by J P Sayle
Aaden’s nod and grim smile had him moving to pack up his stuff, feeling the urge to get moving. The light breaking through the front window said it would soon be morning, meaning Joel had had Stuart for more than twelve hours by his calculation. His hands wanted to tremble at what damage Joel could inflict in that time span, if Stuart was still alive. His breath hitched when the thought scrambled past his defences. His quick moan had Aaden wrapping his large arms around him. Resting his head on his broad shoulder, Joe let Aaden’s strength fortify him before he stepped back.
“Let’s get this show on the road. Do you have everything we need?”
Aaden’s scowl at odds with gleam of lust in his eyes when he spoke, “Martin’s Audi R8 is the only car that Joel won’t have seen you driving, so, though it’s far from conspicuous, we’ll have to take that.”
Joe felt a stupid grin cross his face at the excitement Aaden expressed when he talked about the car. He’d never get why guys got a hard on for super cars. Shaking off his thoughts, they hurried to leave. The urgency to get moving nagged like a toothache, it just wouldn’t stop.
Aaden spoke, intruding past Joe’s worrying. “My only concern is the car’s size, two seats will be a squeeze and we don’t know what state Stuart will be in. We will just need to improvise as we go, but I don’t think we have any other option right now.”
Joe felt his confidence dip when Aaden dragged his hands repeatedly through his dishevelled hair, as if he was trying to figure something out. He could hear the concern behind Aaden’s words. He wasn’t a fool, but he was going to focus on finding a living breathing Stuart and not the alternative. The urge to cross his fingers and hope they weren’t too late, or that this wasn’t wild goose chase had him crossing them anyway. What could it hurt?
Dragging his weary ass to Martin’s car, he settled his pack in the boot. Watching the deserted roads pass in a blur, Aaden cut off to the left at the top of Barragrow heading up towards the mountain. Joe knew this was the quickest route and would take them nearly straight to their destination. He watched the sun rise, daylight creeping through the greyness, low lying clouds coated the hills hiding the deep purple heather that normally was vividly displayed the higher the road twisted up. The hills looked eerie with only the tops peeking through, making them appear to be floating in air.
The sound of gravel crunching under the tyres had Joe focusing back on Aaden, watching him park behind the small substation. The Manx electric trams used it as a stopping point before continuing on to the summit of the mountain, for them, it would work to shield the car. Joe felt a little unnerved to see another vehicle in the tiny car park at six thirty am. There was nothing around, so why would anyone park there? Is it Joel’s?
He looked at Aaden to see if he was thinking the same thing, but the rigid lines etched into his face masked his thoughts. His gaze drifted up to the building in front of him. Plucking at his sleeves, he tried to ignore the solid ball of lead now settling in his gut. His weary eyes wanted to drill holes through the brick making him wish he had Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility so he could just waltz right in undetected. Joe felt the rising hysteria bubble within his chest trying to escape at his random thoughts.
He shook them off, turning as Aaden pulled out the map of the area and the building schematics, laying them across the steering wheel. Joe grabbed the cold metal of the door handle, needing something solid to hold on to, to ground him and keep him from flying into a million different pieces. He ignored Aaden’s pointed look at his hand and he nodded at him to encourage him to continue. He didn’t need Aaden to know he was a total mess, he could probably guess but still he had to keep some semblance of being in control. If not for Aaden, but for himself.
He went over what Aaden was showing him. The road that led up was deserted, disuse evident by the amount of grass growing through the cracks in the tar. The weather having taken its toll on the exterior building, the large painted bike on the side showed evidence of flaking. Colourless bits of concrete showing through, making them look like gaping mouths. The remaining greying paint hadn’t fared much better. The building looked uncared for with boarded up windows and doors. Joe noted everything, finding nothing different from the plans they had found.
He jumped out of the car, feeling as ready as he could be, snubbing the swamping emotions dragging at him. The need for urgency seemed to increase, pushing for action, his body in full agreement. Joe grabbed his handheld jammer, unable to resist a smirk at Aaden’s raised eyebrows.
“It’s just a little something I’ve been working on. As yet, I haven’t found anything it can’t jam. Joel may be clever, but he has nothing on me when it comes to electronics.” Joe let his confidence jeer at his negative thoughts, praying he wasn’t going to land on his bragging ass.
Aaden’s rumbling laughter easing some of Joe’s tension as they headed on foot to the rear of the building.
The silence descended between them, the seriousness of the situation weighted heavily with each step they took closer to the building. The dull grey motionless sky worked in their favour. The lack of breeze offered stillness, not even the long grass moved, making it disconcertingly quiet, as if the air was holding its breath, waiting.
Joe’s steps faulted at the sudden sound of a motor engine, dropping like stones to the ground in unison. Joe watched silently as the trail’s bike headed across the undulating field towards the building. It didn’t appear out of place, until he looked at the size of the owner.
Joe gripped onto Aaden sucking in a breath rooted to the spot, he let the immense relief fill him. Stuart has to be in that building. His fingers dug into Aaden’s arm when the bike headed to the rear of the building out of sight. Oh fuck, they needed to think fast on how to get Stuart out of that building, like now.
On silent agreement they crept low to the ground towards the museum as fast as they could, without drawing attention. The long weathered grass helped to some degree to camouflage them, but Aaden’s size was nigh on impossible to hide in anything. Joe prayed their dark clothing did its job helping them blend.
Joe felt a strange prickling at the back of his neck a second before he heard a solid thud. Joe whispered directly into Aaden’s ear. “Did you hear that?”
Joe felt the hair on his body rise as the engine died. Alarmed at the sudden silence, terror skittered around his brain while it shouted the obvious, they were out of time. Shooting his eyes towards the building he was unable to stop his body tremor in fear. His need to protect overtook all sensibility as his legs powered forward before he could fully form a plan of action. Aaden’s muttered curse behind him had Joe sending up a prayer of thanks when heavy thudded footfall followed him.
Heart pounding, Joe raced towards the building.
Stuart started to sweat as the man holding him up became rigid, he could sense his alarm growing with every passing second. The sound of an engine cutting off chilled him to the bone, his gaze wavered as he searched for an easy escape or somewhere they wouldn’t be detected.
Their lack of options had Stuart believing his first urge to lie down and just give up was maybe his only choice. The wave of helplessness that overwhelmed him nearly buckled his legs. We’re never going to evade Joel or his gun.
Stuart couldn’t stop the hopelessness leaking out as he encouraged the man to leave him. “You go, leave me. I’ll only slow you down. Ring the police, let them know what is going on. Go, please get any help you can.” His agitated hoarse whispers were met with what he thought was disbelief but he couldn’t be sure with the poor sight in his left eye.
The other man’s angry words derailed his thoughts. “Fuck that, man, I’m not leaving you. See over there?”
Stuart tried to follow his pointing hand.
“My car is parked just there. We need to get to it, before whoever did this shit to you gets back. Well, that if that’s not him on the bike, but anyway, I’m not leaving you and you wouldn’t ask if you could see yourself, man. Your face looks like chopped liv
er, and I value my face far too much to get caught. So come on and get your ass in gear.”
The harsh whispered words had him wanting to feel his face for an instant before reconsidering. He shuddered, trying to focus on the car park while his trembling legs were speaking volumes. They weren’t convinced they could hold him up to travel that far to escape.
Stuart attempted to still his harsh breathing, convinced his body was trying to tell him something important. His bleary eye tried to see, straining harder, his heart leapt at the two familiar figures he could just make out moving fast towards them. Unaware tears trickled down his face creating tracks in the dried blood. Stuart’s elation swarmed past the misery, they came for me.
His body collapsed under the weight of his liberation, forgetting the man holding him up. The loud grunt in his ear had Stuart trying to take some weight back onto his aching legs, but before he could the man righted them, keeping them both upright. The action had Stuart biting back the grunt, chewing his busted lip, not wanting the man to feel bad. Instead he focused on directing the man towards their salvation.
“There, look, help.” He could hear the raw emotions in his hoarse voice, wishing with everything in him that he could run to Joe and hold on, and convey his true feelings.
The man oblivious to Stuart’s rioting emotions took him at his word, propelling them both towards Joe and Aaden. Stuart said a silent prayer they’d get to them before Joel found them. The thought of the gun had him urging the man forward faster than was wise. Stuart locked his jaw, clamping his lips together to keep the whimpers of agony in.
Air backed up in Stuart’s lungs making it impossible to draw in a breath, his insides endeavoured to revolt at the noise coming from inside the museum. Screams and shouts followed by the sounds of breaking furniture had Stuart jerking into movement. “Arrrrrgh.” Struggling to fight past the all-consuming pain, Stuart swayed towards Joe’s frantic calls, the pounding in his head making it hard to focus on anything.
“You’re alright, come on! Your friends are here to help. Stay with me.”
Pleas and demands floated around his mind, trying to shake off the grey fog only seemed to make it worse. His limbs shook violently as he tried to steady himself, knowing it was too late when the darkness started to steal the last of the greyness. Stuart sank towards the ground, his mind screaming for Joe. His whole body convulsed hearing a gun firing as the sound ricocheted into his dulled brain a second before the darkness claimed him.
Aaden lurched forward as Stuart collapsed to the ground, pulling the smaller man with him. Not thinking, he caught both men, embracing them as they landed hard. Electricity fired up his arms, startling Aaden into forgetting the pain in his back and ass.
His mind flooded with memories not his own, leaving him gasping. Aaden fought against the abhorrent images replayed horrifically, showing scenes no person should ever have to witness. His grief welled fast making cold sweat bead, soaking his hair, swiping it out of his face he breathed deep, regretting it instantly when he dragged in fragrant air.
The scent of lemongrass invaded his senses making him want to bury his face and hide from the past. Using all of his strength he pushed the memories back into the box. A box he’d built in his mind over the last twenty years, allowing him to stay sane while it remained closed. Aaden struggled to pull himself together when the stark reminder of what he lived with daily for twenty years captivated all his attention.
Shocked, beautiful pale blue eyes were riveted to his, the moment endless as Aaden felt his hungry stare devour what he’d only seen in his nightmares. A face more familiar than his showed an abundance of freckles scattered across a button nose and pale cheeks. The freckles highlighted the sharpness of his cheekbones, giving an elfin quality to his face. The full luscious red lips perfectly matched the short glowing wild red hair forming a perfect bright halo around his face.
Aaden watched in fascination as the man’s pale skin warmed, pink imbuing his pale cheeks reminding him of the pink lady apples he loved to eat. Aaden wet his lips, almost tasting the tart sweetness. The man’s sharp exhale made him realise how close he’d been to taking a taste of those luscious lips.
Aaden tried to focus on Stuart cradled in his other arm while he pulled himself together, giving himself a stern telling off. Now was not the time to think about his past clashing with his present, no, it fucking wasn’t.
Aaden barely registered Stuart as he put the other man down on the ground next to him, out of harm’s way. Removing all skin contact feeling it was safer for the moment when he realised how little the man was wearing. Aaden choose to ignore the immediate feeling of loss, convincing himself it wasn’t the hardest thing he’d ever done. The tingling in his left hand had him rubbing it vigorously down his trousers hoping it would ease.
He cast a quick glance at the guy’s flushed face only to be met with a dreamy smile that pushed those lush red lips up into a cupid bow. Aaden moved his hand to prevent it from pulling the man back in for a taste, growling in displeasure.
Aaden was sorry when the man’s smile dimmed at his growl, reassuring himself it was for the best. He quickly glanced away before he did something utterly ridiculous, like pick the man up and run off with him. Instead, Aaden searched for Joe, berating himself for being a crap friend, his mind kicked into gear when he remembered the shot. Shit, is Joe alright?
He released a sigh of relief when he caught sight of Joe slithering across the grass towards him and Stuart. Joe’s sudden indrawn breath had him take in Stuart properly as he laid him on the grass. Aaden couldn’t prevent the snarl of distress at Stuart’s grossly swollen and battered, almost unrecognisable face. His body suffered a similar torment: covered with bruises, ligature marks, and swollen limbs. Though, he supposed the one saving grace was there didn’t appear to be any broken bones. Aaden had seen with his own eyes that Stuart was able to stand, albeit with support, but he checked him over to make sure.
Stuart whimpered as pain penetrated the white fog. Who the hell thought it would be clever to move my arms? Fluttering his left eye open, groaning as the dull light lanced into his brain. He slammed his eye shut, chugging in a breath, hoping like anything that this nightmare was over. His fuzzy mind alerting him that he needed to check on Joe. Processing for a second, Stuart opened his eye only seeing Aaden hovering over him, panic had him trying to rise.
Aaden’s large warm hands held him in place, speaking calmly. “He is fine, he’s here. Just hold still, we’re going to get you moved and sorted as soon as possible.”
Stuart turned his head at the feel of icy fingers touching his sore cheek, seeing Joe’s watery chocolate eyes felt like the best medicine in the world. He was surprised he still had more tears left as they flowed onto Joe’s fingers, thinking he should be all cried out by now.
“Shush, shush now. It’s fine, I’ve got you.”
Stuart moaned his displeasure at the lack of Joe’s gentle touch when he pulled away.
“It’s alright, I’m just getting some painkillers and water that’s all. Come on you must be thirsty and in need of something for the pain right about now, hey.” Joe’s choked words had him considering how bad he must look if medication was the first thing Joe wanted to give him.
Stuart let Joe place the pills on his dry tongue before tilting his head to take a sip of the water. The first hit sliding down his raw throat had him in two minds, whether to sigh in pleasure or cry in agony both equally tempting. Though the one thing he did know for certain, the water had never tasted better. He took another sip with Joe’s encouragement, letting the cool liquid spill over his dry lips, it felt like nirvana.
Joe pulled the bottle back from him, “Don’t rush, baby, there’s plenty more. Sip it slowly.”
Stuart followed his instructions, keeping his eye glued to Joe, not missing the look of concern he threw at Aaden. Stuart pushed Joe’s hand away even though the movement hurt when he realised they were wasting precious time.
Stuart gritted his teeth, w
illing himself to sound confident. “What are we going to do now? I’m not sure I can run but I could walk with assistance.”
Three sets of eyes stared at him all conveying an array of emotions he struggled to see through his swollen gritty eye. Stuart felt his frustration rise, but the fear had him pushing on.
“Please, we need to get away from here, from Joel and definitely that gun he’s been waving around.” His thoughts turned to Princess, his own distress forgotten.
“Princess?”
Stuart’s tongue felt thick just saying her name, he stumbled over it as fear gripped his throat. Joe gave him a giant smile, brighter than the sun, making hope slam into his chest and leaving him breathless.
“She is going to be fine. The vet fixed her up good. Max is guarding her.”
Joe’s chuckle at his one eyed ‘what the fuck’ look had his own lips trying to lift. Stuart tried heroically to bite back the moan at the pain slicing through his face, failing miserably.
“We need to come up with a plan to get out of here in one piece.” Aaden’s surly face peered down at him and Joe as he spoke, excluding the third man.
Stuart fought his befuddled mind and poor vision to understand what he was missing. Taking a look at the other man’s bright red face, the morning light caught his vibrant red hair, the earlier niggle of familiarity came back with a vengeance.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Joe’s panic filled voice hardly registered past Stuart’s shock.
“Greg? Greg, is that you?” Stuart thought Greg’s face appeared to look like a rabbit caught in the headlights as he spoke.
“Holy God, Stuart, is that you?” Greg’s stunned gasp filled the air making everyone freeze.
“Do you know this man?” Aaden’s livid accusation caused Stuart to pause. What the bloody hell is his problem?
Joe gave Greg a suspicious look before releasing an impatient huff which Stuart ignored for now, knowing it was not the time to get into it. He nodded at Aaden, looking at Joe as he answered. “Greg and I work for Martin. This is Greg, the office manager I talk about from the office.”
