consume me so. But it did. There was something exotic about him, something unfamiliar and yet exciting which led me to go home with him. I was bewitched.
**
He insisted that I move out of my parents' house to live with him, an idea that my conservative parents disapproved of.
"Its not that we don't like him and that we're not happy for you," they explained, "it's just that you only met him a month ago and you don't need any distractions while you're continuing your schooling." I didn't know which was worse, their disapproval or their poor vocabulary.
As an English major at the local university, I was slowly becoming much more aware of the improper use of language that's common among the people I encountered. The words that would flow from Caleb 's lips as his stare would penetrate my soul moved me both figuratively and literally.
"They can't expect you to live at home forever. You're not a little boy anymore, James . You're an ambitious young man now who can make your own decisions. Just think, wouldn't it be great to fall asleep in each others arms every night and wake in the morning to the other's embrace?" With that said, my mind was made up. I was moving in with Caleb .
***
Things were wonderful at first. Caleb had recently bought out a local gym that had an enormous apartment above it. He even paid me to write his advertisement slogans for him. While he spent his days working with various people in the gym, I spent my days writing. One night, two weeks after I had moved in, I was vigorously writing to a local newspaper about the new ownership of the gym when I felt strong hands on my shoulders.
"That should have been done hours ago," Caleb murmured, "why isn't it done now?"
I sighed out of exhaustion for I had been working on the article all day. Before I could speak, however, I was immediately spun around in my chair to face Caleb .
"Don't fucking laugh at me," he growled as he smacked my face, "I asked you a question!"
I was stunned, shocked, and confused. I didn't understand his anger and could smell the scent of beer on his breath.
"Well?" He barked as he grabbed my wrists to hold my hands away from my face. "Why isn't it done? Why isn't dinner made? You know I needed that sent out today and that I get hungry after work. What the hell is wrong with you?"
I should have remained silent, or at best apologized, but I was so full of anger and confusion.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I yelled back and before I could continue, Caleb picked me up by my waist and threw me into the computer desk.
My head smashed the liquid crystal screen and sharp pain jolted within my entire body.
"Who do you think you are talking back to me? I'll rip your fucking tongue out and shove it down your throat, you little piss-ant."
I tried to move, I tried to run, but I wasn't fast enough. Before I knew it, Caleb slammed his fist into the side of my skull and all had gone black.
****
I awakened to the bright sunlight which burned my eyes the second they opened. My entire body was in pain and my head felt as if it had been hit by a sledge hammer. Slowly, and carefully, I opened my eyes so that I could adjust to the brightness of the room. It must have only taken a few moments, but it seemed as though hours had passed before I could see everything clearly. I was in the bedroom of the apartment. The clock on the end table digitally displayed a red 8:32 am . As I slowly moved my head from side to side, I noticed the tightness around my mouth.
When I looked at my reflection in the mirror across the room, I was horrified. I was completely naked with a gag tied around my mouth; my arms and legs were tied to the posts of the bed with hand cuffs that were locked so tight around my limbs that they were cutting into my skin. Bite marks and bruises covered my body along side the remnants of dried blood. Candle wax had been poured onto my chest and was cracking at my movements which caused me to produce a muffled cry of agony as the handcuffs dug deeper into my appendages. The foreskin on my penis was swelled and full of pain leading me to believe that he had been biting me there too. My lower extremities were covered in semen and what smelt of urine and my anus was wet too and burned like fire.
"I have to get out of here," I thought, "he's crazy. I have to get out of here. What has he done to me? Why did he do this?" It was at this point that I noticed that the hand cuff holding my left foot was not cutting into me. Puzzled, I gently wiggled my left foot around and the hand cuff slowly slid off. As I had been doing this, the hand cuff holding my right foot slid off of me as well, slicing into what appeared to be a wound that was in the process of healing. Another muffled cry escaped my lips as I let my feet drop to the bed.
After the pain had subsided, I realized why my anus was sore and dripping wet. He had released my feet from the hand cuffs so that he could fuck me on my back and had been too disorientated to actually lock the cuffs when he tried to re-cuff my feet afterwards. "If only it had been my hands," I thought, "then I could un-cuff my feet and go. How am I going to get out of this?"
I was full of anger and fear and began to kick the bed with the heals of my feet, causing the bed to groan. My captured state frustrated me even more so and I insanely began to kick and scream like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. Creak. I stopped. Puzzled, I kicked the bed with my heals again. Creak. At first, I was afraid Caleb had come home early to check up on me, but then I realized that the sound was coming from the bed. It was then that I remembered that the bed was made of wood; it hadn't been a very expensive bed and the pieces of the frame fit in together like lincoln logs. "If I push my feet against the bottom of the foot board," I plotted, "I can push it out of its post and with enough force, push the bed apart."
I brought my knees to my chest and in one swift blow slammed my feet against the foot board. There was a huge crack and then it seemed as though the room came tumbling down. The head board slammed against the wall and the restraints on my wrists were pulled with a tremendous amount of pressure. Tears fell from my eyes as I screamed out in muffled agony. Then the blood began to flow from my wrists and I was sure I was going to die. "Quickly," I thought, "I have to move quickly before I bleed to death, before the racket of the bed falling apart causes Caleb to come back upstairs." I used my feet to help prop the rest of my body back towards the wall. Slowly, I raised myself up to stand on top of the mattress and the hand cuffs slid off of the top ends of the bed posts. The first thing I did was untie the gag that had been wrapped around my mouth.
Before I could make another move, I was pulled back down onto the bed with Caleb on top of me. I hadn't heard his footsteps coming up the stairs and he had moved silently through the apartment.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he yelled as he slammed my shoulders into the mattress. I struggled to push him off of me and was met with a punch to my stomach. I howled out in agony and did the only thing I could do, I sunk my teeth into his shoulder. The taste of his blood filled my mouth as I closed my eyes away from the sight before me. His scream was a howl from the deep depths of his lungs, which caused my eyes to snap open. It was real. This was really happening. There was no going back from here. It was either fight, or die.
The hand cuffs were still attached to my wrists and so I frantically swung my arms around, hitting him repeatedly in the head until he collapsed on top of me. All I could hear was the sound of my heavy breathing, my lungs gasping for air. My heart was beating a mile a minute as I realized I was ok. I was immediately filled with the hope that I was going to make it out alive. That is, if I could manage to roll him off of me and flee before he came to.
With all the pain I was in, and the weight of Caleb 's muscles, it was a miracle that I was able to roll him off of me. Once I did, I stood up and looked down. He wasn't moving and the back of his head looked grotesque. It was covered in blood, hair, and what appeared to be a piece of bone sticking out of the flesh. I didn't care whether or not I had killed him or just merely knocked him out. So long as I got out of there before he came to, I was safe.
Quickly, I ran to the bath room to get some bandages for my wrists. Though the encounter with Caleb had seemed like an eternity, it must have only been a few minutes because my wrists were still bleeding fast and I was still conscious. With silent tears rolling down my cheeks, I managed to wrap the bandages around the handcuffs that were still attached to my wrists. Once the bandages were in place, I reached for clothes out of the hamper, listening to make sure that Caleb wasn't getting up. After I was dressed and I was sure that Caleb was still unconscious, I bolted for the front door. I limped in pain down the stairs and out the back of the building towards the outside, where I was greeted by the sun and the fresh air. Though the sight before me filled me with a sense of well being, I continued to run limply. As I ran, my lungs burned from the deep breaths within my chest. It wasn't until the apartment was out of sight that I had begun to whisper to myself repeatedly, "I'm alive! I'm alive! I'm free! I'm alive! I'm alive!"
