Josh
"How many fingers is this?"Matty slapped Ashton's face to wake him from his drowsy state.

"Hmmmph."Ashton groaned in response, pulling his head back.

Matty grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his face down.

"Hey Wake up! Wake up!" He slapped Ashton's face lightly. Ashton's face glistened like it was smothered by oil, Matty wiped his hands on his shirt and moved his face closer to Ashton to get a close up glimpse of him.

"He's not waking up." Matty whisper-shrieked.

I shook my head.

I told you not to give an extra dose idiot!

"What should we do!" Matty stretched out his hand and poked my arm.

"How the hell will I know! You're the tech guy not me!" I shrugged.

"See that 'you're the tech guy' thing will not work here." Matty mimicked my style and he was totally disasterous at it.

Ashton groaned, stiffened his body to prevent himself from falling and stretched his droopy eyes. His eyes glued from intense drowsiness, not ready to pull apart yet. He wriggled and stretched his fingers, gripped the arm rest and attempted to haul himself up.

He slopped back on the chair and grunted.

"Where...am...I?" Ashton hissed and winced to keep his eyes open. He stretched his face muscles to make his eyes open enough to let him have a good sight of the place, no matter how drugged he was.

"Where the hell... am I? And--who are you?" He pointed a shaky finger at Matty who was wearing a mask to prevent him from seeing his face. His wiry figure lacked in strength, he pushed himself up amassing his whole body strength, yet he couldn't pull himself up halfway through.

He leaned forward to say something but tumbled forth. I gripped his arm, controlling his falling and helped his head landing smoothly on the floor.

I pulled his shoulders back with tremendous efforts and made him slump back onto the chair. He was wiry and tall, yet his body was heavy, which felt like I was dropping a body builder onto the chair. He plopped his head back and groaned, slowly drifting back to the dark unconscious state.

I exchanged stern glances with Matty.

"Did we drug him too much?" Matty asked me with concerned eyes.

"No." I shook my head sarcastically."He just wants to sleep."

Matty twisted his lips in annoyance narrowing his brown sparkly eyes and shot death glares at me.

"What?" I shrugged pulling the innocent face.

Matty rolled his eyes and flicked back to Ashton. He folded his arms over his chest eyeing Ashton slowly from head to toe.

"Its just one dose of the serum. I didn't expect he'll be this groggy with just a dose." He addressed to me and clapped his mouth.

"What should we do now?" He turned to me for a solution.

"I don't know." I retorted pushing away the urges to call Mia.

Matty pursed his lip prying Ashton's movements.

Ashton stretched his leg muscles, groaned and slopped down. I hooked my arms around his shoulders and pulled him up back up.

"Think fast." I nudged Matty who seemed winded up in his thoughts.

Matty glimpsed at me for answers then his fingers reached out for a steel case and he plonked it onto the table beside the lie detector.

"What are you doing? Anti- drugging him?" I tugged his arm.

Matty stopped for a while. "We have no other option." His eyes drifted to Ashton." Let's just hope he cooperates with us after being fully awake. Can you tie him up?"

I nodded and got grabbed a rope immidiately. The locks rattled as he fumbled with the locks. The lock clicked and he warily opened the box.

I sidled to Matty's side letting the rope dangle between my hands.

He opened the box with his fingers, admiring the absolute beauty of the glass vials arranged in the box lined with black plush cloth. The vials glimmered in the presence of the shafts of day light. He warily extracted one out with his fingers and placed it on his palms.

It was diminutive, and rolled back and forth at the centre of his clammy palms.

The grey metallic cap of the vial bore a seal of NSA which said it was approved.

Matty shut the lid of the box quickly.

The lid shut with a click, the locks in the front rolled back to 0000.

He put the box aside, inserted the injection needle into the vial and squeezed out the serum into the injection. Ashton's shirt was rolled up to his elbows.

He jabbed Ashton's forearm with the steel needle. The needle punctured his skin, making Ashton squeeze his eyes and groan. He pulled the needle back and a rendition of pink dot on his skin oozed bright red blood that he quickly wiped it off.

Matty tossed the needle into the bin and walked backwards to the table and shifted towards me.

"It will take only minutes to be normal. We should tie him up."

It dawned on me that I had been holding up the rope so I should tie him up.

I walked round and round around Ashton till he was tautly confined by the strength of the rope. I cut the pieces of the left over rope and tied his legs to the legs of the chair. Matty stuck wrangly wires to Ashton's head, neck and face.

"Put on your mask too." Matty reminded me.

I slid the DIY mask down my face.

It was a full face mask with holes cut around eyes and mouth by Dolce. The holes were too small for my eyes still I managed to keep my face hiding under it it Ashton walked out of Matty's apartment.

Our eyes drifted to the clock hung on the wall as the needle moved and the time ticked by.

It was time for him to be awake.

Ashton groaned, shook his head, pushed himself to get up. He squeezed his eyes to clear his sight, pulling himself up, falling back again, gasping for breath and groaning. He repeated it for n number of times, till his head cleared and his eyes opened wide as it dawned on him that we had abducted him.

"You!" Ashton pointed at me.

Great! Now he remembers me.

I did my best to not throw my hands up.  I glued my feet with the floor standing unexpressive like a corpse.

"Ashton." Matty lanced forward and took his seat before him.

"Ashton can you hear us?"

"Who the hell are you." Ashton groaned, squeezed his eyes and plopped his head back against the head rest of the chair.

"Ashton we are people of great justice. We need your help." Matty tensed his voice.

Seriously? People of great justice?

"What!" Ashton shrieked under his breath."Why do you need me then?I am just a normal bodyguard."He mumbled.

"Ashton look here. Ashton." Matty slapped his face lightly.

"Stop it grandma!" Ashton shrieked and wriggled to pull himself back up. He squeezed his eyes multiple times. The drug seemed to be wearing off by now.

He squinted at the lie detector.

"Is that?.. A lie detector."  Ashton narrowed his eyes and started at the lie detector.

I elbowed Matty hurriedly,"flip it on flip it on!"

Matty flicked on the switched, a round yellow light blinked at the top. The green light and red light bulb were unignited which would only ignite if he said a truth or a lie. We decided to test its functionality. The machine scribbled a graph that recorded how his brain was responding.

"How many fingers is this?" Matty quizzed him intently pulling up three fingers and shoving onto his face.

"What!" Ashton shrieked louder this time shaking his head averting his eyes from his fingers.

Matty withdrew his fingers and glared at him.

"Let me get this clear to you coconut child, if you want to get out, simply comply. We are doing this for good."

"How is kidnapping me any good?" He retorted loudly jerking his hands to snap the rope.

"Just answer our questions dammit." Matty snatched out the gun from  holster and pointed it at Ashton's head nearly making my eyes pop out.

"You see this?" He shook the gun at Ashton's face. "Just answer our questions boy and you can walk out from here."

Ashton was taken aback, his eyes flicked to the gun numerous times.

He nodded after thinking for a second, agreeing to comply to our terms.

"Good." Matty handed the gun back to me, I took it from him and pushed it into my holster.

"How many fingers is this." He shoved three fingers into his face and pulled out half finger besides those three.

"Three." The green light blinked indicating the truth.

"Wrong. It's three and a half. But you said the truth." He shrugged and tugged his lips into an immidiated smile.

"So tell us what do you know about Sun Kings gangs." He leaned against the table propping his palms against the table. The table shifted and squeaked, making Matty jump on his feet. He inserted his hands into his pockets spreading his legs his shoulder width apart and faced Ashton directly acting like a stud.

"Who the hell are they?" Ashton raised his left eyebrow.

Matty's eyes flicked to the lighted up green bulb. He turned his face towards me and moved his jaw, shifted his face back to Ashton.

"Do you know this man? Have you seen him?" Matty grabbed his phone from the table, clicked on the picture of Lay Dobman and showed it to him.

"No." Ashton replied sternly.

The red light blinked infuriating Matty. His chest puffed up and he kicked Ashton's shin.

Ashton yelped in pain.

"Stop lying!" He shouted. I flinched at Matty's raucous warning.

I got scared seeing this side of Matty. He was the sweet, soft type when he was around us. It was the first time I had seen him so infuriated. It was due to Mia's absence that he had to undertake her job.

Ashton opened his mouth and forced out. " yes. I mean yes I have seen him."

The green light blinked.

"Where have you seen him?" Matty roared.

"I-I don't remember." Ashton perspired profusely.

The red light blinked.

"That's a lie."

Matty brought his leg back to kick his shin again.

"Wait I have seen him somewhere but I don't remember really!" He blurted out.

The green light blinked.

Matty peered at Ashton for some more answers. Ashton's eyes locked with Matty's fiery eyes and he lowered his eyes in fear and nervousness.

"See I don't like to apprehend you either. It's important for us to know anything you know about him, its for good. You see? This man?" Matty showed the screen to him on which Lay Dobman's picture was displayed.

"This man is selling high profile drugs that causes specific nerve damage in those addicts. He is a walking death angel and he needs to be stopped. Do you get that?"

Ashton nodded.

"So tell us where did you see him?" He intently gazed at Ashton.

"I-I don't remember man." Ashton grunted worriedly.

"Noah's house?"

Ashton squeezed his eyes. "no."

"Where have you seen him?" Matty raised his voice.

"Really man, I don't know." Ashton pressed his lower lip under his teeth scrunching his face at his failure to remember it.

"That's not going to help." Matty sternly eyed him.

"I know. I know! I'm trying okay!" Ashton swayed his head figuring out the place. His face glistened and sweat beads formed on his neck and cheek bones. His eyes wandered on the wooden floor sifting his memory for a clue.

Matty threw hints at Ashton." Where? On the way home? Shoot? Club? Party?"

"Yes!" Ashton shrieked as if he hit the bull's eye.

"Party? Which party?" Matty gazed at him excitedly.

"No it was a club." The green light blinked. Matty immersed himself into his words and no longer glanced at the lie detector for verification. He was sure that if Ashton lied now he will freeze his balls.

"It was..." Ashton gaped at the floor. His eyes flicked to Matty and sparkled.

"I think that was three weeks ago. Noah was invited for a birthday bash and... I saw this man sitting on the couch talking with somebody. Noah walked straight to the bar so I couldn't have a good glimpse of him. I was supposed to stay close to Noah you know."

"We get it boy." He assured Ashton. "Who was he talking to? A celebrity?"

"No it was not a celebrity. It was..." his eyes widened."-a waiter.  It was a waiter, but it was weird. That waiter was sitting on the couch sitting with him, and waiters are not allowed to do that."

Matty chewed his lip. "Are you sure it was a waiter? You're not mistaking him for somebody else?"

"No no. I'm damn sure. There was a silver empty tray beside him. And usually the waiters of the club carry those."

I caught Matty glancing at with me through the corner of his eyes.

I was dabbing the sweat off my neck as the room warmed up with the noon heat. Before I could comprehend what was in his mind, his eyes flicked back to Ashton.

"Did you go there for the first time?"

"No. I think it was the third time."

"Have you seen him before? That waiter?"

He shook his head.

"Okay." Matty pouted and grabbed a notepad. "Tell me the address."

"Couston Club and Bar. Its situated down the penslave street."

Matty scribbled down the address and hummed in response. He plonked the notepad on the table and stared at Ashton pondering over something.

Ashton's eyes flicked to Matty to me then back to Matty.

"You're free to go." Matty shrugged.

I lunged forward and grasped Matty's arm." Are you sure?" I intently glanced at his face up close and said lowly.

"Yes." He bobbed his head. "Dolce blindfold him and take him out."

"Wait wait wait wait." Ashton rapped." Where are you taking me?"

He wriggled to set his body free, the chair scooted inches away as he jumped attempting to break the rope.

Dolce barged into the room, blindfolded him swiftly and cuffed his hands. He loosened the rope around Ashton, threw the rope and hauled Ashton up on his feet. I tied Ashton's legs together.

"How the hell am I supposed to walk out?" Ashton eyed his body.

"You won't need to. Enjoy the ride." Matty chuckled.

Dolce lifted him in a blink of an eye and shouldered him like he was a potato sack.

Matty ambled to Josh, dragging the chair away from him.

"One advice." He lowly said to Ashton.
"Don't make the big man angry. No pulling off any ingenious tricks. He has a gun, if he catches you, he will kill you straight. You get it son?"

Ashton bobbed his head that was hanging down and swallowed hard.

"Good." Matty clapped on Ashton's back. "I hope I have to never bring you in...again."

Ashton was now dripping sweat, his face glistened like he had immersed himself in a tank full of water. His curly hair dangled and blood rushed to his face in turning him red like a tomato.

Being carried around in Dolce's shoulders is very uncomfortable, when your upper body is hanging down and blood is rushing towards your face making your ears and eyes feel as if they're going to burst from the pressure.

Dolce marched out with Ashton without giving a damn to what we were saying.

I swiveled my body towards Matty. "How can you be so sure that you will never see him again?"

"I am..." his voice trailed off. "-Just sure of it. Whatever he said might be half true, fully true or fully false, we can't say anything unless we check on the facts." He pressed his lower lip under his bunny teeth.

"Hey! can you do one thing?"He jumped with a thrill in his voice.

"Sure." I retorted.

"Bring me a Chicken burger and coke please?" He cooed batting his eyelids like a little girl, his face scrunched into an adorable puppy like expression.

"Really man?" I looked at him curving my eyebrows. A small laugh escaped my mouth seeing him act like a kindergarten kid.

"I am damn hungry" he pressed his belly and winced." I need to sit too, my legs are cramping." He reached out for his leg and winced.

I knew he was faking it, he was just too lazy to get anything. My belly growled loudly reminding me that it was time for me to eat too.

"Bro you're hungry too!" He cooed.

"You heard that?" I looked at him in surprise.

"Ofcourse I did bruh! Now go get something for yourself too. Take my card, consider it a treat from my side." I happily took his card and headed towards the door.

"Anything else you need?" I turned my neck and leaned back before exiting the door.

"Uh-a bottle of water. Cold water, not freezing cold water. And... anything you like!" He spoke in a british accent.

I shrugged." How about normally cold water?"

Matty stared at me with a stern expressing on his face. " Give back my card."

"Oops."  My lips extended into a big smile and I lanced away from the door frame, leaping out of his sight.

I loped out of the building and headed to the parking lot.

Mia had my bike amd I was in no mood to walk to the nearest food outlet.

My eyes pinned onto Matty's elegant mountain bike.

I quietly took out Matty's bike though no one was going to see me, but what if he comes down, he would definately not allow me to take it without his permission and I didn't wanted to risk that.

I walked along with the bike, thinking of sitting on it and pedalling it to the outlet after I exit the parking lot.

I walked out of the gate humming my favourite song senorita when my eyes caught a figure standing in front of the building.

I leaped towards the giant smelly green dustbin and crouched beside it  slowly laying the bike onto the ground without making the slightest of sounds.

We had just escorted him out of the building and yet he was lingering in the alley. He had pressed his phone onto his ears and was traversing in the open area pressing his forehead with his fingers.

I moved my ear in his direction to eavesdrop keeping my hands on the smelly overflowing dustbin. I was going to be in need of a disinfecting handwash.

"Get me to my brother please." He strained himself.

"212p. Yeah, please I need to talk to him." He emphasized on getting his brother on call. A wave of thought crossed my mind that his brother was involved in something that's why we had no records of him.

He paused for a second.

"Please its urgent, this is Ashton!" He shouted on the phone.

He fumbled with the phone when he shifted the phone to his other ear.

"Hello." He sounded eager. "Yeah its me Ashton."

He lowered his voice and covered his mouth over the phone, warily turned his body towards the wall on his right side and kept his eyes low.

In a lowly voice, words flew out of his mouth, "I was kidnapped by somebody. No they didn't do me harm. They let me go after a brief interrogation. Yeah, yeah I'm coming now."  He inserted his one hand into his pant pocket as he conversed.

"Okay." He spoke as he feigned a normal conversation. He spoke nimbly on the phone, I heard everything faintly, but it was clear enough make out what he said.

He lowered his voice more making me almost stick my face to the surface of the grimy dustbin.

"They were asking about you."

My eyes widened.

I was right!

"No I didn't tell them anything. They didn't ask about that. I'm moving now. I'll tell the rest when we meet, the Same spot."

He hung up the call quickly, straightened himself, dropped his phone into his coat pocket and looked sideways then made a run for the main street. He was heading off for a taxi.

I quietly got up after he left, faced the other direction and placed a call on Matty's number.

He picked it up immidiately.

"What now?" He coldly responded.

"I'll tell you everything later. Turn on Ashton's PTS."

Phone tracking system.

"Ashton's P-"

I hung up the call before he could finish his sentence. I gingerly eyed the whole area and trudged down the alley with Matty's bike heading off towards the outlet.

That fuckard! He lied.
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Thank you for reading, do leave a vote and comment. See you in the next chapter.