Ev

"Guys, this is Danny," I started saying, as Danny and I entered the shop and looked at Marcie alongside Teo. "Danny, this is Marcie and Teo," I went on and watched as they both smiled at him.

I was sure he had smiled as well, but the mask he had put on had made it impossible for them to see it. Before leaving during my break to go pick up Daniel, I had told them that I was driving him over as he was a germaphobe and couldn't ride the bus. Despite both of them looking at me weirdly, they had accepted it, the revelation not being the weirdest thing they had heard while working here.

"Hey there, nice to meet ya," Marcie at once said and extended her hand, only for Danny to reluctantly return the gesture. Teo must have noticed that because he didn't reach out.

"Saw the tat Ev designed for you. It looks rad, where are you getting it?" he said instead and leaned over the counter.

"On my forearm..." Danny muttered, his voice small and unsure. Being completely aware of how uncomfortable he felt, I reached out and nudged him on the shoulder.

"Let's go in the back so I can prep everything," I told him and without paying attention to my friends, who were shamelessly staring at Danny.

I told him to sit on one of the beds as I prepared everything and talked to him about my day. I told him about a sea-monster tattoo I finished and about another small, cute wolf tattoo I did. And then, not even twenty minutes later, as I had everything sanitized and ready, I looked the lying eighteen-year-old before me in the eyes and then started doing his first tattoo.

A little I was halfway through Marcie came in to check how it was going and tell me that she would be leaving soon. Her gaze lingered on me for a moment and I could tell that she wanted to tell me something else, but before I could ask or even think too much about it, she turned around and left. I shook my head and focused back on Daniel and his tattoo that so far had to be one of my best works.

"How did you end up being a tattoo artist? I don't think I ever asked you," Danny said a couple of minutes later.

"Well," I started not turning my gaze him, but continuing with the tattoo. "I always liked tattoos and I always wanted to get a few."

"I'd say you have more than just a few," Danny said with a laugh. I smiled back at him.

"Yeah, that just happened. You get one and then you just want more and more..." I said back and shook my head. "Does it hurt?"

"What? The tattoo? No, no, it's fine. I can handle it," he said and closed his eyes briefly.

"So, anyway, after I ran away from my parents, I was out one night, graffitiing and I bumped into Marcie. We talked a bit and when I found out she was starting up her own tattoo shop I told her I wanted to get a tattoo. We started hanging out more and doing street art together and one thing led to another and I ended up working here," I went on with the story and started doing the final touches of the tattoo. "Before being able to work here, I was working as a delivery guy for Leonidas. It didn't pay much but just enough to afford me my apartment and even after I was done with it and I could afford something better I never really moved out..."

"Well, it is cosy. And it seems like it means a lot to you," he replied.

"It is. It's the first time I owned a place. It didn't really feel like home, but it was mine," I answered.

A moment of silence hung between us, where only the buzz from the needle was heard, and then it was interrupted by Teo knocking on the door that separated this room from the front.

"Hey, moneybags, my shift is over, so I'll be going," he said and came closer to look at the tattoo. "Damn, kid this looks amazing," he said and glanced at Danny. "You like tigers?" he asked. Daniel looked at him for a moment before he shook his head positively. A big smile split Teo's face and he raised his left sleeve a bit so that Daniel could see the tiger and leopard that were tattooed on his forearm. "Big cats are just the fucking best," he said.

"Ev mentioned you like big cats. He said you did the zombified one on his bicep," Daniel said in a moment of confidence. Teo's face immediately lit up.

"He showed you that one? It honestly has to be one of my best works," Teo replied. I slightly shook my head.

"Remember that one you did on that girl who wanted all cats on her leg? I consider that one of the best, if not your best work..." I said and added one last detail before considering Danny's tattoo done.

"Oh, yeah I remember that one. That was so fun to do... this girl came in," he started looking at Danny, "and asked me to cover her whole leg, from her hipbone down to the top of her foot with different kinds of cats. It took so long to finish, but it was honestly worth it."

"That must have hurt her..." Danny muttered under his breath and Teo laughed.

"Yeah, I'm sure it did, but it wasn't her first, so she wasn't a new experience. I think you had done a chest piece on her?" Teo asked me.

"Yes, a garland of thorny roses under her chest..." I muttered back.

"Well, anyway, I'll get going now. Was nice meeting you Daniel," Teo called and walked out to the front again.

He purposefully left the door open to the front, I could see if anyone came in and as I was done with Danny's tattoo. I let Daniel stare at it for a moment, before wrapping it up and starting to clear up my station. I stopped the music I had put on to play and with the corner of my eye watched Daniel as he sat up at the edge of the bed and took off his mask.

"It... started when I was ten," he said, effectively making me stop whatever I was doing and slowly turn to him. When I did look at him, I shivered. His head was hanging low but with a determined breath he looked up at me, his eyes staring back at mine with an intensity I hadn't seen in them before. "I woke up one night and I wasn't in my bed. Everything felt weird and fuzzy and... and almost dreamlike. It- it took me years to realize that was the first time and not just some kind of nightmare... I- I was on a mattress with my hands tied up before me."

I chose to remain silent, not wanting to scare him into not speaking. He could say as much as he wanted and felt comfortable with. I was confident he knew that without me repeating myself once more.

"I wasn't sure what was happening at first. But then I felt my dad's hands on my head and I... I was so scared. He told me to... open my mouth and do him a favour."

My shoulders fell and something inside of me screamed. I bit my tongue, keeping all the curses I had in mind to myself. It would do him no good to hear them. At least not now. Instead, I stayed silent and waited for him to continue talking if he wanted to.

"I remember I cried. And I begged him to stop. I thought it would never stop... and then I heard her." His voice cracked and I couldn't control my frown. Her? "She told him to stop. She told him to..." he stopped speaking again, his hands grabbing the edge of the bed and gripping it tightly. His eyes were not on me anymore, but I could still feel their intensity. "My mom told him to rape me."

"What?" I couldn't stop myself as the soft word fell from my lips. For a moment I wondered whether I had heard the right. My eyes searched for his gaze; searched for anything to make me not believe I had heard that right.

"She sat by a camera recording it and touching... herself."

The words had come out laboured and the pain he was clearly going through kept me from exploding in a fit of rage. His father was a disgusting piece of fuck, but his mother seemed to be pure evil. No. Those had not been parents. Those weren't his mom and dad those were two disgusting paedophiles who had decided to bring to life and traumatize another human being.

"My dad said that I... he said I was better than the others because I was his son."

"What?!" I growled, anger boiling up inside. "There were others?" Danny only managed to shrug and then he let go of the bed. Slowly, his gaze found mine and the tears in his eyes all but answered my question.

"I never met anyone else. They barely let me leave the house. Didn't want me to get to know anyone else that was my age. They didn't want me to know what they were doing was wrong," he said.

"But it was," I told him. He nodded very softly and took in a very shaky breath.

"They didn't really do anything to me for the next couple of years. Sometimes my dad touched me, or my mom would... takes baths with me and-" he stopped talking and shook his head- "she would take baths with me. And she loved to videotape me. She loved to watch me whenever she- they did things."

I nodded while trying to process what he had told me. I nodded trying to understand just what he had gone through. I had figured his dad had abused him, but what he had just described to me sounded more like torture. A moment of silence hung between us and I tried to come up with the best thing to say after everything he had just told me. I honestly wanted to reassure him, tell him that it would not happen again; that I would not let them hurt him again. But I couldn't find the strength to say it. How could I convince him that everything would be alright if I wasn't sure of it anymore myself?

"On the night before my thirteenth birthday, I woke up on that mattress again." At once my thoughts went away as I realized he hadn't finished talking. "I felt him touch my head again and then... enter my mouth... but before he was done, I felt another man behind me. I- they let their friends take turns until I passed out... perhaps longer."

"They did what?" I snapped, unable to control myself beyond this point.

"They held these parties every year on the same day," he admitted.

I immediately stood up and took a few steps away from Danny. Anger was making my shake and I had to channel it somewhere otherwise I'd end up punching the wall. So, I started pacing.

"One of the people who took part was my tutor," he said, voice low and hesitant. "And another one was a police chief." I turned around and looked at him, at once everything making sense.

"That's why you don't want to talk to the police..." I said under my breath. He nodded just a tiny bit and I took a step towards him.

"They have too much power."

"No," I said softly. "They lost all their power the moment they laid hands on you. They lost everything the moment they decided to hurt you. It's you who has the power to make them pay. You can make sure they never do anything like what they did to you ever again. You can make sure they face justice."

"No," he started and shook his head. "I can't talk about it. I can't... Ev, please don't make me," he pleaded, and tears started rolling down his eyes.

"You just did..." I told him softly.

"You're different. I can talk to you. But I can't... I don't... I don't want to talk to anyone else about it," he said and sobbed.

"Alright..." I started with a sigh, "I can't make you talk. I can't make you do anything. But what I can do, is take you back to our home, make you a cup of tea and watch a Let's Play video with you." He looked at me, disbelief in his eyes and then finally smiled. "I'm really glad you opened up to me. And I'm really proud of how far you've come."

He stood up and wiped away his tear and then, with the smile still on his face, he reached out towards me and hugged me.

"Thank you. For everything. Just... thank you." It took me a moment of hesitancy but eventually, I hugged him back.