BANE

CHAPTER FIVE - BOUND (Part 1)

Victor was leaving the club when his phone rang. It was Layla. <Are Corbin and Holden with you? I'm not making it home tonight, but I can't get a hold of either one of them.>

Victor checked his watch, it was after two o'clock in the morning. "They left almost two hours ago," He recalled catching a glimpse of Corbin's angry expression as the two men hastily left the supernatural bar. "They both got pretty drunk, seemed like they got into a big fight."

<Can you check in at our apartment on your way home? Corbin always answers for me, it's not like him. I'm really worried.>

"Sure thing. I'm leaving now," Victor took a quick peek into the alley behind the club to make sure they were not there. "I'll call you back when I get there."

He arrived at the apartment twenty minutes later. Victor knocked on the door but nobody answered, so he let himself in using his spare key. He flicked on the light in the entryway so he could take a look around. At first glance everything appeared normal, but something in the hallway caught Victor's eye -– a bloody half of a hand print about five feet from the ground. The hair prickled on the back of his neck. It was followed by another red smear on the wall near Layla's bedroom. Victor called out for the other men, but still received no response. He touched the door handle to Corbin's bedroom and quickly withdrew his hand. It too, was covered in blood. Victor took a moment to brace himself for the inevitably gory scene he was about to face.

Bursting into the room, his eyes quickly focussed on Corbin's bed where Holden was lying on his stomach, covered in blood. Victor flicked on the light switch, illuminating more blood on the walls and floor leading towards the bed. "Holden! Are you okay? Corbin, what did you do?!" He rushed to the blond man's side and tried to give his shoulder a shake, but Victor's hand, slick with blood slipped onto the pillow. "Holden!"

Holden slowly opened his eyes, shielding them from the light with one hand. "Vic? What are you doing here?"

"What the fuck, Vic?" Corbin rolled over and realized the scene his best friend had stumbled upon. He quickly grabbed part of his sheet to cover himself from the waist down as he surveyed his bloodstained bedroom. "Oh shit..."

Victor let out a sigh of relief and gripped his head. "I thought you were dead..." He told Holden.

"Why?" Holden looked around the room as his bleary eyes began to focus. "Oh... things got a little out of hand, but we're fine."

"You call this fine? I'm gonna be sick..." Having spent his entire adult life in the military, Victor was no stranger to blood. Still, knowing that his best friend was responsible for the bloodshed, and knowing what else Corbin was capable of, rattled Victor.

"What the hell are you doing here, anyway?" Corbin's eyes looked around the room for his clothing. Did Victor realize that both he and Holden were naked beneath the bed sheets? He looked at his best friend, who was busy looking everywhere but the bed. He knew; Victor was no fool, after all, and it was not hard to put the pieces together.

"Layla got worried when she couldn't reach you, so she asked me to check that you were both okay. I'm supposed to call her back..."

"Don't tell her that Holden and I..."

"What? Had sex?" Victor said with a scoff, making eye contact with Corbin for the first time since arriving.

"Twice," Holden coughed and tried to hide his grin.

"Not the time, Stray..." Corbin muttered under his breath to the man beside him.

"I won't need to tell her anything when she comes home to your blood-soaked apartment tomorrow morning..." Victor stepped into the hallway to call Layla back. "They're home in bed. It looks like their fight turned a little... physical, but everything is fine now. Don't worry. Enjoy your night," He hung up and poked his head back into the bedroom. "Clean this mess up and we'll talk in the morning. I can't even look at you guys right now."