The Holy Boys
Narrator: Toby
Florian and his dad wanted the whole story. But how could they ever understand? The praise from Lars whenever I helped the gang. The attention from Frank, his brother. How addictive it was.
The Holy Boys. Their biggest wins were all thanks to me - the City Bank, the diamond heist.
How do you tell a story like that? I guess you start at the beginning. The day I arrived at the gang.
A charming waiter set down a frothy beer in front of me, then rushed off to the next table. I took a sip and let the taste settle on my tongue. The warm evening sun brushed my face. People strolled by, chatting leisurely across the ancient square. This had been the beating heart of Maastricht for as long as anyone could remember. It had the same buzz as the nightlife district back in the City, just without the stuck-up attitude. I ran a hand over my frayed T-shirt. My fancy City clothes would’ve looked totally out of place here.
Just as I raised my glass for a second sip, two guys suddenly plopped down at my table. A few years older than me. Good-looking. And kind of intimidating.
“Well, you’ve got some nerve, sitting out here so openly,” said one of them - a dark blond guy in his mid-twenties.
“Seriously,” the other one chimed in. “Pretty damn bold.” He was a little younger, with olive skin and jet-black hair. Both wore beat-up, old clothes like you’d see all over Outside. The holes in their shirts and jeans made them look even more striking - that mix of beauty and roughness.
“And why exactly wouldn’t I sit here openly?” I asked.
The blond one slid a screen across the table. “That’s why.”
My throat tightened. There it was. My face. My name. A wanted notice. A reward on my head. My hands started to shake. This was bad news.
“Fuck,” was all I managed to say.
“Good thing we spotted you before someone else did,” said the blond guy.
“And who exactly are you?” I asked.
“I’m Davey,” he said, “and that’s Jimmy.”
Jimmy gave me a mock-polite nod.
“You should probably buy us a beer,” Davey added, “since we just saved your ass.”
I ordered two glasses and thanked them, all the while wondering what they really wanted - and why they seemed so interested in me. I didn’t have to wait long for an answer. After downing a few big gulps, Davey slammed his glass onto the table.
“You’d be better off coming with us. We know a place where the cops won’t find you.”
“What kind of place is that?”
“Ever heard of the Holy Boys?”
“Of course,” I said, eyeing them suspiciously. “Everyone out here knows who they are. What would the Holy Boys want with me?”
They both burst out laughing. “What do you think?” Jimmy grinned. “Word travels fast, dude. Lars is real curious about how you cracked those banking systems. That kind of talent? We could seriously use it. Lars is our boss, in case that wasn’t clear.”
I felt a flicker of pride. Someone like Lars interested in me?
“So, what do you say?” Davey asked.
****
Their car was parked about fifteen minutes from the café. Davey drove us west, out of Maastricht. After a short half-hour, we reached a large fenced estate. The main gate was sealed with massive oak doors. A big sign next to it read: “Ephebe Voluptas - spiritual center.”
Jimmy opened the gate and closed it behind us. We drove along a wide driveway lined with tall oak trees. Fields stretched out around us, with ponds and houses of all shapes and sizes.
“What is all this?” I asked, genuinely impressed.
“This is the Holy Boys’ domain,” said Davey. “It’s our base of operations. No one has a clue we’re here. The City’s way too far off, and there’s no law out here.”
“We are the law,” Jimmy corrected.
“Damn right,” Davey said with a grin. “Nobody around here dares stand up to us. And if they do, they pay for it.”
We pulled up to a big mansion in the middle of the grounds. Davey parked the car, and a few minutes later, I was standing with them in a huge entrance hall. A couple of guys and girls gave us curious looks.
“Lars around?” Davey asked.
“He’s upstairs,” said one of the guys - a rough-looking dude in his thirties. “With his brother and his fuck toy.”
Davey motioned for me to follow. The three of us climbed a wide oak staircase to the first floor. Davey knocked on a door with gold trim. Everything in here was oversized and over the top.
“Yeah?” a voice called from inside.
Davey opened the door, and we stepped into a large, luxurious room. Big windows let in the soft afternoon light, giving the space a strange mix of comfort and grandeur. In the center stood a well-dressed man in his early thirties. A young girl sat on her knees at his feet. A bit farther off stood a slightly younger guy in a bright blue denim outfit. All three looked at us, waiting.
Davey spoke up. “Lars, this is Toby. You know, the guy from that police bulletin we saw yesterday. He was just chilling with a beer on a terrace in Maastricht.”
Lars walked around me, eyeing me up and down.
“Well, well. Look what a pretty little catch you’ve brought me.”
I tried to hold still.
“Oh, where are my manners,” Lars said, all casual. “This is Frankie, my brother. And over there, on her knees, my cum bucket.”
The girl gave him an unhappy look but stayed silent.
“Hey. I’m Toby,” I said awkwardly.
Lars placed a hand on my shoulder. “I read about what you can do, Toby. The way you scammed those banks out of their money? Impressive. We could really use someone with your skills.”
“Really? I’m into hacking and fraud. Armed robbery’s not my thing.”
“I need you for your computer skills,” Lars said. “You hacked banks. How about cracking the City’s network?”
“Never tried.”
“But you could?”
I shrugged. “Depends how dumb their system is.”
“Sounds like it’s worth a shot.”
“But I’d need access to a computer that’s connected to the City’s network. And that’s gonna be tricky, now that everyone knows what I look like.”
“We’ll handle that. Leave it to us. We’ll get you on that network, and then you do your thing.”
“Alright, but what’s the point? What are we even looking for on those old City servers?”
“Information, kid. A whole damn lot of it. And that stuff? That’s pure gold.”
****
“This will be your place for the time being.”
Frank pushed the door open. A plain room with a bed, a table, and a couple of chairs.
Still a lot comfier than the places I was used to.
“You’ll be sharing the bathroom and kitchen with the other boys in this house,” he said. “But I doubt that’ll be a problem. They’re all fresh young guys, just like you. I handpick the boys who live here, and lucky you - there was still one spot left.”
He gave my ass a playful slap and walked into the room. I followed.
Frank sat down on one of the chairs and looked me over carefully. “If I were you, I’d close that door,” he said. “There are a few things I want to discuss with you.”
I shut the door and stayed where I was. No way I was sitting down next to him.
“Sit,” Frank said, pointing at the chair beside him.
Fine. Whatever.
Then, to my shock, he pulled a block of wood from his denim jacket - and I recognized it straight away. It was the paddle I’d nicked a few months earlier on the train from Zürich.
“Davey and Jimmy just found this in your bag. Disciplinary tool used by the police. Care to explain how you got your hands on it?”
I was pissed they’d gone through my stuff, but yeah, I should’ve seen that coming.
Frank burst out laughing when I told him how I got it. “Stolen from a copper you were travelling with? You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. I like it. I could make good use of this thing.”
He tucked it back into his jacket. I didn’t dare say a word.
Then his tone changed. “Alright, let’s be serious. As you know, Lars and I run this operation, and that gives us certain rights. Lars has his fuck toys, and I have you guys.”
He paused, clearly letting that sink in.
“What do you mean? Who do you mean by ‘you guys’?”
“The boys in this house, obviously. I told you, I picked you out myself. Why do you think that is?”
I stared at him like he’d lost his mind. He wanted to turn me into one of his fuck toys. Just like his brother had done with that girl.
I had to think fast. Sure, he had that kind of raw, dominant energy that pulled you in. But fucking - real fucking - that was different. That was for someone who mattered. Even if I’d ruined my chance with that special someone.
I swallowed and said, “Sorry, Frank. I’m not up for that.”
It sounded a lot braver than I felt.
He stared at me, stunned. Then his face hardened. “You think you get to choose? I run this place, boy. You’re mine. I can do whatever the hell I want with you.”
“No, you can’t. I’ll walk. And then you can explain to Lars why the intel from those hacked City servers dries up before it’s even started.”
My breath caught in my throat. I figured I’d just signed my death warrant.
But Frank calmed down. Leaned back. Thought it over.
“Alright then. We’ll have to find some other way for me to enjoy you. And I reckon you’ve just given me the perfect tool for that.”
He pulled the paddle back out. “Jeans down.”
I dropped my jeans. And my briefs. Don’t ask me why. Maybe I was crazy. Maybe part of me wanted someone to take control.
Frank pointed at the table. “Bend over. Hands and elbows on the top.”
I leaned over the table. My jeans slid to my knees. Just to humiliate me more, he said, “Pull your shirt up to your arms. I want a good view.”
A moment later I was bent over, nearly naked. I caught a glimpse of Frank winding up for the first blow.
The wood came down with a crack. I let out a loud groan.
Another one. The pain hit harder than I’d expected.
A third. My ass was on fire now.
A fourth. A fifth. A sixth.
I could barely keep myself in place. More smacks. More pain. I started muttering curses under my breath.
“Shut it,” Frank snapped.
And still the paddle came down. I bit my lip. So this was the special treatment they’d told me about. Fucking wonderful.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he stopped.
I stood up, rubbing my burning ass. He smiled. Enjoyed it, apparently. A sadist with a thing for me. Just my luck.
“This little setup actually suits me perfectly,” he said cheerfully. “When I feel like fucking a boy, I’ve got the others. But when I feel like beating one up, I’ll come to you.”
I shot him a look but didn’t dare say anything. He left the room and shut the door behind him, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
That became our little arrangement. Frank showed me around the gang, strutted around with me like I was his prize. Under his wing, the others left me alone.
I took his beatings. In return, I got guidance. Protection.
He wanted me. And that meant more to me than I cared to admit.
****
I lowered the gun and stared at the five bottles lined up on the table. Not a single one hit.
“Well, that’s not going anywhere,” said Frank. “Time for a bit of motivation.”
He pulled a leather strap from his pants.
I took a step back, hands raised. “Seriously?”
“This’ll improve your performance,” Frank said flatly. “We always do this with new recruits, right Jimmy?”
“Right,” said Jimmy, watching from the side. He’d gone through the same training the year before.
Frank raised an eyebrow. “Or do you think you deserve special treatment?”
“No, no special treatment,” I said quickly. “If everyone gets this, then I’m in.”
And once again, I dropped my jeans and bent over, offering my bare ass. Frank placed a hand on my lower back and gave me a couple of sharp smacks with the strap.
“Trust me, this way you’ll learn faster,” he said. Like this was some normal teaching method.
Then he helped me adjust the way I was holding the pistol and gave me a few tips. Stepped aside and nodded. “I want you to hit at least one of those bottles this time. Miss again, and you’ll drop your pants - double what you just got.”
And what do you know: I hit not one, but two.
“See? Told you a good spanking helps,” Frank said, triumphant. Jimmy smiled and gave me a nod.
Over the next few weeks, I kept getting better. Started to enjoy it, even. Of course, Frank kept raising the bar. My jeans came down plenty more times for a few solid whacks.
But I got the hang of it. And I had to admit - grudgingly - Frank was a good instructor. Bit by bit, I really started to appreciate him.
The smacks? Just part of the deal.
****
“Toby, we need to talk.” Jimmy led me to a tree stump a bit off the path. He glanced around. No one in sight.
“Listen, Toby,” he said in a hushed voice. “You’re a good kid. And I feel like shit for getting you into this gang.”
“I’m doing fine,” I said quickly.
“Toby, you do know what the Boys are about, right? Robbery. Murder...”
I stayed quiet. Didn’t want to think about that.
Jimmy’s face was serious. “Listen. Lars and Frank are nice to you now, but don’t kid yourself. They’ll shoot you dead the moment it suits them.”
“What? Nah, I don’t believe that. Lars is a bit odd sometimes, but…”
“Don’t be so fucking naïve. You’ve seen how he treats his girlfriend, haven’t you? Pamela. You’ve seen how scared she is?”
“Yeah, okay, the way they are together is kind of weird. But that doesn’t mean…”
“She’s terrified of him, Toby. For damn good reason. And you should be scared too.”
“Why?”
“I once heard Lars tell Frank he thought you were too soft. That maybe you didn’t belong in the gang.”
A cold shiver ran down my spine. The Holy Boys were the only home I had - whatever that meant.
“You think they want to get rid of me?”
“I don’t know. But if they do, you won’t be safe here for another second.” He leaned in closer. “Tomorrow I’ve got to go to Aachen with Davey to pick up some weapons. Come with us. We’ll ditch Davey and get out. You and me. We disappear.”
“I don’t know… Things aren’t so bad here. Do you really have to leave?”
“Sorry, Toby. I’m done dancing to the tune of those two psychos. I’m sick of being on standby every time Frank gets horny. I want my self-respect back.” He hesitated. “You won’t tell anyone, right?”
“Of course not. But I’ll miss you.”
Suddenly he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. “Please come with me, Toby. Don’t die.”
I clutched at his jacket. “I can’t. Please stay.”
He held me tight. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”
****
Eight months after I joined, Frank called me in. I stepped cautiously into his room and shut the door behind me. Frank had been in a foul mood ever since Jimmy had taken off a few weeks earlier. Jimmy had been his favorite little fuck slave, and Frank took the escape as a personal betrayal.
He fixed me with a piercing gaze. “Tomorrow morning, you’re going to show off your shooting talents at an execution.”
“Who?” I asked flatly. I realized there was no way I could refuse.
“Two idiots from the City. We caught them yesterday.” He handed me a screen showing two young men and an article from the City Gazette. “Read it, if you’re interested.”
I returned to my room and started to read. Maybe - just maybe - the article would give me a reason. Something that could justify what I was supposed to do the next morning.
Fabian and Mike.
A new City district. For Outsiders.
A safe home for people who had none.
For people like me.
****
Davey pulled a ring of keys from his belt, unlocked the door and stepped aside.
“Are the keys to their cuffs on that ring too?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“Leave the door unlocked. I’ll be out in a bit.”
“Fine by me. They’re not going anywhere.” He wandered back to the table.
Once he’d rejoined his mate and his beer, I stepped inside. At the back of the shed, two young men sat on the floor, arms raised, their wrists cuffed to a metal bar overhead. Despite the visible bruises, they still looked strikingly attractive - maybe even more so in their ripped-up clothes. I crossed the room and stood right in front of them.
“Why are you trying to help us?” I blurted out. “Why didn’t you just stay in the City, where you were safe?”
“I’d love to explain,” one of the prisoners said, voice hoarse. I recognized him from the photo - Fabian. He was pale blond, looked a bit like that dream boy I’d traveled back from Zurich with, ages ago. “But could you maybe give us a sip of water first? We’re completely dried out.”
I glanced around. “There on the table,” Fabian said. “Your buddies put that there for us and said we could try to drink it.”
I grabbed a bottle and held it to Fabian’s lips. He drank eagerly. Then I gave the other guy a turn. They both looked seriously dehydrated.
“Thank you,” Fabian said. “That’s really kind of you.”
I gave them each a few more sips, and they visibly perked up. Then I grabbed a piece of bread from the table, broke off two chunks, and fed them. They ate gratefully, eyes fixed on me with something that almost looked like hope.
“Why do you even care about us?” I asked again. “You’ve seen how we treat you.”
“We didn’t see this coming, to be honest,” Fabian said. “Stupid, maybe, but we had no idea how much hate there was. Toward us. Toward City folks.”
“And I had no idea there were City folks who even gave a damn about how we live out here.”
“There are,” Mike chimed in. He was slimmer and darker than his boyfriend and spoke with a clear Outside accent. “Not a lot, maybe. But they exist.”
“You guys are a couple, right? How’s that work?”
Mike gave a faint smile. “You mean a City boy and an Outsider? Yeah, it’s kind of unusual, huh? But it works. It’s not illegal or anything.”
“We’re proof that City people and Outsiders can be together,” Fabian added. “That we don’t have to live in two separate worlds.” He looked me over, curious. “Why do you even want to know? Who are you?”
“I’m Toby. The one who made the gold heist at the City Bank possible.”
“Seriously? Then I bet they’re pretty happy with you around here. Well, I’m Fabian, and this is Mike - but you probably knew that already.”
I walked back to the door and peeked outside. The two guards were slumped in their chairs, half asleep. I waved casually to them, then went back to the prisoners.
“I’m getting you out of here. I slipped a strong sedative into their drinks - found it in Frank’s room when he was away for a day. In a couple minutes, they’ll be out cold. After that, I’ll unlock your cuffs. We have to move fast. There’s a car stashed a few minutes from here. If we time it right, we can get off the property before anyone notices.”
“This some kind of joke?” Fabian asked, suspicious. “Why would you help us?”
“To piss off Frank,” I said flatly. I paced nervously back to the door. Honestly, I gave us maybe a ten percent chance of getting out alive. The place was crawling with enemies, and a lot could go wrong.
The two guards were both sound asleep. I grabbed the keys from Davey’s belt and went back inside.
“Look, it’s real simple. Either you trust me and come with me, or you sit here and wait to get executed. Your choice.”
They exchanged a glance. Fabian nodded. “Alright, Toby. We’ll come with you.”
After fumbling through a few keys, I found the right ones and popped open the cuffs. They got up slowly, rubbing their wrists. I handed them each a water bottle. “Here. Drink a bit more.”
Fabian took a few gulps and thought for a second. “We need to get to the City as soon as possible,” he said. “It’s the only safe place - and people need to know what’s happening out here.”
“You go. I can’t. If I set foot in the City, they’ll throw me in prison for years.”
“Where are you going, then?”
“I’ll get off near Maastricht. Grab some supplies and lay low for a while.”
Fabian looked like he wanted to say something more, but then the door behind me slammed open. I spun around - and there was Frank, stepping into the shed.
“Goddamn it. I knew you’d go rogue.” Frank aimed his gun at me. “Tomorrow, you will join your little friends in hell. Let the world see how the Holy Boys deal with traitors!”
I raised my arm. “You’re gonna shoot me? I thought we were friends.”
“You don’t have friends.”
Without another second of hesitation, I pulled the trigger on my sleeve gun. A muffled bang rang out, and Frank cried out as he fell backwards. His gun clattered to the floor.
I was on him in two steps. The bullet had grazed his right arm. I grabbed his gun and aimed it at his chest. A red haze clouded my vision. This monster needed to die. I was going to destroy him - for everything he’d done to me. My finger tightened on the trigger.
Behind me, Fabian’s voice cut through the fog. “Toby, if you pull that trigger, you’ll be just like him.”
“I already am like him,” I said. “A parasite. A monster.”
“No. I don’t believe that.”
In a daze, I felt Fabian’s hand on my arm. I let him take the gun from me and pass it to Mike. Then he leaned close and whispered, “You’re nothing like him.”
Fabian gently led me back inside. Frank lay cursing on the floor. Mike quickly tore a strip from his shirt and stuffed it in Frank’s mouth. Then he joined us, never taking his eyes off him.
“We need to take care of that wound,” Mike said. “Then we’ll cuff him to the bar - same as they did to us.”
They turned into action. I just stood there like a zombie, unable to move. Within minutes, Frank’s wound was patched up and he was cuffed to the bar on the wall.
Mike peeked outside to check if the coast was clear. Fabian came over to me.
“Let’s go, Toby. We need to get out of here before your friends realize what’s going on.”
“You heard what he said,” I muttered. “I don’t have friends.”
