Daniel

I stayed quiet until we reached Ev's apartment and even then, I just didn't have the energy to speak. Despite everything, I had told him Ev didn't react to it. Well, he reacted to it, but the anger and the disgust in his eyes were not directed at me. It was clear to who those emotions were directed. He had made it clear the moment he had found me under the bed, maybe even before that.

I ended up spending the rest of the evening on the bed watching a video and glancing at Ev now and then. He had sat down by the table with his sketchbook before him. He would sketch a little and then pause to tap the back of the pencil against the paper. I didn't want to imagine what had to be going through his head.

I didn't regret speaking to him. I didn't regret telling him what they had done to me. He had been right. They had hurt me. They were at fault. And as much as I hated thinking about it, as much as I hated the fact that I relived it constantly, not telling him did not help me. Not telling him only made him wonder and as bad as what I had gone through was, there were always worse things that could happen to someone. At least I always had a roof over my head.

"What if you didn't say anything?" Ev said suddenly, looking up from the sketch he had been starring at for the past few minutes. I looked at him with a frown and sat up a little.

"What do you mean?" I eventually asked when he didn't bother to elaborate.

"You said your mother liked to videotape you..." I felt my chest tighten and look a small breath. "You said that they... recorded themselves hurting you," he went on, his voice calmer than before. "So, what if the police found the videos?"

I stared at him for a moment, trying to understand what he telling me and then I shook my head. "They're politicians... the police would never search the house without a good reason," I told him.

It was his turn to frown only to then stand up and come to sit by the edge of the bed. He seemed exhausted with some of his eyeliner being smudged by the corners of his eyes. His hair had been pushed back but when he leaned closer it fell forward, covering his eyes almost completely.

"They can't just record the rape of another human being -of a child­- and get away with it," he said slowly.

"I can't testify against them," I blurted out and lowered my head in shame. "I can't be in the same room as them, Ev..." I went on.

He stayed silent, just watching me, and then I felt him move on the bed and pull out his phone from his back pocket. I watched through half-lidded eyes as he dialled a number and then pressed on speaker. He motioned me to not speak up and waited for the call to go through.

"Ev? Do you have any idea what time it is?" a man on the other side of the line called, voice groggy from sleep.

"Hey, I know I'm sorry, but I have a hypothetical question I need to ask you," Ev replied. I moved my head up and looked at Ev with a frown while trying to figure out what he was up to.

"Did you seriously wake me up at 2 am to ask me a hypothetical question?" the person asked, stressing the word hypothetical so much I flinched.

"It's really fucking important, Colin," Ev pressed. I heard the man sigh and then clear his throat.

"Ask away..." he said at last.

"If the police found videos of parents raping their child," Ev started saying and kept his gaze away from me. I bit my lip and hugged myself, trying to get rid of the tears that were starting to gather in my eyes, "Would the child have to testify in order for them to get convicted?"

"What the fuck have you gotten yourself into Ev?" Colin asked back as soon as Ev finished talking.

"Nothing, just answer the goddamn question."

"Hypothetically speaking, no, the victim would not have to testify. But the videos would have to be pretty incriminating. Otherwise, the defence could claim that the parents were being forced or were unaware that they were being filmed," Colin replied.

"Wait, why would them not being aware of it diminish their crime? They still raped a child," Ev snapped.

"It wouldn't diminish their crime, they'd still get convicted but if it is not clear whether they incited it their sentence could be lowered," Colin explained. "But as I said, as long as the videos are incriminating the child won't be forced to testify. That would only further traumatise them..."

"Okay... that's good," Ev said after some moments.

"Ev, what have you gotten yourself into?" Colin asked, his voice softening this time.

"I already told you it's a hypothetical question. Just... thank you, I'm sorry for waking you up," Ev replied. From the other line, Colin could be heard sighing.

"Sure thing, man... good night," Colin, theatre, said and hung up.

"Ev... what the hell?" I managed to utter.

"Don't you get it? Your parents can be caught for their crimes without you needing to testify against them," he told me.

"Yeah, I got that, but I already told you the police would never search the house of two politicians," I said and licked my lips. I knew what he was trying to do, but it would never work out. My parents and their friends had too much power. No anonymous tip to the police would get them to just up and search the house for some videos.

"Do you know where they kept the tapes?" he asked me. I blinked a few times and then nodded. "Great then, just leave it up to me," he said and got up to go to the bathroom.

I watched the empty room before me for a moment before Omen drew my attention. She jumped up the bed and rubbed her head on my knee only to fall on the mattress with a purr and expose her belly. I smiled at the creature and started petting her. Her purring got even louder, and I focused so much that I only realised that Ev had been watching us when he let out a small laugh.

"I have the afternoon shift tomorrow so we can watch a gaming video if you don't want to go to sleep just yet," he said and came to sit next to me.

"Sure, yeah we can watch something..." I muttered with a half-smile.

A chill went down my spine and sweat ran down my forehead. I cried out the roped on my wrists hurting me. Intense light blinded me and every time I went to try and focus on it, I only hurt myself more. I looked down and saw my bare body. The wooden floorboard scraped my feet and I had to adjust the way I was standing, with my hands tied up, so that my feet would not start bleeding.

The light got less intense and I looked back up again. I slowly started to notice more things about my surroundings. I was in some sort of theatre, tied up on the stage. Hundreds of red velvet seats were before me all of them occupied by distorted faces. A burst of layered laughter echoed in the room and I had to shudder. Flashes went off all around me and a tear rolled down my face. They were all watching me.

I woke up breathing heavily. A tremble overtook me, but I didn't get up. Instead, I stayed lying down, with my back towards Ev, looking out the window by my side of the bed.

"Danny?" Ev's voice came in a low hush from behind me. I gulped and hummed back. "Are you okay?" he asked me, still whispering. I stared at the night sky and then a couple of moments later turned to him.

"I just saw a bad dream. I'll be fine," I replied. "How come you aren't asleep?"

He shrugged and let out a heavy sigh. Hesitation glinted in his eyes but then he reached out and pushed a curl away from my eye. We stayed silent, just looking at each other for a couple of moments.

"We could leave," he said finally. "Move away from England. I'm sure I will find work someplace else."

"Why would we leave?" I asked softly.

"I meant if... if the police found out what your parents did... they are already looking for you because your family reported you missing but this will make people want to find you harder." He must have seen the panic in my eyes before I sat up because he immediately followed me and sat up next to me as well. "I mean they will be looking for you in order to protect you. You said that there were other people involved. Your tutor. A police chief. Friends of your parents. They are all looking for you now, but when this story comes out..."

"When?" I interrupted him.

"Danny, they can't get away with this. I know you don't want to tell anyone else about it, but I would not be able to live with myself knowing that they hurt you and that they have claimed to have hurt others too. I can't do that. Colin, the guy I had called earlier, is a lawyer. He said you won't have to testify so I'm sorry, but I don't really see a problem with the police receiving the evidence of their crimes," he said.

"How are the police even going to get the videos, Ev?"

"I'll break into your old house and get them," he said with a shrug. "You said you know where they are."

"Ev, what are you talking about? That place is extremely secure. How are you going to break into it?" I asked and wondered whether I was still asleep.

"You managed to escape it. I can break into it. It won't be the first time I've broken into a house," he answered. I squinted at him; he had never told me he broke into houses. "It was a long time ago before I was even adopted, but I'll figure it out."

"What if you get caught?"

"I won't get caught," he assured me.

"Yes, but what if you do? I am not your dad. I can't bail you out or come pick you up," I told him. Anger flashed in his features for a moment and I almost flinched, but he just let out a heavy breath and fell on his back.

"I won't get caught. Now go back to sleep," he said and turned to his side, not looking at me.

I bit my lip, guilt building up inside me for bringing up his dad and then, at last, lied down again. I didn't want them to get away with it either, but I also didn't want Ev to get caught for trying to essentially help me. I stared at the ceiling for a moment and rubbed my eyes and then turned to my side and tried to fall asleep again. Perhaps this time I wouldn't see a nightmare.