Pipe Hero

"Damned" - Chapter 1

Okay, I just need you to visualize what it's like to get peer-pressured into going to a party with some friends. You finally get past the bargaining phase, make it to the party, and watch everyone get plastered around you. Everyone and I mean everyone is hammered around you and having a hell of a time. Meanwhile there you are in the back, with a singular drink in your hand and a thought dawns on you all of a sudden. "Hey, what the fuck am I doing here?" Which is usually paired with a, "Why did I even come here, to begin with?" Afterward, you immediately veer off to the nearest bathroom to come up with an excuse to leave your extremely inebriated friends. It's like you woke up out of bed feeling drained and your body just ran on autopilot all day until your brain realizes what has all happened too late.

I'm just your run-of-the-mill and everyday guy that likes to keep things very simple, stress-free, and as straightforward as possible. I try to stay away from the crazies and, boy oh boy, are there a lot of crazies nowadays. But, you already knew that so there isn't a need to break into the details. The friends I'm with are bland and average as they come, just the way I like them. When I go about my day, I, with a purpose make sure to not step on anyone's toes on the way out. That statement can and should be taken literally and figuratively!

I don't make too much money, not like I would be allowed to anyway, just enough to afford my one-bedroom apartment with the necessities. I get this new nifty thing called, financial aid but with a twist, to pay my way through school and become whatever my caring military state needs me to be. I'm sure you get the picture by now, I try to not stand out and like to remain hidden in the shadows.

And yet, somehow out of all the unfortunate people in this big wide world I somehow had the luck to end up...in the trunk of some ambiguous person's car at some unholy hour in the morning. This is where everything goes to hell, for me at least, everything has already gone to hell for everyone else if you haven't guessed.

My head bounces off something jagged and hard, a not-so-favorable combination to remain...alive. Despite being in a dangerous situation with adrenaline pumping through my veins, I'm still barely able to keep awake, which isn't good generally speaking. I can feel blood running down my head and hope that this is just some hyperreality dream...or something. I attempt to reach for my bedsheets with my eyes already closed, preparing to wake myself up, only to realize I can't even wiggle my arms for that matter. I would surmise that this is an 'or something's situation.

My eyes are still feeling heavy from the blood loss, but if I fall asleep now it could be over for me. The anxiety begins to set in, and the fear that follows suit makes my breathing frantic. I guess being in shock makes you not feel these things immediately. I struggle and try to desperately break free from whatever is constraining me, no dice. Desperate, I try to curl myself into a ball and spring as hard as I can against the trunk hatch. That didn't work and the world didn't want that to work because at the same time the car hits a pothole and I only succeeded in bashing my skull nearly passing out. In GnG, that's what one would call a critical fail.

I frantically search my memory, trying to gain some recollection about how I got here. Wherever the hell "here" even is for that matter. Unfortunately, instead of being able to think of a way out, my brain is playing over a hundred different "bad end" scenarios where I die gruesomely, of course. This is when I realize I got kidnapped right after the party. "What the fuck dude", I say angrily with a raspy voice. "I wasn't even drunk, what did they do to me?" Suddenly, I can hear the sound of old car brakes letting out a loud squeal into an eventual stop. My train of thought is halted, my body is stiff, dripping in a cold sweat, and I'm scared as hell.

I realize that I'm in the trunk of someone's car...tied up and also realize there isn't a realistic solution for me to get out. I'm terrified. The car continues to trail along again before making a sharp turn to the right and I hit my head heavily this time, effectively getting knocked out. I eventually open my eyes again, tears stream down my face and I have no clue how to get out of this very tense predicament. Although, I'm just happy that I'm not dead...yet and thanking whatever based-God is keeping my sorry ass alive. Before I can fully recoup my bearings, I can hear the sound of tires throttling over gravel as those same bits spray the bottom of the car's trunk until the sound of crunching wood takes its place.

My kidnappers drive for another thirty minutes or so until I hear the screeching brakes stopping the car and the engine cuts off. Two muffled voices in the distance are heard; it sounds like they are just leisurely chatting away for a few minutes. I immediately think they are saying something along the lines of, "Hey Jim after we break this guy's skull do you wanna grab some beers?" "No Rick, the wife has been badgering me to spend time with her more and--."

They slam their doors shut, and my morbid inner monologue for my captors stops as well. I can hear them making their way towards the car trunk and right on cue my panic arises as I'm just now remembering that my hands and legs are still bound. I'm defenseless, my options are limited, and my time remaining to pull a rabbit out of my metaphorical hat is gone. I break out in a cold sweat. As time slows down for me and every sound is magnified, I can hear the key being slowly inserted into the lock and the tumbling of the interlocking chambers giving way.

The trunk flies open, exposing me to my captors and allowing the smell of a murky autumn wind to rapidly seep in. I try to at least catch a glimpse of my captors and needlessly bright light is all that I'm able to see, forcing me to avert my gaze. Straining my eyes to see through the bright light, I meekly ask, "What do you guys want? I have no money if that's what you are looking for." There was no response from either of them.

All I could see was an abnormally massive hand cutting through the light and grabbing me by my throat. This was the first time I've ever met someone..or something with such raw otherworldly strength like this. Imagine staring at this massive herculean arm that looked like it came out of an early Marvel comic while you were fearing for your life and being blinded all at once. Yeah, it's as terrifying as all hell. This 'thing' drags me out of the trunk with one arm and lifts me in the air. I'm not a light man by any means whatsoever, sitting at 90 kilograms, and truth be told I'm trying my best right now to not shit my pants.