Stockholm Syndrome? - Chapter 30: Chapter 30

Archer's POV
I could remember a time when I'd been shackled to a chair, with my butt sore and my head ringing- it wasn't so long ago. Only this time, I had a rope on my midriff, which pinned my arms to my side. I was obviously attractive to crazy people, I thought with annoyance.
My pinned arms were aching and my head was hammering. I'd been sleeping before I opened my eyes to irritating light. I automatically blinked the room into focus. I could remember having been brought there after my encounter with Konstantin. He and his companion had dragged me through some hidden passageway of a building into a small room. The room seemed to be part of a large building, but so far I had only been in the room. I could see another door at a far end, with space enough between it and the frame to see movement behind it. The connecting room's light was much brighter, with a single light bulb hung from the ceiling illuminating the one I was in.
The man with Konstantin had tied the rope and instead of duct tape, used some cloth to gag me. The room was shabby, with walls covered in paint that was literally peeling off. There was the chair I was sitting on and two other chairs in the room, which were occupied by either Konstantin and a guy I had later learned was named Stavros or some other long-bearded guy. There was a table there and Stavros and the guy had played cards the night I was brought in.
When my eyes opened I was greeted by Konstantin's face. He was just staring at me. He'd moved his chair closer to me. I couldn't help but frown. I couldn't say anything; the gag was firmly in place. Konstantin walked to me and removed it before going back to his seat.
"Staring at me while I sleep is creepy", I said.
"Finally, you are awake. I was wondering when you were going to wake up", he said shrugging.
"It's not like I have anywhere to be".
"True", he said nodding.
I felt a yawn coming and tried to suppress it. That only made me wince in pain as my face distorted. I could still remember the punches that had landed on my face the previous night. They weren't many, but they sure stung. The pain hadn't magically disappeared and by yawning I had triggered it. I tried to raise my arm to massage myself, forgetting for a second that I was tied up.
The pain wasn't the only thing I felt. I was cold and hungry. My throat was dry and swallowing saliva wasn't helping.
I squinted my eyes. "Is it morning?"
"Morning? It's afternoon. 1 pm", he replied. "I for a second thought you'd passed out".
I gave him a mock smile. "Thanks for caring".
He scratched his arm. "I don't care".
"I know". I looked around. "Where's dumber?"
He clenched his teeth for a while, realizing I had just called him dumb and his friend dumber.
"Sorry, saying the truth is a habit", I said and mockingly shrugged – at least I tried to.
"If my uncles wouldn't get so mad, I'd hit you till your boyfriend couldn't even recognize you", he said through gritted teeth.
"Ah, I should thank your uncles for saving me then", I said sarcastically.
He didn't say anything. He seemed to be struggling with holding himself back. I could see from the look in his eyes that he wanted to connect his fist with my body. Maybe I did need to thank his uncles for real. My body was already sore, taking another hit would be excruciating. It was beyond me why I was taunting him.
He seemed to calm down.
"You know, I didn't think hitmen were your type", he said, his face displaying something like a challenge.
I immediately thought of Felix. I'd avoided thinking about him ever since his phone call. Guilt was swimming in my veins. A little boy was going to die because of me and there was nothing I could do to fix it. I'd put myself in danger and Felix and the boy were paying for it.
The whole thing was my fault. I'd been preoccupied with my feelings for him that I acted like a child, storming off after a ridiculous argument about nothing.
"What did you think was my type?" I asked, cocking a brow.
"Scrawny pathetic losers", he said with a grin.
"Yeah I'm sorry, you were mistaken. You aren't my type", I said, returning the grin and the insult.
"Did you just call me a loser?"
"I don't remember saying anything of that sort", I said.
He was about to say something when my nostrils were hit by some terrible smell. It had the distinct odor of rotten eggs. I couldn't help but distort my face in disgust.
"What is that smell?!" I asked scrunching my nose.
Konstantin's face was distorted in disgust too. "Something being burped".
"What the fuck? What do you feed your babies?" I said.
"Babies? Who said anything about a baby? That came from a meth shaker; the pressure gets too high so it must be released. Don't worry; the smell should go away soon", he explained.
He thought he was assuring me, but he was far from it. I knew from watching some series on TV – Breaking bad, I recalled – that meth production was dangerous. The fumes released were toxic and the place could blow up. I was getting agitated, and the sound of what I assumed was a plastic bottle falling on the floor in the connecting room didn't help.
"Don't worry. Hopefully your boyfriend will get you out of here before the place blows up", Konstantin said as if he read my mind.
"He's not my boyfriend!" I said with clenched teeth. I was more agitated that Konstantin had seen my agitation.
"Yeah, I'm confused too. You were out with someone else on Saturday. Either way, he cares so that works for us. But I'd like to know, what exactly is he to you?"
I swallowed hard. It wasn't just the thirst. I didn't know how to answer Konstantin's question. Felix and I had a relationship that was complicated.
I shook my head.
"Don't tell me you are too shy to tell me you are a slut", he said.
I didn't say anything. I was out of comebacks. Felix was going to kill a little boy and he and I weren't even friends. We didn't have a relationship, not a proper one. The boy was going to die for nothing. Even if that saved my life, I would live with the guilt of it for the rest of my life.
"So... I did an investigation of my own", Konstantin started. "Your boyfriend or client doesn't date. So there was only one logical explanation for you being in his arms. So how much are you selling it for?"
He had the audacity to nod his head suggestively and bit the side of his lip. I was horrified at his insinuation. I looked at my lap and back at him. His eyes were fixed on my lap. Horror turned into amusement.
I gave a short chuckle. "Are you serious? Gosh no!"
He seemed offended. "Of course I'm not...I'm not serious. I was just j-joking".
"Yeah...the stuttering doesn't help your case. But if you must know, I am not a prostitute. Even if I was, you aren't my type", I said.
He glared at me. "So you and the guy are what?"
"Why the hell are you interested in that Konstantin?! He's going to do what you want so stop trying to bloody dissect our relationship!" I said. I was getting more and more frustrated that he was asking about Felix when even I didn't know what was happening between us.
"So much passion in those words!" he said.
The door connected to the hidden passageway opened. Stavros walked into our view. He was a man probably in his late thirties, tall with pronounced cheekbones and messy black hair. He also looked very pale. He had a takeout container with him and a plastic bottle.
"What's all this noise about?" he asked Konstantin. "Why is he not gagged?"
"Um, we were talking about Konstantin wanting to have sex with me. He's even willing to pay me", I said smiling.
The guy looked at Konstantin in shock mixed with disgust. Konstantin was stunned.
"Y-you can't seriously think..." Konstantin said after recovering from the stun, though not fully.
"You asked how much, and you did look at me suggestively!" I said, as if in defense. Inside I was chuckling.
"That's disgusting. You are a pidor, huh?" Stavros said shaking his head at Konstantin.
"You believe him? Are you crazy? I am straight!" Konstantin yelled.
"I'm not so sure about that. You have been looking at him weirdly since we got him. I wonder what your uncle will think", Stavros said taking a seat at the table.
Konstantin was red, which was something very noticeable considering his pale normal tone. Even his blond hair seemed to be turning a bit red. His eyes were burning coals. Maybe I had pushed him too far this time.
He got off his chair and I cowered back – again, tried. I couldn't move but I tried to anyway. Instead of walking to me, he walked to Stavros. The man barely moved before Konstantin's hand was around his throat.
"You tell him shit and I will beat the crap out of you. You might think you can handle me, but don't forget that there are people who follow my orders", he growled before pushing the man back into his seat.
Stavros seemed ruffled. He adjusted his t-shirt, but didn't say anything in response. Instead he said, "I...Stefan said to bring the boy food so..." He paused to swallow and pushed the food items towards Konstantin.
Konstantin looked at them in disgust before pushing them back. "You can have them", he said and turned to look at me menacingly. "He's not eating anything today".
My stomach growled at the sound of those words. I could swear deep down there was a hidden message that sounded like "great, thanks for messing up Archer. Now I have to go empty because of your idiocy".
"Um...shouldn't Stefan make such...?" Stavros said and Konstantin cut in.
"If you don't want the food, take it back. If you give it to him, you'll be unemployed soon", he warned.
Stavros opened the takeout container. I was instantly greeted by the smell of roast chicken and several spices; the rotten egg smell was long gone as Konstantin said it would be. The food didn't have the best aroma, but I was hungry. I could feel my saliva increasing just by imagining myself eating whatever was in the takeout container. Damn my stupid mouth, for more reasons than one!
Konstantin gave a dark chuckle. "You messed with the wrong guy", he said and glowered at me. I could imagine myself boring holes in his body when he walked out of the room, to the outside I presumed.
Stavros was digging into his food, paying no attention to me. I was paying attention to his every movement. I loved food, and sometimes it was my downfall. I'd given up looking for ways to escape and instead made pancakes when I was in Felix's house. At that moment I was looking at Stavros's food like a dog. I could have taken advantage of him not paying attention to me and tried to loosen the rope, but I didn't. I just stared.
He looked up abruptly. My eyes didn't move.
He gave me a sheepish look. "Sorry, he- Konstantin is kind of big around here, an impulsive airhead if you ask me, but he's the bosses' nephew. If he doesn't like you you get discarded or demoted to odd jobs like dealing", he explained though he didn't have to.
"Can I...Can I have water?" I asked.
He looked at the door Konstantin had existed before grabbing the bottle and standing up. Walking towards me he said, "It's juice, but it's got water?"
"It'll do", I said.
He opened the bottle and helped me drink. It was apple juice and too sweet for my liking. Nevertheless it was something. My throat appreciated the cold liquid moisturizing it. After I told him I was good, he went back to his seat, looking at the door once more to check for Konstantin's reappearance.
"Thanks", I said.
He took a bite of his chicken and chewed.
"So...what's behind that door?" I asked gesturing with my head to the other door in the room.
"A small-scale meth lab", he said.
I almost gasped. I'd thought the meth lab was somewhere else in the building, not so close. I could have inhaled large amounts of toxic vapors already and didn't know it.
"Is that what this whole place is?" I asked.
He shook his head. "It's a Laundromat".
I just stared at him.
"Place people bring their dirty clothes to be washed for a small fee?"
"I know what a Laundromat is. I'm just surprised".
"It's the perfect cover. It explains the massive plastic bottle trash and some strange smells. The place always smells like some detergent", he said.
I nodded.
"You seem like a nice innocent boy, well except the homosexual part. How did you get involved with a hitman?"
"I'm not involved with him, not in the way you guys think", I said.
"Whatever way it is, it is enough for him to kill for you", he said.
"That's only because he's dumb", I said.
Remember my definition of caring, Felix had said on the phone the previous night. Like any thought of Felix, I had shut that out too, but now I couldn't help but think about it. The time he told me cared, he'd said that if anyone hurt me, he would hurt them back; he would compromise on killing them but that was the only thing he would compromise on. Looking at the situation, it didn't make sense. He had agreed to kill the boy, but the boy wasn't hurting me in any way. The people who were hurting me were the ones he'd agreed to kill for. If he wasn't honoring his definition, why had he told me to remember?
"Love makes people dumb", Stavros brought me back to the present.
"Guilt makes people dumb", I countered.
He raised a brow.
"He feels guilty for...this", I said. My words were the truth, but they were also a hard blow. A part of me wished that wasn't the only reason.
"That's interesting. The report I read on him said he feels nothing. He's human after all", he said.
"Yeah, he is", I said quietly. Damn him for suddenly being human!
Hadn't he always been human though?