Blood in the Water

Chapter 6: 6 – A highly unsatisfying, yet not entirely unexpected conclusion

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Chapter 5: 5 – An unwelcome guest, expressing concerns

Waking up proved a tedious and sluggish endeavour. Aidan was quick to understand why though, vaguely recognising the foreign substance in his veins. Thus, he refrained from immediately opening his eyes, already picking up on the annoyingly bright lights in the ceiling. Where was he? Why was he here? Why was he gagged and tied to a table?

In truth though, he did not really need to ask. Even in his muddled state, he was fully capable of putting the pieces together.

“Good evening, everyone,” a voice said – vaguely familiar yet distorted. “I hope you’re all ready, because tonight, I’ve got us a special treat – not a female this time around, but I’m sure some of you will enjoy the variation.”

Aidan opened his eyes slowly, just enough to get a glimpse of the situation without making it obvious that he was awake – and although the lights stung in his eyes, he did not as much as flinch.

And even if his vision was a bit blurry – no doubt thanks to whatever concoction had been introduced into his veins – Aidan had little problem taking note of the basics – a room, likely basement level, covered in plastic; classic murder basement setup. This one had a decidedly more modern twist to it though, rigged with at least one camera feed and an extra screen, displaying both the live video feed and the chat attached to it in a larger format than on the laptop attached to it.

Ah yes, this was one of those, wasn’t it? The Deep Web or the Dark Web or whatever they called it these days. Aidan obviously knew about it, although he had rarely found much reason to venture into it – and he had never quite imagined that he would be featured in one of their snuff films either. But alas, life was full of surprises – and plenty of disappointments as well. Honestly⸺

“What do you say, folks?” Jonathan asked – if that was even his real name. “Mere bloodletting is getting a bit dull, no? Let’s try out some of my newer toys.”

Hah, toys. Power tools, more like it. Ah, honestly – no finesse whatsoever.

“Time to vote, folks. Which do we start with?”

There was a soft pinging of the chat, a whole array of watchers pitching in with donations to have a say in the events.

“Oh, thanks for the patronage. Nail gun, it is.”

Truly. The wonders of modern technology.

Aidan drew in a breath, then slowly opened his eyes – right in time to level his stare upon the masked Jonathan standing there, nail gun already in hand. And even without seeing the other’s face, Aidan knew; knew what sort of smile the other was undoubtedly wearing underneath. There was little mistaking it either; that spike of delight upon seeing Aidan awake. Indeed, the other must be quite eager – he had undoubtedly longed for this, longed for this ever since that day; to inflict and relish in Aidan’s terror and agony.

He would be getting none of it though; none of the satisfaction.

Aidan closed his eyes, gathering his focus. Thanks to whatever drugs were in his system, it took a good moment, but then, a sudden spike of pain in his right hand brought him right back to clarity, and then, then⸺

“Certainly, you have not forgotten, little flame⸺”

Moran’s⸺ no, the voice of Lord⸺

“⸺you are neither a true wolf nor a mutt.”

Perhaps, but certainly closer to the former than to the latter.

It was over quickly. Aidan had not torn out the other’s throat though – not quite, although it had definitely been tempting.

Instead, he wiped his mouth on his sleeve, looking around to confirm that he had indeed managed to put the expensive recording equipment out of commission. In doing so, he had unfortunately fried the laptop as well, which was a shame considering the potential loss of evidence but a necessity nonetheless. Besides, odds were that there would be more than enough evidence for the authorities to make their case – and promptly close it, given that there would be no one to stand trial for it.

“You know,” Aidan said, voice perfectly sweet as he loomed over his downed foe, the latter watching him in unbridled horror, gasping for breath. He would undoubtedly have been screaming too, had Aidan not already taken out his vocal cords, nicking a few other things along the way. Nevertheless⸺ “It’s awfully rich of you, calling me a monster, considering what you lot were just about to do to me. Who’s the real monster here, I wonder? The one that hunts for pleasure or the one that hunts for survival, hm?”

The answer was already obvious enough. It required no further input. That said however⸺

“You must’ve thought you were so clever, getting in behind me at the ticket line. I have a smartphone. Did you not believe me capable of looking things up? Members get priority entry through the Member Entrance. Thus, there was no real need for you to get in line behind me to begin with.”

Indeed, there had been no need – no need, except one.

“You saw me, waiting, waiting, and waiting for my date to show. You saw me, saw my visible frustration and figured that I’d make a suitable target. Awfully cocky of you, though, willing to be seen together with me on all those surveillance feeds. If nothing else, then I can respect the audacity of such.”

Aidan could respect that, much like he could respect the other’s attempt. With the other having put in such effort, it only felt right to play along, to see what would happen – to see whether or not Jonathan would change his mind, and perhaps see him him for what he truly was. And while the latter had indeed come to pass, the former had not, which was a pity. Because⸺

“We could’ve had something, you know,” Aidan said. “If I’d liked you well enough, then I could’ve even helped you. Wouldn’t have been my first serial killer partner either. But...”

He licked his lips, then bared his fangs in a smile, relishing in the other’s obvious flinch as Aidan crouched down beside him.

“Jonathan,” he said. “You really do talk too much. Too much villainous monologue for my tastes. I prefer a man of fewer words and more action.”

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And with those words, he straightened back up and walked away, leaving the serial killer to gradually bleed out on the floor. Naturally, Aidan could definitely have sped things up, but why would he? Jonathan had already displayed such eagerness in bleeding other people dry – it was only fair that he got a taste of his own medicine before he went.

As for Aidan, he should probably leave too, but now that his initial rush of energy had passed, he honestly felt more than a bit nauseous. Thus, he quickly found his way upstairs, dragging himself towards the guessed location of the bathroom, not caring an awful lot about the trail of blood he left in his wake. Because honestly, why should he care about disturbing or contaminating the crime scene? He was the bloody victim here – and quite literally at that.

Of course, just as Aidan had made it inside the bathroom and stood with his hands braced against the sink, feeling faint and nauseous to all hell, there was the unmistakable crash of someone kicking in the door and of multiple footsteps moving – one set rapidly moving in on Aidan’s current location.

In seemingly no time, the partially shut door was wide open, and a tall and dark officer stood in the doorway, pointing the barrel of a gun in Aidan’s direction.

“Freeze! FBI! Put your hands where I can see them!”

Aidan did not move though, not immediately. The faintness and nausea rooted him in place, only allowing his eyes to wander. And although his vision was starting to waver, Aidan did get a decent enough look at the other’s face to recognise it. And once he did, he could not keep laughter from bubbling up into his throat, adding to the nausea.

Still, somehow, Aidan managed to keep it at bay, slowly lifting up his hands. He did not get them up very far though, because then, he used them to cover his mouth as he lapsed into a coughing fit, doubling over.

By the end of it, he was down on the floor, mouth and throat and stomach burning. It was fine though, because although Aidan had just coughed up a lot of blood, he had probably coughed up a fair bit of what had been causing it as well.

“Shit,” said the FBI agent, twisting his head around to shout. “Call an ambulance!”

There was no real need for such though, because Aidan felt fine now – relatively speaking, that is. He was also getting tired though – really tired. Passing out and being brought to the hospital with no proper arrangements would probably be a bad idea though. So⸺ “Or...lando?”

Predictably, the agent startled at the sound of his own name, then paled, eyes widening in obvious recognition.

Will you ever be on time? Aidan thought, but when he opened his mouth, only blood welled out.

The agent continued to look appropriately horrified at that.

“So,” Dana said, roughly one week after the fact, lowering her voice as she leaned in. “Who’s tall, dark and handsome?”

Aidan snorted softly, continuing to sip his drink, sat at the bar as he was. And he continued to do so right until Orlando returned from his phone call, undoubtedly the recipient of yet another lecture by certain higherups of his – certain higherups that did not approve of such a liaison, but would have to lay it off soon if they ever expected Aidan to show himself at another soiree.

“Dana,” he said, going through the motions. “New boyfriend. New boyfriend, Dana.”

Dana looked a bit puzzled at first, then immensely amused. Then, without hesitation, she extended her hand. “Dana,” she said. “Dana Shaw.”

“Orlando,” Orlando said, grasping the hand with a discernible twinge of embarrassment. “Orlando de Vroom.”

It only made sense for him to be self-conscious though, because Aidan’s own reaction to hearing Orlando’s last name had undoubtedly prepared him for this.

“Orlando de Vroom?” Dana repeated, blinking rapidly a few times before quickly dissolving into quiet laughter. “Orlando de Vroom? De Vroom? Vroom, Vroom!”

“It means pious in Dutch,” Orlando said, looking to Aidan in a seeming search of moral support. “My great grandfather was⸺”

“Dana,” Aidan said, deciding she had definitely laughed long enough. “Show some respect.”

The woman immediately sobered up, but then her lips twitched and her eyes got that weird twinkle to them, and Aidan promptly sent Orlando back out to go pick up some takeout from one of the nearby restaurants before Dana got to embarrass him any further.

“So,” Dana finally said, once Orlando was safely out the door. “What other Orlandos are there, huh?”

Aidan most certainly did not blush. He did feel himself making a slight twitch however, and this was obviously more than enough for Dana to lean back in, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“So,” she said, evidently amused. “How was Orlando?”

The End

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← Prev Chapter

Chapter 5: 5 – An unwelcome guest, expressing concerns

Chapter 6 6 – A highly unsatisfying, yet not entirely unexpected conclusion. 
Waking up proved a tedious and sluggish endeavour. Aidan was quick to understand why though, vaguely recognising the foreign substance in his veins. Thus, he refrained from immediately opening his eyes, already picking up on the annoyingly bright lights in the ceiling. Where was he? Why was he here? Why was he gagged and tied to a table?
In truth though, he did not really need to ask. Even in his muddled state, he was fully capable of putting the pieces together.
“Good evening, everyone,” a voice said – vaguely familiar yet distorted. “I hope you’re all ready, because tonight, I’ve got us a special treat – not a female this time around, but I’m sure some of you will enjoy the variation.”
Aidan opened his eyes slowly, just enough to get a glimpse of the situation without making it obvious that he was awake – and although the lights stung in his eyes, he did not as much as flinch.
And even if his vision was a bit blurry – no doubt thanks to whatever concoction had been introduced into his veins – Aidan had little problem taking note of the basics – a room, likely basement level, covered in plastic; classic murder basement setup. This one had a decidedly more modern twist to it though, rigged with at least one camera feed and an extra screen, displaying both the live video feed and the chat attached to it in a larger format than on the laptop attached to it.
Ah yes, this was one of those, wasn’t it? The Deep Web or the Dark Web or whatever they called it these days. Aidan obviously knew about it, although he had rarely found much reason to venture into it – and he had never quite imagined that he would be featured in one of their snuff films either. But alas, life was full of surprises – and plenty of disappointments as well. Honestly⸺
“What do you say, folks?” Jonathan asked – if that was even his real name. “Mere bloodletting is getting a bit dull, no? Let’s try out some of my newer toys.”
Hah, toys. Power tools, more like it. Ah, honestly – no finesse whatsoever.
“Time to vote, folks. Which do we start with?”
There was a soft pinging of the chat, a whole array of watchers pitching in with donations to have a say in the events.
“Oh, thanks for the patronage. Nail gun, it is.”
Truly. The wonders of modern technology.
Aidan drew in a breath, then slowly opened his eyes – right in time to level his stare upon the masked Jonathan standing there, nail gun already in hand. And even without seeing the other’s face, Aidan knew; knew what sort of smile the other was undoubtedly wearing underneath. There was little mistaking it either; that spike of delight upon seeing Aidan awake. Indeed, the other must be quite eager – he had undoubtedly longed for this, longed for this ever since that day; to inflict and relish in Aidan’s terror and agony.
He would be getting none of it though; none of the satisfaction.
Aidan closed his eyes, gathering his focus. Thanks to whatever drugs were in his system, it took a good moment, but then, a sudden spike of pain in his right hand brought him right back to clarity, and then, then⸺
“Certainly, you have not forgotten, little flame⸺”
Moran’s⸺ no, the voice of Lord⸺
“⸺you are neither a true wolf nor a mutt.”
Perhaps, but certainly closer to the former than to the latter.

It was over quickly. Aidan had not torn out the other’s throat though – not quite, although it had definitely been tempting.
Instead, he wiped his mouth on his sleeve, looking around to confirm that he had indeed managed to put the expensive recording equipment out of commission. In doing so, he had unfortunately fried the laptop as well, which was a shame considering the potential loss of evidence but a necessity nonetheless. Besides, odds were that there would be more than enough evidence for the authorities to make their case – and promptly close it, given that there would be no one to stand trial for it.
“You know,” Aidan said, voice perfectly sweet as he loomed over his downed foe, the latter watching him in unbridled horror, gasping for breath. He would undoubtedly have been screaming too, had Aidan not already taken out his vocal cords, nicking a few other things along the way. Nevertheless⸺ “It’s awfully rich of you, calling me a monster, considering what you lot were just about to do to me. Who’s the real monster here, I wonder? The one that hunts for pleasure or the one that hunts for survival, hm?”
The answer was already obvious enough. It required no further input. That said however⸺
“You must’ve thought you were so clever, getting in behind me at the ticket line. I have a smartphone. Did you not believe me capable of looking things up? Members get priority entry through the Member Entrance. Thus, there was no real need for you to get in line behind me to begin with.”
Indeed, there had been no need – no need, except one.
“You saw me, waiting, waiting, and waiting for my date to show. You saw me, saw my visible frustration and figured that I’d make a suitable target. Awfully cocky of you, though, willing to be seen together with me on all those surveillance feeds. If nothing else, then I can respect the audacity of such.”
Aidan could respect that, much like he could respect the other’s attempt. With the other having put in such effort, it only felt right to play along, to see what would happen – to see whether or not Jonathan would change his mind, and perhaps see him him for what he truly was. And while the latter had indeed come to pass, the former had not, which was a pity. Because⸺
“We could’ve had something, you know,” Aidan said. “If I’d liked you well enough, then I could’ve even helped you. Wouldn’t have been my first serial killer partner either. But...”
He licked his lips, then bared his fangs in a smile, relishing in the other’s obvious flinch as Aidan crouched down beside him.
“Jonathan,” he said. “You really do talk too much. Too much villainous monologue for my tastes. I prefer a man of fewer words and more action.”
And with those words, he straightened back up and walked away, leaving the serial killer to gradually bleed out on the floor. Naturally, Aidan could definitely have sped things up, but why would he? Jonathan had already displayed such eagerness in bleeding other people dry – it was only fair that he got a taste of his own medicine before he went.
As for Aidan, he should probably leave too, but now that his initial rush of energy had passed, he honestly felt more than a bit nauseous. Thus, he quickly found his way upstairs, dragging himself towards the guessed location of the bathroom, not caring an awful lot about the trail of blood he left in his wake. Because honestly, why should he care about  disturbing or contaminating the crime scene? He was the bloody victim here – and quite literally at that.
Of course, just as Aidan had made it inside the bathroom and stood with his hands braced against the sink, feeling faint and nauseous to all hell, there was the unmistakable crash of someone kicking in the door and of multiple footsteps moving – one set rapidly moving in on Aidan’s current location.
In seemingly no time, the partially shut door was wide open, and a tall and dark officer stood in the doorway, pointing the barrel of a gun in Aidan’s direction.
“Freeze! FBI! Put your hands where I can see them!”
Aidan did not move though, not immediately. The faintness and nausea rooted him in place, only allowing his eyes to wander. And although his vision was starting to waver, Aidan did get a decent enough look at the other’s face to recognise it. And once he did, he could not keep laughter from bubbling up into his throat, adding to the nausea.
Still, somehow, Aidan managed to keep it at bay, slowly lifting up his hands. He did not get them up very far though, because then, he used them to cover his mouth as he lapsed into a coughing fit, doubling over.
By the end of it, he was down on the floor, mouth and throat and stomach burning. It was fine though, because although Aidan had just coughed up a lot of blood, he had probably coughed up a fair bit of what had been causing it as well.
“Shit,” said the FBI agent, twisting his head around to shout. “Call an ambulance!”
There was no real need for such though, because Aidan felt fine now – relatively speaking, that is. He was also getting tired though – really tired. Passing out and being brought to the hospital with no proper arrangements would probably be a bad idea though. So⸺ “Or...lando?”
Predictably, the agent startled at the sound of his own name, then paled, eyes widening in obvious recognition.
Will you ever be on time? Aidan thought, but when he opened his mouth, only blood welled out.
The agent continued to look appropriately horrified at that.

“So,” Dana said, roughly one week after the fact, lowering her voice as she leaned in. “Who’s tall, dark and handsome?”
Aidan snorted softly, continuing to sip his drink, sat at the bar as he was. And he continued to do so right until Orlando returned from his phone call, undoubtedly the recipient of yet another lecture by certain higherups of his – certain higherups that did not approve of such a liaison, but would have to lay it off soon if they ever expected Aidan to show himself at another soiree.
“Dana,” he said, going through the motions. “New boyfriend. New boyfriend, Dana.”
Dana looked a bit puzzled at first, then immensely amused. Then, without hesitation, she extended her hand. “Dana,” she said. “Dana Shaw.”
“Orlando,” Orlando said, grasping the hand with a discernible twinge of embarrassment. “Orlando de Vroom.”
It only made sense for him to be self-conscious though, because Aidan’s own reaction to hearing Orlando’s last name had undoubtedly prepared him for this.
“Orlando de Vroom?” Dana repeated, blinking rapidly a few times before quickly dissolving into quiet laughter. “Orlando de Vroom? De Vroom? Vroom, Vroom!”
“It means pious in Dutch,” Orlando said, looking to Aidan in a seeming search of moral support. “My great grandfather was⸺”
“Dana,” Aidan said, deciding she had definitely laughed long enough. “Show some respect.”
The woman immediately sobered up, but then her lips twitched and her eyes got that weird twinkle to them, and Aidan promptly sent Orlando back out to go pick up some takeout from one of the nearby restaurants before Dana got to embarrass him any further.
“So,” Dana finally said, once Orlando was safely out the door. “What other Orlandos are there, huh?”
Aidan most certainly did not blush. He did feel himself making a slight twitch however, and this was obviously more than enough for Dana to lean back in, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
“So,” she said, evidently amused. “How was Orlando?”

The End
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