Small World

PREFACE: I couldn't decide which genre to put this story in, and some people might not see this as a Romantic story. It is a sign of our times that everything is well categorised and tagged in an easily searchable way. But what to do with the stories which don't fall neatly into any of these categories?

Assigning clearly defined labels makes it easier to seek out the things we like. But it also stops us venturing outside of our comfort zone, and a good story should make you uncomfortable at times.

Romance for me is about finding love in unexpected places, it is about forming deep and loving bonds which stand the tests of time. And so that is why this story finds itself in the Romance section.

***

James Lock stood at the front door of the run down old house and let out a big sigh. Every day was a lottery in his job; one day he was working in some luxury mansion being entertained by a bored housewife; and the next he was having to come to some shitty old house, in a shitty neighbourhood, to sort out some creepy guy's electrics.

He hadn't even wanted to do this job, he got a bad feeling about the guy during the phone call, and the journey had taken over an hour. But the guy had been so insistent, and offered such good money, that he really couldn't turn it down.

He knocked again, louder this time, and looked around the front yard with disgust. It was completely overgrown and resembled a junk yard. Old car parts littered the ground, an old bath sat across the main path filled with dirty brown water, and a pile of garbage bags next to the porch producing a stench that made him want to vomit.

What kind of person could live like this, but also afford to pay him $1,960 for a days work he wondered. He didn't have to wonder for long as he heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming to the door. He heard the clanking of a lock being undone, then another one, then a chain being disconnected, and then finally a key turning from the inside - apparently this guy took security very seriously.

The door creaked open and James suddenly found himself face to face with a real life ogre. James was by no means a small guy, 6 foot tall with an athletic physique that he worked hard in the gym to maintain. But the man standing before him towered over him, by almost a foot James guessed.

What was more, his body looked like it was half gorilla and half troll. There was no muscle tone, in fact no definition whatsoever, just one huge mountain of mass. Huge broad shoulders with hulking great arms and fists like giant hams.

He was wearing a dirty white vest with stains down the front and old, faded dungarees which stretched over his big belly.

Most noticeable of all though were his eyes. Dark, sinister eyes that stared unblinking like a predator watching it's prey. A chill ran down James' spine and he took an involuntary step backwards.

The man just stared down at James for a few moments before finally saying "You the electric guy?" in a slow, gruff voice.

Throughout James life he had always enjoyed the ability to charm anyone and everyone. His good looks and easy going nature allowed him glide through most situations with ease. He took a deep breath, fixed a winning smile on his face, extended his hand out to the man, and said "Hi, James Lock - great to meet you sir"

The man looked down at James' hand but didn't move to shake it, then he spoke again in his low, rumbling voice "Understand this: there is one rule that you must follow in my house - don't ever leave my sight. Understood?"

James realised that his offer of a handshake was not going to be taken up and lowered his hand. He really wasn't sure that he wanted to go inside the house with this strange guy who could probably snap James' neck like a twig with just one hand, but he really really needed the money. His mortgage was due in two days and if he missed another payment he could lose his house. Fucking Covid and fucking lockdowns.

"Ok no problem" said James, sounding more certain than he felt inside.

The man continued to stare at him for a few seconds more before finally stepping aside so he could enter the house.

James stepped past the guy into the dark house and let out an involuntary shiver as he looked around. The windows were all covered in brown dirt and dust which prevented almost any light coming through into the room. The floor was covered in a carpet that was so old, dirty and worn that it looked like leather in some places. It was impossible to tell what colour it was meant to be but with the stains, and low light, it looked almost like compacted mud.

There were plates of old, half eaten food on every surface and the floor was cluttered with trash. Worst of all was the overwhelming smell that hung in the air all around him. It was a mixture of mould and rotting food and it made James feel completely nauseous.

The giant shut the front door behind James and told him to follow. Then he walked to a heavy door on the other side of the room and undid two, large bolted locks. James followed nervously and wondered why on earth someone would need locks like that inside their own house. The giant pulled the heavy door open with ease and walked through.

James picked up his tool bag and started to follow but stopped when he saw the giant disappearing down the the stairs into a pitch black basement. The scene was like something out of a horror movie. James stood with his feet rooted to the floor at the top of the stairs, too scared to follow the giant down into the pitch black basement, but also too proud to run.

The giant disappeared completely into the darkness and then after a few seconds appeared again as he switched on the basement light. He turned at the bottom of the stairs and looked back up towards James, "I said follow me" he growled. The illumination of his face by the dull, yellow strip light in the basement made him look even more sinister, but James found his legs following the man's command even as his brain screamed warnings.

He walked slowly down the stairs towards the giant, who continued to watch him without blinking. As he reached the last few stairs he felt the air turn cold and damp. There was a stale smell all around and something unpleasant which he couldn't make out.

The dim lighting at the bottom of the stairs didn't extend to the edges of the basement. The surrounding dark shadows, together with the cold, stale air, made the space feel deeply oppressive, and isolated from the world above.

James noticed his heart racing and made an effort to calm down, taking slow deep breaths. The giant was watching him closely and gave him a nasty, little smirk when he saw him doing controlled breathing.

James gave him a weak smile and tried to make his voice sound relaxed as he said, "So, what exactly is the problem with your electrics?"

The giant raised his massive arm and pointed into the shadows, "Over there, the fuse board keeps tripping" he said.

James took out his torch and walked over to where the giant had pointed. He heard the heavy footsteps as the giant followed closely behind him.

The fuse board was ancient, probably the original that came with the house. Someone had added additional circuits to the various fuses and the result was a dangerous mess of wires that was hard to follow. The whole thing was a massive health hazard - water trickled down the basement walls and over the boxing, bare wires were left exposed threatening to electrocute anyone who touched them, and the whole thing was drawing far more power than it was designed to do originally making the whole thing a huge fire risk.

James took a deep breath and started to explain the problems and why he would be better off just replacing the whole thing and rewiring, but the giant cut him off with a dismissive wave of his giant hand before he could finish speaking, "I don't care about any of that, just fix it" he said firmly.

James stood in shocked silence for a moment and then started again, "But sir, this is extremely dangerous - strictly speaking I should tell the electricity board to..."

Suddenly the giant's eyes burned with anger and he raised himself up to his full, terrifying height as he shouted "You will tell no-one anything! Just fix it and fuck off - do you understand?". James cowered below him and held up his hands in surrender, "Okay okay, I'm sorry. Of course I will do what I can to fix it"

He turned and started to investigate the problem, feeling the eyes of the giant burning into the back of his head.

A sudden clanging noise from the other side of the dark basement made him jump. "What was that?" Asked James as he spun round in fear.

The giant was looking in the direction where the noise had come from and said in a low growl "My dog must have knocked something over - nothing you need to worry about"

James nodded and turned to get back on with the investigation work. It was difficult to focus with the giant breathing heavily close behind him but he managed to test each of the circuits quickly, motivated by a desperate desire to get out of the nightmare basement as soon as possible.

After about 20 minutes James turned to the giant and said "I've found the problem, it's this circuit here, there must be something on the ring main drawing too much current."

"So?" the giant grunted, "Fix it then"

"Ok" James said carefully, "But I will have to trace the circuit and carry out a continuity test until I find the problem."

"Trace it where?" the giant asked.

James followed the wires up the wall and along the ceiling, and watched them disappear in to the darkness in the direction that noise had come from earlier.

James pointed up, "It's that circuit there, I need to trace the cables"

The giant followed where the wires led and slowly shook his head, "No." he said finally.

James blinked, "No what? I can't fix it if I can't access it"

The giant looked thoughtful for a moment and seemed to reach a decision "Can't the fuse just be removed?" he said.

James stood there awkwardly. He wanted to fix the problem as quickly as possible so that he could get out of there quickly, but he also didn't want to end up in prison for gross negligence.

James sighed and said "I can't do that I'm afraid, I could get in a lot of trouble"

The giant's face darkened "I didn't ask if you could do it - I asked if it would solve the problem" the menace in his voice was clear and James started to grow even more uneasy. It was incredibly dangerous to remove the fuse and just have unprotected circuits, but James was desperate to get out of there so he gave in.

"It isn't safe, but yes - that would solve the problem" he said.

"Well what the fuck am I paying you for then if I can just going to fix it myself?" he growled.

The giant walked to the fuse board and removed the main fuse. Then he grabbed a coil of wire that James had left close by and used it to bridge the gap. He turned the fuse board isolator back on and gave a short, satisfied laugh when it didn't trip out again.

James fidgeted uncomfortably, he needed to get paid but was also desperate to get out away from this awful man.

The giant stood up and turned around and looked surprised to find James still standing there, "What are you still doing here? You can fuck off now, I fixed it myself." he said in his low, rumbling voice.

The giant watched him hesitating and looked annoyed, then he leaned down so that his face was a few inches from James' and said in a low, mocking voice "There aren't many people that get second chances to leave so, if I were you, I would make the most of it."

James decided to cut his losses and get out of the there as quickly as possible. He turned to pack up his tools but as he did he heard the clanging noise again, louder this time. The noise shocked him but he recovered quickly and carried on packing his tools up, desperate to get out of there and into the fresh, outside air again.

The clanging noise came again but this time it didn't stop. It repeated again and again until the noise was pounding around the basement like an urgent alarm. And then, in between the bangs, he heard a woman's voice screaming. The realisation sent a wave of terror through James that chilled him to the core.

He needed to get out of here, something was very, very wrong. He needed to go to the police urgently and tell them about this. He decided to just leave his tools and run, but as he turned and started to run he felt a blow to the side of his head which knocked him sideways. He staggered back to his feet unsteadily, but it was too late, the second blow caught him on the other side of his head and he felt the world melt away into darkness.

***

The first thing James was aware of as he regained consciousness was the ringing in his ears, and the dull, throbbing ache that was rippling through his skull. His eyes remained closed and he let out a low groan as flashes of pain shot through his head.

His thoughts were too jumbled to form into coherent thoughts but as he slowly came back to the real world he became aware that his face was pressed against something cold, and hard. As he brain started to come back online, questions started firing round his head. Why did his head hurt so much? Where was he?

A memory flashed in his mind, someone had hit him. But why? He continued to lie there for a few minutes as his mind struggled to bring thoughts together in a way that made sense. With a sudden jolt he remembered the visit to the giant's house. Then he remembered the basement. Had something happened down there?

He opened his eyes slowly but couldn't make out any clear shapes, everything was just a blank, cream color. He blinked a few times and tried to focus his eyes but still he couldn't see anything. Panicked flooded through his body and his heart started to race, was he blind? Dead? Where the fuck was he?

He forced himself to sit up, and nearly passed out as a wave of dizziness washed through him. After the dizziness had settled down he opened his eyes and looked around him. Slowly, a dimly lit room came into focus. It was sparse and clinical. A cold hard floor, like the kind you see around swimming pools, with a small drain in the centre of the room.

Blank cream walls surrounded him on all sides. There were only three features in the room: an opening on the wall opposite which was closed off by a thick, grey curtain; two exposed pipes which ran along the wall closest to him; and a large, yellow bucket sat in the corner of the room which, in the absence of any alternative, James assumed was his toilet. Other than that the room was completely empty.

The ceiling was very high, maybe 14ft, and a single skylight with metal grates over it appeared to be the only source of light in the whole room.

He reached into his pocket looking for his cellphone but found his pockets empty.

A wave of nausea spread through his body and he had to close his eyes quickly to stop himself from passing out. He waited for the feeling to pass and then very slowly tried to get to his feet.

The process took about five minutes in total. His legs felt weak and the dizziness kept threatening to overwhelm him, but finally he managed to stand properly.

He walked unsteadily over to the curtain and drew it back tentatively. He had barely touched it before a terrifying bark rang out from the other side and he saw through the crack a huge black dog running towards him. He pulled his hand a away quickly and scrambled to the other side of the room. He was very relieved to see that the dog didn't follow through the curtain. It carried on barking and snarling though and the sound invoked a primal fear inside that made his blood run cold.

He stood panting against the far wall until finally the dog stopped barking and silence returned.

He wanted to shout for help but didn't dare to shout for fear of drawing the dog's attention again, so he just sat down on the cold floor and started to cry softly.

As he sat there crying the memories started to return. There had been a banging noise in the basement, he had tried to get help and that was the last thing he remembered. The giant must have knocked him out and then dumped him in this room.

He tried to remember if he had told anyone his whereabouts for the day but didn't think he had. He tried to run through who would notice his absence and start the search. The downside of the bachelor life that he had built for himself, and loved so much, was suddenly laid bare before him.

He ran through a mental list in his head starting with his friends. He had lots of friends but no close friends. His gym buddies would be the first to notice his absence and would probably text him a few times asking where he was, but none of them would be surprised when he didn't respond as he was notoriously bad at responding to messages.

His friends that he went out to clubs and bars with definitely weren't going to raise any alarms as James often went AWOL from them for months at a time. He was well known for booking random holidays at the last minute and just leaving on a whim. He had no ties at all and all the freedom in the world to roam, but now he realised the downside of his disconnected lifestyle.

As for family, he often went for months without speaking to his mom, and even then it was a grudging five minute call to check in. His most recent call with her had been last week so it would be a long ,long time before she noticed his absence.

And that was pretty much it. The realisation that nobody would notice his disappearance for a long time sent a wave of fear and despair crashing over him. He curled up on the floor with his eyes closed and let the tears stream from his eyes in silence.

He had no idea how long he laid on the floor for but the room grew slowly darker as the sunlight from the skylight faded. So he lay on the floor again and watched the room grow darker and darker until finally exhaustion pulled him down into a fitful sleep.

***

He woke a few hours later and lay there with his eyes closed enjoying the sensation of the cool, wet cloth that was stroking his forehead, and the soft, whispered song that washed over him in the darkness.

He jumped up with a start as the memories flooded back again but as he drew breath to shout the singing stopped and was replaced by an urgent whisper begging him not to make a sound. "Please, please don't make a noise - if Simon hears me in here with you he really won't be happy, and who knows what he will do!"

James sat still in the pitch black and forced himself to relax, "Who are you?" he whispered into the darkness.

"I'm Sarah" came the reply. The voice behind the whisper sounded gentle and kind.

"But what are you doing here?" James asked in an urgent, hushed whisper, "and where even is here?" he added.

There was a pause before the reply came back to him, "I'm here because I live here, but I really don't know where here is". She had a soft Irish accent which played on her words like a gentle melody.

James reached out into the darkness in the direction of the whisper and his hand touched warm skin. She recoiled slightly at his touch and moved away.

James tried again for answers, "Please Sarah, I need to get out of here. I need to go home. Can you help me?"

He listened in the darkness for her reply but it didn't come. Instead he heard shuffling and then soft footsteps which got quieter and quieter as they left him all alone.

When he woke the next day there was a glass of water next to him and another glass of what look like soup. He drank the water greedily and took a tentative sip of the soup and found that it wasn't soup after all. He recognised the taste and texture of whey protein drink instantly from his post work out routine at the gym. This one was vanilla flavoured and he gulped the whole glass down in one go.