Sports Fan Fiction ❯ Punishment ❯ Pain Revisited ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Cookies.

The foyer always smelled like cookies. There had been little comfort in words and thoughts, but in that familiar smell Kasey realized that he was home. Where he belonged.

He trailed his fingers over the patchwork quilt that covered their newly purchased couch. He hadn't been away that long, yet it seemed like eternities had passed. The feeling that so much had been missed washed over him and he had to brace himself against the wall to avoid crumbling.

"Oh God, Kase, are you alright," Tony's arms were around him in an instant, "Just relax, let me support you."

Kasey sighed inwardly. The safety he had longed for was back and surrounding him completely. Though he still felt the stench of violation covering him, he also felt his sanity returning. Even if for only a moment, the world outside did not exist. He snuggled himself tightly to Tony and felt the tears begin to flow.

"It's alright sweetheart, go ahead, cry all you want," whispered words of comfort and encouragement lifted him slightly.

Gently, he felt himself pulled onto the couch that they had so often fallen comfortably asleep on. A small wince tightened the lines of his face. There was still pain, so much of it. His body still stung with the bruising blows he had taken, the wounds that had once been open flesh still burned, and somewhere, deep inside, he felt the sharp stab of violence.

He cried openly for all that had been heaped upon him, for all that he had lost in those few short days. He cried into the comfort and safety of arms that he knew would never let him be harmed again. He cried for the part of him that was forever changed, for the part of him that would never again trust another human being outside of the one that held him tightly. He cried until there were no tears left in him.

"I'm thirsty," he whispered and moved to get up.

"No, you stay right here," Tony eased from the couch, placed a small kiss on his forehead, and headed for the kitchen, "I'll make us something to eat while I'm at it. You've got to have food."

The house was quiet, too quiet. That was something he found that he could no longer stand. There had to be noise. As much noise as he could possibly manage to have around him. Without thought, he grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV. He was desperate for something, anything, to take his mind somewhere other than where it was headed when he realized that there was a tape in the VCR. With the press of a button, his entire world shattered all over again.

At first he thought he was hallucinating. That his mind was slipping as it had during his ordeal and he was seeing things. It took no time at all for him to realize that he was, in fact, seeing his violation. Pain wracked him suddenly and he felt his stomach turning again.

He watched in horror as his body was repeatedly used, watched as blows rained down on him and the knife that he had so come to fear ripped at his flesh. He watched the abuse of his body, his eyes fixated on the center of his pain. Agony washed over him as he watched his body succumb to the machinations of a mad man. He could not stop himself from crying out.

"Kasey?! Honey, what's..." Tony's words trailed immediately as he entered the room, "Oh, honey. Oh God, I just forgot. I was so wrapped up in just making sure you were alright. I forgot, this has to go to the police, I just, I forgot."

Numbness washed over him as Tony slid the remote from his grasp and quickly turned the masterpiece of pain off. Jamie had told him about the tape and, yet, he had managed to lie to himself so well that he hadn't believed it existed. Hadn't believed that Tony had seen. But he had. He had seen every violent act that had torn Kasey down from the man he once was.

He wrenched himself from Tony's grasp and made for the door.

"Kasey, wait, please" Tony's voice trembled, "Please don't go."