{author's note: trigger warning for extreme mature scenes. this is a mature story with elements of SA, violence, murder, etc. If you are uncomfortable with any mentions of these do not read.}

-

It had been three days that Lien had been stuck in Butterfly Garden. Three days of wondering when Vitya would return to him. There was no help from Sasha, either, who clearly knew this place intimately. Lien was used to luxury, but he couldn't help but think of this place as a prison, a butterfly net rather than a garden. He sat up in the bed, switching the lamp on and saw that at the foot of his bed an outfit had been laid out for him. Not only were there new clothes, but there was a sealed envelope on top of them. He had stood upright, his hair still a little damp from the shower he had taken earlier. As he reached the foot of the bed he immediately grabbed the envelope. He was more interested in the idea that Vitya had sent him something, anything. Alas, it was not from Vitya, instead it was from Anya.

Put these clothes on and come out to the sanctuary.

- Anya

He tossed the envelope and the card onto the floor and his eyes rolled. He focused on the clothes on the bed. There was a matching pair of shorts and a shirt, and on the shirt pocket a symbol of what looked like a caterpillar. "Weirdos." He said, not being able to help himself to find everything about this pretentious and odd.

Lien rose a brow and looked back at the clothes and then to the door of his bedroom. "If it means getting out of this room, so be it." He bemoaned and undressed the clothes he had arrived in and replaced them with the jade matching set. It was comfortable, yet they didn't seem to think of providing clean underwear. He hated going commando, but he had no choice. He tossed his old clothes into a basket by the door and put his feet into the slippers that were provided. It felt strange, like he was going to bed rather than going out where other people would be. At least, he assumed people would be there.

He checked himself over in the full body mirror. He made sure he looked nice, hoping Vitya would be there and that he could talk to him or have an explanation on what was going on. When he left the room, the hallway was dark and candles lined the baseboards. Lien paused and took a deep breath. "Definitely doesn't seem like a cult." He muttered sarcastically under his breath, as if entertaining himself to shield from the strange atmosphere of this place at night. He went down the hall and towards the grand stairs at the entrance, making his way down and spotted the doors to the outside.

Maybe it was the bad vibes that he got from being here or because he always wanted an escape plan,  but he had gravitated towards the entrance and tried to turn the handle. Locked. He cursed to himself and looked around. "Leaving so soon?" said a voice from behind him and he had turned to see who spoke. It was Anya. She was beautiful as she was deadly wearing a floor length robe of soft yellow with brown fur lined holes where her hands came out of the sleeves. "No, I was curious if I could go outside. No offense, but this place is..." He started to explain, though was swiftly interrupted.

"Is what? Beautiful?" Anya asked rhetorically and approached him, holding out her hand for him to hold. "Yeah...sure." Lien responded and took the woman's hand, knowing that he probably shouldn't upset her. She gripped it tightly and led him down to the open lounge and bar area of Butterfly Garden. He couldn't imagine being able to get out of this place, it was essentially a maze of glittering luxury. Filled with distraction and vices. As they walked Anya kept her face straight, devoid of any emotion. As she guided him through she would open two large doors that went downstairs into a basement level. It looked familiar to the hallway where his room was, but down here there were no doors and only archways with curtains.

Lien smelled a very distinct scent in the air. A scent that he hadn't known of until recently. He smelled human desire and lust that had been acted out. It lingered in the air and stuck to the fabric of the curtains and carpets. He swallowed roughly, his throat was drying up. It was the end of the hallway that was making him want to turn back. There was a large curtain hanging over a wide door way. The doors were opened and yet a curtain was still drawn over it, that was off-putting.

He had stopped in his tracks and it caused Anya to stop in hers, too. She turned her head and smiled at him, "Is something wrong?" Anya gripped his hand tighter. Lien gave her some side eye, not trusting what was behind the curtain. "I'd like to go back to the room." He stated firmly, not afraid to say what was on his mind. Anya looked as though she was dumbfounded by those words, but that was a façade. She started to laugh hysterically, "Oh, caterpillars are always so shy and nervous. You, on the other hand, you've still got house training to do." Anya chuckled more and gripped his hand tighter, bringing him beyond the curtain.

It was a large room with couches that connected into one another like sectionals. The lights inside were a very dim red, with hints of Edison bulbs from the lamps. The room was rather empty, all except for one man sitting on a couch and Sasha was there, too. Serving the man a glass of wine. The man in question looked much older. That was denoted by his calloused hands and dirty blond hair with flecks of gray. He looked mostly in shape other than a stomach that looked as though the man enjoyed eating more than fitness.

He was more concerned about how the man wore a mask on his face. It was a bird mask, specifically a warbler mask. The man was also wearing a thick suede robe. Lien was paralyzed in confusion, he didn't even realize he was being walked closer to the man and set down next to him. The man said nothing as Lien sat down next to him, though seeing as to how he was looking at  a bird mask that was aimed at him, he could tell the man was looking at him. Glints of dark irises behind in the eye holes of the mask.

Anya clasped her hands together, "As requested, sir. Welcome to Butterfly Garden." Anya spoke like she was a business woman and this was her best customer. The man had sat a lump sum down on the table that Anya had picked up, she didn't even count it which told Lien it must've been a very large amount of money. Sasha had seemingly refused to look Lien's way, not out of spite but from something else. Shame? Lien could guess many things, but he wasn't the best at reading people, nor assuming their intentions.

Anya had disappeared and Sasha followed behind her, the sound of doors shutting alarmed Lien who had jumped and looked over to where he had entered from. The man next to him placed a firm hand on his thigh and handed Lien a glass of wine. He looked down at it, he hated white wine. "No, thank you. I'd rather keep my head about whatever you're planning." Lien's attitude shown through and the man took a beat before beginning to whistle. Lien had reached his hand down and tried to peel the others hand off his thigh, "I'll have none of that either. I can't even see your face." Lien grunted when the man wouldn't move his hand, that's when he grew frustrated.

The man stopped whistling and then would speak, "Tell me, how did you end up right where I wanted you?" The man's voice was grossly familiar and that's when Lien had realized. It was Feng, the man who had chased him down into Chaoyong Park. Lien felt his stomach swirl, as if his intestines were getting tangled up with one another. He scooted back on the couch towards the left side, the slippers falling off his feet. "Get the fuck away from me." He felt panicky and dirty just from how the man had grabbed his ankle and pulled him back down towards him. Using his other leg he had kicked the man right in the face, the bird mask flying off and crashing onto the floor. The wine spilled onto the coffee table, one of them shattering.

"Vitya!" Lien screamed out and had managed to writhe free from the man's grasp and crawled over the back of the couch, hitting the ground and stumbled as he ran towards the curtained entrance. Pulling them back, he found that the doors were closed and locked. He started to bang on them and wiggle the handles, "Sasha! Open this door, I know you're there." Lien's voice was frantic, yet it was also angry. "Open the door! OPEN THE DOOR. OPEN THE DOOR." He kept repeating it, his voice cracking from the strain. Yelling turned into defeated sobs, "Open the god damn door! Please.." He wept, and turned his head to see that Feng had managed to get up after being kicked in the face.

Lien had no choice but to put his back against the door, still hitting his fist against it. "You're doing this to me! Please open the fucking door. SASHA!" It was the first time that Lien had felt true fear. The kind that made you forget yourself and become something broken and weak. Feng did not care, nor was moved by the cries coming from Lien. He had only reached into his pocket, pulling out a small zip loc bag and a knife. The small bag had a clear liquid in it and Feng had dipped the knife into it.

"I'll fucking kill you, Sasha! You hear me! I'll fucking..." Lien screams were interrupted by a struggle that seemed to be happening. Indeed, Sasha was on the other side of the door. His body was shaking and his hand was cupped over his mouth, he remembered how it happened to him. When he was brought to that terrible room with its awful smell. A part of Sasha hoped that Lien was stronger than him and could get out of the situation. If Lien could do it, couldn't he? He went to reach for the door and unlocked it when he heard the struggle had ended.

Upon opening the door, he saw Lien being held up on his feet by Feng's arm. Blood was running down his forearm and his eyes looked as though he was on intense drugs. Feng was panting, sweating and started laughing when he saw Sasha. "Don't just stand there! Help me, you brainless whore." Feng ordered and Sasha obeyed. Lien had failed, just like Sasha had. He was tasked with keeping Lien on his feet, getting him to walk to one of the private rooms. Feng handed Sasha the tiny bag of liquid, "Give him more of that when you get him in the bed."

Sasha struggled and with great effort got Lien laid on the bed. His skin was dewy and the hair around his forehead was sticking down to his skin.

In a moment of remaining fear, Lien had looked over at Sasha. "Please." His voice was trembling and Sasha bit the inside of his cheek listening to it, "Don't leave me here with him. Don't..." Lien's hand came up and gripped Sasha's wrist tightly. Sasha, for a moment had seemed like he was going to help. The sound of Feng's footsteps returning; however, convinced Sasha to dip his finger in the liquid. It was fentanyl. He smeared it over the cut on Lien's arm so it would work faster and all those cries and struggles were reduced to Lien laying down perfectly still.  The only mercy he could give Lien was to hopefully drug him enough that he would suffer less.

That's when Lien's lungs felt heavy and his body going into complete euphoria. His muscles relaxing and he felt dizzy like he had been spinning around for hours. Voices echoed and his eyes closed. Opening to see a nightmare above him, he had no concept of time. Every blink a different moment of the nightmarish dream he was in. That's right, a dream. At least, that's what his mind was telling him to cope with what was happening. A calloused hand on his throat made him open his eyes again, seeing Feng grinning at him and moving in a staggering rhythm. Hovering over Lien who hadn't noticed the pain inside his core, nor realized that the man was closing his wind pipe.

All he could feel and think was bliss in the face of horror.