Discovery

Without his captors presence to ground him Nico floundered. Unconsciousness pulled at him only to be ripped away forcefully by every bird call, every cricket, every crack of a branch.

The blind fold that had pulled terrifying visions from his eyes mere hours after being placed continued to bombard him and Nico flinched in fear when visions of gleeful devils flashed in his vision, flames entrenching them. Was he dead, had he actually died in the vehicle and this was just his own hell?

He tugged weakly at his restraints, trying desperately to hide beneath the blanket that wrapped around his broken frame. A child hiding from a nightmare.

Fire burned at his shoulders and Nico only succeeded in making the slatted frame he lay on sway, igniting the low grade nausea that was his constant companion. Bloody saliva pooled in his throat and he stopped his pitiful struggles. Breathing as deeply as he could Nico tried to relax. The earth around him wavered, and fever consumed him.

The crunch of a vehicle over gravel trapped his attention and Nico felt his heart flutter in fear. Was this his new tormenter. Goawaygoawaygoaway-

The adrenaline pumped through him giving him a clarity he hadn’t had for what felt like hours.

“No, I don’t know why he would have texted me. Especially to come to the pack house. I mean it’s in the middle of nowhere.”

The voice was distorted by distance but it still made Nicos heart lurch, recognition flooding him. Bri-Brian? Delirium making him forgetful and he drew a bubbling breath to cry out. A rasp fell from his lips and he was grateful it wasn’t enough to set of the collar.

“Loo- look. Stop. I know you think he’s a shitty person!” Brian’s voice hissed, raising in anger. ”He’s fucking ghosted us for six months and he wasn’t a good friend before but I don’t think Nico would have messaged for me to come out here if he didn’t have a reason.”

Nico drew a ragged breath and felt his heart shatter. Was this why he’d been left there? In the recesses of his mind he’d hidden a small hope that just maybe his captor has been lying. That his friends just hadn’t been able to find him.

But this confirmed it. They just didn’t care. They didn’t even consider him a friend. Hadn’t ever looked for him.

Nico struggled to breathe as he felt what little was left of his will to fight collapse. He knew-knew- that he shouldn’t have tried to make friends. Nobody had ever wanted him.

The crunch of gravel drew closer but the sound barely registered over the thoughts that raced through him.

“I know you don’t trust him but I can’t not check this out, okay? If you’re so adamant about that why didn’t you come with me? Kristy, Kristy-no, I don’t think he’d do anything to hurt me, just cause he proved you right by ghosting doesn’t mean I think he wants to hurt us.”

Brian. It’s not like he deserved a friend like him anyway. He hated him and still defended him. Loyalty. Brian had always gone out of his way to invite him to hang out when his anxiety and depression had kept in locked inside for weeks. Had reached out when no one else had ever bothered.

He knew he was bad at keeping in touch. But he’d never had anyone to keep in touch with before. Foster home after foster home had driven home the idea that he wasn’t good enough. Then college had cast him as an outcast for being a loner due to his inability to relate and make friends.

He’d desperately wanted to connect. But he was broken. His tormenter was right. He belonged with him.

Even with that certainty he couldn’t make himself whimper to set of the collar. To break the rules and bring him back. Brian may hate him but maybe he wouldn’t hurt him. Or he’d end it quickly.

Brian’s friends had always been a little guarded with him, especially when he’d discovered that they were magic. Convinced that he’d sell them out. But he’d just wanted to belong.

The footsteps stopped before they reached the wooden steps he’d been carried up. Brian’s voice quieted but picked up an edge and he tried to focus on it.

“-the fuck kind of sick game is this Nico?” Brian’s voice whispered, his over sensitive hearing picking it up. “No, there’s some sort of weird BDSM pictures all over the ground here.”

Nico couldn’t hear the response but felt horror in every cell of his being. No. No, not like this-please, please they already hated him they didn’t need to know what happened too. Please…

Nico knew it was already too late, Brian would find him eventually, strapped down like a sick offering. He wished viscerally that he’d taken his captors offer, that no one would ever know what he’d done, what he’d allowed to happen.

This is exactly what he’d wanted him to hear, Nico realized. His captor knew. Knew that he’d be just enough to make his friends realize that his tormenter knew what they were, that he was watching. But his tormenter had also known he wouldn’t be missed, the group didn’t really care, that he was fundamentally worthless. He wished he’d have died with his family when he was six and their car had rolled on the interstate. What’d he done, why did he deserve this. Please God just make it stop. Make it stop make it stop make it stop please please please……

“I may need you guys to come up here, I’m getting a weird feeling….” Brian’s tenor trailed off as his quiet foot steps came closer. Nico felt a weak sob gathered behind his muzzle and he prayed that this was a fever dream.

The thump of footsteps on wood made Nico turn his head, injuries screaming.

“Hang on Kristy, stay on the phone, I’m just going to check the door and see if the wards have been triggered, maybe look in the windows. Yes, yes I’ll wait for you guys to— oh. Oh my god. HOLY SHIIIT!!”

There was a clatter and the scrambling of footsteps. “What the… what the fuck.” Brian’s voice held an edge of hysteria. Nico’s sensitive ears heard the squeak of a voice on the phone and he wanted to hide. “There’s a fucking body here Kristy.”

“Of course I’m not going to fucking touch it! You think I’m some sort of idiot?! Get everyone up here! Now!” Brians voice was so close. He was sure he could touch him if his hands were free. Nico didn’t feel anything with the realization. Glassy numbness encroaching on his reality.

This was what happened to his wishes. Reality twisted them cruelly and gave him the end result. He wanted his mom, to wake up as a six year old again and know who he could trust. Nothing was right. His friends had warped into cruel tormenters and his tormenter into someone who whispered loving things into his skin as he stripped him to his core and played.

It was too much. He was done. He ignored Brian’s voice and felt the dull throb of his heart. He wished it would stop.

He didn’t know how long he lay in limbo. Reality started and stopped intermittently and everything that did register came to him through a thick fog. “I knew you’d see it my way pet.” His tormenters voice whispered to him. “No one will ever care for you like I do. All you’ll have to do is behave for me, I’ll make sure no one else ever hurts you again. I might even make you feel good if you ask nicely.”

Nico felt as if his tormenter placed a heavy weight on his chest and he gasped brokenly. The collar at his throat jolted and Nico sobbed as he felt like his heart had been crushed in a vice.

He gasped for air, the vice on his heart clamping down on his lungs, the high pitched scream from Brian barely registering over the pain in his chest. I’ll be good, I’ll be good, just make the pain stop, please. He begged his tormenter and felt his cold fingers at his throat, probing at the collar. “I don’t think it’s up to you what you get anymore is it pet? In fact, I don’t think you quite remember your rules.” There was a faint click of the collar and Nico sobbed silently. No, please, please don’t turn it up-

Brian’s voice halted his tumbling mind, “Kristy, what the fuck do I do?! It’s not a god damn body- what do you mean what do I mean?! It’s fucking gasping for air, there’s a fucking shock collar on it that just went off!” Fingers started ripping at the collar on his neck and his perch tilted dangerously. “Of course I turned it off! How far away are you?!?!”

Nico gasped weakly behind the muzzle, Brian’s voice fading as his heart thrummed in his chest. Slender fingers replaced the thick ones at his throat and a warm hand pushed into his chest. Soothing energy raced through him, pushing away the pressure on his chest, calming the fire that had built in his broken bones. The absence of pain made him want to rest, to not simply slip into unconsciousness but to fall peacefully asleep.

The energy pulled him away from the peacefulness, and he fought weakly against it. “I need you to stay with me” the voice was feminine and familiar, he wanted to trust it but he couldn’t. “I know, just a little longer.”

Nico shivered at the reminder of the words his tormenter has used to comfort him. There were hands groping at his battered body and Nico wanted it to stop. I don’t, I can’t-

“Shhhhh, its all right. It’s ok, we’re going to take care of you now.” There was a feeling of tearing at his face and Nico winced as cold air touched his face.

“Oh my….. Nico?”

Nico part 2

None of this would be possible without my amazing beta reader @whumpywhumper. Thanks for inspiring me and encouraging me.

In light of that let’s get to the whump.

Nico floated, grounded by the occasional tug of hair as the rough fingers stroked it from his feverish forehead. The tender touch telling him more than anything that his tormenter was satisfied.

How fucked up is he, being happy that his tormenter was satisfied that he was in enough pain. Though fever muddled his thinking he knew that when his tormenter was happy it didn’t hurt as much. A blanket had been draped loosely around him after he was laid in the vehicle, his captor unwilling to soil his seats with his filth. And though the rough texture dug painfully into the whip marks on his back he was grateful for the small warmth it gave him. The loose grip of his tormenter on his wrists was a teether and be relaxed slowly into the fragile peace.

The road jostled him from his half stupor and he moaned tightly as the movement caught him off guard. Nicos peace crashed down as he realized his mistake.

His tormenter hummed meanly, pulling his hand from his raw wrist to wrap tightly around his throat, stopping short of choking him. Wheezing Nico raised a limp hand to rest on the larger mans, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… please…” he mouthed in desperation against his muzzle. As his heart raced in his battered chest his wounds throbbed, sharp pain radiating through his chest and hip as he tensed with anticipation.

“You were doing so well for me, Nico. Here I was, thinking you could handle your one task.” The calloused hand on his throat tightened. “It appears I was wrong.”

The collar at his neck rotated roughly, prongs scratching at his oozing neck. The click of the mechanism at his throat made Nico tremble. No no no. He can’t, he cant do it anymore. Please. Please.

“No wonder your friends have never looked for you, worthless as you are. Can’t even stay quiet without incentive,” he tugged on the collar and Nico swallowed a moan. “Poor powerless Nico. No magic, no friends, no family. You’re weak. Stupid. Not even worth the effort I’m putting into you. If you weren’t such an easy example I never would have taken you. Wouldn’t have discovered how beautiful you are when you squirm.” The hand on his neck slid under the blanket to his chest, pinching the nub of his nipple before pushing down on his broken ribs. ”You are so lucky I discovered that,” the gruff voice murmured to him, hand sliding lower, over his belly to press at the delicate skin of his hipbone. “Otherwise, you would be a dead example.”

Nico squeezes his eyes shut tightly behind his blindfold, shivering at the touch on his hypersensitive skin. The press of hands into his aching bones. He wheezed as the pressure retreated, attempting to still his shaking frame. He fought a cough as blood and mucous gathered in his throat. Swallowing thickly, he begged his raw throat to cooperate. He couldn’t make any noise, not without setting off the collar. Without risking the wrath of tormenter. The world became fuzzy at the edges as he struggled to breath.

“Perhaps I’ll just have to take you back, remind you again how to be good for me. Hmm? Would you like that? To finally belong somewhere, belong to me? I could make you so beautiful.”

Nico shivered, ashamed at the small burst of longing that ignited in his chest. It took everything in him to shake his head. No, he didn’t want to stay. Death is better than this. Tears dribbled down his cheeks as Nico continued to weakly shake his head.

“Mmmmm. So disappointing, you’re a beautiful pet. I think though, that you’ll regret your decision. You belong with me Nico, you’ll see.” Fingers wiped the sweat from his brow, “you’ll see that I’m the one who truly cares for you.”

A small bubble of fear churned in his gut. Slowly realizing that his tormenter has simply stated it was the end of their time together. He’d thought death was the end for them, didn’t even stop to think that perhaps he was going somewhere worse.

He didn’t want it to start again. Please don’t, please, please don’t let this keep happening. Any thing but that. No more, no more no nonono-

Electricity cracked through him, stilling the cacophony of his thoughts. Wha- he didn’t, didn’t mean- He moaned weakly in pain and confusion, his body clenching as another shock ricocheted through him. The world faded to the rush of blood in his ears until finally everything stopped.

…..

Nico felt as if he was burning when he crawled back to consciousness. Knew from experience that it was his tormenter pouring energy into him to heal him and make the pain continue.

“Nico… Nico.. wake up pet.” A rough tap to his face made Nico flinch. “There you are pet. You almost died on me, but I need you alive for this.”

Why…..Why wouldn’t he let him die…..Please…he should be dead…

Nico felt the burning pain retreat to its previous roar as the energy stopped pouring into him. He shivered as the chill from his fever replaced the sensation of burning, feeling as if ice were packed against his skin.

Rough fabric was pulled tight around him and the smell of cinnamon invaded his nose. The world tilted, a muffled gasp his only reaction to the shock of being moved.

The sound of the vehicle door slamming shut had Nico moving weakly to fight against the blanket that encased him, desperate to see. Where was he? What new hell was this?

Despair gripped him when he realized that his arms lacked the strength to push out.

The captor growled. “Behave Nico.” Nico allowed his hands to drop. One fell limply to dangle in the loosened cloth of the blanket, dislocated shoulder pulling painfully.

The sounds of footsteps on gravel quickened until it changed to the sound of wooden steps.

“You will be good for me here, pet. Remember all of the rules you’ve learned. Because I will know if you misbehave.”

Nico felt himself lowered until he rested on a slatted surface. Wounds on his back stinging with pain. His hands were pulled above his head and threaded through narrow wooden bars until they were bound together where he couldn’t move or attempt escape.

“It was so easy for me to get you the first time, and I’ll know exactly where to find you now.” The calloused hand of his tormenter pushed relentlessly into Nicos broken hip and he felt the bone grind and crackle as the cruel grip shifted. There was a rough rasp as vocal cords spammed but were unable to cry out.

“Its not as if you can run away. And after all,” The hand caressed his face and Nico cringed away. “Who else is going to want you now. After everything we’ve gone through together, I’ll be apart of you forever.” The hand left his face to trace the deep lacerations and new scar tissue on his torso. Pushing into the infected stab wounds. “I can’t wait to play again pet. Because I know you. You will fail. And we will be together again. Until next time, Love.”

Lips pressed against forehead and he panted with fear, almost missing the sound of rustling paper and retreating footsteps.