Summer of the Lake House

Summer of the Lake House


Chapter 2: The Morning after you’re gonna HURT!


Warning: Okay, before this chapter starts I think I should say that there is some slight racism in here. I’m not a racist but there are lots and lot’s of people out there that are and nowhere is this more evident than in the modern legal system. Sorry if this offend you, but it’s the truth. So read on and be warned.

It took me a loooong time to come to my senses. My head was pounding badly and the slightest movement sent an excruciating bolt of pain through my head. I gave a strange sound between a whimper and a whine, squeezing my eyes even further shut than they already were, trying to lessen the ache. It helped a little bit but I knew I had to get up and get something to drink so I cautiously cracked open an eye. Thankfully the blinds were closed so the suns glare wasn’t as strong as it could be but it still hurt.

I closed my eyes again and began slowly, and I do mean slowly, easing my way into a sitting position, trying to move as little as possible. It took a long time before I was ready to open my eyes again and when I did I though my aching mind was playing tricks on me. Why the hell was I in bed with all the guys? The surprise momentarily made me forget my pain and I looked around at the horrifying scene before me, I was in bed…NAKED with four other guys who were all as naked as I was. They were sprawled out all around and Jamie had his freaking head on my lap.

“W-what the hell is going on?!” I cried loud enough to wake them and enough to start my head pounding. I groaned, clutching my aching head and hunching over, trying to stop the waves of pain.

“Uh? OW, my fucking head,” Darren groaned miserably.

“Shit,” Jamie whispered softly.

“What happened,” I asked, sensing that something was wrong. And I don’t just mean being naked in a bed with four other guys but something in the back of my head knew that something was horribly wrong with this but I couldn’t figure out why. It took a second for my brain to comprehend, to see the bloodstains and the small, battered body underneath the others. It was almost completely covered by Dominick and Darren but I could see a bruised face and a thin arm that belonged to someone. The small face was so pale and still I was sure I was looking at a corpse. My stomach rolled uneasily.

“Oh my god! OH MY GOD!!! Get up, get off!” I cried, ignoring my drumming head and trying to push them off of the body. Jamie groaned as I jarred his head and the others growled in protest as I shoved them aside. “Oh shit, oh no, oh no, what the fuck.”

Darren sat up, holding his head. “What the hells you’re problem, man? God damn it.”

I looked up, knowing I probably seemed a little frantic and crazy but I didn’t care. “What’s my problem? THAT’S my fucking problem,” I shouted, effectively waking everyone and drawing their attention to the body lying underneath them.

“Oh shit,” Jamie muttered breathlessly and was echoed by the rest as they all murmured some form of ‘oh no’ under their breath. “I-it’s eyes are open.”

I was confused. Weren’t its eye’s closed? I looked down and nearly leaped out of my skin as a pair of large brown eyes stared out from a seemingly dead body. I was ready to freak out and start running until it blinked and I realized that this was no dead body, it was alive. “Oh god, a-are you alright?”

The eye’s just blinked and turned to look blearily at me. I stared into those beautiful doe eyes that seemed too dazed with pain to realize what was happening, it just continued to stare unseeingly at me.

Darren and Dominick rolled off of the body and I saw the rest of the damage. The sheets underneath us were covered with partially brown stains that I recognized as blood and so was the little body that was lying so still and exposed under out stares, blinking slowly in what had to be excruciating pain. I did a quick scan and took in the fact that there was blood and bruises on every inch of the smooth brown skin, and the fact that this little person was…..male. That threw me for a second, why would a guy be here? I didn’t remember much but I know we didn’t pick up a guy, I’m positive it was a girl. Were we really that drunk?

“D-did we do that?” Tyler asked timidly, sounding as horrified and sick as I felt. “I don’t remember last night. W-we got drunk, right? Oh, please, Dion, tell me we didn’t do that.”

I looked up into Tyler’s pale, terrified face and didn’t know what to say. From the blood stains that were splattered all over him I imagined that he did his fair share of damage to the boy on the bed. I looked around at everyone and saw similar expressions of horror and sickness, I also saw dried blood on everyone, including myself. I also noticed disgusting similarities amongst all of us on where the majority of the blood was located. Every single one of us had most of the blood stains on and around our limp members, leading to only on conclusion that I couldn’t even wrap my mind around. I’m NOT gay and I’m pretty sure none of the other guys were either, and yet, we were all sitting there clearly having raped this boy. I was petrified and couldn’t do anything more than sit there with my head pounding and wait.

We all sat for the longest time, looking everywhere but at each other and sneaking looks at the boy on the bed who showed no signs of life except the slow rise and fall of his thin bruised chest, and the occasional movement of his eyes. I think he eventually passed a point between senseless and awake because after a while I began to notice a small trembling of his limbs. I guess he was just as afraid to move as we were, more so even because he was the odd one out in this equation and was laying completely sprawled out and vulnerable before us. Like a sacrifice. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in his position for all the money in the world. He probably thought we were all going to pounce in him at any moment like a pack of wild animals. Couldn’t say I blamed him though but I was more worried about myself and trying to just keep calm and cool because if I didn’t I felt like the world would somehow explode into chaos around me.

I could feel the time passing uncomfortably and wanted to do something, anything, but it felt as if se were somehow suspended in a moment where nothing was quite real yet and if anyone moved we would have to face reality. Nobody wanted to face reality yet but I could see the boy becoming more and more aware and he began to show signs of pain and fear and the rest of us responded by slowly stirring, but nothing big enough to shatter the moment.

Strangely enough I was the first to move. The boy’s eyes filled with tears and a few spilled over, without thinking I reached out to wipe them away. With a startled cry he flinched away, attempting to move his injured body away from us but failing and collapsing in a heap only a few feet away. That was the signal for us as we ignored our pounding heads and scrambled off the bed, as far away from the boy as we could get while he curled up into a tight ball and began wailing in obvious agony. I think it was the sudden movement that irritated all his injuries. We were all in varying degrees of shock. Darren looked stunned and at a loss, Tyler just looked sick, Jamie seemed ready to run or pass out, and Dominick was stiff as a pole, his eyes almost comically wide. I could feel my stomach turning and wanted to run and get as far away from the cabin and the past few hours as I could.

“Oh shit,” Darren gasped, turning and running out of the room, closely followed by the rest of us as we ran after him, not knowing where we were going but wanting to be anywhere but that room. As if we could leave all our problems behind by just running from the room.

Yeah right.

He didn’t take us far, stopping at the bottom of the stairs where the second living room was on the first floor, and collapsing onto one of the sofas. We followed his lead and fell onto the two sofas, not really caring that none of us were dressed and that we were covered in dried blood and…other fluids. I sat next to Tyler who was shaking and looked so guilty that I wanted to help him, tell him it wasn’t his fault and that he was probably the least guilty of us all. I didn’t, though, I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I couldn’t face them and they didn’t look to eager to face me either. I just sat, trying to stop the shaking in my hands. The sound of the boys cries were echoing in my head even though I couldn’t hear them from where I was.

“N-nobody-, “ croaked Darren’s shaky voice. We all looked up at him and he cleared his throat, making an obvious effort to appear strong and in control. If there was one thing Darren hated it was being out of control and looking weak. “Nobody is leaving this place until we deal with this, so don’t even think about trying to bail out.”

That was the last thing on my mind but a quick look around and I could see Dominick and Jamie looking a little put out. Of course those two would want to ditch and leave us with the mess. Darren would probably also love nothing better but since this was his cabin (or at least his parents) it would all eventually fall on his doorstep. He had no choice and was making damn sure the rest of us didn’t either.

Running a tense hand through his matted blond hair he turned to each of us. “Does anyone remember exactly what happened last night? Like, maybe he…- maybe it was a prostitute or something.”

“No, man,” said, surprisingly, Jamie. “We picked him up on the highway. I-I thought he was a girl. Honest to god, he looked just like a girl.”

I thought that was a strange thing to say at a time like that. I mean, sure, I was thinking it to but I figured we should all be worrying about the fact that we had just raped someone and could potentially be looking at a jail sentence and not the fact that we had all just screwed a guy. Somehow questioning my own sexuality didn’t seem like such a big issue at the moment.

“What the hell was a kid doing walking alone on the highway anyways,” Dominick asked desperately, “I’ll bet he was a prostitute, or some sort of…-of criminal or runaway. We can’t be held responsible for just picking up some stray on the highway.”

Tyler gave a humorless laugh that kind of freaked me out. “Please, five teenage boys raping someone? We’re fucked and you know it. They’ll put us away without a second thought.” His lower lip trembled and he shook his head helplessly. “What’s my mom going to say when she finds out? I’m never going to get into college or be able to find a decent job. We’ll be marked.”

Everyone was silent again as we rolled over in our head what Tyler had just said. He called it for what it was. We basically kidnapped and raped someone.

My calculating began instantaneously, trying to figure out our odds for a clean escape. Four well-off, white boys from middle class suburbia (Darren not included, he was just plain rich and could practically be guaranteed just a slap on the wrist), depending on what judge or jury we got we might get off easy or we might be screwed. On one hand, people either got completely outraged by a bunch of teenage boys from good homes getting out of control and acting without any regard for anyone or anything. They figured we didn’t deserve a second chance and we were just spoiled idiots.

Or the other people who figured that we didn’t really mean it. It was an accident and we shouldn’t have our futures ruined over a stupid mistake. It would probably also help that the boy was Hispanic and looked either homeless or poor. People (at least people in the same ethnic and class group as us) would be less likely to punish us harshly over hurting some poor, probably Mexican, kid. After all, who wants to trade the futures of five promising white boys for someone who barely had a future to begin with? God, I hoped against all hope that he was a drug addict or had a police record, something like that would practically cement it in our favor. I didn’t have a record, got decent grades, was well-liked, and occasionally went to church with my mother, people would be sympathetic.

“I’m not going to jail,” Darren declared, startling me out of my thoughts.

“What the hell are you worried about,” Jamie snarled at him, looking far less fierce than he sounded, “you’re parents can pay your way out.”

“Not fucking likely. You know my parent’s, they care more about their god damn reputation than about me. When they find out what I’ve done they’ll have me locked up and throw away the key themselves, and you fucking know it!” Punching the sofa he buried his face in his hands and curled over, grabbing his hair painfully tight. “They’re not going to find out about this or I’m dead, and you will be to.”

“So what are we going to do,” I asked, “he’s not exactly just going to just forgive us and go on his way.”

“Why not?” Dominick asked softly, looking at the floor contemplatively. “Theirs five of us, you, Darren, and me can make sure he doesn’t talk. He’s just a scrawny little boy, what’s he going to do? We’ll just make sure he won’t talk or we’ll fuck him up.”

Tyler gave a disgusted sound. “We can’t just threaten him after what we did to him!”

“The hell we can’t,” said Jamie, “You might want to spend the next ten years in jail but I sure as hell don’t. And if I have to use a little intimidation to keep my ass out of prison, than I’ll do it.”

“But-“

Darren cut him off, “No, Jamie’s right. We don’t deserve to get locked up; it was an accident, a mistake. We’ll just go up there, make sure he knows to keep his mouth shut and send him on his way.”

Tyler looked to me, hoping for some support. I didn’t really want to do it either, it was so low, but it was worth a shot. I didn’t want my future ruined for something I couldn’t even remember. “It’s worth a shot, Ty; we’re not going to hurt him. Just scare him a bit. We’re going to let him go afterwards, I promise.”

He looked at me for a moment as if searching. He must have found what he was looking for because he reluctantly nodded and we hesitantly got up and headed up the stairs to the room where the boy waited. It was almost funny the way we moved, tip toeing as if we were afraid to startle the boy yet we were going specifically to frighten him. It was so stupid and the closer we got the more nervous I became of facing him. It wasn’t that I was necessarily afraid but there’s a world of difference between talking about something and actually doing it. To be honest the thought of torturing the boy anymore made me sick to my stomach and the closer we got the sicker I became. But I really, really didn’t want to go to jail, and I didn’t want to take my chances that a judge or jury might be sympathetic.

` It didn’t seem long enough until we were in front of the door. Simultaneously, we all froze, standing as still and quiet as we could get. The soft sound of weeping was all that could be heard in the quiet hallway.

“Maybe we should get some clothes on,” Tyler whispered softly, looking down at himself and flushing red.

“We can’t, I put all our bags in the room,” Darren whispered back.

“What!” I hissed. “Why would you do something that stupid?”

The blond boy looked mildly offended. “Well it’s not like I was expecting this to happen!”

“Are we going to do this or not,” Dominick hissed quietly at us.

Oh, for the love of god,” said Jamie in a regular voice, startling us all with its volume in the otherwise still cabin. I actually jumped at the sudden sound. It seemed abnormally loud and harsh, like raising you’re voice in a quiet graveyard, it just didn’t sound right. “Quit being a bunch of pussies!” With that he grabbed the knob and pushed open the door.

The first thing that hit me about the room was the smell. Like a sucker punch to my senses. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it before but I guess it was only noticeable after you had been out in clean air. The stench of alcohol and sex was so strong in the air it was staggering, like we had just stepped from a cabin into a brothel or something. I had to fight hard not to gag. It was just so THICK and made my already abused head spin for a moment.

It didn’t take to long to spot the boy, that tiny figure huddled on top of the filthy, messy mattress. He was looking directly at us from across the room, but it wasn’t hard to miss the absolute fear and terror that was literally pouring from him. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t go into that room and torment him any more; he was a child and couldn’t possibly be any older than fifteen which is a crime in itself. The weakened boy was pressed as far against the wall as he could get, curled up tight and shaking like a leaf, a fine sheen of sweat standing out over his whole body. He was a pitiful sight and looked so terrified my stomach clenched in sympathy.

I turned to Darren and saw him wavering as well but with a look of firm resolution on his face. “Darren, we can’t do this. Not right now. Can’t we wait a little while?” I asked softly, trying not to disturb the boy.

“No, this needs to be done. We HAVE to! Do you want to go to jail for this?” I didn’t say anything and he firmed himself, marching up to the bed where the boy began whimpering fearfully, trying to press himself further into the wall. “What’s you’re name?” Darren asked in that imperious, confident way of his.

The boy’s eyes grew big at the sight of Darren. I could see how he would be afraid, of the large, naked body before him. Darren was a powerful football player, and he was large in more ways than one. The boy stared up at Darren, tears crawling down his raw, red cheeks and his thin body twitched with fear. The sound of his teeth chattering filled the room.

“I said what’s you’re name!” Once more the boy didn’t answer. Darren slammed his hand down on the bed and the boy jolted, letting out a small scream. “Answer me, damn it,” he snarled, reaching for a thin, brown arm.

“NO!” The boy screamed, unable to back away any more. “Amenci, I’m Amenci, that’s my name!!! Don’t touch me, PLEASE!” He cried with a lightly accented voice. I couldn’t recognize it, it didn’t sound like any type of Mexican accent that I’d ever heard before.

I let out a shuddering breath. I didn’t want to hear that. I don’t know what it was; maybe the sound of his voice seemed to make him more real to me, more human. He had a name now! That was frightening; I didn’t want him to be a real person! I was feeling guilty enough without having to acknowledge that this wasn’t some random faceless, nameless boy, this was Amenci. The name seemed to change everything. Unfortunately, Darren didn’t seem to share my thoughts and made sure that the boy was intimidated by him and as frightened as possible.

The boy was looking ill. His sweat and tear drenched face was pale but burning red across his cheeks, nose, and forehead. He couldn’t seem to get control over his body either and I could see his muscles twitching, trembling under the force of his fear and pain. He looked ready to either pass out or throw up.

“You’re not going to be telling anyone about this, are you?” Darren asked softly.

Amenci looked up at him with pain clouded eyes. “N-no,” he whispered weakly. “I won’t tell anyone, I swear, I just wanna go home. Please, let me go home, I won’t say anything.”

“I don’t like this,” said Jamie. We all looked at him. “I’m just saying, maybe if we do let him go and he doesn’t tell anyone people are still going to be wondering what happened to him. I mean, look at that, you can’t cover all that up with a bit of makeup. Someone’s going to start looking into it eventually.”

I looked back to the boy. It was true, he was messed up. The bruises seemed to be getting even more swollen and blood was still oozing out of various cuts around his body and from between his legs. Jamie was dead on. He was in bad shape and people would notice and eventually it would get to the police.

“Shit,” I muttered, “well what the hell are we supposed to do? Kill him?” The second the words came out of my mouth a silent ripple went through the room.

Amenci gave a choked cry that we all tried to ignore.

“No!” Tyler protested immediately. “You CAN’T! You’re talking about murder!” He yelled at us, looking helplessly at each one of us. We all looked away.

My thoughts were scaring me. It didn’t sound like such a bad plan, it was so easy, such a quick fix. I mean, I felt sorry for the boy and incredibly guilty but I loved my own life more than his. In my mind I just kept telling myself that it was the only thing we could do, it was the best thing for everyone. We would go free and he wouldn’t be in pain anymore.

“Dion,” Tyler said pleadingly.

I looked guiltily at him. “It might not be such a bad thing. I mean, none of us want to be murderers but…do you really want to spend years in jail for THIS? For someone you don’t even know.”

“But-“

“Ty, look at him. He’s probably going to be dead in a few days anyways, look at how much blood he’s lost and all those open cuts. He’ll probably get an infection and take days or weeks to die.” The boy began to whine and Darren gave him a sharp look that stopped his nervous moving. “It’ll be like, um,…..like a mercy killing. It won’t even hurt him.”

Darren stepped up. “My dad has a bunch of hunting rifles and a handgun in the garage. And these woods are huge, no one would be able to find him if we bury him deep in the woods and cover it up real good.”

“Alright then,” Dominick muttered, not looking too pleased. “We’ll take him out front; you can go get the gun.” He moved forward to grab the boy as Darren passed by him and left the room.

Dominick reached out for the boy who immediately began fighting and struggling as hard as he could. Despite being so injured the threat of his impending death seemed to have given him a boost of strength and the boy kicked and punched furiously every time Dominick reached for him.

“A little help!” Dominick said, looking over his shoulder at us.

Reluctantly, Jamie and I moved forward to help. Tyler was having no part of it and stayed back but didn’t try to interfere. Together the three of us managed to grab the thin, flailing limbs and dragged Amenci to the edge of the bed. He let out a thin, piercing wail at the jarring movements and tried desperately to curl his limbs up but we kept them spread so he couldn’t hit us. For such a little guy he sure packed a mean punch.

“I won’t tell, I promise, I just wanna see my mom!! Please, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! DON’T KILL ME, don’t kill me, I don’t wanna die, PLEASE!!!” He kept repeating those words over and over frantically, sobbing hysterically and twisting to get away from us. It killed me that he was apologizing to us as if he had done something wrong.

After a second to long of struggling and pleading Dominick cracked and slammed his palm across the boys wet, bruised face. The sound of it echoed as the room became suddenly silent and we all paused uncomfortably as Amenci began weeping softly, hanging limp in our arms, and Tyler ran out of the room. After that it was easy and I picked the boy up effortlessly in my arms, cradling his damp, battered body to my chest. We made our way to the front of the cabin, Jamie and Dominick following close behind. It was unsettling carrying him, I did my best not to look down but that didn’t stop me from feeling his slick skin against my own and his soft face pressed against my naked chest. Maybe going around naked wasn’t such a great idea, I’m sure we could have found a few towels lying around.

Amenci stirred, tension echoed in his every movement. “Please,” he whispered numbly, his soft breath ghosting against my skin. “Help me.”

“Quiet,” I hissed, making the boy flinch and curl up tighter. I couldn’t hear anymore pleading. My resolve was already shaky enough without having to listen to the boy we were about to murder in cold blood begging for his life. When we got to the front Darren was already waiting for us with a towel wrapped around his waist- the bastard- and a handgun in his hand. It wasn’t very big, I hoped it would be enough to do the job painlessly but I didn’t know anything about guns so I had to put my faith in Darren.

Jamie asked the question for me, to my relief. “You sure that’s going to work? It looks a little small.” He didn’t sound too confident and I thing he was beginning to regret having agreed to this. I knew where he was coming from.

“It looks small but it packs a punch. It should finish him in one shot if nothing goes wrong.” That sounded pretty ominous
.
Reluctantly I carried the boy to a spot that looked good, around the middle of the clearing, not to close to the cabin and not to close to the forest. If he tried to get away we’d be all over him and he looked like he knew it to. His face was void of all expression except pain as I set him down on the dirt and quickly backed away. I didn’t want to be any nearer to him than I had to be.

Taking a shuddering breath, Amenci wrapped his arms around himself and looked up at us. There was no look of silent pleading or any begging from him which I found strange. If someone was about to shoot me I’d be fighting and raising as much hell as I could but he just gave us this hopeless, resigned look, blinking those big brown eye’s that were brimming with tears. He was hunched down like a frightened animal and fighting back tears but he just continued to sit there, naked, in the dirt without making a single move to help himself.

After a long, uncomfortable silence, Dominick spoke and we all jumped. “So,” he asked Darren softly, “do we, like, count down or something? How does this work?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know,” Darren snapped. “It’s not like I do shit like this all the time!” The gun was still at his side and he was making no move to raise it.

“Well you’re the only one of us that has been hunting.” I pointed out. I just wanted this over and done with. The sooner it was done the sooner I could start pretending this had never happened and the sooner I could get the fuck out of there. No way once this was over that I was going to be staying here for another hour, let alone a few months. “You should have some sort of experience with…killing.”

Darren gave me a look. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but this isn’t some fucking deer here. I could be put away for manslaughter for this.” He glared at me for a second and turned back to the boy. His hands were shaking as he raised the gun and pointed it at the boys head. Then he just…stopped. We all waited, holding our breaths in anticipation, not daring to even wipe the sweat that was trickling down our faces, and I swear my heart stopped beating for a minute.

Darren licked his lips and swallowed and still his hand did nothing but shake. His brows furrowed and he bit his lip, looking like he was mentally trying to hype himself up.

After what had to be a full minute Darren lowered the gun, shaking his head. “I can’t do it. I can’t just kill him like this,” he whispered, his voice strained.

“But you have to,” Jamie insisted frantically, “I don’t want to go to jail! Just squeeze the trigger, he won’t feel a thing and it’ll be like it never happened. Ok? I just want to have this done with.”

“So do I,” he replied, “I can’t kill him, though.”

“WHY?”

Darren looked into Jamie’s eyes and held out the gun, “If you think it’s so easy than be my guest. Which do you think will get you more time, though, rape or murder?”

Looking pale and more than a little scared, Jamie shook his head, refusing to take the gun. I was a little amazed to see him back off so easily, usually Jamie is the first one to do what needs to be done, he’s a little ruthless for a high school student, but I guess murder is where he draws the line. I couldn’t say that I blamed him; something tells me murder is where I draw the line as well.

Darren held the gun in his limp hand and mumbled, “Sorry, guys. It just doesn’t feel right.”

I looked down at the boy who was still sitting in the dirt. The sunlight glittered strangely off of his sweat and bloodstained skin but his tear drenched face sparkled like an angels. His face was tilted slightly up so he could see us and for the first time since I had seen him the beautiful face held a flicker of hope. I don’t know why I was so surprised, it’s not like I thought he wanted to die, but it was a whole lot easier to swallow when he seemed resigned to his fate.

“So, if we’re not going to kill him…and we don’t want to go to jail what are we going to do?” Everyone blinked blankly at me. We really hadn’t thought that far ahead. After a moment I sighed, rubbing my forehead tiredly. “Hey kid.”

Amenci looked nervously at me.

“Did anyone know where you were last night? I mean, nobody knows where to look for you, do they?”

“N-no,” he said quietly.

“How far away do you live from where we picked you up? And did anyone know you were on the highway last night.” I asked. If this plan was going to work we needed time, lot’s of time, and I didn’t want a search party popping up out of nowhere and making this a wasted effort.

“I l-live a l-long way from here. A-and no one knows where I was last night.” He took a deep shuddering breath and wilted slightly. It had obviously taken a lot out of him, he looked as exhausted as I felt. But now that I had heard what I wanted to I was good to go

We really should have thought of this in the first place instead of panicking, but there you have it. I was rather pleased with myself for finding an easy way out of this mess and was sure that nothing could screw it up. I turned to the others and said, “So if nobody knows where he is or where to start looking then all we have to do is keep him here until he’s all healed up and then let him go. Our conscious will be clear and we won’t be going to jail if there’s no physical evidence to prove actually we did anything. It shouldn’t take anymore than until summer ends and when we’re ready to pack up he’ll be healed and we’ll let him go where we found him.” I looked around and saw the considering looks on everyone’s faces. It was the best plan we had and I couldn’t see them choosing to kill someone instead of taking the legal way out. I was right.

Dominick was the first to answer. “Sound’s good to me,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Darren and Jamie quickly agreed; relief clear on all their faces now that they knew there was a win, win situation. Darren looked way happier than I’ve seen him in a long time and seemed in a hurry to get rid of the gun, holding it like it was a dangerous animal. Jamie, on the other hand, didn’t look happy per se, but he did look less sick and he didn’t look so pale, either, which I took as a good sign.

I turned back to look at Amenci who was trying hard not to fall asleep. He looked exhausted but there was lot’s to be done. First thing’s first, though. “Hey!” I said to him. “Just so you know. There’s about thirty miles in any direction to the closest town, so don’t think about running because you’ll just hurt yourself and we’ll catch you before you even get close.”

Amenci nodded slowly, blinking his heavily lidded eyes.

“Good.” I turned back to the guys. “We have to get him cleaned up or he’ll get an infection.”

Darren nodded, “You know where the bathroom is, I’ll get the first aid kit.”

“Kay. Dom, Jamie, can you fill up the tub and get some towels or something.” I had no idea what I was doing but all that sounded right. As the guys left I made a quick inventory of what we would need. Well, water of course, antiseptic, bandages, clean cloths. Shit, he would probably have to be cleaned on the inside. I didn’t know or even want to know how to do that. I shivered with disgust and looked down at Amenci. The boy cowered slightly, curling in on himself tighter and looking around uncertainly.

“I’m not going to hurt you, alright.” I muttered irritably. The sun was hurting my head and I was now alone with the last person on earth I wanted to be near (besides the police, of course).

“O-ok.”

“God damn it! Will you stop stuttering!” I knelt down and he flinched away sharply. I ignored it and scooped his thin body up in my arms, lifting him way to easily. He gave a small squeal and clutched my naked shoulders hard; squeezing his eye’s closed hard in pain and breathing unevenly. His small frame shuddered violently every few seconds as I carried him back into the cabin.

“What’s you’re problem,” I asked after a moments, “stop doing that!”

“It hurts,” he groaned softly.

“Where does it hurt,” I asked, feeling a little uncomfortable asking another guy that question. I guess that whole questioning my sexuality thing was beginning to raise its ugly head. Does it count if you can’t remember it? Probably not.

“Everywhere. M-my-…where you put-,“ He swallowed , losing his nerve and lowering his head in embarrassment.

I knew what he meant though. My face burned in equal parts humiliation and shame at the thought. I could imagine how much it hurt from all the blood that was on the sheets when I first woke up. Hopefully someone would have enough brains to clean it all up before both he and I went back into that room; I didn’t think either of us needed anymore reminders of that night. Him especially, I was to drunk but I’m sure he remembered every agonizing second of it.

I felt so bad for the poor kid, watching him trembling and flinching at every sharp movement. Well, soon it would be all better, he’d be recovered and on his way, I just hoped we’d all survive until then.

A/N: Alrighty, the second chapter is done, yet again another ‘setting the scene’ chapter. Now the real plot can begin, sorry for the wait.