The man climbed on top of Adrian so that his knees forced Adrian’s legs apart. Adrian’s confusion was beginning to clear. This wasn’t a mugging. Adrian tried to scream, but the rag in his mouth muffled it to the point where it probably couldn’t even be heard inside the van, let alone any further away. Adrian was completely paralysed. He couldn’t even distinguish what he was feeling as fear; it felt so much bigger.

The sound of the engine was loud and Adrian couldn’t hear anything beyond that. The man’s head was directly above his, his hands on the ground either side. Adrian focused on the man’s chunky wrists to commit them to memory – he was white, that’s all Adrian could ascertain at this point. He knew what was coming next.

The crushing weight of the man on top of him did nothing to mask the pain as he forced himself inside. Adrian clutched onto the edge of the van floor near the door; there was a lip leading to a step. He could feel his knuckles going white as he held on. With each thrust he felt his body breaking, the wetness on his legs merely confirming that he could smell blood in the air.

‘What the fuck are you doing back there?’ the man in the driver’s seat shouted.

‘Just keep driving!’ Adrian heard the man shout, his spit landing on Adrian’s face. ‘I need to teach this pig a lesson.’

Sober enough, Adrian lay lifeless as the man continued, thrusting so hard it was pushing Adrian’s head into the back of the van’s front seats. He couldn’t fight back, couldn’t do anything. Even though it hurt a lot, that was nothing compared with the humiliation Adrian was feeling right now. He wished he was dead; Adrian had never wished that before, not really. He could never have imagined feeling that way until this moment. Not existing would be great right about now.

The man climbed off and lit a cigarette when he was done. Adrian was frozen still. He was cold and he could feel liquid on his skin at the top of his thighs; he didn’t know if it was blood or semen. For now, he had to concentrate on breathing. He pushed his tongue against the dry rag in his mouth until it was out. It was still dark and as long as Adrian didn’t make a sound, the man wouldn’t know the rag was gone.