Grounded




"Oh, what now!?"

It was just what Adam needed while being in a hurry, something else which
required his attention. Not even a month and work, and he had already found
himself in a situation where he was running through his apartment,
multitasking in a desperate struggle not be late for his flight. The young
steward had forgotten to leave his phone on the charger over night, and by the
time the sun was up, his battery had died, and his alarm was nowhere to be
found. By a stroke of luck, the 24-year-old was able to wake up in time so
that, with a lot of hurry and determination, he would still be able to arrive
on time. However, the ringing of his doorbell so early in the morning put
those plans in danger.

With one hand combing his short, dark brown hair and the other buttoning up
his shirt, Adam made his way towards his front door, careful not to slip up on
the ends of his pants which kept falling down seeing as he still hand't
buckled up his belt, shivers running through his body each time his bare feet
touched the cold floor. Putting the comb on the small drawer next to his door,
he opened it, prepared to inform whoever it was which needed him that he was
in a hurry and that the matter at hand would have to wait for another day. But
as soon as he opened the door and opened his mouth to speak, his head was
engulfed in a cloud of gas.

Taken aback, Adam took a few steps back, coughing from the gas which entered
his mouth, his eyes tearing up. In a state of shock, he slipped and fell on
his back as two masked man charged into his apartment, slamming the door
behind them, one of them ran further inside, searching the rooms for anyone
else, while his accomplice sat on Adam's chest, pinning his arms between his
legs and slamming his hand over the still dazed man's mouth. Adam had trouble
breathing with his mouth shut, as his nose was stuffed with all of the tears,
grunting and moaning into his gag.

"Keep quiet if you want nothing to happen to you!"

Adam desperately shook his head, relieved when the man let go of his mouth,
allowing him to cough out the last remnants of gas from his throat, as his
nose slowly cleared up, his tears drying up on his pale cheeks, signs of
crying slowly disappearing from his dark, green eyes. The second intruder
returned to the hall, letting his accomplice know that there was no one else
there but Adam.

"Listen up, kid, you cooperate and nothing bad happens to you. Understand?"

Scared stiff by the masked man who barged into his apartment, Adam was unable
to muster the courage to speak, instead just nodding. While his captors
exchanged a few words, he recalled all the times he thought about going to the
gym, all the New Year resolutions he failed. Perhaps then he would've been
able to pose a threat to his attackers. This way, with his limp arms and
ridiculously low strength, he was in no position to fight back, unwilling to
scream considering he had no idea what they would do to him if he did, having
not seen any weapons pulled on him yet. His instincts told him it was in his
best interest to cooperate and so, he continued to answer the questions of the
man who was on top of him.

The next question regarded how many uniforms Adam had. Gulping, the young man
managed to speak up, letting the intruders know he had two uniforms, the one
on him, and a spare which was in the closet in his bedroom. Satisfied with the
answer, the man which kept him pinned to the ground stood up and pulled Adam
up with him, retrieving a gun from his bag and keeping it pointed at his
captive while he escorted him into his living room, while his accomplice
retrieved the other uniform from Adam's bedroom. Once they were in the living
room, to his surprise, the young steward was instructed to undress himself.

It took a few shakes of the gun to let Adam know his captor was serious and
wasn't joking. Very slowly, hoping that he would be stopped and that it would
be revealed it was all just a bad joke, Adam began undoing the buttons on his
shirt, revealing more and more of the white sleeveless undershirt on him with
each subsequent button. However, no words instructed him to stop as he took
off his shirt, revealing his slender arms and pale body. A minute later, his
pants dropped to the floor, Adam's arms covering up his black boxers, his thin
legs crossed at the knees in a defensive, cowering position. With his clothes
off, it was hard for him to hide his shaking.

"On your stomach.", his captor instructed him, pointing his gun to the floor
as additional explanation on what he wanted from the young man.

By the time Adam was on his knees in the middle of his transition to laying on
the floor, the second intruder returned. His face was still hidden behind his
mask, but he was now wearing Adam's spare uniform. A white buttoned shirt,
with black pants, and matching suit. Adam felt bad seeing a different man wear
the suit, but he didn't have much time to think about it, as he found his
hands crossed behind his back and heard the ripping of duct tape, feeling the
sticky adhesive on his skin a few moments later. Soon, he was no longer able
to move his wrists apart, a thick layer of sticky silver tapes binding them
together. His ankles were next one to fall, wrapped together, before Adam's
captor subjected his calves and thighs to the same treatment. With a little
help from his accomplice, the two temporarily held Adam in a sitting position,
long enough to wrap duct tape around his chest, pinning his arms to his back.
With circles of wide silver tape binding the young man all over his body, he
was once again dropped on his stomach.

"Ouch!", Adam grunted as his body hit the floor. Those turned out to be his
last words, as they followed a piece of tape flying in front of his eyes on
his descent towards his lips, sealing them shut. A few more followed, before
his captor ran his hands over the gag, smoothing it out and making sure it was
nice and tight. With multiple strips of duct tape over them, once could no
longer see Adam's lips underneath them, their movement barely visible as
muffled grunts and moans appeared as the sole result of any attempt at
speaking.

"I'm off to change, finish him up."

Adam heard the man which had just taped him up walk away. Indeed, his captor
was off to slip into Adam's clothes, while his accomplice pulled the bound
man's ankles up, leading a long strip of tape from the circle around his
ankles to his wrists, putting the pale lad in a strict hogtie. His captive
moaned into his tight, effective gag as his muscles strained, his legs wishing
to straighten up but the tape keeping them in the air, unable to move away
from his bound wrists.

"HHHHMMMMPPHHHH!!!", Adam moaned, as his troubles seemed to have no end, his
captor deciding that a blindfold was also needed to keep his captive in check.
Once he was done wrapping the tape multiple times all around Adam's head, the
young man was completely blind, and in even more pain than before as the
sticky tape pulled on his hair. Unable to see anything, he had to rely on his
ears to hear the second intruder come back into the room.

"Let's go. We have to plant the documents in the cargo."

"HMPHH!?"

It was at the moment when he heard the door of his apartment shut and turning
of the key inside the lock that the full scope of the peril he was in sunk
into Adam's head. Struggling and fighting against the tape only proved what he
already knew. He was in no shape to escape the tight, sticky bonds he was in.
Unless someone was to come searching for him, he would remain bound and gagged
in his undershirt and boxers for a while. Struggling and fighting the tape
binding him only proved his fears. There was no way he could escape the tape
binding him, with every movement of his body making the tape pull on his skin
even harder. And every time he squirmed forward towards what he thought was
the way to his bedroom where his cellphone was on his nightstand, his skin
would cry for him to stop. Grunting and moaning, his movement was made even
harder by the floor rubbing against his bear skin and the breeze coming from
the open window in the room blowing on his bare soles. He tried to think of
anything else which might be closer to him which could help him escape, but
his frantic thoughts and shock from the whole ordeal made it hard for him to
remember if there was anything sharp he had left lying around in the living
room. Without his eyes to guide him, he sighed into his gag, admitting defeat.

His bonds would leave a mark for sure, and Adam soon decided it was best if he
remained calm on his stomach, his struggling only making it worse for him, as
his skin was beginning to burn. He hoped that one of the other flight
attendants would notice he was missing and call it in, and that someone would
come to check for him. In the meantime, there was nothing he could do but lose
himself in his thoughts, wiggling his toes and occasionally scream into his
gag, hoping one of his neighbors would hear him.