This fic was based on real events, brought to my attention by a conversation with Kim. There are some very sick people in this world, and I'm thankful to say that I have never met any of them. All I'd like to say is, don't get on the wrong side of the track.
'Hey, Matt?' I stopped in the middle of the road.
'Yeah?' Matt glanced at me; I smiled back.
'I'm just going to go and get some jelly babies, you want some?'
'What the hell you buying sweets for?' he replied, raising an eyebrow.
'Because, I've got 75p left, and there's a shop.. ..over there,' I said, beaming at him like an abandoned puppy waiting to be adopted. 'Pleaseeeee???'
Matt gritted his teeth and burst out laughing. 'You're such a weird girl, you are,' he smiled. 'Okay, but don't be too long.'
'I won't.'
Matt sighed. 'Well, go, then!'
I ran into the shop, pigtails flailing behind my head, money clinking in my pocket.
It's amazing how innocent I was back then; I was eleven, twelve the very next Tuesday. I lived in a small town just an hour away from London, and everyone knew everyone. Rich or poor, large or little, black or white, male or female, everyone respected and trusted one another. I thought I could trust everyone, but I was badly mistaken. It still haunts me, to this day. And if one person hadn't saved me, I might not have lived to tell the tale.
Matt was my best mate, and he still is. While he waited outside on his bike, I ran into the shop, and peered through the many glass bell jars holding sweets on the shelves. I licked my lips in anticipation and grinned at the shopkeeper. She smiled weakly back at me, and drummed her fingers patiently on the wooden countertop. 'What'll it be, Emily?' she asked.
'Err.... ....a handful of jelly babies.. ....and a big swirly lollipop,' I replied, handing over my money, and counting tentatively in my hand.
'Thank you,' she said, politely taking the money, and handing me 5p change. 'Here you go.'
'Thanks.' I was already delving into the back of sweets, trying desperately to stop myself munching the whole bag.
The shopkeeper leant into me, and gave me a stern look. 'Now you be careful on your way home, won't you?'
'Oh, I will, I always am, aren't I? Why, what's the trouble?'
The shopkeeper swallowed nervously and beckoned for me to come closer so she could whisper something into my ear. 'Well, between you and me, there are people in this world who can't keep their hands off little girls like you, Emily,' she hissed, almost spitting into my ear.
'I'm careful, though, aren't I? I never talk to strangers. What's happened now?'
'Just this time last week, Kate went missing, you know that?'
'Yes.' I nodded. A girl in my class had gone missing the following week, and although the police were everywhere searching frantically for her, she had not been found. They had, however, found a bag of sweets with her fingerprints on them, which meant that the sweet shop was most probably a target for perverts. My parents hadn't worried about it; after all, who would kidnap their conscientious daughter? It hadn't happened to them, so they needn't worry. Yet.
'Well, you just keep your guard.'
'Oh, I will.'
'And say hello to your mother for me.'
'I will, Mrs Jenkins, trust me!'
I skipped out of the swinging door. The bell on it rang over and over in my head. I scanned the pavement for Matt and his bike, but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, in his place, was a man I hadn't seen before, who looked a bit like my dad. I ran over to him, and immediately forgot what Mrs Jenkins had told me about strangers.
'Erm, excuse me?'
The man turned around to face me. He was much, much taller than I was, and looked like he was waiting for someone. 'Yes?' he said, in an unusual voice. I could tell that he wasn't from the area.
'Have you seen a boy.. ..anywhere around here? He was waiting for me with a bike,' I said. The man crouched down to my height, and I walked backwards, a tad taken aback by this. 'What does he look like?' the man asked, stroking my hair. I wasn't in the slightest bit freaked out, but carried on talking.
'He's.. ..umm, about my height, and he has brown hair, and big brown eyes, and he's called Matt. Sometimes Matthew, never Mattie.'
'I'm guessing this boy is your boyfriend?'
I nodded, but then shook my head. 'He's just a friend who happens to be a boy, for your information,' I said, riding back on my heels. I wondered why he had even asked me that question, and shivered. I looked up at the sky. He did too. It was getting dark.
'Listen, kid, do you, erm, want a ride home?' he asked, pulling up the collar on his leather jacket. 'Your parents will probably be wondering where you are.'
I know I should have said 'No, thanks, I can walk', but I really was getting cold. The mysterious guy rubbed his hands up and down my bare arms to warm me up. I looked up again, and a raindrop fell onto my nose. 'It's raining.'
'I know,' the man said, with a slight hastiness in his voice. 'If we don't get moving, you'll catch a cold. So do you want a lift or not?'
I crossed my arms and rocked from side to side. 'Yes, that would be so nice, thanks,' I said. 'I live at 45, Alexandra Road,' I smiled. 'Do you know where that is?'
'Yes, I do,' he said. 'I know it well. Come on, kid, what's your name?'
'Emily.'
'Well, come on then, Emily,' he said, leading me down the pavement, to a white car.
I woke up, and blinked. The whole world flickered before my eyes. I looked around the room I was in, and knew instantly that I wasn't at home. There were ropes around my waist, holding me down, and on the floor. My hair was wet, and my mouth was parched with thirst. I called out for somebody, and then realised that I hadn't even asked the man's name.
'He won't come for you. He hasn't come for the rest of us in two weeks, except to rape us,' an older girl beside me said. 'How did you get here?'
'I don't know, but where is he? He promised to take me home!' I wailed, writhing about in the ropes, which were burning my skin.
'That just goes to show, never trust strangers,' the older girl said, in a resonant, deep voice. 'He's one hell of a perv. There shouldn't be people like that in this country.'
I looked at her. She looked about sixteen, and her hair was dull and matted. Half her shirt had been ripped, and she had cuts on every inch of bare skin. She had a pained look, like she'd been there for sometime. 'How did you get here?' I asked.
The girl spat on the grey cellar floor outside the cell that confined us to the room. 'He'd been after me for six whole weeks,' she said, kicking at the railings of the cell. 'Finally, he got me. But only after I was drunk. I thought he wasn't after kids like you.'
I was struck by the fact that she had never mentioned his name. I tried to bite myself out of the ropes, but they tasted disgusting, and I shrunk back into my place. Suddenly, a noise came from some stairs to my left, and I saw the very same man who had kidnapped me, standing there.
He ran down the stairs, and smirked at the girl. He then looked at me. 'Stephanie is dead!' he said, smiling wickedly. He turned to the older girl. 'Let that be a lesson to you all, to never try to escape. If you do, I'll just get you pregnant, and you'll be bound to me. Forever.'
'Idiot!' the girl shouted, spitting at him and thrashing about in her ropes. 'What have you done to her, eh? You won't get away with this!'
'Never you mind,' the man said, opening the door of the cell and literally throwing the girl to the floor. She wrestled with the ropes gripping her hands, and screamed. The man put his hand over her mouth, and undid the ropes. He then walked over to her and shoved her against the wall. I closed my eyes, as I heard the muffled screams from outside the cell, and shivered at the fact that he might one day do the same to me.
I heard the footsteps that meant that he was gone. I opened my eyes, and saw the girl, crying, by the side of the dingy cellar. 'Are you alright?' I asked, in a hushed voice, in case he came downstairs and attacked me.
'No, what, does it look like I'm ok?' she snapped, looking down at herself worriedly. 'Do I have a cut on my face?' she asked.
'No, just a minor scratch,' I said. 'What did he do to you?'
The girl winced and shook her head. 'I don't know, I closed my eyes,' she said. 'I don't know if I'm going to live this through, now Stephanie's gone, thrust into oblivion,' she said, wailing again.
'Who's Stephanie?'
'The other girl who was with me. My best mate,' she whimpered. 'We'd planned to escape, but she obviously didn't make it.'
'Did he really get her pregnant?'
'Nah. He just.. ...says things to water it down a bit. I think he killed her.' the girl replied.
I felt my leg go numb with pins and needles and screamed out in pain. 'He should really revise the way he ties us up, cus it hurts bad!' I giggled. A poignant silence filled the room, and I immediately regretted the minute I opened my mouth. The girl turned to me, and smiled slightly. In fact, she actually laughed. 'You're a smart kid,' she said. 'What's your name?'
'Emily. Emily Eaverson,' I said, as my stomach rumbled out loud for some food. 'Yours?'
'Michelle.'
'How long have you been here?' I asked, sniffing the stale air.
'For about six months.'
The months passed, and, surprisingly, the man hadn't attacked me once. Just about the only cruel thing he did to me was to refuse me food three or four times, and I could officially record my twelfth birthday as my worst ever. But I dealt with it. I took a deep breath, and the ropes gathered tightly across my chest. My leg was white because of lack of circulation, and every movement pained me beyond belief. I peered at Michelle; she was in a deep sleep. I didn't want to wake her up, so I thought about stuff. Stuff about me, about the people who knew me. Most of all, my anger and horror at Matt. Where was he on the day that I'd got kidnapped? Why didn't he wait for me? Was he missing me now? Just thinking of all these things made me shed giant, rounded tears from my blank eyes. The realisation came into mind with the 222nd rumbling of my tummy that I might not ever see him again.
Just as I was about to shriek out loud, choking myself with my own tears, Michelle awoke. She perched her sleepy head up against the bars, and threw up on the floor outside the cell. My face had all blood drawn from it, and I felt sick at the sight and smell of it. She stared at me blankly, and pouted. 'When I get out, I'm going to kill him!' she shouted, banging her head against the cell and almost knocking herself out. She resigned to a slouch, and started to cry. 'People like him are so sick!' she shouted, rattling the bars. 'I may not be the nicest girl in the world, but it doesnt mean that I have to die at the hands of him!'
A woman ran down the stairs, ran up to Michelle, and slapped her face. I saw the anger on her rat-like face as she stared with cold, hair arrogance into my eyes, and Michelle's. 'You shut up!' she screeched, slamming Michelle's head against the wall. I swore I could hear a crack, but whether it was from the woman's long, bony finger, or Michelle's head, I didn't know.
'And you too, shut up the both of you!' she shouted. 'Do you want the police to find you out? Because you know, they won't believe you!'
'Well it's not like they'll believe you, bitch!' Michelle shouted back, sticking her tongue out at the woman's face. 'You and your so-called husband are the sickest people alive, you know that! They'll lock you both up and send you to a loony bin and torture you!'
The woman slapped Michelle so hard, I could feel the iron bars vibrating. 'Don't you dare say such a thing! Mark my words, girl, we'll kill you someday,' she boomed. 'Once he gets the knife clean. And it'll be sooner rather than later if you don't shut your pie-hole.'
She left the room. Michelle didn't turn to face me. Instead, she started whistling a sad lament. I muttered something to myself. 'When will we ever get out of here, Emily?'
I lay back, and banged my head on the wall. Just as I was about to say 'Ouch', I blacked out.
My eyelids were firmly glued together. With tears, probably. But from the feel of something soft beneath me, I could sense that I was not in the cellar. 'Matt...' I whispered, hoping for a heroic response and a happy ending.
'Still calling out that boy's name?' a familiar voice said. I shuddered again as I could sense that I was back to reality. 'Well, I've got a surprise for you.'
I opened my eyes, and screamed. There, in the corner, tied up and looking a bit desperate, was Matt, spinning around on the chair he was tied to. He tried to say something, but the tape round his mouth meant that nothing came out. I then saw that the man was creeping up behind him, with a knife.
'I don't just do girls,' he said, with a leer. 'But I do torture.'
'MATT!' I screamed, as he advanced up behind Matt's back. 'He's going to kill you!'
I tried helplessly to break the ropes that secured my hands and feet. I longed to run over to the man, knock the knife out of his hands, and save Matt. But I knew that I couldn't. 'Matt!'
He looked at me, confused, but it was too late. His head drooped lifelessly, and there was a knock at the door.
I sat up, on the dry sand. I'd been crying for quite a while now, but at least I'd been let out of the hospital. Suddenly, I felt a head on my shoulder, and I turned around.
'Matt!' I cried, in surprise. 'What are you doing here?'
'Tying up all the loose ends,' he smiled. 'Why are you looking so frightened? You look as if you've seen a ghost!'
'I think I have!' I cried, but hugged him tight. 'Oh my god! You're alive?'
'Can't you be happy, mate?' he said. 'I may look like a ghost but I'm not!'
I pulled away from him, and wiped his shoulder of my tears. 'I am happy, I'm so made up now,' I said, smiling for the first time in over a year. 'The last time I saw you, they said you were on the verge of death.'
'I was, though,' he said. 'I missed you so much and I thought I'd never see you again.'
'Me neither.'
'And hey, I think it's time we did some catching up.'
'I think so too.'
I jumped on Matt's back, and he ran down the beach with me. He dropped me down, onto the sand, so I was lying on my back. 'We're no longer kids, Emz.'
'I know. But at least we're still here, together. It could have been worse. Much, much worse.'