Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/1055751. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage Category: M/M Fandom: NSYNC, Popslash Relationship: Chris_Kirkpatrick/Justin_Timberlake, Lance_Bass/JC_Chasez, Lance_Bass/ Justin_Timberlake, Joey_Fatone/Justin_Timberlake, Joey_Fatone/Chris Kirkpatrick, JC_Chasez/Joey_Fatone Character: Chris_Kirkpatrick, JC_Chasez, Lance_Bass, Joey_Fatone, Justin_Timberlake, Louis_Jay_"Lou"_Pearlman Additional Tags: Alternate_Universe, Alternate_Reality, Strippers_&_Strip_Clubs, Sex_Club, Diners, Running_Away, Rape/Non-con_Elements, Physical_Abuse, Forced Prostitution, Oral_Sex, Chains, Cages, Bondage, Escape Stats: Published: 2003-12-22 Chapters: 7/7 Words: 26051 ****** The Bassk Club ****** by Jacie_popslash_(Jacie) Summary Lance owns a night club, with a twist. He purchases young men to entertain men with kinks. Justin and JC are hookers/sex slaves. Notes WARNINGS: This is a very dark fiction which includes physical violence, rape, slavery and bondage among other things. ***** Justin ***** Justin shivered in the darkness. He didn’t even know it ever rained in California. He didn’t know it ever got cold. At seventeen, he had been humiliated when his first boyfriend had outed him to the entire community. The boyfriend was moving and Justin supposed it was just his little way of saying goodbye. But the declaration had gotten Justin dragged into more dark alleys than he knew existed in his small town and beaten by more people than he cared to think about. The pastor of his church, where Justin had been a soloist in the choir, had quietly called his parents in to ask them to seek out another place to worship, or at least leave Justin at home on Sundays. On top of everything else, he had lost his job, babysitting three small children after school until their parents came home. Not only did he watch the children, but he practically ran that household, having to cook, clean and shop for the family as well. Justin sniffled. He missed the kids. That had been the final straw. The fact that Ralph and Joan didn’t trust him around their children anymore. Justin didn’t think an explanation about the differences between a gay teen and a pedophile would get his job back. Justin’s parents had it almost as rough and even considered selling their home and moving to a different town. Justin’s stepfather began drinking, rather than trying to deal with it, and the drinking made him mean. Home was no longer a safe haven for Justin. He was almost as likely to be beaten there as anywhere else. He hadn’t questioned it much when his tearful mother woke him early one morning, thrust a backpack into his hands and told him to leave. Told him to head to California where the weather was always good and people didn’t mind gay boys as much as the people of Tennessee. She had kissed him on his cheek before pushing him out the door. He had nothing. He didn’t even know how to get to California, so he just started hitchhiking, heading west. If anyone stopped he just told them he was heading to California. When he rummaged through his backpack, he found two pairs of jeans, three T- shirts, two long sleeved shirts and five pairs each of socks and underwear. She had also given him a separate bag of food. He didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. He could have easily eaten it all in one sitting, but he knew he had to ration it, try to make it last as long as possible. Still, the food didn’t last long. The other two things he found was a small stack of photos. Photos of Justin in happier times, posing with people who had meant something in his life. He also found a small bundle of bills. Three hundred dollars. Justin knew his mother always saved a bit where she could, then splurged at Christmas time. Well, this year, Christmas came early for Justin. As he did with the food, Justin divided the money, stashing some in each sock, some in different pockets and some in his jacket. Justin had made the trip, but by the time he finally arrived in California, he was cold, dirty and out of cash and food. Some of the people who gave him rides were kind to him, but four of the men had driven him to secluded areas and forced him to have sex with them. The first time was the worst. By the time the fourth guy attacked him, Justin was so tired and numb that he didn’t even fight it. When the man was finished, he threw Justin down into a puddle and drove off, taking Justin’s pack with him. Justin had been glad he was still wearing his jacket. Now all he had were the clothes on his back and the small stack of photos his mother had given him, which he had long ago placed into a plastic baggie his mother had sent a sandwich in. They were protected, even if Justin wasn’t. So Justin stood out in the rain, shivering and miserable. He wrapped his arms around his middle, but it didn’t help much. Normally he kept his hood up, but tonight he figured it didn’t matter. He was soaked thoroughly and so was his hooded jacket. He left his head and face uncovered as he begged strangers for change. He hoped they would see how young he was and how tired, dirty and cold. He tried to stand outside of nice restaurants early in the evening, moving when he had to. He was never at any one place too long before he was told to move on. More than once, the employees of the establishments threatened to call the police on him. Justin wondered vaguely what the police would do to him. At seventeen, he was still considered a minor. He didn’t know what would happen to him, but he thought the police might feed him and give him a dry place to sleep for the night. On the other hand, they may lock him up until he turned eighteen, almost a year. Late into the evening, Justin walked to a diner that was open all night. Slipping in as quietly as he could, he made his way to the men’s room and locked himself into a stall. These days he trusted no one. Usually. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the change he had collected. No one ever placed the money in his hand. If he was lucky, they would toss it so he could catch it, if not, he had to drop to his knees and search the sidewalk for it. It embarrassed him, the people watching him crawl on his knees, searching for a dime or nickel. The tears welled when Justin discovered he didn’t have enough for a real meal, but there was enough for soup and coffee. These days Justin usually only ate once a day. After he begged all day, he would make his way to the diner and buy all the food he could. He never got much money when it rained, but the rain failed to quell his hunger. Justin remained in the bathroom for a long time, using the hand blower to dry his hair and warm his body. He washed up in the sink as best he could, but he knew he was still dirty and disheveled. When he collected himself, he moved out to the dining room and eased himself into the booth furthest from the door. When the server finally approached him, she asked if he actually had money tonight. When he had first arrived, he had tried to sneak into the back booths of diners to sleep and soon found himself very unwelcome at most of the establishments. The ones that didn’t immediately throw him out, wanted proof that he actually had cash on him before allowing him to stay. One night a server explained to him that a lot of runaways came to LA and were broke. Many of them ate, then had no money to pay. She had explained that she has to pay the ticket herself if her customers pull a dine and dash. She didn’t have much either. She recounted tales to him, of days she had used all her tips to pay for tickets where the customers had no money. On some of those days she had gone without a meal herself. Justin pulled his change out of his pocket and showed it to her, neatly organizing it into piles of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. When he looked up at her, she tenderly placed a hand on his shoulder and asked what he wanted. He ordered a bowl of the soup and a cup of coffee. She knew he would eat the soup slowly and gulp down as much coffee as she would pour for him. When she placed the bowl before him, he noticed she had given him extra crackers and also two dinner rolls. He remembered her now, Mabel. She had served him before, telling him the dinner rolls got hard fast and would just be pitched. Justin wondered if she knew he spent much of his days diving through grocery store dumpsters in search of rotted fruits and vegetables and stale bread. He thanked her all the same and wished he had more money so he could leave her a better tip. The soup was good and warmed him. Before he left home, he hadn’t liked coffee, but on the road he found it was warming and cheaper than soda and always refillable. The rolls were good. They were a bit old, but were fine once Justin soaked them in the soup. After the soup and rolls were gone, he ate all the crackers, even licking his finger to get all the crumbs from the table. He was still hungry. Leaning back in his seat, Justin hoped they would allow him to sleep for a while before they kicked him out into the rain again. He left the money on the table, telling Mabel to keep it all. It was all he had. He thought he may have even fallen asleep when he felt someone sit down across the booth from him. His eyes flew open. A taller man had slipped into his booth, grinning at him. He was wearing a cowboy hat. “Howdy, son,” the man began. “Do y’all mind if I share your booth?” Justin shrugged. He really just wanted to fall asleep somewhere warm. “You hungry, boy? I hate eating alone. You’d be doing me a favor if you’d be my guest for dinner.” Justin eyed the man curiously. Probably a traveling salesman, he surmised. The man reminded him of home and how friendly the people of his town were to strangers. To everyone but him. Now that they knew. Justin wondered what price he’d have to pay for the meal. Maybe a blow job in the man’s rental car. If he was lucky, maybe the man would take him back to his hotel and ravage him there. Justin almost salivated at the thought of a hot shower and a dry, warm place to sleep. “Sure,” he whispered back. The man told him to order anything. Justin ordered the meatloaf dinner, complete with mashed potatoes, corn and another dinner roll. He ordered a soda, too. And a salad. If someone else was buying for him, he was going to eat well. He also figured he might as well get what he can out of the man, as he had no doubt that the man most likely wanted something back from him. And all he had left was his body. The man made small talk while they waited for the meals, telling Justin that he was originally from Texas, but had moved to California. He didn’t give Justin a reason. When Justin asked the man’s profession, he indeed said he was a salesman. Justin offered that he was originally from Tennessee, but had wanted to travel. He lied and told the man he was eighteen and a high school graduate. He had learned to sound convincing. The man even asked Justin if he’d like pie. No one had ever offered him pie since he left home. He gladly accepted a slice of apple pie ala mode, thanking the man profusely. “What’s your name, boy?” “Justin.” “You can call me Tex, son. You remind me of my boy, Justin, although he’s a little younger than you. He’s twelve. I don’t see him much. I’m divorced.” “What’s his name?” “Jack. I like to call him Jay.” Justin smiled. The man sounded so sincere, talking about his son. Like he actually missed the kid. When Tex paid the bill he offered to give Justin a place to stay for the night. “Come on, son. It’s pretty obvious you don’t have a place to stay and it’s raining cats and dogs out there. Please? If Jack was out there, I’d want someone to take care of him. Let me take care of you, Justin, just for one night.” Justin had nodded in agreement and followed Tex outside to his car. Mabel sighed. She didn’t think she’d ever see Justin again. Once in the car, Tex had gotten out his cell phone, informing someone that he was bringing a guest home for the night, a young man named Justin and please prepare a room for him. As he clicked the cell phone shut, he looked at Justin, explaining, “My girlfriend. She wouldn’t ever forgive me if I didn’t warn her in time to get the spare bedroom ready for you.” His smile seemed sincere. Justin relaxed into the plush seat. He would be happy just sleeping in Tex’s car. When Tex stopped the car, Justin eyed the neighborhood cautiously. It looked rough. All the windows had bars over them and the entry doors were locked. It was the kind of place he was afraid to be after dark, but Tex seemed oblivious to any danger. “I know, but apartments are expensive in California. The neighborhood is rough, but the apartment is nice and dry. And warm. Plenty of room for you. We’ll get you a hot shower and some more food in the morning. Anything you need. Maybe I can get you some new clothes. We’ll see. Let’s go on in, son.” Justin wondered how he had lucked into meeting such a kind man. His heart gave an uneasy beat as they climbed the porch. Justin continued to follow the man upstairs, then realized he was being followed. Two men had emerged from the shadows behind him. When he panicked, he ran ahead, pushing past Tex, who reached out a strong arm and grabbed him. “Now Justin, where do you think you’re going?” Justin didn’t answer, but swallowed heavily and tried unsuccessfully to wrench his arm away from Tex’s hold. The two men kept approaching from the stairs below as Tex continued to drag Justin to an apartment door. They were young, his age. Probably. They were closing in as Tex fumbled for his keys. Before he unlocked the door, he threw Justin to the other two boys. “Hold him,” he commanded. Justin stared. Shocked. He knew better than to trust anyone and he had trusted this man. The two boys held him fast as he struggled. They forced him into the apartment and the door was bolted behind him. Before Tex had taken his coat off, Justin had managed to twist away from the boys’ grip. First he tried the main door, but couldn’t open the deadbolt without a key. Next he shot himself at the windows which were barred. After a few minutes of everyone scrambling around, the two other boys had Justin again and had forced him down on his knees. “Now Justin,” Tex began as he caressed Justin’s cheek, “is this any way to show your appreciation for my hospitality?” “What do you want?” Tex backhanded him, but the two boys held him upright. “I just want to give you a good home, boy. We’re going to take really good care of you. Take him to the throne room and strip him,” he nodded to the two boys. They dragged him to another room where there was a pole stretching from the floor to the ceiling. There were rings clamped onto the pole. One of the boys held Justin, while the other produced a pair of handcuffs, cuffing Justin to the pole. “Stay on your knees,” he warned. They weren’t gentle as they cut and tore Justin’s clothes off. Justin was tired, he had only wanted to sleep in a warm bed. Just once more. Now he was going to pay dearly, just for wanting. “I need to use the bathroom,” Justin confessed, wishing he hadn’t drank all that coffee and soda. “Shut up.” It was several minutes before Tex reappeared, sitting in front of Justin in a large hand-carved chair, which Justin assumed must be the ‘throne’. One of the other boys brought Justin’s shredded clothes forward, handing them to Tex. Justin remained still and calm as Tex rifled through his clothing, finding his wallet and his pack of photos. After Tex’s search, he tossed the clothes to one of the boys, commanding, “Burn those.” Justin then watched as Tex went through his wallet. “Justin Randall Timberlake,” he announced after finding Justin’s license. “You, sir, are a liar. You’re really only seventeen and I bet you’re a dropout. Am I correct?” “Yes, sir,” Justin replied. “You don’t lie to me, boy. Save that shit for the clients. If I catch you lying to me again, you will regret it. Understand?” “Yes, sir.” There wasn’t any money in the wallet. Tex pulled out the ID and Justin’s social security card, then tossed the wallet onto the pile of clothes. Next he dug into the plastic bag that held the dozen photos Justin had, thumbing through them. “Please,” Justin begged with tears falling, “please, they’re all I have. They’re all I have,” he sobbed, unable to hold himself up any longer. His body succumbed to gravity, leaving his arms dangling above him, supporting his weight. Tex smiled. This one was going to be easy to break. But he didn’t want him too broken. He needed bargaining chips. “Alright Justin. I’ll allow you to keep these, but if you disobey, they’re gone. Understand? Everything you own, wiped out in an instant. Everything that you were. Everything that you are. All you have left is what you will become. Understand?” Justin nodded, although he didn’t really understand. He was too tired, too broken. “From now on, you will be known as Jay. That is your only name. Justin no longer exists. You have no middle name and no last name. Only Jay. Understand?” Justin nodded, then pleaded, “I have to go to the bathroom, please. Please, sir. Please.” Tex shrugged, uncaring, “So go.” Justin held on as long as he could, but eventually, he lost his control. The tears fell anew as he laid in his own urine. Tex smiled. It was a message, a lesson that Justin needed to learn. That he was no longer in control of his life. Tex was now in control. The next morning, Justin could barely comprehend what was happening. He felt the cuffs being unlocked, but his body felt heavy, stiff and drained. Hands dragged him away. Eventually he was dumped into a bathtub and scrubbed from head to toe. He looked at the faces of those who handled him. They were young, but their eyes were dead. No one had spoken to him and he was afraid to open his mouth. After his bath, a girl placed a harness around him and two other guys forced him onto his hands and knees, telling him, he didn’t deserve to walk like a man. They snapped a leash to the collar around his neck, forcing him to walk on his hands and knees back to the throne room. Disinfectant hit his nose and he figured someone had been sent in to clean up his urine. Justin was set in front of the throne on his hands and knees and remained that way. Tex eventually came into the room, gripping Justin’s hair and yanking his head back. There were other men with him. Five or six. Justin winced. Another man came forward to inspect him, “Nice bone structure. A little make- up, maybe dye these curls blond. He’ll bring in some money.” Justin now knew his fate. He was to be a whore. To be sold on the streets. He allowed his eyelids to drift shut. He didn’t want to know anymore. He felt Tex lift his head, cupping his cheek, then barking, “What is your name, boy?” “Justin,” he spoke softly. A hand struck him. “No. What is your name?” Justin searched his mind, trying to remember. “Jay?” “Good boy. Take him. Feed him. Train him.” Justin felt another tug on his collar and followed obediently. Over the next few days, Justin went through his *training*, which mostly meant other men came in and raped him. Repeatedly. He was *taught* how to take care of a man, to provide a service. How to seduce a man. After his first week, he was allowed off the harness, allowed to walk upright and he was dressed. He was told that Tex divided all off his property into groups and he was now a rabbit. That meant he would be put on the street, but he wasn’t allowed to negotiate any deals himself. And he wasn’t allowed to stray far. He would only be allowed to work in a nearby motel or in a customer’s car. In other words, they were afraid he would run and they would have to chase him down, to hunt him down, which they assured him they would do, if he took off. At the end of his training, his curls were dyed blond, a woman came in and applied make-up to his face, including eyeliner, eye shadow, a little lip color and something that made his skin shine with glitter. Another woman and two men came in with handfuls of clothing and dressed him. Finally he was led before Tex, once again, in the throne room. This time he walked in, but was made to kneel in front of Tex as he sat on his throne. “Beautiful,” Tex observed. “Jay, come show me what you’ve learned.” Justin moved forward, pulling Tex’s zipper down and giving him a blow job, just like he had been taught. Afterward, Tex zipped himself up and patted Justin on his head. “You’ve been good, Jay. You know what will happen if you run, don’t you?” “Yes,” Justin answered softly. He had been shown pictures of what had happened to others who had run. “I have one more question for you. Who is Justin?” “There is no Justin. He doesn’t exist.” “You have learned well, Jay. Don’t disappoint me. You may stand.” Jay rose before the man who now owned him. Tex placed a small plastic bag in Jay’s hands. The photos that were all that remained of who Justin once was. His mind tried to figure out why they had once seemed so important to him. Tex turned to another man in the room. “Max, assign Jay to a room and put him to work, tonight. Let’s see what our boy can do.” Justin followed obediently. ***** JC ***** Jay learned that after being a rabbit, you graduated into being a kitten. The non-whores were all given dog names. Some of the security were Dobermans and others were Shepherds. Jay figured out the Dobermans were the ones that stayed around the building, while the Shepherds went out onto the streets, watching over the kittens and rabbits. The cats seemed to be mostly whores with some privileges, like the ones who did hair and makeup or picked out clothes for the newer ones. Jay was told that he could expect to be at rabbit status for at least three to six months and maybe longer. The kittens had it better. They were trusted to always come home at the end of the night, so they were allowed to go off with Johns to unsupervised locations, like a John’s home or nicer hotels, even parties. The cats were allowed to negotiate their own deals and could even turn down a client. Jay caught on that a rabbit’s earnings all went to Tex, but the kittens got to keep about fifteen percent and the cats got to keep about twenty-five percent of what they earned. Of course, Tex could always demote a cat to a kitten or a kitten to rabbit status at any time he wanted. Jay even supposed Tex could basically keep as much of his whores’ earnings as he wanted with no real explanation. Jay was pretty sure there was no whore’s union to fight for their rights. The only nice thing about being a rabbit was that heavy rains generally meant a short night. If there were no Johns out looking, there was no reason to have the rabbits standing on the street corner. Jay had taken to smoking and liked to stand on the front porch of the apartment building, smoking under the watchful eye of at least one or two Dobermans. He thought about testing them, but his mind kept wandering back to the photos he had been shown of the rabbits who had run and been caught. He was told that they were always caught. No one ever made it. He wondered if that was true, as he watched the rain sheeting down. The night reminded him of the night he had been taken. He tried to tell himself it wasn’t all that bad. He had clothes, food and a roof over his head. And he was making money now, just not for himself. When he heard the figures Johns were willing to pay for his services, he laughed. He had given it away just for the price of a cheeseburger. People were shuffling around. Jay knew something was going on. He wasn’t told to move, but the Dobermans moved into the shadows. He took a long drag on his cigarette as he watched Tex’s Cadillac pull up. A feeling of deja vu washed over him. He shook it off, along with the rain. A young man was with Tex. When they walked onto the porch, Tex introduced them, calling the young man JC and telling him Jay was a student who lived in the building. Jay had to suppress a laugh. He had learned that Tex didn’t rent apartments here. He owned the building and used it to house his whores. Jay was in an apartment with five other guys. Those with more seniority shared the bedrooms, two guys per bedroom, while Jay and another newer one, Cole, each slept on a couch in the living room. “You should come in Jay. You could catch your death out here in the rain.” Jay didn’t mistake the threat in Tex’s voice. Dropping the cigarette instantly, he stamped it out with his boot heel. He followed them in. Followed them upstairs, feeling deja vu all over again as the two Dobermans began following Jay up the stairs. He sensed the same uneasiness in JC as he had felt himself the first night he had climbed those steps. He thought he could smell the fear in the air. JC was afraid. And Jay just wanted to lick him all over. Tex reached his door and fumbled for his keys. Jay leaned up behind JC, breathing hotly on his neck, smelling the wet scent of JC’s rain soaked hair. Jay smiled and whispered, “JC.” He had learned his lessons well. He had learned to seduce other men and he was good at it. JC looked into Jay’s eyes and it frightened him. Reaching up, he pushed Jay’s chest in an attempt to escape. Jay reached for him, but only caught the fleeing man’s necklace, which fell into his hands. JC took one last look back, perhaps trying to decide if he wanted to rescue his pendant, then he made his dash to the stairs, running straight into the arms of the Dobermans. He struggled and screamed. Jay thought back. He had tried to run, but hadn’t tried screaming. JC was giving it all he had, but couldn’t know that the only people who might hear his cries, were owned by Tex, and couldn’t care less. Tex never turned around, knowing JC would never make it down to the front door. Once he unlocked the door to the apartment, he knew the men would soon follow, dragging JC with them. Jay palmed the necklace, shoving it into his pocket. Jay followed Tex into the apartment and watched as JC was dragged in, still struggling. Tex bolted the door shut, then told the other two to take JC into the throne room and strip him. Jay remembered other people showing up the night he was taken, so he followed them into the throne room, watching as JC was forced onto his knees, handcuffed to the pole and his clothes were cut and ripped off. When Tex searched the shredded rags, he found nothing except a scrap of paper with a couple phone numbers on it. “Why JC, where’s your wallet? Your ID?” he questioned. JC’s tears began to fall. “I was mugged. They took it. It’s been stolen.” “How old are you?” “I’m not telling you anything.” Tex signaled for the Dobermans to step forward. They punched JC in his stomach, kicked his legs and slapped at his head. JC eventually fell, hanging by his wrists, bloody and bruised, but he never told Tex anything. Jay wondered if JC would survive his first night and partially felt ashamed that he had acquiesced so easily. He had given in just to save a dozen photos. Now he didn’t know why he kept them, why he wanted to be reminded about a life that didn’t want him. But he did keep them. Jay fully expected to see JC working on the streets within a week, but there was no JC. After the second week, Jay wandered over to Tex’s apartment when Tex was gone. When he found the training room empty, he sighed, thinking that JC had died and his body dumped. A gnawing thought tugged at Jay’s heart and he checked one last place, the bathrooms. In one of the bathrooms, he did indeed find JC, still naked. One of his wrists was chained to a metal ring bolted into the wall. Jay eyed the blood on JC’s wrist and remembered the stories of wolves who chewed through their own legs to free themselves from a trap. It was obvious that JC had been struggling. He was chained so short that he couldn’t reach the tub. Probably a good idea, Jay thought. There was a time he would have filled the tub and tried to drown himself, if he had half a chance. JC was close enough to sit on the toilet, but wouldn’t have been able to get his head in there either. He looked tired and beaten. Jay walked in, shutting the door behind him. In Tex’s apartment, the bathrooms had sliding deadbolts on the outside, but no lock on the inside. Whores didn’t need privacy, in Tex’s book. Jay tried to sit JC upright. He was still a beautiful man. Tex had good taste in the men he picked up. Jay reached out and ran his fingers across JC’s jaw. JC’s lips were parted as he slept. They called to Jay, encouraging him to lean in and kiss softly, wondering how long it had been since JC had been allowed to brush his teeth. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a while. Jay only thought him more sexy for it and kissed him harder. JC struggled back when he awoke, but the wall behind him stopped him abruptly. When he looked at Jay, there was recognition in his eyes. They dropped to Jay’s neck and the pendant he wore. “My necklace,” JC whimpered. Jay ran his fingers through JC’s dirty hair, such a waste. “They would have taken it from you, baby,” Jay assured him. “I was going to give it back to you once they put you on the streets. They’re going to win. You know that, don’t you? It’s just a matter of time.” “I don’t want to be a hooker,” JC sniffled. Jay laughed, “Who does, baby? What’s your story, man? How did you get here?” “I was a singer. I won contests and everything. Lots of them. And this guy, he had seen some of my demos and said I should come to LA to audition for him. He said he was starting a new television series and he had a part for me. So I came out and auditioned for him. They had me sign contracts and everything. Then I found out it wasn’t a television series at all. It was a movie. A porno. They forced me to do it. They said I had signed the contracts. So I did what they told me, but I fought them and argued with them. When it was done, they paid me, but not as much as they promised. I had enough to stay in a motel for a couple months, so I stayed and auditioned for everything I could find. I should have gone home, but I was so afraid someone would find out about the porn movie and tell my parents. I couldn’t stand that. I couldn’t face them again. I can’t face them again. I never got hired for anything. When the money was gone, the motel threw me out. I was so stupid. Then I tried living on the streets, but I got robbed. I only had twenty bucks, but they stuck a gun in my face and took my wallet anyway. I hadn’t eaten for three days, maybe four when this Tex guy offered to buy me dinner. He’d said he’d been down on his luck before and told me LA was a tough town to be in. I believed everything he said. I just. I just wish I had never come out here. I wish I had stayed in Maryland. I don’t want this.” Jay stroked JC’s hair again, letting his hand linger at the other man’s neck, “This is all you have, baby. If you start obeying them, you’ll be treated better.” “I don’t want to be a hooker.” “Don’t you think that would be better than being naked, chained and beaten?” JC didn’t answer. Jay knew he was in trouble when the door opened. “Jay! What are you doing in here?” The guard who had walked in went by the name Viper. “I had to use the bathroom.” “Get out.” Jay was just leaving when the phone rang. “Jay, wait. I need help. Tex wants JC cleaned up.” Jay, along with Shelly and Viper, unchained JC from the wall and chained him to a metal ring in the tub. This ring was also high enough to prevent the captive from slipping his head beneath the water. Viper watched as Shelly and Jay bathed JC, shaved him and washed his hair. When they were done, Viper hauled him into the throne room, leaving him naked and chained. “What’s going on, Viper?” Jay asked. “None of your damn business.” “Can I give him some food? He hasn’t eaten...” “No. Jay, when he cooperates, then he’ll be fed. You know that.” Tex entered the room, followed by four other men. Two were his security guards. Jay didn’t know the other two. Once was a handsome blond, young. And the other a slightly older man with dark hair. He looked like security. They both wore sunglasses and very nice suits. Expensive. The blond walked over to JC, ordering, “Stand him up. I want to get a good look at him.” Jay thought he saw JC tremble. Viper walked over, unlocking JC’s handcuffs, then lifting him to his toes, with a hook and pulley system. Jay never remembered seeing that before. The blond walked over to JC and ran his hands up and down, mapping out JC’s body. With his hand, he cupped JC’s cheek and raised his face. “He’s a beauty Tex, without any makeup even. Damn shame for you that you couldn’t train him. He would have made you a fortune on the street.” “He’s worth five grand, easy.” The blond laughed. “Only if he’s trainable. Right now, he’s not worth jack shit, man. And you know that. Pictures, maybe.” The blond ran his hand across JC’s face again and through his hair. JC fought him. The blond only laughed again. “A lot of fight in this one. You’re lucky I like to deal with the difficult ones. No one else would give you a hundred for him.” “You’ll take him?” “Not for five grand. I’ll make you a deal though. I need another one. I’m short. I need someone ready to go now. Have anything fresh?” Tex looked at Jay. Jay’s heart dropped. “Jay here. Seventeen. Cooperative. Makes me good money and he’s no trouble at all. He’s got a charming accent you’ll like.” The blond turned, eyeing Jay from head to toe. “Where’re you from boy?” “Tennessee, sir.” “He’s sweet and smooth as molasses, Bass, and he trained real easy.” “Why do you want to dump him?” “I don’t. He makes me good money. He’s a good kid. But all my whores are good. This one still has some rabbit blood in him. I know that’s not a problem for you. But I need good money for him. Take him in the other room if you want to check him out. Try him out. On the house. He’s good. Real good.” Bass walked over to Jay, eyeing him, circling like a shark. “Drop your clothes, boy.” Jay automatically dropped his clothes and wondered vaguely if he had been brainwashed into obeying every command. He even posed. He had been taught to show his body off. To entice clients. “Nice, Tex. He is nice.” Bass ran a hand over Jay’s abs. “I can make it good for you, really good. I’m the best Tex has. Whatever you want, sugar,” Jay cooed. He couldn’t help it. The sales pitch. They had trained him well. Bass smiled wider, nodding, “Very nice. Sweet.” “I want twenty grand for the pair. Jay’s worth that alone. I won’t take less.” Jay licked his lips and smiled at Bass, who grinned back. He liked what he saw. “Sold. I want that JC dressed though. I can’t drag him around naked. We’ll be back to get them at three am. And I don’t want you sending this precious boy out tonight. You work him tonight, you’ll only get eighteen grand for the pair. Understand?” Tex nodded and the pair shook hands. Then Tex walked his visitors out. Jay tried to comprehend what had just happened. He had been sold. Not just by the hour either. He had really been sold. Like a racehorse. When Tex returned, he ordered Viper to escort Jay back to his apartment to grab whatever he wanted or needed, and to bring clothes for JC. Jay and JC looked like they wore about the same size. Viper and Jay dressed JC, then Jay used the makeup techniques he had learned to apply eyeliner, eye shadow and a little lip color onto JC’s face, then frowned. Makeup enhanced Jay’s looks, but JC had such a natural beauty without it. Jay wiped most of it off, except for the eyeliner, then gave him a glittery sheen. JC was still trembling, like he was in shock. Jay then started to apply his own makeup. “Viper, who is this Bass guy? High end merchandise or what?” Jay had heard about pimps who only did high end hotels or executive parties. He could deal with that. “He has a club, called The Bassk Club. His whores are kept caged up. That’s why he doesn’t care if you’re a rabbit.” “I don’t understand. He has a club, with whores?” Viper scoffed, “It’s a kink club. Fetishes and shit. He sells memberships, so just anyone can’t walk in. He doesn’t advertise and you won’t see any signs out front.” “How does he get clients?” “Mostly, he takes what pimps send him. Referrals. The Johns who want the kinky shit. Pimps don’t want their whores fucked up, you know? So, Bass has this club where he keeps an eye on everything. A guy can get anything he wants there, or they can just go in and watch. It’s mostly out in the open, but I think there are a couple private VIP rooms for any famous people who don’t want an audience. You better learn to love whips and chains, boys,” Viper laughed. Jay didn’t know if he should believe him. Viper had to be kidding. A kink club? It had to be a joke. ***** Lance, Joey and Chris ***** Lance Bass returned to Tex’s apartment at three am sharp. He and the dark haired man showed up with a briefcase full of cash. Tex took the case to the table to count it, while Lance was permitted to inspect his purchases in private. He found them both in satisfactory condition. “Boys, this is Joey. He’s my driver, confidant and head of security. He carries a gun. If you make a move to run, he will shoot you. But he won’t kill you. He’ll aim for your leg or your ass. We’ll catch you and the you’ll work with a bullet in your body. You’ll be in pain, but that’s what you’ll get if you try to run.” Joey stepped forward and placed a set of handcuffs on Jay, and another set on JC. He carefully draped a jacket over each set of cuffs, so the pair only looked like they were carrying jackets and not handcuffed. As they were brought back to the main room, another of Tex’s employees handed over Jay’s IDs and explained that JC had none. Joey frowned, but Lance waved it off as not being a big deal. He put Jay’s IDs into his pocket without glancing at them. When Tex was satisfied with the money count, he and Lance shook hands and Lance led the way out to his car. Tex sent two of his guards to escort Jay and JC to the vehicle. The pair were set into the back seat and the doors were locked. Five minutes later, Jay worked up the courage to ask a question, “Sir, may I ask you a question, please?” Lance smiled. So polite. “You’re Jay, right?” “Yes, sir.” “Jay, you will call me master, understand?” Jay nodded. “You will call Joey, sir. The rest of my staff, you will call, sir. You will call the clients, master, unless they direct you to refer to them by something else. Understand?” “Yes, master.” Lance smiled. Worth every penny. “You may ask your question, Jay.” “I just wanted to know what. We’re. Um. Viper said you had a club.” “Yes, I do. And you will work there.” “As a whore?” Lance laughed, “Well, that does seem to be your occupation, boy.” “Viper said it was a kink club. All whips and chains and...” “Enough Jay. You’ll find out soon enough. You’ll do fine.” “Yes, master.” JC trembled. Jay tried to lean over to give him some comfort, but Lance turned around and told them to separate. And stay separated. Before they arrived, Lance pulled out a cell phone and called his club, alerting them that he would be arriving in less than five minutes and someone better be out front to bring in the new purchases. The coldness in his voice made Jay tremble. Looking over at JC he was overcome with the urge to suck on the man’s lower lip. But he didn’t dare risk it. When they pulled up to the buildings, it was still dark and almost four in the morning. It just looked like a half dozen warehouses on a parking lot to Jay. As Viper had said, there were no signs, no advertising. There were two men in suits standing in front as they arrived. When he pulled the car to a stop, Joey turned back to Jay and JC, pointing to the door Jay was closest to. “That way,” he pointed. He then flicked the button to unlock the door. Jay scooted out, assisted by one of the men at the curb. The other man had opened Lance’s door for him. Lance had climbed out and stretched. JC didn’t move. Lance only waited a minute before ordering his other suited man to get JC out of the car. JC struggled away and did just what Joey had implied they shouldn’t, he grasped at the latch to the other door, the one behind Joey. He hadn’t noticed that Joey had leapt out and opened that door as JC leaned against it. JC half fell out of the car only to be grabbed by Joey. Lance frowned. “Give me Jay,” he ordered, “and bring that one.” Turning to Jay, he warned, “You’re a smart one to cooperate. He will be punished.” Jay cringed, worried for JC. He turned back watching him struggle against Joey’s arms as the other two men grappled to get a hold of him. “Please master, he’s only frightened.” Lance squeezed Jay’s arm, “He needs to learn to obey. He is going to be punished. And if you speak out against me again, you’ll be punished, too. Understand?” Jay swallowed. “Yes, master,” he said softly. He turned once more to see Joey driving the car into another warehouse and the other two men dragging a squirming, fighting JC between them. Tears stung his eyes and he called out, “JC, please don’t fight, baby.” Lance slapped him across the face, then dug his hands deeply into Jay’s hair, yanking his head back painfully. “I told you, boy. Keep your mouth shut. Keep your eyes forward.” They walked by a few employees as they made their way to Lance’s office. Jay couldn’t help but notice the entire interior of the building was class A all the way. From marbled floors in the foyer to crown molding and chair rail throughout the hallways, along with statues and paintings. Lance’s office was neat, clean and full of expensive furniture and decor, but they didn’t stop there. Lance pushed Jay through a door in the back of his office, which led to a large room. There was what appeared to be a bed, a metal surgical table, a regular table and several chairs. Lance pushed Jay down onto one of the chairs, then sat behind the large table, watching Jay. It wasn’t long before the two men brought JC in, still struggling. Joey followed closely behind. They pushed JC onto one of the chairs and chained him down. Joey stood just behind him, a hand on JC’s shoulder as a warning. “Del, tell Chris I want to see him.” Lance pulled Jay’s IDs from his pockets. “Justin Randall Timberlake. Seventeen. Hmmm. Who is your legal guardian, Jay?” “My mother, sir. Master.” “You a runaway?” “No, master. She sent me away.” “Why?” “I live in a small town, master. They found out. I’m gay. Things. Didn’t go well. She asked me to leave.” “Have you talked to her since you left?” A tear slipped down his cheek, as he whispered, “No, master.” “You know why Tex calls you Jay?” “No, master.” “You’re a minor. If you get picked up, he doesn’t want them running your description with the name ‘Justin’. Probably told you to forget your last name, too, I would bet.” Justin nodded. A smaller dark haired man entered the room, crossing over to the table. Lance tossed the IDs over to him. “Change his birthday, his height and change the name to Jay Thomas Randall. Make him twenty.” “Yes, sir.” Lance motioned to JC, “This one is JC, who has no ID and is a bit less than cooperative. What’s your full name JC?” JC ignored the question, refusing to meet Lance’s eyes. Chris looked at JC and walked over to him, lifting his face. “This is JC Chasez, sir.” Lance looked surprised. “And how in the hell would you know that, Chris?” “I met him at Ray’s. You know I do hair and makeup for him sometimes.” “Pornos?” “They tricked him into it. He’s a singer/songwriter. He sent a video demo out with some photos and they got a hold of it. They conned him into coming out here with promises of being on a television series or something. After he signed all the contracts, he found out he’d signed on to do pornos. I think he only did one. You should hear him sing, boss. I’ve never heard better.” “Joey, make him sing.” Joey leaned down, his hands entwined in JC’s hair, shouting in his ear, “Your master wants to hear you sing, songbird.” JC remained silent. Joey reeled back and swung heavily, connecting with JC’s stomach. He only caused the man to cry out in pain. Lance shook his head, disappointed, then turned back to Chris. “Do you know anything about him? Like his age or where he’s from?” “He’s not a minor, sir. Might be around twenty-three. I think he’s from back east somewhere, but I don’t recall exactly.” “Maryland,” Jay whispered. “Make him an ID, twenty-three is fine. He’s not a minor, so I doubt anyone is looking for him. Call Ray’s and see if they have photocopies of his IDs. They should. See if you can get the tape, too. Might be interesting to watch. Did you have a rapport with this guy? Tex couldn’t do anything with him and he’s not been cooperative with us either, as you can see.” “Can I have him for a couple weeks? Get him settled in?” “Sure, Chris. Take them both. You and Joey can be in charge of them. I’ll give you one week for Jay and two for JC. Jay, stand up. Joey, take off his handcuffs. Jay, get undressed.” The three men watched as Jay dropped his clothing in a deliberate striptease show. Lance grinned. “Come here, baby.” Jay walked over to Lance and allowed himself to be pulled onto Lance’s lap. He snuggled against Lance and positioned his mouth to be kissed. He felt the deep rumbling in Lance’s body when Lance spoke, “Isn’t he sweet? His only drawback so far seems to be a distraction with JC. Other than that, he’s as sweet as can be. He’ll do well here. Train him for whatever you want to. I think he can handle anything. That one,” he nodded at JC, “needs work.” JC sadly watched as Lance’s hand spanned across Jay’s bare stomach. Jay leaned in as Lance kissed him hungrily. “Know how to prep yourself, baby?” Jay nodded. “Chris, hand Jay some lube.” They watched as Jay worked a lubed finger into himself, moaning for added drama. Lance smiled and slapped Jay’s rounded ass. “Baby, I want you to ride my cock, okay?” Jay rose, then dropped to his knees between Lance’s legs. In an instant, he had Lance’s pants unzipped, sucking his cock until it was hard. Lance placed a hand into Jay’s curls, pushing himself deeper. He almost gave Jay the order to finish him off this way, but allowed Jay to stop, only to raise himself up, and impale himself onto Lance’s cock. The boy was good, Lance had to admit. He clearly knew exactly what he was doing. Lance closed his eyes as Jay began grinding rhythmically. After a couple minutes, Lance gave Jay’s waist a squeeze. “Baby, stay with me, understand?” Jay nodded, panting seductively. “Joey, bolt the doors. Chris. Uncuff JC. I want you two to take him. Now. Get his clothes off.” “NO!” JC screamed. Jay stopped, turning toward JC. Lance grabbed his jaw, sharply twisting it back. “Stay with me, Jay,” he growled. “Don’t you dare stop until I come. Focus on me. I don’t care what they do to him over there, you need to stay with me. Take care of me.” Justin began moving again. This time he closed his eyes and leaned his head into Lance’s neck. Lance felt the hot tears, but let it go. Joey and Chris knew what Lance was doing. The club got wild sometimes. There was always a lot going on. Jay had to be able to concentrate on the job, or John, at hand, no matter what he was hearing or seeing going on around him. The clients each paid for their membership, either monthly or annually. The membership entitles them to watch anything that went on on the main floor level. If they wanted to do more than watch, they had to pay. The club had a menu. The clients could choose from anything on that menu. There were two prices. One was if they remained on the main floor, where others could watch. The other was for a private show in one of the VIP lounges. The items started with having the employees do things themselves, where the clients would just watch. They could choose a striptease, a dance or watch the guy jerk himself off. For a little more, a client could pay to have two of the employees act out what ever fantasies he may have. For a higher price, they could have the employees come out and touch them. For a little more, then could touch back. If they wanted the top of the line, they could do whatever they wanted to the employees. There were prices for giving one of the boys a spanking, or having sex with one in bondage, even beating or cutting them. Anything that caused actual damage was very expensive, but if they were willing to pay, Lance was willing to take a client’s money. Most of his clients just came in to watch and might treat themselves to something a little more hands on about once a month. Some of them liked to play more often. Chris and Joey were still struggling to take JC’s clothing off when Lance came into Jay. After giving him a final kiss, Lance pushed him off and zipped his pants up. Grabbing Jay’s wrist, he pulled him and a chair into a corner, pushing Jay into the chair and threatening, “You. Stay. Put.” With that he walked over to where Joey and Chris had JC on top of the surgical table. Lance put his hand over JC’s mouth and pinched his nose closed. “You two, hold him.” JC struggled, but was immobilized by the three men. His eyes opened wide as he tried to breathe. Lance was allowing him no air. “This is what happens when you don’t cooperate.” Jay wanted to run to help, but he was afraid. He was afraid of Lance beating him and he was afraid of them killing JC. Instead of moving, he remained in the chair and began sobbing. “Stay where you’re at,” Lance reminded him. “JC will be fine. He just needs to learn.” “Please don’t kill him,” Jay whispered through his tears. He remembered Lance had paid twenty grand for them as a pair, but Tex had said Jay was worth that by himself. If JC wasn’t worth anything, these guys wouldn’t care if they killed him. When Lance did release JC, he choked, attempting to breathe. Lance wasn’t done with him. As soon as he released JC, Lance flipped him off the table, then walked around it to kick JC in the ribs. JC’s eyes met Jay’s. “Get up,” Lance yelled. JC didn’t get up. Instead he began crawling over to Jay. Although he wanted to reach out, Jay stayed put. Lance reached down, grabbing JC by his hair and yanking him onto his knees. “You like Jay? Huh? Well, let’s go see Jay.” Lance dragged JC across the floor to where Jay sat, still hard. “Open your legs, Jay.” Jay followed the orders, “Yes, master.” Lance shoved JC down, “Suck him. Now. Joey, make sure he does it.” JC struggled. Lance smacked him. “This is going to happen, even if we have to chain you down. Do it.” JC still pushed away, struggling. “Chris, get me the pills and a needle. Joey, you hold him.” Chris tried unsuccessfully to shove a pill down JC’s throat, so Lance ordered Joey to hold JC to the floor while Chris gave him a shot. When they released him, JC had calmed down. When they brought him back over to Jay, he complied, but was slow and sloppy about it. Jay cried. Jay was allowed to get dressed again. He carried JC’s clothes as he followed Chris and Joey, who were half-carrying and half-dragging JC. They led the way down a back stairwell. Jay followed them into a room, where the guys laid JC down on the bed, still naked. Jay sniffled as he wiped his cum from JC’s lips and neck. Turning to Chris, he asked, “Can I sit here with him, sir? Please?” “Sure. We’re putting you in the next room. There’s a pass-thru door we can leave open. You two will be sharing a bathroom.” Jay followed Chris through the door. Jay noticed there was no tub, only a sink, shower and toilet. The bedrooms were nearly identical, each with a full-sized bed, a dresser, a table, two chairs, a night table and a clock. “Don’t stay up too much longer Jay. He won’t be lucid for a while and you need your sleep.” “What was that shot you gave him?” “Just something to calm him down. He’ll be fine. How did he act where you were before?” “Like this. Or like he did upstairs. That’s why they sold him. They couldn’t get him to do anything.” Joey returned carrying a thick matt and some straps. “Bass wants this one restrained.” Chris rolled his eyes, but helped Joey roll JC over and tuck the matt beneath him. Next Joey set about attaching cuffs to each of JC’s ankles and wrists, then strapping them to the bed. Chris, turned Jay’s head to face him, “Look Jay, this is for his own good. He can’t get out of these. You can’t let him go. If Mr. Bass catches you releasing one restraint, he will punish you, okay? You have to promise me, that you won’t release him.” Jay nodded sadly. “I’ll be back in a few hours to get him up.” “Can I put a blanket over him?” “Yeah, sure. Just over his body though. Leave his wrists and ankles, the restraints, leave them visible.” Chris pointed to a camera near the ceiling. “Security will be watching you. They’ll be down here if they can’t confirm his status. Jay, you do not want to piss these people off. And Jay, you are not to lay with him without permission. You can sit with him, but when you get tired, you need to go back to your own room. If you two don’t play by the rules, they’ll start locking the doors between your suites. That means, they’ll lock off the bathroom. You would have to get permission anytime you want to brush your teeth or take a piss and they’ll only let one of you in there at a time. They have to do that sometimes. When the boys can’t behave.” Justin fell asleep sitting in the chair, his head lying on JC’s bed. A guard was there within minutes, delivering a sleepy Jay into his own bed. Jay could only mumble his apologies as he crawled beneath the covers. Jay was disoriented when he awoke. The lights were still on and everything was white. For a moment, Jay thought he was in the hospital, but then he remembered. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he meandered to the other room to check on JC. “How are you feeling?” he wondered when he found JC’s eyes open. “I don’t remember. Anything. What happened? Why am I tied down? Jay?” “You’re okay. Do you remember we were sold?” JC yawned. “It’s all so fuzzy. The blond guy, with the green eyes. I remember him.” “Master Bass. He owns us now.” “Jay? Can you? Maybe, like, unfasten these things?” JC jiggled his restraints. “I’m sorry, baby, but I can’t. They told me not to. They’ll hurt us if we disobey them.” Jay reached down, brushing his hand across JC’s forehead. “I’m sorry. Chris said he’d be here early.” Jay glanced over to the clock. Ten-thirty. His stomach growled. Twenty minutes later Chris arrived. Jay looked up anxiously. “Can we let JC up?” “Good morning to you, too.” Chris laughed. “Are you hungry?” Jay’s stomach growled. Chris approached JC, leaning over to touch his face. “How are you feeling? JC? Do you remember me? I’m Chris. We met over at Ray’s, remember?” JC blinked at him. “Chris?” “Yeah, Chris, the hair and makeup guy.” Chris ran his hands over JC’s arm, testing his reaction. “I’m going to release you, but you have to behave, or we have to put you back into restraints.” Jay helped release the straps that held JC down. He was stiff from being held in place all night. He tried to sit up, but felt light headed. “When did you eat last?” Chris asked him. JC didn’t answer, he only looked perplexed. Jay thought, “I think I ate maybe noon yesterday. They don’t feed him much. Because he doesn’t behave. They tell him they’ll feed him when he behaves. They must have fed him though. They’ve had him for a couple of weeks.” Chris helped JC move into the shower and washed him down. After that a man arrived carrying two food trays. Chris allowed them to both eat in JC’s room, while he watched. Jay ate everything on his plate, while JC only nibbled at his food. Minutes later JC rose, headed back to bed. Before he got there, he threw up what he had eaten and dropped to his knees, still heaving. Chris leaned down and held him. Lacking the strength to make it back to his bed, JC fell to the floor and lay there. Jay panicked. “What’s wrong with him, Chris?” “Jay, calm down. He’ll be fine. He’s just weak from not eating right for a while and the medication we gave him yesterday, it can be tough on his system and cause him to throw up. He’ll be fine.” Jay started pacing. It wasn’t long before Del and another member of the security force showed up, pushing Jay back into his room and telling him to stay there. Chris eventually wandered over to Jay’s room. “Come on, Jay, let’s take a walk,” he said, attempting to keep his voice cheerful. “Is JC going to be okay?” “The doctor is with him now, checking him out. He’s probably just not in good health and needs a special diet. He’ll be fine, I promise. Come on. I want to show you the club.” ***** The Bassk Club ***** Jay followed Chris out of his room and down the hall. “You seem pretty well adjusted to. This lifestyle,” Chris commented. “It’s. I think about things, you know. I guess it’s better than being on my own on the streets. I mean, I’d do anything for a meal when I was on my own. Anything. I should have asked for more than that. I had no idea.” “Do you miss your home?” “Things were bad there before I left. That’s why I left. It seems so long ago. Like a different life. Like someone else’s life. Everything was good until everyone found out I was gay, then my life, it just changed. Badly. I had to leave. But things weren’t any better. I can’t get a real job because I have no experience and nowhere to live. No phone.” “This will be a little different than hooking, Jay.” They had walked into the main part of the warehouse. There was a bar along one wall. Two others had about a dozen cells each. Cubicles. Jay wasn’t sure. They were white and bright. Clinical. The each had a full-sized bed, a chair and a pole, similar those used by strippers. They each had a pass-thru window to one side. Almost like a carousel, where items could be passed from the main room into the cells. Jay looked around the room. There were cabinets full of. Things. Whips. Handcuffs. Dildos. Different things. “How does this all work?” Jay wondered. Chris led the boy over to get a good look at the cells. The were raised about three feet off the floor, affording the spectators in the seats to have a better view. Jay ran his hand over the metal railing that separated the seats from the cells, with plenty of room between the cells and the rail for security to walk. About three feet, maybe four. Close to four. Jay noticed the cabaret style seating, with one row of seats being a bar-like counter top, then a step up to a few small tables, then two steps up to another railing, another row of counter seating and another step up to more tables. There were three large, golden cages amongst the tables, each containing a pole through their centers. Jay also noticed the cells had glass walls separating them from the floor area as well. Raising his eyes to where Chris was pointing he saw that two of the plaques read ‘JC’ and ‘Jay’ with signs below declaring ‘coming soon’. “Those walls there,” Chris pointed out, “those open to your bedrooms. At five pm you guys will come out here. To perform. You get breaks. You can ask for breaks. If you need to use the bathroom. We’re usually open from five until two am. If a customer asks for you at two, Lance, Master Bass, will take his money, so you may work until three. You get an allowance of ninety minutes of breaks per night. You have a timer. That includes all your smoke breaks, bathroom breaks, meal breaks, rest breaks, however you want to use them. Ninety minutes. No more. They won’t allow you to go over. For any reason. So watch your time. There’s a timer in the cell with the total break time you have left. I’ll show you. Well, you get more if you work longer. You get ten minutes per hour you work. Nine hour shift means ninety minutes of break time. If you work a twelve hour shift, you get two hours of breaks.” Chris moved to a table and picked up a menu. “So the guys come in. They find a seat. They watch. Sometimes Lance gives some of the guys the night off. If he’s feeling generous and they’ve been good. And if there aren’t a lot of clients. You earn enough money for him in six nights, he may let you have one night off. The more money you make for him, the more he’ll like you and the more perks you’ll get. He’ll take care of you. Get you nice things.” Jay was confused. “How do we make money?” Chris held the menu out to him. He pointed to a cell with a plaque above it reading ‘Steph’. Jay took the menu. On the front was a face shot with the word ‘Steph’ across it. On the back was a full body shot, naked. Jay flipped the menu open. One side read ‘Main Floor’, while the other one read ‘VIP Lounge’. Scanning down the pages, he read various activities. And prices. He gasped. The prices were high and some of the things in there caused a warming blush to ebb across his face. “Oh, my,” he said. His eyes were wide as he read. Chris nodded. “You’ll be trained and your skills assessed. Then they’ll assign prices. Like I said, mostly the guys just come in and watch. But they can order from the menu if they wish. They pay for a membership. They don’t have to pay anything else if all they want to do is watch. They can order food or booze, which is extra. If they see a guy they like, they can ask for his menu. They basically sit near the guys they’re attracted to. Now all these,” Chris pointed down the menu, “They’re watch only. One guy pays, everyone watches. Sometimes, if there’s a group that came in together, the whole group shares the cost. Sometimes the guys sitting closest to a boy will get to know each other, introduce themselves, and will all split the cost for a striptease or something, since they’re all enjoying it. Then here, they can pay to have you do something to them. A security guy will be with you. The client can’t touch you or lick you or kiss you or anything. You just take care of him.” “Here? In front of everybody?” “Yeah. That’s a kink. Exhibitionist kink. Some guys like to be watched. Some guys just like to watch. This list, they get to do to you. Again, you get a security guy to make sure the client doesn’t get out of hand. If they want privacy, they can pay extra to have you in the VIP Lounge. If you flip some big money guy, you’ll make Bass a very happy man. And most of the boys like to work the VIP Lounge. Come on.” Jay followed Chris up the stairs. “There are four lounges. The guy can come up alone or there’s room for maybe a dozen guys. Like if they want to have a boy toy party.” Justin walked around the lounge. There was a larger room with a glass wall. The seats were closer. The room was darker with better lighting. Jay already knew he wanted to perform here. “So,” Chris continued, “you may not make anything all night. If no one wants to pay for you to perform anything on the menu. You have to learn to get their attention, but not give them too much. Just tease. Make them want to pay for more. You keep your clothes on until they tell you to take them off. If someone pays to see you naked, they get the full show, but you never undress unless someone’s paying to see it. Understand?” “Yes, sir.” Chris led Jay back through an empty room. “Oh, one more thing on the menu. They can pay to see you perform with another one of the other boys. They pay to watch you and another boy perform kinks on each other. Most of our clients aren’t all that great looking. Sometimes they just want to watch a couple of sexy young pros go at it. Most likely, you’ll be with the other boys as much as with a client. It’s less embarrassing to the clients to just watch you, rather than to be watched. Most clients who want to be with you will spring for the VIP Lounge, so they can make it private. However they get their jollies. The clients can even ask for things they don’t see on the menu. If Bass agrees, he’ll set a price. It’s basically, anything goes, for a price.” Jay blinked. Chris rambled on, “You’ll get a warning signal about four, to start getting ready, then four thirty, four forty-five and four fifty. Master Bass wants everyone out here at four fifty-five. If you’re not out by five, they start ticking time off your break clock. Oh shit. Weekends are different. They start at noon on Fridays and Saturdays. If there aren’t many customers, they may only open one side from noon until two-thirty, then the other side from two-thirty until five and everyone out at five. If you’re off when the club is open, you’re still basically on call. If the club starts filling up, they may call you to work.” “How do they work out breaks?” “You signal that you want to take a break and they green light you when it’s okay to go. Come on.” Chris led Jay through the empty room to the cell in front. In the bottom of the glass panel separating the cell from the main floor, there were two digital read outs, then several lights, some red, some blue, some green. “One’s a clock, one shows your remaining break time. When your red lights are on, you’re available. When your green lights are on, your break clock is running. You see the green lights come on, you’re on break, so go. If you keep performing, you’ll lose your break time. Usually, they’ll slide that door over your glass partition while you’re on break, but some of the control guys don’t bother if there is a lot going on. When the blue lights are on, you’re being paid to perform. There are also yellow and white lights, but they don’t mean anything. Just accent lighting. Now over here is your phone. See?” Jay nodded. “If you need something, you pick this up and dial one, two, three. They’ll pick up and you tell them what you want, what you need. If you want a break, you call and tell them you want a break. You have to tell them if you want a meal break. You see, those are different. They’ll call in for your food and you’ll get a green light when your food is in your room. Now the doors, once you’re out here, the door to your room is locked unless your green lights are on, so unless you’re on break. Locked. If a client wants to be with you, they’ll raise the glass partition. It stays up while the client is with you. You don’t look at the clock, you don’t worry about your lights, just do whatever the client is paying for. When the partition is open, you’ll have one or two security guys right outside. Oh, this pass-thru. They can send you drinks and you have to drink what they send you. Don’t worry about it though, the glasses come to you from the bar. A server brings them over. The client never has it before you.” Jay shrugged as if he wouldn’t care, didn’t see the danger. Chris continued, “These guys have kinks, Jay, that’s why they come here. They can’t have the glasses, because you never know what they might put in there. Lance isn’t going to have them slipping the boys drugs, or anything else. But whatever drink they send you, you have to drink it. You can’t say no. Most of the boys have learned to fake drinking or they drink and spit it out. Some drink, then take a break and regurgitate.” Jay frowned. Chris read confusion on his face. “They go into the bathroom, shove their fingers down their throat and puke it all back up. You’ll be punished if you throw up in your cell. There are toy chests out in the main room. Clients can pass you things to, to play with. Or they can bring toys in with them. If they’re doing a kink, they have to pay for it, though. Oh yeah, if the phone rings, you answer it. It’s the control guys calling you, but the clients have phones, so they can talk to you too. But they call upstairs and the control guys decide whether to put a call through to you. They listen in and can cut off the call, if there’s a problem. The control guys will always call you and tell you what the client has paid for. Now sometimes, they want to talk to you during, but only do what the control guys told you they paid for. The clients like to play with the fresh meat. They like to make bets that they can call and make you do things they haven’t paid for. Master Bass doesn’t like you giving away freebies, unless he tells you to. And you do whatever the control guys tell you. Some clients just want to watch, they don’t want to talk to you at all, so you’ll just get a call from the control guys. Sometimes Master Bass will call down and order something up for himself or for a special client.” Justin nodded. It was all a bit strange, but it was all controlled. “I saw, in the menu, I saw where the John can beat you or whip you. Do they. Can they, like hurt you?” Chris threw an arm over Jay’s shoulder. “They have to pay a lot for that, or the cutting. A lot. It doesn’t happen often and usually if you go through that, Lance will give you the next two to five days off to recover. The guards are there watching. If they feel the client is getting out of hand or causing too much damage, they stop it. They’re there to protect you. Don’t. Don’t worry about it. If you get scared, you won’t do well. Lance can be very cruel when he’s displeased.” “How did you get your job with Master Bass?” “I used to hook on the streets. One night I was beaten really badly. My pimp didn’t think I’d survive, so he had his boys dump me away from his area. They must not have known about this place, because they dumped me right outside of the chainlink fence. This place looks kind of abandoned, because all the cars are parked inside the warehouses. You don’t see cars from the outside. Lance’s dad ran the club then. This was a few years ago. He’s in jail now, for tax evasion or something like that, so Lance is running the club now. Anyway, Joey saw me and came over to investigate. He brought me in. They nursed me back to health, then I performed here. I had a cell. But I’m not, really. Not most guys fantasy. I’m a little too old, a little too short and a little too heavy. I had some clients who adored me, my own little following. But when Lance took over, he likes a different type, like you and JC, tall and lean. I had learned how to do hair and makeup, so that’s what I do for Lance. And training. I know how to teach a guy to look good for others. How to move and dance when they strip, so I teach the others. He also trusts me to leave when I’m off. I can do other jobs too, if I want some cash. The security guys get paid, but all I get is room and board.” “Why don’t you leave?” “He’d track me down and have me killed. Besides. I have nowhere to go. I have no family. No home.” “Chris, can I ask you something?” “Sure.” “What if JC won’t do it? Like anything? I mean, Tex couldn’t get him to just be a hooker, I can’t see him going in for doing these kinks. At all. What happens if they can’t make him?” “A couple things. First off, he’d only be put on the menu for some bad things, like being chained. He’d only be listed on things where he’s restrained. Stuff like rough sex, whippings and beatings. Any kink where he’s chained and the client can do whatever he wants to him. I get to tell Lance what I think a boy can handle, but Lance has the final say what goes in the menu. Every menu is different. If he values you, Jay, if you make him a lot of money, he won’t want to risk damaging you. He won’t have you listed for things where you might get hurt, like beatings. But JC, if he won’t do anything else, that’s all he’ll be listed for. And when that’s all they’ll do, some of the clients are drawn to that. They’ll pick him. A lot. Just because that’s all they can do to him. Lance figures either they’ll burn out or they’ll come around and suddenly start being really cooperative about the more basic, easy stuff.” “What happens when someone burns out?” Chris’ voice dropped to a whisper, “They’re sold usually. Often back to some pimp. Sometimes to a private buyer, as a sex slave.” Chris shivered at the thought. “What if there’s no buyer?” “Hell, Jay, I don’t know. Probably take ‘em out and shoot ‘em. If they’re not too messed up, he might take them on as security or as a cook, or like me, a stylist or trainer. Maybe as a server in the club. One of the retired guys just washes Master Bass’ cars. Just bring him in lots of cash, baby, and he’ll take the really bad stuff off your list. You’re a natural flirt. I think you’ll do well.” “It’s not me I’m worried about.” “I know. But you can’t protect him.” “I know.” ***** Jay Watching ***** Chris returned hours later with an armload of clothing. After putting a few outfits together, he dragged Jay up to Lance’s office to model. Lance looked him up and down and either nodded or shook his head, Chris making notes of Lance’s comments. For Jay, Lance favored tight fitting clothes and sheer shirts that looked like they were a little too short for him to actually be wearing, but Lance wanted to show off a bit of Jay’s abs, just enough to tease the clients into wanting more. Chris had Jay use the white room behind Lance’s office as a changing room. When they were finished showing the wardrobe to Lance, Jay noticed another man enter the room, with a camera. “It’s okay, Jay. We need pictures. For the club menu,” Chris explained. Jay’s heart sank. His eyes closed. This was really happening. He wasn’t a top dollar model working in Paris. He was only a thrown away teen, a former hooker well on his way to becoming somebody’s sex slave. It suddenly felt difficult to breathe. Chris leaned forward, wiping away Jay’s stray tear, cupping Jay’s cheek in his palm. “Baby, you’re doing so good. Really well. You’ll be fine.” Turning to the photographer, Chris nodded, “Give us about fifteen, okay?” Chris held Jay close to him, taking Jay back to when he was a little boy. He remembered his mother holding him in her lap, stroking his hair, speaking in soothing tones. “Lance likes you, baby. He’s so happy with you. He’s the only one you need to worry about anymore. You just need to pull yourself together for a few pictures. It’s going to be fine.” Chris nuzzled the younger man’s neck, holding him quietly until the photographer returned. Chris worked with him patiently, posing him. The photographer said things to him like, ‘love the camera, boy’, ‘the camera is your client’ and ‘show the camera how much you want it’. It all seemed so cold to Jay. He couldn’t *want* a camera. Sometimes he winced when the shutter clicked. Overall, the photo shoot took longer than the modeling show. Things only got worse when he had to pose naked. Chris tried to help by standing next to the camera, but Jay just couldn’t relax enough to look very happy. The photographer didn’t care about happiness though, he was looking for sultry. When they were done, Chris apologized and said if the pictures weren’t that good, they could take more later. Lance sometimes liked to change the photos in the menus to keep things looking fresh and hot. Chris hadn’t needed to worry. The camera loved Jay. It showed him as an attractive combination of sultry and vulnerable that Lance’s clientele lapped up like wild dogs in a feeding frenzy. That evening, Chris took Jay up to the control booth. At five, they watched as the lights were dimmed and the clients begin to drift in. Music began drifting loudly from the clubs two dozen speakers. Jay noticed that most of the employees in the cells were sitting posed, but looking bored. As the seats near any one of them began to fill up, he would begin to move, tempting them, swaying or dancing to the music. Within minutes, the phones began to ring. Jay watched as the control crew answered phones, took orders, then called the boys in their cells to tell them what to do. Each of the security team members carried walkie talkies and were alerted if any one of the cells was going to be opened. Jay leaned forward, licked his lips and watched. The next day, Chris began training Jay. First were the rules, which included the boys could only wear their nice clothes while they were working. They were to wear sweats while lounging around their rooms. Chris brought in a pair of scissors on the second day and told Jay he could cut some of his sweats down. Jay grinned, lopping of the legs off half of his sweat pants and the arms off half of his shirts, along with cutting a few of the sweatshirts short enough to show off his abs. Chris laughed at him, “You know, you can lie around with no shirt at all, if you’d prefer.” Jay liked Chris. He was kind and fun. Attractive, too. Jay didn’t mind at all learning with Chris. They worked in Jay’s cubicle during the club’s off hours. If they worked later into the evening, Jay learned that the cubicles that were not used in the evening had a solid door that could slide down over the glass one. Chris explained, “That way, if one of the boys has the night off, the clients know. They won’t sit in front of a closed cell. There are lights outside the cells, too. If you’re due to work, those lights are on and your name is lit up. Your name in lights, babe, so everyone can see it.” The cells were never called cages. That’s what they called the actual cages out on the main floor. Clients could pay to have one of the boys brought out to dance before them in a cage. On nights when the room was full, the clients who arrived late and were unable to get a seat close to the cells, would vie for a spot near a cage so they could bring the boys out to entertain them up close. Same things went down in the cages as the cells. The clients could get in with the boys if they wanted to do more than watch. Lance liked to debut the new boys on Saturdays. Since Fridays and Saturdays were both long, busy days, Lance liked to bring out new blood on a long day, but didn’t want to over burden them with two long days in a row. Since the new ones were always in demand by the regulars, Lance sometimes limited the hours they worked and usually only had them work four days a week at first. He didn’t want to stress them out too much. He knew Jay would be good as long as he wasn’t pushed too hard, too fast. Lance was less sure about JC. At least he looked good. Lance thought he’d look really good in a leather harness and handcuffs. He was pretty sure several of his clients would agree. By Tuesday, Chris informed Jay that he was to be debuted on Saturday. During the next three days he met some of the other boys. Chris explained that they each had their specialties and Jay should learn from the best. He more quietly explained that he needed to know exactly what Jay could deal with. On Friday, Chris escorted Jay to one of the VIP lounges. The glass partition was left open. Chris walked him into the lounge’s large cell, seating him on the bed. “You’ll do fine,” Chris assured him, patting Jay’s hands. “Lance will be here and some of the other guys. We’re just going to run you through a few things and we’ll take some breaks. If you need a break, let me know, okay?” Jay nodded, nervousness clenching his stomach. Chris rubbed his shoulders. “Relax, baby.” Before Lance showed up, Chris had the control guys flip the lights on. Jay was somewhat relieved. With the lights on, he couldn’t see anything beyond the cell. He didn’t see Lance stroll in, along with Joey, Del and a few others. Chris rubbed Jay’s shoulder. “Just listen up, okay? We’ll let you know what Lance wants to see. Just relax and follow directions. You’ll be fine.” Jay nodded, fidgeting. “You okay? Do you need anything?” Jay’s mind shot back to the pills and the shot that JC had been give. “No. I’m fine, sir.” Although Jay had gotten to the point of being more casual around Chris, he wasn’t going to take any chances in displeasing Lance. Chris stepped away. Jay took a couple deep breaths. Hours passed before the lights clicked off and Jay could finally see who he had been performing for. He had seen a few of them as they had stepped into the cell with him. Chris smiled and nodded approvingly. One of the security guys grabbed Jay by the arm and escorted him back to his room. Later in the evening, Chris entered his room, shutting and locking the bathroom door, then pushed Jay onto the bed and sat beside him. “Good news, baby. Lance was very pleased with what he saw. You still debut tomorrow. The good thing is, that the worst thing on your menu is spanking. And that’s really not that bad.” Chris pulled Jay close, kissing him on the temple. “You did so good.” Chris shifted, pushing Jay’s shirt off. “Lance is. Very happy.” Leaning in, Chris lifted Jay’s chin, kissing him deeply. “Tonight Lance is rewarding me. For training you. So, you’re mine tonight, baby. All night.” Jay sank into Chris’ arms, but eyed the camera. “Will they watch?” Chris chuckled, “No. It’s sort of a code thing with us. This isn’t the first time Lance has rewarded one of the employees like this. So it’s just a thing. An agreement. We don’t watch each other. I mean, this isn’t a rare occasion. Lance rewards his guys a lot. We keep him happy and he keeps us happy.” “Did you choose me or was I just given to you?” Chris smiled, “Does it matter? If I had a choice I would have chosen you. But, you were offered to me, because I trained you. Like I have first dibs on you. I could have asked Bass for someone else. But I wanted you. Want you.” Chris leaned over, laying Jay across the bed. He wasn’t supposed to enjoy the boys while he was training them, but tonight he was allowed. Jay undressed Chris, pulling him in for more kisses. Closing his eyes Jay imagined that Chris was his boyfriend just home from work and that they had an apartment together. He smiled. That was a vision he’d have to keep in his mind when he was performing for others. He allowed himself to believe that Chris was his boyfriend and he was doing everything for Chris. If he was good, he’d get to be with Chris. Jay snuggled deeply into Chris’ arms, quivering at his lover’s touch. When Jay awoke the next day, Chris was still with him. Running his hand across Jay’s face, Chris muttered, “So beautiful. You need to get up. You debut today. You need to shower and get ready. I’ll help you.” “You’re going to help me shower?” Jay giggled. “You bet. Come on.” After they showered, their food arrived. After the meal, Chris helped Jay choose his outfit. They chose a pair of tight black leather pants with accents and a deep purple mesh shirt. Jay sat still, while Chris expertly applied eyeliner, eye shadow and a touch of lip color, then sprayed glitter into Jay’s curls. “You’re going to knock them dead, baby.” Chris walked Jay through his room and to his cell. The solid partition was down. “I’ll be nearby if you need me, Jay, for anything. Just call the control room and tell them you need me and I’ll be right here for you. Remember everything we talked about?” “Yes, sir.” “You’ll do fine, Jay.” Chris laid his hands on Jay’s shoulders, rubbing gently, then nuzzled his neck near the back under the curls. Jay closed his eyes and sighed, enjoying the feel of Chris’ hot breath. He lifted one of Chris’ hands and began sucking on one of Chris’ finger. He felt Chris getting hard and begin panting. He imagined that Chris really did love him. It would help him make it through the night. The moment was shattered when the phone rang. Chris picked it up. “I’m not, sir, I. Yes, sir. He’s ready. Fine. Yes, sir. He’ll be ready.” Chris ran his hand through his hair as he turned back to Jay, his face flushed. Jay reached out to him, rubbing his arm, whispering, “Are you in trouble? For us? For what we were doing?” “No. Baby, no. That was Lance. There’s not much of a crowd and he thinks you look tired. He wants you to go back in your room and rest. He’ll call down when the room has a better crowd. Maybe at two or three, maybe at five. The regulars like to be there when Bass debuts a new boy. So he’ll wait until more of them are here. So they can. More of them can enjoy the show. But he was quite firm that you are to nap. We can’t fool around. Come on.” Chris led the way back into Jay’s room. He laid down on Jay’s bed and let Jay relax back against him. They both closed their eyes and slept. Jay dreamed of Chris. The phone rang again at three-thirty, waking the pair. Chris answered it. “Yes, sir. Fine. I understand, sir. He’ll be ready.” Jay blinked his eyes sleepily, then licked his lips. “I have to go out now?” “Not yet. He wants you to eat now. Then we’ll freshen you up a bit. You will debut at six. He’s already announced it.” Jay nodded and stretched. Chris called to order them two meals. Then kissed Jay. “We’re going to have to redo it anyway, after you eat,” he laughed. Jay smiled and kissed him back. At five forty-five, Chris led Jay back to his cell. “Okay, remember, if you need me, you call. I’ll be nearby. Take a few deep breaths, baby. You’re going to do fine.” “I’m nervous,” Jay admitted. “Nothing to be nervous about, Jay. You’re perfect. Now let’s get you set up.” Chris moved forward and help shift Jay onto the chair, posing him. “Watch the clock, baby. Six sharp they’re going to introduce you. You let that solid door raise all the way up, then sit for just a minute. Get up slowly. Make them want you.” “Will I see them?” “Yes. Full house. You can definitely see at least the front row.” The phone rang. Chris picked it up. “Yes. He’s ready to go. Six. He’s all set.” After he hung up the phone, Chris whispered, “You’re on, babe.” Then kissed the top of Jay’s head before slipping back into Jay’s bedroom. Jay watched the clock. At six pm sharp, he watched the solid partition slowly rise. After he swallowed once, he set his pose, trying to look seductive. When the audience was in view, he could see they were all staring at him. Mostly older men, forty and over. Jay still hadn’t moved when he heard an announcement come over the loudspeaker, “Gentlemen, the Bassk Club is pleased to introduce, for your pleasure, our newest performer, Jay.” Jay rose slowly, then pushed the chair back. He had asked Chris to have them play a couple of songs he liked to dance to. Before he had left home, he had loved to dance. It made him feel free. Chris didn’t disappoint. Jay closed his eyes for a second when he heard the opening beats, then he just let his body go, moving with the music. He was a little disappointed when his phone didn’t ring for fifteen minutes and he nearly panicked when the solid partition began to drop. He wondered what he had done wrong and headed for the phone. He needed Chris. Before he reached it, the phone rang. He heard Chris’ voice and immediately released a sigh of relief. “Chris. Chris, what did I do wrong? They. They lowered...” “It’s okay. I think they had enough orders roll in to sell you out for a week. Master Bass is going to only let you entertain his elite clientele tonight. Right now, someone is going to escort you to the VIP Lounge. First night, baby. Bass won’t let you stay up there all night, because everyone wants to see you, but he’ll let you do a couple private shows. You’re doing great. Bass is very, very happy. You make sure you call if you need a break, okay? If you get tired or stressed.” “Chris, are you happy?” “Yes, baby. Now go do your thing.” As Jay turned around he already saw Del standing behind him. Brushing through the door, he followed the man out of his bedroom, where he ran into Chris. Del led the way and Chris brought up the rear as they went upstairs. In the hallway, they ran into Lance. Jay froze as Lance headed his way. With one hand to Jay’s chest, Lance pinned him to the wall. Jay gasped as Lance kissed him on the mouth. Lance dropped his hand from Jay’s chest, lowering to cup the younger man, rubbing him. Jay was breathless when Lance broke the kiss. When Lance moved in the second time, he ground his crotch against Jay’s. “Baby boy, you make me very, very happy. You keep this up and we’re going to get along real good. You’re going to be entertaining a very important client of mine. Lou. You will do anything he wants, baby. Absolutely anything he wants. No limits.” Lance moved his hand up to Jay’s neck and gave it a squeeze. “No limits. Don’t disappoint me.” “Yes, sir. Master. I’ll. I’ll do anything he wants.” Lance swatted Jay’s butt as he walked away. Joey grinned. Chris followed Jay. This time Jay was led into the lounge the back way. There was a small waiting room. Chris turned Jay around briefly, whispering in his ear, “This guy Lou, he’s important, but baby, he’s quite unattractive. The other boys call him JabbaLou. You need to please him though. You just make this guy want you, and Bass will treat you good. Piss Lou off baby, and your life will be hell.” After pushing back, Chris led Jay up to the door, then led him through it. “Good evening, Lou, sir.” “Chris, it’s good to see you again. How have you been?” “Good Lou, I’ve been good.” Chris shoved Jay onto the bed. “Trained this one myself. I’m sure you’ll like him. A lot. Got another one I’ll be training next week. Should be ready in a week or two.” Lou eyed Jay up and down and took a long drag from his cigarette. “Bass sure has good taste.” “Yes, sir.” “Get some music on in here. I want to see this boy dance a little more.” Chris nodded and turned the speaker on. Lou settled back to watch Jay. The man smiled, smoked, sipped his whisky and occasionally tapped his fingers or toes to the music. His eyes never left Jay. A few minutes later, Chris was signaling at Jay. It took him a moment, but he realized Chris was trying to get him to take his clothes off. Jay acquiesced and moved into a sultry striptease that Lou seemed to appreciate. As soon as Jay had finished disrobing, Chris motioned for him to come out of the cell, pointing at Lou. Jay danced over to the man and ran a feather light touch down the man’s neck and arm. When Lou pulled him down onto his lap, Jay rewarded him with a lap dance. Lou dug his fingers into Jay’s hair and held him still for a kiss. Jay tried to relax into it, but found Lou’s kisses weren’t nearly as pleasant as Chris’ or even Lance’s. He thought about Lance. The power Lance exerted was a total turn on. The image was working, he was getting hard, continuing to grind against Lou, who was definitely hard. “Suck me, boy. On your knees.” Jay slipped off Lou’s lap and gave him the blow job he asked for. He thought about Lance’s forceful, demanding kisses. Before Lou came, he pushed Jay away and stood up, then grabbed Jay’s hair. “Over here, boy,” he demanded, shoving Jay against a table. Jay didn’t fight, but half turned to inform Lou that he hadn’t been prepared for this. “And you won’t be, boy.” Lou firmly swatted his ass twice before ramming into Jay. The edge of the table cut into Jay’s gut and he couldn’t breathe. He hoped the table was sturdy enough to take this. His eyes were closed, but he thought of Chris. Thought of making love with Chris. Lou grunted behind him, killing the image. When Lou finally finished, he grabbed Jay by the hair and threw him to the floor. When Jay attempted to stand, Lou kicked him down, once in the face and once in the chest, warning, “You stay down, boy, until you’re told to get up.” Lou turned to Chris, “You’re right Chris. I like this one. I like him a lot. I’ll be talking to Lance before I go.” With that, Lou zipped his pants, snubbed out his cigarette, swallowed down the rest of his whisky, then wiped his mouth. He threw one last glance at Jay before leaving the lounge. As soon as the door clicked shut, Chris was at Jay’s side. “Are you okay, baby?” “Yeah. I think so.” “Get your clothes back on and we’ll get you back downstairs. Lou likes you which is good and bad. He dumps a ton of money here, so Bass likes him and wants to keep him happy. He just dropped at least a grand on you, maybe more since it’s your first night. He comes in a few times per week. He has like appointments. When he said he was going to talk to Lance, he means he’s going to ask to have you on his schedule, like once a week. So the bad thing is, you have to be with him. The good thing is, Bass will love you as long as Lou keeps you on his appointment list. He may get rough though. And he pays for your time, rather than paying the ala carte menu prices. Usually a grand for an hour. Bass lets him do anything he wants. He’s rough sometimes, but he won’t, like seriously hurt you.” Lance walked in as Jay was just finishing dressing. Reaching out immediately, he cupped Jay’s face, “What happened here?” “Lou, sir. He kicked him. For trying to get up before…” Lance’s hand tightened around Jay’s throat. “You learn this lesson, boy. You stay where they drop you, unless you have permission to move. They want you up or they want you to move, they’ll tell you. Understand?” “Yes, master.” “Despite your lack of discipline, Lou likes you. You did well. I want you to take a fifteen minute break in your room, then get back out there. You have a stack of orders to fulfill.” Lance leaned in to suck on Jay’s neck, leaving a red mark behind when he pushed away. He admired it for a moment before exclaiming, “Beautiful.” After Lance departed, Chris silently grabbed Jay’s arm and herded him back through the cell, the waiting room and out the back. Del was there waiting to escort them back to Jay’s room. Chris spent a couple minutes touching up Jay’s face. When the phone rang, it was the control staff telling them that Jay was due up in five minutes, starting with a striptease. When the solid wall lifted again on Jay’s cell, he heard the booming announcement, “And now, he’s back. The newest boy toy at the Bassk Club, Jay. This pretty boy got snapped up to the VIP Lounge right away, but now he has a stack of orders to fulfill for you. If you missed the announcement earlier, this tasty morsel has been sold out for the entire night, so we’re taking no more orders for him, but feel free to sit back and watch him do his thing.” His blue lights were on and stayed on the remainder of his shift. Jay started in on his striptease, then had to talk to a client on the phone while he jacked himself off. Then he had lap dances and blow jobs to attend to. Several of the clients sent him drinks. Apparently. He had a whole table full waiting for him. He drank as much as he could stand, but he knew he was getting too drunk, too fast. He never called to ask for a break, but Chris called him to tell him he was going to take a break. The room was spinning as Chris helped Jay into the bathroom. Chris stuck his own fingers into Jay’s throat to induce vomiting. And it all came out, the beer, the mixed drinks, along with his dinner. “Jay, you can’t drink all that. You’re going to be sick. You’re going to have to spit it out or take five and puke it up.” “Mmm hmm.” Jay had collapsed on the bathroom floor with his eyes closed. “Jay get up.” “No. Tired. Need sleep.” “Jay, get up now.” “No, Chris.” “Oh baby, please.” “Lemme sleep.” The phone rang again. Chris left to answer it. “Yes. Right out. He’s fine.” Chris was yelling when he came back, “GET. UP. NOW.” Jay’s mind floated, drifting like an autumn leaf on a breezy day. Was that Chris? Yelling? At him? No, that’s not right. Chris loved him. There was no mistaking that Chris had pulled Jay into a sitting position and was violently shaking his shoulders. “Get up and get back out there.” Jay pushed Chris’ hands away, “No! Leave me alone. I don’t...” Before Jay finished, Chris slapped him across the face. Hard. Then he did it again. And again. “You. Don’t. Tell. Me. No. You don’t have that right. Now get off your ass and pull yourself together. You have hours to go.” As Jay rolled over, struggling to rise, Chris kicked him in the thigh. “Move!” Jay rose slowly, tears in his eyes. Chris didn’t love him. Chris was being mean to him. Chris wasn’t the nice boyfriend with a good job and a nice apartment who always treated Jay good. He was only using him like everyone else. Jay collapsed in tears, his whole body shaking with the sobs. Chris grabbed him by the hair, pulled him to his feet, then slammed him against the wall. Jay had his eyes shut, but he still felt it when Chris slapped his face. “Jay. Jay. You have got to pull it together. What happened? You were doing so good. You have like thirty seconds to get your ass out there and now you look like shit. Dammit.” As soon as Chris released him, Jay slid down the wall. Chris paced, then reached for the phone, dialing before they called him back. “There’s a problem. Look. No. He’s crying. Teary. All red faced. Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I’ll let you know when we’re ready.” “Come on, Jay.” Jay didn’t move, but he whispered, “I’m Justin.” “Oh no, baby. Don’t do this. Don’t do this. Come here.” Jay didn’t fight Chris as he lifted him onto the bed. “Lance is getting pissed, baby. You need to be out there. We’re going to do something a little different. I’m sorry, Jay, but we have to.” Chris dragged Jay back to the cell, now dressed in a torn white shirt and ripped jeans. He was handcuffed and his hands were fastened over his head and raised. Jay heard the announcer voice again, “And now a very special treat for you all. Our new boy is back, but he’s been a very bad boy. We’re going to have Marco come over and punish him.” Jay heard the door slide open, felt a draft, heard the cheers, then felt the whip. At that point, he was pretty sure no one loved him. The rest of his night blurred by. He felt dizzy from the booze and smoke. He vaguely noticed that some guy was tying him down, then took him roughly. And someone pushed him down to make him give them a blow job. The memories swirled around him, not fully forming. He awoke the next day with a headache. Chris was soon at his side, sponging his forehead with a cool towel. “Oh baby, you sure can’t handle booze.” “You hit me.” “Baby, I had to. You can’t disobey an order. You can’t say no. You know they watch. If I didn’t discipline you, they would have hurt us both. And they wouldn’t let me see you ever again. If I can’t discipline you, I can’t be with you. Ever. Understand?” Jay nodded, then managed to get up on his feet and head into the bathroom, Chris on his heels. “Baby.” Jay gasped at his reflection. There were bruises from Lou and Chris, a mark from Lance. And a lot of other bruising. “I don’t remember,” he confessed, shaking his head. Chris wrapped his arms around Jay from the back, whispering in his ear. “It looks worse than it is, babe. You’ll heal. You just need to work on this booze thing. Or we need to limit you. You were fine until you got drunk. That’s what I told Lance. It’s not like it’s never happened before. At least you didn’t puke out there. Lance is giving you today off, so rest and heal, okay?” “Stay with me?” “Can’t babe,” Chris nuzzled Jay’s ear. “I have to start training JC.” Jay swallowed. While he was in training he hadn’t been able to check on JC much. Every time he did check, JC was the same, always lying on the bed, not wanting to move. As far as Jay knew, JC just slept all day. Jay never even heard JC in the bathroom and it even looked like he hadn’t bathed in a week, except for the sponge baths that Jay had given him. “Don’t hurt him. Please don’t hurt him.” ***** JC Wakes Up ***** Jay shifted around in Chris’ embrace so they were facing each other. After taking a deep breath, he laid his head on Chris’ shoulder. Chris hummed to him and swayed with him, whispering, “Love you, baby,” in his ear. It wasn’t long before they were interrupted by Joey. “Ready Chris?” he asked. “Yeah. Jay, you need to stay in bed and rest. I’ll check on you later.” “I thought you were working with JC. Where are you going with Joey?” Chris’ fingers laced through Jay’s hair. “Joey’s going to help. JC needs more work than you did. I’ll need Joey to, um. I’ll need his help. I’ll be back later, Jay.” Chris slipped from his arms and walked through the bathroom to JC’s room. Before following Chris, Joey brushed by Jay, deliberately rubbing his crotch across Jay’s butt. “I’ll be back, later, too,” he promised. Joey followed Chris into JC’s room and shut the bathroom door on that side. When Jay worked up the courage to open the door, hours later, no one was there. JC’s pendant lay abandoned on the night table. The lights were still on, but Chris told him the lights were on all the time, so the security guys could watch what was going on, how the guys were acting. Jay picked up the pendant, fingered it, then kissed the lion’s face. That’s when it hit him, JC must be a Leo. He had his photos and JC had his pendant. The only things that they had before. Before they had fallen. There was a special room that Joey and Chris first dragged JC to. Jay hadn’t been there or even heard about it. It was a full bathroom with a large tub. Joey locked the door as Chris settled JC down into the tub. Joey and Chris both took their shirts off and Joey held JC’s weight while Chris washed his hair. JC laid there and shivered. He didn’t move even when they drained the tub. A knock sounded on the door and Joey opened it, bringing in a tray of food before locking the door again. After wrapping JC in a robe, Chris urged him up and moved him to the long counter. When Chris was teaching the boys makeup tips, he used this room. There was enough room for four boys to sit before the mirror. Maybe six, if they were packed tight. “You need to eat, JC,” Chris coaxed. “Not hungry,” was JC’s response. Chris brushed his hair back. “Baby, you have to eat.” “Just kill me. Get it over with. I don’t want to do this.” Chris worked some styling gel into JC’s hair. “We’re not going to hurt you, baby. All you have to do is cooperate. We’ll take care of you, feed you, dress you, give you a place to sleep. Better than living on the streets.” Joey wasn’t as patient. “Dude, either you eat, or we’re going to have to force feed you. And trust me, eating on your own is a lot less painful.” For effect, he slammed a fist into his palm. JC jumped, but reached for the fork. The boys only got plastic forks. If they had meat, if was normally cut into bite sized pieces by the cooks. It would be too easy for one of these boys to hurt himself, or someone else, with stainless steel, china or glass. Everything they used for meals or beverages was plastic. After JC ate, Joey shoved a glass of water at him, ordering him to drink. “What’s in it?” JC asked. Joey rolled his eyes. “Paranoid? It’s just water. Now drink it. All of it.” JC seemed unsteady as they led him upstairs. He knew he was too weak to escape. They took him to one of the lounges. This one also had the glass partition lifted. Chris tugged off the robe JC was wearing, then Joey pushed him onto the bed, with a warning to stay put. JC looked at Chris, while Joey went to the phone. “I can’t do what you want me to do.” His voice was meek, weak. Running his fingers over JC’s lips, Chris smiled, declaring, “So beautiful, JC. A blessing and a curse, isn’t it?” They both turned around when the door opened. Lance. With a quick move, Chris leaned onto JC’s shoulders, whispering in his ear, “Bass usually doesn’t sit in on these training sessions, but apparently he fancies your sexy ass. He wants to watch everything. Wants to touch you. Taste you.” After the last words left his mouth, Chris licked up JC’s ear, then moved in to suck on it. “Taste you, baby. You taste good.” JC shoved Chris away, then struggled to his feet. Fear was evident in his eyes as he searched for a way to escape. Then he heard them. Laughing. Joey, Lance and Chris were all laughing at him. Without thinking or caring where he wound up, JC began running. He ran away from the hands that reached for him. First Chris, then Joey. When he made it to the door, he tried the knob, but it was locked. Lance nodded at Joey, who quickly captured JC, manually lifting him onto the bed. “Chain him down,” Lance’s voice boomed. Moving forward, Chris grasped one of JC’s legs, attaching a padded cuff to it, then chaining it to the bed. When JC struggled, Joey grasped his neck, choking him, while Chris cuffed JC’s other leg and chained it down as well. Joey snapped a set of handcuffs to JC’s wrists and stretched them above his head, fastening them tightly. When JC tugged, his arms remained restrained, stretched, pulling his body tight. Lance approached and ran his hand across JC’s chest and abs. “Too thin. He needs to be bulked up a bit. Talk to the cooks and maybe even Doctor Jackson about an appropriate diet. Make sure he eats.” Lance ran his hand across JC’s jaw, holding it firmly in place as he leaned down to kiss the chained man. JC struggled, but Lance held the kiss, then deepened it by forcing his tongue into JC’s mouth. When he finally broke the kiss, they were both breathless. Lance turned to Chris, “Oil him down.” Chris stepped forward, massaging oil into JC’s body. After he finished the arms, torso and legs, Joey stepped forward, slid a pillow underneath JC’s hips and ran a heavy strap across JC’s waist then loosened the chains on his legs, giving him a few feet of leeway, but not releasing him. Chris and Joey worked without a word, Chris now moving his hands to caress JC’s ass, then fingering him, slicking him down for Lance. After a few minutes, Lance stepped forward. “You two, leave. Wait outside. I’ll call you if I need you.” After dismissing Chris and Joey, Lance stepped into the cell, where JC could watch him. First he kicked off his shoes and socks, then undid his cufflinks. JC didn’t think anyone wore cufflinks anymore. He noticed Lance was already panting and had a lustful look in his eyes as he dropped his tie, then his shirt, undershirt and pants. Apparently Lance didn’t wear underwear. JC struggled as his master approached. “Easy, baby.” Lance leaned in to kiss again. JC couldn’t shake the strong hands. “Need something, baby? Mmm? You look like you need a little something.” JC’s voice cracked, “I don’t want to do this. Please.” “Saw you in that video, baby. You look good on film. They give you something to get you by?” When JC didn’t answer, Lance grabbed him by the hair, raising his head and slamming it back down. Two slaps followed. “Don’t you dare ignore me or you’ll be in chains the rest of your days. That film, did you take anything to get you through? You know what I’m talking about, baby. You looked stoned.” Tears leaked out as JC confessed, “Yes. They s-s-said I was t-t-too stiff. I was ruining their shot.” “That’s what I thought. I have a little something for you, baby,” Lance promised as he walked back to his shirt, digging into the pockets. When he returned, he shoved two pills into JC’s mouth and clamped his hand down over it. “Swallow them.” JC tried to shake Lance’s grip, but couldn’t. “Either you can swallow them, or I can hold your mouth shut until they dissolve. That could be a long while, baby. And then I’d have to punish you.” JC blinked his eyes twice, then swallowed. “Good, boy.” Lance patted his head, then climbed on top of him. Lance ran his hands over JC, who closed his eyes as the drugs took effect. Lance moaned as the man beneath him became compliant. He couldn’t help but think that JC could be his favorite one day, if he’d ever learn to obey. Then again, the fight was half the fun for Lance. Although he loved the one’s like Jay, who were well behaved and eager to please, eager to earn him money, Lance secretly preferred the fighters. He knew they were stronger deep down inside, like him. If he were ever taken, he’d go down fighting. The battle of wills turned him on. The power struggle to control. It was almost disappointing when they broke. Lance kissed the pliant mouth, then pressed into the man below him. Another moan escaped him. JC may be thin, but he was so hot, so tight. Moving slowly at first, Lance was determined to enjoy. He grinned, delighting in the perks of his job. This man beneath him was so...delicious. After he finally came, Lance pulled out, then leaned his head onto JC’s chest, listening to his heartbeat, listening to him breathe. When he did look into JC’s face, he saw a trail of tears rolling off to the sides. The chained man hadn’t moaned, hadn’t sniffled, not even a whimper. Lance pushed himself up and lapped up the tears. JC opened his eyes. “That’s right, baby, I own you. Everything that is you is mine. Your tears. Your sweat. Your ass. Your breath. All mine. I know you don’t like that, but it’s true. No one knows you’re here. No one cares that you’re here. No one is going to rescue you. You think Jay’s sweet ass is going to save you? Keep you whole? I can take that away, too. Poof. No. More. Jay. Enough talk, baby. You’re so good. Need you so bad.” JC felt that Lance was hard again. Already. He felt it when his master took him again. The second time was rougher, faster. This time Lance left marks. His nails clawed at JC’s flesh as his mouth sucked the tender neck below him. As he came the second time, Lance bit down into JC’s shoulder, drawing blood. “So beautiful,” he mumbled, before pushing himself off and dressing. JC’s eyes had remain closed this time. Lance smiled. Maybe Tex couldn’t train this one, but Lance could. Before he left, Lance walked forward and placed a rather chaste kiss across JC’s lips. “Until next time, beautiful. And there will be a next time.” Lance drew his hand gently down JC’s face, almost tenderly brushing away a tear with his fingers. Drawing those same fingers to his mouth, Lance licked the saltiness from them and whispered, “Mine.” Chris and Joey were still waiting dutifully outside when Lance slipped from the lounge. “Kennel him,” was the only order given, before Lance strode away. Chris looked sad as he turned to enter the lounge. Joey followed him. They surveyed the damage as they removed JC’s chains. His shoulder was still bleeding and would need attention. Joey shook his head. “It is truly a curse to be loved by Lance Bass.” “He’s bleeding,” Chris noted, pulling his hand away from JC’s ass. “Let’s get him into the office.” Leaving the robe behind, they carried JC, still naked, down the hall, through Lance’s office into the white room behind it. They laid him down on the surgical table. Chris grabbed the first aid kit and doctored JC’s wounds. He caressed JC’s face when he saw his patient open his eyes. “Almost done, baby. Just stay still.” JC opened his mouth, but failed to form any words. When Chris finished, he assisted JC in sitting up, then slid him off the table. On shaky legs, JC wobbled forward, following where Chris led. They passed through a door in the back of the white room, into a smaller room. Joey was there. With a collar. “Hold still,” he warned. JC didn’t move as Joey wrapped the collar around his neck and locked it. JC swallowed. Looking around the room, he saw a wire cage. The only thing in it was a bowl of water. At best the cage was maybe three feet high, and probably three feet wide and four feet long. A dog kennel. Joey was holding the door open. “Get in.” JC froze. Joey could not be serious. He reeled back into Chris’ arms, still feeling the pills from before. “I want to go back to my room,” he pleaded. Chris kissed his temple. “Soon, baby. You need to stay up here for a couple days. You’ll be okay. You’re strong. You can handle this.” JC backed up, pushing himself into Chris’ chest until Joey reached out and grabbed his arm, pushed him down and shoved him into the kennel. When the door clanged shut, Joey snapped a lock through the wire bars to secure it. Chris looked sad. Like the bedrooms below, this room’s lights were bright and never turned off. A camera surveyed the room from the corner. Joey grabbed Chris’ arm and pulled him from the room. When Chris and Joey entered Jay’s room, it was empty. Chris walked through the bathroom to JC’s room. Jay was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. His attention immediately dropped to Chris. “Where’s JC? I was waiting for him to come back. To see how he was doing.” Chris walked over to the bed, sitting beside Jay and taking Jay’s hand. His voice dropped to a whisper. “He’ll be okay, baby, but he won’t be back for a couple days.” “Where is he? What did you do to him?” Panic had seized Jay’s features. “Shush, baby. You know I wouldn’t hurt JC. You know I would do anything to keep him safe. Come here.” Chris pulled Jay into a comforting hug. “Lance just wants to keep JC upstairs, away from other distractions. He’s fine and he’ll be back soon, okay? Trust me.” Jay nodded against Chris’ chest. “His pendant. He took it off.” “I took it off. Lance doesn’t want him to have it now. It’ll be here when he comes back.” “Is he coming back?” “Yes, baby. I promise.” “Chris?” “Yeah?” “Will you call me Justin, when we’re alone? I miss it. I miss being called Justin.” With a kiss to Jay’s temple, Chris whispered, “Sure, Justin.” As Chris rose to his feet, he offered a hand to Jay. “You have someone waiting for you. Joey’s in your room.” Jay followed Chris through the bathroom. Chris quickly said goodnight and slipped out of the room. Opening the door, Joey waved his arm, indicating for Jay to walk out of the room. “It’s my night off,” he protested. Joey laughed, “Ain’t no such thing, little man. Let’s go.” With Joey’s hand heavy on his shoulder, Jay was maneuvered upstairs into one of the lounges. “Who am I entertaining tonight? Lou again?” Joey leaned in to kiss him. “Chris said he explained this to you,” he said, as he pulled off his jacket and began tugging at his tie. “Employee perks. I get a freebie every week. More than once if Lance is in a good mood. This week. I. Picked. You. So, to answer your question, you are entertaining me tonight.” “Why up here? Why not in my room? Chris was with me in my room.” “I’m all about class, baby Jay. Chris has no class. He’s been hooking since he was thirteen or fourteen. He’d lay you in a dumpster, kid. The truth is, Chris’ mom was really young when he was born, so she gave him to her sister to raise, then disappeared. When he was a teen, she showed back up to claim him. He had no clue. He suddenly finds out that the people he thought were his parents, were actually his aunt and uncle. His real mom convinced them she had cleaned up her act and wanted her son back. She had shown up with a man she introduced as her fiancé. So they handed Chris over. His mom took him back and handed him over to her pimp. I don’t know what happened, but she was in trouble. He had threatened her. I think a trick went bad and someone else had gotten killed when she ran, so her pimp blamed her and wanted her to find him another whore. She couldn’t find anyone else, so she thought of her son. She gave her own son to a pimp when he was just a kid. He said one day he was dreaming about owning a big horse ranch and the next day he was being pimped on the street. It’s a wonder he’s still alive after what he’s been through. He’s been whored out, put on drugs, bought, sold, beaten and dumped. His last pimp tossed him out, left him for dead. Sad.” Jay stood still, speechless. Joey pulled Jay into a kiss, backing him to the bed. “Impress me, kid.” Without protesting, Jay moved into his seduction phase. “Then let me help you with that,” he offered, taking over the removal of Joey’s clothing. Once Joey was naked, Jay pushed him gently into a chair and ground against his lap for a minute, before giving him a blow job. A few minutes later, Jay began his own striptease, gyrating his hips in time to the music that was playing. Dancing around the room, he stayed close to Joey, and often reached out to touch, to caress, to tease. When Joey showed signs of becoming hard again, Jay dropped to his knees licking and sucking until Joey was firm. Next he rose up, impaling himself on Joey’s shaft. Before kissing Joey, Jay leaned in, blowing hot breath into Joey’s ear. “You’re so hot, Joey. I’ve never felt anyone so powerful inside of me. Won’t be able to walk for a week. So good. So fucking good.” Joey smiled, his hands reaching up to Jay’s hips, controlling his movements. Jay continued, “Take me, baby. Make me feel you inside. So hot. Make me feel it,” When Joey rubbed against his prostate, Jay closed his eyes and moaned, “Oh. Oh, Joey.” Joey pulled Jay’s lips to his and held a kiss as he splashed inside of the younger man. Chris hadn’t exaggerated. This boy was good and so wanted to please. Jay lifted himself up, allowing Joey to slip away. His legs felt like rubber and he was panting. With his eyelids sagging halfway closed, Jay wondered what had happened. This was just his job and he usually didn’t feel a damn thing. Except with Chris. He had felt it with Chris. And now with Joey. Joey was leaning back in the chair, eyes closed and a sated look on his face. Jay cupped Joey’s cheek, rubbing his hand across Joey’s beard. “Joey,” he whispered, “can we go lay down on the bed? Can you just, just hold me for a little while. Please?” Joey looked deeply into Jay’s eyes. The look of a hooker on the prowl was gone. All that remained was a little boy from Tennessee who just wanted to be loved. “Sure, baby Jay.” Jay laid down, snuggling against Joey’s warm body. With his head on the Italian’s chest, Jay listened to the heartbeat slow and felt their bodies cool. Falling asleep, Jay felt warm and protected, with Joey’s hand rubbing up and down his back. Hours later, Joey slipped out from beneath Jay and got dressed. Picking up Jay’s clothes, he tossed them onto the sleeping boy, then gently shook him awake. “Gotta get you back to your room.” “Can you tell me about Lance, Joey? He looks so young to be running all this. I was just wondering. Why don’t the cops shut this place down? You guys said Lance’s dad was in jail. The cops must know what goes on here. Don’t they?” Jay got dressed while Joey talked. “Lance is twenty. He’s been running the club for about a year. His parents are divorced. Apparently his mother didn’t care too much for his father’s kinks. It seems like Lance has always known he was gay. I think he was fifteen when his dad started the club. Daddy promised him a boy toy every time he brought home a paper with an A on it. Lance was a straight A student after that. Talk about an incentive to study. He attended college until his father went to jail, then he dropped out to run the club.” “Why wasn’t the club shut down?” “I don’t think the cops know about it. The Bass family owns a car dealership. Apparently Lance’s father was doing some creative accounting and I think he had some stolen cars or parts he was modifying and selling on his lot. The club made him more money, but the car lot is his official business. He was found guilty, but I forget how many years he got. Ten or fifteen, I think. Lance will run the club until then, maybe longer if he does well. His mother runs the car lot now, but Lance has some title there. When he leaves the club, that’s where he goes.” “How do you know him?” “Recommendation. I needed a job and he needed more security guys. A couple of my friends worked here already. I’ve been here since I was about your age. When it opened. At first I just did stuff like valet parking. After a while they let me do other stuff, like checking membership cards at the door. Most of the employees thought Lance was a little teenage brat.” Joey chuckled, “At fifteen, Lance went through that geeky, pimple face stage. And he’d show up here with a big smile on his face and a paper in his hands with an A on it. Whoever Lance wanted got the night off, or at least off until Lance was done playing with him. Lance’s dad, he loves Lance, so he’d give his best boys the night off if Lance wanted them. Lance doesn’t like weakness in people and he recognized that weakness in his father. Before his father was arrested, his father was always here and Lance had to work at the car dealership. He hated that.” Jay was now dressed and they headed for the door. As soon as they walked through it, Joey swung Jay into the wall and kissed him deeply, then leaned his mouth against Jay’s ear. “I’ll gut you if you spill this, but there are rumors that Lance tipped off the authorities about his father, because he wanted to run this place and wanted his mom to run the dealership. His father was hardly ever at the car dealership, so it seems likely that Lance set him up. Don’t mess with him, Jay. And don’t you dare mess with me.” When Lance walked into his back room, he smiled. JC was still asleep, curled into a tight ball. Chris followed Lance into the room, carrying a bowl. Lance smiled and tapped on the cage, “Time to get up. Your breakfast is here.” JC raised his head and blinked. Even through his blurred vision, he could tell it was Lance and Chris. Instead of getting up, he tucked his head back down and tried to ignore them. So Lance signaled to Chris to poke him with a cattle prod. JC jumped back. Frightened. “Now that we have your attention, come over here and eat.” JC shook. “I’m not hungry. I’m cold.” Lance turned around to the thermostat and dropped the temperature from sixty- eight to sixty-four. “You eat all your meals today, I’ll consider setting this back up. Now eat.” Chris shoved the bowl through a small opening. “You need to eat, JC. Please.” “Don’t baby him, Chris. He needs firm discipline.” “Yes, sir.” JC crawled over The bowl contained dried meat. It looked like beef jerky. His stomach churned as the thought crossed his mind that what they were feeding him really was dog food. But Chris had been nice to him. He didn’t want Chris to get into trouble because of him. As he chewed it slowly, he half wished it was poisoned. Lance smiled. JC’s weakness was that he didn’t want others hurt on his behalf. He and Chris remained to watch JC eat, then they left. Chris followed Lance back into his office and Lance summoned Joey. “I want you guys to work with JC when the club is closed. You bring Jay up here and chain him to the wall. If JC doesn’t do everything exactly as you want it, you beat Jay. Hard. Don’t pussy foot around with this shit. JC follows your orders to the letter, or you hit Jay. Keep the cattle prod handy. JC now knows how much that hurts. I think you’ll find him willing to be rather cooperative.” “Yes, sir.” Chris and Joey went down to Jay’s room together. He grinned when he saw them, until he saw the look in Chris’ eyes. “What’s wrong? Is JC okay?” Joey waited at the door, while Chris went to Jay, grasping his wrist. “He’s fine, baby. We’re going to take you up to see him. Right now. You can see for yourself.” “What’s wrong?” Chris pulled Jay into a protective hug, whispering in his ear, “I’m sorry. Nothing I can do. Up to him.” Jay’s brow wrinkled in confusion. He couldn’t decipher what Chris was trying to tell him. “What’s wrong with JC?” “Baby, come on.” Jay allowed them to lead him upstairs and through Lance’s office to the white room. Once there, they chained him standing against the wall. Chris reached out and cupped Jay’s cheek, mouthing the words, ‘Remember I love you’. Joey left through a back door and returned a couple minutes later holding a leash which was attached to a collar around JC’s neck. Jay saw JC first. “JC? You okay?” JC looked up. Jay looked over the man’s naked body. He saw scratches, bruises and bite marks. JC’s hair was a wild mess and his eyes had the look of someone who had been beaten. JC had only taken two steps toward Jay before Joey yanked on the leash and told him, “No!” Chris spoke next. “Lance wants us to train you this way, JC. This is the deal. Whenever you don’t cooperate, we have to torture Jay, but.” JC pulled against the leash, “No! No! No! No! No!” Joey yanked the leash again, this time dropping JC to the floor. Chris zapped Jay with the cattle prod, wincing when the boy screamed. Chris continued, “When you’re good, Jay gets rewarded. When you’re bad, he gets tortured. That’s how Lance wants it. We have to. Have to do it that way. Joey, let’s get started. ***** The Great Escape ***** At Lance’s direction, JC was debuted that Saturday evening, with his body painted with makeup to make him appear bruised. He was dressed in a billowing white shirt and blue jeans. Both were cut and ripped in the right places to show the fake bruising. As his door was raised, the clients cheered as they caught their first glimpse of him, in hand cuffs, with his arms raised far above his head, attached to the pole in his cell. First, Steph was brought over wearing a black hood and bearing a whip. Lance preferred to have his own boys whip and beat on each other rather than allow the clients to do it. His boys were trained to make the show look good, but not cause any actual damage. At one point a client was led into the cell. While Steph stood to the side, the client ripped JC’s clothes from his body, allowing his hands to roam over the skin as it was revealed. When JC had been stripped naked, the client was led away, smiling, and Steph stepped forward once more. After Steph performed his act with JC, he was led back to his own cell while the solid door was lowered on JC’s. Chris and Joey entered the cell from the bedroom, Joey reaching up to unhooked the handcuffs, only to bring JC’s arms behind him and cuffing him to the pole again. Chris pushed him down to his knees and held him there, while Joey pulled the ankles behind the pole and cuffed them as well. Chris made the call to the control booth. “Yeah. He’s ready.” After he hung up, Chris touched JC’s shoulder. “Just blow jobs, baby. You’ll do fine.” Chris and Joey darted from the room before the solid partition was lifted again, this time revealing JC naked and chained, immobilized on his knees. The clients who had paid for the service were led up one at a time. JC fought back the tears. Later in the evening, JC was led upstairs to entertain in one of the VIP Lounges. Joey and Chris promised to stay in the room with him. As they chained him down to the bed, he looked into Chris’ eyes and whispered, “I think I need the pills, Chris. Please?” Chris looked sad as he brushed the stray hair from JC’s forehead and popped two pills into the man’s mouth. JC closed his eyes and swallowed. He didn’t fight any more. They had finally broken him. The performances became routines over the next few months. Chris could often cajole Jay into smiling and laughing, but JC was tougher. He stumbled around like a broken man. He had even refused to wear his pendant anymore and told Jay to keep it. After they had been there two months, Lance had allowed them to have their bedroom doors left unlocked when they were awake and not working. They already knew there were locking gates at the end of the hallways. That was why they always had to be escorted to and from their bedrooms. They had to be with someone who had keys. They also learned that the two rows of cells had names. They were referred to as the ‘East Wing’ and the ‘South Wing’. Jay and JC were in the East Wing. When they had earned their roaming privileges, Chris gave them the tour. At the corner between the two wings was a large room known as the day room. It was actually more of a dining room. The boys could eat here or play board games or video games. This room was flanked on either side by two smaller rooms. Each of the rooms were soundproofed. Two had video monitors and a library of movies that Lance had approved of. Half of the videos were gay porns that the boys liked to refer to as ‘training films’. The other two rooms were full of CDs. The boys could listen or dance. Even JC perked up a little at these newly earned freedoms. Chris explained that the boys would be locked back into their rooms if there was any fighting. Everything was first come first serve. No fighting. Of course that didn’t mean anyone could claim any one room as his for the day. They merely took turns choosing videos and CDs. There were two of each room provided to alleviate some disagreements. It wasn’t long before Jay and JC had figured out the flow, of who liked to be where at what time, what day. They also learned the other boys’ taste, who would choose what movies or what CDs. It didn’t take long to adjust and settle into some friendships with the other boys. Jay and JC always stuck together when they were roaming. The other boys started to call them ‘the twins’. One morning Chris bounced into Jay’s bedroom, chanting, “Wakey, wakey, birthday boy.” Jay sighed and rolled over. Chris was just way too perky in the mornings. “It’s not my birthday, baby.” Actually, he wasn’t sure. He had no calendar, no television. His phone only called to other phones within the warehouse. The music was piped in from the control booth. He had no information other than what Lance wanted him to have. The outside world no longer existed for Jay. His world had come to revolve only around what happened within the warehouse walls. “Sure it is. I made it up, remember? When I made you a fake driver’s license and Lance wanted your birthday changed? Jay Thomas Randall?” Jay rolled over, smiled and stretched. When he got to his feet he stretched again, watching Chris. He liked the way Chris watched to see if his stomach became exposed as he stretched. Yeah, Chris was watching. Chris licked his lips. Jay walked to him, wrapped his arms around him and kissed him. “So, what are we doing today, for my birthday?” “I. Lance said I could take you shopping for new clothes. I thought we’d take JC with us. Would you like that? Justin?” “Mmmm. Sounds delicious.” “You have to get dressed. Your nice jeans and a shirt that’s not too. Wild. I’ll get JC.” Jay cocked his head. “Dressed?” ‘Shopping’ generally meant being taken up to Lance’s office to thumb through a variety of new clothes Lance had bought and trying on the ones he liked best. Lance could then approve or disapprove. He got to keep any outfit that Lance approved of. There was no regular schedule for ‘shopping’. It just happened when Lance wanted to get his boys some new clothes. His favored boys got to come up first. The less favored boys got stuck with the leftovers, which really weren’t that bad. Lance had good taste. He had a tailor, too, just in case he wanted the clothes to fit the boys a little better. Shorter. Tighter. A seductive rip in just the right place. “We’re going out. Off of the premises. Real shopping in a real mall.” Jay was practically salivating. He hadn’t seen natural sunlight in eight or nine months. Maybe a year. He had no clue. But it had been a long time. “We have to take armed security. They’ll hurt you if you run. They’ll hurt me if you run. Understand?” Jay snapped out of his daydreaming. “I won’t run. I just. I want to see the sunshine. Is it sunny out today?” Chris tugged the younger man into a hug. “Yes, baby. It’s sunny and beautiful, just like I ordered for your birthday.” In reality, Chris couldn’t remember when Justin’s real birthday was or even the fake one he had made up. He just wanted to take him out for a special treat. He’d been asking for months and Lance had finally agreed. Once Jay and JC were both dressed, Chris escorted them through the hallways to the main entrance. It was early. There were no clients. Jay and JC both blinked when they walked out into the sunlight. “Thought you boys could use these.” Chris handed them each a pair of sunglasses. Joey was standing next to Lance’s Cadillac, smiling. One of Lance’s employees held the door open as Chris, Jay and JC scooted into the backseat. Joey slipped in behind the wheel and smoothly pulled away from the curb. He kept an eye on his rearview mirror. It wasn’t long before Jay and Chris were wrapped in each other’s arms, kissing passionately. JC sat beside them and smiled as he watched the scenery roll by outside the car window. He wanted to jump. Wanted to feel the breeze and the grass and the sun and. Everything. But he knew the doors were locked mechanically. Joey was the only one who could release them. Joey effortlessly pulled the Cadillac into a parking space near a security camera and released the doors. Chris helped Jay out, while JC managed on his own. They spent the next five hours roaming the mall and buying clothes, shoes, making trips back to the car to drop off purchases before going back for more and taking the time to eat lunch at a café in the mall. Jay was almost testing the limits of Lance’s credit cards as he dragged them into a jewelry store and begged for a diamond earring, an expensive necklace and half a dozen rings. He got the earrings. Joey gave one to Jay and kept the other for himself. In the afternoon, Joey announced that they had to be getting back to the club and he followed them back to the car, with Chris and Jay leading the way and JC in the middle as Joey brought up the rear. JC wanted to run. He wanted to feel life again. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, then allowed Joey to assist him into the car. When he heard the mechanical locked click, he felt like he had been sealed into a jail cell. Joey and Chris decided to take the scenic route home, so Jay and JC could see the ocean. JC couldn’t stop the tears. It was so beautiful. And his life was so ugly. He begged Joey to stop the car so he could feel the ocean, but Joey refused. “Absolutely not,” Joey had said. “We have to get you boys back to perform,” Chris explained. Joey eyed Chris in the rearview mirror and winked. “Bet these boys will be real showstoppers tonight with all their new clothes. Might have to give the clients a fashion show.” Chris smiled back. After they were down the road a bit further, Chris held his index finger to his lips, then scribbled a short message onto cards, before passing them to Jay and JC. The notes read, ‘Not one word out of either of you, until we say. Not. One. Word.’ Jay looked at Chris, confusion captured in his blue eyes. Chris only held his index finger to his lips once more. He scribbled another message onto two cards, but held onto them. Glancing into the rearview mirror, he nodded at Joey. Joey nodded back, then turned the wheel sharply. They all were tossed around the back seat, but Chris managed to shove a card into Jay’s hands and another into JC’s. There were only two words: 'SCREAM NOW'. Chris screamed. Joey cursed. Jay screamed. JC screamed. Joey stopped the car and popped the doors open. He and Chris pulled Jay and JC from the car and shoved them to the ground. Joey popped the trunk open and he and Chris tossed out the shopping bags. Leaving the car doors open, Joey shifted the Cadillac into drive and let the car roll off the road, down a steep embankment. JC shook as he heard the car hit and tumble. Looking up at Chris, Jay started to ask what was going on, but Chris only shushed him. After the car settled, Chris grabbed Jay and shoved him across the road. Joey followed, dragging JC with him. Joey popped the trunk on a small blue sedan and shoved a bag at Jay and pushed him behind the car. “You gotta change, baby, fast. Really fast,” Chris pleaded, helping Jay pull the items from the bag. Jay’s eyes widened. They were women’s clothes. And a long blonde wig. “Baby, please.” Chris was already tearing Jay’s clothes off. “JC, help us. Hurry.” Jay eyed the padded bra and obviously meant-for-a-female blouse cautiously. Chris was already applying eye shadow, liner, blush and lipstick. JC was wrapping Jay’s hips in a skirt, then helped get the bra fastened and the blouse adjusted. It was pink and flowery and had little puffy off-the-shoulder sleeves. Chris pushed Jay into the passenger seat and adjusted the wig while JC was busy strapping red spike heels to Jay’s feet. They were all so used to quick changes that the whole change took less than two minutes. Then Chris shoved their shopping bags into the backseat and pulled JC to the rear of the car and into the trunk. Joey slammed the lid down and hopped into the driver’s seat. Jay’s jaw almost dropped. Joey had shaved his beard and mustache and slicked back his hair. Instead of his suit, he was wearing dark jeans, athletic shoes and a loud button-up shirt. And his diamond stud earring. He winked at Jay, slipped on his sunglasses and shifted the car into drive. Jay finally got it. They weren’t going back. His stomach turned. If Lance ever caught them, he would. He would. Jay didn’t even want to think about it. In the darkness of the trunk, Chris held JC close. There wasn’t much room to move, so he spoke softly, trying to keep things calm. “Why?” JC asked. “You don’t belong there. Jay deserves better. Joey is sick of Lance’s shit and I. I just wanted to go with you guys. I love you guys. All of you. You, Justin and Joey.” “Why didn’t you warn us?” “We couldn’t, baby. We’ve been planning this for so long, before you and Justin showed up. We’ve been planning this for at least two years. We couldn’t risk telling either of you. Lance is really smart. He sees things in people’s eyes. He gets people to talk. We just couldn’t risk it. When Joey first approached me, I thought he was testing me. To see if I would leave. I was expecting Lance to kill me if I said yes. But we talked a lot. And I learned to read Joey and that what he said was true. I learned to trust him. So I finally agreed. Lance also bugs everything. All the rooms are bugged. That’s why we have to whisper sometimes. When we don’t want anyone to hear and report back to Lance.” “How did you and Joey talk? Doesn’t it look suspicious that you were whispering all the time?” “I used to be one of the boys, baby. I had a room and a cell. Joey has perks. He gets a boy toy once a week or more. If he makes Lance very happy, Joey could have a little lovin’ every night of the week. So he chose me. And kept choosing me. There’s a code. The control guys aren’t supposed to watch other employees getting it on. So it wasn’t weird that Joey and I would be whispering sweet nothings to each other. Even after Lance took over and he took me off the floor, Joey and I asked if we could still hook up. I just. I had to give Lance blow jobs every day for a week before he said it was okay. You see, everybody has their weaknesses. Lance is good at finding a person’s weakness. Like you couldn’t handle Jay being tortured when you didn’t cooperate. Lance made us use Jay to get you trained. Lance’s weakness is sex. Boy sex. Make him feel like he’s king of the world and he’ll usually eventually let you have what you want. You just have to stick with it and be patient. He won’t give in right away. He likes to make it look like he’s rewarding you, which he is. But he is a man. He can be manipulated.” Chris paused to give JC a reassuring squeeze. “We couldn’t tell you in the mall, because we couldn’t be sure whether or not Lance had sent more security to keep an eye on us. And in the Cadillac, we knew that was definitely bugged. They may not have been listening, but I think it goes to a voice activated tape machine. We just couldn’t be explaining things to you. Right now, hopefully he’ll think we died in the crash. Even if he does figure it out, we should be long gone by then.” “Where can we go that he won’t find us?” “I told you, JC, we’ve been planning this for years. I’ve let it slipped how much I love the beach and how much I love Mexico. I made sure a few people knew that I spoke fluent Spanish and even let on to a couple people that if Lance ever let me retire, I’d head down there. So, we’re going to Canada. He won’t find us.” “I don’t like the cold.” “It’s better than being dead, baby. That’s real cold.” The next day, they were in Las Vegas. Joey pulled up next to a dark van with bright yellow stripes on the sides. They transferred their things to the van and took off, leaving the car abandoned. After it got dark, Joey stopped the van and Chris leapt out, pulling the yellow stripes off. When he threw them into the back of the van, JC realized they were magnets. When they stopped to eat, Justin took the lion pendant from around his neck and gave it back to JC. “We’re free now. You deserve a piece your old life back.” Justin snuffled. Chris knew he was missing his photos. “Here, you whiner,” Chris tossed the pack to Justin. They were old and had started to look worn, but they still brought a smile to Justin’s face. Two days later, they crossed the border into Canada. Moving northwest into Alaska, Joey sold the van and bought them all backpacks. They disappeared into the wilderness for over a year. The next time Joey purchased a car, they headed to Wyoming, where they bought a horse ranch. In the evenings, they sat on their front porch, sipping hot chocolate and watching the sunset. Justin sat held in Chris’ arms, while JC relaxed against Joey. For once, they were all happy.   ~ END ~ 12/22/03 © 2003 by Jacie Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!