Whenever he looked at the face of the man who had abused him as a child, Brendan would feel his body betray him and react in the same way it always did in his fathers presence. His muscles would stiffen into a posture of submissive defeat, his head would drop keeping his eyes averted and he hated himself for the reaction. It was a testament to the abuse his father dealt him that he still reacted in this manner whenever the man was near. Since he had turned up at Brendan's door a couple of weeks ago, Seamus Brady had continued his abuse in the form of quiet innuendos and whispered remarks uttered for his sons ears only. Even the way in which his father changed his name to the female derivative, said purely to negate his manhood in cruel taunting, left Brendan cold and desperate inside.

Those dark eyes still had a way of making his guts all but twist themselves within him. Forced to play nice with Chez always obliviously looking on, he shook hands, he smiled, he even went so far as to occasionally speak to the man who made his life a living hell. Then the remarks started, not the ones against himself as they had never stopped, but against Steven. He even had the audacity to call him Stephanie once to which Steven had laughed, clearly not understanding the intended jibe. Whenever his father looked at Steven, he saw something in his eyes that made Brendan's skin crawl and his blood run cold. Brendan's mind and body were in utter turmoil; his body ached with the tension and his thoughts were never far away from the darkness he had once fallen into. Then Steven began to mention the stranger who seemed to be lurking around the town.

"This guy has been hanging round for days all shady like, wearing these dark glasses in the rain like some weirdo. Dunno who he is but he gives me the right creeps he does."

Brendan had just shrugged his shoulders at first, sure it was nothing. But Steven kept bringing it up, sounding a little more troubled each time he did.

"Remember that guy I told you about with the glasses? Well I was walking down the alley and he came running up behind then shoved me into the wall! Gave me a right fright an all, not even a sorreh. I thought I recognised him then, but I don't think I do actually." He had smiled as if it didn't mean anything but Brendan could tell it had unnerved him.

It had unnerved Brendan too; he saw everything in the village, he made it a point to know everyone and everything about the village. So why had he not seen this mysterious man? And why was he so interested in Steven?

"Had a visit at the deli from that bloke again today. He were real edgy like, kept on staring at me until I said, are you gonna order or what? He just shook his head then came right up to counter and gave me this." He handed Brendan a crumpled piece of paper with a familiar scrawl written on it that made his heart freeze.

The injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.*

"What does it even mean Brendan?"

He could not lift his eyes from the paper that had made the blood in his veins turn as if to ice. He knew those words, he had heard them before but where he could not remember.

"Bren? What does it mean?" He heard the quiver in Steven's voice and it tore his gaze from the damned note to look into the scared eyes of his lover.

"Nothing Steven, it means nothing." He said, crumpling the note into a ball before hurling it across the room into the bin. He had spent that night awake in the darkness as Steven snuggled into him, his soft snoring the only comfort Brendan's tired mind had as he tried to remember where he had heard the words written in the note. They danced lazily in his tired mind, their meaning and origin elusive. His eyes had drooped as Steven's snoring lulled him to sleep, only to snap wide open as realisation hit him. Those words, he had heard them in the car on route to Sampson's the day that he and Walker had beat up Casper to avenge Joel.

"I read once, that the injury that is to be done to a man should be of such a kind that you do not stand in fear of revenge. Are you really ready to wreak such vengeance Brendan?"

His reply had been a sneer drawn towards Walker and a tightening of his hands on the steering wheel. He lay in the darkness, one arm pinned beneath Steven's neck who slept on unaware of the fact that Brendan's heart was threatening to burst in his chest. He spent the rest of the night trying to think of ways to get Steven and the kids to safety before his tired and worrying mind closed down in unexpected but welcomed sleep.

It was with perfect timing that Amy called two days later to announce her imminent arrival back to Hollyoaks for a short holiday, wanting to take the children away for a few days. As a result, Brendan had jumped at the chance to get himself and Steven out of Hollyoaks and as far away from his father and Walker's grasp as he possible could take them.

These are the reasons that he finds himself sitting in the car as the rain pours from the heavens while he waits on Steven. Despite being packed and ready to go an hour ago, they had yet to leave the village, having already stopped twice. Steven had forgotten a bag and then, after managing to reach the end of the road, he had began to worry that he had left the door unlocked, prompting Brendan to turn the car back around to go and check.

Now he was waiting outside the corner shop on the outskirts of the village as Steven had wanted to get some food for the journey. Drumming his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, he watched as the lithe young man flashed one of his charming smiles at the cashier before heading back to the car. He rarely took his eyes off Steven these days, often feeling more like an over protective father than a lover.

"Right! That's us now!" Steven said as he threw a bag of goodies into the back seat then pulled on his seatbelt.

"You sure now Steven?"

He merely stuck his tongue out at him then opened a bottle of juice.

"This is gonna be dead good, innit? Me and you, off on an adventure." He opened his arms in a grand gesture that made Brendan smile as he put the car into gear and finally start their journey. "Wont be as good as Dublin though, eh? Like, nothing will top Dublin." He said with a sly grin.

"Yeah, nothing will top Dublin, Steven. Ever." He replied as the warm memories of their reunion flooded his mind.

"So, where we going anyways?"

"North."

"North? Come on Bren, where North?"

As far North as I can drive, Brendan thought.

"Are we going to Scotland? Like, all the way North?"

The lad was not stupid, but then, Brendan already knew that. He had seen the bright intelligence that Steven often hid from others, he was nobody's fool.

"A little town outside Glasgow, how does that sound?"

"Oh that's dead cool! Never been to Scotland me, well, not on holiday anyway."

The excited smile that flashed on Steven's face made Brendan forget his worries and smile with him. He never understood why Steven wanted to be with him, nor how the lad always managed to smile no matter what he was doing, but that was one of the reasons that he loved him so; he brought light into Brendan's darkened soul.

"Wait a minute, are we going to Joel's place?" An edge of disappointment tinged his voice.

"Aye Joel's place." He replied grumpily, wondering not for the first time if this was a good idea. Joel had a flat back home that he had offered to Brendan to get away for a while. It seemed the perfect place to hide while he worked things out in his mind, but by the look on Steven's face, it was anything but a good idea.

Steven stared out of the window at the passing scenery, quiet in thought for long moments. Then he sighed and looked back at Brendan with a smile returning to his lips and a new enthusiasm plain on his face.

"It'll still be good, eh? Don't matter where we stay as long as we're together."

God he loved the lad, he always tried to see the positive in everything.

"Course it will, it would be good no matter where we go." He replied.

"Oh I love this song!" Steven exclaimed suddenly and turned the radio up loud.

Steven sang along to the music that blared from the radio, but despite his rapidly building headache, Brendan enjoyed the sound of his lover's voice. Even though he struggled to reach the high notes, Steven sang with a passion evident in every croaked note. He laughed when Steven's voice squeaked on a high note, making the lad shoot a look of annoyance at him, continuing to sing on regardless.

Brendan shook his head amused, his eyes flicking to check the rear view mirror only to see a dark blue Peugeot speeding up to sit dangerously close on their tail. He kept his eye on the car as it gunned back and forth behind as if wishing to overtake them but unable to on the twisting stretch of road. Steven sang on, unaware of Brendan's sudden tenseness as he gripped the steering wheel tightly, making his knuckles turn white. It was an automatic response, ingrained in him from years of dealing with less than savoury individuals, a reflex that he would likely never lose. He remembered his father and the mysterious stranger that had given Steven the note and wondered if the car behind had anything to do with either of them. It took him some time to realise that Steven had stopped singing, had turned the radio down and was speaking to him.

"Brendan?" He said insistently.

"What?"

"I said, can we stop soon? I really need to, you know? Too much juice I reckon."

"Jesus Steven, are we gonna stop every ten miles?" He replied irritated.

"Am sorreh right, but I reeeeeealy need to go!"

"Christ, you're worse than the kids, yeh know that don't yeh?"

"Yeah, but you love me for it, eh? Eh?" Ste said as he stared at him cheekily.

He couldn't help but roll his eyes and smile, Steven had him wrapped around his fingers.

"Aye, I do that." He replied. "There's a place a few miles up the road."

He lessened his grip on the wheel, trying to relax and forget about the car behind that had fallen into a steady pace a few car lengths back. The sky was starting to darken, forcing him to put on the cars dipped beams as they travelled along in a comfortable silence which was only broken by the now low sound of the radio. After a short while Brendan heard snoring, looked to find that Steven had fallen asleep, his urgent body function temporarily forgotten. He checked the road ahead then dared another long look towards Steven, his heart rate increasing at the sight of him. Christ he was beautiful, his soft lips slightly parted, his chest rising and falling lazily with every breath that blew out of that kissable mouth. Brendan just wanted to pull the car over and join him, but they would never get to their destination if he did. He marvelled at the fact the lad could sleep almost anywhere; Brendan never could relax enough to fall asleep in a vehicle. Steven moaned softly in his sleep, making Brendan's stomach tighten with longing, only for the moment to be broken when the car hit a bump in the road and waken him with a start. He looked around with glazed confused eyes, bewildered until he remembered where he was.

"Are we there yet?"

"Yer kidding right? We've only done sixty miles."

"Petrol station." He said, pointing through the window to the rest stop ahead.

Brendan cursed under his breath as he put on the indicator and pulled into the rest stop. Steven was already opening the door as the car came to a halt in the empty car park. The rest stop was merely a petrol station with a small shop and café combined, but it was sufficient to their needs.

"I'll not be a minute!" Steven said hurriedly as he slammed the car door shut and ran towards the building.

"That'll be the door shut then!" Brendan shouted, but Steven only raised a hand in reply and disappeared inside the building.

Watching the traffic passing by, he leaned his arms over the steering wheel and rested his chin on them. At the rate they were going, he was sure it would be tomorrow before they even reached the Borders never mind Glasgow. He closed his eyes and buried his face into the freshly laundered cloth of his sleeves, hoping that Steven wouldn't be too long. His headache was in full force now and his head felt so heavy that he didn't even bother to look up when he heard a car pass close to him.

It was the sound of rubber tyres screeching and kicking up loose stones on the road that woke him. He looked at the clock to find that he had been asleep for twenty five minutes and he wiped the drool from his mouth as he blinked his eyes clear of sleep. Looking towards the shop, he wondered what the hell was keeping Steven, waited another couple of minutes before sighing then got out of the car. His cramped legs groaned as he stretched them out while looking around the place. Shaking his head he made his way into the building, feeling the tension from earlier returning. A quick look around the store told him that Steven was not there so he made his way to the café area and checked the toilets, only to find them empty. Puzzled, he approached the woman who sat behind the cash desk near the main door. She was working on a crossword puzzle and didn't even lift her head when she asked "Can I help you?" all the while drumming her black ball point pen on the desk.

"The man who came in to use the toilet, have you seen him?"

The woman finally raised her head from the crossword to look at him, the pen continuing to tap a beat annoyingly.

"Ah yeah, tall, blonde, skinny thing?" She asked bored, "He left."

Brendan looked out of the window towards the car, but Steven was nowhere to be seen.

"What do you mean left?" He said turning back to the woman.

"I dunno love, he left with another man about twenty minutes ago."

Brendan's heart froze, his eyes widening as the hands at his sides clenched into tight fists. "What man?"

"Umm, tall and fit." She said with a wink and a wry smile. "Longish light brown hair. Cute."

The world tilted around him and as his frozen heart began pounding in his chest, his stomach clenched in the uneasy sickening feeling that comes with a shock. He thanked the woman dazedly then turned to leave, not even getting to the door when his phone sounded, signaling a text message.

End game starts now.

He ran out of the shop, tripping over the advertisement sign that was propped just outside of the door. He found his footing and ran to the car then dialled the number that had sent the text, his eyes scouring the surrounding area for any sign of either man. His call was answered but he heard only silence on the other end.

"Where is he? What the fuck have you done to him Walker?" He growled.

A laugh from the other side of the line confirmed his suspicions, he would never forget that laugh.

"I told you Brendan, you would pay one day or another."

"If you harm a single…"

"You'll what? What will you do Brendan?"

"I'll kill yeh."

"Yeah, yeah," Walker made an over exaggerated yawning sound. "Forgive me if I take that as an idle threat Brendan, I've heard it before. Ste is safe for now, aren't you Ste?"

Brendan heard a sniff and a small whimpering voice pleading as Walker put his phone on speaker.

"Please Simon, please just…just let me go." Brendan's throat constricted, Christ, the lad sounded terrified and there was nothing he could do to help him. "Please, Simon…" Steven fell silent, and Brendan could almost see Walker placing a quieting finger to his own lips.

"Like I said before, it was always going to be him Brendan, the knife to your heart. But he will be safe until you get here at least. Get in the car and make your way back towards Hollyoaks. Go to the industrial estate. We will be waiting."

The line went dead and he stood for a moment with the dead phone to his ear, his breaths coming in huge panicked gulps.

"FUCK!" he roared as he wrenched open the car door and jumped hastily inside.

Why? Why had he fallen asleep? Anger coursed through his body as he gunned the engine and screeched out of the car park back towards home. The journey was filled with curses and the violent hitting of the steering wheel as adrenaline fuelled anger began to slowly replace his initial shock. Time seemed to slow and no matter how fast he drove the car, it never felt fast enough even though the engine screamed towards its upper limits. He made it back to Hollyoaks in just under an hour, less time than it had taken to leave. He knew the industrial estate that Walker was talking about, he had utilised the abandoned site over the years with one dodgy deal or another.

Barely slowing as he turned into the estate, his wheel clipped the kerb, making the car bounce but he did not bat an eyelid. His eyes scoured the empty buildings for any sign of Walker or Steven. He sped along the road, dangerously skirting a mini roundabout over which the car bounced with stomach churning violence. As he fought to control the car, he saw a movement as he passed another intersection, a fleeting impression of speed and aggression. He looked towards the movement and his eyes opened wide in horror as he watched the large blue Peugeot from earlier speed purposely towards him.

The impact from the combined speed of both cars sent his car into a sickening flip. His car struck the ground in the first of three spins and Brendan's body twisted in the seat with the force of inertia, his head smashing through the door window in an explosion of glass and blood. The structure around him crushed inwards as it hit the ground for the third and final time to come to a halt on its roof.

The car rocked gently back and forth before falling still, then there was nothing but a mangled wreck and silence. The violence had ended, but Brendan was unaware of this as he had long since been pulled into the darkness of unconsciousness.

TBC...

Comments are cookies for the Dragon's soul, feed me!

*From The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli