At the end of the upstairs hall, one door was closed. Luis and Hood followed Matthias to this door and waited for him to open it. He had to jiggle the handle a few times. The door seemed to be stuck from all the humidity thanks to the constant rain. When he finally managed to open it, he stepped aside and told them to go in first.
Luis held Hood's hand. They walked into the room and Hood moved the flashlight around. This room was larger than the others, and it was filled with framed photos that Luis couldn't make out in the dark. Each table top, dresser top, and windowsill had a group of photos in frames that ranged in sizes. For a moment, Luis thought he'd entered someone's personal space and he felt a tug in his stomach. He turned to Matthias and said, “This doesn't feel right. Someone's obviously taking care of this place and we shouldn't be here. I feel terrible.”
Matthias didn't answer. He slammed the door hard and turned the lock. Then he walked over to a tall dresser and started lighting candles without saying a word. As he lit each candle, Luis and Hood looked at each other, wondering what he was doing. When he lit the last candle on the mantel over the fireplace, and the room was almost completely lit with an amber glow, Luis took a good look around and held his palm to his throat.
The room was so perfect it reminded Luis of a room in a photo shoot he'd once done for an outerwear company in the Adirondacks. The furniture was tasteful early American, with a Shaker influence and a hint of craftsman design. There were handmade hook rugs, exquisite handmade quilts, and simple white curtains that had been trimmed with off-white ball fringe and tied back with white rope. There was a group of old-fashioned dolls on a wooden trunk at the foot of the four-poster bed. Luis released Hood's hand and walked over to the windowsill near the bed. He glanced down at the photos and gasped. Each photo contained the image of a person who had some kind of an abnormality. And, if there was such a thing, they were not typical abnormalities. There were two-headed children and women with humongous ears that hung to their shoulders. In one larger photo beside a small photo of a boy with no ears, there were two good-looking men joined at the hip holding walking sticks in each hand. When Luis looked up and turned to face the far wall at the back end of the room, he saw his own photos. They were everywhere he looked.
With his mouth wide open, Luis walked closer and looked at them. There were photos of Luis in a skimpy bathing suit—almost see-through—that he'd done on a shoot on Long Island a year ago. There were photos of him wearing formal tuxedos, photos of him wearing boxer shorts and black work boots, and photos of him wearing preppy sweaters and jeans on a sailboat. The entire wall, top to bottom, was covered with Luis's professional model image.
It made Luis's heart race faster and his head begin to spin. He didn't even have any solo photos of himself where he lived. He'd never trusted people who put up their own photos. Most of the photos hanging in Luis's homes were of family and Hunter. If Luis was in a photo, it was with Jase and Hunter.
Luis turned and gaped at Matthias. Matthias was standing next to the door with his hands in his pockets. He was smiling and rocking back and forth on his feet. “How do you like it?” Matthias asked with an odd grin that caused chills to run up Luis's back. “I did it all for you. I wanted you to feel right at home here.”
“I don't understand,” Luis said. A million thoughts passed through his mind, and none of them calmed his racing heart. He turned to see what Hood was doing. “What is this?”
Hood said, “I don't have a clue.” He flung Matthias a look. “You're freaking me out, man. What the fuck? Is this some kind of a joke? I feel like I'm in the middle of a bad dream.”
Luis turned toward the wall that was covered with his professional photos. When he looked in the corner and saw the white boots he'd been wearing the first night he'd arrived in town, on the floor next to the vinyl outfit that was resting on a slipper rocker, he gasped and reached for window frame. “What are those boots and that outfit doing here?” Was this some kind of sick joke these guys were playing on him?
Hood walked over to Luis and put his arm around him. “I have no idea what's going on.” He glanced back at Matthias. “I think it's time we leave.”
But as Hood tried to lead Luis out of the room, Matthias blocked the doorway and held up an old skeleton key. He waved the key back and forth and laughed. “No one's going anywhere. I have my best friend and my sweet little Luis just where I want them.”
“Man, what the fuck are you talking about?” Hood asked. “Get out of my way.”
Luis heard a tremble in Hood's voice. He knew Hood was just as surprised as he was. “Matthias, I want to leave,” Luis said. “Open the door and let us out.”
Matthias slipped the key into his pocket and laughed again. Then he pointed to the white high-heeled boots and the kinky vinyl outfit in the corner of the room and said, “Go over there and put them on. You're not going anywhere.”
Luis's face felt warm. He grew dizzy and his throat was getting tighter. “Not without Jase. You know I'm not doing anything with you alone.”
Matthias's jaw began to quiver. His eyebrows furrowed and he pointed to the kinky outfit a second time. “Fuck Jase,” he said. “I'm sick to death of hearing about fucking Jase. You'll do what I tell you to do from now on.” Then he pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at Luis and Hood. “Put them on right now.”
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Chapter Thirteen
After Luis stripped down in front of both Matthias and Hood, he put on the kinky white vinyl outfit and the white high-heeled boots. He made a face upon realizing they were still damp inside. Matthias stood next to the door watching every move Luis made, licking his lips and rubbing his crotch with his free hand. He held the gun with the other hand and glanced at Hood occasionally, as if to make sure Hood wouldn't make any sudden moves.
Luis wanted to sink into the floor and disappear. He wondered what had happened to the competent young doctor he'd thought Matthias was, and wondered when Matthias had snapped and lost touch with reality. When Luis put the ridiculous costume on and zipped up the boots, a wave of chagrin enveloped him. Though Luis had always been a sexual person and he'd done a few things with men most people might have frowned upon, he'd never been in a situation where he'd felt such a sense of degradation and shame. This was even more embarrassing than the time his twin bother, Gage, had pretended to be Luis and slept with their neighbor, Ted.
Luis glanced over at Hood and pleaded for help with his eyes. Hood was standing next to the bedpost, terrified to move as Matthias pointed the gun at his head. Hood glanced at Luis with furrowed eyebrows and clenched his fists, as if he wanted to do something but knew he didn't dare move a muscle.