Who: Rhett. Where: In his room. When: Early morning.
When Rhett was lucky enough to be dragged into unconsciousness by his fatigue, he was able to enjoy several hours of sleep... until his brain started to process all his worries from the day before, and eventually he was jolted awake.
While his mind was still hazy, he continued to stay in bed, curled up into a ball with the blanket covering his head, partially suffocating him. At times like this, when the silence was overwhelming, his loneliness was intolerable and pulled to the surface and he had no choice but to acknowledge it. Back home, he would just blank his mind out and go on a walk, or even once in a blue moon hit someone up and fuck around for a meaningless one night stand--all in an attempt to distract himself from what he really wanted. But here, he had neither of those options, not that they would detract his worries from his current situation anyhow.
He wished he had someone he could confide in.
But Rhett had cut himself off from that option a very long time ago.
When the hot air over his face was too much, he sat up and threw the blankets off... and immediately noted the blinking light on his computer. It didn't matter how frustrated he was with their situation, he knew the drill; either he did what They wanted and continued on, or he didn't do what They wanted and...
Heading over to the computer, he turned on his monitor with a heavy hand and almost choked on his breath as he read the message.
The witch hunt has started.
We know what you did. What is it worth to you to keep that information secret?
A sudden swell of anxiety practically crushed his heart. He could feel its rapid beating in his throat, and his fingers simply moved automatically when he exited out of the message.
Even when he wasn't sure if he was breathing, Rhett internally assimilated the names of all the conspirators, filing away the first four digits of each of the subject numbers to look up later. He was in danger. He needed to know who was against him.
But as the video continued on, he felt the pit in his stomach growing bigger and bigger. Each second passed by so slowly in comparison to his racing thoughts.
They're going to find out. I told them I'm a fucking locksmith. A locksmith? Who the fuck is a locksmith? Fuck, Marco already knows. Fuckfuckfuck if they find that out they'll know it's me. They'll figure it out. It was one thing to be in a jail where everyone was serving time for a reason. It was a whole other matter when you were the one singled out. Of course they'd turn against him. Their trust would be completely abolished. They'd lock him up, and then who would give a fuck about him?
Rhett could feel himself locked in that confined, exitless room with no one around. No one to hear his screams, no one to let him out no matter how hard he rattled the bars or beat the walls. His captors would be people who had no reason to keep him around, which was somehow an even worse situation than the one he was already in. He would be absolutely and completely powerless with no distractions whatsoever.
Rhett smothered his face in his shaking hands, feeling his breaths hitching as he tried to quell the erupting panic inside of him.
They may turn against you, but we could keep you safe. Or we could reveal your sordid history.
Do you want us as an ally, or as an enemy? You could be quite comfortable here. You would only need perform a few favors for us from time to time. We would not ask much. Certainly not as much as your last employer did. The decision is yours.
We’ll be watching. Speak your choice when you have made it.
Do not speak to anyone of what we have shown you. If you do, you will be severely punished.
Don’t wait too long to make a decision.
There was no choice but to accept, but what if they figured it out on their own? They couldn't guarantee they wouldn't. If they did enough snooping around, they would eventually put the pieces together and he'd be done. But that... that was the game he'd been playing from day one. That was something he could try to predict and act accordingly to. Rhett would have to be more careful, he couldn't let himself get comfortable or negligent... Even if it was an issue that someone in the house knew, he doubted Marco would say anything, after all the guy had secrets of his own.
"You already know I'm going to accept," he whispered unsteadily. "You try to act like I have a choice..." Rhett didn't know the extent of what They would reveal about him, whether it was his thieving history, or his involvement in getting an innocent killed, but he couldn't risk any of that. "You keep up your end of the bargain and I'll keep up mine."
Even after Rhett spoke, he continued to sit in his computer chair, still drawing deep breaths to push down his fear. He couldn't act scared around the others. He couldn't act like anything was wrong. They would figure it out. He needed to protect himself. The idea of one of the others approaching him and pushing him into a corner made his blood run cold... And as if They had been reading his mind, a new message popped up in front of him.
He didn't even get past the second line before he immediately knew what he wanted. What he needed. He needed a way to protect himself from the others. An insurance policy. One more secret he could use to keep the upper hand.