Chapter 19

Brian listened to the sound of the rain beating down outside as he quietly lay on the hard bed in the cold basement of the house where he was held captive.  He jumped and grimaced as the loud sound of nearby thunder reached his ears and sent more shots of pain shooting through his already aching head.  He silently cursed the handcuffs which held him down to the bed; not allowing him to rub his forehead in an attempt to lessen the pain.  As the pain slowly subsided, Brian again turned his attention to the sound of the rain falling and let out a shudder as he realized how cold the European rain was this time of year and his thoughts then turned to his best friend, whose body had to withstand the rain just a few short hours ago.  Brian's eyes filled with tears for what seemed to be the 100th time that day as the last image he had of his young friend lying in the hospital bed filled his tired mind.  He blinked his eyes quickly as he mumbled and sighed,   "He might be dead by now and I didn't even get to say goodbye."

His attention turned to the wooden door across the room as he heard the sound of the loud, squeaky doorknob turning.  Brian turned his head towards the opposite wall and quickly shut his eyes at the door opened, praying that if the men thought that he was asleep that they would leave him alone for awhile.  He felt his heart rate increase and his breathing rate go up as he heard the familiar sound of 3 pairs of heavy workboots coming towards his bed.  He held his breath for a few moments waiting for one of the three men to speak.  He cringed as he felt the bed sink slightly, as someone sat down on the edge and leaned over him as they whispered in his ear, "Time to get up Littrell.  We have some business to take care of and we have a nice surprise for you."  It took every ounce of Brian's willpower to not open his eyes to look at the person he had identified as Charlie by his recognizable loud, raspy voice.  He heard Charlie let out a frustrated sigh and Brian felt his body slowly relax as Charlie got up from the bed.

Before Brian knew what to do next, he felt a hand slap him forcefully

across the face, and he unwillingly scooted away and let out a low whimper; just as if the hand that had slapped him was a ball of fire that he desperately needed to get away from.  During all of this, Charlie looked over and seen that Brian didn't open his eyes yet, and he slapped Brian again as he fumbled through his pocket, feeling for the small key to the handcuffs as he laughed to himself as he watched as Brian reacted to the pain that accompanied the slaps he had just received.

Charlie finally found the key and roughly unlocked the handcuffs and forced them off of Brian's wrists.  Brian's pain turned to shock and relief as he suddenly realized his arms were free.  He then instantly opened his eyes and brought his arms down closer to his chest and winced as he touched the tender area of his wrists where the handcuffs had mercilessly tore into his skin.  His moment of relief quickly diminished as Charlie grabbed his shoulder and shook him as he demanded that Brian look at him because he had a surprise to show him.  Brian reluctantly turned around to face Charlie and slowly forced his eyes to open.  A scream escaped his lips as he came face to face with "Charlie's surprise".  It was then that Brian started to pray that he would live through what looked like was going to happen to him next.