< Read Part 1 | Next > | Rainwater and Gasoline Masterlist
Tags: kidnapping, captivity whump, carewhumper, restraints, manipulation | Words: 977
The moment the trunk popped open, Noah gasped.
Reid was curled inside—limp and silent.
“No. No fucking way. You killed him? You killed—!”
Ezra was on him in an instant, one hand slapping over Noah’s mouth, the other fisting in his hair.
“Shut the fuck up. What is wrong with you.” Ezra’s voice was a hiss. Controlled. Terrifying.
“And no. He’s not dead, by the way. So calm the fuck down.”
Through his panicked breathing, Noah noticed the way Reid’s body was positioned. Hands behind his back. Ankles zip-tied. Why would Ezra need to tie up a corpse?
He slowly tried to calm his breathing. He’s not dead. He’s not dead.
“I’m gonna let you go now,” Ezra hissed. “But you better fucking stay quiet.”
Noah squeaked and nodded around the hand.
Ezra released him. Noah braced himself against the edge of the car, dizzy with fear—and whatever this was. Something beyond fear. Something slipping beneath his skin and burrowing deep.
Ezra gestured to the trunk. “Grab his feet.”
For a second too long, he just stared at them—Reid’s legs, zip-tied at the ankles.
Alive, Ezra had said. He was alive.
Noah reached forward, his fingers brushing cold fabric.
Yes. Solid legs. Human legs.
Not a corpse. Not a corpse.
But they weren’t Ezra’s hands on Reid’s body. They were his.
He was a part of this now.
He cast a quick glance around the lot.
No one. Just the wet gleam of concrete under the streetlight. The rain made everything blurry. Thank god. He didn’t see any cameras. No red blinks. No reflective domes overhead.
He did. Ezra took the shoulders.
Together, they hauled Reid out of the trunk and into the dark.
The lock clunked, echoing in the rain-soaked silence.
A heavy metal door creaked open.
How Ezra managed to haul Reid’s upper body with one arm while unlocking the door with the other wasn’t something Noah had room to think about.
He was too busy squeezing limp legs through quickly soaking denim.
Too busy praying this wasn’t a corpse.
Too busy not thinking about murder trials. Or prison time. Or whatever kind of sentence they’d give for something like this.
The warehouse swallowed him with the kind of cold that made Noah's skin feel like it didn’t belong to him anymore. The air smelled like old chemicals and damp concrete. Ezra didn’t turn on the lights—just flicked on the flashlight from their phone, sweeping it over the floor.
“Short-term rental,” they muttered, like that explained anything.
The main room was massive, wide-open, and gutted. Paint peeled from the walls. Graffiti from someone else’s bad night bled through the drywall like bruises. The floor was littered with the leftovers of something—maybe a party. Maybe squatters. A cracked folding chair lay on its side. An empty beer can. A lone sneaker.
In one corner, Noah swore he saw what looked like dried blood spattered low on the wall, just above a pile of discarded zip ties. Or maybe it was rust. Or maybe his brain was starting to rewrite what he saw into something worse.
Ezra said nothing. Just kept walking.
They dragged Reid through the open space, his body heavy between them. Ezra led the way to one wall of the room, flashlight beam bobbing across the floor.
Somewhere overhead, a motion-activated light buzzed to life. A single fluorescent bulb cast shadows across the concrete, flickering like it couldn’t decide if this place deserved to be seen.
“This way,” Ezra muttered. “Bring him over here.”
Noah said nothing. He was too focused on not throwing up.
They reached the far wall. Ezra dropped Reid without warning, letting him slump sideways to the floor like a discarded doll. Noah let go slower, more hesitantly, like if he were gentle enough it might undo what was already happening.
Ezra crouched low, scanning the base of the wall. That’s when Noah saw it: A bolt embedded in the concrete. A heavy length of chain, coiled loosely beside it. A discarded Master Lock, still half-closed around one link.
Ezra picked up the chain with quiet purpose—like it was exactly where they expected it to be.
“Cut these,” they said, nodding at Reid’s bound wrists.
Ezra held up a pocket knife. “So we can get him upright. I’m not keeping him folded like a suitcase.”
Noah didn’t move, so Ezra turned Reid over and cut the zip tie themselves, the plastic snapping loud in the echo chamber of the warehouse.
Then Ezra stood. Held up the chain. “Hold him up.”
Noah braced Reid’s upper body up against the wall, feeling how limp he still was. Glad he was at least still warm.
Ezra slipped one wrist into a pair of metal handcuffs—thick, clunky, police-grade—and with practiced ease, snapped the other side through the chain loop and locked it tight.
Reid’s arms were raised awkwardly above his head, suspended from the bolt like he’d been hung there for display.
Noah took two shaky steps back.
He stared at the cuffs. The chain. His own hands. He’d helped. He’d helped Ezra do this.
His stomach churned. He wiped his palms on his jeans, but it didn’t help.
Ezra straightened. They looked pleased.
“You did well,” they said.
“I mean it.” Ezra stepped closer, their voice low, gentle now.
Their hand brushed Noah’s back, like this had been a team win.
Behind them, Reid groaned.
I already have plans for part 3… we’re gonna learn a bit about their shared past but i would LOVE to hear any theories <33
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