Mime

*1*

I was only 14 when he came for me. I was walking home from school the one day, and although the sun was shining, I remember there was a certain chill in the air that had goosebumps raising on my skin. I was just at the turn onto our road, when I felt a red-hot pain across my wrists, ankles and throat. I clawed and scratched, but the burning wouldn't cease. Then it was replaced with an icy cold on my shoulder, and I turned to find him grinning down at me. He held something up in his hand that I couldn't see and jerked his arm back.

Gasping, I stumbled forward and fell at his feet, my joints and throat burning once again. He flicked his wrist, and I was back on my feet, arms behind my back. He grabbed my hands, pushed me forwards. We entered a silver van parked on the curb, and over my shoulder, I got my last glimpse of my home, before he shut the door and pulled me harshly forward, successfully choking me and rendering me unconscious.

When I came to, I was backstage of a production set up in the middle of an unfamiliar square. Groaning, I tried to sit up, but found that I was tied down by those strange invisible bonds. Looking around, I saw the note that was directly in my line of sight.

When you wake, there will be 5 minutes of containment, then you are free to run. I will come after you, be warned. This is your only chance to run.

Waiting for the time to pass seemed like one of the most painfully slow times of my life, but eventually I was able to sit up, and though there was still a faint tingling around where I had been chained, I felt okay, if not a little stiff. Silently, I crept to the curtains and peered out. There were people milling around in front of the stage, obviously waiting for a performance. Taking a breath, I prepared to run, thinking that if I ran out there, my mysterious captor surely wouldn't try anything with so many witnesses. My strides long, I started my run to freedom.

As I was about to leap off the stage though, the tingling around my neck intensified and as I leapt, the chain that was suddenly there yanked me to a stop and I clawed at it, trying to breathe. Meanwhile, the people below the stage started clapping and cheering me on. It was then that I spotted the large poster that was up next to the stage. My face stared back at me, smiling and happy. I looked to be in the classic miming pose that you see clowns in, trapped behind an imaginary wall.

 Like a switch had been flipped in my head, I realized why he had wanted me to run. He wanted to make it seem like my leaping and clawing was a mime performance. The people were certainly convinced. They stared at me, waiting to see what I would do next. To be honest, I was also wondering what was coming next. Suddenly, the chain binding my legs jerked to the left, and I felt myself sliding to the movement of the chains, while my hands also began to jerk and twist in an effort to resist the pull of the bindings. I was a puppet, his puppet, and he was pulling my strings. 

I found that I couldn't speak, and I started to panic. I didn't want this to be my life! I wanted to go home, to see my parents, to be safe! These thoughts were all barreling round my head as I danced a crazy dance, tiptoeing on the edge of mime and reality.