Xavier (Sugar Baby 2) ✔️

+twenty-nine: blade

I gazed silently at the elevator display as it moved down. I patted my back pocket, where  I had slipped in the revolver. Maybe I was being foolish to go after him on my own, but after everything he had done, the disgusting way he had manipulated and exploited my vulnerability, I couldn't let him go off.

He was no different than the Harbour City Police Department. He was no different than my father. He was no different than anyone else who had used and manipulated me but with the added twist of being psychopathic. The only difference this time was that I wasn't going to take it lying down.

Not anymore.

My heart hammered in my heart, my body felt almost paralyzed to the extent that I had to force myself to step out of the elevator as the metalling 'ding' sounded, signalling that I had reached the basement. The noise sounded like a gunshot in the utter silence. I wasn't sure if Caleb would be there, but even if he wasn't, I would get time to confirm my suspicions of whether he was the twisted psychopath that I thought he was. I stepped into the empty, every aglow corridor and started making my way along the tiled floor, my paralyzed senses were slowly rising to hyperactive. I fished the revolver out of my pocket, feeling the comforting metal in my hand. I wasn't keen on using it, but if Caleb was unarmed, I would have a psychological advantage as well. 

I reached the door, my mind inadvertently returning to the day he had thrashed me to the floor. Just like my father had. Just like countless others had. 

I was used to taking a beating for a variety of reasons, but somehow, Caleb's betrayal stung a little closer home. I pressed against the door and was mildly surprised to find it swing open. My senses tingle as the familiar stench intensified making me almost gag. I wondered if had been too easy if it was a trap.

I cocked the gun, ready to shoot it at a moment's notice and after gripping it tightly in my hand, entered the room.

My breath caught in my throat at the sight in front of me.

A morgue.

I bit my lip to keep it from trembling, my breath coming out in the form of a puff of smoke in front of my face. My legs felt like blocks of ice even as I shivered in the bone-chilling cold. The odour was overpowering, making me want to run away and let Gray take care of it. But I was done cowering behind him.

A large, long metal table stood in the middle of the room, what looked like massive flashlights floated on it. The flashlights were off, the entire room batched in the eerie glow coming from broken down overhead bulbs. Two of the walls were lined with row and rows of small metal doors, behind which I knew long gone strangers lay. I shuddered violently, my blood turning icy as sheer horror ripped through me. 

But the idea of spirits was less scary than the idea of Darius Marley.

There were long counters with a variety of medical equipment and chemicals in sinister-looking glass containers placed along the walls. I took a deep breath, holding it as I gazed at the many pieces of equipment. They looked like tools I had seen surgeons use in medical dramas. Scalpels, sutures- my lungs constricted and  I almost choked as I saw a large, blue container with a white lid. There were some numbers and other information written on top of it, but I didn't need to look to know what it was.

I stuttered, my senses seizing up. My vision faded in and out of black.

Fuck, Fuck. Fuck. Not now. Not now. Not now.

My prayers went unanswered as I gripped the counter hard, the room around me spinning as I gave in to another panic attack. I shuddered violently, struggling to breath when a menacing sound behind me, made icy claws wrench my heart.

"I told you to stay out of it, Xavier."

I struggle to breathe, my vision hazy as I manage to stand up and turn around, pointing the gun at the hazy figure of Darius Marley.

He smirked, looking at me challenging. "Go ahead. Shoot me."

I blinked hard, hoping and praying my lungs would remember to breathe even as the walls started closing in on me. I was terrified beyond measure, like nothing I had ever experienced. An impending sense of doom engulfed me. I was drowning under an icy deluge of terror that made each cell of my body quake and seize up in utter horror. I bit my lip to keep from crying out loud, my voice, my senses, my heart- everything failing me.

He walked closer to me as I took an inadvertent step back, pointing a trembling hand at him as I took ragged breaths and whispered. "Stay...the fuck..away from...me."

He scoffed, his grey eyes flashing menacingly under the dim lights. "You're fucking pathetic, Easton. How the hell you ever managed to survive in the department, I'll never know, but then of course-" his voice dripped with mirth, his eyes glinting malevolently as my cells screamed in anguish. My head felt dizzy from the lack of oxygen. I was afraid I would pass out, "-they have always had a taste for substandard objects."

He shook his head and walked even closer as my back touched the counter. I cursed under my breath, urging myself to act and shoot him. 

"Go on, Xavier," he smirked. "Shoot me. Do it."

I shivered, my chest heaving. I felt chills running down my back, my brain felt incoherent.

"Fucking pathetic. I almost feel bad for you-" he grabbed the gun and pulled my arm down, as my muscled ached in pain. He towered over me, his eyes burnt into mine. "Being a cock-sucking twink isn't going to get you out of everything, Easton. You've spent your entire life as a fucking whore, and now you're going to die as one."

my stomach turned in disgust and fury. He wrenched the gun away from my grasp and pointed it on my forehead. I flinched, taking calming breaths as I struggle to remember my training. 

I shut my eyes and took a deep breath as he spoke.

"It's a shame. We could be unstoppable together. I would keep you nicely you know," he sighed. I was taken aback that in spite of the situation we were in, his voice sounded earnest. Like despite being an absolute nutjob, he still longed for me. 

I opened my eyes and gazed straight into his. My skin crawled when I saw no hint of any empathy whatsoever. A telltale sign. I kept my voice as even as possible. "Is that why you saved me that night?"

He signed. "Reznick wanted you for himself. But I wasn't keen on the idea. Plus...it was a good way to earn your trust," he shrugged, pressing the cold metal deeper onto my skin as he continued. "I could have fucked you better too. But you're so caught up in your dead-end obsessive relationship," he clicked his tongue, looking remorseful. I was stunned by how hollow his eyes suddenly looked.

The entire, jovial, charming nature of Caleb Kingsley had been an infallible facade. Or maybe I had simply been too blindsided when someone like him had desired me. He sighed and continued.  "What a waste."

My arms were free, which gave me a tactical advantage. However, he was much stronger and bigger than me, one wrong move and I had no way of knowing how far he would go. For now, I had to keep him talking.

"Victor is in on this," I asked, shivering slightly. "And the Atkinsons. And Reznick."

He laughed, the sound was somehow even more menacing. "Scarlet Atkinson? That little bitch doesn't know anything. She's too caught up with dog shit to care about this. She didn't break off any donations from charities or organization-"

I shuddered. It would make sense why I wouldn't know about their donation to the hospital. If it was an old one, it was likely not to be publicised in the fear of being seen as overcompensation.

 "-after Rosalie went to prison. Which by the way-" he blinked, as if in surprise. "Good job. I didn't think all it needed for her to loosen up was a prostitute."

I gulped, my rage rising in a destructive tornado. 

"Reznick only wanted in on the money. You know after the poor guy's business busted. After the Atkinson fiasco...thanks to your meddling ass, it was more difficult to keep the business going across the borders. Reznick has resources so I reached out to him...Victor wasn't keen on the idea but-" he laughed. "- he's worse than you. Plus, Reznick promised if I handed a certain Sugar Baby over to him-" he smirked menacingly, his eyes glinting as I saw a stranger manifest. "He would take a smaller cut of the money. He could have his toy and I could have my money. Perfect. You would have just disappeared for him to have his way with you. He's a disgusting man but then...you're not much less, are you?"

"Those...papers. What...are they?" I asked, struggling to maintain eye contact. "With the numbers...and values-"

He sighed. "The patient names are the numbers, the value is the amount of money we're getting off them. Did you not get that? I'm disappointed, Xavier."

I was running out of words to speak and realized that I would have to strike. "You're...you're insane."

He smirked devilishly, his handsome features etched with cruelty. "Yes. I'm bored of you now, Easton. It was nice-"

I brought my knee and hit his groin as he doubled up in pain. Immediately, I aimed a strong blow to his chest with my elbow as he staggered backwards. I tried to reach for the gun but he recovered faster than I realized and grabbed my collar, pushing roughly onto the ground as a sense of deja vu surrounded me. I landed on my face, tasting blood in my mouth yet again as pain shot up my body. I quickly scrambled to my back so I was facing him. He pointed the gun at me, hatred etched in his features. 

"You're nothing but a disgusting, filthy, glorified man whore, Xavier Easton. You were so easy, in every fucking way. I really hoped you would make it more fun but-"

I yelped in pain as he aimed a kick on my shin. Pain shot up my legs as I shut my eyes. I opened them and stared at him, trying to devise a plan before he struck. 

"-you're too fucking easy to manipulate. Your pathetic need for validation is disgusting. I cannot even imagine how you ever managed to get so far. You and your pathetic boyfr-"

I aimed a kick at his shin as he grimaced in pain, doubling over. Immediately I got to my feet and kicked his stomach as he let out a yell of pain, grunting as the air rushed out of his lungs. I  aimed a kick at the gun as it went flying off. I cursed under my breath as it clattered to the floor a few feet away from us and tried to dive for it. before I could, however, his arms pinned mine and he held me roughly against him. He growled menacingly in my ear, making goosebumps erupt all along my skin."You're way too much trouble, slut."

I gasped in horror, struggling to breathe as his arm encircled around my throat, pressing hard onto my windpipe. I clawed at his arms, trying to wrench them off me, but he was too strong. I was almost lifted off the floor with the force of his strong headlock hold. I watched in horror as he reached over the counter and his hands gripped the scalpel. 

I struggled harder, trying to kick him, punch him, get any airway to breathe. I screamed in pain when he plunged the scalpel into my side. I could feel warm, sticky blood pooling out of my flesh and soaking my tshirt as the repulsive stench intensified and pain shot up my body. I wheezed, my breath coming out in short gasps as he plunged the scalpel into my side again. Tears blinded my vision, agonizing pain ripping through me. 

He threw me onto the tiled floor and turned me so I was lying flat on my back he climbed on top of me, his eyes remorseless. "This'll be  your last, Sugar Baby."

I watched the malevolent glint of the metal as it moved towards my chest as if in slow motion. My vision faded, my breath coming in painful, shuddering gasps. My brain was panic-stricken, refusing to function.

A loud gunshot ripped through the air as blood spurted from his hand, the scalpel falling onto my chest and clattering to the floor as he stumbled backwards in pain.

A familiar voice spoke, trembling with rage. "Don't you fucking touch him you psychopathic asshole."

A surge of relief and even more fear went through me. What if he hurt Gray? How would I live then?

I heard more gunshots and through my pain, managed to slide backwards and away from the commotion. I was losing blood quickly, my vision was hazy. I watched through my daze as Caleb reached for the discarded gun, his face grimacing in pain. I had to act quickly before he attacked Grayson and took him away. I couldn't lose him. Never again.

With every ounce of strength in me, I reached for the bloody scalpel, gripping it in my trembling hands. I wasn't planning, wasn't thinking when I crawled towards him and plunged it onto his back as he let out an animal like yell of anguish. He fell on the floor, face down. I climbed on top of him and plunged the scalpel into his back again and again. My anger, frustration, exhaustion, fear, humiliation and rage letting out in a  catastrophic blend. Every time my body had been used, every time my heart had been trampled on, every time I had been manipulated into disgusting ways, everything spilt out in a cacophony of rage. 

I watched through as an outsider as the dark red spurted out of his skin, spilling onto the floor in a pool of malevolence. 

"Xavier."

A single voice pulled me out of my reverie and I let the scalpel clatter with a deafening sound onto the floor. My entire body trembled, my blurred. A  loud ringing stated in my ears. I felt disoriented, unhinged from reality. 

"Xavier, it's okay, love."

I felt Gray's warm arms around me, and I was pulled from the deluge. He cursed under his breath, the warm air tickling my ear. "You're bleeding, baby."

Was I? I wasn't sure anymore.

I gazed, transfixed as the scarlet pooling from the multiple wounds on  Caleb's back and trickling down his body and onto the pristine tiles below, glistening like the eyes of a fiend under the dim lights. He didn't stir, lying defeated as a few strangers reached for him.

I relaxed against the familiar warmth, my body shivering violently. I was incoherent, unable to understand anything as he spoke softly to me. My vision started fading into black, the throbbing pain paralysing my senses. I could feel his warm presence. He was there. Firm. Reliable. Everything would be alright. I knew it would.

Through my haze, I moved in slow motion, touching the ghastly wound on my waist. My hand was at once covered in my own blood, my nostrils inhaling the rusty scent as my brain went into shut down. I buried my face in Gray's chest, feeling broken. I was barely aware of whispering something before I gave in to the comforting darkness. 

"Good thing...we're... in a hospital..."