Stockholm Syndrome

Two hours before sunset, I stood still waiting under the colorful building, rainbow - like, chewing gum and grasping on my two and a half inch long cigarette. Each puff taken, I’d tally them in my sadistic brain hoping to fill the boredom till my target arrives. My last puff, just before the boy walked out of the building, I choked on my cigar, not to be surprised or anything but I think it was the age that produced that little cough. At long last, here he was thin pieces of bones with a majestic outfit, hair all blown up; the volume of his hair, like grass in a windy day flying backwards. I knew it’ll be perfect for me, the money that would be in my pockets in the next few months, but to get there this prophecy needs to be fulfilled. As I stood lonely adjacent to the wall continually smoking, the figure began walking as usual to his destination.

 To pinpoint, this job of mine has been rambling on for five years. Each victim has been a success. The fact that people say it's bad conduct is an overstatement to me. This is what I am, this is what I’ve become. As a child growing up, I was kidnapped too in my locality. Nobody would dare to listen to my cry. Nobody dared to find me. Parents wondered if they could reproduce another baby. This feeling of infidelity struck me at a very young age. It was time to take action. An action so bizarre that it would teach parents a lesson to heed their offspring. Over the years, I’ve got hold of kids between the ages of 11 to 16. With every kid I capture gets older and older, more like in a consecutive routine. The money I’ve generated from this menacing business could pay the bills and aid in making ends meet.   

But this kid. To my knowledge, he is called Hanley Buckley. Hanley didn’t seem like an average teenager who would live a typical teenager’s lifestyle judging from appearance. I realized this because for the previous weeks, as usual, I was spying on him to get details about his family, his lifestyle, and to some extent, his appetite. Don’t give me that ‘shake my head’ look because I know what I’m doing. Sooner or later, I need to provide for my sitting duck especially when the parents are buying time to grasp the payment for me. All the research has been done and completed, all that is left now is the wizkid. At least that’s what I call him since he rocks with jewelry and posh items. I once spotted him buying his girlfriend a twenty four carat gold watch which amazed me, now that I know what I’m about to get.      

As I saw Hanley taking off for a walk, I followed him from the back. His flashy jeans beamed my eyes. His topwear mixed well with those jeans, along with the accessories on his hands as I suspected. The skin on my neck iced as he took further steps. I don’t know what he would be feeling, but me, I’ve no reason to believe why I was getting Goosebumps on the back of my spine. Is it because this was the first time capturing an above rated boy who seems to act like a middle- aged man courtesy of his lifestyle and outfit? The street was empty, lights were about to be shone when the sunset, birds were vamoosing back to their nests waiting for the next day of sunrise, while I knew how Monday morning would arise.

The next phase was nearing. What is the next phase? Hooking Hanley. Intimating him into my vehicle which was twenty feet away from us.  

“Hey excuse me, you look like someone who knows a bit or two about engine malfunction” I claimed.

“Y-Yes…I kind of do…just a little knowledge I guess.” Hanley stammered.

“Well…my car started producing this weird sound and for that reason it won’t start. Could you take a look at it for me?”

“You could just call the car mechanics”

Yes but I don’t really have enough money, I declared to him. Each question I throw back, he comes up with a counter, boiling my nerves.

“Sir, you can be straight forward and give me a yes or no…whether you want to help this poor guy” I said.

“Listen to me sir, I don’t know what your deal is but I’ve been noticing you around my neighborhood for some time now…care to explain that. Don’t you think that’s weird? He hissed.

 “I live in this neighborhood just as you do!” I hissed with a long face. There was a further pause, a longer one as I could sense he was skeptical about this uncanny conversation.         

“Well, if you did live here you wouldn’t be smoking cigars since it’s an act of misconduct.”

“And what proof do you have sir that I smoke?” I entreated with a smirk but an anxious face.

His aroma bent towards me while he leant closer to my face and whispered, “Well, you don’t think I’ve noticed your cigarettes lying on the floor. Especially–His cheekbone almost nudging my cheeks. “-when your cigar is imprinted with a cross skull?”    

My hands caulked in cold sweat, knowing nothing to say. But I still proceeded with this dissent conversation. At this point, my only other option to get hold of Hanley was to switch to plan B. Pepper spray, which I pondered why I haven’t utilized earlier. We continued arguing with each other while I slowly but steadily tried to retrieve my spray inside my pocket. When his following sentence was about to initiate, I planned to withdraw my spray from the pocket. Similar to how a police officer would pull out his pistol from his front pocket. Holding tightly with a firm grip on the bottle, my hands dislodged the spray and pointed right on his eye. I pull the trigger. The tiny droplets dispensed out of the bottle and ran straight into Hanley’s eyes.

“Ouch…What the f-” he cried.

His legs began crawling backward after that immoral act, almost hitting the car behind. Without wasting any minute, I threw a punch on Hanley which resulted in him limping on his feet. I clenched my fists again and threw another one. This time I could sense he started seeing stars. The car being twenty feet away only made it burdensome for me to lift Hanley. Now Hanley is precisely not a macho weight pound for pound. But for me, I was almost half his size which surely made it hard for me to carry him to my car. It was pretty surprising to me that no one was present at that drastic moment. In the process of dumping Hanley into the trunk, I tied his hands and legs and covered his mouth with a piece of cloth while he attempted to defend himself by wiggling his legs nearly busting my face.      

We drove through an isle of trees, far from the previous location. Noises began transpiring from the back of the car creating a disturbance when I was driving. I had to carry them with me along the way since I was already tired after that long day. I switched off my engine just as we arrived at our destination. Our destination included a farmhouse which opposite to it was a flowing river, just behind was literally a bulk of sand.

“Alright…we made it, now we’re going to wait for four hours or so and phone your mom and dad” I sighed, tying him on a 10 feet pole. Weirdly enough, he just nodded and followed my order. The clock was about to hit 11:00, that’s where I was contemplating my ideas into how I’m going to speak to his folks. Hanley just gazed at me when I grasped on my phone. Sweat was dripping all over his fatigued face. Just as I clasped my phone to my ear, Hanley took a long reverberating breath before he said “My dad will do anything to find me-” “Which means more cash” I interrupted. “-without paying your ass any money, you understand!” Hanley babbled.

Before we got into the farmhouse, I made sure I suspended his phone and wallet. I do this with all my lambs but for this particular one I'd have to be very careful, after all, he seemed composed and relaxed which made me a little ambivalent. His face had a look of determination that he wasn’t going to be with me in this farmhouse for long and the money won’t easily make it my way.

My call wouldn’t reach the head of the table which led me to frustration. Another hour passed by and the phone opposite to mine on the table began ranging. It said ‘Dad.’ I placed my finger on the green icon and presented the phone to Hanley.

“Hanley!?…How long does it take you to go to your aunt’s house and return home? Don’t tell we went over to Clair’s house.”

“Dad I wouldn’t go to Clair’s house since I’m breaking up with her” Hanley chuckled under no pressure.

“Get to the fucking point man” I snapped at him after pressing the mute button on the phone.

“So where are you son?” he gushed before laughing along with Hanley about Clair.

“Dad, to be honest, I’m over at Nick’s house. He invited me to have a few drinks in a farmhouse since his house is occupied by guests.”

I was losing my temper. He broke up with his girlfriend? I wanted to interrupt and yell at his father that his son was being held to ransom. But I was confused as to why he wouldn’t be intimidated by me. Most of my previous victims cried aloud in my face and I would have a bona fide laugh. That period was unsettling for me to listen so I hung up the phone and began throwing my raw voice on him.

“You think this is a JOKE!!”

The following moment startled me as I never felt this in my whole experience in ransoming kids. Tied to the pole, he managed to slouch his head and convey to me, “You’re really cute”. 

With disgust I shouted “What nonsense! This is a mistake” The next thing we knew, I untied Hanley and we made out. I’d no idea why I would commit such an act. It is hard for me to describe how it felt but it was natural in a way that I couldn’t resist. The two of us were lying on the hay without our clothes on. The sun rises on Monday, erasing the fate I thought I’d have. I switch my sleeping position from lying to my stomach to turning towards Hanley, almost cracking my bones to just find out that he disappeared. I sighed with dismay. As I took a long and stressful stretch, I noticed a piece of paper placed just near Hanley’s side. The little piece of paper was clearly from the outer layer of my cigarette, leaving the inside powder scattered on the ground. It read ‘I’m Bi (Bisexual), it was a good night. See you in prison Trevor’     

Not even one minute passes by and I hear the buzzing sound of sirens. Several officers picked me up and cuffed me. I’ve never been arrested my whole time doing this madness. But now I get turned over by a nineteen year old. As they say, all bad things come to an end.