“Right on time,” came a voice in his ear. A man.
“What the fuck?” Luis tried to pull away, but the man was strong, his arms banding tight to immobilize. He was broader and taller than Luis. Out of his periphery Luis caught a glimpse of shaggy blonde hair and hipster glasses.
What?
“Fucking—let me go—!” He snarled.
“Calm down, struggling will only make this worse.” Then, to someone else, “I’ve got him, hurry up!”
Fear shot through Luis. The smell of the man’s cologne invaded his senses. It was disgustingly familiar. He was dragged back to that night at the bar, being led out the back, pushed into a car. The blonde hair and perfect smile above him.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.This couldn’t be happening.
Then there were more men and hands on him.
“Bring his wrists together,” someone said.
Eric loosened his hold to jerk Luis’s arms back behind him. Something hard and plastic slipped around his wrists roughly.
It was all happening so fast, Luis could barely focus. He was choking too on the memory, the man’s hands on him, caressing. The way he’d gotten Luis into his car–
“Move,” someone demanded, and then Luis was being shoved forward. He stumbled, almost fell.
“What’s going on?” He asked, and hated how his voice wavered.
No one answered. Luis tugged at his wrists, but they were bound tight, and four men were moving him toward the back of the church, toward the storage areas. Fear rattled through his body. He didn’t understand what was happening.
Then, at the opening to the hallway, was his mother.
“Mama!” He tried to lurch forward, but hands held him in place.
He noticed then the way her face was flat, solemn. “This is for your own good,” she said. Her eyes were full of malice.
Hatred.
He’d never seen it before, but there was no other word for it. The other shoe dropped.
She’d planned this. Lured him here. It was a trap, but even in his wildest fantasies he’d never come up with anything close to this.
“What’s–Mama, what’s going on?” He asked. His voice trembled like a child that didn’t understand what he’d done wrong.
There were tears burning the corners of his eyes, but she didn’t answer. She just stepped aside, and the men started to drag him down the dark hallway and away.
The fight went out of him. The men carried Luis down the stairs to the church basement, Luis slack and silent. The shock filled him, and he was unable to do anything but be dragged along.
Eventually the men sat him on a squeaky cot. Luis didn’t react as they checked his pockets and extracted his phone, wallet, and keys.
“You’re safe now,” one of the men said. His voice was pitched like he was trying to be soothing. “Your mother did this because she loves you. To save you.”
Luis heard the words through a daze, but they didn’t mean anything to him. There was bile in the back of his throat. When the hands let go of him, he just slumped sideways on the cot.
Footsteps went away and the door closed. A heavy lock clicked into place.
And Luis was alone.
##
The first real thought to permeate the fog of Luis’s betrayal was that meeting Eric at the bar had been no chance encounter. He’d been there at his mother’s request, and it hadn’t been a rape attempt, but an abduction attempt.
