Warning: This chapter contains cursing and mature themes such as violence and abuse(physical and mental) of a minor, which might be triggering. Reader discretion is advised.

The following day, Aiden woke up when cold water was thrown on him. He gasped and saw a furious-looking Dylan was standing in front of him. 

" You seem to like sleeping a lot," Dylan says, gritting his teeth. Though his words felt normal, it was meant to be sarcastic.

Dylan never expected Aiden to go against his orders blatantly. The submissive boy he had seen the past few months was missing. Maybe Aiden is getting too comfortable with this luxurious lifestyle. Indeed Dylan was too easy on him. Dylan felt like losing control over his possession, and he absolutely couldn't allow that to happen. 

" Hadn't I said you are not allowed to sleep? Do my words hold no value anymore? "

Aiden just shook his head, fearing the worst. He even forgot Dylan was expecting him to respond through words.

Dylan took it as another act of disobedience and screamed, " Now you won't even respond to me." 

Aiden remembered Dylan's warning the previous day and hurriedly said, " I-I am s-sorry, I-I was awake, but I d-didn't know when I-I fell asleep."

" If you like sleeping so much, then you can do just that," spat Dylan and held Dylan's arm and dragged him inside the room. 

Before Aiden could react, he was pushed inside the closet, and the door was locked. Aiden was panicking in the dark while Dylan said, " Enjoy your sleep."

Aiden banged the door continuously and begged, "P-Please open the door. D-Don't lock me here. I won't do it again. I-I will do as you say."

" Oh, you definitely will. I will make sure of that, " said Dylan and left the room, locking the door. Aiden was banging and screaming, but nobody could hear him anymore.

Aiden was locked in the dreadful cage for a long time, which felt like a lifetime. His clothes were wet, but thanks to the closet, he could change into dry clothes.

Aiden's hands and legs were cramped due to lack of movement, and the only solace was the sliver of light coming from the crack underneath the closet. There was no food nor water. 

The previous night he was punished not to sleep, and now he couldn't do anything other than sleep. It was hard to decide which was worse. Why can't his life be normal? Why couldn't he spend a minute without worrying about the repercussions? With such thoughts lingering in his head, he finally did the only thing he could do to avoid his discomfort and fear; sleep.

As Dylan awoke the next morning, he opened the closet. Aiden closed his eyes at the sudden flash of light that rushed into the closet. He was locked there for one whole day, and he was already awake since he was tired of sleeping. 

" Why were you awake? I thought you liked to sleep," Dylan asked Aiden sarcastically.

The only thing Aiden could manage to say was, "I-I'm sorry."

" No, If you want to continue to sleep, I can oblige," smirked Dylan.

Afraid of being locked inside again, Aiden jumped up in a hurry to escape the closet, but he fell as soon as he stood up due to a lack of mobility in his legs. 

Dylan did not help rather, he was pleased with Aiden's pitiful state. 

Aiden was almost in tears and begged, " I-I won't disobey you anymore. P-Please don't lock me up again."

" You better. Now get ready for school. I don't want to be late because of you," saying this, Dylan went out of the room. Aiden got up and slowly walked into the bathroom.

After that incident, Aiden was determined not to disobey Dylan again since he did not want to undergo Dylan's weird punishments.

At school, finally, Aiden had made a friend whose name was Jace. He came from a middle-class family and got into this elite school through a scholarship. Before Aiden came to his class, Jace was the topper. He was impressed with Aiden's skills and approached him. Initially, Aiden was reluctant, but slowly they got along. Soon, they were good friends who were always together at school. 

As months passed, Jace insisted on visiting Aiden's home. He had never seen a mansion before, so he just wanted to see it once. Aiden avoided this topic as much as possible, but Jace was persistent.

At Jace's continuous requests, Aiden even tried to speak to Dylan to ask his permission to invite his friend home, but he never got the chance. 

One particular day, after school Dylan and his friends left to hang out at the mall, so Aiden had to go home by walk. Jace accompanied Aiden, and as he saw the huge Mansion, he requested to have a look. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hunt were out of town, so Aiden decided to take the risk. 

Jace was ecstatic, and Aiden gave him a quick tour around the house. Everything seemed fine until it was time for Jace to go home. While he was leaving, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt were back from their trip.

Mr. Hunt did not give it much thought, but Mrs. Hunt was furious. She called for Aiden, and the look on her face was enough for Aiden to quiver in fear.

As Aiden approached her, she said, " Looks like you are getting too comfortable here. Do you think this is your house?"

Aiden shook his head and stuttered, "N-No."

" Then why did you get your friend to our house? With whose permission?" screamed Mrs. Hunt.

Aiden backed away in fear. He was almost in tears now but managed to say the words, " I-I am s-sorry."

" I think you don't know your place yet. I had already told you we adopted you to assist our son. You are a servant here, Dylan's personal server boy, nothing more, nothing less. Do you think servants invite their friends to their master's home?"

Aiden shook his head vigorously while Mrs. Hunt spat, " Then how did you? We are not at home, and you are getting your friends here. How many times has this happened before?"

" T-This was the f-first time, " Aiden whispered.

" How can I trust you? We are so generous to you by allowing you to stay in this Mansion, giving you good food to eat, and sending you to a prestigious school, but what do we get in return? You are scheming behind our backs. God knows what else have you planned," hissed Mrs. Hunt.

Aiden couldn't fathom how come a small matter of inviting his friend home had taken such a turn. 

" I-I swear I d-didn't plan anything. I-I am sorry. I won't do it again." Aiden cried out with tears in his eyes.

Mrs. Hunt was annoyed at seeing the crying boy. " This is my final warning to you. If you do something like this again, I will personally send you back to where I got you from."

Aiden nodded, and Mrs. Hunt ordered Aiden to get out of her room.

Aiden hurried to his room, believing he had escaped a severe punishment, but his problems were far from over.

When Dylan came back home, his Mom did not waste a minute telling him about what happened. She even went on to say that his decision to adopt Aiden was wrong, and he was not successful in controlling the boy as he had claimed he would be. 

Dylan's pride was hurt. How could his decision be wrong? He was confident he had tamed Aiden then why did he disobey him again? Was he too lenient on him? 

Dylan thought about the last time he had punished Aiden; it was a few months back. He suddenly realized something. Aiden must have felt at ease because Dylan was too good to him. For the past few months, Aiden was doing all his works as a routine, so even Dylan never felt the need to punish him. As a result, Aiden had taken him for granted. The lack of punishment from Dylan had made Aiden so reckless. To maintain his control, he should make sure to keep reminding him who the boss is here. It's all a game of fear. Aiden would never think of opposing Dylan if he still harbored the fear towards Dylan in his body, mind, and soul.

Determined to succeed, Dylan entered Aiden's room, banging the door so loudly Aiden jumped on his bed. Dylan didn't say a word. He just grabbed Aiden's arm and dragged him out of the room. 

Aiden was too scared to ask where he was taking him. He was taken to a section of the Mansion he had seen only once on the first day he came to this house. 

After walking for a few minutes, Dylan opened a door and threw Aiden inside. Before Aiden could protest, the door was banged shut. 

The room was pitch dark, and Aiden couldn't see anything. He didn't know which room it was, how big it was, and why he was brought here. He stood near the door for a few minutes and waited for Dylan to return, but he didn't come back. 

Aiden expected an even harsher punishment after seeing Dylan's angry face, but it looks like he got lucky. By now, he had grown accustomed to being locked over the years by his parents, Mrs. Cecilia and even Dylan. 

Aiden slowly moved around the room, stretching his arms in front of him, looking for a bed or a chair. He couldn't find anything. After a few seconds, his hands touched the wall. He walked ahead, placing a hand on the wall, hoping to find something. He moved left, right, front, back everywhere, but the room seemed empty. One side of the wall had a huge mirror on it. He guessed the room must be pretty big. Finally, he sat down, leaning his back towards the wall, and relaxed. 

After a few minutes of pin-drop silence, Aiden heard a hissing sound. He was suddenly alert and concentrated keenly on hearing the sound. After a few seconds, he heard the sound again, and this time it sounded like a snake or a rat, and what was worse was that it was coming from the same room. 

Aiden was so scared he stood up in fear. He didn't know where to go and what to do, but he just wanted to get away from whatever it was. Aiden was too scared of insects and rats because when he was 5, his parents had locked him in the bathroom infested by cockroaches and rats.

The sound intensity increased, and Aiden moved frantically around the darkroom, looking for the door. 

When he managed to find the door, he banged on it and screamed for Dylan. " P-Please open the door. I-I think there is something here. "

Dylan was casually sitting in his room staring at the computer. He was watching the camera feed of the room Aiden was now in. It was a night vision camera, so he could see it even though the room was dark. 

The room was his Mom's dance studio. It had many speakers installed, and Dylan was playing the hissing sounds to scare Aiden. The sound effects were so good that Aiden could not tell the difference between real and fake. Dylan knew about Aiden's fear of insects and rats, so he decided to use it against him.

Aiden was banging and screaming continuously when he felt something brush through his legs. He shrieked so loudly and backed away from the door while Dylan laughed, looking at him through the camera. It was just the cool breeze from the centralized A.C, but Aiden thought it was something else. 

Dylan smirked at himself, rejoicing in Aiden's misery. Sometimes mental torture is indeed more effective than physical punishments. 

By now, Aiden was convinced this was his punishment. Dylan would never do something as simple as locking him up. Instead, he left him in a room with god knows what, and above all, he could not even see anything. This was by far the worst punishment he ever received. 

Aiden helplessly ran around the room, looking for an escape, and when he heard the sound just near his left ear, the fear was too much to handle, and he fainted.