Trapped

Chapter 19

Don't worry. I'm alive. Just haven't had a good internet connection lately. Here we go!

Jughead scrubbed and scratched his skin. The frozen water made his body feel even more numb. His ashen complection had taken a blueish shade.

His entire body felt sore and wrong. The smell of sweat, blood and sex still lingered in the small basement. Thankfully Kurtz had to go away tomorrow in New Year's and he didn't trust his 'buddies' alone with Jughead.

He stopped the water and got up, trembling. He used one of the blankets to dry himself as much as possible, wincing when the harsh material rubbed against his bruises. He ignored the injured hand completely. A little numbness in that was more than welcome.

He put the white pajamas Kurtz had given him and curled under the covers. He rubbed his entire body hoping to create some hit, or at the very least reduce the shaking.

He tried to concentrate on the positive. Kurtz had promised he would let him come upstairs for a full breakfast tomorrow and when he would be back from his trip he would reconsider whether or not he would let Jughead to come back.

Jughead did not want to admit it but he was actually relieved. Maybe things could go back to the way they were. Back when everything was simpler. He buried his head on the pillow. His skull ached from the cold driven in by Jughead's wet, black hair. At the very least his life would resume to some sort of normality.

Down here the living conditions were not exactly...ideal. The flickering lightbulb hanging from the ceiling was the only thing illuminating the dark room and after a while it gets torturously tiring, almost irritating. So much so that Jughead wondered how the hell Kurtz was able to work in such conditions when he had his lab here.

He had to use a bucket Kurtz had left him as a toilet, which Kurtz cleaned only once a week and the rest of the time it reeked, the drenching smell thick in the room. But maybe the most mind scattering was the lack of time. Jughead had no idea when it was day or night. Only when Kurtz would get him up to the house but it only happened once or twice ever since he had locked him in here.

Ever since his goons started visiting things became even worse. He would constantly pass out during their 'play time' and come to again only to find that they hadn't even stopped but with no clue how much time had passed. So many people had come. Jughead was disgusted to see a few he already knew from Riverdale. Some were criminals and lowlifes from the Southside. But some were just...people. People he passed by on the streets, people with families, with jobs, people you would never expect to rape an eighteen year old boy in the basement of his kidnaper.

There were a couple of police officers too. People who worked with his dad. There was even a janitor from JB's school. People who saw his family everyday and had every opportunity to harm them. And Jughead was sure there were more. Kurtz knew better than to reveal all his allies at once. Jughead took notice that while a lot of the people that came were from Riverdale GnG had spread its' shadows to more towns. He knew Kurtz had more connections.

But he also understood what Kurtz was trying to do. He was showing him that he wasn't safe. At least not back home. Police officers, school staff, family people, neighbors, all the people Jughead used to think as innocent were twisted and monstrous pieces of the macabre mosaic that was the little town of Riverdale. Monsters in human skins and porcelain masks that lurked in the shadows, waiting to be unleashed.

Jughead clenched the blanket around himself tighter as a sudden breeze went through him. He forced himself to stop thinking about it. About everything that had happened. He closed his eyes and calmed his breathing. He brought his hand to his chest, right above his heart and felt it pulsate. At least he was still alive. Although at this point he was not exactly sure whether or not this was a good or a bad thing.