The Dreamtrap - 4. Chapter 4

- IV -

He knew that he was dreaming the minute he opened his eyes. He cursed softly after immediately recognizing the hateful room with dark-red curtains, which made every single wall and even the ceiling glow with eerie, blood-like shadows.

Raven realized that his left arm was strained above his head, and even though he knew the reason for that, he tried bringing it down – mostly, by pure instinct. The unforgiving ring of the handcuffs immediately bit into his wrist, unkindly reminding him to stay in his current position. Raven cursed again and slowly raised his right hand, looking at it intently. The hand definitely did not belong to his adult self. He was the kid again. To be exact, right now, he was sixteen years old.

“Son of a bitch...” he muttered somewhat louder, and suddenly, there was someone’s sharp exhale on his left.

He turned his head, and his eyes immediately narrowed.

“You again?” he asked incredulously. “Bloody hell, why...? Well,” he frowned after a few silent seconds. “I guess it makes sense somewhat...” He shrugged with his right shoulder after seeing a silent question in the man’s ridiculously green eyes. “You saved me once,” Raven continued and tried to sit up. It didn’t work and he fell onto the pillows again with a frustrated sigh. “So I suppose that whenever I dream about some nasty shit that happened in my past, my subconscious throws you in as my savior...”

“Uh huh,” Desmond (yes, it was goddamn Specter again, invading Raven’s unpleasant dreams) muttered, looking awfully tight.

“Well,” Raven sighed and looked at the man steadily. “Since you are here, uncuff me... I seriously don’t want to go through this again...!”

To Raven’s disbelief and frustration, Desmond slowly shook his head, as if thinking about something very hard.

“Did this actually happen?” he asked quietly. “I mean, did someone uncuff you back then?”

“No,” Raven answered shortly. “I did it myself eventually. Why does it even matter?”

“Then I’d rather not get involved,” Desmond nodded, ignoring the last question, and Raven stared at him without blinking.

“What do you mean, ‘not get involved’?” He demanded finally. “You are part of my goddamn subconscious! You are in my dream, for crying out loud! Uncuff me!”

“I am sorry,” Specter said quietly, and Raven let out a string of hissing obscenities, squeezing his eyes shut.

He gritted his teeth, trying to figure out how in the world his subconsciousness managed to turn into such a cruel, heartless bastard. Finally, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

“This had already happened!” he said through his clenched teeth. “This is nothing but a dream...! Hell, you are not even real...! Plus, I don’t remember you hesitating while getting me away from that bloody cat,” he added harshly.

“Yes,” Desmond frowned slightly. “It bothered me for a while... What happened in reality? With the cat... What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Raven answered stiffly, hating this goddamn dream with burning passion. “I passed out after I fell. When I woke up, I was back in the house.”

“I see,” Desmond muttered thoughtfully. He slightly shook his head and looked at the furious and helpless brunet. “I am sorry,” he repeated firmly. “You do remember what happened in this particular event, and I am not taking any risks...”

“What in the bloody hell are you talking about?” Raven almost exploded. “Just do it, dammit!”

Desmond looked like he was about to say ‘I am sorry’ again, when the door of the bedroom creaked open. Raven closed his eyes for several seconds, only knowing too well whom he was about to see.

“Uncuff me,” he said desperately.

“All in good time, my boy,” the man walked into the bedroom. “All in good time,” he nodded with a small, crooked smile, which Raven hated so much that his teeth ached. The man was ignoring Desmond completely. Raven frowned and looked at the product of his sadistic subconsciousness. The product sighed apologetically.

“He can’t see me,” he explained. “This is not his dream; he can’t see me.”

“Uncuff me,” Raven whispered almost pleadingly.

“I am sorry,” Desmond muttered again and threw a quick glance behind his shoulder. Then he frowned. “I gotta go,” he said quickly, and with that, he turned around and took a few quick steps towards the wall. Then suddenly, he disappeared into thin air, just as he did when Raven dreamt of him for the first time.

“I said, all in good time,” the man repeated and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Raven.

Brunet flinched at that involuntarily, all those memories flooding him with nauseating gusto, and he tried scooting away, ignoring another bite from the handcuffs. The man laughed softly.

“Now, now,” he said in a soothing voice, slowly stroking Raven’s hair. “No need to act this way... You will learn to enjoy this...” Here he gave Raven an almost sly look. “I know that for sure,” he said in a lower voice, as if letting the kid in front of him in on some sort of a secret. “I was a little on the rough side the first time, I couldn’t help it... But you weren’t a virgin when I took you,” he said intimately. “I could tell,” he nodded with the same hateful smile.

He stroked Raven’s cheek, making the brunet cringe and hiss softly.

“Korinne said you were a virgin,” the man continued, as if not noticing Raven’s reaction. “She all but swore on her mother’s grave. I guess she didn’t know,” his smile became wider. “It was good though,” his caress became more intense. “I don’t like dealing with virgins much...” He shrugged. “Too big of a hassle.”

Raven bit the inside of his cheek hard, hoping that it would wake him up.

“Goddammit,” he thought in despair when all it did was hurt him without changing his surroundings a single bit. “Julian, wake me up... Please...! Bloody hell, I don’t want to go through this again...!”

“They can say all they want about virgins being tighter and such,” the man continued meanwhile, his hand sliding down towards Raven’s chest. “I guess it is true to the point, but to be honest...” He smiled yet again, his fingers slowly undoing buttons on Raven’s shirt. “Virgins are not as much fun for me, since there is always a problem of them locking up too hard... I don’t have enough patience for preparation and relaxation...” He let out short laughter. “Well,” he undid the last button. “You should know that...”

“Julian...!” Raven thought wildly, trying to get away from the repulsive touch.

“Who is Julian?” the man said slowly, and Raven opened his eyes.

Oh, bloody hell, he just said this out loud, didn’t he?

“Who is Julian?” the man repeated a bit less friendly, his hand resting on Raven’s stomach.

“Julian, please...” the brunet muttered and closed his eyes again. “Please...!”

“Was Julian your first?” Now the man sounded genuinely curious.

“Nngh...!” Raven groaned when that hand slid down a little, making him jerk sideways.

“I guess not...” the man chuckled softly. “Bloody hell, kid... How many people have you fucked? You are only sixteen...! You are a little slut, aren’t you? I can see why though,” he shrugged mostly to himself. “You are one hell of an eye-candy!”

“Julian!” Raven called louder, and the man’s manner became harsher.

“Okay,” he sighed shortly. “As amusing as this is, but I do not enjoy it when my partners call me by a different name, so stop this!”

“Fuck, Julian...!” Raven growled through his clenched teeth, remembering perfectly well that this particular event was day two of his ten-days-imprisonment.

“Don’t make me wash that mouth of yours out with bleach!” the man said warningly. “Now, I want two things from you! First, tell me who the hell Julian is; and second, stop saying that goddamn name!”

“Julian, wake me up...!” Raven screamed; the man muttered something unintelligible, and then Raven’s head flew sideways after a heavy blow landed on the side of his face.

“For the last time...” The hateful bastard hissed, and Raven squeezed his eyes shut, locking involuntary tears deep behind his eyelids. “Who is Julian?”

“Jul... Aaah...!”

Another blow made his ears ring with nauseating repetition, and Raven locked his teeth on his lower lip, forcing himself to be silent.

“That’s it!” the man hissed, nothing left of his good-natured chuckling from several minutes ago. “No lube for you tonight, kid...!”

Raven was about to scream blond’s name out again, shaking uncontrollably, thinking that he was about to re-live this particular event from his past, when something that felt like an old rug swiftly slid into his mouth, making him gag. He tried spitting it out, and as a result, he got another smack on the face.

Goddamn, he thought desperately. This was nothing but a dream, but bloody hell, did it feel real...!

“Relax, kid...” the man said in a harsh voice. “It’ll be a hell of a lot easier on you if you do that... Just relax...” and he yanked Raven’s pants down brunet’s wildly bucking, resisting hips.

Raven let out an involuntary, muffled sob when he felt those hands forcefully pushing his knees apart, and he wrapped his fingers tightly around the cold chain of the indifferent handcuffs, his chest bursting with hatred and helpless fury. He felt the bed shake under the man’s weight while the hateful bastard was positioning himself above the sobbing brunet, and then...

“Wake up...! Goddammit... Raven, wake up!”

He screamed out and bolted upwards, shaking all over, failing to see his surroundings. He sat frozen for several long seconds before being able to draw a shaky, quick breath.

“It was a dream,” Julian said softly, and Raven looked at him blindly. “It was a dream,” the blond repeated more firmly without looking away. “Whatever you just experienced, was nothing but a nightmare... Raven...! Look at me!” he demanded when Raven’s gaze locked on the sheet.

Raven blinked and tore his eyes away from the sheet.

“It was a dream,” Julian repeated in a softer voice, cupping brunet’s jaw into his palm. “You are okay now... It was a dream...!”

Raven let out a shaky breath and dropped his head into the blond’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around his neck. Julian held him tight for several minutes without saying anything, slowly running his fingers through Raven’s hair, kissing his temple every several seconds. Finally, when brunet’s breathing somewhat returned to normal, Salamander pulled away ever so slightly, without letting go of Raven’s hair.

“What in the bloody hell did you dream about?” he asked in a low voice, and Raven’s fingers dug deeper into the back of his neck.

“Who was at the door?” he asked suddenly in a harsh voice, and Julian frowned and pulled away more.

“When?” he asked in genuine confusion. Raven raised his head.

“Right before I fell asleep...” he muttered. “...someone rang the doorbell... I was too exhausted to say anything, and you never even stirred, so...”

“Nobody rang the doorbell,” Julian said slowly without unlocking the ring of his arms. “I guess it was just in your head... Now, stop changing the subject! What did you dream about? That goddamn cat again?”

Raven almost muttered ‘yeah,’ but instead, he said:

“No... Not the cat...”

“What did you dream about then?” Julian frowned even deeper, and Raven took a slow, deep breath.

“My Aunt owned a flower shop,” he started saying slowly, almost unwillingly, without looking into blond’s eyes, his gaze fixed on the silk sheets once again. “It wasn’t a big shop... However, the business ran smoothly and she could pull a decent living off that. When I was sixteen, however, she almost went bankrupt...” He quickly glanced at the silent blond. “I don’t know why,” he shrugged. “Anyway...” He sighed once again. “Eventually, she was on the verge of selling her shop in order to keep the house. It was driving her crazy... All she needed was one lousy loan -- that would get her back up on her feet, she knew that...” He paused for a couple of minutes, slightly frowning.

Finally, he continued.

“The problem was that every single bank in town knew that she was on the verge of bankruptcy, so they would turn her away before she would even get a chance to ask for that loan...” He paused for a second and pulled away, reaching for the pack of cigarettes that was lying on the bedside table. “Anyway...” he continued slowly after fishing out one cigarette and lighting it. “We had this neighbor... That guy was filthy rich, owned the biggest goddamn house in town... The amount of the loan my Aunt needed was something he would probably spend on one single shopping spree...!” He grinned darkly.

“Naturally,” he shrugged. “After all the banks turned her away, she went to him...” Here, he threw a quick glance at the blond, who was eerily quiet. “Since they were neighbors and all...” He sighed and leaned on the pillows. “That shithead had been eyeing me ever since I turned thirteen...” he said thoughtfully without blinking. “So, when my Aunt came to him, he had one single deal for her...” Raven looked up solemnly. “Guess what it was...” he hemmed humorlessly.

“I have an idea,” Julian said melancholically. “How long did he want you for?”

“Until he would have enough,” Raven nodded and dragged on his cigarette. “It was the best day ever for my Aunt,” he nodded thoughtfully. “Especially after the guy said she wouldn’t have to pay him back as long as I was at his full and complete disposal,” he stabbed his half-finished cigarette in the ashtray. “She was all but kissing his hand,” he twisted his mouth into a hard, bitter line. “Getting all that money, never have to pay it back, and getting rid of me for good... Hell, she hit a jackpot, that’s for sure!”

“Was he your first?” Julian lay on his side and propped himself up on the elbow.

“No,” Raven shook his head. “Thank God for that. If he were my first, that would fuck me up a hell of a lot more than it did; and since I love sex too much, it would be unfortunate to say the least...” He bit his lip for a few seconds. “To be honest,” he said slowly. “The sex part wasn’t too awful... I mean,” he shrugged. “It wasn’t pleasant by any means, but it could’ve been worse. The worst part was being his goddamn purchase...” he slightly narrowed his eyes. “His ‘best bargain’ as he called it... It was humiliating as hell, I hated it...”

“You never told me about that,” the blond said seriously, and Raven looked at him.

“I never did,” he agreed with a slight nod. “This is something I don’t like talking about...”

“How did you get out?” Julian shifted slightly, scooting closer to the brunet. “And when?”

“Ten days,” Raven nodded, watching blond’s hand sliding onto his knee. “I tried undoing those handcuffs since day one...” He glanced at Julian again. “He kept me handcuffed to the bed,” he nodded. “I couldn’t unlock them though... I wasn’t as good with locks back then as I am now,” he shrugged. “Well, on the tenth day, I overheard him talking on the phone to someone. He said something about ‘sharing dessert,’ and I immediately knew that he was talking about me... That was when I became hell-bent on getting out of there. I was willing to gnaw on the damn cuffs until they would finally fall off... I managed to unlock them a little after midnight that night. Got the hell out of there, left that town, never went back,” he nodded thoughtfully, enjoying the little circles Julian’s fingers were drawing on his knee. “Getting out of there was easy,” he grinned. “I grabbed all the cash I could find, and that was a hefty amount, which was good. Went to the train station, got on the very first train without any idea where it would take me... I didn’t give a damn,” he nodded once again and slid off the pillows, stretching next to the blond, whose fingers got more creative and insistent.

“Sorry for not waking you up sooner,” Julian muttered and nibbled on Raven’s earlobe. “I was asleep. Woke up because you were calling my name. At first, I thought that you were awake and wanted me the same way, but then I realized that you were having a nightmare...”

“What time is it?” Raven turned his head, trying to look at the clock.

“Six,” Julian replied, and Raven’s back slightly arched when those creative fingers did something that felt quite nice. “We have two hours before I have to leave the house...”

“Better than nothing,” Raven sighed and pulled the blond closer. “Oh, by the way,” he said a few seconds later, remembering something.

“Mmm?” Julian asked without lifting his head from Raven’s neck.

“Desmond was there again,” the brunet said, and this time, Julian raised his head.

“Really,” he said slowly.

“Yeah,” Raven nodded, slightly frowning at the blond’s expression. “It was the same as the last time; I knew who he was the minute I saw him... He wouldn’t uncuff me though...” Raven grimaced. “Said something about not getting involved, something about not taking any risks...”

“He did, huh...” Now the blond was thoughtful.

“Why?” Raven frowned deeper. “It was just a dream; you said it yourself the first time I dreamt of him.”

“I remember,” Julian muttered, his fingers slower than before but creative nevertheless. “Now I am not so sure, however... So if he didn’t uncuff you, what did he do then?” he looked at Raven with suddenly dark eyes. “Stayed behind and watched?”

Raven blinked at the dangerous intonation in the blond’s voice.

“No,” he said slowly. “He left; said that he had to go, turned around, and vanished, just like the first time...”

“I see...” Julian relaxed slightly. “I’ll think about this later,” he murmured and dove into the crook of Raven’s neck again. “Might be nothing...” Now his voice sounded muffled.

His tongue and teeth did something that made the brunet breathe out several bizarre, non-existing words. He threw his head back, giving that magical mouth better access, and when the blond slightly pulled away after a while, Raven groaned and grabbed his arm. He wanted those lips, tongue, and teeth to work him into oblivion right now. He knew that Salamander didn’t exactly enjoy using his mouth for those purposes, but he had done it on a few occasions nevertheless.

“Julian, please...” Raven muttered, his eyes hazy. “Please...”

The blond narrowed his eyes just a little, knowing perfectly well what Raven was pleading him for, his expression somewhat hesitant.

“Please...” the brunet whispered, squeezing his fingers a little harder on Salamander’s arm.

Finally, a very small, smug smile snaked across blond’s lips, and he pushed Raven onto the pillows, sliding closer and pressing both hands into the sheets on either side of the smaller man.

“Julian...” Raven moaned when that mouth started working its magic on his neck, sliding slowly towards his chest. “Mmm, God, Julian...”

“Speak up,” the blond briefly raised his head. “Do not hold back...” and he went back to Raven’s skin.

The brunet obliged immediately, burying his grateful, trembling fingers in that blond silky hair, letting his eyes roll all the way back into his head while he was losing himself in tantalizing magic of that velvety mouth.

...Two hours later, Raven was watching Julian getting dressed through the eyelashes of his half-closed eyes. His entire body was purring in perfect content.

“You might want to wear a turtleneck,” he said lazily, looking at blond’s neck, the bite marks still very present and obvious; even the ones from last night.

Julian ran his fingers on the side of his throat and sighed.

“Yes,” he agreed and disappeared in the closet for a couple of minutes. When he emerged, he was wearing a tight black turtleneck, which covered his throat completely.

“Mmm,” Raven said with appreciation. “That looks excellent on you...”

He wasn’t lying; the turtleneck hugged Julian’s perfectly sculpted chest in a very nice fashion, and blond hair looked striking against it as well. Salamander gave him his usual small smile and pulled on his pants, swiftly buckling the belt, without looking away from Raven’s different-colored eyes.

“Come here,” Raven muttered after the blond finished working his belt buckle.

Julian sat on the edge of the bed, and Raven pulled him down for a long, deep kiss.

“Mmm...” he breathed several minutes later without letting go of his mate’s hand. “Bloody hell, do you have to go?”

“Uh huh,” Julian muttered into brunet’s mouth. “Believe me, I would send everything to hell if I could... I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Hurry back,” Raven said darkly and ran his fingers through Salamander’s hair.

“I will,” the blond answered seriously, kissed Raven once again, sighed, and got up. “I have to go,” he said with regret. “Go back to sleep; try not to dream of Specter again.”

Raven snorted.

“I don’t think I’ll dream of him now,” he said in a low voice. “I am pretty sure I will dream of you instead... Do you think those were more than simple dreams?” he asked suddenly when Julian was by the bedroom door.

The blond paused, his fingers on the doorknob.

“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “I will do some research on one particular ability when I come back. I don’t know much about that one...”

“Which ability would that be?” Raven yawned. “I could look it up later today.”

“Look up dream manipulators,” Julian said as slowly as before. “I don’t think you’ll find much though; that ability is ridiculously rare... Leave it to Specter to get something like that,” he muttered with a shadow of frustration. Raven grinned.

“I’ll look it up,” he nodded. “Have a safe flight... Call me if you have time.”

“I will,” the blond gave him his usual smile. “Sweet dreams, Raven.”

The brunet smiled without saying anything else, and Julian walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Raven sighed, closed his eyes, and a couple of minutes later, he was asleep.