TABOO: THE COMPLETE SERIES

by Kol Anderson

  WELDON

  What is it about watching them get tormented that gives me a high, every fucking time? What they don’t know is that I know them better than they know themselves. They’re too young to understand what’s really going on here and I can’t blame them for that. But this time, it’s different and everyone in here knows it. I see the way Mace and Stoll look at him, I see the way other people in his life look at him, I see what he makes them feel. But knowing that I’m the one who owns him is enough. No one will cross me. Those are my people. I’ve known them for years and we have built solid relationships based on mutual trust, or in some cases, mutual benefit.

  “Sir?”

  I lift my eyes from the screen showing me a view of Jake sleeping, to look at the person who has spoken. No words are necessary. The man cautiously steps into my office, and tries to make out my features but the dim lights on my side of the office make it impossible. All he gets is the same shadowed view everyone else gets.

  “Mr. Weldon?”

  I touch the handle end of the baseball bat I always keep around just in case my business partners go insane. “Speak.”

  He’s nervous.

  Everyone gets nervous.

  I can hear him swallow. “Was my boy to your liking, sir?”

  If there’s one thing I hate more than assholes, it’s people like Benner. Words don’t begin to describe what I think of him. But this is a business transaction and now, he happens to be the supplier of the very item that I desire. “Is there a problem?” I question him, instead of giving him an answer. He should know better than to ask stupid questions but I think that’s his attempt at being gracious.

  “No, sir! No problem. Just wanted to make sure how much I appreciate you taking care of me and my family.”

  “And I appreciate our business. Is there anything else?”

  Looks wise Jake’s Dad was a nice looking guy in his forties, and anyone could see where Jake got those blue eyes and the boyish face. But there was a delicateness about Jake, a vulnerability that Jake must have gotten from the other side of his family. Benner had a salt and pepper scruff and short hair. He was well-toned for a guy who drank as much as he did. But my beef with him had nothing to do with the way he looked. I could tell Benner was gearing up to speak and I wasn’t too sure about listening to more of his bullshit. “Sir… when do you think my boy will be coming back?”

  Imagine that.

  The kid had just proven to be his lottery ticket, considering the insane amount I paid for him and here he was, the father, wondering when he might get more out of him.

  “Mr. Ross, did you read the contract?”

  I realized he must not have gone through the documents like he said he did. I made him sign them last night and told Benner it meant I had custody of his son. The man was a professional drunk, and the few brain cells he still had remaining were being utilized in useless scheming. What people like that were doing with children of their own, was something I’d never understand. “Mr. Ross, your son will be with us… indefinitely.”

  His face fell. Was that concern for his son? There was no way that’s what the man felt. It was probably something to do with the money aspect, I was sure of it. “Indefinitely?”

  “As mentioned in the contract which I suggest you read,” I said. “You will be compensated. Think of us as your allies, Mr. Ross. If your boy is with us, your family is insured. You need anything, I mean anything, talk to Stoll and he will help you out, rest assured.”

  It didn’t take a lot to convince him apparently. There was no reason for a man like that to worry. It was as I thought—the concern was for his own shit, not for the boy. Concerned fathers don’t sell their sons to the highest bidder. I had a half a mind to remind him of that, but it would be useless and a waste of breath, explaining the logistics of family and compassion to a man like him. Those words were for people who gave a shit about boys they gave birth to and didn’t just abandon them. People who didn’t use their children as an ATM. But the implications of love and loyalty were lost on people like Benner Ross.

  He should have left, I was waiting for it but something kept him standing there without a word. He must have known I don’t do a lot of talking, so what was keeping him here? My patience was wearing thin.

  “What is it, Mr. Ross?”

  “Why can’t I see your face?”

  I almost laughed.

  “Is that actual concern I hear in your voice, Mr. Ross?”

  He didn’t speak.

  I wasn’t expecting him to. “Are you showing concern because you think you have to,” I said. “Or because you’re concerned?”

  “I know you must think I’m an awful person…”

  “You are.”

  He clearly wasn’t expecting that. The clarification bothered him. “He’s my son.”

  “I’m aware of that,” I replied. “Just as you were, when you were signing him off to me.”

  He was too embarrassed to say anything. Good. “Is there anything else I can help you with, Mr. Ross?”

  “Thank you, sir.” He said and left the room.

  On the screen, I saw Jake stir in his sleep. That beautiful boy didn’t belong in a place like that, with a father who didn’t deserve him. No. He deserved to be with someone who doted on him, who appreciated every single breath he took. Jake belonged with me, even though he didn’t understand that right now.

  But I have all the time in the world to make him see.

  And I want him all to myself.

  I don’t care what comes between us.

  Jake will be mine.

  JAKE

  When I heard someone calling out my name, it was impossible to tell if the voice was in my head or part of some nightmare, or something that happened in the real, tangible world. But then I heard it again, a low sound, almost a whisper. Someone was shaking me, not that gently. It felt awful because I badly wanted to go back to sleep. “Jake!”

  I blinked to find myself in a world I didn’t recognize. The man was familiar but I didn’t know why because I couldn’t remember his name or who he was. My mind was drawing a blank and it scared me. “You need to wake up, Jake.”

  Without getting an answer from me, the man started to untie my wrist closest to him, but he was struggling with it. “Come on Jake, we have to get out of here.”

  The haze on my memory lifted long enough for me to remember. “Dad?”

  My father finished untying my hands, and spoke in a low voice. “We’re getting you out of this place. You’re going to be okay.”

  “Dad… what about Colton?”

  “We’ll take Colton and buy bus tickets to wherever we want, I have enough money for all three of us.” Can you believe that was as close to an apology as I would get from my father? I didn’t even know if I could trust him. But it sounded like I had no choice. He untied my legs and I straightened up, tried to put my shoes on, but my arms had been tied for so long they were still numb. Dad came over and helped. I knew he wanted to say something, maybe something closer to an actual apology but the words didn’t come.

  “Hurry,” he said and stood, reached for the door. My legs weren’t doing that much better than my arms and I had trouble walking but I managed to make it out the door and into the empty hallway. I had no idea where to go from here but Dad seemed to know what he was doing. There was a good chance he was making it up just now, but it was better than no plan. At least he seemed to be aware of this building and where the doors and hallways led. Some doors he avoided while others he entered with certainty. We walked for about ten minutes when we encountered our first hurdle. There were two guards standing in the distance and they were both carrying weapons. My father reached for the Glock he always kept on his nightstand. I had seen him carrying it sometimes, when we met new clients but I had never actually seen him use it. I had no idea he had brought it here but I guess it made sense. We hadn’t moved when a phone started to ring and one of the guards left their station and disappeared somewhere inside the
maze-like hallways of the building.

  My father grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to himself as we walked straight to the one remaining guard and I watched him point his weapon at the man’s back before we even got close to him. Dad wavered for only a moment before taking the shot. There was a flare and the explosion made my ears ring. I was sure someone would come running before we could do a thing, but there was no one around. That didn’t mean there was no one coming for us, so my father dragged me away from the guard who was basically bleeding to death right in front of us. I knew my father was capable of some fucked up things but I had no idea he was capable of shooting someone dead.

  “It was us or him,” Dad explained, something he didn’t do often. I stood frozen but he forced me to move and I followed him through an open door where we stepped into another hallway. “The back exit is through there,” he pointed to another door. “When you see the exit Jake, no matter what happens, you run. Do you understand? You run and you don’t look back!” I’d seen some bipolar shit from my father but this topped everything I’d experienced until then. A part of me wondered if it was all a dream—it was the only way I could explain my father’s changed behavior and the dead guy and everything else.

  But everything in here had been a nightmare.

  Still, I would be disappointed.

  The door opened before we could do anything and several guards, every single one of them armed, barged in through the exit. That was clearly a damper in Dad’s plan for me to run, but he wasn’t giving up that easy and there was a small exchange of ammunition from Dad’s Glock to the guards’ heavy weapons but it didn’t last long.

  I hadn’t expected it to.

  I was just happy that I would die after seeing my father act more like an actual father and less like my dealer. I wasn’t sure what brought about this sudden change, but I was going to give the man points for trying. The last thing I remember was seeing Dad’s face and seeing the look of dejection, before the guards carried us off.

  WELDON

  The weight of the baseball bat felt good in my hand.

  By the time I stepped into the dungeon, Mace had already whipped Jake raw. Heavy restraints held the boy in place on the black wall to one side of the cell. His chest was a mess of crisscross lines and his screams were through the roof. He was conscious but barely. Benner Ross was on his knees, and Stoll was holding him captive with one strong hand on the shoulder. I had a raging hard-on just listening to Jake’s cries. Nature can be cruel. I had no intention of holding Benner Ross as my captive but life, lemons, and all that. Now, I had one grown man, his beautiful son, and both their brains to fuck with.

  I went to Jake first.

  I raised the bat to his chest and ran it over the welts and markings, and he shifted uncomfortably. One blow of that club and his ribs would collapse, falling into his lungs making it impossible for him to breathe. Sometimes, one blow was the only difference between life and death. “Get him down,” I said to Mace and he complied. He opened Jake’s restraints and Jake fell to the floor wincing in pain. I went up to the father and nudged him. “You’ve disappointed me, Ross. I thought we had a deal. If the money wasn’t enough you should have just said so.”

  Benner looked up at me. “Please let us go. I’ll bring you all the young guys you want, just please spare Jake, sir.” His pleading made no impact on me, but it was clearly affecting Jake.

  “Come on, Ross. You and I both know there’s no other boys like your son. It’s not like you never tried anything with him, right? You’re both hot, you can’t tell me you didn’t clean his ass a few times longer than necessary.”

  Benner's protests were half-hearted at best. “He’s my son!”

  “Who you sold to me two nights ago!”

  Benner looked distraught. “I made a mistake.”

  “No, you didn’t. You’re making a mistake now, thinking you’re not the super villain you know you are.”

  Before Benner could respond, I turned to Jake. “And you,” I blurted out. “How stupid are you, that you bought his act?”

  Jake wouldn’t even look at his father. That could have been because of the incest comment, but I wanted him to see that Benner guy for what he was: a bad father and an awful person who cared about nothing but money and would do anything to save his own hide. And so, it was time to bring in my next big news.

  “I have something I want you both to see,” I said grabbing the remote and flicking on the small screen to one side of the wall. The minute I did, the image of a young boy came in. I knew his name was Colton and he was Benner’s youngest son. He looked nothing like Jake, but he was no less beautiful. Not that I was into underage ass, it wasn’t my thing. But I thought it was interesting how two young and beautiful, naïve boys ended up in the care of someone like Benner Ross. Jake stared blankly at the screen but I couldn’t quite decipher the meaning of the look on Benner. “That’s right, Jake. Your brother is in my control. I don’t mean to harm him, but I wouldn’t put it past me to fuck with someone just to get things done around here.”

  The threat worked.

  Jake looked devastated.

  I could tell he cared for that brother of his even if Benner didn’t. The fear I saw in Jake at the mention of this was much worse than anything I’d seen so far. He was on his knees, still in pain but now he was more upset than before. In other words, I had him exactly where I wanted him to be. “I’m not going to hurt him, Jake. Not unless I’m forced.”

  I don’t know why I felt the need to tell him that. Perhaps it helped if Jake wasn’t completely focused on saving his brother and getting him out of there. Because that was what they would try to do. Not that I’d allow it. The first time they had tried, the only reason they made it that far was because I hadn’t expected Benner to give a fuck about that boy. That would never happen for as long as I lived, fool me once, and all that.

  Jake couldn’t stop staring at the screen so I turned it off.

  He was still on knees, disturbed.

  “What do you want?” Jake asked, and I was quick at the response. “You. I want you, Jake. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  “You already have me here!”

  “Don’t you dare raise your voice to me,” I growled. He was suddenly at a loss for words. So was Benner. The boy and his father had angered me, and something needed to be done. I went up to Jake and crouched in front of him. “For future reference,” I said. “Don’t make me angry.”

  “Fuck you!” Jake said, and before he said another word, Mace was restraining him and Stoll had left the father’s side and left him in another guard’s care to help Mace.

  Watching Jake, struggle with the two of them, fighting with all his strength and accomplishing nothing, it must have hurt deep down. But that’s exactly where I wanted it to hurt. I wanted to go deeper than anyone else had been, even his fucked-up excuse of a father. That was the only way he would be mine. Completely. It was the only way to get him to understand that him and I were meant to be.

  “Let go of me!” Jake was still grappling with Mace. But even he knew he had already lost the fight. He might as well have been eating their shit.

  I turned my attention to Benner. “How would you like it if I raped your son right here, in front of all these people and in front of you?”

  Benner lunged for me.

  Bad move.

  I had been waiting to do this all night. I lifted the bat and clubbed him over the head. I hadn’t done it hard enough to break anything in his skull or give lasting damage, just enough to scare him and it worked. After that, Benner made no more attempts at getting back at me. It was amazing how a single club could change the course of someone’s life forever. Amazing how we’re never truly afraid of death until it comes to stare us down right in our faces. For Benner Ross, that club was death. And I had a good idea he wanted to live. Everyone does. “Whatever happens to Jake now,” I said to Benner. “Remember, you had a hand in it.”

  “Please don’t hurt him,” Benner wa
s weeping.

  I left him there, still on his knees, still begging and gestured to Mace and Stoll. They promptly brought a struggling, hostile Jake to the ground. Stoll was perched on top of him, and I kneeled and crouched next to Jake’s head and grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled. “You’re going to hate me after today,” I told him. “But I don’t give a shit. I’ll enjoy destroying you, Jake. Because that’s why you’re here. So I can build you up and destroy you, every single day of our lives and that’s something you’ll have to get used to, Jakey.”

  Jake had tears in his eyes and I saw the silent pleas in those baby blues, waiting for a miracle, or waiting for it all to be some dream but I wasn’t letting it happen. Jake didn’t even know the meaning of nightmare. He didn’t really know the meaning of pain. Today, he would learn, I was going to make sure of it.

  Today, he would truly be mine even if he won’t understand it at first. He will belong to me now, even though he will deny it.

  Today, I will be so deep inside him, to the great depths of that psyche, that his body will never be able to stop me, or refuse me my pleasure.

  Today, I will become a part of him and he will never be able to shed me or cut me away from him no matter how much tried.

  Today, I will destroy him for the very first time.

  And we always remember our first time.

  Always.

  I wanted him to look at me, so I forced his head in the right position to face me while Mace lowered Jake’s pants. Stoll was pressing down on Jake’s shoulders so he wouldn’t be able to move his upper body and Mace was holding him down by the legs. My hand was still lodged in Jake’s hair. Look at me, Jake. And after today you won’t see anyone but me.