I live on Elm Street. Although the name of my street in our local language doesn’t evoke such clear associations with the famous horror movie, most residents are aware of this amusing coincidence. Especially during Halloween.
It was the end of October. In a few days, All Saints' Day was coming up, and before that, of course, the crazy Halloween. Some kids were already running around the yards wearing scary masks, frightening each other. So I wasn't surprised when I met two young boys wearing Halloween masks in the stairway. They greeted me politely and asked for help in removing a box with fragile accessories from a high shelf, which they couldn't reach. It was Friday morning, but I have Fridays off, so I was in no hurry. I just took my bags of sorted trash to the dumpsters and came back to help the kids with their box.
I have to admit that the boys dressed up like pros. The first wore a perfectly fitting Scary Face mask and the second wore an equally natural Pumpkin mask. With their scary masks and hoods pulled tight, their faces were completely unrecognizable, and they both looked really disturbing, despite their young age and high-pitched voices that revealed they couldn't be older than 13. Only their polite and courteous behavior contradicted their horrific appearance.
We went down to the basement under the apartment building where we lived. In other my story, I described to you, and even showed you in photos, that the basements with storage rooms under apartment buildings resemble real dungeons in their appearance and atmosphere. However, new apartment buildings, like the one I live in, have somewhat different basements. Clean and new, with completely ordinary doors. They resemble modern warehouses more than dark and damp castle dungeons.
The boys' storage room was located in a remote part of the basement, several turns and twists down the corridor. The boy wearing the Scary Face mask opened the door and pointed to a metal rack with shelves standing in the back with a large box on the top shelf. Apart from the rack and the box on top of it, the room was completely empty. To be honest, I suspected that the guys wanted to play a prank on me, but their polite behavior so far contradicted that. Having lost my suspicions, I entered the storage room to take the box down from the high shelf for the kids. It was only when I heard the door slam behind me and the immediate clatter of a key turning in the lock that I realized I had been tricked.
I found myself in darkness, and only a little light from the hallway entered through small ventilation holes in the wall above the door.
- Hey! What are you doing? - I shouted, more surprised than angry.
But all I’ve heard was the sound of two pairs of feet running quickly away towards the basement exit. Then the light in the corridor went out and I heard the boys locking the door between the basement and the stairwell.
2.
So they did play a prank on me after all. Okay, I made a bit of a fool of myself, and the boys are having fun with it. I didn't mean to act like an old boomer and cause them any trouble. They outsmarted me, they pranked me, nothing happened. I even admired them a little because at their age I wouldn't have had the courage to play SUCH jokes on adults!
I paced slowly back and forth in the small storage room, expecting the boys to return any moment and let me out, laughing loud at me. However, time passed and the kids didn’t return. It’s unlikely that they were unexpectedly called home by their parents, as on Friday at that time, parents should be at work. Actually, I was wondering why the boys were not at school. At 9 a.m., they probably hadn't finished their lessons yet, so they were probably going to the second shift.
Having lost faith in being released any time soon, I sat down in a squatting position against the wall. It was completely dark around me, and the sounds of life in the residential block were very quiet and muffled. Maybe if I started shouting and banging on the door, someone would hear me and let me out? Except that all the neighbours are probably at work. Also the housekeeper cleaned our building yesterday, so today she's in the neighbouring building. Besides, I don't even know who the lads are who locked me in here, so I don't know where to look for the key. Unfortunately, in new apartment blocks, storage room numbers are no longer assigned to flat numbers as they used to be, so it's impossible to know which storage room belongs to which flat. It began to dawn on me that I was probably stuck here for real. Especially since I didn't want my neighbours to find out how I got locked in a storage room by two kids!
Much more time has passed than any normal prank could last and I began to wonder what was going on. The door to the storage room, although not as atmospheric as in old apartment blocks, was strong enough that it couldn’t be broken down without tools. And I didn’t have any tools - The contents of the box I was supposed to take down turned out to be just used rolls of bubble wrap. So I sat helplessly on the bare concrete floor, leaning against a white brick wall, thinking about how I had seriously found myself at the mercy of two masked boys and had no idea what their intentions were.
3.
I didn't have my watch with me, so I had no idea how much time had passed before I heard someone in the distance opening the basement door and then slowly approaching the storage room where I had been locked up by two little buggers. If it was a neighbour, should I call for help? Or should I stay quiet and wait for the boys to let me go? I didn't know what should I do.
The footsteps stopped in front of the door to my prison. Then I heard a quiet scuffle and what sounded like a groan, followed by a beam of light from a flashlight shining through the ventilation holes in the wall above the door. It wandered around the room for a moment, and when it finally found me, it focused on my face, completely blinding me.
- He's still there. He's sitting against the wall - reported one of the boys.
The other laughed quietly and replied confidently - I told you he wouldn't get out of here!
- Okay, lads, I'm impressed, you tricked and trapped a grown man. Point for you. But now let me out of here. I have other plans for today than sitting in your storage room, you know. - I tried to sound as cool as possible.
In response, an object fell onto the floor.
- Put this around your neck, sir. - One of the boys instructed.
- What is it? - I asked in wonder, picking up the object on a thick, wide orange plastic strap.
- This is a shock collar. Please put it around your neck and fasten it tightly – said the boy, following my every move with his torch.
- No way! This isn't funny anymore. Let me out right now! - I shouted angrily.
- I'll count to ten, sir - warned the second boy in his thin voice, - if you don't put on that collar as we told you to by then, we'll leave you here until tomorrow. And you won't be able to do anything about it!
- Oh no, no no. That's too much! - I shouted, although alongside my growing fear, I also began to feel excited about the situation I found myself in - You can't keep me here unnoticed for so long!
- Oh, we can! - laughed the first boy - We've been watching you for a long time. We know that you live alone, that you don't use cell phones, that you're a loner, and that you now have four days off. We know very well that no one will look for you and no one will be concerned about your absence!
I was speechless.
- One - the second boy began counting down.
I didn't know what to do. On the one hand, I was scared, but on the other, I was excited that I had been kidnapped and imprisoned by two young boys, especially since I wasn't really in any serious danger and the only thing that could suffer was my pride. When the boy behind the door reached five, I grabbed the collar and fastened it around my neck as they wanted. The beam of the flashlight scanned my neck, and from outside came a short command in a thin boy's voice - Two notches tighter!
At the same time, the second boy reached eight in his countdown.
Without thinking, I tightened the collar by two more notches, so that with every swallow I felt a thick orange strap tightening around my throat and two metal electrode pins digging slightly into the skin on the side of my neck. It was very humiliating.
For a moment, a beam of light wandered across my face and throat.
- He really put on that collar! - exclaimed the first boy enthusiastically.
- Did he? - said the second boy excitedly.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my neck. Instinctively, I grabbed the collar.
- Don't touch the collar, or we'll give you a stronger shock, sir! - warned one of the boys.
I quickly dropped my hands.
- The electric shock you felt was set to three, now I'm setting it to ten. If you try to take off that collar, it's gonna really going to hurt you! – explained voice.
- Guys, you're psychopaths. You should seek treatment! - I said in a trembling voice, wondering what kind of dog is trained with such a strong electric shock. An Amstaff? A Bull Terrier?
A boyish giggle was my answer.
- What now? - I asked, trying to sound confident, but my voice cracked, making me sound almost as thin as the boys.
Another object fell onto the floor. This time it was much heavier.
- Handcuff your hands behind your back, sir. - One of the boys commanded,
- WHAT? - I shouted in disbelief, because the speed with which we were advanced through levels was beginning to seriously worry me.
And I became even more concerned when I picked up the handcuffs from the floor and realised that they were not aluminium or plastic toys, but REAL steel handcuffs!
- One - the second boy began the countdown.
I understood that I was not in a position to negotiate, and I also began to realise that the boys were taking this game much more seriously than I was. In these circumstances, I put on the handcuffs, quite tightly, and turned my back to the door so that the boy with the torch could check that I had really handcuffed myself as they had told me to.
- Lie down on the floor, sir. Face down, legs spread wide apart - another order came from behind the closed door.
Without a word, I obeyed the command. At the same time, I was thinking that these two young boys were step by step overpowering me more and more effectively. At this stage, it will be difficult for me to physically fight them.
- You lie down and don't move, sir. If you even twitch, I'll electrocute you immediately and very painfully. Believe me, you don't want me to do that - warned the second boy.
- We just want to play with you and then we'll let you go - added the first boy reassuringly - It's not worth causing yourself unnecessary pain.
So I lay motionless while the boys opened the door, and then one of them cautiously approached, sat on my back, and locked the handcuffs to prevent them from tightening further. It was an extremely strange feeling to be seriously terrorized by two young boys wearing scary Halloween masks and to know that at that moment I had no chance against them in a direct confrontation.
The boy who entered the storage room was the one wearing the Pumpkin mask. When he finished securing the handcuffs, he ordered me to stand up and, holding me in a sort of professional police grip, led me to the corner of the room, where he sat me down with my back to a thick drainpipe running vertically in the corner. Then he sat down on my straightened legs, preventing me from getting up, and took a thick bike lock tucked behind his belt.
The boy placed the bike lock behind the vertical drainpipe and fastened it in front of my neck, just below the shock collar. Now I was stuck here for good. To free me from it without the boys' consent, the fire department would be needed to cut through the steel bike lock.
At that moment, the other boy entered the storage room and handed Pumpkin a large rag. Pumpkin immediately began stuffing it into my mouth, forming a gag. I tried to protest, but he didn’t listened..
- Open wide, sir, or my friend will press the button! - he threatened, forcing more and more of the rag into my mouth.
The rag no longer fit in my mouth, but the boy stubbornly kept stuffing it in. When he had pushed almost all of it inside, he took a wide silver duct tape from his friend hands and began to wrap it very tightly around my mouth and head.
Anyone who has ever been gagged with such tape knows that no matter how much of it is applied to the face, the strength of the jaw muscles will always overcome the adhesive and eventually the gag will be spat out. But this kid knew what he was doing! He wasn't sticking the tape to my face at all, but wrapping it very tightly around my head so that the tape kept pushing the gagging cloth deep into my mouth. The tape didn't stick to the glue on my face, but to the previous layers of the same tape, which created a tape ring that was impossible to break with human muscle power.
I looked with horror at the boy's inhuman mask, realizing that I was completely helpless against him now, and that these two little sadists could do whatever they wanted with me for hours, while I couldn't stop them in any way. On the one hand, this thought terrified me, and on the other, it excited me as hell. I was seriously kidnapped and seriously imprisoned, I am seriously being held captive by two cruel boys, and I am completely defenseless. But in fact, I am not in any serious danger.
- We have to leave you like this for a few hours, sir. We'll come back after school, and if you obey us, maybe we'll let you go before nightfall - said Pumpkin.
- I set the shock collar to bark response mode. - added Scary Face - We've gagged you, but if you still try to make a sound louder than a whisper, the collar will shock you. I set it to five so you won't hurt yourself if you sneeze, but it will still be painful, so I don't recommend trying it.
The boys looked menacing in their masks, and I knew how cruel and ruthless they were. They kidnapped, overpowered, and imprisoned a grown man! Who knows what else they're capable of! I looked at them with fear but also with admiration. Damn, I'm scared of twelve-year-old kids!
They both looked at me silently for a moment, then exchanged mysterious glances and left the storage room. I wanted to cry out for them not to leave me there, but I remembered about the shock collar just in time. I could only watch helplessly as the two young boys left and locked me in a dark storage room in the basement of the apartment building. This time I can't even call for help, even if I dared to! I could still hear their whispers and giggles as they walked down the hallway, and then silence enveloped me again when they locked the basement door behind them, leaving me alone, restrained and gagged in a locked storage room.
4.
Later in the afternoon, several people appeared in the basement, but none of them realized that I was imprisoned in one of the storage cells. I didn't even try to check how painful the shock from the collar set to five would be.
Meanwhile, the boys attended classes as if nothing had happened. They took tests, answered questions at the blackboard, and talked to their peers during breaks as usual. No one knew that at the same moment they were keeping a 40-year-old man restrained, gagged, and terrorized in a dark basement.
I suppose it was about six hours, but for me it was an eternity filled with discomfort, torment, fear, and humiliation. Of course, I checked many times to make sure there was no way I could escape! However, it doesn't take much imagination to understand that steel handcuffs and a bike lock three fingers thick leave no room for escape. And I still didn't even know who my kidnappers were! The perfect crime.
After spending the whole day in the basement, I was seriously exhausted and hungry because I went out to take out the trash without eating breakfast. But thanks to that, at least I didn't need to visit the toilet. Wetting my pants would have been an additional humiliation in front of those two jerks.
5.
Finally, I heard footsteps approaching my prison, and I felt hopeful that I would soon be freed. This time, only one boy came, the one with the Scary face mask on his face. I was glad it was him, because he looked younger and less cruel than his colleague. I thought I might be able to convince him to release me right away.
Scary Face was holding a bottle of water in his hand. He approached me without saying a word and sat astride my legs.
- Thirsty? - he asked sympathetically.
I nodded eagerly.
The boy took a scout knife from his belt and with a skillful movement cut the tape holding the gag in my mouth. For a moment, I was terrified when he brought the sharp knife close to my neck, but after a moment, I spat out the gag, wet with my saliva, with relief. I was afraid to speak, not knowing if he had already neutralized the shock collar's barking punishment function.
He opened the bottle and put it to my lips. I greedily took the first two sips but I mmediately grimaced because the water tasted awful.
- Drink up, sir. It's mineral water with electrolytes. You need electrolytes after a whole day without food and being held in such conditions - The boy tilted the bottle, forcing me to drink. The water really did have a disgusting bitter-salty taste. But the boy wouldn't let me stop drinking. In the end, he held my face and pumped the liquid into my mouth until the bottle was empty. I felt like I was about to vomit.
- You know, I’d be happy to release you right now, but I don't know the code for this bike lock, nor do I have the keys to the handcuffs you're restrained. So, we have to wait until my friend comes back from his karate practice after school - said Scary Face.
All my hope vanished.
- But since you have to sit here anyway, I'll play torture games with you. Okay, sir?
I frantically began a negative head shake to indicate that I didn’t like the idea.
The boy however paid no attention to this. He picked up the gag, wet with my saliva, from the dirty concrete floor and started pushing it into my mouth again. When he encountered my resistance, he pressed the button on the shock collar remote control. I don't know how high it was set, but it hurt a lot. I whimpered pitifully and let him push the wet and dirty rag back into my mouth and then secure it with several layers of duct tape wrapped tightly around my head.
Scary Face tortured me long and mercilessly, electrocuting me with the shock collar in dozens of ingenious ways. He kept changing the settings, so I didn't know how much pain he would cause me each time. Looking into the black eye sockets of the boy's mask, I found only soulless cruelty. He didn't say anything, didn't even laugh, just watched me suffering with cold indifferencel.
I wondered how such a young boy could be so cruel and heartless. Then I remembered my peers from elementary school and quickly found the answer to my own question.
The torture seemed endless, and I began to wonder if there would be any marks left on my neck after so many electric shocks. Suddenly, someone entered the basement from the stairwell. The boy must have guessed that it wasn't his friend because he immediately stood up, put his finger to mask’s lips to silence me, and then quietly went outside, locking the door behind him.
- Boys, I've told you so many times not to play in the basement - I heard my neighbour's voice.
- I'm leaving already, sir - Scary Face replied politely and left the basement as if nothing had happened.
Rescue was so close, yet I was afraid to call for help. The neighbour had no idea that a few storage rooms away, these boys were keeping a restrained and gagged man, tortured and terrorized with a shock collar.
6.
I waited so long for the boys to return that I began to fear they intended to keep me there until morning. Which was a disastrous option, because I needed to pee.
However, just as I was sinking into utter despair, and the excitement of being imprisoned and enslaved by two dangerous boys had almost completely given way to terror caused by suffering, some footsteps and familiar voices echoed in the basement corridor.
I heard them turn the lock on the door and a moment later they both came inside. For a moment, they both looked at me with their hands in their pockets. I looked at them pleadingly. I trembled at the sight of their power over me.
Finally, Pumpkin spoke up.
- We’ll release you now, sir. But you must follow our orders precisely. Otherwise, you will get yourself into serious trouble.
- What? But you said we'd keep him here until tomorrow! And you let me torture him again tomorrow morning! - whined the disappointed boy wearing the Scare Face mask.
- He has enough - said the boy in the Pumpkin mask - We've played with him long enough. And you've already tortured him, haven't you?
Scary Face nodded his head.
- Shit! Buddy, tell me you didn't bring him anything to drink or eat! - He added with worry in his voice.
- I just gave them something to drink…
Pumpkin crouched down next to me and whispered quietly in my ear - I'm sorry about him. I'm sure that idiot gave you water mixed with his urine. He thinks it's funny. Every kid knows not to take anything from him. In the summer, half the adults in this neighbourhood drank his urine in the lemonade he sold on the street! If I had left you here alone any longer, he would have forced you to drink his urine until you puked.
And as he said this, he unfastened the bike lock that pinned me to the drainpipe. He also removed the gag from my mouth.
- Okay, sir. The collar is set to ten again. If you do anything to scare us... unimaginable pain will prevent you from finishing it. - said Pumpkin
- I won't resist, I won't seek revenge or look for you, I just want to go home, guys - I assured them sincerely
- Perfect. Turn around, sir. I'll take off your handcuffs. And remember, we can control your collar from a distance of several hundred meters! We'll get you! - Pumpkin continued as his colleague went out into the hallway, probably to check if we could leave safely.
- What if someone sees that orange collar around my neck? - I asked, worried.
- My colleague will make sure that we don't meet anyone on the way to your apartment. Because we will escort you right to your door, sir. Once you're inside and have closed the door from inside, you can take off the colar and keep it as a souvenir.
I couldn't believe how perfectly they had planned everything. And although it's hard to believe, everything went smoothly. Escorted by two masked kidnappers, I reached the door of my apartment. I opened it and went inside without looking back.
- Goodbye sir, it was fun playing with you - I heard Scare Face's voice before I closed the door.
As soon as the door closed and I locked the bolt, I hurriedly began to remove the damned collar from my neck. From outside, I heard the sounds of the boys running down the stairs. I thought that I would never find out who they were and would never find them.
7.
Halloween evening arrived, and local children went door to door collecting candy in accordance with a foreign custom. I'm not particularly fond of Halloween myself, but I don't want to spoil the fun for the kids, so I always have a large bowl of sweets ready for them. If only in recognition of their imaginative costumes, which are different every year.
I didn't think my captors would be bold enough to visit me that evening. But they did. They stood behind the younger children and stared at me from behind their scary masks. As they reached for the candy, I noticed Scary Mask discreetly leave a small note in the bowl.
When the kids left and I closed the door, I took out the note and read it:
„Thank you for taking part in our little game four days ago. I hope you are not angry with us. We think you enjoyed yourself as much as we did. If we are right, please put on your shock collar shortly before 9 p.m. today.”
Ten minutes before 9 p.m., I was sitting on my sofa holding the orange shock collar that the Scare Face Boy had so mercilessly tortured me with when I was his prisoner. Why would I put it on again now? I knew what those bastards would do! Nevertheless, two minutes before 9 p.m., I fastened the collar around my neck and waited.
The stab of pain came without warning. Then another. And another. Each one stronger than the last. I wanted to rip the collar off my neck, but instead I fell to the floor screaming in pain. Then came three more stings, and it was over as suddenly as it had begun.
Behind the door in the stairwell, I heard a boy's laughter and the sound of two pairs of feet running down the stairs.
THE END
