Chapter three

Jaden's rescue

"JADEN!" Chazz screamed in fear as he shot up from his bed. He was still in the infirmary and his bandages had not been removed yet from his knife wound.

"Chazz?" Bastion asked, as he stood in the doorway, holding a couple of books in his hands. Chazz glanced at Bastion, unknowingly that his eyes were betraying him. Bastion crossed the room and sat down beside him, while placing the books on Chazz's bedside table. "Are you okay? You look pale."

"I'm always pale…"

"Paler then usual. What's going on?" Bastion demanded slightly. Chazz laid back down on his pillow.

"Nothing. It was just a nightmare." Bastion frowned. Chazz was being stubborn and he knew it.

"A nightmare about Jaden. I thought you two were just friends, but it seems more then that. Come on, Chazz. You can tell me, is there something going on between you and Jaden that we don't know about?" Chazz blushed slightly.

"Alright fine, you win. But you can't tell anyone else. Not until Jaden's ready. Okay?" Bastion was slightly shocked, but he pushed it away.

"I promise." Chazz closed his eyes for a second, then opened them again and looked at Bastion.

"Fine, I'm gay and I love Jaden. We had just gotten together when he got kidnapped. It's all my fault."

"How is it your fault?"

"I wasn't strong enough to protect him. I swear, if those guys hurt Jaden, I'm going to kill them!"

Aster listened to Jaden's cries through the wall, unable to do anything. He leaned weakly against the cold, cement wall. He hadn't moved since he had raped the young duelist almost four hours ago. Frost, Thunder, T-Bone and Blaze, however, had not stopped since they had begun. Frost, in particular, had been extremely brutal, not giving the brunette a moment's rest before forcing himself on the young duelist again. He felt so awful, but he was helpless against Frost and with Thunder and T-Bone with him, he'd have no chance. After a very long time, the brunette's screams died away, and Frost came stalking past Aster with a smug smile on his twisted face. "See how easy that was?" Aster looked away shamefully, his eyes burning with hate.

"Whatever Frost. I told you I wasn't gay. You guys had your fun. Let's let him go now." Frost gazed at Aster for a moment, then simply shrugged.

"No." Aster's eyes widened.

"But…but why?" Frost rolled his eyes.

"He knows who we are. There's no reason to let him go. We can just keep him here for awhile and do whatever we want."

"Frost, please. He's suffered enough." Smack! Frost backhanded across Aster's face, leaving a red hand mark on Aster's face. Aster gasped in pain, holding his cheek, his eyes squeezed shut.

He turned and headed for the other room. He stumbled into the empty room where Jaden was still on the floor, sobbing softly. His movements seemed to get the brunette's attention. He whimpered and shied away from the sound, the blindfold still over his eyes, soaking wet from his tears. Aster stopped short, horrified at what his saw. Someone had been nice enough to pull Jaden's jeans back up. A wave of nausea ran through him when he saw the seat of the brunette's jeans was crusted with sticky, drying blood. He looked pathetic, tears on his cheeks, his brown hair messier then it usually was. His hands were still tied behind his back. Aster felt his heart break into a million sharp shards in his chest watching the young, violated brunette. He could untie the poor teen, if nothing else. He took a step closer. "Jaden…"

Jaden whimpered again and curled into a tight ball against the wall. Aster slowly reached out and ever so gently touched the blindfold. Jaden yelped and twisted away from him. Aster froze. "Jaden… I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."

"A…As-ter?" Jaden whimpered.

"Yeah, it's me…" Aster reached out and gently tugged the blindfold. It slowly fell away from the brunette's eyes. Almost instantly he wished he hadn't as Jaden looked at him with the most sorrow-filled gaze with betrayal, those beautiful brown eyes filled with heavy tears. The eyes that only hours ago belonged to an innocent, carefree, overconfident duelist; now showed the same fear and pain and confusion that he felt. Jaden stared up at the pro duelist, his knees pressed to his chest as he waited for Aster to hurt him. How could Aster have betrayed him like that? Have him hurt and then left him alone to endure the cruel torture of his four friends? But the hurt did not come. "Are…are you alright?" Aster asked gently, kneeling down next to the frightened duelist. Jaden whimpered.

"Can…can I go home now?" His voice was thick with tears, hoarse from screaming, and barely understandable through the blood and other things that still lingered at the corners of his mouth. Aster sighed and leaned against the cement wall, gazing at the brunette with remorseful eyes.

"Not…not yet…"

"When?" Jaden croaked, then turned aside and retched, but he had nothing left in his stomach to get rid of.

"I…I don't know," Aster admitted. Jaden began to cry tearlessly, not having any tears left in him either.

"Why are you all hurting me?" he asked painfully, looking Aster straight in the eyes. The blue eyes held the brown for a moment before Aster forced himself to look away, tears blinding him. Jaden watched him a moment, then sighed and shifted painfully. His arms were numb behind his back, and every muscle he had, hurt as if he had been hit by a truck. Aster gently reached behind Jaden.

"Here, hold still." Jaden froze as Aster struggled a moment, then succeeded in undoing the knot, and Jaden's arms were freed. "There… at least you're not tied up now.

As soon as he was free, Jaden pulled his knees closer to his chest, hugging them tightly. He began to rock himself back and forth, trying to comfort himself, to stop the pain that seemed to be spreading from between his legs to the rest of his body. He desperately missed Chazz and he wished that Chazz was holding him in his strong arms, comforting him and protecting him from the rest of the world. He felt so dirty. His skin was covered in sweat that made him cold. He was bleeding, but from where, he was unsure. He slowly turned his gaze up to Aster, and a moment later, smiled a bit, the first smile since last night. "Th…thank you," he said, softly. Aster smiled too, a real genuine smile.

"You're welcome, Jay." He ever so slowly reached over and brushed Jaden's sweat-soaked brown hair out his eyes. "You look horrible…"

"I feel horrible." Aster nodded slowly.

"I…I know."

Jaden suddenly shifted a tiny bit so he could lay his face on Aster's chest. Aster stared at him in surprise. He was so trusting, even when he had hurt him. He ever so slowly, so as to not scare him, placed his arms around him and pulled him closer in a brotherly hug. Jaden nestled into it, needing the comfort in whatever way it would come.

"Aww, how cute," came a voice in the doorway. The two looked up in terror. Frost stood in the doorway watching them. Jaden gasped and curled closer to Aster.

"Don't let him hurt me," he pleaded, looking up at Aster with wide, scared eyes.

"Shh. I won't." Aster gave him a gentle squeeze, then stood up, planting himself in front of the frightened brunette.

"What do you want, Frosty?"

"Came to find you."

"Why?"

"Just to make sure you weren't doing anything stupid, like letting him go."

"Frost, you've had your fun, okay? I think it's time we let him go home." He felt an arm grip his leg, just below his knee, and took that as a small comfort, knowing that the brunette trusted him. Frost, however, didn't seem to like that request.

"Let him go home? What kind of stupid mother-fucker are you? We can't let him go now."

"But-."

"But nothing, Aster. We can't have him go talking to the police." Jaden began to cry. Aster stalked over towards Frost.

"You bastard! He won't talk to the police if we dropped him off at Duel Academy!" Frost's eyes seemed to darken.

"You're out of line, Aster. I suggest you get back in your place before something really bad happens." Aster glanced over at Jaden, whose whole body was shaking in terror, then back at Frost.

"I think you're the one out of line, Frost. You let Jaden go now or I leave. I don't think Master Sartorius would like that. I bring money every time I win a duel."

"Frost!" came a call from the door. Frost turned to see both Thunder, T-Bone, and Blaze in the doorway. "You ain't gonna believe this. Someone reported this place to the police. They're circling the block. We've got to get Sartorius and get out of here now!"

Frost growled and glanced down at Aster whose blue eyes went wide. With a cry of anger, he gave Aster a blow to the cheek that sent the pro duelist reeling backwards across the room. He smacked his head on the hard cement wall. The world swam before his eyes and the world went black.

A few hours later, Jaden woke up and found himself in the infirmary at the duel academy. He propped himself on his elbows and glanced around. Aster was on the bed next to him, his eyes still closed. He turned his head a little and found Bastion sitting on a chair beside his bed, with his arms folded across his chest, and his eyes slightly closed.

"Bastion?" Jaden said, softly. Bastion opened his eyes and glanced at Jaden.

"How are you feeling?"

"My body hurts. What happened to me?" Jaden moaned softly.

"We don't know," Bastion replied, softly.

"Where is Chazz? I want to see him so badly," Jaden cried.

"It's okay, Jaden. He's in class. He'll be here in an hour.'' Jaden laid back down and curled up, while looking at Bastion with scared eyes. "Jaden?" he asked, concerned.

"I feel so cold," Jaden whispered, weakly. Bastion realized that he was shaking more then he should. Curiously and a little concerned, Bastion placed his hand on Jaden's forehead, only to find the brunette cry out in fear and jerked away from him. But that was enough for him. Jaden had a rising temperature and he felt sweaty. Suddenly, Jaden started to cough violently, and when he couldn't find the strength to stop, he started to panic and began to sob uncontrollably. Bastion was frightened to his friend like this and he wanted to comfort him, but he'd probably make it worse. He stood up quickly.

"Hang on, Jaden. I'm going to get Chazz."

Fortunately for Bastion, Chazz was not in Professor Crowler's class, so the professor wouldn't be too upset if Chazz had to leave early. Bastion quickly entered the large classroom panting slightly, not caring if everyone was now staring at him. "I'm sorry, Professor, but I need to speak to Chazz," Bastion gasped, still catching his breath. Chazz glanced at Bastion with a worried look. The two locked eyes. 'It's Jaden, isn't it?' Chazz asked, silently. Bastion nodded. Chazz stood up.

"May I go, Professor?" he pleaded.

"Of course, just come back and get your homework."

''I will, and thanks." He rushed down the stairs and followed Bastion towards the infirmary. "Mind telling me what's going on with Jaden?" Chazz gasped.

"He's having some sort of panic attack. I would have stayed and tried to comfort him, but I think I would have make it worse. That's why I came to get you."

"Very wise."

As they neared the infirmary, Chazz and Bastion both heard distressed sobbing. They quickly entered the infirmary to find Jaden on the floor on his hands and knees, coughing violently and shaking with fear and sobbing, while Aster was trying to calm him down. Bastion knelt down next to the silver-haired duelist and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Aster. Chazz will take care of Jaden," he said, in his calming voice. Aster and Bastion stood back, while Chazz knelt down in front of Jaden. He placed a pair of rough hands on the frightened brunette's shoulders, to hold him still. Jaden looked up at Chazz's concerned, but serious face

"Let go of me!" Jaden cried out in panic, as he struggled to try and free himself from Chazz's grip. He tightened his hold. "Why are you still hurting me?" Jaden cried. Chazz and Aster froze. That was almost the same question he had asked him a few hours ago. Bastion noticed Aster's uneasiness.

"Are you okay?"

"No. I'm guilty that I let it happened to him. I wish I could have stopped it," Aster said, softly.

"Who and how did they hurt you?" Chazz demanded, calmly, looking Jaden straight into his chocolate brown eyes. Jaden looked at him, but didn't answer him. What Chazz saw, shocked him. Chazz could feel the anger boiling up inside of him. Whoever did this to Jaden, is going to regret the day they were born! Aster took a deep breath.

"I raped him." Aster found himself pinned against the wall, as he looked into Chazz's furious eyes that burned with hatred. Aster knew this was going to happen as soon as Chazz found out the truth.

"You fucking son-of-a-bitch! How could you? I thought you were friends with him!" Chazz yelled in anger.

"Look, I didn't want too, okay? I was forced to rape him. It's Frost you should be angry with, not me. He was the most brutal to him," Aster said, calmly.

"Jaden!" they heard Bastion cry out. Chazz let go of Aster and they turned to find out that Jaden had collapsed.