Love in Chains Ch. 03

I was very disturbed when I left Adam and Nye. It wasn't just what I had seen in the dungeon. It was the way Nye was. He had changed so much I hardly recognised him. Apart from the fact that he had lost weight... he also seemed to have lost his spark, his soul. He was lost and empty and he didn't even know it.

Adam was a bad man. I knew that with absolute certainty. The way he treated Nye, the way he had looked at me. He was an evil manipulating monster. And the way he had behaved in the dungeon... He hadn't been concerned about Nye at all... no, more than that, he hadn't seemed surprised. Had he done that deliberately? What was he trying to achieve? Was he trying to kill him? My blood ran cold and for a moment I completely seized up, frozen. But no, that was just silly. Why would he do that? All he had to do was send Nye away if he was tired of him... but it didn't seem he was tired of him, quite the reverse. Adam was the bloated fat spider at the centre of the web and he was only just beginning to wrap him in the sticky threads.

So what to do? I couldn't keep this to myself, couldn't bear the weight of it. I had to tell someone, to talk it through and get some perspective. But who? I couldn't talk to Mam... she was freaking out about Nye enough as it was... and not the boys, they were too young... no, none of the family, they were too close, they would want to rush in there to save him and the sad truth was... he didn't want to be saved.

In the end I found that I was driving down a familiar street, even though I had not intended to go there. I sighed, giving way to the inevitable. It was fitting after all. No one else outside the family cared for Nye more.

"Miriam! What a surprise! You look wonderful darling. Where's that brother of yours? I haven't seen Aneurin for simply ages. You tell him he's gotta come visit soon."

"Of course I will Mrs Taylor. Is Kane in?"

"Sure thing honey. He's not back at school for a couple of weeks. Go right on up... you know where."

"Thank you."

Kane practically threw himself on me when I stepped through the door. He's like that.

"Miri, Miri, Miri. Where you bin girl? You and that brother of yours. Ain't seen hide nor hair of either of you in weeks."

"I've been around. Busy with work. As for Nye..."

Being a perceptive boy I didn't have to say another word for Kane to pick up on my discomfort and concern.

"What's up? Is he still with that loser Adam?"

"Loser's right. I'm worried about him Kane."

"He made his choice Mir." He turned and stared out of the window, the set of his shoulders filling in all the things he didn't say.

"Hardly. Adam got him in his sights, decided he wanted him and what Nye wanted didn't come into it. He overwhelmed him. Once he got his claws in Nye didn't stand a chance."

"Well, just because we hate him and want to rip out his heart..." He turned and gave a poor imitation of his usual smile. "It's his life Mir. He chose Adam and as much as we think that is a really, really bad idea it's still his decision and we can't interfere."

"That's what I thought... until today."

"What do you mean? What happened today?"

As I told him he flopped down in a chair and got paler and paler. When I had finished he remained silent, staring at the floor.

"You're fucking joking right?"

"Would I do something like that about something like this? Look... I'm sorry Kane. I probably shouldn't have come to you but I didn't know what else to do. I had to tell SOMEONE and... I just couldn't think of anyone else who..."

"No... you did the right thing... absolutely. I would have killed you if you hadn't told me. It's just... Fuck!! That Nye would do something like that... that he would get involved in that scene... I mean if it had been me...!" He tried to smile but failed miserably.

"It would never have been you Kane. You wouldn't have fallen for that..." I couldn't bear to say his name and I couldn't find a word bad enough to put in its place. "I still can't believe that Nye did. I can't believe how much he has changed. It's as if that man has brainwashed him, squeezed all the life out of him and replaced it with..." I had no words. "I'm scared for him. You should have seen what they did to him... and Adam... he didn't even care. I... I... Look this might sound crazy but it... he wasn't surprised. He wasn't fazed at all. I think he did it deliberately. He wanted to hurt Nye."

"I'm not surprised that he changed Mir. In fact it all makes so much more sense now."

"What do you mean?"

"I know about people like that... that scene. They take people and they 'train' them. They groom them like child molesters, make them dependent then introduce techniques, slowly at first, getting them more and more enmeshed and then when the reality hits they can't get out."

My heart was thudding, my stomach roiling and I was cold, oh so cold. "The reality of what?"

Kane shrugged. "It depends what he wants him for. I've done my own digging around and I've heard things about that club."

"What? What have you heard about it? What do you think he might do to Nye? What might he 'want him for'?"

"A whore, a slave, an enforcer..."

"Woah... what do you mean? I don't know..."

"The Club has a number of very exclusive 'members only' sections. One of them goes on upstairs where they offer the... services of certain young men for the entertainment of the guests. In short it's a high class whorehouse. As for the downstairs... there are two kinds of people who go there... people who want to give pain and those who want to receive it. The enforcers are trained to apply various forms of punishment and pain... whips, clamps, cattle prods... you know the thing..."

"And slaves?"

"Slaves are trained to be absolutely obedient no matter what. They are not allowed to show their faces and they are never addressed by name. They are always kept hooded and bound and usually led around on a leash. They take the punishment, anything that the clients want to do to them. Of course the clients more often than not 'do it' to each other but there are always a couple of enforcers and a couple of slaves around at any one time."

"How do you know all this?"

"When I met that Adam guy I got a bad vibe and I did some digging about. It's easy enough to find superficial stuff about The Club and ... stuff... but as for the rest, it took a little more... subversive activity."

"Have you been there? To The Club? Have you been to the dungeon?"

Kane laughed. "Hell no. Oh, I've been to The Club, that's where Nye introduced me to Adam, and I've been back once since, hoping..." he looked into the distance for a moment then shook his head. "But I didn't go downstairs. No one goes downstairs without an invitation... and I wouldn't have dared anyway. I've heard stories about that place."

"I got down there easily enough."

"You are clearly related to the boss's current favourite. No one was going to deny you anything. I would be surprised if you found it so easy next time though."

I shuddered at the thought. "There is never going to BE another time. Shit Kane. The things I saw..."

"Yeah." He frowned and stared at his shoes.

"What do you think... what do you think he wants with Nye?"

"It could be that he has genuinely fallen for him. I mean who wouldn't?" He laughed and flushed, embarrassed. "But even so... Adam's an addict. Everyone knows about it, everyone who knows him. He hasn't been able to enjoy straight sex in years... and by 'straight' I don't mean heterosexual."

"So whatever happens he's going to get Nye deeply involved with that... stuff."

"It seems like he already is."

"I don't know. He didn't seem... I mean... he looked lost Kane. You should have seen him. Even after he was showered and dressed and more himself he was... he was..." I gave up trying to think what he was. "He wasn't Nye."

For the first time Kane raised his head and looked me straight in the eye. "That must have been hard for you Mir... to have seen him like that."

"It was unbearable."

"I'm glad you told me about it but I really don't see there's anything we can do. He's twenty one years old... he's not a child, he's not mentally ill, he isn't doing anything illegal. What can we do? If we try to talk to him he won't listen."

"He's not doing anything illegal but Adam is. We could go to the police... about the brothel he's running."

"And do you think that Nye will thank us for that?"

"Who cares if it gets him away from Adam?"

"I care." He said softly. "He'd hate us Mir. You know how stubborn he is. He would never ever forgive us. And do you really believe that it would get him away from Adam? Or at least from the world he now lives in. Even if Adam went to prison, and knowing him I seriously doubt he would Nye would stand by him. He'd be 'taken care of' until Adam got out and, believe it or not there are worse people than Adam out there and they'd take care of him real well."

"So what are we going to do? We can't just leave him there, with that man."

"I don't know. I don't know whether there is anything we can do."

"But..."

"Look Mir... I'll think on it okay? I'll see what I can find out, what I can do. But I'm not promising anything. At the end of the day it's Nye's life. Okay we think he's making bad choices but it's still his life. We can't interfere with that, we have no right to."

I knew he was right... but that didn't mean I had to like it.

***

Nye woke in agony the next day. Every part of him hurt and his head felt as though it had been stuffed with cotton wool during the night... cotton wool laced with razor blades. Considering that he had slept like a log he felt surprisingly un rested and, after glancing at the clock to see it was already past noon he simply groaned and turned over, pulling the duvet up around his ears.

Adam, of course, wasn't there. Adam had NEVER slept past noon. He was up at 6.30 every morning and went for a run before breakfast, then he showered, ate and drank two cups of coffee... then he went to The Club. Sometimes he only spent a couple of hours there and sometimes he was there all day. He took his business very seriously.

Today Nye was glad Adam wasn't there. He felt strangely ashamed for being in so much pain, for being so weak. He had been desperate to make a good impression on Adam, to not show him up in front of his employees and clients. He had tried so hard... had done everything that was asked of him and took it without murmur of complaint. And still... still he had somehow failed. Not that Adam had ever said that, in fact he had been incredibly gracious about it. For the first time Nye smiled. Adam had felt so guilty about what had happened, even though it wasn't his fault. He had tried hard to make it up when all the time it should have been Nye who was making it up to HIM. He was so generous.

Nye felt himself sliding into sleep again when he heard the bedroom door open. He knew it was Adam but he didn't have the energy to acknowledge him. He was so tired.

Adam sat on the bed and stroked his hair. It was delicious. He sighed. "Are you awake?"

"No."

The stroking continued. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Like crap. Everything hurts."

"It will feel better if you'd get up and moving, work out the kinks."

"I don't want to. I hurt."

"Well... whether you want to or not you are going to. I have a surprise for you. Go take a shower and meet me in the lounge."

"Don't want to."

Nye resisted as Adam tried to tug the duvet away but Adam simply yanked harder until the duvet was on the floor. Nye groaned and curled into a ball.

"Come on Nye. I am not going to fight with you. Get your ass in the shower and make it quick."

"No."

Nye jerked awake with a shock as Adam's hand connected with his buttock... hard. "Up."

"Aw... that hurt."

"Don't be a baby. It was only a slap. Get up."

Rubbing his stinging butt cheek Nye sat up and groaned, hugging himself. "Why are you being so fucking cruel?"

Adam laughed. "Because you are being such a drama queen." He planted a gentle kiss on Nye's head and tilted his face up for a tender kiss. "And because I need you to get up... because I have a surprise for you and I can't wait one more minute to give it to you."

Nye laughed, forgetting the pain of the slap in the pleasure of the kiss. "Alright. I get the message. I'm getting up."

"Good. I have a couple of things to deal with. Meet me in the lounge, and don't be long."

Nye yawned and stretched, wincing as it hurt. "Okay, okay, I'm doing it."

Half an hour later Nye emerged from the bathroom, dressed in a large fluffy bathrobe. Adam was staring out of the window and he turned irritably.

"What the hell have you been doing in there... and you're not even dressed!"

"So? We're not going anywhere today. Why would I want to dress when I feel so...? Did you know I'm bleeding?"

"Nye..." He sighed with irritation. "Go and get dressed."

"No." Nye threw himself down on the sofa, immediately regretting it when his back exploded in pain... and he didn't even want to THINK about his rear.

"Nye... stop being a Diva and get dressed."

"Why is it so important to you that I get dressed?"

"Because we're going out."

"Where? I don't want to go out." The thought of pulling pants over his ruined bottom and a shirt on his throbbing back was appalling to Nye. He could barely walk and his limbs were like lead. "I really don't want to go out."

"It's not just out, it's away. I've arranged time off from The Club and we're driving up to The Lakes. I have a hotel booked and reservations for dinner tonight."

Nye stared at Adam, who was standing his head up and the biggest grin ever on his face. He had done this for him. He had made these arrangements just for him and he felt crap that he really didn't want to go.

Adam looked a little uncertain. "It's what you've been wanting isn't it?"

"Yes... yes of course, it would be wonderful but... Adam I'm really hurting. My... my back is killing me and... and... well the thought of sitting in a car for hours... I can't Adam, not today. Maybe tomorrow."

Adam's face turned dark. "I've taken a lot of time and trouble over this Nye. Everything's arranged."

"I'm sorry Adam. Couldn't we go tomorrow? I'm sure that one more day..."

"No! We cannot go tomorrow. I have made all the arrangements for today. Now get dressed and pack a weekend case. We're leaving in an hour."

"I don't want to go."

Nye shrank back, pressing his sore back into the sofa, despite the pain. Adam's eyes were like chips of black glass. "I did this for you. I went to a lot of trouble for you. I cancelled appointments for you. I paid a lot of money for a very nice hotel for you." Through clenched teeth he growled. "Now get your ungrateful ass of that sofa and get ready."

Nye was washed with a sense of guilt for having caused Adam so much trouble and ordinarily he would have been scuttling off to the bedroom, feeling bad for being so unreasonable. But he really wasn't feeling well. His head felt strange and his body was full of pain.

"Adam. It's not that I'm not grateful, I am. I just don't feel well and..." Before he could finish Adam had crossed the room and grabbed him by the wrist, yanking him bodily to his feet. Nye yelped in pain as Adam's fingers crushed the tender skin that had been abraded by the cuffs. Adam ignored him and put his other arm around his waist, pulling him close. His face inches away, he hissed.

"I TOLD you to get dressed. I will not waste all this time and effort so that you can brush me off being a precious baby. Life is pain Nye, get used to it. Now... I will say it one more time and then I'll do it myself and I WON'T be gentle. Go and get dressed."

He released Nye's waist and flung him toward the bedroom, still holding his wrist until the last moment. Nye never knew whether the blow to the side of his face was deliberate or whether Adam was simply intending to push him in the direction of the bedroom. Whatever was the case, the blow hurt, it hurt a lot and sent him crashing to the floor by way of the coffee table.

Nye lay still, stunned and unbelieving. When Adam's hand touched his shoulder he jumped and scrabbled away.

"Nye... Nye I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to push you so hard. Are you alright? I'm so sorry."

Nye stared at him, his head pounding and the side of his face, where the back of Adam's hand had connected with it, stinging and sore. Adam reached out with his hand and touched the place, his eyes wide with horror. Nye flinched.

"Oh my god, baby... it was an accident. I swear it was an accident. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Completely dazed Nye allowed Adam to help him up off the floor and guide him into the bedroom. He tried to lie down on the bed but Adam wouldn't let him so he sat complacent and numbed as Adam dressed him and threw clothes for both of them into a suitcase. Within minutes of being strapped into the car seat by Adam, he was asleep.

The weekend was not the most successful Nye had ever experienced. He was stiff and sore but Adam wouldn't let him rest, although he was considerate in other ways. He kept telling him that he was being cruel to be kind as he was too soft and delicate and had to toughen up. He tried to believe it, he really did but something had changed inside him when Adam had hit him, a fragile barrier had fractured and now it was threatening to shatter.

On the last night Nye was in a foul mood. He was still sore, very sore and had a stinking headache. He had picked at his food and tried his best to keep up with Adam's conversation but he was tired and all he wanted was to go to bed and sleep.

It was with enormous relief that he finally stepped into the shower and allowed the hot water to wash over him. The pain in his back was almost gone and his shoulders were no more than a tugging throb when he twisted them in certain ways. The marks on his wrists and ankles had faded and generally he was feeling stronger and less sore but his backside was still painful and his head... it seemed he woke every morning feeling more tired than when he went to sleep, with a splitting headache and as much focus as a cross eyed rattlesnake.

Standing under the warm water the headache that had had his head in a vice began to release its grip and at one point he almost fell asleep there and then. He leaned his hands on the wall behind the shower head and bent his head watching the water drip off the ends of the long pale ropes of hair. He sighed; partly with pleasure and partly with weariness.

"Nye... hurry up. What do you DO in there?"

Sighing again Nye turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. He gazed into the mirror and didn't recognise the person who gazed back. Rest and good food had gone some way to fill out the hollow cheeks but the eyes were haunted.

While Adam was taking care of business Nye climbed into bed, laying his hot cheek against the cool pillow with a deep sigh. The coolness of the linen sheets seeped into him, calming and relaxing him. He began almost immediately to slide towards sleep.

He had almost reached the bottom of the slide when he became aware of hands on his body, stroking, probing. He jolted awake and turned onto his back. Adam smiled down at him and bent to kiss him. Nye turned his face away.

"Hey. What's wrong?"

"I'm tired Adam. I'm really tired, and I'm still in pain."

"You've been tired all weekend. I've been very patient with you but I'm not prepared to wait any longer."

"Adam... I..."

Adam put a finger to his lips and then tilted it to slide past his teeth into his mouth. Nye tried to turn his head away but Adam trapped it with his other hand.

Slowly finger fucking his mouth Adam caressed Nye's cheek with his other thumb. "You see... the thing is... I have been too indulgent with you. You have to toughen up my sweet little flower. If you don't press through the pain you will never get hardened to it... and to survive in the dungeon you have to."