“You were gone all day. I was starting to worry.” Oh, great. Back to this.

“Come on, pick a side,” Lavender grumbles in response to her roommate as she shuts the fridge. “You’re worried if I stay in, and you’re worried if I go out.”

“I’m just worried about you in general! It’s not-"

“I’m fine. Drop it.”

“Lavender, you’re not fine. Please, please tell me what I can do to help you.” There’s those pitiful eyes again. Jesus Christ.

“That’s a stupid thing to ask, you know.”

And the roommate blinks. “What do you mean?”

Lavender stares at the ceiling and shrugs. “What help do you think you’re gonna be? You gonna bring her back? Take out the fucker who drove into her?”

The other girl has nothing to say. She really hurt her feelings. And with that, Lavender turns away and starts out of their shared kitchen.

“What were you doing? Out there- what were you doing that took so long?”

Lavender stops. Easy question.

“A friend took me on a drive through the mountains.”

“A friend?”

“Yeah, I guess I still got one I can tolerate.”

She harshly shuts her door behind her and flops down on her bed.

The next thing she knows, she’s waking up to the shrill ringing of her phone. She hadn’t even realized she had fallen asleep. It seems that keeps happening. Well, by now it must be 3 a.m. or some other obscure time of night, since there was no light peeking through the window. In fact, it was an eerie violet-black.

Lavender pokes at the phone screen and props herself up to answer- It’s Mateo.

“Yeah?”

“You doing anything, chica?”

“Take a guess.”

“Ha. What about tomorrow?”

“What do you think?”

“Great, then I’ll be over to pick you up real soon. I could really use you for something.”

Mateo hangs up. Of course he doesn’t tell her anything about whatever this is. She’s walking into this blind, but at least she could usually trust him. So Lavender grabs a baseball cap, pulls the brim to hide her eyes, and turns off the light.

--------

Mateo’s hand clumsily searches for the light switch. The bulbs flicker for a second before waking up Kenton with white light.
“Morning, Kenny.”

The young man says nothing. Obviously, he didn’t sleep well. No blanket around, no warmth- but he wasn’t shivering. His lower lip quivers a little, though. He’s still tied to the windowsill, still has the blindfold, and still has no pants. Lavender stands in the doorway and watches Mateo go over to him. He stoops down to cup his hands gently around his captive’s face and presses his lips to his forehead, greeting him like a cherished lover. Poor Kenton shudders and pulls away.

“Get the fuck away from me, you fucking bastard,” he whispers through gritted teeth. Mateo guffaws and plants a kiss on Kenton’s unsuspecting lips, and he tries to pull away to no avail.

“This is what you wanted me here for?” Lavender snorts and turns toward the door. Kenton whines hopelessly.

“Hey, you stop right there. I was serious about needing your help.” Mateo pats his boy’s cheek and stands up. He pulls a few bandanas out of his pocket. Lavender watches him unravel them.

“Y’know what these are for?”

One- the first bandana goes in Kenton’s mouth, balled up. The victim chokes and kicks around, but before he can do anything, two- the second bandana goes through his teeth, tied in the back, pushing the first further in. Three- the third bandana goes over his lips, pressing tightly on his cheeks, and four- the fourth bandana goes over his nose and chin, covering the rest of his face in combination with the blindfold. Kenton yells and fights, throwing around like it’ll do any good.

“Well?” Mateo looks expectantly at Lavender. “Grab that rope over there!” He points to a pile on the bed and Lavender frantically fetches it. She hands it to him and sticks her hands in her pockets. Mateo takes a pair of scissors out of his back pocket and cuts the rope holding Kenton to the window. His wrists are free, but his arms had been held up so long that when Mateo wrenches them down behind his back, he groans in pain. Mateo grabs a length of rope and starts to make rope cuffs, until he glances back and sees Lavender just standing there.

“The hell d’you think you’re here for? Help me tie him up, perezosa! Get his legs!”

Lavender doesn’t have enough room to ask questions, as much as she wants to. She just takes one of the coils and crudely wraps it around Kenton’s ankles. The young man’s screaming through his gag and kicking the air and Lavender doesn’t know what to do. His heel almost catches her in the face but she dodges and tries to force it down. He was moving around way too much for her to tie a knot.

“Hey, watch me do it- like this,” Mateo orders, and slows down enough for Lavender to see how he pulls and cinches the rope tight between Kenton’s bruised wrists.

“That way, he can’t move his limbs parallel-ways, and you don’t get a kick in the head. Now hurry the fuck up.”

“Why are you in such a rush?” Lavender finishes tying Kenton’s ankles the right way, and moves on to his knees while Mateo works on his elbows. The man grunts.

“Gotta move him. The cops are getting too close.”

“What?! And you drag me into this NOW?”

“Calm down, I got everything under control.”

“You better hope so! If I get arrested for-”

“Shut up. I helped you, so you help me. It’s only fair.”

And she shuts up. She definitely doesn’t want to lose Mateo’s help. She’d be useless without it.

“Come on, make yourself useful and help me carry him outside.” Mateo grabs the squirming captive under his arms and hoists him up. Lavender gets his legs and they shuffle out the door, out the hallway and out of the abandoned hotel. Kenton’s making it as hard as possible for the two of them to move him anywhere. Mateo guides them not towards his regular old pickup truck, but instead towards a blue sedan, hidden under one of the overgrown trees. Lavender had never seen it before. Mateo pops the trunk, then drops his half of Kenton inside, and Lavender follows suit and shuts the lid, keeping the muffled yells trapped in the vehicle. By the time Kenton’s panicked screams dissolve into disheartened yells, Mateo’s already sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Get in.”

“Whose car is this?”

“Mine. I told you I got everything under control. Get in.”

--------

It’s hard to just sit in silence, with Kenton screaming right behind them. They’ve only been driving for maybe ten minutes, but Lavender doesn't have any information and the pressure is creeping up on her. Delivering photos and keeping the secret is one thing, but this- whatever this is- is something else she hadn’t expected just yet. What if a cop stops them for Mateo’s shitty driving? What if Kenton kicks out a window? That would fuck everything over.

“You’re squirming just like Kenny there,” Mateo hoots. She shrugs, and he laughs dryly.

“I suppose I should be more upfront, huh?”

“I’d appreciate that.”

He nods, then after a tense pause, starts rattling off words faster than Lavender can process.

“I need an alibi. You see, the cops are creeping on me, and I gotta be somewhere that would prove my innocence. I gotta do some honest work for now. But I can’t leave Kenny alone- so you look after him. I got a safehouse with everything needed to camp out for two weeks. Food, water, electricity, supplies, all that. The thing is, the pictures and all that stuff gotta keep coming out, so it proves to the po-lice that I’m not the guy they’re looking for. You understand me?”

Lavender opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out. Mateo continues.

“Just make it look like normal. Keep Kenny tied up nice and tight and pick up a camera. And I figured this would be good for you. Get away from your roomie for a while. Whatsername? Anywho. You’ll need the practice. This should be easy. Ya can’t fuck it up. ”

“Practice?”

“Well, what’dyou think this was gonna be? I need an assistant!”

“Dude, I don’t have any experience. At all. I didn’t know how to tie a fucking knot. I’m not ready for-”

“You’ll be fine! You’re not an idiot. You’ll figure it out. And you’re tough. If Kenny starts acting up, just punch him or something. Plus, I got things that’ll help ya.”

Lavender thinks for a minute.

“Why are you a suspect in an investigation?”

“I was one of the people last seen with Kenny around the time of his disappearance. There were others, but the cops decided they don't like me. But one does. A fan of my work.”

“Sure, okay, makes sense. Where are you taking us?”

“A house in the middle of nowhere.”

“And you just happen to have… a house in the middle of nowhere… on hand?”

“More than a few, to be safe.”

Okay, so maybe Mateo really was prepared. He had a much better handle on this than she thought.

“So I’m supposed to, what, take your place? Just like that?”

“Just for a little while. The suspicion should wear off soon enough. But you can’t contact me at all. I’ll drop off your bike later today and that’s the last you’ll see of me. Then you’re on your own. You got that?”

“On my own. Got it.”

--------

They take a winding road to a quaint one-story ranch house. It honestly doesn’t look too bad. A little sparse around, but not suspicious at all. Mateo pushes a button on a remote to open the garage door and pulls in, then pushes the button again to close it behind them. The sound of the metal wrenching and creaking shut is like a dungeon, or at least that’s what Lavender thinks it must sound like to Kenton. Speaking of, as soon as Mateo shuts off the car engine, the captive starts kicking and screaming real aggressive this time. Lavender gets out to pop the trunk. Kenton immediately sits up, which was enough for her to get a grip under his arms and haul him out of the small, dark space. Kenton throws his head back violently, nearly hitting her in the chin. She knees him in the leg in response.

“Where do you want him?” she huffs, holding him like an oversized ragdoll.

Mateo looks her up and down, noticing just how well she can handle him on her own.

“Follow me.”

He holds open a door for her, and now they’re in a short hallway.

“Just put him in there,” Mateo says, gesturing to a closed door to their immediate left. He opens that door for her as well, and Lavender drags Kenton inside. It’s empty, except for a mattress. There’s another door, one that slides open, which must be the closet. Lavender drops hold of Kenton’s arms and he falls onto the mattress with a bounce and a grunt. She watches him struggle for a moment before he has to stop and catch his breath.

“Come on, we gotta talk.” Mateo leaves the hallway. Lavender nods, and turns to follow, but she has to look at Kenton for a second. He’s softly panting. Can’t be easy to breathe, gagged like that.

“Come on!”

She hurries out of the room. Mateo’s in the kitchen. He’s got a large cardboard box in his arms. Lavender takes a seat on the square dining table near him, and he places the box beside her. She peers in. It’s all sorts of bondage gear. Leather cuffs, fancy gags, that sort of thing. Mateo gives the box a pat.

“Supplies, since apparently you suck at knots. Use all of ‘em when you take the pictures of Kenny. On Sundays, deliver envelopes to these addresses-“ He digs out a list from his pocket- “My clients and their orders. One of ‘em, a young middle-eastern guy, very talkative- he’s probably how the cops got wind of the pictures in the first place.”

Lavender makes a face. “That guy’s the reason I’m doing this? Why’s he still a client if he leaked you to the cops?”

“‘Cause he’s stupid and I like his money. Don’t worry. He’s harmless.”

“Whatever.”

Lavender looks around while Mateo keeps talking. He goes on about two meals a day, cover your tracks, blah blah blah. She notices a layer of dust on everything. This place was perfectly stocked for holding a hostage but it couldn’t have been used in the last year or two. She figures Mateo must only come here if he’s gotta hide. His readiness was definitely admirable. She has to admit that it was pretty fucking awesome.

“You listening?” Mateo snaps at her. She blinks at him.

“Yeah. I’m good.”

He grins. “Alright, then the place is yours. See you in two weeks.”

“See you.”

Mateo claps her on the shoulder and goes down the hall and out the door. She hears the car engine start again, feels the rumble of the garage door in the walls, and then silence.

Almost.

She can still hear Kenton. He’s making some sort of ruckus. Better go check.

She opens his door to find him kicking at the closet door for some reason. Can’t blame him, he’s still blindfolded and probably has no idea what he’s doing. Kenton stops when he hears Lavender get closer. She walks closer and closer, and he worms his way to the corner of the room until he’s got nowhere else to go. Lavender tilts her head a little. She reaches down, but when her fingers accidentally touch his cheek, he’s off again like her skin burned him. Okay, that’s enough. She plants the heel of her boot on his shoulder and pushes him down to the musty carpet, then jams her knee in his back. There’s not much Kenton can do while Lavender fusses with the knots of his layered gag. He’s surprised but stills himself enough to make her task easier. She loosens the tied cloth, then pulls away the layers. Kenton dislodges the cloth shoved deep in his mouth and wipes his sore cheek on his shoulder. He takes a breath. Then a few more.

“... What the fuck is happening?” Kenton’s voice is raspy.

“Mateo’s gone. I’m in charge.”

“Who’re you?”

Lavender shrugs, not realizing at first he couldn’t see it.

“Uh. We met the other day.”

“Untie me. Please.”

“I can’t.”

“Please, I’m begging you, you don’t know what he does to me-“

“I know. I just can’t help you.”

Kenton slowly lowers his head. Lavender just stands there. She feels like a doctor who just delivered bad news.

“... I’ll be back later.”

“I hope you die.”

“Yeah. Nice meeting you too.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

i broke my brain trying to write this XP but i got enough staples and glue to put the squishy mess back together so its fine
i still dont have my tablet so this took the longest fuckin time to draw lmao
anyways. i love kenton. i cant wait to make him cry

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