The Loving Silence

Chapter 16

Mica groaned as he woke up feeling like his head was being split open. He couldn't move his hands to check if it had been, because both his hands and feet were tied to the chair underneath him. He tried not to panic, but it wasn't easy. In hope to distract himself, he let his gaze wander across the room.

It looked like a basement of sorts, or perhaps a cold room? The floor seemed to be cement and it was downright filthy. The walls were made out of faded red and brown bricks. There were a few shelves on the back wall, and a slim door next to them, almost all the way in the corner. Had he not been looking so intently, he might've missed it. It was camouflaged well and apart from the small keyhole, discrete handle and difference in texture, which was difficult to pick up on at that distance, there was nothing to announce its prescence. It was slimmer than most doors and it had no frame or door post.

As Mica stared at it, a man cleared his voice and it became evident he wasn't alone in there. At first his gaze moved to look to his side, and there he saw the young man he had only just met. He was slumped over and tied up. Was he...?

"He's alive."

Mica's head snapped up and his eyes followed the direction the voice had come from. When he saw who it was, his jaw went slack and his mouth fell open.

"You?" He spat as his surprise was challenged by the anger that bubbled up inside of him.

The tall man turned around immediately. It may have looked as if he was belittling Mica, making light of his anger by turning away from him, but the truth was that Raven couldn't bear to face him. He wasn't even supposed to be in there right now, or anywhere near there, but some small part of him just had to make sure...

"What did you do to him? He's is barely breathing and he hasn't moved a muscle since we got here. This is a young man who has known little else than loss in his life, the kind of person you became a lawyer to protect... Why on earth would you do this to him? Answer me!"

"I don't know. I wasn't the one who administered the injection. They never told me about it. The situation at hand is not the simplest and..."

"What in the hell are you even saying, Raven!? Is this because I-I fired you? I know it must've hurt
to lose your job, but to fall so low that you could condone something like this? How did you get from getting messed up at work and being fired to all of this?"

Mica was fuming. He couldn't believe someone he had trusted and loved for so long could have been the one to do this to him, let alone to the innocent young man beside him. He found himself wondering if the Raven he'd known had only been an act and if this person before him was in fact the real Raven.

"You're directly involved in a kidnapping, you're an accessory to," his eyes flickered to Rue momentarily, "attempted murder at least, and for who knows how long, you were deliberately impersonating a role you're no longer allowed to take on. You are a lawyer no more. You were disbarred. Yet somehow you thought it would be a good idea to fake your ID, get your hands on this young man's case and pretend to be his lawyer... and for what? Why did you do this? What could possibly have possessed you to commit such a crime?"

Mica stared at his back, willing him to turn around. "I can see that you are lucid and as in control of your actions as ever, so you can't blame the use of any substances for your behaviour. For the life of me, I cannot fathom why you would do this. And I cannot express enough how incredibly disapppinted I am that you didn't tell me about any of it, that you just let it get this bad."

He watched Raven with an expression of infinite sadness. His eyelashes were clumped together with the tears that he did his best to hold at bay, "I still remember the day I hired you. You were so full of life, so righteous and idealistic. Do you know how long you've worked for me? How many years we've spent the better part of each day together? I taught you everything. I took a chance on you. Raven... You were like a son to me." His voice broke with emotion.

Raven flinched, but pretended he didn't and continued to make himself look busy.

"Talk to me, son. Please tell me what happened to you. Did someone hurt you? What happened to make you do something like this?"

Raven was suddenly glad he was facing away from them both. He could hardly blink fast enough to fight the force of the tears trying to break through. No, he couldn't do this, he couldn't break now. He wasn't finished yet. No emotion, no regret, that's what they had agreed upon. No matter what Mica meant to him... no, what he had meant to him once, he would not yield. Not for this.

Once he had composed himself, he spoke. "They'll be back soon. I suggest you don't talk back. They won't take kindly to that." He moved his head slightly to side as he spoke, but he refused to turn around lest his emotions would get the better of him.

Before Mica could respond, Raven stormed out of the room and didn't look back. He continued until he was back in his car and then he stepped on the gas, hard. He drove until his eyesight was so blurry he couldn't see any further than his own dashboard. Shakily he turned his car over to the side. He turned the key and rested his head against the steering wheel as he felt himself unravelling further with each breath. Somehow he found himself relaxing. No one was there to see or judge and knowing that, there was no part of him that remained able to fence off his emotions any longer. Into his tainted hands he wept.

This was the only way. He knew that. He knew.... He knew and yet, this was infinitely more painful than he could've imagined it to be. No, that's right, he hadn't imagined it or even allowed himself to consider what this would be like. Because he knew that even thinking about this moment would have rendered him completely incapable of committing to his task. The pain... it would be worth it. He hoped.

Mica may have been like his father once, but he only had one father. His mother may not have wanted him, he and Mica had that in common, but his father... now that he had a chance to see him, to have him in his life... Raven had to make a choice and his father? He couldn't lose him.

***

Mica blinked away the tears and breathed deeply, forcing himself to calm down. He needed to be strong. Rue will need him to be if... when he wakes up. His kids, grown up as they are, still do need him and his partner relies on him. He had to stay strong.

"Rue" he rasped. The boy didn't move. He was still slumped in his chair and his head hung heavy. "Rue!" he tried a little louder.

He had to wake him up, but he couldn't shout or someone might come. Mica was about to try and kick his chair, or just bump his foot to get a reaction, but soon remembered his legs were tied.

After a few more tries he began to lose hope. Whatever they had injected him with, it must've been strong. He hadn't moved an inch since Mica woke up. If it weren't for the ever so slight movements of his chest, the boy could've passed for a corpse. Mica shook his head. The boy was alive and so was he. He couldn't afford to waste any energy on such resigned, morbid thoughts.

A loud noise was heard as the chair next to him tipped over and Rue went down with it. There was a loud crack followed by a groan.

Mica was caught between relief that he was alive, concern over his injuries and fear that the kidnappers would soon come to check on him. But the relief won when he saw his eyes flicker. He held his breath. Rue's eyes flew open and Mica was so very glad that he was okay. Hurt, yes, but he was awake. Together they would make it out of there somehow.

If only he knew how.