by Quil Carter
“Master?” I asked. He was a slave? Sengils were usually house servants, not scientists, and there was no way he was a cicaro, they were more sex slaves. I walked into another large bathroom feeling puzzled. How the hell could a slave be a head scienti-
Oh… fuck.
Perish Dekker grinned at me, showing his perfectly straight teeth, in between his pinky red lips.
I recognized who he was now. Flawless skin, unworldly beautiful eyes, perfect body, perfect form, perfect everything.
“You’re a chimera aren’t you?” I whispered. My mouth went dry and with that I remembered where I had seen him. He had met my father before. Dad had come back calling him the royal retard, the insane chimera. He was the top scientist for his brother Garrett’s company Skytech. Dad had said Perish was extremely gifted when it came to science. A neurotic perfectionist, and a savant with cloning, splicing (of course… splices) and any sort of abomination research. But it had been rumoured that King Silas had abused him so badly that he had developed a slew of mental issues.
He was a broken prince, warped by the hands of the most evil man in the greywastes.
“I was.” Perish gave me a sad smile. He walked over to a ground level bathtub and turned on the water. Steam rose from the crystal clear liquid. I could still see the bottom of the tub when it covered it, it wasn’t cloudy at all.
“Master had no need for me… Kessler, my brother Kessler had said I was shame to the chimeras and Nero… Nero agreed and then and then Ellis my sister said I could be Master’s cicaro like Drake but I… no, he didn’t. I didn’t have the right body, why downgrade from perfect flawless Drako?” His smile disappeared. “He sent me here when I asked. I had liked it here because I could continue my research and prove I’m no failure. So I’m out of the way, but it’s okay they don’t hurt me when I’m here except Nero.” The smile came back to his face but it was weighted and solemn.
That… that was devastatingly sad in a way.
Perish looked down when he made eye contact with me. He shrugged. “But it’s alright, I’m not alone anymore, right?” Perish kissed me on the cheek. “I could make you my cicaro, my pet, but I want you to be my boyfriend instead.”
I couldn’t move. I watched as he slowly walked down the next hallway. A cluster of emotions went through me, each more confusing than the last. In front of me, a member of the royalty of Skyfall. The lowest of the low, the crazy scientist. A man who had probably been tortured his entire life and… and he wanted me to make him happy.
“Undress, Killian,” Perish said. He pulled an arm chair from a corner and sat down.
I gaped at him, the water rushing beside me into the bathtub.
In front of him?
Perish watched me. I was nothing but dirt, blood, vomit, snot and everything else disgusting but still, I wasn’t… undressing in front of him.
“Perish…” I wrapped my arms around myself.
“Aren’t you my boyfriend?”
I had to think fast. I dropped my gaze from his. I didn’t know if this was going to work, but knowing who King Silas was and knowing where he ranked, it might just keep my body safe from him.
“Perish, do you remember when you asked if I was a virgin?” I said slowly.
He tensed his hands together and nodded. “Did you lie?”
“In my eyes, I still am, but I was raped a few weeks ago,” I said. I thought back to how the legionaries treated me, how it made me feel. I didn’t have to pretend it bothered me. Even if I had only been touched by them and stripped down. It still made me feel sick. “It’s made me have problems with touching. Can we go slow?”
Perish stood up, his fists clenched, seething. This was what I was hoping for, he had been raped, probably worse by Silas and his brothers. I had hit a touchy subject with him.
“Who hurt you!” I jumped as Perish screamed, the sound echoing off of the bathroom walls. “I’ll kill them!”
He was like a more insane version of Reaver when it came to me being touched.
“Legionnaires,” I said sullenly. Perish started to angrily pace around. He put his hands over his head and pulled on his black hair, then let out a shout of rage.
“Who? Fuck Legion, fuck Kessler’s Legion! Fuck them! I hate them all.”
Before I could even stop myself, I said it. “Their names were Martin Peele and Jake Geist. They were near Typhus Canyon.”
He nodded looking troubled. “I’ll fix it, they hurt you. My boyfriend now, good boyfriends protect one another, okay? I’ll fix it.”
I had no idea if I just made the gravest mistake of my life, or the best one. Reaver was either going to kiss me, or pummel me. “Don’t tell them who I am, okay? Secret.”
The scientist nodded. “Secret…” He looked towards the door. “I’ll leave you, I won’t touch you… I won’t touch. Can I just see though? One look?”
I had to take what I could get. I felt a pit in my stomach as I unbuttoned my pants. I hoped Reaver didn’t have a feed to the bathroom. I didn’t want him to see me have to do this. I had envisioned our first time together, and it didn’t involve him seeing me naked on a video camera showing myself to a mad scientist.
I pulled my pants and underwear down, exposing myself to him. My face went hot as the humiliation went through me. It took me back to the overpass, to the taunting legionaries. I stiffened my upper lip, knowing Reaver wasn’t around to save me. If Perish wanted to fuck me right now, he could. With Reaver either seeing it or hearing it. I was relying on the shoddy morals of a mentally deranged chimera.
The scientist stared at my groin. He made a motion to touch it but I backed away. He chastised himself under his breath and nodded before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.
I looked for a lock after he left, but there wasn’t one. So I quickly took off the rest of my clothes, fighting back the tears. Hopefully the bath water would wash them away. If Reaver could see me, I didn’t want him to see me crying. I had to be brave for us, so we could both get out of this alive.
I got into the warm water and tried to wash myself off. The once crystal clear water soon became saturated with my grime. It was sad in a way, all things pure eventually became clouded and contaminated.
Well, at least I could make myself a little less grimy. I grabbed my satchel and got out my bar of soap. I washed myself off as best as I could.
The water around me became rosy pink as I washed the blood away from my lower arms. I ran them under some hot water to try and wash away any grime that had collected. It stung, but my body felt more relaxed in the hot water. The aches and pangs disappeared in the murky liquid and even my throat felt better after inhaling some steam.
I sat back and relaxed in the bath water. I would stay in here as long as I could. I was so tired, sore, and scared.
But Reaver was alive, and Perish wouldn’t hurt me if I obeyed him. The only trick was getting what I needed from him as quickly as possible, without Reaver or me getting hurt. Or me well… having to do bad things with Perish.
I didn’t even realize I had fallen asleep. I was woken up to Perish pulling me out of the water.
“You’re about to drown yourself, silly,” he said lightly. I felt a clean towel get draped over me. “Are you tired?”
I looked around the white room; cold bathroom tile underneath my body. Perish made me stand, but I was still unsteady. The remaining drugs I had taken when I thought he was going to rape me were fully in my bloodstream now. I realized I was out of it and stoned as hell.
“Yeah,” I slurred, pulling the towel over me like it was a cloak. Perish handed me a pair of cloth pants which I gladly put on.
“How about we stitch up your arms, and you can have some ice cream,” Perish said. “Then we can watch movies, have picnics, play board games.”
I watched as he left and followed him down the hall. This guy had probably read a lot of books and watched a lot of romance movies over his years living alone. He probably had everything planned out for when he
found his perfect boyfriend. I must’ve fallen right into his lap when he saw me in Donnely.
“Can Reaver have ice cream?”
“Sure!”
“Can I bring it to him? And you can get the medical things?”
“Okay.”
I leaned up against the kitchen doorway as he brought out a large cardboard container with the Dek’ko label on the front. I had never even seen that sold in any of the Dek’ko shops back in the factory. And, of course, it was impossible for merchants to bring it all the way from Skyfall.
He handed me a plastic bowl full of white ice cream with brown bits in it. I walked towards where I knew Reaver was being held. Perish followed.
He opened the door. “Get back!” he commanded. “I’ll get you in a second, leave the blinds open. Okay? Reaver I hear anything I’ll explode you, understand?”
“Got it,” Reaver said through clenched teeth.
I went inside and the door closed behind me. I put the ice cream down and leapt into Reaver’s arms. He squeezed me so hard I cried out.
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re doing.” His harsh whisper cut me like glass as he squeezed harder. I could feel his fingernails dig into my arms. I was confused, not scared, just confused and worried about his state.
“Reaver… you’re hurting me,” I gasped but he didn’t stop, if anything it made him grasp harder.
“He fucking jacked off outside of your door, you know that right?”
“I didn’t let him touch me, I promise.”
He jerked me away from him, looking at me with such anger I thought he was going to hit me. “You think I’m that much of a fucking asshole that that’s what I care about? You letting him touch you?” His fingernails dug in further; my eyes started to brim. “Killian, he’s sneaky and dangerous. He’s going to rape–”
I cut him off. “I told him the legionaries raped me, he shut down after. It hit a nerve with him. Reaver, he’s Perish Dekker. He’s a chimera, like General Kessler and the councillor Elish. Silas made him like this. I can control him, I know his type. I know what he wants and what he will and will not do. Please, Reaver, he won’t touch me, he had the chance but he didn’t. I can get the password out of him and your detonator. Just give me time, please?”
“No, get the detonator and I’ll make him tell us the password. Believe me I have ways.” Reaver looked crazed.
“No, no I won’t risk it.”
Reaver dropped me. I fell down in front of him. I looked at my arms and saw vicious nail marks in them. My boyfriend turned away from me, his chains rattling as he shook with rage.
“Trust me, Reaver,” I said. I found myself trembling too. I pulled the towel over me and sniffed. “We have no other way, not without you dying, and me being trapped here for all eternity. Or both of us dying.”
“He’s… he’s dangerous… he fucking jacked himself right–”
“He’s a mentally retarded idiot who just befriended someone who might be even more crazy than he is, and he hurt my boyfriend.” I got up and put my hand on his shoulder. “I might be soft and a wuss, Reaver, but I’m not stupid. You can’t get out of here doing what you’re good at, but I can, doing what I’m good at.”
“You’re not good at anything,” Reaver snapped, jerking his arm away from me.
“I’ve read more psychology books than you’ve had birthdays.” I reminded him. “Reaver, I’m smarter than he is. He’s simple and lonely; he’s vulnerable and he likes me.”
“Killian… he’s dangerous. Haven’t you seen how quickly he snaps?”
“I’m learning him and it won’t happen again.”
I could see the inner struggle playing over and over again in my boyfriend’s mind. I had to convince the most stubborn man in the greywastes that I could do this. Though I was convincing myself just as much as I was convincing him.
“Promise me you won’t do anything stupid. Obey him and play nice.” I kissed his bad ear gently. “And in return, I promise I won’t let him touch me. I’m sure I can fake a panic attack if he tries.”
“Yeah, you’re good at losing your mind,” Reaver growled. “Crying and going nuts, that’s what you’re good at.”
“I can manipulate him, Reaver,” I whispered, holding his ice cream out to him. “I can be brave, I can do this for us. Trust me.”
Reaver snatched the ice cream and sat down on the floor with it. He looked absolutely crazy, but in a different way than Perish. Reaver looked dangerous. I told myself I shouldn’t be scared of him, but then I remembered that everyone back in Aras had told me I should be.
“You… you haven’t slept have you?” I whispered. He didn’t have any drugs on him either. He was a sleep-deprived, sober, chained animal. I felt the pain in my arms from where he had grabbed me. I had to get us out of here quickly or he would go kamikaze on Perish. Even if he did get the password from him, the moment he left the lab his head would be blown off. I didn’t trust Reaver to remember that in the heat of the moment.
My boyfriend spooned some ice cream into his mouth and watched the screens. He shook his head. “No sleep, watching.”
“That’s… baby, that’s four days… over four days,” I whispered. Suddenly his unstable behaviour made a lot more sense. I dug into my satchel for some of his drugs, but all of our drugs were on the surface in Reno’s bag. We had nothing.
“I’m fine,” Reaver said, eating more ice cream. He looked like he was thinking, or planning. I watched him eat. When he was done he set the bowl down.
“If he touches you, fake a panic attack and try and get him to get Reno’s bag with the Xanax in it. If he’s out of the lab you can look for the key to my collar and swipe some keycards,” Reaver said, his voice flat and almost automated. It was as if his brain had recorded a message and he had just pressed play.
“Okay, baby,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. I felt him tense but I just had to touch him. “I’m just –” I sighed, feeling a lump in my throat. “– glad you’re alive.”
Reaver’s eyes flickered to mine. “I would never ever leave you.”
The door opened and I saw Perish’s foot brace it. “Out, Killian.”
“Did you bring the black bag with you?” Reaver asked, looking up at the scientist. This must be the beginning of my acting career.
“No, it was on the quad,” I said getting up. “I’ll be fine though.”
“What is it?” Perish asked. He was holding something in his hand. It looked like a stuffed lizard.
“Killian needs medication. You know that horrible thing that happened to him at the hands of your master’s legion? He’s on medication because of it. You didn’t bring that for him?”
Perish’s face went from surprised to a look of concern. “No… I didn’t know.”
“He’ll have anxiety attacks without them,” Reaver said. “You’re his boyfriend now, it’s your job to make sure he’s okay.”
Anyone in their right mind would’ve seen Reaver was being manipulative but Perish didn’t have a clue. He looked at me, then kissed my cheek. Reaver’s eyebrow twitched.
“I’ll help him, I’ll just love him. I’ll make it not hurt him, like he’ll make me feel better,” he declared clapping his hands.
Well, shit, this was going to be a bit harder than I thought.
“He needs his medication,” Reaver said angrily. “You’re a piece of shit boyfriend if you deny him his medicine. I’m a fucking mercenary and I care more than you.”
The scientist’s fingers clenched around the lizard. “Step outside, Killian.” Before I could react he pushed me out of the room, with the stuffed lizard falling to the tiled floor. The door slammed and moments later I heard a sickening thunking sound as he started hitting Reaver.
When Reaver let out the first groan I put my hands over my ears and tried to hold back the tears. I swear I could hear it no matter how hard I pressed. I kept expecting to hear a gunshot, or the sound of Reaver decapitating him with his bare hands but there was n
othing.
I only saw Reaver for a moment when Perish opened the door. He was staring into space, his nose and mouth streaming blood, and his already bruised face red and swelling.
Perish picked up the stuffed lizard and gave me an angry look. I stared back, resisting the urge to attack him. I understood what all of this was putting Reaver through, seeing this crazy fuck hurt the one I loved was rage inducing.
This was my chance though. If I didn’t go through with this, it would all be for nothing.
“Next time, will you let me hit him too?” I asked.
Perish’s angry face brightened. He squeezed the lizard to him and clasped his hands together again. He gave me a nod and started walking back down the hallway.
After he gave me a white lab coat to wear, he brought me to a living room. It was the only room I had seen so far that was painted. It had light blue walls with paintings and old Skyfall advertisements hung on them. There were bookshelves and shelves full of movies surrounding a large TV.
There was also lots of furniture. Stuffed, clean couches covered in a floral fabric, polished coffee tables and side tables, all on a thick blue and white rug. I had to put my hand down to feel the carpet. Reaver’s carpet was a mat, caked with dirt no matter how hard you scrubbed. This one was fluffy with thick thread, you could sleep on it and be in luxury.
Perish giggled at my odd actions but he let me touch everything for a few minutes. The coffee table was soft and smooth from the polish. There was even a new chessboard in a corner with two chairs on either side. It had real pieces too. I had only played chess with knuckle bones.
“Come and sit down, I would like to stitch your arms before we put the movie on,” Perish said gently. I sat on the couch and started picking the dry blood off of the angry red wounds as he rummaged around. I looked over and saw he had several white cabinets open. The entire wall beside the door was all white shelves and drawers. I could see stacks of clean cardboard boxes, plastic containers filled with medical supplies.
