I awake some time later to find I'm lying on a sofa with frozen peas on my head. I look around the room which is well decorated with beige walls and one papered wall which looks really modern. There is a large TV mounted on the wall with Eastenders on, which I hate with a passion, luckily the volume is muted. I notice a glass coffee table in the centre with some chips and beans on, with what looked like a glass of Coke next to it. Feeling hungry I slowly lean forward reach for the plate and start to munch on the food which was cold, but still tasted good. My head hurts like hell and my vision is still slightly blurry. I felt pretty rough and knew I must have concussion or something as the blow to my head was intense.
‘You’re awake then’ said Mike walking into the room ‘was getting worried about you for a second then, was going to call for an Ambulance, how are you feeling?’
I looked at Mike and replied. ‘I feel rough and want to go home can you take me home please?’
‘All in good time John, just have some food and we can sort out your travel arrangements for you.’
‘Ok thanks.’ He then left the room. I was now sitting up and have now consumed the entire plate of chips in front of me. I downed the glass of fizzy Coke which slightly burnt the back of my throat from the fizz.
I sat back on the sofa just thinking about the situation I've now got myself into. I’m sitting in the house of a stranger who I can only assume has punched me in the back of my head and knocked me out. He’s fed me and appears to be dodging the fact that I want to go home. I look around the room for a telephone so I could call my mum to let her know where I was. I want her to come and get me but can’t see a phone anywhere. I rise to my feet feeling dizzy, I make my way into the hallway to see if I could find one in there.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’
‘I was just looking for a phone so I could let my mum know where I am, so she could come and get me.’
‘Do you think that would be a good idea considering you’ve ran away? From what you’ve told me you’ll be in hell of a lot of trouble.’
‘Yes I know but I don’t really care about that at the moment, I don’t feel comfortable here. I don’t know you and you’ve already attacked me?’
‘Attacked you?’ Sounding shocked.
‘Yes you punched me on the back of the head when I wanted to go home?’
‘No, you slipped over on the apples and banged your head, you can’t go round telling people I attacked you I’d be arrested.’
‘Yes but I felt the blow from behind.’
‘No John you are mistaken.’ Staring me straight in the eyes, telling me that I fell, rather than what I knew. I decided to distance myself from the situation, I run to the front door to try and escape. All of a sudden Mike grabbed my arm hard and yanks me back.
‘I can’t let you leave just yet.’ He said in a strong overpowering voice, a voice I felt would go further if I was to try anything else.
‘But I don’t want to be here,’ now I’m terrified, my head was in pain and I have this tall, big man I don’t know telling me I can’t leave his house. I felt trapped and to date I'm at the most scared I've ever been. I'm more scared now than what I felt the other night when I accidently killed Martin. I knew now that I've made the biggest mistake coming back here with this man, now I have to try to think of how to get myself out of this situation safely.
‘I need to leave now please, you can’t keep me here against my will.’
‘You feeling brave now are you? Think you can answer me back like you’re a big man?’ I was lost for words, my gut feeling was right. This was a bad idea; I turn my back and push him off me running like hell for the front door. I panic at the front door handle which doesn’t seem to be opening, at the same time I have Mike charging towards me like a lion craving raw meat. I crouch down into the corner between the front door and wall covering my face and head as much as I can to try to avoid any further damage to my head. I feel Mike grab my arm, he flings me towards the stairs about eight feet from the front door. I land face first hitting my chin on the bottom stair; I then feel his weight on my back. I was stuck. I couldn’t move, I try so hard to get him off but he was so strong, I open my mouth to scream out as a final attempt for someone to hear me. Before I even had the chance I feel his big hand cover my mouth. Fear struck me once again; I feel this surge of adrenaline power through my body from the pit of my stomach. I try to move but I can’t, I tire very fast and give up the fight within a few seconds admitting defeat.
‘Calm down!’ Mike said with his face right up close to my ear. I laid still and didn’t say anything. I was going to have to do what he says for the time being until an opportunity arises were I can make a move. The emotion of it all finally gets to me; I burst into tears with his hand still covering my mouth.
‘I only wanted you to stay the night, you know to be safe and now look what you’ve done.’ Slightly quivering, he knows he’s done wrong. ‘Now I don’t know what I'm going to do with you.’
He picks me up and carries me effortlessly upstairs to a small bedroom at the front of the house. He lays me on a small single bed with only a mattress and starts to bind my hands together behind my back with cable ties he already had in his pocket. I fight against him slightly as another attempt to resist, he’s amazingly strong and I just didn’t have the strength to fight him. He then binds both my feet together really tight I can feel the circulation cut off slightly in my shins and my toes start to tingle. Then to my complete shock he shoves a sock into my mouth and tapes over it. I felt I was imprisoned within my own body, fear struck me over and over again, all I can think about is my dad and the pain he will inflict on this man when he finds out what he’s doing to me.
Mike leaves the room shutting the door behind him. I lay there in pitch black listening out to see if I could work out what he’s doing behind the closed the door. I close my eyes tight and think about being far, far away from here, funnily enough the place I think of is my mum’s boyfriend’s house. At least there I would have freedom to move around as I pleased, watch TV and play my Xbox and actually feel safer compared to what I do now. It suddenly dawned on me my reasons for running away, the grass isn’t always greener, and if I just stayed at home then at least I would be safe.
I lay there listening out; I think I can hear voices which seem to be coming from down stairs. One of the voices was definitely Mike’s; I can tell from the deep tone, the other was definitely a male voice but not one I recognise. I try to make out what is being said but I can’t however, knowing there is now someone else in the house I decide to try to make some noise myself. Being tied I bounce my body on the bed as hard as I can so the person downstairs could hear something. All of a sudden I can here footsteps coming up the stairs and two men barge into the room.
‘Here he is’ said Mike pointing at me. I felt completely vulnerable two big men staring at me. The other man was also tall and big like Mike; he didn’t say a word, just stared at me with his hands in his pockets. It was hard to see exactly what he looks like as the light in the room was poor.
‘John you’re going to be a good boy now, aren’t you? Be nice to my friend here ok?’ I nodded at him totally scared, frozen feeling nothing but sorrow for myself and have no idea what Mike means or what is going to happen next.
‘I want you to take these pills John it’s for your best interest ok?’ shoving three or four pills into my mouth, holding his hand there so I had no choice but to swallow them. He released his hand from my face and I look up to get a look at this other man in the room but my vision starts to blur. I can hear them talking but can’t make out the words or what's being said at all. My head starts to spin violently, I start to feel horribly sick, my eyes start to feel heavy and my legs twitch frantically. I feel so scared I want to cry but I can’t I can’t move, I can’t feel anything, my whole body goes numb and feel my heart rate slow down. All of a sudden I feel completely relaxed, my eyes get heavier and heavier and heavier.