Hello! Thank you guys for reading this far into the story.
Disclaimer: I do not know the BSB nor do I know their orientation. The following is a work of fiction and in no way represents the true feelings or beliefs of the BSB. All under 18 are advised to stop reading.
Deth flung Nick's warm soul into his icy chamber. The boy braced himself as he was about to fall on the icy cold bed when, to his surprise, the bed melted immediately from Nick's touch.
"What are you doing?" Deth barked at Nick. Nick backed away from the intimidating man. Although the room was icy blue, Nick felt warm to the core, as if an aura of heat was protecting him.
"Please, don't hurt me!" Nick begged. "I don't know what it is that I owe you."
Deth glared at Nick. "Damn right you don't after you drank the water of forgetfulness and escaped my bedchambers. You can't possibly have remembered. Well let me tell you now. You owe me the debt of servitude!"
Nick shook with fear. Deth suddenly looked elsewhere and beckoned for someone to enter his bedchambers. A ghost appeared, carrying a cup of boiling bloody red water. Deth grabbed the cup and motioned for the ghost to leave. He then glared at Nick and approached him with the cup. "Drink this!" Deth barked.
Nick backed away. The cup looked disgustingly like blood. He shook his head, but Deth only got angrier and grabbed Nick's neck roughly forcing every drop of the liquid down Nick's throat and into his weakening body. Once done, Deth shoved Nick back to the ground.
Nick fell back, dizzy. After what seemed like an eternity, images started to fill his mind, random and incoherent at first but slowly becoming more familiar. His past suddenly became so vivid and real as he started to relive the emotions and the heartaches. He saw Brian, not the current one, but the one from his past. He saw Kevin. And he saw Deth. All three were whirling in his mind, beckoning him to remember them, to remember the relationships between them. And finally, he remembered the debt of servitude that he had promised to Deth himself. And then he remembered breaking that debt of eternal servitude. Nick gasped from the memory. He looked up guiltily to see Deth's icy glare.
"I . . . I'm sorry. I . . . " Nick began, knowing he had no good excuse for his behavior. "I should have kept my promise and stayed here in these bedchambers, but . . . "
Deth didn't look touched by the apology. "But you left without a word, without a trace. Did you know how long it took me to find you? What had I done to make you run away? I didn't force you into bed. You offered me eternal servitude yourself. You offered to keep my bed warm. You offered me your naked soul. And just because I got a little demanding that night, you left?"
Nick felt the hot tears stream down his face. "I couldn't take it anymore."
"I didn't force you to warm anybody else's bed, did I?" Deth countered.
Nick shook his head. "But you did. You wanted to offer me to some of the demons . . . and you did. They hurt me."
Deth became silent for a moment. "I had no choice. And neither did you. You are my possession. You don't have a right to ask for anything. Don't you get it? You are bound by your promise. Whatever my father or I command, you are to execute without question. And you broke your promise! If I hadn't begged father for forgiveness for you, do you know that your soul would have been damned to eternal hell? You would be drowning in the sea of fire, not here in this nice and cozy chamber at this moment!"
"Forgive me," Nick begged earnestly.
Deth floated to where Nick lay and grabbed his wrists. He quickly strapped on two unbreakable chains on Nick's wrists and secured them to the bedposts. The chains had taken him years to find. No other existed. They were made of the sturdiest substance not even an angel could break, and Nick was the purest of the angels. The chains were of the same material as the bedpost that would never budge from the bedchambers even if hell were to be blasted away. That was where Nick belonged. Nick's aura of heat started to weaken. Deth grasped Nick's soul gently but strongly and pulled it onto the icy bed. By now, the bed had unmelted. "So it will be as before. We shall forget that you ever ran away. You will continue to pay your debt of servitude." Deth's voice became alarmingly gentle, as if he had been done scolding his child and was now at the stage where he would coax the child back into his arms.
"Yes." Nick's answer was soft, reflexive.
"You're back where you belong now. No more foolish games, okay?" Deth stared at Nick longingly.
Nick closed his eyes calmly. He nodded his head. Satisfied, Deth stepped out of the bedchambers to let Nick adapt to his old home once again.
Nick's head spun wildly as he remembered everything. He could see the past now and felt how strange it was. He remembered how it was that he had sold his soul to the devil now. He remembered every single event that led him ultimately to be a captive of hell. And he remembered how it all began in his past life, in the medieval times, when he had fallen in love with his master's son, Brian. He remembered his love affair with Kevin, the valiant knight. And then, he remembered being sold to the rebel Frank as a slave. How strange was it that they all once again met in the 20th century. All the images of his past repeatedly played again in his mind.
And he remembered how he finally promised Deth his servitude. All the events seemed to cascade to the point of doom. Nick cried as he lay on Deth's bed, waiting to serve his master that night. He didn't know why he was the object of so much attention anyways, that his master had to roam the mortal world in order to retrieve his soul.
He closed his eyes and cried for his lost innocence. It had been too long since the beginning. But he could remember every event as if it had happened just yesterday . . . down in a poor village of Guile, where he had lived most of his youth in those medieval years . . .
MEDIEVAL TIMES** In the Beginning . . .
Nick was only sixteen when the poor, abused life that he led in the village of Guile made a plunge for the worse. At that time, he was the youngest of ten children, and being farther down in the line of descent, he was also the least significant of all the children. All his elder brothers and sisters carried on the family's inheritance while he was to be discarded. His family was poor and the village was nowhere near the kingdom.
But the news was brimming that a rich merchant was to come to their village. That was news because the small town of Guile was very insignificant that any lord, nobleman or merchant was looked upon highly. Nick could care less about the news if not for his concerns that his father would sell him. His family needed money quickly. And rumors were out that this merchant had an eye out for beautiful boys. In fact, his father had spent countless hours urging his mother to bathe him everyday so that his skin would be white and creamy enough to present to the merchant.
And so, every day, his mothers and sisters would buy the richest soaps that they could afford and bathe him until his skin smoothed out. They lathered his hair and removed the dirt so that his brilliant golden hair would be revealed. They took out the silk clothes that their grandparents had left in their inheritance and redid the silk clothing so that Nick's slender body would fit into it and his shapes and curves would be emphasized. They forced him to eat a lot of meat to gain a little more fat to cover up his hollow cheeks. After weeks of constant bathing and feeding, the father nodded in approval at the sight of Nick.
All of Nick's siblings simply snarled at him, knowing that as beautiful as he looked now, his body would soon be used and worthless. They didn't care what happened to him as long as he brought them money. Every day, Nick wandered Guile, lost and uninterested. At home, he could not walk into a room without being snickered at. Outside, he would make every effort to shy away from the village people. Every afternoon, he would run out into the fields by himself, pondering his future, his dreams. He loved writing. His parents didn't know, but he would sometimes hide behind the village schools, eager to eavesdrop in on the lessons that the local teacher gave to the other more privileged children in his village. He wasn't supposed to know how to read and write and learn, but he loved spending time to do so. And he learned very quickly until after a few months, he had learned what the other children took years to learn.
Every night, he would sleep feeling that his life was destined for tragedy. He couldn't see it, but he sensed it in his veins, as if he knew that one day, he would fall, and fall hard. But for the time being, he was content with his life, even though everybody else was annoyed by his existence. His parents only spoke to him when they needed to scold him. He didn't know why they hated him so much. All he knew was that he was a burden to everyone. Until finally, one day, he was actually relieved that he was of some value to his family. He wouldn't be angry if they decided to sell him some day. At least his body would be worth some money to them, and they could profit from it. He tried his best to keep his body smooth and free of injury. If his parents needed to sell him, he didn't want to foil their plans.
Finally, the day came when the rich merchant arrived at Guile. All the peasants came out to greet him. Nick's family did not greet him at the village gates though. They knew his itinerary and knew that the merchant would follow the path that led him near the field of crops and so brought Nick there to await his carriage.
As expected, the merchant immediately stopped at the sight of Nick and feasted on the comely sight. He barked at Nick's family and soon, his father had bargained with the merchant, who instantly pulled Nick into the carriage and left many coins of gold with the family. Before Nick knew it, he was on the carriage and traveling with the merchant back to the city of Caliber, the richest city of all time, where slave trading was not unheard of.
And Nick knew that once the merchant was done enjoying him, he would be sold off. Merchants usually get bored after a while. What he didn't know was that the merchant that now owned him had no intention of selling him.
They arrived at the city of Caliber late in the night. The horses were tired, and so was Nick. He followed his new master into the public quarters where he awaited as his new master ate. The master looked at him and smiled mischievously.
"So, your name boy?" the master asked.
"Nick, sir." Nick answered humbly, knowing that merchants beat their slaves pretty cruelly if they disobeyed.
The master laughed and offered Nick some food. Nick nodded and accepted. Before long, dinner ended. The merchant then told his other servants to clean Nick up. Nick was brought to the cleanest bathing room he had ever seen. He shivered as the servants cleaned his body from head to toe. Finally, he was brought back to the master's sleeping quarters for the night and stood nervously by the bed.
Within minutes, the master came back to the room and looked approvingly at Nick. He cocked his head to the side and walked towards Nick. His hands reached for Nick's shoulders and he began massaging them. "Relax," he urged the boy as he worked his way down Nick's arms, loosening every tense muscle in Nick's upper body.
Nick nodded and relaxed his entire body. He had heard stories about what people did in bed, but he had never actually knew what he was supposed to do, especially with another man. Once the master was done massaging his upper body, he gazed at Nick and said, "Now you do the same to me."
Nick nodded nervously and began to massage the shoulders gently. Soon enough, his master was satisfied. The merchant turned around and before Nick could react, grabbed Nick by the waist and forced him onto the bed. Nick nearly cried out from the pain of impact but decided against it. That night lasted an eternity. But he learned a lot. He learned what it meant to be used. He learned what it was that his new master liked in bed. And he learned that his emotions would never matter again. It was a bittersweet night for him. At least, the anticipation was over. His innocence was forever lost.
He didn't regret it, though. He didn't cry. His tears had dried up when he was a child. Now all that was left was an empty shell. His life wasn't really his to live anymore, and that night, he had finally accepted that fact. That thought eased his mind a little. At least, his expectations of himself plummeted that night. He knew that his value declined dramatically and that now, he was no more than entertainment for people who had nothing better to do in their spare time. It didn't make him feel any better than before, but there was a sort of surrender in his mind. He had lost the fight. There was no more desire for dignity. He knew that night, just as he knew in his childhood, that he was second class. All the dreams of becoming a valiant knight or becoming well-educated and respected nobleman ond day were gone. In a way, that made him relieved because he knew for sure that his dreams would never come true.
Now, his life will be to serve his new master and the new master's family. He knew that night, after the initial 'welcoming' from his new master, that he would not be sold. He would follow his master back to his master's wealthy castle and not only serve his master at night, but serve his master's family during the day, too. He cringed at that thought. He knew his master had a wife and four sons, but that was all he was told.
But he knew, in his heart, that the situation looked bad. The wife, from the lazy conversations between the other servants, had an evil eye. Though she hid it in front of the master, she was the jealous type. The only thing that gave him solace was the fact that the sons were very well-educated and did not dabble with household affairs too much. However, the sons loved their parents a lot.
Nick sighed. These sons seem to be what he will never turn out to be-rich, intelligent, well-rounded and noble. Just the thought of meeting these sons was intimidating. Not that he was frightened of them. No! He was frightened of revealing his inferior status to them. He was shameful of his past and of his present. From the looks of the servants that were accompanying his master, he could sense that there was distaste among them. They didn't like that fact that Nick was bewitching their master. They were on his wife's side, as he suspected probably the entire household and servant population in the castle were as well.
It was intuition. He was outnumbered. He would be pitted against the entire household. And it seemed as if his new master thought it amusing as well. From what he heard, his new master had only brought one other boy back from his travels. That boy was found dead weeks later and his body not even getting a proper burial. Nick gulped at the thought. He was only the second boy to ever cross the borders into the castle grounds of his master's home. He was only the second of his master's whims and fantasies to live within the castle grounds. And he suspected that his fate probably would not be too different from that other boy.
That night with his master, he mentally braced himself. If he were to ever die in that castle, at least, it would not be unexpected. And no matter what happened, he would at least meet it with a little courage. It made him feel odd that perhaps nobody would miss him even if he were to die at this moment, let alone once he got to the hospital. Perhaps if somebody had felt some love for him, he would have a stronger desire to live, but surprisingly, he didn't feel too scared about losing his life anymore. There was really no one that appreciated his existence. So why was there any reason to stay alive? With that settling thought in mind, Nick drifted into a gentle slumber to the soft snore of his master. He was exhausted. And he had a feeling that he would be exhausted for quite a while.
Today seemed to be the beginnings of the end. Before, his doomed fate seemed so far away. Now, it was standing in front of him with an in-your-face attitude, mocking and teasing him.
I thought this would be a good change in the story. Hope you guys didn't mind the abruptness :)
ngclle@yahoo.com