A Bunny to Punish (The Bunny Series, Book 1)

Chapter 8: Harley

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths." Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

"Hey Mia, what are you doing after work? Would you like to go get some drinks with me? I have a feeling Rose is going to be busy for a while, she's hanging out with James and he is not doing good." I asked. I felt like going out for a drink after work and Mia was my closest friend at the hospital.

"Well, I was just going to go home and watch the newest episode of Grey's Anatomy. Don't you want to try to help James?" She responded, following up with a question that I expected but it kind of stung a little. Of course I wanted to help my friend but Rose was better at finding things to do to take your mind off something nagging at you. Trust me, I would know. I feel like I would stutter any kind of healing or distraction she thought up.

"I know my strengths and getting his mind off of Jasper is not one of mine. I can say things I shouldn't without meaning any hurtful intent and I can't to do that with this wound." I said. Suddenly I realized I may have revealed a bit more than I was willing to share.

"Who's Jasper?" She asked.

"He was one of James's...friends." I struggled to get that out. I hate thinking about it. It wasn't James's fault but guilt can really eat at you from the inside out and it was indeed doing that to James. I couldn't blame him. I remember that night, the phone call, the sobbing, the darkness that fell over that night was overwhelming. Mia and I had become good friends. She may not be into bdsm like Rose and I or James but she never judged us for any of our activities that I would talk about. Her kind smile and understanding eyes told me I could trust her so I decided to continue.

...

About a year and a half ago...

The phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times. I groaned but decided to pick up the phone. "J..James? What's up? Hey, calm down. It's ok. Just take a deep breath. I'll be there as soon as I can." I felt sleepy and I originally wanted to bitch James out, but he sounded really worried and shaken up. He wouldn't tell me what was going on but he did at least get out that he needed me to meet him at Jasper's house. I shook Rose and got her up to come with me. She protested a bit but relented when she saw the worried look on my face.

We were both almost completely silent on the way to Jasper's house. Neither of us knew what was happening but we both sensed that is was something really bad. I tried not to think of the worse case scenarios, but I couldn't help it. Once we arrived at the house, I realized that even the worst case scenario wasn't going to prepare me for what I was going to see.

Emergency vehicles were surrounding the house, flashing their lights against the windows and brick, creating this horror aesthetic that gave me goosebumps. I walked around trying to spot James. I didn't know Jasper very well, he was always very quiet and antisocial, but I hoped to see him too. I guess it's true that you should be careful what you wish for. A few paramedics were moving a stretcher to an ambulance. Even his still, cold, blue skin was unmistakable. It was Jasper. My heart sank. Just then I saw James sitting on the back of another ambulance, visibly shaking underneath a blanket.

Rose fainted after seeing Jasper. Luckily there were some paramedics close by that helped me get her into an ambulance. I told them I needed to go talk to my friend and to keep an eye on her. They nodded and checked her for any injuries. Knowing she was in safe hands, I walked over to James.

"James? Are you ok?" I put my hand on his shoulder. He looked so...lost.

"No. What's wrong with me?" He looked at me, this desperate look on his face that was looking for some kind of answer from anyone who would answer it. I realized he wanted me to re enforce his guilt. I was not going to let this happen, regardless of what happened.

"Nothing James. You're not perfect, none of us are. We all have flaws but you are a good person with a good heart. Now why don't you tell me what happened." I could barely hold it together but James needed somebody to just listen and not lose it. I had to be strong for my friend.

"I didn't know how obsessed Jasper was. I enjoyed being his guide into this world and having him as a sub, but I never saw the signs. I didn't see that he had this unhealthy obsession. He wanted to please me at any cost and he was very hard on himself when he had to use his safeword." He started.

"I don't understand. How did this happen? How did that lead to this?" I circled around looking at the surreal scene around me.

"I'm getting to that," He breathed a heavy sigh and continued, "Jasper really loved the idea of rope play but every time I used it on him, he couldn't handle it. I always tried to make sure he knew it didn't matter to me but I see now I didn't do enough. So, I hadn't heard from Jasper in a week and at first I thought he was just busy but then he wasn't answering to my texts or calls and after a few days the calls were just sent to voicemail. I couldn't find anybody who knew him to find out what he was up to so today I decided to come over to his house."

"Jesus. James, I'm s..." I started.

"Stop. Let me finish," He cut me off, "I need to just finish or I will never get through this. Anyways, I came to his house and I knocked on the door, and after a few minutes of not getting an answer, I took out the key he had given me and opened the door. Nothing really seemed out of place. I yelled out for Jasper to no response. I walked through the house, looking in the living room and bathrooms before heading to the bedroom. The door was closed but there was a note. It was to me."

His voice was getting shaky. I could tell this had traumatized him. I didn't know what to do so I just wrapped my arm around his shoulders. "It's ok. Just take your time."

"Thank you," He wiped tears out of his eyes and continued, "The note read this: "Dear master, come in and unwrap your gift." Then I opened the door and was horrified. Jasper was bound by some hemp rope, gag in mouth, unmoving. I rushed over and untied him. It was too late. He had been like that for too long. He must have wanted to surprise me and in his excitement forgot to message me to come over before he got himself into position and then couldn't move and sat there panicking and freaking out before he died. The worse thing was his mouth. After I removed the gag I saw his mouth had been mouthing the word mercy as best as it could."

"I'm so sorry." Mercy was Jasper's safe word. I could guess the implications of that and what was going through James's mind. I couldn't imagine the pain he was feeling. I did all I could think and wrap my arms around him and let his head sink into my chest and just cry.

"That's about it. After that, I called 911 and then you." He said through tears. We sat there in silence, the only noise breaking it being sniffling from James. I would cry, but honestly all I could feel was this numbness. Rose had recovered and been able to make her way over to us. When she saw the shape James was in and my face she just sat next to James, rubbing his back. That was and remains the worst day of all of our lives.

...

Now...

"Wow." Mia hadn't said a word during the story and she looked very clearly shocked.

"Yeah..." I couldn't say much more.

"Well, I think I could use a drink after that story. Why don't we grab those drinks after work?" She said.

"I would like that." That brought back all of those bad memories and I was glad she was going to come out with me. I needed to have some fun and forget this. And so we did. We drank and I even drunkenly sang some karaoke which Mia recorded and made sure to send to Rose. It was a lot of fun and Mia even met this guy there. His name was Jamie. A cute guy, if you're into that sort of thing. They talked and exchanged numbers. It was an amazing night. Something I desperately needed after our gloomy talk.