Splendorman's Proxy

Hello there

Willow's p.o.v.

I ran through the woods hearing dogs barking and heavy footsteps behind me. The tree branches scratched me and tore my clothes as I ran past. 

"Willow dear, I promise if you come back now I won't punish you too badly!" The caretaker of the foster home cooed sickly behind me and I knew not to trust her. I kept running as fast as my 10 year old legs could carry me and I eventually exited the woods and stepped into a field of flowers. 

I continued to run not lookng back or stopping in fear of them catching me and my legs soon collapsed under me. I stayed still and listened for the caretaker or the men that worked for her.

 "Leave the brat. She won't last a day out here alone and will get what she deserves soon enough." The caretaker spat bitterly and I sighed in relief hearing their footsteps fade away from me. I took a moment to catch my breath before slowly standing up and walking further into the flower field. 

Hours had passed and the sun was starting to set so I climbed a tree wincing in pain as some of the cuts from the foster home reopened and started bleeding. I sat on a branch with my back against the tree and pressed my hand against the worst cut to stop the bleeding and soon fell asleep from the pain and exhaustion.

Splendor's p.o.v. 

I was making my way through a field of flowers and noticed the sun was starting to set so I made my way back home passing an old oak tree. I stopped however hearing a whimper coming from the old tree and looked up shocked to see a small child on one of the branches. She had pale almost white skin and long white hair. She wore a torn and tattered grey dress and seemed to be around the age of 10.

I looked around for any sign of her parents but found none and I froze when I caught the smell of blood coming from her. She seemed to be asleep so I gently picked her up with my tendrils being careful to not wake the poor child. 

"You poor dear you're freezing and you're injured. What happened to you?" I said softly so I wouldn't wake her up and carried the child in my arms to my home.

When I got to my house I gently placed her on the couch and lit the fireplace. I quickly grabbed the first aid kit.

"My dear child please forgive me but I must tend to your injuries" I said quietly and took her dress off and began gently cleaning and wrapping her cuts which didn't seem to be made by accident. When I finished I found some warmer clothes for her to wear and dressed her. 

I looked up when she started to stir and noticed the mask covering her face. It was white with a black smile like mine and black eyes (if you've ever seen Black bullet, which I haven't, think of Kagetane's mask). I frowned confused and carefully took her mask off shocked to find half a smile carved into her face which had been poorly sewn shut, she had a black eye, and her lip was busted.  

"Oh my goodness what on earth happened to you?!" I cried and instantly got to work on cleaning her busted lip and cutting the stitches so I could resew the wound. In total it took about half an hour to get the poor child patched up and she had yet to wake up. I stood after cleaning everything up and walked away to put the supplies away.

Willow's p.o.v.

I woke up later to a pleasant warmth surrounding me and I opened my eyes confused. 

"Where am I? Who changed and bandaged me? Why am I here." These questions and more ran through my mind as I sat up wincing as I did and looked around at my surroundings. I was on a comfy red couch that was placed in front of a fireplace which had been lit and seemed to have been burning for quite awhile . To my right there was a staircase and to my left was an entrance to another room. As I looked around I heard footsteps coming down the stairs so I quickly grabbed my mask which was lying on a coffee table in front of me and made a run for the staircase hiding underneath it in the darkest corner. 

Staying as quiet as I could I watched through the in the stairs as a tall figure wearing black dress pants multi-color spots, a white button up dress shirt with a black vest that also had multi-color spots over it, and a black top hat came down the stairs. He looked at the couch I was previously on and frowned before looking around. 

"My dear child please come out from wherever you are hiding. There's nothing to be afraid of, I promise I would never harm you. Please come out." 

He called looking in different areas. When he stepped closer to where I was hiding I shuffled back more and gasped quietly behind my mask making him stop and look in my direction. My heart started pounding in my chest as he stepped closer to me and crouched down to my level with a soft smile. 

"There you are. You scared me little one, I thought you ran away. Please come out of there, There's nothing to be afraid of, you're safe here." He cooed soothingly and I hesitantly came out of my hiding spot making sure to watch him for any sudden movement. He made no such movement and gave no sign of harmful intent, instead he just sat there with his arms open and a friendly smile waiting for me to go to him. 

"Who are you?" I asked slowly moving into the light and closer to the strange man until I was pressed against his chest with his arms around me hugging me gently. 

"My name is Splendorman, but you can call me Splendy. What's your name my dear?"

"Stupid freak" I answered even though I knew my real name. It's just what I've always been called so I often went by that. I looked up at Splendy to see his smile had disappeared and was replaced with a concerned and sad frown.

"Oh..no my child. I mean your real name"

"Willow. Sorry im just used to being called that instead" I explained looking down at my lap as he cradled me in his arms. 

"That's alright Willow, however who called you that and hurt you like this?" 

"The caretaker and everyone at the orphanage. They all hated me for no reason and she..." I trailed off as the horrible memories of what she did to me resurfaced and I started crying. Splendy was quick to hold me close and rock back and fourth slowly with me in his arms as he tried his best to calm me down.

"Shh, it's okay Willow, you're safe now. I promise I won't let anything hurt you ever again. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I understand completely. Just take your time and tell me when you're ready okay?" He cooed soothingly while rubbing my back effectively calming me down.

"Okay. Thank you Splendy." I thanked softly and he smiled before tilting his head.

"Willow dear, why do you wear that mask?"

"I don't like showing what she did to me recently. I didn't smile during while an adult was choosing a child to adopt so the caretaker took me to a separate room and said if I won't smile then she'll make me smile and carved the half smile on my face because she got distracted and didn't get to finish. So I made this mask to hide my scars and now I'm always smiling." 

I explained and his smile turned to a frown of pity. I felt tired so I rested my head against Splendy's chest and closed my eyes slowly falling asleep in his arms.

Splendy's p.o.v.

I noticed Willow had gone silent after she explained to me what happened and I looked down to see she had fallen asleep in my arms. I smiled softly and stood with her in my arms as I took her upstairs to a spare bedroom and gently placed her on the bed before tucking her in. Before I left I pulled her mask off carefully and set it on the nightstand next to her bed and put a little stuffed rabbit underneath the covers with her. I smiled and resisted the urge to awe at her when she cuddled closer to the rabbit and had a genuine smile on her face. 

I quietly left the room and left the bedroom door open a crack letting light in just in case she was afraid of the dark. Going downstairs I sat down in a chair near the fireplace and thought about everything that has happened today.

"How could someone do such horrible things to such a sweet innocent child? And why? Willow never deserved any of this and it'll be over my dead body if she goes back there. I feel the need to protect her. She's just so shy, sweet, and scared. But how will I keep her here?" 

"That's it! I can make her my proxy!" I shouted but not too loudly. I smiled and went to bed myself hoping I would be doing the right thing.