It's Warmer In The Basement (1) - Standalone
It's Warmer In The Basement | Gabe/William | NC-17
13,795 words | Posted in two parts (HOLYFUCKIFINISHEDIT!!)
WARNINGS (READ THEM): Very sensitive material to certain readers. Rape, war, kidnapping, death/murder.
Hampstead had always been a peaceful little town. No one spoke out of place and the children did as they were told. The older township members were kind, quiet, while the younger adults worked for their families and made sure things stayed in order. No one expected anything to change for a while, and for that while, nothing did. But it was a freezing winter night of July in late 1948 when things really took a turn for the worst, when the grass bleached red and the sky smoked black.
Hampstead had always been a peaceful little town. No one spoke out of place and the children did as they were told. The older township members were kind, quiet, while the younger adults worked for their families and made sure things stayed in order. No one expected anything to change for a while, and for that while, nothing did. But it was a freezing winter night of July in late 1948 when things really took a turn for the worst, when the grass bleached red and the sky smoked black.
William Beckett had been outside with his few friends, all just throwing a ball lazily around as they sat in the grassy back yard of the Carden household. Mike had heard his mother calling and the boys looked up simultaneously, curious of what she was screaming about. But she just flew the front door open and started screaming for them to come inside without any real explanation. Mike was the first to get up, stumble then quickly make a move toward the house. He stopped and looked back at his friends; Adam, William, Andrew and "the other Michael" before uttering something to his mother.
"No, No, boys, you have to come inside. All of you in the cellar now, I can't let you go home by yourselves, please just come in!" She cried, trying to push her son frantically into the little brick house as she spoke. All the boys exchanged worried glances before they got up and ducked inside, but William paused in the doorway when he heard a scream in the distance.
"Mrs Carden, what's going on?" His eyes grew wide as she shook her head and grabbed his arm, closing and locking the door behind them. She quickly pushed them along the little hallway until they were at a thick, heavy door which they all knew lead to the cellar below. William turned to look at Michael and reached out to grab his friend's hand when he saw that his breathing was getting heavy and he was already looking a little pale. No one cared at all about William holding his hand- -they all knew that Michael's nerves could get the better of him sometimes.
When they were halfway down the stairs to the cellar, Mike looked back up at his mother. "Ma', aren't you coming?" he asked shakily. She shook her head and tried to shoo them down but Mike wouldn't budge. "Ma' what is this?"
She took a few heavy breaths and kept glancing at the front door of the house then back at Mike. "I need to try and get the phone lines working. I need to get your father to come home- -He doesn't know what's happening yet," she explained while her voice shook.
"Ma'am, what's happening?" William asked, his eyes just as wide as everyone else's with his hand still gripping onto Michael's clammy one. All five boys looked up at her with expectant eyes and she felt she had no choice but to answer, still seeming scared and fidgety.
"You remember he day they said that, soon, soon this lil' town won't be so safe any more? That, soon, they'd be coming for us, just like the rest of them?"
She didn't need to say any more. William could feel Michael tighten his grip immensely as the boys rushed down the stairs, all forms of light in the little room completely disappearing when Mrs Carden shut the cellar door.
Mike lead them over to a corner blindly in the dark, all of them touching somehow. Adam was fisting in Mike's shirt and Andrew had a hold of Adam's wrist, William and Michael both so horrified hat they were almost completely clinging to the other three. They all finally found their sense of direction and they took a seat on the cold stone ground in the back corner, embracing the sudden silence.
For a few minutes all they could hear was each others breathing (and Michael's hyperventilating- -they knew he couldn't handle well in small dark places), no one daring to speak. But when they finally heard something outside, finally heard the takeover, they wished that it was eerily silent again.
First was a woman's scream. William's grip tightened on Michael as Michael's grip tightened on William. They all shivered when they heard another, then, fuck,, a gunshot or five, then some voices yelling something out. All male voices. None of the boys in the cellar could read the accent or familiarise with the language, but they were starting to become more focused on calming down Michael and his claustrophobia.
"Chislett, it's going to be fine, we promise, everything's going to be fine," William tried to assure him as he clamped his hands together, but as his eyes had started getting used to the darkness, he saw Michael shake his head furiously.
"My ma'," he whimpered, shaking in Williams hands. They all went dead silent and if hey were able to see properly then they would have exchanged knowing glances. Michael's mother was all he had left. They had almost scraped up enough money to et back home, to get back to Australia, but if anything were to happen then all of it would be gone down the drain. The past seven years of saving up, working as a single mother and only child to make up for the money they lost in costs for when his father died.
"I promise nothing bad will happen to her," Adam whispered, wrapping his arms around Michael's shaking form to help calm him.
Things seemed to have calmed down outside but the boys wouldn't take any chances. They could still hear shouting and talking amongst the strange men with the accents, but really didn't want to know what they were saying. After what must have been an hour or two of being huddled together, the voices, the guns, the screaming, it all stopped. All they heard was their own heavy breathing and William dared open his eyes , yet only found the same familiar darkness as three hours earlier.
"Do you think they're-"
They all huddled closer and Michael whimpered when they heard the front door swing open sharply upstairs. William heard Mike's breathing instantly pick up at the sound of voices, shouting and yelling. He chewed his lip harder than necessary but they could all hear the sharp intake of breath when Mike's mother started shouting from upstairs.
He whimpered and cried and clung to somebody- he didn't know who, just somebody as they listened in to the conflict upstairs.
Mike whimpered again when she shrieked and his grip tightened on whoever's arm when they heard a gun shot. Two, then three more, Mike's mother still screaming and crying as the men started shouting over the top of her in their own foreign tongue.
Mike, though. Mike couldn't take it. He screamed out and sobbed and shrieked with his mother, crying her name as he listened to her very death a matter of metres above him. The boys didn't even tell him to be quiet, just huddled closer and tried to hide sobs of their own. But it seemed it was one cry too many and there were heavy footsteps moving fast through the house, the men now shouting at each other.
It all seemed to happen far too quickly for William. For any of them. They were still huddled, crying, shaking in the corner as the cellar door was kicked open and the evening strays of light beamed through to momentarily blind them. Michael had already started pleading as the men ran down the stairs, shouting instructions at them that they couldn't decipher.
Finally, Adam was forced to open his eyes when one of the men grabbed him and pulled him from the huddle. Michael screamed at the man, pleaded for him to stop, but it was only for the worst. With William still holding his hands for dear life, the second foreigner approached and yelled something as he hit Michael hard across the face with the handle of his rifle. William stifled a sob as Michael was instantly knocked out, fallen limp in his arms, but his remorse was gone unnoticed by the men.
Their attention was quickly focused back on Adam. The first man was still holding him up by his hair, high off the ground enough that he was standing on his toes. The second man slung his rifle across his back by a strap connected to it so his arms were free to hold Adam's hands behind his back. William had to squint in the light and through his own tears to see that Adam was crying, shaking and actually whispering something under his breath. William guessed it was a prayer. The men started shouting at him in their language and he only shook more, unable to respond for he didn't know the tongue. He whispered louder, pleading, asking to spare him, but William didn't have a chance to look away before the second man had his rifle point blank at Adam's neck as he fired.
Mike choked on a sob and dared not let go of Andrew, William still clinging to Michael. He felt trickles of blood seeping from Michael's wound onto his arms but he didn't let go, didn't want to leave his friend behind.
Adam's body was dropped limp to the floor and William only opened his eyes again when he felt a hand roughly grab his hair. His head was tilted up so he was face to face with the man who had killed Adam seconds before, seeing a smirk that made him want to vomit. He heard the words "Pretty" uttered in a thick accent before he felt a sharp pain in his head, and everything went black.
--
The sound of harsh voices slowly became less and less distant as William started to awake. His head felt heavy and he opened his eyes briefly, greeted with pitch black darkness. His blurred memory gradually shifted into focus as he remember the previous night's events, remembered that two of his best friends were gone and that he probably wasn't in his own home.
William started shaking and his breathing immediately picked up. He tried to reach out but he felt a tightness around his wrists and groaned when he realised his hands were bound behind his back so he could move from the chair he was sitting in.
His memories shifted from the events to the realisation that Michael and Adam were gone. William suddenly choked on a sob as he felt tears begin to leak from his eyes down his cheeks, starting to drip from his chin. he heard voices shouting something in the distance but he ignored them, still ignored as they suddenly got louder- -like they were suddenly in the same room. He sobbed when he felt a hand grab his face but refused to be quiet even as the stranger spat words at him in the unknown language.
William felt the man's hands reach around his head as grab at something in his hair. He felt a few tugs then the man pulled away what seemed to be a blindfold and all William could see was the bright light from a lamp in the tent they were in. His eyes slowly adjusted and he stared through his own tears at the stranger's dark skinned face. He saw the snarl slowly turn into the same smirk he remembered from earlier and a shiver ran down his spine when his face was grabbed again.
"You're awake," he muttered, finally letting go and standing up straight. William slouched instantly in his seat and stifled a few more sobs, ignoring him even as he spoke plain English. "You been out for some hours now."
They were nearly silent apart from William's shaky breathing as he struggled to compose himself. When he finally looked up he saw the man with his arms crossed, looking down at him with that same stomach-churning smirk. He wondered whether he wanted to know what this stranger was thinking or not, but he didn't seem to have a choice.
"You're pathetic," he uttered, crouching back down to be face to face. "Just the way your friend looked when I shot him through neck." His smirk only grew as William shed more tears, starting to scream and yell to get someone's attention. Maybe there was someone, wherever they were, that was on his side. He tried not to count on it.
"Where are my friends? Where is my family?" he whimpered, shaking just as fiercely as when they first huddled down in the basement. He heard the man laugh and watched him shake his head, staying crouched down.
"You the only one we kept. Friends of mine, they think you are girl. They realise you not and so, they give you to me," he grinned, leaning forward to curl strands of William's hair around his fingers.
William tried to jerk away but the man used quick reflexes to grab his jaw and make William look him in the eye. He choked out a sob but the stranger only smirked again as he examined Williams face and features.
"I see why they think you a girl, though. Very thin. Very... Pretty."
It was those words that made William kick again and tug at his restraints, only finding that he was bound down to the chair in almost every available area. The last word seemed to haunt him, echo in his mind, just bringing back the memories of when the man stood and shamelessly killed his friend before moving onto the next. It was the last thing William remembered before he blacked out, right after Adam's life was taken.
"You killed him!" he shrieked, still trying to wriggle the ropes from his ankles, wrists and stomach loose yet to no avail. He heard the man chuckle and it only started to fuel William emotions, frustration and anger mixing with the fear and sorrow he previously felt.
"He was getting married," he cried, only sobbing again as he tried to form words.
"What do I care?"
William bit hard on his lip to stop himself from saying anything that might get himself in a lot of trouble. It was so hard to try and remain calm after witnessing such a thing, after knowing what he knew. Adam had shared with them all only moments before Mike's mother came to warn them, he'd told them that he was going to propose to Tracy, the girl he was nothing but madly in love with. They were a beautiful couple and after Adam had shown them the ring in its little wooden box, they all knew that nothing would stop the two from leading a perfect life together.
Except this.
William ignored it whenever the man snarled or muttered something in his own language because of William's crying. He stayed, though, didn't leave at all even when William calmed down after what had to have been an hour. He stayed and sat in the corner on a little wooden box as he lit up a cigarette, making himself comfortable and completely ignoring any of William's struggles.
Finally, William felt exhausted but was still too horrified to fall asleep. He had enough strength to lean against the back of the chair with his head up to watch the man as he smoked through a pack of cigarettes so casually, still ignoring the boy.
He said William was the only one left. Right? It was a pain to his chest to think back and remember how perfectly things were for them. William was starting work with his father at a law firm with him in a matter of days- -But he wouldn't be surprised if the law firm wasn't even there any more. He knew that Andrew was so close to the scholarship he'd been working for, and he'd even managed to get his father's permission to move away and go to college. He was going to the West coast to study and work with art; something that Andrew had been wanting his father to give permission for for far too long. Now that he finally had that permission, it was useless, for Andrew and his family were both gone.
William's eyes started to tear up again and he sniffled, wanting more than anything to rub at his eyes for they itched from all the dried tears. He heard a groan from across the room and tried his hardest to ignore it, but the man was getting up and walking over to him again.
“What is it this time?” He muttered, leaning down to dub out his cigarette on the edge of the chair, right between William's legs. He saw the boy's breathing pick up and smirked, but quickly dropped the cigarette aside and turned around when he heard someone calling to him from outside. At first William was happy to see him go, but when he pushed the tent flap back on his way out, William saw that it was late evening outside. He bit harder on his lip and tried not to think about who might come in and do something horrible to him, instead just turned his head to focus on the lamp light next to him. Maybe if he slept, he would wake up and find that it was all just a horrible dream. Maybe, if not that, then at least the time would pass faster and he'd go home sooner. That is, if there was a home to go to.
-
William's sleep was filled with dark images, a constantly looping replay of what happened in Mike's basement. He was standing in the corner and had to watch his friends all be shot, execution style, and the nightmare just never seemed to end. When a gun was pressed to his own head, though, he awoke suddenly, feeling a horribly sharp pain in his back.
He inhaled sharply and shot his eyes open, finding himself on the floor. He looked up and saw the stranger from before standing over him, looking down with an expressionless look. “You heavy sleeper,” he muttered, then nudged at William's side with his foot.
William scrambled to his feet, standing just a few inches shorter than the man. He was still shaking, not knowing what he was meant to do or where they were now. “Wh-where-”
“We stay here. For a while.” The man's eyes looked down William's body and watched him shake, watched him shiver in fear and from the cold. He shook his head then reached out to push him back, giving William barely any time to quickly get his balance before he pushed him again.
William finally had time to look at their surroundings when the man shoved him along, giving an extra push whenever he seemed to slow down. It seemed to be a little house, a cottage perhaps, but everything was rather basic. Small kitchen, a little table and a smaller fireplace with a worn sofa in front of it. The man led him past all of it, though, led him to a tiny hallway where he leant over William's shoulder to open a door and push him inside even rougher than he had before. The force sent William toppling to the ground and he scrambled to get to his feet, but the man beat him to it.
He shut the door with a slam and dropped to his knees, grabbing William's shoulders and spinning him around so that he was on his back, looking up to face him. “My name Gabe,” he muttered, leaning down to lick a long strip up the side of William's neck. William just froze, his hands shaking even more when he felt this Gabe character bite hard on his neck. He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut because it hurt.
“I want to hear it,” he finally snarled, biting again at William's neck.
William whimpered and felt his eyes welling up when he realised what was happening, what Gabe was doing. He felt Gabe's hands grab at his hips and saw him smirk as he pushed William's shirt up, despite the boy's efforts to try and stop him. He squirmed and tried to push him away, but Gabe was too strong and end up just ripping at the edges of his shirt in his attempts to pull it off.
Before he got much else done, Gabe had grabbed William's shoulders again and stood up, dragging him up with him. William just put all of his energy into fighting back, to push his weight against Gabe to try and slip from his grip, but Gabe just ended up pushing him onto the bed anyway. William shuffled back as far as he could go to get further from him, watching and biting down on his fist as Gabe undid his own pants and pushed them down his hips.
As Gabe got up so he was on his knees on the bed he pulled and tugged at his shirt to drag it over his head and throw it aside. He approached William as the boy tried reaching about for something to use as a weapon, anything, but there was nothing around at all. He sobbed and shook his head as Gabe grabbed him by his hips and dragged him further down the bed so they were closer, still kicking and trying to hit Gabe's chest in his feeble attempts to fight back.
William just gasped when Gabe grabbed both of his wrists with one hand and pinned them above his head on the bed. He kept squirming, trying anything to get away but Gabe was already tugging his pants down to get them completely off. William's eyes were glistened over with tears and his cheeks were damp by the time Gabe had his thighs straddled to stop him from kicking, but William refused to stop squirming.
What he really feared was coming true, though. Gabe spread his legs and kept them pinned down, lowering himself so he could just line up with William's entrance. William tried his hardest to close his legs, tensing all his muscles to refuse the entry but it only proved to hurt more as Gabe started to jam into him. He cried out and choked out a sob, his hands in fists where Gabe kept them pinned above his head.
Gabe smiled with his lips parted and pushed in harder, earning a louder scream from the boy. He lifted William's legs up so they were over his thighs and then used both hands to hold onto his wrists, finally getting a position where he could get nice and deep. William just alternated between sobbing and screaming, but the pain never went away. It felt like Gabe was ripping something, something that shouldn't be ripped. His body was tearing in half and he didn't know how to make it stop, only endured it with whimpers and groans as Gabe picked up speed.
After what seemed an eternity, Gabe started breathing a little more heavily and his thrusts were more erratic. He picked up speed and leant over to bite William's collarbone, sucking at the skin in the crook of his neck as he growled, “Say it.”
William shook his head as he sobbed again, his muscles still tense and tight. Gabe released a shaky moan before he jerked his hips in harder, then bit down on William's collarbone. He said it again, even more demanding and purposely making his thrusts more erratic and fast paced. William just whimpered, his own nails digging into his palms as he kept his fists clenched.
“Say it!” Gabe shouted, releasing one of William's wrists so he could pull back and slap the boy hard across the face. William's head snapped to the left and he shouted Gabe's name, but it sounded like more of a cry for help than anything. His cheeks were still wet and his tears were blinding him but Gabe didn't stop, just grabbed his wrist again and bit harder on William's chest as an order for him to say it again.
It came as a whimper, a quiet, tiny little gasp of air but it was enough to have Gabe coming. William could feel him release inside of him, nothing to protect him from diseases or just the shame in general. He didn't stop crying after Gabe let go of his wrists, pushed himself up and pulled out of the boy. Gabe sat up on his knees and looked down at him as he shook and sobbed, watched him bring his arms down to his chest to try and cover up as much of himself as he could.
Gabe shuffled back as he caught his own breath, scampering off the bed to grab his clothes. He quickly dressed and shot one last look at William as he curled up and clung to one of the pillows, but otherwise ignored him as he stepped outside and locked the door behind him.
-
William was already losing his sense of time and direction. When he woke up he saw sunlight creeping in through the boarded windows, so he guessed, hoped, that it was morning. It felt like the invasion was at least a few days ago, though, but for all he knew it could have only been a day later.
He tried to roll over in bed, but he felt a pain run sharply up his spine from the initial ache from the previous night. He reached up to wipe furiously at his eyes to get rid of any sleep and the cracked tear tracks down his face. It seemed like all he was doing lately was crying and screaming, but it felt like he'd forgotten how to do anything else.
He heard a voice outside the bedroom and tried not to listen in, but after he realised it was Gabe speaking to someone else in their foreign language he figured it didn't matter anyway. He very carefully rolled onto his back and sat up, all his bones and muscles aching as his blurred vision tried to focus in the morning light.
William's breath was shaky as he looked down and found the bedsheets beneath him stained a dark crimson. He bit hard on his bottom lip and tried to look away, but the sight of his own blood scared him enough that he couldn't. His hands fisted in the sheets as he sat up, looking down. He shouldn't have been surprised at how rough Gabe was going, but William had never done anything like that anyway. His virginity had just been taken- -No, stolen. He was innocent and in one swift movement he was probably just going to hell.
“Boy!” A voice called, making William swallow thickly and back up on the bed. He heard the front door shut and then footsteps approaching his room, then he realised he probably wouldn't be having a choice in anything for a while.
The lock on the door clicked and Gabe swung it open a little so he could lean into the room, “Get up,” then disappear from the doorway. William looked around the room and hesitated, but as he started to move off the bed, he heard another shout. “Clothes for you; out here.”
William stood up from the edge of the bed and wrapped his arms loosely around himself. It hurt to walk, hurt to breath and hurt to move in general. But he was sure that Gabe's punishments would hurt more, so he reluctantly did what he was told and carefully shuffled out of the bedroom. He shivered from the cold feeling of his bare feet on the stone and wood floors, but he didn't have much time to bask in feeling something before Gabe had grabbed his upper arm and dragged him along.
Luckily (he guessed) there wasn't anyone else in the little cottage. “Clothes,” Gabe uttered again, still holding onto him as he reached over to a kitchen counter and grabbed a small pile of clothing. He pushed it into William's chest, making him stumble a little which seemed to amuse Gabe the slightest. William dared not scowl as he started to dress, pulling the shirt slowly up his arms and buttoning it up. There were a few buttons missing and some threads were loose but it was better than being naked in the middle of winter.
He tried to ignore that Gabe was watching him very closely, smirking whenever he saw William wince from using a muscle that was much too sore to be used. He pulled on the underwear then the pants, barely having time to do them up before Gabe had grabbed his arm again and guided him to the kitchen.
“You cook?” He asked, fingers adjusting their grip on his arm. William bit his lip and hesitated, but finally looked up at Gabe and shook his head nervously. Gabe's eyes narrowed but he said and did nothing more, simply pushing William away towards the little ripped up couch. “The door and window locked. Don't bother trying to go.”
William stood, horrified, for only a moment or so. He watched Gabe move over to the little refrigerator then grab something out of it, place it on the counter then look for something in the pantry. He stood and watched for a while as Gabe started to chop up some vegetables with a knife from the drawer, but all William could think as he watched was if that knife had been used on a person before.
Finally he tore himself away and walked over to sit down on the couch. He suddenly realised why it felt warmer in the main area of the cottage, because the fireplace had a few flames flickering on a couple of pieces of firewood. He stared, losing himself in the fire that he didn't even realise how much time had passed, for soon enough Gabe was standing over him with two ceramic bowls in his hands.
“Eat.” He sat down next to him, a foot or so away, then rested one of the bowls in William's lap. William picked up the small fork with a shaky hand and poked at what was in the bowl, which just seemed to be a vegetable mix without much else. It was better than nothing, but he caught himself staring at the fork then glance over at Gabe who had already started eating.
Suddenly, something came over him. This desperation that things couldn't get worse, that he was at rock bottom, so any punishment from a bad action couldn't really be that bad. He stared at Gabe for a second or two longer before he lifted an arm to try and use the fork as a weapon and penetrate his arm.
The moment he moved though, Gabe had spun around and grabbed his wrist. William gasped and instantly dropped the utensil, whimpering and gasping when Gabe clenched his fist and started to twist William's wrist around. He shut his eyes tightly and pleaded, softly begged and apologised and just wished that none of this happened in the first place.
“I try to feed you. Clothe you. What you do? You try to kill me,” Gabe snapped, squeezing just a little harder on William's already-injured wrists before he finally let go. William thought he was off the hook but a split second later saw Gabe lift his hand and felt a sharp sting across his cheek from a hard slap. He whimpered, held his face, then tried his hardest to ignore it as Gabe grabbed his bowl and put both of them aside.
“Ungrateful prick,” he snarled, grabbing William's upper arm and pulling him from the couch. He carted him along and only stopped outside William's bedroom door. He held him close, both hands roughly around William's shoulders as he narrowed his eyes down at the boy.
“Be careful when trying that again.” With a single move, he pushed the door open and shoved William inside, making him stumble again and fall to the floor. For a moment he thought that Gabe was going to make a replay of the night before, was going to get down on his knees and strip him all over again, but he just stared down at William before slamming the door shut.
-
It was three days later that Gabe decided he'd let William out. By then, William was hungry, shaking, stinking and even more scared. The second Gabe sat him down at the little table, a bowl was placed in front of him with a spoon that time, and William was glad when he realised it was only soup.
“Get your strength more,” Gabe muttered, still seeming angry about what had happened last time. He didn't let William answer before he walked away and kneeled in front of the fireplace. William watched for only a second as Gabe tried to get the flames to grow, before his stomach rumbled and he quickly dug in. He'd thank him later.
When the bowl was finally finished with not a speck left, William did honestly feel a lot better. He didn't know how long it had been but he only knew it had been too long before he ate. He slouched in his seat and lifted a hand to chew nervously on his nails, but before he had long to mull over what had happened lately, Gabe was back closer to him and taking the seat opposite.
“What is your name?” He asked, sitting casually at the table. William still hesitant and nervous when it came to anything to do with Gabe, but he didn't want to get another bruise so he lowered his head and answered.
“William.”
Gabe's tongue flicked out to wet his lower lip as he thought. “How old, William?”
William took another breath and glanced back up. “N-Nineteen. I'm nineteen.”
Gabe's smirk sent a shiver down his spine and he tried his hardest to ignore it, but something made him keep his head up and keep looking at him. He finally shut his eyes when he heard Gabe mutter ”Virgin,” under his breath, seeming awfully pleased about it too.
There was a horrifying silence while William kept his eyes closed, almost scared to reopen them. When he finally did, though, Gabe was still sitting casually, his legs crossed and a hand resting on the table. “When am I allowed to go?” He whispered, holding both his hands nervously in his lap.
Gabe let out a laugh and William wanted to cower in a corner somewhere and never come back. “Go? Go where? Your town gone, we own it now,” Gabe smirked. He stood up and walked over to William's side of the table and it took all of William's energy not to duck, run or start crying again. Gabe just dropped a hand to carefully run his fingers through William's hair, curling the ends softly. “You very lucky. Very, very lucky. You pretty boy, my friend think you girl, yes? He wanted you for his own, to touch you and take you. But when he see you boy, he joke and dump you with me.”
William inhaled shakily as Gabe kept threading his fingers through his hair and tried to tell himself that it didn't feel nice, that Gabe could rape him again at any second if he wanted to. But it was the nicest touch he'd had in a while so he didn't back away, just sat and nervously let Gabe do what he wanted.
“What do you mean?” He murmured, looking up at him. “He played a joke? Huh?”
Gabe chuckled again then shifted so he was sitting on the edge of the table. He ran his fingertip along William's hairline then curled his index around a few strands again, distracting himself with the feel. “My friends. They like women, yes? They know I do not- -They do not, ahh.. Make fun? Make fun, yes, they do not make fun of me for it, no no. They respect. So since they see you pretty boy, they think I would like you.” Gabe grinned again and finally took his hand away, resting it on the table.
William shut his eyes again and looked down. He knew that it was a good idea to keep his hair long, but at the same time, he wasn't sure whether he'd rather be dead or in the position he was in with Gabe. There didn't seem to be a way out and William noticed quite frequently that Gabe had a smaller gun tucked into a holster on his belt almost constantly. Even if William managed to steal it, he wouldn't be able to fire it, though.
Gabe stayed quiet as he watched William stare at his gun. He smiled just a little and closed his coat over the holster as he stood up and walked over to the kitchen. William quickly looked back up and followed Gabe with his eyes, watching as he ran his fingers along the wooden counter top.
"You will clean soon." William's eyes widened when Gabe spoke and he quickly rose to his feet. "And if not," Gabe cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. He didn't have to finish the sentence.
"Okay," William just sort of whimpered, one hand grabbing the edge of the table nervously. He watched Gabe walk out of the kitchen then nod his head towards it an William figured that was his cue, reluctantly heading over with his empty bowl.
Gabe stood from afar and watched as William tried to rinse and wash the bowl. He worked on doing the rest of the dishes from things Gabe must have eaten when William was locked up, shivering from the feel of the cold water on his hands by the time he was wiping the counter tops.
With an old rag dabbed in water, William started to wipe crumbs and marks from the counters. He'd barely finished one before be heard Gabe walk over, tried to ignore when he stood over William's shoulder and when his lips touched the boys neck. A shiver ran down William's spine but he kept going as if Gabe wasn't even touching him. He tried to focus on cleaning but Gabe's hands were on his waist, fingers digging into his hips as he swayed them slightly while keeping his lips kissing William's neck.
What William wished would never happen again was finally happening when Gabe pushed him over the counter without any real warning. William sucked in a breathe when he felt something rubbing against his backside and shut his eye tightly when he saw what was going to happen next, a split second before it did.
Gabe's hands had reached around his front to undo the tie that held William's pants up. He whimpered and whispered a decline, praying for him to not, because he was still sore and he still bled a little if he laid the wrong way in bed. Still, Gabe pushed Williams pants down then worked with his own, only enough so that he could spread Williams legs and try to push in past the tight ring of muscles.
“No,” William whimpered again, gripping the rag tightly against the counter. He sucked in a breath when Gabe's fingers dug in harder against his hips, struggling to think of a way to get out of the situation. Not again. He couldn't go through this again.
“Spoke when you're spoken to,” Gabe uttered a warning when William whimpered again. He squeezed his hip enough for it to surely bruise before he finally started to push in, hearing the cry pass from William's lips. He boy doubled over the counter and his hands shook as he gripped and tore at the cloth for dear life, the cold water squeezing out over his hands.
“It hurts so much.” William squeezed his eyes shut as Gabe pulled back ever so slowly, only to slam back in. He wished there was a way out. He wanted a way out. Anything. Anything but this. Just when he thought Gabe might actually have had a heart, he just went and threw it all away. Memories of the night in the basement came flooding back and William choked out another cry, a sob, pleading and whimpering out his friends' names.
It felt like an eternity later that Gabe had pulled out and let go. William would have heard him panting quietly to catch his breath as he did up his pants, but it was all drowned out by the heavy, fast beating of his heart. William slunk down from the counter to sit on the floor, his whole body shaking as he felt the urge to cry again. Gabe just stared down at him, bit his lip for a bare moment before rolling it eyes and walking away.
-
It was at least two or three weeks later that Gabe decided he should take William out. The indoors was driving them both crazy, so he told himself that it was for his own good and that he couldn't leave William by himself without the boy trying to escape. He got out of bed at dawn and washed his face and dressed, before he stepped out of his bedroom to stand by William's door across the hall.
“William,” he called, rapping on the wood with his knuckles. “Get up.”
He was sitting out by the unlit fireplace a few good minutes later before William trudged out of his room, still half asleep. He had a slight limp from the day before when Gabe pushed him a little too hard into the bedroom and he had fallen, but there was no serious injury. Still, he looked exhausted and horrified, wondering what acts Gabe wanted to get up to so early in the morning.
“You're not dressed,” Gabe mumbled, resting an arm around the back of the couch. William released a shaky breath and shook his head, but quickly limped back to his room. Gabe wanted him in clothes, not pyjamas? At least that meant he had more time to recover from his aches than the last.
By the time William was back out in the main room, Gabe was standing by the doorway, reloading his gun. William froze and clenched his fists by his side as he watched the man slide each bullet carefully into their place. Gabe only realised William was there when he heard the boy whimper, so he simply smirked and shoved his handgun carelessly back into the holster on his hip.
“We're going out,” he instructed, beckoning William over. He reluctantly obeyed and was soon standing by Gabe's side, waiting for instructions on what to do next. He'd almost forgotten what 'out' looked like, it had been so long since he'd been around people or seen his own breath fog in front of him.
Just as he went to turn the handle, he saw Gabe move from the corner of his eye and felt something cold and hard pressed against his temple. His eyes went wide and he turned his head ever so cautiously to see the gun in Gabe's hand, already cocked. His breathing took a turn for the worst as he heart pounded faster, but Gabe didn't shoot.
“You try to go, you die.”
William shut his eyes tightly and nodded, trying his hardest not to cry again. His grip tightened on the handle as he felt the pressure remove itself from his head and opened his eyes to see Gabe put the gun in its rightful place.
“Now, let us go.”
CONTINUED HERE >>
13,795 words | Posted in two parts (HOLYFUCKIFINISHEDIT!!)
WARNINGS (READ THEM): Very sensitive material to certain readers. Rape, war, kidnapping, death/murder.
Hampstead had always been a peaceful little town. No one spoke out of place and the children did as they were told. The older township members were kind, quiet, while the younger adults worked for their families and made sure things stayed in order. No one expected anything to change for a while, and for that while, nothing did. But it was a freezing winter night of July in late 1948 when things really took a turn for the worst, when the grass bleached red and the sky smoked black.
Hampstead had always been a peaceful little town. No one spoke out of place and the children did as they were told. The older township members were kind, quiet, while the younger adults worked for their families and made sure things stayed in order. No one expected anything to change for a while, and for that while, nothing did. But it was a freezing winter night of July in late 1948 when things really took a turn for the worst, when the grass bleached red and the sky smoked black.
William Beckett had been outside with his few friends, all just throwing a ball lazily around as they sat in the grassy back yard of the Carden household. Mike had heard his mother calling and the boys looked up simultaneously, curious of what she was screaming about. But she just flew the front door open and started screaming for them to come inside without any real explanation. Mike was the first to get up, stumble then quickly make a move toward the house. He stopped and looked back at his friends; Adam, William, Andrew and "the other Michael" before uttering something to his mother.
"No, No, boys, you have to come inside. All of you in the cellar now, I can't let you go home by yourselves, please just come in!" She cried, trying to push her son frantically into the little brick house as she spoke. All the boys exchanged worried glances before they got up and ducked inside, but William paused in the doorway when he heard a scream in the distance.
"Mrs Carden, what's going on?" His eyes grew wide as she shook her head and grabbed his arm, closing and locking the door behind them. She quickly pushed them along the little hallway until they were at a thick, heavy door which they all knew lead to the cellar below. William turned to look at Michael and reached out to grab his friend's hand when he saw that his breathing was getting heavy and he was already looking a little pale. No one cared at all about William holding his hand- -they all knew that Michael's nerves could get the better of him sometimes.
When they were halfway down the stairs to the cellar, Mike looked back up at his mother. "Ma', aren't you coming?" he asked shakily. She shook her head and tried to shoo them down but Mike wouldn't budge. "Ma' what is this?"
She took a few heavy breaths and kept glancing at the front door of the house then back at Mike. "I need to try and get the phone lines working. I need to get your father to come home- -He doesn't know what's happening yet," she explained while her voice shook.
"Ma'am, what's happening?" William asked, his eyes just as wide as everyone else's with his hand still gripping onto Michael's clammy one. All five boys looked up at her with expectant eyes and she felt she had no choice but to answer, still seeming scared and fidgety.
"You remember he day they said that, soon, soon this lil' town won't be so safe any more? That, soon, they'd be coming for us, just like the rest of them?"
She didn't need to say any more. William could feel Michael tighten his grip immensely as the boys rushed down the stairs, all forms of light in the little room completely disappearing when Mrs Carden shut the cellar door.
Mike lead them over to a corner blindly in the dark, all of them touching somehow. Adam was fisting in Mike's shirt and Andrew had a hold of Adam's wrist, William and Michael both so horrified hat they were almost completely clinging to the other three. They all finally found their sense of direction and they took a seat on the cold stone ground in the back corner, embracing the sudden silence.
For a few minutes all they could hear was each others breathing (and Michael's hyperventilating- -they knew he couldn't handle well in small dark places), no one daring to speak. But when they finally heard something outside, finally heard the takeover, they wished that it was eerily silent again.
First was a woman's scream. William's grip tightened on Michael as Michael's grip tightened on William. They all shivered when they heard another, then, fuck,, a gunshot or five, then some voices yelling something out. All male voices. None of the boys in the cellar could read the accent or familiarise with the language, but they were starting to become more focused on calming down Michael and his claustrophobia.
"Chislett, it's going to be fine, we promise, everything's going to be fine," William tried to assure him as he clamped his hands together, but as his eyes had started getting used to the darkness, he saw Michael shake his head furiously.
"My ma'," he whimpered, shaking in Williams hands. They all went dead silent and if hey were able to see properly then they would have exchanged knowing glances. Michael's mother was all he had left. They had almost scraped up enough money to et back home, to get back to Australia, but if anything were to happen then all of it would be gone down the drain. The past seven years of saving up, working as a single mother and only child to make up for the money they lost in costs for when his father died.
"I promise nothing bad will happen to her," Adam whispered, wrapping his arms around Michael's shaking form to help calm him.
Things seemed to have calmed down outside but the boys wouldn't take any chances. They could still hear shouting and talking amongst the strange men with the accents, but really didn't want to know what they were saying. After what must have been an hour or two of being huddled together, the voices, the guns, the screaming, it all stopped. All they heard was their own heavy breathing and William dared open his eyes , yet only found the same familiar darkness as three hours earlier.
"Do you think they're-"
They all huddled closer and Michael whimpered when they heard the front door swing open sharply upstairs. William heard Mike's breathing instantly pick up at the sound of voices, shouting and yelling. He chewed his lip harder than necessary but they could all hear the sharp intake of breath when Mike's mother started shouting from upstairs.
He whimpered and cried and clung to somebody- he didn't know who, just somebody as they listened in to the conflict upstairs.
Mike whimpered again when she shrieked and his grip tightened on whoever's arm when they heard a gun shot. Two, then three more, Mike's mother still screaming and crying as the men started shouting over the top of her in their own foreign tongue.
Mike, though. Mike couldn't take it. He screamed out and sobbed and shrieked with his mother, crying her name as he listened to her very death a matter of metres above him. The boys didn't even tell him to be quiet, just huddled closer and tried to hide sobs of their own. But it seemed it was one cry too many and there were heavy footsteps moving fast through the house, the men now shouting at each other.
It all seemed to happen far too quickly for William. For any of them. They were still huddled, crying, shaking in the corner as the cellar door was kicked open and the evening strays of light beamed through to momentarily blind them. Michael had already started pleading as the men ran down the stairs, shouting instructions at them that they couldn't decipher.
Finally, Adam was forced to open his eyes when one of the men grabbed him and pulled him from the huddle. Michael screamed at the man, pleaded for him to stop, but it was only for the worst. With William still holding his hands for dear life, the second foreigner approached and yelled something as he hit Michael hard across the face with the handle of his rifle. William stifled a sob as Michael was instantly knocked out, fallen limp in his arms, but his remorse was gone unnoticed by the men.
Their attention was quickly focused back on Adam. The first man was still holding him up by his hair, high off the ground enough that he was standing on his toes. The second man slung his rifle across his back by a strap connected to it so his arms were free to hold Adam's hands behind his back. William had to squint in the light and through his own tears to see that Adam was crying, shaking and actually whispering something under his breath. William guessed it was a prayer. The men started shouting at him in their language and he only shook more, unable to respond for he didn't know the tongue. He whispered louder, pleading, asking to spare him, but William didn't have a chance to look away before the second man had his rifle point blank at Adam's neck as he fired.
Mike choked on a sob and dared not let go of Andrew, William still clinging to Michael. He felt trickles of blood seeping from Michael's wound onto his arms but he didn't let go, didn't want to leave his friend behind.
Adam's body was dropped limp to the floor and William only opened his eyes again when he felt a hand roughly grab his hair. His head was tilted up so he was face to face with the man who had killed Adam seconds before, seeing a smirk that made him want to vomit. He heard the words "Pretty" uttered in a thick accent before he felt a sharp pain in his head, and everything went black.
--
The sound of harsh voices slowly became less and less distant as William started to awake. His head felt heavy and he opened his eyes briefly, greeted with pitch black darkness. His blurred memory gradually shifted into focus as he remember the previous night's events, remembered that two of his best friends were gone and that he probably wasn't in his own home.
William started shaking and his breathing immediately picked up. He tried to reach out but he felt a tightness around his wrists and groaned when he realised his hands were bound behind his back so he could move from the chair he was sitting in.
His memories shifted from the events to the realisation that Michael and Adam were gone. William suddenly choked on a sob as he felt tears begin to leak from his eyes down his cheeks, starting to drip from his chin. he heard voices shouting something in the distance but he ignored them, still ignored as they suddenly got louder- -like they were suddenly in the same room. He sobbed when he felt a hand grab his face but refused to be quiet even as the stranger spat words at him in the unknown language.
William felt the man's hands reach around his head as grab at something in his hair. He felt a few tugs then the man pulled away what seemed to be a blindfold and all William could see was the bright light from a lamp in the tent they were in. His eyes slowly adjusted and he stared through his own tears at the stranger's dark skinned face. He saw the snarl slowly turn into the same smirk he remembered from earlier and a shiver ran down his spine when his face was grabbed again.
"You're awake," he muttered, finally letting go and standing up straight. William slouched instantly in his seat and stifled a few more sobs, ignoring him even as he spoke plain English. "You been out for some hours now."
They were nearly silent apart from William's shaky breathing as he struggled to compose himself. When he finally looked up he saw the man with his arms crossed, looking down at him with that same stomach-churning smirk. He wondered whether he wanted to know what this stranger was thinking or not, but he didn't seem to have a choice.
"You're pathetic," he uttered, crouching back down to be face to face. "Just the way your friend looked when I shot him through neck." His smirk only grew as William shed more tears, starting to scream and yell to get someone's attention. Maybe there was someone, wherever they were, that was on his side. He tried not to count on it.
"Where are my friends? Where is my family?" he whimpered, shaking just as fiercely as when they first huddled down in the basement. He heard the man laugh and watched him shake his head, staying crouched down.
"You the only one we kept. Friends of mine, they think you are girl. They realise you not and so, they give you to me," he grinned, leaning forward to curl strands of William's hair around his fingers.
William tried to jerk away but the man used quick reflexes to grab his jaw and make William look him in the eye. He choked out a sob but the stranger only smirked again as he examined Williams face and features.
"I see why they think you a girl, though. Very thin. Very... Pretty."
It was those words that made William kick again and tug at his restraints, only finding that he was bound down to the chair in almost every available area. The last word seemed to haunt him, echo in his mind, just bringing back the memories of when the man stood and shamelessly killed his friend before moving onto the next. It was the last thing William remembered before he blacked out, right after Adam's life was taken.
"You killed him!" he shrieked, still trying to wriggle the ropes from his ankles, wrists and stomach loose yet to no avail. He heard the man chuckle and it only started to fuel William emotions, frustration and anger mixing with the fear and sorrow he previously felt.
"He was getting married," he cried, only sobbing again as he tried to form words.
"What do I care?"
William bit hard on his lip to stop himself from saying anything that might get himself in a lot of trouble. It was so hard to try and remain calm after witnessing such a thing, after knowing what he knew. Adam had shared with them all only moments before Mike's mother came to warn them, he'd told them that he was going to propose to Tracy, the girl he was nothing but madly in love with. They were a beautiful couple and after Adam had shown them the ring in its little wooden box, they all knew that nothing would stop the two from leading a perfect life together.
Except this.
William ignored it whenever the man snarled or muttered something in his own language because of William's crying. He stayed, though, didn't leave at all even when William calmed down after what had to have been an hour. He stayed and sat in the corner on a little wooden box as he lit up a cigarette, making himself comfortable and completely ignoring any of William's struggles.
Finally, William felt exhausted but was still too horrified to fall asleep. He had enough strength to lean against the back of the chair with his head up to watch the man as he smoked through a pack of cigarettes so casually, still ignoring the boy.
He said William was the only one left. Right? It was a pain to his chest to think back and remember how perfectly things were for them. William was starting work with his father at a law firm with him in a matter of days- -But he wouldn't be surprised if the law firm wasn't even there any more. He knew that Andrew was so close to the scholarship he'd been working for, and he'd even managed to get his father's permission to move away and go to college. He was going to the West coast to study and work with art; something that Andrew had been wanting his father to give permission for for far too long. Now that he finally had that permission, it was useless, for Andrew and his family were both gone.
William's eyes started to tear up again and he sniffled, wanting more than anything to rub at his eyes for they itched from all the dried tears. He heard a groan from across the room and tried his hardest to ignore it, but the man was getting up and walking over to him again.
“What is it this time?” He muttered, leaning down to dub out his cigarette on the edge of the chair, right between William's legs. He saw the boy's breathing pick up and smirked, but quickly dropped the cigarette aside and turned around when he heard someone calling to him from outside. At first William was happy to see him go, but when he pushed the tent flap back on his way out, William saw that it was late evening outside. He bit harder on his lip and tried not to think about who might come in and do something horrible to him, instead just turned his head to focus on the lamp light next to him. Maybe if he slept, he would wake up and find that it was all just a horrible dream. Maybe, if not that, then at least the time would pass faster and he'd go home sooner. That is, if there was a home to go to.
-
William's sleep was filled with dark images, a constantly looping replay of what happened in Mike's basement. He was standing in the corner and had to watch his friends all be shot, execution style, and the nightmare just never seemed to end. When a gun was pressed to his own head, though, he awoke suddenly, feeling a horribly sharp pain in his back.
He inhaled sharply and shot his eyes open, finding himself on the floor. He looked up and saw the stranger from before standing over him, looking down with an expressionless look. “You heavy sleeper,” he muttered, then nudged at William's side with his foot.
William scrambled to his feet, standing just a few inches shorter than the man. He was still shaking, not knowing what he was meant to do or where they were now. “Wh-where-”
“We stay here. For a while.” The man's eyes looked down William's body and watched him shake, watched him shiver in fear and from the cold. He shook his head then reached out to push him back, giving William barely any time to quickly get his balance before he pushed him again.
William finally had time to look at their surroundings when the man shoved him along, giving an extra push whenever he seemed to slow down. It seemed to be a little house, a cottage perhaps, but everything was rather basic. Small kitchen, a little table and a smaller fireplace with a worn sofa in front of it. The man led him past all of it, though, led him to a tiny hallway where he leant over William's shoulder to open a door and push him inside even rougher than he had before. The force sent William toppling to the ground and he scrambled to get to his feet, but the man beat him to it.
He shut the door with a slam and dropped to his knees, grabbing William's shoulders and spinning him around so that he was on his back, looking up to face him. “My name Gabe,” he muttered, leaning down to lick a long strip up the side of William's neck. William just froze, his hands shaking even more when he felt this Gabe character bite hard on his neck. He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut because it hurt.
“I want to hear it,” he finally snarled, biting again at William's neck.
William whimpered and felt his eyes welling up when he realised what was happening, what Gabe was doing. He felt Gabe's hands grab at his hips and saw him smirk as he pushed William's shirt up, despite the boy's efforts to try and stop him. He squirmed and tried to push him away, but Gabe was too strong and end up just ripping at the edges of his shirt in his attempts to pull it off.
Before he got much else done, Gabe had grabbed William's shoulders again and stood up, dragging him up with him. William just put all of his energy into fighting back, to push his weight against Gabe to try and slip from his grip, but Gabe just ended up pushing him onto the bed anyway. William shuffled back as far as he could go to get further from him, watching and biting down on his fist as Gabe undid his own pants and pushed them down his hips.
As Gabe got up so he was on his knees on the bed he pulled and tugged at his shirt to drag it over his head and throw it aside. He approached William as the boy tried reaching about for something to use as a weapon, anything, but there was nothing around at all. He sobbed and shook his head as Gabe grabbed him by his hips and dragged him further down the bed so they were closer, still kicking and trying to hit Gabe's chest in his feeble attempts to fight back.
William just gasped when Gabe grabbed both of his wrists with one hand and pinned them above his head on the bed. He kept squirming, trying anything to get away but Gabe was already tugging his pants down to get them completely off. William's eyes were glistened over with tears and his cheeks were damp by the time Gabe had his thighs straddled to stop him from kicking, but William refused to stop squirming.
What he really feared was coming true, though. Gabe spread his legs and kept them pinned down, lowering himself so he could just line up with William's entrance. William tried his hardest to close his legs, tensing all his muscles to refuse the entry but it only proved to hurt more as Gabe started to jam into him. He cried out and choked out a sob, his hands in fists where Gabe kept them pinned above his head.
Gabe smiled with his lips parted and pushed in harder, earning a louder scream from the boy. He lifted William's legs up so they were over his thighs and then used both hands to hold onto his wrists, finally getting a position where he could get nice and deep. William just alternated between sobbing and screaming, but the pain never went away. It felt like Gabe was ripping something, something that shouldn't be ripped. His body was tearing in half and he didn't know how to make it stop, only endured it with whimpers and groans as Gabe picked up speed.
After what seemed an eternity, Gabe started breathing a little more heavily and his thrusts were more erratic. He picked up speed and leant over to bite William's collarbone, sucking at the skin in the crook of his neck as he growled, “Say it.”
William shook his head as he sobbed again, his muscles still tense and tight. Gabe released a shaky moan before he jerked his hips in harder, then bit down on William's collarbone. He said it again, even more demanding and purposely making his thrusts more erratic and fast paced. William just whimpered, his own nails digging into his palms as he kept his fists clenched.
“Say it!” Gabe shouted, releasing one of William's wrists so he could pull back and slap the boy hard across the face. William's head snapped to the left and he shouted Gabe's name, but it sounded like more of a cry for help than anything. His cheeks were still wet and his tears were blinding him but Gabe didn't stop, just grabbed his wrist again and bit harder on William's chest as an order for him to say it again.
It came as a whimper, a quiet, tiny little gasp of air but it was enough to have Gabe coming. William could feel him release inside of him, nothing to protect him from diseases or just the shame in general. He didn't stop crying after Gabe let go of his wrists, pushed himself up and pulled out of the boy. Gabe sat up on his knees and looked down at him as he shook and sobbed, watched him bring his arms down to his chest to try and cover up as much of himself as he could.
Gabe shuffled back as he caught his own breath, scampering off the bed to grab his clothes. He quickly dressed and shot one last look at William as he curled up and clung to one of the pillows, but otherwise ignored him as he stepped outside and locked the door behind him.
-
William was already losing his sense of time and direction. When he woke up he saw sunlight creeping in through the boarded windows, so he guessed, hoped, that it was morning. It felt like the invasion was at least a few days ago, though, but for all he knew it could have only been a day later.
He tried to roll over in bed, but he felt a pain run sharply up his spine from the initial ache from the previous night. He reached up to wipe furiously at his eyes to get rid of any sleep and the cracked tear tracks down his face. It seemed like all he was doing lately was crying and screaming, but it felt like he'd forgotten how to do anything else.
He heard a voice outside the bedroom and tried not to listen in, but after he realised it was Gabe speaking to someone else in their foreign language he figured it didn't matter anyway. He very carefully rolled onto his back and sat up, all his bones and muscles aching as his blurred vision tried to focus in the morning light.
William's breath was shaky as he looked down and found the bedsheets beneath him stained a dark crimson. He bit hard on his bottom lip and tried to look away, but the sight of his own blood scared him enough that he couldn't. His hands fisted in the sheets as he sat up, looking down. He shouldn't have been surprised at how rough Gabe was going, but William had never done anything like that anyway. His virginity had just been taken- -No, stolen. He was innocent and in one swift movement he was probably just going to hell.
“Boy!” A voice called, making William swallow thickly and back up on the bed. He heard the front door shut and then footsteps approaching his room, then he realised he probably wouldn't be having a choice in anything for a while.
The lock on the door clicked and Gabe swung it open a little so he could lean into the room, “Get up,” then disappear from the doorway. William looked around the room and hesitated, but as he started to move off the bed, he heard another shout. “Clothes for you; out here.”
William stood up from the edge of the bed and wrapped his arms loosely around himself. It hurt to walk, hurt to breath and hurt to move in general. But he was sure that Gabe's punishments would hurt more, so he reluctantly did what he was told and carefully shuffled out of the bedroom. He shivered from the cold feeling of his bare feet on the stone and wood floors, but he didn't have much time to bask in feeling something before Gabe had grabbed his upper arm and dragged him along.
Luckily (he guessed) there wasn't anyone else in the little cottage. “Clothes,” Gabe uttered again, still holding onto him as he reached over to a kitchen counter and grabbed a small pile of clothing. He pushed it into William's chest, making him stumble a little which seemed to amuse Gabe the slightest. William dared not scowl as he started to dress, pulling the shirt slowly up his arms and buttoning it up. There were a few buttons missing and some threads were loose but it was better than being naked in the middle of winter.
He tried to ignore that Gabe was watching him very closely, smirking whenever he saw William wince from using a muscle that was much too sore to be used. He pulled on the underwear then the pants, barely having time to do them up before Gabe had grabbed his arm again and guided him to the kitchen.
“You cook?” He asked, fingers adjusting their grip on his arm. William bit his lip and hesitated, but finally looked up at Gabe and shook his head nervously. Gabe's eyes narrowed but he said and did nothing more, simply pushing William away towards the little ripped up couch. “The door and window locked. Don't bother trying to go.”
William stood, horrified, for only a moment or so. He watched Gabe move over to the little refrigerator then grab something out of it, place it on the counter then look for something in the pantry. He stood and watched for a while as Gabe started to chop up some vegetables with a knife from the drawer, but all William could think as he watched was if that knife had been used on a person before.
Finally he tore himself away and walked over to sit down on the couch. He suddenly realised why it felt warmer in the main area of the cottage, because the fireplace had a few flames flickering on a couple of pieces of firewood. He stared, losing himself in the fire that he didn't even realise how much time had passed, for soon enough Gabe was standing over him with two ceramic bowls in his hands.
“Eat.” He sat down next to him, a foot or so away, then rested one of the bowls in William's lap. William picked up the small fork with a shaky hand and poked at what was in the bowl, which just seemed to be a vegetable mix without much else. It was better than nothing, but he caught himself staring at the fork then glance over at Gabe who had already started eating.
Suddenly, something came over him. This desperation that things couldn't get worse, that he was at rock bottom, so any punishment from a bad action couldn't really be that bad. He stared at Gabe for a second or two longer before he lifted an arm to try and use the fork as a weapon and penetrate his arm.
The moment he moved though, Gabe had spun around and grabbed his wrist. William gasped and instantly dropped the utensil, whimpering and gasping when Gabe clenched his fist and started to twist William's wrist around. He shut his eyes tightly and pleaded, softly begged and apologised and just wished that none of this happened in the first place.
“I try to feed you. Clothe you. What you do? You try to kill me,” Gabe snapped, squeezing just a little harder on William's already-injured wrists before he finally let go. William thought he was off the hook but a split second later saw Gabe lift his hand and felt a sharp sting across his cheek from a hard slap. He whimpered, held his face, then tried his hardest to ignore it as Gabe grabbed his bowl and put both of them aside.
“Ungrateful prick,” he snarled, grabbing William's upper arm and pulling him from the couch. He carted him along and only stopped outside William's bedroom door. He held him close, both hands roughly around William's shoulders as he narrowed his eyes down at the boy.
“Be careful when trying that again.” With a single move, he pushed the door open and shoved William inside, making him stumble again and fall to the floor. For a moment he thought that Gabe was going to make a replay of the night before, was going to get down on his knees and strip him all over again, but he just stared down at William before slamming the door shut.
-
It was three days later that Gabe decided he'd let William out. By then, William was hungry, shaking, stinking and even more scared. The second Gabe sat him down at the little table, a bowl was placed in front of him with a spoon that time, and William was glad when he realised it was only soup.
“Get your strength more,” Gabe muttered, still seeming angry about what had happened last time. He didn't let William answer before he walked away and kneeled in front of the fireplace. William watched for only a second as Gabe tried to get the flames to grow, before his stomach rumbled and he quickly dug in. He'd thank him later.
When the bowl was finally finished with not a speck left, William did honestly feel a lot better. He didn't know how long it had been but he only knew it had been too long before he ate. He slouched in his seat and lifted a hand to chew nervously on his nails, but before he had long to mull over what had happened lately, Gabe was back closer to him and taking the seat opposite.
“What is your name?” He asked, sitting casually at the table. William still hesitant and nervous when it came to anything to do with Gabe, but he didn't want to get another bruise so he lowered his head and answered.
“William.”
Gabe's tongue flicked out to wet his lower lip as he thought. “How old, William?”
William took another breath and glanced back up. “N-Nineteen. I'm nineteen.”
Gabe's smirk sent a shiver down his spine and he tried his hardest to ignore it, but something made him keep his head up and keep looking at him. He finally shut his eyes when he heard Gabe mutter ”Virgin,” under his breath, seeming awfully pleased about it too.
There was a horrifying silence while William kept his eyes closed, almost scared to reopen them. When he finally did, though, Gabe was still sitting casually, his legs crossed and a hand resting on the table. “When am I allowed to go?” He whispered, holding both his hands nervously in his lap.
Gabe let out a laugh and William wanted to cower in a corner somewhere and never come back. “Go? Go where? Your town gone, we own it now,” Gabe smirked. He stood up and walked over to William's side of the table and it took all of William's energy not to duck, run or start crying again. Gabe just dropped a hand to carefully run his fingers through William's hair, curling the ends softly. “You very lucky. Very, very lucky. You pretty boy, my friend think you girl, yes? He wanted you for his own, to touch you and take you. But when he see you boy, he joke and dump you with me.”
William inhaled shakily as Gabe kept threading his fingers through his hair and tried to tell himself that it didn't feel nice, that Gabe could rape him again at any second if he wanted to. But it was the nicest touch he'd had in a while so he didn't back away, just sat and nervously let Gabe do what he wanted.
“What do you mean?” He murmured, looking up at him. “He played a joke? Huh?”
Gabe chuckled again then shifted so he was sitting on the edge of the table. He ran his fingertip along William's hairline then curled his index around a few strands again, distracting himself with the feel. “My friends. They like women, yes? They know I do not- -They do not, ahh.. Make fun? Make fun, yes, they do not make fun of me for it, no no. They respect. So since they see you pretty boy, they think I would like you.” Gabe grinned again and finally took his hand away, resting it on the table.
William shut his eyes again and looked down. He knew that it was a good idea to keep his hair long, but at the same time, he wasn't sure whether he'd rather be dead or in the position he was in with Gabe. There didn't seem to be a way out and William noticed quite frequently that Gabe had a smaller gun tucked into a holster on his belt almost constantly. Even if William managed to steal it, he wouldn't be able to fire it, though.
Gabe stayed quiet as he watched William stare at his gun. He smiled just a little and closed his coat over the holster as he stood up and walked over to the kitchen. William quickly looked back up and followed Gabe with his eyes, watching as he ran his fingers along the wooden counter top.
"You will clean soon." William's eyes widened when Gabe spoke and he quickly rose to his feet. "And if not," Gabe cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. He didn't have to finish the sentence.
"Okay," William just sort of whimpered, one hand grabbing the edge of the table nervously. He watched Gabe walk out of the kitchen then nod his head towards it an William figured that was his cue, reluctantly heading over with his empty bowl.
Gabe stood from afar and watched as William tried to rinse and wash the bowl. He worked on doing the rest of the dishes from things Gabe must have eaten when William was locked up, shivering from the feel of the cold water on his hands by the time he was wiping the counter tops.
With an old rag dabbed in water, William started to wipe crumbs and marks from the counters. He'd barely finished one before be heard Gabe walk over, tried to ignore when he stood over William's shoulder and when his lips touched the boys neck. A shiver ran down William's spine but he kept going as if Gabe wasn't even touching him. He tried to focus on cleaning but Gabe's hands were on his waist, fingers digging into his hips as he swayed them slightly while keeping his lips kissing William's neck.
What William wished would never happen again was finally happening when Gabe pushed him over the counter without any real warning. William sucked in a breathe when he felt something rubbing against his backside and shut his eye tightly when he saw what was going to happen next, a split second before it did.
Gabe's hands had reached around his front to undo the tie that held William's pants up. He whimpered and whispered a decline, praying for him to not, because he was still sore and he still bled a little if he laid the wrong way in bed. Still, Gabe pushed Williams pants down then worked with his own, only enough so that he could spread Williams legs and try to push in past the tight ring of muscles.
“No,” William whimpered again, gripping the rag tightly against the counter. He sucked in a breath when Gabe's fingers dug in harder against his hips, struggling to think of a way to get out of the situation. Not again. He couldn't go through this again.
“Spoke when you're spoken to,” Gabe uttered a warning when William whimpered again. He squeezed his hip enough for it to surely bruise before he finally started to push in, hearing the cry pass from William's lips. He boy doubled over the counter and his hands shook as he gripped and tore at the cloth for dear life, the cold water squeezing out over his hands.
“It hurts so much.” William squeezed his eyes shut as Gabe pulled back ever so slowly, only to slam back in. He wished there was a way out. He wanted a way out. Anything. Anything but this. Just when he thought Gabe might actually have had a heart, he just went and threw it all away. Memories of the night in the basement came flooding back and William choked out another cry, a sob, pleading and whimpering out his friends' names.
It felt like an eternity later that Gabe had pulled out and let go. William would have heard him panting quietly to catch his breath as he did up his pants, but it was all drowned out by the heavy, fast beating of his heart. William slunk down from the counter to sit on the floor, his whole body shaking as he felt the urge to cry again. Gabe just stared down at him, bit his lip for a bare moment before rolling it eyes and walking away.
-
It was at least two or three weeks later that Gabe decided he should take William out. The indoors was driving them both crazy, so he told himself that it was for his own good and that he couldn't leave William by himself without the boy trying to escape. He got out of bed at dawn and washed his face and dressed, before he stepped out of his bedroom to stand by William's door across the hall.
“William,” he called, rapping on the wood with his knuckles. “Get up.”
He was sitting out by the unlit fireplace a few good minutes later before William trudged out of his room, still half asleep. He had a slight limp from the day before when Gabe pushed him a little too hard into the bedroom and he had fallen, but there was no serious injury. Still, he looked exhausted and horrified, wondering what acts Gabe wanted to get up to so early in the morning.
“You're not dressed,” Gabe mumbled, resting an arm around the back of the couch. William released a shaky breath and shook his head, but quickly limped back to his room. Gabe wanted him in clothes, not pyjamas? At least that meant he had more time to recover from his aches than the last.
By the time William was back out in the main room, Gabe was standing by the doorway, reloading his gun. William froze and clenched his fists by his side as he watched the man slide each bullet carefully into their place. Gabe only realised William was there when he heard the boy whimper, so he simply smirked and shoved his handgun carelessly back into the holster on his hip.
“We're going out,” he instructed, beckoning William over. He reluctantly obeyed and was soon standing by Gabe's side, waiting for instructions on what to do next. He'd almost forgotten what 'out' looked like, it had been so long since he'd been around people or seen his own breath fog in front of him.
Just as he went to turn the handle, he saw Gabe move from the corner of his eye and felt something cold and hard pressed against his temple. His eyes went wide and he turned his head ever so cautiously to see the gun in Gabe's hand, already cocked. His breathing took a turn for the worst as he heart pounded faster, but Gabe didn't shoot.
“You try to go, you die.”
William shut his eyes tightly and nodded, trying his hardest not to cry again. His grip tightened on the handle as he felt the pressure remove itself from his head and opened his eyes to see Gabe put the gun in its rightful place.
“Now, let us go.”
CONTINUED HERE >>