The man stumbled back with surprise, the other man lifting his gun up and getting ready to shoot- “Wait! WAIT!” Carter took the moment where the men were distracted and grabbed Arria, turning and running toward something the curtained room and the crowd. Only to bump into another person. It was a woman with many curves and a too-revealing silk outfit, but she was wearing a mask of her own. She was the one who had ‘bought’ them. And she already had a guard of her own grabbing Carter and shoving him against the wall.
"NO! Don't hurt him!" Arria was ready to do whatever it takes to get Carter out, "I'll do whatever you want just let him go." He'd use himself as a bargaining chip as long as his fiance was safe. Even though he'd probably be killed as soon as his tail came back. Or put on show.
“No, let him go!” Carter struggled, but the man pressed him harder against the wall. He clipped handcuffs on his wrists while he was at it. The woman let out a laugh, looking Carter up and down, then looking at Arria. The guard watched her for instruction.
“Let’s get him to the car, I really only bought them for him,” The woman gestured at Carter, a glint of hunger in her eyes, “And him…” She studied Arria for a moment, “Well, he’ll be good leverage, it looks like.” The woman turned on her heel, walking down the hall. The man hauled Carter up, forcing him to walk and follow. But hope glimmered in his chest, because Arria wasn’t being shackled or forced, and he could have a chance to run. Carter prayed he took the chance.
Arria glared at the back of the woman's head and the guard that was pulling Carter away from him. he wasn't going to let them take his Carter away, not after the same thing had happened but in reverse not too long ago. He knew his tail was going to return extremely soon but… Carter came first. So he followed.
The woman took them out into the brisk cold night air, only looking back once to see Arria was following. A confident, knowing look came on her face, Carter could see it beneath the mask, and he cursed himself over and over again. I should’ve found a better way to keep Arria safe, I should’ve packed more potions, I should’ve, I should’ve, I should’ve. Carter clenched his fists, pulling at the handcuffs to no avail. A limo pulled up, and the woman slipped inside. The guard shoved Carter in ahead of him, sitting him down across from the woman and locking him in with the seatbelt. The guard sat beside the woman, leaving a spot open for Arria beside Carter.
Arria slipped inside the limo shortly after the guard and sat down next to Carter. He put his hands in his lap, fiddling with them before he looked over at Carter. Not much time left, his tail was going to come back and then he wouldn't be able to help Carter. Gosh he wished he could do more, he was so useless.
The door closed and the limo started moving, and Carter was only half angry at Arria for not running. The other, selfish half was immensely grateful.
“So,” The woman drawled, taking off her mask. She had thin lips and a pointed nose, a look of greed in her eyes, “I suppose it’s time to introduce ourselves. My name is Maria.” She crossed her legs, leaning back, but- Her unusual emerald eyes always seemed to always be looking at Carter, only glancing at Arria every now and then. Carter was feeling more uncomfortable every second, “I suppose you both are confused?”
"You suppose? We've been kidnapped and sold off, of course we're confused." Arria said, trying to keep a cool on his anger. Half an hour until his tail came back. His violet eyes stared directly at Maria, trying to not glare at her but failing miserably.
Maria had the audacity to smirk at Arria, “You’re too cute. Now, I’m just going to go ahead and assume that you two didn’t know about the underground -er- pleasure sales, and-“
“What?” Carter demanded with a snarl, eyes wide with anger as he tried to jumped out of his seat, but the seatbelt held him down. I have to get Arria out of here, now, now, now-
"Carter…" Arria placed a hand on his arm to calm him even if it was just a little, "Pleasure sales? That's why you… bought us?" Nononononononononono….
“Not quite. Well, yeah, a little bit of course,” Maria explained, laughing a little bit. Carter hated that laugh already. “But I buy for different reasons. You see, my family -well, mostly me- run drugs from my home country to yours. And though I just love enslaving my own people, it’s a lot easier for your people to sneak across the border.” She waved a hand through the air, “So I buy across the border too. And I just got two new hires, although I only plan for one of you to be a runner.” She gave Carter a look.
Rage flickered in his gut, yanking against the handcuffs and wishing he could defend Arria better, to put himself in Maria’s way. “You are not raping him.” He snarled, and Maria only laughed again. He wanted to strangle her.
“Please, he’s going to be the runner. I prefer blondes.”
"You're not raping him either," Arria glared at her, utter rage and fear pounding through him. Curse him for not being able to do anything to stop her. Curse him for being a bloody merman and not human. Twenty minutes left and there was nothing he could do stop the change. They were screwed and Arria was so utterly useless he couldn't do anything to get Carter away from her.
Carter’s mouth parted in shock for a second, making Maria only laugh again. She opened her mouth to say something else but the car came to a halt, a knock on the door. “Looks like we’re at the border, loves,” Maria explained with a grin as the guard opened the door and both of them stepped out to talk with some people, but the door closed before Carter could catch any words.
He looked with wild, fearful eyes at Arria, “We need to get you out, as soon as they open that door run and don’t look back, it might be your only chance before you turn.”
"There's no point, Carter…" Arria shook his head a little, "I don't know where we are and all that's going to happen is I'm going to get my tail back in the middle of who knows where… I have just over five minutes I'm not sure…" He rested his head back against the seat and closed his eyes, "And I'm not leaving you."
“No… I’ll be fine, I’ll find a way out, just please, Arria… You know they’ll do so much worse if you change in front of them.” Carter protested (autocorrect oof), then tried to yank against his handcuffs, against the seat belt, against everything. He needed to get out, he needed to get Arria out. He needed to try to ignore what Maria had said …I only plan for one of you to be the runner… I prefer blondes… Carter didn’t realize he started crying until a tear dripped off his face.
Arria opened his and leaned over to Carter, kissing away the tear that had fallen, "Hey, I'll be fine. I'd go through whatever they're gonna do to me then leave you alone." He said softly, taking Carter's hands in his own. He was about to say something else when his legs started to tingle. Only, it hurt. It hadn't hurt before so why now? "C-Carter?"
“What…? Oh sh-t, nonononononononono,” Carter cursed under his breath, yanking at the handcuffs again. The worse part of it was that the door was starting to open. Carter struggle against his restraints again, trying to put his body over Arria’s tail- trying to hide it. But his seat belt held him back, so he could only watch in terror for Arria.
It didn't take long for the change to happen, but it hurt, a lot. Arria threw his head back against the seat with a hiss of pain, the shorts ripping as his tail came back in full view. His tail felt to heavy, to dry. He was panting and still in pain and needed water. Need to swim needed to do anything as long as it involved water.
Maria entered with a gasp, a flash of lust entering her eyes. Carter let out a growl, struggling against his restraints, “Don’t hurt him. If you lay a finger on him, you’re dead.”
Maria quickly ushered her guard in, and quickly closed the door. She looked Arria up and down, greed written all over her face. “This is quite a fine surpri-“
“You aren’t allowed to hurt him, and let me out of these d-mn handcuffs,” Carter snarled, yanking at them again. He just wanted to make sure Arria was okay, he wanted to take him back to the ocean, he wanted to get him somewhere safe.
Arria lifted his head and rested it against Carters shoulder, panting, “Why’d that hurt so much?” He whispered, more to himself then anything. Everything felt to heavy, to dry. The space felt to small and cramped and he could barely move his tail. He tried moving but it just hurt. He needed water, and quickly.
“What can I do?” Carter asked softly, wishing he could hold Arria, wishing he could do something. Maria only watched with amusement and greed in her eyes. Carter wanted to rip out those d-mn eyeballs. He wanted Arria safe.
“I… I don’t know…” Arria took a few moments to clam his breathing, retuning it and his heart rate back to normal, “I-I need water, need to swim.”
Carter shot a pointed look at Maria. She had the audacity to roll her eyes, “Why should I?”
And Carter spun a lie in his head -at least he hoped it was a lie- “He’ll die without water, sure he can breathe, but his body needs salt water to function.”
Maria frowned, then gestured to the guard. He stood then unclamped the handcuffs from Carter’s wrists. He was immediately unclipping his seat belt and grabbing Arria’s hands, but the guard pushed Carter away and clamped the metal cuffs on Arria’s wrists. And Maria slid to the front of the vehicle, telling the driver, “Go to the coast.”
Coast. Water. Coast. Water… Arria didn’t care about the cuffs on his wrists, maybe he would have if he wasn’t focused on getting to water. Even though Carter might not know it, he had spoken truth. He heaved a breath and relaxed a little into Carter, closing his eyes.
Carter held onto Arria, trying to offer as much comfort as he could while glaring daggers at Maria. She only smirked, “So how on earth did this come to be?” She raised her eyebrows.
Carter only frowned, tightening his hold on Arria, “None of your business.”
