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Juri

Walter was nice, but my real reason for accepting his offer was the hope of securing an apprenticeship.

After spending five hours in his friend’s fancy apartment, I walked out with nine hundred Swiss francs, a few new contacts, and only one thing on my mind: I wanted to get high as quickly as possible.

I had just pulled off an Oscar-worthy performance—Walter never even noticed I was already on something when we met.

But Luca noticed.

Damn it …

On the way home, I read his messages. He had deleted the first two himself, which made me chuckle.

He must have been annoyed that I claimed not to know him, but it was necessary because Walter insisted on absolute discretion.

However, the remaining messages confused me so much that I immediately put the phone away and hurried home.

What does he expect? That I’ll let him know after every job if everything went well? Is he crazy?

The thought that Luca was worried about me felt strange.

Besides Noé, no one had ever cared about me before.

And even Noé had eventually stopped lecturing me because he realized I solved things my way.

But the fact that Luca wrote several messages and obviously feared for me tore me apart.

Not because I didn’t find it sweet. It was super sweet of him.

But I couldn’t let him into my head even more than he already was.

Otherwise, it would make my job impossible.

His dark roots were gone, so he must have had a hair appointment. The platinum blonde suited him so well.

How much I wanted to kiss him when he appeared unexpectedly in front of me. The attraction between us was so obvious. Every fiber of me longed for him. For his lips. His warmth. And yet I couldn’t allow it. Everything had been a lie. I felt betrayed by him, and that pain had given me reason.

At home, I swallowed a pill, hung the scarf on the door handle, and sat with my back to the door. I just wanted to shut down, forget everything. And I did just that. Choked off my breath until my body shook uncontrollably, then I collapsed and plunged into the rush.

***

On Friday, I had a new client. He had messaged me, and after chatting and getting to know each other a bit, he sent me a photo of himself.

He said he didn’t want to be charmed or courted.

He was only interested in sex. That was okay with me because when I had created the schedule and assigned Walter on Thursday, I already knew I needed something on Friday that didn’t require too much acting talent.

I arrived at the hotel on time and waited for my new client.

He showed up ten minutes late and apologized.

He was in his mid-forties, wearing a suit and tie, with his brown hair slicked back with lots of gel.

At first glance, he looked like a banker with his suit and tie, but he had mentioned in his message that he worked for an insurance company.

“I’m so sorry for being late! Juri, right?” His open, slightly mischievous smile was somehow contagious.

“Thomas? Hello. No problem,” I replied and shook his hand.

“I live right around the corner,” he said, placing his hand on my back like a gentleman. “Shall we?”

“We’re not going to the hotel?”

“No. We’re going to my place. It’s the next building over.”

“Ah, I see, I just …”

“Yeah, it was easier this way. The entrance to my house is a bit complicated to describe.”

“Okay.”

He was right. I would never have found the entrance myself.

We took the elevator to the seventh floor and entered his apartment.

It was large and stylishly furnished. In the living room, there was a similar couch setup to Luca’s home.

However, the space had more of a catalog-like feel to it.

At Luca’s place, you could still sense that students lived there.

“Do you want something to drink? A beer? Water? I also have juice.”

“Beer sounds good.” I hung my coat over the back of the sofa and approached the large window front. “Do you live here alone?”

“Yes, it’s a bit expensive, but I feel totally comfortable here.” He stepped beside me and handed me a bottle. “Cheers.”

I clinked glasses with him and took a big sip. “The balcony is huge.”

“It’s awesome in the summer! I’ve hung fairy lights and lounge furniture outside. They’re all stored away at the moment.”

“Cool,” I said, taking another sip of my beer.

I had spent the entire day holed up at home, feeling like a zombie. Only when evening came did I drag myself into the shower and get going with some cocaine. Now, I stood here as if everything were completely normal.

“This is the first time I’ve seen the Hardbrücke road bridge from this perspective,” I said absentmindedly.

“I find things like that really exciting. It’s similar to when a building is torn down. One day you pass by and can hardly remember what it looked like before. It seems so strangely new.”

“Yeah.” I couldn’t help but view the comparison as a metaphor for my own shitty life. “But then they build a new building and everything is back to how it was before. As if the whole thing was just a little disruption.”

Thomas laughed, his eyes sparkling with expectation as he peered at me. I knew that look. It often appeared when the guys were horny but wanted to delay the moment a bit longer. I chuckled and took another sip. However, this time I didn’t take my eyes off Thomas and watched as he licked his lips.

“So, you want it rough?” I asked softly, taking a step closer.

“Really rough,” he replied.

“You know my terms. You agreed to them. You can send me the money via the app or give it to me in cash. I take four hundred upfront.”

“Upfront?” Thomas hesitated.

“I always do it that way with new clients. You never know who you’re dealing with.”

“I understand that, of course,” Thomas said, sounding sympathetic. He took out his phone and sent me four hundred francs. “It’s done.”

“Thank you. Shall we get down to business then?”

I walked to the living room table and placed the beer bottle down. When I straightened up, I felt dizzy. Thomas was there to support me.

“Careful. Are you okay?”

“Oh fuck … what…” My heart raced and a tingling sensation swept over my body. I realized that it wasn’t my circulation. Thanks to the cocaine, I had actually felt pretty good. Absolutely normal. But this was something else.

“What did you …” My tongue felt heavy. “What did you put in my beer? Roofies?”

“Come on,” Thomas said accommodatingly, leading me into the bedroom.

I knew I should have fled as quickly as possible, but it was too late for that now.

Although my gaze was fixed on the entrance door, it swept past me like a train.

When I turned my head and the room around me lagged behind, it took me a moment to regain my composure.

I saw the large bed in front of me and two guys.

Their faces contorted into sinister grimaces as they approached me. One of them appeared familiar, like …

“No … guys … this won’t work. I don’t do … threesomes … uh … foursomes.”

Finally, I managed to free myself from Thomas’s grip and spun around, trying to flee toward the exit. But I felt like I was on a carousel spinning faster and faster, and my limbs no longer did what they were supposed to. I staggered to the side and caught myself on the kitchen counter.

“Shit …”

“Come here, Juri. You can’t go out on the street like this. We’ll take care of you now.”

I tried to concentrate. The voice also sounded familiar.

“No! The deal is off! Let me …”

The two guys grabbed me by the arms and carried me back into the bedroom.

I tried to resist, but it only happened in my head.

The drug had already caused me to lose all control over my body.

The two men lay me down, and soon Thomas was there too, lying next to me, stroking a few strands of hair from my forehead and pretending to comfort me.

One of them seemed to get off on it, as his other hand started wandering, stroking my neck and chest. He spoke to me, trying to reassure me in some twisted way, but I was at their mercy and panicked.

My heart raced, my breath caught, and yet I couldn’t defend myself. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t even manage that. I was trapped in my own body. Thomas leaned in and kissed me. Almost tenderly. He stroked my head again and smiled gently.

What a psycho!

A jolt ran through me as the other two guys began to undress me. One of them had just pulled down my pants.

“No … I don’t want to …” I mumbled.

“Oh, if you don’t want to, then I’m sorry.” Thomas was clearly having way too much fun with this. “Why don’t you try to get into it? You can’t go anywhere anyway. Can you?”

“Please …”

One of the guys delivered a hard slap across my face. My head jerked to the side, and the whole room spun.

Fuck! What the hell!

Then he yanked my head back by the hair, sat on my chest, and shoved his huge cock in my face. “Come on, you slut, you know what to do.”

That voice …

Thomas chuckled and started undressing. He was the only one I would recognize for sure. I could stare at the other two as long as I wanted, but my brain was no longer capable of remembering their faces. But I was certain I knew one of them. I just had to concentrate.

“Come on!” the guy above me growled, pulling harder on my hair.

I felt the other guy behind him lift my legs and pull down my pants. Shortly after, he started assaulting me.

“Fuck … No …”

This time, the guy punched me in the face. “Come on, get on with it!”

I had absolutely no control over my body, but I still took it all in, maybe due to the cocaine I had snorted earlier.

It felt like I was in a fog, but I was still there.

At times, I lost consciousness when one of the guys kept hitting me.

And even then, as they fucked me three at a time, like I was some kind of doll.

Since I couldn’t help myself, I tried to escape by getting lost in my thoughts.

But that too was difficult. With all my strength, I clung to the memory of Luca’s face, but it kept getting pushed away.

By brutal thrusts, loud moans, or blows.

Time stood still, and I was trapped in a whirlwind of heart palpitations, panic, and powerlessness. I couldn’t even scream.

***

My body felt numb as I staggered through the neighborhood. Despite the way I walked, I didn’t seem to attract any attention, as there were plenty of partygoers heading to the nearby clubs. One more drunk person didn’t stand out; except, damn it, I wasn’t drunk at all.

On the other hand, I was secretly relieved that the damn drug was still having an effect, because I sensed something ominous. Once that crap was out of my system, I’d likely fall apart for sure.

When I slowly came to my senses, the three had been discussing another round, but when Thomas saw he had run out of roofies, they dressed me, and he brought me back onto the street. By the time my brain had grasped that I had just survived horror, Thomas was already gone.

Judging by the activity on the street and my knowledge of how long such drugs could last, I estimated it wasn’t yet midnight. Glancing at my phone confirmed nothing. Everything was blurry, and the bright light burned like a laser beam into my eyes.

I reached the Hardbrücke and managed to orient myself. My head was still shrouded in dense fog, and my limbs were far from doing what they should, but I had a goal in mind.

A burning sensation spread across my face. Another sign that the drug was gradually wearing off. I touched my nose and noticed my fingers were covered in blood.

Shit. My head’s gonna feel like it’s been run over by a steamroller soon.

I moved on with difficulty and finally reached the cinema. The Hyde, the club where Noé played with his band, was on the fifth floor above it. With blurred vision, I glance at my phone again. This time I recognized the time. It was shortly after half past eleven.

How much I would have loved to go up to the club to see Noé play, but I barely managed to sit down on a wall.

Sharp pains shot through my back, and the whole world spun, forcing me to slide down to the ground.

Leaning against the wall, I pulled my legs up and rested my head on my knees, consumed by misery.

I sat there, waiting for time to pass, foolishly hoping I’d feel better soon.

With every minute that ticked by, the pain intensified.

The bloody nose and busted lip seemed to sear deeper into my skull, threatening to make it explode.

At some point, the idea of lighting a cigarette occurred to me.

Just the movements I had to make to get it out of my coat pocket sent pain shooting through my entire body, making me feel sick.

The cigarette was already in my mouth, and I fumbled with shaky hands for the lighter when the door to the club opened.

Through the warped veil, I thought I recognized a familiar face, but everything remained blurry, and the world around me moved in slow motion.

“Damn it! Juri-Rock!” Noé called out and rushed over to me. “What happened?”

He sank down beside me and gently pushed some strands of hair out of my face. Even though it was Noé, my body reacted, flinching involuntarily. I couldn’t muster a word and took the unlit cigarette out of my mouth. As I hung my head down, everything began to spin again.

“Fuck,” Noé said, turning to his companion. “Help me out.”

“What are you planning?”

Alex?

“Someone drugged him. We’re taking him with us.”

As Noé took my arm over his shoulder and lifted me up, searing pains shot through my back, making it almost impossible for me to stand on my own.

I couldn’t even hold onto Noé, though I desperately wanted to.

At least I had the chance to rest my head on his neck.

I was bleeding all over Stoney, but it wasn’t the first time.

“It’s alright, Rock. I got you.”

“To the hospital?” Alex asked.

“No. Home.”

“If they gave him roofies, it would still be detectable by now. He has rights.”

“No chance.”

Thanks, Stoney. Still, I couldn't manage to say a word.