Chapter 1Caught By The Beast I Caged

After graduation, I moved to Seattle to start my career. To save on the city’s astronomical rent, I called my brother, Jason, asking if I could crash at his place.

He was away on a month-long business trip but told me I could move in immediately. There was just one condition: I had to look after his "new addition."

"I got a new little black dog," Jason told me over the phone, his voice distracted. "He’s a bit anti-social, so I’ve got him tethered inside. He can be a real brat. If he doesn't listen, don’t be afraid to be firm with him."

I arrived at the old brick apartment building in the Hilltop district. I’d visited once years ago, so I remembered the trick to the place. I found the spare key tucked under a chipped ceramic planter and let myself in.

The layout was exactly as I remembered, but the atmosphere felt heavy, almost stagnant.

"Hey, puppy!" I called out, clicking my tongue. "Where’s the little troublemaker?"

Hearing a faint rustle from the master bedroom, I smiled and pushed the door open. "Who’s a bad boy? Who wants a belly rub?"

The room was shrouded in dim light, the heavy curtains drawn tight. A man was standing by the window. He was wearing a thin, wrinkled white shirt, his frame lean and sharp. Around his ankle, a sleek, black electronic monitor pulsed with a faint red light.

His eyes were vacant, staring into a void I couldn't see. His dark hair fell over a pale, aristocratic face—the kind of face that belonged on a billboard, cold and unreachable.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice a low, jagged rasp.

I slammed the door shut, my heart hammering against my ribs. I pulled out my phone and pulled up Jason’s last message.

New addition. Black hair. Tied up.

Everything matched.

It took me exactly thirty seconds to accept the horrifying reality: my brother was a psychopath. He had kidnapped a grown man—a beautiful, blind, broken man—and was keeping him like a pet.