✧﹒ 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙, 𝙎𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨.

Chapter IV: Under the Influence

I woke up, yet again. 
This time, I was in a car. Seemed to be a rich person's car, it was so clean and luxurious, why am I here? I try to speak up, and that's when I realize I was silenced by a piece of cloth around my mouth. I felt taken aback, my eyes suddenly expanding in disbelief. 
"Ah, I see you have awakened.. dear boy."
 A voice spoke up. 
A voice that resonates with darkness, sending shivers down my spine. A voice so sinister and menacing, echoing with the essence of evil. 
I gulp, still feeling the shock coursing throughout my entire body. 
"Aren't you a cute one.. If you don't know me, i'm your little "boyfriends" boss. And I'm a huge fan of yours!"  He chuckles sinisterly. 
Another set of chills sent down my spine. 
It's like everytime this guy speaks I get the chills. I bite on the cloth wrapped around my mouth with anger. This is the guy Kayden warned me about. The ropes— red ribbons around my arms are loose and weak, but my body is even weaker— making me unable to escape in this scenario. Why the red ribbon?

"You know.. Kayden loves it when I go hard on him… don't tell me you didn't know that?" He smiles while looking through the mirror's reflection. I look away. Hard…? Am I not doing enough for him? Maybe that's why he pushed me away. He should've just told me… 
“Ah yes.. if that isn't enough information, Kayden is simply playing with you. He thinks you’re using him for sex. He didn't tell you that either? What a bummer!”
Silence filled the atmosphere.
"So?" The voice spoke up again. 
I don't respond. 
"Ah.. you two are exactly the same. So stubborn, it kills me." He spits out angrily, slamming the palm of his hand against the steering wheel. 
I jolt back in surprise, causing my eyes to widen in fear more. 
I suddenly feel even more weakened. Weaker than ever before. What's happening with me? I am completely clueless about how long these drugs will endure in my body.. but I know they shouldn't be intensifying. My mouth was tainted with bitterness. 
A mix of blood, alcohol, sweat and drugs. He must've fed me more while I was knocked out in the parking lot.

We arrived at an apartment. My blurred vision prevented me from recognizing that this was Kaydens apartment—the place we shared countless times and memories in. Just the mere sight of it brought tears to my eyes. But why had this mysterious man brought me here? Who even was this guy to begin with? 
He carried me and roughly slammed me against his shoulder. I grunt in pain, realizing the inflicted bruise kayden gave me from that awful punch a few weeks ago. Ouch.
 I feel my consciousness slip away from my helpless body, limb by limb. 
Darkness. 

I ran, sprinting as fast as my legs could carry me, searching all the floors in this apartment. The watch shows Keith's in my apartment. The only flaw is that this watch doesn't indicate which exact floor of this apartment he's on. I searched all of them, all except my own floor. The floor my room was on. 
I reached my floor and ran through the halls, looking around for Keith. 
My eyes widened in shock as I took a few steps back finally grasping what laid in front of me. There he was, sprawled across the front doorstep of my apartment, bound to a red ribbon, unconscious, beside a bottle of red wine and a note next to it. 
Keith. 
I trembled as I read the ominous words written on the note: "To my dear Kayden, don't say I didn't warn you. Anyways, Here is my little gift to you for taking your pills like a good boy. I know how much this peasant means to you. So make good use of him. - AJ." 

Frightened by the threat on the note written by my boss. I dropped the paper and kneeled down to check Keith's pulse. Putting my two fingers at the side of his bare neck underneath his jawline. 
I felt his heartbeat—it was slow, but it was there, luckily. 
I breathed out a sigh of relief, and worked on untying the cloth used to sloppily cover his mouth.
His soft lips, stained with his own blood,
Resembled a smear of lipstick. 
While drool pooled on his chin and the fabric beneath him, a gasp escaped my lips involuntarily as I observed the scene. What could’ve happened while he was at that “party”?
My blood boiled at the thought. I guess the effects of the drugs wore off already. I looked down, his shirt too, was coated in blood. I raise his shirt up to inspect for any other wounds on his body. 
A bruise—
A bruise covering half his stomach. Was that my own fault? Where did the blood come from?
What the hell did he do to get this big of a bruise?
I lifted him onto my shoulder. He felt lighter than before, that's a sign he hasn’t been eating properly. I don't blame him after getting a bruise that vast. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to feed him. 
You owe me an explanation big time, Keith. 

I walked into my apartment and dropped him onto the couch in my living room. 
“He may have gotten lighter, but he’s still heavy.” I managed to let out while breathing heavily.
 I walked towards my bedroom to grab the med-kit underneath my bed, and then walked back to the couch he was laying on. I examined his condition and took out compression bandages. I unbuttoned his shirt and took it off completely. I looked at the bruise. I couldn’t shake off the guilt for my actions. The bruise must’ve been from my punch weeks ago, but I would have never imagined it to be this severe. Not in the slightest. 
As I began to wrap the bandage around his waist, I felt him flinch at the touch of my fingertips on his body. I moved my hands upwards and heard him whimper, was he conscious? His breathing is rapid, his heart beats faster. Leaning closer, I caught a faint scent of women’s perfume lingering on his body, and as expected, he had a slight fever. 
“Ugh.. stop..” he murmurs shakily. I sat myself up and watched him start to panic.
“Please no.. no more…enough—” He continued,
I observed.
Observed as he curled up, shielding his face as if he was protecting himself from something—
Or someone. 
 I sensed a chilling glare fixated on me. I glanced at Keith to see him awake, his eyes were half lidded and sore. His pupils were dilated, another side effect for drugs.
“Keith… you’re awake.”