Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
‘Disgraced politician shunned by his party’
The hinges squeaked when he pulled on the massive door and made a broad gesture to invite Ros into the dark mouth of the container.
Ros chuckled, glancing back at him, but the tension around his eyes betrayed his unease. Were he to run back to the car and drive off without a word, Shane would have let him. Instead, Ros chose to trust the one man he shouldn’t have.
“Okay, creepy,” he said, yet entered the impromptu cell as if he were the Thanksgiving turkey willingly stepping into the slaughterhouse.
Shane breathed in the scent of Ros’s cologne when the smaller body rolled against his accidentally-on-purpose, as if this were still a game of desire. He shut his eyes and listened to the soft footsteps echoing inside the container, but once they stilled, he entered the elongated interior himself and shut the door before quickly circling the handles inside with a chain and locking it with a padlock.
For a moment, they stayed in eerie silence, and all he could hear was their breath, but there was no point in prolonging any of this so he switched on the light, illuminating the metal walls, the mattress covered with a black sheet, and the camera standing on a tripod in the corner to his right.
Ros backed against the wall so fast the impact resonated along all the metal walls. “Shane? What is this? This isn’t funny.” His voice got a higher pitch and he glanced to the locked door with fear settling in his eyes for the first time.
Shane rolled his shoulders when something pinched his nape. “No,” He said and switched on the camera. The silence rang in his ears as if he’d just been punched in the head, but he focused on adjusting the stand so its lens focused on the empty mattress rather than on the boy awaiting his sentence.
“I get it, you’re mad about being dismissed in front of my dad, but I don’t like this.” Ros’s chest worked fast as he took in the room. The rusty walls, the empty bucket in the corner, and the dirty floor didn’t predict anything good even for a soul as pure as him.
“You see me exactly as he does. But it doesn’t matter. Let’s just do what I wanted to do from the start. Strip,” Shane said coldly, pressing the recording button, since he could edit out the unnecessary footage later.
Ros inched toward the door with his back glued to the wall, his face pale as a sheet. “No! What is wrong with you? What the fuck? What do you mean ‘from the start’? Is this… is this about my dad? He told me—”
Shane snapped, charging toward Ros so violently the boy’s head hit the wall when he attempted to back away. “Your dad killed a woman while drunk, called us to get rid of the body, and when the cops appeared, he claimed I’ve been the one behind the wheel! Don’t you fucking dare to throw his lies at me!”
Ros’s pupils widened, and he pressed on Shane’s chest to create some distance, but Shane wouldn’t be pushed away. Ros was on his turf, and he didn’t have a say in what was about to go down.
“I… why didn’t you tell me? Did you… approach me on purpose?” Rosen asked when understanding blurred his eyes.
Shane stalled, his jaw clenching as he pulled on Rosen’s arm and pushed him toward the makeshift bed. He just wanted to get this over with. “Take off your clothes. I’ll let you go once we’re done.”
Ros felt like a rag doll in his hands, but when he looked back at Shane, his eyes glistened with tears in the stark light of the lamp. “This is what you wanted from me?” He clenched his teeth. “I’m not doing shit! I drove all the way here to spend time with you, I ditched my family, and… you must think I’m really dumb.”
Shane’s fingers ached, and he stretched them to relax the unpleasant tension in his hands. But it didn’t matter that Ros cared for him, because Shane didn’t want to keep playing this charade. He needed this clean break.
“Just do it, Ros.”
Ros hugged himself. “N-no. This is… it’s disgusting. What are you doing? I—who are you even?”
The words were like needles pushed under Shane’s nails, but he didn’t budge, as steady as all the other times when he’d done terrible things to get by. Tears didn’t move him anymore. “Your dad warned you I’m scum. You should have listened to him.”
Ros scanned him from head to toe, and Shane could see every desperate calculation behind the pretty eyes. “Please. Shane. You can’t do this to me.” He took a step closer as if he thought he was a wolf-tamer, and put his hands on Shane’s hips, already moving them in search of a key.