Page 22 of Sypher

I could clearly see the fear in his wide, darting eyes, the indecision in his trembling hands, and the simmering rage in the way his jaw clenched when he divulged his truth. So, when he took my hand, the feel of his skin sent shivers down my spine as I pulled him back onto the bed and he curled around me. As I held him tight, he continued.

“We were in that room for what felt like days, maybe even weeks, when a woman walked in. We stupidly thought she was there to get us out. Instead, she started taking us one at a time. Whoever she took, never came back. Once they left, we never saw them again. When she came for me, I tried to fight her, but the shock from the collar debilitated me. I never imagined a pain like that before. Just thinking about it now is enough to make my stomach hurl. She laughed at me, Danny. She thought it was funny to see me in so much pain. I think she somehow got off on it.”

“Where did she take you?”

“To another room. Her room. I’d never been with a woman before. Even from a young age, I knew I liked boys. But she didn’t care. She had her ways, and she thoroughly enjoyed using them on me.”

“What did she do to you?”

“At first, she used pain to make me comply. The more I fought her, the more pain she inflicted. She knew I was gay, and she used that to her advantage. Every time I fought her,she would whip me, suffocate me, cut me, burn me, whatever she could think of to get me to break, but when I didn’t comply, she used a steel cattle prod to fuck me in the ass, but it wasn’t just any cattle prod. Like the shock collar, the cattle prod emitted electrical shocks that I felt bone deep. The shocks were so bad, I screamed out, begging her to stop. The whole time she abused me, she got off on my pain, my torment. She would actually masturbate in front of me until she came. When I finally surrendered to her… well, that’s when she really started having fun. The first person she brought to me was a man. I’d never seen the man before, but I knew what he was going to do to me. For the next several hours, she happily watched as the bastard tormented me, beat me, and fucked me until he passed out. But that wasn’t enough for her. Oh no. She always demanded more. The next day, she brought a younger man. Well, at least I thought he was younger, but the faces blurred, one into the other. However, when she brought in a young girl, I knew she was getting ready for her ultimate power play. The young girl couldn’t have been over twelve, maybe thirteen, Danny. She was just a baby, and I was fucking twenty-seven. A grown ass man. Fuck, I can still see her scared eyes, hear her pleas. She begged the bitch, pleaded with her, but the bitch ignored her. When I flat out refused, even told the bitch she would have to kill me, she laughed at me. Laughed right in my face.”

“You don’t have to tell me anymore, baby,” I assured, already deducing the rest of the details as Dante’s body trembled, wracked with sorrow, the silence amplifying each shudder. Overwhelmed with grief, he shook his head, squeezed his eyes shut, and let the tears fall freely. Holding him closer, I remained silent while his body shook with racking sobs, his face contorted in a mask of shame and disgust. The smell of his fear was heavy in the air. He was driven by a sense of responsibility not just for himself, but also for the young girl.

I didn’t know how long I sat there, holding him. The rhythmic thump of his broken heart pounded against my chest, a counterpoint to his ragged sobs. But when the last of his sobs subsided and he fell into a peaceful sleep, I gently laid his head on the pillow, tucking his soft, familiar blanket around him. Rising from the bed, I stood and gazed down at the man who held my heart and made a solemn vow, a promise to myself that, even if it were the final act of my existence, I would track down that fucking bitch, kill her slowly, and then burn that motherfucking place to the fucking ground.

Finding some sweatpants, I pulled them on, grabbed my phone, and walked out of his room and into his living room and called the one person on the planet who could help me.

“Danny?”

“Ace, I need your help.”

After getting dressed, I made sure Dante was fast asleep before I ducked out of his apartment. Stepping out into the warm night air, I whistled loudly and hailed a cab.

About an hour later, the cab pulled up to the Harbor on 5th. After paying the cabbie, I got out and headed inside the building.

When I stepped into the lobby, a large man in all black stood silently, his eyes following my every move, the air growing tense with his scrutiny. “How may I help you?”

“I’m here to see Ace.”

“He know you’re coming?” the man asked, his voice tight, hand drifting to the gun I knew was holstered at his hip. A door hissed open behind him, revealing a giant of a man. The sharp precision of his movements and the quiet intensity in his eyes made it clear the man was prior military. I could see it in the wayhe walked, a confident stride. The way he held himself, tall and straight.

He was a lot like Ace in that regard.

“Stand down, Shane.”

“He’s a Golden Skull.”

“He’s also Ace’s little brother,” the man said before looking at me. “It’s nice to finally meet you. It’s Danny, right? Or should I call you Sypher?”

“Danny’s fine,” I muttered, my heart pounding in my chest as the large man loomed closer, his shadow falling over me.

“My name is Matthew Law. Ace is on his way in, so in the meantime, this is how it’s going to go. I’m going to let you in our building, but under no circumstances will you even contemplate going near a computer or our servers. The second you do, I will put a bullet in your head. Little brother or not, you are a threat. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, now empty your pockets and strip. Hand Shane your phone. You will get it back when you leave.”

Following Law’s instructions, I quickly patted down my pockets, their contents hitting the ground with a soft thud, then I shed my clothes, feeling the chill of the air against my skin as I stood in my underwear. Once the transaction was complete, the man behind the counter gave him a wand, which he proceeded to wave over me, starting at my head and going all the way down to my toes. I stood there, the silence broken only by the soft thud of each garment as he picked them up and examined them closely, his expression intense.

Satisfied, Law handed me back my clothes and told me to get dressed. Upon finishing, he beckoned me forward with a pointed index finger, indicating that I should follow closely behind.

“I don’t know what brought you here tonight, Danny, and I don’t want to know. All I care about is that whatever you havegoing on doesn’t interfere with Ace. He’s a damn good soldier, and I’d hate to lose him because his little brother can’t stay out of trouble. Get me?”

“It’s personal. I promise.”

As Law nodded his head, the man halted his progression, positioning himself in front of a door. “The room is clean and not bugged. Whatever you need to say to your brother, it will be between the two of you. I will be sitting over there. When you are ready to leave, I will escort you out.”

“Thank you.”

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