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A Favourite Situation Chapter 11 By Kendo Kawabata

To whom it may concern. It is with regret...

To whom it may concern. It is with no regret that I hereby officially resign from my position as worker in my uncles warehouse. And I am also officially resigning as a Licensed Handler with the B.O.S.S. Due to complications of my own actions and personal problems that I have been feeling conflicted about recently, I do not believe that I am capable of holding either position as a worker or as an official handler. It is my personal belief that everybody would be a lot better off without me. Sincerely, Luke.

Luke said back at his computer, staring at the screen as he finished writing out what he wanted to say. Although the letter ended up being short and sweet, it was basically saying exactly what he wanted to say. He didn't see any reason to expand on what he wrote, or to flesh it out to four or five pages in 'formal' speak. He sat back at his computer, hearing the chair creak a bit underneath him. The wheels in the chair scraped against the carpet, ripping some of the fibres out. Like everything else in his room, it was older then it should have been. He sat back in the worn out office chair, not having much strength to care about anything much that day. It was Monday morning. He was supposed to be in class listening to his English teacher talking about some ancient author that he had never heard of. Probably along the lines of Shakespeare and Jane Austen and those other authors that were supposed to be popular and whatnot. He was to be sitting in the back of the classroom, willing himself not to fall asleep and getting picked on by the teacher while the rest of the class did jack all and got away with it. But instead, he was sitting at home. He was holed up in his room and feeling like the entire world was against him and wanted him strung up by his ankles and flayed alive. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin had a sickly sallowness to it. He hadn't slept since Friday, and his stomach felt like it was constantly tying itself in knots, and his throat was sandpaper dry. He definitely looked like he had been he looked like shit scraped off the bottom of someones shoe and then thrown at a window. And if there was a way for someone to feel like that, he was feeling it right there and then. Luke looked over his computer screen one more time and decided that it was as good as he was going to get it. He wanted out, and the letter said it. No need to go any further with it. With a small sigh he sent the document to his printer. He was scheduled to go into work right after school finished, but the very idea of going into the warehouse made him want to hurl non stop. The printer beside his computer was old and a couple of printer generations out of style. Hell, it was still white, just like his computer was. Then again, everything in his room was either second hand or a hand me down that someone in his family threw out because they got something better. He hadn't had anything really brand new in a long time. The printer seem to take its sweet time as he watched the paper slowly get forced out. Luke felt exhausted, like he was about to fall asleep at any moment. He had trouble focusing, but he knew that if he did manage to fall asleep, it would do him no good. The times that he did fall asleep from exhaustion, he had been plagued by nightmares. Friday night had been a night of stressfull tossing and turning all throughout what was left of the night. He had been unable to gain any kind of sleep whatsoever, between fits of crying and screaming into his pillow. A mixture of fear, panic, revulsion and hatred for himself kept him from falling asleep. Yet the few times that he had managed to fall asleep, he hadn't been able to stay asleep for long. Saturday the phone had rung. Luke had been lying in bed when it rang. He didn't even know when his father had returned the previous night, but his dad had been the one to answer the phone. Luke had peeked from under the covers, feeling his nerves fight for control of his body as he heard muffled words and shouts through his closed bedroom door. Then silence had filled the house until Luke heard the car in the driveway start up and pull out. Since the previous night, he had half expected his father to come into his room and start screaming abuse at him and make him feel worse then he already was. However, his father hadn't even looked in on him after his cousin had managed to successfully frame him for stealing. But he had been left alone during the night, and then his father had sped off. Although Luke knew that his father was now out of the house, Luke had absolutely no courage to leave the safety of his room. He had literally sat in the corner wrapped in a blanket and cried to himself. The reason his father had left so suddenly, was simple. Matt. Why else would his father get a call that early in the morning? Although Luke knew he was guilty of the crime, he couldn't help but shake at the fear of getting discovered. Nobody, nobody ever wanted to be caught with their hand literally in the cookie jar, and Luke was terrified of discovering exactly what kind of punishment was in store for him. He didn't fully understand what kind of punishment he could possibly face, and it was facing the unknown that was making him sick. But all day Saturday, there had been nothing. There was silence all through the house, and the silence felt like a dozen hammers against his mind. There was no phone call, no suited men knocking on the door, nothing. His father didn't come home and tear through the house looking for him like a mad animal. There were no sirens, no police. No B.O.S.S. agents breaking in through the front door. Nothing. Not one thing happened all day. Somehow, it just seemed to be a hell of a lot worse. When his father didn't return Saturday night, the flamedramon boy felt like he was on drugs or something he was feeling that horrible. Taking a chance, Luke had crept out of his room and headed into the kitchen. He had to eat something as he felt like he was going to faint from hunger. His headache was getting worse at the thought of food, but his stomach overruled him as he grabbed some cheap chinese takeout. But the leftovers in the fridge tasted like ash and he couldn't keep them down. He forced himself to eat the tasteless food, and forced himself to swallow it to fill his stomach. But the food ended up making his stomach hurl it back out and he ended up retching into the sink for over ten minutes. By the time he had finished emptying the cheap food and stomach bile into the sink, his mental state collapsed and he ended up curling up on the kitchen floor for an hour crying into his tshirt. Somehow, Luke had managed to crawl back into his bedroom and get under the covers, where he had another weeping fit. He thought that he would eventually run out of tears and he'd be able to stop crying. But the weeping turned into sobbing even though he had no tears left to shed. His head pounded in agony and his stomach was kicking itself repeatedly. A hollow feeling had swelled up in his chest and made his limbs feel like they were made of lead. He passed in and out of sleep during the day and during the night, several times waking up in a panic not knowing where he was and what time it was. It ended up taking him a few minutes each time to remember where he was, but it didn't end up helping. The fretfull night finally ended with the sun coming up, but all it brought to Luke was a bigger headache. So began Sunday morning. He had braved stepping out of his room, but his father was not in the house. The driveway was empty and nothing in the house had changed since the previous night, so it was possible his father hadn't come back at all since he left. The house was as empty as Luke was feeling. He had felt alone before, but never on this magnitude. The house was so silent that he could hear the appliances hum. Luke had stepped into the living room, holding onto himself as he stood alone in the empty house. Maybe it was his state of mind, maybe it was his inner turmoil, but as he had stood there, the walls of the house seemed to stretch. He had felt panic standing there in the living room as the hum of the electrical goods and the ticking of the clock on the wall had steadily started to grow louder. The house seemed to stretch outwards, dwarfing the boy as he was slowly left in the expanse of the living room, the humming and ticking pounding against his ears as he held his hands over his head, willing the noise and the pain and the turmoil to stop. And as the world started to stretch away from him, leaving him alone in the void, Luke could hear Matt screaming. The screams of pain and agony were drilling into his ears as he heard Matt beg him to stop. Luke started to scream too, his throat burning as he held onto his head and screamed. But the humming and the ticking and the screaming didn't stop. They assaulted him all around him as he fell to his knees, his head fit to burst as pain and agony ran through his body. His fingers dug into his skin so hard he almost drew blood as he screamed back at the noise that was trying to kill him. Luke felt himself falling into the oversized carpet as the house tried to stretch itself away from him, lukes throat burning as he screamed out two words over and over again. "I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY" His own screams had woken him up, and Luke found himself sitting in the bottom of the shower with the water running cold above him. Realising that he was now so messed up that he was actually starting to hallucinate and black out, Luke felt like he had hit rock bottom. And that he was going to stay there. If he had to be honest with himself, this was a wake up call that he needed help. Luke honestly couldn't recall half of what he had done that Friday night at the warehouse, and it kind of scared him. It was a haze of angering fury that just seemed to explode like a shaken up can of soda. It hadn't seemed real, more like a bad dream that he couldn't recall. Actually, it had felt more like a nightmare. A terrifying nightmare that he was unable to deny had actually happened in his reality. A reality that he knew that he caused. He had sat there in the cold water of the shower, feeling the reality of the situation continue to hit him hard. He felt utterly disgusted with himself. He had always known that he had anger issues before. Just...not as bad as recently. Why though, did this have to be the wakeup call that told him he was out of control? To know that that this was how far he had fallen, to actually somehow blame Matt for everything that had gone wrong and happily go along with what he had done to him, was simply too much for him to bear. When he actually felt his hands and feet start to go numb he had turned off the shower and got out. His father had returned after lunch on Sunday, Luke catching a strong smell of beer through his slightly open bedroom door. After his cold shower, Luke had crawled back into his bed and laid under the covers, trying to still the voices and screams in his head. The smell of beer told him that while he didn't know where his father had been or what he had done, he had resorted to drinking at some stage. Luke stayed in his room, too afraid to set foot out with his father in the house. He didn't know how mad or upset his father could be, and he knew that by now, everyone would have known what happened. But nobody would believe Luke that he was sorry. Sometime in the afternoon, his father had walked into the room. Luke had been under the covers, passing in and out of sleep that seemed to last only moments but was only minutes. Luke hadn't heard the door open, but he did feel the weight shift on the bed as his father sat beside his curled up feet. Luke had been sure that he was about to get it, that his father was going to tear him a new one. He was sure Aaron would start yelling and screaming and blaming everything on Luke and that he was so ashamed of his son that he could just die. What Luke was not prepared for was that his father hadn't said anything. He had simply started crying. His father had sat there for some time, the older flamedramon holding his head in his hands and crying into his fingers. Somehow, hearing his father cry and weep right beside him somehow tore through Luke worse then if his father had slapped him across the face. Aaron did not say a single word, but when he did finally stop crying, he had sat there a while longer. Luke felt his father place his hand on his hip and squeeze it. As if he was trying to express something to his son. His father had stood up and walked out of the room without a sound. And Luke knew then that whatever punishment that his uncle wanted to give to him, it had happened. There was no avoiding it if his father was so upset that he couldn't even tell his son what was going on. But what wasn't he saying? How upset he was over Lukes actions, or how upset he was over the punishment? Luke had thought about it that night as he laid under the covers. Lukes Uncle Thomas owned them both, in several ways. And he had always threatened that if something big happened that he couldn't stand from either of them, it would mean a literal hell for them both. His father had always taken his brothers side no matter what happened, and it had never been for Lukes sake. Luke felt even worse when he ended up believing that his father was more worried about his own hide then what was happening to him. Why else would he not remind Luke to go to school? Monday morning had come around and his father had left the house. Didn't even say a word to his son or even check up on him. The school didn't even call to find out where he was. But Luke wasn't surprised about that. It wasn't like they'd really notice that the kid with the anger problem didn't show up. No-one there gave a damn about him. Then again, it wasn't like anybody gave a damn about him in the first place. Maybe that was where his anger lay. Maybe that was why he was angry all the time at everything. That could be the reason why he was so angry and frustrated over every little thing. Perhaps it all boiled down to the fact that he felt like, he was alone. That he wasn't wanted. Or when he was wanted, it was because it was convenient to someone else. As the piece of paper continued to slowly make its way out of the computer, he could feel the tears start to come again. It had always been like this for him, in fact this was probably how it all started for him too. It was just, nobody ever asked him. Or even showed that they cared to know. The earliest he could remember was the fighting. Fighting between his mother and his father. The two of them had been arguing about money. It was always money back then. His parents had never been afraid to argue when he was around, in fact it always seemed to happen when he was around. Somehow, it had always been worse when they fought in front of him. His father was a gambler. As long as Luke could remember, his father was addicted to betting and gambling. He got his pay cheque, he would go out to the bookies or to the casinos, and he wouldn't return till his wife went looking for him. There were days when he won lots, and there were days when he won nothing. And then more often than not, there were the days when he lost everything and more. Those were the days when the screaming got worse. When they had no money, the bills had to be paid, there was no food on the table, or they are owed somebody money who came to collect. It was around Luke's sixth birthday when his mother simply couldn't take it any more. His father had gambled away so much that they couldn't even afford to buy their son a birthday cake for his sixth birthday. No presents, no cake, no party. All he got on that day, was screaming. That was the first time that Luke had ever gotten angry at his parents. That was the day that he couldn't take any more either. He had been standing in the kitchen, feeling an anger and fury he hadn't known just simmer inside of him until it boiled over. When his mother launched into a tirade against his father for failing to be a man and actually find money so their son could have a birthday, Luke had ended up screaming at them. "It's both your faults, I hate you both. Both of you don't care about me, all you do is scream and scream all day. I hate you both" Luke had simply screamed out loud, surprising both of his parents and startling them so badly they actually stopped shouting. Luke remembered that it was the first time he had ever screamed at his parents, or even gotten so angry that he had been so loud. The next morning his mother had left. She had packed that night, Lukes outburst the final breaking point for the female flamedramon. She had tried to leave early the next morning, perhaps to avoid a scene. Luke had woken up to the sound of the taxis horn in the driveway. His father was sitting in the kitchen, a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand and a glass in the other. He looked like he hadn't slept all night. "She's leaving" was all he said as he poured himself another glass of the alcohol. Luke remembered running out of the house in just his pyjama shorts, running barefoot up to his mother as he found her loading her suitcases into the taxi. He remembered trying to get her attention, except she wouldn't look at him. He called for her, asked for her, even tried shouting at her, but she didn't look his way. Eventually Luke had to latch onto her leg to force her to stop moving. He remembered crying, feeling confused and afraid of what was going on. And angry. Angry because she was leaving. Angry because his father wasn't stopping her. Angry because she wouldn't look at him. The only thing that made her look at him was when the taxi driver yelled that the meter was running. "Don't go" he had cried to her, looking up at his mother with tears in his eyes. He was scared, upset, angry, he felt so many emotions he wasn't used to that they made him feel all the more scared. "Please Mom, don't leave me with dad. I don't want you to leave mom" he had cried to her. "I'm sorry Luke" she said to him as she pulled her son off her leg. Luke remembered feeling the strength in her fingers, like she pulled dirt from her leg. "I can't stay with your father while he is like this. I'm sorry Luke, but I can't live here anymore. Luke, I'll come back when your father is better, but please understand, this is for the best" she had to said to him as she left him there in the driveway and opened the door of the car. "I want to go with you" Luke said as he couldn't hold back his crying. Luke hadn't noticed it at the time, but his mother was not sad. There were no tears in her eyes, there was no sadness in her voice. After Luke had confessed that he didn't want her to go, she had simply slipped into the taxi left him crying in the driveway. It had been the last time Luke had ever seen her or heard from her. It had taken a while for Luke to accept it, but his mother didn't love him. Maybe she loved him enough to stay with him for six years. But she didn't love her son enough to stay and look after him. And not even enough love to take her son with her. She just left him behind in the mess that his father had created. Because perhaps, in her eyes, he was just as bad as her husband. With a sharp clatter the resignation letter finished printing and fell into the paper try, breaking Luke temporarily out of his thoughts. Luke reached over and picked it up, holding the paper in front of him as his eyes seemed to hurt even just focusing on the print. He placed it back down on his desk as he brought his head into his hands and held it tight as he sobbed a little from his memories. His father had been about to lose everything. The house was mortgaged up to his eyeballs, he owed bills for everything from the car to electricity to the cable. He had gambled away all of his life savings, he had gambled away Luke's school money, he had literally gambled everything away. With his mother gone, his father had tried to drown his sorrows in his only vice. He drowned so fast in his gambling that barely a fortnight had passed since Lukes mother had left that the bank had started foreclosure procedures. That was when his uncle had stepped in. Luke remembered sitting there in the living room, looking at his uncle who sat across from them in one of his expensive business suits. His uncle had always seemed rich to Luke, always better off compared to Lukes father. That day, Aaron looked like a nervous wreck, making the contrast between them both very apparent. Luke remembered his father explaining the situation on the verge of getting on his hands and knees and begging like a child. How long his father had actually spoken, Luke didn't know. But by the time he had finished, he literally had gotten on his knees and begged his older brother to help him out of the mess that he had created. When he was done, there was a very long and uncomfortable silence between the three of them. Luke did remember feeling angry at the time. Angry that his father had to beg like a child. Angry that there was no food in the house, there was no water and no heating. He was angry that his father had not once said he was sorry to Luke for pulling his son into the mess he had created. But he also remembered being angry that his uncle, had not once looked at his nephew since he got there. "I'm very disappointed in you Aaron" Thomas had finally said when he broke the silence. Aaron had looked up at him from his place on the floor, not daring to say a word. "You have no idea how embarrassed I am to see you like this, and how disgusted I am with you" Thomas had said, the look on his face not a happy one. "However, you are my brother, and I am going to help you" Luke remembered him saying as his uncle had pulled out a cheque book from his jacket pocket. "On one condition" Luke remembered his uncle saying as he wrote out a cheque right there. "You're in reach of foreclosure. You're on the verge of bankruptcy. Your wife has left you, and you're raising a son with next to nothing. You are nothing more then a disappointment to me Aaron, ever since you got your wife knocked up before she was your wife" he had said to his brother while looking at him in disappointment. "As usual, you leave me to take care of your mess. And once again, I have no choice in the matter because I do not want to see my brother get thrown out on the street with his son. So, I'll take care of everything. I'll pay back the bank, pay your bills, take over Lukes education and ensure you ahve some money to get back on your feet" Thomas had said as he pulled the cheque from the book. "But, in exchange, you are going to get your gambling problem under control. I don't care if you go cold turkey or join a support group for the rest of your life. You will get it under control. "Because if you don't, there is going to be trouble." "And this goes to the both of you. I am helping you, but I am expecting you both to keep your heads under water. Because, if I get disappointed in you both this badly again, I promise you" Thomas had said as he looked over at his nephew for the first time, then at his brother. "That I will take everything back that I have given you. I will take back every cent I have given you, and take everything I have repaid for you, and I will leave you both in the mess you have created" Thomas had promised them both that day as he gave the first of many cheques to his brother. Perhaps what stung the most that day, more than having to reach out to his rich uncle to get help, was the fact that, like his mother, his uncle had put Luke in the same boat as his father. And did not see the difference between the two. Oh, is uncle had taken care of everything all right. Taking over meant Luke had to change schools as his uncle got him a place outside the public education system. Which meant that Luke was in the same school as his cousin Timothy. He did have to admit he was excited about the prospect of going to a 'real school', but the excitement had quickly faded. It was a school full of snobby pompous up themselves spoilt rich kids who did nothing more than looked down at Luke because he was a kid from the streets and not from money. Almost from the first day everyone at that school, from his classmates to his teachers seemed to look down at him and treat him like something they had stepped in. While things had been improving at home, Luke seemed to fail in his uncles eyes. Going to such a prestigious school, gave Luke 'Opportunities' that his normal school would never have presented him', as his uncle had put it. And right from the first day, nothing Luke did at school was good enough to make his uncle proud of him. Whether it was his grades, his homework, or his attitude during class, everything was not good enough for his uncle. And Luke began to harbour his anger from that day on. Growing up, he felt like he was angry at the rest of the world. Angry at the school that treated him like a dirty rag amongst the clean linen. Angry at the fact that his father was a poor excuse of a man who couldn't even keep his own affairs in order without rushing to his brother for help. Angry at the fact that his cousin Timothy got it huge birthday parties, while Luke got nothing so much as a cake. Angry that his mother didn't love him and abandoned him all those years ago. Angry that nothing he did made anyone proud of him. And Luke simply had no outlet for his anger, and it just continued to boil over and over and simmer inside of him. And the rage that built up inside of him got worse and worse over the years as it seemed that no-one was willing or interested in helping him out. He felt like the world had condemned him from birth, and every time he thought he had done something to be proud of, the world just spat on him. Like his licence. To be told that he was doing so well he could get it three months ahead of the rest of the class, Luke actually believed he had done something, finally, to make his uncle proud of him. To pull him out of the boat he had been placed in with his father and show that, he was capable of doing something right. But to find out that his uncle had so little faith in him that he paid for Luke to pass instead of giving him the opportunity to do it on his own, that was the breaking point. And the wake up point that led to Luke realising he needed help? "Why did it have to be me nearly raping my cousin? Why couldn't it be me doing anything, anything but that? Why did that have to be the wake up call?" Luke had wondered all weekend. But he had no answer to that. And no-one was interested in knowing that he really was, genuinely sorry. Luke picked up the letter from his desk and forced himself to stand up. He folded the paper over carefully and slid the letter into the front pocket of his backpack. Every movement made his head pound and made his stomach contract to the point of throwing up. He honestly felt like trash, and since he hadn't slept in three days and hadn't eaten anything for just as long, he probably looked like the piece of white trash that the world expected him to be. If he had to be honest with himself, he felt like resigning from his positions would do absolutely no good. He could probably beat himself up, hand over his handlers licence, resign from his position, literally beating himself with a baseball bat and ground himself and throw everything he had a privilege keeping away, and the world would probably still call for his blood to be spilt before it was satisfied. The whole world had been against from the start, and he felt like no matter what he would do from now on, it just wouldn't be enough. Luke stood there in the middle of the room, not really looking at anything as he held his backpack to his chest, his hand right over where the letter was. He felt alone. The hollow feeling in his chest made him feel like he was worth nothing, that the world would not be sated till he had paid the ultimate price. He was at the point that he was ready to spill his blood for a world that was demanding it. Maybe this was the feeling, that people had right before they killed themselves. That feeling of submission as they gave in and gave the world what it wanted. There was a pair of scissors in his desk drawer. They were sharp. They could do the trick. All he had to do was jam them into the side of his neck, slide them through his wrists, stab himself in the throat and it would all be over as either his blood finished spilling or his lungs couldn't work anymore. But he knew that it would not do any good. Nobody, there was nobody that would show up at his funeral if he did that. Not after what he did. Luke slowly made his way into the bathroom to try and take another shower. He thought that maybe, a warm shower was what he needed to try and pull himself back together enough to do what he needed to do. But the shower didn't really help lift his mood. If anything, it just served to make him feel worse. He didn't stay in the shower for long as he cut the water and made his way back into his bedroom. He tried to dry himself off and redress himself, but his entire body ached and felt like it was made out of metal. It was a struggle to finish towelling himself off, and an even bigger struggle to get himself dressed. Everytime he wanted to stop, he forced himself to keep going until he was fully dressed from head to toe. Luke grabbed his backpack from his desk and picked up his wallet, making sure there was some money in it from his last paycheck. All his identification cards were in there as well, and he slid his wallet into his pocket. He didn't bother with his phone, as the cheap piece of crap hadn't charged the night before. His father was not in the house when Luke exited his room. And the car was not in the driveway. If he wasn't at work, Luke had no idea where his father was. Aaron been in and out of jobs for the last 10 years, and he seemed to change them pretty often. Another reason why Luke hated him. Because the man was so pathetic he couldn't even hold a job down for more than a couple of months, and at the end of those couple of months, a cheque would come from his uncle. Luke picked up the home phone in the kitchen and dialled for a taxi. He could feel his headache get worse in anticipation as his actions were getting him closer to what he had to soon face. Hell, he almost threw up as he tried to organise for a taxi to pick him up from his home. When he finished making the call, Luke had to hold onto the kitchen counter and try not to faint. Once he had steadied and calmed himself down enough, he managed to fall into a chair in the living room and try and hold on as he waited for the taxi. He could feel his heart race at the thought of going to the warehouse and handing in his resignation to Spencer. Hell, even the thought of leaving the house was enough to make him throw up. "I can do this, I can do this" he thought to himself as he tried to focus himself on not going back to his room and curling back up under his sheets. "Don't run, don't run. You can do this. Just....just get in the taxi and go. Quicker you do this, the quicker its over with" Luke said to himself. He didn't want to run, this was something he didn't just need to do. This was something he had to do. Sure, he could run back to his room and hide in there all day and night again, but it was only going to make things worse by the time whatever was coming had come. If this was going to be the start of him facing the music of his actions, then he would do it without being forced. He was shaken from his thoughts as he heard the taxi honk its horn in the driveway. Luke felt his heart race and he felt a panic attack start to hit him, but he reached up and slapped himself across the face. It worked as he felt the panic briefly leave him enough for him to grab his backpack and leave through the front door of the house. When he shut the door behind him, the panic seemed to quieten down a little. Perhaps it was because he was now on his way to do what he needed to do, and his nerves were starting to calm down now that he knew things were happening. "This will all be over soon" Luke said to himself as he pulled himself away from the front door of the house. "Matt will be happy that I'm not his handler anymore, the other workers will be glad I'm gone and Spencer, he'll be happy I'm not around either" he thought to himself as he stopped in his tracks. "That's...that's just it. No-one...is going to be sad I'm gone' he said to himself. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath as he struggled not to break down in the drive way and forced himself to get into the taxi. "No-one will miss me when I'm gone" he thought to himself as he shut the door.

"Hey Matt, I found something you might be interested in" Tony the rat said as he approached Matts desk. Matt looked up from his rather depressing looking bowl of Slave-Brix as he dumped what looked like a very big and heavy phone book in front of him. Matt actually jumped back a bit as the huge book made a very heavy thud on the desk that was hard enough to make his bowl rattle on the surface. The other workers all jumped back in their seats as they were startled as well. The warehouse workers usually ate their lunch in their break room at the other side of the warehouse. It was a nice break area with decent chairs, a fridge, a mini stove top and a television to watch the sports channel on. Plus, it was air conditioned so that the workers didn't have to eat their lunch in an uncomfortable atmosphere. Matt had woken up by the end of the working day on Saturday, and was given the clear to return back to work the next morning. As long as the other workers actually helped him out and made things easier for him, Matt was alright. But they all noticed that when Matt was left alone for too long, he started to have small panic attacks, particularly in the loading area when he was left alone by the St Andrews cross. Although they could see that Matt was trying his hardest to move on from the incident that had occurred, it was harder for him then he was letting on. A couple of times Spencer had to pull him up from the floor where he had simply curled up and started to cry, and it would take him a while to calm down enough that he could stop. It actually hurt the other workers to see Matt suffer by himself, especially since none of them had seen Thomas or Timothy or even Luke over the weekend. While they were not eager to see Luke, for obvious reasons, if they actually expected Thomas or Timothy to show any kind of consideration for Matt after what he had been through, they were sorely mistaken. So, they decided that if none of Matts official 'people' were going to show him support, then they'd do it. They all genuinely liked Matt, even if he was meant to be someone who was beneath them status wise. So, some time on Sunday morning, the air conditioner in the break room had been broken. In several pieces. And since it was starting to warm up in the weather outside, it didn't take long for the break room to reach muggy proportions that made eaten rather unbearable for them. So, instead of allowing themselves to suffer in an unbearable heat, the workers simply moved out into the loading area and ate at Matts desk. And if anyone asked, it was simply because that area was the coolest. In the beginning, Matt had been very apprehensive about being amongst the other workers in the special neon blue face mask and shorts that he had to wear. Somehow, just going out there and being amongst normal people after his incident sent him on several panic attacks and he had broken more then once already. But the guys had simply commented on his 'spiffy new looks' and wolf whistled about how he was setting a new trend. They made rather loud and obvious comments about how Matt was trying to look sexy to be on Spencers good side. And one or two of them swore they could see Matt blush around Spencer even through the face mask, which he claimed was turning purple. But Matt didn't feel alienated or upset about the heckling. In fact, it seemed to him that the way they were teasing him was their way of helping him deal with what happened. Hell, someone had even gone and replaced the pot for Matts mint plant that Spencer had gotten him. They didn't try to hide what had happened to him, but they didn't treat him like he was a victim. Although Matt was still having trouble dealing with what happened, they didn't make it any worse for him. Although he did have to send a few emails between himself and the slave councillor Jeanne. Jeanne had been very understanding and offered him some good advice without being judgemental. By the time Monday had rolled around, Matt felt like things were starting to return to normal already. If things lately could be called normal. "What in the world is that?" John the cougar asked as he looked up from his chicken salad sandwich. The others looked up from their lunches as well as Tony opened the book and started to flip through several pages. "Please tell me that is not your little black book" he said with a smirk. "I went to that compound on Saturday" Tony explained as the rat took a seat at the desk and kept flipping some more pages. "I had to do something about what's been going on. I just don't feel right sitting here and getting told late that what we're doing is wrong after we've done it" he said. "I figured we should know what's going on before we do something wrong and get arrested for helping" he pointed out. "Well, there isn't much that we can do" said the fennec Randall. " You heard what that dick Thomas said when Timothy wailed on Matt. We interfere, we get arrested. We try to help, we lose our jobs" he says as he stirred his plastic spoon through his cup of ramen noodles. "We're probably breaking the law just sitting here having lunch with Matt" he pointed out. "Well, I managed to pick up this book so we can actually know what is going on here. Hell, if we lose our jobs because we're eating lunch with Matt, I'd like to know now rather then too late" Troy pointed out as he stopped flipping pages, apparently at whatever chapter he needed to be at. "Anyway, this thing is was damn expensive and it weighs a tonne to boot. Almost three hundred bucks." "What kind of book costs that much money and looks like a bible?" asked one of the workers. He was a fox named Trel, but he was built more along the lines of a bull. Tall and very muscled and bulky, wearing only jeans and a tight singlet. One of those nice guys capable of lifting a vending machine. "It's the rule book" Tony said as he lifted the front of the book so that the others could see it. The title read 'The Bureau Of Slave Services : Legalised Slavery in the Modern Era'."It's expensive because it explains everything. From how they got started to everything a free man needs to know about slavery and the rules behind them" Tony explained. "I was reading this last night. Took me hours. It's written like a damn contract." "What did you want to show me?" Matt asked Tony as he looked up from his rather depressing meal. Now that Matt was better, he couldn't eat fruit or soft drink again. The other workers had already tried his meal, and every single one of them had to agree that it was disgusting. They all seemed to give Matt a little more respect knowing what he had to eat for every meal. "That tag thing on your ear, that Slave Id thing you're forced to wear along with everything else?" Tony said to him as he looked at Matt. Matt suddenly felt everyones eyes on him. "We noticed that it says your status is life slave" Tony said to him. "I know it does. That's what my owner wants me to be. A life slave for the family" Matt said to him with a small nod. The others didn't look too happy with that comment, but they didn't say anything. Tony nodded at Matt as he turned the book around, having to use two pages to lift up the book to show Matt the page he had found. "Did your owner tell you about something called an evaluation day?" Tony asked him. Matt looked at the page for a minute or so, but the writing was so tiny he couldn't read it properly, especially halfway across a desk and at that angle. Matt shook his head, as he had never heard of such a thing anyway. "Well, according to this rule book, evaluation days are mandatory, especially for people enslaved under the legal age at the time" Tony said to him as he pressed his finger against a paragraph. "It's like a parole hearing for every slave in the bureau. You get five of them. And if you fail all five, you're a slave for life." "What the hell are you on about?" Randall asked him as he looked confused. "In severe cases, like the worst of the worst criminal scum, they have their evaluation days skipped. So instead of having one after two years, they might have one after ten. But that's only for slaves who were enslaved above the legal age" Tony said to him. "Matt was only twenty at the time, so his supposed life sentence can come under review at two years" he explained. "It took you all night to figure that out?" Trel asked him as he looked confused. "I can't even read that from here" he admitted. "Look, from what I can understand from all this legal speak, all slave cases are case by case, taking in factors about criminal history and the actual crime and chances of reoffending and the like" Tony explained. "But, it does say that since Matt was underage at the time of enslavement, if Thomas wants he can have Matt released at his first evaluation" he explained,. "Wait, I thought you said Matt was a slave for life. It says so on that stupid pig tag he's wearing. Why label him a slave for life if he can be released early?" John asked him. Matt wasn't quite listening at that point. He was feeling rather stunned. There was a chance he could only spend two years as a salve, and then be free? "You try reading this and then explaining it in laymans terms" the rat said, looking slightly annoyed. "Apparently, according to the rule book they label all slaves as life slaves. I think it's a demoraliser, something to help them get pushed into submission quicker. But basically, since Matt was underage, the evaluation dates are mandatory. If he wasn't underage, they can be skipped under the right circumstances." "How...how could they be skipped?" Matt asked. Now he was feeling nervous. What could possibly make them take away the only chance for Matt to be free? Thomas had never spoken of such a thing. What if he was deliberately withholding information so Matt would mess up without knowing it? "Well, apparently its up to whoever has the permit to own a slave" Tony explained as he sat back down and turned the book back to face him. "Apparently, to be an owner of a slave, you buy a permit. Like you would for a pet" he said. "And its up to whoever has that permit to determine wether or not they pass evaluation. There's a list of suggested reasons why that can happen" Tony explained. "A permit? Seriously?" John said as he and the others didn't seem happy to hear that. "What kind of reasons did they list?" he asked as he changed the topic before anyone there could start an argument. "Too much disobedience, too many violent tendencies, too much disrespect towards free men, arugementive, disloyal, unproductive" Tony rattled off as he ran down the list in the book. "Heck, it even lists poor sexual performance as a suggested reason" he said as he sat back. "Wow. They give off more reasons to keep them as a slave then reasons to let them go" Randall said as he finished off his noodles. He didn't look very happy with the way the conversation was going. None of them looked very happy to hear this either. "Well, from what I gather, you can find any reason to keep them a slave, but if they actually do a decent job and show they are good at it, you can keep them going longer for that reason alone" Tony said. "Mess up or behave, either way they can keep you on as a slave past your evaluation day" he explained. "And they say its a rehabilitation thing" Trel said as he looked annoyed. "Why would anyone think that works on kids? Make them a slave and then hand out a dozen reasons not to let them go?" he asked as he spoke what everyone was thinking. "Maybe that's the secret" John said as he finished his sandwich slowly. "Maybe that's how they do it. Treat them so damn badly that they'll do anything and everything to not come back ever" John suggested. Matt looked back down it his half eaten meal and felt a wave of depression hit him all over again. He knew that Tony was just trying to help, and he appreciated him going and buying the rule book so they could actually get some information to help him. But the information was depressing to know that he could be refused freedom for any reason. Be it because he was a bad slave, or a good one. And the looks that the others were giving suggested they were thinking the same thing. That no matter what could possibly happen, it looked like Matt would be stuck there for a long time to come. Maybe the life status on his tag wasn't a complete lie. Matt couldn't help but feel that everything the bureau was doing, was just designed to break him down every time he got his hopes up. Just like his owner. Matt had hoped that after what happened on Friday, Thomas would have actually come and spoken to him about what happened and showed some concern for him. But the only concern that had been shown was that apparently, Thomas had been furious about what had happened. Matt hadn't seen him at all over the weekend, or had any kind of contact with him. He had no idea why, but to him, it just boiled down to the fact that his father, owner, whatever he was anymore, had chosen not to visit him. The reason, Matt couldn't say. And it hurt more to not know why then to know he hadn't looked in on him. like his owner. As for the promise that Luke would be punished for what he did, Matt had absolutely no idea what it entailed, or what was going to happen. And apparently no-one else had any idea about it either. "It's him" John said as he suddenly looked up, his voice making everyone just a bit from the morbid silence they were all sitting in. Turning in the direction of where John was looking, everyone saw that Luke had finally made his appearance in the warehouse. Matt actually had the urge to run as fast and as far away from the warehouse as possible, even if he had to tear the leash from his face out in the process. The urge was so strong that Matt could feel his spoon bend in hsi fingers and his bowl threatened to break as he felt his heart race like crazy as his hands clenched around what he was holding. But surrounded by the other workers, Luke would not have the chance to get anywhere near him. In fact, the moment the others saw Luke step into view, the entire desk of workers had stood up and turned to face in Lukes direction, looks of anger and fury written on their faces. For a moment, Matt had to wonder what was holding them back from simply walking over and beating the living hell out of him. But Luke didn't go anywhere near them. He didn't even look in their direction as he headed towards Spencers office. Matts heart ran to a screeching halt when he realised that, Luke looked like utter and complete shit. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and he looked pale and sickly. His eyes were bloodshot, Matt could tell even from that distance. If anything, he looked a lot worse then Matt did. For some reason, Matt couldn't help but feel sorry for the way that Luke looked. Luke must have felt the eyes of the other workers on him as he turned towards Spencers office because he briefly looked up and looked their way. For a moment, their eyes connected and Matt was shocked to see how sad and full of misery Lukes eyes were. When the eye contact broke after just a moment, Matt wasn't sure how to feel. Yes, he was angry at Luke and hated what had happened between them both. And he wanted to see Luke punished just as much as everyone else did. But, he could not help but feel sorry for him. Matt just wasn't sure why.

"Yes, Matt is doing a lot better, more then I expected" Spencer said as he sat back in his office chair with the phone against his ear. "He's no longer wearing the cooling clothing you gave him, and the other workers have been keeping a close eye on him to help him out as you suggested" Spencer said as he talked. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. I was actually expecting another emergency call to come back out your way" Spencer heard Catsie the lion say against his ear. "But this is good news to hear. I have to admit, a lot of slaves don't cope nearly as well over a situation like this" he said. "I just have one question for you though" Spencer said as he tapped his fingers against the desk surface. "Matts owner Thomas, he hasn't put in an official complaint against Luke for what he did. I don't know how he intends to punish him though, but would no complaints cause any problems on your report?" he asked. "Actually, no. All I'm required to do is report what I treated, not the cause of it" Catsie said through the ear piece. "All my report is going to reflect is that Matt had bruises and swelling ot his face, the same on his backside, and he was freezing. Honestly, all that's going to say is that someone was heavy handed on his punishment" he explained. "Unless his owner actually puts out a complaint, there's not much more I can say about it." "Well, I guess we can't really do much about that" Spencer said, although he sounded a little disappointed that Catsie wasn't much of a help in this situation ."But, I do want to thank you for helping us out. I'm glad we got someone nice instead of some of the usual people we seem to run into with the organisation" he admitted. "Well, I'm glad to know that you approve of me" Catsie said on the phone. Although to Spencer it sounded like he was purring. "I still have the strangest feeling I know you from somewhere" Spencer had to admit to him. For some reason that feeling wouldn't shake away from him. "Well, I can assure you, we haven't met before. But maybe next time we meet up, I can make our time together a bit more memorable" Catsie said with a purr. "Tell me, are you opposed to puppy play and cheerleader outfits?" Spencer found himself unable to speak at that point. Whatever he had expected Catsie to say to him, it hadn't been that. Last time they had spoken, he had been sure the lion had been flirting with him. Now, he was certain that's what was going on. "Sorry...something just came up. Gotta go" Spencer said as he looked up and saw his office door open and he saw Luke walk in. Spencer very carefully and slowly put the phone down as he felt his rage boil over at seeing Luke walk in after everything that had happened. But the rage was somewhat quick to subside when he saw the state that the boy was in. Like Matt, Spencer was suspired to see the state that Luke was in. Luke looked a complete mess, looking pale and sickly with bloodshot eyes. Completely different from the arrogant angry teenager he was used to dealing with. Spencer though, still felt the fury and anger under his skin as Luke walked in. But Lukes serious depressing appearance stopped Spencer from actually lashing out at him like he wanted to. "Luke" Spencer said simply as he sat back in his chair and placed his hands on the desk as he looked at the flamedramon boy. "I believe that we have things we need to discuss" he said in an even tone of voice as he tried to remain calm. "I know we do" Luke said, his voice croaking a bit as he sat in the chair opposite Spencer desk and sat himself down, pulling his backpack into his lap. "That's why I'm here, to give you this" he said as he unzipped the front pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. Luke avoided Spencers eyes as he handed the sheet of paper over to him. Spencer said nothing as he took the piece of paper from Luke and looked it over. He had not been expecting this at all, he had to admit to himself. He had expected Luke to walk in and start yelling about how it wasn't his fault and he didn't deserve whatever it was that Thomas had done to him, or was planning to do to him. He did not expect to be handed a resignation letter from a kid who looked like he had been spending the whole weekend on drugs and was coming down from his high. Spencer did not want to feel sorry in any way shape or form for Luke, but his anger was starting to slowly disappear just by looking at him. "You're resigning" he said as he looked over the brief letter in his hands, seeing how to the point the writing was. He looked up as he expected Luke to start yelling and rating about how it was everyone elses fault except his own and that everyone else was to blame. But instead, Luke just simply sat there with his head hung and his gaze on the floor between them both. "Yes" Luke said as with a nod, but he didn't look up at Spencer. "I don't want to work here anymore, I don't want to be Matts handler anymore, and I see no reason to stay here" he said, his voice croaking a bit as he spoke. "This is...this is what's best for business right now." "Do you really think this is going to make up for what you did? That resigning is just going to make all of this go away?" Spencer asked him as he put the paper down. "Luke, what did you was beyond serious. It was borderline criminal" he said as he leant forward. "An apology is not going to cut it, and resigning won't fix things" he said. Luke looked up at him when Spencer had finished talking and he just seemed to deflate a little more. "What do you want me to say?" Luke asked as he looked up at him. "What I did, I can't take back. I am sorry for what I did, but...who am I trying to kid? Nothing I'm going to do is going to make anything better" he said to him as he looked like he was about to cry. "I am sorry for what I did Spencer, but I'm not going to waste my breath trying to keep my job or my licence" he said. Spencer said nothing for a moment. He was starting to find himself at a bit of a loss. This was completely unexpected behaviour from Luke. A few uncomfortable moments passed between them both that was complete silence before Spencer spoke up. "Well Luke, to be honest, I was intending to fire you, regardless of what your uncle said" Spencer said to him. "I can't have you working here after what you did, even if by some miracle your uncle overlooked it" he said. "But your licence Luke, do you really want to resign from it? I know you worked very hard to get it...." "My uncle fucking paid for it" Luke shouted at Spencer, interrupting him very effectively. "I didn't earn anything, it was just given to me because he was embaressed I was taking so long to get it" Luke shouted as he stood up from his chair and planted his hands on Spencers desk. The sudden action actually made Spencer jump back in his seat a bit. "Do you have any idea what it's like, to get told every day of your damn life that you're no good? That everything you do, you feel like it just isn't good enough?" Luke shouted at Spencer as he looked like he was about to tear something apart he looked that furious. "That everything is given to you because your dad can't support you, but its only given to you because no-one has any faith you can get it yourself?" "And then you finally do something, something you do all by yourself and actually achieve through hard work and effort, do you know how to feel about that?" he demanded as he slammed his fist on the desk. "Do you know what it's like to have that feeling raped right out of you, to find out your hard work was only the result of your fucking uncle paying for your licence because he had no faith in you that you'd pass it yourself?" Luke shouted at the silent male before him "Do you have any idea what it's like, to feel lower then dirt and feel like no-one in the fucking world gives a shit about you? That they're ready to pounce on you for anything you've done wrong, and have no-one, NO-ONE ask you why or try to be on your side?" he shouted at Spencer. "No, you don't know. Because none of you gave a shit about me since I got here. All you've done is put me in the same boat as my uncle and my cousin, and not one of you have even asked me why I'm so fucking angry and pissed off all the time" he shouted. The shouting and the outburst seemed to deflate what little energy Luke had as the boy hung his head between his shoulders for a moment. "I am sorry for what I did... but what's the point in saying sorry when I know none of you give enough of a shit to believe me?" he asked as he slowly slumped back into his chair. "Nothing I do from here on out is going to make a difference" he said as he looked at the floor. He slowly brought a hand up to his face and rubbed his eyes, which seemed even redder then before. Spencer didn't say anything at first, as a few minutes of uncomfortable silence passed between them both. But he did know what Luke was talking about, at least part of it. He didn't know exactly what happened in Luks past or what was going on in his family, that was none of his business anyway. But he understood where Luke was coming from in believing such a lie about himself. "Luke, whether you believe me or not, I know what that feeling is like" Spencer said to him as he leant forward on his desk. "I do know what it's like to believe a lie about yourself like that, but that doesn't excuse what you did" he said to him. "That's why I'm quitting" Luke said to him as he looked up."I didn't ask for this job, I didn't ask for the licence. Uncle Thomas just threw them on me and expect me go along with them just because he said so. This place is going be of a lot better off without me, and quite frankly, nobody here wants me here anyway" Luke said to him. "Go on, tell me one worker here who actually wanted me here before...before this mess started" Luke said as he looked up at Spencer. Spencer was silent. He couldn't really answer the question, and part of him didn't want to. The truth was, even before all this mess started, Luke wasn't that great of an employee. And none of the other workers were comfortable having him around. Especially with that temper of his. Luke slumped back in his chair as the silence that Spencer gave him was all the confirmation that he needed. "And if I went out there and I told everybody that I am sorry for what I did, would you or anybody actually believe me?" Luke said to him as he wiped his eyes. "Honestly? No" Spencer said to him. Although he wasn't sure whether he wanted to believe it or whether he didn't want to believe it. He could tell Luke was sorry, but Spencer was at a point in his life when sorry just didn't cut it anymore. "I figured" Luke said to him, although he didn't sound happy he got the answer he wanted. ."I fucked up Spencer" he said to him."I have the worst kind of personal problems around. And anger issues. I have issues with my family. And yet, no-one feels sorry for me" he admitted. "And...I don't even know if I want sympathy, not after what I've done. I don't deserve sympathy for what I did, no matter what I'm going through" he said. "Luke, I'm going to be honest with you" Spencer said as he looked at him. "Luke, I didn't like oyu from the start. I saw you as a spoilt kid who got handed a licence and a job he didn't deserve, and did little to prove to me you deserved it. You argued with everyone, including me. You acted like you believed you were better than me, like having a little piece of paper to be was more then all of the years of experience I've had actually having the position as a master" Spencer said. "I can see that your sorry for what you did, believe me I can see that. Do I accept that you're sorry? Yes. Do I accept your apology and let it be? No, I don't" he said frankly as he looked at the pitiful boy before him. "I have had people in my life who say sorry and get given an instant pardon for whatever wrongs they've done to me. And quite frankly, just being sorry no longer works for me." "I don't know the lengths of punishment that you deserve, but you do deserve to be punished. And I can see you're hurt and hurting very badly right now, but in my eyes, you haven't been punished enough" Spencer said honestly. "I don't know what personal problems are going on in your life, but you lashed out at the wrong person. Nothing Matt has ever done, deserves what you did to him. Maybe if you had come to me and talked to me, maybe I could have done something to help you." "But Luke, what's happened has happened. I can't change that, you can't change that, and we're not going to forget this happened anytime soon" Spencer said to him. "Now, I accept your resignation, as for your licence, that's between you and your uncle. I accept your sorry, but I do not accept your apology." "Thanks....thanks for being honest with me" Luke said after a few moments of silence between them both. "I appreciate it" he said softly with a very weak smile on his face. Spencer just nodded to him and gestured to the door. Luke got the meaning as he stood up. There was nothing more to say between them both anymore, and there was no point in staying around. Spencer said nothing as he watched the boy leave quietly. He didn't feel sorry for Luke and what he was going through after what he did. As for the personal stuff, he did feel a little bad that he hadn't intervened in the first place. But he shook that feeling away. As for what Thomas had planned for him, Spencer had no idea at all. But he was sure he'd hear about it soon. The other workers had all gone back to work by the time Luke stepped out of the office. Matt was out of sight, but Luke had no intention of going to see him. He honestly didn't know what to say to Matt if he did bump into him, but he didn't want to do anything that could fuck things up further. But the other workers all had their eyes on the boy as he walked towards the exit of the warehouse. Luke could feel their eyes on him as he walked, but none of them said anything to him. None of the workers felt sorry for Luke, and the only thing that was stopping them from any of them grabbing the boy and beating the stuffing out of him, was Spencer. After the incident, Spencer had reminded them all that Luke was still underage, and anything done against him was criminal enough to warrant charges and their immediate discharges. So they all just opted to stand there and glare at the boy as he passed by their lines of sight. Luke avoided all of their gazes, having no desire to fight or try to explain himself to them. He knew they wouldn't give him sympathy, and he knew that none of them cared about him or cared why he did it. In a sense though, he was okay with them hating him. He wouldn't be in their way for much longer anyway. Luke stepped out of the warehouse and shut the door behind him, hearing the lock click firmly in place. He felt a little more defeated as he looked into the parking lot and realised that the taxi had driven off because Luke had forgotten to ask him to wait for him. Just another curveball in his life. "Doesn't matter" he thought to himself as he decided he would simply walk. "Really, I just don't feel like caring anymore" he thought to himself as he started to walk towards the highway. "My life is so fucked up right now, might as well get slapped around a bit more" he thought. Luke shifted his backpack a little, feeling a little better with each step as he walked away from the warehouse. Now that he had handed in the resignation and each step away from the warehouse meant another step he wouldn't have to take back there. And he did feel better that Spencer had been honest with him. Barely anyone in his life had been honest with him and straight up front. It felt kind of good to know that after everything he had done, someone could tell him the truth. Even if he didn't like hearing it. "Maybe I should get myself a real job somewhere else" he thought to himself as he kicked at a few discarded cans on the side of the road that have looked like they had been there for far too long. "Maybe I could go work at McDonald's. It can't be that hard. And I'll probably enjoy it a lot better over here" he said to himself as he kicked it another can. "Yeah, maybe that's what I'll do. Go do something that I want for a change. Maybe I should stop letting my uncle and dad dictate my life like they own it and actually do something I can be proud of instead of doing something they can be proud of" he thought to himself. The idea started to make him feel better and he could actually feel himself smile to the idea. He did know that he was not out of the clear just yet, and he had to actually face whatever kind of punishment his uncle or his father was going to throw at him. But he had already resigned from his job, and his licence meant nothing to him anymore. He had nothing left for them to take from him, what more could they actually do to him anyway? "Hey matey" "Huh?" Luke said as he looked up, hearing someone call out to him from the road. Luke turned as he saw a large blue coloured van pull up beside him, the van covered in a layer of dust suggesting it had been travelling in the country for a while. The drivers side window suddenly wounded down slowly and a guilmon poked his head out of the window. "Hey there mate. I'm kinda lost" the guilmon boy said as he leant out of the window at Luke. He had long black hair tied back in a rather masculine tail behind his head and he spoke with a foreign accent. "You got any idea where Angelus Avenue is?" he asked. "Been searching for it all damn day." "Angelus Avenue?" Luke repeated. He pulled himself out of his thoughts as he looked the male over. He looked to be in his mid twenties and definitely didn't seem to be from around. Especially with that accent. Luke looked at him for a moment or two before he tried to remember where the street was, or if he knew it at all. "I...I think its across town, over at the industrial area" he said. "Really? Dammit, I was down that way about an hour ago' the digimon said as he sat back in his seat, looking annoyed. "Man, I suck at reading maps. And navigation. Honestly, back home in the outback, we only have one road. It's called 'Thattaway' " he said with a grin on his face as he looked at Luke, but the grin faded when he saw that Luke wasn't laughing at his dumb joke. "Yeah, you probably passed it before" Luke said as he looked the guilmon over once more before he turned to walk away. He didn't get more than a step or two away before the guy called out again. "Hey, wait a sec bright eyes" the male called out as he leant out of the window at Luke. "What is it?" Luke asked as he turned around again. He noticed that the male was holding an oversized map in his hand. "Can you show me on this damn thing where exactly the hell I am?" he asked as he gestured the map towards Luke. "I'm useless at these things. I don't even know what kind of highway this is" he said. "Help a mate out there?" Luke sighed as he slumped his backpack against his shoulders. Being late getting home wasn't an issue, and it probably didn't matter if he didn't get home for another hour or two. Helping the guy out with his problem wasn't going to matter. "Here, let me take a look" Luke said as he walked up to the drivers side window and took the map from the males hands. "Thanks mate. Really appreciate it there Luke" the male said with a broad grin on his face. It took a few moments for Luke to register what he said as he looked up at the male in surprise. "How..do you know my name?" he asked in a small voice. The side door of the van suddenly pulled open and two arms reached out of the open doorway. Luke let out a startled cry of shock as he was suddenly yanked backwards and off his feet. Luke looked up to the driver of the van and saw him rather calmly folding the map away, a look of disinterest on his face. Luke opened his mouth to cry out for help, but something quickly covered his maw and clamped down hard. Something wet and cold pressed against his face as he breathed in to cry out, but all he got was a whiff of chemicals that smelt sour. The effect of the chemicals was instantaneous as Luke felt his head start to spin like he was on a merry go round. His arms and legs were sapped of their strength as he felt his body simply give out and fall against his captor. Luke felt his eyes grow heavy as he was forced to breath in another breath of chemicals as he was pulled into the back of the van. Once the door slammed shut, the driver guilmon pulled out a cell phone as he pulled the van out of park and manoeuvred it back onto the highway. He listened to the dial tone for a moment as he adjusted the van on the road. When the dial tone snapped off and someone answered the phone, the driver said only two words before turning off the call. "Got him."

"I think he's waking up". Luke felt drowsy as he heard someone speak nearby. The voice was distorted and echoed slightly as he struggled to open his eyes. His head was pounding worse then it had all weekend and his entire body felt heavy and limp. He felt a surge of nausea roll over in his stomach and he cringed from the sick feeling. "It's just a little chloroform. It will wear off eventually" Luke heard somebody say through the ringing in his ears. Luke shook his head to try and clear the foggy feeling of cobwebs and cotton balls that seemed to have filled his head, but his head felt heavier than normal and it was an effort to just do that. "Come on boy, come on. Wake up for me" the voice continued as Luke's vision started to clear itself. The effects of the drugs seemed to wear off rather quickly as Lukes senses began to operate as normal. Luke opened his eyes but everything seemed to be on double vision and it hurt just to look. But with each blink of his eyes his vision started to clear. When Luke finally stopped seeing double of everything he looked up slowly and saw another guilmon sitting before him, crossed legged and wearing a smirk across his face. For a moment, Luke thought that it was the driver, but this guilmon had red hair streaked with black tips, and was wearing a black shirt with dirty jeans. "Well well, the boy is finally awake" the guilmon said with a grin. Lukes first instinct was to move and do something, but his heart raced in panic as he realised that he couldn't move. His arms were tied behind his back and his legs were tied together at the ankles. Luke tried to speak, but found he couldn't move his muzzle. He whimpered in fear as he found himself completely helpless. "Don't worry too much. All we've done is just tie you up a bit so you can't try and get away. Oh, and we stuck a ballgag in your mouth. I really didn't feel like listening to you" the guilmon said as he sat back a little. Luke gulped a little as he felt himself sweat in panic. The guilmon before him, except for his hair looked like the driver. Perhaps they were twins. He had a very strong looking body behind his tight clothing, and seemed well muscled all over. Luke could smell dirt in the air. Luke realised he was sitting in the back of the van, and it was somewhat dark. The only light that came in came from a single ceiling light above them. The windows were tinted black and Luke couldn't see through them. The driver seemed to be separated by a sheet of tinted glass, so Luke was all alone with the strange digimon. "I'm Micah. The guy in the front is my brother, Mike. Don't worry about him mate. He can't see in the back here, and he aint listening to anything that might happen back here. He's got the radio on loud, listening to some stupid American shit so feel to scream, or at least try to" he said as he gave a smirk to Luke. "But if you do, it's going to piss me right off, so I'd advise that you behave" Micah said with a stern tone of voice. Luke's heart was racing a mile a minute as he tried to piece together what was going on. He had been walking home from the warehouse, and then he got pulled into a van. Wait, the driver. He knew his name. He had called him 'Luke'. His dad didn't know where he was, and no-one was going to look for him. At that moment, he felt more afraid then he ever had in his life. "We're going to have a little alone time together, so I'm going to explain a few things to you, just to get the ball rolling so you can't yell at me later for not telling you anything" Micah said as he leant forward a little, resting his chin on his hands. "First off, no-ones going to come looking for you. So don't expect to be rescued. Second, you're dad is not going ot come looking for you, so forget all about him. And you're uncle isn't going to bail you out of this, because ...well he paid us to pick you up" Micah said to him in a matter of fact voice. "Bascially, he sold you to us, and our dad paid a heck of a lot of money to get you." "You're uncle is very pissed off with you, and he sold you to us for a good sum of money. Because you did something bad. Now, I don't really care what you did, or why you did it. But the fact is, you belong to us now and no-one is going to come rescue you" Micah said. "So, I'd like you to understand that mate. My father bought you. For a price. A good one" Marcus said firmly. "And that means, you belong to him. And, he has given me permission to look after you and make sure that you are worth the money he paid for. So, you're our slave. Which means you're not just his property, you're mine as well" Micah said as a grin spread over his face.. Luke felt cold sweat start to drip down his head as he tried to realise what was going on. But for some reason the words weren't quite sinking in. His uncle had sold him? How..how could...would he go that far to punish him like this over what he did? "Now, I know this is going to take you some time to get used to, so I'm willing to let you adjust" Micah said to him. "But I'm not going to be an easy master on you. I expect you to listen and understand that I'm the one in charge of you, and the longer it takes to sink in, the harder our relationship is going to be" Micah said to him. "We have much to do, you and I, to get onto a good master slave relationship. And I intend to start it now, so we're not wasting time with this" he said firmly. "Now, are you familiar with a taser?" Micah asked as he leant over and pulled something small and black from his pocket. "I have this one here, which is basically the stab and shock kind, the one that lets me gets up close and personal" he said. "But, I also have the other kind, the kind that I can shoot and zap you from ten feet away" he pointed out. "Now, believe me mate, when I say that I am not afraid to use them" he said firmly. "Now" Micah said as he leant forward and waved the black taser in front of Lukes face. "I'm your master. No ifs ands or buts. You're not a free man anymore, you're my slave. No sitting on the fence, no exceptions, no either or. I say jump, you say 'Yes sir' and jump" Micah said as he pointed the taser at Luke. "And as your master, I have the right to discipline you however I want. And trust me, I can and will" he said firmly. Luke was suddenly becoming more afraid with every passing moment and with every jostle of the van as it was driving. There was no doubt in his mind that he had been kidnapped, but he didn't know who by. All he had to go on, was what this guy was saying to him, but with Luke feeling as afraid as he was, it wasn't quite sinking in. But what was sinking in, was the way that this Micah was talking to him. It all sounded so familiar the way he was speaking, and how he was speaking. And Luke knew why. It was the same way he had spoken to Matt so many times in the last few months. Somehow, that was making the situation more real then it was. "Now, we're going to start off on even ground. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and trust you" Micah said as he looked Luke in the eyes. "What happens from here on out, will either strengthen that trust, or break it. It's entirely up to you" he said firmly. "So, your first order from me, is to lie still while I cut your clothes off" Micah said to him. "I'm going to take this pair of scissors here" he said as he pulled out a sharp looking pair from his pocket and waved it in front of Luke. "And i'm going to cut off your shirt. And I'm going to cut it to pieces. Then I'm going to cut off your pants. And cut it to ribbons" he said as he looked firmly at Luke. "I'll leave your underwear on, but I might just cut a hole or two in them to make you a little more exposed, if I feel like it" he said with a grin. "Now, I know your bound up and all, but if I think you're about to headbutt me or try to hit me in anyway, I'm going to get very pissed off" Micah said as he held the taser in his other hand. "And then i'm going to stick this in your gut and watch you squirm until you shit yourself. And believe me, that does happen" Micah said to him. "So, I don't want to see you move at all unless I ask you to. Otherwise" he said as he held the taser up and the end sparked visibly. "Understand?" Luke nodded, feeling like there was nothing else that he could do. He couldn't argue if he wanted to, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to argue if he could. The way that Micha was talking, Luke had no doubt that the guilmon meant business. He could actually hurt him if he felt like it. And as Luke had pointed out to Matt so many times, as a master he needed little to no reason to hurt him. Seeing that Luke was compliant and didn't give him a reason to suspect he might be up to something, Micah moved forward and held the scissors up. Slowly and carefully he moved over the other male and began to put his scissors to use. Luke tried his hardest not to move, his eyes focused solely on the Taser in the digimons hand. He wanted to whimper and cry out as he felt the cold metal of the scissors press against his exposed flesh as he both heard and felt the material give way from the snipping. But he was far too scared of the punishment to actually cry or spill a tear. He shook, but it was mostly out of fear. Micah was careful and precise in his work, and slowly the snipping noises helped Lukes clothing start to fall way. Micah simply cut pieces of the clothing out and dropped them on the floor over the van, Luks body slowly getting exposed with each snip. It was only when Lukes shirts hung in tatters and held together with the seams that Micah cut the last few ruined pieces of Lukes shirt away. Then it was time for Lukes pants to suffer the same treatment. Slowly, the scissors ran up Lukes legs and sliced them open like cucumbers getting sliced. Lukes thighs were exposed as Micah moved the material around, being careful not to hurt the boy as he held the material away so that he could cut through the waistband without cutting his flesh. Lukes eyes never left the taser, even though a couple of times it had been set on the floor beside the guilmon. He was too afraid to take a chance, and he was too well bound to actually move in any sort of attack. Maybe if he hadn't spent the weekend feeling sorry for himself and beating himself up, he might have had enough energy to fight back more. But all he could do was feel himself submit, even if it was out of fear. "There now, that wasn't so bad now was it boy?" Micah asked as he pulled the last of Lukes tattered pants from his body, leaving the pitiful boy in just his underwear. "And you were very good, you didn't struggle or anything. I'm happy to see that" Micah said with such a genuine smile of approval that Luke felt a little taken aback. "Since you were such a good boy, I think I'll leave the underpants on. Give you some dignity, even if its a little" he said with a smile as he sat back. Luke whimpered softly as Micah pulled the ruined remains of his clothing aside and then reached for his backpack. Out of instinct Luke leant forward tell Micah to stay out of his private property, but Micah quickly looked up and gave him a stern look. Luke stopped in mid movement at the look and slowly sank back against the back door of the van. "Good boy" Micah said as he sat back and held the backpack in his lap. "Just sit quietly for me" Micah said as he unzipped the zippers on Lukes backpack and then held it upside down. He gave it several shakes and the contents swiftly fell out and onto the floor between his spread legs. "You won't be needing these anymore" Micah said as he took the pair of scissors and pulled the contents out of Lukes wallet. "In fact, you will not be needing anything where you are going" he said with a grin as he cut up Luke's cards into such small pieces that there was no chance of ever getting put back together. Luke felt utterly defeated as he watched the man before him cut up and destroy everything that was in the backpack and what remained of his ruined clothing. When he was done cutting up everything, he held the backpack open and stuffed everything into it, zipping the bag up when he was done. "Alright, we're here" Mike the driver said as he banged his fist on the glass segment. Luke felt the van shift around as the metal construct began to slow down and eventually pulled to a stop. "Alright, we're at a gas station way out of town. Its abandoned and useless, just an empty old relic that everyone passes by without caring" Micah said. "So, its a perfect place to continue our little relationship and keep it on a good note" he said with a smile. "Now, what yuo're going to do, it take this backpack and walk across the lot and put it in the nearest bin or dumpster that's out there" Micah said as he held the backpack out. "You're going to walk straight out there dressed in nothing but your briefs and a ballgag" he said as he held the scissors up. "I'm going to take off your restraints and you're going to be a good boy and walk out there and dump what's left of your life in a bin" Micah said firmly. "Just remember, I have a Taser that I can shoot you with, and my brother is a good driver, even if the van does look like shit. If you think you can run off and escape, we will catch up with you. We'll drag oyu back into the van, kicking and screaming if need be, and I'm going to stab the taser into your balls and zap you till you can't scream anymore" Micah said. "So, if you want to keep our little relationship on a good level, you'll walk out there, dump your shit, then walk back here. And I'll keep up trusting you, and thinking of you as a good boy. Otherwise, you're welcome to try and run. But honestly, I don't want to see you do that" Micah said to him. Micah then leant forward over Luke and reached around his body and started to untie the ropes that bound his wrists. Luke froze and didn't dare move as Micah undid the ropes and then knelt down to undo the ropes that bound his ankles. Once Luke was unbound, Micah opened the door of the van and the interior was flooded with afternoon light. Luke had to blink his eyes a few times to adjust as Micah handed him his backpack. Once Luke had it in his hands, Micah gestured to the door with an expression that clearly said 'Go'. Luke clutched at his backpack as he slowly got to his shaking feet, falling literally out of the van into the bright light outside. He had to hold onto himself as he got himself up onto unstable legs, feeling himself shake in fear and humiliation. The gas station was indeed deserted. An ancient shell of a convenience store with a ruined overhead canopy that must have blown of years ago. The pumps were rusted out and the handles long gone. Graffitti and weeds seemed to have overrun the place, and litter was scattered all over the place. Luke did not recognise the place, and he had to admit, it was one of those places you just passed by and forgot about. This was the perfect place for a slave to say goodbye to his past. Slowly, Luke walked forward as he felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment and humiliation at the whole situation. Even though there was no-one there, he found it still to be embarrassing to be walking barefoot across a gas station wearing nothing but his underpants and a ball gag. Luke crossed over the empty shell of a structure towards a set of dumpters propped up against a wilting chain link fence. The dumpsters were overflowing with garbage, giving the impression that they had been full for years and no-one had bothered to come collect. As Luke headed in that direction, he felt his backpack grow heavier with each step and he found himself struggling against the increasing weight. With the eyes of the guilmon brothers behind him, watching him carefully in case he did try to make a run for it, Luke walked up until he was standing in front of the rotting structure that was once a dumpster. He felt his head was still swimming with the reality that was going on, and the reality was finding it hard to sink in any further. Luke stood still as he stared at the fly infested rotten and overflowing garbage container and he fbriefly thought of running. The van wouldn't be able to drive across the gas station and follow him, so he'd have a head start. And if he kept running and hiding along the road, he might be able to evade them long enough that he could find someone to take him home. "That's...that's just it. No-one...is going to be sad I'm gone" he remembered himself saying just a few short hours ago. If he really was sold into slavery, who was to say that they would accept him if he did manage to get back? His uncle had put Matt into slavery over a minor vehicle accident. What lUke had done was far far worse. Why should he be surprised that his uncle had done this to him? And who was going to miss him after what he had done? Hadn't he been convincing himself for the last few days that no-one cared and no-one would notice if he disappeared? Well, he was disappearing right now. And no-one was caring that he was. Feeling tears spill over his eyes, Luke held his backpack up and dumped it onto the pile of rubbish that was overflowing out of the dumpster. The rubbish was so old and rotten that the backpack fell through it and left a hole in its wake, a huge cloud of flying insects rising up into the air. Luke slowly turned around and began to walk back towards the van without looking back. There was no need to. Slowly, Luke walked back to the van, his gaze on the ground as he felt hte weight of what was happening hit his shoulders and weigh him down. He tried to hold himself up as he walked, but each step forward was getting harder with each movement. He didn't even make it back to the van before he felt himself collapse and break down. He fell to his knees and he couldn't hold back his emotions as he started to cry. He couldn't take it anymore. He was sorry for what he did, and the punishment was far worse then he could ever have imagined and it was too much for the broken down boy to handle. Luke was starting to pant as he sobbed, feeling his body rack itself as he tried to hold himself together, but he couldn't. He just couldn't. It was too much for him. He had finally disappointed his uncle so badly that he had been sold and removed out of his life like he was an unwanted thing. It was just too much. Too, too much. He heard footsteps approach and a pair of hands wrapped around his shoulders and he was pulled up. Luke did not have the strength to fight back as Micah pulled him to his feet and wrapped his arms around the sobbing boy. "Come on, come on" Micah said softly but firmly as he held the sobbing boy in his arms. Luke could feel those muscled arms hold onto him and he could feel the strength in them as he was easily turned towards the waiting van. Micah said nothing as he helped Luke get into the van, holding onto the boy in case he collapsed again. The van rocked slightly as Micah got into the back and pulled Luke in with him. With a pull of his arm he pulled the door shut. Micah sat down and pulled Luke to the side, letting the sobbing boy rest against him as the van started up and pulled back onto the road. Luke continued to cry as he rested his head on the guilmons lap, not caring anymore what happened to him. "Just let it all out boy" Micah said as he let Luke cry. "Just let it all out, don't be afraid to cry" he said as he rubbed Lukes shoulder gently. He didn't do anything to stop Luke from crying or to shut him up as he just let him go for it. How long Luke laid there crying, he didn't know. It took him while to realise that he had eventually stopped and was just lying there with his head in the guilmons lap, just lying silently and not saying or doing anything. The only movement that came from them was when the van turned on the road. Micah said nothing as he let Luke lie there in silence. He kept his hand on the boys shoulder and squeezed it now and then, but other then that he said nothing or gave any indication that he was concerned about Luke. The van drove on in silence, taking Luke further to his new destination. Finally, the van began to slow down and Micah tapped Luke on the side and gently helped him to sit up. The van turned a cornor and began to slowly drive down a path or road, one that Micah seemed to know as he sat up and pulled Luke into a sitting position. "Alright Luke, we're home" Micah said as he put a hand on the handle of the door. "This is where you're going to be living from now on, so you'll be calling it home as well" Micah said as he opened the side door of the van. With the door opened and Luke able to see outside, Micah reached up and took the ballgag from out of Lukes mouth. The first thing that Luke saw was the 10 foot high chain-link fence that seemed to surround wherever they were heading into. Looking up, Luke saw the fence was topped with razor wire. The van slowed down and a tall and very sturdy chain link gate was opened for them. The van passed through the gate and the gate closed behind him as Luke stared out of the side of the van, no thoughs of escaping on his mind. The chain link fence seemed to stretch on in the distance, over what had to be a very large property. In the distance, Luke thought he saw what looked like a stable or a barn, or some kind of farm building, as well as what looked like areas designed for animals. Heck, he could even see what looked like a large paddock filled with corn. The van turned and the buildings disappeared from view as the vehicle followed a long and somewhat winding driveway. The van drove forward and kept going as it rounded an enormous farmhouse that could only be described as a country manor. The manor was at least three storys tall and seemed to sweep along in a fluid construct. It looked like the kind of house that had been built with not just care, but a lot of effort. What really took Lukes breath away though, was the two lines of what had to be slaves standing on either side of the pathway that lead up to the front door of the manor. The van pulled up to the end of the pathway, the door lining up with the stone pathway. Luke counted at least fifteen slaves on either side of the pathway, standing at attention like a military service. They all seemed to be wearing the same kind of uniform, but Luke didn't get much of a chance ot look closer as Micah gave him a gentle push from behind. Luke took that as his cue to get out of the van, remembering the tasers that Micah carried with him. "Time to meet your new master and owner" Micah said as he stepped out of the van. Mike revved up the engine and the van began to pull away to a large three door garage that lay on the other side of hte house. "Everyone, meet the newest slave of our family" Micah said as he addressed the lines of slaves before them. Micah pushed on LUkes back again and Luke started to walk forward, feeling humiliated to walk down the line between two rows of slaves in just his underwear and looking like hammered shit. But he didn't have the strength to fight back or do anything so he just walked instead. All the slaves he noticed, were very well muscled. The kind of bodies became after years of hard work and constant labouring. They were all wearing tight fitting overalls that covered their bodies, but still left enough of their builds to be exposed for eye candy. The uniforms all seemed to snugly fit in just the right areas, and were open to reveal the right amount of flesh. What really struck Luke was the simple fact that every single male there was exceptionally handsome and rugged in a good way. They all had long manly looking hairstyles, and most were collared and cuffed, the leather and studded accessories seemed to make them stand out in their good looks. And they were all pierced in some way as well. Some had piercings in their ears, their noses, their eyebrows, their lips. But all the piercings were done in such a way that they didn't look intimidating. It just seemed to make them all look submissive and all the more alluring. "Here he is father. Our newest acquisition. Luke" Micah said as they reached the end of the line, the pathway leading up to a set of wooden steps that led up to the large open doors of the farmhouse manor. Luke looked up as he saw an older guilmon looking down at him, no mistaking that he was the twin males father. He was much taller and more muscled then his sons, with a large beer gut held in an open leather vest. He wore tight looking jeans on his large tree trunk thick legs that showed off a rather impressive bulge. The older male was smoking a fat cigar between his lips and he had his arms crossed over his chest. A wide brimmed hat rested on his head, finishing off the rancher look he was portraying. "So, you must be Luke huh?" The big man asked as he looked down at his newest acquisition. Luke whimpered a bit but nodded as he felt intimidated by the bigger man. Even though he was a few steps above him, the bigger man simply towered over him. The owner of the property chuckled and began to walk down the steps, his thick heavy boots thudding on the wood. "My name is Isaiah" he said with a grin. "And on this property, I am your owner, your master, hell I'm even your damn Lord. I can overrule anything and everything that my son says, and I will do it. My word is law around here, and you better get that through your thick little head mate." "I paid your uncle a good amount of cash to buy your sorry little hide, and I intend to get every damn dollars worth out of you. I'm going to get it through your blood, sweat and tears. You're going to be put to work, and you are gonna work like you have never worked before. I expect the best out of my boys, and you are no exception mate" he said as he gave Luke smirk. He took a drag on his cigar and then blew a cloud of black smoke at him. He chuckled in amusement as Luke closed his eyes and flinched against the smoke. "And just to let you know right here and now sit there ain't no doubts in your little boy mind, I am a master" Isaiah said to him."I didn't pass any stupid course, I didn't pay for a licence. I earned my title. It wasn't given to me by some government or agency who think they know what its like to own someone and write some stupid shit ass book about it. I'm not some stupid little engineering pony who got given a contract over my best friend because he got into some money trouble or the like. I earned my title, and any one of these boys will back me up on that." "So I want you to forget everything you know about masters, handlers, overseers and all the rest of the bull shit the B.O.S.S. tries to claim it knows. I want you to forget everything you know about authority, slaves and masters. Because trust me mate, you haven't met anyone like me."