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Chapter 13

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Ardyn shook his head as he made his way back toward the old barn under which Verstael's laboratory lied. He was almost there, maybe two or three more minutes driving time.

He hadn't made it far before deciding to turn around and come back. He wasn't sure why, but he was pretty certain he felt actual guilt over leaving the boy there. It was a strange, foreign feeling, but sure enough, it was there inside him, eating away at his mind.

When Prompto had tried to run the night before and Ardyn rescued him, Ardyn could have been angry with the boy. He should have been. He'd warned Prompto pain would follow such an action. He could have easily taken the opportunity to beat the child, twist his arm, dislocate his shoulder, tie him up without his clothes, leave him in the cold all night... any number of painful, terrifying, cruel things. He should have wanted to... but he didn't. He wanted instead to protect him, to bandage his injuries, to pretend to believe the lie so Prompto wouldn't be scared... to offer warmth under his own coat.

Perhaps that was why Ardyn was so annoyed when Prompto rejected the offer to share the garment - because Ardyn had by some miracle felt like being kind, protective, comforting, generous... All things that didn't come naturally to him, but that this child somehow had conjured up... and Prompto hadn't let him. Prompto had looked at him like he was still a monster... Ardyn had let himself appear to have a heart, a conscience... In a way, he'd shown the boy the most vulnerable part of himself - a tiny part of his being he didn't even know still existed... And instead of the boy crawling over to him, leaning into his coat, snuggling down, feeling safe and protected, being grateful Ardyn had chosen to protect him and keep him warm, Prompto shrunk away, refused to believe Ardyn could possibly do something with kind intentions.

But could Ardyn blame him? He'd spent an entire day making sure the boy feared him, killing a man in front of him, drilling it into the terrified child's mind that the man's death was his fault. He'd threatened to rape him, forced him to pull down his pants and bend over... Why would he want to snuggle against Ardyn's side? Why would he possibly think the man wasn't up to something sinister?

After that, Ardyn had gotten angry... over something petty... something that was his own fault. He'd reverted back to wanting Prompto to suffer - to feeling like Verstael was exactly what he deserved for rejecting the rare moment Ardyn chose to show empathy toward anyone but himself... But Prompto didn't deserve it. Ardyn should never have expected Prompto to trust him after everything he'd done to the boy, after everything he'd threatened him with.

He knew Verstael was a sick, twisted person, that he'd experiment on the child, probably hurt him for fun… He knew that all along, and hadn't cared until about an hour after driving away. He spent the next hour thinking about all the possible things Verstael might do… About Prompto's desperate, fearful sobs when he thought Ardyn was going to hurt him… About the fact that the boy was adopted by people who didn't even seem to want him, who neglected him, and beat him with a belt when he messed up.

Prompto was only fifteen. He was taken from one abusive man and given to another… And then Ardyn took him, abused him even more… And Ardyn did abuse him… Very much so. He might not have viciously beaten him or molested him, but he almost did one and implied he'd do the other. He had the boy so frightened of it… And then he killed a man in front of the child, made Prompto believe it was his fault… That was extremely abusive. All that leading up to leaving him with a man who immediately drugged him and strapped him down to a table…

So it took Ardyn about two hours of driving before he turned around and headed right back. It didn't seem like a long time… but two hours driving away and two driving back gave Varstael four hours alone with the boy. Ardyn was kind of dreading what the scene might look like when he finally got back into the lab. He hoped Verstael hadn't done anything too disturbing… anything irreversible.

Ardyn pulled the car up next to the barn, putting it into park and turning off the engine. He took a calming breath, then stepped out of the vehicle and made his way back toward the lab. He wasn't sure what he was going to say exactly when he got down there… That he was taking the boy back? That he'd lied to his friend and wasn't going to allow him to keep the child? Prompto was kind of rightfully Verstael's property, in a way… But then, he was also a person… Didn't technically belong to anyone…

Perhaps as long as Verstael wasn't horribly hurting the boy, Ardyn would just linger around for a while, assure Prompto that he was going to be alright, try to ease his fears what little he could... Then he could quietly steal him away in the night, leaving Verstael to assume the child had run away. Or he could just take him and let Verstael be angry about it. Ardyn was immortal - virtually unable to even be hurt. Verstael wouldn't have a choice but to go along with Ardyn's wishes.

Shaking his head in annoyance with himself and the situation, Ardyn headed down below ground, inputting the code to the lab and walking through the door. The scene that greeted him upon his entry was perhaps even worse than anything he had feared, unfortunately.

Prompto's shaking cries could be heard immediately, before Ardyn even turned the corner so that he could see the boy. That alone wasn't cause for concern - Ardyn had heard plenty of that during the trip here - both for valid reasons and for smaller things. Prompto seemed to cry a lot… But the cries Ardyn heard now were in fact pretty breathless, pained, frightened, even heartbroken. He had a pretty good idea Prompto wasn't merely overreacting. Whatever was happening had to be something pretty awful.

Ardyn exhaled and quickened his pace, turning the corner and feeling his heart sink as he took in the scene before him. The boy was nude, lying face-down on the table, bent over it, with Verstael behind him, the man's hands out of sight, but angled down between the boy's legs - one in the front, and one behind.

Prompto was no longer tied down. Even so, he wasn't moving. His hands were squeezed loosely into fists, and he flinched and tensed as he whimpered, but he was clearly still drugged, unable to defend himself in the least.

At the moment, neither the boy nor Verstael noticed Ardyn was even there. Prompto continued breathing desperate, whimpering sobs, his eyes squeezed shut, a look of pain and fear on his face as Verstael's hands moved down between his legs. The man was leaning over him, whispering something into the boy's ear as he assaulted him.

Shocking even himself, Ardyn felt a growl in his throat as he quickly made his way over toward his friend, grabbing at his shoulder and dragging him roughly back.

"Ardyn!" Verstael laughed, his voice a little breathless, surprised as he stumbled back a few paces. "You're back… And so soon. I didn't expect you just yet... Um… Give us a minute, will you, old friend? You can head into the lounge, and I'll be there in… um… let's say twenty minutes? Maybe thirty?"

Verstael nodded and forced a smile, turning back toward the boy who whimpered and flinched slightly. Prompto was clearly still drugged. He was unrestrained, but not really moving much at all… Just crying softly, weakly shrinking down, his hands in loose fists and his eyes squeezed shut. Tears rolled silently down his cheeks.

The boy inhaled a weak, shaky breath as he blinked open tired eyes, looking toward Ardyn with a defeated, exhausted stare. "Ardyn…?" Prompto whispered. "Please help me... M-make him stop… Don't leave me with him again... Please!" He whimpered.

"Shhh. I believe he's here to take his turn, after me." Verstael laughed, glancing toward Ardyn with a smirk, then grabbing a hand toward Prompto's pelvis, pulling the boy slightly backwards.

"No, please!" Prompto sobbed, his eyes squeezing shut again. "Please stop! I wanna go home. Please…"

"Don't mind him. He's in the middle of a rather dramatic overreaction." Verstael laughed, sliding his other hand around Prompto's thigh, down between the boy's legs, seemingly gripping his penis as he moved two of his fingers between his cheeks, slipping them back into the boy's trembling body, eliciting a shaky whimper and a small flinching motion from his captive. "I'll meet you in the lounge, Ardyn. Leave us for a moment." He ordered once more.

"No." Ardyn refused, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder and pulling him back again.

"You can have at him when I'm finished, Ardyn… I'm sure you had your fun during the trip over… If you're missing him, I'll be glad to share, but you need to do the same. He's mine, so I deserve a go at him too. Preferably first. He claims you and he didn't do any of this on your journey here... If it's true, I'd of course like to be the one to break him in. Then you can have at him all you like." Verstael frowned. "I really do thank you for returning him to me. He's everything I hoped for and more… but… You've got to give me some space right now."

"I don't think so." Ardyn stared. "I'm afraid I can't allow him to stay with you. I'll be taking him back now."

"Uh… no… You won't." Verstael forced an annoyed laugh. "You can't claim any ownership here. He doesn't belong to you. He's my property. My creation… You've no right becoming possessive over him now. I made him. I can do with him whatever I choose. That was the agreement. He belongs to me. He's mine to do with as I please. If you don't like seeing this, I suggest you look away."

Prompto's soft whimpers could still be heard from the table, but he wasn't even begging anymore - not like Ardyn would have expected him to. Maybe the drugs he'd been given were enough to make even speaking difficult. Or maybe he'd simply given up. Maybe he got all of his most frantic begging out of the way before Ardyn ever got here.

"Please leave us for the moment." Verstael demanded again. "I'll tire of him within the hour. He's not nearly as reactive as I'd hope. Not after a few minutes... He just shuts down... But you can experience him for yourself once I'm done. Then you're free to have as much time as you need." He offered, walking back toward the boy and standing behind him. "Your new best friend Ardyn's determined to rush this, so we'll skip right to the good stuff." Verstael glared back toward Ardyn as he reached down and started unzipping his pants. "It's going to hurt, unfortunately, diving in unprepared. You can thank him for that."

"No…" Prompto whimpered, his voice small, entirely drained, shaking, yet still frantic. "Please no… Please… Ardyn - don't let him hurt me... Please... Help me! I'm sorry I ran from you, th-that I told that man... That I sneaked away and lied about the firewood... I'm sorry. I'll d-do whatever you say from now on... I'll n-never argue or s-say no ever again... Please! Don't let him do this."

Ardyn exhaled tiredly, closing his eyes for a moment. He hadn't expected this. He figured Verstael would do medical tests, maybe try to reprogram the boy's mind… He had envisioned Verstael forcing Prompto to be hooked up to machines, fed through a tube… Not this. It figured the little fucking narcissist would literally want to fuck a younger version of himself.

"I didn't bring him here for this." Ardyn growled, grabbing at Verstael's arm and pulling him back yet again.

Verstael swatted at Ardyn's hand, glaring at him angrily. "What DID you bring him here for, Ardyn, hm? What did you expect of this arrangement? That I'd prepare him a little guest room, cook him dinner, buy him some little pajamas and a teddy bear?" He tilted his head to the side. "Were you expecting bed time stories, and kisses on your forehead, sweet baby boy?" He mocked, walking back toward Prompto and grabbing a hand hard around his hip, pulling him up and toward him a few inches.

Prompto whimpered a sharp breath, choking out a small sob and shrinking down.

"That's what your friend thought was waiting for you, I suppose. A loving daddy who'd give you cuddles and teach you how to tie a god damned tie - since clearly no one else ever did." He kicked at the boy's discarded tie on the ground.

Ardyn frowned. He had expected Verstael would probably experiment on the boy, hurt him both physically and mentally… He always knew Verstael wasn't going to provide the child with any sort of comfortable, pleasant living quarters. He knew he was delivering Prompto into the hands of a monster... He just didn't think he'd care… and he certainly didn't expect that Verstael would hurt him sexually.

He should have seen it coming though. He wasn't sure why he didn't think of it. Perhaps because he didn't expect to care one way or the other. When he began this endeavor, he honestly couldn't possibly care less what Verstael did to the child. Now for some reason, he did care… Certain things were off-limits, and that was one of them.

"He doesn't deserve this…" Ardyn spoke, not sure if he was only just now realizing that himself - that he'd thrust this poor child into a situation so dreadful and terrifying, that he was wrong to do so. He knew of course. Ardyn knew lots of things he did were wrong, evil even... He just didn't care. He felt like he'd earned the right to destroy lives because his own life was destroyed... But Prompto was fifteen. He was an innocent child.

"Who deserves anything this cruel reality we call life throws at us?" Verstael laughed, his tone erratic. "Is it so bad that I have a little fun with a project I created to serve me? I made this boy to fulfill my own needs. This is a need I have - not what I had planned, but where he's falling into place now. He's not hurt. I won't severely damage him or kill him - not that you should care... I've got so many others... This one shouldn't matter to you any more than they do... So leave us." He ordered, placing one hand on the back of Prompto's head and sliding his other back down between the boy's cheeks, apparently forcing in a finger or two again, causing Prompto to flinch and moan.

"Stop-" Prompto hissed, his little fists tightening slightly as his body shook and his eyes squeezed shut tighter. "Don't… Please…" He gasped, groaning a shaky, tearful noise that took a mere moment to turn into soft, breathless sobs.

"Damn it, Verstael. Get off of him. What the hell is wrong with you?" Ardyn growled, grabbing toward his friend's shoulder again and pulling him back. Prompto had suffered enough already. Ardyn was not going to stand back and allow this to continue. "You created him, yes, but he's got his own mind… He's a person, whether that's what you intended or not. And he's a child at that. You can't do this." Ardyn insisted.

"Just go. Please." Verstael frowned, exhaling a tired breath. "You don't know this boy… Not like I do. He's nothing to you. He's nothing to anyone. What difference does it make if I get some pleasure out of this? You've no right to care…"

Ardyn glared. He did actually know Prompto more than Verstael did… because the boy wasn't just a mindless clone. He was a person, with thoughts, feelings, fears… Ardyn had spent two days getting to know him, whether he had intended to or not. Verstael didn't. He didn't have a right to care… He still couldn't understand why he cared… but he did care, and whether it made sense or not, what Ardyn wanted now was to save this boy from the man who made him. Ardyn wanted it, so he was going to see it done. That's how things worked.

"I'm taking him back." Ardyn persisted. "And I know you don't want to try to fight me on this." He glared. Verstael wouldn't dare. He knew Ardyn wasn't an opponent he could beat.

Verstael shook his head, disappointment and anger dripping from his posture and facial expression. "Are you serious, old friend?" He glared. "My creation… My property… And you're just taking him back… After all these years, you brought him to me, only to steal him away again? Was it you who took him initially? Is that why you're so invested? Did you raise the boy in secret?"

"No." Ardyn frowned. "I told you… He was living in the Crown City. I found him by mistake."

"When I saw those marks on his back, I almost wondered if it had been you who had him all along…" Verstael stared.

Ardyn stared back, knowing how close he was to making marks just like that, knowing if he hadn't seen Prompto's back was already scarred, that he would have.

"He's going to hurt you, Prompto." Verstael growled as Ardyn shoved past him, heading toward the boy still lying face-down on the table. "He's playing the hero now… but he'll take what he wants if he hasn't already. This isn't care. This isn't protection. This is jealousy!"

"Have you the capacity to shut your mouth, Verstael?" Ardyn glared, seriously contemplating punching the man. The last thing he needed now was for this lunatic to plant further seeds of fear and distrust in the boy's mind.

"You better hope you faint before he gets you back to that car." Verstael growled. "He won't take his time. He'll hurt you so badly... You'll bleed, you'll scream... You'll wish you were here with me, taking it slow, feeling pleasure rather than blinding pain... You'll wish you were dead!"

"Verstael! Enough." Ardyn growled, staring at his friend, silently warning him just how thin his patience was wearing.

"I'm disappointed in you Ardyn… I never knew you had the capacity to let some worthless little pawn take up this degree of space in your mind… Change who you are… Turn you into a traitor." Verstael growled. "Since when are you capable of compassion? You truly do just want him for yourself, don't you? You're obsessed..."

"You've got plenty more where this one came from… You can do whatever you want with them. I think you've got more than enough to keep yourself occupied… This one's mine now." Ardyn explained, carefully removing the IV from the boy's hand, pulling off some monitors stuck to his chest and taking off his own coat. Prompto's clothing was thrown around on the floor - some of it seemingly cut to pieces. Ardyn draped the coat over the boy's back, wrapping it around his body as he lifted him into his arms.

Prompto whimpered and shrunk down against Ardyn's chest, squeezing his eyes shut as his body visibly trembled. Ardyn could even feel the boy shaking. Maybe he was still scared of Ardyn too. He had every right to be. Verstael's lies didn't help that situation. If Prompto believed them, he likely feared Ardyn was taking him to do exactly the same to him that Verstael had been doing.

"You're a thief, Ardyn." Verstael growled, knowing better than to try to fight the man, but clearly very angry.

"I'm fine with the title, old friend." Ardyn smirked, holding Prompto tight against his chest, then carrying the boy back out toward his car.

Prompto breathed out a small, shaky moan as he laid his head against Ardyn's chest, grasping weakly toward the front of the man's shirt. The child's eyes were closed, but silent tears ran softly down his cheeks.

Ardyn frowned, pulling Prompto even closer against himself, feeling a very real, painful stab of guilt in his chest. He'd delivered the boy right to this man. This man who drugged him and hurt him... in the worst way. Ardyn didn't think he'd care what happened to Prompto, but he did care. This was the one thing Ardyn himself absolutely would not do - to anyone... and Verstael had done it to what was basically his own child... And Prompto was that - a child. An actual fifteen year old little boy. Verstael was a horrible, awful excuse for a human being. That he'd do this to a young boy, who only wanted to meet him, to know him, to have a family...

But really, was Ardyn any better? He knew Verstael wasn't going to welcome Prompto with a hug, that the man wasn't going to teach him to drive and help him with his homework. He knew full well that this arrangement wasn't going to be anything pleasant... Ardyn delivered a child into this man's nightmarish lab... Ardyn was at fault here. He knew that... He couldn't take it back.

He laid the boy gently in the back seat of his car, pulling the coat tighter around his shoulders and frowning as Prompto shivered. The boy looked more than scared and exhausted. He looked like he felt ill… but maybe that was from Verstael's actions. Maybe his fear and disgust at the situation literally made him sick.

Prompto moaned softly as he seemed to try to curl in on his side, but could clearly still barely move. Tears still streamed down his cheeks. His skin looked flushed, perhaps more so than could have come from crying alone. He was more than scared and traumatized. He seemed legitimately sick.

With a frown, Ardyn reached down toward Prompto's forehead, placing his hand against it as Prompto whimpered and flinched away.

"Please…" Prompto choked, seemingly still trying to curl in on himself as he squeezed his eyes closed tighter.

The boy's forehead was warm. He was clearly feverish. Ardyn wasn't sure what drugs Verstael had given him, but hopefully it was something he could sleep off, and hopefully the fever would go away with it.

"That's all over now. Hang tight, sweet boy…" Ardyn frowned, placing his hand lightly over Prompto's collar, but drawing it back when Prompto flinched away and whimpered again. "He won't hurt you anymore… I've got you back now." He paused, feeling positively nauseated by what he'd just accidentally played a part in. "I won't hurt you... You're safe with me…" He promised.

Prompto shook his head slightly, breathing out slow, labored breaths. Ardyn wondered how aware of himself he was right now, how high his fever was… Perhaps he didn't even know Ardyn was who had him. Maybe he was presently lost in a fever dream, terrified of anyone who came close at this point.

"I wanna go home..." Prompto whimpered, his eyes squeezed closed as tears streamed down his cheeks.

"I know..." Ardyn frowned, wanting to reach out and offer a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder, but at the same time realizing touching the child even just that much was unlikely to bring him comfort.

Ardyn closed his eyes and exhaled, glancing back toward the barn before climbing into the front seat. He angled his rear-view mirror down so that he could keep an eye on the boy as he drove, but was unsure where he was even headed. He needed to let the child go. He needed to get him back home.

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