03

CHAPTERS 03

When Tyler finally picked up after several rings, the two started chatting about a criminal they had to kill. Tyler wasn’t very fond of Valentino, but they both hated the son of a bitch. After all, Tainted Rose never killed without a legitimate reason. Valentino trodded around the rug, his fingers brushing against the various books as he shared his plan with Tyler.

Meanwhile, still on the ladder behind a few shelves, was Nathaniel, trembling like a leaf. He was too afraid to move, but he had an advantage ; the boys hadn’t noticed him yet.

Collecting himself up, telling himself that he could escape, he nonchalantly got down the creaky steps, making him hold his breath as his heart thudded against his ribs. He was terrified, lowering one foot at a time, stopping after each time his feet felt something solid. While he was on the last step, his knees buckled, making him stumble onto his bottom.

Valentino froze as he heard the sound of someone whimpering and something falling down, looking at Zaire and Jackson. Slowly, a wicked grin made its way onto his thick lips, his eyebrows raising. « Guess we have a mouse here, listening in on us, hm boys ? » He chuckled humorlessly, clasping his gun tighter.

« Zaire, you know I hate mouses, right ? » Zaire nodded, « yeah, you really do, » he replied emotionlessly.

« Exactly. So little mouse, get ready to play a game of hide and seek. »

Zaire---

Nathaniel stood up, stroking his hurting behind as he clasped a hand over his lips so his indifferent breathing wouldn’t be the reason that the boys spotted him. He ran away from the chuckle that escaped past the two boy’s lips, Valentino making no sound, but having a tremendous smirk plastered on his face.

« Come out come out where ever you are, » he taunted, his smirk growing as he heard a small whimper coming from the further shelf on the left side.

He looked at Jackson and Zaire, his eyes glimmering with sadism. « I’m going to have some fun with the mouse. You two pretend to search, perhaps make some bizarre noises. » The two nodded, running off to do as their feared leader and friend said.

Valentino sneaked towards the shelf, his arms behind his back, gun in hand as he simpered like a Cheshire cat. He scraped the back of his gun onto the shelves, trying to alarm the person as much as possible.

He didn’t know if he was a girl or a boy. He hadn’t observed Nathaniel and didn’t know that he was indeed a boy. « C’mon little mouse, I just want to play. » His tone sent shivers down Nathaniel’s spine, making his skin crawl because of how much dominance he had laced in his voice.

With buckling knees and a trembling body, Nathaniel inaudibly shuffled to the other shelf, his breath hitching in his throat when he realized that he was facing Valentino’s back. He had on a ruby red button-up shirt and black pants, an identically black belt finishing it. Nathaniel’s eyes watered as he stood there, shaking all over, frozen.

Valentino halted in his tracks, laughing darkly, sending electric shocks through Nathaniel. His rapidly pounding heart thudded like a thundercloud inside of him. His cheeks were highlighted with a red blush because of how much he was drained of energy, yet he had to run away from the gangleader in front of him. Despite his knowledge, his feet denied to sprint away.

He felt as if the two humongous shelves near both sides of him were caging him with the monster in front of him. Valentino turned around on his heels, face twisting into an impassioned expression that made Nathaniel want to be six feet under.

Nathaniel had never seen such a gorgeous, such a god-like face that looked like it belonged to an art museum. Valentino’s onyx eyes pierced through him like a speedy arrow, long eyelashes making him feel weak. He looked too perfect to be a human. It was almost as if he was sculpted by God.

Valentino took a heavy step towards his prey, bringing his gun forwards. After taking a few steps towards him, he faked a pout, a crease forming in between his eyebrows. « Aww, turns out the mouse actually is a kitten, » he traced Nathaniel’s jaw with his cold gun, Nathaniel’s eyes swirling with absolute and pure fear.

He was sweating, eyes watering yet he couldn’t take his eyes off the boy in front of him. « How adorable, » he taunted, stepping closer to him, making his prey step backward until his back hit a wall. Realization seemed to slap him across the face, hard. He was trapped.

Nathaniel found it tougher and harder to breathe as the clock ticked away. His vision was becoming blurry, making him blink fastly to regain it.

It was all tumbling down on him, the clammy sweat piling up in his back, the tangled knot growing in his stomach, the dryness of his mouth, his eyes pleading for the handsome boy that was caging him for mercy. He felt unsteady, light-headed as if he was on the brink of passing out.

Instead of pleading, little mewls escaped past his bitten and swollen lips, the broken skin close to bleeding. « Panicked now, are we ? » From Valentino’s point of view, he had never seen someone like the kitten before. He was pure and innocent, and he was sure of that.