The man heaved Adrian inside before jumping in himself. There was another man in the driver’s seat and small light overhead, which he turned off as he started the engine. The van was dark inside; all Adrian could see were shadows.

‘You’re both making a huge mistake.’

‘I told you to shut up.’ The man hit him again.

‘What is it you want?’ Adrian could taste blood in his mouth.

‘I told you not to fucking speak.’

Adrian felt fabric go into his mouth to shut him up. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it wasn’t clean; it was dusty and tasted of chemicals and grease. Adrian went to pull the fabric from his mouth and the man punched him in the ribs, a sharp pain shooting through him as the bones fractured. Breathing was difficult. His nose had swollen and without his mouth, he had to really concentrate on not panicking and making things worse.

The man reached inside Adrian’s pockets and pulled out the contents – money, phone, keys, ID, everything – making Adrian feel even more vulnerable than before. Was he going to kill him and dump his body somewhere?

The man flipped Adrian over, so his face was pushed into the cold, hard van floor, and his knee pressed into Adrian’s back, making it even harder to get air into his lungs. As they drove past streetlights, the van lit up every couple of seconds. Adrian strained to see who had taken him, but his head was firmly pressed against the cold, dirty floor. Surely if they wanted him dead, they would have done it already.

Adrian’s head was thumping. The man in the back was bigger and stronger than him; Adrian hadn’t even managed to get a punch in at all. He really wished he hadn’t had those last three drinks.

As the road smoothed out, the lights got less frequent. They were heading out of town.

The man took his knee off Adrian’s back. The road beneath them became rougher and so Adrian assumed they had left the city completely. He could tell from the movements in the van that they were on less developed terrain, windier roads, maybe one of the smaller towns outside Exeter.

What did they want from him? The man in front just seemed to be the driver. It was the man in the back with Adrian who was in charge.

Without warning, the man yanked at Adrian’s trousers until they were around his knees and then his ankles. What was going on? The dread deepened as the reality of the situation hit Adrian. Oh God, no.