Page 30 of Under Your Care

Scrubbing a hand down my face in aggravation, I replied, “I’ll come to speak with him. We’ll just have to go from there.” I hung up the call before waiting for a response. My brothers and I weren’t big on talking without necessity.

It took less than half an hour to drive myself over to the twins’ house. After entering the code to their garage and walking into the home, I was hit with the faint sound of screeching.

Jesus.

Honestly, I was impressed at the kid’s lungs since I could still hear him over the soundproofing in the basement. As soon as I opened the door to the basement, the sound of Oliver’s screams pierced my eardrums. He was so tiny, but so fucking loud. He reminded me of a chihuahua or a pomeranian - one of those annoying small breeds.

“You can’t just do this to people!”

My brothers’ sadistic laughs trickled up the staircase. I sighed, wishing Lane had at least picked someone tolerable as a friend. Entering the hidden torture chamber hidden behind a false wall and security system, I set my sights on the object of my disdain. When he saw me, all the color drained from his face.

Well, at least he knew he had fucked himself. “Oliver.”

“Psychopathic piece of shit,” he spit, causing another round of laughter from his captors. I rolled my eyes, walking to stand directly in front of the chair he was chained to. I couldn’t understand why my brothers liked this one. He was so loud.

“Alright, little guy. Here’s your last chance. Tell your future brother-in-law what he wants to know,” Hudson quipped, an amused smirk on hisface. Oliver bristled, obviously upset but used to their taunts.

“Walk me through it. Lane never would have left on his own,” I uttered in contempt, kicking a leg of his chair.

“I already told them like a million times, but I guess you’re all toofucking stupidto understand, so I’ll go through it again. Yes, I strongly encouraged Lane to run away with me. Keywords beingwith me. I haven’t heard from him since I left your apartment.”

“Are there any people besides you and his parents that he could have gone to?”

“Not that I know of,” Oliver noted. His voice then got small as he said, “I didn’t think he’d go by himself. That isn’t what I wanted.”

Taking a deep breath, I nodded to Hayes. “Do just one for now,” I sternly instructed. Hayes raised an eyebrow, but ultimately retrieved a mallet from a nearby table. As he began walking towards Oliver with it, the waterworks started.

He hiccuped, tears falling, “Please don’t. I’m s-so sorry. Please! Lane wouldn’t want you to hurt me. P-Please!” I ignored his begging, watching his face closely as Hayes stalked closer and closer to his prey. Interestingly, he turned his head to where Hudson was standing. He pleaded, “You… Y-You p-promised– promised you wouldn’t hurt me!”

Hudson looked at him with a blank stare before shrugging. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”

At that moment, Hayes kneeled to the ground and swung the mallet towards Oliver’s left ankle. Oliver appeared to brace for the impact, eyes clenched shut. His panicked breathing and whimpers filled the air.

The mallet stopped less than an inch from his skin, just close enough to make him understand.

I smiled, addressing Oliver as I said, “That was for insinuating that my beloved allowed the abuse from his cousin. I don’t actually disagree with most of your concerns about me, but victim-blaming your best friend,really?”

Oliver sobbed, choking on his fear, “I d-didn’t mean… it– it like that.”

“Really? Because when I listened to the audio recording, I could’ve sworn it sounded like you were saying that by him staying with me - pampered and adored, may I add - he was encouraging abuse rising to the same level of that piece of trash who raped and beat him for two years as a child,” I sneered.

Oliver’s face dropped, shock entwined in his features. “What?”

“By the way, he left me a goodbye note. Want me to read it to you?” I pulled Lane’s crumpled and tear-stained letter from my jacket pocket. As I read it aloud to Oliver, he began to sniffle and quietly cry. He wouldn’t meet my eyes when I finished, keeping his eyes locked on the floor at my feet. “Did you catch that part about him killing himself, hm? What about the part where he calls me Daddy and says that he never wanted to leave? Oh, and the part about the vomit? As soon as you walked out the door, he collapsed, had a panic attack, threw up on the floor, and laid there shaking and crying.”

“I-I– I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I didn’t mean for it to hurt him like that. I had no idea. H-He never told me. I just wanted him to leave you and for everything to go back to normal,” Oliver sniffled, breathing heavily.

“Knowing now that we will indeed hurt you, I’ll ask you again. Do you know where he went or where he could be going?”

“I swear I don’t!”

Hayes drew the mallet back again.

Oliver shouted in fear, “I don’t know! I don’t know! I don’t know!” Hayes looked back at me as a small puddle began forming underneath the chair.

“Okay, I believe you,” I relented, putting my hands up as a placating gesture.

Oliver hesitated before choking out, “T-Thank you.”

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