Getting Adam
There’s nothing compared to watch bewilderment and panic rise in a thirteen-year-old’s face as he sets eyes on his tightly trussed up buddy and realizes he’ll be attacked any moment. It’s during that fraction of a second everything is decided: whether he escapes and revenge is frustrated, or capture succeeds and he is submitted to his captor’s desire.
I’m sure all of these thoughts ran through Adam’s mind as he stood motionless, gaping at Adrian’s predicament, then started to realize he had been deceived into an ambush. He didn’t react, despite Adrian’s desperate ‘mphhhhs’; Adam closed his eyes and muttered a resigned “shit”, as he heard the door being shut behind him. It was so perfect, a unique movie-like scene; instantaneously Tyler wrapped his arms around Adam’s chest, pinning the boy and brutally tackling him to the ground.
Ty had Adam’s wrists pulled behind his back when he started to scream.
“Help!!! Help!! Someone! Phil! Chris! HEEEELP!”
“Hey, Nick! Are you going to stand there watching? Help me out here!” Tyler yelled while trying to keep the boy on the floor.
Since Adam would not shut up, I applied the most common combination for a gag: the victim’s own socks and t-shirt. Hey, it’s the best one when you need to shut someone up fast. I was about to wrap rope around Adam’s hands but Tyler stopped me.
“I have an idea. Tie his hands in front.” I raised an eyebrow but nevertheless turned Adam on his back, squatted beside him and as Ty held Adam’s wrists crossed I began winding turns of rope firmly around them, allowing no precious slack for struggling.
Since Adam was already gagged and hand-bound, I let Tyler continue his scheme. He helped Adam on his feet and marched the kid to one corner of the room. Tyler opened the wardrobe and revealed a long iron bar once he had put aside several suits and clothes that were hanged on it. I therefore involuntarily giggled when it dawned on me what my devious cousin had in mind. Adam, on the other hand, gave us his utmost pleading look and whimpered unintelligible mphhhs. He should have known better that we weren’t letting him get away just like that, oh no, not after the brutal tickle-initiation we had suffered.
“Wait a sec,” Tyler complained, noticing something, “he’s not tied up yet.” He fetched a roll of duct tape with which he taped the poor boy’s ankles and knees several times until he was satisfied. To finish it, we further secured him by pinioning his sides with tons of clothes.
“See ya in a few minutes, Adam. And don’t go anywhere, you don’t wanna miss your tickling session,” I said with a derisive tone, grinning broadly.
As soon as we closed the wardrobe, desperate mmmphhs started coming from inside and I wondered how it would be like to be left locked with your hands bound above your head, gagged and unable to use your feet to balance. I definitely have to try that one sometime, I thought(and I did).
“Great. Only one left,” Tyler proclaimed, tasting the imminent, sweetly incomparable victory - not even a Toblerone tasted that good.
He was right. We had just captured Adam, and Phil and Adrian were both secured to their beds. However, Chris was yet to arrive and being the oldest and biggest of all, we had to be more careful when dealing with him. The only chance to submit Chris would be joining our efforts in a surprise attack.
Being thoughtful young boys, we went to check on our prisoners, err, mates. Adrian was lying still gagged on his bed and showed no signs of having tried to struggle further against the bonds that kept him snugly hogtied. Adrian nodded when asked if he was comfortable.
“I’m gonna see if lil’ Phil is okay. Stay here and keep an eye on them.”
Tyler left the room rather hurried.
I sat next to Adrian, whom I started playing with. After retrieving a shoe lace from my bag, I tied his toes together and launched a gentle but unmerciful attack on the very ticklish spots of his feet. Adrian went mad. Squirming was all he could because of the way he was tied.
“Mmmmmphhhhh mphhhhh!!!!” The skinny blond boy shouted while he mightily struggled as much as his bonds allowed. He tried to twist his arms, but they were bound at the elbows and wrists; his feet attempted to avoid the torture but they were secured to his hands. He looked ridiculous putting a great deal of effort on struggling, accomplishing only insignificant silly movements however. And the tickling went on and on until pitiful Adrian was drenched in perspiration, all his body covered with a layer of glistening sweat.
“This is just a sneak peek, Adrian.” At this stage, he was breathing heavily, exhausted from all the writhing and squealing. I inspected the knots making sure he hadn’t loosened any. When I was tightening the ropes around Adrian’s wrists I noticed something. Adrian had a wrist-watch: it displayed 7.20 am. Tyler had been gone for more than 15 minutes!!
“Why is he taking so long?! He only had to check if Phil was ok!” I thought out loud. Adrian kind of chuckled through the tape.
“Just wait ‘till he gets here! You won’t be that happy then.”
I was starting to get nervous. Minutes passed by and no signs of Ty. I couldn’t risk abandoning the room either. Several gloomy thoughts ran through my mind, but I shrugged them off.
He’s just fine! Being the lazy dork he is, Tyler is probably fetching himself a sandwich in the kitchen, I thought, reassuringly.
I was already prepared to resume my torture on Adrian when a piece of paper was slipped under the door and someone’s footsteps faded away. My heart pounced as I picked it up and was flabbergasted with what I lay my eyes upon. It was an instant Polaroid photograph where Tyler was bound, gagged and blindfolded!
“Fuck.”
He was standing, hands tied in front; the upper body, completely wrapped in rope, as well as the lower part, at knees and ankles, which seemed to be really tight. My cousin, kind of mummified, was also lashed to a pole in what I recognized as the basement, and he had tape plastered like an X across his face. Under the picture, it was written “Mphhhh!!” in black marker ink.
I clenched my teeth in sheer anger. Our plan, about to be foiled. Who’d done it? Could Phil have freed himself and then attacked Ty when he entered his room? Or was it Chris who had arrived without being noticed and found my cousin on his way to check on Phil? I knew the basement thing was an ambush. If Chris was the one who had done this, I could hardly offer resistance; I could, however, easily overpower Phil which was a lanky boy two years younger than me. Should I take the risk? Hmm… Rescue my cousin or not..? What the hell am I thinking?! Of course I have to go save him!
I left the room. A strange – but sensible - feeling made me go back and lock the door, the key in my back pocket. I looked both ways and slowly started following the mental map I had drawn so I’d have no trouble finding Phil’s room again.
The corridor was creepy-silent. Lights were out, which was good - I wouldn’t be spotted – but at the same time it gave an important advantage to my enemy – he could hide anywhere to jump on me. My steps, luckily, were muffled by the thick fluffy red carpeted floor, although it also impeded me from hearing if someone was near. Therefore, I had to be extremely cautious, suspecting of every shadow I made out and constantly looking back to see if I wasn’t being followed. It took me some time to get there, only to find the door locked. Tyler had taken the key with him. No sounds came from the inside so I moved on, went downstairs, through the kitchen - bumping my knee against the table in the process -, opened the basement access and listened. I had to know if my cousin was really there, or if it was just a trap – or both.
Cautiously, I descended a few steps, just to catch a glimpse of my cousin who was still pretty much the same as in the photo. His blindfold had been removed, and he was busy squirming as much as he could. Which wasn't much. There was no one around him. Maybe the attacker went out looking for me, I thought. I gained more confidence and continued, but at the next step, the stairs creaked loudly. Tyler spotted me and began yelling, almost whimpering inside his gag. It looked like he was trying to tell me something. Duh. Ok, I got it; I was in potential trouble, so I had to get out of there fast. I turned around and ran upstairs, but someone appeared through the door.
It was Adrian.