Chapter Text
I arrived at the Breaker Box and hesitated before going in. The place was closed, the neon sign dark, and there was some light filtering through, just not the blaring kind I had grown used to. I guess Eddie wanted to tell me whatever it was in private, not in a crowded club with everyone listening in. After yesterday’s heated conversations, I was sure some people would show up just for the hot tea. I knew at least one bath and one candle who would live for the gossip.
I reached the door and knocked.
It opened to an overly bright smile from Volt. “Darling~! There you are. I am so glad you kept your word. You know how easy it is to break people’s trust.”
He really knew how to rub it in. “Eddie… asked-”
“Right inside, spark. Come.” His fingers wrapped around my wrist, and he practically dragged me in, pulling me through the dim, empty club and up the stairs to the apartment.
The apartment had not changed. I had expected it to, somehow. To look different after a week. But my toothbrush was still in the bathroom cup when we passed the open door, hint of me being here. As if I had never left at all. Volt guided me into the dining room.
I settled into a chair as he pulled it out for me and then pushed me in, sure I might bolt if he did not keep a hand on me.
I was not expecting this. I had braced for anger, for another interrogation, not for a meal already set in front of me. Volt sat on my left, Eddie on my right, both of them close enough that I could feel the heat of them on either side. It felt less like a talk and more like the date nights I missed.
“Eddie… you said this was—”
He lifted a spoon to my lips before I could finish. “Shush. Eat up. You look hungry.”
He said it gently, but there was nothing gentle about the way his gaze pinned me. I hadn’t noticed how empty I’d felt until the smell of the food hit me. Something about eating off the cups and spoons when I knew they were people was weird, rude, and confusing. I was already in job limbo; I couldn’t keep buying takeout forever.
I opened my mouth and took the bite. It was superb. Of course it was. Eddie was always the best cook.
Another spoonful.
“I can eat on my own, Eddie,” I said, trying to sound light.
“Yes. You’ve been very independent as of late.” His mouth curved, but his eyes did not. “We’ll have to change that.”
There was something under the words. A double meaning I didn’t quite get. I bit my lip.
The rest of the meal felt like a rehearsed version of normal. Volt told me how pretty I looked, how the color I wore made my eyes sparkle. Eddie made soft comments about how he might change the seasoning next time. It should have felt familiar. Cozy. Instead it felt wrong, like I was watching them act out a script of what normal was supposed to look like, without actually feeling it.
I knew things would be weird. I had already made a plan to fix this or… make it worse.
“Volt, Eddie.” I set my fork down, my fingers shaking. “Let’s break up.”
Volt’s smile froze. Eddie’s fork and knife slipped from his hands and clattered against his plate.
Silence dropped over the table, thick and absolute.
No. This wasn’t going well.
Volt folded his hands together, a soft laugh slipping out, too slow, too controlled. “Oh, Spark. What has gotten into my darling?”
“This is clearly wrong,” I rushed out. “I went about this all wrong. I should have been upfront about dating others and not being exclusive. I apologize. I really don’t mean to hurt you. This was… is a game and—”
Eddie’s chair scraped back.
He stood up, came around the table, and grabbed my chin before I could move, fingers digging in just enough to hurt. “Game?” he repeated, eyes narrowed, voice low and shaking. “If I can touch you, bite you, fuck you… Then am I fake?”
I trembled. Eddie was not the yelling type. Brooding, yes; quiet, yes. But this sharp, dangerous edge belonged to Volt when he was annoyed, not Eddie. Hearing it in his voice felt like being dropped into cold water.
Volt’s hand slid in next, thumb and index finger bracketing the other side of my face, turning it toward him. My eyes squeezed shut, fear locking my muscles. I wanted to tear the glasses off, to run, to hide, and never put them back on again. Tears burned and spilled over before I could stop them.
Volt’s tone softened, the way it always did when he thought I needed soothing. His fingers moved into my hair, petting it back, keeping my face tucked against his chest so I could hear the steady thrum of something that wanted to pretend it was a heartbeat. “Hush now,” he murmured. “Do not cry, Spark. You will short yourself out.”
Eddie’s grip loosened, but he did not step away. I could feel him there, close, blocking one side. Volt blocked the other.
“But do not worry,” Volt continued, calm and almost tender, which somehow made it worse. “We forgive you. You are confused. They filled your head with nonsense, made you think this was something cheap, something you could turn off.” His nails ghosted lightly over my scalp, possessive in every stroke. “They do not understand you as we do.”
“You belong here,” Eddie said, voice quieter now but no less intense. “With us. Not running around for people who only want to use you and toss you aside when the game ends.”
Volt hummed in agreement. “Exactly. You are not breaking up with us, darling. You are overloaded. That is all.”
His lips brushed the top of my head.
“We will help,” he whispered. “We will reset you. We will strip away all those wrong ideas they put in you. And then you will see.”
Eddie’s fingers slid from my chin to my throat, not choking, just resting there, his thumb feeling my pulse. “The confusion ends here,” he said quietly. “We will show you where you belong.”
“Confused?” I repeated, my voice small and frightened, as Volt took my hands and guided me away from the table.
“Yes.” Volt’s grip tightened, gentle but unyielding. “All those other people. They make you blind to what is right in front of you.”
“I… I would like to leave now, Volt. Eddie, please.”
Volt only smiled as Eddie moved ahead and held the door open to their room. A big bed sat in the center, rope, toys, and lacy lingerie laid out in careful, deliberate rows, like they had been waiting.
“Guys, please—”
Eddie stepped in close and kissed me, quiet and sure, swallowing the rest of my words. His tongue slid into my mouth, one hand curling into my hair, keeping me there. Volt watched from a step away, eyes bright with delighted attention, like he was watching a performance made just for him.
“Let’s get you dressed now, darling. No need to be shy with us,” Volt said as he held out the lingerie to me, expectant.
I tried to bolt for the door instead.
Eddie caught me first.
He yanked me back easily, and Volt tutted, shaking his head. “Darling. Bad girl. We have a lot of things to get done today, and we still made room in our busy schedules for you.”
Eddie let out a slow huff. “Are you going to keep making things difficult?”
“No…” I whispered. “I’m scared, just let me—”
He pulled me over his lap on the edge of the bed in one smooth motion. I barely had time to gasp before his hand came down hard on me. A sharp crack, pain blooming hot. I cried out in shock as he hit me again. And again. Five times in total, each one echoing in my ears.
Then it stopped.
Eddie adjusted me upright, rubbing my bum, holding me there, his voice low against my ear. “Stop asking to leave.”
I had never felt so much fear between them. I was usually safe here. Safe in their arms, safe in their bed, safe in the glow of their attention. But I had hurt them, so somehow a part of me believed I deserved this. Tears slipped down my cheeks before I could stop them.
Volt brushed the tears away with his thumb. “We are just asking you to be good, darling. Now you will be a good girl and listen, right? Do not make me ask Eddie to be rough with you again~” he sang.
I sniffled and did as I was told. My fingers shook as I reached for the clothing, and I glanced up at them, silently begging them to turn away, to give me even a little bit of privacy.
Eddie only crossed his arms over his chest and stayed where he was, eyes fixed on me. Volt sat back on the edge of the bed, clearly waiting for the show, like this was something owed to them. It was not as if they had not seen me undressed before. They had been my boyfriends once.
Now it felt less like love and more like being claimed.
I hurried to undress and change, turning my back to them. I knew they would still see more than I wanted them to, but it was better than watching them watch me. Better than seeing the hunger in their eyes. I kept my legs together, my shoulders hunched, my arms crossed for as long as I could, trying to cover as much of myself as possible while I slipped into what they’d chosen.
Volt’s hand came up to my cheek the moment I was done, thumb stroking along my skin like I was something delicate he didn’t want to crack. “Aren’t you lovely,” he murmured. “Now come lie on the bed. Me and Eddie have to open the Breaker Box soon.”
Open? My stomach twisted. I thought they were closed.
Before I could ask, Eddie’s fingers closed around my wrist.
The next thing I knew, I was on my back on the bed, the mattress dipping under my weight. Soft restraints clicked around my wrists, holding my arms apart and fastened to the headboard before I could pull away.
“Eddie! Volt?” Panic snapped through my voice as I tested the bindings, heart hammering.
Volt shushed me gently, stepping into my line of sight, his face the picture of calm while I thrashed. “Everything is just fine, Spark,” he said, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “This is only to make sure you stay put and entertained while we are away. You wander too much when we are not looking.”
Eddie checked the restraints, fingers firm around the buckles, his gaze running over me like he was making sure every part of me was accounted for, secured. “You said you were confused,” he reminded me quietly. “So we are taking the choices away for a little while. It’s safer this way.”
Eddie handed him things that looked like flowers. Volt thanked him, politely before his hands went to my chest. As he placed them over my nipples, his hands smacking my chest so Eddie could watch them shake. He made sure my bra was back in place. I whimpered at the next toy he had next.
A long, thick, and veined fake cock, colored in a bright pink.
My chest was rising and falling, “You look so fucking perfect, I’m not speaking just for myself when I say, this sweet image will be on my mind all night, while I’m on the stage.”
“You're gonna be nice, sweet treat waiting for us after a hard day's work,” Eddie commented as he sat down between my legs. He bent down and took a long lick at my pussy. I tried to bury my face against my arm. But Volt warned me.
“Now, now, live wire, don’t be rude. Eddie is going to make this so much easier for you. Enjoyable. He was worried about tearing you. I think shoving this cock up your loose pussy would have been a great start to your punishment.” Volt should not have been allowed to say that, looking so pleased.
Eddie was sucking on my folds. Tongue deep inside me, pumping me with his fingers, then tongue. Any thoughts I once had left my brain the second they entered. The unwanted pleasure was being pumped in by his fingers.
“No, stop, please-“
Eddie ignored me, greedily licking between my folds, and finally inserting a third finger. My head tipped back. Volt leaned down and kissed me, as I felt something hard and cold being inched inside. Volt held my head back. I had been sexless for a week, but it felt like it had been months. With the way the dildo stretched so painfully around me.
“You sure are, crying lots, reminded me of our first time together,” Eddie said.
Volt chuckled, “Haven’t you been bending over for anyone who gave you a compliment, or were they not as big as us?”
“Only you– two, only you two-“ I breathed. As Eddie paused his assault.
Volt also matched his surprise. “…I see, so you haven’t been fucking anyone with a pulse.”
I shook my head, hoping they would stop now. Put an end to this torture.
Instead, Volt gave Eddie a side nod. And Eddie,went back to stretching me. “Wait! Stop, ughhh-“ Volt kissed me, as he grabbed my chest, to distract me from the pain. Eddie began rubbing my clit, to make it more pleasurable.
Just until it was all inside, I felt so full. Each movement made it impossible to forget. As my panties were pulled back up. Eddie kissed the bow.
Volt laying, kissing my neck, and Eddie messaging my waist.
Eddie held up a little remote. “See this, I have this to control over the vibrations.” He clicked something ON and my chest, and the dildo buzzed low. I moaned; it was only on low, and I needed someone to touch me.
Volt smiled and licked the shell of my ear. “And Eddie graciously rewarded me with this-“ he pressed a button, and I was being thrusted into. “Controller, I’m gonna have a wonderous time, messing with the speed All.” *Kiss* “Night.” *KIss* “Long” *Kiss*
“Huh?” I asked dumbly. Where were they going?!
“We still have the club to open, live wire, can’t spend all night with you.”
Volt spoke next, “But don’t you worry about a thing, darling, we’ll have this-“ he held up the remote “to keep you busy.”
Eddie then said with a laugh, “I’ll be up in a few hours, to make sure you're fine and you haven’t drowned in your own fluids. I’ll even bring you a drink.”
“And you can cum as many times as you like, we won’t take that from you,” Volt said with a smirk. Fixing up his suit.
All night. No. This was already too much.
“Wait! Volt, Eddie, please!” I yelled, the words ripping out of me as the restraints dug into my wrists.
Volt only smiled from the doorway, eyes soft in a way that made my stomach twist. “Beautiful girl, this will help you learn your lesson.”
Eddie’s gaze was darker, steadier. “Now you’ll know what happens when you try to run from us.”
The door clicked shut.
I flinched at the sound and let my head fall back against the pillow with a low groan. There was no clock in the room. No phone. Nothing to mark the time. Just the quiet hum of the light overhead and the faint vibration of the club below, like I had been tied inside the heart of a fuse box and left there to buzz.
Without a way to count the minutes, it already felt like forever.
++++
I whimpered into the sheets, over the course of forever, the vibration speed had heightened, dropped, and sped up to unreasonable speeds. Making me try to rub my nipple against the bed to get some kind of relief. But the god damn rope prevented that!
While that was happening, I had lost count of how many times I had climaxed to the point of exhaustion. The dildo had never given me a break. It only sped up, forcing orgasm after orgasm out of me. I was sobbing to no one. This torture was cruel, inhumane, as the pace picked up again. I cried, “Please no…”
“Oh, baby,” I heard Eddie’s voice, low and close, and I couldn’t even find my own. Instead, a broken little whimper slipped out of me.
The mattress dipped as Eddie sank down on the bed beside me. His hand slid into my hair, tilting my head until my cheek rested against his thigh. My muscles trembled, every part of me worn raw from however long I’d been here, tied up and unable to do anything but feel and wait.
“E… Ed…die…” I croaked, the word falling apart on my tongue. As I was squirting down my legs. Eddie looked smug as he witnessed me on the edge again.
He cupped my cheek, thumb stroking slowly over my skin. “Aren’t you pretty,” he murmured. “All wrung out like this. Are you having fun, Spark?”
No, my mind screamed, but my throat only managed a pitiful, choked sob.
“Look at you,” he said softly, almost admiring. “You can’t even talk.”
Tears spilled over again, hot and endless. My throat felt like sandpaper, my tongue heavy and useless. Eddie shifted, and then the cool edge of a bottle pressed to my lips.
“Drink,” he ordered.
I did. I had no choice. The water flooded my mouth, spilling down my throat. Eddie held the bottle patiently, waiting, watching me, until I had drained every last drop.
“That’s my girl,” he said at last, his fingers carding lazily through my hair, like I was some small, obedient thing he’d finally gotten to stop fighting.
Before he got up and sat between my legs, I breathed out a sigh of happiness. Sure he was going to finally pull out the toy. Only to scream, as he pulled out another dildo. Grinning up at me.
“Me and Volt have finally decided, tonight would be perfect! For both of us to have you.
“No-no-no-no!” I flailed around, trying to slip away from the rope.
He held me still, “easy now, spark. Easy,”
“I can’t, please, I can’t!”
“You can, you’ll be fine now, hold still. I’ll make this nice and pleasurable for you.”
Eddie scooped up some of my slick, ignored my moans, whimpers, and protested. Working my ass with finger after finger, not stopping until all four of his fingers were pumping in and out of me. My face pressed against the covers to cry. It was too much, all too much, I didn’t want to cum again. I didn’t want to be touched.
The fucking vibrations were set on low, as well, thrusting. Volt somehow knew what was coming.
Eddie picked up the new dildo, “This one is connected to Volt’s, it’s made to pump at a different time than the first, so for not even a single second you’ll be empty. Just as he was about to pump it inside my ass. I begged.
“Eddie, I’m sorry. Please. For trying to run, for not staying. I’m sorry. I swear I didn’t want to leave, I don’t, I don’t—”
Eddie smiled down at me, gently, his hand combing slowly through my hair. For a moment, hope sparked in my chest. Maybe the punishment was over. Maybe they had scared me enough. Maybe they would untie me, hold me, let me breathe.
“I’ll forgive you,” he said softly.
I nodded fast, desperate, tears still clinging to my lashes.
“After tonight.”
He pushed the dildo in. My mind went foggy. As he added more pain and pleasure. Leaving me, drowning before he fit the thing inside me. A click of his remote and the vibrations were on to the highest setting.
Before I could even curse, the thrusting began. In and out, as promised, not a single moment was I left empty. Mounting my greedy cunt sucking in, and my ass refused to let go. I gave up being rescued, this was my punishment, for ever thinking I was going to escape the pair.
This was my hell and heaven all found in the place I thought I safest, home…
I couldn’t move, I was a fucking disgusting mess between my legs. My chest was irritated and red. The weird tongues both, licking and vibrating. I just wanted to be touched, and untouched at the same time. My body was begging to be set free. And being without a clock to stare at was maddening. It felt like I would never get out of here. That I would never be left without something pounding my ass and pussy, at such heavy paces. At least this was the fastest either item could go, but there was paranoia biting at me. That maybe it could be faster, and I just was being tortured in a new way.
“Such pretty, fucking moans,” Eddie said breathless at the door.
As I felt someone right beside my ear, “having fun, live wire?” Volt asked as I tried to lift my head.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Volt laughed, pressing his face in, our noses touching. “Nice and ready for us now, spark?” Eddie asked, as he slid between my legs, hands right over to the dildos. To take them out.
“No, stop, I can’t, no more-“ I begged.
“You’ll be fine,” Eddie said
“I won’t, I won’t-“
“Enough,” Volt said with finality. He put on the ‘not another word of it’ voice. As he placed water to my lips. “Now drink up.”
Everything turned off, and I felt like I could get in a big gulp of air, as well as almost drown myself in water. I coughed. As Volt pulled the bottle back. His hand rubbing the back of my head, and my face was in his lap.
Eddie pulled the toy out, chuckling at the mess I left behind. “So fucking sweet,” he muttered as he licked between my folds. Volt pulled the things off my nipples. Tossing them away.
“You made a mess all over your new lingerie…those were expensive, you know.” he kissed the side of my cheek. Eddie's tongue teasing me, while Volts' hands went to my chest, kneading them.
Eddie pulled out his cock, it popped out. How he hide something like that all night? While bartending. I shook my head as he pulled himself closer. I was finally allowed to breathe, and they were going to-
Volts' own hard-on poked my ass. I had hoped they were joking about fucking me. But it seemed I was wrong about that, too.
“Please, use my mouth, my chest, my hand. Anything just no more!” I begged, bargained with a pair of devils, wanting to keep me tight against their hold.
“We haven’t even fucked you yet,” Eddie growled.
“The show has yet to even begin. Don’t worry darling, we will do all the work.”
Volt and Eddie tore off my underclothes, and a pair of hands wrapped around my body. Till I was facing Eddie, my chest abused from their toys. And Volt was at my back, legs crossed.
“All prepped up. We’ll have no use for these anymore.” Eddie tossed the toys away.
“From tonight forward, we’ll make sure to cum inside these two holes every night, so you don’t need anyone else.”
My eyes were wide, tears stained my cheeks, my whole body was sore. And yet they were thirsty for more.
Eddie and Volt took turns slipping inside of me. Till they were balls deep. Eddie thick, and somehow stretching me out more, the tip hitting my womb. While Volt hit me right where I could feel my guts become rearranged.
Eddie had his lips around my nipples as he fucked me. His hand against the other, pulling, twisting, as Volt had his tongue down my throat, tongue fucking me and giving me little chances to breathe.
My moans were ragged, broken, rewarded with more pleasure than I desired anymore. My body was controlled by each thrust.
As cock, was in and out of me with perfect rhythm. Hitting bundles of overstimulated nerves, leaving my knees to buckle.
I was nothing. Just a toy to them, to fuck into. My own cunt didn’t listen to me, tightening around dick to milk out even an ounce of cum. Destroy my ass and pussy, for a personal grudge. Eddie held onto my hips. Forcing me up and down. While Volt began to press his lips against my ear.
“Almost there, live wire.”
“Please.”
“Spark, you're pulling me in.”
I gushed around them, harder than all the rounds I had over the night. My body fell back right against Volt's chest. And Eddie continued to ride his high, Volt’s hungry strokes picking up the pace.
I was moved at the pace of a doll, being held by their hands. Wreaked until they were both done.
My eyes were swollen from tears, as Volt pressed his lips on mine. “Good girl, did so good”
Eddie took his turn after, “You're so fucking perfect, spark. Perfect for us.”
Eddie and Volt cummed in unison.
My head went blank, and just at the corner of my vision, I saw it. The faint glow, the numbers and symbols, the edges of the world starting to glitch and dim.
The glasses were losing power.
Hope surged up so fast it hurt. If they died, if they finally shut off, this would all go away. I would be free. I must have gone too still, too bright in the face, because Volt noticed first.
His hand came up to the side of my head, fingers pressing against the frame, against my temple. My heart dropped.
A sharp jolt ran through the glasses, through me, as he charged them back up.
I felt something in my mind snap. A scream ripped out of my throat.
“You’re not real! You’re not real, the moment I take the glasses off you’ll— these—”
Volt laughed, and Eddie joined him, his head still resting in my lap like this was all a joke between friends.
“You poor thing,” Volt said, smiling down at me with that bright, polished charm that suddenly looked like a mask. As he undid the rope keeping me up, “We are very much real.”
“No, you’re not. This is a game,” I choked. “The glasses—”
“It was a joke,” Volt said lightly. “Silly me.”
“You were trying to give her hope,” Eddie said, voice low with something that wasn’t quite amusement. “How cruel of you, Volt.” He shifted, crawling up between my legs until our faces were inches apart, his eyes holding me in place. “Baby…”
My breath hitched.
“Volt is trying to say,” he continued, in a way someone would use to explain to a child, “that with or without those glasses, you’re ours.”
He snatched them off my face.
The world stayed exactly the same.
They were still there. Volt behind me, Eddie in front of me. The room, the bed, all of it horribly solid.
I was so scared I couldn’t even scream. I twisted instead, instinct taking over, trying to run even though there was nowhere to go. Two pairs of hands caught me at once, hauling me back, fingers biting into my hips and my already sore backside as they dragged me into place again.
“You can see we are very real, very pissed-off boyfriends,” Volt said as he hugged me from behind, his arms a cage I couldn’t slip out of.
“You’re going to be punished for running, live wire.”
He took the glasses from Eddie’s hand and snapped them clean in two. The crack of plastic breaking felt louder than it should have.
“You won’t be needing these anymore,” Volt said calmly, tossing the broken pieces aside. “No more little exits. No more pretending this isn’t real.”
Eddie sat up beside me, eyes dark and steady as they roamed over my face. “Ready for your punishment, Spark?”
++++
The Breaker Box was open.
Music pulsed through the floor, lights flickered softly and low, and the familiar hum of voices filled the space. It was packed again, people from the house drifting in for drinks, gossip, and whatever comfort they thought the club could give them.
I sat at the bar on my usual stool, the wood worn smooth under my palms. A thin band circled my wrist, silver and copper woven together in a pretty little pattern that matched the wiring in their clothes. Volt called it an accessory. Eddie called it a safety measure. I tried not to call it anything at all.
“Another one, live wire?” Eddie asked.
He was in his place behind the bar, sleeves rolled up, vest neat, eyes soft in that way that made it hard to breathe. His movements were calm, efficient, like nothing in the world could shake him now that he had his hands back on the club. Back on me.
“I’m good,” I said.
He leaned over just enough to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, fingers brushing the side of my throat where my pulse jumped. “You look good,” he said. “Rested.”
I thought of the bed upstairs, the restraints folded and put away. For now.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Rested.” Agreeing was safer.
The crowd cheered suddenly, and my head turned toward the stage.
Volt was in his element, bathed in bright light, white hair sparking under the glow. He held the microphone as if it belonged to him, like the sound system itself was wired straight into his veins. He laughed into it, something charming and effortless, and the entire room seemed to lean toward him.
“All my lovely guests,” Volt purred. “Thank you for coming to the Breaker Box tonight. I hope you are enjoying the show.” His gaze skimmed over the crowd, friendly and electric, then snapped right to me. “I know I am.”
The look he gave me made the band at my wrist buzz faintly. Eddie’s hand found mine on the counter, thumb rubbing slow circles over the metal.
“She is watching,” Volt said to the crowd, but he was talking to me. “Our brightest spark.”
People turned to follow his line of sight. I tried not to shrink into my seat.
Someone further down the bar smiled at me, sweet and curious, like they were thinking of coming over to talk. Eddie’s fingers tightened on my wrist, just enough to say no.
The stranger looked away.
“Good girl,” Eddie murmured, low so only I could hear it. “Staying right where you are.”
Volt started to speak. The sound wrapped around the room… warm static, wrapping around my chest, my throat, every part of me that still remembered falling for him the first time I walked in here. The first time, I did not know this was a trap. A honey-sweet trap.
I glanced at the door.
It was technically unlocked. The sign outside said open. People moved in and out with drinks in their hands, laughter on their lips, no idea that the Breaker Box didn’t let everyone leave the same way they came in.
The band at my wrist pulsed.
Eddie followed my gaze, then gently tilted my chin back toward the stage. “Do not do that,” he said softly.
“Do what?” I asked.
“Think about leaving.”
His thumb stroked my pulse again. It steadied, even as my mind didn’t.
Onstage, Volt finished his speaking to a wave of applause, eyes never really leaving me. He bowed, tossed a grin to the crowd, then jumped off the stage. It took him no time to cut through the people, moving like he knew every line in their circuit and how to slip between them. He slid behind me, arms wrapping around my shoulders and chest, chin resting on the top of my head.
“There she is,” he said, pleased. “Right where she belongs.”
I swallowed.
“Right where she belongs,” Eddie agreed with a grin.
Volt hummed against my hair. “See, Eddie. She is learning.”
Eddie smirked, but there was softness in it. “Our live wire just needed a bit of rewiring.”
They both laughed quietly, like it was the sweetest joke in the world.
Volt kissed the side of my head. Eddie raised a glass to a guest and poured another drink without ever really letting go of my hand.
The club hummed around us, neon buzzing, music throbbing, voices rising and falling like waves against the walls. Someone else began to sing onstage, another hopeful voice looking for attention, for love, for something unreal.
I sat between Eddie and Volt, the two of them warm and solid, their attention wrapped tight around me like coils.
The door was still there.
So was I.
Their precious live wire, right where they wanted me.
The pretty bracelets everyone complimented were just chains dressed up as jewelry, meant to keep me close, keep me safe. The added copper under my skin, the rewiring they had done, made the electricity pulsing through me something only Volt and Eddie could use to fuel me.
Rewired wasn’t just a word anymore. It was what I was.
All so I couldn’t run away again.
And in the Breaker Box, I knew I was never getting unplugged.