Albino Child

Thirty Two

I sighed contently, now I had nothing to do except concentrate on how the meeting will run, I could now place my focus on N and Doll who were probably in the custom-made living room having something to consume; as I strolled out of the room, I shut the door with a snappy twist of the lock and continued my way to the room I assumed the two individuals were in, I was correct, they were sipping fragrant black tea whose aromatic steam made a hazy aura that filled the room with a relaxing sensation, I sat myself on my typical seat as Doll poured me some of the dark amber liquid into the cornflower-coloured teacup. N was curled up in the rocking chair that tipped back and forth while he slept peacefully, it was only mid-morning but we had to leave soon to ensure enough time for set-up, I flipped my attention between the ticking clock whose sound gradually grew in volume and the slender fingers of Doll which were trilling from pinkie to thumb repetitively, the rhythms were becoming too much so I stood up and smashed my fist into the clock.

"God dammit, shut up," I scowled at the bitter remains of the wall item that had fallen into shatters on the floor, Doll looked at me wide-eyes and stopped drilling her fingers into the armrest of her chair, she suddenly whipped her stare away and left the room, I watched her leave and grumbled regretfully, "Maybe that was a bit of an over-reaction."

Walking over to the limp sleeping body of N, I shook him awake only to find that he was already conscious, his dilated pupils bore into mine and I took his hand, tugged it to gesture that it was time to leave; he slapped my gripping hand away, slipped out of the over-sized chair and finished the remaining Darjeeling fluid that lay in the basin of the peony-pink teacup, I waited patiently as I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from lashing out on the smaller individual. I despised it when people did not do exactly as I wanted but I knew that this was natural, there was no person who would follow me faithfully forever, that was why I had the artificially created Doll and Clown as my loyal subjects that would fulfil my every command at the snap of my fingers; I contained my irritation and we walked side-by-side up the stairs and into my bedroom for there was no-way that I was leaving this house without something presentable being worn, there was no possibility of going out of the house looking like a foolish non-aristocrat, I sneered at the imagined face of R-C if I turned up in casual clothing, the disgust that comically stretched her mouth like a melting candle and the frowning oil that replicated saliva from the fright of an uncalculated appearance. Entering the room, I bee-lined to the wardrobe and threw slim-fit shirts onto the duvet in various sizes, I was unsure as to which one the child who was currently toying with the wooden dollhouse at the end of the bulky frame at the end of my bed, the figures were currently having a sort of meal that seemed to highly fascinate N who most likely had only had one if he even lived before the facility – we used to eat inside a canteen where the portions were controlled and meals were tailored to suit each individual but there was not chatter, conversing or contact within such events, to the participants, it was just another timeslot in our timetables that was necessary to fulfil for most, some such as myself were allowed to control our diets but that was limited to certain individuals – I also placed other clothing such as undergarments and trousers to choose from.

I whipped my head round when N asked, "What are these for?", he looked confused but as he began to grasp what my intentions were, he began to whine and complain simply due to him not being bothered to move.

I rolled my eyes and gave him a pile of fabrics, that he took into the bathroom on the opposite side of the alabaster corridor, while he got dressed in the separate chamber, I collapsed onto the floor, rested my head onto the soft cotton sheets that had the faint scent of magnolia fabric softener, it was a familiar sensation that made me feel somewhat safe in its comforting embrace, I let the moments slip away as I imagined being in the warm memories of my biological mother before I was cut off my N kicking me in the leg. I shot him a subdued glare that screamed 'seriously' as he sheepishly grinned, there was no air of actual apology as he snatched the hairbrush that lay on the table beside me and returned to the bathroom where he attempted to comb his hair into something presentable, placing the two hair grips in an 'X' shape to push loose strands out of his face he then grinned and walked back into my room. Jumping onto my shoulders, he pointed to the shirt on the far left and then to the charcoal trousers two articles to the right of it, then letting go he left me to get dressed in private solitude, the atmosphere immediately relaxed once he left, for some reason he made me feel a little tense – I guess it was because I was not used to this new appearance that left me slightly confused at times, certain moments in which I occasionally asked inwardly why his hair was that length, his eyes that colour and overall why he appeared a lot skinnier – I sighed as I removed the shirt that I wore currently and took a lavender-scented baby wipe from beside me and polished the metal teeth that ran down my sternum, there was residual blood that had leaked from the miniscule parting between the toggle and the base of the zip, it was very thin due to the unusually low levels of plasma in my blood which meant it did not congeal very easily. Once they were at an acceptable level of sterilisation, I bandaged my abdomen to prevent any spillages that could deter potential agencies that could use my skills, the bound strip of cloth was tightened firmly before placing a thin, fitting long sleeve to ensure there were no mishaps with transparent clothing showing more than what I intended to offer; after hastily buttoning up the over shirt, I removed my trousers and collapsed onto the comfortable yet cool sheets that crumpled under contact, I had not measured myself recently and I was dreading as to how I must have looked at the moment – I imagined grotesque growths and impairing amounts of physical disfigurement.

I curled up into a foetal position as I wrapped the frosty-white duvet around my shivering body as the clothes that were also lying on the surface tumbled into a disorganised mess onto the floor, the trembling idea of becoming the level of ugliness that filled my mind was horrifying so I settled into a desperate lockdown; mustering enough effort, I managed to crawl to the body mirror where I somewhat stood up and tenderly removed the cocoon of fabric that enclosed my frame; the duvet fell and I saw myself. I gingerly stepped forward towards the mirror, I did all the usual tests such as wrap my arm around my body to see whether I could touch where my belly button ought to have been, wrap my icy-cold hands around the top of my thighs to ensure that I could reach round the limb and fasten my left hand with limited circulation around my right bicep; I heaved out a sigh of relief once I confirmed that I had not become overly disgusting, hurryingly, I put my charcoal trousers on and put on the dark grey socks that were in the top right drawer of the chest of drawers beside the screen of truth.

I leaped down the stairs where I saw N waiting patiently, he was fiddling with one of the multitude of puzzle toys his former self had left in glass jars at my house, he was wearing the black all-weather jacket that he kept with me for 'emergencies'; he looked up finally and I smiled, taking my coat that was on an elegant silver hook, I took his hand and the keys, leaving this building behind as we made our way to the typical meeting place in which many small-scale elite societies rented out for their seasonal meetups. The arena that we were going to was relatively close by and after roughly half-an-hour of constant walking and occasional complaints from my shorter companion, we finally reached our destination; looping behind the main event, we avoided the fussing crowds that were monitored by the aggressive looking guards that menacingly glared at the gaggle of girls chattering wildly in their flamboyant styles, I flashed my members card that was suspended from the lobster claw on a tie-dye lanyard which fashion-wise screamed 'trippy hippie' to any onlookers. They were satisfied and let me pass into the designers' area thus to the back-stage area where make-up would be applied and outfits finally donned by models, the ceilings to the rooms were not well-lit but the bright lamps that gilded the mirrors were blinding; suddenly, I received a tap on the shoulder. Pivoting round to see who it was I was R-C who greeted me then excused herself to go get ready – she was one of my trusted models that I knew well; through this whole ordeal, N was trembling like a fool, the shocked almost frightened expression that was plastered onto his face was terrifying, his eyes appeared to be bulging out of their eye sockets, I tilted my head in confusion as he began to open his mouth to explain.

"That's S."