Draft version - Russian Roulette - Family secrets

Ch. 131: Get on with it

Once again, he was left in darkness.

Gareth was back sitting on the crate, he already knew what that meant. There was no doubt in his mind. What had him confused was what had happened before he was locked back into place.

It had been, what he had figured was quite a while, after Grychenko and John had left to negotiate.

In the time he had waited, he had felt a strange calm enter his body. Something he had not been able to explain, but his brain had stopped being so fogged up and some of his weakness had seemed to dissipate.

A bunch of Grychenko's men had come in, Gareth had for a moment thought that the negotiations with John had failed and the men were there to kill him. As a minimum there to beat him senseless, again. When he saw some of them dragging in a mattress while some of the others released him from the shackles, he had just gone with the flow, not knowing what to expect.

Again, he had been taken to a bathroom and given time to do his business. They had given him a washcloth and allowed him to wash up if he had wanted.

That he had.

He had taken his time doing it. They had not rushed him in any way, though they usually did not because of how weak his body was, and every movement was slow and painful.

There had not been a mirror in the bathroom, probably because they were afraid, he would break it and use the shards as a weapon against them or simply as a means to kill himself. Gareth had no intentions of doing either. He had made a deal which he was honoring. He might not like the idea of being tortured to death, it was the price he had been willing to pay for Mackenzie's safety, so, he kept his end and would allow Grychenko to do whatever.

Suicide was not in him.

The most welcomed part of the whole surreal bathroom experience had been the chance to brush his teeth. People who did that daily had no idea how much of a privilege that was.

When done in the bathroom, Gareth had been taken back to his cell, as it were, despite the size and lack of bars and other cell like facilities.

And boy had things changed.

The mattress had been put next to the wall not too far from that strange dining room table. Shackles had been drilled into the wall and were ready to secure him again.

One for his ankle and one for his wrist.

On the mattress was a pillow and a duvet along with a blanket. Gareth had not known what to think. For a moment he had entertained the idea of sexual assault to break him. It probably would have, and he surely would not have put it past Grychenko, knowing how sick that fucker was.

His thoughts had been put to shame.

When they had secured his shackles, with the chains limiting his movements to just the mattress area and maybe a foot or so beyond that, they had stood there just observing him. He had done nothing but sit and silently enjoy the feel of the mattress under him, after however long on the crate it was a good feeling.

It had not been clear what they had wanted from him or expected him to do, he had just sat there waiting, not touching the pillow or the duvet.

After a while, a man came in with a tray with assorted food on it, another brought three different plastic cups, the size of those bought at stadiums.

The cups respectively held lemonade, water and coffee.

Dear, blessed coffee.

The tray had held an assortment of food. Delicious looking food that did not look like it had just been microwaved and slapped onto the tray. It had looked well prepared and presented.