19 Days - One Shots

A Life Saving Trade

One Day

Zhan Zheng Xi woke up with a pounding headache. He was startled to find himself tied to a chair in a dark room. The room was small and had one window which had been boarded up. A bed frame with no mattress sat on it's side in one corner of the room. Sweet wrappers and other bits of rubbish were strewn around the room and he noticed a smell of mould and rotting wood.

Zheng Xi looked down at his body to try and assess the situation. His hands had been tied to the arm rests with rope and duct tape covered his mouth. He struggled with the ropes but found they only burned his wrists.

The door at the other end of the room opened and in walked a scraggly looking man. His stubble was unkempt and his brown hair was greying on the sides. He was wearing a jacket and a coat that had dirt marks on them and his jeans had holes in them. His brown boots were wearing away and the sole on the front of one shoe was coming loose.

Behind the man, Zheng Xi noticed a dark hallway and found he was upstairs, noticing a staircase at the end of the hallway. The man shut the door behind him and glanced at Zheng Xi briefly before he walked over to the window and peeked outside through the boards.

"So, you're awake." His voice was scratchy, like he hadn't spoken in years. "Let me ask you a question, kid. I'm gonna take the tape off," He walked over to Zheng Xi and bend down until they were face to face. "so no screaming unless you wanna see what your insides look like. Understand?"

Zheng Xi nodded hesitantly. The man slowly pulled the tape off but left it hanging on Zheng Xi's cheek. He licked his lips, finding they had gone dry with nervousness. "Who are you?" He asked surprisingly calmly.

"I'll ask the questions around here." He looked at Zheng Xi with narrowed eyes. "I don't wanna hurt you kid so just play along, okay? Your best friend, Jian Yi." Zheng Xi tensed up and he gripped the arm rest tightly. He swallowed hard, his heart suddenly racing at a million miles per hour. "Do you know his father?"

Zheng Xi's eyebrows twitched into a frown. "He doesn't have a father."

Suddenly, Zheng Xi's face stung as he was slapped hard. The strange man grabbed him by the cheeks and squeezed tight. "Don't lie to me." He breathed through clenched teeth, his face inches from Zheng Xi's.

Zheng Xi tried to shake his head but found he couldn't move. "I'm not, I swear. He doesn't have a father."

The man stared at him for a second before mumbling. "The kid did say that last time too, maybe they just don't know." He let go and slowly moved his head back. He pushed the tape back across Zheng Xi's face before pulling a phone out of his pocket. Zheng Xi's phone, to be exact. He grabbed Zheng Xi's thumb and pulled the phone towards it, attempting to and unlock it.

Zheng Xi wiggled his thumb around as best as he could, much to the stranger's annoyance. "Stop it, or I'll cut it off. I tried your other thumb earlier but it locked it and said I had to wait so keep still."

Unlocking the phone, he walked back over to the window and looked outside again. He tapped a few buttons and put the phone to his ear. Zheng Xi could hear Jian Yi's relieved voice on the other end and his heart dropped into his stomach.

"Sorry but your friend is unavailable at the moment. If you want to save his life, you'll come to me, Jian Yi. I want you here and he can go free." Jian Yi said something in the background and the man glanced at Zheng Xi before looking outside again. "I won't hurt him but if you don't come to me in the next hour I'll call you so you can hear him scream as I cut his tongue out."

The man walked over to Zheng Xi and pulled out a large knife from the inside of his coat pocket, he held the phone out to Zheng Xi and sliced the knife down Zheng Xi's arm, causing him to let out a muffled groan behind the tape. Blood quickly soaked his arm and started to drip onto the floor.

"Is that enough proof for you? One hour, Jian Yi, or your friend here dies. I'll text you the address." He hung up.

-------

After 30 minutes, the kidnapper was pacing the room manically. He twisted the phone in his hand anxiously and Zheng Xi watched him, his arm throbbing with pain. He looked down at the duct tape that now covered the cut and was hoping and preying that Jian Yi wouldn't show up. He wasn't counting on it, though.

Suddenly, the front door downstairs opened and rushed footsteps could be heard throughout the house. Zheng Xi recognised Jian Yi's voice as soon as he started calling his name. The man stopped pacing and went and stood behind Zheng Xi, the knife resting on his neck. Jian Yi made it up the stairs and burst into the room.

His face went from worry, to relief to something Zheng Xi hadn't seen before. It sent shivers up his spine as he watched his best friend turn deadly. Jian Yi's eyes flitted from Zheng Xi, to the knife then to the man.

"You're the uncle that kidnapped me last year. You said you wanted to see my father." His voice was low and dangerous.

It seems Zheng Xi wasn't the only one affected by Jian Yi's attitude as the man stuttered his response. "T-that's right. I want to s-see him still."

"I don't have a father."

"Yes!" He shouted before taking a deep breath. "Yes you do. And I want to see him so if you want your friend here to live, you'll come with me to see him."

Without hesitation, Jian Yi nodded his head. "Okay but you have to cut the ropes first otherwise he can't get out."

The man cut the rope on one arm before he walked over to Jian Yi, the knife pointed at him the entire time. Zheng Xi struggled to remove the rope before he ripped the duct take off. "Jian Yi! Don't you dare go with him. Get back here!" He was trying to untie the other arm but was struggling in his desperation.

Jian Yi smiled softly at Zheng Xi as he backed up out of the room. "Don't worry, Xixi, everything will be alright. I promise."

Suddenly, Brother Qiu and He Cheng, followed by other men walked up the stairs and blocked the stairway. Brother Qiu grabbed Jian Yi and dragged him out of the way. The man backed up and tried running back to Zheng Xi but He Cheng grabbed him and shoved him to the ground.

"We let you go last time, old man. You've had your second chance. You're coming with us." He Cheng glanced up at Zheng Xi and he nodded at him slightly before looking at Brother Qiu. "Take them home."

Jian Yi escaped Brother Qiu's grasp and he ran to Zheng Xi, helping to remove the rope. "See? Told you everything would be alright." He grinned.

When the rope was off, Zheng Xi pulled Jian Yi into a hug, relief flooding throughout him. He looked on as He Cheng and the others dragged the man away whilst Brother Qiu stayed behind, looking rather bored.

-------

"What the hell happened?" Zheng Xi asked in the car. They were on their way to the hospital. Jian Yi had made a big fuss after he noticed the duct tape on his arm.

"Well I was with He Tian and Redhead. I was worried since I couldn't call you so we searched high and low, in mountains and rivers but you were nowhere to be seen. Then that man called so He Tian called his brother and we came for you."

Zheng Xi looked out the window at the passing cars. He slid his hand across the car seat and grabbed Jian Yi's fingers. "Thank you."

Jian Yi was silent for a moment before he squeezed Zheng Xi's hand. "Anything for you, Xixi."