Rusty Gold.

Ch.1.Deadly Nightshade.

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

― William Shakespeare.

   His body was so heavy,even heavier than the old man,Steven,but his body felt more solid and less fragile.Thoughts of Steven and his pleading screams invaded his mind with such an intensity,that he stopped moving.Grey could suddenly see him in front of him as if he was still imprisoned in the cellar at the basement where he was headed,his feeble limbs tied to a cold metallic chair,white hair falling on his forehead,his chest raising up and down slowly.He didn’t know why the old man was the next “chosen one”-as he called his victims-,but something about the old man irked and unsettled him, perhaps because he was an old warrior, a surviving hero of WWII, he wanted test if he could be the one to break him, he did. With his dying frail body, and a mind no longer the same, branded by Alzheimer, he had no fight left in him, Grey had no pleasure in torturing him, it was like getting rid of a used up and tattered doll. He hated how he begged, no chase-no fun, the old man gave in too easily, and for the first time, he didn’t enjoy any chosen one’s pain, on the contrary he was faced with self-loathing, disgust, and shame, it wasn’t the way he envisioned it. Not the same relish and ecstasy he imagined he’d feel when torturing his father, but for some reason he couldn’t let the man go, for him it was like his father free, but no if he couldn’t torture his father, he’d torture Steven, he was withering anyway, he thought trying to convince himself.

   Shaking his head from the unwanted and traitorous thoughts, he went down the stairs shifting Colton to the other shoulder, carrying him was troublesome, he doubted dragging him would be any different. He set him down on the floor and opened the cell’s door, then he dragged him and placed him across the wall, he decided against chaining him, it’s been a long time since he played a cop, and he rather enjoyed doing that with Virginia. He closed the cell’s door with a loud click, laughing to himself he went to his room upstairs to dress up.

He decided to play as a federal agent, men like Colton would be more cooperative and convinced if they thought they had a chance to be heroes, and save their country, just as Shakespeare said; “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”  After finally rightly adjusting his blue cravat, and tying his leather shoes, he got up soundlessly from the bed and grabbed the leather gloves, it wasn’t part of the dress up even though it matched well. He used the pair to cover the ugly scar on his left hand when Ginger lashed at him,which made him lose his balance and accidently dip his hand into the sulfuric acid beaker. He realized with a start that he just referred to Virginia as Ginger fondly as if she was his daughter, Claire-Coco-. Then he remembered the last time he drove her to school, taking her to the park and buying her ice-cream from her favorite shop, Waternutt, ruffling her hair before disappearing with his dark blue duffle bag to the old factory that his father used to own eight years ago.
   The coffee in his mouth tasted like salt, choking him, he dumped the rest of the mug’s contents into the sink. Today was sure an eventful day, watching Rose drive a defiant Claire to camp, his mother going to her gardening classes, and his father meeting with his P.A, Simon, who came out of the house with a stack of files. Stalin remembered how as a child he used to watch his mother carefully plant flowers like Chamomile, and Camellia, even Belladonna.She used to be a nurse, her belief in the healing power of nature was what made her make the garden in the first place. He would rebel against staying sick in bed, and would watch in fascination as she plucked the Chamomile flowers carefully, turning the beautiful looking flowers into tea, sometimes she’d let him help her with the gardening at the weekends, then it became a habit, and he’d earned the place of her first student.She showed him the different kind of seeds, from herbal flowers, to the vegetables she liked to grow.She used to say that if she was capable of growing vegetables, why buy them. At first he approached his mother’s garden, because of it’s various vibrant colors that seemed to grow more concentrated in the morning, as if the sun unveiled some dark shade off of them, then he saw that his mother cared for them, so should he. She never cared about a thing that was not in need of caring, if something wasn’t of importance she shied away from it like a cat did from spoiled milk. He rarely saw his father, to Stalin his father seemed like a cold distant business machine, always away and then back with needless but welcomed affection and gifts. He missed him even though he didn’t see much of him, or maybe he missed the idea of a father. He’d ran away once at the age of twelve, when his mother was at her gardening classes, he remembers the day as if it was yesterday, a foolish rash decision, he took some clothes, two pajamas, some ironed tops and pants, junk food and a ridiculous amount of juice and his favorite chocolate flavored milk. He didn’t really “escape”  ,he’d gone over at the neighbor’s house, affected by dramatic movies at that age he left two letters ;one for his mother apologizing for the childish naughty troubles he ever caused her, and a farewell, the other was to his uncle,his fathers bestfriend,Adam, another farewell as well. His mother was furious with him as ever, saying that she’d never forgive him for what he’d done, she thankfully eventually came around.His father at the time was in a business trip,Stalin shuddered thinking what his father would’ve done if he had known, he wouldn’t have taken the matter so lightly or tolerably as his mother had.

   He was jolted by the shatter of glass ,he looked around kitchen,it was a joke with its' white tiles,the pink framed windows, a blue refrigerator, a green oven, a purple litter box and the yellow food bowl for Licht.His cat, a black feline with fierce see through green eyes,it reminded him of his old dead pet rabbit,called Runner that he had when he was nine.What most fascinated him wasn’t the rabbit’s red eyes,it was actually it’s white coat of fur, easily tainted, Stalin never liked white, too bright and concentrated, and moat of all pure. He liked how when he bathed it, the dirt seemed to effortlessly peel itself leaving the rabbit more whiter than before if that was even possible, it annoyed him how clean it always seemed, so one day he decided he no longer liked Runner anymore.Stalin put him into the washing machine with a generous amount of bleach and cloth cleaning powder,then he like how when Runner came out he was no longer white but bloody red, it actually suited him. 

   The kitchen when he first renovated it with it’s rainbow colors seemed like a bad joke, but the colors even though wild and not matching seemed to form him and his kitchen, making it more acceptable, stepping forward, he realized the sound of glass shuttering was of the coffee mug. Getting rid of the mess, he realized that Colton was still unconscious ,they were no fun unconscious, he wanted them aware of what he was about to do like Ginger ,Bethany, Steven, Joseph and Kevin,even Runner. Virginia was a defiant fighter by character, she even startled herself by keeping her silence while he plucked her nails, and slicing off her pinkie finger and toes with an electric knife, the most fun was Kevin, a cop, the best pick, although knowing that lots of people would be asking about him, he took the risk, but if it was worth it was still unknown.How about Colton,an ex-boxer?Yes for sure he would indeed be fun.                                                                                                                                    

A.N:

   Am still not 100% percentage sure about this chapter,but here it is,I am looking forward to your opinions.I decided to name this chapter after "Belladonna",I know it's mainly a poison,but it can be used to cure and numb pain.Anyways,I hope you like it,I decided to take a leap of faith and post this on the internet,so be honest and tell me what do you think,and I'll surely try to work and meet your expectations using your advice and thoughts.