When he came to he was alone in the room, he moaned
softly as it hurt to even open his eyes. He was still in the damn light but
relieved he was alone. He couldn’t move and so he decided to stay put, it
wasn’t really a decision it was necessity. He felt himself slipping back into
the blessing of feeling nothing and he surrendered to the blackness that
threatened to overtake him once again.
***
“Wakey
wakey” a voice taunted softly above him. Josh slowly surfaced consciousness and
was met with Matt’s smiling face. He tried again to scoot away but was again
unsuccessful. He was still aching all over and he just prayed Matt would leave
him alone today.
“Matt…
please” he croaked, his mouth dry and his jaw stiff.
“What?”
Matt growled.
“Please
don’t… hit me… again” Josh managed.
“Why
wouldn’t I? You dared to trick me, you should learn your lesson, why shouldn’t
I teach you a lesson?” Matt asked angrily.
“I’m…
sorry I tricked… you. I just… wanted to be alone… for a while” Josh told him
hoarsely, closing his eyes in pain. Just breathing hurt.
“You
were alone, you wanna stay down here for a while longer and be… alone?” Matt
taunted.
“No…
not anymore” Josh replied desperately, pleading.
“Hmm…
we’ll see” Matt hummed, thinking it over, then shrugging. It wasn’t his call to
make but it was fun to torture him a little, after all he’d deserved it.
Before
Josh knew it he was alone again. He couldn’t believe Matt would leave him here,
well he better believe it because he had left him here once again. Josh closed
his eyes and rested his head against the cool cement of the basement floor. He
wanted to fall asleep again but he was afraid he couldn’t; his stomach rumbled
loudly and his mouth was cork dry. His eye caught a plate and a bowl; his
diner. But it seemed so far away. It was only two yards but it seemed the
distance between the US and Europe. He knew he’d have to get there because he
wouldn’t be able to fall asleep otherwise.
He
slowly stretched his legs and pushed himself off carefully; his arms were still
tied behind his back so they wouldn’t be of any use at all. He pushed off of
the floor, scooting himself a little closer to his destination but it scraped
his legs and side as he moved. He ignored it, it was one or the other. Bit by
bit Josh moved to the bowl and plate, moving eight inches every five minutes.
He needed to rest in between and bite back the pain with every little bit of
movement. Just a little longer, he urged himself, a little further. He came
closer and closer and finally, he had no idea how long it had taken him but he
reached the bowl and the plate. He bend his head towards the bread and ate it
quickly, then slurping up the water like a dog. It would have been humiliating
if he weren’t so damn thirsty. As soon as it was gone Josh dropped his head to
the floor, panting with exertion and finally closing his eyes.
***
“Do
you think he’s learned his lesson?” Dan asked his employee with a smirk.
“Oh
I believe so yes” Matt reassured with a joyful smile. He’d informed his boss of
what he’d done to the boy and Dan had surely enjoyed the story. Matt had done a
good job and he believed Josh was ready to come upstairs.
“Good,
we’ll get him later” Dan informed his employee.
“Alright”
***
Josh
slowly opened his eyes. The pain seemed less but it was premature. He tried to
move a little and the pain shot through him like a bolt of electricity. He
startled as he heard the door open. He heard two pair of feet on the stairs and
soon met their owners. Matt and Dan.
“Hello
Joshua” Dan greeted pleasantly. Josh ignored him, he turned his head the other
way.
“Not
very polite are we? I said hello Joshua” Dan demanded suddenly. Josh thought it
was better to answer him, he didn’t want another beating.
“Hi”
he answered softly. Josh could almost feel the conceited look on Dan’s face.
“Good”
Dan nodded.
“Did
you learn your lesson Josh?” Dan asked him another question and Josh wondered
why they couldn’t just leave him alone.
“Yes…
sir” Josh responded with a wince.
Dan
nodded again. “I might agree”
“Matt
help our guest up, will you” Dan asked rhetorically.
“It
will be my pleasure” Matt smirked as he harshly reached out to pull Josh up.
Josh moaned loudly once again as Matt pulled him to a standing position. Josh
couldn’t keep himself up and was now grateful for the restraining hand on his
bicep.
“Now
Josh I hope you learned your lesson for real because Matt hates to get double
crossed. I would think again before you even think about doing it again because
I won’t give him a time frame then” Dan warned.
Josh
nodded that he understood although he could hardly make himself hear the words.
He was so exhausted. The fear, the pain, sleeping on the floor. He knew there
was a cot for him to use but he’d been too exhausted and in too much pain to
get himself up and on the cot. It hadn’t done his already cramped muscles a lot
of good though. His arms had been strained in this position for days and they
were almost numb. He was afraid of the pain when they would finally release him
but he didn’t get any time to think about it.
Matt
pulled him along to the stairs and they went up to the main floor. Matt and Dan
made him climb more stairs though and he just prayed he wouldn’t have to climb
all of them, all the way to the third floor. They didn’t; they turned left on
the first floor and halted in front of the umpteenth door. Josh wasn’t
counting, he was more trying not to stumble and fall. He did stumble but Matt
prevented him from falling down. Dan opened the door and walked in, leaving
Matt to follow with Josh which he soon did. Josh numbly looked around a bit. It
was a fairly big room, not as big as Louisa’s suit but more luxurious than the
basement. It had a living room, where they were now standing in, a bed room and
a bathroom, basically everything he needed.
“What
do you think?” Dan asked as he spun towards the slumped figure in Matt’s hand.
“Why…
why am I… here?” Josh asked slowly and painfully. It still hurt to breathe,
talking was worse.
“You’ll
be staying here for a little while, till the wedding” Dan informed him and
Josh, no matter how hurt, cringed at the words.
“Why?”
he breathed.
“Why
not... leave me in the… basement” he mumbled bitterly.
“Now
Josh, I can’t let you marry my sister like this now can I?” he asked
rhetorically as he led the way to the bedroom. Matt followed and guided Josh to
the bed. He finally took out the key that would release his hands from the
handcuffs. Josh bit his lip hard as his arms fell in front of him. He yelled
loudly on the inside, not wanting to give these two men the satisfaction of his
pain. He took quite some time, which they allowed, to let the pain cease before
he stepped up to the bed. He needed to lay down.
“Why
not?” Josh still asked although softly, cringing as he lowered himself on the
bed and lay down. It hurt.
“Now
now Josh, I don’t want you to marry my sister like this. All banged up and
chafed wrists. Here you can rest, heal and get ready to marry her” Dan beamed,
happy this was all working out according to plan. The wedding was just three
weeks away, plenty of time for Josh to get better and marry his sister in good
health. Or at least in smooth features.
“I’ll
never be ready for that” Josh mumbled to himself as he painfully rolled onto
his side.
“What
did you say?” Dan demanded suddenly, he’d caught something and he dared Josh to
say it again.
“Nothing”
Josh said dejectedly.
“Good.
Rest up and get gorgeous” Dan smirked before he left the room.
Get
gorgeous, Josh frowned. Weirdo.
He
left it, he was too tired and his stomach hurt, it was stinging and he knew
that if he could just sleep it would all be okay. Sleep on a soft surface. He
knew Matt was sitting opposite of the bed, watching him but he knew he didn’t
have to be afraid anymore because Dan wouldn’t let Matt beat him up again. Dan
wouldn’t let him marry his sister in this condition. No he didn’t have to fear
him but he was still uncomfortable, for exactly five seconds. Uncomfortable or
not, nothing could keep him from taking himself to a place where he wouldn’t
feel his aching body. The only way was to sleep and he craved it. It didn’t
take long till he was snoring lightly, forgotten all about the man who was
still watching him from the other side of the room.
***
“Chris
what are we going to do? It’s been a week and we’re no closer to helping him!”
Justin exclaimed worriedly.
“Relax
kid” Chris soothed but Justin was done with that. Chris had tried that and had
succeeded the past week, ever since Josh had come by but Justin was beyond that
now. He needed to know that they were going to help his brother, he needed to
know this would work.
“Don’t
tell me to relax! Don’t fucking tell me to relax!” Justin lashed out at his
friend. Chris understood the reaction but still took a step back.
“Relaxing
isn’t going to help Josh” he whispered almost defeated. Chris noticed.
“Hey,
don’t give up just yet. I haven’t tried everything”
“Like
what?”
“I
called my partner and asked him to check a few things but he hasn’t called me
back yet”
“Is
that a good or a bad thing?” Justin asked, not certain if he should hope or
not.
“I
don’t know” Chris admitted. “It could go either way” Justin sighed, falling
back on the couch, letting his head fall back to the edge of the couch.
“This
is hopeless isn’t it?” he asked softly, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.
“Justin
we’ll help him, I’ll do everything I can. Listen, I’ll call Fred again and
otherwise I’ll go down there myself okay?” he said, not ready to give up and
wanting Justin to feel the same.
“It
will be okay”
Justin
smiled a little, thankful at least for the fact that Chris was helping him. If
he didn’t have Chris here with him, he hadn’t known what to do. Chris had
called his partner at the police station in the next town and asked him to do
some digging. He knew going to this town’s police station would be the wrong
move. Chris trusted his partner Fred but he hadn’t called him yet. He was
willing to go to him but he really didn’t feel comfortable leaving Justin here
so he’d waited.
“I’ll
call him right now okay?”
“Okay”
Justin agreed softly.
“Thank
you” Chris smiled back, determined to help them. He’d call Fred right away and
see if he had any ideas how to handle this, if he didn’t he was going to call a
few more people himself.
They
couldn’t all have fallen for Treydson’s money, it just couldn’t and he would
search for those independent ones, he had to for Justin and especially for
Josh.
***
Josh
recovered quickly. He was out of bed and walking around, around his own room,
listlessly after a week. The bruise on his face, the only one that showed was
almost gone and also the chafed wrists were almost healed due to the cream the
doctor had prescribed him.
Dan
had let a doctor come in, his personal physician to check Josh. He wasn’t going
to take any chances concerning his future brother in law because Louisa would
never forgive him. The man told Dan that he wasn’t seriously injured, Matt
really knew how to make someone hurt without damaging anything. The doctor had
given him something for the injuries that showed and told him it all would heal
with time. Josh hadn’t said anything but Dan had thanked the man and led him
out of the room. The cream and the rest had helped because Josh sure looked
better, Dan could see he was still hurting a bit but he just smirked. It was
good because it would remind him of what he’d done and what he shouldn’t do
again in the future.
All
in all Dan was happy; everything was going according to plan. Another two weeks
and his sister would have her true wish come true.
