I Don't Think That They'll Understand - Fransykes

Chapter Two

Oli woke up, squinting his eyes at the light coming through the window. He wasn’t sure why it was so bright, it was never bright in his room, and as he looked around, he realized he wasn’t in his room. He tried to sit up, having no luck, his arms and legs tied so he just flopped around as though he were a fish.

“Oh, we’re finally up I see?” A sickeningly-sweet voice spoke from the front seat. “Hungry, my dear Oli?” Oli sneered at the man, finally sitting up, albeit awkwardly, leaning forward onto the passenger side seat to balance himself.

“Why are you doing this?” He questioned, and Josh just laughed. “Seriously, what the fuck dude?” Josh smiled at Oli’s language, continuing driving.

“You’re hot when you swear.” Oli’s head filled with thoughts of disgust. Did this man, who was probably close to twice his age, honestly find him attractive? It was repulsive to think about. “Then again, you’re always hot.” Oli’s suspicions were confirmed, leading to more disgusting thoughts. What was this man going to do to him? He couldn’t remember what he had done to get himself into this situation, everything before waking up as good as non-existent in his mind, but he wanted to get out.

“What do you want from me?” Oli played with his handcuffs, trying to at least make the cool metal dig into the skin of his wrists a little less, but playing with them caused him nothing but more discomfort.

“I want to help you.” Oli continued to question Josh, getting vague answers a few words long which told him nothing. He had no clue where they were going, how far they had even travelled, he had nothing that could help him.

“So are you hungry?” Josh asked again. Oli sneered, though his stomach betrayed him at the thought of food.

“You’ll probably drug me or something.” He complained, leaning back against the seat behind him. Josh laughed, slowing down to take the next exit.

“I don’t need to drug you,” he explained, reaching behind him with one hand. He pulled a pistol from his belt, holding it out in front of Oli. “I have this. And you’ll do what I say if you don’t want me to use it.” Oli nodded, the fear showing in his eyes. Josh pulled into a corner store, examining the shop for people and spotting only one, the cashier.

He turned around, looking Oli in the eyes. “I’m going to untie you. We’re going to walk into that store, you’re going to choose what you want. You aren’t going to say a word to anyone, for any reason. You’re going to wear these to cover the marks on your wrists,” Josh held out two rubber bracelets, decorated with band logos, before setting them down on the armrest beside his seat. Oli examined them, his brows furrowing, recognising both bands immediately. “You do anything stupid, don’t think I won’t shoot you and anyone else who gets in my way.” It was an empty threat on Josh’s part, as he had no plans to follow through with shooting the kid, but it was needed to make sure Oli behaved.

Josh got out of the car, walking around to Oli’s door, and opening it. He motioned for Oli to come closer, which he did, resentfully, with a few shuffles of his rear. Josh turned Oli by his shoulder, careful not to hurt the boy, to gain access to the handcuffs around Oli’s wrists, behind his back. Oli shook his hands, his fingers stroking along the marks the cuffs had made on his bare wrists. Josh went to work on the rope that tied Oli’s feet together, freeing the boy. “Come on,” Oli slipped on the bracelets, one on each wrist, and followed Josh out of the vehicle. He followed Josh, keeping his head down and refusing to make eye contact with the cashier. “You can have whatever,” Josh nudged him, and he began to examine the shelves. He ended up wandering to the fridge, pulling out a ready-made salad, and nothing more, setting it on the counter. He waited for Josh to make his selection, playing with his thumbs, then a loose string on his shirt. "Nothing else for you?" Josh questions and Oli shakes his head, following Josh's no talking rule as he examines the items in Josh's hands. Josh frowns, before urging Oli to grab a drink.

"But eve -" Oli stops himself, having forgotten about Josh's rules for a second. His head quickly goes down, more in fear of Josh than anything else.

"But what? Go on," Josh encouraged, giving the boy a smile and ignoring his slip-up, for now. Oli moved a little closer to Josh, so he could speak to him in a whisper.

"I can't have anything else..." He looked down at himself with a sneer on his face. Josh frowns at the boy, walking over and grabbing him a water himself.

"You can have a water, I'm sure?" He asked, his mind curious as to why the boy would think he couldn't have anything else. Oli shrugs, eyes down at his feet again, examining his shoes as though they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"So, why didn't you get anything else?" Josh was busy doing up Oli's handcuffs and tying up his feet, Oli's arms stinging from the handcuffs again. He made a face of pain, and Josh looked almost apologetically at him. Once Oli was all done up, Josh hopped in the driver's-side, starting up the car, and reaching in his bag for a candy bar, deciding it would be better to leave the real food until the next rest-stop.