It was dark, the pitch black of a coal mine three miles down and my head hurt. Instinctively, I tried to touch the pain, my hands hardly moved, the effort caused pressure on my ankles, I was lying on a cold floor and bound with what felt like rope. I panicked, chest heaving, breath louder than usual, there seemed to be a thick hood over my head. I tried to move, rope was around my arms, waist and thighs where it held my ankles which were bent back painfully, lashed to both wrists. The effort of trying to move caused the hood around my neck to tighten, restricting my airway, there must be a noose tied to a fixed point. I cautiously eased my head back to where it was, the pressure reduced and I could breathe more easily, where was I? How did I get into this situation?
I thought back to earlier this evening, my friends were celebrating Don's birthday, he was the last to reach eighteen, we had all started senior school together and usually hung out, tonight we were drinking beer. All six of us had gone to a burger bar but only the two most sober had ordered for the rest, I had to use the john. Having downed too many beers, I had wedged myself between the wall and a urinal, fumbling to undo buttons on both jeans and underpants, giving up, I pushed the waist bands down, desperate to take a piss and of course they slithered down my legs. Bending to retrieve them, my legs gave way and . . . the memory stopped right there, now here I am - wherever that is.
The guys wouldn't do this, we lark about but this is serious stuff, I listened, straining to hear any clue as to my whereabouts. Nothing, I was cold but it didn't seem like I was outdoors, no traffic sounds or wind, thinking of wind reminded me that my belly was rumbling and the need to piss was as strong as ever. I needed more than ever to go, I shouted that I needed a piss but it sounded muffled even to my ears. By now I was squeezing my legs together and jiggling around on the floor, bursting to go, then suddenly, need overcame control and I wet myself.
It warmed me at first, I could feel the clothes over my lower body were soaked, before long even my back was wet, I lay in piss, it soon cooled. I must be on concrete, the cold soon had me shivering, a dangerous thing when my neck was in a noose, I made a tentative move in the direction I thought my tether was fixed but I couldn't ease the tight noose. Who would tie me up? I didn't know anybody with a lot of money, it couldn't be for ransom.
A noise, soft but in my near vicinity, a door? Footsteps, rubber soled shoes but placed heavily, a man. A diffuse light, so I had been in the dark with a hood on. The noose was loosened and the hood removed, I closed my eyes, the light was so bright.
"You've wet yourself," a surprisingly gentle voice, "Let's get you out of those wet things."
He was a good looking guy, mid twenties I'd say, fair hair like mine, cut shorter and he wore glasses. The blue jeans and green logo on a white T shirt he wore had been washed many times, faded into obscurity. He deftly undid the ropes but kept the noose on, it was taut but thankfully not restricting my breathing. Now secured only by neck and ankles, I wondered if I should fight him, a pull on my ankle bonds soon banished that thought, as my breath was partially cut off.
"We should establish one rule," he said, "You do everything I say and maybe I don't hurt you."
What could I do? He took off the noose and put a heavy studded leather collar around my neck, adjusting it so it was a fairly tight fit, I could feel each metal stud on my skin. He warily removed the ropes from my ankles, I leapt to my feet prepared to fight but he touched a button on the box on his belt, I felt a violent electrical jolt to the neck.
"That's just a small taste of what could be a paralysing shock," he explained, "Take off your clothes."
I've seen anti bark collars on dogs and know they will subdue a large vicious animal but decided to test his statement of just how disabling it can be. I started to strip off and although he relaxed a little, he kept one hand on the box, now down to my boxers, he turned to open a valve on the wall which operated a shower head in one corner of the room. This was my chance, I leapt forward and kicked out at him but he was quick, dodging my leg and touching the button at his belt. A sudden spike of electricity grabbed my neck, throttling me, I sank to the floor fighting for breath, pulling futilely at the collar as he continued to press the button. All I could think of was the pain, my throat was closing up as my chest laboured, my sight was reducing around the periphery, very soon I would black out.
"That's half power," he said, "Do you want to try for more?"
I shook my head, no, stood and removed my boxers, he smiled in triumph, pointing to the shower.
The water was freezing, I washed quickly, rapid hands both washing and massaging some heat into my skin. Taking a quick look in his direction, he was gathering up my clothes and putting them in a bag, gone before I left the shower. I walked from the shower still massaging my skin, there wasn't a towel or any scrap of paper or cloth I could use to dry myself, so I jogged around to warm up. There were no windows and just the one door, it had a small hatch but even my knee wouldn't fit through it, I looked for anomalies at the bottom of the walls where perhaps a door might be covered over, or air vents that had been plastered to match the walls - nothing.