Claustrophobia.

Fear.

Sweat.

Blood.

Tears.

Panic.

His own sense of time could not be trusted.

It was entirely possible that the gut-wrenching dread he felt was stretching out time so that every minute he thought had passed was 20 seconds or less.

Or maybe every 20 seconds was more than a minute?

He had no way of telling, and that was the thing that was killing him right now…

He didn’t even know how long he would have.

Caitlin was going to pick up Alex and Hannah, and he didn’t know how long that would take, but it was obviously a significant enough detour for Caitlin to call Amber and instruct her to go straight to hers. 15 minutes? 20 minutes? Half an hour or more?

He started to speculate, nightmarishly, that Amber received that voicemail immediately after deliberately refusing to pick up. In such a scenario, she would already be well on her way by now. He recalled her storming off in a rage earlier, furious with Alex for cutting short her playtime. She would have a bone to pick with them all, and this was just the kind of opportunity she would likely grab with both hands.

He tried to block out the bone-chilling prospect of Amber bursting through the bedroom door, tearing him from the laundry basket and torturing him from the get-go. Caitlin had essentially given her permission to do whatever she wanted to him by not telling her to go easy on him. She didn’t need to say a thing, she just needed to give Amber the space to do it of her own accord whilst she was out. It was not a massive stretch of the imagination to picture Caitlin taking her sweet time with the pick-up, to ensure that her toy would be well and truly ‘trained’ by the time she returned to finish the job…

What about Alex, he thought, remembered her flashes of concern at the poolside. He doubted she’d be keen to stand up to the others again, and risk being cast out from the group. Given Caitlin’s mood, he didn’t think Alex would be able to do much to help him even if she was prepared to put her neck out. Hannah? He would’ve laughed if he remembered what that felt like…

A noise.

Someone was in the house.

A key was inserted into the lock of the bedroom door.

It had been barely a few minutes, surely… He knew he was pretty addled but it could not have been more than 5 minutes, tops.

And then he realised with horror…

Amber.

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit.

She had been waiting, she’d probably been parked around the corner, waiting for her chance.

Maybe she’d sabotaged Alex’s car to force Caitlin out of the house?

Fear consumed him. If he had been scared beforehand, it was nothing compared to what he felt like now. He bucked, kicked, tried anything, anything at all to free himself, but it was utterly useless.

This was how it was going to end. How he was going to end.

The lock clunked and the door swung open with a drawn-out creak.

He stopped moving instantaneously. Change of tactic.

He remembered that Caitlin’s explanation was vague, perhaps because she didn’t want anyone to monitor the call.

If he could stay perfectly still, there was a chance she might not find him. A ridiculously, comically slim chance, but better than attracting attention to himself for no reason.

He could barely hear anything, it was petrifying to think that at any minute he’d hear her cruel voice mock him. She’d stand over the basket, removing whatever was weighing down the lid, and then the clothes would be removed. One. By. One.

His pulse was absolutely galloping as his fight or flight reflex kicked in. It was hard to make out any noise at all because all he could hear was the sound of his own heart smashing around in his chest like a jackhammer.

There was a footstep, and then another. They sounded nearby, and then the sound of the wardrobe being opened.

His heart jumped into his mouth, a sharp pain jolting through his body as his insides hurt so much from being worried sick.

Oh god, it’s only a matter of time…

A process of elimination.

Amber hadn’t said a single word though. That didn’t seem right, especially if she didn’t know where he was. She was not the kind of person to hold her tongue if she knew that a vulnerable, terrified Beta was tied up in her best friend’s room.

A curious sensation slowly began to form in the pit of his stomach, and expanded rapidly to fill the rest of his body. It felt like… doubt.

“Jack…? Are you in here?”

Penny.

That unmistakeably gentle, kind voice.

It was her.

It was really her.

Tears started to run down his face uncontrollably. His body, still gagged and bound, writhed around madly as he tried to make some kind of sound to alert her.

He couldn’t hear much as there were clothes all around him, muffling both his own movements from outside, and the outside from him. It sounded like Penny was continuing to explore the room, looking for him. He began to panic that she actually wouldn’t be able to find him in time… Amber might still turn up at any moment.

“Pnnnnneeeem” he tried to scream, muffled by the many layers of tape wrapped over his mouth.

He heard her hesitant footsteps clack against the tiled bathroom floor, going inside to investigate.

“Jack?” she called out anxiously once more, her sweet voice echoing slightly as it bounced off the walls.

He was losing his mind trying to shout out her name.

“PNNNNEEEEMM” he bawled, realising only now the depths of his despair, now that salvation was close at hand, but might slip through his grasp.

His energy reserves, already critically low, had reduced his squirming to the occasional twitch of his shackled limbs as what felt like eons of silence passed. It was probably only a few seconds. Time was not something he could follow reliably any more.

He thought he heard the sound of a zipper being undone, some stuff getting moved around.

“Pnneeeemm…” he breathed, trying to stay conscious, burning through the last few embers of adrenalin left in his frail body…

Footsteps approached slowly.

The sound of wood creaking as whatever had been placed on top of the basket was carefully removed. The lid was lifted away, and he could feel the vibrations of the basket as Penny pulled out article after article of clothing.

“Pnnnm…” he groaned.

A firm hand grabbed onto a large t-shirt that lay on top of his torso, her fingers brushing against him as she lifted it away, revealing his body.

“Oh my god! Jack?!” Penny gasped in horror, reaching in with both arms to bring him up to her and cradle him in her grasp.

She carried him over to the bed quickly, lowering him carefully onto the duvet, and it then fully dawned on her that Jack was tied up with rope, gagged, and completely naked.

She had to avert her eyes in shock for a moment, trying not add to the poor boy’s embarrassment. Composing herself, she delicately started to pry the tape away from his mouth with her nails, at least enough to allow him to speak. She had to be very careful, as it was particularly strong adhesive tape, and she didn’t want to hurt him or tear any skin. She eventually got some purchase on one end of the tape, and gingerly unwound it from him, trying to avoid pulling his hair too much.

“Penny…” he croaked.

“I’m here, Jack, I’m here… I’m going to get you safe,” she explained. With the tape removed she swiftly untangled the cat’s cradle of coloured jump rope, unwrapping it from his fatigued limbs whilst trying not to draw attention to his fragile, naked form. She was so embarrassed for him, but she couldn’t afford to waste any time either.

“…have to go… Amber… any moment…” he said, straining just to get the words out.

“OK,” she said, “We’ll be out of here in a second.”

With his limbs freed, he curled into the foetal position and wrapped his arms around himself, trying to cover up his exposed body. Looking at her properly for the first time, he saw she was wearing a jacket, a snug-fitting one with a faux fur lining, and a rucksack over one shoulder. As he watched, she undressed her outer layer, sliding both the bag and her jacket off her arms, and he could see she was wearing a black and dark-red tartan dress with short sleeves, dark tights and black boots underneath. Her long sandy-brown hair was untied and windswept, as if she had been walking in a strong gale. She carefully laid out her jacket on the bed, and put the rucksack strap back over her shoulder.

“I’m going to pick you up, Jack, bear with me,” she said softly.

She grabbed him gently in her slender arms and placed him onto the jacket, then wrapped him up in it so that he was cocooned, a bit like a swaddled baby. The jacket lining was some kind of soft, fuzzy fabric that felt nice against his skin; at least he wouldn’t catch a chill. With a little effort she was able to carry him in this improvised bindle by pressing him against her chest with one arm. She quickly threw some of the dirty clothes back into the laundry basket and placed the lid back on, then grabbed the gym weights from the ground one at a time and placed them on to. He looked on, knowing full well how heavy they were; for her to lift them one-handed so quickly meant she had strength that belied her slender build.

Satisfied that she had covered her tracks, at least well enough to hold up under a cursory glance, she exited swiftly, locking the bedroom door behind her and placing the key into a drawer in a small cabinet in the main entrance space of the house. She certainly seemed to know where she was going, Jack noted. Walking lightly on her feet, she crept back out of the front door, checking to make sure no-one was in the vicinity of the house, and shut it behind her.

It was getting late in the day, and whilst it was still bright out, the shadows had lengthened and everything was washed with a slightly redder hue than normal. It felt like it would be light for no more than an hour or so, until the sun finally dipped below the horizon and night would draw in.

Kneeling down, all the while holding him close, she slid a large, gold-coloured key underneath the welcome mat, and then stood up and walked away from the house determinedly.

“…Penny…” Jack whispered as she held him tightly to her, her long, bare arms sealed around the outside of the jacket, shielding him from harm.

“Shhh… please save your energy Jack, you’re very weak,” she instructed, her face etched with concern.

“I don’t mean to be mean, I’m sorry…” she said delicately, “I’m just worried, when I’ve got you safe I’ll be less of a cow, I promise.”

He smiled, drawing a reciprocal smile from the Alpha teenager as she transported him further and further away from the Reid’s privileged neighbourhood with each long stride.

Taking several short cuts across tree-filled lawns, Penny avoided the pavement as much as possible on her route, perhaps for fear of being spotted by people driving by, and probably to avoid other pedestrians who might be suspicious of her carrying a large bundle around. Jack hadn’t really seen anyone on their journey so far, save a couple of joggers in the distance. It was perhaps a reflection of the relative affluence of the areas they were moving through – rich kids didn’t need to play in the street, and hardly anybody nowadays seemed to want to do anything as mundane as go for a walk.

He could hear Penny breathing quite hard as she kept moving, and even though he probably didn’t weigh that much compared to what she was capable of carrying, it was obvious that she was walking very hurriedly indeed.

He was at a total loss to explain his gratitude to her for her strength and courage. He only hoped that when he regained some of his energy he would be able to articulate how indebted to her he was, and make her realise, if she didn’t already know, what she had saved him from.

After a short while, she slowed and started to walk around the side of a small, relatively old-fashioned house surrounded by trees. The daylight was starting to fade and the sky was turning a burnt reddy-orange colour as dusk approached.

“OK, we’ve gotta be super quiet,” she whispered, “My folks don’t know I left the house,” she explained, giving him an adorably cute expression, like she had been doing something really naughty.

He blinked at her to show that he understood. The rangy girl hugged the side of the house, checking as she went to make sure that any windows she passed were clear, and snuck in through the back door, replacing the bolt cautiously so as not to make a sound.

In a nearby room, Jack could hear the noise of a TV blaring away; it sounded like a panel quiz show, and he could tell by Penny’s face that that meant her parents’ attention was occupied.

Still clutching him to her chest, she crept along the hallway, and quietly made her way up the stairs. He noticed that to one side of the staircase were Beta-sized half-steps, often found in older houses that were designed to accommodate both scales more readily, or families expecting children, instead of having child-friendly areas on the ground floor as was the custom nowadays.

On the landing, she turned right and came to a door covered in stickers and photos of movie stars, though he couldn’t really make out who they were because his vision was so fuzzy without his glasses on. A large sheet of notepad paper was stuck to the door just above the handle; and he could just make out that it read ‘Do Not Disturb – Revising xxx’ in green highlighter pen. She opened the door and went inside her bedroom, closing it behind her and wedging a doorstop under it so that it should at least slightly delay her parents if they decided to enter her room very suddenly.

Her room was surprisingly small; the roof was angled, like an attic room, which made it feel very cosy, like a kind of den away from the world. The walls were covered with many more photos and film posters, including black and white headshots from the golden age of cinema. She had a small TV at the end of her bed, a bedside table with a lamp, and some bookshelves and old bits of furniture crammed into the corner alongside lots of books and sheets of paper.

She placed him gently on the bed, and leaned over to the window, drawing the curtains across slightly and kneeling down to switch her bedside lamp on.

She turned to him, placing her hand on top of the jacket, “Are you ok? I’m going to get you something to eat and drink, and then you can get some rest.”

He nodded weakly, looking into her beautiful green eyes, the stresses of the last day or so slowly beginning to melt away as he realised… Penny had rescued him, it was a miracle.

“Ok, I’ll be back in a sec,” she said sweetly, placing her hand on his head for a brief moment as if to say, I’m here, you’re safe now.

She stood up and walked over to the door, removing the doorstop and opening it.

“Oh, and I’m going to make sure my parents know I’m still busy revising, so they won’t come in unexpectedly,” she added, “So don’t worry about that.”

He blinked at her in acknowledgement, this marvellous girl had thought of everything.

She closed the door quietly behind her, and he heard her footsteps go down the stairs, and then he was left alone with his thoughts once more.