PREFACE: I couldn’t decide which genre to put this story in, and some people might not see this as a Romantic story. It is a sign of our times that everything is well categorised and tagged in an easily searchable way. But what to do with the stories which don’t fall neatly into any of these categories?
Assigning clearly defined labels makes it easier to seek out the things we like. But it also stops us venturing outside of our comfort zone, and a good story should make you uncomfortable at times.
Romance for me is about finding love in unexpected places, it is about forming deep and loving bonds which stand the tests of time. And so that is why this story finds itself in the Romance section.
***
James Lock stood at the front door of the run down old house and let out a big sigh. Every day was a lottery in his job; one day he was working in some luxury mansion being entertained by a bored housewife; and the next he was having to come to some shitty old house, in a shitty neighbourhood, to sort out some creepy guy’s electrics.
He hadn’t even wanted to do this job, he got a bad feeling about the guy during the phone call, and the journey had taken over an hour. But the guy had been so insistent, and offered such good money, that he really couldn’t turn it down.
He knocked again, louder this time, and looked around the front yard with disgust. It was completely overgrown and resembled a junk yard. Old car parts littered the ground, an old bath sat across the main path filled with dirty brown water, and a pile of garbage bags next to the porch producing a stench that made him want to vomit.
What kind of person could live like this, but also afford to pay him $1,960 for a days work he wondered. He didn’t have to wonder for long as he heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming to the door. He heard the clanking of a lock being undone, then another one, then a chain being disconnected, and then finally a key turning from the inside – apparently this guy took security very seriously.
The door creaked open and James suddenly found himself face to face with a real life ogre. James was by no means a small guy, 6 foot tall with an athletic physique that he worked hard in the gym to maintain. But the man standing before him towered over him, by almost a foot James guessed.
What was more, his body looked like it was half gorilla and half troll. There was no muscle tone, in fact no definition whatsoever, just one huge mountain of mass. Huge broad shoulders with hulking great arms and fists like giant hams.
He was wearing a dirty white vest with stains down the front and old, faded dungarees which stretched over his big belly.
Most noticeable of all though were his eyes. Dark, sinister eyes that stared unblinking like a predator watching it’s prey. A chill ran down James’ spine and he took an involuntary step backwards.
The man just stared down at James for a few moments before finally saying “You the electric guy?” in a slow, gruff voice.
Throughout James life he had always enjoyed the ability to charm anyone and everyone. His good looks and easy going nature allowed him glide through most situations with ease. He took a deep breath, fixed a winning smile on his face, extended his hand out to the man, and said “Hi, James Lock – great to meet you sir”
The man looked down at James’ hand but didn’t move to shake it, then he spoke again in his low, rumbling voice “Understand this: there is one rule that you must follow in my house – don’t ever leave my sight. Understood?”
James realised that his offer of a handshake was not going to be taken up and lowered his hand. He really wasn’t sure that he wanted to go inside the house with this strange guy who could probably snap James’ neck like a twig with just one hand, but he really really needed the money. His mortgage was due in two days and if he missed another payment he could lose his house. Fucking Covid and fucking lockdowns.
“Ok no problem” said James, sounding more certain than he felt inside.
The man continued to stare at him for a few seconds more before finally stepping aside so he could enter the house.
James stepped past the guy into the dark house and let out an involuntary shiver as he looked around. The windows were all covered in brown dirt and dust which prevented almost any light coming through into the room. The floor was covered in a carpet that was so old, dirty and worn that it looked like leather in some places. It was impossible to tell what colour it was meant to be but with the stains, and low light, it looked almost like compacted mud.
There were plates of old, half eaten food on every surface and the floor was cluttered with trash. Worst of all was the overwhelming smell that hung in the air all around him. It was a mixture of mould and rotting food and it made James feel completely nauseous.
The giant shut the front door behind James and told him to follow. Then he walked to a heavy door on the other side of the room and undid two, large bolted locks. James followed nervously and wondered why on earth someone would need locks like that inside their own house. The giant pulled the heavy door open with ease and walked through.
James picked up his tool bag and started to follow but stopped when he saw the giant disappearing down the the stairs into a pitch black basement. The scene was like something out of a horror movie. James stood with his feet rooted to the floor at the top of the stairs, too scared to follow the giant down into the pitch black basement, but also too proud to run.
The giant disappeared completely into the darkness and then after a few seconds appeared again as he switched on the basement light. He turned at the bottom of the stairs and looked back up towards James, “I said follow me” he growled. The illumination of his face by the dull, yellow strip light in the basement made him look even more sinister, but James found his legs following the man’s command even as his brain screamed warnings.
He walked slowly down the stairs towards the giant, who continued to watch him without blinking. As he reached the last few stairs he felt the air turn cold and damp. There was a stale smell all around and something unpleasant which he couldn’t make out.
The dim lighting at the bottom of the stairs didn’t extend to the edges of the basement. The surrounding dark shadows, together with the cold, stale air, made the space feel deeply oppressive, and isolated from the world above.
James noticed his heart racing and made an effort to calm down, taking slow deep breaths. The giant was watching him closely and gave him a nasty, little smirk when he saw him doing controlled breathing.
James gave him a weak smile and tried to make his voice sound relaxed as he said, “So, what exactly is the problem with your electrics?”
The giant raised his massive arm and pointed into the shadows, “Over there, the fuse board keeps tripping” he said.
James took out his torch and walked over to where the giant had pointed. He heard the heavy footsteps as the giant followed closely behind him.
The fuse board was ancient, probably the original that came with the house. Someone had added additional circuits to the various fuses and the result was a dangerous mess of wires that was hard to follow. The whole thing was a massive health hazard – water trickled down the basement walls and over the boxing, bare wires were left exposed threatening to electrocute anyone who touched them, and the whole thing was drawing far more power than it was designed to do originally making the whole thing a huge fire risk.
James took a deep breath and started to explain the problems and why he would be better off just replacing the whole thing and rewiring, but the giant cut him off with a dismissive wave of his giant hand before he could finish speaking, “I don’t care about any of that, just fix it” he said firmly.
James stood in shocked silence for a moment and then started again, “But sir, this is extremely dangerous – strictly speaking I should tell the electricity board to…”
Suddenly the giant’s eyes burned with anger and he raised himself up to his full, terrifying height as he shouted “You will tell no-one anything! Just fix it and fuck off – do you understand?”. James cowered below him and held up his hands in surrender, “Okay okay, I’m sorry. Of course I will do what I can to fix it”
He turned and started to investigate the problem, feeling the eyes of the giant burning into the back of his head.
A sudden clanging noise from the other side of the dark basement made him jump. “What was that?” Asked James as he spun round in fear.
The giant was looking in the direction where the noise had come from and said in a low growl “My dog must have knocked something over – nothing you need to worry about”
James nodded and turned to get back on with the investigation work. It was difficult to focus with the giant breathing heavily close behind him but he managed to test each of the circuits quickly, motivated by a desperate desire to get out of the nightmare basement as soon as possible.
After about 20 minutes James turned to the giant and said “I’ve found the problem, it’s this circuit here, there must be something on the ring main drawing too much current.”
“So?” the giant grunted, “Fix it then”
“Ok” James said carefully, “But I will have to trace the circuit and carry out a continuity test until I find the problem.”
“Trace it where?” the giant asked.
James followed the wires up the wall and along the ceiling, and watched them disappear in to the darkness in the direction that noise had come from earlier.
James pointed up, “It’s that circuit there, I need to trace the cables”
The giant followed where the wires led and slowly shook his head, “No.” he said finally.
James blinked, “No what? I can’t fix it if I can’t access it”
The giant looked thoughtful for a moment and seemed to reach a decision “Can’t the fuse just be removed?” he said.
James stood there awkwardly. He wanted to fix the problem as quickly as possible so that he could get out of there quickly, but he also didn’t want to end up in prison for gross negligence.
James sighed and said “I can’t do that I’m afraid, I could get in a lot of trouble”
The giant’s face darkened “I didn’t ask if you could do it – I asked if it would solve the problem” the menace in his voice was clear and James started to grow even more uneasy. It was incredibly dangerous to remove the fuse and just have unprotected circuits, but James was desperate to get out of there so he gave in.
“It isn’t safe, but yes – that would solve the problem” he said.
“Well what the fuck am I paying you for then if I can just going to fix it myself?” he growled.
The giant walked to the fuse board and removed the main fuse. Then he grabbed a coil of wire that James had left close by and used it to bridge the gap. He turned the fuse board isolator back on and gave a short, satisfied laugh when it didn’t trip out again.
James fidgeted uncomfortably, he needed to get paid but was also desperate to get out away from this awful man.
The giant stood up and turned around and looked surprised to find James still standing there, “What are you still doing here? You can fuck off now, I fixed it myself.” he said in his low, rumbling voice.
The giant watched him hesitating and looked annoyed, then he leaned down so that his face was a few inches from James’ and said in a low, mocking voice “There aren’t many people that get second chances to leave so, if I were you, I would make the most of it.”
James decided to cut his losses and get out of the there as quickly as possible. He turned to pack up his tools but as he did he heard the clanging noise again, louder this time. The noise shocked him but he recovered quickly and carried on packing his tools up, desperate to get out of there and into the fresh, outside air again.
The clanging noise came again but this time it didn’t stop. It repeated again and again until the noise was pounding around the basement like an urgent alarm. And then, in between the bangs, he heard a woman’s voice screaming. The realisation sent a wave of terror through James that chilled him to the core.
He needed to get out of here, something was very, very wrong. He needed to go to the police urgently and tell them about this. He decided to just leave his tools and run, but as he turned and started to run he felt a blow to the side of his head which knocked him sideways. He staggered back to his feet unsteadily, but it was too late, the second blow caught him on the other side of his head and he felt the world melt away into darkness.
***
The first thing James was aware of as he regained consciousness was the ringing in his ears, and the dull, throbbing ache that was rippling through his skull. His eyes remained closed and he let out a low groan as flashes of pain shot through his head.
His thoughts were too jumbled to form into coherent thoughts but as he slowly came back to the real world he became aware that his face was pressed against something cold, and hard. As he brain started to come back online, questions started firing round his head. Why did his head hurt so much? Where was he?
A memory flashed in his mind, someone had hit him. But why? He continued to lie there for a few minutes as his mind struggled to bring thoughts together in a way that made sense. With a sudden jolt he remembered the visit to the giant’s house. Then he remembered the basement. Had something happened down there?
He opened his eyes slowly but couldn’t make out any clear shapes, everything was just a blank, cream color. He blinked a few times and tried to focus his eyes but still he couldn’t see anything. Panicked flooded through his body and his heart started to race, was he blind? Dead? Where the fuck was he?
He forced himself to sit up, and nearly passed out as a wave of dizziness washed through him. After the dizziness had settled down he opened his eyes and looked around him. Slowly, a dimly lit room came into focus. It was sparse and clinical. A cold hard floor, like the kind you see around swimming pools, with a small drain in the centre of the room.
Blank cream walls surrounded him on all sides. There were only three features in the room: an opening on the wall opposite which was closed off by a thick, grey curtain; two exposed pipes which ran along the wall closest to him; and a large, yellow bucket sat in the corner of the room which, in the absence of any alternative, James assumed was his toilet. Other than that the room was completely empty.
The ceiling was very high, maybe 14ft, and a single skylight with metal grates over it appeared to be the only source of light in the whole room.
He reached into his pocket looking for his cellphone but found his pockets empty.
A wave of nausea spread through his body and he had to close his eyes quickly to stop himself from passing out. He waited for the feeling to pass and then very slowly tried to get to his feet.
The process took about five minutes in total. His legs felt weak and the dizziness kept threatening to overwhelm him, but finally he managed to stand properly.
He walked unsteadily over to the curtain and drew it back tentatively. He had barely touched it before a terrifying bark rang out from the other side and he saw through the crack a huge black dog running towards him. He pulled his hand a away quickly and scrambled to the other side of the room. He was very relieved to see that the dog didn’t follow through the curtain. It carried on barking and snarling though and the sound invoked a primal fear inside that made his blood run cold.
He stood panting against the far wall until finally the dog stopped barking and silence returned.
He wanted to shout for help but didn’t dare to shout for fear of drawing the dog’s attention again, so he just sat down on the cold floor and started to cry softly.
As he sat there crying the memories started to return. There had been a banging noise in the basement, he had tried to get help and that was the last thing he remembered. The giant must have knocked him out and then dumped him in this room.
He tried to remember if he had told anyone his whereabouts for the day but didn’t think he had. He tried to run through who would notice his absence and start the search. The downside of the bachelor life that he had built for himself, and loved so much, was suddenly laid bare before him.
He ran through a mental list in his head starting with his friends. He had lots of friends but no close friends. His gym buddies would be the first to notice his absence and would probably text him a few times asking where he was, but none of them would be surprised when he didn’t respond as he was notoriously bad at responding to messages.
His friends that he went out to clubs and bars with definitely weren’t going to raise any alarms as James often went AWOL from them for months at a time. He was well known for booking random holidays at the last minute and just leaving on a whim. He had no ties at all and all the freedom in the world to roam, but now he realised the downside of his disconnected lifestyle.
As for family, he often went for months without speaking to his mom, and even then it was a grudging five minute call to check in. His most recent call with her had been last week so it would be a long ,long time before she noticed his absence.
And that was pretty much it. The realisation that nobody would notice his disappearance for a long time sent a wave of fear and despair crashing over him. He curled up on the floor with his eyes closed and let the tears stream from his eyes in silence.
He had no idea how long he laid on the floor for but the room grew slowly darker as the sunlight from the skylight faded. So he lay on the floor again and watched the room grow darker and darker until finally exhaustion pulled him down into a fitful sleep.
***
He woke a few hours later and lay there with his eyes closed enjoying the sensation of the cool, wet cloth that was stroking his forehead, and the soft, whispered song that washed over him in the darkness.
He jumped up with a start as the memories flooded back again but as he drew breath to shout the singing stopped and was replaced by an urgent whisper begging him not to make a sound. “Please, please don’t make a noise – if Simon hears me in here with you he really won’t be happy, and who knows what he will do!”
James sat still in the pitch black and forced himself to relax, “Who are you?” he whispered into the darkness.
“I’m Sarah” came the reply. The voice behind the whisper sounded gentle and kind.
“But what are you doing here?” James asked in an urgent, hushed whisper, “and where even is here?” he added.
There was a pause before the reply came back to him, “I’m here because I live here, but I really don’t know where here is”. She had a soft Irish accent which played on her words like a gentle melody.
James reached out into the darkness in the direction of the whisper and his hand touched warm skin. She recoiled slightly at his touch and moved away.
James tried again for answers, “Please Sarah, I need to get out of here. I need to go home. Can you help me?”
He listened in the darkness for her reply but it didn’t come. Instead he heard shuffling and then soft footsteps which got quieter and quieter as they left him all alone.
When he woke the next day there was a glass of water next to him and another glass of what look like soup. He drank the water greedily and took a tentative sip of the soup and found that it wasn’t soup after all. He recognised the taste and texture of whey protein drink instantly from his post work out routine at the gym. This one was vanilla flavoured and he gulped the whole glass down in one go.
The rest of the day passed without event. He tried to see behind the curtain again but the deep, menacing growl that started as he approached warned him not to try. Any noise he made elicited the a fit of loud barking so he made sure to keep as quiet as possible at all times.
He was woken again in the pitch black darkness of night by the same silent stroking of a cool, wet cloth on his forehead. He waited for the momentary panic and fear to pass as he remembered the reality of his current situation, and then lay there for a while enjoying the caring touch against his skin.
“I’m sorry if I scared you last night, I didn’t mean to” he whispered after a while.
“No” she replied, “Don’t be sorry, you weren’t to know. It’s for your own protection that’s all, Simon would be angry if he caught us talking together but he would kill you if he knew I had let you touch me”
“Simon?” James asked in the same hushed whisper, “Is he the giant…” but before he could finish his sentence they heard heavy footsteps from the room behind the curtain and then the muffled jingle of keys.
He heard Sarah’s sharp intake of breath and before he knew what was happening she had disappeared like the wind. James heard a heavy door swing open and a dim, yellow light come on in the room behind the curtain. There was the sound of a heavy door slamming closed, and then a torch beam clicked on. The beam of light shown towards the curtain and after a moment the heavy footsteps came towards him.
The curtain swung open to reveal the outline of the giant’s form. The torch beam swung round the room until it settled on James, the bright illumination making him feel scared and exposed. The brightness of the torch after the pitch black made his eyes hurt and he held up his hands feebly to block the light.
Something metal clanged on the floor next to him and the low, rumbling voice of the giant said “Put one end on your wrist, and attached the other end to that pipe”. He swung the torch to reveal the pipe running along the wall.
James picked up the metal object from the floor and realised it was a pair of handcuffs. He shuffled over to the wall and did as the giant had ordered.
“Good, now don’t try anything clever or you’ll get to meet my friend” and as he said the word ‘friend’ he turned the torch to reveal a pump action shotgun in his other hand.
James started to speak but the giant gave a nasty little laugh and cut him off loudly, “And don’t open your fucking mouth when I’m around. I haven’t decided what to do with you yet, but I have a feeling it will make the decision a lot easier if you don’t shut the fuck up”
James closed his mouth and stood against the wall in silence.
The torch light left him and he turned back to the curtain. As he swung the curtain open, the dog started to bark. “Shut up!” roared the giant so loudly that the voice continued to reverberate around the room . The dog stopped barking immediately and let out a submissive whine.
“Get over here you” James heard the giant say. He heard the soft murmuring of Sarah’s voice but couldn’t make out what she was saying. After a minute or so a slow, rhythmic creaking started which was punctuated by the occasional grunt from the giant. The speed and intensity of the creaking increased gradually until after a few minutes the giant let out a long moan which sounded like a wounded animal.
There was some more rustling and creaking and Sarah’s muffled voice. Then James heard the door swing open again, saw the dim light go out, and then the door slam shut.
After the giant had locked the door again and James was sure he was gone he slid his hand out of the handcuff, which he had left deliberately loose. He couldn’t get back to sleep after that and he lay listening to the rustling noises coming from behind the curtain.
He spent the whole of the next day looking for a way to escape. He tried to find a way to reach the skylight but there was nothing, he looked for a weapon he could use against the giant but there was nothing. Slowly the desperation and despair settled in his stomach like a rock and the hopelessness of his situation set in. He sank down to the floor again, closed his eyes and let his mind wander into happier, more comforting memories.
That night he was waiting for Sarah when she came.
“What’s behind the curtain?” he whispered before she had even sat down.
“Nothing much” she whispered back, “there’s my bed, a tap, a sack of protein powder and that’s about it.” she replied.
“And a door?” James said hurriedly.
“Yes” Sarah whispered back, “A big, heavy, steel door.”
She paused and then added, “If you’re looking for a way out I can tell you that there isn’t one. I’ve been here more than seven years and I’ve scoured every inch of this place. I can tell you that there is nothing, no way of opening the door, no way of tricking him, no way to reach the skylight. There is no escape.”
She said the words kindly but James couldn’t help feeling angry at her resignation. “But maybe you’ve missed something, if I could just see behind the curtain then…”
Sarah cut in, “That isn’t a good idea, I know how you’re feeling right now – I’ve been through it too – but please save yourself the pain of hope and accept that there isn’t going to be any escape.”
James couldn’t believe what she was saying. How could she just accept this as her life? He felt more determined than ever to find a way out of this hell.
He decided to drop the subject and they sat in silence for a while before Sarah start singing softly and stroking his hair. After a while she whispered into the darkness “I’m sorry James”.
“What for?” he asked.
“It’s my fault that you’re hear. I was banging on those pipes because I knew he had someone else in the house and thought you might be able to help me if you knew I was here. But all it has done is ruined your life too” as she said the last word she started to cry softly.
James didn’t know what to say. It was true what she said, if she hadn’t made that noise then he would probably have been able to leave, but there as no way that he could blame her – he imagined that he would do the same if he were in her situation – in fact he was in her situation and he knew for sure that if there was any small chance of escape or help then he would take it.
“It’s ok” he mumbled after a while, “No one could blame you for trying”.
They sat in silence for a minute before Sarah said sadly “If it’s any consolation, he punished me severely for it”.
James was appalled, “That’s awful, of course that isn’t a consolation Sarah. Look, don’t mention it again ok. I understand why you did it and I don’t blame you at all, ok?”
“Ok” she replied sounding a bit happier.
Sarah restarted stroking his forehead with the damp cloth. He was grateful for the touch, he closed his eyes and imagined that he was somewhere else.
He wasn’t aware of falling asleep, but when he next opened his eyes there was a weak light from the early dawn coming through the skylight, and Sarah was gone.
James decided to fight the despair and try to find a way out of the imprisonment. He spent the whole day searching every inch of wall and floor for a weakness or something that he had missed.
He missed Sarah during the day but if he tried calling out to her through the curtain all it did was set the dog barking and she replied with a sharp “Shush!”, so he didn’t try again.
When Sarah came that night he wanted to talk to her about planning an escape but she shut the conversation down straight away. She told him that you couldn’t live in a place like that with hope. Sooner or later it was better to accept your fate and accept the hand you had dealt.
James didn’t agree but didn’t want to push her away so he asked her how she ended up there. She explained how the giant had abducted her when she left a bar in town late one night on her own. She told him how she had spent the first few years living in desperate hope for a rescue of some kind. She told him about her family and her life growing up. Halfway way through a story about her mother, Sarah suddenly froze and then disappeared at the sound of heavy footsteps approaching from the other room.
He spent the next few days trying to come up with an escape plan but didn’t have any luck. Sarah didn’t visit for the next few nights, and he found himself longing desperately for her company and her soft touch.
He was often pulled from sleep by the sound of creaking bedsprings and moaning from behind the curtain. The sounds made him feel sick. Although he had never seen Sarah, she sounded like a sweet and kind woman, certainly not someone that deserved to be treated like the sex slave of a disgusting brute like the giant.
As the days wore on James stopped thinking of escape plans. He stopped searching the room for weaknesses, and slowly, a thick wall of depression started to crush the life out of him.
But all life is routine and, even with the crushing weight of hopelessness, he found himself falling into a routine.
He spent the days lying on the floor with his eyes closed trying to lose himself in happy memories. Occasionally he would try to sneak up to the curtain to peek through and catch a glimpse of Sarah, but the dog was always ready for him and he heard the terrifying growl from the other side before he could get close enough.
Every day he heard the ‘clang’ of the metal door as it swung open and he would rush to the wall to slip the handcuff back on.
But, for the most part, the giant seemed to forget that James even existed. Every now and then would appeared from behind the curtain and remind James that he could kill him anytime he felt like it, but mostly, he just ignored James completely.
He started to live for the nightly visits from Sarah and enjoyed planning what to talk about with her. For her part she seemed to be equally happy to have him as company and they spent long hours in the pitch black having whispered conversations. They made up stories to entertain each other, they asked each other questions about their previous lives, and when the despair got too much for James, and threatened to overwhelm him, she would sing softly to him and stroke his hair until he calmed down.
As they grew closer, James started to feel the stirrings of lust as she stroked his hair and face affectionately. He had always gone for the most attractive girls and prided himself on his trail of gorgeous ex-girlfriends that he had left behind. So it felt very unusual to him to feel attraction and desire for someone that he couldn’t actually see. He hadn’t dared to try and touch her again since the first night when she had recoiled from his touch so he was left frustrated.
Sarah seemed to sensed the growing frustration, and one night he felt the gentle touch of her fingers probing between his legs. She pulled off his boxer shorts and he suddenly felt very self conscious that he hadn’t been able to wash since the day he had arrived.
Sarah either didn’t notice or didn’t care and she gently stroked his cock until it stood rigid and desperate for attention. She gripped his cock firmly and stroked up and down with an almost mechanical rhythm. It did take long for him to climax, and as his balls tightened and he started to cum he felt her lips around the end of his cock. She sucked the cum from his cock and swallowed every last drop. Then she licked his cock clean.
They sat in silence for a while and then, when had recovered, he reached out to feel her body, keen to repay the physical kindness. His hands touched her warm smooth skin but she recoiled quickly and hissed, “No! You can’t touch me, don’t you understand – he will never allow it!”
James apologised and they sat in silence for a while longer. Finally, James broke the silence “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep the mark” he whispered.
Sarah let out a sigh, “It’s okay, honestly. I want to but I just can’t, do you understand? If Simon found out he would kill you.”
James nodded silently in understanding, and then asked “Does it hurt? When you… when he… when, you know…” He trailed off unsure of the words to use to describe the systematic rape that she had to endure every night.
“When who does what?” Sarah replied.
James tried again, “When Simon has… when you and he have… when he has sex with you, does it hurt?” It was a difficult conversation to have via whispering and he struggled to find the right words.
There was a pause before Sarah’s uncertain reply came back to him, “I… didn’t realise you knew about that”
James was surprised by her response, did she think he was deaf? Or an idiot that couldn’t tell what the creaking mattress and moaning meant?
“Of course I noticed” he said, “We practically live and sleep in the same room – how did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
There was another pause before Sarah replied “It isn’t what you think, he doesn’t hurt me at all. It might sound like it but he’s actually very loving you know. And he takes care of me” the defiance in her voice was clear even through hushed whispers.
James was aware of the effects of Stockholm Syndrome so this revelation wasn’t completely surprising to hear, but it still made him feel sick to hear her talk like that about a man that had kidnapped her and held her prisoner as his own personal sex slave for almost eight years.
James couldn’t think how to respond and the silence between them dragged on. When she spoke again it was clear that she was crying, “I know how he seems to people at first, but I promise you, once you get to know him he’s actually very kind and gentle. Just misunderstood, that’s all”
James doubted that very much and had absolutely no desire to get to know him at all. But there was no point in arguing with her, she was clearly under his spell and he didn’t imagine that there was anything her could say that would change her mind.
James couldn’t think of anything to say, and after a while he heard Sarah stand up and leave quietly.
The next day he replayed the conversation over in his head as he sat staring at the curtain. He wondered what Sarah looked like, in his head she was beautiful, but she could easily not be he wouldn’t know.
He knew from the brief touches he had stolen that she had soft skin and was slender and toned, but that was about all he could say for sure. His curiosity about her burned inside him and he wondered about just bursting through the curtain and taking the dog on, but he quickly decided against it. From the brief glimpse he had got of the massive dog he didn’t think he would stand much chance. Even at his peak fitness he would have struggled but the lack of food and exercise meant that he had lost weight since he became a prisoner.
He watched as the light from the skylight faded and the room grew slowly darker. He waited in the dark until he heard the soft footsteps approaching. She felt along the wall until she reached the spot of the floor where he slept and then she sat down.
“Hello you” she said in a friendly whisper.
“Hello” James replied, glad that things between them seemed to be ok after the previous nights conversation.
“About last night…” James started to say but Sarah started talking at the same time. James told her to go first and she said “How are you feeling after our talk last night?”. James thought he picked up a hint of worry in her voice.
James had been thinking about their conversation all day and felt bad that he had been so naïve and unempathetic towards her. He couldn’t imagine how awful it must be to have to endure that disgusting pig fucking her every night for the past seven years, and if her method of dealing with it was to convince herself that it was a loving relationship then that was nothing to do with him.
James reached out and felt for her hand in the dark. When he found it he held it in what he hoped was a loving way, “Look, I’m really sorry Sarah. I really hope you didn’t feel like I was judging you at all, whatever it is that you and he have together, if it makes you happy, or gives you any pleasure at all then you who am I to judge anything?”
Sarah sounded relieved and responded in an excited whispered, “I’m so happy to hear you say that! I knew you would understand, this room is our world now and we have to do whatever we can to be happy!”
James was pleased by her enthusiasm and glad that the air was cleared between them.
Suddenly he felt Sarah’s hand touch his leg followed by her warm breath on his cheek. She put her mouth to his ear and whispered “It means so much to me that you understand James. I want to be with you properly, I want to give my body to you James, no holding back and no inhibitions” and as she said the word ‘inhibitions’ she moved to straddle him and then kissed him hard on the mouth.
He was surprised by the kiss but immediately felt the lust powering through them both. Their tongues pushed into each others mouths and James savoured the opportunity to explore Sarah’s body with his hands. He groped desperately for her breasts and was pleased to feel two large, firm handfuls under her shirt. He ran his hands down to her hips and felt her thin waist. He reached around and ran his hands over her ass which felt round and firm.
Sarah in turned ran her hands over his body. She felt his strong arms flex their muscles as he explored her body. She ran her hands over his muscular chest and down to his ass.
And then, when the frantic desire could no longer be satisfied by touch alone, she reached between his legs, took his hard cock in her hand and rubbed the head of his cock against her pussy.
James felt crazy with desire and thrust desperately to try and enter her, but she had full control of the situation, raising her hips up to prevent him from doing so.
Instead, she continued to rub his cock from her opening to her clit, and back again, covering his cock in her wetness. The sensation was driving James crazy and he let out a moan which caused Sarah to freeze in fear. She clamped her hand over his mouth and whispered “Shhhhh, if we get caught there will be hell to pay”.
She released her hand from his mouth and kissed him long and hard again. Her hand still grasped his cock firmly and she started to rub the head rapidly against her clit. The stimulation for James was intense, almost too much so, but Sarah seemed to be enjoying it too much for him to stop her.
She put her mouth to his ear and breathed heavily into it as she masturbated with increasing intensity. He could sense the orgasm building inside her as her breath got more and more laboured, until all of a sudden her muscles tensed and she held her breath as the waves of orgasm began to roll through her body. As she came she rubbed his cock hard against her pussy and he felt juices squirt over his cock and thighs.
As the orgasm faded she leaned forwards against him, exhausted, and out of breath. James was filled with lust, and desperate for release, but held her lovingly against his body as she recovered.
James was desperate to be inside her, he put his hands on her hips and started to push her down onto his cock. Sarah resisted and whispered into his ear “No, we can’t… I’m on heat.”
James paused for a moment, confused by the phrase – “You mean you’re ovulating?” he asked quizzically, but she did answer him. Instead, she lifted herself off him and took his cock in her mouth. Then she pushed down until the head of his cock hit the back of her throat, she adjusted her angle slightly and pushed further to allow his cock to slip down her throat. She reached out and grabbed his hands and then placed them around either side of her head.
James got the message and started to lift her head up and down. Every time he pushed her head down, she opened up her throat to swallow his whole cock until her lips pressed against his balls.
Sarah devoured his cock like a crazed whore, pausing every few minutes to wretch and cover his cock in the saliva that was pouring from her mouth.
It felt incredible, and as James felt the orgasm building he lost control and rammed her mouth down frantically, harder and harder, on to his cock. Finally he felt his balls tighten and he pumped load after load of warm cum down her throat. Sarah devoured every drop and then licked his cock clean.
James lay for a minute exhausted and trying to get his breath back. Sarah leaned in and gave him a sloppy, wet kiss, and then she was gone, just the sound of padded footsteps retreating into the darkness.
James slept through most of the next day and woke to the dimming evening light. Once the full darkness came he heard the familiar footsteps coming to join him.
Things played out exactly as they had the night before but when it was over and Sarah tried to leave James grabbed her arm to stop her. “Why don’t you ever visit during the day?” he asked.
Sarah was silent for a moment and then whispered “It’s just too risky, I can’t risk Simon catching us together.”
“Would he really care?” James asked, “Surely all he cares about is that he get’s his pleasure – what difference does it make to him what you and I get up to?”
Sarah pulled back from James and he could feel her looking at him even through the pitch black darkness. When she spoke again her voice sounded choked, as if she was trying not to cry, “I thought you understood” she said.
James didn’t understand, but also didn’t want to risk upsetting her, so he replied vaguely “I do understand, of course I do, but… maybe you could help me understand a bit more”
Sarah sniffed quietly in the darkness before responding, “We love each other, I know it might not seem like it from the outside, but we really do. I feel it every time he’s inside me, every time we kiss. If you only knew him like I do then you would realise how kind and caring he is”.
“Ok” said James uncertainly, “I understand, but surely you can see why it is hard for me to believe that can’t you? The way he treats me isn’t exactly kind…”
Sarah sighed lightly but didn’t say anything so James continued, “Maybe, you could speak to him and persuade him to give me a chance, a chance to show him that I don’t deserve to be here, or at least to treat me a bit better.”
Sarah continued to sit in silence until eventually she said “Let me think about it.” And then she was gone.
James woke the next day at the same time and lay on the floor for a while watching the dim light turn to full darkness. Then he waited until he heard the slight rustle of the curtain followed by the quiet footsteps coming towards him.
Before James could say anything he heard her excited voice whisper “I’m going to give you a special treat tomorrow.”
James smiled, “That sounds intriguing, will you tell me what it is?”
She laughed softly, and replied with an excited whisper “I’m going to visit you during the day! I’ve spoken to him about it and he has agreed.”
James was excited, he had spent hours trying to imagine what Sarah looked like. His hands had touched almost every part of her body, and he had formed a vision of her in his head. The idea of finally seeing the reality of this vision made his heart beat faster in both anticipation and worry. What if he was disappointed? What if she was disappointed?
James had always considered himself a good looking guy but the captivity had taken its toll on him. His weight had dropped and with it his muscles had started to disappear. He hadn’t washed in weeks – or was it months? He had no idea. His stubble was overgrown and his clothes were filthy.
“What’s wrong?” Sarah whispered – all the excited gone from her voice, “I thought you’d be happy?”
“Yes of course I am!” James replied, “I’m really excited, its just… my time here has taken its toll. I don’t know if I’m a particularly impressive sight right now.
Sarah leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek, then she hugged him lovingly. “You don’t have to worry about anything like that, I promise you, even if you were a hideous monster it wouldn’t matter to me. We have our own small world and its entirely up to us what we find beautiful and who we love.”
James hugged her back tightly. As they held each other his body reacted to the closeness and blood inevitably started to flow to his cock. Sarah felt his cock hardening against her inner thigh and kissed him on the lips slowly and sensually.
As they continued to kiss Sarah pulled his boxer shorts down to release his cock and then adjusted her legs so that she was straddling him. As she kissed him she started to rock backwards and forwards gently so that her pussy brushed against the tip of his cock.
The movement drove James crazy and he kissed her harder and reached round to grope her ass.
After a few minutes of this Sarah stopped rocking and let the tip of James’ cock rest by her opening. She teased him for a while, slipping the tip of his cock inside her and then quickly pushing her hips up when he tried to push deeper. His cock was slippery from her pussy juices and he longed to be inside her. James was amazing at the juices which seemed to overflow from her pussy, covering his cock in an endless stream of slippery wetness.
After a few minutes of teasing she put the tip of his cock inside pussy and put a hand on his stomach to indicate that he couldn’t move. She stayed like that for a few seconds and then, just when James couldn’t take the frustration any more, she push down hard so that his full length entered her pussy.
The feeling of her warm, wet pussy swallowing his rock hard cock felt like heaven to James. He leaned his head forward so that he could lick and suck on her hard nipples. The sensation was intense and it wasn’t log before he felt the tell tale sensation of impending orgasm. He grabbed her hips and slammed her down onto his cock harder and harder until his cock exploded, pumping load after load of cum deep inside.
They rested for a moment to get their breath back before Sarah leaned in and whispered “I’ll see you tomorrow” and gave him one last lingering kiss before she left.
***
James was woken from his sleep by the feeling of a hand over his mouth, “Shhhhhhhh….” whispered Sarah nervously. James opened his eyes confused and squinted into the dim room at the blurry shape before him. The conversation from the previous night came flooding back to him and he realised that Sarah was before him.
He suddenly felt very exposed and self conscious. Aware of his messy hair, of his morning breath, of his dirty clothes, of his overgrown beard. He blinked a few times to try and clear his vision and, as the world came slowly into focus, he saw Sarah for the first time.
She had long, golden hair that she had half wrapped into a knot at the back, leaving little ringlets hanging loose. She had big, bright blue eyes with laughter lines at the corners that gave her permanently joyful look. Her nose was cute and little. Her lips were full and she had a smile that stole his heart in an instant.
In summary, she was absolutely beautiful. Not in the high maintenance, trying hard way that most of the girls James had been with were. Sarah’s beauty was easy and natural and James felt his heart ache to have him as his own.
She wore a tattered, old t-shirt which was washed out gray and about five sizes too big for her. Sarah had wrapped an old, black belt around her waist which had the effect of turning the t-shirt in to a figure hugging, very short dress. The line of the t-shirt followed her body and showed off her small, slender frame beneath.
The whole package was one of pure sexual beauty. As James continued to stare at her she gave small, shy laugh and looked at the floor in embarrassment.
“Well…” she whispered “Am I ok? or are you disappointed?”
James sat in stunned silence staring at her for a moment before he whispered eagerly “You are beyond anything I could have imagined! My god, you are beautiful! I can’t believe it!
Sarah looked pleased but continued to look down at the floor shyly.
“And what about me?” James asked “I’m not the man I used to be” he added softly.
Sarah threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, “You are perfect.” she said simply.
James kissed her back and let his hands explore her body which felt different now that he could see her. He started at her gorgeous, toned legs, then moved to her perfect, round ass, and finally up to her full breasts hidden under t-shirt.
After a while he reached his hand between her legs to touch her pussy but she pushed his hand away and whispered “No”.
James gave her a questioning look which she returned with an apologetic expression, “We can’t not during the day, not until Simon says its ok for us to be together properly” she whispered in response.
James felt the same frustration that he had felt before at her concern for the feelings of a man that had shown no concern whatsoever for him. But he swallowed the feeling down and nodded his understanding.
“You said you were going to try to talk to Simon and see if he might be ok with getting to know me a bit better?” James asked hopefully, “after we got off on the wrong foot…” he added hopefully.
Sarah looked nervous and said “I will… but I don’t want to rush it. He can be very dangerous, and if he reacts badly then…” she trailed off leaving James to think of the consequences.
“Ok, well, whatever you think is best I guess” said James, “As long as I can still see you at night?” She smiled in response, “Yes of course, I would never give up our night time heaven”.
Suddenly they heard footsteps approaching from behind the current and she scampered off quickly behind the curtain.
James listened as the heavy door swung open and the giant stomped into the room. Then he heard Sarah yell out in pain and the dog start barking menacingly. “Shut the fuck up you!” the giant shouted and then James heard a thump and the dog yelped in pain.
“Get on the bed you whore” the giant grunted. He heard muffled footsteps and then some rustling followed by the now familiar rhythmic creaking of the bed.
James felt full of sadness and confusion as he listened. How could she have any feelings for this ugly, brute of a man when he treated her so badly? Was Stockholm Syndrome really that strong? After a while he couldn’t stand it any more and he put his hands over his ears to block the sound.
***
The cycle continued and what had seemed crazy a few months ago started to feel like normal life. During the day James would sleep and then wake in the evening to find water and a glass of the protein drink next to him. Then he would wait until darkness for Sarah to appear and they would make love. After that he would fall asleep, and the whole thing would repeat again.
The daily protein drink seemed to be enough to keep him alive but not enough to stop him losing weight. Without a mirror James could only guess at his skinny appearance judging by how thin his arms and legs had got.
He made an effort to record the days by making a scratch on the wall with a small stone he found, but he couldn’t be sure that he hadn’t missed any days.
His clothes grew more and more tatty. The only item of clothing that remained ok were his big work boots which he didn’t even bother wearing any more, they just sat in the corner collecting dust.
The night of day 340 (by his reckoning) started in the normal way, he waited for Sarah to approach and then tried to kiss her but she stopped him. “Wait, I’ve got some good news” she said.
James couldn’t think of anything that could possibly count as good news in their current situation, “What is it?” he asked uncertainly.
“Simon will meet you!” she said in an exited whisper, “Isn’t that exciting? I would love it so much if the two of you could be friends”
James didn’t think there was much chance of that but he also knew that he had to try something if there was to be any chance of him getting out of the prison alive.
“That’s great news” he said, trying to sound enthusiastic, “When and how?”
“This is the plan, and it is very important that you follow this plan exactly ok?”
James nodded and she carried on, “I’ll call through the curtain to you tomorrow when he is ready to meet ok?”
“Ok” said James as he felt the nerves growing inside him. This could end very badly he thought.
His nerves were soon forgotten when she leaned in and whispered into his ear, “I’m on heat right now but in celebration of the good news, how would you like a special treat?
James winced again at the unusual phrase but was intrigued to learn what she had in mind, “What kind of special treat?” he asked.
Sarah didn’t reply, instead she leaned down and started sucking his cock. James was soon hard and waited in anticipation to see what she had in mind.
When he was fully hard Sarah stopped sucking and he felt her move away and change position. “Reach forward” she said.
James reached in front of him with his hands and then shuffled forwards on his knees. His hands rested on her perfect, round ass which he immediately started to grope. His hand bumped against something and he probed with his fingers to find her fingering her asshole, pushing three fingers in and out in rapid succession.
He moved into position behind her and she pushed her ass back and wiggled her hips so that her asshole rubbed against the tip of his cock. There was something about the animalistic action that turned him on and he grabbed her hips ready to fuck her. She reached around and took his cock in her hand and then pressed the head against her sphincter. Then she pushed the tip in and out with the same trick she had done when they first had sex, rubbing his cock against her asshole rapidly as she continued to finger herself. Every now and then she would stop with her fingers and reach round to her pussy. Then she plunged her fingers into her pussy to cover them in her juices and returned to fingering her ass.
After a few minutes of this she put the head of his cock back inside her ass, and then pushed back hard against him so that his whole cock entered her ass in one movement. James had to fight hard to suppress a moan of pleasure from escaping his lips.
He felt her start to rub her pussy and he started thrusting hard into her ass. The stimulation was intense and after a few minutes of pounding her ass he felt the surges of a strong orgasm ripple through him as he spurted warm cum inside her ass.
He left his cock inside her as the orgasm faded away, and as his cock grew soft inside her ass, Sarah started to cum hard. He felt her ass muscles contracting in waves around his cock and the final contraction was strong enough to push his limp cock out of her asshole. As it slipped out of her she let out a loud, wet fart as air and cum gushed out after his cock. The sound was loud enough to start the dog barking. Sarah swore under breath and left quickly to quieten the dog, not even saying goodbye to James.
***
James woke the next day dazed and confused to the sound of Sarah’s voice calling his name. He sat up and stretched, then sat for a moment trying to gather his thoughts. Slowly the conversation from the previous night came back to him and a wave of nausea spread from his stomach to his throat. The giant had ignored James almost entirely since he captured him and it filled him with terror to risk rocking the boat.
Sarah called his name again and he slowly got to his feet. He walked up to the curtain and stopped so he could take a deep breath and calm his racing heart. He stood awkwardly for a moment, unsure if he could just walk through the curtain into the room or if he should announce himself first. He decided on the latter and tried to call out to Sarah but his voice stuck in his throat.
He realised with a shock that he hadn’t spoken out loud for over ten months. The sound that came out was a hoarse whisper which hurt his throat and caused him to cough heavily. The coughing elicited a loud bark from the other side of the curtain which put James’ nerves on edge, but the barking stopped as quickly as it had started.
After James had finally recovered from his coughing fit he decided to just get things over and done with. He pulled aside the curtain and stepped in to the room.
The room was very similar to his but with the exception of the heavy metal door, a bed, and a small overhead strip-light. In the corner of the room James saw two huge sacks, one apparently dog food, and the other protein powder.
He found Sarah in the dim light standing awkwardly on the other side of the room holding onto a chain which was attached to the dogs collar, The dog was growling in a low, menacing way and staring at James with unblinking focus. Now that he could finally see the dog up close, he realised that it was even more terrifying than he had imagined.
It was a cross between a Rottweiler and a Dobermann, black all over with strong shoulders which were almost as high as James’ hips. It was a dog bred for fighting and killing, powerful muscles and sharp teeth, at it looked terrifying.
James looked at Sarah and gave her a weak smile as he wondered whether she was strong enough to hold the dog back if it went for him. Sarah gave him a gorgeous, warm smile in return. The warmth settled in his stomach and he suddenly felt more relaxed.
There was no sign of the giant which was a relief but also concerning.
“Hi” said James simply.
Sarah laughed nervously and returned his greeting.
“So… what’s the plan?” James asked.
Sarah shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know, there isn’t a plan really… I just kind of hoped that if I could just get the two of you in the same room together it would be a good started.”
Now it was James’ turn to laugh nervously, “But you’ve definitely spoken to him right? And he is ok to meet?”
Sarah gave James an odd look and said “Yes of course, if I hadn’t you wouldn’t even be allowed in this room.”
The light from the skylight barely reach into this room and James went to turn on the light switch, but Sarah shouted at him to stop, “I’m not allowed to use the light when he isn’t here” she said, “it wastes electricity.”
James sighed and walked over to the old, worn out bed. He pushed down on it a few times to check it would take his weight and then sat on it. As he sat down it made the low creaking sound which he had become so accustomed to hearing during the giant’s visits to Sarah. The thought of that monster having sex on such a dirty, old bed with someone as beautiful as Sarah made him shudder.
James sat on the bed and looked around as he waited for the giant to make his appearance. He saw her small pile of clothes stacked neatly in the corner. He saw the tap in the corner of the room that was the single source of water for both of them.
Sarah watched him intently as he looked around the room. James’ heart ached with sadness for everything that had been taken from this beautiful woman that stood before him. She could have had a life full of fun and adventure, but instead she was here in this abusive shithole.
As he sat lost in his thoughts he became aware that the dog was slowly edging towards him, watching him all the time and sniffing the air intently. The growling had stopped which was a relief. He wandered briefly what he would do if the damn dog went for him. It had cowered before the giant, but that was understandable. James tried not to think about it and decided to just ignore the dogs advances.
The dog continued to get closer and closer as James waited on the bed until its head was about a foot away from his own. He couldn’t ignore it any longer, the stench of dog breath and the intensity with which it was staring at him made it impossible.
James shuffled along the bed to get away, but the dog just started edging closer to him again. When it was close enough it started to sniff his face, getting close enough to leave trails of slobber on him. James pulled away in disgust and shuffled even further down the bed.
Suddenly Sarah shouted at him angrily “What the fuck James? What the hell are you doing?”
James looked at her in absolute bewilderment, surely she could see how disgusting it was to have this overgrown, smelly beast slobber all over his face. “I’m just trying to wait here in peace but this dog won’t leave me alone.” he said back to her, trying not to shout.
“Well how on earth did you ever expect to get to know each other? Dogs have to smell James – its how they get to know people!” she hissed at him. “If you don’t want to try and be friends with him then fine – but don’t be surprised if he stops letting me see you!”
Tears were welling up in Sarah’s eyes as she shouted and the dog started to make the low, rumbling growl again, but Sarah wasn’t done yelling “Why the fuck did you even say you wanted to meet if you were going to act like this? Do you think it was easy for me to persuade him to give you a chance?!”
James felt like he was missing a key part of an important puzzle. He stared at Sarah in confusion as he tried to piece together what she was saying.
“Did you want me to meet this dog today?” he asked feelingly completely confused, “is this Simon?”
Now it was Sarah’s turn to look at him in confusion, “Of course this is Simon, who else would Simon be?” she asked in an exasperated voice.
“I assumed you were talking about the fucking giant psychopath that kidnapped us – not your dog! Why would I want to meet your dog?” He shouted.
Sarah looked horrified and turned her attention to the dog, Simon, who had started to whimper and whine. “See what you’ve done? You’ve upset him you heartless prick!”
She knelt down next to the dog and started to stroke him. She pressed her face against his and started to whisper reassuringly to him. The dog, who was apparently called Simon, started to lick her face all over but Sarah didn’t seem to mind at all.
“What… the fuck.” said James after a while.
“Oh fuck off James” replied Sarah simply as she continued to fuss over the dog.
James had a thousand questions he wanted to ask, but all he could think to say was “What the actual fuck Sarah?”
Sarah turned to look at him and he saw hurt and anger in her eyes.
“Why are you acting like this James? You said you wanted to meet him – it was you that asked – not me! And now you’re acting like you don’t give a shit!” she asked.
“I thought you were talking about the giant! I thought he was Simon!” James replied in exasperation.
Now it was Sarah’s turn to look disgusted “Him? That fucking disgusting rapist piece of shit? You actually thought I would care about him?!”
“Well…” said James looking from Sarah, to the dog, and then back to again, “I just didn’t think… this, that’s all” he said.
They waited in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes as Sarah reassured Simon and he continued to lick her face. After a while he stopped and walked over to the corner of the room, curled into a ball on the floor, and went to sleep.
The awkward silence continued for a while, but James just couldn’t think of anything to say. Sarah’s jaw was clenched defiantly as she sat on the bed fiddling with a loose thread from the bed sheet.
James couldn’t think of anything to say to her so he just stood up and left the room. There were no more visits from Sarah either during the day or night, and he didn’t make any effort to talk to her. James felt deeply confused by the whole situation, but as time passed he felt the tug of compassion and empathy towards her. He was acutely aware of the nightmare that Sarah had lived through for many years and it was he could understand that she had to find love and comfort wherever she could.
The loneliness gnawed at his soul and he missed Sarah deeply. He could also see that it was pointless to ruin their friendship, they were the only two people in their small world and that was that – for better or for worse.
Later that afternoon, after the giant had been and gone, Poked his head through the curtain to check on Sarah. He saw her sleeping on the bed cuddled up closely to Simon, who was watching James silently. Sarah looked so beautiful and innocent as she slept, and he hoped that she was able to escape from the daily horrors of life in her dreams.
He walked over to the bed but, as he approached, Sarah stirred and opened her eyes. When she saw James she sat up and looked suddenly miserable. He moved to sit next to her on the bed. Then he reached out and took her hand in his and then sat like that for a while. When he eventually turned to look at her he saw tears rolling silently down her cheeks.
He pulled her in for a proper hug and she rested her head softly on his shoulder. He hugged her tightly and she squeezed him back just as hard. After a while he felt Simon’s heavy head nuzzling to get into the embrace. James reached down and scratched him behind the ears. Simon pushed his head into into James’ hand forcing him to scratch harder, and then started licking his arm.
James sat in silence with the two of them for a long time, just enjoying the company and the peace. He wanted to fall asleep on the bed so badly but he knew he could risk the giant finding them together so he hauled himself to his feet and went back to the other room to sleep.
***
The next few weeks was a great improvement for James, now that he could visit the room behind the curtain he spent all his waking hours there. He and Sarah talked for hours and grew even closer than they had been before.
Sarah began visiting James at night again, and the feeling of having their own secret night time world plus the day time company felt almost close to happiness.
But all good thing must come to an end and this happy period ended abruptly when the giant stormed into the room unannounced and caught Sarah and James together. He beat James so badly that he was unconscious for hours, and when James woke up he found that the curtain had been replaced by metal bars meaning he was completely trapped.
This sent James into the depths of depression. Sarah tried to cheer him up but she had her own problems. Ever since the giant had found her and James together he had become increasingly violent with her. She tried to downplay it at first, telling James that he had done far worse and it would stop soon. But James could tell that she was worried, it was only a matter of time until one of the beatings did permanent damage and James knew that if something happened to Sarah then he wouldn’t be able to live without her.
He resolved to either escape or die trying. He discussed various plans with Sarah but they all seemed impossible. The giant was too careful, he had his shotgun with him at all times, James was now behind bars so couldn’t do anything, and – even if the shotgun wasn’t there – the giant could kill either of them easily with bare hands.
Sarah and James spent the days searching every inch of the cells for anything that they could have missed: anything that could be used as a sharp object, or a weapon of any kind.
They had a moment of excitement after James took apart his work boots and found a four inch long metal support inside each one. He worked through the night scraping them against the floor of his cell to sharpen them. But when morning came and he and Sarah examined them they were disappoint to see that they didn’t offer much hope. They could probably be used to stab the giant but they wouldn’t cause much more than a flesh wound – certainly nothing quick enough to stop him from retaliating.
They found nothing else and as the days went by they started to despair.
One night James watched through the metal bars from the shadows of his cell as the giant entered for one of his visits. He wanted to see if there was any part of the routine that they could take advantage of.
First of all the heavy door was unlocked and swung open, then the giant turned the dim, yellow light on and looked carefully around the room. Once he was happy that there wasn’t an ambush waiting, he walked in with his shotgun pointed ahead and then closed the door firmly behind him. He dragged Sarah over to the bed and did what he wanted with her then he pulled up his trousers and left.
When he left it was the same process in reverse, walk backwards through the door with his shotgun pointed at Sarah, one last look around the room before turning the light off and quickly closing and locking the door behind him.
James recounted every single step of the process trying to think of something that would have a high chance of success.
The idea came to him suddenly in the early hours of the night and he sat bolt upright in excitement. It was far from guaranteed to work but he knew it was definitely the best chance they had.
He couldn’t wait to tell Sarah so he called to her quietly through the bars until she woke up and then told her to come over to the bars.
She was blurry eyed with sleep but soon grew excited by his plan. He explained every single thing that she needed to do in fine detail and they spent the next week getting everything ready.
When the day finally arrived, James and Sarah couldn’t sleep because of the anticipation and nerves. They met at the bars at dawn and went over the plan one last time just to make sure.
Then they waited. There was no set time that the giant would arrive but it was usually sometime in the afternoon. Sarah looked terrified and kept glancing at the door every few seconds.
The footsteps finally came in the late evening. Sarah glanced at James who tried to give her a reassuring smile.
James faded into the darkness off his cell and listened intently.
He heard the door swing open and then saw the dim yellow light flick on. More footsteps and then he heard the giant’s low, menacing voice “Get over here whore”.
James was both pleased and disappointed to hear slurring in the giant’s words. Pleased because it meant the plan was more likely to work but disappointed because he usually beat Sarah pretty badly when he was drunk.
There was a smack and a yell from Sarah and then the bed let out a long creaking groan as it felt the weight of Sarah and the giant. James listened with growing excitement to the rhythmic creaking of the bed, a sound which normally filled him with rage and disgust.
The creaking sounds were punctuated by dull thumps followed by shrieks of pain from Sarah.
Finally, he heard the giant climax and then after a few minutes he heard the familiar creaking of the bed as the giant stood up. Heavy footsteps and then the click of the light switch and then darkness. Finally, the heavy door swung shut, but unlike all the other times, the was a loud thud as the door failed to close.
“What the fuck” shouted the giant in the darkness. Then there were a few seconds of muffled noises and shuffling before the giant let out a loud cry of pain. “You fucking bitch!” he roared “I’ll make you pay for that, don’t think I won’t – you’re going to regret this for the rest of your short life you whore!”.
Then James heard the click of the light switch following by a long, tortured scream of agony from the giant. James saw the dim yellow light flicker and dip through the curtain as electricity surged through the metal hooks which were now embedded in the giants legs, and through his giant, troll-like body.
The screaming and commotion set Simon off barking which further added to the chaos.
After about 30 seconds the screaming stopped and a smell of burning meat filled the room.
“Ok turn it off!” James yelled to Sarah. The light switch clicked again and everything went dark. “Now run Sarah and don’t look back – get out of here and get help!”
He heard her pick something up and then he heard her soft footsteps fading away. After a few minutes he heard a shotgun blast and marvelled at her planning as he realised that she had used the giant’s shotgun to blast through the door at the top of the basement stairs.
***
As dawn arrived, the scene from the room next door was slowly revealed to him. He saw the chain that they had used as a dog lead dangling from the industrial light fitting. He saw the two bits of metal from his shoes which he had painstakingly fashioned into two barbed hooks and attached to the end of the chain. And finally, with a mixture of relief and revulsion, he saw the giant’s charred body lying face down by the door. Simon was busy gnawing away at one of his legs and James had to turn away to avoid throwing up.
When help arrived a few hours later James cried with relief. As the support officer cut through the bars Sarah appeared at the door way looking like the most radiantly beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had new clothes on; clean, tidy hair; and a look of such loving concern that James felt his heard ache to hug her again.
When the bars were finally removed they hugged tightly for 10 full minutes. Simon came and nuzzled at their legs so James reached down and scratched his ears affectionately.
The media storm was intense after they left Sarah didn’t want any publicity but James persuaded her that they could do a few controlled interviews and make enough money to set them up comfortably in a new house.
They did the interviews – and a chat show – and then bought a house in the country for the three of them, and let the media interest fade away without them.
The End