Re: What's a Prisoner Among Friends? Multiple m/m
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:14 pm
Part 59.
John and Andy were inside Mr. Powers’ office when they heard the elevator start down from the attic. They went very still; careful to not any make noise for fear of being overheard – especially if the elevator stopped on their level. It did not stop however, and as it continued downward they heard Tank and Brandon talking with each other through the walls. John wasn’t able to make out much of the conversation, but Andy was able to hear enough to surmise that someone had just been left up in the attic, while Tank and Brandon were going downstairs to bring up someone else.
“They won’t be able to hear us now,†Andy whispered to John as the sounds of the elevator and the voices of its occupants faded and retreated in a downward direction. “Let’s get upstairs and see who they left up there.â€
“What’ll we do if we find anyone?†John asked nervously. “We’ve been searching through this office a half hour already and haven’t found anything yet that can help us.â€
“We still haven’t searched the safe,†Andy pointed out.
“But we can’t open it!†John reminded his younger companion. “We don’t know the combination. And I’ll bet Will doesn’t know it either!â€
“I think I know a way to get it open,†Andy replied confidently. “But let’s go check on whoever is up in the attic first before either of those goons comes back.â€
John lacked the easy confidence Andy seemed to have of his own abilities to open a locked safe (after all, he was only a nine-year-old!), but said nothing as he let Andy lead the way up to the stairs. Fortunately the house was so large that their movements would be totally inaudible all the way down to the ground floor, and the attic door at the head of the stairs hadn’t been locked. John and Andy therefore had no trouble reaching the attic.
Neither boy had been up here before; and they were amazed by all they saw. Andy was amazed and impressed by all the dungeon-like furnishings. John was amazed and puzzled why Will hadn’t brought him up here for one of his bondage games prior to this – if only to put a scare into him and make him more obedient in his stubborn first few days of captivity. Perhaps Will had thought it would have been too overwhelming for John to handle; being as high-strung as he sometimes was. If so, perhaps he’d been right. In any case, it was evident now that Will had not been exaggerating when he’d declared that he’d been taking it easy on John whenever he’d had to punish him for something!
Impressive as the layout was, the attention of both boys was immediately occupied by the one person who was already occupying the room. Matt was just a few feet away from them; standing on tip-toes and being held in place by manacles that were suspended by stout chains from the ceiling. He didn’t look like he’d been abused much as yet; but then of course there’d been little time for torture so far. Matt saw them almost at once and began to make muffled noise at them. He was not gagged, but his mouth was stuffed with something that made it impossible for him to speak coherently.
Looking around them to confirm that no one else was in the attic, John and Andy hurried up to where Matt stood and looked him over. He wasn’t hurt, but there was no way to free him from the manacles. There was no key, and they had no tools with which to break them – and likely not enough time to either before the intruders came back.
John pried open Matt’s mouth and pulled the damp socks that had been stuffed into it out; tossing them away in disgust. “What’s going on, Matt?†John asked even before he’d pulled the socks out. “Who are these two guys? They’re not friends of Will’s, are they?â€
“Naw,†Will said with a quiet, hoarse-sounding tone as he flexed his sore jaws and tried to get that horrible taste of dirty socks and unwashed feet out of his mouth. “They’re the guys Paul and I escaped from. They tracked me down here. They’ve got everyone else tied up downstairs; even Will. Oh God, do you guys have anything to drink with you? My mouth’s dry as cotton and tastes like raw sewage.â€
John looked around, and found an unopened quarter-liter sized bottle of spring water on a nearby table. He grabbed it and twisted the top open. “It’s probably pretty warm though,†he cautioned as he lifted the bottle up to Matt’s lips. “Looks like it’s been sitting up here for days… maybe weeks.â€
“Don’t care! Gimme a sip, fast!†Matt urged him. “Just a sip so I can rinse first.â€
John complied, tilting the bottle back just enough for Matt to get a small sip while Matt bent his head forward to receive it. He took a small lip, swished noisily, and then turned his head aside to spit out the contents rather than swallow it. “Again,†he asked; his voice sounding a bit less hoarse than it had. This time he took a larger sip and swallowed it; sighing with relief. “Warm as piss alright, but it’s like heaven right now,†he sighed.
“What’ll we do?†Andy asked somewhat plaintively. “We can’t leave him here, and those guys could come back any moment!â€
“Well, we can’t free him,†John said reasonably as he gave Matt another sip of water –considering taking one for himself but deciding against the idea. “We’ll have to…â€
He was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the gate buzzer going off.
*****
Silence reigned inside the kitchen. No one moved and no one made a sound. Even Tank and Brandon remained as quiet and as unmoving as their gagged and tied prisoners for a moment in the surprise all apparently felt at the situation. Then the gate buzzer rang again; this time a bit more insistently. Someone was apparently determined to attract attention and come onto the property.
Tank suddenly snapped out of his apparent funk and rushed toward Will. Will was concerned that his loosened bonds would be noticed when his captor came so close to him, but Tank apparently didn’t notice that at all as he suddenly deflated Will’s butterfly gag (Oh, blessed relief!), unbuckled it, and hastily yanked the gag off Will’s face.
“Who is that out there?†Tank demanded to know. “Are you expecting someone?â€
Will did not have the slightest idea, and wasn’t sure whether he wanted to find out either. Will was nothing if not quick-witted however, and decided to try to turn this unexpected development to his advantage. Having had time to overcome his own surprise, he put on a poker face the moment the gag was removed but allowing some of his relief to show. “Must be my mom and dad and my aunt! We told you she borrowed the car. She went to bring them home. And there they are. So you’d better let us go before they get concerned and call the police. Untie us and we’ll even let you sneak away unseen and leave the police out of it.â€
“You’re full of it,†Tank snapped as the gate buzzer went off yet again. “I know how your security system works. If that was your folks’ car, they’d simply buzz themselves in; they wouldn’t be sitting out there waiting for you to do it! Now who is that *really*?â€
“Maybe the device in the car that sends the signal to open the gate is on the fritz,†Will retorted. “In which case, the longer they wait, the more likely they are to call the police!â€
“You got any way to see who it is?†asked Tank. “How do you talk to them?â€
“Flip open the laptop lid over there on the counter,†Will instructed; nodding his head toward the computer in question. “It’s already on, and already set on showing what the gate security camera sees. Might not be much this time of time though; the outside gate light is burned out and we haven’t replaced it yet.†Will grinned, as that much at least was the actual truth. “There’s a two-way speaker built into it too.â€
Tank opened the laptop; the screen saver immediately turned on the screen monitor. The picture remained mostly dark however; all that was visible was part of the gate and a set of headlights shining on them from beyond. Nothing could be seen of the vehicle itself; let alone its occupants. From the height of the headlights however, it was evidently a van of some kind.
“If it’s not mom and dad, it must be the police,†Will replied smoothly. “Look, whoever it is, they’re evidently staying put. The jig is up. Just let us go now and let me let whoever that is in, and you and your buddy can just slip out the back way here and leave. No real harm’s been done yet, so I won’t say anything to anyone about this… ever. Not even to my folks. I’ll let bygones be bygones. What do you say?â€
Tank and Brandon exchanged blank looks filled with apparent despair. Then Tank turned to look at Will again; all bravado apparently forgotten. “All right, you’ve got a deal. I’ll let them in. Better show me how to do it; it’ll take too long to untie you first.â€
Despite the cockiness he felt at unexpectedly obtaining the upper hand, Will didn’t point out to Tank how much progress he’d already made in undoing his knots. He was too eager to get this situation over with before whoever was out there gave up and left. “Hit the Ctrl button. That’ll give you a menu showing icons to open the gate and close it. Just click on the open button. You won’t need the password; the system was engaged hours ago and I never bothered to clear it.â€
Tank clicked on the Ctrl button, found the open gate icon, and clicked on it with the small mouse pad built into the laptop. On the monitor, the gate could now be seen sliding open. A few seconds later, the gate was opened wide enough to allow the vehicle waiting beyond to continue on up the driveway, which it immediately did at a strangely precipitate rate of speed. As it approached the camera, it came into range of a light pole midway between the gate and the tree upon which the camera was perched. Revealed was a bright blue van with the words Camp Willywonka on it. It was visible for only a couple of seconds, and then passed on out of camera range as it drove toward the house at almost highway speeds.
Will was suddenly dismayed. Camp Willywonka? Why was a van from that hellhole coming here at all; let alone in the middle of the night? Too late, he suspected a trick.
“Thanks, doofus!†Tank suddenly said to Will with a voice filled with delight rather than dejection as he clicked on the Close Gate icon. The gate in the monitor stopped its sliding almost at once, paused a second, and then reversed course to slide shut again. “That’s all I needed to know.â€
“Wha… what’s going on?†Will asked with a hollow voice as the pit of his stomach suddenly felt like it went into free fall. “Who’s in the van?â€
“Just some of our pals we called up while we were waiting outside for nightfall,†Brandon replied cheerfully as he and Tank exchanged high-fives and strolled casually to the kitchen door lading outside. “We arranged for them to come here at eleven; either to give us a ride away from here if we were unable to break in or to help us out and bring some supplies if we made it. We’ll introduce you shortly; we told them that if they got in to drive around to the back and meet us right here.â€
At that moment the sound of a van’s engine could be heard entering the driveway in back of the house and a set of headlights shone momentarily into the kitchen from the door and adjacent window that looked outside. There was a brief honking of a horn as the sounds of the van’s engine died down.
“You three behave yourselves until we get back,†Tank said to Will and his two fellow captives as he and Brandon opened the kitchen door and exited through it.
Will groaned to himself and then, remembering he was no longer gagged, began to swear luridly under his breath. Instead of relieving the situation, the arrival of the van only made things vastly worse. The only saving graces were that his captors hadn’t noticed that he’d managed to loosen his bonds, and that they were as yet unaware that John and Andy were in the house and free to roam. But the arrival of an additional (and so far unknown) number of new potential foes had made things dangerously more complicated.
Tank and Brandon hurried outside and ran down the short walkway that led to the end of the driveway where the van had parked, just as three people emerged from its cab. They greeted the driver with enthusiastic claps to the shoulder and back and shook his hand, and Tank greeted the other two with high-fives. Brandon only knew the driver, and so Tank introduced him to the other two for the first time.
The driver of the van was a tall but reedy-thin boy named Vic. He was eighteen but was little larger and looked little older than did either Tank or Brandon. He was also one of the camp counselors at Camp Willywonka; although not the one they had stolen the car and other stuff from. In fact, he and the other counselor were virtual blood enemies; which made him like Brandon and Tank even more after what they had done when escaping Camp Willywonka.
Vic was six foot one and weighed no more than 150 pounds, had curly black hair, and gray eyes. His most distinctive feature however was a foot-wide tattoo on his chest depicting a crimson (and blood-dripping) biohazard symbol with a skull-and-crossbones in the center. It was in fact mainly visible now as he was wearing an open vest rather than a regular shirt; revealing much of his lean, well-tanned chest and belly.
With him were two of Tank’s other friends from somewhere other than Camp Willywonka., whom Brandon had never met before. Dirk was black, sixteen, and had a handsome face and a trim muscular build. He was five foot nine and weighed about 160. His hair was shaven off except for a quarter-inch high Mohawk that ran down the center of his scalp. Despite a ferocious appearance however, he seemed the be the most laid back of the three and had a more reasonably genial disposition than the others.
The other boy, aged seventeen, was Sal. He was the younger brother of another pal of theirs named Vinny, whom he helped to run a chop shop for stolen cars and sometimes fenced other hot merchandise. Sal was five-foot-eleven and weighed about 185 pounds. He was somewhat muscular, but some of that weight was also flab. He looked something like a nerd as he wore coke-bottle glasses, had buck teeth covered in braces, possessed a dense cluster of freckles all over his face and shoulders, and long, scraggly hair. Anyone who called him a nerd usually learned their mistake the hard way however as he had a vile temper and loved to fight. He rarely smiled, and when he did he looked scarier than when he frowned or scowled (by far his most frequent expressions).
“You bring all the gear we asked you for?†Tank asked Vic.
“You bet,†Vic proclaimed as he led the others to the back of the van and opened the door. “Take a look for yourself.â€
Tank and Brandon looked inside the back of the van in delight. Inside was enough food and drink to last them for a month; including cigarettes, beer, pot, soda, and a vast selection of snack foods. But what attracted their attention was a vast collection of bondage supplies that was also packed into the van, including chains, manacles, miles of thick heavy rope, assorted gags, whips and riding crops, sex toys of all descriptions stolen from a sex shop one of them had burglarized, and several papoose boards large enough and secure enough to hold adults.
There were also two slaves handcuffed and hobbled together; seated on a bench built into the interior side of the van. Both were fourteen-year-old boys of medium height and slender build, light blonde hair, and gorgeous sky-blue eyes. They were identical twins nick-named Bill and Ted (though neither looked like his famous namesake from those two movies). Both wore Speedos (Bill’s a bright red and Ted’s a bright shade of blue) and nothing else except for their restraints and the ball gags that were buckled and locked onto their slender and otherwise angelic faces. They looked outside at the others with calm resignation rather than fear, as if they’d been slaves for so long that they had practically never known any other way of life.
“Where’d you get those two?†Brandon asked. “You kidnap them from camp?â€
“Naw, they belong to Dirk here,†Vic replied as he indicated the black boy standing behind him with a jerk of his thumb. “He and they were at the Orphanage together a number of years. He protected them from abuse by any of the other bigger kids, and they did whatever he told them to. Eventually they formed a master/slaves relationship. When Dirk ran away from the orphanage, those two went with him. Been his personal slaves ever since. They don’t seem to mind though; any more than a pair of dogs would.â€
While Vic was explaining all this, Dirk had stepped into the back of the van and unlocked a padlock that held the two boys locked together and had simultaneously tethered them to a metal rung that had been set into the ceiling. This gave them freedom of movement while still leaving them hobbled and their wrists locked together in front; in both cases by a set of manacles held together by a thick thirty-inch-long gleaming metal chain.
“You two start carrying this gear into the house,†Dirk was telling them. “Tank and Brandon will show you where. I want this van emptied out in one hour. Move it!â€
The two slave-boys, still hobbled, shackled, and gagged but free to move reasonably unhindered, docilely nodded in evident respect to their master (saying nothing as they were still gagged) and began to do as they were told without a hint of complaint or hesitation. They showed no fear or nervousness about their situation; they were, in fact, apparently quite used to it. No one present could not for sure whether or not they were sad or happy about it, as they seemed to show little emotion of any kind. But they moved and carried out Dirk’s orders as if they were acting out of their own genuine desires.
Tank and Brandon exchanged evil smiles. “That’s the kind of slaves *we* want!†Tank said to the other. “Think we can make Will and the others as obedient as these two?â€
“I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time and lots of fun trying to find out, at any rate,†Brandon replied confidently. “As they say, getting there is half the fun.â€
Tank and Brandon led their three new buddies into the kitchen and immediately showed off their new captives. Dirk seemed more interested in the layout of the house itself rather than its occupants and began to explore the rest of the first floor. Once he found the rec room and noticed that it contained a great deal of empty space, he returned to the kitchen and indicated to his two slaves to put the bulk of the van cargo in there. It was a long trip for each load, but the slaves simply acknowledged his orders with a nod and complied as if the idea had been their own.
Tank, Brandon, Sal and Vic gathered around the kitchen table and the chairs where Corey, Paul, and Will still sat bound to their chairs. Luckily for Will he was the furthest of the three from the outside door, and there was little empty space behind him. As a result no one else came close to and behind him, or they would likely have noticed how slack many of the ropes around his arms, wrists and torso had become. Instead, they were distracted either by Paul and Corey (who abetted this by deliberately making as much of a fuss as they could while Will remained quiet), or by the contents of the refrigerator and the pantry. They were also enthused by the prospect of having the run of a luxurious house like this for the first time in their lives and paid more attention to the furnishings of the kitchen and adjacent room than they did to the captives; at least, at first.
Tank was just about to specifically introduce them to Will as the rich boy who actually lived here – which would have of course rendered him immediately susceptible to taunts, abuse, and most likely immediate discovery that he wasn’t tied as securely as he was supposed to be. Before Tank could get started however, Vic cut him off with a question.
“So what happened to that twerp, Matt?†he asked. “Did he get away from you?â€
“Naw, we’ve got him tucked away up in the attic!†Tank replied proudly; forgetting about Will for the time being. “Man, you should see that place. It looks like a medieval dungeon. Chains, manacles, a cage… everything you could ask for. Come on, we’ll show it to you right now. Say, we should bring along one of these idiots along while we’re at it. We were just about to take one of them upstairs when you rang the buzzer.â€
“Which one is the guy who set Matt loose?†Vic asked. “I’ve got a personal score to settle with him for letting Matt escape. After all the time and effort I spent in bringing him to Camp and training him, and the day I leave him with you guys this jerk comes along and takes him away! Which of these nerks is it?â€
“That one,†Tank replied, pointing at Paul with an accusatory gesture and smiling diabolically. Paul suddenly began sweating more profusely and was noticably trembling.
“Fine! Let’s take *him* with us when we got upstairs!†Vic said with a grin that suddenly reminded Paul of Dracula… or perhaps Jaws.
“Okay, give me a hand with him Brandon,†Tank asked his friend as he walked over to Paul’s chair in preparation for lugging Paul off.
“Hey, that’s slave work,†Dirk suddenly exclaimed. “Let Bill and Ted do it. Yo! Slaves!â€
Bill and Ted had been outside carrying some bondage gear in but appeared at the kitchen door as suddenly as if they had popped in out of thin air. “Take him and his chair along with us,†Dirk told them simply.
The two slaves obeyed with alacrity, even though the burden of Paul and chair together must have been considerable even for the two of them. Neither slave-boy was very large or muscular, whereas Paul was bigger and heavier than either and the chair he was tied into fairly heavy all by itself as well.
Tank and Brandon led the way to the way to the elevator, followed by the two slaves and their burden, Dirk, Vic, and Sal. From being a very crowded and noisy room only a minute before, the kitchen was now quiet and nearly empty again as Will and Corey were left tied inside their chairs. Taking advantage of the fact that none of their captors had thought to check their bonds over or remain to keep an eye on them, Will resumed the twice-interrupted task of trying to free himself from his bonds while he was unobserved.
*****
“There’s someone out by the gate alright,†John told Andy and Matt as he carefully looked out one of the attic windows. “I can see their headlights.â€
“Is this good news or bad news?†Andy asked with an apprehensive look. Up to now he’d been feeling like this was just a fun new adventure. Now he was getting worried that things might be about to get out of hand.
“I don’t know, but the gate is opening now. Whoever it is, they’re coming in.†John reported from the window. “It’s a van. It’s got… Uhhh… Matt… what was the name of that place that you and Paul fled from again?â€
“Camp Willywonka,†Matt replied. “Why?â€
“Because the side of the van has that name plastered all over it,†John replied as he stepped away from the window and began walking to a window on the opposite wall. “I saw it when it passed by that tall light-post out front. It’s going around the house now. I guess it’s going to the back door. Yep,†he added as he looked out the other window. “It’s stopping. Those two goons we saw are going out to meet them.â€
“Oh, crap-cakes!†Matt muttered quietly to himself. “Those bastards! Tank and Brandon must’ve Vic called for help. It’s him in the van; probably with a couple of his cronies. Things are even worse than ever now!â€
“There are three of them coming out of the van,†John confirmed. “I see a tall thin guy, a black kid, and some chubby guy with glasses.â€
“Vic, Dirk, and Sal,†Matt groaned. “The three stooges, only more brutal and less funny. We’re all in for it now.â€
“What the f…†John exclaimed. “There are two more guys coming out of the back of the van. They’re a couple of blonde kids my age… all chained up.â€
“Dirk’s two slaves,†Matt explained. “I saw them once or twice before. Very obedient. Vic was trying to ‘train’ me to be just like those two, with Tank and Brandon’s help. In a fight, they’d likely side with them; not us. Don’t trust them.â€\
“John, what are we going to do?†Andy asked; sounding like the very worried little boy he was rather than the brave hero he was imagining himself to be a while earlier. In fact, he was evidently fighting to stifle tears, and his little body was starting to tremble.
“Stay hidden, for starters,†John replied calmly as he got down on one knee in front of Andy to try to soothe him. “They don’t know we’re here. They think no one else is here. That gives us an advantage. Maybe if we can catch one of them alone and off-guard, we can even the odds a little.â€
“And maybe that safe has something we can use,†Andy replied hopefully. John doubted this, but the idea seemed to be cheering Andy up so he kept his doubts firmly to himself.
“Once Vic learns I’m up here, it won’t be long before they send him up here,†Matt warned them. “You guys had better go before they do. Leave me here. There’s nothing you can do to help me. Wait, before you do, take that water bottle with you… and stuff those socks back into my mouth. If they see that bottle or see those socks way over there, they’ll know something’s wrong.â€
John found the socks where he’d tossed them. Unfortunately they’d landed under the bed, in a place that had been collecting a massive amount of dust-balls. It was practically impossible to clean them all off of the wet and already foul socks. John felt queasy at the thought of Matt having to have those placed back into his mouth, but if they weren’t there when his captors came back he would likely face an even worse fate. With considerable reluctance and with a sympathetic grimace of displeasure on his face, John gently stuffed the incredibly nasty mass back inside Matt’s mouth.
The sound of the elevator motor starting up alerted the three boys that they were out of time. Matt made urgent noise to the other two and shook his head urgently toward the stairway, but his muffled urgings were unnecessary. John and Andy were already on their way out of the attic.
The two paused at the bottom of the stairs as the elevator came up to the level of their floor; striving to listen while they avoided making any noise themselves that might tip off their new adversaries. The elevator passed the third floor and ascended to the attic. Once it was well away, Andy and John tip-toed away from the stairway and hurried down the hallway back to Mr. Powers’ office as fast as they dared go while maintaining stealth.
Their only hope was in finding something in the office that could help them prevail against five enemies (and probably seven, counting the slaves). Failing that, they would have to consider finding a way to escape from the mansion and the grounds unseen and bringing back help from somewhere. Perhaps when Tasha arrived to cook breakfast in the morning, they could alert her to what was happening; although that would be a last resort out of sheer desperation of course. In any case, suspicions would certainly be aroused when she buzzed for admittance and no one let her in…
Or would they let her in? And would that make the situation better, or worse?
John’s mind was in a whirl, and he barely noticed when Andy walked up to the safe and began to fiddle with the dial. Right, kid… John thought to himself in something of a daze; go ahead and pretend you’re a safecracker if that makes you feel any better! At least it’ll keep you calm and quiet while I quietly freak out trying to find a way out of this horrible mess and…
“Got it!†a childish voice gleefully announced as John heard the sound of a ponderous metal door swing wide open.
John turned to look at the safe. It was indeed wide open, although from where he stood he could not see into it.
“How… the f… uhhh… I mean, how did you… how did you…†John stammered lamely.
“I found this slip of paper tucked inside the back of the desk,†Andy replied; holding a small tattered scrap of paper in one small hand. “Will’s dad hides stuff the same way *I* do, I guess. Saw these numbers on it. Guessed it was the safe combination. I was right.â€
“Oh… right,†John said numbly as he stepped toward Andy and turned to see what was inside the safe. “So, anything interesting in there we can… Oh my f***ing God!†John found himself exclaiming in shock (despite the presence of a much younger child) as he finally saw what was inside the safe.
John and Andy were inside Mr. Powers’ office when they heard the elevator start down from the attic. They went very still; careful to not any make noise for fear of being overheard – especially if the elevator stopped on their level. It did not stop however, and as it continued downward they heard Tank and Brandon talking with each other through the walls. John wasn’t able to make out much of the conversation, but Andy was able to hear enough to surmise that someone had just been left up in the attic, while Tank and Brandon were going downstairs to bring up someone else.
“They won’t be able to hear us now,†Andy whispered to John as the sounds of the elevator and the voices of its occupants faded and retreated in a downward direction. “Let’s get upstairs and see who they left up there.â€
“What’ll we do if we find anyone?†John asked nervously. “We’ve been searching through this office a half hour already and haven’t found anything yet that can help us.â€
“We still haven’t searched the safe,†Andy pointed out.
“But we can’t open it!†John reminded his younger companion. “We don’t know the combination. And I’ll bet Will doesn’t know it either!â€
“I think I know a way to get it open,†Andy replied confidently. “But let’s go check on whoever is up in the attic first before either of those goons comes back.â€
John lacked the easy confidence Andy seemed to have of his own abilities to open a locked safe (after all, he was only a nine-year-old!), but said nothing as he let Andy lead the way up to the stairs. Fortunately the house was so large that their movements would be totally inaudible all the way down to the ground floor, and the attic door at the head of the stairs hadn’t been locked. John and Andy therefore had no trouble reaching the attic.
Neither boy had been up here before; and they were amazed by all they saw. Andy was amazed and impressed by all the dungeon-like furnishings. John was amazed and puzzled why Will hadn’t brought him up here for one of his bondage games prior to this – if only to put a scare into him and make him more obedient in his stubborn first few days of captivity. Perhaps Will had thought it would have been too overwhelming for John to handle; being as high-strung as he sometimes was. If so, perhaps he’d been right. In any case, it was evident now that Will had not been exaggerating when he’d declared that he’d been taking it easy on John whenever he’d had to punish him for something!
Impressive as the layout was, the attention of both boys was immediately occupied by the one person who was already occupying the room. Matt was just a few feet away from them; standing on tip-toes and being held in place by manacles that were suspended by stout chains from the ceiling. He didn’t look like he’d been abused much as yet; but then of course there’d been little time for torture so far. Matt saw them almost at once and began to make muffled noise at them. He was not gagged, but his mouth was stuffed with something that made it impossible for him to speak coherently.
Looking around them to confirm that no one else was in the attic, John and Andy hurried up to where Matt stood and looked him over. He wasn’t hurt, but there was no way to free him from the manacles. There was no key, and they had no tools with which to break them – and likely not enough time to either before the intruders came back.
John pried open Matt’s mouth and pulled the damp socks that had been stuffed into it out; tossing them away in disgust. “What’s going on, Matt?†John asked even before he’d pulled the socks out. “Who are these two guys? They’re not friends of Will’s, are they?â€
“Naw,†Will said with a quiet, hoarse-sounding tone as he flexed his sore jaws and tried to get that horrible taste of dirty socks and unwashed feet out of his mouth. “They’re the guys Paul and I escaped from. They tracked me down here. They’ve got everyone else tied up downstairs; even Will. Oh God, do you guys have anything to drink with you? My mouth’s dry as cotton and tastes like raw sewage.â€
John looked around, and found an unopened quarter-liter sized bottle of spring water on a nearby table. He grabbed it and twisted the top open. “It’s probably pretty warm though,†he cautioned as he lifted the bottle up to Matt’s lips. “Looks like it’s been sitting up here for days… maybe weeks.â€
“Don’t care! Gimme a sip, fast!†Matt urged him. “Just a sip so I can rinse first.â€
John complied, tilting the bottle back just enough for Matt to get a small sip while Matt bent his head forward to receive it. He took a small lip, swished noisily, and then turned his head aside to spit out the contents rather than swallow it. “Again,†he asked; his voice sounding a bit less hoarse than it had. This time he took a larger sip and swallowed it; sighing with relief. “Warm as piss alright, but it’s like heaven right now,†he sighed.
“What’ll we do?†Andy asked somewhat plaintively. “We can’t leave him here, and those guys could come back any moment!â€
“Well, we can’t free him,†John said reasonably as he gave Matt another sip of water –considering taking one for himself but deciding against the idea. “We’ll have to…â€
He was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the gate buzzer going off.
*****
Silence reigned inside the kitchen. No one moved and no one made a sound. Even Tank and Brandon remained as quiet and as unmoving as their gagged and tied prisoners for a moment in the surprise all apparently felt at the situation. Then the gate buzzer rang again; this time a bit more insistently. Someone was apparently determined to attract attention and come onto the property.
Tank suddenly snapped out of his apparent funk and rushed toward Will. Will was concerned that his loosened bonds would be noticed when his captor came so close to him, but Tank apparently didn’t notice that at all as he suddenly deflated Will’s butterfly gag (Oh, blessed relief!), unbuckled it, and hastily yanked the gag off Will’s face.
“Who is that out there?†Tank demanded to know. “Are you expecting someone?â€
Will did not have the slightest idea, and wasn’t sure whether he wanted to find out either. Will was nothing if not quick-witted however, and decided to try to turn this unexpected development to his advantage. Having had time to overcome his own surprise, he put on a poker face the moment the gag was removed but allowing some of his relief to show. “Must be my mom and dad and my aunt! We told you she borrowed the car. She went to bring them home. And there they are. So you’d better let us go before they get concerned and call the police. Untie us and we’ll even let you sneak away unseen and leave the police out of it.â€
“You’re full of it,†Tank snapped as the gate buzzer went off yet again. “I know how your security system works. If that was your folks’ car, they’d simply buzz themselves in; they wouldn’t be sitting out there waiting for you to do it! Now who is that *really*?â€
“Maybe the device in the car that sends the signal to open the gate is on the fritz,†Will retorted. “In which case, the longer they wait, the more likely they are to call the police!â€
“You got any way to see who it is?†asked Tank. “How do you talk to them?â€
“Flip open the laptop lid over there on the counter,†Will instructed; nodding his head toward the computer in question. “It’s already on, and already set on showing what the gate security camera sees. Might not be much this time of time though; the outside gate light is burned out and we haven’t replaced it yet.†Will grinned, as that much at least was the actual truth. “There’s a two-way speaker built into it too.â€
Tank opened the laptop; the screen saver immediately turned on the screen monitor. The picture remained mostly dark however; all that was visible was part of the gate and a set of headlights shining on them from beyond. Nothing could be seen of the vehicle itself; let alone its occupants. From the height of the headlights however, it was evidently a van of some kind.
“If it’s not mom and dad, it must be the police,†Will replied smoothly. “Look, whoever it is, they’re evidently staying put. The jig is up. Just let us go now and let me let whoever that is in, and you and your buddy can just slip out the back way here and leave. No real harm’s been done yet, so I won’t say anything to anyone about this… ever. Not even to my folks. I’ll let bygones be bygones. What do you say?â€
Tank and Brandon exchanged blank looks filled with apparent despair. Then Tank turned to look at Will again; all bravado apparently forgotten. “All right, you’ve got a deal. I’ll let them in. Better show me how to do it; it’ll take too long to untie you first.â€
Despite the cockiness he felt at unexpectedly obtaining the upper hand, Will didn’t point out to Tank how much progress he’d already made in undoing his knots. He was too eager to get this situation over with before whoever was out there gave up and left. “Hit the Ctrl button. That’ll give you a menu showing icons to open the gate and close it. Just click on the open button. You won’t need the password; the system was engaged hours ago and I never bothered to clear it.â€
Tank clicked on the Ctrl button, found the open gate icon, and clicked on it with the small mouse pad built into the laptop. On the monitor, the gate could now be seen sliding open. A few seconds later, the gate was opened wide enough to allow the vehicle waiting beyond to continue on up the driveway, which it immediately did at a strangely precipitate rate of speed. As it approached the camera, it came into range of a light pole midway between the gate and the tree upon which the camera was perched. Revealed was a bright blue van with the words Camp Willywonka on it. It was visible for only a couple of seconds, and then passed on out of camera range as it drove toward the house at almost highway speeds.
Will was suddenly dismayed. Camp Willywonka? Why was a van from that hellhole coming here at all; let alone in the middle of the night? Too late, he suspected a trick.
“Thanks, doofus!†Tank suddenly said to Will with a voice filled with delight rather than dejection as he clicked on the Close Gate icon. The gate in the monitor stopped its sliding almost at once, paused a second, and then reversed course to slide shut again. “That’s all I needed to know.â€
“Wha… what’s going on?†Will asked with a hollow voice as the pit of his stomach suddenly felt like it went into free fall. “Who’s in the van?â€
“Just some of our pals we called up while we were waiting outside for nightfall,†Brandon replied cheerfully as he and Tank exchanged high-fives and strolled casually to the kitchen door lading outside. “We arranged for them to come here at eleven; either to give us a ride away from here if we were unable to break in or to help us out and bring some supplies if we made it. We’ll introduce you shortly; we told them that if they got in to drive around to the back and meet us right here.â€
At that moment the sound of a van’s engine could be heard entering the driveway in back of the house and a set of headlights shone momentarily into the kitchen from the door and adjacent window that looked outside. There was a brief honking of a horn as the sounds of the van’s engine died down.
“You three behave yourselves until we get back,†Tank said to Will and his two fellow captives as he and Brandon opened the kitchen door and exited through it.
Will groaned to himself and then, remembering he was no longer gagged, began to swear luridly under his breath. Instead of relieving the situation, the arrival of the van only made things vastly worse. The only saving graces were that his captors hadn’t noticed that he’d managed to loosen his bonds, and that they were as yet unaware that John and Andy were in the house and free to roam. But the arrival of an additional (and so far unknown) number of new potential foes had made things dangerously more complicated.
Tank and Brandon hurried outside and ran down the short walkway that led to the end of the driveway where the van had parked, just as three people emerged from its cab. They greeted the driver with enthusiastic claps to the shoulder and back and shook his hand, and Tank greeted the other two with high-fives. Brandon only knew the driver, and so Tank introduced him to the other two for the first time.
The driver of the van was a tall but reedy-thin boy named Vic. He was eighteen but was little larger and looked little older than did either Tank or Brandon. He was also one of the camp counselors at Camp Willywonka; although not the one they had stolen the car and other stuff from. In fact, he and the other counselor were virtual blood enemies; which made him like Brandon and Tank even more after what they had done when escaping Camp Willywonka.
Vic was six foot one and weighed no more than 150 pounds, had curly black hair, and gray eyes. His most distinctive feature however was a foot-wide tattoo on his chest depicting a crimson (and blood-dripping) biohazard symbol with a skull-and-crossbones in the center. It was in fact mainly visible now as he was wearing an open vest rather than a regular shirt; revealing much of his lean, well-tanned chest and belly.
With him were two of Tank’s other friends from somewhere other than Camp Willywonka., whom Brandon had never met before. Dirk was black, sixteen, and had a handsome face and a trim muscular build. He was five foot nine and weighed about 160. His hair was shaven off except for a quarter-inch high Mohawk that ran down the center of his scalp. Despite a ferocious appearance however, he seemed the be the most laid back of the three and had a more reasonably genial disposition than the others.
The other boy, aged seventeen, was Sal. He was the younger brother of another pal of theirs named Vinny, whom he helped to run a chop shop for stolen cars and sometimes fenced other hot merchandise. Sal was five-foot-eleven and weighed about 185 pounds. He was somewhat muscular, but some of that weight was also flab. He looked something like a nerd as he wore coke-bottle glasses, had buck teeth covered in braces, possessed a dense cluster of freckles all over his face and shoulders, and long, scraggly hair. Anyone who called him a nerd usually learned their mistake the hard way however as he had a vile temper and loved to fight. He rarely smiled, and when he did he looked scarier than when he frowned or scowled (by far his most frequent expressions).
“You bring all the gear we asked you for?†Tank asked Vic.
“You bet,†Vic proclaimed as he led the others to the back of the van and opened the door. “Take a look for yourself.â€
Tank and Brandon looked inside the back of the van in delight. Inside was enough food and drink to last them for a month; including cigarettes, beer, pot, soda, and a vast selection of snack foods. But what attracted their attention was a vast collection of bondage supplies that was also packed into the van, including chains, manacles, miles of thick heavy rope, assorted gags, whips and riding crops, sex toys of all descriptions stolen from a sex shop one of them had burglarized, and several papoose boards large enough and secure enough to hold adults.
There were also two slaves handcuffed and hobbled together; seated on a bench built into the interior side of the van. Both were fourteen-year-old boys of medium height and slender build, light blonde hair, and gorgeous sky-blue eyes. They were identical twins nick-named Bill and Ted (though neither looked like his famous namesake from those two movies). Both wore Speedos (Bill’s a bright red and Ted’s a bright shade of blue) and nothing else except for their restraints and the ball gags that were buckled and locked onto their slender and otherwise angelic faces. They looked outside at the others with calm resignation rather than fear, as if they’d been slaves for so long that they had practically never known any other way of life.
“Where’d you get those two?†Brandon asked. “You kidnap them from camp?â€
“Naw, they belong to Dirk here,†Vic replied as he indicated the black boy standing behind him with a jerk of his thumb. “He and they were at the Orphanage together a number of years. He protected them from abuse by any of the other bigger kids, and they did whatever he told them to. Eventually they formed a master/slaves relationship. When Dirk ran away from the orphanage, those two went with him. Been his personal slaves ever since. They don’t seem to mind though; any more than a pair of dogs would.â€
While Vic was explaining all this, Dirk had stepped into the back of the van and unlocked a padlock that held the two boys locked together and had simultaneously tethered them to a metal rung that had been set into the ceiling. This gave them freedom of movement while still leaving them hobbled and their wrists locked together in front; in both cases by a set of manacles held together by a thick thirty-inch-long gleaming metal chain.
“You two start carrying this gear into the house,†Dirk was telling them. “Tank and Brandon will show you where. I want this van emptied out in one hour. Move it!â€
The two slave-boys, still hobbled, shackled, and gagged but free to move reasonably unhindered, docilely nodded in evident respect to their master (saying nothing as they were still gagged) and began to do as they were told without a hint of complaint or hesitation. They showed no fear or nervousness about their situation; they were, in fact, apparently quite used to it. No one present could not for sure whether or not they were sad or happy about it, as they seemed to show little emotion of any kind. But they moved and carried out Dirk’s orders as if they were acting out of their own genuine desires.
Tank and Brandon exchanged evil smiles. “That’s the kind of slaves *we* want!†Tank said to the other. “Think we can make Will and the others as obedient as these two?â€
“I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time and lots of fun trying to find out, at any rate,†Brandon replied confidently. “As they say, getting there is half the fun.â€
Tank and Brandon led their three new buddies into the kitchen and immediately showed off their new captives. Dirk seemed more interested in the layout of the house itself rather than its occupants and began to explore the rest of the first floor. Once he found the rec room and noticed that it contained a great deal of empty space, he returned to the kitchen and indicated to his two slaves to put the bulk of the van cargo in there. It was a long trip for each load, but the slaves simply acknowledged his orders with a nod and complied as if the idea had been their own.
Tank, Brandon, Sal and Vic gathered around the kitchen table and the chairs where Corey, Paul, and Will still sat bound to their chairs. Luckily for Will he was the furthest of the three from the outside door, and there was little empty space behind him. As a result no one else came close to and behind him, or they would likely have noticed how slack many of the ropes around his arms, wrists and torso had become. Instead, they were distracted either by Paul and Corey (who abetted this by deliberately making as much of a fuss as they could while Will remained quiet), or by the contents of the refrigerator and the pantry. They were also enthused by the prospect of having the run of a luxurious house like this for the first time in their lives and paid more attention to the furnishings of the kitchen and adjacent room than they did to the captives; at least, at first.
Tank was just about to specifically introduce them to Will as the rich boy who actually lived here – which would have of course rendered him immediately susceptible to taunts, abuse, and most likely immediate discovery that he wasn’t tied as securely as he was supposed to be. Before Tank could get started however, Vic cut him off with a question.
“So what happened to that twerp, Matt?†he asked. “Did he get away from you?â€
“Naw, we’ve got him tucked away up in the attic!†Tank replied proudly; forgetting about Will for the time being. “Man, you should see that place. It looks like a medieval dungeon. Chains, manacles, a cage… everything you could ask for. Come on, we’ll show it to you right now. Say, we should bring along one of these idiots along while we’re at it. We were just about to take one of them upstairs when you rang the buzzer.â€
“Which one is the guy who set Matt loose?†Vic asked. “I’ve got a personal score to settle with him for letting Matt escape. After all the time and effort I spent in bringing him to Camp and training him, and the day I leave him with you guys this jerk comes along and takes him away! Which of these nerks is it?â€
“That one,†Tank replied, pointing at Paul with an accusatory gesture and smiling diabolically. Paul suddenly began sweating more profusely and was noticably trembling.
“Fine! Let’s take *him* with us when we got upstairs!†Vic said with a grin that suddenly reminded Paul of Dracula… or perhaps Jaws.
“Okay, give me a hand with him Brandon,†Tank asked his friend as he walked over to Paul’s chair in preparation for lugging Paul off.
“Hey, that’s slave work,†Dirk suddenly exclaimed. “Let Bill and Ted do it. Yo! Slaves!â€
Bill and Ted had been outside carrying some bondage gear in but appeared at the kitchen door as suddenly as if they had popped in out of thin air. “Take him and his chair along with us,†Dirk told them simply.
The two slaves obeyed with alacrity, even though the burden of Paul and chair together must have been considerable even for the two of them. Neither slave-boy was very large or muscular, whereas Paul was bigger and heavier than either and the chair he was tied into fairly heavy all by itself as well.
Tank and Brandon led the way to the way to the elevator, followed by the two slaves and their burden, Dirk, Vic, and Sal. From being a very crowded and noisy room only a minute before, the kitchen was now quiet and nearly empty again as Will and Corey were left tied inside their chairs. Taking advantage of the fact that none of their captors had thought to check their bonds over or remain to keep an eye on them, Will resumed the twice-interrupted task of trying to free himself from his bonds while he was unobserved.
*****
“There’s someone out by the gate alright,†John told Andy and Matt as he carefully looked out one of the attic windows. “I can see their headlights.â€
“Is this good news or bad news?†Andy asked with an apprehensive look. Up to now he’d been feeling like this was just a fun new adventure. Now he was getting worried that things might be about to get out of hand.
“I don’t know, but the gate is opening now. Whoever it is, they’re coming in.†John reported from the window. “It’s a van. It’s got… Uhhh… Matt… what was the name of that place that you and Paul fled from again?â€
“Camp Willywonka,†Matt replied. “Why?â€
“Because the side of the van has that name plastered all over it,†John replied as he stepped away from the window and began walking to a window on the opposite wall. “I saw it when it passed by that tall light-post out front. It’s going around the house now. I guess it’s going to the back door. Yep,†he added as he looked out the other window. “It’s stopping. Those two goons we saw are going out to meet them.â€
“Oh, crap-cakes!†Matt muttered quietly to himself. “Those bastards! Tank and Brandon must’ve Vic called for help. It’s him in the van; probably with a couple of his cronies. Things are even worse than ever now!â€
“There are three of them coming out of the van,†John confirmed. “I see a tall thin guy, a black kid, and some chubby guy with glasses.â€
“Vic, Dirk, and Sal,†Matt groaned. “The three stooges, only more brutal and less funny. We’re all in for it now.â€
“What the f…†John exclaimed. “There are two more guys coming out of the back of the van. They’re a couple of blonde kids my age… all chained up.â€
“Dirk’s two slaves,†Matt explained. “I saw them once or twice before. Very obedient. Vic was trying to ‘train’ me to be just like those two, with Tank and Brandon’s help. In a fight, they’d likely side with them; not us. Don’t trust them.â€\
“John, what are we going to do?†Andy asked; sounding like the very worried little boy he was rather than the brave hero he was imagining himself to be a while earlier. In fact, he was evidently fighting to stifle tears, and his little body was starting to tremble.
“Stay hidden, for starters,†John replied calmly as he got down on one knee in front of Andy to try to soothe him. “They don’t know we’re here. They think no one else is here. That gives us an advantage. Maybe if we can catch one of them alone and off-guard, we can even the odds a little.â€
“And maybe that safe has something we can use,†Andy replied hopefully. John doubted this, but the idea seemed to be cheering Andy up so he kept his doubts firmly to himself.
“Once Vic learns I’m up here, it won’t be long before they send him up here,†Matt warned them. “You guys had better go before they do. Leave me here. There’s nothing you can do to help me. Wait, before you do, take that water bottle with you… and stuff those socks back into my mouth. If they see that bottle or see those socks way over there, they’ll know something’s wrong.â€
John found the socks where he’d tossed them. Unfortunately they’d landed under the bed, in a place that had been collecting a massive amount of dust-balls. It was practically impossible to clean them all off of the wet and already foul socks. John felt queasy at the thought of Matt having to have those placed back into his mouth, but if they weren’t there when his captors came back he would likely face an even worse fate. With considerable reluctance and with a sympathetic grimace of displeasure on his face, John gently stuffed the incredibly nasty mass back inside Matt’s mouth.
The sound of the elevator motor starting up alerted the three boys that they were out of time. Matt made urgent noise to the other two and shook his head urgently toward the stairway, but his muffled urgings were unnecessary. John and Andy were already on their way out of the attic.
The two paused at the bottom of the stairs as the elevator came up to the level of their floor; striving to listen while they avoided making any noise themselves that might tip off their new adversaries. The elevator passed the third floor and ascended to the attic. Once it was well away, Andy and John tip-toed away from the stairway and hurried down the hallway back to Mr. Powers’ office as fast as they dared go while maintaining stealth.
Their only hope was in finding something in the office that could help them prevail against five enemies (and probably seven, counting the slaves). Failing that, they would have to consider finding a way to escape from the mansion and the grounds unseen and bringing back help from somewhere. Perhaps when Tasha arrived to cook breakfast in the morning, they could alert her to what was happening; although that would be a last resort out of sheer desperation of course. In any case, suspicions would certainly be aroused when she buzzed for admittance and no one let her in…
Or would they let her in? And would that make the situation better, or worse?
John’s mind was in a whirl, and he barely noticed when Andy walked up to the safe and began to fiddle with the dial. Right, kid… John thought to himself in something of a daze; go ahead and pretend you’re a safecracker if that makes you feel any better! At least it’ll keep you calm and quiet while I quietly freak out trying to find a way out of this horrible mess and…
“Got it!†a childish voice gleefully announced as John heard the sound of a ponderous metal door swing wide open.
John turned to look at the safe. It was indeed wide open, although from where he stood he could not see into it.
“How… the f… uhhh… I mean, how did you… how did you…†John stammered lamely.
“I found this slip of paper tucked inside the back of the desk,†Andy replied; holding a small tattered scrap of paper in one small hand. “Will’s dad hides stuff the same way *I* do, I guess. Saw these numbers on it. Guessed it was the safe combination. I was right.â€
“Oh… right,†John said numbly as he stepped toward Andy and turned to see what was inside the safe. “So, anything interesting in there we can… Oh my f***ing God!†John found himself exclaiming in shock (despite the presence of a much younger child) as he finally saw what was inside the safe.