There were two more rogues in the kitchen, a man and a girl. The Girl was no more then five foot and curvy. She wore well fitting black cloths and a red bandanna covered her face from the nose down. Her long brown hair was pulled back and out of the way, showing her pale skin and gray eyes. She was rummaging around the cabinets and drawers, and barely glanced at the newcomers.
The other man was built a lot like Frank. He too wore well fitting black cloths as well as a ski mask and fitted leather gloves. There was an air about him that left no doubt who was in charge. He was The Leader. He was so calm and at ease standing over Frank, running a hand through him hair that Joe instantly felt a strong dislike of the man.
The Hardy's have an island in their kitchen; Laura had wanted extra counter space. It was about four foot wide and five foot long and had four posts on the corners that held up the pot rack. Frank had been tied semi-spread-eagle to the side of the island closest to the door. His hands were stretched painfully above his head, and he had been forced to his knees. He was blind folded and gagged and stripped from the waist up. His gray sweat pants were torn on one side revealing part of his hip and upper thigh.
Blood dripped down from a multitude of wounds on his neck torso and arms so that a small pool of blood was forming in front of him. His chest was covered in welts and cuts, some of them pretty deep while his stomach and exposed hip and thigh were covered in small burns. There were bite marks on his neck arms and writs, most of them still bleeding sluggishly, and his right hand looked broken. Bruises ran into bruises so you couldn't tell where one began and the other ended, and Joe felt that at least one of Frank's ribs were broken. To top it all off, Frank was having problems breathing.
It took every ounce of Joe's self control not to tar free from knife man and go running over to Frank. Even now The Knife Man had tightened his grip on Joe's arm, feeling Joe's muscles tensing.
The Leader was running his hand through Frank's hair and paid no attention to Joe or The Knife Man. His hand made gentle, soothing motions as if to try and comfort Frank and then with out warning, The Leader grabbed a handful of Frank's head and viscously yanked Frank's head to the side, exposing his neck. Frank groaned as his head was forced to one side and he tried weakly to pull away. Another sharp tug put an end to his protests and he stilled himself, waiting for the next torment.
Joe felt his temper climbing. No one had the right to hurt Frank; no one had the right to torture him. He could feel the anger in him boiling his blood. He watched The Leader crouch down so that his face was even with Frank's, and he felt his body tensing. He had no idea what this man was going to do, but just by looking at Frank he knew it wasn't going to be good.
The Leader scanned the exposed skin on Frank's neck until he found a spot clear of marks. A wicked smile crossed his face and he leaned into Frank. At first Joe thought he was kissing Frank, and he felt sick. Then he realized that the man was licking the blood away from Frank's neck and it was a fight to keep the bile down. Joe took a step forward, wanting desperately to help Frank. But The Knife Man pressed the blade into his neck harder, until Joe felt a sharp prick and then the blood on his neck. Joe froze, breathing hard, his anger starting to take hold of him. All he wanted to do was beat the shit out of The Leader, but for now there was nothing he could do but watch.
As The Leader licked Frank's neck, Frank tensed and his breathing grew desperate, it was one of the few times Joe ever saw his brother fight for control of his emotions. The Leader's smile widened as he watched Frank. His reaction was everything that he wanted, and he was enjoying every minuet of it.
The Leader leaned into Frank again, wrapping his free arm around Frank's waist so that there was no chance of him pulling away. With one last lick, The Leader bite into Frank's neck and began to suck.
A cross between a whimper and a scream escaped from behind Frank's gag. He tried feebly to pull away, to fight off the attack but it was in futile. The Leader only bite harder and then tore away from Frank, leaving a gaping wound in its place.
Now Frank was screaming in earnest and desperately fighting to get free. The Leader merely slammed him against the island and used his body to pin him there. He forced Frank's head farther to the side and secured his mouth over the wound.
He drank the oozing blood for a few seconds and when he grew bored with that, he stuck his tongue inside and began to probe the wound. He lapped up the blood like it was candy and the longer he drank, the more aggressive he got. He pushed his body against Frank, slamming him into the island wall.
To Joe the whole thing looked like rape, and in a way it was. After all rape is defined as the unwilling penetration of a person's body, and Frank was definitely not willingly allowing this man to drink his blood or stick his tongue into his neck. In fact, Joe could here the whimpers coming from his brother and he was seeing red.
He lunged at the man only to be shoved to the floor and pinned there by The Knife Man. The Leader, hearing the struggle behind him, pulled away from Frank and looked over his shoulder. He smiled devilishly when he saw Joe struggling to free himself from under the weight of The Knife Man. He made one more dramatic lick across Frank's neck, making sure to gather blood around his mouth, before standing and facing Joe.
The Knife Man pulled Joe to his knees and held him in a head lock, his knife on the floor forgotten. The Leader approached Joe with a smirk on his face; blood was dripping from his mouth. He stopped just a foot away from Joe and looked down on his victim, vicious pleasure in his eyes. Joe locked on to his eyes unafraid; he was too pissed to be scared and way buoyed thinking clearly.
"You sick bastard…" Joe growled and was answered by a backhanded slap across his mouth. Joe's head was snapped to the side from the blow and he could taste blood in his mouth. Another backhand snapped his head to his other side and a third made him see stars. The fourth and final backhand sent him to the floor again ad his arms were instantly pinned painfully behind his back.
The Leader snapped his fingers and The Girl, who had stopped rummaging when she heard Joe speak, came over. She handed a pair of hand cuffs to The Knife Man before heading over to Frank. While The Knife Man struggled to cuff Joe, The Girl removed Frank's blindfold and headed back to the others.
Frank winced as the dim light hit his eyes and started to blink rapidly hopping to bring focused back to his frazzled mind. At fist his mind refused to register what was going on around him. His hearing was muffled, his sense of touch totally over ridden by pain, and his vision completely unfocused. But some how one sound managed to penetrate the fuzz overtaking his mind.
It wasn't so much the sound, but the thought that entered his mind that registered with him. 'That sounded like Joe,' Frank thought, 'I think that was Joe.' It was that simple, matter of fact thought that made Frank look around. That made him pull out of his daze back into his hellish full consciousness.
His eyes widened in horror at the sight before him. Joe was being cuffed and gagged on the floor only feet away from him. Forgetting about his own situation Frank tried to get to Joe. As soon as he moved sharp, fiery pains busted through his body and left him breathless. He slumped against the island pitifully, moaning from as much grief as the pain. He was helpless to help Joe. There was nothing he could do except watch them torture Joe.