𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨
﹥━━━━━━━━━━﹤

I look at my phone and see the time behind the latest photo of Morgan and I as my lockscreen.

Since she's getting ready for bed, I go and meet JB outside. He's in the backyard, smoking in one of the lawn chairs.

"What's up, bro?" He greets me.

I don't reply, looking at the pool as it lights up under the full moon.

When I sit across from J, I finally say something.

"You see Duke and Stevie?" I ask him.

He looks all around. "Not since earlier."

I figure they're just playing or hiding somewhere. They're trained, they know where home is and will return when they're ready.

"Long day." I comment on his slumped over position.

He chokes, handing over the blunt.

"For you, too, huh?" He asks. "What's up with Mo and Tate?"

"Nothing, he kept an eye on her while I was gone."

"Facts. Well, he ain't nothing to worry about, is he?"

I clench my jaw. "I don't trust him. I never did."

"Good, because I was starting to think I was losing you."

"Nah," I tell him. "But I'm sorry I didn't have your back with that shit with him and Jas." That apology was long overdue and I'm sure he agrees.

He starts laughing.

"What?" I ask him, laughing too because it's contagious.

"You never call her Jas."

"Well, I've started to appreciate her since she's been gone."

"Man, don't say that." He sounds serious all of a sudden.

"What, she's gone?"

"Don't say that!" He barks, standing up. The force of him getting up so quickly, pushes the chair back. It falls dramatically, knocking over a plant.

The pot breaks and he mumbles "shit, my fault."

"That was Morgan's, better replace it or she'll kill you." I joke, hitting the blunt.

Jabari hardly cleans up the mess and then hides his face as he stands against the house.

He begins weeping, but I don't take him seriously.

"Bro, I was kidding, Morgan's not gonna trip about the pot." I tell him.

Jabari turns and I see that he's actually crying. Like, sobbing, actually.

"Yo, what's wrong?" I ask, walking over to him.

He weakly stumbles back into my house and slides down the siding.

"She ain't ever coming back, bro!" He wails.

"Don't say that." I try being optimistic for once.

"You just did!"

"That's not what I meant!" I yell to scare some sense back into him.

He sniffs. "Where she at, then, huh? 'Cause I don't believe she off at some island somewhere."

"Then where do you think she is? You saw her post."

"Anyone could've posted that shit!"

I bring myself down to entertain his logic for a second.

I flail my arms. "Okay, who would've posted that, and for what?"

"I don't know, man."

"So, how do you know she didn't—"

He looks me dead in the eyes, and says, "I just know."

I swallow hard, backing off.

"Alright, J," my voice trails off as I start walking away.

"If it was Morgan, you would be able to feel that shit. You'd know if something was wrong. I'm telling you... something is wrong. I feel it deep in my chest." Jabari chocks out.

He shakes with emotion, that's how I know he's telling the truth.

And he's right, if Morgan randomly went MIA, I'd feel that shit in my gut and chest, too; if anything happened to her, I'd know. I'd be able to tell by just a hunch.

"What should we do?" I ask him.

He picks his head up and looks at me with some sliver of hope.

"I'm high as shit." Jabari laughs at himself.

I ignore him and continue yelling for Duke and Stevie.

"Duke! Stevie!" I shout into the air.

It's too late for this shit.

"They always do this?" Asks JB.

"Never." I tell him, slightly worried.

"DUKE!" JB hollers.

"STEVIEEEE!" My voice booms.

"Mccht." JB sucks his teeth.

"You might as well just tell Morgan they ran away." Is his bright idea.

I side eye him for that.

"They didn't run away." I insist.

Jabari looks at me with a bored face. "Yea they did."

I suck my teeth now. "I didn't tell you to help me look for them."

"No, but we supposed to be figuring out how to find Jasmine."

"Maybe I don't wanna find her." I reply.

"Maybe I don't wanna find the funky ass dogs."

"Well take your black ass back to the house." I make Jabari laugh.

"Fuck you," he laughs, turning around.

"Don't tell Morgan shit." I remind him.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbles, walking down the road.

"Oh, Chris," Lydia's voice appears in the distance.

I turn and see her at the end of her driveway.

"What are you doing out here at this time of night?" She asks.

"Shit, I didn't realize how far we walked." I say, rubbing my eyes.

"We?" She asks.

I look around and realize Jabari is long gone.

"Nevermind. Why are you out so late?"

She alludes to Piper on the leash, peeing near my feet.

I step to the side before getting pissed on.

"Hey, girl." I say to the sweet, little Dalmation.

"I'm actually looking for her parents - you haven't seen Duke and Stevie, have you?"

Lydia frowns. "Unfortunately I haven't, I'm sorry. But I can help you look-"

"No, thanks. I'm sure they'll be home by the time I get there."

She nods with a wry smile. "Well, would you like to come in for tea, or anything?"

"No."

"If you have time, I'd like to talk about the floor plan for my house, I-"

"I'm gonna go, actually. Can you do me a favor and not tell Morgan the dogs ran away?"

Lydia forces a grin. "Of course. Good night, Chris. Be safe."

"Always am." I boast, walking down the road.

I keep looking over my shoulder periodically and see that Lydia is watching me.

It isn't until I cross the street and make a right that she's out of sight.

Phew. I see why she gives Morgan the creeps.

"DUKE!" I call them louder than before.

"STEVIE!"

It seems like it's no use, I don't hear or see them anywhere.

I get a text from Morgan that reads:

Come to bed baby

A smile brought to my face, I suddenly decide to give up on the hunt so I can go be with Morgan where I belong.
I'm certain Duke and Stevie will show up when they're ready to come in.

"Yo, JB, wait up, man!" I laugh as I call out for my brother.
He's probably halfway back to the house by now, smoking the rest of the blunt I rolled.

As I head back towards Cobblestone Road, I hear tires screeching and gun shots.

Although I think there's no way there's a shooting in this neighborhood and no way could it have anything to do with JB, I call for him anyway.

"JB?" I holler, walking hurriedly towards my house.

"CHRIS!" I hear him screaming.

"J!" I exclaim, now running full speed towards where I heard his voice coming from.

Suddenly, a blacked out Lincoln Navigator pulls up on me, cutting me off. I run through the grass but a group of men hop out. They're dressed in dark clothes covering large muscles but I'm not intimidated.

They have me surrounded, not that I wasn't going to try and fight my way out of this anyway. There's no sense in running.

I stand in the middle of the men, waiting for one of them to lunge first so I can defend myself.

"Get 'em!" One orders.

The other two start walking towards me.

I'd say my fight-or-flight kicked in but I was never a runner so, my fight-or-kill kicked in and I immediately started throwing my fists at the man closest to me.

"Motherfucker!" He grits, trying to tackle me.

I need my footing and continue swinging on this guy. Each hit lands as intended. I'm kneeing and uppercutting him until I'm pulled away by the second guy.

I push him off of me and kick him in the balls. Cheap shot, I know, but I'm fighting for my life here.

I scope the scene and try looking for an escape route when the first guy gets up and runs towards me.

He tackles me and holds me down. Big ass.

I headbutt him which effectively leaves me stunned as well.

"Fuck." I cuss, struggling to get up and walk off. Why did I do that?

Suddenly, I feel a shock in my back and my legs go weak. I fall to the street, unable to move.

✕

I start to wake up and realize I'm in a moving vehicle.

It's dark under whatever bag or shirt they have over my head.

My arms are tied in my lap, though, limiting my movements.

I move in the seat and feel two bodies on each side of me.

"Mom and Dad?" I guess.

"Shut up!" A gruff voice barks.

I get punched in the gut and cough.

"Weak ass hit." I antagonize the assaulter.

This earns me another hit. Shit.

"Pussy." I spit.

"That's it—" the voice roars.

"Don't hit him again - bosses orders." A smoother voice says.

"Ah, my guardian angel." I charm.

"Stop talking, Vaughn." Whoever it is knows who I am.

"Don't you think it's rude you know who I am and I don't know who you are? Let's go around the room and share identities, eh? I'm Chris, and you are..."

"Nice try." The man in the front seat says, amused. "Get him out. Gently."

I'm dragged out of the backseat and pushed onto the ground.

"Hey, he said gently!" I yell at the thugs. "I'm leaving a bad review."

"Enough of the jokes, pretty boy. Get your ass up."

"Oh, God, are you going to rape me?" I make fun.

"Not you..." someone says sinisterly.

I'm pushed and shoved for quite the distance until doors shut and I'm forced into a chair.

"Comfortable." I say aloud.

"Glad you like it, Vaughn." A voice speaks to me out of no where. It's familiar but at the same time, not. I can tell it's disguised, somehow, and get frustrated that I can't make out who it is.

"I'd love it even more if you let me take off this burlap sack." I return.

"Chain him to the chair then remove the covering." He orders the henchmen.

In the next instant, I'm roughly strapped down but the sack is pulled over my head.

I can see again, my eyes having to adjust to the red lights of the room.

"Where the hell am I?" I ask, blinking rapidly.

"My office," he cackles. "Like what you see?"

"I've seen better."

"You amuse me, Christopher. Always have."

"Wish I could say the same but I have no idea who you are or what the fuck you want?" I'm growing more irate by the second.

"I've been watching you for quite some time - since Penshaw, actually. I've got to say, you are something else. I mean, really, beating up those guys in high school so bad they almost died? Betraying your uncle for his girl and then killing him? What you did to Beck Jordan?"

"Who the fuck are you, I'm not gonna ask again?"

"I'm the all knowing, the all seeing, the almighty." His voice is reminiscent of Red Cloak from the movie 'Eyes Wide Shut.'

Finally, from behind the mirror I'm staring at my reflection in, he reveals himself.

And how ironic that he beckons a group of naked women with face coverings.

The women vary in shades, sizes, and height, but what they do have in common is no tattoos or visible piercings. None of them seem particularly old in age, either. In fact, the shortest girl who lacks in the chest could be a child, if I didn't know any better. She stays behind as the other four girls wait for an order.

"What did you do with Jabari?"

"Who?"

"My friend."

"Oh, the Buck?" He's being taken care of."

"I swear to God if you hurt him-"

"No need to get religious."

"What the hell do you want? Money? Revenge?"

"No, no, no," he chats, his voice fading in and out of my ear. "none of those things. We've spent years trying to do that, and failed. No. We want... you."

"Me? For what?!" I panic in the chair, struggling to set myself free.

"This is what you were destined for, Christopher: greatness. Don't you want what's rightfully yours? Join us— some of the wealthiest, most influential individuals in the world— and you'll see."

"Not interested."

"I'll have you know, this was your fate since you shook hands with Malcolm and told him you wanted to be just... like... him."

"Well he's gone."

"Right, thanks to you."

"And you'll end up just like him if you don't let me and JB go."

"What about all of this?" He lingers on the 's' sound like a snake.

I watch as he summons one of the girls.

As if she's being controlled, she dances to me and places herself in my lap.

I look away as she removes her bra and shakes her damn east-west breasts in my face.

"I don't want this!" I yell out to make clear.

"No? How about one more. Three is a party." The voice chuckles maniacally.

A heavy set, lightskinned girl dances behind me.

"Take his shirt off!" The man demands.

The first girl doesn't hesitate.

"Now your bra, number two."

She freezes.

"You don't have to." I whisper to her.

"Now!" He strikes.

She slowly undresses but covers herself with her arms.

"Number one, enough." His order is immediately obliged.

The first girl rises up from my lap and saunters away.

"Number two, you're up."

The thick, biracial-looking girl with long braids starts to dance on me.
She drops her weight onto my body and I groan, unprepared.

"Harper?" I ask if it's really her. I think it is. No, I know it's her.

She doesn't say anything, just continues grinding on me as instructed.

I look past her body and see the men watching closely. Perverts, all of them.

"Harper? I know you from the golf course, you're Cart Girl, Ben's ex-"

"That is not my ex, and you need to stop talking before we both get killed!" She whispers at me.

That's her voice, alright. I don't know her extremely well, we've only had two or three conversations but they were all dramatic - memorable, all centered around Tate.

"Why are you doing this, stop?"

"I can't just stop." She tells me with sadness lacing her tone.

"Well I'm not getting hard." I try to make light.

She drops her body back down on me and I grunt again.

"Please stop doing that."

"I'm doing my job."

"Since when is this your job, and who do you work for?"

"You should know."

"Okay, but I don't, so tell me."

"That's enough," the man's voice booms, "Take number two back to storage and have her cleaned up before the next auction."

"Auction?" I mutter. "Harper, what auction? Who is that? Where are they taking you?"

Footsteps draw nearer, Harper tries covering herself with her bra before she's pulled away.

"Be careful," she whispers. "Save Morgan."

"From what?!"

Harper is yanked away by one of the men, the other punches me in the face.

I just take it, unable to do anything else since I'm tied down.

The ringmaster guffaws.

"So, what do you say, Chris?" He asks me.

I look around at everything I can so I can try to memorize my surroundings.

"I'm waiting..." he rushes me.

"What do I say about what?" I growl, balling my fists.

"Join us, elevate your life. Make all of your sacrifices worth while." This sounds like more of a threat than an offer.

"I rather die." I reply with a face of stone.

"You're gonna regret that. Gentlemen, take him away."

✕

After they beat my ass, three of those motherfuckers put another bag over my head and threw me in the truck.

It's a long right with a lot of right and left turns. I tried making a mental note of the route but at some point, I believe they started going in circles on purpose.

When the car comes to a stop, I'm thrown out of the vehicle and land on the road.

"You guys gonna blow each other now?" I taunt them.

Suddenly, I'm pushed in the chest and then my hands are untied.

"Drive! Drive!" Somebody shouts seconds before the car speeds off.

By the time I free myself from the face covering, the Lincoln Navigator is too far for me to see the license plate.

"FUCK!" I scream, limping down the dark road.

Those fuckers whooped my ass, I'll give them that, they're lucky I couldn't fight back.

"Chris?" Jabari speaks up.

"J?" I basically gasp, looking for him in the darkness.

"Over here." He croaks, sounding close.

I follow his voice and find him by a tree near the pond.

He's a mess, just as beat up as me, or worse.

I help Jabari up but neither of us can walk that well.

"You get anything?" He asks me what I found out.

"They know about Malcolm, and Beck; it's some sort of elitist, sex thing - a upper class sex ring. And they got the cart girl from the golf course."

"Who?" Asks JB.

"Nobody."

"I saw Jasmine."

I stand still, completely shocked.

"What?!"

"I think it was her, I can feel it. It was her, but she ain't the same. I looked in her eyes, she didn't say anything, but I know it was her."

"You sure?"

He nods. "I know my wife."

I recall him saying if it was Morgan, that I'd be able to feel it if something was wrong.

I know her like the back of my hand, so I'm sure Jabari could tell that it was Jasmine, face covering or not.

"What are we gonna do?" He asks me.

"I don't know," I tell him, "but we're starting with Tate."