chapter 2

Four hours later, another full jug was brought for him to drink. He questioned Tiny. This was not right! But Tiny did not reply, he simply looked more gruff than usual. Josh was not hungry. He had four hours to drink his second jug and he was still full from his first. This was ridiculous! Someone was having a joke with him!
Two hours later, the message must have got through to Fanta as he made an appearance. "Naughty boys will be punished" he said. He motioned to someone standing in the doorway. They came in and fitted a metal cuff around his ankle, then left.
"You have been good until now," said Fanta, "so I will be lenient. Let me show you what will happen if you disobey." He pressed some buttons on a remote controller that had been in his pocked. Pain seared through Josh's leg as the ankle cuff sent an electric shock through his system. "Be good and you shall be rewarded" he said, "be sure that you finish your jog off in the next two hours. You know what the consequences will be."
With that, he walked out. Josh contemplated what else he could do. He was hoping to dispose of the jog contents down the toilet or something. But Tiny was still watching him. Reluctantly, he resigned himself to drinking the stuff.
It was a struggle to drink it all. He felt nauseous afterwards. He held onto his swollen belly and made his way over to the bed to lie down.
The next day, he was woken early in the morning with another milk shake to drink. This one was strawberry flavoured. He drank the whole jug of fluid without question as quick as he could. He felt extremely comfortable at first, but he knew that finishing early would given him more room when the next one arrived. This was exactly what he captors wanted.
After his second week in captivity, Josh looked much healthier. He had an abscess in his groin that was finally starting to heal. His skin was much clearer. He did not look quite so skinny.
What he did not know was the formulation of his drink changed every day along with the flavour. The vanilla was a straight protein shake made with skimmed milk. The strawberry one had three dessertspoons of extra sugar added to it. The day after, he'd had banana flavour which had the extra sugar and was made with semi skimmed milk. The day after that was lemon and lime flavour with three extra tablespoons of sugar. He received a mocha shake the next day. That had three tablespoons of extra sugar in it and was made with whole milk. Chocolate was the next flavour. The formulation remained the same as the day before, but the volume had increased by 100mls.
They were all really small changes, but each small change added to the small changes that had gone before.
A month later, Josh looked very different. He had lost his sallow hollow cheeks and dark circles around his eyes. He had filled out a bit, losing his skeletal look, although he was still very slim.
He drank his shakes diligently and on time. Each portion was a litre and a half in volume. And he got through four a day. They were his soul source of nutrition, most of the time. The ingredients of the shakes were: protein whey powder, extra vitamins, five tablespoons of sugar, single cream, two teaspoons of melted lard, marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles.
He had been a good boy, so Fanta let him out and he was allowed to return to his own apartment. But there where still rules to follow. He was not allowed to leave the confines of the apartment. He was not allowed in the kitchen area at all. He would be watched at all times, but on camera. He could do whatever he liked as long as he drank his shakes in the time allowed.
Josh was just so relived to be out of the confines of the attic. He was drug free for the first time in months. He felt great! His sores, abscesses had cleared up, he had lots of energy. He just wished he didn't feel so bloated all the time with all the shakes, or he might try a little workout.
It felt good to wear his own clothes again. Many of them were still a little baggy, but tight over his distended, increasingly tender gut, so he chose loose tee shirts and stretchy trousers with elasticated waists to wear.
A couple of days later, feeling more comfortable in his own environment, he tried lifting some weights for his upper torso. He soon learned that was not allowed. The pain from the metal band on his ankle seared up his leg and through his body.
He had examined the bloody thing at length. It was secured with a complicated mechanism that made it easy to put on and impossible to take off. The only way he could remove it was with an oxyacetylene torch!