If you're looking for an adventure in the morally grey, and a crash course of the human condition, this is the story for you! What is good and evil? Where is that line drawn, and who decides that? Packed with humor, danger, feels, and awkward relati...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Working on his room for the next week wasn't so much distracting as it was traumatizing. Ian finished up the mud and they painted with ease, but when they got to the floor, neither of them knew how to do carpet. It was easier than putting in vinyl floors, so they went with it, but Rick was the only person who was actually house repair savvy. The man was a jack of all trades with most skills, but as the saying goes, master of none, especially not communication.
It was just a slew of gay jokes, jabs, and ear numbing vulgarity that Nathan could go without. One day, Rick went on for almost an hour about how he'd been in a foursome with another couple with one of his kinkier marks, which was what he called the woman he'd conned. Nathan didn't want to know half of the details that escaped his lips, nor the names for the positions they had sex in, but it was hard to get rid of them now.
The man talked about nothing but sex, women, and getting laid. Thankfully, putting in carpet required him to have the whole room with no one standing on it, so Nathan was able to escape for a little basketball with Rachel after they put down the nail boards. Rick said he'd get the carpet in in the next few days, so his room was almost ready to live in. All that was left after was aesthetic, some trim and final touches.
Outside of his room, he stopped by the stairs to the third floor and did some poor math in his head. Ian, and Maggie had said there were five men here, but he'd only seen four. Ian, Tanner, Donovan, and Rick. There were also four rooms down here, so someone had to be up on the third floor with whomever he hadn't met.
"Hey, Ian," Nathan called to him, heading back into their room. They'd been about to head their separate ways as he went to the court, but Nathan still needed to change. Being alone with Ian wasn't favorable, but he wanted to know who he hadn't met yet.
"What's up?" Ian asked as Nathan dug through his dresser for something wearable. They'd ruined a few too many shirts on paint and mud.
"I'm missing someone right?" Nathan said, plopping on his bed, and Ian raised an eyebrow. "You said there were five inmates here, but I've only ever seen four."
"Oh, you mean Julian. Kid's something else. Someone left a few screws out when they constructed that one."
"Kid?" There was someone else here his age?
"Yeah, Julian's fifteen, but not someone you should fantasize about being friends with. Mags plucked him from a mental hospital, and he has special accommodations both on the third floor and downstairs. He's fucking nuts, so he's locked in his room. When I first got here, I could sometimes hear his screams at night." Ian leaned in toward him, and a shiver ran over Nathan's spine.
"Why was he screaming?" Nathan sputtered, and Ian laughed.
"He has nightmares, but I would too if I was that deranged."
"What do you mean?" Nathan was wanting less and less to know, and it made sense why no one had mentioned him.
"It's pretty gruesome, even for people like us. Julian kidnapped two kids and carved them up like Halloween pumpkins, which is why he was restrained in a high-level psychiatric facility before he was brought here. It's one thing to cut people, and another to sit there and meticulously carve detailed pictures into flesh."
