The Criminal Diaries

      The guys are absolutely right because Marcus is gloating over the suffering of Peter, who is tied to the chair and unable to show any kind of resistance to the torture he is put under by several people. Ronald keeps squeezing the guy’s throat with a tiny cable, depriving him of any opportunity to breathe. Luther leaves small cuts with a knife on his arms. David and Darren give him hits on his face, chest, stomach, and groin with fists and feet with no shame. And Elijah gives them pieces of advice at times. That’s what makes the blond scream at the top of his lungs in pain and bleed, while a thin flow of blood gets out of his nose and stains his mouth.       Hellish, burning pain squeezes every single muscle of his body and gets through every cell of it, taking the rest of the man’s strength. He even needs much effort to scream heartbreakingly. And the fact that his opponent put the cable around his neck tightly, Peter cannot breathe and has no chance to try to get out of this tight grip. That’s why he starts to feel dizzy more and more, all the sounds are more defeating as if they are behind a concrete wall, and his enemies’ faces are getting blurrier. Though the man can see that Marcus is standing aside with a wide smile and enjoying the show that his young friends are performing.       “Yeah, that’s what I wanted to see!” Marcus pronounces with enjoyment. “Yeah, guys! Keep doing the same!”       “Excellent, men!” Elijah encourages. “Come on! Don’t stop!”       “So what, Rose, what about feeling like a powerless boy that is in a hopeless situation?” Ronald sneers evilly and squeezes the cable on Peter’s neck much tighter. “What’s it like to be motionless, while someone can do anything they want to you?”       “Bastards…” Peter barely pronounces and coughs quietly. “I wish you had died… Died…”       “What did you say there, freak?” David asks and smashes his fist strongly against Peter’s chest, taking away his ability to breathe for a while.       “The boy’s asking for trouble…” Elijah smiles slyly. “Asking…”       “Hey, fucking ass-licker, stop standing there aside and agreeing with this old bastard,” Peter hisses through his teeth. “You’ve licked his ass enough, I see! It shines hundreds of miles away from here! Aliens are probably blind because of such a bright gloss!”       “Keep your mouth shut, blond-haired.” Elijah makes several clicks with his cigarette lighter that he takes from a pocket of his coat. “Otherwise, nothing will be left of you.”       “Burn your balls with that lighter! And don’t forget about these bastards! Please your friends and this old, sick bastard!”       “M-m-m, the boy does love pain,” Luther smirks evilly, putting the knife against Peter’s throat. “Judging by the number of old scars on his hands.”       “He did want to make Mr. Longbottom happy and die himself!” Darren recalls and smashes his fist against the area under Peter’s chin.       At this moment, Peter splits sharply a little clot of blood, glancing at his jeans covered with blood tracks.       “Alright, Ronald, let him go before you kill him,” Marcus says. “Let him go!”       Ronald immediately moves the cable off the neck of the deathly pale Peter, who starts catching air greedily and coughing, so that he literally feels vomit.       “A crowd of jackals…” Peter hisses through his teeth and coughs loudly. “Die… Die, you all!”       Peter screams hysterically when Elijah comes to him and uses his lighter to burn a small area of skin on his arm that gets red shortly.       “Ah, you see how scared he is…” Ronald sneers evilly. “How widely his eyes are open.”       “Hey, you like it, freak?” Elijah smiles slyly. “Will you keep showing off? Or will you shut up?”       “Hey, men, aren’t his pants wet from fear there?”       “Nope, they’re dry yet,” Darren says. “He’s holding on!”       “He hasn’t probably realized that his friends aren’t around and will not be around. They will not run out of nowhere and save him.”       “So what, maybe we should test an electric gun on him?” David suggests with a mysterious smile, taking a small gadget made of plastic from the backpack.       “Oh, yeah, guys, burn him enough!” Marcus rubs his hands happily. “As Peter’s still holding on, he won't be able to resist this, for sure.”       “I wish a brick fell over your head, bastard!” Peter roars.       “Hit him strongly!” Elijah encourages happily. “The most important thing is not to hit his head or heart – otherwise, he’ll be 200% dead.”       “Yeah, yeah, you’re working off the money, asshole, good job! You’re sucking the old bastard well. I take my hat off for you.”       “Don’t pity him, guys. Hit him as strongly as fuck!”       “Hm, where do I hit?” David frowns slightly, looking at Peter from head to foot. “What would give you the strongest pain? Maybe, here?”       David puts the electric gun sharply against the curve of Peter’s neck and presses the button to release a powerful electric wave. After that, all the muscles of the man tighten shortly and tense, and he screams heartbreakingly with a sense of a faster heartbeat as he is twisting nervously on the chair and trying so hard to set free his tightly tied hands and feet. And when the criminal lets the button go, the blond settles down sharply and starts looking at all his offenders with a heavy breath and widely open eyes.       “Nice,” Marcus pronounces smugly. “Pretty nice.”       “Aha, you hit him hard!” Elijah exclaims.       “Nah, it’s weak,” Luther concludes. “Too weak. You should hit him as strongly as fuck! No fucking pity!”       Luther sharply takes the electric gun from David, puts it against the area under Peter’s chest, and presses the button to release the wave. It makes the blond scream much louder, while the electricity gets through every single cell of his tense body that shakes in tormenting seizures. But two seconds later, this torture ends, and the man’s body gets sharply soft and could fall to the floor like a stone if the ropes did not hold him.       “So, Rose, don’t ya like it?” Darren sneers evilly, takes the electric gun from Luther, and presses the button after he puts it on the stomach of Peter, who keeps tearing his vocal cords and twisting on the chair like a slug in salt. “Or are you screaming from pleasure, I don’t kinda get?”       “He’s probably finishing!” Elijah laughs evilly. “That’s why he’s screaming and moaning! Just like a whore in the bed!”       “He is going to love it, for sure,” Ronald assures, puts the electric gun against Peter’s groin, and releases the electric wave.       Exhausted by all these tortures, Peter almost loses his voice because of such heartbreaking screams, losing control of his body that shakes from the pain that rises after every electric wave. And when the criminal lets go of the button, the blond inclines his head sharply with the thought that he no longer feels his tied hands and feet with a heavy breath. But when he relaxes just a little, Elijah gets the electric wave through after he puts the electrodes against the blond’s stomach. Then the dumbfounded Rose gets a strong slap in the face from Marcus and looks at him with dead eyes.       “Say, ‘enough’, so I tell the guys enough,” Marcus says confidently. “Tell me you can’t take this anymore. That this torture drives you crazy.”       Marcus grabs Peter sharply by the hair, raises his head, and sets his icy look into the guy’s red eyes that are now puffy after such strong hits.       “Come on, Peter, beg me! Beg me for mercy! Beg me to let you go! And then I will probably spare you.”       “I'm not a fucking girl,” Peter hisses through his teeth in a low voice as he is breathing heavily enough.       “Do you want the guys to keep playing with you?”       “I want you to do just one thing – untie me. So, I can leave this place.”       “You will never leave this place! You will never come back home and see your pals and gal.”       “We will see it!”       “Keep going, guys!” Marcus demands with a sly smile. “Hit him with the electric gun again. And hit him on the face and balls a couple of times, so he whines from pain.”       “It’s a shame it has a small capacity,” Luther smiles slyly. “Otherwise, we could burn this asshole as much as fuck.”       “You better burn yourself, bastards!” Peter snaps. “I wouldn’t mind watching you twirling from pain.”       “You will be twirling, not us. You will be damaging your vocal cords and feeling the pain that’s gonna make your eyes fall out of the sockets.”       “Yeah, I wouldn’t like to be in your place,” Elijah sneers evilly. “No, I would not like…”       “If you’re guilty for your lord, he will do something harder to you,” Peter snaps.       “Hey, men, shut him up, someone! I am fucking done with his chatting, to be honest.”       “Excellent idea, Elijah,” Ronald pronounces confidently. “I even have something for this!”       With these words, Ronald takes a dark rag from the backpack and closes tightly the mouth of Peter, who tries to show resistance by moaning loudly and determinedly.       “It’s much better,” Ronald raises his head proudly. “I have a headache from your fucking voice.”       After this, Luther twists another similar rag, puts it around Peter’s neck, and squeezes it as tightly as possible, depriving him of the ability to breathe. And while the man makes tormenting sounds and shakes his hands and feet so hard with a wish to save himself, David starts leaving mild scars on the other hand of him. Ronald smashes his fist strongly against his victim’s solar plexus, making Rose tense all his muscles sharply. Darren gets the electric wave through him after putting the electric gun against the curve of the blond’s neck. And Elijah just commands everyone as he is standing next to Marcus and watching what’s happening.       Even if his situation is hopeless, and counting on help does not make sense, Peter tries so hard to hold on. But the guy does not know how much strength he still has. The criminals may torture him for a very long time and get a lot of pleasure from this. His eyes are red from tension, his face is all in blood, there are many bruises on all parts of the skin, the hellish pain echoes in every single muscle, and he is not able to breathe due to the closed access to oxygen. His heart is beating like crazy not because of the all-embracing fear and despair but also because of the electric waves that result in a temporary paralysis of the body.       “You are a tough nut!” Luther smirks evilly, throws the rag aside, and squeezes painfully the jaw of Peter, who is moaning desperately and looking at everyone with widely open eyes. “You are screaming, but you are not begging us to stop.”       “Right, hey, Rose, don’t do stupid things,” Darren advises. “We may kill you if Mr. Longbottom doesn’t stop us.”       “Aha, I get as much pleasure as ever in my life by mocking the unprotected boy that can do nothing because he is too weak and tightly tied,” David confesses.       “And your pals are far, they cannot help you and do not even guess what’s happening to you,” Ronald adds. “They do not guess they met you the last time. Because from this moment on, your kennel is the place where nobody would find you.”       Peter growls something indignantly, not being able to answer since his mouth is tightly closed with the rag.       “Your gal will have to get through the same soon,” David says confidently. “We will not miss a chance to fuck her hard and put her under some torture. We will see which one will make her scream and start to beg for mercy.”       “Oh, yay, she will not take it!” Elijah rubs his hands happily. “We will hit her hard!”       Again, Peter being literally red from anger moans something as he pulls his tied hands sharply and setting his widely open eyes full of contempt on David.       “I’d love to see what would happen to her if we hit her with this baby,” Luther says thoughtfully, throwing the electric gun in the air, catching it, and squeezing it tightly. “You two will be our subjects for testing all the possible tortures. And nobody will ask you about anything.”       Luther sharply puts the electric gun against Peter’s stomach and releases another electric wave through him by holding the button for a much longer time. All this time, the guy twirls from side to side and moans painfully as he clenches his hands tightly into fists and pulls them so strongly that the ropes they are tied with weaken slightly and no longer squeeze his wrists so much. A few seconds later, this torture ends, but then starts again, taking the rest of the strength from the guy and depriving him of the wish to try to fight for his life. And how would he fight when he is in a hopeless situation and does not have any chance to protect himself.       “Come on, Peter, beg me to stop the guys,” Marcus says quietly with an evil smirk, and pulls sharply the rag off Peter’s mouth. “Beg me to stop this torture. It will never end if you do not raise your voice.”       While Marcus says all of this, Peter keeps screaming painfully due to the electric wave getting through his whole body, but he is not going to ask anyone to stop it all with the thought that they are lying to him. And since this torture lasts for much longer than usual, the blond’s body gets soft sharply at some moment, his head inclines, and his eyes close powerlessly. After this, he falls into silence and no longer reacts to the torture with the electric gun that does not stop even after he loses consciousness.       “Hey, hey, guys, guys, come on, stop!” Marcus exclaims, comes to Luther, and claps him on his hand. “Stop! Enough! Enough, I said! You may kill him!”       “Rose!” Elijah exclaims and hits Peter strongly on his cheeks. “Rose, can you hear me? Hey!”       “Hey, Luther, it seems like you knocked him out,” Ronald says thoughtfully, grabbing Peter by the hair and pulling his inclined head back. “He is unconscious.”       “He shouldn’t have the fuck acted like a hero!” Darren sneers evilly, putting his hands on his hips. “If he’d said, ‘stop’, everything would’ve ended.”       “Don’t worry, he will wake up now!” David says confidently and slaps Peter in the face strongly. “In one or one and a half minutes later.”       “I think you went a little further,” Marcus frowns slightly, checking the pulse on Peter’s neck just in case. “He is alive, through.”       “It’s fine, Mr. Longbottom, it’s good enough!” Ronald crosses his arms over his chest. “Think we’ve taught him a little. He will be afraid to fight with us next time.”       “He is already scared!” Elijah says. “He just shows off. He doesn’t want to recognize his weakness.”       “Anyway, stop torturing him for a while,” Marcus replies. “You all worked really well. His face’s all in blood, and one eye of his is puffy now.”       “Agree, we really made his pretty face much uglier,” Luther smiles slyly.       “Hey, Rose, wake up now!” Darren demands and smashes his fist against Peter’s jaw. “Rose, fuck!”       “Give me the bottle of water, someone,” Marcus says, looking around quickly. “It’s supposed to be in the backpack.”       Ronald comes to the dirty and dusty backpack placed on the asphalt, takes the closed bottle of water, and gives it to Marcus. The old man opens it easily and splashes some water over the face of the unconscious Peter. It makes the guy shake sharply, open his eyes closely, and look around with a sense of slight dizziness and strong weakness in his soft body that is not under his full control after all the torture he has experienced.       “So what, bastard, are you no longer so sassy after everything we have done?” Luther asks with a sly smile, grabbing Peter by the hair, leaning his head back, and putting the knife against his throat, while the blond is breathing heavily. “Will you not work your tongue anymore?”       “I said…” Peter pronounces in a low, hoarse voice. “You can beat me to death. But I will not shut up.”       “Admit that your underwear is fucking wet,” Elijah demands. “Admit that you are fucking scared.”       “Don’t confuse me with a girl. I will not scream and beg you for mercy with the thought that it will help me.”       “Listen, sir, let’s kill him right now?” Ronald suggests, exhaling sharply. “What are we waiting for? There is nobody around! Let’s kill him quietly and bury his body somewhere. Nobody will even understand what happened and where to find that asshole.”       “No, guys, do not rush,” Marcus insists with his head proudly raised. “I want to enjoy this moment. Enjoy every second of Peter’s suffering. I want to watch all his tortures.”       “Aha, I see you still remember what to do to get an orgasm,” Peter laughs evilly and coughs loudly. “You don’t even have to please your dried old dick.”       “This is just the beginning of your suffering, my sweetheart.”       Marcus brings his face sharply close to Peter’s face covered with blood, while the guy steps back with widely open eyes.       “All these moments are so nothing. Something far worse and more terrifying awaits you ahead. Tortures with an electric gun will seem something easy to you.”       “It’s clear you did love torturing cats and dogs in childhood by twisting their tails, throwing them against a wall, and trying to strangle or drown them,” Peter replies with contempt in his eyes.       “I can’t deny it. I have always loved watching innocent people suffer.” Marcus starts stroking his chin. “It’s so funny… It’s so funny to see a victim screaming in despair, begging for mercy, and breaking free. Funny to see them going crazy at the thought that they have no way to save themselves.”       “I’ve understood you are a nasty asshole,” Peter throws gloomily and spits some blood at his opponents with an arrogant look. “The asshole who cannot calm down even at an old age. Even though it’s your time to wear white slippers and retire.”       “Keep going, Peter, keep doing the same. Work your tongue before we cut it. Soon, you will not be able to use it to say some bullshit and please your gal by putting it in all her holes.”       “I am sorry that you have nobody you could put your fucking dick in.”       “Close your fucking mouth, milksop!” Marcus gets red from anger, clenching his hand into fists, while his nostrils inflate strongly. “SHUT UP, I SAID!”       “Hey, did I touch your nerve? Are you worried that you had nobody to hook up with?”       “Ar-r-r, fucking asshole…”       “You are either an idiot that doesn’t understand what kind of trouble he is in, or you are a masochist that finishes every time he gets pain,” Elijah crosses his arms over his chest.       “You’re all the only ones here to finish from pain and suffering,” Peter snaps. “When you do this to others.”       “Do you want me to hit him with my left foot in the face in a twist?” Luther suggests.       “No, guys, let him have a break!” Marcus throws in a low voice. “But it would actually be great to hit him as strongly as possible.”       “What’s wrong?” Peter surprises falsely. “What are you waiting for? Kill me right now! Nobody can stop you now!”       “So, can’t you wait to go to heaven to your mommy? Or other relatives?”       “They are waiting for you there with impatience. Or… Vice versa… They do not want to see you in the afterlife? They tell you to stay on the earth for as long as possible.”       “And I shall stay. I will not die until you are destroyed. Until I become the witness to the day a coffin with your corpse is buried in a deep hole.”       “M-m-m… It means I have a much higher chance of living until your funeral.”       “No, no chance,” Marcus smiles widely. “Not. Even. One.”       “We will see it, bastard!”       At this moment, Peter understands that his tied hands are now much freer, gaining hope that he may be able to untie these binding knots. That’s what the guy starts doing carefully, while Luther runs the edge of the knife slightly over his throat from behind, making his opponent swallow nervously. And his confidence grows much more after he looks at what surrounds him and sees a bunch of keys lying on the small, rotten table. And he believes that there is at least one that could open a car.       “I think you will spend a bigger part of your time with tied hands and a tapped mouth,” Marcus decides. “So, you don’t make us bury you much earlier than we plan by talking a lot.”       “Come on, honorable, why are you waiting for?” Peter surprises falsely, feeling up the ropes on his tied wrists to find a way to untie them, even if it gives him strong discomfort. “You’ve been chasing me for so much time for the reason. All your attempts to kill me before were doomed to failure because my friends helped me. But now you’ve got a unique chance to end all of this. So, why don’t you use it?”       “I shall decide when I want to kill you. And I can surely say that it will not happen today. It’s not a part of my plan. At the moment, I am just going to torture you a lot and drive you crazy. But someday… Someday, everything will turn upside down.”       “Wow, how gracious you are! My low bow for you, honorable.”       “I have nothing to worry about because nobody knows where to find you. My guys and I did everything very well. We can walk outside quietly and remain uncaught.”       “Ha, do you think my friends didn’t memorize the faces of all your henchmen?” Peter sneers evilly. “Do you think they will not give the police a detailed description?”       “What could they tell them? Tall, stocky, with blond hair, and dark eyes? Ha, at least 80% of the inhabitants of the city can fit this description! The police wouldn’t check all the men with blond hair and dark eyes!”       “One boy gave the police a super detailed description of the girl who tried to poison my friend. And for your information, she was declared wanted.”       “I’m aware. That’s why we helped Carla leave the city for some time and told her not to show up anywhere. I’m glad she had managed to run away before the chaos began.”       “I see, it means you are covering her. Though she’s become the same criminal as all of you are here. She almost became a killer.”       “Carla was happy to help us!” Luther says with his head proudly raised. “She does hate you and your talentless band. She says you do not deserve all the good things you get.”       “And she agrees that you are so popular just because of your attractive appearance,” Elijah adds.       “But such a beaten face like yours will not make girls feel that their underwear is wet,” Darren crosses his arms over his chest.       “Well, such ugly folks like you wouldn’t even feel hard at yourself,” Peter snaps. “With such ugly faces that long-time prisoners have.”       “But we feel hard for your attractive gal,” David says confidently. “And Luther teased us with words about her having gorgeous boobs and ass.”       “I said, don’t even dare to THINK ABOUT HER! OTHERWISE, I WILL KILL YOU, BASTARDS!”       “You shouldn't be so worried about her, Peter,” Marcus says quietly. “Helene Marshal is a betrayer. An insolent liar who is hiding the secrets of her dark past from you.”       “How would you prove it, honorable? How would you prove that she is lying to me?”       “There is someone who knows her very well. If you want, I can organize your meeting with them. So, you can ask them any questions you want, and they will answer them with pleasure. Open your eyes to the one you let steal your heart.”       “I doubt I will hear something good.”       “You will not. But this information will be interesting for you and show you that the girl is not an angel.”       “We are all far from angels.”       “Right. But your sweetheart is a real devil incarnation. A pretender. A liar. Trust me, I know everything about that girl: where she lives, where she works, who she talks with… I even know she is still living with her old grandma, who has only two Mondays to live.”       “Until I see proof, I shall not believe it.”       “You will see, don’t worry. But a little later. And now I just advise you to think better while you have time. I am sure that there is just something that may make you doubt her.”       “I do believe my girlfriend!” Peter lies partly. “I love her and am sure she loves me!”       “Well, you can believe as much as you want. But her love for you may be under a great doubt.”       “Even if you prove her fault for some dirty tricks, my love for her will not be killed. I loved her, and I will love her.”       “But alongside, you will despise her and stop trusting her.”       “First, give me proof, and then I will see and have a talk with my girlfriend.”       “I shall. But I am not sure if it will not be too late to change something. What if I want to kill her. What if I decide that her time has come. And tell, for example, Luther to knock the girl out, drive her to the river, and drown her. Though… I shall do my best for you to never see her again. Unless you are in heaven. And I shall deal with your pals. However, if they do a good thing and do not meddle in the business of you and me, alright then, these guys will not suffer and will live their lives.”       “Don’t dare,” Peter hisses through his teeth, clenching his hands into fists with a heavy breath. “This bastard will not touch her with a finger. Otherwise, he will be at the bottom of the ocean and eaten by sharks. JOKING WITH ME IS FUCKING BAD!”       “So, boy, did you almost die when the dog brought you to that bridge?” Luther puts his hands on his hips. “When you saw your girlfriend falling into the water? And she was unconscious and could do nothing. She ended up on the bottom with no chance for salvation.”       “Ah, it would have been so great if the dog had come back much earlier!” Marcus sighs with a wide smile. “If Peter had refused to save his sweetheart! The girl would have died for sure! A few minutes before no heart massage would have helped her.”       “I almost died of fear and horror when I saw that!” Peter explodes. “I almost went insane when resuscitation didn’t work even after a few attempts. And before, I had to remember how to do it because I COULD NOT THE FUCK REMEMBER! I HAD EVERYTHING OUT OF MY HEAD AT THE SIGHT OF MY GIRLFRIEND, WHO WAS ALMOST DEAD! WHEN I HEARD THE HEARTBREAKING BARK OF HER DOG! THAT ALMOST WENT INSANE FROM GRIEF, TOO!”       “Yeah, at first, you showered the gal with mud from head to foot, but then you rushed to save her,” David sneers evilly.       “When she almost drowned, I forgot everything in the world! I didn’t care who she was and what she was hiding! I wanted just one thing – I WANTED HER TO LIVE! LIVE, THE FUCK! And yeah, by the way, I am aware of all your attempts to chase her.”       “Congratulations then, you brought her back from the afterlife!” Marcus exclaims. “For a while. Because the next time will be fatal for her.”       “Don’t dare to hurt her, old bastard,” Peter demands in a low, rude voice. “DON’T DARE! I SHALL SKIN YOU ALIVE IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO HER! YOU AND ALL THESE BASTARDS!”       “You are able to do nothing, Peter,” Elijah says. “Accept it. The gal is doomed to death.”       “And don’t worry about the one that can put a knife in your back,” Marcus adds. “Of course, if she has not done it yet. Who knows… Maybe she is doing some dirty tricks secretly from you.”       “What if my friends are right?” Peter assumes. “What if you really want just to slander my girlfriend, so I get mad at her and leave her?”       “No, pal, it’s not the truth. Your friends just try to calm you down. Defending their beloved friend, who charmed them like a witch. Though… What if she is really a wizard? What if the girl made you fall in love with her with some love potion?”       “Don’t say bullshit, honorable. I understand that you went insane at an old age, but filter everything you say just a little.”       “But your friends are defending her so hard for the reason,” Elijah notices. “They refuse to stand by your side and help you bully her for the reason.”       “And how do you know the fuck everything? What kind of all-knowing bastard you are that puts his nose in everything?”       “You talked about it with your friend, who was magically lucky not to end up here with you,” Ronald recalls. “The guys and I weren’t far from you and heard you blaming him for betraying you due to his refusal to support you.”       “I have a suspicion that he is doing the right thing, but I am an idiot. The idiot who believes some bastards.”       “Oh, yeah, the idiot, whom everyone around him lies and betrays,” Marcus replies confidently. “The gal, the friends…”       Marcus clinks quietly.       “Nobody needs you truly, Peter. Everyone just walks over you and uses your naivety.”       “It’s not about the men!” Peter raises his head proudly. “They’re wonderful people, and I don’t know anyone who would be better.”       “It’s alright, I shall open your eyes to them soon. And the gal. I shall reveal all of them and show you that you’ve never been able to choose friends. And you fall in love with girls who use you for their goals.”       “Proof, sir. Bring proof here!”       “I shall, my boy. Just wait for a while.”       “You’re lying to me. Insolently lying.”       At this moment, Peter manages to feel up the edge of the rope and understand how he can untie himself. And he starts to work on this hard, distracting Marcus with talks and watching closely his accomplices, who are just standing next to their leader.       “I’m starting to understand it more and more. The guys are right. I’m attacking Helene for nothing. Showering her with mud and breaking her heart again and again for nothing.”       “You’re an idiot, Rose,” Darren sneers evilly. “We could say, we did a good thing for you. We opened your eyes to the real side of your sweetheart. You must thank us for this. But you’re blaming us for lying.”       “Exactly!” Elijah smirks. “We did such a good thing for him! But he…”       “I remember two similar cases when two men were tried to be fooled in the same way,” Peter replies. “Though the girls were absolutely innocent.”       “Well, maybe, they really did nothing, but the case of Marshall is different,” Ronald replies thoughtfully. “Remembering what we were told by her familiars, that girl is a nasty bitch.”       “Okay, bring them to me right now. So, they call me all of this, looking into my eyes.”       “They will, they will, but don’t be so impatient,” Luther insists. “It wouldn’t be so interesting to tell you everything and kill you. No… Mr. Longbottom is right, you must make pleasure longer.”       “Are you the same snails in bed, too? Do you prefer to be super-fast? Get into, get an orgasm, get out, and keep doing your business!”       “Alright, men, don’t you think Rose started to talk too much again?” David crosses his arms over his chest.       “Aha, I see he has come to himself already,” Luther agrees. “He talks literally much more than in the beginning.”       “Indeed, this bastard cannot literally close his mouth!” Elijah agrees.       “So, he still has the strength to fight,” Marcus assumes. “The coward has a wish to get out of here and find his friends to hide behind their backs.”       “Don’t you hide behind the youth’s backs?” Peter sneers evilly, starting to be pretty successful at trying to untie the knots that he can reach thanks to the long fingers on his hands. “Ah, yeah, pardon, I forgot. You are not able to compete with them. Your legs can barely hold you, and your hits are weak. That’s why you decided to use someone to be younger and stronger.”       “I just want to save the sweetest thing for later,” Marcus smiles mysteriously. “And the guys wanna have some fun. When would they have such a wonderful chance to mock the weak and unprotected boy?”       “If they want fun, they can go to work!”       “We do work!” Ronald exclaims. “We work hard. And after a long and hard day at work, we wanna relax a little.”       “Aha, drink beer, watch a soccer game, beat the faces of some bastards…” David adds thoughtfully.       “I wish someone made yours ugly!” Peter snaps.       “Don’t worry, you will not be a pretty boy forever,” Darren promises. “After a few more tortures of ours, nothing will be left of your attractiveness. And some little girls will look for new crushes.”       “Right!” Elijah exclaims. “With such a puffy and ugly face, they wouldn’t even hire you to work as a cleaning man. Because you would scare people who usually love everything that looks beautiful.”       “Well, my face is gonna look like before soon, but your ugly ones can’t be changed anymore.”       Every second, Peter becomes much more confident because untying the ropes is getting more real and easier. Feeling everything up well and finding the edge of the rope, he starts to understand what to do, even if he tries to be careful, so his actions are secret from the criminals.       “You are ugly, but if you are beaten, it’s gonna be fucking worse. A girl may wake up at night and jump in fear like a boiled kettle after seeing such horrible beasties in the dark.”       “I don’t know what about you, Mr. Longbottom, but he’s starting to irritate me to the fuck,” Darren crosses his arms over his chest.       “Agree,” Marcus agrees. “So, I suggest we start a second round of our torture.”       “Yeah, since he began to work his tongue hard, we’ve gotta shut him up again,” Luther agrees.       “We can torture him a little, then knock him out, and drive him to a much better place where he would be waiting for death. While his girl and friends try so hard to find him and call out all their familiars.”       “These assholes will never find him,” Elijah assures. “We will drive Rose so far away that nothing will help him.”       “And he will not run away anywhere. We will do our best for this.”       At this moment, Peter says nothing and just smiles slyly as he almost deals with the knots and gets the opportunity to move his hands that have become strongly numb much more freely. So, he has to apply much effort to take control of his fingers.       “So what, let’s hit him with the electric gun again?” Ronald suggests. “Or save this thing for later?”       “We can hit him a couple of times,” Marcus agrees. “For the prevention.”       “And don’t forget about the fire…” Elijah smiles mysteriously, showing his lighter.       “Oh, let’s see what we have in the backpack!” David exclaims. “There are so many cool things that we can use.”       “Yeah, we can have fun until the very evening,” Ronald sneers evilly.       While Marcus, Elijah, Ronald, David, Darren, and Luther turn around and start to check through the backpack in search of a new gun for torture, Peter manages to untie the other knots very quickly and unties his hands, after all. After massaging his wrists a little and seeing bright red tracks on them, the guy easily gets rid of the ropes that tie him up to the back of the chair and unties his feet with no problems, being happy the knots managed to weaken strongly when he tensed his muscles to the pain during the torture with the electric gun.       When he finally sets himself free from these chains, Peter does not rush to get up and keeps sitting in the same place, watching closely what the criminals are doing without guessing anything, and still checking what’s inside the backpack and seeing everything they find. He manages to catch some air and prepare himself for a fight, in which he has no right to lose. Especially now, when there is nobody he can expect help from, and he can count on himself only.       “Ah, it’s not good!” Marcus exhales disappointedly. “There’s nothing stronger than an electric gun.”       “It’s alright, he was hit super hard,” Luther smiles slyly. “So, we can play with what we have.”       “Come on, if we decide to leave tons of burns on his body, he will scream like crazy,” Elijah assures.       “Anyway, let’s strangle him and hit him with the electric gun a little more,” Ronald suggests. “And we can end it with a couple of strong hits on his face and third-degree or fourth-degree burns.”       “Deal!” Darren exclaims. “We can also cut his wrists with a knife. So, some bad blood gets out of him.”       “Oh, man, we’re having such a cool party!” David exclaims happily. “We haven’t had so much fun for ages!”       “You gave me as much pleasure as I never had in my whole life,” Marcus smiles smugly.       “We’re working hard, sir,” Ronald pronounces.       “We’re for anything like these!” Elijah pronounces proudly.       “So what, let’s go have fun?” Luther smiles widely.       “Oh, yeah!” Marcus, Elijah, David, Ronald, and Darren.       After giving each other a five and hitting their chuckles slightly against one another, the criminals turn around quietly. And they get overwhelmed and open their mouths widely when they see Peter standing in front of them with a smug smile and holding the chair he was sitting on in his hands.       “Hey, why didn’t ya invite me to the party?” Peter surprises falsely. “I do love parties so much!”       After bracing himself and trying not to think about barely standing on his feet due to weakness, Peter gives a strong hit against Luther’s face with the chair when he tries to attack him, making him get thrown aside with a loud shout and a burning pain in his jaw.       “AH, FUCK!” Luther swears, rubbing his cheek energetically and spitting some blood out. “WHAT THE FUCK?”       “Of course, it’s a shame that my friends aren’t at the party,” Peter replies. “But I’m gonna have a lot of fun without them. I do love this thing, you know.”       When Ronald tries to attack him, Peter also strikes him down with a powerful hit with the chair. And the guy does the same thing to Elijah, David, and Darren, who get thrown two meters away with no chance.       “Fuck, how did you do this?” Elijah resents, massaging his jaw that hurts from pain. “You were tied!”       “I do really love solving some puzzles,” Peter replies sarcastically. “I love working my brain in search of the answer to hard questions.”       “Get this bastard now!” Marcus orders, pointing at Peter with his finger. “NOW! GET UP AND CATCH HIM!”       Ronald gets up on his feet first and tries to attack Peter, who tries to hit him with the chair on his head. And after he meets a failure, the guy throws this thing aside and starts boxing with no tiredness, giving his opponent a couple of brilliant hits on the jaw and saving himself from those he gets back. When Darren and Elijah join the fight, Rose starts giving hits to them at the same time, feeling that he gets possessed with adrenaline that makes him forget about any discomfort.       “You will not hide from us, bastard,” Darren hisses through his teeth.       “Oh, no, I will not give up on you so easily,” Peter says and jumps aside sharply when Darren runs to him and tries to strike him down with a powerful tornado kick in a jump. “Until I can breathe, you won’t the fuck bring me down.”       “It’s alright, freak, you don’t have too much time to jump,” Luther sneers evilly.       “You will live your last days under horrible threats,” David threatens, trying to give Peter a hit with his fist against his solar plexus.       “Aha, and die with torture!” Elijah states. “One beautiful day, you will be begging us to kill you as soon as possible!”       “We will see it, bastards!” Peter exclaims. “YOU WILL SEE!”       Peter gives David a powerful hit with his foot against his chest in a jump, striking him down and disorienting him for some time. The next one to get the same strong hit is Darren. Elijah falls to the floor after a powerful hit on his groin with a loud shout. Ronald hits his temple against the edge of the shabby table and falls to the asphalt like a stone after a slap in the face. And the blond gives special attention to Luther, whom he gives multiple hits in the jaw with cruelty that is untypical for him, grabbing him by the hair and hitting him strongly against the wall with his head. He does everything so fast and clearly that his opponent has no chance to react. That’s why Marcus looking red gets angry as he clenches his hands tightly into fists at the sight of his accomplices twirling in pain and rolling on the asphalt with quiet, painful moans.       “WHY ARE YOU THE FUCK DOING?” Marcus gets enraged. “YOU CANNOT CATCH JUST ONE BASTARD!”       “I will not stay with you even for a second,” Peter says confidently, fighting off Luther with his hands and feet and having no problems dealing with Elijah, who rushes to help. “And I will sink my teeth into every second of my life. THAT I WILL NOBODY TAKE AWAY FROM ME!”       Peter grabs Elijah by the hair and hits him against the brick column with his head so strongly that his opponent falls to the ground with no chance. Then he grabs shortly the electric gun lying on the table, puts it to Luther's chest, and presses the button to release the electric wave through. Luther screams painfully and shakes in seizures for a few seconds before the blond lets him go, falling to the asphalt with no ability to control his body. Trying to attack Rose with fists, Ronald also gets the electric wave through his body and falls down in the end.       “I SHALL KILL YOU, MILKSOP!” Marcus screams. “I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY OWN HANDS!”       When Marcus wants to attack him and give him a strong slap in the face, Peter puts the electric gun against his neck and holds the button for a few seconds as he looks at the leader of the gang with an icy look. While his opponent loses his voice from the hellish pain getting through him, and shakes in strong seizures. And when the old man falls to the asphalt like a stone and starts moaning quietly in pain, Rose sets his eyes full of hate and contempt on him for a moment.       “Mr. Longbottom!” David and Darren exclaim with horror in their eyes and rush to Marcus twirling in pain. “Mr. Longbottom…”       Meanwhile, Peter clenching his hands tightly into fists rushes to the table, takes the keys he had an eye on before, and starts running away from here as fast as he can, while his opponents suffer from pain and cannot get control of their bodies back.       “That bastard is running away!” Luther shouts, pointing his finger at Peter.       “Hey, you, fucking bastard!” Elijah explodes, running to Marcus to help. “Are you fucking insane? Who do you the fuck think you are?”       “CATCH HIM!” Marcus roars. “NOW! DON’T LET HIM GET OUT!”       “Don’t worry, lord, he will not go too far,” Darren assures.       “Hey, you two, get your asses up and follow him!” David orders, helping Marcus get up on his feet with the help of Darren.       “Now, assholes!” Elijah roars. “Don’t let him go! We will watch the lord.”       After barely bracing himself, Ronald and Luther get up on their feet and rush after Peter, who starts running on the entire floor of the abandoned building, trying to find a way out, and holding on just because he is now under adrenaline.       “STOP, BASTARD!” Luther explodes. “YOU WILL NOT RUN AWAY!”       “We will see it!” Peter snaps.       “STOP, BASTARD!” Ronald demands. “YOU WILL NOT GET OUT OF HERE ANYWAY!”       “If you don’t try, you can’t. The one who does nothing and stands where they are, they are lost in advance. Because doubts kill you sooner than a firearm.”       Seeing the stairs from afar, Peter rushes to the one and gets one floor down, even if he has to be careful since some of the stairs are destroyed. Then the man keeps running the half-ruined, empty halls where there are tons of rotten boards, bricks, and trash that is left by those who come here at times to hide from everyone. Luther and Ronald do not leave him alone for a second, even if they cannot catch him yet, because he began to run amazingly fast, so they left him behind a long time ago.       “Fucking asshole!” Ronald swears. “We put him under these tortures, but he doesn’t fucking care! He is running as fast as an elk! Running like a sprinter!”       “It’s alright, we will now catch that jackass and beat him fucking hard,” Luther calms down. “I shall test a new type of kick on him.”       But this time, Peter is not going to become an easy prey and does the impossible to save himself. After running some distance, he finds the half-ruined stairs again and gets one floor down, being happy that enough light gets into here through the window frames, so he is able to orient himself. It turned out not to be so hard because the building is not so big and consists of wide halls and large rooms where there are bunches of trash.       Later, Peter easily manages to find the stairs that let him get down to the first floor and decides not to waste time looking for a way out and to jump out through one of the window frames. After looking around quickly and seeing Ronald and Luther just run to the stairs and start to get down, Rose grabs the frame carefully, trying not to harm himself against the pieces of glass, and jumps on the ground from a small height. Even if the jump is not good, and pain in his foot echoes in his whole body, the guy does not even think to stop and starts to run around the house after looking around with a heavy breath. He does not have an idea of what to do after he escaped from captivity since he does not have a phone, and this place is too far from the city. Nevertheless, he does not let himself panic and makes himself sure that he will come up with something.       Ronald and Luther jump out of the window by one and keep chasing Peter determinedly, while he has to scratch his skin against the dry sticks of trees that get into his eyes all the time and dirty his shoes and the edges of his jeans, trying so hard to stand on his feet that he can barely control after they were tied for a long time, and after his body got a powerful electric wave multiple times. When he takes a hard way through the thick greens he has never met before, Peter reaches the main entrance with no door that would let you get into the building.       Using the moment, the man decides to stop, catch some air, and look around in the hope of coming up with something. He understands that he must find a solution quickly because his opponents do not even think of leaving him alone and are determined to make the order of Marcus. But after Rose squints slightly, he sees two cars not far from him: one of them is black and by far not new and parked in the middle. It makes Peter smile slyly with the thought that the keys in his hands may possibly be from one of them. Yes, he understands he is about to commit a crime, but the man is seriously going to steal a car to go to the city and come back to the place where he lost Sammy, praying so hard that the dog is still there.       “No choice…” Peter pronounces hoarsely. “I have to steal a car. Otherwise, I can’t get out of here.”       “STOP, ROSE!” Luther roars hysterically as he gets closer to Peter alongside Ronald. “STOP, BASTARD!”       “YOU WILL NOT GET OUT OF HERE, IDIOT!” Ronald exclaims. “DON’T EVEN HOPE!”       “Now you’re gonna be overwhelmed by how I will do this,” Peter says under his nose in a low voice.       Not hesitating for even a second, Peter moves off sharply and runs to the transport that supposedly belongs to one of the criminals. Right on the walk, he easily understands how to unlock the car, pressing the necessary button on one of the keys. And magic happens – one of the cars makes a loud sound that notifies about the doors being unlocked. The man is madly happy because he doubted that he would do this until the very end, and rushes to the driver’s seat as fast as he can.       “Fuck, he’s got the keys from my car!” Luther roars. “When did that bastard steal it?”       “Don’t let him go, Luther!” Ronald. “He’s getting into the car!”       Meanwhile, Peter sits in the driver’s seat, closes the door, throws the electric gun on the passenger’s seat, puts the key in the motor, and twists it a couple of times. He exhales with relief when he hears the sound that lets him know the car is started, releases the handbrake, turns on the first speed, lets go of the clutch pedal, presses the gas pedal strongly, and twists the steering wheel. That’s why the car starts off sharply with a disgusting squeak, turns around, and goes further and further from the abandoned place when the winded Luther and Ronald run to this place, stop, double over, and lean on their laps with their hands.       “Fuck, he’s gotten out…” Ronald swears.       “In my car!” Luther roars and hits his fist against his palm. “With my keys! FROM EVERYTHING! Ar-r-r! FUCK!”       “We lost him…”       “Fucking bastard! He will pay me for stealing my car.”       “We will likely pay Marcus for letting that asshole run.”       “And where do I find my car now? WHERE DID HE THE FUCK GO?”       “It’s alright, you will report him to the cops, and they will find your baby immediately,” Ronald smiles slyly. “And fuck Rose’s brain a little.”       “And now, Marcus is gonna fuck our brains ‘cause he will get furious after we let that asshole run away.”       “Anyway, he’s still able to do nothing. Even if he goes to his pals now and tells them everything.”       “Unless he doesn’t have the strength after all our tortures.”       “Well, since he was running and screaming with the chair in his hands, he’s got a lot of strength. It would be enough to survive a few more hours of torture.”       “You’re right, buddy.”       Peter presses the gas pedal to the fullest for some time, so the car drives at full speed. But when he looks into the rearview mirror and sees that he is no longer chased, the man lowers the speed and starts driving much slower with the thought that the nightmare that seemed endless has finally come to an end.       “Oh, fuck, I was in great trouble…” Peter blunts under his nose. “A little bit before I could’ve died. It’s amazing that I managed to survive and run away. I had a super small chance.”       Peter shakes sharply as he recalls the criminals hitting him with the electric gun, and glances aside for a moment.       “Okay, the most important thing is that I managed to get away from them. Now I must come back to that place and find Sammy. If I don’t find him. Helene’s gonna kill me. And my phone must be there, too. At least, I hope so.”       After changing the speed with the gearbox that he can barely control, Peter keeps driving straight as he is squeezing the steering wheel with both hands. At some moment, the man glances at the rearview mirror and is horrified at what happened to his face, which has tons of bright bruises and blood tracks after all the cruel hits he got. Pain in his whole body comes back to him little by little, as long as the adrenaline weakens, after it was the only thing that helped him hold on. But Rose tries so hard not to pay attention to this and only thinks about having to find the dog of his girlfriend, with the thought that he is all alone now and probably scared to death.       

***

      It’s been two or three hours, but Edward, Helene, Natalia, Terrence, and Raquelle are still at Daniel and Anna’s house and waiting for some news about Peter, who has not shown up yet. Their decision to wait for some time before taking some measures turns out to be worthless since nothing happens. And this kind of suspense and the question about how to help their friend drives them crazy and makes him think of the worst things.       “Damn, he hasn’t shown up!” Helene pronounces in a shaking voice, petting Sammy being next to her on the head. “It’s been such a long time!”       “Yeah, no response, no communication…” Terrence throws gloomily, while Raquelle is drawing something on his chest with her finger in the hope of calming herself down.       “And where do we find Peter?” Daniel asks himself, holding Anna’s hand with both hands and caressing it. “Will we see him alive? Or will those scums want to kill Rose?”       “If the blond’s been taken away somewhere, they’ll hardly let him go,” Edward assumes, keeping his head rested on Natalia’s shoulder. “And he will hardly manage to run away from them.”       “Anyway, we can spend here sitting here like this forever,” Natalia notices. “But nothing will change.”       “Maybe someone wants to drink water?” Anna suggests hesitantly. “I can give you as much as you need.”       “No, thanks, I can’t even think of food and drinks now,” Helene refuses. “While I have to guess what happened to Peter and where he is now.”       At this moment, Sammy barks quietly with great pity.       “Sammy’s restless, too,” Daniel notices with sadness in his eyes. “He can’t stop whining.”       “Pete has been taken away literally before his eyes,” Natalia sighs heavily. “And Sammy couldn’t prevent it. A crowd of snakes was too strong for him.”       “Sammy is by far from a guarding dog,” Helene notices thoughtfully. “Retrievers are too friendly dogs. They aren’t able to be guards since birth.”       “Yeah, but he sometimes behaves very bravely and determinedly,” Raquelle notices. “Remember how he protected Anna from the Potters. How he was ready to tear those two apart.”       “To be honest, it was a great surprise to me. I didn’t think Sammy would behave as well as a German Sheppard, for example.”       “He’s just our smart and brave boy,” Terrence notices cheerfully with a slight smile. “That’s able not just to have fun, empty his bowl with delicious food, and sleep in his corner for hours.”       “Things would be different if we didn’t have Sammy in our lives,” Edward adds.       Sammy barks quietly two times as if he thanks the friends for their kind words.       “Maybe Sammy loves mocking Peter, but he doesn’t let anyone hurt him,” Anna says confidently.       “Peter is like a second owner to Sammy,” Natalia notices. “Who watches him when Helene isn’t near. And who loves him anyway, despite all his tricks.”       “Sammy doesn’t wish him anything bad,” Helene replies, yanking Sammy by the ears. “Even if he doesn’t always obey him and may be capricious, my boy loves and respects Pete anyway.”       “He would hardly be so worried about not being able to protect him if he didn’t love,” Daniel assumes.       Sammy whines with pity as if he agrees with it and barks quietly as he looks at everybody guiltily.       “Quiet, quiet, my boy, it’s okay,” Helene pronounces softly, petting Sammy’s head. “Don’t whine.”       “Alright, folks, let’s decide what to do,” Terrence takes a word. “I doubt there’s a meaning in waiting for much longer. Peter will hardly show up by himself.”       “And the leader of the gang and his accomplices will hardly contact us and demand something,” Edward assumes.       “Of course, there’s a chance that someone may call me or catch me somewhere outside to tell me they’re holding Peter,” Helene says thoughtfully. “But I’m not sure.”       “But how would they contact you?” Raquelle surprises. “Do they have your number?”       “Most likely. I’ve received two or three messages from an unknown number.”       “Unknown number?” Natalia asks.       “But why didn’t you tell us about it before?” Daniel wonders.       “I just recently received the first one,” Helene throws her hands up. “After I was tried to drown.”       “And what was in the messages?” Terrence asks.       “Nothing special…” Helene swallows nervously. “Just threats of destroying me. Making Peter break up with me. It’s like you will never be happy together.”       “And in this case, they’ll definitely go to the end,” Edward assumes. “Until Rose really believes all these lies.”       “He almost believed it,” Daniel adds. “But not fully yet. Maybe even our effort has to do with it. Or maybe, his feelings don’t let him end it all.”       “And nobody has given him proof of it yet,” Anna adds. “But even in this case, Rose believes some stinkers more than his close friends.”       “And it hurts,” Natalia notices with sadness in her eyes. “It hurts when someone doesn’t believe you, even when you tell them the truth.”       “Nevertheless, we can understand Peter’s feelings,” Raquelle notices. “And knowing what they did to him one day, I’m not surprised that it’s such a pain to him. The blond’s afraid to be betrayed again. He’s afraid that his love would be killed.”       “I’ve never given him a reason to doubt me,” Helene sighs heavily. “I’ve never betrayed him and put anything above that man. I’d sacrifice many things easily if it helped me feel much better.”       “We believe you, Helene,” Anna says softly. “We believe they’re trying to slander you and make you a mean and nasty bitch for Peter.”       “I don’t know what to do. How I can make him sure that it’s all slander.”       “Do nothing!” Terrence exclaims. “When you’re right and know you did nothing bad, you don’t have to scream about it on all the corners. Truth doesn’t fear silence and doesn’t need a public or a show. If you scream to the whole world, you let everyone know you’re afraid to be revealed.”       “Indeed, friend, when you tell everyone that it’s all a lie, and you’ve been framed and beat your chest, there are questions,” Daniel supports. “Someone may think you’re lying. As they say, silence is golden.”       “You don’t have to tell your truth to everyone,” Natalia notices. “The important thing is that you know it and keep standing your ground, even if it would be easier to lie.”       “Time will put everything in its place,” Edward assures with a slight smile. “The most important thing is not to betray what you’re loyal to with all your heart.”       “I’m not gonna lie,” Helene sighs. “I will not succumb to the pressure and say I betrayed Peter. I will not say I’m lying to him insolently and having affairs with other men.”       “Maybe, Peter will get cool a little and ask himself if he’s doing the right thing someday,” Raquelle expresses hope. “Whether it’s right to attack you like this.”       “No matter how hurt it is to hear all these charges, I will not stop loving him and wishing him the best. Peter is one of the most important people in my life who means a lot to me. Even if he leaves me, it will not kill my love.”       “Trust me, darling, he will not forget you, either,” Daniel replies confidently. “Peter got a thing for you for one and a half years. One and a half! You were the reason why he prevented all the attempts of other girls to flirt with him. Rose gave a chance to nobody. Even if there were good enough ladies. These feelings can’t be forgotten for one moment.”       “Most likely, they’ll never be forgotten,” Natalia smiles shyly. “And if you wanna meet someone else, you will be looking at each other in all of those who give you some attention.”       “I don't need another man, guys,” Helene shakes her head. “I only need Peter. Either I will be with him, or I will not be with anyone. He is the only one I see as my husband and the father of my children. And Grandma was right when she said Rose was kinda similar to Grandpa Roger when he was young. Trust me, he was really a handsome man. Yes, Grandpa was very harsh and proud, but he was fair and decent.’       “I wish everything ended soon,” Anna encourages with a slight smile. “I wish Pete didn’t make such an unforgivable mistake.”       “Come on, we will solve it somehow later. Don’t worry. The important thing is that he stays alive. That those scums didn’t kill Peter before we find him.”       “The only thing we can do now is contact Mr. Johnson and tell him about Peter’s disappearance,” Raquelle says thoughtfully.       “Wouldn’t he tell us to wait for twenty-four hours?” Helene expresses anxiety. “As it usually happens, when someone wanna report a missing person.”       “Yeah, but he does know that the case of Peter is serious,” Natalia notices. “Something horrible may happen at any time.”       “No, no, Mr. Johnson is a smart man and understands everything,” Terrence shakes his head. “He won’t refuse to listen to us and help.”       “Yeah, we’re lucky to know the trustworthy policeman that we can always ask for help,” Anna notices thoughtfully.       “Mr. MacClife does know who you should befriend,” Daniel replies.       Sammy barks confidently two times.       “So, let’s not waste time then?” Terrence throws his hands up. “Sitting on the sofa and talking about the same things for the hundredth time doesn’t make sense.”       “Yeah, let’s call him,” Raquelle agrees. “Explain the situation shortly not to distract him from his work. And when he’s able to meet us, we’ll give him all the details.”       “Hey, Terrence, give me the phone,” Daniel says and takes his smartphone from the coffee table. “You’re sitting closer to it.”       Terrence takes the wire phone and gives it to Daniel with no question.       “I will find the number and call.”       “I always forget to add it to the notebook,” Anna confesses shyly.       “One of the most important numbers, for your information,” Edward notices.       “I know. But I will surely fix it.”       While Daniel scrolls the long list of contacts on his smartphone to find the one he needs, Sammy enjoys the attention from Raquelle, next to whom he is sitting now, and the others look at each other with sadness in their eyes. At some moment, everybody shakes slightly when they suddenly hear a loud, quiet melody that is made by one of the smartphones lying on the coffee table.       “It’s mine…” Helene pronounces tensely, getting a little pale and rounding her eyes.       “Who’s that?” Natalia gets suspicious.       “Hm…” Helene takes her smartphone and looks at the screen. “I don’t know this number… I don’t have it in my contact list.”       “Damn, is that one of those deadbeats?” Edward asks himself.       “Maybe, they will tell you what to do to set Peter free?” Anna expresses hope.       “I’m kinda afraid to answer…” Helene confesses hesitantly.       “Don’t be afraid, friend, c’mon!” Terrence exclaims.       “We’re here, don’t worry,” Raquelle calms down.       “Yeah, Marshall, answer the call,” Daniel insists. “What if it’s gonna be worse.”       “Oh, my God, when will everything end?” Helene sighs heavily.       Sammy barks quietly with sadness in his eyes and touches softly Helene’s knee with his paw as if he says he is near and ready to support her. The girl herself exhales sharply with closed eyes to get rid of tension, runs her shaking finger over the screen, and puts the smartphone to her ear.       “Hel-l-lo…” Helene pronounces in a shaking from excitement voice.       “Helene…” the male little hoarse voice pronounces with a heavy breath. “It’s me… Peter…”       “Peter?”       Everyone immediately moves their widely open eyes to Helene with the thought that their hearts stop for a moment, and Sammy makes a quiet sound and starts shaking his head as he watches his owner closely.       “My God, Peter, thank God!” Helene exhales sharply, putting her hand on her forehead. “Where have you been all this time?”       “Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Peter replies quietly.       “What happened to you? Where did you disappear? Where are you? Don’t be silent, Peter! Tell me what happened!”       “It’s a long story. But everything’s alright now.”       “The guys and I almost got gray hairs on our heads! We’ve been racking our brains on where to find you and what to do.”       “They know everything?”       “Yup, they do.”       “I’m so sorry about what happened,” Peter says with sadness in his eyes. “I… I didn’t really wanna have anyone worried.”       “Wait, how did you call me? You don’t have a phone with you!”       “Yup, no phone. But I was lucky to find a telephone in the city. And I had some coins in my pocket that I needed.”       “My gosh, I was wondering why the number was so strange.”       “You’re scared?”       “Of course, I am! The number is unknown! And I recently began to receive messages with threats.”       “Messages?” Peter rounds his eyes. “What messages?”       “It’s a long story, Pete. I will explain everything to you later.”       “Okay. Anyway, I’m sorry about scaring you. I didn’t really want to.”       “Listen, where are you now? Can we meet somewhere?”       “Sorry, Helene, I can’t…”       “Why can’t you?”       “Something terrible happened…”       “What do you mean, something terrible?” Helene opens her eyes widely.       “I don’t even know how to say it…” Peter pronounces in a little shaking voice.       “My gosh, Peter, don’t tell me something happened to you.”       At this moment, the others look at each other, and Sammy whines quietly.       “Nope, the case is not about me…” Peter says quietly.       “What did they do to you?” Helene asks excitedly. “Please, Peter, tell me the truth. Hide nothing from me. I couldn’t calm down when I knew nothing about you.”       “The case is about Sammy, Helene.”       “Sammy?”       “I lost him.” Peter exhales with a shake. “We were together before we ran into some deadbeats. They took me away, but Sammy stayed all alone. And they threw my phone out, too.”       “Listen, sweetie…”       “I came to that place to take Sammy out. But he is not here anymore. As well as my phone.”       “Peter…”       “I’ve checked out everything many times and asked some people,” Peter jabs excitedly. “Nobody saw him! Sammy’s been kinda swallowed by the ground.”       “Please, don’t jab like this. Relax, exhale, breathe deeper…”       “Forgive me, honey. It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry about what happened. I know you’re mad at me because your dog has been lost. I was terribly afraid to tell you about it. But I had to.”       “It’s okay, Peter, don’t worry.”       “Don’t worry, Helene, I’m begging you,” Peter keeps jabbing, breathing heavily enough. “I swear, even if I have to look for him until the night, I will not give up. I will not be back until I find Sammy.”       “Sammy is okay, Pete!” Helene exclaims. “Don’t need to look for him.”       “No, no, I will find him. Don’t worry.”       “He is with me now! Sammy’s alive and healthy.”       “What?” Peter opens his eyes widely. “What do you mean he’s with you?”       “My doggy didn’t disappear. He’s okay. He just feels pain when we scratch his belly. And he’s got some injuries on his face. But it’s okay anyway.”       “But that’s impossible! Sammy stayed in the place those scums took me away from! He wasn’t with me!”       “Don’t worry, Pete, he is with me now.” Helene glances at Sammy. “Sammy, bark something to calm him down.’       Sammy starts barking loudly with great happiness and relief.       “Sammy!” Peter pronounces happily. “Sammy, is that you, buddy?”       Sammy barks loudly again and whines with pity to confirm it.       “Thank God, I was so scared! I thought I lost you!”       “Natalia found him,” Helene confesses. “She went somewhere in her car, and Sammy ran on the road and stopped her. And then he gave her your phone. After that, Rochester took him with her.”       “Oh, you made me freaking happy. I’ve been so restless.”       “She realized something horrible had happened to you shortly and contacted all of us immediately. So, we left our business aside and came together to decide what to do.”       “Okay, where are you all now?”       “At Daniel and Anna’s home.”       “Daniel and Anna’s home?”       “Yep, come here. We’re all here now.”       “I got it. I will come shortly.”       “We initially thought you were taken away alongside Perkins ‘cause he was supposed to be with you.”       “Nope, he wasn’t with me.” Peter rubs his forehead with his hand and runs his fingers through his hair. “And to be honest, Daniel and I fought a little.”       “We know. He told us everything.”       “Is he okay there?”       “Yes, yes, Daniel is okay. As I’ve said, we thought you both were in trouble, but he came back home as if nothing had happened. He said he was in a hardware shop.”       “You made me two times happier,” Peter smiles much wider.       “Come here now! We’ll be waiting for you.”       “Okay, I’ll try to come as soon as possible.”       “Maybe one of us should take you? Where are you now?”       “No, no, don’t take me. I will come to you by myself. Catch a taxi and come quietly.”       “You have money?”       “Yup, I have money. Luckily, those bastards didn’t steal it.”       “Okay, as you want.”       “I will come soon and tell you everything. Tell you something interesting.”       “Okay, Pete, we’ll be waiting.”       “See you soon.”       Helene finishes the call by pressing the button on the sensor screen of her smartphone, and Sammy barks quietly.       “Oh, damn, finally, he’s been found!” Terrence runs his hands over his face sharply.       “We were right?” Daniel asks. “Those bastards caught him? Yeah?”       “Peet said he ran into some deadbeats when he walked with Sammy,” Helene confesses. “I don’t know how many of them, I wanna tell you in advance. But they really took him away somewhere after they threw his phone out. And Sammy stayed all alone.”       “And where did they take him?” Natalia wonders. “They let him go? Or he ran away?”       “I dunno, guys, Rose didn’t tell me details. He promised to tell us everything after coming here.”       “He’s coming here?” Anna asks.       “Yup, he said he’d catch a taxi and come to us soon.”       “It takes like half an hour to come here from the place where I found Sammy,” Natalia notices thoughtfully. “If he’s there now, we will have to wait for him.”       “Peter was so worried about Sammy…” Helene says with sadness in her eyes. “He felt so guilty ‘cause my boy stayed all alone. He didn’t wanna meet us until he found him. He jabbed on the phone, breathed heavily… And his voice was shaking…”       “I dare to believe he did not only because of Sammy,” Daniel says thoughtfully. “I feel that Rose was scared to death. And since he was all alone, those bastards could have fun to the fullest.”       “We will find it out now,” Raquelle replies confidently.       “He said he wanted to tell us something interesting,” Helene confesses.       “About those bastards?” Edward specifies.       “Maybe.”       “Okay, then we will contact Mr. Johnson a little later. First, we will listen to Peter and find out what happened to him.”       “Gosh, I wish he came soon!” Anna begs. “I wanna know what kind of trouble he is as soon as possible.”       “Anyway, we can relax now ‘cause Peter is alive and healthy,” Terrence notices.       “For how long?” Natalia expresses anxiety. “Until those bastards kill the blond, they will not calm down.”       “It’s okay, we will handle it,” Daniel raises his head proudly.       Sammy barks confidently two times in approval.       “You can relax, buddy, your second owner is okay,” Edward notices cheerfully, yanking Sammy by the ears. “Alive, healthy!”       “He was worried about you so much, too, baby,” Helene adds. “Because he loves you.”       Sammy barks quietly again and makes a quiet whine, enjoying the way Helene pets his face tenderly and presses him close to herself as if he is something valuable and dear to her heart. While the men look at the girls with a slight smile and embrace them a little tighter, and the ladies put their hands on their chests or have their heads rest on their wide, trustworthy shoulders.       

***

      The friends have to wait for more than half an hour before Peter’s arrival. All this time, they have not stopped guessing what could happen to him and what they will hear now. Sammy still looks excited, but he calmed down a little after hearing the voice of his owner’s boyfriend’s voice, and she stopped crying bitterly and exhaled with relief. And the others let themselves relax, even if they do not rush to be happy, wishing to see their friend with their own eyes and know he is alive and healthy. While the men go to one side, the girls stay together in another, and Sammy tries to give attention to everyone. But at some moment, everybody can hear the loud sound of the doorbell in the living room that makes them forget everything they talked about before.       “I will open,” Daniel says.       Daniel comes to the hall door in a fast step, literally in a run, opens it, and sees Peter being exhausted by all the terrible tortures that would have lasted forever if he had not run away.       “Fucking shit, Peter!” Daniel exclaims. “Finally!”       When Peter barely crosses the doorstep, he ends up in a tight hug with Daniel, who exhales with relief with a wide smile on his face. However, the blond answers to this with happiness, taking the pain in his whole body much easier at the realization of being able to see his close friends.       “Fuck, you, dumb asshole, don’t do this to me anymore!” Daniel demands loudly. “I was fucking horrified when I learned everything from the guys.”       “It’s alright,” Peter replies with a slight smile. “It’s all over now.”       “I’m sorry, buddy. I shouldn't have left you alone. I, idiot, did know well what was happening, but I left you anyway.”       “You did the right thing by leaving. Otherwise, they would’ve caught both of us.”       “They would’ve rather done!” Daniel claps Peter slightly on his head. “We should’ve gotten through it together.”       “No, brother, don’t say it! It should never have happened.”       “It should have!”       Daniel steps away from Peter and takes him tightly by the shoulders that he squeezes slightly.       “Holy cow…” Daniel opens his eyes widely, looking at Peter’s face better and being horrified at all his bruises and blood on it. “Your face…”       “I know, I don’t look like a pretty boy now,” Peter replies shyly.       “Fuck, you’ve got bruises on your face, and one of your eyes is puffy and can barely open!” Daniel exhales sharply, getting pale from horror and understanding that he lacks air. “What did those bastards do to you?”       “Don’t better ask me… A little bit before I would’ve died.” Peter winces slightly, grabbing his stomach. “Everything in my body hurts now.”       “Shit… I dunno what to say! Dunno what to say!”       Daniel’s dumbfounded eyes stop on Peter’s neck, on which there is a bright red, tiny track of the strangling attempt, and two pairs of dots that he got after getting shocked by the electric gun.       “It seems like they put you under a cruel medieval torture.”       “I can say so.”       “It’s all my fault,” Daniel pronounces in a shaking voice, shaking his head. “If I hadn’t left, you would’ve been okay.”       “Please, don’t blame yourself for anything.”       “Seriously? You are the fuck beaten black and blue! One bastard beat you literally much stronger than Potter beat Anna!”       “It’s okay. It will be gone soon.”       “Okay, bro, come with me now. The guys are waiting in the living room. I will bring the first aid kit, and you’ll tell us what happened and who those bastards are, who dared to do this to you.”       When Daniel wants to turn around and go to the living room, Peter stops him by taking him by the wrist.       “Forgive me, Daniel,” Peter apologizes with sadness in his eyes. “I’m sorry about saying too much to you. I wasn’t right.”       “It’s okay, buddy, I’m not mad at you,” Daniel smiles shyly.       “I didn’t really wanna hurt you. I know it’s painful for you to remember that case with Anna, and I, bastard, told you nobody the hell knows what.”       “I get it. You were just mad.”       “I just felt fucking hurt ‘cause you didn’t wanna support me. That my closest friend doesn’t stand by my side and defends someone else.”       “But in this case, I was honest. I wasn’t gonna lie and pretend that you did the right thing.”       “You are probably absolutely right.”       Peter moves his eyes aside for a second.       “Maybe, they really wanna deceive me, but I attack Helene for nothing and shouldn't be mad at my friends for their refusal to be by my side.”       “I completely understand your feelings,” Daniel says quietly. “But until you have some real proof, you can’t blame a person for anything.”       “Anyway, I shouldn’t have attacked you.” Peter shrugs. “Who am I to ban you from having your opinion and tell you to be by my side? And you’re not guilty of what’s happening. It’s all my problem.”       “Listen, Pete, let’s just forget everything and never talk about it,” Daniel suggests. “I will pretend that I didn’t hear your wishes and will not reproach you for that. Okay?”       “This case is only about Helene and me. We’re the only ones to solve it all. And friends have a right to agree and protest. If you don’t support me, it’s okay.”       “But it doesn’t mean I’m not ready to support you at all. No matter what, you’re my friend. One of my closest people. I can surely call you my brother.”       “You, too,” Peter smiles shyly. “You became my first close friend, who means a lot to me. Yes, things have never been good for us all the time. But I’d make a great mistake if I let our friendship end.”       “Even if they offer me something fucking cool for betraying and harming you, I will fuck that person off,” Daniel says confidently. “Nothing in this world is more important than our friendship. Nothing is more important than my close people.”       “Anyway, let’s agree that we won’t let any disagreements ruin our friendship. Let’s remember you won’t agree with me all the time, but I won’t be able to support you when you’re guilty of some mistakes.”       “At least, we are honest with each other. We’re not afraid to tell our opinion. Even if it’s not always what we wanna hear.”       “That’s why I respect you for. I hate liars and flatterers.”       “In short, bro, you can relax.”       Daniel puts his hand on Peter’s shoulder.       “I forgave you, and I ain’t mad at you. I stopped after walking miles in the hardware store, got fucking overwhelmed when I found out that some assholes took you away, and got gray hair from the way you look like a boxer after getting a zero in ten rounds.”       “Forgive me again. I am ashamed of everything I said. And I didn’t wanna hurt you at all.”       “C’mon, Rose, forget!” Daniel raises his hands. “We got mad, we forgot it! Okay!”       “Thanks, bro,” Peter exhales with relief. “Anyway, I am even glad we fought. You got yourself rid of the perspective to have the same ‘gorgeous’ face as mine.”       “I’d cut my balls for my best friend.”       “No, don’t attempt the holiest thing!”       “In short, it’s a deal? Right?”       “Deal!”       Peter and Daniel share a homely handshake and take each other in a tight hug, during which they smile much wider and share a slight slap on the shoulder, back, and head.       “Okay, let’s go to the guys,” Daniel suggests after stepping back. “Let’s cure you a little.”       “Could you give me some water, please?” Peter asks, putting his hand on his abdomen, which is burning and wincing slightly. “My throat’s so dry now.”       “Yeah, sure, I will give. And I will take some ice from the refrigerator. So, you can put it on your bruises.”       “Oh, my eye is so puffy that I can barely open it…” Peter complains, barely touching the bruise under his puffy eye.       “C'mon, buddy, we will solve it all now.”       Hugging Peter by the shoulders, Daniel goes to the living room, while the blond can barely move his feet and holds his stomach as he feels a hellish pain every time he makes a little move. When the guys are there, everyone oohs as they move their eyes to the half-alive, beaten guy that can barely walk, seeing that his face is uglier because of bruises and blood tracks that are dry now. While Sammy whines very quietly with pity in his eyes as he puts his tail between his legs from horror and fear.       “Oh, my gosh!” Anna closes her mouth with her hand with widely open eyes.       “It’s awful!” Raquelle exclaims, getting a little pale.       “My God, Peter…” Natalia horrifies, opening her mouth.       “Shiver me…” Edward pronounces every word slowly in a low voice.       “Holy shit…” Terrence gets sharply pale.       “Peter, sweetie…” Helene pronounces in a shaking voice. “Honey… My God…”       Helene comes to Peter in a quick step and takes him in a tight hug with tears in her eyes, putting her arm around his neck, snuggling her nose in the man’s shoulder, and letting herself cry much more bitterly. The man does not even think of rejecting her and presses his girlfriend to himself with pleasure, putting his arms around the girl’s waist and running his shaking hands over her back up and down. Meanwhile, Daniel goes to get a glass of water and find the first aid kit to treat all the wounds, and the others surround the blond, whose appearance makes them deeply shocked.       “It’s okay, sweetie, don’t cry, please,” Peter says as quietly as possible, caressing Helene’s head with one hand and running another over her back, and kisses her sweetly on the top of her head. “I’m here. Alive.”       “I was so scared!” Helene exclaims with despair and sniffs loudly, while all the muscles of her body squeeze from tension and shake. “I thought I’d go crazy from fear and horror.”       “I was freaking scared, too, to be honest.”       “Please, don’t do this to me anymore. Don’t make me get through it. I will not take it.”       “I’m sorry, Helene, I’m really very sorry.”       “My gosh, Peter…”       Helene steps away from Peter a little, grabs his face softly, and opens her eyes full of horror widely when she sees all the bruises and blood tracks on it.       “Who did this? Who dared to beat you so strongly? You’re beaten black and blue!”       “It’s okay, it will be gone soon.” Peter winces slightly when Helene barely touches his bruise under his puffy eye with her finger. “One or two weeks before I’m back to normal.”       “I dunno what to say… I dunno what to say. I’m shocked.”       “Don’t worry, sweetie, it’s all over now.”       Peter takes Helene in a tight hug and runs his fingers through her hair.       “It’s okay.”       Helene says nothing and just keeps crying bitterly on Peter’s shoulder, putting her arms around his waist and pressing herself to him as closely as possible, as if she says she does not want to let her sweetheart go. The man tries to calm his girlfriend down with a caress, feeling he gets much better, while the lady’s warmth literally makes him forget about any pain, and her small, tender palms give the caress that his beaten body needs so badly.       However, at some moment, Helene steps away from Peter because she understands the others want to greet him, too, even if they are standing and waiting patiently. But when they get a chance, Terrence runs to Rose first and takes him in a tight brotherly hug.       “Pete, bro, I’m so happy you’re okay!” Terrence exclaims happily and claps Peter on his head.       “Holy shit, buddy, we almost went crazy here!” Edward confesses, hugs Peter tightly when Terrence steps back, and claps him on his back.       “How did you dare to scare us like this?” Anna resents when she gets a chance to hug Peter tightly.       “We were horrified ‘cause we didn’t know where to find you!” Raquelle exclaims, hugging Peter touchingly.       “If you do this again, I will kick your ass!” Natalia threatens funnily, hugging Peter and ruffling his hair a little.       “Forgive me, please, guys,” Peter apologizes with sadness in his eyes. “I didn't really think it would happen.”       “What happened to you?” Edward asks excitedly. “Who beat you so strongly?”       “Hide nothing!” Terrence jabs. “We wanna know everything!”       “I promise I will tell you everything now,” Peter promises, running his hands over his disheveled hair. “Just let me catch a breath. I still can’t come to myself after this adventure.”       Putting his hands on his hips, Peter exhales sharply.       “I can surely say that the past meetings with those bastards were nothing. Unlike what I had to get through today.”       “You must go to the hospital!” Helene says with anxiety, putting her hand on Peter’s chest. “Those cads definitely didn’t show mercy for you.”       “They didn’t even think.”       “Whoa, they also cut your arm!” Anna horrifies, taking Peter’s hand and opening her eyes widely at the sight of multiple mild scars on the inside of his wrist. “You’ve even got burns…”       “Luckily, the wounds aren’t deep. They’ll be gone soon.”       “Hey, do ya feel too bad?” Raquelle expresses anxiety.       “Oh, I’ve got pain everywhere…” Peter complains and, wincing slightly, rubs his abdomen that hurts. “Those bastards made me a helpless punchbag to hit. And I can’t open my eye. It can barely see.”       “Ice, you’ve gotta put on ice,” Natalia says confidently. “And drink a painkiller. And apply ointment on your bruises.”       “Daniel will bring everything I need here. And I asked him to give me some water. Since my throat is like the Sahara desert now.”       While the excited men and girls shake their heads as they see Peter’s terrible condition, they do not notice how Sammy runs to them. It’s like everyone forgot about him. But he did not let them do this, and he easily gets attention from them by barking loudly and confidently.       “Sammy!” Peter pronounces happily with a wide smile. “My boy!”       Getting down to his knees carefully, Peter starts scratching and petting Sammy that runs to him and starts snuggling his nose in his face in passion, and tries to lick all his bloody wounds and bruises so hard.       “My gosh, I was so worried!” I thought I lost you. You stayed all alone there.”       Sammy keeps jumping happily in front of Peter from side to side as he wags his tail amicably and whines with pity or makes a loud, heartbreaking bark.       “Forgive me, please… I’m sorry about leaving you. I didn’t want it at all. I’m sorry, buddy… Sorry. It’s my fault.”       Since Sammy is pressing himself too close to his chest, Peter takes the dog in his tight hug, during which the pet keeps whining from happiness and locking his cheek and neck shyly.       “Hey, hey, it’s tickling!” Peter laughs, putting his head on his shoulder. “Not my neck! Sammy… Sammy, stop!”       Sammy barks loudly multiple times, not being able to keep calm in Peter's arms, and twisting with no rest.       “Yeah, I know you were worried about me, too. But now I’m okay. Here I am! Alive! Alive, buddy!”       After stepping away from Peter, Sammy starts howling heartbreakingly as if he tries to apologize to him for not being able to save him.       “No, no, buddy, don’t even worry,” Peter says confidently, caressing Sammy’s face with both hands. “You’re guilty of nothing. You did everything you could.”       Still howling with pity, Sammy raises his head up and then looks hesitantly at the smiling Peter with great shame.       “You’re a good boy, Sammy. I am so proud of you. You were awesome during the fight with those assholes.”       Wrapping Peter’s hand with his paw, Sammy snuggles his nose in his face and licks shyly the man’s nose that is now a little blue.       “Okay, okay, boy, calm down. You did everything right. And I’m really happy you’re okay.”       Sammy lies down on his back, showing his belly to Peter, who caresses it with pleasure energetically at first, but then more tenderly when the dog starts whining from pain.       “Be careful, please, Pete,” Helene. “His stomach hurts.”       “No wonder,” Peter notices. “He was hit so many times with feet and hands. Not less than me, I would say.”       “They are monsters!” Raquelle exclaims. “They ain’t shy of mocking animals.”       “Hey, Natalia, thank you so much for finding him and taking him with ya,” Peter moves his eyes to Natalia with a slight smile.       “I didn't find him,” Natalia shrugs. “Sammy ran on the road and made me stop.”       “Can’t even imagine what would’ve happened to him if you hadn’t gone by there.”       “Let’s not think about it,” Edward says confidently.       “Yeah, the important thing is that you’re with us again,” Terrence adds. “And Sammy’s okay.”       Sammy barks confidently, while Daniel returns to the living room as he is holding a small case with cures and drugs, a closed bottle of water, and pieces of ice wrapped in a rag. First, he leaves it all on the coffee table, and then he comes to his friends and the dog that cannot stop rejoicing over the appearance of his owner’s boyfriend, who watches him with true tender feelings.       “Hey, Sammy, save your wish to help the blond with water treatments for later,” Daniel says confidently, clapping Sammy on his back. “I understand it all, but the guys and I wanna know what happened.”       “Yeah, buddy, we wanna know who did this to you!” Anna exclaims.       “I will tell you everything now,” Peter nods. “I did promise.”       After petting Sammy’s head, Peter tries to get up slowly. Daniel decides to help him shortly, taking his friend under his arm and letting him lean on him. The blond thanks the brunet by smiling slightly and, holding his hand on his stomach, comes to the sofa with the help of Perkins and Terrence, who takes the guy under his arm, too. Sammy does not leave Rose alone and follows him everywhere as if he guards him from any bad things and swears that nobody will dare to hurt Helene’s boyfriend again.       When the men bring Peter to the sofa in a slow step and help him sit down, Daniel gives him the closed bottle of water and a rag with ice. The blond drinks some water shortly, feeling how nicely his throat gets wet and shaking slightly from the frost in his abdomen. Helene decides to treat all the wounds of her boyfriend and takes the first aid kit that she starts work with, while Sammy sits on the floor next to his owner and puts his face on the man’s knee. The others sit on the sofas: someone is now in front of them, someone is on both hands, and someone is next to the exhausted Rose.       “What happened to you, Peter?” Raquelle asks. “Who did this? Tell us everything in order!”       “Yeah, Pete, c’mon, tell us everything,” Edward insists.       “Oh, in short, Dan and I walked with Sammy,” Peter says and winces slightly when Helene carefully puts one of the wounds on his face with a piece of cotton soaked in something. “We took him to the dog area. Later, we decided just to walk in the park.”       Peter decides to put the rag with ice to his eyes, feeling how the frost gets through his whole body.       “As you’ve understood, we fought a little. I said something wrong, and he got mad and decided to get out. So, Sammy and I stayed together.”       “Yeah, Perkins told us everything,” Natalia nods.       “After this, Sammy and I walked a little and went far enough from the park where we were. And then I was caught by one bastard first.”       “Another henchman of the leader?” Daniel specifies.       “Yup. It was the one Edward and I met.”       “The one who pushed you off the stairs?” Edward specifies, frowning slightly.       “He is. With a buzz cut hair.”       “So, what did he need this time?”       “He said some bullshit again. Nothing new. Again, threats of killing me and something like this.”       “So, since we began to meet old familiars, it means he doesn’t have any more accomplices,” Terrence assumes thoughtfully.       “I had to fight with him a little. Sammy did everything he could, even though it didn’t help.”       Peter winces slightly when Helene puts the cotton soaked in something to the wound on his arms.       “And then the second asshole showed up out of nowhere,” Peter confesses. “And it was the one whom Terrence and I met. I mean, one of them.”       “The leader doesn’t really have more accomplices,” Natalia chuckles.       “He attacked me from behind and started to strangle. And from that moment on, I had to fight off both of them. Though it was a more or less possible mission. And it was super hard to deal with three and four people.”       “Do you mean you were attacked by four people?” Helene horrifies, opening her eyes widely.       “Yup. And I could do nothing with it alone. It was physically impossible. After dealing with one, another attacked. It began to get exhausted too fast.”       “Now I see why you beat you so strongly,” Anna concludes.       “And as I understand, did we meet the other two assholes?” Terrence specifies.       “We did,” Peter nods. “One attacked me after the show, and another tried to strangle me not far from Daniel and Anna’s house and drown Helene.”       “That one?” Helene asks, feeling that her heart stops sharply.       “But how did those deadbeats know you’d be there?” Raquelle wonders. “It seems like everything was planned.”       “They probably watched me,” Peter assumes. “I don’t exclude that they did since Perkins and I were together. Those assholes knew we had a fight and saw him leaving.”       “The assholes used the moment,” Daniel throws gloomily and rubs his forehead with a sharp exhalation. “Damn, I shouldn’t have left. I shouldn’t have! I screwed it up to the fuck!”       At this moment, Sammy barks quietly with great pity, looking at Daniel with sadness in his eyes.       “And what was next?” Anna asks hesitantly. “What did they do?”       “Next, they said their leader wanted to meet me personally,” Peter confesses. “They began to take me somewhere, saying he was waiting for me. But I obviously refused to go. That’s why I had to fight off those jackals.”       “And you didn’t?” Edward concludes.       “I lost my strength fast. Fighting with four men was an impossible mission. Even if I was super excited when I saw the bastard, who wanted to drown Helene. I was ready to break his neck.”       Peter growls irritably, clenching his free hand into a fist.       “That bastard started to provoke me, telling me about how hard he felt for Marshall. How much he wanted to fuck her and how cool her boobs and ass were.”       At this moment, Helene glances down and swallows nervously, feeling terribly uncomfortable because of these words, while Raquelle sitting next to her strokes her hand softly.       “But even my wild anger didn’t help me. Those scums got me exhausted too fast and beat me so strongly that any movement was painful to me. My face literally burned as hell, and my eye was already puffy.”       “No wonder,” Natalia pronounces thoughtfully. “Even a tough and enduring man wouldn’t deal with a crowd.”       “We were sure you ran into more than one person,” Raquelle confesses. “We didn’t believe you would be able to get rid of one.”       “Right,” Peter nods. “If one of those bastards had been alone, I would’ve gotten away from him quickly and gotten out. But there were too many of them. No chance.”       “And how long did they play this whitewash game?” Daniel specifies.       “Kinda long. And everything ended after the bastard, who tried to drown Helene, hit me on the head with his foot.”       Peter starts putting the ice against the other areas on his body that have bruises and all the sources of pain, wincing at times because Helene works carefully on his wounds with cotton soaked with something and applies some ointment with a cooling effect that she finds in the first aid kit.       “Everything went blurry before my eyes, and I had a strong headache. It wasn’t even two seconds before I passed out. The last thing I remembered was the faces of those bastards full of anger and Sammy running to me as fast as he could with a loud bark. Then it was a total blackout.”       “And at this moment, they likely took you away after throwing your phone out and leaving Sammy alone,” Daniel assumes.       “Yeah…” Peter swallows nervously. “And I woke up in a different place. At an abandoned place. And I found myself sitting on the chair and tied tightly. My hands and feet – I couldn’t move them. They were tied with ropes too tightly.”       “How awful…” Helene horrifies with literally wet eyes.       Sammy whines in a very quiet and heartbreaking way.       “I tried to set myself free, but I could not,” Peter says. “I had no strength. And my head was tearing from the hellish pain after that bastard’s tornado kick. That pain didn’t let me think soberly. Though I understood I was all in shit. All alone, nobody knows where, without Sammy, without my phone.”       “And what was the abandoned place?” Edward asks.       “I didn’t know at first… But then I found out that it wasn’t too far from the place they took me away from. It was a small three-floor building. Half-ruined, with tons of trash… And rooms without doors.”       “Whoa…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully.       “And since I had a headache, the sound of drops of water not far from me drove me crazy. It was some kind of unbearable torture.”       “You were alone?” Terrence specifies.       “There was nobody around at first. But at some moment, the leader showed up out of the smoke. The one, who started this freaking hell.”       “So, does it mean you know who’s chasing you?” Natalia asks.       “I know,” Peter nods confidently. “A pathetic old man, who is, as he said, fifty-seven years old. He introduced himself as Marcus. Marcus Longbottom.”       “Marcus Longbottom?” Daniel frowns slightly.       “I really never met him before. As one of those bastards, whom we met, said.”       “And what does that old man need from you?” Anna asks. “Money?”       “This is a mystery at the moment. Though he rejected my suggestion of just giving him money shortly. Marcus refused to explain the reason for his actions. It’s like it’s not time for shocking confessions.”       “Ha, when will it come?” Edward chuckles. “When you will be dead?”       “Anyway, he confirmed all these attacks are his work. I mean, that old bastard gave orders, and all his henchmen ran and did what he wanted.”       Peter smirks evilly.       “He can’t even slap in the face strongly. And I’m silent about running. The old man doesn’t have the strength. That’s why he surrounded himself with a crowd of vultures that lick his balls so they gloss and look into his eyes like loyal dogs.”       “M-m-m, that’s Uncle Michael number two?” Terrence smiles slyly. “That old man could do nothing, too. That’s why young assholes did all the dirty work for him.”       “But how does that Marcus look?” Raquelle frowns slightly.       “Nothing special!” Peter exclaims. “Approximately the same height as mine. Slim but with a small belly… Blond hair with gray… His eyes are kinda dark… But it was too dark there. I couldn’t see it clearly. I can only say that they are super evil… His look made me feel the goosebumps on my back, and my balls squeezed fucking strongly from fear.”       “Damn, why couldn’t the old man live quietly?” Daniel wonders. “Why did he the fuck get a grudge against the guy and decide to torture him? Did he go crazy at an old age?”       “And when’s he gonna stop it all?” Helene asks hesitantly, applying ointment on another bruise on Peter’s face with her fingers. “When will Marcus leave you alone and calm down?”       “Not in the near time, for sure. That asshole is too determined. And he’s acting like I committed some kind of sin. It’s like I hurt him many years ago, but he hasn’t forgotten it and wanna take revenge on me.”       “What if it’s true?” Anna assumes. “Maybe, you stood in his way at the wrong time?”       “No, Anna, not at all! How could I stand in the way of the one I met today for the first time?”       “Well, maybe, you harmed some of his close people?” Natalia throws her hands up.       “Who?”       “I dunno… Maybe… That’s the father of, like, the girl you rejected one day. Because… Sometimes parents’ love may cross all the lines. Sometimes mothers and fathers are ready to commit a crime to take revenge for the suffering of their child.”       “At least, Marcus himself told me nothing about it. He gave me no hints at the reason I have to suffer because of him.”       “And what about the version of your mother having to do with what’s happening?” Terrence specifies.       “He confirmed nothing, but he denied nothing. Though he said I should’ve gotten much deeper into it. It’s like the answer is not on the surface.”       “Does it mean we’re on the right track?” Daniel concludes. “Should we focus on everything related to your mother?”       “By the way, did he confirm the attempt to poison Edward?” Helene specifies.       “Yup, it was his work,” Peter nods confidently. “The poison was really made of a foxglove that the doctor talked about. And Carla, who was caught by Blake, really had to do with it. He knows the police are looking for her, and that’s why he helped her and her child to leave the city and hide somewhere.”       “I ain’t surprised,” Edward throws gloomily. “They planned everything well.”       “Marcus initially thought Carla would add poison to all the bottles in our dressing room,” Peter says. “And she was ready to do this. For some money, as he said, as a thankfulness and a gift for her kid. But Blake didn’t let her do what she wanted.”       “Does it mean there’s no chance to catch that gal?” Natalia concludes.       “The chance is too small. Though Marcus definitely knows where that bitch is hiding.” Peter clears his throat quickly. “And yeah, I forgot to say she is a friend of the bastard, who wanted to drown Helene.”       “Wow, what a twist!” Helene pronounces surprisingly.       “It’s clear she’s a bitch since she’s a friend of that bastard,” Daniel throws gloomily.       “Agree,” Peter nods.       “What else did you find out?” Anna asks. “What are his next plans?”       “Marcus didn’t say anything else. He just confirmed his plans of destroying me, dealing with the men, and catching Helene. They even wanna kill Sammy. It’s like the dog ruins all their plans.”       Sammy makes a quiet sound that shows his recentness.       “And after this, my personal nightmare began,” Peter says. “Marcus decided that beating me wasn’t enough. And he told his fools to beat me much more. Enjoy, so to say, the moment when I had my hands and feet tied and could say nothing.”       “My gosh, it’s awful…” Natalia closes her mouth with a hand with widely open eyes.       “What are you talking about, Peter?” Helene wonders in a shaking voice.       “I ain’t lie, guys,” Peter pronounces without emotions. “I felt freaking bad before, but after another round, I seriously thought I’d die. Because they showed no mercy. They did everything they wanted. All four. While Marcus was standing aside, and had orgasms. Laughing, rejoicing, encouraging those bastards…”       “We were so worried for the reason all this time,” Edward concludes. “We felt those assholes did something horrible to you.”       “Sammy felt something bad, too,” Raquelle assumes. “He couldn’t calm down and whined all the time.”       Sammy barks quietly and makes a heartbreaking howl, while Anna pets his head softly.       “Bastards, I wish an airplane or a train crushed them all to the fuck…” Daniel blunts under his nose in a low voice, frowning his forehead strongly and clenching his hands into fists. “I wish evil dogs ripped their fucking dicks.”       “And they strangled you, judging by the track on your neck,” Natalia notices thoughtfully, pointing at the track from the cable after the strangle attempt.       “Not just this, friend,” Peter replies. “They also decided to make me the uninterruptible power supply.”       “What do you mean?” Edward frowns slightly.       “They hit me with an electric gun. More than one time.”       “What?” Anna horrifies loudly, opening her eyes widely. “Electric gun?”       “The impression, guys, is ‘incredible’!” Peter notices ironically. “It’s like someone takes your bones and muscles and starts to squeeze them on all sides. Sharply. With no pity. Like taking a rag and starting to squeeze it. And your heart beats so fast that it’s about to jump out of your chest. Or stop to the fuck.”       “Gosh, Peter, my sweetheart…” Helene pronounces in a shaking voice with pity in her eyes, puts her arms around Peter’s waist, presses herself to him as closely as possible, kisses him tenderly on her cheek, and puts her head on his shoulder. “Can’t believe it…”       “It seems like those assholes put you under a series of torture!” Edward exclaims.       “You’re right, buddy!” Peter exclaims, while Helene caresses his head tenderly. “When I screamed, I almost lost my voice. Cuts on my hands are fucking nothing.”       “I dunno what to say…” Daniel shakes his head. “Just have nothing to say.”       “Those assholes are monsters!” Terrence resents. “Real monsters!”       “And they attack all together one person!” Natalia adds. “And they feel freaking good to know they would take victory anyway.”       “But I was shaking so strongly that the ropes weakened a little at some moment,” Peter notices. “My hands were so numb while they were tied.”       “While you get ten thousand volts with an electric wave, you unconsciously become a hybrid of Hulk and Tor,” Natalia tries to joke. And even the quietest and shyest one would raise their voice.”       “I hope you, guys, will never have to get through it.”       “Think I’ve done it.”       “What do ya mean you’ve done?” Edward opens his eyes widely. “What does it mean?”       “It happened in my childhood,” Natalia smiles a little falsely. “I touched a live wire out of stupidity and was hit with electricity freaking hard.”       “Wow, you’ve never told us about it!” Raquelle pronounces surprisingly.       “That’s good someone shut the electricity down. I didn’t lose consciousness, my heart didn’t stop, but I had strong seizures, a burned hand, and breath issues. I was rushed to the hospital. I had to spend a lot of time recovering. But it’s strange that it didn’t impact my mental health at all. I think I was just a kid and didn’t take everything too seriously. I didn’t understand anything. That’s why I wasn’t too hurt.”       “Were you probably too curious and checking through everything?” Terrence assumes.       “I’d say so. But actually, I touched that wire accidentally. And I was a baby: I think I was like five or six. What could I understand at that time?”       “Yeah… As it turned out, Edward and you are similar not just because of your sentimental characters but also your love for trouble. My bro can’t stay in the same place, and you play with live wires.”       “And where were your mom and dad?” Anna asks.       “I was electrocuted in kindergarten,” Natalia confesses. “The kindergartner was distracted by something, and the children went on different sides. And I was interested in some golden things stuck out of the cable. They shined so beautifully and were like a magnet to me. So, I decided to find out what it was.”       “It’s strange that they didn’t watch these things,” Peter notices. “Especially, in kindergarten.”       “Agree. And after that case, my parents started a scandal to all the members of the kindergarten, called everyone out, so they checked them closely, and sent me to a different one where they watched children all the time.” Natalia swallows nervously. “But the kindergartners were very rude there. And they shouted if you did something wrong and didn’t listen to them. That’s what scared me a lot. And I lost any motivation to go to kindergarten. Though I really liked the previous one.”       “But why didn’t your parents take you out?” Edward asks.       “It was already time to go to school. Thank God, I didn’t go to that kindergarten for too long. But it was enough to make me remember the moments when my mom drove me to kindergarten and left me with the kindergartners.”       “Come on, Rochester!” Helene exclaims. “Any child knows that you must not touch live wires and put your fingers in a socket. When I just stood near a socket, Grandpa or Grandma always kicked me out and read me a lecture about safety guidelines. Of course, I didn’t understand what they wanted from me, but after a few cases like these, I thought I wouldn’t better come.”       “Yeah, I was an active enough child. I was interested in everything.”       “I thought of hitting myself with an electric when I was doing self-harming,” Peter confesses. “When just cutting my hands wasn’t enough. And I wanted to find new ways to torture me.”       “So, you tasted the new feelings today!” Daniel exclaims.       “That I don’t wanna feel anymore.”       “Did you get these red spots on your neck after an electric gun?” Helene specifies.       “Yup, it. Though not only did they hit me on my neck. They also hit me hard under my chest and on my stomach.”       “And those cads weren’t definitely gonna stop,” Anna assumes. “They were ready to torture you until you lost consciousness or actually died.”       “Oh, yeah! They wanted to torture me for some time and then drive to another place. Kidnap me, just saying! Marcus didn’t even plan to let me go. He thought I’d be his captive.”       “But how did ya get out of there then?” Daniel surprises. “If you were beaten and tied, were put under torture with an electric gun, and were nobody the hell knows where…”       “Yeah, we could’ve never seen you again!” Helene notices excitedly and makes a gesture to ask Peter to give her his second hand for treating wounds.       “I’ve already said the ropes weakened when I was shaking under torture with an electric gun,” Peter recalls and moves the rag with ice off his eye. “So, while that old bastard said some bullshit, and those fools stood next to him and licked his ass, I decided to use the case and try to untie myself again. And I started to be lucky, even if my fingers could barely do anything ‘cause they were numb.”       “And you did it?” Terrence asks.       “Yup, I did. And I didn’t have any problems with the ropes on my feet.”       “Did you do this right before their eyes?” Edward rounds his eyes.       “Nope, they turned around. To find new guns for torture in the backpack. And I used the moment and set myself free quickly.”       Peter chuckles evilly.       “You must’ve seen their faces when they turned around and saw me standing in front of them with the chair in my hands and looking like, ‘Surprise, bitch!’ They even choked on air.”       “Wow, you slayed it!” Anna surprises nicely.       “And then the first one got a hit in the face with the chair, the second, the third, the fourth… They got a hint on the chest and balls… And I tasted their electric gun on those assholes.”       “So, you didn’t get away from the four at first, but then literally threw them on all sides?” Raquelle cannot believe what she hears.       “I just finally realized that the only person who could help me was none other than me. I was all alone. Nobody heard me. I had nobody to expect help from. So, I magically managed to take control of myself.”       “Unbelievable!” Terrence pronounces with a slight smile.       “And I also hit Marcus himself with the electric gun freaking hard. And while he was shaking in seizures, and two ass-lickers of his rushed to their beloved Mr. Longbottom shortly, I started to run. Of course, the two others ran after me, but I was running so fast that they just had no chance.”       “You’re awesome, man!” Daniel exclaims with his head proudly raised. “You braced yourself and kicked everyone’s asses!”       “I was under a strong adrenaline. I would say, that’s the only reason I survived. Adrenaline made me super fast and super active. Honestly, I was shocked by myself, too.”       “And where did you run after this?” Edward specifies.       “Went down to the first floor and got out through one of the broken windows. Ran around the entire building and ended up near the hall door.”       “And did you have to walk on your feet in the condition like yours?” Natalia asks.       “Nope… I didn’t…” Peter bites his lip slightly. “I stole the car of one of the bastards that I found there.”       “You?” Terrence surprises loudly. “Stole the care?”       “I had no choice! I should’ve saved my ass! And since I managed to steal the keys before my escape and open the car, I understood I should’ve done it.”       “But do you understand it was bad?” Helene asks hesitantly. “What if those cads report you to the police and blame you for stealing the car?”       “I was saving my ass. And I was ready for anything for that. Think yourself, how would I have gotten outta there? I had no car, no phone! I couldn’t call any of you and ask you to take me out or call a taxi. So, I had to take such radical measures. Yes, it’s bad, I know. But I had no choice. Since I had a chance, I couldn’t miss it.”       “And where did ya leave the car?” Daniel asks. “I hope you didn’t bring it here?”       “Nope, I left it in the place where they took me away from. When I managed to leave them behind, I came back there to find Sammy. And as I’ve said, it didn’t take too much time to get to that abandoned place. And when I came there, I just threw the keys on the passenger’s seat, closed the car, and left. I reached the park on foot. And then people told me where to find the telephone to contact Helene and tell her about Sammy’s disappearance.”       “I imagine how they looked at ya when you looked like this,” Edward says thoughtfully.       “Oh, yay, all that time, I ran into so many suspicious looks. I heard people whispering and asking themselves why I was all in bruises and blood, and they suggested calling an ambulance. The taxi’s driver actually asked me tons of questions about what happened, where, and how… He literally insisted that we go to the hospital or the police station. Oh… In short, I barely got away from them. I quickly gave the money to him and got out of the salon when we came here. I didn’t even take the change. I said he could leave it to him.”       Sammy barks quickly and whines with pity, while everyone tries to accept what they hear and calm down a little, and Helene finishes working on the wounds on Peter’s arms and applies the ointment carefully on the big bruise under the man’s eye and another one under his second eye.       “Yeah, that was really cruel!” Anna exclaims with horror in her eyes, grabbing her throat with a hand. “It’s even getting harder to breathe.”       “I’m shaking, too,” Natalia agrees and glances at her hands. “My hands are shaking.”       “Thank God, you managed to get out of there,” Raquelle notices. “Otherwise, they would’ve eaten you there.”       “And it’s not the end,” Helene says thoughtfully, putting her head on Peter’s shoulder and her hand on his chest, while he embraces her tightly with both arms and snuggles his nose in the top of the girl’s head. “Next time, they’ll come up with something more awful.”       “But now we know the personality of the asshole that started it all,” Daniel notices.       “I wonder if Mr. Johnson can find out something about Marcus?” Edward frowns slightly. “What if he’s been caught on something?”       “Marcus himself assured me that he was holy for the police ‘cause he hadn’t been caught on any type of crime,” Peter notices. “He is kinda a regular worker that works for the well-being of his country and lives a quiet and peaceful life.”       “And how does the regular worker, as he said, have the money to feed his henchmen?” Terrence crosses his arms over his chest. “As I understand, they’ve got a great appetite. They want a lot of money for their loyalty.”       “As that old bastard said, all those assholes are the sons of his friends. Someone died, someone’s kinda alive. But they’re happy to support their parents and accepted the baton of dirty tricks.”       “M-m-m, that’s something new,” Raquelle smiles slyly. “Sons continue their fathers’ business.”       “Marcus pays something to them, likely,” Natalia assumes. “I don’t believe the case is only about the friendship of their fathers with that man.”       “Nevertheless, Marcus may really be innocent under the law,” Anna notices. “Even if he does some dirty tricks, nobody catches him.”       “We will find it out from Mr. Johnson,” Daniel says confidently. “I don’t doubt that Marcus is a suspicious man with tons of sins.”       “Listen, Pete, don’t you know the names of his accomplices?” Helene asks. “What if you heard some names during the talk?”       “Of course, I know,” Peter nods. “The one who attacked me after the show is Darren. The one who wanted to drown you is Luther. The one who pushed me off the stairs is David. And one of those, Terrence and I met, is Ronald.”       “M-m-m, something’s getting clear,” Raquelle notices thoughtfully.       “By the way, there was another man, but he was silent almost all the time. He sometimes spoke a couple of times. But I clearly remember Marcus calling him Elijah. And as I understand, that’s his so-called right hand. Judging by how hard he licked the old balls of his lord. And jumped in front of him like a whore that earned ten thousand dollars for just one night.”       “And as far as I remember, when you injured your hand after being hit by the car, we met a certain Ivan Payne,” Terrence recalls. “Not a too tall, slouched Quasimodo with a tattoo on his neck.”       “He wasn’t there. I remember that clearly.”       “So, at least, we know Darren has been arrested by the police,” Daniel says thoughtfully. “It means he is not holy for the law, even if he got away with it.”       “Marcus helped him. And he helped him pay the penalty that he got. And they charged him for nothing because I didn’t report him. Though I should’ve done it.”       “Ha, he’s gonna have to work off his debt ‘till the end of his life!” Edward exclaims. “Marcus has probably saved their asses many times.”       “There would be a real reason why they walk around him like cats so hard,” Terrence adds.       “It would be hard to find the dirt for the others, knowing just their name, but we could try,” Anna notices. “And it would be easy to find something for Marcus Longbottom. Of course, if there’s something,”       “No doubt there is,” Helene smiles slyly. “Though his name is supposed to appear somewhere.”       “Besides, if we gave Mr. Johnson the information, there’s a chance that the police may find out many interesting things about him,” Raquelle replies. “His workplace, his place of residence, his family status, his children.”       “Good idea!” Edward clicks his fingers. “They may go to their workplace and question all the members of the staff.”       “That would say Marcus is the innocence itself,” Peter throws gloomily. “They don’t believe he could be indecent ‘cause that asshole pretends to be an angel fucking hard.”       “Yeah, maybe,” Natalia agrees. “Friends, family, colleagues may know nothing about the tricks he does secretly from everyone. For them, he could really be just a good, hard-working inhabitant.”       “It’s okay, anyway, we’ve got a little more information now,” Daniel notices cheerfully. “We can check Marcus out from head to foot.”       “I dunno, I ain’t sure about anything,” Peter crosses his arms over his chest and leans back on the sofa. “That scum won’t calm down until he gets rid of me, my friends, and my girlfriend. And I have no idea how to defend ourselves from him.”       “You better tell us, idiot, why did you the fuck go to the place where they could catch you quickly and quietly?” Natalia demands an answer. “Couldn’t you keep walking in the park?”       “Yeah, yeah, I know, it was stupid, my blame. I should’ve listened to Daniel’s advice and gone home. Instead of walking nobody the fuck knows where. And calm down there.”       “If you’d listened to me, nothing would’ve happened!” Daniel exclaims.       “I know, bro, I know!”       “Oh, alright, talking about it doesn’t make sense!” Terrence takes a word. “The important thing is that everything ended, and you two are okay. One was magically lucky not to end up in the hands of the evil man, and another managed to get rid of the perspective of not seeing the world anymore and being put under torture with an electric gun or something worse again and again.”       “I am even glad we fought!” Peter says. “Glad Perkins got out. I wouldn’t like him to get through everything I had to experience.”       “Buddy, we would get through anything for ya,” Edward says with his head proudly raised.       “Yeah, if we’d known where you were and what happened to you, we would’ve gotten ready and come to help you out immediately,” Terrence adds.       “Aha, we went almost insane as we guessed where to find you and thought you’d be dead,” Daniel confesses.       “Trust me, men, I was freaking scared, too,” Peter smiles shyly. “I was afraid I would never see all of you again.”       “My gosh, I started to shake at just one thought about it!” Helene exclaims, taking Peter under his arm and locking her fingers with his fingers. “One thought was more awful than another.”       “Until I have you, guys, I have a reason to fight and sink my teeth into any chance to live.”       Peter hugs Helene tightly with both arms, presses her to himself, and kisses her sweetly on the top of her head, not thinking about any suspicions, trueness of which he is starting to doubt more and more.       “If everything had happened much earlier, I wouldn’t have even resisted. I would’ve begged Marcus to kill me.”       “No, sweetie, please, don’t say it,” Helene shakes her head with wet eyes, snuggling her nose in Peter’s shoulder. “My heart hurts for you so badly.”       Sammy whines with pity and barks quietly as if he agrees.       “Don’t worry, buddy, everything will end early or late,” Daniel encourages, clapping Peter on the shoulder. “We will make Marcus and all those bastards kiss the ground we walk on.”       “Until we have a solution to this problem, you should spend this time coming to yourself after that nightmare,” Edward adds.       “Yeah, Pete, it would be great if you visited a doctor just in case,” Terrence insists. “I’m kinda worried about your eye that looks super puffy.”       “It’s okay, if I put ice on it, I feel much better,” Peter confesses and, wincing slightly, puts his hand on the top of her head. “Though my head still hurts after the powerful tornado kick of that asshole. He hit me fucking hard.”       “So, get an examination to calm down,” Raquelle advises.       “Don’t worry, guys, I will drive him to the hospital now,” Helene promises. “When we say goodbye, he and I will go there.”       “No, no, it’s okay!” Peter refuses. “The bruises will be gone by themselves in one or two weeks.”       “But what if something’s wrong with your eye? It’s so puffy for the reason!”       “At least, my eye doesn't see worse. Yes, at first, I could barely see, but now things got kinda clear. And it’s easier when I keep my eye closed. Anyway, it’s fine.”       “If you give a damn, you may get problems much later. But you do suffer from myopia and wear glasses at times. Do you want to become blind at all?”       “Cold compress and healing balm can make me feel okay.”       “In short, stop being capricious, Rose, I said everything!” Helene demands determinedly. “We will go to the hospital – that’s all!”       Sammy barks confidently two times.       “Excellent, Helene, you’re awesome!” Daniel clenches his hand into a fist and raises it. “Insist upon it! But if Rose doesn’t listen to you, we will drive him there. By force. And we don’t care if he wants it or not.”       “As far as I understand, won’t ya all get off me now?” Peter sighs disappointedly.       “Until the doctor says you’re okay and prescribes you therapy,” Terrence says confidently.       “Okay, I give up!” Peter raises his hands. “Do what ya want!”       “Good boy, Pete,” Anna smiles innocently. “Good boy.”       “Moreover, you must not go on stage with a face like this,” Edward notices. “While we don’t have any concerts, we must fix everything. Yes, of course, makeup artists can cover it all. But it would take a lot of time.”       “Aha, the band’s fans are done with the shocks they experienced due to the poisoning of Edward,” Raquelle adds. “They were all so worried and praying for him so hard!”       “If the guys hadn’t told them about the poisoning, they would’ve come up with as many horror stories as they did when Terrence nearly died, too,” Natalia says confidently.       “I guess everyone thinks that the members of ‘Against The System’ spend much more time getting out of some trouble than performing on stage or working at the studio,” Peter replies funnily.       “Your band is special,” Helene chuckles.       “It’s okay, the boys managed to record the album in between their crazy adventures,” Anna laughs shyly.       “But the fans are gonna be waiting for the tour for one hundred years,” Raquelle assumes. “And it doesn’t make sense to talk about the second album.”       “Who’s to blame for us being tested again and again?” Edward throws his hands up. “For some bastards that wanna kill us, showing up over and over.”       “Because you’ve gotta stay home and be good guys!” Natalia adds. “Listen to the older people and hear what your close people and friends say.”       “Actually, we’re the best and most obedient guys!” Daniel exclaims proudly. “Well… At least, I'm a good boy, for sure.”       “Aha, a good boy wouldn’t have left his friend when the old man who went insane decided to haunt him!” Terrence exclaims.       “I’ve already said I'm sorry! And I apologized to Rose shortly after he showed up here.”       “I hope Sammy won’t add you to his personal black list, just like he added Pete himself when he began to attack Helene,” Raquelle expresses hope.       “Well, since he hasn’t peed his favorite shoes placed on the floor near the hall door, Perkins has nothing to be afraid of,” Peter replies funnily.       “Aha, and his clothes are kinda fine,” Edward adds funnily. “They aren’t bitten.”       “Oh, shut up, you, idiots!” Daniel throws gloomily, throwing the pillow lying next to him at Edward, who shows a brilliant reaction again and catches it with both hands so that it does not touch him at all.       “Your magical luck surprises me more and more every day,” Peter confesses. “You are a fool to the bones, but you’re magically living a good life. We’ve gotta learn from ya!”       “What can I do?” Daniel shrugs with an innocent smile. “What can I do with being so handsome, hot, and lucky?”       Sammy barks confidently two times and gets pleasure from accepting the caress of Daniel, who pets his head and yanks him by the ears softly. Anna kisses the man sweetly on his cheek and puts her head on his shoulder. While the others look at their sweethearts: the men give the girls a tender smile full of love, and the ladies press themselves closely to them and kiss them on the cheek or just snuggle their noses in it. Peter does not also refuse to show some feelings for Helene, rubbing his nose against the tip of her nose with a wide smile, pressing the girl as closely to himself as possible with both arms, putting her head on his chest, and running his fingers through the brunette’s hair at some moment. After he nearly lost the opportunity to see her, hug her, and kiss her for the second time, the man starts to regret treating his girlfriend so terribly all this time and reflects hard on all the charges that nobody is going to prove for one reason or another.