Page 38 of Fragments

I chuckle. “You can say that again. Probably one of the most complicated people on the face of the earth. Add to that the fact that you can never really tell whether he’s lying or not.”

“Does he lie a lot?”

“Uh, yea. That’s putting it mildly.” I twist over the edge of my bunk to look at him. “Dash, Ren’s a pathological liar. You can’t believe anything he says.”

He gapes up at me, mouth hanging open as realization dawns on his face. I roll back up into my bed, nestling into the starchy fabric of my blanket.

“They’ve done polygraph tests on him before,” I go on, lips quirking nostalgically. “He almost broke the machine. And then there was another time… a few years back, when the Warden ordered Velle to use this device on Ren…”

“Device?” His tone grows audibly curious.

“Like a… male chastity… thing,” I mutter, shaking my head. “It’s a cock cage. Basically, that’s what it is. A cage… for your cock.”

I feel Dash spring up in bed. “A cockcage??What is that, like a cock ring?”

“No.” I chuckle. “It’s literally a cage. It goes around your dick when it’s soft and keeps you from getting hard. There’s even a little padlock on it…”

“Are you fucking serious??” He gasps. “What would be the point of that?”

“Control,” I answer with a shrug. “Sometimes humiliation, I guess… degradation. But mostly control. The one they put on Ren could even shock him with the push of a button, like a shock collar… but for your dick.”

“Jesus…” Dash’s voice goes breathy and contemplative. It’s clear he’s never heard of something like this before. To be fair, I hadn’t either until they did it to Ren. “How long did he have to wear it?”

“Not long. Maybe a week?”

“Aweek?!”

I can’t help but laugh at how outraged he sounds. “Yea, until they realized it didn’t work on him, just like most other forms of research, or experimentation, or torture. The dude’s completely impervious to all of it… He can’t be tamed.”

Suddenly, a wave of melancholy crashes over me, and I’m instantly tired. Joking about Ren’s lunacy is all fun and games… until I’m reminded of how eager I’d been to skip through his minefield picking fucking daisies.

And how much it hurt like hell when I was blown up into a million pieces.

“I wonder how it feels…” Dash whispers, cutting into my inner torment. “To be controlled like that…”

“Not really sure,” I rumble, then yawn. “But it’s probably better when you actuallywantit.”

Sleep is stealing me quickly now that Dash has stopped talking. And within only a couple of minutes, my lids flutter and I drift off.

But I’m yanked back by whining noises.

At first, I think I’m dreaming, my unconscious mind filling my head with panting whimpers. But the more I wake up, the more I realize I’m actuallyhearingthese sounds. Accompanied by shuffling beneath me.

Flopping over the edge of the bunk, I peer down at Dash’s bed to find him rocking in the fetal position, gripping the blankets with his fists. His eyes are still closed, so I have to assume he’s having a nightmare. And I feel bad because he seems really upset.

Should I wake him up? Aren’t you not supposed to do that…?

No, that’s sleepwalking. You can totally wake people from nightmares.

Climbing down from the top, I stand at the edge of the bed, watching Dash squirm. I step closer, my heart thumping and stomach wringing at his ragged breathing and quiet sobs. Reaching out, I’m all ready to shake him awake. But then I pause.

Because it looks like his hips are rocking. And his breathy little noises are starting to sound more like… moans.

Oh God… Is he having a sex dream??

If he is, it’s a pretty hectic one. It’s like he’s half enjoying himself, half absolutely miserable.

He begins muttering something in his sleep, but I can’t tell what he’s saying, jaw straining as if he’s grinding his teeth.