19 Days - One Shots

The Middle Man

One Day

The fuzzy sounds of a one-sided conversation woke Mo Guan Shan up from his sleep-induced haze. He quickly realised that he had been drugged and knew straight away as it wasn't his first time and he was sure it wouldn't be the last.

He opened his eyes slowly and looked around. He found himself to be inside a car with his head leaning against the cool window. It felt nice against his clammy skin. The street lights outside passed his view every few seconds against the night sky and he spotted the open water as he crossed over a bridge. He wondered where he was going this time.

He slowly sat up, with a struggle as he realised his hands were bound together with rope, and looked around the car. The interior was black so it was hard to make anything out during the night but he did notice the strong smell of cigarettes and the bright light of a phone.

A finger reached out and ended the call on his phone that was sat near the steering wheel. Guan Shan struggled to look at the caller ID but, still under the drugs influence, he could only make out blurry characters. The GPS popped up on the phone and he could make out the red dot on the screen looked pretty close. They weren't far from their destination.

Guan Shan followed the finger back to it's owner for the first time and stared at the face that wouldn't quite focus. He seemed to blend into the background of the dark car. Guan Shan blinked rapidly for a few seconds before his eyes focused better. The man driving was one he hadn't seen before; he had black hair and a sharp nose and jawline. He was extremely attractive and he knew it.

The driver's grey eyes turned on him out of the corner of his eyes before he focused back on the road. "Finally awake, are we? I thought maybe I'd overdone it when I spiked your drink." Guan Shan could hear the amusement in his voice. For some reason it annoyed him but after taking a deep breath he remembered why he was even in this man's presence at all and that covered his rising emotions like a tidal wave. "It was pretty hard to do, you know. I thought your eyes would never leave your drink."

"Well, when you remember there are crazy people out there who want to drug your drink, it's a good motivation to not take your eyes off it. Still managed to do it though, sneaky bastard. I thought I was careful." Guan Shan stared out the window into the night wishing he was anywhere else but in the car.

The stranger stared at Guan Shan for a moment before returning his focus forward. "It's not every day you meet someone so wary of being drugged. Or someone that reacts calmly to being kidnapped either. Did I really go overboard? I didn't overdose you, did I?"

Guan Shan ignored the questions and decided to ask one of his own. "Why do you do this? Kidnap people for other people. Are you a sociopath? A fucking sicko, maybe? Do you get your rocks off to seeing others scared shitless when they find themselves in a car tied up after being drugged?"

The driver whipped his head round to stare bewilderedly at Guan Shan before he pulled the car over to the side of the road. He reached across and pressed his hand on the passenger window as he trapped Guan Shan between himself and the seat. "How do you know I'm a middle man?" His voice was low and dangerous, his eyes suddenly cold. "Are you a cop? Am I being set up?"

"Do I look like a fucking cop? Of course not." Guan Shan used his bound hands to push the stranger's chest away from him. "How much did that bastard pay you? This isn't my first rodeo with him, you know. That fucker always finds me."

The taller man backed away a few inches but remained in place otherwise. He eyed the other searchingly. "Who are you?"

Guan Shan turned to stare out the window. "Your client is my ex. That fucker is way too clingy for his own good. He won't let go of me. He never will. We go round in circles, he and I. He keeps me for a few months and when he's gone soft on me, I slip away. But he always manages to find me. Every fucking time. He pays assholes like you to bring me back, drugged up so I can't escape or fight back by the time he's got me in his sights once more.  It's the same old cycle that's never going to end. I'm tired."