𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟯

 (Shawn's point of view)

I tap my fingers against the table as I check the clock.

The fact that Joey was so angry amuses me. He's got such a fiery spirit.

The clock ticks by as I decided to get up and go check on him.

Jim put him in the guest bedroom instead of my room so that he could get some rest. He kept falling in and out of consciousness which was also quite funny to me, I didn't hit him that hard and I definitely didn't tie him up as tight as he thinks.

If he had just given up and not struggled as much then his wrists and ankles wouldn't have adopted that lovely shade of bluish purple.

I stand up and set my coffee down on the table, beginning to walk towards the stairs before I hear someone call after me.

"You better not hurt him again! I swear Shawn, you've already taken this too far," Jim yells over at me.

I sigh as I run my fingers through my hair. I love Jim, he's a really good friend and I hate that he's been mad at me.

"I won't hurt him. I'm going to go through my first aid kit and see if I can find anything that will speed up the recovery process," I tell him.

Jim nods and relaxes a little.

I walk slowly up the stairs, dragging my hands along the railing as I think. At this rate Joey would be an idiot to say yes to becoming our drummer so I guess I'll have to be a little nicer to him. His eyes were filled with poison and hatred when he looked at me earlier and as amusing as it was, it can't become a regular thing if I want him to be our drummer.

I walk into my bedroom and enter my closet. I keep a small, more basic first aid kit in the bathroom. The bigger, more advanced one I hide just in case anyone breaks in here, I wouldn't want them finding my poisons.

I get down on my knees and run my hands along the floor, searching for the crease in the carpet. When I find it I pull it up and place the large panel out of my way. I reach down into the hidden hatch and grab onto the handle of the extremely large kit.

I grunt as I pull it up out of the ground.

"Okay," I breath as I set it on the floor in front of me.

I unlock the latches and flick the lid open. I see my bottles of poison and look away from them, we won't be needing those. I dig through and find some healing herbs and some heavy duty bandages as well as some healing ointment, I pull out what I need and then stuff the kit back into the hole in the floor.

I stand up with my things and set them on my bed as I begin walking down stairs. Joey hasn't eaten or drank anything in a while so I open the fridge and pull out a bottle of Gatorade which should have the electrolytes that he's lacking. I pull out some bread and put some meat and lettuce on it making a sandwich for the kid.

I grab both items and walk back towards the stairs. I look over at Jim on my way up and notice him playing something on his guitar. He looks over at me and notices the food. He gives me a slight smile, nodding in approval. I smile back as I walk up the stairs and back into my bedroom.

I set the food down and look at all my supplies. I realize there's one thing missing. I need a tray like table so that way I don't set everything down on the bed beside Joey.

I scratch my head as I think about the last time I saw the small metal table that I used to treat bad injuries or set my tools down on when I dissect dead animals. I realize it's down in the basement and I sigh.

How many times do I have to walk up and down the stairs?

I close the door to my room and hurry down the stairs and around the corner to the second set of stairs that lead to the basement. I open the door and scan the room.

My eyes land on the floor and I notice there's still a couple spots of blood from when Joey was in here. I sigh as I feel my skin crawl and the urge to disinfect the floors again. But I push those urges aside and open the closet as my eyes scan for the metal table.

I spot it and smile as I walk over to it. I grab out a Clorox wipe and wipe down the table, making sure to leave it nice and shiny. I pick up the small table and walk back up all the stairs.

I set it outside my bedroom and enter the room grabbing my things. I place them on the table and roll it down the hall and towards the guest room. The upstairs area is extremely quiet and it almost feels empty.

I stand in front of the guest room and slowly turn the door knob. The lights are off and the black out curtains cover the windows making the room extremely dark. There's no sound in the room, not even the sound of snoring.

I slowly roll the cart into the room and place it on one side of the bed. I walk back over to the door and close it, keeping the light from the hallway out.

My eyes look around the room and I shrug, nothing has been moved around or changed which means Joey fell fast asleep.

I look into the bed and that's when I see him. His hair is messy, it's sprawled out all over the pillows. He looks peaceful though. His skin is pale and his eyes are a light black. It looks like he's wearing eyeshadow but I know he's not. The lumps on his head have gone down a bit but his wrists are still purple.

I walk over the table and open up the bag of healing herbs. I place a cup down and fill it with some hot water that I brought with me. I place the herbs in the water and give it a stir. It won't taste very good but it will definitely help him feel better.

I slowly lean over Joey and carefully pull the sheets off his skinny body. My eyes scan his wounds as I mentally plan what to treat first. I decide to start with his bruised wrists, they're very important after all.

I grab out my heavy duty bandages and begin wrapping them around one of his wrists, placing a small ice pack on top and continuing to wrap over it. I grab some scissors and cut the bandages, placing a piece of tape down to keep it secure. As I go to grab Joey's other wrist he starts to wake up.

He groggily opens his eyes and when his blue ones meet mine I smile softly at him. I forgot how beautiful his eyes are...

He doesn't smile back instead his eyes get wide and fill with fear. He tries to sit up but he squeals in pain and lays back down. He barely has any strength left.

"Please don't kill me," he whispers shakily as he panics and stares at me.

I shake my head, "I won't. That's not part of the plan."

Joey's eyes turn cold and hostile.

"I don't want to be a part of your twisted plan," he growls lowly as he glares at me.

"That's nice," I nod, "It's too late to get out now though." I stare at him challengingly. I don't mind anger but this sassy tone of his isn't going to fly.

His eyes turn back to fear once he picks up on my serious demeanor.

"I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to heal you so if you'd cooperate that would be lovely," I tell him as I look back over at my station.

"I'd rather die," he mutters.

I smile sadistically at him. "Keep it up and I'll grant that wish."

He gulps and looks away, obviously regretting his choice of words.

"Now, would you like to remain in pain or would you actually like to start feeling better?" I question as I pick up my bandages once again.

He shrugs and I take that as a sign that I can continue wrapping him up. I gently place his other wrist in my hand and begin wrapping it with the bandages.

"Why are you doing this to me?" He mutters as he stares off at another wall.

"Doing what? Wrapping your wrists?" I question as I place another small ice pack down on his wrists and then wrap over it.

"No dumbass! Why are you trying to kill me!" He barks.

I glare at him and he looks away quickly.

"Sorry," he mutters.

"I'm not trying to kill you," I tell him as I cut the bandage and place a piece of tape on it.

"Then why am I here?" He questions as I walk back over to the metal table.

"Because I want you here," I say simply as I open up the bottle of ointment and place it on a cotton ball.

"That doesn't make any sense. I shouldn't be here, you shouldn't know me. I shouldn't be dying. I should be at home, not here," he says angrily.

"Calm down," I say firmly.

He nods and looks away and I begin to rub his forehead with the ointment. "You're here because I have a job for you," I tell him as I move down to his ankles and rub them with the ointment.

"A job? Nah, I don't want any part in any sadistic job that you have planned for me," Joey shakes his head.

"One, it's not a sadistic job and two, as of now you don't have much of a choice," I explain to him as I bandage his ankles.

"If it's not sadistic or illegal then why wouldn't you just ask me. I saw you in the gas station, you could have just asked me then," Joey complains as I put my bandages away.

"My brain doesn't work that way and asking you wouldn't have told me what I need to know," I explain as I hand him the healing tea.

He takes it in his hands and takes a sip. His nose scrunches up as he swallows, coughing afterward.

"And what is it that you need to know?! You've already stalked me! I bet you have creepy files filled with my information!" Joey yells.

"Yes Joey, I know lots about you but they're all biased, based on my interpretations of who you are. Think of it like this, if you were to observe a piece of history that wasn't all there, then you would have to guess what truly happened. I might know lots about you but I don't know you personally so I can only assume things. I need to experience how you react to certain things. How tough you are. Those aren't things I can learn from watching you talk to people in a small gas station," I tell him as he hands me the empty cup.

"That makes no sense. What do you want from me?" He asks again.

I roll my eyes. "You'll find out eventually,"

I hand him the plate with the sandwich and the bottle of Gatorade.

Joey shakes his head. "I'm not going to stay around long enough for that!" Joey yells after me as I walk towards the door.

I look over at him and smile as I creep closer to the bed again. I get inches away from his face and stare deep into his soul.

"Every chance you take to escape here I will use to make you weaker and weaker. Every time you try to run I will hunt you down and take you back here. You think you're in pain now? I'll show you what true pain is. I promised not to kill you, don't make me break that promise," I warn as I smile at him and stand back up, walking towards the door. "Eat up Joey. You need your strength," I tell him as I roll the cart out the room and shut the door after me.

A/N:
01.30.21
This chapter was written by
@7_MICK_7