“Bring him here” Dan instructed angrily, gesturing
Matt to get Josh to the living room as he himself shrugged out of his jacket
and threw it on the first chair he came across. Ready to nip this disobedience
in the butt immediately. Matt grabbed Josh’s arm and dragged him into the
living room behind Dan. Josh made no resistance; he was scared shitless. He
would find out how serious they really were.
“Now,”
Dan started, spinning suddenly causing Josh to take a step backwards as Dan was
only inches from him.
“Did
or did I not make it quite clear to you that going to police was not an
option?” Dan asked fiercely, grabbing Josh’s jacket. Josh stared wide-eyed at
the man almost towering over him but was unable to answer him.
“Did
or did I not, Josh?” Dan repeated harshly.
Josh
nodded quickly this time.
“Do
I need to repeat the rules to you?” Dan spit at him.
Josh
shook his head no, swiftly; he knew the rules he just didn’t want to obey them.
“Then
why the hell aren’t you obeying them?!”
Josh
stared at him; not knowing how to respond to the question, not even sure if it
was a real question.
“Do
I need to get your little brother involved? We’re already acquainted…” Dan
threatened, trailing off to get the message clear.
“No!”
Josh answered on impulse.
“Good”
Dan said satisfied but not quite.
“You
know the rules Josh and you know the consequences. Obey the rules and the
consequences won’t be necessary” Dan recapped his point. He then nodded to
Matt, one swift kick and Josh was on his knees. Josh caught himself; putting
his hands out in front of him to make sure he wouldn’t fall over completely. He
looked up in disbelief.
“You
can’t be serious, you just can’t!” Josh said softly, shaking his head.
“You
can’t mean this, you can’t mean it” Josh said in denial.
“I
don’t believe you would hurt Justin, I don’t want to believe it” he repeated.
He just couldn’t understand that there were people who would want to control
other people’s actions or even complete lives like this. Those people just
couldn’t exist, they just couldn’t. This only happened in movies to make it
more interesting, more exciting but this in real life was not interesting and
definitely not exciting.
“Well
believe it” Dan said wickedly. Josh shuddered pure from the look he was being
given.
“I
can’t,” Josh whispered.
“I
don’t want to”
“I
don’t care what you want! You will fucking listen to me and you will fucking do
what I tell you to!” Dan said, bending over the knelt figure. He stretched
suddenly, another nod to Matt and the next minute his foot connected with
Josh’s side. He grunted in pain and fell sideways, landing on his other side.
“This
is the last warning Josh, I’m sick of this” Dan warned, holding up a hand to
Matt before he spoke. When he finished, a wave of Dan’s hand ended in another
kick to Josh’s body; his ribs this time. A few more kicks were aimed at him
before Dan once again held up his hand. Matt stopped immediately.
“I
gave you enough time to get used to the rules and you will obey them from now
on or you and your brother will start paying for the mistakes you make” He let
Matt teach Josh his lesson for a few more moments before he stopped him again,
continuing the message he wanted to get across.
“Do
you understand me?” Dan demanded, grabbing a fist full of hair, twisting Josh’s
head towards him.
“Yes”
Josh choked, tears threatening to slip out but he held them back bravely, his
body was aching and he was wild with fear, he thought he was lucky Dan wouldn’t
go after his brother this time but he was desperate; this was not going the
way I planned it! He screamed at himself as Dan let Matt attack his already
battered body again.
Dan
walked out satisfied and Josh knew Matt wouldn’t stop his assault any time
soon. He never seemed to falter. He saw the blackness envelope him and he
wanted to surrender to it so he would no longer feel the pain shooting through
his body. After another round of kicks and punches Josh lay unmoving on the
hard cold marble floor, voices running uncontrollably through the young man’s
head. Dan had made the rules pretty clear now and he understood he was lucky
Dan wouldn’t go after his brother this time. One last thought went through his
mind; this is bad before he lost consciousness and surrendered to the
blackness that had been threatening to overtake him.
***
So
Josh now fully understood what they demanded of him; it however didn’t make
obeying them any easier. It was actually harder because he knew now that this
was serious. If he made a mistake Justin would really pay for it and it scared
him to death.
He
avoided Justin for a few days since he knew Justin would be able to see
something was wrong immediately. Justin would notice his pain in a second. Dan
or actually Matt had beaten him up pretty bad and he didn’t want Justin to get
suspicious so he stayed away a little. It worked; Justin didn’t notice anything
and Josh was relieved, well kind of. He let himself heal and when he was around
Justin, he bit back his pains. He had to and it had worked but that didn’t make
him feel any better.
After
those few days he also went back to work. Dan was considerate towards him for
not coming those few days and Josh figured it was logical since he was the
reason he was unable to come. However you never knew with Dan. Although Dan
gave him a few days to get better he didn’t want to be too nice to the guy so
Josh was expected to be back at work on Wednesday. Josh hoped that doing his
job, having something to do would take his mind off of things but something
soon ruined that, well more like someone.
***
“Let’s
go to diner tonight” Louisa suggested when she came by at work.
“Why?”
Josh asked warily. He was so tired of this, pretending to be happy with Louisa
for weeks on end was wearing him down. Not to mention that he’d had a busy day,
he was just tired in general and Louisa had picked the wrong time for him to
pretend he liked her. Louisa looked shocked.
“Why?”
she repeated, the words pressed out in anger.
“I
mean…” he sighed. “I would love to”
Louisa’s
angry features broke into a smile upon hearing those words and Josh laughed on
the wrong side of his face.
“Good,
pick me up at 8”
Josh
had barely time to nod in agreement since she’d already spun on her heel and
left the offices.
***
Josh
pulled up in front of the Treydson’s house that night a little before eight. He
sighed, composing himself mentally before unlocking his seatbelt and getting
out of his car. He knocked reluctantly and was met with Dan’s smiling face.
“Good
evening Joshua”
“Hi”
Josh mumbled before shuffling past Dan.
What
did this guy want from me?
Well
he knew what he wanted he just didn’t know what made him do it.
Asshole.
“So
you’re taking my sister out tonight” Dan started the conversation as he steered
Josh in the direction of the living room.
“Um
yes”
“Good.
Glad to hear it” he smiled satisfied.
“However
I wasn’t glad to hear that you refused to go” Dan leaped topics.
“What?”
Josh asked confused, what was he talking about?
“Louisa
told me you didn’t want to go right away”
“That’s
not true” Josh told him through gritted teeth.
“Are
you calling my sister a liar?”
“No!”
Josh denied, Dan was setting him up! He was backing him into a corner.
“I
do want to go” Josh told him, Josh didn’t know what would satisfy him so he
settled for this.
“Good”
Dan nodded, he was just playing with him. He enjoyed the game; he was glad Josh
made Louisa happy but playing with his mind was Dan’s profit out of this.
“Josh,
are you ready?’ Louisa’s sweet voice called.
“Um
yes” he called back uncertain as he got up to join her.
“You
two have fun!” Dan called after them with a smirk.
***
“What
do you mean we’re not on the list?” Louisa hissed at the manager.
“I’m
sorry but your name is not on the list” the manager answered politely.
“You
didn’t make reservations?” Louisa suddenly hissed at Josh; she was trying to
keep her voice low but the anger made her want to scream.
“I’m
sorry” he mumbled softly, he didn’t know he was required to make reservations.
“I’m
sure you have a table available, you do know who I am, don’t you?” Louisa asked
sweetly. It still amazed Josh how fast her tone changed.
“Of
course, ma’am follow me” the manager said with a smile; oh he knew who she
was and he knew what would happen if he turned her down. There was
something seriously wrong with that family; he knew that much.
He
guided the couple to a lovely table in the back, nice view to booth. Josh
cringed as Louisa held onto his arms a little too tightly for it to be
lovingly.
“There
you go, can I get you anything to drink?” the manager asked once he’d assisted
Louisa in taking her seat and the young man he already felt sorrow for had
taken his seat.
“I’d
like a glass of your finest champagne please” she ordered.
The
man nodded before shifting his gaze to the young man.
“Make
that two” Louisa said before Josh even had the chance to open his mouth.
“And
bring the bottle” she smiled.
The
man nodded before he turned and left.
“I
do not appreciate this Josh” she hissed. Josh avoided eye contact, ducking his
head and keeping silent. He was afraid if he would say something now he would
regret it. He didn’t even bother to ask for a glass of mineral water; Louisa
had decided for him.
“You
made me look like a fool,” she continued. “You were supposed to make
reservations”
“No
I wasn’t” Josh mumbled softly to himself.
“What?”
she snapped immediately, catching his words.
“What
did you say?”
“Nothing”
he mumbled again, if he would repeat them it wouldn’t end nice; she was
already pissed and over what? They got in with her name anyway didn’t they?
What
was the freaking big deal?
“Tell
me” she demanded.
The
tone of voice had been a constant thing in the last few days. Ever since Dan
had taught him a serious lesson Louisa had changed. At first, in the first few
weeks of their forced relationship, she’d been at least somewhat considerate
and her tone wasn’t always nice but it had been on at least a few occasions.
After Matt had beaten the rules into him, almost a week ago, it seemed as if
Louisa understood that he was really hers. As if she knew she didn’t have to be
nice to him anymore because he would stay anyway. It hadn’t improved things.
Not by far.
“It’s
nothing” he dismissed.
“Spill
it Joshua or do I need to call my brother and tell him what a lousy date this
is and how it is all your fault?” she hissed. Josh looked up suddenly.
“No!”
he protested. Apart from the tone she’d also started threatening more as if
she’d suddenly realized the power she had over him. It was exactly the Louisa
he’d tried to run away from.
“Then
spill it!” “I thought you were going to make the reservations since… you asked
me and you didn’t tell me to make the reservations” he said softly. Louisa
scooted closer so she could hear.
“Ah
okay so apart from the fact that I have to ask you I also have to make all the
arrangements?”
“I
didn’t know…”
“Save
it” Louisa cut him off.
“This
date is ruined and we all know whose fault it is” Josh looked up at her.
“And
we both know who’s going to suffer for it” she said pointedly.
Josh
knew who it was going to be; Justin. Just when he was going to plead with her
for his brother’s safety the man came back with the champagne and the glasses.
He set a glass in front of Louisa and another in front of Josh before pouring
it. He left with a nod of his head after Louisa had informed him she would call
when they were ready to order. Josh immediately took the opportunity.
“Louisa,
no, please don’t” he pleaded. Louisa looked bored, fixing her gaze on her
boyfriend.
“Why
shouldn’t I?” she challenged; she’d started an honest fight but Louisa suddenly
thought this could be a very good technique to get Josh to take more
initiative.
“This
date is not ruined let’s just…” he swallowed, trying to get the lump out of his
throat.
“Have
a nice meal, enjoy the evening” he told her.
“Hmm”
she pondered the idea.
“We’ll
see” she smirked. Josh saw what she’d been doing and he fell for it, making him
suggest things they could do so they wouldn’t hurt Justin. Josh nodded in
response, not trusting his voice and let Louisa gloat in victory.
