CHAPTER SONG, Bad - Royal Deluxe

I marched down the hall, rolling my shoulders every few second. It was pointless, because it wasn't helping and yet I kept doing as if the fact would change. I just need to ice it at this point, something I should have done hours ago expect I didn't. Instead, I went about my time, taking care of things and now my aching shoulder told me that tomorrow, it would be sore as a bitch.

Fabulous.

I halted at the end of the hall, still on a mission to find Maddox because I know his somewhere in this club, and yet he has disappeared into thin fucken air. The guy lost his phone, again, so until tomorrow when his next one gets delivered, his phoneless. I have lost count of how many phones his broken or misplaced. You would think for him being a tech guru, he would know how to hold onto a technical device. He doesn't. Actually, at one point he even lost my phone for that matter. Last time I ever asked him to hold my phone.

The point is you want your phone to disappear? Hand it to Maddox and give him five minutes.

I grabbed the door handle, slipping into the room. As I spun around, I nudged the door shut with my foot. Opening my mouth to shout for Madd's, I stopped, shutting my mouth back. He wasn't here. Another room, another hallway, another level cleared, and he was still missing.

I wasn't panicking, really, I'm not. But, the tiny fucken spec of anxiety was tugging in my chest and pulling at my breaths. It's been months since Maddox was kidnapped. Months since I went a full week without him. Months since I came close to losing him. Months since the day I had to prepare myself to face his dead body. Months have passed, and I shouldn't panic. I wasn't panicking. I kept repeating that to myself, and knew I was lying every time. A hundred more years could pass, and that week will still be an open wound.

I cleared my throat. "Oh hey." I said, eyeing the hostage strung to the chair, and his tormentor sitting beside him on his back legs.

At my voice, my uncle turned, lifting to his feet as he whipped his bloody hands onto his jeans. Ruby red smeared his jeans, leaving trail's of proof that for Maddox, we would shatter the earth and pull it apart until everyone who touched him was shoved so far into the dirt that even their names were forgotten.

Looking at me, my uncle gave me a nod. "Hey kid."

I rolled my shoulder pointlessly. "Have you seen your son? Kind of lost him somewhere here." I explained, starting to rub my shoulder, only to realize that was pointless too. I wonder if it's to late for an ice bath. I think I need one. Fuck hockey.

The man behind my uncle whizzed, clearly in his worst shape. There is a good reason for him here, and one I wouldn't question because he deserves it. Maybe I'm just immune to the cruelty, or maybe I just can't find it in me to muster up a single reason to care anymore. I know if the roles were reversed and he had me in that chair, he wouldn't spare me a second. They didn't for Maddox, so why should it be any different for them? Why shouldn't he suffer like every single one of us did. Every second that passed by without Maddox safe, was a second he should feel. Deeply cutting to the bone with grating pain, he will feel it.

There was only so many of them left. The crew that kidnapped him, all for some useless information. Outdated, stupid information that wouldn't have benefit even if they did get it. So tell me, what was the fucken point? They held him, tortured him, did unspeakable things, for what? They didn't break him. They didn't get any information. He wasn't an egg you could creak. He would go down to the grave before he gave up his loyalty to this family. So now, only a handful left, and soon, they will wither in the dirt too and Maddox will thrive. Thrive.

From about ten feet away from me, my uncle looked back at the guy as he answered me, "Check the tech room. That's the last place I saw him. He was updating the security system and rebooting them because the censoring was acting up."

Uncle was our enforcer, and tech. Although, Maddox has pretty much taken over the tech part years ago. Which freed up a lot of uncle's time to really get into the whole enforcer gig. He seemed to be having the time of his life, because the blood dripping down his hands, and neck till me his been here for hours. As he should be. Punishment will be served. And only when we decide it's enough, will we finally take away their miserable lives.

I sighed. "I checked down there. I swear that dude disappears." I muttered.

His dad turned, a crooked grin on his face. "Or he doesn't want to be found."

"Someone needs to find him because his spiraling."

Uncle pressed his lips together, concern filling his unmatched eyes. "Perhaps. He lost a part of himself that week. Something he hasn't recovered yet. And you, Mateo, need to find him. You're the only one who can reach him."

I ran a hand through my face, feeling the stiffness in my chest and the lack of air I was getting. Lately, Maddox has been shutting down. You almost can't see it because his so good at hiding it. So good at faking. But sometimes you get a glimpse of this absence look in his eyes. Sometimes, a little bit of the hell drifts out and your slammed with how much his really struggling. How much his barely keeping it together. And when your confronted with a gun to your face because you tried to wake him, and that horrid look in his eyes stares back at you, then you can't breathe.

Looking up at my uncle, I nodded. "I'll watch over him." I replied, sealing my promise. That guy has been by my side my whole life and I would lay my life by his if need be.

Turning for the door, I took a step only to glance back because on the ground, laid a square sized box, and that shade of purple I could recognize in my damn sleep. I basically sprinted for the box, and I'm not ashamed, I'm just hungry. My uncle laughed, sticking a fabric of something into the guy's mouth to shut him up. "Help yourself, why don't you." he chuckled but I was already opening the box.

If there was place in Texas that had the best pastries, it would be OMYBROWINES. Hand's down, they deserve the hype. And, as I looked over the box, full of Ferrero brownies, cookies, and even some raspberry blondies, my mouth watered. I almost groaned out in happiness because this was something that would lift my mood by a mile.

Grabbing a brownie in my hand, and a blondie in the other, I lifted back to my feet. "Every healthy." I lifted the brownie, as I bit into the other sweetness. I had to catch the moan that built up my throat. Perfection. Utter perfection, and yet I knew that if those were made with Lina's love, they would have hit the spot that those seem to be missing.

"You probably should eat something that doesn't consist of a thousand calories." My uncle eyed me.

"I think that's exactly what I'm supposed to be eating. To bulk and all that shit."

My uncle shook his head, laughing to himself. "Diabetes will come knocking on your door soon."

I chewed, before swallowing. "Kirsan tell you that? His a genius and all but trust me, listening to everything he says is bad for the mind."

I turned, making my way to the door. I still needed to find Madd's, and then get the fuck out of here. It's way past midnight, and not only do I have school tomorrow, but a damn game. I got to say, I'm actually looking forward to the hockey season ending. Sure, I like the game but it's not something I can say I love. I'm doing it for support to Madd's, and his doing it because his mother is forcing him. She think's this will bring him back to reality of a normal life. I think his past that. I think his so far from normality that he can't even see it anymore.

I grabbed the door, about to leave when a thought came to my head. I spun around. "Hey." I called out, making my uncle turned to me, "Is the guy dead?" I asked. Clearly, he wasn't dead yet, but the question is will he be?

"In a second."

Perfect. I turned fully back around, eyeing my uncle who over the years seems to not age. His beach blond hair still in the same cut his had for years. His chilled eyes, still calculating, and analyzing you with just a blink. And I still shivered at just the thought. They guy was terrifying, and yet I considered him family. He was basically a second dad too me.

I jetted my chin out. "Your son's concerned about you." I told him, eyeing him for a reaction. Not that I would get one, because hell, those men thought us the act of being stoned.

He grabbed a towel, wiping his hands. "Concerned? Why?"

"He says you have been off, more distracted lately."

My uncle finished wiping his hands, before throwing the towel over his shoulder and looking to me. "It's nothing new. The work's gotten more active lately, that's all."

I eyed him, noting the subtle drop of his tone. Noting the sudden tense in his shoulders. Fuck me, Maddox was right. They are hiding something, and the question was what, and why. I leaned off the door, discomfort clinging to my chest, and annoying buried under it. Narrowed my gaze, I replied, "Yeah? Just more active, or you're not telling us something?"

I wonder if he will lie. Something tells me he will.

He does. "Just more active. Don't worry kid, everything is fine."

Bullshit. But I knew better then to try to extract information from the guy. He was unbreakable, so if I wanted information, I had to find a different way to get it. What I didn't like, is being lied too. Played with and thought of as a fool. They didn't raise fools, so why are they treating us like them now? Did they think we wouldn't see right through whatever it was they were hiding? Because the moment I asked him, I knew he was hiding something.

I regarded him a moment longer, trying to figure him out, except I knew I wouldn't. Giving up, I nodded. "I really hope you aren't lying to me, because you know I'm not dumb, I'll figure it out. Your son's smart, his catching on too."

Maddox was a damn fox, he could sniff out manipulation and lying, like I could cupcakes.

My uncle regarded me for a second, stoned face, and expressionless but that made it even worse because I could see how hard he was trying to keep up the act. Fuck me and the longer I stared at him, the more the irritation built. The longer I stood in his presence, the madder I got. I didn't like being kept in the dark. I rather be front and center to anything that could ever hit me. I don't like having thing's behind me because then I'm blind to them.

Any longer, and I knew I would say something that would backfire right now. Instead, I gave him a tight nod and said, "I'll see you later."

Shutting the door behind me, I chewed on the brownie, that all of a sudden just seemed too plain and bland. Crap. Even the brownie has been ruined for me. The one simple thing that I enjoyed with all my heart, was now blah. I groaned, tossing it in the garage as I turned the final corner of the hallways and made my way out to the lounge.

Something was going on, and my gut twisted in anger because no one was telling us what.

In the middle of the lounge, Maddox was kicking a soccer ball around. His expression void, and plain like the fucken brownie I just tossed. He might have been kicked that ball around, but it's like he was on robot mode because he wasn't fully there. His mind, it wasn't full there. He didn't even notice when I stopped a few feet away from him, watching him. Finally, after a second I called out, grabbing his attention. His ghost eyes snapped up at me, and the thump of the ball hitting the ground sounded like a hard punch in the gut.

Everything in me wanted to grab him and hide him. I hated the selfish part of me that kept him around. That including him in everything because maybe if I didn't, then what happened wouldn't have. If maybe I didn't let him go on that run alone that day, he would have come back. If maybe I went instead of him, then he wouldn't be looking at me like a match that was burning away. Maybe if I could have stopped what happen, then he wouldn't sleep with a gun under his pillow. And maybe if I found him sooner, he would have been less broken.

I cleared my throat. "Your right. They are hiding something."

My word's snapped something in him, twisting his face in hurt and betrayal. Only it didn't last, because his vacant expression wondered back in like it was unbothered because that's what Maddox does. He hides. He fakes. And he pretends to be okay with everything that happened. He racked his hand through his brownish tinted hair, and sighed heavily. "I told you. What are we going to do about it?"

"We do what they thought us to do, we rise hell."