Been a long and busy hiatus, but here's my last story of 2022. Thanks again to @ZachNotTaken for the one shot request/idea. Enjoy! -JM
*Trigger warning: Brief attempted SA.
"Dude, please just be careful," said Sam. "Your late night walks usually don't end well."
"I'll be fine Sam," said Colby. "I know we haven't been in Vegas that long but I know this area well. I walk this same route every morning."
"Maybe I should go with you," said Sam.
"No, it's cool," said Colby. "Kat is already on her way back home. I'll take my time so you two can have a little alone time." He smirked at Sam.
"Dude, TMI," said Sam.
"Bye," said Colby. Colby stepped outside, zipping up his jacket.
Vegas nights certainly weren't as warm as the LA ones. They weren't far from the strip so Colby became used to hearing the Vegas night life. Colby rounded the second corner of the route he normally took, when suddenly he stopped. He had that feeling. Sometimes he would get it when during their haunted investigations, that feeling that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Like he was being watched. He stopped and looked around. He couldn't see anything unfamiliar so he kept walking. Just as he rounded his last corner, he had bumped into someone. A girl. He saw her rubbing her head where he had bumped it.
"I'm so sorry," said Colby. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she said. "It was my fault, I should've watched where I was going, I'm such a klutz."
"No, you're not," said Colby. "Accidents happen."
The girl smiled at him. "You really are so sweet," she said.
"Thanks," said Colby curiously. Why had she said it like that? "Anyway, I should be going."
"Wait!" said the girl. "I really didn't mean to bump into you but I do know who you are. The secrets out. Would you mind if I grabbed a quick pic? Please?"
Colby looked at her, noticing the XPLR shirt she was wearing. He gave her a small smile. "Of course," he said.
Colby went up beside her and she held up her phone to take a selfie. Colby gently rested his arm on her, like anyone would while taking a photo. The flash of the camera went off and Colby felt a stinging sensation in his neck. His vision suddenly went blurry, before he blacked out completely.
Colby's eyes shot open. He panicked for a moment as he looked around at his surroundings. He was in a small room. It was very dusty and full of old furniture. It was definitely abandoned. He would know. Colby tried to stand but noticed pretty soon that he couldn't move. He looked up at his hands. They were chained to a wall. His feet were free, so he could stand if he wanted to, but his hands were secure. Colby tried to pull at them, but they wouldn't budge. He also noticed that his shirt and jacket were gone. He was bare chested. Colby's eyes went wide as he looked down at his torso, seeing the aftermath of what looked like deep cuts on his stomach. He looked up, noticing the mirror in front of him, his eyes went wide in horror as he realized that the cuts weren't just cuts. Someone had carved a word into his torso: MINE.
Colby didn't understand how he didn't bleed out. Someone had gone to great lengths to not only carve this word into his skin, but to make sure they took great care of it to. It would definitely scar, but maybe that's what they had wanted. He also noticed the board right beside the mirror. The board that was covered with pictures of him. Pictures from photoshoots, videos, Instagram. It was endless, and it looked like it was only growing. There were so many photos whoever did this had to start putting them around the board instead of on it.
