Chapter 77: Chapter 77

“Let me get you a glass of wine. What kind do you like?”

“Don’t know really. I’ve never had any. Aren’t you supposed to be older to drink it?”

“Well, yes…. So they say. But I say a bit of what you fancy does you good. Here, try this.”

She sips at the deep red liquid and pulls a face. “Ugh! That’s horrible. How can people drink that?”

“You don’t like it? Never mind. Try this instead. It’s vodka and orange.”

“Oh, yes. That’s much nicer.”

“Good. You like that. Here, let me top you up.”

*****

Shelley wakes to the dull grey light which crawls through a dirty window.

She doesn’t know where she is.

She starts to sit up then lies still again as a blinding pain stabs behind her eyes. There’s a horrible taste in her mouth and she feels sick.

And she’s thirsty. She’s very, very thirsty.

Pain or no, she has to find something to drink, so she sits up, pressing at her forehead….

Where are her clothes?

She looks down….

She’s naked….

Scrabbling around, panicking, she finds a man’s shirt among the sheets in the bed and puts it on, then realises that she needs the bathroom….

…. And if she’s not quick, she’s going to heave up where she is.

Stumbling through the door, she finds herself in a strange living room. Cans and bottles are strewn all around and Jason and Adam both grin up at her where they sit, each with a cigarette in one hand and a beer can in the other.

The room smells stale and sour and…. there are her clothes….

“Here she is.”

“I think she’s going to chuck.”

Jason points. “Bathroom’s that way.”

Gagging, she blunders through, reaching the toilet just in time to heave her guts into the bowl. And then, still sobbing and retching, tears streaming, she sits to empty her bladder.

The bathroom stinks. Black mould coats tiles and grouting. There’s no paper or towels. Soiled underwear lies on cracked linoleum. A pair of trainers with the soles half-hanging skulk under the basin.

The toilet…. She doesn’t want to think about the toilet.

As her stream flows, she gasps at the burn.

*****

“What did you do to me last night?”

“What d’you mean, what did I do?” grins Jason. “I bought you a meal. I gave you a drink, or two. And then we all had fun. Y’know, Fun.”

She raises a hand to her mouth. “I’m not that kind of girl. I don’t do…. that.” She swallows a sob as realisation crashes over her. “I… never did it at all before.”

The two men grin at her. “Well, you’ve done it now,” says Adam. “You didn’t complain at the time.”

She looks around the room, at the dirt, the scattered rubbish, the stale take-away food, cans and bottles. “You got me drunk.” Tears stream down her cheeks. “You got me drunk and… and….”

Jason’s grin fades. He stands, sneering. “That wasn’t your attitude yesterday, when you wanted something from me. You were happy enough to take my money last night, when you wanted something to eat. And you could have said no, and you didn’t.”

“I didn’t?”

“No, you didn’t. Anyway, don’t worry about it. I’ll look after you here. I’ve got plenty of money. You don’t have to go back wherever you came from. You just have to do as you’re told.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I have some friends coming around tonight. They all want to meet you. We’re going to have a party.”

“No!”

She screams, turns, runs. Runs to the door, twisting at the handle.

The door is locked.