As soon as Arria heard a shout he turned back towards the doors of the theater, horrified by what he saw. He knew Carter would want him to stay inside and to stay safe but he just couldn't let whoever these men were take his fiance away from him. Yet he didn't know what to really do. He ran out the theater and stopped a little way away from the van, "Hey! Leave him alone!"
One of the men hauled Carter over shoulder before tossing him in the back of the van, while another shouted tauntingly, “Why don’t you come get him!” They were quickly loading into the van though, as more and more people’s attention drew to the scene.
Arria clenched his fists at his side and he looked around him. He had to get Carter back and if that meant going with these men then he’d do it. So, he walked up to the nearest guy and punched him in the face before kneeing him in the stomach.
The man let out a noise of surprise, then anger, but on of the other’s pulled him back towards the van. Another man (let’s just say there’s six men total, three in the van already, one pulling the injured guy into the van, and this other one…) swung a punch at Arria’s face in attempt to knock him off guard so he could drag him into the van too.
The guy hit Arria in the face and he stumbled backwards a few steps. He wiped the blood from his mouth and swung another punch at the guy.
The guy took the punch with a grunt, but he already had the clothe out and shoved it against Arria’s mouth and nose, already trying to drag him into the van. Everyone else was loaded up.
Arria struggled for as long as he could but his eye sight faded and his body went limp. He faintly felt his body being put into the van before he couldn’t remember anything.
Carter woke up hours later, tied to a chair. He felt another chair against his, and as he craned his neck and squinted in the too dim lighting, he saw Arria. Panic stuck him, and he pulled against the rope to no avail. It was too tight. He still had his clothes and bag, thank goodness, the latter which he immediately tried to open with his teeth. He didn’t doubt the fact that Arria probably had his tail by now.
Arria’s tail had returned some hours later, ripping Carter’s shorts to shreds when it had. He still hadn’t awoken, to knocked out to feel or know when his tail came back. It wasn’t until a few minutes later did he wake with abounding headache. He groaned quietly before fear set in.
“Arria? Arria?” Carter whispered in a panic, tugging at the ropes restraining him again. They were already starting to rub against his wrists. “Arria, are you hurt? Love?” Why is he even here, he should’ve been safe in the theater…
“I’m alright. Maybe a little sore but nothing terrible…” Arria mumbled, resting his head back against Carter’s shoulder, “What about you? Are you hurt in anyway?” He had to fight to keep his eyes open, eventually just letting them fall shut.
“I don’t think so, what happened?” He asked, still tugging at the ropes. An irritated rope burn appear and his wrist and the other place the ropes rubbed again his skin, but he need to get out.
“You were captured and put in the van. I couldn’t… wouldn’t let them take you so I fought back. With not much luck it seems.” Arria sighed and pulled a little at the ropes only to wince at the pain that shot through him.
Shoot… “Lemme try to get you a potion…” Hopefully no one’s seen him yet… Carter craned his neck down, grabbing the cork of a bottle with his teeth. He pulled it out of the bag carefully, “Mrrrggh,” He made a noise, twisting his neck to touch the bottle to Arria’s shoulder.
Arria grabbed the bottle with his teeth before leaning over to place the bottle in his lap. He brought his tail up a little, which took a lot of effort and held the bottle between his chest and it as he pulled the cork out and spat it to the side. He lifted his head back with the bottle and swallowed, letting the bottle fall to the ground, "Crap… do you have a spare pair of shorts?"
“Uhhh… shoot…” Carter innerly cursed himself. He should’ve been more prepared… He tugged open his bag a little bit more with his teeth, praying he brought something. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw the pair of old shorts, he had probably stuffed them in there a while ago. He tugged them out with his teeth, twisting his head to pass them over to Arria.
Arria leaned his head back and grabbed the shorts with his teeth. He pulled his legs to his chest and somehow managed to get the shorts to his feet. Maneuvering himself so he could pull the shorts on, he did so as quickly as he could with his hands tied, "Thanks…"
Carter started trying to pull at the ropes again, but a door opened from the other side of the room. Three men walked in, one of them smirking to see that they were awake. Carter glared, but none paid it any attention.
“Do we want to take ‘em both out? Or one at a time?” One of them asked another.
“I think we’d make more dollars with a package deal, besides, we could get rid of ‘em across the border faster if they went together.” The other man grunted, and Carter went rigid. What the heck? Human trafficking? Nononononononononono……
Arria went stiff and looked over his shoulder at Carter, “W-What are they going to do?” He asked quietly, hoping the men didn’t hear him.
Carter opened his mouth to respond, but with a click, two of the men held up guns, one pressing against Carter’s temple and the other pressing against Arria’s. The third man bent out and started cutting the ropes. Carter didn’t dare move, in fear of Arria getting shot. Once the ropes were loose, the man dropped them to the floor and the man holding the gun to Carter’s head hauled him to his feet with a vice grip. The last man mirrored it with Arria, and they started to drag them out the door. Carter didn’t dare try to fight.
Arria tried not to show fear, didn;t struggled against the men as Carter wasn’t. Whatever was going to happen he hoped it would happen soon, or not at all. Bad luck, they always seemed to have bad luck whenever they go out and today was no exception apparently.
They dragged the two of them down the hall, and finally into a room with a curtain wall. The third, unoccupied man left, closing the door and locking them in. Carter could hear voices beyond the curtain, murmuring amongst themselves. Carter had a terrible feeling settle in his gut.
The curtains opened to reveal a crowd, all wearing masks. A man in a suit stepped out, a mask of his own, “Hello there, hello there, I’m so happy to see you all here today. We have something special for you, a package deal in fact. These two, healthy, young men.” The man in the suit walked a little bit closer, “Each are healthy and strong, very hard working I’m sure, I’m sure they can be of great service to any of you,” Some hungry grins appeared in the audience, “Now shall the bidding commence? Let’s start it off at a thousand.”
Nonononononononono! Fear soaked Carter, enough so that he reached over and grabbed Arria’s hand. Someone bid. Then another one. Then another one. Hands seemed to go up as the panic swelled in Carter’s chest, and he gave a fearful look at Arria.
Arria returned the look, squeezing Carter’s hand. He tried to suppress his fear but it didn’t work. If the portion wore off at any point then his cover would be blown and they’d be in even deeper trouble then they were currently. He doubted Carter had another potion on him which gave Arria over an hour until his tail came back.
He looked down at his legs then back to Carter, hoping he knew what he was thinking.
Carter nodded, glancing down at Arria’s temporary legs as well. Too-temporary. The bids rocketed higher, and Carter gulped. He didn’t know where they’d end up, how he was supposed to save Arria from this. He at least needed to get Arria out of this. But suddenly, a bid rang out that was higher than the rest of them, higher than what everyone else could ever pay. The bidders went silent, and Carter’s heart stopped. “Going once, going twice, sold!” The man in the suit called, and Carter and Arria were dragged off the stage together. Carter’s hands shook slightly, fear pounding in his chest. I need to get Arria out, need to get him out now.
Arria kept hold of Carter’s hand as the were dragged off stage. He let go suddenly and out of fear and the want to get Carter to safety, whirled on the nearest man and punched him hard in the face.