The Boiling of the Bones

13. The Marines

In the middle of the night, I was jolted awake when two burly men with buzz cuts dressed like marines entered my room and flicked on the light. I assumed they were cat burglars and freaked out. In an adrenalin fueled rush, I threw off my covers and ran for the window to escape so I could go for help or call the cops. They cut me off.

One grabbed me around the neck in a choke hold while the other grabbed my hands. I fought like hell and kicked at the one gripping my hands at the wrists.

The other one tightened his grip around my neck and I couldn't breathe.

"Don't resist or I'll choke you out."

A primal instinct from deep within kicked in and I leaned forward, then threw myself backward with all the energy I could muster. We both fell to the ground and the man momentarily released his grip around my neck. I twisted around, elbowed his face and scrambled to my feet.

I sprang for the door, but the first man beat me to it and punched me in the face so hard I almost lost consciousness. My head started spinning and my vision went fuzzy. I was seeing stars like in the cartoons. I was pretty sure I'd have a black eye the next day. I wound up to throw a punch back at him just as the other guy got up off the floor and shoved a taser into my gut and pulled the trigger.

A searing pain unlike anything I'd ever experienced shot through my body. The electric shock made every muscle tense up in excruciating agony. An instant later, my entire body went limp, and I collapsed involuntarily to the floor. The first guy rolled me over and held my hands together behind my back as the second guy secured zip tie restraints tightly around them.

He panted to catch his breath.

"You're coming with us whether you like it or not."

The kidnappers obviously intended on abducting me and holding me for ransom. My dad warned me about such a possibly. I always figured he was being paranoid. I guess he was right after all. As a rich kid, I was a lucrative target. I never imagined they'd be so bold as to snatch me right out of my own bedroom. I had to make an escape plan. I'd cooperate until they let their guard down and when they least expected it, I'd make a break for it and run.

But how did they get into the house? I freaked out. Oh my gosh, what if they hurt my parents? They couldn't have gotten in without deactivating the alarm and that probably meant they'd somehow lured my mom or dad to the door and then...

I imagined the worst. At the very least, they were incapacitated. A gut-wrenching fear overwhelmed me. No, if the kidnappers wanted to extract a ransom, my parents would still be alive. But they must have been tied up or knocked out.

"What did you do to my parents?"

"We work for your parents."

"What?"

The man rifled through a couple of my drawers until he found a black and yellow McQuaid Invitational T shirt. He roughly wiped a streak of blood off his face, then chucked the T shirt against the far wall and it fell onto the floor behind the bed. What the hell was going on? What kind of sick, twisted, messed up game was this? They must be lying.

"Your parents hired us to take you to a rehabilitation center for troubled teens. We're walking out the door now, let's go."

"You can't do this to me."

"Yes, we can, as your legal guardians, your parents have every right to ensure your welfare."

"Why didn't you start with that? We could have avoided all this fighting."

"Like you, most kids try to run. We use the element of surprise to our advantage."

My fear turned to outrage. My father had gone too far this time. It was insulting they wouldn't even talk to me and instead hired 'thugs' to kidnap me out of my bed in the middle of the night. Didn't really surprise me though.