Prologue

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He was trembling as the police officer tried talking to him. He couldn't register any of the words that were being spoken, he could only stare at the nothingness of the floor. He couldn't even feel the blood that was still dripping down his thighs and the cuts that littered his body or the blood that had dried on his clothes and skin. He felt lost and his head hurt from trying to repress the hours of torture he faced. The emptiness in the pit of his stomach grew with every moment that passed by. He felt dead inside and his mind was screaming at him to reach out to his only friend - who felt like a brother - Felix. He was his only family, the only person who would care about the events that had recently happened to him.

"Do we know the victim's name?" One of the officers asked the policeman trying to reach Jack, who remained unmoving other than the slight tremble that was slowing becoming more intense.
"Sean McLoughlin. All the mail - looks like unpaid bills - are addressed to him. I assume he lives alone," was the response. They had received a call from an elderly woman who had been going for a walk with her granddaughter when the two heard human screams. They had stuck around until the first responder arrived, soon leaving after answering a few questions that they didn't truly have an answer to. The pair were in tears upon hearing the screams, knowing there was nothing more they can do. The pain in the man's screams were so intense, the officers worried it might've scarred the witnesses.

"Ambulance is on the way," A different officer said, coming into the room. He had inspected the house, looking for signs of the attacker and taking notes of any evidence left behind. "Still hasn't said anything?"
"No," The one trying to reach him sighed, then turned back to the victim. "Sean, can you hear me?"
No response.
"If he doesn't snap out of it, I don't know how we're going to be able to find who did this," The officer who called the ambulance said.

"He was clearly sexually assaulted," The officer that discovered his name noted. "No semen?"
"It seems as though there was some on the bed and floor, it's still wet from being cleaned up. Looks like they hurried up."
"Might've heard the elderly woman sobbing outside."
"It seems like he tried cleaning McLoughlin, there's dry blood and rips all over his clothes, except for his pants, the attacker must've tried covering his tracks," An officer noticed, the other two nodding in agreement. Sirens could be heard outside of the house, which triggered one of the three officers to aid them and lead them to Jack.

"Caucasian, male, appears to be in his mid-twenties, green and brown hair, blue eyes," The paramedic voiced aloud while trying to quickly examine Jack before taking him to the ambulance. An officer was writing down all the descriptions the paramedic was saying. "Definite internal bleeding, lots of random scrapes and scars all over his body, major bruising on most of the visual skin, silent."
"Why isn't he talking?" The officer who had arrived first asked.
"The severity of the trauma he faced caused him to go into shock," The paramedic bit their bottom lip. "In some cases I've seen, they remain stuck that way so long that the doctors ship them off to a mental unit in a different hospital."
"Better hope he can snap out of it," The officer sighed and helped the medic guide Jack to the gurney to wheel him into the ambulance.

"I don't know if he will," The paramedic said softly. "Those cases I was talking about... none of them were quite as bad as this. He was clearly being abused for hours, I can't tell exactly when it started, but it had to be at least a good six hours, according to the color of some of the dried blood here and there."
"Nobody deserves this," One of the other officers said grimly, the others in the room nodding in agreement.
"Please, officers, do whatever you can to find the asshole who did this. Anyone who can hurt someone this badly, probably planning to hurt him more, cannot walk the streets. They need to be in prison," The paramedic said before beginning to wheel Jack out of the house.

"Sean?! Sean! What the hell happened?! Jack!" Felix yelled for his friend upon seeing the paramedic beginning to wheel him out. Two of the three officers heard him and ran outside to hold him back, preventing him from seeing his friend. "What happened?!"
"What is your relation to the victim?" The officer asked and Felix's eyes widened.
"Victim?! Is he okay?" Felix gasped, his body beginning to tremble with worry. His eyes grazed towards Jack, but couldn't see the shape he was in, as the paramedic covered him with a blanket.
"No serious injuries, but that's all I can say," The officer said.
"I'm his boyfriend!" He quickly lied, not knowing what else to say in order to find out more. "Please, tell me what happened to him."
"The most I know is that Mr. McLoughlin had been sexually assaulted multiple times. He refuses to speak, so it may take us time to find out more. The doctor will explain the extent of his injuries," The officer replied, hating that he had to tell Sean's 'boyfriend' such terrible news.
"There were signs of a break in, do you know who would want to hurt him?"

"No, at least, I don't think so," Felix nearly tripped over his own words, his heart breaking and tears filling his eyes as he thought about what Jack must've gone through.
"Do you mind coming down to the station? We'd like to clear you as a suspect. We will keep you updated on Sean's position once he arrives at the hospital and us to the station," The officer explained and Felix desperately wanted to scream 'no!" and jump into the ambulance with Jack; to hold him, hug him, try to snap him out of the quiet state they claimed he was in, but he knew he couldn't, so he nodded slowly.

"Okay," He nearly whispered, the tears that reached his eyes finally trickling slowly down his face as he thought of his abused friend.

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