A Daydream Away

Jack’s POV
I was brutally thrown to the ground, more pain shooting through my head.
“You sick fuck!” Ron shouted, grimacing at his crotch.
“It’s not my fault,” I cough, covering my mouth and getting vomit residue on my arm, “That you caused my nausea, and triggered it, too.”
He grabbed me by my collar and pulled me up, growling, “I could have you killed for talking that way to me.”
I guess that was him trying to intimidate me. The thing is, he himself isn’t very scary. Ron is a scrawny man, and his face holds as much fierceness as a Chihuahua. I’ve realized that all of his power comes from his “workers”, the muscle, the lackies. Without any of them, he, himself, would probably be in jail or dead, especially considering the way he treats some people. Ron definitely acts way too big for his britches.
“I hope you know you don’t scare me right now, you asshole,” I spat, mustering enough energy to pull away from him, “The only reason you got me that far was because you used my pain against me. You aimed for the weakness. I’m pretty sure if you hadn’t knocked me out earlier, you wouldn’t have been able to even get me on my knees. You’re a sick fucking coward.”
A sickening smile spread across his face. I was hoping to belittle him, to insult him or hurt him in some way, but he seemed to have enjoyed my little speech.
He walked closer, trapping me in the corner of the bare room, whispering, “Oh, dear Jack, I’m not a coward, I’m smart. I can read people like an open book, which means I can find out how their minds work. You see, I use other people to my advantage. Why? It’s simple, really. It’s because I can. Letting people walk all over me is just not my thing. When you have as much power as I do, wouldn’t you abuse it, too? To feel the desperation that people hold when they have absolutely nowhere to go? When they have no way out? Just knowing that you hold their very life in your hands, wouldn’t that delicious control be worth it?”
“I would never. I respect human life too much to do that. You’re just a sick. Fucking. Coward,” I repeated my words from earlier. I may not have hit a nerve with him, but I was going to try my hardest to make him believe that I would never stoop to his level, that he was lower than low. I wanted to try and make him feel some remorse as to what he was doing. I was also able to overwrite my fear with the fact that he still hadn’t cleaned his puked on dick.
“You can’t just fucking play people like their chess pieces. There is such thing as free will,” I said.
“Free will, really? Do you think everyone has that?” he chuckled, as if what I had said was a joke.
“Of course I do,” I replied, as if it were obvious.
“Well, then, what if I told you that I was taught that I didn’t have “free will,” hmm? I was raised as if I were nothing. The first time I had a taste of control, a taste of power, it was like nicotine in my lungs, sweet heroine in my veins. I was addicted. And I’ll be damned if I let a pathetic justice warrior take that away from me.”
Ron gave me a sickening grin, and I felt a rock hit the bottom of my stomach, sinking it lower than I thought possible. This man was insane. There was no way we were going to make it out of this. As I was being drug to this room, I had been observing my surroundings, and observing his workers. Thinking back to it now, I realized that they all seemed rather emotionless. They were not receiving any joy from the shit that Ron was making them do. It almost seemed like they were disconnected from life, like they were… forced to be here, which would make sense. With the way he has been talking, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were all forced to be here. From the moment he manipulated his first person, everything probably started falling in place. With one person, he could manipulate another, and with two he could control more, which would continue to lead the dominoes to their fall. He may be a madman, but he was smart. If all of these people were here against his will, he definitely knows what he is doing.
I gave him a horrified look as everything started to click inside of my head. He’s the kind of real-life villains that you read about in the news, see their face plastered everywhere with a headline that would say, “Still at large.” He’s the person you know exists in the world, but you always have that thought of, “Oh, I would never meet that person in real life.” Never did I think my boring life would come to this, and all because of Alex.
Alex, whose eyes shine brighter with curiosity than a child. Alex, whose laugh is as calming as the sound of a wind chime. Who lets his emotions show freely, who will coo at anything with fur and a tail, who thinks peanut butter is a main course, who gets irritated with me when I act childish, but can’t help but to laugh afterwards.
Alex, who has helped me find my way, even when I didn’t know where I was at.
Alex, who is my living guardian angel.
And this man used him, like he uses anybody who comes within a ten feet radius of him. He used him in one of the most sickening ways that I could think of. To imagine the trauma that he must have dealt through, just because this man promised him clothes on his back and food in his stomach. He took advantage of the fact that Alex was in a desperate state of help and support, something that all humans should have. Which, yes, did include Ron. If he would have had that simple necessity, he would not have turned out this way.
The thing that doesn’t make me pity this man is the fact that he knew what Alex must have been going through, and warped it to fulfill his sick needs.
My fear quickly burned away in the fire of my hatred. Ron’s smile grew larger, seemingly feeding off of the array of emotions I was giving off. He walked backwards a bit, giving me some breathing room, as he picked up a discarded article of clothing and began to wipe off his genitals.
“You know, I wonder how well Alex would do if he had a taste of what control was. I mean, it’s been taken away from him enough that he might just latch onto it like I did,” he laughed, a sickening, brutal laugh.
“You shut the fuck up,” I growled.
“You are just an absolute ball of fire-”
“Fucking stop it, you fucking asshole,” I yelled, loud enough that my throat burned, “Look, we’ve gone over how terrible of a fucking person you are, but to do what you’ve done to Alex? He is more caring than anyone I know, will give up his life just to see someone smile, and you took advantage of him. Of all the fucking people on this earth, and you manage to capture the one person whose life has been nothing but shit, but has continued to treat others as if they were royalty. Of all the fucking people, please, let him go,” I was completely sobbing at this point.
Ron seemed completely unfazed by my yelling, but seemed to be contemplating something in his mind. I was honestly afraid, more than I was before, of what his response was going to be. Did I just dig a deeper hole for Alex? I could feel the guilt already making itself home in my mind.
“How about this, Jacky, I’ll let Alex go-”
“Wait, really?” I cut him off, only to receive a sharp slap to the face.
“Let. Me. Finish. I will let Alex go. As long as you promise you will willingly stay here and work for me,” he bargained.
“I-what?” I questioned, feeling as though I didn’t hear him right, although I knew exactly what he was getting at.
He sighed, looking at me with mock-sympathy. He slowly said, “Stay with me, work for me, and Alex goes free.”
I was honestly confused as to what he was asking. He had gone through all of the trouble to stalk Alex, find out where we lived and where we worked, and kidnap both me and Alex from my apartment, all because he was angry that Alex had left him. And now he was telling me he would simply let Alex go if I said yes?
“What’s the twist,” I asked skeptically, not believing him.
Ron sighed again, looking me straight in the eye and saying, “I like you better than him. You’re more fun, and equally as attractive. I could probably bring in more business if I had you on the market. I am willing to trade one of my toys for another, better one.”
I stood there, staring at him, as I let the information run through my head. If I said yes, Alex would be let go. He would be free of here.
Without another thought, I signed my deal with the devil as I said, “Yes.”
--
After Ron told me what I would be doing here, I was roughly taken back to our holding room. The large man slammed the door open, threw me on the ground, and promptly left.
“Jack!” I heard Alex’s frantic voice shout as I lay on the dirty floor. I heard a rushing noise, and, the next thing I knew, I was in Alex’s arms, once again. For a split moment, I realized just how much I loved being here, pressed up against him, the scent of him pervading my nose, and the force that he always seemed to have when he hugged me. For a split moment, I felt safe in this fucked up situation.
He pulled me away, keeping me at arm’s length, and inspected my face. I noticed him chewing on his lip, as if he were worried that he’d find something he didn’t like.
“So… Jack… I heard what had happened. Did anything else…” he asked skeptically, not wanting to go further with his question.
I gave him a soft smile and shook my head. I could physically feel him relaxing after that as he pulled me back in for another hug.
We stayed completely sedentary for a few moments, until I felt Alex shaking.
“Shh, Alex, all will be okay, don’t worry,” I comforted. It wasn’t until I heard a snort did I realize that he wasn’t shaking in fear, he was laughing.
“I-I can’t believe you puked on him,” he snickered out, “Like, chunks and all?”
I was rather taken aback by this sudden change. Stuttering out a, “Y-yeah,” I watched as he laughed even more at my response.
“Yeah, it was pretty gross to look at, and it made me feel sick,” I chuckled as I came out of my stupor. This made more laughter rack through Alex’s body as he fell over, trying to keep the sounds coming out of his mouth stifled with his hand.
That glowing, radiant laugh accompanied by a toothy grin. In such a grave situation, he’s able to find some sort of light to latch on to. Once again, he has shown me that he has such a pure heart.
I knew it would break him if he knew that I had accepted Ron’s proposal. But, he will be okay. I’ll indiscreetly sign the papers to the bar over to him, and he can have the apartment, too. Alex could tell my family that I had run away, saying I couldn’t take my life there anymore. They would believe it. They always knew I was bored with it. It wasn’t until recently that I had actually begun to find any joy, but they didn’t know that.
I promised him, from the moment I brought him into my apartment, that I was going to keep him safe.
I would do anything to save him.
Anything.