(no subject)
So, instead of sitting there and moping like I was planning on doing for the rest of the day, I decided it would be a better idea to get this next part finished and up for all of your viewing. I hope you enjoy it guys!! :)
Title: The Ultimate Escape - Chapter 10/?
Author: Hayley, energy_purple
Pairing: Alex Shelley/?, eventual Alex Shelley/Chris Sabin
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 7942
Warnings: Lots of implied violence, implied rape, lots of nasty stuff implied in this chapter. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Summary: Trapped. Helpless. Afraid. Unable to escape. As Alex's life crumbles down around him, who will save him from the hell that his life has become?
The taping was in full swing when Chris and Alex left the sanctuary of the locker room, the previously deserted corridors now a hive of activity and adrenaline. It had been almost silent when they'd arrived earlier, only the faint sounds of some of the undercard rookies practising their moves breaking the eery quiet.
Usually, Chris was one of the last people to arrive at the tapings, but he'd put Alex first; he didn't want to subject Alex to any questions or interrogations, and he sure as hell wanted to make sure that they didn't bump into AJ. It wasn't neccessarily because Chris didn't know what he'd do to AJ if he got his hands on him, it was more because he didn't want to risk Alex and AJ coming into close proximity with each other. He didn't have the slightest clue how Alex would react to AJ's presence, but he was fucking sure that he didn't want to have to find out.
Chris ran his hand discreetly down Alex's arm, trying to get him to relax a little bit. Ever since they'd arrived earlier that morning, Alex looked like he was on the verge of suffering a panic attack, his eyes constantly darting around as if searching out somebody that could be a threat. Chris knew that was probably true; Alex had been utterly paranoid about AJ's location ever since he'd woken up in Chris' arms that morning, convinced that AJ was lurking around a corner somewhere, ready to corner and attack him for even daring to disobey him the way that he had.
That was something that scared the shit out of Alex. He knew, almost from the second that he'd found himself in Chris' room the day beforehand, that he was going to be in absolute hell once AJ got his hands on him. He'd broken the biggest rule he could, and the idea of AJ making him pay for it was one that had Alex shaking in pure, unadulterated fear as he relived the beating from the day before. That beating was absolutely nothing compared to what AJ was capable of, and that knowledge was enough to have Alex fearing for his life. He didn't think he'd be able to survive if AJ attacked him that viciously, and even if he did, the pain and suffering he'd be feeling would be enough to make him want to end it all anyway.
Alex kept his head down; the gasps and whispers from the other guys and technicians hanging around backstage making him feel tense as they made no attempt to avert their eyes from the deep purple bruises marring his face and neck. Despite this, they had the decency to keep their distance, not wanting to aggravate the awkwardness of the situation any further. Upon noticing just how rigid and nervous Alex had become, Chris threw his arm around Alex's shoulders in a gesture that woudn't have looked out of place amongst friends, but one that both men knew had a deeper meaning to it. Alex initially flinched violently from the contact, his breath coming in short, sharp bursts until he visibly forced himself to calm down, trying and failing miserably to relax into Chris' affection.
Chris watched as Alex almost froze to the spot, barely able to move himself even an inch forward, and he instantly began to regret bringing Alex with him. They'd talked about it before they'd left the hotel that morning, about the possibility of Alex staying at the room where Chris knew AJ wouldn't be, but Alex had immediately shut down the idea. Alex was so vulnerable and scared that Chris couldn't find the heart to leave him alone, not when Alex pleaded with him not to. The look of sheer desperation and fear in Alex's face as he stared through watery, tear-shot eyes at Chris was enough to make Chris' heart clench up in his chest, and he'd acquiested to Alex's begging, swearing on his life that he'd protect him whilst they were at the Impact Zone.
The stream of people dwindled down to a mere trickle as they stood by the Gorilla position, Chris bouncing briskly on the balls of his feet as he tried to mentally prepare himself for his upcoming match; he was failing miserably. No matter how much he tried to focus on the run-through he was due to have with Joe for one of their matches, he couldn't tear his mind away from Alex or AJ for more than a few seconds, and after a few minutes, Chris gave up completely, settling instead on doing a few basic stretches to get himself warmed up. He watched Alex out of the corner of his eye, and a sly smile plastered itself across Chris' face when he noticed the way that Alex was staring at him with something akin to lust as he bent and moved fluidly through his exercises.
Finishing his warm-up, Chris started to jog up and down on the spot lazily as he turned to stare concerned at Alex. Alex looked the picture of complete and utter fear; his entire body was tense and shaking softly, his eyes darting around in a panic and his breath picking up speed whenever someone passed by him too close. He honestly looked like he was seconds away from either bolting or fainting, and Chris didn't want either of those to happen.
It had come close to that earlier when Chris had taken Alex along to the medical room to get a new bandage for his badly broken hand. Stepping into the room, Alex had come so close to freaking out on him that Chris was almost certain that Alex was going to pass out from the terror that rolled over him in thick waves. The lecture he recieved off of the trainer hadn't helped matters much either; Alex had paled up considerably, and the tears that had begun to well in his eyes as the medic had a right go at him was enough to make Chris' gut knot up painfully.
Alex was obviously used to having to put up with that kind of behaviour, and the instinctive way he lowered his head and didn't maintain any kind of eye contact whilst the trainer was talking, only answering his questions with the occasional 'yes sir,' spoke huge volumes to Chris. AJ had him so damn scared and petrified that Alex couldn't stop himself from acting that way around anybody, and Chris mentally added it to the list of things he was going to utterly murder AJ about.
Stilling for a moment, Chris placed firm hands on Alex's shoulders, gently massaging the fabric-clad skin beneath his fingers as he leaned into him; their foreheads rested against each other lightly as he gazed into watery brown eyes, the guilt building with each passing moment. Cupping Alex's chin, he tenderly brushed his thumb across the bottom half of Alex's cheek, taking in a deep breath as he tried to think of the best way to comfort and reassure him that everything would be alright whilst he was gone.
Alex's eyes drifted shut as he tried his hardest to hold back the tears that threatened to spill, and as he let out a teary sigh, Chris wanted nothing more than to kiss away all of Alex's fears, to make him feel loved and adored. But he couldn't. Not there. It wasn't the place for that kind of show of affection, and Chris wouldn't make Alex feel any more uncomfortable than he already did.
Instead, Chris settled for snaking his arm as carefully as possible around Alex, extremely mindful of the severe state of Alex's back as he wrapped Alex up in a tight hug. Alex immediately buried his face into the curve of Chris' neck as he responded to the gesture without any hesitation, and Chris let out a sigh when he felt the tremors that were running the entire length of Alex's body.
He heard Alex give a deep, abrupt sniff, and he knew that Alex was desperately trying to hold everything together to stop himself from literally breaking down and bursting into tears in the middle of the backstage area. Giving Alex a soft squeeze, Chris leaned his head forward, resting it softly on Alex's shoulder as he gave Alex's cheek a tender, discreet kiss to try and soothe him. It seemed to have some kind of effect on him when he felt Alex sigh against his chest, the shaking slowly beginning to stop.
"I know you hate this as much as I do, but I've not really got a choice. I'll try to wrap it up as fast as possible, then we'll go back to the hotel, okay? You'll be fine, just try and relax. I'll be back soon."
The sound of machine guns filled the air as Chris let out a low sigh, reluctantly pulling away from Alex; after one last long lingering look that begged Alex to relax and try not to get too worried or upset, Chris looked around the area before disappearing up the ramp to the ring. The faint sound of the crowds cheers reverberated around the backstage area, temporarily drowning out the low drumming of Alex's increasing heartbeat as he loosely cradled his arms around his aching ribs.
He was alone. He was all alone. Chris wasn't there, right beside him like he had been for the last 24 hours, and that it turn just made Alex feel even worse. His safety net had been removed, and now he felt like he was free-falling as he tried to reign in his hysteria. Deciding that it would be a good idea to attempt to distract himself from the rush of emotion and fear that was threatening to overwhelm him, Alex turned towards the monitor.
He watched wistfully as Chris played up to the crowds, jumping up onto each turnbuckle and giving the Guns pose before climbing back down and pacing the length of the ring in anticipation. Alex let out a sigh at the cheers and calls that Chris was getting, knowing that he should have been right there beside him to soak it all up. He missed not being in the ring, not wrestling side by side with his best friend and the man that he loved most in the world, and most importantly, he missed putting on one hell of a show for the fans; they were the people they did it all for after all. He watched as Joe came down to the ring in his trademark style, glaring at Chris the entire way as he slid into the ring.
After a few moments of taunting, the bell was rung and the match was underway. Alex watched almost entranced at the moves that Chris was pulling off on Joe, the athleticism and the grace that Chris was displaying for the world to see in his innovative manouevres, and he briefly cast a disparaging thought on his own wrestling abilities. Sure, he had the technical skills, and the talent to match, but it wasn't what the fans really cared about.
AJ had drummed it into his skull that he was nothing more than a cheap sideshow to Chris' acrobatic, spot monkey, that a cripple had more skill than him in one little finger and that he should just give up now to spare himself the embarrassment of getting fired and continuing to humiliate himself like he was. It had hurt Alex a lot more than he'd ever let on to hear AJ say that to him; wrestling was his life, and he couldn't give it up. Other than Chris, it was all he had left.
Watching the action in the ring, Alex watched as Chris attempted his springboard DDT, and he couldn't help but curse out loud when Joe botched his positioning and Chris crashed down on his arm awkwardly. The look of pain that painted itself across Chris' face was plain as day to see, and Alex winced when Chris shook it out as best as he could as he stood up, his left arm hanging limp and useless against his stomach as he fought on to continue the match. Alex could clearly see the strain that it was having on Chris to wrestle with only one good arm, and when Joe pulled Chris back for a wrist lock, Alex knew in his gut that Chris' screams of pain were real. He saw the referee duck in to ask Chris how he was, and he noticed the way that Chris shook his head warily, mouthing something to him that made Joe loosen up the move slightly out of concern.
Shit.
AJ smirked as he leaned back against the wall, his eyes boring holes in the back of Alex's head from his position in the adjoining corridor as he watched Alex stare at the small monitor, obviously concerned about Chris' state. It was way too cute, AJ briefly thought as he spotted the way that Alex looked at the screen, his hand coming up to wipe across his face, almost as if he was truly worried or something. When AJ noticed that Alex's worry was genuine, the anger that he'd been trying to hold back in his gut threatened to explode.
He'd been waiting for this, observing for the perfect moment to make himself known. It had taken a shit lot of patience on AJ's part to stop himself from running out there and taking back possession of what was rightfully his, but he'd managed to restrain himself. He'd almost blown his cover when Chris had spared a glance in his general direction before he walked up the ramp, but he'd been fortunate enough that the glance was fleeting.
The blistering fury that shone in AJ's eyes as he continued to watch Alex's every movement was so strong that if anybody had caught sight of it at that precise moment in time, they'd most likely have run for the hills and never tried to return. It had been brewing, festering up inside AJ since the day before when he'd come back to his room and found that Alex had somehow gotten out and escaped after the vicious beating he had taken. Alex shouldn't have even been able to move, AJ thought sinisterly, and the fact that Alex had had the audacity not to come back was enough for Alex to seal his fate.
Alex needed to pay for disobeying AJ in the worst way possible, and by fuck, AJ was going to make him pay in blood for what he'd done. Alex was obviously becoming too cocky, too arrogant to think he had to listen to AJ's threats, and he needed that completely snapped out of him. He needed to be broken in the most horrific way imaginable, and that was exactly what AJ was planning on doing. Alex was going to learn exactly what it meant to cross AJ, and it wouldn't be something he ever forgot.
Scanning his eyes around the vicinity, he stood poised like a snake, ready to uncoil on his unsuspecting victim. Timing it to perfection, he waited until the area emptied of all irrelevant people before cockily sauntering towards the unaware Alex; a sadistic smirk was painted on his lips, his steel blue eyes blazing with disturbed determination as the anger he'd previously held back began to boil and bubble to the surface. This was the beginning of the end for Alex, AJ thought menacingly, and not even Chris would be able to put Alex back together once AJ was finished with him. Alex was ripe and ready for the taking, and nobody was going to stop him from carrying out his ultimate goal of destroying him so far that he'd never be able to recover from it. Unfortunately, Alex was too absorbed in watching Chris fight back weakly against Joe with his one good arm to realise his own problem.
Until it was too late.
A possessive hand wrapped itself around Alex's neck like a vice, a panicked breath trapping itself in Alex's throat as he was spun around; blue, cold eyes met brown, terror-filled ones as the situation finally sunk in for Alex and he began to struggle against the hold that AJ had on him. Quick as a flash, AJ threw Alex hard back first against the wall, keeping a viciously tight grip around the already bruised skin of Alex's throat, his fingertips biting at the sensitive flesh as his free hand clamped over Alex's mouth, stifling the shout for help that Alex tried to give as he chuckled darkly.
If anything, Alex's yelling only made AJ even angrier than he was before, and he briefly let go of Alex's mouth to slap him hard across the face, Alex giving out a breathy yelp of pain as the tears began to well in his eyes. Leaning his full body weight forward, AJ deliberately dug the point of his elbows hard into Alex's damaged, swollen ribs, eliciting a muffled scream of agony as the tears that Alex had been trying so hard to hold back began to stream down his face, his eyes wide in blind fear.
Alex was on the verge of passing out; the sickeningly intense pain in his ribs and excruciatingly painful back was setting his body on fire and making him feel like he was going to throw up from the bile that was roiling in his gut and burning his throat. The grasp around his neck tightening, he felt a wave of nausea run through him as the blood rushed to his head, the blinding throbs made worse with each precious oxygen-restricting wheeze. AJ just shook his head, pushing him harder into the wall as he gave Alex another nasty, sharp slap around the face, getting angry with the fact that Alex wouldn't surrender to him.
Forget needing to be broken, Alex deserved to be broken, AJ thought violently, watching with a sick glee at the dribble of blood that began to run from Alex's bottom lip and down his chin. A twisted smile tugged at AJ's lips with every whimper that came from the quickly weakening Alex as he further increased the grip around Alex's throat, noticing the way that Alex panicked and tried to fight back to no avail.
AJ leaned forward, his nose pressed invasively against Alex's cheek as Alex let out a hiss of fear and terror, desperately trying to create some distance between the two of them. AJ's already short temper began to fray and split further, and he bit down hard on Alex's earlobe. Alex immediatelt froze, the tears of pain rolling down his face coming harder and faster as AJ pulled Alex off of the wall, wrapping his arms around him as he began to drag him backwards towards one of the empty locker rooms further down the corridor.
Alex saw what AJ was trying to do, and his frantic struggle for freedom only became more desperate. Kicking the heel of his foot back into AJ's leg to try and gain some space, Alex was spun around, his head driven straight into the solid concrete wall with a sickening thud as AJ's temper snapped.
All of the fight immediately abandoned Alex's body as his gaze went fuzzy and black around the edges from the vicious shot to the head he had just taken, and he could barely defend himself when AJ's fist curled around the side of his cheek to slam hard into his jaw, making him whimper and call out in pain as the blood flowed almost profusely from the deep split in his lip. Dragging Alex's almost dead weight down the corridor, AJ reached the room, and wasted no time in flinging Alex into the room, watching the way that the back of Alex's head smacked off of one of the metal lockers before he fell onto his back with a cry of pain.
Slamming the door shut behind him, AJ pulled one of the chairs over to barracade it, preventing anybody from entering or leaving without his permission. Alex could barely move, the tears streaming down his face as AJ approached him, his voice laced with an eerily psychotic calmness as he growled fiercly, venom practically dripping off each word that formed in the panic-filled atmosphere.
"My dear Alex, I think you and I need to have a long, hard chat, don't you?"
"Take a couple of painkillers when you get back to the hotel, make sure you rest it up a bit, and I'm pretty sure you'll be fine in a few days or so. I don't think you've done any major damage to your shoulder, but it's not worth taking the risk, so I'm advising against wrestling tomorrow. Is that fine with you?"
Chris stared up at the trainer as he finished wrapping the bandage around the top of his arm and shoulder, giving a slight hiss of pain when the trainer had to move and manipulate his arm into position.
"Yeah that's cool. I wanted a day off without any pay anyway," Chris replied sarcastically, his voice tight and strained under the pressure of the pain that was starting to wear through the adrenaline he'd been working from during the match.
He wasn't entirely sure how the fuck he'd managed to botch up his springboard DDT so badly to require a nice long visit to the medical room. Scratch that, Chris thought wearily, he knew exactly why he'd messed up. He hadn't been able to focus the entire match, and as such, he'd been knocked off of his game at the time when he needed to bring it, and bring it hard. His mind had been completely preoccupied with just one person, much like it had been before the match ever started.
Ever since the moment that Chris had reluctantly had to leave Alex backstage for the match, he hadn't been able to keep his mind off of him for more than a few seconds at a time as he wrestled his way through his fight with Joe. He'd been concerned, wishing that he'd found somebody for Alex to hang around with, or hell, even beginning to play with the possibility of having brung Alex down to ringside so that he could keep an eye on him, but he hadn't. Stupidly, he chastised himself, he'd left him all alone. Completely alone, in the middle of the backstage area where AJ could have all the chance in the world of getting hold of him.
That had been another thing. When he'd landed wrong and his shoulder had taken all of the impact of the move, it hadn't been his arm that he'd worried about. At that moment in time, his stomach had knotted up painfully, and he'd become paranoid that something was wrong. Deeply and terribly wrong. He'd always been able to tell instinctively when things were wrong with Alex; they were so in tune with each other that it was truly scary, and the fear and worry had begun to bubble and boil to the surface almost instantly after he'd gotten injured.
He'd wanted nothing more than to go backstage and find Alex, just to put his panic and concern to rest, but that hadn't happened. Instead, he'd been coralled by the trainer almost the second the bell had rung to signify the end of the match, who'd insisted on taking him back to the medical room for a proper examination. Despite Chris' protests, he hadn't been able to escape. That had led to now, where Chris had spent over half an hour being patched up. It had done nothing for the fear that was roiling in his gut about Alex; if anything, his paranoia and concerns had been getting worse, to the point where Chris was almost tempted to knock the trainer out just to get away and search for him.
The trainer finished up his wrapping, turning his back to Chris as he waved a hand at him dismissively, telling him in no uncertain terms that he could finally leave if he wanted to. Chris didn't need to be told twice; sliding off of the bed, he strode across the room, opening the door and leaving so damn fast that it was unreal.
Immediately, Chris set off towards the backstage area where he had left Alex earlier, praying to God that he'd still be there. He knew that Alex was probably worrying about Chris' shoulder injury, and Chris wanted to get to him as soon as possible to soothe him before they left back for the hotel. If Chris was totally honest with himself, he needed to see Alex to calm himself down too. It had unnerved him, not having Alex within eye sight or touching distance like he had been for the last 24 hours, and the sooner that Chris could see Alex again, the better it would be for him.
Strolling down the corridor, Chris generally ignored the questions and calls from the other wrestlers who were hanging around backstage, not really interested in getting into a conversation with any of them at that moment in time. Talking to them meant it taking longer for him to reach Alex, and that wasn't something he was prepared to do right then; not when he was as on edge and nervous as he was.
Despite hoping that his fears would eventually go away and his brain would kick in to tell him he was over reacting, it hadn't, and as the seconds passed, Chris could feel his heart beating faster and faster as his imagination conjured up images of Alex being beaten to within an inch of his life by AJ somewhere.
Finally reaching the backstage area behind the curtains, Chris froze, turning his head around and looking in all different directions as the fear and worry began to rush through him harder. Alex wasn't there. In fact, apart from Storm and Roode who were preparing for their match, it was completely empty.
Alarm bells began to ring in Chris' ears; there was definitely something wrong. Alex was so damn vulnerable and terrified that there was no way he'd have gone off by himself, not considering just how fearful he was of AJ getting his hands on him. He wouldn't have been at all surprised if Alex had spent most of the match staring at the monitor for reassurance, so the fact that he was nowhere to be seen was something that concerned Chris deeply.
Shaking his head to try and reign in his growing panic, Chris turned and jogged up to Storm and Roode, noticing the way they both looked at him with curiosity. Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he opened his mouth to speak before briefly pausing. He wasn't entirely sure what to ask; whether they'd seen Alex, or whether they'd seen AJ anywhere close by. The idea that AJ could've been in the near vicinity, could have gotten into close proximity with Alex and done something to him was one that had the anger racing through Chris' blood. Eventually, he settled on a priority.
"Hey guys, I don't suppose you've seen Alex anywhere, have you? He was back here before my match, and I was wondering if you'd seen him move somewhere else?"
Chris watched nervously as Storm and Roode turned to face each other, their eyebrows raised as they spoke quietly amongst each other for a brief few moments. Staring back at Chris, Chris felt the urge to scream in pure frustration when Storm shook his head.
"Sorry Sabes, can't say we have seen him anywhere around recently. Why, are ya looking for him or something?"
Chris decided to ingore the question, instead answering with another question of his own as he tried to hold back the worry that was threatening to overwhelm him; after all, he didn't need anyone else knowing about the situation that Alex had found himself in recently.
"Have you seen AJ anywhere?"
Again, the tag team partners looked at each other for a brief few seconds, before Roode gave out a short, sharp laugh that made the fear crawl over Chris' skin.
"Seen him? No. Have I heard him? God yes. He locked himself in one of the locker rooms down there with some poor rookie who obviously pissed him off earlier. He was screaming and shouting abuse at him like no-one's business. They probably fucked up on his drink or something, you know what interns are like."
"Yeah," Storm pitched in. "I don't know what they did to annoy him, but he was giving them some serious shit in there. If that was me, I think I would've crapped myself considering just how pissed off he looked earlier when we banged into him. He was looking for Alex too, he must be a popul- Hey, where ya going Sabes?"
The second that Chris heard the phrase "AJ's looking for Alex," an overwhelming feeling of dread began to rush over Chris. His imagination was working overtime, and for some reason, he instinctively knew what had happened to Alex and why he wasn't anywhere to be found. Not even bothering to listen to the rest of Roode's rambling, Chris started to make his way frantically towards the locker rooms, ignoring the calls and questions from Storm, Roode and anyone who happened to pass by him about the condition of his shoulder.
He didn't give a shit about anyone else at that moment in time; he was entirely focused on Alex, and finding him before any damage was done was by far his number one priority. Deep down in his stomach though, Chris knew he was too late. His eyes scanning down the long corridor in a rush, he instantly honed in on the one closed door that he could spot. It made more sense; If AJ had done something to Alex, he'd be more likely to have done it in a room where people weren't likely to wander in and out whenever they wanted to. After all, that wouldn't keep things very undercover for AJ, would it?
Speak of the devil, Chris thought. Standing still, he leaned lazily against the wall, pulling his mobile phone out of his pocket and pretending to play around on it, when in reality, his gaze was firmly locked on the door that had just swung open. The anger in Chris' gut flared when AJ stolled out, and there was something about the disturbing smile on his face that made Chris uneasy. It almost looked like AJ was extremely happy about something he'd just done, and what that thing was, Chris had a horrible suspicion he knew.
Watching with blistering fury playing across his eyes, Chris was highly tempted to go straight up to AJ and knock him the fuck out before beating the shit out of him, but now definitely wasn't the time, not when he was still so unsure about Alex's whereabouts.
Instead, Chris held fast, hearing the slight laugh that AJ gave out before closing the door and disappearing in the opposite direction down the corridor. Chris was glad about that; if AJ had had the nerve to walk straight past him, and god forbid try to talk to him, then Chris wouldn't have been responsible for his actions.
Waiting until AJ had left his view, Chris slipped his phone back into his pocket, making his way down the corridor to stand infront of the door where AJ had just been. An eery silence descended upon the backstage area at that point, something which only made the paranoia in Chris grow even worse as he leaned into the door, trying to listen for any sounds from inside.
He froze; the only sound that was audible was what Chris was positive was the sound of somebody sobbing rather hysterically, and that made him panic. His hand shaking uncontrollably, he reached out to open up the door.
"Please don't be Alex, please don't be Alex," Chris whispered desperately under his breath as the door opened up, and he hesitated for a second or two before he could find the courage to actually enter and see.
The sight he saw when he finally entered was enough to break his heart and make the anger in him spiral rapidly out of control as he let out a growl of frustration, turning and kicking the wall beside the door. At that moment in time, he wanted nothing more than to explode, to destroy everything in sight and then go hunt down AJ and kick his face off, but he couldn't. Tears of anger and fear welling up in his eyes, he couldn't tear his gaze away from the curled up heap on the floor mere metres in front of him as the sound of gutwrenching sobs filled the entire room.
Alex's back was to Chris', but Chris could feel the fear, pain and shame rolling off of Alex in violent waves as he continued to cry and sob desperately, unaware that anyone else had even entered the room. Hs shirt had been ripped off and was caught a few feet from him on one of the benches, and the bruises and cuts that Chris had done such a thorough and careful job of cleaning up the day before were bleeding and raw once more.
Gazing further down Alex's body, Chris let out a curse when he saw that Alex's jeans and boxers were bunched up around his knees and thick streams of blood were running down the inside of his thigh before pooling on the floor next to him. In that instant, Chris knew without a shadow of a doubt what AJ had done to Alex, and the knowledge that AJ had so sadistically and viciously taken Alex and broken him in the most defiling and abusive of ways was enough to make Chris want to scream and shout before going and murdering AJ that second. But he couldn't. He had by far more important things to worry about.
Taking tentative steps towards Alex's curled up and violently shaking body, Chris anger only grew when he saw the bite marks and cuts that covered most of Alex's arms and chest, and when he saw a deep looking slash on the side of Alex's throat, right across his pulse point, it only served to increase Chris' worry about Alex's condition.
He looked more like he'd been in a car wreck than someone who'd been attacked by another human being, but Chris knew what AJ was capable of, and when he noticed the thin leather belt from AJ's previous attack wrapped tight around Alex's wrists to prevent him from fighting back during the assault that had obviously taken place, he shook his head in saddened rage.
Walking around the bottom of Alex's legs, Chris got his first, half decent look at Alex since he'd stepped foot in the room, and the sight he was greeted with was enough for him to feel sick with panic and concern. The cuts and bites continued down the length of Alex's torso and onto the inside of his thighs where the blood was continuing to leak, and there were dark, handshaped bruises forming on Alex's hips, showing that he must have been pinned down with some considerable force by AJ for them to start appearing so quickly after the attack.
The part that upset Chris the most was the shiny, pearlescent strings that were dotted across Alex's stomach. Chris knew exactly what that was; he was a hot blooded, typical male, so he would've been blind not to know what it was, but Chris couldn't imagine Alex wanting to have willingly come. The hysterical state that Alex was in suggested that Alex had been forced, and considering that he was completely unable to fight back against AJ, it looked like he hadn't had any choice.
Shame and humiliation continued to roll off of Alex as he sobbed frantically, coming so damn close to hyperventilating that Chris was almost convinced that if Alex didn't calm down at that moment in time, he was going to end up making himself pass out. Chris went to reach out his hand, but he stopped; he didn't have anyway of calming Alex down, not this time. He was completely at a loss of what to do, and that ate at him more than anything. The fact that he couldn't work out anyway of soothing him from the vile attack he'd just went through was enough to make the tears of frustrated anger and sadness well up again in Chris' eyes.
The tears only increased their presence when Chris knelt down beside Alex and stared down at his face. Alex was still so consumed in reliving his hellish nightmare that he hadn't even realised that Chris was mere inches away from him, and that only concerned Chris further.
As Chris gazed down at Alex's face, he felt the same anger he'd been desperately trying to hold back come flying back through him. The same thick sticky dots of cum were strung across Alex's bruised face, little speckles of blood breaking the chains that lay so primitively across his skin, and the idea that AJ had humiliated Alex in the worst possible way by marking him as his own property were enough to make Chris feel sick with helpless and uncontrollable rage.
There was a deep cut on Alex's forehead that trickled blood down the side of his face, and the glassy look in Alex's eyes as he continued to sob hysterically told Chris that Alex's concussion obviously had to have been made worse by a nasty shot to the face with something hard. One of his eyes was starting to go black and swollen too, and the split in Alex's bottom lip told Chris emphatically that the sexual assault wasn't the only type of beating that Alex had to have gone through at AJ's hands.
Letting out a deep sigh, Chris tried to think of what he could say to Alex to get him to calm down even a little bit, just enough to stop himself from being violently sick or passing out on him, but Chris' mind went completely blank, and everything that would normally come so naturally to him regarding talking to Alex went flying out of the window.
Chris wasn't entirely sure why that was; it wasn't like he was disgusted or sickened by Alex, merely AJ for putting him through everything that he had without any remorse or thoughts for the consequences, so why couldn't he think of anything to say to him? Chris surmised that it was most likely shock at finding Alex like he had; that made more sense to him.
Looking back down, Chris was beyond surprised to find that Alex was staring straight at him, his eyes filled with shame and self-loathing as he gazed at Chris with something akin to fear and terror. Fear that Chris would abandon him, that he'd leave him because of what AJ had done to him. That was something that Alex didn't think he'd be able to survive. He'd rather kill himself than have to live without Chris right beside him; as it was, the thought of suicide just to escape the pain and the shame that was rippling through him was an incredibly strong and consuming one.
He felt completely destroyed and worthless, and he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to recover from the feeling of dirtiness that was crawling through his entire body, making him feel sick beyond belief. He could barely see Chris sitting in front of him; all he could see was AJ violently raping him, and when he felt a hand on his wrist, Alex screamed in fear, flinching so viciously that it made his entire battered and weakened body hurt.
"Hey, it's okay," Chris whispered desperately, watching as the tears fell down Alex's face faster and harder from even the smallest bit of contact he had made. "I'm just trying to undo your wrists. Do you think you can work with me on that one?"
Alex couldn't respond. He couldn't bring himself to utter even a single word; talking would bring him back to reality, and reality brought hell with it. He wasn't ready to face everything that had happened to him, he didn't think he ever would be ready to face what AJ had done to him so violently and maliciously, and keeping silent about it meant that he wouldn't have to make it real.
Keeping quiet meant that no-one would ever have to hear the full extent of what AJ tried to do, even if it did rip him to pieces from the inside out. Even if it did end up killing him like he knew it probably would. He'd never wanted to die as much as he wanted to right then, and he knew that feeling would never go away until it destroyed him completely; and he knew that Chris could never know that.
Alex watched silently except for his hysterical sobs as Chris battled with the thin leather belt that had been tied surprisingly tight around Alex's wrists; the blood that was streaming down his arm from the cuts that AJ had made weren't helping matters much. Eventually though, the pressure around his wrists loosened quite dramatically as Chris finally got the belt undone, throwing it across the room before leaning over to inspect that state of Alex's wrists.
He winced; thick stripes of black bruising wrapped around both wrists as they dropped to the floor, Alex not even able to find the strength to shake the pins and needles out of them, and the horrible blue shade that Alex's broken hand had taken on suggested that some serious damage had obviously been done to it.
Once it was undone, Chris just sat there on the floor next to Alex's shaking, abused body. He ran a hand roughly through his hair as he willed the tears that continued to bud in his eyes to go the fuck away, but of course they didn't; he wasn't sure they'd ever go away, and when he gazed back down the length of Alex's skin, taking in each and every bruise and cut that covered him from AJ's assault, Chris was entirely helpless to stop them from trickling down his cheeks out of pure rage and guilt.
He'd broken his promise. He'd sworn on his life to Alex that AJ would never lay a finger on him again for as long as he lived, and yet AJ had. AJ had managed to pry Alex away and beat him so damn bloody before raping him that Alex couldn't even speak to him. Whether that was out of trauma or because he was upset with Chris for not protecting him, Chris wasn't sure he wanted to know, but he put it down to the former; the hysterical, desperate state that Alex was in spoke volumes, emphatically answering that question for him.
Maintaining eye contact with Alex, Chris reached out his hand towards Alex's, but when Chris went to lace his fingers through Alex's broken hand, Alex screamed out in almost agonising pain, pulling his hand back into his chest as he screwed his eyes shut, trying to stop the nausea from overwhelming him as he continued to sob frantically.
Chris raised an eyebrow as he frowned, intense worry and concern washing over him; Alex had never flinched away from him like that, unless it was an injury that he'd sustained. Chris suddenly froze, realising he hadn't even checked Alex's hand for any kind of affliction after the beating.
"Alex, did he do something to your hand?"
Alex nodded his head, still not able to speak to Chris and tell him exactly what AJ had done to him. Chris tried again; reaching forward, he gently cupped Alex's hand in his own before turning it over. Alex's fingers were curled into his palm, covering up whatever AJ had done to him, but Chris could see the egdes of what looked like a burn marring the sensitive flesh of Alex's hand, and he instinctively panicked.
"Alex, can you please uncurl your fingers for me?" When Alex shook his head, the tears streaming down his face as he sobbed desperately, Chris let out a deep sigh. "Please Alex, I know that he's hurt you, I can see the burn. I need to look at it, it'll only get worse if it doesn't get treated soon. Please Alex? Please don't make me beg."
It initially appeared as if Alex hadn't heard him as he continued to shake his head with each heartwrenching sob, but Chris watched as Alex, incredibly reluctantly, uncurled his fingers, revealing his palm to Chris.
"Holy shit Alex!"
Chris covered his mouth with his other hand to try and prevent himself from being violently sick as Alex's palm came into view. Straight into the centre of Alex's hand was a deep, nasty looking cigarette burn, the middle raw and weeping profusely. It was all embedded with ash and debris, and when Chris gathered himself together to take a better look at it, he could see it had burnt straight through the muscle and tissue in Alex's hand, revealing a segment of bone.
No wonder why Alex looked like he was going to pass out from the pain if that was only one of the things that AJ had put him through, Chris thought sadly.
Chris wanted to ask Alex what else AJ had done to him, but Alex looked like he was mere seconds away from passing out or being horribly sick as he continued to sob and cry like there was nobody else in the room, and Chris couldn't find it in his heart to subject Alex to anymore pain; the idea of making Alex relive it anymore than he already was was enough to make the self-anger and rage build up inside Chris as he bent down closer to Alex's face.
Reaching out his hand, he laced it through Alex's hair softly, rubbing his palm against the side of Alex's head, being sure not to touch the nasty looking gash just above his hairline.
"This ends tonight Alex," Chris whispered, his voice breaking off into a gasp as he tried to hold back all of the emotions that threatened to overcome him. "I swear on my life. AJ pays tonight."