Prince of Porcelain

Chapter 18: Gifted

   My body felt weak and heavy as I opened my eyes from sleep. Where am I? The last thing I remembered was Marcus dragging me into his room and placing the strange object in my neck...
I turned over on what must be Marcus' bed only to see him asleep next to me. I jumped back as a sharp pain flooded through my... arse, and entire body. Peering under the sheets, I saw that both Marcus and I had no clothes on.
   Shivering at the glimpse of Marcus' body, I saw the metal object shining on the mattress. I picked it up and noticed that blood was on the sharp end.
   Suddenly, what I couldn't remember flooded into my mind. Marcus and I. Our lips touching... me smiling at him... letting him--...
I threw the object away from me in fear, but the memories stayed. My stomach twisted and turned as I got off of the bed. My legs felt weak as I tried to stand, trying to get out of Marcus' room of tortures.
Leaning against the wall, I unlocked the door and opened it. Looking down at the floor, I saw two things. My body was covered in more bruises and red marks, which hurt terribly. The second thing that lay before me was Joshua, asleep on the ground in front of me.
   I knelt down to him, noticing tear stains on his cheeks. "Joshua," I whispered, shaking Joshua lightly. "Joshua..." He groaned in his sleep as he rolled on his back.
As Joshua opened his eyes, they opened wide at the sight of me. He smiled and embraced me, and I did the same. "Victor!" Joshua exclaimed, holding me tight in his caring arms. "Thank God you're alright! I heard you scream a few hours ago and I-I tried to get to you, but Marcus--, I couldn't --..."
"No, no, it's alright," I said, rubbing his back, hoping to calm him.
"What did he do to you?!" Joshua yelled, gripping my arms as he looked at my battered body. "I'll kill him!" As he began to stomp into Marcus' room, I grabbed him by his wrist, stopping him.
   "Please don't!" I exclaimed. "I... I don't want you getting hurt..." Joshua wanted to redeem my innocence so badly; I could see it in his eyes. Yet, he chose to obey my request and helped me to my feet.
   I looked up into Joshua's dark eyes, and he did the same to me. "What did he do to you?" Joshua said, his voice quiet and filled with sadness. His hand wrapped around the back of my neck, and his eyes widened as he felt a small, circular scar, where the object was.
"No... no, he didn't," Joshua said, tears forming in his eyes. "Please tell me Marcus didn't do this..." I couldn't deny it. I know what he was talking about, and I couldn't hide it. "I'm sorry," I said. "I couldn't stop him..."
Joshua held me in his strong arms, and I could feel his chest trembling. "You don't deserve this," he said into my shoulder. "I would do anything to keep you safe... away from him..."
   I know that Joshua can't stop Marcus. He couldn't keep me away from Marcus. No matter how hard he tried, Marcus always found a way to get me.
"Let's go," Joshua said, wrapping an arm around me. "You don't need to be here any longer." We walked down the long, dark hallways, with Joshua leading me to my room. Will Marcus find us? Will he separate us? I prayed to God he wouldn't.
   Once we entered my room, Joshua led me to the bed and we sat down. "I've had enough of you getting hurt," he said. "You just... don't deserve it!"
   "Well... I'm fine now," I lied. "If it weren't for you, I probably would've been dead. You've saved me." Now that was the truth.
   "But... he just doesn't stop!" Joshua continued. "Marcus thinks that he owns you!"
I looked down at the ground, not sure how to respond to that. Marcus' name is on my skin... I don't want him to own me, and I don't want to believe it either... but...
Joshua lifted my face up with his hand and looked deep into my eyes, his face solemn yet caring. "He doesn't own you," he said almost at a whisper. "No one owns you. Don't you ever think that."
Before I could respond, Carter knocked the open door with one hand behind his back. "You lovebirds done making out?" he said, smiling. My cheeks blushed red as Joshua moved his hand away from my face.
"What do you want?" Joshua said, annoyed and hiding his embarrassment.
"I want to be nice and give Victor something," Carter responded, walking up to us. Joshua and I looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
"What is it?" I asked, interrogating Carter.
"Hold out your hands," he said.
I did so, and Carter pulled both hands from behind his back and placed a strange thing into my hands.
   A metal figure about the size of my hand sat on my palms. An oddly shaped bulb with a twisted wire on the inside sat on top of its head. Two hollow circles sat in the middle of its face, which was the shape of a cylinder. Hinges on the side of the cylinder held a piece of metal that looked like the metal figure's bottom part of its mouth that should open.
   It's torso was also a cylinder with two circular starters on its chest, one red and one green. The figure's arms and legs were thin metal pieces with moveable joints, and its hands and feet were flat. While it's feet had no toes, it's hands had tiny metallic fingers.
   "What is this?" I asked, inspecting the small thing in my hands.
   "I made it," Carter replied. "Before you came here, there wasn't much to do, so I just started tinkering around. I have a bunch of them, so I wanted to... cheer you up a bit."
   "Thank you," I said, smiling as I looked up to him. "What does it do?" Carter turned the figure around in my hands and pressed the green starter.
   Suddenly, I heard a faint buzzing noise and ticks and clicking of metal parts. The wire inside the glass bulb began to glow a dusty yellow. The figure's feet and fingers began to move and wiggle in my hands.
   Its hollow, empty eyes seemed to be given a life. There was no pupils, eyelids, or even eyes. It just seemed like the figure had come alive, as if it had been awakened from an eternal sleep.
   The bulb of light flickered and then fully regained its brightness, but it wasn't blinding. It was like a comforting candlelight, glowing in the dark.
The metal figure then stood up in my hands, trying to balance on the uneven surface. I held my hand on its back to help steady it, and it looked at me. The figure's mouth gaped a little, then pulled up its bottom lip, looking like a grin.
"His name is Prototype," Carter said, making the metal figure turn to him. "He was the first robot I ever made, so he isn't perfect, but I thought he could keep you company. I also programmed him to help protect you."
Looking up at Carter, I said, "Thank you. You didn't have to--."
"Hi Victor!" a high-pitched, metallic voice exclaimed. I peered down to see a waving Prototype in my hands. "Carter has told me so much about you!" he continued, excitedly like a child. "I can't wait to protect you!"
I couldn't help but giggle at this adorable... "robot" in my hands. He seemed like an innocent child, not knowing what protecting me meant. Besides, how was a small metal figure going to protect me against my uncle?
"I'll try my hardest, and that's all that matters," Prototype said, grasping my thumb with his metal hand. It felt like an infant holding my finger, gentle, warm, and comforting. Well, a metal infant that could talk and walk.
Prototype looked up at Joshua and smiled widely. "Joshua!" he exclaimed. "Do you like Victor? Because I do!" Joshua looked at me with blushing cheeks, just like I was.
"More than anything," he said, his eyes staring deep into mine, with clear affection for me.
I blushed and looked away from Joshua, feeling my emotions grow for him more and more. I think... my love for Joshua is beginning to form into an infinity...
"Do you two love each other?" Prototype asked. I blushed more, as did Joshua, and we looked back at each other.
"Umm...," Joshua began. "I... I don't know... if that's fine with you..." I was about to respond with "yes," but then I remembered the fear.
The fear of being taken advantage of by Joshua. The fear of him hurting me and abusing me. The fear of him... raping me. But would he ever do that? No... he cares about me. Or does he? Could he be faking it? No! He would never do that to me!
I don't know what to believe anymore...
"You two are disgusting," Carter sneered, with both a smile and a look of disgust. "So? Are you in love with each other?" He batted his eyelashes as he said that last part. I laughed, breaking out of my thoughts of fear, and Joshua simply appeared unamused at Carter's statement.
   "Love is complicated," Joshua said, straightening up and acting proper. "It takes time and dedication, and is not proclaimed by an idiot asking if two people are together, Carter."
   I laughed more, liking that Joshua had a fun sense of humor. Light can be found in the deepest and darkest of places, even though you may not see it at first. A saying from my mother suddenly flowed into my mind. I now see how true that really was.
I miss her... so much...
   "You look different than I thought you would," Prototype said, tilting his head as he observed me. "But it's a good different." I smiled at the metal figure, and he did the same. He's so innocent. Was he made that way?
   "Are you ok with this little guy staying with you?" Carter asked.
   "Of course," I responded, bringing Prototype to sit on my lap.
   "Make sure Marcus doesn't see him, though," Carter added. I would hate to see what would happen to Prototype if Marcus got his hands on him.
   My eyes began to feel tired and a yawn escaped my lips. "Are you sleepy?" Prototype asked.
   "I suppose," I replied, trying to blink sleep away from my eyes.
   "Do you need time to rest?" Joshua asked, resting a hand on my shoulder. "I'll come back as soon as I can."
   "I'd like that," I said, smiling. Joshua smiled back as he stood up from the bed. Carter did so as well, and they both walked out the door, Joshua looking back at me as he shut the door.
As the metal door shut, I suddenly felt more alone and isolated, even with Prototype with me. No matter how much I trusted Joshua on his word of coming for me, I wanted so badly to just run after him and have him hold me in his arms. I missed his warm touch, his comforting gaze, his caring soul...
"What is this?" I heard Prototype ask. He had climbed down from my hands and held He Diary in his tiny metal hands. Standing by the blanket on the ground, Prototype was trying to balance The Diary, since it was almost his size.
"It's... a diary," I said. "It's Marcus'. He wrote what he was thinking and how he lived before all of this." Setting the small book on the ground, Prototype began turning the pages and examining them.
"Can you read it to me?" the tiny robot asked, looking up at me. "I can't read these big words. Please?"
"Of course," I replied. "Come up here." I gestured for Prototype to join me on the bed, and he picked up The Diary and walked over to me.
Handing the small, leather book to me, Prototype, with my help, climbed up into the mattress. I opened The Diary to where I last left off, returning to Marcus' strange story.