Outback

I should have been more discrete with my private life.  Why did I need to use social media to declare how amazing my life was?  As a premier league footballer and a model, my followers on social media counted in the hundreds of thousands.  And I flaunted my body, my wealth and my wholesome fun for life.  I was loved by the women and I even loved the admiring glances of male fans.  I would be receiving a good sum of money for the rights to my wedding from the magazine.  I guess I must have been arrogant and full of my own self importance.

Sydney. My favourite city in the world. The summer break between seasons. My FA Cup Final winners medal in my suitcase, a welcome trophy of my dominance as an athlete. We’d flown together first class there, and had a swanky hotel overlooking the harbour. Life was good. Days before the wedding, I’d dressed in my finest tight fitting clothes and we’d hit the nightlife. Kings Cross nightclubs with Danny and Chris. I’d been wasted on champagne and cigars.

I don’t remember how he caught me. He’d been waiting for the opportunity. Somehow he managed to capture me that night. To take me away from my life. My money. My career. My life as a married man.

* * *

I woke up feeling dreadful. Hands cuffed behind me and a gag pulling my mouth open. My mouth was cracked and dry and my head pounded. From the smell and the itchy feel of my groin, I groaned at the realisation I had pissed myself in my expensive trousers.

Where was I? Was this some stag do prank? It wasn’t a funny one, that’s for sure. I knew I was locked in a vehicle and we were moving. But that’s all. I groaned and felt the bile rising in my parched throat. Someone would pay for this.

Hour after hour we drove until the tarmac became a track, the different sound of gravel and the potholes of a road that was in disrepair apparent. And then silence. I waited desperately and alone, cuffed in the heat of this vehicle in anger.

Eventually the total silence was broken by footsteps and my world was interrupted by light. I realised I had been locked in the trunk of a vehicle and I looked up at the checked shirt of a man. He was older than me,in his 40s. A big beefy build, and a smirk on his face, he looked down at me and chuckled. “Welcome home big shot” he snarled. “You stink like a pig.”

With gruff hands he pulled me up and out of the vehicle and I stood shakily on the ground. My legs wobbled as I adjusted to the heat and disorientation. And I looked around confused. As far as I could see in each direction was the red dust of the outback. Nothing. No life. Nowhere to go.

I looked at him confused. “Wha the ..” I grunted through my gag.

“All in good time boy,” he smirked. “I need a beer and a rest.”

* * *

I dont know how long I was left alone, my ankle chained to the heavy ring in the ground and the dry sun beating down on me. My best clothes were matted in dirt and piss and my bare feet were tender as I pulled on my chain, trying to test its all too real strength. He had gone into his shack, and I was alone as the sun slipped down in the featureless clear sky. Not even able to shield my eyes from the shimmering glare with my hands chained behind me.

* * *

Eventually he returned, wordless. He looked refreshed, beer in hand. And slowly, deliberately, he walked around me. I must have looked dishevelled and pathetic. Barefoot and cuffed in metal. Normally I would have fought, but I was too exhausted and disadvantaged by the chains. I felt like a captured animal in a trap.

“So pretty boy. How do you like your new life?” he growled.

I looked up at him confused.

“Ain’t no one here for miles around to see you. Just me,” he continued, walking around me as I knelt in the dirt. “I didnt think I would be able to get my first pick but you were too easy. And from the news on the radio, I don’t think anyone’s coming to the rescue. They didn’t see me get you from that alleyway.”

My ears perked up. Clearly my disappearance had been reported. My fiancé and my family would be worried. And my disappearance would be news no doubt. My brow furrowed in confusion. What did he want with me? I looked at him and noticed him looking at me with a strange look in his eyes. My brain lurched as I realised it was lust. He licked his lips and whistled.

“You’re a pretty piece of meat all right,” he smiled at me. “As long as you realise that this is your new life now. You won’t be leaving here.”

He paused to let the realisation sink in.

“I need myself a companion to live out here on the ranch with me,” he whispered as he pulled me up to my feet from behind me. “So it won’t be a normal marriage boy, but you need to get used to your new life cos you ain’t going nowhere. I need me someone who is going to take care of my needs and help out around this place. You’ll find your new life hard probably. But you will learn to please me I bet.”

I shuddered at his menacing growl and looked into his eyes with a mix of fear, disbelief and a spark of defiance. He laughed and reached down to his belt. Slowly and deliberately he pulled an object off his belt. As the cuffs dug into my painful wrists, locked behind my back, I was powerless to resist.

Wordlessly, he produced an object before my eyes. It was a heavy iron band, hinged so that it opened into two halves. I stood still as he fastened it around my neck and closed it. The final nail a padlock that locked it in place. I was collared.

“You’re my wife now boy.”