Chapter Text
Saturday, September 2, 2016
It had been nice getting away from the wet heat of Louisiana, going to school in Washington had been quite the adjustment for you, but it had been nice to be out of the sweltering humidity of the bayou. Your return felt strangely foreign however, like something had wormed its way under the swamp. The ground felt particularly damp, and the air around you hung heavy, weighing down your excitement with a slight feeling of dread. You had heard very little from anyone after 2 years ago when a hurricane had hit the area and your parents had moved to Denver, and though you had asked your friends to keep in touch, their communication had completely fallen off a when the storm hit. Zoe and you had practically grown up together and your family and the Bakers were incredibly close and though you had never really interacted with her brother, you had always thought he was kind of cute, in a scrawny wet cat way.
You find yourself thinking about the Baker’s as you approach your old house. They were within a mile and your dad had mentioned he left his car at the house, with the keys so it wouldn't be to bad to go pay them a visit - that is if they even still lived there. You had stayed mostly out of circles in college, keeping to yourself and your gaming. You had even tried starting a youtube channel, though your videos never made it over the 10 view mark. You had moved in with your parents a couple months ago and you were only back to grab a few heirlooms that your parents had left. The porch that you had sat on as a kid was starting to break down, it was always a little rough but your family had tried to keep it together while you were all living there. Without that maintenance though you could see that your whole house had started to creek.
As you walked through the house, you could almost hear Mrs. Baker telling you and Zoe off after you had gone to deep into the bayou and had gotten mud all over the clothes she made you. She helped the two of you clean up after of course, though still remarking on, “how much of a mess you made,” then she would take Zoe home and you’d wait for your parents to come home before sunset. Of course they’d always let her know if they were gonna be out late, and you would get to stay the night at the Baker’s.
A creak under you brought you back to the present, the house wasn't the same, and you could see that the two years that the house had been unlived in might as well have been decades. The house seemed to creak with the wind and a shiver ran down your spine. Better to get the stuff your dad had asked you for and then leave the house.
Approaching your room you could see the door swinging in the wind, which was certainly odd given your parents would have sealed off the house before they left and as you pushed open the door the answer laid in front of you. Your window, on the second floor, had been broken presumably from the outside given the glass that laid on the floor in front of it. Your room was also a bit of a mess, your bed had clearly been slept in recently and the blankets were almost all gone. The one your mother had picked out when she had wanted to turn your room into a guest room was still there, but little else remained. Your wardrobe was completely empty when you opened it, the clothes all gone with only bits of black goo clinging to the doors.
Who cared though, it wasn’t like you had left anything that meant a lot to you, and worse case scenario it was a homeless person who needed a place to stay, though why they would take so much confused you, it wasn’t a big deal. You reached under your bed to grab a small diary you had kept when you were little, its yellowing pages left untouched, and tucked in into your bag. Your phone went of with a buzz, it vibrating in your pocket. You pulled it out of your pocket and a familiar name popped up, Zo, your nickname for Zoe Baker. You held it out in front of you, trying not to move incase this wasn’t real, you didn’t want to lose her. Carefully you pressed the accept button, plopping down on your bed like you were in high school again and she was calling about a boy she liked,
“Hey Zo,” you almost yelled, it had been forever since you had talked to her and the thought of hearing her voice reminded you of the joys of childhood, “Sorry that was loud,” you said quieting down, "how are you doing though, I haven’t heard from you in forever.” The pause on the other side was to long for your liking and when a voice finally came through it was quiet and meek,
“Please jus’ leave,” Zoe whispered through the phone, “it’s dangerous, don’ come here,”
“What do you mean Zo,” you said panic creeping into your voice, “Where are you, what’s wrong Zo. I haven’t heard from you in years, are you ok? How’s your parents? and your brother?” you regretted the last question as soon as it came out of your mouth. She had never had a good relationship with him, and though your crush on him was basically non-existent you were sure she had an idea of it. The silence that followed was deafening.
“I know,” she whispered, “but please, jus’ leave.” Her voice was small, a far cry from the confident woman that she was when I left. A small quiver crept into her voice.
“Don’t worry Zo, I’ll come there,” you say, “I’m sorry I didn’t check in sooner-”
“No, no please do-,” her voice cuts out as the line goes cold, and you inhale harshly. The anxiety that had been slowly building in the back of your mind boils over as you rush out of the house and down to the car that your dad had left in the garage. The keys had been left on the peg where he always kept his keys. The sight gives you a pang of nostalgia of the days when you were young and without worries, but there's no time for that, your best friend could be in danger.
~ ~ ~
Lucas saw you the minute you approached the guest house, the car was familiar, he had seen it all throughout his childhood. The minute you exited though he knew what he had to do. There was only one reason you would have to come here.
Zoe, his asshole of a sister and his parents favorite child. Of course they told him they loved him equally, but there was never a doubt in his mind that his dear parents preferred their ‘normal’ child to the one that they couldn’t understand.
That didn’t matter though, you were here at long last. Ever since The Connections - those bastards - had gotten his mind back you had plagued it. You were Zoe’s friend, and you were one of the few people who had treated him like a human when he had been. But now he had the strength and resources to keep you as his own.
He had never had a girlfriend, they always seemed like to much work for him, but you were perfect in everyway, not to mention the fact that you definitely had some sort of feelings for him. He had noticed the way you’d stared at him while you thought he wasn’t watching.
You had to be his, fully, in a way Zoe couldn’t even compare to.
~ ~ ~
Pulling up to the guest house, a strange feeling of the familiar area draped in a unfamiliar presence crawls up your spine. The door is locked, but the key remains under the shutter the bakers would hide it in. Unlocking the door you walk in, a uncomfortable silence falling over the area, the lights are all out but you could navigate the area in your sleep. Heading for the living you can feel the mildew has long seeped into the wallpaper, the texture spiking the goosebumps across your body as you drag your hand along it. As you push open the door, the dim light of tv static barely illuminates the black mold that cover the walls. Food sits on the table rotting, clearly having been left out for months or even years. The smell alone was almost enough to send you right back out the front door, but your concern for Zoe overcame that desire. There was no one in the living room though and it didn’t seem like there had been anyone there for a while. The TV shuts off abruptly and your left again in heavy silence listening to your own breath.
Walking out of the room, a touch of sunlight bleeds through one of the boarded up windows, and within the space that it lights up you can just barely see the outline of footsteps leading up to the attic. Following them only leads you to the space where the stairs fall down, but without any power you can’t get up to the attic. Sitting down in what seems to be the only dry corner you pull out your phone, and try to call Zoe back, it rings twice before it’s picked up, and a man’s voice comes through the speaker, it’s familiar though hard to place, “ heyyy, i’s you, Zoe’s pretty lil’ friend,” his southern accent strong with a heavy drawl, and it clicks. Zoe’s older brother, Lucas.
“Lucas, please tell me you know where Zoe is,” you say, the panic evident in your tone, “she just called me and I'm so worried about her. I came to the guest house but there’s no one here and I don’t know what to do,” your words come out fast and your voice cracks at the end of your sentence before a saw claws itself up your throat.
“God god calm down damn it,” his voice carries a emotion you’ve never heard from him before, worry maybe, “I’ll be righ’ there, darlin’,” his words carry a strange sense of comfort to you, a feeling you had never felt from from him. You can barely muster up an uh huh, but he sighs on the other end in response
“t’ell you what darlin’, you just wait right where you are an I’ll come find you. We’ll get you to safety don’ you worry.” As the worry drains out of you, the reassurance letting you relax for the first time since Zoe’s call. You slump into the wall, the tension finally leaving your body.
By the time you hear the sound of footsteps and see Lucas approaching you can barely keep your eyes open. As he approaches though he seems paler and taller than you remember, still in his grimy hoodie that Mrs. Baker would have to rip off him to wash. Though there were visible blood stains, which most likely would have disturbed you if you were awake enough. He approaches with something shiny in his hand, and he kneels down in front of you to look in to your eyes, and as you stare back you feel his hand inching up your arm before feeling a pinch. Then everything goes black.
~ ~ ~
It had been a good idea to bring a dose of the ‘cure’ Eveline, the little bitch, had already started to reach into your mind, but if you were to be his - and only his - Lucas couldn’t have someone sharing custody over your mind.
It needed to be him and him only.
He had added a sleeping agent so that it would be easy to transfer you, the route from the guest house to his lab in the salt mines wasn’t exactly quick and gettin you there unharmed with the other occupants would have been a challenge had you been conscious.
The lab was quiet when he brought you in, most of the researchers went to sleep early, to avoid as much of the heat as possible. They were cowards, not worth Lucas’s time, but they were still useful - for now, once they weren’t he would throw them to the molded. Their deaths would at least be fun to watch.
Lucas finally arrived at the observation room he had prepared in a hurry, the previous occupants had been removed and there was nothing there that could harm you now. His camera room was linked to the lab outside the observation room, and from what he could tell there was no one else awake.
Good. He didn’t need some researcher sticking their nose in his business. You were his, and nothing was coming in between that.
He stuck you in the room, making sure to lay you on your back before heading back into the lab. He needed some sort of restraints, at least immediately after you woke up. A collar would be an easy way to track you as well.
If you ran into either of his parents - he didn’t want to think about that - so keeping you under his watch would be of major importance. He had some chains, and he could add some sort of unlocking mechanism.
That would allow him to not have to worry about hurting yourself to much while he figured out where to keep you. The door to the observation room could also be locked and the room was soundproof.
That was enough protective measures for now at least, though he’d have to find a more permanent solution.
Fast.