ROTTEN

|| @tragicalyouth gets a cutie: 

Ah.. it was dark.. He had gotten used to it over the years (even had therapy for the first time he had been kidnapped) but now he realized fears could come back to one all too easily, especially since he had to experience another abduction. 

The darkness in the room made him hallucinate the Densmores’ head of the family standing in the dark, Ayden unable to see him, but knowing, feeling he was there. It caused shivers to be sent down his spine and a tingling sensation to happen in his arms as if the man was actually touching him there. 

Without a second thought, he stood up and walked over to Keith’s bed, not wanting to be alone with his thoughts. 

   “Keith? You awake? Do you mind if I sleep with you?”

“ mmh ... “ he’d breathe out , groaning softly while fumbling around for a light source until his hand gently hit the lamp on his night stand. “ ayden ? “ rustling could be heard as he shuffled among soft silk sheets; rubbing eyes sheepishly while sitting up with the room bathed in a dim light.

   “Keith experience,” he repeated, then snorted in amusement. To think these two could possibly hold a normal conversation. A small blush appeared at Keith’s last remark however. “Wha-? Pleasant ones, huh? Hm, how can I say no to that?” 

He lied down on the bed, letting out a deep sigh. “You better come back to the dorms then. I’m going back as soon as things calm down a little. Uncle doesn’t want to risk the media getting more involved than they have to be. And hey, don’t worry too much alright? I’m sure things will turn out fine somehow..” 

“ yeah , you should look forward to it. “ he exhales a breath whilst lying down , legs kicking behind him; his free hand continuously running through his canine’s fur.

“ hmm ... maybe. “ keith snickered with an underlying uncertainty. there was no telling whether he’d be able to return after ruining his father’s plans , it was like stabbing the man in the back & he wouldn’t take that lightly.

   “Well.. yeah.. I’m worried. Your dad looked seriously pissed..” He used to be afraid of his own father, but ever since his uncle took him under his wing, that fear ebbed away, since his father basically had no influence over him any longer. On top of that, his parents would have to depend on him once he takes over as the CEO, so their hands were basically tied. 

   “Dude, I got bruises in places I didn’t think I could have bruises..” He didn’t understand how either. Nor did he want to think about that place and what happened during those two days. “Thank you though.. for what you did.. Even though we couldn’t stand each other before.. It sounds silly now the way we behaved,” Ayden sighed. 

“ .... really ? you were actually worried ? about me ? “ surprise laced his tone through the phone , blinking as he momentarily stopped fiddling with the pillow. the door opened but keith sighed in relief when it was only his dog , duke coming in to sit beside him. he whispered a brief greeting to the canine as he laid down; petting his dog instead.

After having his wounds finally tended to (Ayden cursing the fact the scars would be even more visible from now on, not even makeup was going to do the trick at this point), he sat on his bed, not allowed to go back to the dorms right away. His uncle wanted to be certain ‘the threat’ was dealt with. Until then, Ayden had to sit tight and wait. 

It sucked. 

One thing that was a tiny flicker of hope, was that he managed to get his phone back from one of the bodyguards later. 

   “Keith.. Are you alright?? What happened to you? Are you in deep trouble?” He fired the questions, then thinking that of course he was in deep trouble. “Y’know, your father and the Densmores won’t get away with this…”

“ wow , calm down. are you that worried about me ? “ he’d chuckle , idly fiddling with one of his many pillows. “  it’s nothing serious , i’m fine. “ most people wouldn’t define his current state as fine , but when comparing it to previous beatings; his father had gone a lot easier on him this time.

he grew quiet about the part of his father , it’d wreck his family; not to mention he wasn’t going to be capable of returning to college. instead of bringing it up though , keith only coughed to clear his voice; the subject avoided for now.

As soon as he was reunited with his uncle, who had hugged him tightly and demanded he’d be looked after, since he still had the wounds on his wrists, Ayden grabbed his suitjacket, wanting him to listen properly. His voice was only barely working at this point (thanks to all the screaming he had done the past… how long has he been in that room?). 

   “Uncle, please, you’ve got to help Keith!”     ‘Why would I help a Calland? They’re the traitors! Along with those Densmores!’    “But uncle Damon, please, listen, it was Keith who got me out of there! I think he betrayed his own dad to save me and now he’s in huge trouble! We’ve got to help him! You’re not planning on letting either families getting away with it anyway! I know you’ll ruin them for good, or try to anyway, so please, I need to pay Keith back for what he did for me!”

Damon let out a long sigh, holding the bridge of his nose between two fingers. ‘Fine, I’ll think about what I can do. You however, need to get yourself treated and rest!’

in the comfort of his own home , keith had at some point; fainted during the beating & found himself in his bed when conscious. ( surprisingly ) all bandaged up & with no broken bones this time , which he hadn’t expected although everything hurt neverthless. & just when he thought the worst was over , he note on his nightstand that he’d picked up said otherwise; his father had yet to forgive him for this.

He was too tired to even complain when he was picked up in Keith’s arms, Ayden trying not to touch him with his wrists, as they were still bleeding (although some of the blood had dried up by now). 

Ayden recognized the man outside as Keith’s father. He had met him at a few gatherings before. However, what confused him was why he standing opposite Keith and why he was so angry.. Why were all those men looking so threateningly at Keith? What was going on? 

Before he could ask anything, he was thrown into the car and it sped off. Ayden looked through the back window, wanting to know the truth of all this. 

   “Get me to my uncle right away!” he said with a hoarse and shaking voice. 

‘ get in the car. ‘ his father glared at him as keith walked over , smiling with hands in the air as if turning himself in to cops. might as well make things easy for himself now that he’d been caught red-handed in the real deep shit. when hearing his father mutter ‘ you should’ve been aborted. ‘ as he got seated , keith just looked up at the man with a smile.

It was strange, yet so comforting to have him hug him, to know he was now truly freed. He didn’t get enough time to respond to the hug, mostly confused at how Keith was behaving. Usually, they would try to make each other’s lives miserable, so why was he being so… kind now? 

   “Did you do this? Come here and.. get me..?” Why Keith? Why him of all people? Did his uncle request Keith’s family’s help? Was that it? At the suggestion to get out of there, Ayden nodded. 

   “Yeah.. yeah.. sure..” 

“ obviously so you owe me one. not that i’d actually need your help nor money , you poor damsel in distress. “ with that , keith moved to the side to grab ayden underneath the knees & across his back to lift him up. the other guys were quietly looking the other way until keith walked out of the room , two running in front & two behind as they all started dashing for the exit.

but when reaching a new car he’d called; keith could hear a far too familar call out to him. in as much rage as disappointment , his father , moving out of his own car. the guys hadn’t missed the cameras , but could there have been an audio recorder somewhere ? he really hadn’t thought this one through .... “ fuck. “ he’d curse beneath his breath , clicking his tongue as he looked at ayden , then his father.

He couldn’t stand properly on his legs, his body hadn’t properly moved in god knows how long after all. His stomach hurt and his head felt heavy from the dizzying occurrence. Everything seemed to spin, so Ayden had to hold onto the man who had freed him to make sure he didn’t fall (again). 

   ‘He’s over here!’ the man yelled, Ayden still trying to comprehend the situation in the first place. As if that wasn’t all, the voice that shouted for him was familiar. He couldn’t make the connection at first, but it was easy to recognize soon enough as they had never been on good terms back at the dorms.

   “Keith?” He mumbled with a hoarse voice. “What the hell are you doing here?” his throat seemed to not appreciate the sound coming out, so Ayden had to cough. 

   “What’s going on?”

keith immediately steered into the direction of the man’s voice , nearly falling over countless times from running too fast. & when he abruptly stopped up when finally catching sight of ayden , he leaped towards him until they kind of just collided into each other; hugging him tightly without any thought of his current state.

he’s alive. thank god , he’s fucking alive. his grip started loosening as he pulled away , a moment taken where relief washed over features & he’d even absentmindedly smiled. but in the dark room with light only shining on his back , none of the others could’ve caught that.

He was rocking his upper body back and forth, as if to calm himself. He heard his own heartbeat, or did he? He wasn’t sure. He was conscious of his body, too conscious as his wrists seemed to burn from the pain, his mind going crazy with the memories and that man’s face, which he couldn’t make out. 

His shoulders tensed as soon as he heard noise somewhere in the building. It had to be close by enough so he could make out gun shots (as they were loud in the first place). What was happening? He began to hear shouting, a fight? More gunshots… 

Then the door opened and three.. no, four men walked in, guns pointed at him and around him, the light from the opening making his eyes burn as he wasn’t used to it. 

Ayden flinched, turning his head away. “Wha-?” He didn’t get it. What was happening? 

   ‘It’s him,’ one confirmed and the second nodded. The third approached Ayden, whose body tensed entirely when he knelt down, expecting him to hurt him, but the man reached for the straps around his wrists instead. The heir hissed at the pain shooting through his arms because of the tight straps that now left open wounds. 

   “Wh-Who are you..?” 

“ can’t you drive any faster !? my grandfather drives faster than this , hit the fucking gas pedal you moron !! “ keith yelled at the driver , who only nodded & sped up; the abrupt change in acceleration pulling him back into his seat. they were driving like madmen & not long after , the police was on their tail for going way over the speed limit but none of them paid it any mind.

instead of stopping by the location , keith jumped out of the car & into the street; grazing his right arm before managing to stop himself. he’d nearly fallen back into the ground from quickly getting up & running , but luckily caught balance before tumbling over.

“ AYDEN !! “ the name loudly rang as he sprinted through the corridors of a maze with lifeless bodies lying around like ragdolls.

The darkness was maddening. What did he do back then to get used to it? Right.. there was no getting used to it. He tried to distract his thoughts by thinking of other things, the people at the dorms, but that only caused his heart to sting. He wanted to get out of here… 

His stomach still hurt from the punch.. it was probably going to bruise, wasn’t it? Was his uncle going to make the announcement? No one outside the room listened to him, no matter how he called for them, or yelled, it fell on deaf ears. 

His wrists hurt as well, or rather, stung every time the straps chafed along the old scars from all those years ago. Ayden hung his head, closing his eyes, but then he definitely didn’t know what was happening around him in the room. What if that man would come back? 

Ayden opened his eyes once more, but it didn’t make things better. Frantically, he continued to look around in the endless black shadows. 

once his business iphone plinged , keith grabbed it & quickly got dressed wet strands of hair dripping of water onto his clothes but in the rush of getting out; he didn’t care. one last glance of hesitance was given to his father’s office , how he was about to betray the man who’d sacrificed nearly everything .... & despite it only lasting merely a second , keith had second thoughts about how all of this was going to go down.

i’m sorry , dad.

hands curl into fists , teeth grit together as he turns & sprints out of the mansion with all his might. the corridors had never felt any longer than when he was running through them all before some guys were already downstairs , holding the door open for him. keith quickly threw himself in the car standing outside , closing the car door behind him before commanding aggressively

“ fucking drive already ! “

    ‘Alright, I’ll give you a chance, Damon,’ the conversation continued, Ayden having no idea what his uncle was saying. ‘I’ll give you twenty-four hours to make a public announcement. You will forfeit all your rights to the company, give up your position and all your shareholdings. The boy won’t inherit anything either, y’hear?’

Their entire life was inside that company. They had a lot of influence on the black market, not to mention among crime bosses, yakuza and mafia. This man.. surely, he knew that? If not Damon, then Joshua could definitely gather allies to help solve the problem, couldn’t they? He had hope… but the last time he’s been through this he learned not to have hope, although he trusted Damon with all his heart. He knew Damon would choose Ayden first, the rest didn’t matter as much. 

That thought alone made him feel guilty. “Don’t give him what he wants, uncle!” He yelled, only to earn himself a punch in his stomach. Ayden doubled over, air knocked out of his lungs for a solid few seconds. 

   ‘Twenty-four hours, Damon. If the announcement hasn’t happened by then, the boy will die.’

an exhilarating sigh’s released after minutes of getting nowhere , violently slamming shut his mac laptop before leaning forward with hands digging through dark strands. he groans loudly , roughing up his hairstyle.

then , after a moment of silence , keith takes a deep breath in & out; then pulls out his phone , tapping a phone number to call. a lot more composed than just a few seconds ago.

“ hey , i need a favor ....- yes , you’ll get paid but only once you get the job done. i’ll give you as much as you want , the faster you do it the more money you get. okay , i’m sending the picture. get your asses in gear. “