Chapter
20
Brian listened
to the sound of the rain beating down outside as he quietly lay on the hard bed
in the cold basement of the house where he was held captive. He jumped
and grimaced as the loud sound of nearby thunder reached his ears and sent more
shots of pain shooting through his already aching head. He silently
cursed the handcuffs which held him down to the bed; not allowing him to rub
his forehead in an attempt to lessen the pain. As the pain slowly
subsided, Brian again turned his attention to the sound of the rain falling and
let out a shudder as he realized how cold the European rain was this time of
year and his thoughts then turned to his best friend, whose body had to
withstand the rain just a few short hours ago. Brian's eyes filled with
tears for what seemed to be the 100th time that day as the last image he had of
his young friend lying in the hospital bed filled his tired mind. He
blinked his eyes quickly as he mumbled and sighed, "He might
be dead by now and I didn't even get to say goodbye."
His attention
turned to the wooden door across the room as he heard the sound of the loud,
squeaky doorknob turning. Brian turned his head towards the opposite wall
and quickly shut his eyes at the door opened, praying that if the men thought
that he was asleep that they would leave him alone for awhile. He felt
his heart rate increase and his breathing rate go up as he heard the familiar
sound of 3 pairs of heavy workboots coming towards his bed. He held his
breath for a few moments waiting for one of the three men to speak. He
cringed as he felt the bed sink slightly, as someone sat down on the edge and
leaned over him as they whispered in his ear, "Time to get up
Littrell. We have some business to take care of and we have a nice
surprise for you." It took every ounce of Brian's willpower to not
open his eyes to look at the person he had identified as Charlie by his
recognizable loud, raspy voice. He heard Charlie let out a frustrated
sigh and Brian felt his body slowly relax as Charlie got up from the bed.
Before Brian knew
what to do next, he felt a hand slap him forcefully
across the
face, and he unwillingly scooted away and let out a low whimper; just as if the
hand that had slapped him was a ball of fire that he desperately needed to get
away from. During all of this, Charlie looked over and seen that Brian
didn't open his eyes yet, and he slapped Brian again as he fumbled through his
pocket, feeling for the small key to the handcuffs as he laughed to himself as
he watched as Brian reacted to the pain that accompanied the slaps he had just
received.
Charlie finally found the key and roughly unlocked
the handcuffs and forced them off of Brian's wrists. Brian's pain turned
to shock and relief as he suddenly realized his arms were free. He then
instantly opened his eyes and brought his arms down closer to his chest and
winced as he touched the tender area of his wrists where the handcuffs had
mercilessly tore into his skin. His moment of relief quickly diminished
as Charlie grabbed his shoulder and shook him as he demanded that Brian look at
him because he had a surprise to show him. Brian reluctantly turned
around to face Charlie and slowly forced his eyes to open. A scream
escaped his lips as he came face to face with "Charlie's
surprise". It was then that Brian started to pray that he would live
through what looked like was going to happen to him next.
***
