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CRRRREAKKK

Chad jumped as he turned around to peer over his shoulder. This place was really giving him the creeps. He looked at his watch for the 20th time in the past hour. This watch would never end. He wished that he were back in the nice, bright new shopping mall, where the hardest thing he had to do was to scatter the kids in the food court. This nasty old factory was a completely different environment. His boss had abruptly reassigned him here, without giving him any reason.

"Don’t you worry about a thing, Chad. All you have to do is walk around every now and then, just to make sure all the doors and windows are shut. It’ll be a piece of cake. There’s nothing to it. You can do the job in your XXXX."

Chad wasn’t so sure about that. The guard he had replaced had been clanking with hardware – pepper spray, nightstick, whistle, the works. He had given Chad a pitying look, but had said nothing. All Chad had was a flashlight and the new cell phone the boss had given him, to use "only in case of an emergency."

THUNK CLUNK THUNK

Chad was turning into a nervous wreck. This old place was full of scary shadows and odd noises. For the 21st time he looked at his watch. He still had 7 hours to go. Chad whimpered to himself. He didn’t like this place, not one little bit.

SMASH CRASH

OK, Chad thought, that isn’t the sound of an old building settling. That is the sound of glass breaking. He thought that this could be legitimately called an emergency. With shaking hands he pulled out the cell phone, mumbling the number he had been given to call in case of trouble. Damn, it was dead! Chad shook it violently. How could it be dead? It was supposed to be a brand new phone! Ooops, no battery in the phone would explain its not working.

"Hey, kid. Drop the phone, put your hands up, and turn around, really slowly. Yeah, just like that!"

The phone fell from Chad’s hands. Nearly petrified with fear, he raised his hands in the air, and turned around. He found himself facing a figure dressed entirely in black, including a black ski mask. The said figure was pointing a huge concealed item right at Chad’s head. Chad wished that he had gone to the can before he started his shift. His bladder suddenly felt extremely full.

"That’s good, kid. Very good. Don’t try any heroics and you’ll get out of here with your skin in one piece. Now go through that door to your left. Yeah, that one. Switch on the light and go down the stairs. Don’t forget I’m going to be right behind you."

Shaking with fear, Chad did as he was instructed. When he hesitated at the top of the stairs, he felt that big concealed item shoved into his back. He didn’t need any further encouragement. He stumbled down the stairs.

"OK kid, get down on your knees, and put your hands behind your head. Remember, no funny business and no noise."

Chad had no intention of disobeying any orders that he was given. He was just a poorly paid, unarmed security guard.

"Oww, ooww, owww!"

"Ah, shut up and stand up."

Chad staggered to his feet with difficulty. The man with the concealed item had pulled Chad’s hands behind his back and bound them with sticky tape. Then he had wrapped some more of that tape around Chad’s chest.

"Please, please mister. Don’t hurt me! I won’t do anything, I promise. Just don’t ..OUCH!"

Chad yelped in pain. His captor had shoved him, and Chad had sat down rather abruptly, right on top of a big splinter.

"I thought I told you to shut up, kid. I don’t want any noise!"

"I’ll be quiet, mister. I promise. Oh no, please don’t do….MMMMMPHHH!"

"There, that’ll shut you up. When I say no noise, I mean no noise."

"MMMMNNOOOO. GGGMPLESHNNOOO!!!!"

"Kid, you don’t seem to understand the meaning of no noise. Do I have to clobber you over the head to make my meaning clear to you? Just nod your head as if you understood."

Stifling his sobs, Chad nodded his head. The bad guy had taped up Chad’s legs and ankles really tight. Now Chad couldn’t move or talk. He really, really wished that he were back at the food court in the mall. He sat there in the cold, dank cellar, shivering.

"OK kid, listen, and listen good. I want you to stay here, and not make a peep or move a muscle. You understand me now?"

Chad wondered how he was supposed to respond if he wasn’t supposed to make a noise or move a muscle. He just stared at the masked figure and blinked his eyes. Maybe this guy was some kind of mind reader.

"Oh, for fuck’s sake, just nod your head, you moron!"

Chad bobbed his head, up and down, up and down.

"OK, OK, you understand me. Sheesh, what a dimwit."

Chad sat there sniveling. His feelings were hurt. That guy had called him a dimwit! That wasn’t very nice of him. He tried not to make any noise, and he tried not to move, but the big splinter in his butt was killing him. He had to lean forward, just a little bit, to remove the pressure. As he did so, he heard a scurrying sound, and out of the corner of his eye he something move. He turned his head just in time to see a big, long scaly tail disappearing into the shadows.

RATS! There were RATS in this place!!!!! Chad didn’t mind mice, in fact he had a cute little white mouse at home as a pet, but rats were an entirely different story. Chad was completely and totally terrified of rats. He completely forgot about his orders to sit still and not make a noise.

"GGGGHELLLPPPMMEEEE!!!PLLLLEEEZZZZGGGUMBACK! MMMISTERRRRRR! GGGRRRATTTTTSSSS!!!!"

Chad went berserk. He tossed himself around on the dirty wooden floor, bucking in his tight tape bonds and screaming into his gag. Now he wanted the bad man and his big concealed item to come back. Maybe the bad guy would take care of the rat. In his frenzy, Chad slammed his head against the wall and XXXX himself out cold.

"MMMMOHHHH. MMOOWWWW.

Chad moaned as he regained consciousness. He remembered where he was and what had happened. He immediately started looking around the cellar, searching for any signs of the vicious rats. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw nothing, and heard no nasty little scurrying, scratching sounds. Whew. No rats! But then he noticed a rather peculiar smell. Hmm, what was that smell? It was so familiar. It made him think of the bonfires that his family had had when he was a kid. Hmm, roasted marshmallows. He could do with one of those right now. He was feeling a bit hungry. Oh boy, now Chad knew why that smell reminded him of bonfires. The old factory was on fire! The bad man had set the place on fire and Chad was going to be roasted into a cinder!

"GGGMHEEELLLPPPPMEEE! MMOHHFIREFIREFIRE!"

Chad was working up quite a sweat as he tossed himself about frantically. The smell was getting stronger and the air in the cellar was getting quite hazy. He could hear crackling noises and the sound of glass breaking. It was getting hotter and hotter down here. Suddenly one of the cellar windows shattered and a great stream of water hit Chad, soaking him to the skin and nearly drowning him as he lay on the floor. He saw a helmeted head pop through the broken window.

"GGMMHERE! MMMIMMHERE!"

Help had come! Chad was rescued. As the burly firefighter picked Chad up and tossed him over his shoulder, Chad vowed to find a new line of work immediately.

The End

Chad played by Hunter

Photography by Caitiff

 Date of Production: 09/23/2005