Description
Norm stood up from his hospital bed. He was bored and didn’t want to be there in the first place but his doctor insisted that he stay to be monitored for head trauma after some dick cut him off while he was riding his crotch rocket and got into a small accident. He figured that if he is going to be confined to this building and not allowed to sleep for a while he might as well go down to the cafeteria to get some grub since he was certain he was fine as the only discomfort he felt was hunger.
Norm made his way to the elevator passing other patients also out stretching their legs. After riding the elevator to the first floor he walked past one of the nurse’s counters to the cafeteria and was stopped by a metal gate and closed sign. He looked at the nearest clock on the wall to confirm it was getting late so he would have to find a vending machine and buy something with the lose five-dollar bill in his teal hospital pants. He looked around for a while not able to spot one and didn’t see any on his floor so he decided to ride the elevator down a floor into the basement and see what he could find.
After getting off he was greeted with a single long hallway that ended in a T intersection. He made his way to the end and looked both ways not seeing any vending machines. Instead, only strange heavy looking doors with slots at eye level with a sliding door that covered a little window. He scratched his head looking around for a bit to see if anyone was watching and reached up and slid one of the little doors open to look inside. It was dark and he couldn’t see anything so he checked the next one to find the same thing. All these rooms were too dark to see inside and he left his cell phone with his clothing so he couldn’t use the flashlight app.
Norm passed another at the corner of one of the halls and heard what sounded like shuffling and with less apprehension he slid the little door open to expose the window it covered and looked inside to see the room was lit and it was occupied by what looked like thick padded walls, ceiling, and floors. The room was empty except for a figure that lied in the corner trying to wiggle itself to a sitting position. It was a large wolf creature that took on some of the characteristics of a jungle cat of some sort. The hybrid was covered in red and orangish fur that covered most of his body and tail with darker red marking under the eyes. He was confined to what Norm recognized as a straitjacket which was marked with “A21-21” on its front.
The trapped creature looked up and met Norms gaze. The hybrid wolf’s look of defeat turned into a look of curiosity as his ears went up and forward as he studies Norms eyes waiting to see what he was going to do next. Norm thought to himself that it was strange to see a medical facility that has rooms like this almost hidden away. Norm wanted to ask this guy why he was in there but refrained as the creature was silenced with what looked like a leather muzzle and wouldn’t be able to respond. Norm was too curious to turn back now and was willing to remove his muzzle to inquire as to why he was in there. Norm tugged on the door to open it but it wouldn’t budge. The red creature struggled to his feet and slowly walked to the door and with his eyes he signaled Norm to look up. He did to find the handle of a bar that ran the front of the door top to bottom and through holes built into the ceiling and floor. Norm reached up and twisted the handle and the bar slid out of the anchor points while turning some gears inside the door sliding the bars inside it allowing the door to be opened.
Standing before him was the red wolf hybrid. Forgetting about the muzzle Norm had asked, “Uh, why are you in here?”
The hybrid creature shook his head, “Mmmfffph...”
“Oh, my bad. I forgot about that.” Norm replied feeling that he had offended him. “Mind if I take that thing off your face?” The hybrid turned his head showing a lock built into the strap preventing it from being removed. The red wolf signaled with his eyes again to the door and norm saw in the frame of the door a little compartment with a key hanging inside that was inaccessible when the door was closed and covered it. Norm walked over and grabbed the key and back again. He reached up and with a quick turn of the key inside the lock the strap belt was undone and he slid the muzzle off.
No words were spoken immediately as the hybrid instead rotated his jaw in relief and paused for a moment.
“I got myself stuck in here.”
Norm flinched from the sudden lack of silence, “What?”
“You asked why am I in here. I got myself stuck in here after I went wondering around the hospital looking for where I left my phone. I made my way down here by accident thinking it was the first floor I was getting off at. Some of the staff that works down here cornered me and assumed I was a patient of this area trying to escape and put me in here. I’ve been trapped in there for three days. They measured me made up this jacket and muzzle for me and sealed me away in here.”
Norm hesitated for a moment before responding, “Why didn’t you just tell them that you were looking for your phone?”
“I did. They didn’t believe me. I kept trying to tell them all this stuff and they ended up muzzling me.” The wolf like creature replied while shifting his arms around in their restraints.
Norm thought for a bit, “Where is the staff now? I didn’t pass anyone on my way down here.”
“They don’t staff this floor during the night it seems. There is only a single guy that just sits in the office playing Hearthstone on his laptop or something. That’s why we need to get out of here. If he starts patrolling they are going to throw you into the same situation that I’m in and punish me.”
Norm’s stomach sank at the thought and poked his head out the door making sure no one was coming. “Alright then. Let’s get the hell out of here! How do I get this jacket thing off you?”
“It’s has the same buckles and locks on the back.” the hybrid said while turning around. “The key you have is the same one for these.”
Norm swiftly started unbuckling the locks one by one while asking, “What’s your name?”
“I’m Kemira. What’s yours?”
“I’m Norm.” he replied as the last buckle fell apart and the jacket slid off Kemira.
Kemira rushed to the door leading out of the padded cell and looked around. “Alright here’s what we need to do. We need to get the keycard from the guy in the office otherwise the elevator is not going to let us up to the first floor again.”
Norm shouted out. “Are you serious!? We are stuck down here?”
“Shhhhh! Keep your voice down! Yes, I’m serious. The guy in office just down the hall will come investigate if he hears something is off so we need to close the door with both of us inside and make it look like you are close to escaping from this straitjacket while I hide out of view.”
“Are you crazy!?” Norm replied. “I’m not getting in that thing!”
Kemira turned back to him, “No, You’re not. Not all the way at least. We got to make it look like your close to escaping. When the staff member sees you, he’ll enter this room and I’ll be hiding in the corner out of the windows line of sight ready to jump him for his key card. You’ll slide the jacket off your arms and help me pin him down. When we get the key card, we will make a break for it.”
“That sounds...” but before Norm could finish his thought Kemira had already picked up the jacket and held it up to Norm. Norm looked at it for a moment unsure about attacking a hospital staff member but the fear of being trapped in this place was too great and Norm held his arms forward and Kemira slid the jacket forward as Norms arms seated inside. The jacket went on snug and comfortably still very warm from Kemira’s body heat.
“Good thing we are almost a perfect match in size or this would never have worked.” Kemira said while stepping around Norm to tighten it around Norms torso. Norm sat still for a while letting Kemira work as he tried to collect his thoughts. This was all happening really fast. Norms line of thought was broken as he heard the sound of buckles snapping shut on his back.
Norm flinched, “How am I supposed to take this thing off if you are doing up the buckles on this crazy thing?”
“Don’t worry. They aren’t locked. You can still slide it forward and off you easily. We just got to make it look like your still trapped enough to give the guard a false sense of security to come in here without calling for help.” Kemira replied while doing all the buckles up to the one that he tightened around Norms neck and snapped shut. Kemira continued by grabbing Norms arms and sliding them through a loop in the front of the jacket anchoring them and again through loops on each side of the jacket under each arm further anchoring his arms into the iconic hug. He felt the belt that attached the end of the two sleeves together tighten behind his back followed by another locking snap sound. Kemira grabbed the hanging straps off the front groin area of the jacket and pulled each between Norms legs and tightening them up presenting his bulge followed by more locking snap noises.
Norm wiggled around with a little give that was left in his arms and felt that all the buckles had been locked.
“What the hell! I can’t get this thing off the way it is now. How am I supposed to slid it off?” Norm said while growing anxious.
Kemira didn’t say anything he just continued adjusting the jacket and bent over to pick up the muzzle off the soft padded floor. Norm tried to pull his arms apart and was firmly stopped by the strap that was locked behind his back. Then frantically tried pull is arms over his head being stopped by the looping straps anchoring his arms to his torso in a forced self-hug he couldn’t undo.
“Kemira, I don’t want to be in this thing anymore.” Norm said in protest. “Let me out. I can’t slide it off like you said. I don’t want this on me anymore. There has to be a different way to do this.” Norm was struggling more aggressively against the jacket feeling vulnerable but every action was stopped by a secure strap that held his arms around him.
Kemira sighed, “Fine well do it your way, but I don’t think we are going to have as easy a time getting out of here. Turn around and I’ll unbuckle the jacket.”
Norm felt relief as he turned around exposing his back to Kemira. He waited to be unbuckled for a moment before the muzzle Kemira held came down from over his head and in an instant, was pulled forward over his muzzle pressing it shut with heavy leather and thick padding still very warm from Kemira’s body heat and wet from his drool. Norm panicked and Kemira pulled hard enough for Norm to fall backward to a sitting position. Norm shook his head in protest but still felt the belt tighten around the back of his head followed by the terrifying sound of the locking buckle snapping shut.
“If you haven’t guessed by now I’m not the victim that I portrayed myself as a few minutes ago. I lied. I have been trapped down here for just under a year now.”
“Muuuufffff!?” Norm mumbled into the muzzle.
“I am down here because I am witness to a crime committed by someone that is part of a powerful group of people. The type of people that run this city and can pay off cops and more importantly...medical staff members. Apparently, they don’t like the idea of me potentially testifying so they got rid of me down here. Fortunately for me, no one checks on us down here and the staff members that do wouldn’t even notice. They would just see the number on your chest during your cleanings and feedings and assume that you are just another guy that pissed off the wrong people.”
“Mmmmphh!”
“That’s right Norm my friend. You are my blessing from the universe. You get to take my place and stick around as they assume you are me. Unfortunately for you all the staff that worked down here when I first arrived have all been replaced. No one is going to know the wiser. Just matching your jacket number to a cell number as they always do to the guys sent by the mob.” Kemira said while yanking the long strap binding Norms arms around his own body tighter and relocking the buckle.
“MUUUPPPHHHFFFF! MUUFFFFPPHHH!”
Kemira pushed Norm over and while he flailed trying to break free Kemira made his way to the doorway with the key still in hand and placed it in the spot it was originally in. Kemira stepped outside the padded room turned around looking back inside. Norm struggled to get to his feet and attempted to run toward the door being stopped short as the door closed in front of him. A feeling of dread and panic washed over him as he stood pressed against the door. Through the glass window Kemira’s eyes met his again but from a hopeless role reversal.
“It’s nothing personal. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can’t risk the staff here alerting the mob that patient A21-21 has gone missing before I can make a statement to a police officer that isn’t dirty. You’ll have to stay here and be that number until I can testify and put a few bad guys behind bars. When the dust settles I’ll tell someone that you are down here and you’ll be free again.” Kemira said apologetically before sliding the little window door shut and listening to the muffled howls as he walked away to the elevator.
END?
Woofer1527
MemberOn one hand, do the patriotic duty and take his place while he fights the corruption. on the other hand, I now have an absolutely terrible new fear.
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