Lights (Scomiche)

Playtime

He’d thought last time was bad. He had grossly underestimated the power of time. Every second that passed made him antsy and he never put the phone down for anything. As the minutes ticked by and one hour became two, he realized this was going to drag on as long as Olivier wanted it to.

He plugged the phone into his laptop to charge and decided to go through Mitch’s pictures to help pass time. He stopped as he realized Olivier had left him some images and a couple of videos.   

He was almost too terrified to do this alone. He needed support. His first thought was Alex, but things had been strained for much too long. His next choice was Jeremy, and then he immediately felt guilty as he’d been so worried about Mitch that he’d nearly forgotten his friend was also in danger.

He grabbed his own phone and dialed knowing this was probably the best choice anyway.

___

Avi stared at him as he hurried him inside.

“Okay, now will you tell me what’s happening? Did they find Mitch and Jeremy?”

He shook his head no. “I need you to keep this a secret. I can’t do this on my own without falling apart, ok? I just need you to help me stay strong and figure out what to do. I have to do this for him.”

He could see Avi clenching his jaw. “He called you didn’t he.”

Scott nodded, eyes sad, circles darkening where usually there were none. He led Avi over to the couch and put the laptop on his own lap. He quickly explained everything that had happened so far.

“We need to tell someone! There could be evidence, or something they could use to find a location.”

“I need to see these first, and if they’re-”  he cut off, closing his eyes and pressing his lips together. “If they’re hurting him in these videos I still have to watch them, because he’ll know I didn’t. He’s doing this to hurt me and I don’t know why.”

“Let me watch them first, that way I can prepare you if I have to.” He didn’t want to, was pretty sure he’d be scarred for life if he had to watch someone hurt Mitch or Jeremy, but Scott had enough nightmare material. He’d called him because he trusted him. He’d reached out for help and he wouldn’t abandon him now.

Scott nodded and passed over the laptop, trying not to but his eyes kept lifting to seek out his friend’s reactions nonetheless. He could see him clenching his fists, eyes narrowing after looking through the pictures. Then he started on the videos. Scott could hear that snarky voice and prayed he didn’t hear that scream again, that anguish in Mitch’s voice that had kept him awake so many nights before. He was gripping a pillow so hard in his hands just to try and stay grounded. Finally after a few tense minutes they were all over.

“It’s ok. He doesn’t hurt him. He’s just …   holding him like a child ..in his lap.” He had an almost disgusted look on his face. “Mitch is asleep or passed out or drugged or something.”

“What if he’s dead?”

“He said he was sleeping, but I don’t know. I think we should go to the feds. You don’t need to watch this, he’s just taunting you.”

He handed the laptop back to Scott and the image of an unconscious Mitch sitting sideways on that sicko’s lap, his head leaning against his shoulder, nearly made him toss it away, just to get away from the image of foreign hands touching Mitch.

He wanted to cry again, knowing how helpless his best friend and love was right now. “Did he say Jeremy was ok?” He tried to take his mind elsewhere, but he still had to wipe away one tear that managed to escape.

Avi shook his head.

“What do I do, Avi? What if I go to the feds and he finds out and kills them? I can’t live with that decision.”

“What if we don’t and he does it anyway. But what if we do and they can find them. They have tech and resources and are trained for this.”

“They got him hurt last time!”