Other World Kingdom

- They're tough. Bitches think they can rule over men, the only thing they can rule is my dick in their mouth I'm telling you. So Andy, you got family? Wife? Kids?

- No.

- What do you do?

- I play music?

- Oh really? You know I used to play too. In a band. Metal hardcore shit. But the shit hit the fan and I had to leave. They're doing good now I've heard. Found a new guy to replace me.

- What's the name of that band?

- Mmmh, some old British Metalcore called Asking Alexandria, you heard of it?

Shit! That's Denis Band! So this guy must be the old singer who went crazy in drugs and drink. What's his name, that's right Danny! I'm better off not telling him I know Denis.

- No, doesn't ring a bell.

- So anyway, come up for a drink when you feel better. You gotta get some rest first.

- Sure, I will.

- Ok, see you then.

He exits the room, I hear no lock. Am I free to go? Just like this. Let's be honest I couldn't walk even for 5 minutes. I'll just wait here for the sandwich and get some rest. We'll see about the rest later.

When I wake up I see a sandwich right next to me, God this is a relief. I feel like I have not eaten for a year. Ok, I'm rested now, I'll go up and try and get the hell out of here! I open the door and find a stairway. I head up and as I do, I can hear some music banging, people screaming. Clearly there is a party up there. I push the door to reveal a room of craziness. Girls are dancing on poles, some of them are stripping, people are smoking and drinking, some of them are checking out guns, I see a bunch fucking girls on the pool table, this is wild. I make my way through the crowd to find Danny sitting on the couch, one girl in each arm, sniffing a rail of coke. He exhales and looks at me.

- Kiddo! Come over here! I'm glad you're awake already! You feel better hey! Come on! He grabs me by the arm, sit with me! Yo, T, bring the man a drink will ya!

I try to politely refuse but Danny forces me down on the sofa, and hands me a drink.

- There you go, you want a rail kid?

- I'm ok, thanks, maybe later. I look around me and wonder what this all is. Danny catches my look and starts.

- You're probably wondering what's going on here aren't you? Welcome to Worsnopolis, a world that never sleeps. Here we have everything, the girls, the hard shit -- he shows the rail of coke on the table, the soft shit -- he shows the bar. It's like an endless party.

- And what about the guns? I dare.

- Well, that's part of the business Andy.

- What kind of business exactly?

- You ask a lot of questions you know that. But ok, I'll tell you a little secret. We're not the bad guys Andy; we deal with the bad guys. We provide them, they pay us, it's all good. We provide them, they don't pay us and then it starts being a problem, you understand me? That's where you get in.

- I get in?

- Yes Kid, I want to make the best out of you. You have so much frustration, so much anger; you need to take it out. Ok, let me show you something. Follow me.

He gets up, lets the girls go and tell me to follow him down the stairway where I came from. Instead of going straight to where I stayed, he turns right and takes another corridor. As we get further in I can hear voices, definitely 2 or 3 men. He opens the door and I see a man, in the middle of the room, tied to a chair. His face is full of bruises and blood, he took a serious beating. His clothes are torn, and two men are standing next to him, blood on their knuckles.

- Andy, please meet Kellin. Kellin, here has been a naughty boy, right Kellin? We gave him 300kg of dope, and he claims he lost it. Just like that, he 'lost' it. Next thing we know, Kellin is taking his whole family, his wife and little girl, away from the city without any notice, nothing. Now. Andy, don't you think this is...hum...suspicious?

I look at that man. He has his face down, he cannot take anymore, his wrists are bleeding from his restrains and as he inhales and exhales blood comes out of his mouth. Danny gets closer to him and pushes his head up and back.

- Now Kellin, for the last time. Where is the dope?

- Danny I swear, I don't know. Please. I don't know anything.

Danny gets a gun out and shots him in the knee. Kellin screams out and bends forward in pain, as much as he physically can.

- WHERE IS THE FUCKING DOPE?

- I DON'T KNOW, DANNY PLEASE!

The two men are screaming, at this very moment I wonder if I should jump on Danny and stop him or just witness what's going to happen next.

- Listen to me you sissy bastard -- Danny comes close to Kellin and grabs his hair, lifting his head up - I know where your wife is, I know where your little girl is, so if you don't start talking now I will get them, and I will fuck them, by every hole you can imagine, both of them, you hear me, both of them. And when I'm done with you piece of shit of wife I will give her to my men, so every and each of them can get a taste of her pussy.

- No please don't hurt them, please.

- Shut up! -- Danny presses on Kellin's knee saying that. The only words I want to hear from you is where my dope is, nothing else coming off your mouth will be relevant.

- I don't know Danny, I swear... please!

Danny hits him in the face so hard that he faints on the chair.

- Wrap this up; I wouldn't want him to bleed out to death. We gotta find those 300kg. And we gotta do it fast!

We get back upstairs, right on that same couch.

- You're probably wondering what the hell this was. Well, this is our job Andy. Now, get a proper drink and join the fun!

He hand me another drink and I just let it go.

Chapter 20 - Worsnopolis

[Danny's POV]

Hi. I'm Danny. I'm an alcoholic. A drug addict. A sex pervert. A machine gun dealer. A realistic prick and a king of the craziest, maddest, most eccentric and definitely scariest place on Earth. Worsnopolis. Welcome.

Fuck that, this place is my paradise, my piece of Heaven, my purgatory, my prison and my escape. I've created it all by myself, all alone. The Empire, the reputation, the knowledge, the network, it's the actions of a shattered man to chase his long lost dreams of debauchery and self-satisfaction. After Ben kicked me out of the band, I was lost. I didn't have anything left. Asking Alexandria was my family, my home, it was everything. Maybe I fucked up, maybe I went too far, but now that I think back at it, maybe kicking me out was the best thing Ben ever did. My very best friend, we grew up together and he let me go like that. And even worse, he replaced me as easily as you would replace your fucking neighborhood whore. Denis, Denis Shaforostof, that little piece of Ukrainian shit. If, one day I can lay a hand on him I will crash him down and make him regret he ever existed. But for now I have to focus on the future. The future is bright; once we get the dope back from Kellin it will all be ok. When I get the dope back I can start looking for Denis and Ben. Sometimes the thought of them is so vivid that I feel I could kill someone on the spot just to pretend it is either one of them. But everything comes in time. I hear someone knocking on the door. That's right, that Queen Bitch is coming today to negotiate a new deal. Alright, I'll hear her out, maybe she's got some kick ass merch like that Ronnie guy she introduced me last time. That dude is sick.

- Madeleine, to what do I owe the pleasure...

- Shut up Danny, you know exactly why I'm here.

- You're here to hand me my dear friend Ben? Oh how nice of you to finally give in to my so nicely asked request.

- Ben is gone, he escaped. But I have someone for you. Someone who can lead you exactly to who you are looking for, even more.

- Stop the teasing now will you, what do you have for me?

- A man. He came to OWK for Ben. He was probably sent by Denis.

- What do you mean he was probably sent by Denis, how do you even know who Denis is?

- Because he was here, Denis was a slave at Other World Kingdom.

- What?

- He came to look for Ben. He stayed at the Kingdom trying to rescue him.

- And where is he now?

- We let him go.

- Bitch! You came to tell me you had both Ben and Denis and now they are gone!

I am full of rage and banging on the table as I speak.

- I need a fucking drink! I pour myself a shot of whiskey that I swallow bottoms up.

- Danny, the man that I have for you, he was sent by Denis. He knows exactly where Denis is. And where Denis is, Ben will be.

- Where is this man now?

- Locked in a cell at OWK. I'll get him here tomorrow if you wish.

- What do you want?

- Here are my terms: I want unlimited access for me and my girls to Worsnopolis whenever we want. Weekly delivery of 10g per Mistress, and a droit de regard on everyone you keep out here.

- The dope is fine but the rest I cannot agree. What you want to bring your weirdoes here and what? Be treated like princesses. My men will rape the shit out of your pretty face darling. And I ain't stopping them.

- Well then, you'll just have to find Denis on your own I guess. You know he fell in love with his Mistress. I know all about her, you get her, you get Denis.

- I want Denis and Ben; she won't help me get Ben.

- No but Andy will.

- Who the fuck is Andy?

- My leverage.

- Fuck it, you want access to Worsnopolis, fine!

- Treated with the respect we ought to have.

- Fine. I'll tell my men to go fuck a whore so they won't get hard when they see you.

- You're a piece of shit you know that?

- Now when can you get your man here?

- He'll be here tomorrow. And the girl's name is Lauren.

- Alright, get out already...

- We have a deal Danny. Honor it.

- Sure yeah...

She leaves and I slap the door behind her. Gosh that bitch makes me hard every time I see her. I have flashes of fucking her brains out every now and then. Ok, tomorrow I will be one step closer. One step closer to Ben and Denis. And I may pay that Lauren girl a visit in the next few days.

Chapter 21 - Copeland

[Andy's POV]

I am completely smashed, whatever Danny put in that drink killed me. I cannot walk, see or think straight anymore. Surely it was not just a whisky, what Danny deals over here; well he gave me an introduction to it. I don't do drugs, I hate them. They make me sick. I'm lying on my small bed staring blankly at the ceiling.

- Andy! Andy wake up we have to go! Now.

- Ben? What are you doing here? How did you find me?

- Come on, someone's coming, we have to go! Now!

- Vanessa? Ben, what the hell is Vanessa doing here?

- She's here to carry you back to Other World Kingdom Andy, where you belong.

- No, no I'm not going back there, I'm not ; I want to go back to Lauren and Denis.

- But you can't. You have to save me. If you don't Lauren and Denis will never accept you. Imagine going back there telling them you have failed. They won't even let you in. You have to come with me.

- Come on Andy, we are not going to hurt you.

- I don't trust her, Ben, leave her, let's go now, you will be free.

- But I can't go now ; if I leave I will explode.

- What?

- Look!

I see Ben going away to the corner of the room. He glances at Vanessa and explodes inside out leaving pieces of his body everywhere across the room now filled with blood.

- Fuck, Ben! Fuck!

- It's ok, he can explode multiple times...

- What?

- I'm here Andy, let's go! Let's go the Queen is waiting!

- Ben! But, I saw you, I saw you explode a second ago, what the... what the fuck!

- Follow me, now!

- No!

- If you don't follow me Madeleine will put you back in your cage. Now come!

I get up, as quickly and stably as I can and start following them down the corridor.

- Footsteps coming, let's hide!

Vanessa opens a door with a lock and we hide in a blacked out room. The drugs and alcohol start kicking in really bad. I collapse on the ground.

I'm woken up by a stunning light right above my head. My eyes hurt, I cover my face not to be blinded and turn around. I jump back, seeing the corpse of a man on a chair, a bag on his face. I slowly rise, and head to the corpse. That's the man from yesterday, Danny killed him. As I approach my hand from the bag he jerks his head up, breathing heavily. I step back and go for the door.

- Who is this? Please, help me.

He has a very soft and high pitch voice. I hesitate and eventually turn around, stepping towards him carefully. His knee has been bandaged but we can still see the blood coagulation around the wound, no one has taken care of it. I slowly take off the bag, his face is bruised out, he must have been quite cute before, but now he looks miserable. He jumps off as he recognizes me, pulling on his restrains in fear.

- It's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you. It's ok.

- I told you, I don't know anything.

- No, I... don't care ; I'm not here to harm you. I don't know how I ended up here.

- You came last night. I heard you talk to someone but you were alone. You came in and collapsed.

I remember now, Ben, Vanessa, the drugs, fuck!

- Please, please let me go. I have a family. Please, they're gonna hurt my little girl.

- I have to go I cannot stay here.

- Please don't go! Help me! HELP ME!

I exit the room, leaving Kellin inside, screaming. As I lock it carefully behind me and turn around I see Danny, about to get in.

- What are you doing here kiddo?

- Danny, euh, well, it's the drugs, I ended up here in my sleep.

- You did?

- Yeah, I was following a... a friend and ended up here. Well, not a real friend of course, the drugs were quite strong hey.

- Yeah. Did you talk to him?

- Who?

- Your friend.

- Yeah

- And what did he say?

- He said he wanted me to follow him, and then he exploded.

- He exploded?

- Yeah.

- Interesting.

- Bizarre.

- It's the downside of these drugs, if you're in the right mood you will conquer a new planet riding a unicorn and if you're in the wrong mood then, well, you'll see your friend explode. Let's pay little Kellin a morning visit shall we?

Danny unlocks the door and gets in the room, asking me to follow him. Kellin is terrified and tremble from head to toes.

- Andy, will you please untie our little friend? No really, go!

I walk up to Kellin and carefully untie his wrists and ankles, not knowing what to expect.

- Good, now carry him over here! We're gonna take a little ride!

I grab Kellin who screams out in pain as I raise him up to his feet. I put his arm around my neck and carry him out of the room. We walk up and find all the men sleeping on whatever they could fine, 2, 3 sometimes 4 girls surrounding them. I see Kellin glancing everywhere around; surely he expects a trick from Danny. We all cross the room and head outside. Danny gets to the nearby truck, opens the back door and tells me to jump in with Kellin. I load him inside; Danny starts the car and goes. I have to admit, I have crazy ideas coming to mind. I could strangle Danny right now and leave, take Kellin to the hospital and go back to Lauren and Denis. But Danny's men would find me. And they would do the same to me as they did to Kellin. I cannot risk this. Danny drives off to a street and pulls over. He hands me the same bag Kellin previously had on his head.

- Cover his head with that!

I see Kellin's terrified face as I put the bag on. We drive off for a good 25 minutes when Danny pulls over and stops the car. He is in front of a school. He exits the car.

- Don't do anything stupid now Andy.

Did he actually hear what I was thinking? Well, he is not dumb, he knows I did not choose to be here and would prefer to escape than help torturing and abducting a man. I see him a few minutes later, holding hands with a little girl. He is telling her to be quiet. He opens the passenger door and makes her sit, pressing his finger on his lips, asking her to be quiet. He sits at the front, closes the door and drives up to an alley.

- Tell me Copeland how was your day at school?

- You lost!

I see Kellin banging to the front sit, taking the bag off his head screaming. Copeland turns around to see him bleeding and screams. Danny gets hold of her, putting his hand on her mouth.

- You move and I snap her neck.

- Nooo, let her go!

Kellin is screaming and collapsing, Copeland is crying trying to liberate herself from Danny's grip.

- Daddy! Her screaming is muffled by Danny's hand.

- Andy, cuff him!

He shows me some handcuffs lying under the passenger seat. I grab them and pass them around Kellin's wrists, shackling his hands on his back. He has tears down his face, and nervous breakout.

- Danny, let her go! Pleeease. Please Danny, she hasn't done anything, please.

Danny grabs scotch tape and starts tying the little girl's hands and feet. I can't let this happen, she is just a girl. But let's be honest I have no chance against Danny. And now that Kellin is restrained again it's too late.

- Daaaaaddy! The girls voice is muffled by the tape he puts on her mouth. He gets hold of her, opens the door and head for the boot of the car. He puts her inside, lock the boot and starts the engine.

- Now Kellin, I will ask you one last time. Where is the dope?

- Daaanny please, I don't know. Please Danny!

Danny starts driving off, leaving Kellin screaming.

- Here -- he throws me the tape. Shut him off!

I grab it and look at Kellin. I don't know if Kellin is telling the truth or not. That poor man. He is miserable. I decide to obey, and tape his mouth shut. He bends forward to his lap, crying for the rest of the way back. When we reach the property Kellin is not responding, he must have fainted. I carry him out of the car and back to the room he used to be in. He wakes up as I take the tape off his face.

- Andy please, don't let him hurt my little girl.

- Kellin, why don't you tell him where you put the dope? Everything will be over.

- I lost it Andy, I cannot get it back. I cannot get his dope back. I know he's gonna kill me, but please keep my little girl safe. You can't let anything happen to her.

- I won't let anything happen to her. And I'll get you out of here. Kellin we are all getting away alive and well. You hear me, we'll be ok.

I leave Kellin here and go back upstairs. I have to find a way to get them both out before Danny looses his mind.

[Lauren's POV]

Days have been empty since Denis' departure. I have no idea where he's gone, he has not left any messages, did not pick up his phone when I called him and never called me back. I guess he has gone for good. Ben has been staying here with me for almost a week now; it feels good to have him around, after all that happened I can feel that I have someone to talk to. I'm not the kind of person who will weep over some lost love or something but we shared an unusual experience at OWK and with Ben around I can sort of talk about it more freely. Denis never wanted to tackle the subject; he said he wanted to forget it ever happened. Ben is more open; he often talks about Madeleine, with no grudge or anger, which is for me quite hard to believe. I think I'm not realizing that Denis is really gone, inside I still believe that he'll come back soon, he is just taking a little break. Ben also is a little angry with him; I mean he has no idea if he left the band, if they can ever start over. He is lost. We are both lost. We are the lost souls. Now I'm just enjoying a nice little bath, Ben has gone away to do some business of his own and I quite like this moments to myself. As I get out of the warm bath and put on by bathrobe I hear someone knocking on the door. I get closer to the transparent but yet blurry door of the apartment only to see a big shape on the other side. Who the hell can that be? Surely that is not someone from OWK. It might be one of Ben's friends. I open the door.