Superman Stole My Panties

Running

When I came to, the scene had changed.

                We were no longer in the front of the pub, but now in a dimly lit backroom. The room was bare save for an unused bookshelf and a trash can near the door. The moonlight poured in from a window in the back. I tried to turn my body around to see it, but the position of the chair and the restraints prevented me.

                “Are you alright?” A deep, hushed voice asked next to me. I glanced over at my masked man who seemed to be under heavier restraints than myself. They must’ve assumed he’d put up the fight. They assumed wrong.

                “I’m fine.” I muttered. My face hurt, my limbs hurt, I could feel something dry on my face, I had a pulsing headache but overall I was fine.

                “That was a bad blow you took back there.” He whispered. “Don’t antagonize them anymore. When they come back in, let me handle this.”
                “Let you handle this?” I repeated with incredulousness. “What are you going to do? Give them the silent treatment until they let us go?”

                “Trust me.” He snapped, “I know how to handle this. It’s people like you with your big mouth that gets screwed over.”

                “Really? Cause I think I was doing more than just sitting there like a log when they tied us up out there.”

                “We were outnumbered.” He hissed, “Do you really think we had a chance? No. Eventually, he would’ve let most of his guards go, and we would’ve made a move then.”

                “This isn’t a movie. Things don’t happen as they should.”

                “I know so you can’t make stupid mistakes like you were doing.”

                The door opened, silencing our conversation. Next to me, I could feel Tyler growing rigid in his chair as four men entered the small room. The atmosphere grew claustrophobic and tense. The lights flickered on brightly forcing me to squint my eyes to adjust.

                The larger man from earlier stood before us with a new cigar in hand. The stench filled into the small room quickly.

                I coughed a few times.

                Next to him Bentley stood. He leaned against the empty bookshelf looking amused with himself as his eyes moved over our trapped positions.

                On either side of the two stood a burly man with a gun.

                “Look who’s finally awake.” The large man teased, his beady eyes falling on me. I held my own, staring right back.

                My lips were pressed shut tightly.

                His eyes shifted over to the boy next to me. “Are those restraints tight enough now? Don’t need another one of your little episodes again.”

                Tyler scowled at them, but held back.

                I looked at him curiously.

                “Good, good.”

                He surveyed us for a bit longer before Tyler spoke up.

                “Why’d you kill those girls if you only wanted me?”

                The larger man smiled in amusement. “To lure you of course.”