THEN
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Leighton was the first.
At nine years old, he wasn't too sure about the world and its people just yet. Growing up with parents that ignored and neglected was probably a factor that led to Leighton being too trustworthy, too desperate for attention. And when the man asked him gently what he was drawing with his chalk on the sidewalk, he couldn't help but soak the words up.
It wasn't until the man was grabbing him, taking him, forcing him into a truck with a rag over his mouth that Leighton truly realized how cruel people could be. He was never one to hold a grudge, never one to think about hitting back, but when he woke up in a dark room with no way to escape, that's all he could think of.
The man, Ryan, was tall and strong. He was clean and well put together. An opposite to the first night he came down to the bunker and hurt him, making Leighton feel dirty and confused. He tried not to shake as he looked down at himself in the little bathroom with no mirror and a small bathtub. He would often sit in there with the door closed and cry.
It was his routine for almost two years, up until the day Lukas came.
He was even smaller than Leighton had been, shaking like a leaf and sobbing for someone named Casey. Leighton could remember watching Ryan drag the poor boy down the stairs, throw him onto the carpet, and then leave right away. The taller blonde was too struck with fear to move until he left.
He tried comforting the younger, but he backed himself up into the wall as soon as Leighton stepped forward. So he took his time, let the new boy weep, then finally took him into his arms when the time came.
When Lukas settled, the two found themselves welcoming a new routine. In the bedroom, Leighton rarely found himself called. Lukas seemed to be Ryan's new favorite toy that he couldn't put down.
Leighton could remember the first night, chained to the wall with the ugly shackle that Ryan recently installed into the wall. Lukas had cried and sobbed until he couldn't no longer, and when it was over with, Leighton held Lukas and rocked him to sleep in his arms.
It was only two years later that Fenin arrived and disrupted the routine the two blondes had built.
After a second miscarriage from Lukas, with a beating that Leighton couldn't prevent, Ryan had stormed out of the bunker with fury lacing his scent. Leighton had held Lukas and cleaned up the blood that seeped from his split mouth, something that Ryan would later complain about. Despite doing it himself, he was always upset when they had an injury on their faces.
Hours later, Lukas had fallen asleep and Leighton had been staring at the wall. The door had started to open with the familiar sound of the keypad, and when it did, in came Ryan dragging another figure down the staircase.
This boy wasn't a blonde, and he didn't smell similar to Lukas' light vanilla swirled with caramel or Leighton's fresh lavender. Instead, he smelled like honeyed milk with light toffee and, most prominently, fear. His hair was a pretty brown color, though his curls plastered to his forehead with sweat, probably from fighting the alpha holding him. He didn't stop until Ryan threw him to the floor and left him there with a promise to be back later.
With as much of a fight and rucus the newcomer had caused, he didn't so much as move when Leighton came over to him. Maybe it was because he was another omega, maybe it was because the new boy didn't have the energy. But he let Leighton lean down and take him to the bathroom, explaining to him their situation and who the man was that had taken him.
Later, when Lukas was awake and had found the newcomer as well, they had all introduced themselves. Fenin was the new boy's name, and only Leighton noticed the way he shook slightly when he spoke. He was trying to hide his fear, but Leighton could pick out all the little signs of it easily.
