Tied Down

Chapter 1: The Night

Janette is my name. It was the one my mother gave me when she gave birth to me. I personally disliked my name. It sounded old and made me feel old, even though I was only 23.

As any 23 year old, I went out with my friends Saturday night. Me and my friends weren't the type to go clubbing or anything. We would normally go to a pub, sit in a booth and talk. Or we would to go to each others apartments and order food and watch movies.

Today was a pub day. My friends were called Lisa, Yan, and Jordan.
I met them at the pub at around 9ish. Yan and Lisa wanted to watch a game that was on TV, but also wanted to hang out with me and Jordan so we went to the pub, where they had TV.

I ordered a coke, while Lisa and Jordan opted for Beer and Yan opted for wine. I wasn't much of a drinker. I drank on occasion, but I would never drink enough to get me drunk. I was a responsible drinker, many would say.

"Lisa, do you know about Dylan" Jordan said as she took a sip from her bottle. Lisa's eyes went from the TV screen to Jordan.

"Pfft. Fuck Dylan, I don't care about him" Lisa said.

"I heard he's in jail now " Yan mentioned.

"Hell yh. Idiot tried giving me a teddy bear for my birthday." Lisa scoffed.

"What's wrong with teddy bears?" I asked.

"He was hiding cocaine bags in the goddamn bear." Lisa said. "Like I'm not your little mule, I'm not hiding no bags for you"

Jordan smiled as she saw Lisa talk.  Jordan had always low key liked Lisa. See she was Bi, but Lisa wasn't. Jordan  always talked to me about how she felt. I felt sorry for her. She had liked Lisa for years, but was too scared to say anything to her, because she knew she was straight and didn't like other girls. So Jordan kinda loved from afar.

"GOAL" Yan jumped up in excitement. She was a hardcore football fan. She was wearing her 49ers jersey which she kept in mint condition. "Sammy you owe me" she said to the bartender who was scratching his head. Sammy huffed, and passed Yan a wine bottle. Yan took it with ease and smugly made her way towards us.

"Wine anyone?" She said as she wiggled her eyebrows at her accomplishment.

"How can you drink that, doesn't it leave a bad taste in your mouth?" Lisa said.

"I prefer it. I like the taste." Yan said as she popped open the bottle and refilled her drink.

"I don't like wine either. It leaves a lingering taste in my mouth" I cringed.

"More for meeeeee" Yan said happily.

"Lisa how are things at the bakery?" I asked.

"Good actually. Since we handed out those free desert samples people have been coming for more" She mentioned.

"I like the brownie ones" Jordan said quietly.

"J you like everything I make" Lisa smiled at her.

"Your really good at it yano" Jordan smiled back. " You should enter a competition or something"

Lisa laughed " Only if you advertise for me"

Jordan was in to advertisement. She didn't like her job much and often complained how she was looking for something better, but nothing ever came.

Yan was currently unemployed. Her parents still helped her to live by paying for her necessities. She was clueless as to what she wanted to do for a living. She used to work in Walmart, but a guy in senior management tried to make a move on her , so she slapped him and left.

And me? Well I'm a writer. Ish. I write stories and try selling them to publishing companies but only a few have been published so far and they aren't very good. They barely sell and don't even make it to the 'Recommended' shelf in bookstores.

"Yeah I will advertise for you" Jordan  said.

"Better be on  the house" Lisa elbowed Jordan.

"Always" Jordan smiled at Lisa.

I looked at the time on my watch and saw that it was 11:30.

"Guys I'm going to head home, I'm a little tired" I said as a slow yawn crept past my lips.

"Awww so soon" Yan frowned.

"Yeah, I've got a lot of writing to do. Maybe next week,of om finished , we can stay round mine or something " I smiled.

"Yeah for sure " they said "We will see you later!"

"Byeeee" I said as I grabbed my hand bag and left the pub. Another yawn left me as the cold air hit my face. My house was about 5 blocks away. I could easily walk that. I started to wrap my jacket around me tighter as I walked down the street. The night kind of scared me slightly, but I was in a well lit area so I felt quite safe. I usually walked this route anyways.

Something caught my eye as I walked.

Across the road there was a man. He had his hood up and he leaned against the brick wall.

I breathed out, a cloud of moisture showing from the heat.  I carried on walking, and didn't think much of the man, until he started to walk as well.

Now I was slightly suspicious. He walked at virtually the same pace as me. As I began to walk faster so would he. He then rook out something shiny. Keys. I heard a beep in the road and a van was parked on the side he was walking on.

I let out a sigh of relief. He was probably cold and needed to get to his van and get the heating on. I walked more confidently now. I was almost home. 3 more blocks to go.

I thought of my friends as I walked. Jordan and Lisa would honestly make a really cute couple. its obvious that Jordan is in love with Lisa. but sadly its another issue of unrequited love. Yan doesn't really want a relationship. "Me myself and I" she would say.

I heard the van start up half a block back. I continued walking at my pace as I heard it begin to drive. The sound got closer and closer. I looked back and found the van had crossed the road and was now right behind me.It sped up and stopped a couple of meters ahead of me.

I stopped walking now as I was completely scared. Why did it cross the road. Why did it stop. I looked up and down the road and saw no cars, so I began to cross. There's no way I was walking next to that Van.

I looked behind at the van as I heard it's door shut.

However, the guy was quick. All I saw was the terrifying clown mask he wore as he put a cloth over my mouth. I accidently breathed in out of panic and began to scream. My arms and legs darting out as I tried to wriggle free. He was strong and he held me tight.

After 2 more breaths I lost consciousness as the world around me became foggy and unclear as I closed my eyes.