I groggily woke up what seemed like a few hours later. The sky was still dark so I assumed it was still the same night. Slowly things became clearer. I was still in a car, and it was moving fairly quickly. We must have been going highway speed. It was hard to tell because I was lying down across the back seat with my head in someone's lap. I was afraid to open my eyes more than a slit for fear of being discovered awake. Suddenly I realized that I needed to go to the bathroom very badly. Oh, shit. What a thing to notice at a time like this! I resolved to hold it as long as I could but my legs involuntarily squeezed together and made something attached to my ankles clink a bit. Curious and frightened, I figured I was discovered anyway and wanted to see what made that noise, so I tried moving my head to the edge of his knees to look down but felt something around my neck holding me in place. Reacting to my predicament, I tried raising my hands to my neck to feel what was there when I noticed they were locked behind my back.
"Ah, I see someone is awake. Too bad she's not going anywhere, are you my little prisoner?" my attacker laughed. My heart raced. Stay calm and don't lose your cool, I thought to myself. I tried plotting a way to get out of the car and away from them, but what could I do? I'd have to think of some reason for them to take off these restraints. Perhaps if I made them think I was weak and scared, they wouldn't be so careful.
In the meekest possible voice I could muster, I asked, "Please, I need to go to the bathroom. Can we stop somewhere?"
"You'll go when I fucking let you go. Until then, shut the fuck up!" the man yelled down at me as he grabbed my face in his left hand. We rode on for a while and then he told the man driving to pull over at a small 24-hour gas station up ahead. Unfortunately for me, it was one of those gas stations where the bathroom is outside the building and you need a key to get in. The driver went in the gas station to get the key while the man in the back seat with me removed the black leather ankle cuffs and collar. He kept the wrist cuffs on as he pulled me into the now unlocked bathroom. Once inside, he turned on the light and shoved me against the far wall. He had his back to me for a second as he locked the door and when he turned around I finally saw his face in full view.
It was the same man that was staring at me from the karaoke club. But now that I could see his face plainly, I recognized the deep green eyes and rough facial features that I had fawned over all those years ago. "Jake?" I asked, my eyes wide with disbelief.
"That's right, you fucking bitch. Ever since Shay and I got out we've been planning to get you back. Say goodbye to your old life. You're ours now," he growled as he stalked closer and closer to me, looming over my body before raising his arm and powerfully backhanding me across the face. I fell to the floor in that dirty public bathroom, not being able to catch my balance with my hands still cuffed behind my back. Realizing now who I was dealing with, I knew I had to get away from them, and soon. But I needed these cuffs off before I could attempt to escape.
"I'm sorry!" I shrieked. "I didn't mean for you to get sent to jail. I'll do anything, just please let me go!" I wanted him to think I felt helpless. It was my only chance to break away.
"Shut up and piss, NOW! I'm not wasting my time with you," he yelled back.