A Shifting of Fortune Part 6
Duo kept to the outer fringes making sure he and his pistol-coerced companion were not easily seen. The thick foliage and shrubbery did a perfect job forming a leafy barrier for an unobserved journey.
So far none of Chang's hirelings were aware of their boss' plight. Duo reckoned, though, that if anyone did see them they might choose to look the other way as long as they believed their disregard would not be found out.
Duo would have liked a more exposed path. Under normal circumstances, as normal as his life had ever been, a crowd would have been a simpler way to encourage Chang to move alone peacefully because he would have not wanted his embarrassing situation to be known.
The private surroundings provided Chang with more opportunities to challenge Maxwell's infringement on his authority. Duo was certain if he let his alertness slip for even a fraction of a second Chang would not hesitate to attack. With that surety in mind, Duo made the Security Chief walk well ahead maintaining a good reaction distance.
Duo also knew, at the first chance, Chang would try to gain his lackey's attention and demand their intervention in his capture.
A little over halfway to the house Chang slowed his pace hoping that Duo would not see that the separation was narrowing. But Duo would have no part in the delaying tactics.
"Keep moving or I swear I will fertilize the flowers with you blood and leave your sorry corpse for bird fodder." Duo promised with wholehearted sincerity.
A couple of hundred yards, almost there.
"What do you think Noin will do?" the little voice whispered inside Duo's mind, "Do you think she will back you up?" it asked becoming more annoying by the minute.
Duo decided not to give into any doubt knowing he had to have his full presence of mind as sharp as ever. One moment that was all Chang needed.
As both Duo and his reluctant detainee rounded the semi-circle path that followed the main driveway Maxwell glanced quickly to see if their continued trek was still overlooked.
"I can't believe we got this far." Duo told himself as his commanding facade was fooling only Chang.
Suddenly something struck hard at the juncture where Duo's neck and shoulders came together. For a split second he wondered how Chang from his frontal placement could have delivered the stinging blow.
As the solid strike accomplished its desired affect Duo's eyes dimmed and it felt as though his head had be severed from his neck. His rapidly failing sight caught a glimpse of Chang turning about with a surprised look, no doubt matching Duo's exactly, clearly visible in his widened eyes.
"What the hell?" was all Duo's rattled brain could think as he realized he was going down hard and fast.
Just short of a nasty meeting with the paved path Duo's arms were grabbed and he was roughly hauled upright. His legs had, in the brief time span between his going down and being pulled back up, determined that their cooperation was no longer required.
Now the only thing keeping Maxwell's thoroughly woozy mind and completely unsupportive body from falling apart altogether was the pair Security Unit employees supporting him on either side.
With a totally lethargic response Duo could do nothing more than slump in the watcher's painfully firm grasp. As Duo's overtaxed system was about to surrender to the encompassing darkness. Just as the dim veil clouding both sight and senses quickly lulled him into nothingness a fist plowing into his diaphragm jarred him back from the infringing void.
All breath expelled at once leaving behind a cramped cavity that moments before had been with air. A catching seizure caused Duo to fold in half at the waist. The convulsive spasm tore through every part of his being as racking razor talons of sharp pain assaulted his ribcage and raced deep inside his gut.
Gasping for the elusive breaths that would not return, Duo wheezed and sputtered. Then fear lanced along with the pain as he wondered, with a force so hard, if there had been any internal damage.
Chang with a devilish grin plastered on his golden face stepped to one side reaching down to snag Duo's chestnut braid at the nape of his neck. Using the thick rope of hair as leverage the clearly elated man jerked with sufficient strength to cause a loud pop as Duo's head snapped backwards.
The resulting hot waves traveled with sickening speed in a straightway route from the base of Duo's skull to his brain without a merciful second before the pain exploded in his head.
All the while the guards kept a secure hold on the failing posture of the man they now feared might be killed in their very grasp. But they dared not question their insane leader's motives or intensions not if they, too, wanted to draw another breath.
Chang leaned over until black eyes met the clouded windowpanes of dulled violet washed over in tears and the cold sweat dripping from Duo's forehead.
"So you rescued your friend," he hissed applying more pressure on the braid entangled in his curled fist, "but who is going to rescue you, you pathetic slut."
A gurgle of sour fluid rose in Duo's distended throat shutting off both his air and his voice. With eyelids sluggish with weakness and body so heavy he couldn't feel anything anymore, Duo gazed helplessly back into the most evil stare he had ever encountered.
Even Khushrenada in the throes of his most wicked rages had never looked so dangerous. The very look alone chilled Duo to his innermost core. Fear raced at a pace so shocking that Duo could not control even his basic instincts.
"Well answer me!" Chang shouted crashing a fist into Duo's cheek right below his eye. The stretched flesh split open at once emitting a steady surge of crimson.
Duo managed to mumble something that even he could not understand the reply seeming to break into indistinguishable bits of sound and noise before ever reaching his ringing ears.
The jumbled answer did nothing to appease Chang's fury and the bloodlust that sparked in his black eyes.
Another fist sent Duo's head in the opposite direction then threatened a good case of whiplash as Chang's hold on the braid abruptly stopped the sideways motion.
Chang dropped to one knee so as to get a better look at the battered boy being held fast by his braid. A delighted smile twisted on his face as he bend over licking at the free flow of blood trailing down Duo's swollen cheek.
"Now you cocky bastard I am going to see how good you are." Chang announced with much enthusiasm, "What I was going to do to your pretty blond boy will be nothing compared to the hurting that I am going to put on you."
Then in a totally unpredicted move, Noin's Head of Security centered his mad sight on the two guards shaking from their own dread of what they were about to witness. Then an even stranger order was issued.
"Leave us!" he growled with a throaty tone that left no room for misinterpretation of the curt statement.
Unwisely, however, one watcher didn't heed the warning glare. "Sir, leave?" his voice questioned as he was not certain he had truly understood the order.
With lightning quick reflexes Chang scooped up the gun that Duo had dropped with the first punch and in an equally swift movement had the pistol pointed dead-center at the guard's forehead.
"Are you questioning my orders?"
The pistol quivered and the trigger tensed.
The petrified staff member stammered choking on his words, "No.....sir. Never." Each syllable came with a halting catch as every nerve shattered under his skin.
Chang let a thin-lipped grin slide into place as his eyes flashed in a firestorm of rage. "You will not question me again."
A loud bang bounced over the ground resounding over and over again until it faded into the wail of a high-pitched scream.
The foolish guard's grasp on Duo's arm disappeared as he grabbed at his shoulder. Scarlet billows of blood gathered between his clutching fingers as they tried to stop the tide of anguish spilling from a gaping bullet hole.
The wounded watcher's partner also let go giving up his hold on Duo's other side. The freeing of his sagging body sent Duo down hard his knees hitting first then with a lopping tilt his shoulder collided with the ground.
As the wounded guard clawed at the ragged fabric and the torn flesh beneath all color washed from his face and only his partner's shoring him up kept him from joining Duo on the sandy soil.
Not wanting to give Chang a chance to shoot again knowing the next shot would most likely be fatal, the terrified guard supported and guided his fallen comrade away from the madman that was now tottering on the brink of totally losing control.
Holding the gun in both hands Chang leveled the pistol at Duo's right leg. Duo's blurred sight could not offer a clear picture for his equally hazy brain but something inbred told him that his pain had only begun.
"I am in no mood to pound you until you give up," Chang declared drawing in at an imaginary bull's-eye as his squinted eyes closed halfway, "so I think a bullet in the leg should persuade you to cooperate." he stated coldly, "And if that is not enough I will put one in the other leg and then one in each arm if you still don't get the message."
"No.....please." Duo begged as Chang's announcement of his hellish intensions suddenly made his mind clearer and his words freer.
"So you are going to give up?" Chang smirked at the thought that he had finally beaten Noin's little whore into submission.
Duo nodded trying to push up on elbows that would not support his nearly dead weight. "Anything you want."
He had resigned himself to being used and abused once more. But why did he believe this time and place would be any different? This was, after all, his lot in life to forever be the willing whore for the pleasure of the world.
Every fiber of his being throbbed. Each nerve ending cried out in agony.
Memories of that night in Treize's friend's basement came into full, frightening focus. The recollection of the months of recovery in that awful downtown office building while constantly avoiding the other men's passes, the reaching out, the fondling. The shock as he watch that escaping man go down felled by a single shot.
"This is as it should be." Duo told himself. "Punishment for all his many sins without any hope of redemption."
"I won't fight you." Duo promised hoping he could at least put himself in the usual mind-numbing fog that he let overtake him every time he performed his whoring duties.
He could do this, he had to. His only expectation of good from what was about to happen was that maybe Chang's despicable deeds would be the final push that Noin needed to kick Chang out. If going through the torture meant that Quatre and Trowa would also be free from the Chinese madman then all the pain would be worth the price.
With trembling fingers now not so much from fear but from sore tenderness Duo began to unbutton his bloody shirt. The usual golden gleam of his cross was now tarnished with reddened stains. The dulled metal stuck in a tacky adhesion on his creamy skin.
As his firm chest was exposed for Chang's lecherous viewing made even more desirable by the bloodletting, Duo prayed that his surrender would not be in vain.
And even though the knowledge that Chang would probably kill him anyway once he was sated, if only to improve the afterglow, was set resolutely in his mind, Duo reminded himself of his belief that one way or the other he would be free.
"A cross," Chang announced as he noticed the symbolic charm, "how hypocritical." he sneered. But I don't think this will save you now." he proclaimed reaching for the chain.
Duo flattened his hand over his last link with any hope of salvation. "Don't touch that." he hissed daring to push Chang's tolerance to the limit.
The Chinese Security Chief stayed his hand deciding claiming his prize was more interesting than some unimportant piece of jewelry.
Chang straddled the yielding boy licking his lips in anticipation of his victory reward. To reinforce his warning concerning Duo's total capitulation Chang let the pistol's end rest lightly on Duo's inner thigh to exhort a further promise to have his way.
"You know it would be so easy to just squeeze the trigger." Chang teased tracing a line straight up Duo's leg until the muzzle touched again ever so lightly on Duo's groin.
"I said I would do it," Duo confirmed his commitment to give Chang a good time. "and I never lie." he dared to hiss out the words.
"The pants and hurry up." Chang ordered impatience lending a tense tone to his husky voice.
Again Duo's stiff fingers pulled at the waistband of his warm-up pants. This time no button or zipper would waste Chang's time getting to his goal.
Duo had one more consolation as the waistband cleared his bellybutton and was pushed lower on his hips. While he knew Quatre or Trowa could not be virgins since they shared a relationship, he was certain that neither of them had had much pervious experience and had definitely been true to each other.
On the other hand Duo was, in Treize's words, most definitely damaged goods. Chang could do nothing more to him than had been done before. And unlike Quatre or Trowa and their basically still in tact innocence, Duo was a street-hardened hustler and so jaded that whatever Chang would do did not matter at all. No, Duo Maxwell was a whore, pure and simple and that was all he would ever be.
Chang laid the pistol between Duo's legs replacing the rubbing on his crotch with rough strokes of his hand. Bracing his weight with his knees Chang leaned over until his face was inches from his beautiful and admittedly exotic prize.
"I am really going to enjoy this." Chang proclaimed almost purring in lustful ecstasy.
Duo closed his eyes and sealed up his mind ready to deliver what had been promised because Duo Maxwell might be a wanton slut but he didn't go back on his word.
"Do what you want to." Duo sighed offering himself now without regret.
TBC...
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