Humbled || Watch Dogs

Chapter Three

Aiden came to with a pounding headache, but no other injuries that he could tell. He was seated in an old wooden chair, his wrists zip-tied to the arms. Looking at the arms of the chair, he noted scratches along the ends from the desperate fingernails of former occupants. It was clearly not the first time someone had been tied to it.

Stretching a neck sore from supporting a limp head for so long, Aiden looked around the room. He seemed to be in a basement. Probably the basement of the Merlaut; at least, that would have made the most sense. The room was dark with most of the light centered on Aiden, leaving the edges of the room in deep shadow.

Seeing that Aiden had awoken, a man stepped out of the darkness. It was the man in charge from upstairs. A crew of three men followed suit, spanning out around Aiden. The leader ambled toward Aiden, a smug expression on his face.

"Looks like Sleeping Beauty has finally woken up. But there ain't gonna be no happy ending for you." He stopped a few feet in front of Aiden. "See, here's the thing. I would happily pop a few rounds in your ass and call it a day. But Lucky's got other plans. He sees the big picture. He doesn't want your little buddies stirring up trouble. Even if we took you out, they're bound to cost Lucky more money, and Lucky don't like that idea. So I'm gonna ask you real nice where they are and you're going to tell me. Cause if you don't, my friends here are gonna ask the same question and they tend to be a little hot-tempered."

"Go to hell," responded Aiden with a confident smirk. He was goading the man. He needed him to come closer because they had made a fatal mistake—they hadn't bound Aiden's feet. And he was going to make them pay for their imprudence. He didn't know how he was going to get out of his current predicament, but he wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Obligingly, the man stepped closer, placing his face inches from Aiden's. His tone grew serious. "I'm going to let that little comment slide because I'm in somewhat of a hurry. Now, tell me whe—"

Not waiting for the man to finish, Aiden kicked him square in the groin, causing the man to double over. Aiden then stood, having to stay somewhat crouched because of the chair still strapped to him. He spun swiftly, turning a neat circle to smash the leg of the chair into the man's pained face. A tooth clattered against the far wall and blood splattered across the floor.

Aiden heard his yelp, but had already moved on to his next target. Extending his spin, Aiden slammed the second man against the wall with the legs of the chair. When the man fell, Aiden sat the chair down on top of him, pinning him to the ground as a third guard charged at him from the front. Aiden kicked him with both legs, causing the man to stumble backwards. He rose to his feet to go after the man.

Had Aiden been able to break free from the chair, he could have easily taken everyone down without breaking a sweat. So encumbered, he stumbled as he charged his next opponent. Agile as he was, he was able to salvage the fall and turn it into a tackle, but that ended up being his undoing. He fell face-down on top of the man and couldn't right himself before the rest of the gang was on him.

They flipped him over onto his back and pummeled him ceaselessly. Aiden managed only to land a few kicks until a lucky hit to his temple sent him into unconsciousness once more.

~~~

He awoke for a second time, but this time bloodied and bruised. It reminded Aiden of the first time he met Raymond Kenney. They had drunk themselves into a stupor then crashed through a window and commenced a bare-knuckled brawl. Aiden had roused the next morning with a massive hangover and generally worse for wear. But Aiden was unlikely to make allies of his current company like he had then.

While Aiden was unconscious, the Club members had taken the liberty to switch out the wooden chair for a metal one to which both Aiden's arms and legs were strapped. For extra measure, the chair had been bolted to the ground. Aiden couldn't fault them for not learning from their mistakes, much to his chagrin. Contrary to his initial intentions, he was now rightly and truly screwed.