Chapter 28

I moved to his side, trying to make my steps coincide with his light snoring. I don't know if he heard me, but there was a very tense moment when he turned from his side to his back. This made my punch a lot more awkward. I mentally prepared myself. Visualised what I wanted to happen and what I would do next, which was get onto the bed behind his head and lock him up. Took a stance and punched. He sat straight up. I was not expecting that, but it did not change my plans. I jumped onto the bed behind him and head locked him with pressure on his carotid sinus. I guess he was disorientated, he weakly tried to grab my arm a couple of times before slumping. I released him a bit to stop the pressure on his neck but still held him in case he was faking. He didn't move. I could see a shape in the darkness at the end of the bed.
“Abby.” I whispered.
“Yes.” She whispered back.
“Can you switch the light on?”
I could hear a fumbling around in the dark and then there was light. “I don't know how long he is going to be out. We need to move fast. I'll stay here in case he wakes up. Can you find something to gag him and tie him up.” This was my first proper look at Abby now the lights were on. My God she looked beautiful. Big soft brown eyes on cute heart shaped face. I don't know if it was the adrenaline, the situation, or something else, but I suddenly believed in love at first sight. Or maybe lust at first sight. The chance of her being a lesbian was only about 10% and who knew what sexual traumas she had been through as evidenced by what she did next. She went straight to the second drawer down on a chest of drawers and pulled out a ball gag and pink fluffy handcuffs.

We lay him in the middle of the bed on his front. He was so heavy moving him was difficult, so mainly we just rolled him. We forced the gag in and handcuffed him with his hands behind his back. I used a pair of shoelaces to tie his feet together and attach them to the handcuffs. If he woke up before we had finished with everyone else, hopefully moving or making a sound would be difficult and painful.

We knew we had to be quick but it made sense to search his room. We both put one of his shirts on. It is surprising how much better it feels to have clothing on regardless of the temperature. There must be a psychological feeling of vulnerability when you don't have clothes on. I then had an internal debate over whether to wear a pair of his boxers. His other clothes were way to big for me. Abby was already in a pair of panties, so she was alright. We took them out of a drawer, so they should be clean, but there was definitely a feeling of disgust putting them on.

We found his keys, no weapons though. “What next?” Abby asked.
“Two choices. We go to the kitchen to find a knife or two, before going to that guest room you talked about, or go there now.”
“Do you know how to fight with a knife?”
“Most of my training was hand to hand. I know the basics. Haven't really used it or practised much with it.”
“My vote is to go straight to the guest room then.”
“You're probably right. Let's go.” We turned the light off. Waited for our eyes to adjust and left, locking the door behind us.

Abby led me back up the stairs along the corridor to another unremarkable door. There were not a lot of keys to chose from. It was probably a master key. I got Abby to stand back a bit, just in case. As quiet as you want to be, even putting a key in lock and turning it makes sound. I think, a lot depended on how light a sleeper you are. I heard Abby picking my lock. Marcus didn't hear anything. We weren't even sure if there was anyone in the guest room. It all doesn't change that the unknown, causes a fear and uncertainty. I geared myself up to face whatever was there and slowly opened the door.

What presented itself to my eyes was a bit of a puzzle. It was dark, so I couldn't see clearly. There appeared to be someone struggling on the bed, but not making much noise above a mumble. I crept closer to try and work it out. I stared at the guy handcuffed to the bed with a ball gag in. There was something about him that nagged at me, beyond the bizarre picture. Suddenly the pieces locked together, came into focus. This was the man who had attacked Laurence. I couldn't help a sharp intake of breath. He was awake and had obviously heard us opening his door and was staring right at me.

“Abby, come in and switch the light on.”
A bit of a fumble then the lights were on. “Err. What on earth.”
I decided to play the part of complete ignorance. “I haven't got a clue. I think we should leave him here. He is not in a position to get in our way. Let's move on to the Neanderthals.”
“Wait a sec. I've never seen him here before. He might be able to help us. You know the enemy of my enemy, kind of thing.”
“He could also be very dangerous. If we don't escape tonight, I'm not sure we would get another chance.”
“We need to at least talk to him.” Abby walked up beside him. “If we take the ball gag out, do you promise to keep the noise down?” She said looking him in the eyes. He nodded clearly. She looked at me. “Shut the door.”