Wren

Part 30

Wren sat bound to the chair, shaking violently. His body ached. His mind was a confused, swirling disaster. He had no way of telling how long he'd been there; the only light was an artificial one above him, and the men watched him in shifts. He drifted in and out, no routine for him to try to guess from. 

A loud bang woke him from his stupor, making him jump. Boss swaggered around the shelves, whistling. Three men followed. Boss crouched down in front of Wren, grinning at his handiwork. "You're quite the pretty little picture, ain't ya?"

Wren glared daggers at him, unable to speak through the gag under the muzzle. It was just a balled up cloth shoved into his mouth, but the tight bars kept him from spitting it out.

"Your husband sent us another message," Boss stood and motioned the men forward, and they started untying his binds. "Seems like he's not too eager to rescue you. Tsk tsk tsk." 

The men finished untying him and tipped the chair forward, dumping Wren onto the dirty concrete. He groaned in pain and glared again.

Matteo. . . wouldn't abandon him, right? They'd been through so much together. . . but he had been the first to hurt him after he'd been traded. . . No. He couldn't doubt his husband. . .

Boss could see the panic, disbelief, fear, and anger warring inside of Wren and dancing across his face. Boss smiled. . . it was working.

He snapped his fingers, and two of the men grabbed Wren under the arms and hauled him up. He struggled, but his ankles were still bound together, so he couldn't get away. Boss started walking, and the men followed.

His heart felt like it would burst. Where were they taking him? What were they going to do to him now?

A hand shoved his head down from behind, preventing him from seeing where they were headed. He watched his feet be dragged over the cracked concrete floor, the hands only releasing him when they passed through a doorway. 

Wren was shoved forward, the men releasing their hold so that he fell hard to the floor. It was hard to catch his breath as he panted, only able to breathe through his nose. He frantically looked around, scanning the new environment for danger. 

He could only see a little from the light coming through the door. It was just a tiny, empty, cinder-block room. There were weird black shapes in the top corners of the room, but it was too dark for him to tell what they were. Strips of lights lined the ceiling, but they weren't turned on. 

A man bent down and cut through the ropes on Wren's wrists and ankles, retreating through the door before Wren could get up. It slammed shut, and he could hear locks clicking.

It was pitch dark, and dead quiet. Wren fumbled around in the dark, clawing his way around the sandy floor until his hands hit a wall. He pressed his back up against it, pulling his knees to his chest. He couldn't control his emotions anymore. 

He sobbed into his arms, his chest heaving so hard it made his wounds hurt so much worse. Was the man telling the truth? Had Matteo really left him? He bawled until he was so exhausted he couldn't keep his eyes open. He fell over into the sand, wrapping his arms around himself seeking whatever comfort he could get. It didn't work. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Blinding white lights pierced through the darkness, and blaring guitars and erratic drumming woke Wren. His heart pounded as he scrambled to his feet, stumbling around with his eyes shut tight. He tripped in the sand and fell, but continued crawling; desperately trying to get from. . . nothing.

There was nothing in the room with him. The lights above were impossibly bright; he could only open his eyes for a split second and it sent burning pain through his corneas. Music blared from the black orbs in the corners of the ceiling; they were speakers. Electric guitar and frantic, thundering drums assaulted his ears. It shook the room. 

Wren slammed into a wall and fell over, sand got in his mouth and cut his cheeks. He covered his ears with his hands and tried to tuck his face somewhere to help shield his eyes. He sobbed, his cries muffled by the gag and drowned out by the music. His heart still hammered in his chest. 

He was suddenly grabbed by the arms and hauled up, the music shut off and the lights dimmed. He blinked, his vision marred by blurry spots. Boss threw him against the wall. 

"Hey, stop all that baby shit. I let you cry it out this time, but I hear one more peep from you, you're in trouble." He walked around the room with his hands on his hips, theatrically inspecting the room. "Nice place you got here, I love what you've done with it." He laughed. "Ah, enough bullshit. This is where you'll be, indefinitely. So suck it up." 

He fiddled with the locks on Wren's muzzle, undoing one side and pulling it off just enough to get the gag out of his mouth before strapping it back on. He stood, waving the cloth around as he spoke. "If you have to go to the bathroom, you knock three times on the door. Not bang, knock. Any other noise. . ." he warned. 

He left without another word, and the room was plunged back into it's silent darkness.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Matteo played the video for what had to be the 20th time, on mute so he didn't have to hear Wren's pained screams. He was searching for any clue he could. A mask slip off, something in the background. . . anything. 

"No matter how many times you pour over that screen, you won't find anything new." Vincenzo said behind him, making him jump,

"I know. I just can't. . . I can't not watch it. It's the only way to see him--" Matteo's voice broke as he laid his head on his desk. It'd been four days since the video. He was going crazy.

"I understand. We-- we may have found something," Vincenzo said carefully, not wanting to get his hopes up, but unable to keep any possible leads from his suffering son. Matteo looked up, his eyes wide.

"Tell me." He demanded.

"You're not going to like it; this makes everything so much worse."

                       Part Thirty-one Coming Soon

(sorry I haven't been keeping up with this as well as I used to. . . I have some things going on that make it hard for me. So sorry, and I'll try to do better. 

Also, I'd love to hear what you guys think-- it's been awful quiet and I have no idea whether you like it or not. Please comment and let me know!

Go check out my other stories on my profile page, they need some love, too!

That's all, have a great day!)