Staying with a Protective Slasher
Summary: Reader comes to a hotel, needing a break from driving all day. They meet Ian quickly, being rescued from a rude guy.
Reader x Ian (Slasher Yandere Dad)
Author's Note: Happy Halloween, everyone! I have officially completed my longest writing project! It has been inspired by American Horror Story: Hotel, but it isn't as gory. As always, hope you like it! <3
Word Count: 6.5k
Warnings/Tags: murder, gaslighting (mid-light), infantilization, Ian is kinda a vigilante, drugging
Masterlist
Taking the keys out of the ignition, you look at the hotel you will stay at overnight. When you are ready, you open the car door and get out. You take your bags from the backseat, moving toward the front doors. The hotel before you feels homey and welcoming with its stone exterior. Vines grow up this side of it, practically covering windows.
The entrance of the hotel isn’t as grand as every other hotel; its double doors don’t jump out at you. You open the door, and the smell of lavender cleaning products hits your nose. The inside doesn’t look the way you think it will. The insides have obviously been renovated within the past decade.
A line sits behind the front desk, waiting to be checked in. You join the line, waiting with your bags. A man stops behind you, joining the line as well. You feel his eyes on you, but you act like you don’t even notice him.
“Hey, what brings you here?” He says, coming into your line of sight.
“You staying here for long?” He continues bothering you.
You ignore them, wanting to get this part over with, waiting to kick your shoes off the moment you enter your room.
“You know I’m talking to you, right?” He taps your shoulder, expecting you to respond to him.
You turn, looking at him, not understanding why he is bothering you so much.
“Leave me alone. I’m just trying to check in like everyone else.” You tell them, turning back to the front desk.
“I’m just trying to talk to you, you don’t have to be so rude.” He scoffs.
“Hey, jerk, leave them alone.” A man dressed in simple clothes gets between you and the guy.
“Hey, man, just chill out. I wasn't bothering anybody. Tell him I wasn’t bothering you.” The first guy says, backing up from the front desk.
“You were bothering them. It was obvious to everyone here.” The man defending you says.
“Whatever, man, just let me check into my room. I have a friend I’m meeting here.”
“Get in line. You’ll just have to wait like everyone else.” The man pulls you aside, getting closer to the front desk.
“Hey, Maddy, I’m going to get this guest checked in myself. Don’t worry about them.”
He walks you past the front desk, leading you down the halls.
“Sorry you had to deal with them. Please let us know if anything like that happens again.” They pause in the hallway.
“I’m Ian, by the way. I’m the owner of the hotel.” He offers to shake your hand.
You shake his hand, introducing yourself as well.
“Thanks, by the way, but you didn’t have to do that.” You follow him as he continues the walk down the hallway. Each room you pass gives you the impression that you are walking through the back rooms. There are laundry rooms, break rooms, storage, and kitchens.
“So why are you taking me through the back rooms? Aren’t guests not meant to be back here?” You adjust the backpack on your shoulder.
“Normally, I don’t like guests in this area of the hotel, but I can make exceptions. Plus, you are getting an upgrade.” He tells you, pushing back his brown hair.
He turns down another hallway, opening up heavy doors, letting you walk through first. The rest of the hallway is short, leading to just a couple of rooms.
“This is my private wing of sorts. No one should bother you here. Not even the employees, you will only see me back here.” He walks ahead of you, stopping at the first room on the left.
“You know that you really don’t have to do this. I’m fine just staying in my regular room. I’m just here overnight. I will really only be sleeping here. I’m driving all day for my vacation tomorrow.”
“That’s just more of a reason, you don’t need any of the nosy guests keeping you up.” He opens the door, waiting for you to walk in first.
You walk into the room, unsure what to expect. It looks similar to a normal hotel room, but just homier. There’s a mini kitchenette on one side, a bathroom alongside it, and a bed on the other side.
“I use this for my personal guests, so don’t worry about germs. I deep-clean it after someone stays in here.” He takes a deep breath, pulling out his keys from his pocket.
“Anyways, please let me know if you have any questions. I’m just right across the hall if you need anything.” He takes a key off the ring, holding it for you.
“Thanks again.” You smile at him, taking the key.
“No problem.” He says, closing the door behind him.
Logging into the hotel's security system, Ian watches the cameras looking for two things: where you parked your car, and where the guy who bothered you is. He finds you parked near the entrance, but just far enough where the building’s light doesn’t reach it. He didn’t like hearing you were planning to leave so soon. He waits for the sun to go down to deal with that problem.
Meanwhile, he can handle other problems. He looks to see which room the guy is staying in, figuring out a way you will never see him again.
Walking through the back rooms, you feel ready for the day. You still have plenty of hours of driving in front of you, so you need to leave early. But in order to take off, you need the free breakfast. The employees give you questioning looks as you walk through the hall, but you ignore them. Food is your number one priority right now.
The lobby is full of people checking in and out. You squeeze your way through them, looking for the sign for the free breakfast. You see a crowd of people going past the front desk, so you figure it must be in that direction.
You follow the crowd of people, seeing a sign up ahead, advertising free breakfast. Following the sign, you quickly find the room, grabbing all the food you want. You turn from the line of food, looking at all of the seating. You find a spot with two chairs, and you head for it. Sitting down, you dig into your food, taking bites while you scroll on your phone.
“There you are.” You look up and see the guy from before. He sits down opposite you before you say anything back.
“I missed you yesterday. We were supposed to talk more-”
“I don’t know what you are talking about, but you need to leave me alone.” You tell him, hoping that he will leave.
“Where’s your buddy now? No more protection anymore?” He mocks you.
You look around uncomfortably and make eye contact with Ian’s brown eyes. He notices the guy, and he puts his phone in his pocket. He marches over to you, pulling the guy back by the collar of his shirt.
“I thought I told you to leave my guests alone.” He says, getting close to his face.
“Man, I don’t know what your problem is. I’m just being friendly, talking to this friend of yours.” He says with a smirk on his face.
“You know what the problem is. It’s you. I need you out of my hotel now.” Ian lifts him out of the chair, pushing him away from you.
“Whatever, mate, I don’t even want to be at this crummy hotel.” The guy turns, walking out of the room.
“You okay, bud?” Ian asks you, taking the seat across from you.
“It’s okay, people are stupid. I don’t understand what he wanted. But thanks for getting him away again. I could have dealt with him myself, you didn’t have to step in-”
“No. I’m not going to have anyone treating you like that in my hotel. They can go somewhere else. I don’t need them here.” He interrupts you. You catch a dark look in his eyes, but it disappears quickly.
“I’m not going to be here much longer. I’m about to head out after I’m done eating.” You look at your plate, realizing there’s not much left.
“That’s right. Well, just know that you are always welcome here. Would you like me to help you bring your bags out? They looked pretty heavy yesterday.”
You take bites of your food, unsure how to respond to him. He has already helped you out so much, yet he keeps helping you. You haven’t even done anything for him either.
“I’m actually about to head outside, too. I have to check on a couple of things. It wouldn’t be a problem at all.” He continues, interrupting your thoughts.
“Umm, sure. If it’s not that big of an issue for you, then I guess it is okay.”
You finish the rest of your meal quickly. Going to your room, you make small talk with him to ease the silence. He walks you out of the building, carrying your bags for you. You lead him to your car, stopping beside it.
“Well, this is me.” You say, opening the back seat for him to put the bags in.
“Alright, I’ll leave you here then.” He says, but he stays where he is.
“Oh, right, you probably need this.” You take the key out of your pocket, giving it to him.
“I guess I do need this.” He laughs.
“Thanks for helping with the guy again. But I think it’s my time to leave, I have a lot of driving to do.”
“Yes, you do. I’ll see you later. Be safe driving.” He says, leaving you with your car.
You open up the door, getting into the driver's seat. You put the key in the ignition and turn it.
The car doesn’t make any noise. You take the key out, turning it again. No noise.
You look around the car, unsure what to do. Taking the key out again, you try once more. No noise. Getting out of the car, you look for anything wrong with it.
“Having car trouble?” Ian asks you from across the lot, standing by a truck.
“Yeah. You want to look at it? I just tried starting it, but nothing happened.”
“Go ahead and pop the lid, I’ll take a look inside.” He walks to your car, putting his keys in his pocket.
You follow his directions, popping the lid from the inside of the car. You join him on the other side of the car. He looks at a couple of different things, can’t find anything wrong.
“Sorry, I can’t see anything wrong with the car myself.” He says, sounding disappointed.
“It’s okay. I’ll just get a shop to look over it. Do you have any recommendations?”
“Wait, I have cameras pointed out here. Maybe I can see if someone did anything to your car. Let’s go inside, and I’ll pull them up.”
“Sure, I don’t think anyone would do anything to my car, though.”
You follow him inside, going through the hallway, and back into his private rooms. He opens the door across from the room you stayed in, heading over to a computer with multiple screens.
“You can pull out a chair; it might take a second for me to find anything.” He scrolls through the camera feed, waiting to see activity around your car.
You look around the room, not wanting to be nosy with the camera footage.
“Hey, look at this.” He points to the screen at a figure.
You watch the figure exit the front of the hotel, looking around the parking lot. They walk up to your car, looking around before they start breaking into your car. The camera quality makes it hard to see what exactly they are doing.
The figure successfully opens your door, getting in the driver's seat. Again, the camera’s quality makes it difficult to see, but they stay in there for a few minutes. Once they leave the car, they go back into the hotel like nothing happened.
“What did they do?” You ask Ian, hoping that he’ll understand what happened. He takes a moment, looking at the footage again.
“They definitely broke into your car, but other than that, I think they snapped wires from inside the car.” You watch the footage with him again, seeing the figure hunched over in the car.
“I’m supposed to be on the road now. Not watching someone break into my car!” You say, frustrated about the situation.
“Hey, I know this sucks. Let me handle this, I’ll take your car to my friend’s shop. You can have your room again, free of charge. Just relax here, just like you would be while on vacation.”
“No, I couldn’t do that. You’ve gone out of your way a lot already.” You retaliate, not wanting to bother him more.
“It’s perfectly fine, I enjoy your company. Just spend some time with me and I’ll call it even.” He insists, wanting you to stay at the hotel still.
“You really think that would be okay?” You say nervously.
“I wouldn’t offer it if I didn’t mean it.” He takes the key off the ring.
“Here, take the key. I’ll grab the stuff out of your car and take it to my friend's shop with my truck.” He puts the key in your hands.
You give him a defeated look, upset about the situation.
“Who would do this?” You think for a moment.
It’s like a lightbulb goes off in your brain.
“That guy! Could that guy who was giving me problems have done it?”
Ian barely lets you finish your sentence before he responds to you.
“I told you that guy was up to something. He came into the hotel the same time as you. He probably saw which car you came out of then. I’m so glad that guy isn’t going to be around you anymore.” He says, running his hands through his hair.
“You were right about him. He came in right after me, and probably targeted me from the start.” You think back to the few interactions you had with him.
“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now.” You continue, wishing that you could have stopped the guy. You get out of your seat, putting the chair back, and standing awkwardly afterwards.
“I’ll fix it, I’ll tow your car with my truck. You can do whatever you want. I’ll let you know when your car will be done later.” He tells you.
“Would you like a hug before I take off, bud?” He asks you, approaching where you stand. You nod, opening your arms for a hug. He hugs you, allowing you to smell his lavender, woodsy cologne.
Ian hooks his truck up to your car, towing it away from the lot. He drives through the town, passing his friend's repair shop. Instead, he drives to his friend's scrap yard, leaving your car to get torn apart. He drives back into town, looking at all the cars parked at the other hotels. He locates the guy’s car that bothered you too much, waiting for him, plotting his demise later that night.
Staying at Ian’s hotel isn’t what you expected today, but you can’t help but think it’s better than being in a car all day. You’ve stayed in the room most of the day, browsing the TV channels and playing on your phone. You left the door cracked, just so you could invite Ian over for pizza. But you don’t hear from him all night. The hallway remains quiet, not a chime of keys or a door shutting. You order pizza when it becomes too late, telling the front desk you can pick it up when it arrives. When you get the notification, it's arrived, you walk down the hallways, picking it up.
You close the door, returning with the pizza. You wonder how late Ian will stay out, but you know that it’s none of your business. He still hasn’t returned with your bags, so you sleep in your clothes, hoping that he’ll leave your bags by the door in the morning.
Knocks hit your room's door. Getting out of bed, you open the door.
“Sorry, I got caught up talking with my friend yesterday. I had a couple of errands before I dropped off your car, so I accidentally stayed late…Anyways, I still have your bags.” He lifts your bags, revealing them to you.
“Right, I was going to invite you to have pizza with me, but I fell asleep before you came back.” You say, leaving the doorway so he can drop off your bags.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t think I was going to stay out late. Would you like to do something tonight? Maybe we could go to the drive-in theatre? I believe they are playing The Addams Family, so it’s appropriate.”
“Sure, I’ll be ready.” You wonder what the appropriate comment is about, thinking it’s about the type of crowd that will be there.
“Cool, I’ve got a couple more things to deal with, but I’ll meet you here.” He says, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.
Hours later, Ian knocks on your door, you hop off the bed, and open the door.
“Hey, bud. Ready for the movie?” Ian wears different clothes now, you think he must have gotten the others dirty from working around the hotel.
“Yep!”
Both of you walk through the halls, leaving through the entrance. You spy Ian’s truck, reminding you of your car.
“Have you heard anything about the car yet?”
“They haven’t been able to work on it yet. My friend has a bunch of cars that need work, and not that many people to help him out. I think he should be starting on it tomorrow. Sorry, bud.” He opens the passenger door for you, helping you into the truck.
“Oh.” You have hoped to hear that they have started on it by now.
Ian shuts the door for you, rounding the truck to the other side.
“I didn’t want to take it to the other one in town. They have too many complaints about not doing work properly. If I brought it there, it probably would have had bigger issues down the road, leaving you stranded.”
“It’s okay. I just don’t know what I’m going to do if I have to stay here longer than the time I asked off for. My job would probably fire me.” Your voice gets quieter as you talk, thinking about all of the problems you can run into.
“Hey, let’s not think about that now. Your time here is meant for relaxation. Don’t worry about anything else.” He says, starting the truck.
Driving through the town, you recognize some parts that you drove through days before. He takes you along the edge of the town, taking backways for the most part. The screen of the drive-in theatre reveals itself as you drive up the hill, cars of all colors parked near the screen.
“I guess everyone had the same idea as us.” Ian says, slowing down because of the traffic ahead.
“Yeah, the wait is worth it, though. Drive-in theatres are so cool!”
Ian’s truck eases through the line, eventually lining up in a parking space towards the back. Ian tells you to get out of the truck, telling you he has a surprise. You meet him at the bed of the truck. He opens the bed, hopping on top of it. He extends his arm out to you, offering to help you up.
“Is this the surprise?” You look around the bed, Ian puts pillows against the front, laying a blanket over the squeaky clean floor.
“It is! Definitely should be more comfortable than the front of the truck.” You mimic him, sitting against the pillows, looking towards the screen. Trailers and random ads play on the screen, the speakers turn on too.
“You didn’t have to do this, Ian. No more surprises, you’ve already done enough by letting me stay at the hotel.”
“Nah, there’s one more surprise that’s for when the movie plays. Shouldn’t be too long.” He smiles at you with a slight mischievous look in his eyes. You want to protest against the surprise, but you can tell he won’t take no for an answer.
More cars surround yours, and the ads continue to play. The sunset lingers behind the screen, barely showing any color, a dark blue, almost black, taking over the sky. People begin to quiet down as the screen goes black for a moment, music playing, signaling the start of the movie.
Ian slides open the back window, reaching in, pulling out a few boxes of candy. He lets you pick one, waiting to pick one for himself. You whisper thanks to him, not wanting to be too loud for the people nearby.
As the movie continues, the air gets chilly, making you wrap your arms around yourself. Ian immediately notices, opening the window again and giving you a blanket. You thank him again, turning your attention back to the movie afterwards.
The credits roll, signalling the ending of the movie. The lights around the cars light up, illuminating the area. People pack their things, start their cars, hoping to beat the crowd.
“I know it’s just a movie, but I really hate that kids get subjected to dangerous situations like that.” Ian tells you, packing up the pillows.
“Yeah, at least this is just movies, not actually real.” You hold the blanket against you still, the night air nipping at your skin. Ian helps you down to the ground, finishing packing the other blanket.
“Go ahead and get into the truck. It’s too cold out.” He tells you, finishing putting things into the back of the truck.
Following his instructions, you pull yourself into the truck, shutting the door behind you. Ian starts the car once he gets in, turning the heat on slightly.
“It's going to be a minute till we get out of here.” He says, watching the traffic leave for the exit.
Ian's prediction is right; it took twice as long to get back to the hotel. He walks you back to his private rooms, stopping right next to your room. You stand there with him, wanting to say something, but all your thoughts get muddled together.
“It's getting late, bud. You should be in bed, catching up on some relaxation." He tells you.
“I guess you are right. See you in the morning?” You respond, unlocking the door, looking back at him.
“I'll see you tomorrow.” He opens the door across the hall, and both of you leave the hall.
Shutting the door, standing with your back to the door, you remember you still have the blanket Ian gave you. You look down at it, you can see the design on it better. Pumpkins with different faces dance on the soft material, forming rows.
Blinking your eyes, you feel them get heavier with each blink. Settling down for the night, you do a simple version of your night routine, sleep calling your name.
It's been a couple of days since the drive-in theatre, and Ian still doesn't have answers for your car. He keeps telling you that his friend is working on it now, but no other updates. He tells you to let him handle it and just enjoy your time away from stress.
Sitting down at the table, poking at the food, you wait for Ian to show up. He's been eating breakfast with you ever since the drive-in theatre.
“Before you ask, I still haven't heard more from my friend about the car. Maybe they are having issues getting a part for you.” Ian sits down across from you, finally providing you with more of an explanation.
You sigh, thinking about how this situation could have been much worse and better. You could have no place to stay, or be stranded in the middle of nowhere.
“Bud, it’s okay. You have plenty of time to stay here. No need to stress about anything. I’ll take care of everything.” He takes a bite of his food.
“I guess so, like you said, I’m supposed to be on vacation. I should be relaxing…But I can’t help but think about the car.”
“If you would like, you can play games on my switch. I know it’s boring to stay here with nothing to do.” He suggests, wanting to distract you from the situation.
“You sure?” You look at him with your eyebrow raised. Why is he offering so much to you without getting anything back?
“Yeah, I’ll get everything for it and hook it up to the TV. I have a couple of things to do today, so you won’t see me much.”
“Oh, what do you have planned today?”
“Just sorting things out and taking trash out. Just busy work, really.” He explains to you.
“Gotcha, well, I won’t bother you with that.” You say, finishing your last bite.
You follow Ian through the back rooms again, going back to his private rooms. He lets you stay in his office while he unhooks it from the TV in his room. He leaves the door to his room cracked open, so you take a peek at it. You see a dresser against the wall, a matching nightstand against the other wall. You see a sliver of the bed. It’s blatantly obvious that it’s been made.
Looking around the office so you don’t get caught peeking, you look at the computer’s background. Fall leaves of different shades cover the screen. Icons in the corners block the leaves, popping out with bright, unearthly colors.
“You like the background I chose?” Ian says, closing his bedroom door behind him.
“Oh, yeah, I thought it looked unique. I guess fall is your favorite season?” You ask, walking through the doorway, Ian holding the door for you. Opening your room, you leave the door open after you.
“Yeah, I like fall, it has the best weather of all the seasons.” He moves the TV in your room, allowing him to connect it to the TV.
You watch him as he plugs in the cords, and it doesn't take long till the screen lights up.
He sits on the bed beside you, showing you all the games he has. He has a variety of games, ranging from Mario Kart to Animal Crossing.
“You have Animal Crossing?” You are surprised he has it. He definitely isn't the type to play that game.
“Oh yeah, it just came with it when I bought it. It came as a bundle; feel free to check any of them out.” He hands you the controllers, letting you pick out a profile picture after he named you “Bud”.
You flip through the options, finding the perfect picture that suits you.
“Aaah, I didn't guess that was your type of game. I feel like you're more of a Red Dead Redemption or Assassin's Creed type of gamer. That's just based on the vibes you give, you could like Mario Kart too.”
“I do like Mario Kart a lot, which, by the way, we should play together. But I do like Red Dead, Assassin's Creed, not as much.” He says, liking how much you know him already.
“Anyways, kiddo, I've got to get back to work now. I'll call my friend and ask him how the car is doing when he's on lunch.” He stands up, walking to the doorway, turning to look back at you.
“Have fun with the switch. Don't stay on it all day, you'll hurt your eyes, bud.” He acts like he doesn't want to leave you, but he has to.
“Thanks. Don't work too hard. Take a break sometime and play Mario Kart with me.” You tell him, wishing you could play with him now.
“Alright, I'll take you up on that. I'll see you soon, bud.” He says his goodbyes to you, closing the door after he leaves.
You play around on the switch, playing a couple of games. You tried to play a couple of others, but it didn’t allow you access to them. A pop-up would claim parental controls got turned on in your account. You tried disabling it, but you didn’t have the code to do so.
Upset that you can’t play a certain game, you get up and stretch, having spent too long staying still. Your stomach growls, demanding food. You place an order at a restaurant, telling them to leave it at the front desk when it's done.
When the food is marked as delivered, you make your way to the front desk. With the bag in hand, you walk through the halls again, leaving your door cracked open. You hope that Ian will come by after you are done eating, and he agreed that he would come by at some point.
You eat your meal, watching a random video you found to entertain yourself. Taking your last bites of the meal, you hear keys rattling, heavy footsteps alongside them.
You don't have any second thoughts about who it could be. Ian is finally done with his day. He’s now ready to play games with you. Feet on the ground, you take steps to the hallway.
“Hey Ian, how was-” You see Ian, blood splattered on his shirt, an unconscious man over his shoulder.
“What happened? Is he okay? I'll call for help.” Sentences coming one after the other, you go into your room, looking for your phone.
“Bud, no. I've got this, you don't need to call anyone.” You hear his voice follow you into your room.
“You have blood all over you, of course, I'm calling for help.” Turn to face him as you speak, looking around afterwards. Spinning around and scanning the room, you finally spot your phone where you ate.
He gets between you and the phone when you head for it, blocking your path.
“Just relax. We don't need to call anyone. He's a bad person. No one will miss him.” He tells you, still guarding your phone.
“No one will miss him? What are you talking about?” You stare at him, feeling like he's a totally different person. He backs up to your phone, takes it, and puts it in his pocket when he reaches it.
“Trust me, bud. I've taken care of you since you've been here. This guy isn't good. I'm doing everyone a favor. Let's just get you settled for now. I'll deal with him after.” He tells you, getting closer to you.
“No, I'm not doing this with you!” You shout at him, making a break for the hallway.
The door closes before you can reach it, trapping you inside with Ian. With his back to the door, he tries talking to you in a calm tone, but you don't hear the words coming out of his mouth. You are too worried about getting away from him, hysterically trying to get past him. Tears make your vision blurry, making it harder for you to fight against him.
“Hey!” He shouts at you, making you flinch and stop your movements.
“I know that was some scary things to see, but I need you to calm down for me. I won't hurt you, okay? You don't have to worry about that. You've been here for some days now, and everything has been great, right?”
You take a few moments to respond, unsure if he actually wants you to talk to him. Making eye contact with him, you see the soft look in his eyes. How could he have done this? Is he secretly planning for you next?
“Come on, kiddo. You can talk to me.” He says softly, gently rubbing your arm.
“Everything has been great.” You say, looking at his chest, afraid to make eye contact with him.
“See? You have been comfortable here.” He tells you, slowly encouraging both of you away from the door.
“Dad will help get you into bed. It's been a big day, we'll talk about the details tomorrow.” He further encourages you to lie on the bed. You follow his directions, worried about what would happen if you don't.
He tucks you into bed, covering you with the pumpkin blanket. He gives you the remote, telling you that you can pick something to sleep to. He walks to the other side of the room, opening the fridge. He takes out the juice that he insisted on giving you, pouring out a glass.
You focus on what you want to watch, wanting to forget about ever coming here. He comes back with the glass in hand, two identical pills in the other.
“It's for your headache. I know you have one, bud.” You take both of them from him, holding them.
“How do I know that this isn’t something else?” You refer to the pills, still sitting in your hand.
“I would have put them in the cup if I didn’t want you to know about them.” He still waits for you to take the medicine. You feel like you can burn holes through them with how hard you stare at them.
“I’m sorry, kid. Dad’s running out of time. I need you to take them, or I’m going to have to help you.” He stands by the bed still, hoping that you will do things on your own terms.
You take the pills yourself, using the juice to help push them down. You finish the juice, not noticing the changes made to it.
“Dad? Why do you keep calling yourself that?” You hand him back the glass, refusing to look at him still.
He takes the cup back to the sick, rinsing it out with water.
“Because you’re just a kid. Don’t you see? I’ve been taking care of you since you got here. You’ve got to stay here with me. I can have you anywhere else but with me.” He tells you, coming back to your side.
You start feeling like the earth is moving below you, your vision sliding and getting blurry. You try sitting up more, but the dizziness impairs you, making your movements sluggish and slow.
“You did something. You lied to me.” Your emotions start to run high, the confusion making it worse.
“Hey, now, let’s just relax.” He encourages you to lie down again, gently pushing you back into the pillows. He adjusts the blanket around you, making sure it covers you.
“I didn’t lie to you, bud, I could never do that. I told you I would put something in the cup if I didn’t want you to know. Dad will be here till you fall asleep.” He stands by your side, shushing you and rubbing your shoulder. Fighting the drugs, you find it harder to keep your eyes open. Ian’s blurry outline stays by you. He talks to you, soothing you as you close your eyes.
“Hey, bud. I got you some breakfast. You can even have it in bed.” You hear Ian’s voice. You open your eyes, remembering the night before. Looking at Ian, you know this isn’t a dream. He holds a tray with your normal breakfast, waiting for you to sit up.
Your brain still feels groggy from the drugs he gave you, causing your movements and thoughts to be slow. You sit up slowly, your body feeling stiff. You rub your eyes, trying to wake yourself more.
“There we are. You slept in quite a bit. That’s okay, you need your rest, kid. You should get all that you can.” He sets the tray on your lap, having already cut up everything for you. You look at it, wondering if he will drug you again.
“Is there anything in this?” You ask him, your throat dry, making your voice raspy.
“No, Dad just had to do that for the night.” He brings one of the chairs from the table by the bed, sits on it, and watches you.
You look at the food, not trusting a word he says.
“You try it then.” You take the tray off your lap, putting it closer to him.
“I’m sorry, I really didn’t want it to happen like that. You were supposed to want to stay here eventually. I didn’t mean to betray your trust.” There’s a somber note in his voice as he comes to the tray. He takes a bite of each food, taking a drink from the cup last.
You made sure he took bites of everything, now deeming everything safe to eat. You take small bites of the food, your throat still hurting from the night.
“So ever since the beginning, you just meant to keep me here?” You ask him, thinking about the time you spent in the hotel. You remember the car being broken into, Ian taking it to his friends, parental controls on the switch, and him calling himself dad.
“I knew I had to take care of you since I saw you in the lobby with that guy. He bothered you too much, so he had to go. You, on the other hand, had to stay. I had to come up with a way to do both fast. So, I did.” He tells you, pausing to think.
“But aren’t you so much happier now? You don’t have to worry about anything else. You can just stay here with me in the hotel. I’ll take care of everything else. You can just relax like how you wanted to. Nothing else will bother you here, or else I will handle it myself.” A dark look appears in his eyes as he continues talking.
“You just expect me to stay here like nothing happened?” You chew slowly on your food.
“Exactly, it’s like nothing before happened. And I promise you, you won’t see anything like last night again.” The dark look gets replaced by a caring one.
“Last night…Is that a regular thing for you?” You can’t help the words that come out of your mouth. You’re a sponge that needs to absorb all the information you can.
You look at him after a few moments have passed, and he looks like any other person, not a psycho. He has been all but caring for you since you arrived here, yet he has another side to him.
“Yes. But I only do it to the people who deserve it. I have a code; I don’t just get anybody. The people I go after are bad, people that shouldn’t be here…You’ll never compare to them. You are the complete opposite of them.” He says, information leaking out of him, you absorb it as fast as you can.
“Don’t you ever worry about any of this. You are my child. You shouldn’t even know about this. We will never talk about this again.” He continues, ending the subject matter. He takes the tray from you, plate and cup now empty.
He leaves it on the table, taking the switch controller from the end table. He flips around the chair, facing the screen now. He logs into the console, pulling up Mario Kart. He gives you the other controller when it’s time to pick out characters.
“Let’s play some games, like how you wanted before.”
