Hood clenched his fists again. “And you brought me along, with Beth Anne and Blaze?” His face turned red and the veins in his neck started to bulge. “We thought we'd been invited. Why did you bring us?” He turned to Luis. “We had no idea.”
Matthias smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “I couldn't just show up alone. It would have looked too suspicious. I had to make it look real, as if it had all been an accident—a bunch of friends hanging out in a cabin.”
“Where are the girls?” Hood asked. “What did you do with them?”
Luis had been wondering this, too. But he'd been terrified to ask.
“Don't worry about them,” Matthias said. “I've taken care of them already.”
Luis suddenly thought about Jase. “Did you hurt Jase? Is that why he can't remember anything?” Luis tightened his lips and glared at Matthias. A surge of strength passed through his body. “I swear I'll kill you if you hurt him.”
“Oh, relax,” Matthias said. “I have no idea what happened to Jase or his memory. That really was an accident, too. I couldn't have planned that one better if I'd tried.”
At least he hadn't hurt Jase yet. Luis felt a little relieved to know this. But he had to figure out a way to reach Matthias. There had to be a glimmer of sanity left. The guy had obviously lost his mind and didn't know what he was doing. Even his convoluted plan to live there with Luis and Hood didn't make any sense. He seemed to be depending on luck more than reality. In a way, Luis actually felt bad for him. Luis had thought of him as being so strong and capable and pragmatic. “Can't we sit down and talk about this, Matthias? You haven't done anything wrong yet.” I hope not, anyway, Luis said to himself, thinking of Beth Anne and Blaze. “You have so much to look forward to. You have a future. You've worked hard in medical school. Give me the gun and let's go back to the cabin. We'll figure something out. You have to know this is wrong. Let us help you.”
“There's nothing to figure out,” Matthias shouted, and Luis jumped. “I've always known I had to come home, and now I'm here. But I wanted you here with me. It's the only way I can do this. I need you, Luis. Do you remember the stained glass window in the church?”
Luis thought for a moment, then nodded. His heart raced and his mouth went dry.
“The perfect little boy with light blond hair in the center window was me,” Matthias said. “I'm the chosen one. I'm the one who had to come back and restore the compound for future generations. The old people told me this.”
“But Matthias, there's no one left,” Hood said. “I don't even think the people in town care anymore. How can you restore something that went away so long ago?”
“Are you kidding me? There are still a few of us left in town who care. You've seen them yourself,” Matthias said. “The woman in the church doesn't know it yet, but I'm the one she's been waiting for all these years. I just have to let them know and I'll get them to follow me.”
All this was getting crazier by the minute. Even if there was some logic to what Matthias was saying, it wasn't realistic. Luis had seen a small town stippled with unfortunate, downtrodden people. He'd seen poverty that was worse than what he'd known in Tennessee. But the people in that town didn't seem to give a damn about this compound anymore. If anything, they were terrified of it and wouldn't even talk about it. “Let's sit down and talk, Matthias,” Luis said. He reached out with both hands. “Give me the gun.”
“Listen to Luis, Matthias,” Hood said. “We're your friends. We're not going to hurt you, man. We'll make this right. I promise.”
Matthias ignored them. He pointed the gun at Hood and said, “Take off your clothes. I want to watch you fuck Luis in that outfit for a while.”
“No,” Luis said. “Don't do this, please.”
“Take off your clothes or I'll get rid of you right now, Hood,” Matthias said.
That was when it dawned on Luis that Matthias was probably going to kill Jase. He'd probably already killed Beth Anne and Blaze.
Hood glanced in Luis's direction and sent him an apologetic shrug. Then he removed his clothes and turned to face Matthias.
“That's nice,” Matthias said. “A nice big strong guy like you will make Luis very happy. Not as happy as I can make him. But I want to watch Luis in action with you first. Then I'll take my turn on him.” He pointed the gun at Luis and said, “Get over there and bend over in front of him. I want to watch him fuck you while you're standing up. Lift your right leg up and rest it on the bed. You're going to like this.”
Luis gulped. He knew Hood didn't want to do this any more than he did. But there didn't seem to be any other choice. So he walked to where Hood was standing, stood in front of him, and slowly leaned forward until his hips were aligned with Hood's pelvis. When he lifted his right leg and rested it on the bed, he backed into Hood and spread his legs a little wider.
Matthias wet his lips and walked up to them. He smacked Luis's ass, then reached down to grab Hood's cock. But when Matthias went to take Hood in his hand, Hood lunged to the right and pounced on top of Matthias. The move happened so fast Luis almost fell to the floor. Luis stepped back and looked down at the two men struggling on the hook rug below him. He watched Hood grab Matthias's hand and he saw the gun sail to the other side of the room. Luis ran to get the gun—as fast as he could in high-heeled boots. He figured this was their only chance. Jase had taught him how to use a gun in Alaska. But when he bent down to get it he heard a loud crash near the bedroom door. A second after that, he heard a gun go off.
When Luis turned, holding Matthias's gun, ready to use it, he saw Jase standing on top of the bedroom door and there were two men in uniforms on either side of him. They looked like real cops. Jase had busted through the door and now he was pointing a gun at Matthias.
The man in uniform on Jase's right said, “Stand back. We'll take care of it from here. We don't want anyone getting hurt.”
Jase refused to move. He stood still, braced to shoot, holding a small gun with both hands, and said, “I'm not moving a muscle. I'm not taking any chances. I'll cover you guys. I know how to use a gun. I'm from Alaska.”
When Luis made a move toward Jase and said, “Jase, listen to them,” Matthias grabbed one of Luis's high heels and pulled Luis down to the floor.
Matthias wrapped his arm around Luis's waist, kicked Hood out of the way, and slid back up against the wall at the far end of the room beneath the scandalous photo collage of Luis. Luis tried to break free from Matthias, kicking and struggling. But Matthias was far too strong to fight. Luis tried to toss the gun away, but Matthias pulled the gun out of Luis's hand and held the gun to Luis's head. It all happened so fast Luis's head began to pound with fear.