Suburbs Boy

17 - #Grateful

Vincent was staring at him when he woke up.

"Hey Vincent." He moaned. "I was thinking we could use something other that broken glass today. How about that scalpel?"

He held a newspaper in front of Chad's face.

"Look at it." He hissed. "What do you see that's wrong?"

Chad read the front page headlines : "Kim Kardashian and Kanye West release new album 'Pink Lemonade' which gives hint of cheating rumors. I don't understand."

"What is wrong with this headline?" Vincent fumed.

"Nothing." Chad sighed. Was Vincent also going a little crazy?

"Exactly! There is nothing here that sparks fear or concern. None of the papers that have been released for the year that you have been in my custody has released anything about you."

"Wait, I've been here for only a week?"

"Nobody seems to care that you're gone! Now would you mind telling me why that could be possible?" Vincent slammed the paper on the table.

"Did you expect people to notice for at least a year? I disappear sometimes when things get overwhelming. I travel to Mali or California and sunbathe on the beach with 30 prostitutes surrounding me. Not even my parents notice I'm gone for a year."

"Watch your tone with me. I could decide to end your life now."

"I was going to ask you when you were planning on doing that."

"If nobody wants to notice that you're in trouble. I guess we'll just make them notice." Vincent suddenly had a sick smile on his face.

"How are you going to do that?"

Vincent left the room without answering and came back a few minutes later dressed in a black long sleeved shirt and black jeans with a black mask on his face and a camera in his hands.

"Smile pretty boy, we're going live in 3, 2, 1."

And the red light by the camera started blinking red.

"Good afternoon fair people that live in this world and most possibly universe, I would like to show you something." He panned the camera to where Chad was seated : "Look! It's our favorite celebrity that is famous for nothing! I've been treating him well as you can see, we can now count his ribs which is always fun and I've given his these awesome scars too. I know, I've got a sick sense of humor! My friends always think I'm weird. Oh now you see we are getting off the topic. What was the topic? Oh yes, Gerek Mackenzie, do you want your son back? If you do, you know what to do! Chad? Any closing words?"

"You sound like the fucking joker." Chad grunted.

"Haha. You've always got something classic to say haven't you? Bye now, world!"

And he turned the camera off.

"If that doesn't spike some action, I really don't know what will." Vincent began to leave the room.

"Hey, can I get some orange juice-"

"No." Vincent slammed the door closed.

"All right."

For the first time in a long while, Chad felt hope again. Even though he was still basically tied to the chair in the most uncomfortable way possible, he finally had a plan. Through all his confusion and all the craziness, Vincent had forgotten to give Chad a dose of his special paralysis medication, and even then Chad could feel the tingling return to his arms and legs. He stretched his hand forward slowly, the feeling new to him after his hand being dormant for a while, and reached for the table. 

His hand banged loudly against the table and he cursed, staying still for a while to check if anyone was coming it to check on the sound. when he heard no footsteps, he relaxed and continued to reach for the scalpel that was perched at the end of the table. It slid into his hands, slicing a tiny cut into his palm and he began to cut at the ropes when he heard the door open. He slid the scalpel into his shorts and froze, allowing his head to loll to one side to give the impression of paralysis.

The guard that had given him his daily dose of lemonade had walked up to him.

"Seemed you made the boss happy. He said to give you orange juice." The man raised a glass full of swirly orange liquid and pressed it to Chad's lips. 

"#Grateful." Chad groaned.

Chad gulped down every drop in order to gather energy for what he was about to do. The guard stepped back and bumped into the table. He turned around and stared at it. Chad held his breath and felt the room spin around him.

The man was going to notice and he was going to die.

Even though he may have had doubts before, Chad realized he really wasn't ready to go yet. He hadn't said goodbye.

The man shook his head and pushed the table to the other side of the room, turned back and stared at Chad and then left the room.

Immediately he left, Chad began to work on the rope again. He almost fainted in relief when the ropes fell off and he almost fell of the chair. He arranged himself and got up, feeling like gravity had multiplied it's force, and dragged himself out of the room. He was extremely surprised when the door opened and revealed a corridor that ended with a wall and had three doors on the left side. 

Chad walked to the first door and pressed his ear against the door where he could make out the faint sound of someone whistling. He went to the second door and pressed his ear against the door. He could hear Vincent rambling about something. He moved on to the last door where he heard nothing but wind.

He opened the third door to come to a staircase that led to an open door which led to the outside. Chad could already taste the air and he wanted nothing now but to at least taste a bit of that air.

He took one step down the staircase and groaned in pain before searching for the other step and doing the same. He took the third step and felt like he was getting the hang of it when he missed his foot on the next step and tripped.

Chad went down the stairs, causing so much ruckus and hurting himself so much he wished he had just stayed in the bloody room of mirrors. With every step down he felt the edge of it jab into his stomach, into his ribs.

He landed on the last floor with all of his cuts open. He raised his head to find a pair of legs in front of him. The legs squatted and he came face to face with Vincent who looked scarier than he had ever seen him.

"Did you think I would be stupid enough not to remember to paralyse you, Chad?" Vincent grinned.

Chad dropped his head on the ground and closed his eyes, letting the darkness consume him one more time.

And losing all sense of hope he had remaining.