'Black and White' - The White Bridge Crime Series 2 - LGBT, manXman

1

He could hear a low hissing sound.

His eyes snapped open in the darkness, searching wildly.

A soft slithering noise sounded to his right, and his head whipped around to look.

Snake! Was his panicked observation.

He was hyperventilating, he knew, his chest heaving with every breath.

He could smell his own sweat on the air, felt the dampness of his skin, and knew the snake would scent it too.

He thought it was a cobra, although he couldn't be sure.

He had a phobia of snakes, after all, and hadn't really spent much time studying them closely.

Trying hard to control his breathing, he attempted to move his arms and legs.

Another wave of panic hit him when he realised he was tied down.

He heard the snake hiss close to his ear, and swallowed a scream of terror when he felt its head touch his chest, close to his armpit.

The snake slowly slithered onto his body.

He could feel its belly muscles contracting against his torso as it pulled itself along, its tongue flicking out to taste the air.

He had frozen as soon as the snake's nose touched him, and his lungs were protesting, begging for air.

He finally relented, and sucked in a large gasp of oxygen.

As soon as his chest rose with the intake, the snake's head span around to look at him.

He stared into its black eyes and knew, with complete certainty, that the snake was going to eat him.

He opened his mouth and screamed-

And found himself on his bed.

He was panting, his chest heaving.

His hair was matted with sweat.

Just a dream. He told himself gladly. It was just a dream.

He tried to move his arm to wipe his forehead and found he couldn't move it.

Frowning, he lifted his head from the pillow and looked over.

His arm was strapped to the bedpost.

He gasped in fright when someone started clapping behind him.

He tried frantically to twist to see who it was, but found his legs, as well as his arms, were tightly strapped down, leaving him pinned face-down on the bed.

"That was very good." A low voice said. "Snakes, huh? I like them, personally. There's something... calming about them."

He shivered, remembering his dream, and tried to pull his arms free.

He couldn't.

"What do you want?" He asked, proud of how calm his voice sounded despite his fear.

The voice laughed.

"Can't you imagine?"

He thought for a moment, before realising he was naked in his bed.

"Oh God," he whimpered. "No, please, don-"

A scream was torn from his throat a moment later when he felt something slam into his body, hard.

"No, don't!"

He screamed again when he felt the man shift on top of him.

He had no choice but to lie there, unable to struggle, while a stranger violated him in his own home.

He felt the stranger's thick fingers twist into his hair and pull his head up.

He saw the gleam of shining stainless steel from the corner of his eye.

Alan Patterson was unable to draw his last breath before he could scream again.