I know, it has been way, way too long, but I finally was able to write the next chapter. I just mentioned everyone who ever wrote a comment here. Feel free to ignore it, if you aren't interested, I just wanted to let everyone who might be interested know, that there is a new chapter.
It might be useful to reread the whole thing, considering there are nine characters, but feel free to not do this. It's just a suggestion. Anyway, here is
Chapter 7 – Emotional Turmoil
Everyone was a bit exhausted, after the intense battle we just had won. With some glasses of water, we sat around the kitchen table, enjoying the calm moments. I couldn't help but let my view wander again and again, to Victor. His looks were like daggers. It was obvious, that he was really pissed. But I was sure it would be fine, and after being tortured by him, he would forgive us. The combination of being bested by a bunch of high schoolers, and him not being able to do his duty as the guy who made sure everything was ok, must have hurt his pride. I did feel bad about the situation, but also couldn't help but enjoy it, seeing him helpless. He looked kind of adorable, and my dumb crush made my eyes always wander back to him.
“So, what now?”
Neils words cut through my thoughts, bringing me back to the kitchen. He was looking at me, annoyed and restless.
“I still need a break. Holding that guy down was exhausting”, Hunter chimed in, not even looking at us. His eyes were closed, his head leaning back, resting on his hands behind it.
Eric grinned. “Glad your training paid off, man. I can't imagine we could have done it without you.” Hunter opened his left eye, lurking into Erics direction, answering the grin. “Well, it was fun. This is just payback, for all the stuff he did to us.”
I smiled. It seemed like, for a moment, they had forgotten that we were still in a game, and that our freedom depended on winning. Well, that might be a bit melodramatic. But thinking about it that way, the thrill of being tied and gagged again, the uneasiness of the situation, not being in control and unsure how to regain it – it excited me to no end.
“But we need to find a way to make him talk!”, Neil shouted. My blood froze a bit, as I looked at him. There was no easiness in his face, just frustration and anger. “He has tied up Justin, and has locked the others inside a closet. Come on, this has to be uncomfortable for them. We need to know where the keys are!”
His breathing had grown slightly heavier, and I got a bit concerned. While capturing Victor, it must have felt to Neil like he had worked on the solution to get Justin freed. And now, that hadn't worked out, and he had to wait.
“Look, the others are save. They will survive their time in the closet, and Justin will not die from being tied up a bit either. Just calm down, we will talk to Victor in a few minutes, and see how it goes”, Eric said, trying his most reassuring voice. But Neils expression didn't change. Instead, it seemed to get worse, as he started to scratch his arm, nervously.
Suddenly, he threw a weird look into my direction. “Why did you stop me, from making Victor talk, Alex? I could have gotten it out of him. Are you two working together? Do we need to tie you up, too?”
This went into a direction that I didn't like, but that also sounded a little bit unhinged, to me. I decided to change the topic.
“Would you like, to spend some time with Justin?”, I asked, not being able to keep the concern out of my voice, completely. He looked at me, now unsure and nervous. “I...guess that would be nice. Even if he can't talk to me.”
I exchanged looks with Eric and Hunter. This wasn't as easy, as it seemed. “If we leave you in there alone, it is very possible that you will end up tied and gagged next to Justin. We need to stay together, elsewise, whoever plays with us will have it very easy with you”, Hunter mentioned. He was right, of course. Splitting up was the last thing we should do, at the moment.
It also made me grin, though. I vaguely remembered the one time, where Peter tried to play D&D with us, and explained to us that, whatever we did, it was always a bad idea to split up the party. We, of course, died horribly, as we were very much motivated to do the very opposite of what he suggested.
Peter never tried to play D&D with us again.
Eric shook his head. “Look, if we get captured, we get captured. I'm with Alex, no one will really hurt us. This is just a game. But it stops being funny, if one of us feels uncomfortable, so, let's give the two a bit of alone time.”
I nodded. “Actually, we can just escort Neil to the bathroom, and he can lock the door behind him. When we get back, we just knock, and he will know that he can come out, without any danger.”
Hunter smiled, agreeing to this idea. And Neil, finally, started to relax.
There were no complications. Justin hadn't gotten anywhere, of course, and was happy to see us again. It probably was rather boring, being stuck inside a bathroom on your own. Neil smiled, and hugged him, not letting go. Despite the gag, it was obvious that his boyfriend answered the smile. We promised to come back in ten minutes, and if Neil needed some more time, we would just give leave him there a bit longer.
The rest of us moved back to the kitchen. Eric had a look at Victor, asking him if everything was fine. There came no answer, aside from an angry glare, which made my friend retreat immediately. Even completely captured, tied up and stuffed inside a sleeping bag, he was still scary.
I just couldn't help myself. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, Victor would never again be in such a helpless state. Coming closer made me realize, how adorable he looked, with the tape around his head, the shirt collar with the tie knot sticking out and the rest of his body being captive to the sleeping bag. I needed to capture this.
“I'm sorry”, I said, smiling nervously, as I got my phone out. Victors eyes grew big, and, for the first time since we positioned him at the wall, did he start to struggle and complain. And while the bag hid some of his movements, a lot was still recognizable. I could see him raise his shoulders, and let them sink again, fighting in vain against the rope that held him back.
His head moved all the time, while he struggled so helplessly. His eyes closed, the neck straining against the opening of the bag and the shirt collar. It was mesmerizing, watching this pretty guy fight a helpless battle against a few pieces of rope.
But I still needed more. I didn't only want to see him in his adorable state, stuck in a cocoon, I also wanted to get a clear look at his struggling body. The sleeping bag was, strictly speaking, unnecessary, only being a second restriction, in case the first one wouldn't hold. So, I opened the sleeping bag, letting it sink to the floor.
Victors confusion didn't last long, as I immediately started filming again. And now, I got a really great look at how much he fought the rope, and probably the tight shirt and the constricting necktie, too. Which was likely the case, I remembered how much more restricted my dress clothes made me feel. They added physical pressure gave me an additional feeling of helplessness. Especially the tie, as it pressed back against the neck, with no way to reduce the pressure.
No matter how hard he fought, no matter how much he strained his muscles, there was nowhere for him to go. After every try, the rope, the collar, the tie, it all fell back to the same position they were before. It was nearly impossible for me, to wrap my head around this, but my strong, competent neighbor, the guy who made my head swirl and who I assumed could do everything, was helpless.
And he knew that too. This would have been different, had he been tied up by friends his own age. Even Peter, Shawn and Kevin, who all had fought heavily against their bonds, were at least bested by their equals. But being bound and gagged by guys, a few years younger than yourself? In clothes, he probably wasn't too comfortable in? It must have been the worst.
Before leaving him alone, I needed to use this unique position one last time.
“In case you are bored, you won't be for too long. As soon as Neil is back, we will continue the interrogation.” I grinned evilly, while letting my fingers dance in the air.
And with this, I had broken his resistance. Scared, he shook his head, grunting something into his gag, that sounded like “no” and “please”. And I watched him, completely helpless, fight against the rope, one last time. It was his fiercest fight, but had exactly the same effect, as the other two. His head seemed to plop off, the way he strained his neck against everything that held him. His muscles fought the smooth fabric of his shirt and vest, every useless move of every muscle visible.
But it was all useless. My big, strong neighbor had to face whatever was coming his way. And he could do absolutely nothing about it.
Eric had joined me, by now, grinning from one ear to the next. Having Victor at his mercy must have been delicious for him.
“So, I'm sure you understand that this was all just in good fun, right?”, he asked. Before I scared poor Victor, he probably would have refused to say so, but now he knew that he had to appease us. Frustrated and helpless, he nodded.
“Great”, Hunter chimed in. “And you will not do anything in retaliation, right? I mean, it's all just a game, isn't it?” And again, Victor agreed. The fight had gone out of him.
“Good boy”, Eric said, patting my poor neighbor on the head. He just looked annoyed, but there was no anger in his eyes, anymore.
My two friends walked back to the kitchen, while I needed to get one last bit of victory out of my prisoner. “And I'm sure you will dress up from time to time, when you are over, right? I mean, it's a small price, if I protect you from Neils tickle attacks, if you think about it.”
Victor rolled his eyes, but nodded. He seemed defeated. I took one more look at him, before closing the sleeping bag again above his shoulders, and knotting it off. I could have looked at him for a lot longer, but I knew this was enough. It was time to give him some rest.
In the kitchen, we finally needed to tackle another topic. We didn't want to talk about it, but Eric finally decided, that we had to. “Neil reacted pretty intense, didn't he?”, he asked, a look of worry on his face. Hunter nodded. “Well, it DOES feel intense, doesn't it? I mean, sure, it is just a prank, but what if the prankster steps over the line? What if his idea of fun is to torture us for the rest of the night?” He leaned back, breathing out. “I mean, this is all exciting, but I have been nervous for some time now, and it starts to actually get to me too, you know?”
I exchanged surprised looks with Eric, before answering. “You are nervous? YOU?” I had never imagined hearing something like this from Hunter, one of the most well trained and toughest guys I know. My assumption was, that if he had to go through fire, his only question would be “How fast?”
Hunter smiled, not at all embarrassed. “Look, I don't know what to expect, so my mind has gone wild, for some time now. You don't even want to know what I have come up with, that might happen tonight.” Despite what he said, he laughed. It put me at ease, that it was a real laugh. He wouldn't start to lose it, like Neil seemed to.
I wanted to ask Eric, how he felt, but saw him deep in thought, eyes closed and a hand on his chin. Trying not to disturb him, I got up and refilled our glasses.
But it didn't take long, for him to share his thoughts. “Maybe we should put him out of the game. I think it's too much for the guy.” This didn't make sense to me, and, looking at Hunters face, it didn't to him either.
“Look, up to now, we were always in the defense. We tried to stick together, we wanted not to give us any opening. But to win, we need to attack. And for that, we need to work together.”
Hunters face lit up. “Yeah, that makes sense. And is more fun, than just sitting around, waiting for stuff to happen.” My thoughts, though, were still stuck. “Ok, but what has this to do with taking Neil out of the game?”
I wasn't sure, what to make of Erics face here. It seemed, like he wasn't that sure about his idea, either.
“Look, he will just get in the way. We need to work as a team, as our enemy has the clear advantage here. I mean, if he comes back and is ready to go, sure. But the way he acted before makes him more of a hindrance than a help, don't you think?”
Eric clearly felt bad about this, but I knew him. He wanted to win this, as much as I did. So we couldn't allow us any weakness.
As much as this made sense to me, Hunter didn't look quite satisfied. “But what do you suggest? Do you want to send him home? He probably doesn't want to go, anyway, with Justin being stuck in the bathroom.”
What Neil had said, before he went to Justin, made clear to me what Eric had in mind, so I answered. “Remember how he just suggested, that he might need to tie me up, too? If we can't have him clearly on our side, we need to make sure that he can't work against us.”
Despite him not being sure about the plan, Hunters face betrayed him a bit. There was a hint of a smile. “But we need to be sure. You know what, let's go into the garden with him for a bit, and talk about a plan. If this doesn't work out, it's probably for the best to tie him up.”
It was probably more like twenty minutes, when we finally knocked on the bathroom door. After calling him, Neil opened it, seemingly not too happy. “Do you want more time?”, I asked, but he just shook his head. “No, it's ok. We really need to keep working on Victor.”
Eric, Hunter and I all looked uneasy, when hearing this. We somehow didn't even consider anymore, that Victor actually was the killer. Without Neil talking us into the idea, it vanished from our thoughts.
Maybe it meant, that I didn't care too much, and just wanted to tie everyone up? Or that, now that Victor was tied up, his part of the game was over, and I wanted it to continue? I shook my head. While the game didn't make me into a nervous wreck, it obviously did make me a bit crazy.
“So, what's the plan? I'll torture him a bit more. Maybe he is ticklish on his neck?”, Neil asked, as we entered the kitchen, again. Before I could say anything, Hunter started talking. “You know, during the fight, I didn't think about it much. But do you really think he would let us tie him up, but not tell us where the keys are? I mean, what does he gain by this, if he actually is the killer?”
Neil was clearly taken aback by this. “What, no. Come on, who has the money to buy this stuff?”, he asked, but he already sounded a bit desperate. To me, Hunters argument made a lot of sense, even if Neils question was still a puzzle.
“Dunno, maybe one of us got it from an older sibling? Or maybe it's not one of us, at all. Look, I don't know. But we will soon find out, who is messing with us.” Hunter said, smiling. “Let's go outside, I want to be in the garden for a bit, and watch the stars. There, we can make a plan for catching the jerk. Deal?”
But Neil wasn't willing to play along. His mind was set. “No! I'm sure it's him, come on. Yeah, he is a great guy, but you know how much he loves to mess with us. He just wants us to fight, so one of us gets taken out of the game, and he gets freed again! It's obvious!”
Neil had started to get louder, as he spoke, and his look had gotten a bit frantic. I sighed. This wouldn't work out.
Hunter seemed to think so too, as he shot me and Eric a look. We had forgotten to actually plan, how we would actually capture our friend, so, for a few seconds, nothing moved. Which put Neil even more on unease.
“Guys? Come on, don't you agree? Say something!”
I shrugged, and sighed, letting my head hang a bit. Well, we had tried. “Let's get him!”
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Next chapter is already in the works, and I promise that it will not take another year.
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