Keagan cursed himself for his naivety. There was no way he could have seen any of this coming, but he couldn’t help but hate himself for allowing things to get this far.

Dan noticed that Keagan’s face had turned rather sour.

“What’s wrong? Do you think it was someone at work?” He asked causing Keagan to ease his facial muscles.

“N- no. I’m not sure who did this, but I doubt it’s any of my colleagues.” Keagan said, his voice low. His body was still incredibly sore and his head ached extremely.

The doctor from before returned and handed Dan two little bottles full of pills.

“Mr. Keita, you’re gonna have to take two of these daily. They’ll help you with the withdrawal. Some side effects may include drowsiness and nausea. That’s because the pills will be actively fighting the shocked state of your brain caused by the presence and absence of Rapture in your system.” The doctor said before closing the door and approaching Keagan.

Keagan noticed the doctor had magnificent Auburn hair and deep blue eyes which were perfectly contrasted with his white coat and blue scrubs.

“Now, I must be completely honest, no one knows the real complete list of effects caused by Rapture. What we do know is that patients who’ve taken the drug experience what they describe as extreme hallucinations and almost all patients developed dependency.” The doctor sighed.

“It’s a new drug, it has no odor and is effective no matter how it enters the body. Personally I’d love to keep you here so that we may examine the after effects of the drug, but I understand that you’re a busy person so I’ll have to request that you drop by for an examination every Friday.” The doctor said.

“Ok, Doctor- err…”

“Xander. Bryan Xander. You’re fit for discharge right now actually, but I recommend you rest a little longer.” Dr. Xander said before leaving the room.

Dan let out a sigh.

“You wanna go home or…?” He asked as he placed Keagan’s pills on the table near the bed.

“Yeah. I got some… work I need to do.” Keagan said. Dan gave him a sharp nod and left the room, leaving Keagan to bath in the sun’s morning rays.

Not ten minutes passed before Catalina entered the room with a large bag Keagan assumed had all of his clothes and other items.

Keagan’s eyes shot opened and he released every once of animosity he had in him as she sat next to his bed.

“Show it to me.” Keagan whispered. Catalina’s brows furrowed slightly.

“What?” She asked hesitantly.

“Don’t fuck with me! Show me Rapture!” Keagan said in a compressed scream that sounded more like he was choking on his own anger.

Catalina’s eyes shot open and she pulled her purse closer to her chest. Keagan wasn’t in the mood for any of her games so he painfully sat up and grabbed her purse. He rummaged through its contents until he found a unlabelled bottle of what looked like colourless perfume. Keagan’s eyes narrowed as he glared at the little bottle.

“Is this it?” He asked while holding the bottle far away from his face.

Catalina nodded her head slowly as tears formed in her eyes.

“Arrg!” Keagan wheezed as he shoved the little container back into Catalina’s purse. He got up, removed his robe and changed into the clothes Catalina brought for him.

“Let me guess, you were gonna use it on me as I slept right? Huh?” Keagan asked as he slipped into his shoes.

“Come on! We’re going to my place. I’m sick of this shit. You’re literally going to beg for death after I’m done with you and guess what. After this, after today, we’re done. I’m done.” He ranted before he got discharged from the hospital.

He and Catalina entered her car and made their way to the vectrain.

Throughout the entire journey to Acan, Keagan’s anger fumed and his eyes darted back and fourth as he contemplated just how to deal with the situation at hand.

They eventually reached Keagan’s apartment and upon entering, Keagan approached Karisa as she sat on his couch idly watching the news.

“Wha- I- What were you guys thinking?” Keagan asked. His words were slurred and his movements were sluggish, this was because he had taken the pills the doctor had given him.

Karisa stood up, shocked at the sudden accusation, so she turned an eye to Catalina.

“No! Don’t try to weasel your way out of this. Show me it. Your whole stashhhh- Arrg!” Keagan yelled as his mind warped in and out of reality.

Catalina took out the little bottle from her purse, prompting Karisa to open one of her bags. She pulled up her own little canister and showed it to Keagan, who took both bottles and threw them outside. They fell almost five floors down and shattered as they hit the ground.

Keagan re-entered apartment and sat on undid his belt. His arms quivered in anger.

“G- g- get undressed.” He stuttered as he rolled up his sleeves.

Karisa and Catalina did as they were told and bent over awaiting Keagan’s wrath.

“You're despicable human beings for doing this to me and to make things worse, you actually enjoy it when I hit you. So this will be the last time. After this we're done. Never speak to me. Do not contact me in any way-"

“But-" Catalina was about to object as she gasped, but her opening her mouth angered Keagan so much that he swung the belt so hard, it hit her ass and ricocheted and hit him just below his left eye.

“Fuck!” Keagan cursed as Catalina spasmed after receiving the hardest lash Keagan had ever given her. Before, when Keagan hit them, there was a slight guilt in his strikes. A nervousness born from the fact that harming another human is wrong, but that was gone now. Keagan had hit her with all he had and the resulting pain caused her to black out momentarily.

Karisa’s eyes shot open as she witnessed what Catalina had just gone through. She glanced at the door momentarily, but just as she did, Keagan hit her as well.

She received two lashes and the loudness of the belt hitting flesh could surely be heard elsewhere.

“Ah!” Karisa let out an actually cry of pain. Most of the time when they did this her cries were a mixture of pain and pleasure, but Keagan was ensuring that neither of them could enjoy this.

“Trash! Utter human trash! And to think I pitied you. I avoided damaging those bodies of your. But no! No! You’re going to suffer. Isn’t that what your wanted?” Keagan said as he flexed the muscles in his right hand. He adjusted his grip on the belt but then noticed that Karisa was trying to crawl away.

“Oh no you don’t!” Keagan said as he grabbed her. She silently squirmed as Keagan threw her onto the bed. He mounted her and grabbed her head. She looked away from him and avoided eye contact.

“Look at me! It’s over. That thrill you sought, that pleasure you were looking for and that delusional hope, it’s gone. I’ve had it.” Keagan said as his almost black eyes dug holes into the back of her skull.

Keagan then used his belt to tie Karisa’s hands together. He grabbed another belt from his closet and proceeded to let loose on Karisa.

At some point, she stopped crying or screaming because she had run out of energy and her vocal chords had given out. Keagan on the other hand was still enraged.

He looked at Catalina who cowered next to the bed. He dashed towards her, grabbed her by her hair and pulled her out into the open.

Catalina may have been larger than Karisa, but she was way more timid. Keagan didn’t care. He shoved her face to the ground and hit her all around, while taking some care not to hit her face.

After some time, Keagan had finally burnt himself out and the pills started to kick in. His thoughts cleared up and his stomach growled, signalling that it was time to eat. He looked outside the window and saw the sunset. He could also hear the distant sound of police sirens in the distance.

Acan was beginning to change, or maybe this was the way it had always been. Keagan thought as his body alternated from energetic to drowsy. He checked the time to find that it was one o’clock. He let go of his belt revealing a blood starved hand.

Then suddenly he heard a loud knock on his door.

“APD the door!” A man yelled.

“Who?” Keagan asked.

“Acan police department open the door.” The man repeated.

Keagan approached the door, looked through the peephole to see several men dressed in police uniform.

Crap! He cursed as he slightly opened the door, revealing to the police his sweaty face.

“Is there a problem officers?” Keagan asked.

“Sir we received a call that stated that suspicious noises where coming from this apartment.” One of the policemen said.

“What? No, I think there was some sort of mistake, hehe.” Keagan asked.

“Ok. Mind if we take a look inside just to be sure.” The policeman asked. Keagan wondered what would happen if he said no.

“Sure, if it’s just a simple check.” Keagan said as he opened the door, allowing the police into his house. He turned to find a fully dressed Catalina and Karisa sleeping in his bed with their faces down, hiding their teary faces.

[7-13, backup required in zone 5. Suspected drug exchange in progress.]

"Ok, we'll be there." The police said into his walkie talkie.

“Seems normal to me. Ok, we apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused, have a good day.” He said as he and his colleagues left.

Keagan closed the door and let out a deep sigh. He had gone off the edge for a while. He sat by the bed and rubbed his temples.

His thoughts were rather clear and his body’s pains had died down rather drastically. Keagan assumed that this was the magic of the pills finally kicking in.

“Hehe.” Keagan let out a deranged laugh.

“This is… this is… horrible. Just how far were you guys planning on taking this?” He said as he looked back at them. Their hair messily covered their faces and drool ran down Catalina’s mouth.

Keagan moved over to Karisa who was the most awake of the two.

“Anyway. Our crazy ride has come to an end. After you recover, eat, pack your things and-“

Keagan heard another knock. He went to the door, opened it and found the two goons that protected Karisa.

Keagan’s heart stopped.

Oh shit, here we go again. He cursed.

“Mr. Keita, the boss would like to speak with you." The goon said as he offered Keagan a phone.

Keagan nervously took the phone and placed it on his ear.

“Hello.” Keagan said.

[Good afternoon Mr. Keita. I honestly have to thank you for taking such good care of my daughter. She’s going through quite the phase and I’m always too busy to do anything about it. So I must thank you. Speaking of Karisa, where is she?] Andre asked.

“Er- she’s sleeping.” Keagan lied.

[What? She’s sleeping? She wasn’t partying all night was she?]

“No sir.”

[Wow. It would seem as though you tamed the tiger, hehe. Anyway, on to why I called. There’s a little gathering happening on Saturday and I was hoping you’d be there. This would be perfect as we could get to know each other a little better. From the few calls we’ve had, I can already tell that you’re a responsible lad, so I’d like to match the voice with the face. So, what do you say?] Andre asked.

“Mmm… is it possible that I politely decline?”

[Mmm… well that wouldn’t be a problem, but seeing as my daughter will have to come, it’d be a shame if her close friend weren’t there, right?]

Close friend? Tsk. Keagan cursed internally.

“I see. Then I’ll be there.” Keagan said before the call ended. He handed the phone over to the goon before they left. Keagan closed the door again and walked towards the bed where two limp bodies laid.

“This sucks.” Keagan said as he inspected Karisa’s body.

There were bumps and bruises here and there, but she had sustained the most damage on her butt.

“Well, your old man wants me to do a thing on Saturday. I don’t want to do the thing. But your old man owns Lezzaro so… I’m doomed.” Keagan said but then he saw the strangest thing.

Karisa began crawl towards him.

Her pitiful, messed up state inched closer to his body. He felt her heat, her teary eyes could’ve squeezed out the sympathy out of the coldest of hearts. But Keagan wasn’t cold. He wasn’t heartless.

He just didn’t care.

She reached out for his hands but he moved it away. He really didn’t want to touch her, but she extended her reach and placed her hot hand on his. At that moment, he felt an extreme amount of warmth. Not just from her body heat.

“Do you hate me?” Keagan asked as he looked deep into Karisa’s eyes, which were distorted by her tears.

“N- no.” She whispered. Her voice still hoarse from all the screaming and crying. Keagan placed his hand on her damp head and rubbed it slowly. He felt her shaking from pain, but it seemed as though his hand had calmed her somewhat. He decided that all of this pain was too much too deal with so he had two options: seek help from someone or stick with it until the end. The problem with the first option was that he’s end up involving an innocent person in his troubles and the second option was terrible in itself. Keagan decided that he’d deal with those problems when they came, but in the meantime, he needed to unwind.

Keagan moved closer to Karisa and ran his hands all over her body. This triggered all sorts of responses as she flinched in pain. She made all sorts of noises as he reached for her ass.

“I failed, didn’t I?” He asked.

“You were supposed to hate me by now…” He firmly grabbed her ass and pulled her towards him until they were pressed closely together.

“Ah!” She cried out in pain as Keagan fondled her swollen butt.

“Hate me.” Keagan ordered.

“Leave me alone. Avoid me. Spare me.” He begged and for the first time, Karisa showed an expression that Keagan had never seen. Keagan’s heart beat took off as her lips parted.

“No.”