Eviterno (AlanxJeff) VI

16

Jeff

It was strange... I could feel the sun's rays filtering through the window, but I couldn't feel their warmth. In fact, I was shivering with cold. I lazily opened my eyes and tried to stretch, but I couldn't. I blinked several times to focus and turned onto my back, looking at the ceiling. I was... I was wrapped up like a caterpillar in the blanket. Tightly wrapped. I tried to free my arms, but it was impossible. Only my head stuck out. It felt like a trap.

The room was dim, with the curtains barely open, letting in a golden ray of light that illuminated dust particles floating in the air. The silence was almost absolute, broken only by the soft whisper of the wind and the distant song of a bird. I turned my head to find Alan's side of the bed empty. Then I looked at the door leading to the balcony. Alan was sitting there, leaning on his hands, looking at the sky with a somber expression. Around him, on the floor, were many crumpled tissues, scattered like silent witnesses of a difficult night.

"Alan," I said as loudly as I could, my voice broken by the cold and confusion.

He turned immediately, and upon seeing me awake, his face lit up with a mix of relief and concern. He quickly got up and came over, sitting on the edge of the bed. His eyes reflected a storm of emotions.

"How do you feel?" he asked gently, stroking my hair with a tenderness that made my heart tremble.

"Better, I'm not hot anymore. Now it's cold," I said in a faint voice, returning his gaze. Before fragments of what happened last night pierced through and forced me to look away.

Alan nodded, his expression softening a bit.

"I turned down all the air conditioning," Alan said. "You must be hungry, I'll make you something."

"You're not going to work today?" I asked curiously.

"No, I want to spend the day with you. We can swim in the pool, and I'll grill some meat," he said with a soft smile, though his eyes still showed a shadow of concern.

"Alan... will you tell me what happened yesterday?" I asked cautiously, fearing the answer.

His expression hardened again, and he stopped stroking my hair. Then he clasped his hands and stared at no particular point, as if searching for the right words in the void.

"Babe and Charlie helped me investigate the scene," he began. "All their drinks were drugged. But from what Charlie and Dean tell me, only you drank. Charlie and Otom have a rule of not eating or drinking anything. And they say that Sonic and Dean were dancing. But you drank the soda. From the start, everything was wrong," he said, now clenching his fists. "They dared to drug them. That's my business, but someone dared to drug the VIPs. Everyone who knows me knows that drugs are banned in my places, but they did it."

"The man who attacked you swore to death that he didn't know who you were. He said a man with a mask paid him a significant amount in cash, plus drugs, to teach you a lesson. That he contacted him that same day. He gave him instructions on how and to whom to place the drugs and, waiting for their effect, how he should wait for you in the bathroom. And what to do next. He was to treat you like an animal, the man mentioned," Alan said, clenching his fists so tightly they were turning white. And I remembered what the man had said, sending a shiver of terror through my body.

"That person who paid him knew where you were and who you were. That outing wasn't planned. It had been something spontaneous, and he knew it. Babe had convinced me to let you go and to keep you company. He said you're always between home and university, let him enjoy and let's share with them. I've never gone out with Charlie," Alan continued with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "When we arrived, Dean was alone at the VIP table. He said he had gone out to take a call and when he came back, Sonic told him you felt sick and that he would go check on you, but he didn't return."