Twisted Moon - Book 3 of the Black Moon series - Chapter 75: Aftermath (Part 1)

(Camden's POV - Sun. 19 July 2015)

There is this thick fog in my head that blurs all my thoughts and prevent them from being clear. This is annoying me to the highest point. Much more than this pain near my shoulder that increases as I resurface to consciousness. What bothers and angers me the most is that I feel like I shouldn't be in this state; that I should be fighting for something; or someone...

Noah!!!

As the fog slowly dissipates, all the memories of what happened kick in. Chris's email. Noah's bruised body. The race to reach that location Chris mentioned in his apologies. The fear on Noah's face. The sight of Andrei carrying a body that I would recognize among thousands over his shoulder. All the stripes on his frail back. The fight with Andrei. The pain on Noah's face. The horrible collar around his neck. All the blows and kicking with the bastard. Noah disappearing in the woods.

And then, the blackout. Oh I did hear the sound of a gun being shot. I also felt the pain when the bullet broke through my flesh but this is not what caused the blackout. In normal times, I would have barely faltered, but between the lack of sleep and food, I think I lost my balance and the last thing I remember is the sharp pain as I fell and my head hit something hard. That one probably explains the awful headache that doesn't help my thinking.

"We're almost there, Sir..." someone says above me.

Fuck!!! Who was that? This is not a voice I know! Where am I? Now that I think about it, it feels like I am being driven. But Noah... Where is Noah? He was hiding somewhere in the woods... What happened after I stupidly lost consciousness? Andrei looked like he was going to take him to the van I saw parked nearby... Holy God... Did he manage to flee? I know the guys were not that far behind, but did they arrive on time to save my boy? Or did Andrei find him and took him away?

"Noah... Noah..."

"Please calm down, Sir; we'll be at the hospital in a couple of minutes..." the same voice says.

"Where's Noah...?"

"He's in the other ambulance, Sir. Don't worry, he will be fine..."

Relief.

Just a tad bit of relief.

As if he could be fine... I don't know exactly what he went through, but I saw the marks on his body. I know that bastard of Andrei and his tendencies; just thinking he probably abused my boy makes me sick again but I fight the nausea.

Don't worry, he will be fine...

How could he ever be fine after anything like this? This is absolutely not the time to verse into self-pity or to think about things like that. What I need right now is to grab a hold on my self-control and to know that he is safe and taken care of. I am not sure about how much I will be capable of the first one but the voice at least leads me to think that the second one is in due course, so I try to relax a little bit. Cracking my eyes open, the light in the ambulance van sends another jolt of pain to my head but I keep them open to see what is going on as the car pulls to a stop.

"I need to see him..." I grumble when the doors open at the back of the van, trying to prop myself up on my elbows.

"Please Sir, lay back down. We first need to take care of you," the voice says again and this time I see that it belongs to a middle-aged man in scrubs as my stretcher is being pulled out. I try to look around for Noah while the man explains the situation to other doctors and nurses.

"I'm fine... I need to see my boyfriend..." I insist.

"Impossible for now. You need surgery for your wound and X-rays for your head. Besides, the other young man is already being taken care of by other doctors..." a nurse replies as I am being rolled through corridors.

"I need to know how he is doing..." I beg.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any information on this patient but..."

"I NEED TO KNOW!!!" I shout, trying to sit up and pull on the IV in my arm, just as we get into what looks like a surgery room. Fuck! That can wait! I first need to know how Noah is doing. Is that too difficult to understand? However, a sudden warmth fills me and I find myself lying back on the stretcher. I don't really know what happens next because I feel like I am floating on a cloud of cotton; and shortly after, I black out.

The next time I regain consciousness, I seem to go through the same process of flashbacks like earlier except for a few differences. I am lying on a slightly more comfortable bed, I don't feel like my body is in motion, and I know Noah has been saved from Andrei. The pain in my shoulder is a bit better too and my headache is not so bad anymore, but I am feeling really sore. As if my body had been run over by truck. Or more likely as if I recently spent half an hour on a ring with Mike Tyson in his good old days! My muscles feel stiff and I can tell my face is hurting too. However, what pains me the most and comes above any other worry I may have is my urge to find out how Noah is doing.

My Baby Boy... the bruises on his body, the marks all over his back, the fear and pain on his face... My poor Baby Boy... What has he gone through during these two weeks? I know I shouldn't go there nor let those dark thoughts flood my head again, but I just can't help them. I failed him so badly.

"Hey Cam... Calm down, Bro... Noah is safe now..."

Aaron's voice.

Somehow, it soothes me a bit but it doesn't help my anger or my guilt at all. Noah may be safe but in what condition is he? This boy had already gone through so much. He was getting better. He was accepting himself as he is and starting to deal much better with his self-loathing and angers. How is he going to face this new hardship? Will I be able to help him this time? Do I even deserve helping him? I, the man who was supposed to protect him and keep him safe, but who only failed in his role as a Dominant?

I eventually open my eyes on a white bedroom and two familiar faces. Aaron is standing on my right side, with a mix of worry and relief on his face, a hand resting on my arm along my side. Tony is standing on the other side of the bed, and his usually blank expression here betrays a bit of irritation and torment, which says how intense these emotions must be at the moment.

"Hey! Glad to see you're back with us..." Aaron says with a warm smile.

"Where's Noah? How is he doing? I need to see him..." I say, trying to sit up.

"Don't you move, Cam... You need to see the doctor first," Aaron grumbles, pushing me back on the pillow.

"That can wait, Ron! Where is Noah?"

"He's in another room and he is sleeping right now. He won't wake up before another few hours..." Aaron simply replies.

"I still want to see him now... How is he doing? Has he spoken? What happened exactly?"

"We don't know much yet, but physically speaking, he's quite okay," Aaron says in a reassuring tone before a painful expression displays on his face. "Sadly, there are other bad news. Andrei managed to flee... and he was not alone. He took Jeremy..." Aaron adds with a strangled voice.

"Jeremy? Do you mean he was...?" I ask as new things click in my head. Yet I'm not that surprised. I did feel that both affairs might be linked.

"Yes, it seems like this poor boy was with Andrei all this time," Tony replies with irritation and they explain me what happened.

It seems like Andrei was about to move out when I arrived and they believe Chris warned him of our arrival. Aaron tells me he got a call from the police just a few minutes before I called Tony, and that they informed him Chris had committed suicide in front of their station, leaving a letter for Aaron's attention. Tony also mentions that Chris called Liam to tell him where Noah was held hostage and that those three little creeps of Shannon, Alex and Liam hurried there and were the first ones to reach the hidden mansion after me, thank God soon followed by the guys.

They found me inanimate on the ground with Noah freaking over my wound and their boys in a not-better state. The only thing they managed out of Noah was that the long-missed Jeremy was there, that Andrei escaped with him because the poor boy was already in the van, and that they had also tried to kill Jeff, the guy who was supposed to follow Andrei everywhere.

They found him almost dead in the basement, tied up in a corner and with a stab wound that could have been not too bad if it had been healed right away. However, it seems like it occurred on the Saturday late afternoon and he lost a lot of blood. Tony is obviously very preoccupied with the state of his best security guy, also angry that he managed to get caught and wounded, but Aaron reminds him that he is in good hands and that the doctors sounded confident he would survive.

Well, I hope he will. In the meantime, I feel rage coursing through my veins throughout their explanations. I hate myself for having been too weak. I should have been able to crash that piece of shit of Andrei. I should have been able to overpower him much faster than I did, and even if that might not have solved the problem with the guy who shot me, who knows... I might have been able to save Jeremy too... Oh Gosh, I can't begin to imagine how Aaron feels but it can't be good because I know how much affection he has always had for Gary's Submissive. And poor Gary...

Unfortunately, a doctor interrupts our conversation as he walks into the bedroom, followed by a nurse, saying that he is glad I finally woke up. This is when I notice that the daylight is still quite dim outside and I suddenly wonder how long I have been out.

"You briefly woke up after the surgery in your shoulder, Mr. Hall, but you were far too agitated and we needed to take you to more exams, so we had to sedate you a bit more. It seems like you have been in a serious state of exhaustion so the drugs acted better than we thought and you slept through the night..." the doctor explains. "Anyway, I'm happy to say your wound was only very superficial and that the bullet didn't touch any important organs or muscles. We were able to retrieve it easily and you should heal quickly. Your head suffered a minor concussion that will reduce on its own. We will make you take another set of X-ray later today to confirm this. And lastly, as far as the injuries on your face are concerned, they're only bruises so you were quite lucky in the end," the doctor concludes.

Not that I thought it was any worse – after all, apart from the soreness, I actually don't feel too bad physically speaking – or that I really cared about my state, but I find relief in his words in the sense that I should be able to take care of Noah myself. Hopefully. If he lets me.

"Thank you, Doc. Can I go and see my boyfriend now?" I ask with determination.

"You will be able to see him in a short while indeed. Nurse Carrie will first remove your IV and change your bandage."

"Thanks. How... How is he doing?"

"He is still sleeping for now. We had to sedate him too due to his strong agitation. I was about to go and check on him now, so I'll leave you with the nurse and we can meet and discuss in his room."

The doctor doesn't leave me any other option as he turns around and walks out the door. I let the nurse remove the catheter in my arm while Tony and Aaron wait outside. I am wearing one of those ridiculous hospital gowns of which she pulls the top down to detach the bandage above my heart. There is a large bruise there with a little hole and stitches just beneath the tip of the wing of my tattoo, but it doesn't look that bad. The nurse cleans the wound and covers it with another bandage, all the time advising me on how I should take care of it to avoid a long healing process. Once she is done with everything, she bids me good luck and leaves, allowing Aaron and Tony back into the room.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asks as I am shifting on the bed to get up.

"Going to see Noah!" I reply irritatingly. What did he think? That I was going to lay in bed and wait for a miracle to bring me my boy?

"Cam... you may want to dress up first..." Aaron sighs. When I stand up and feel some fresh air reach my back and my behind, I decide that he might be right and look around the room to spot my clothes.

"Joshua prepared some clothes of his for you," Tony smirks as he hands me a small duffle bag.

"Thanks..."

"Do you need help to..." Aaron starts saying as I awkwardly head to the bathroom.

"No! Thanks! I can manage!" I interrupt him before I shut the door and start digging into the bag.

I might have been presumptuous here, but I need to prove myself I am not in such a bad state. Putting on the boxer briefs and the socks, as well as the pair of jeans and even my shoes goes fairly easily. The tee-shirt is a bit more painful because of the wound in my shoulder, but I still make it with a bit of time and wincing, and ten minutes later, I am finally ready.

I follow Tony and Aaron outside and into a long corridor before we take the lift to an upper floor where we cross more corridors and eventually stop in front of a door. When it opens, I can't help tears pooling in my eyes. They are mostly tears of relief at seeing him but fuck, it hurts! Yet, he is really there, in front of me, and my heart clenches at the thought I will be able to touch him in a few seconds. I definitely need to touch him to make him become real again. No longer the ghost I could see everywhere in my house in the form of memories. There are also tears of anger and pain, though.

Noah is lying on his right side, wearing the same gown I had a few minutes ago, and obviously deep asleep. To anyone, his face may look peaceful but I can recognize the signs of an agitated sleep through the tenseness of his features or how his eyebrows slightly twitch. There is an IV attached to his left arm that delivers fluids coming from three different bags. His face doesn't bear any bruises and I would be relieved if I hadn't seen all the marks in his back and the scratches on his hands and legs yesterday. The truth is I can imagine part of what he is has been through and that doesn't reassure me. A nurse is verifying the IV while another one is finishing to tuck him under the bed sheet. The doctor is taking notes and checking some documents at the small desk in a corner.

"Ah, Mr. Hall... I received the results of some of the tests we carried on Mr. Mitchell and I was looking at them. We'll get to that in a minute, but first, how are you doing?" the doctor asks as he gets up to meet us by the bed, but my eyes remain locked onto Noah's sleeping form.

"Fine..." I reply evasively, taking the opportunity that the nurse is done with Noah's bed to take her place when she walks out of the room.

My hand hesitatingly reaches for his face. I really need to touch him to make sure that he is here for real and as the back of my fingers gently caress his cheek, a treacherous tear escapes from my eye, that I immediately wipe with my other hand. His face is warm and its contact sends a huge wave of relief to my heart. Seeing him for real after those two awful weeks feels good, but unfortunately, it doesn't last for long as I remember why he is here and not at home.

"How is he doing?" I ask to the doctor, yet keeping my eyes on Noah.

"I guess I should start with the least good news..." the doctor says in a wavering tone, but I couldn't agree more. I want to know the worst first. "Mentally speaking, I can't tell you much for now. We have been informed of the conditions he was found in, and that certainly explains his feisty turmoil a few hours after he got there and the initial tranquilizers he had been given earlier no longer had any effects. It didn't really look like a panic attack, though. He was more like... frightened and worried, screaming all over the place and saying incoherent things. So we gave him more sedatives because what he needs the most for now is sleep. This young man is in a deep state of exhaustion and rather serious dehydration. What we want for now is for him to recover quickly from this and he will need a lot of sleep in the coming days."

"I understand... Just make sure he sleeps as much as he needs then," I reply.

"How long do you intend to keep him?" Aaron asks.

"We will see, but count on at least four or five days."

"How about all the injuries?" I ask, seriously worried about what I am going to hear. That has to be among the worst news...

"There's nothing extremely serious there..." the doctor says and that makes me flick my head in his direction with a dark look. Is he blind? Hasn't he seen all the marks on Noah's body? Hasn't he been given enough information on what Noah may have gone through in this house and within the hands of that psycho of Andrei? "I know what you're thinking, Mr. Hall!"

"Really? Then unless you were not given the exact details, I doubt there isn't anything serious here!" I growl in a low tone.

"I've had enough details to know that it could have been much worse, Mr. Hall. I am not minimizing Noah's conditions of confinement or their outcome, trust me, but when I heard about what he may have gone through, I was sincerely scared to see even worse consequences."

"I'm not sure about what you mean, Doc... Haven't you seen his back? And hasn't he been..." I ask, wincing on the second part of my question and unable to finish it.

"He hasn't been raped, if this is what you're asking," the doctor responds with determination, using his fingers as quotes. That still makes my heart lurch in my chest at the mention of the word.

"Are you sure?" Tony asks, some sort of relief displaying on his face, like on Aaron's.

"Anally speaking, I'm positive, or at least not recently. There is really no evidence of a recent nonconsensual anal penetration. I understood his abduction dates back to two weeks ago, so Mr. Mitchell will have to confirm nothing happened in the first days, but I don't think so..." the doctor explains, making me feel half-relieved. That doesn't entirely lessen all the rest. He might have been abused in other ways and that's still rape.

"Andrei was already in Seattle when Noah was kidnapped, so hopefully nothing happened..." Aaron reminds us.

"True..." I comment. "That's a slight relief until he can tell us what happened exactly. What about his other injuries?"

"His back looks bad at first sight, but it's because the whipping occurred very recently, two days ago at most. There's one weld that might leave a little mark, but the rest should disappear at some point. Except for that one stripe, I don't think the others bled but that's still an impressive sight, I agree. We are healing them with very good ointments and he shouldn't suffer too much from them. Then, there are several scratches on his knees and hands, as well as on his arms, but I imagine he must have fought... There are also a few bad marks around his wrists and ankles, but these should also disappear with time."

My hands automatically reach for his left wrist where I can see some bruises and marks performed by various types of restraints. I bet he must have struggled quite a few times or maybe he was just restrained most of the time. In some places, it cut a bit into his skin, forming little scabs, but as the doctor said, these should heal easily enough.

"Just so you know..." the doctor trails off after a few seconds of silence and I look back in his direction to encourage him to go on. "When we removed his underwear for the examination, he had a... device that's called..."

"A chastity cage..." I finish for him as he hesitates again and his eyes open widely. "We are in the BDSM lifestyle, Doctor, so I know what a cock cage is. The difference is that we practice it in a very consensual and respectful way, and what Noah just experienced is bluntly called sex slavery. Some of the accessories we use in BDSM become torture instruments in this particular case, which makes the difference between a lifestyle and abuse."

"I agree with you... as long as it remains consensual. You understand that Noah... may have a difficulty to return to this lifestyle after what he just went through, don't you?" he asks warily.

"I'm perfectly aware of that, Doctor..." I reply with a lump in my throat. As much as the lifestyle has been ruling my life for the last five years, I am entirely conscious that I might have to abandon it in the future. But however much it bothers me, Noah's sake is far more important than the rest and whatever it takes, I will deal with it.

"In any event, we were able to remove the device as well as the collar, and they have both been given to the police as evidence. One last thing about his mental state... I will ask for a psychotherapist to visit him. He will need to express himself on how he feels."

"I have no problem with that," I reply firmly.

"Well I think I have covered everything... We're still waiting for some blood test results but I should get them all in a few days. For now, there is nothing disastrous in the first tests. I will come back later this afternoon once he has woken up, but feel free to reach out for me if necessary."

"Thank you."

"And you should definitely get some rest too..." the doctor adds before he leaves but I don't reply to that. I am feeling good enough for now and will nap later on, but I need more answers from Aaron and Tony first.

"How are the boys doing?" I ask.

"They're... trying to cope..." Aaron answers hesitantly. I scowl at him for more information and he sighs deeply before he continues. "Shan is quite okay. He had a big fit of tears when they got back home, but Mark calmed him quickly; and then you know how he is... he has his own ways to cope that others don't, so I'm sure he'll be fine. Alex is a different story... He's like a sponge, absorbing everyone's emotions. When we got there, he was trying to soothe Noah while Liam and Shan were striving to make you stop bleeding, and then he tried to soothe Liam after Noah revealed Jeremy's presence... so he's kind of having a hard time from what Mark told me earlier this morning, but he's going to make him talk as much as possible."

"Poor boy..." I sigh. I really wonder what got into them, though. It could have been so dangerous! What if they had arrived just a few minutes before? That bastard of Andrei might have decided to take some of them! Worse! They could have been killed!

"Yeah, poor boy... Though I still can't believe he was the one to plot their expedition to the mansion after Chris called Liam!" Aaron chuckles bitterly.

"Alex did? The little Alex??"

"Yep, that Alex... Mark was furious..." Aaron replies. Well, I can imagine. Though I'm sure he must have been more worried than angry.

"Mark shouldn't take it too hard on him..." I start saying but Tony suddenly intervenes.

"I'm not into your lifestyle, boys, but from what I understood, those three creeps would definitely need a sanction..." he says angrily.

"Seriously, Grandpa?" Aaron exclaims, as surprised as I am.

"What? Isn't that how it's supposed to work?" Tony grumbles.

"The circumstances are a bit peculiar, Tony..." Aaron tempers.

"Do you guys realize that they nearly bumped into Andrei? They saw the van pulling out of the trail! Can you imagine what sort of disaster we could have been facing had they been there only two or three minutes before? What if they had come face to face with Andrei? What if they had gotten shot too? Who knows what that sick bastard would have been capable of in a moment of panic?" Tony growls in a low tone.

"I see your point Tony and you're absolutely right, it could have been disastrous... But Mark needs to take things slowly with Alex. He's still fragile... and I think he needs a lecture rather than a sanction," I argue. "And so does Liam. How was he doing?"

"Honestly? Pretty bad..." Tony says. "He was quite shocked by what he saw there, but he's mostly beating himself up about Jeremy and the fact that... it's not that he had forgotten about him, but he was thinking less of him recently and now that he knows – or at least guessed – what his situation has been, he is feeling terribly guilty. But Josh is taking things quite easy on him. They're both staying home today and Joshua will try to make him express his worries. He'll let him look into the investigation to show him that we do our utmost to find his friend."

"Good... That makes me think... Has anyone called Gary?"

"Sure... I did," Tony replies darkly. "He's... shocked. But he's more determined than ever to find Jeremy. And..."

"And what?" I insist. This is not like Tony to hesitate like that.

"Gary would like to meet Noah and speak with him," Aaron replies for him. "Don't do that face, Cam! He said he would be patient and wait for Noah to get better, but he needs it. He needs to hear about Jeremy. Noah has been in direct contact with him in the past two weeks... He's the only one who can tell him how Jeremy is really doing..."

"I don't know if that's a great idea..." I argue. Right now, I don't know in which state of mind Noah will be when he wakes up, or if he will be ready to speak about his captivity.

"Cam, give it some time, but it may also help Noah..."

"We'll see. And what about Jeremy? The investigation?"

"The police have taken over... at last!" Tony replies sternly. "They're trying to look for Andrei, but for now, we don't know much. I can't believe he managed to escape with Jeremy..."

That's just incredible. If only I had known Jeremy was in the van... Well, seeing how things went, I don't think I would have been able to help, but still, I'm just so angry. I can't begin to imagine how Gary must feel right now. So close to have gotten his boy back, and yet so far. It's as if Andrei had managed to get Noah after I lost consciousness. That would have been unbearable... I swear, if I were given a second chance to have that bastard in front of me, I would torture him to no end... until his last breath.

After that, Tony soon leaves, saying that he needs to do a few things in the office but that he will be back later this afternoon for when Noah wakes up as he would really like to hear what he may say. He mostly wants to be present when the police come. Aaron says he wants to stay to keep me company, but I convince him to go home and get some sleep since he apparently spent the night here already, and I eventually find myself alone in the bedroom with Noah.

I won't say I am feeling much better after the conversation with the doctor, and I am definitely filled with doubts regarding our future, but I can't deny the slight relief at seeing him here. I don't know how we are going to work things out yet since I have no clue about the state of mind he will be in when he wakes up, but the one thing I am sure of is that I will be here to support him and I won't let him run away from me either.

Published on 19 September 2017

So this was the first part of the aftermath in Camden's head, with lots of uncertainties regarding the foreseeable future. In the next chapter, you will drop into Noah's head and as you may expect, it might be a bit dark for a little while.