Staring at the mountain of dirty dishes, I had to stop myself from cleaning them and knew that I was going to be seeing that mess in my nightmares. Well, if I had nightmares, I would see that gross pile. In fact, it would probably be the star.

I grabbed the bottle of whiskey and two glasses before returning to the basement door. The door relocked when it closed behind me, so I made my way down. The noisy creaking stairs and the clunk of my boots would’ve announced my presence, except you couldn’t hear anything over the music. Reaching the bottom, I took in the scene and saw that Abel hadn’t wasted any time and was well underway in breaking the two girls he’d nabbed.

Abel spotted me standing at the bottom of the stairs and jogged over to greet me like the perfect host. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and maneuvered me toward his nightly fun. He pulled a remote out of somewhere and turned the music down to a reasonable level.

“Brother, I’m so happy you made it. Look what I got for us,” he said like I hadn’t seen him less than an hour ago.

My eyes scanned over the set of twin girls that were tied up with thick leather cuffs. As was Abel’s way, he liked to start off having his toys face one another, letting them see what they would lose if they followed through or the pain they would feel when they didn’t. Their wide, unblinking stares made me feel warm inside.

“What’s on the menu tonight,” I asked as I poured my brother a glass and handed it over.

“I’m so glad you asked,” he said, taking the glass.

I proceeded to take up my usual perch in the corner to watch the show as Abel went to grab something. He came back and held up the power drill. The end had been converted into the biggest dildo I had ever seen. It would certainly make a horse blush, but the green drywall screws attached to it made me grin.

“You really are creative, brother,” I said, and he smiled wide at the compliment.

I’d learned from the time we started playing like this together that Abel was much easier to keep focused and contained when he felt I was impressed. I had no desire to earn my brother’s praise, but he seemed to thrive off the few words I offered him.