initial inspection of the room made him think that he'd been placed in an ancient operating theatre. Unable to move, he realised that he had been stripped to the waist and that he was strapped to an ancient operating table. He struggled against the restraints on his wrists and ankles, but they were strapped down tight.
Another glance around the room, and he spotted Stevie. Similarly, Stevie was strapped to another operating table, but that was where the similarity ended.
Beside Stevie’s bed stood a metal table, it contained a series of medical instruments, filthy and splattered with dried blood and gore. A bone saw stood next to a jar containing several fingers, another few lay on the surface of the table next to the jar. Looking down to Stevie’s hands, he saw nothing but bloodied stumps that had been wrapped in filthy bandages.
A large jagged incision had been made along the side of his abdomen and ran in a diagonal line to the top of his chest. The ugly looking incision had been carelessly sewn back up with black string, making him look like a gruesome, macabre scarecrow.
His entrails and internal organs had been removed and were sitting in a stainless steel bowl on the table beside his bed. The whole area was covered with fresh blood. Someone had made an attempt to soak some of it up with dirty bandages and gauze but it had spilled all over the surface of the operating table and had dripped all over the floor.
Hanging limp from Stevie’s mouth was a small piece of wood, indented with bite marks. His head hung to the side and his face was a picture of sheer terror, the way he died must have been in severe pain and fright. His face shone white - drained with blood. His lifeless eyes stared at Jonny.
His mind racing, Jonny desperately tried to piece together the sequence of events. Then, it all came back to him – Karl’s stag party – the abandoned hospital – the drugs.
Laughing loudly, he took in the hallucinations that were being thrown back to him by his LSD addled brain. It was all a figment of his imagination, pulling at the bonds once more that held his wrists and ankles, he panicked as he remembered. His friends had wanted a real experience in a haunted house and the acid tabs that he had slipped into their drinks before entering the hospital would give them a night that they would never forget.
As he looked over at the dead body of his best friend, he realised that therein lay the problem. He and Stevie had spiked their friend's drinks but not their own. They were going to play along and film the whole thing to play back to the group as a joke.
He squirmed and pulled at the restraints as the plump, elderly nurse in the filthy uniform entered the room.
She spoke. “Ah, I see you are awake, my dear. It was a terrible shame about your friend. We did what we could for him but in the end the damage from the land mine was too severe.”
He tried to speak. “No, wait, you don’t understand, please don’t.”
She reached over and placed a filthy wet cloth on his brow. “There there, dear. Don’t worry. We will do everything that we can to help you, but I’m afraid that gangrene has set in.”
He began to hyper-ventilate as she started to wrap a leather strap around his forearm. She yanked it tight and he felt the pins and needles immediately prick his fingertips.
“Please, no. You don’t understand," he pleaded.
She placed a small piece of wood in his mouth.
His body drenched in sweat, he looked on in terror as she collected the bone saw from the medical table. Grasping his wrist tightly in her hand, she lined up the saw on the middle of his forearm. Jonny screamed out in agony and bit down hard on the wood between his teeth as she began to cut.
A Preview
Bound
Andrew Lennon and Matt Hickman
March 2013
Vicky Stuart
Friday night.
The nightclub was heaving. Dry ice from the dance floor was being forced into surrounding areas as people were bouncing away to the
Another glance around the room, and he spotted Stevie. Similarly, Stevie was strapped to another operating table, but that was where the similarity ended.
Beside Stevie’s bed stood a metal table, it contained a series of medical instruments, filthy and splattered with dried blood and gore. A bone saw stood next to a jar containing several fingers, another few lay on the surface of the table next to the jar. Looking down to Stevie’s hands, he saw nothing but bloodied stumps that had been wrapped in filthy bandages.
A large jagged incision had been made along the side of his abdomen and ran in a diagonal line to the top of his chest. The ugly looking incision had been carelessly sewn back up with black string, making him look like a gruesome, macabre scarecrow.
His entrails and internal organs had been removed and were sitting in a stainless steel bowl on the table beside his bed. The whole area was covered with fresh blood. Someone had made an attempt to soak some of it up with dirty bandages and gauze but it had spilled all over the surface of the operating table and had dripped all over the floor.
Hanging limp from Stevie’s mouth was a small piece of wood, indented with bite marks. His head hung to the side and his face was a picture of sheer terror, the way he died must have been in severe pain and fright. His face shone white - drained with blood. His lifeless eyes stared at Jonny.
His mind racing, Jonny desperately tried to piece together the sequence of events. Then, it all came back to him – Karl’s stag party – the abandoned hospital – the drugs.
Laughing loudly, he took in the hallucinations that were being thrown back to him by his LSD addled brain. It was all a figment of his imagination, pulling at the bonds once more that held his wrists and ankles, he panicked as he remembered. His friends had wanted a real experience in a haunted house and the acid tabs that he had slipped into their drinks before entering the hospital would give them a night that they would never forget.
As he looked over at the dead body of his best friend, he realised that therein lay the problem. He and Stevie had spiked their friend's drinks but not their own. They were going to play along and film the whole thing to play back to the group as a joke.
He squirmed and pulled at the restraints as the plump, elderly nurse in the filthy uniform entered the room.
She spoke. “Ah, I see you are awake, my dear. It was a terrible shame about your friend. We did what we could for him but in the end the damage from the land mine was too severe.”
He tried to speak. “No, wait, you don’t understand, please don’t.”
She reached over and placed a filthy wet cloth on his brow. “There there, dear. Don’t worry. We will do everything that we can to help you, but I’m afraid that gangrene has set in.”
He began to hyper-ventilate as she started to wrap a leather strap around his forearm. She yanked it tight and he felt the pins and needles immediately prick his fingertips.
“Please, no. You don’t understand," he pleaded.
She placed a small piece of wood in his mouth.
His body drenched in sweat, he looked on in terror as she collected the bone saw from the medical table. Grasping his wrist tightly in her hand, she lined up the saw on the middle of his forearm. Jonny screamed out in agony and bit down hard on the wood between his teeth as she began to cut.
A Preview
Bound
Andrew Lennon and Matt Hickman
March 2013
Vicky Stuart
Friday night.
The nightclub was heaving. Dry ice from the dance floor was being forced into surrounding areas as people were bouncing away to the
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