Synthetic

Chapter 7

Maybe she's right.

But what good would it do? I couldn't be with him because I'm just that fucked up. "Chris?"
"Just don't. When you leave I-I want you to take Ricky."
"What?" She asked, looking stricken.
"I. Want. You. To. Take. Ricky." I said, pronouncing each word clearly.

"I can't do that."
"Yes you can. You know you can."
"Alright. I don't want to do that." I frowned and she shook her head, her black and red curls bouncing. "Why not?"
"Chris I don't need a reason. You brought him. You've had him what, 3 days? You can't get rid of him that quickly he hasn't done anything wrong."

I rolled my eyes and laid down in my bed. "I'm trying to sleep. Go away."
"Fine..." she mumbled, closing the door quietly. With a sigh, I closed my eyes and forced myself to sleep.

(Ricky)

I laid in my bed, crying silently. Devin had literally covered my legs in cuts and my neck in bruises. Shit, he said he wanted to kill me.

I was surprised when I saw Master but after hearing his little "chat" with Ashley, I'm wondering why he saved me. I ran my weak hand through my hair and I felt someone climb into the bed. He wrapped his arms around me and sighed. "I was so worried Ricky.."
"I'm sorry Ry..."
"It's not your fault man. I'm so glad you're fucking safe Ricky man."

"Same...but I'm not gonna be here much longer..."
"You what? Why!?"
"Master asked Ashley to take me away when they leave..."
"Oh my God...Ricky..." I turned around and saw tears in my best friends eyes, making me feel even worse.

"I-I don't know what I'd do without you here w-we've always been together Ricky..."
"I know Ryan. I know.." I climbed off the bed and punched the wall. There was a loud bang, and when I pulled my fist away, the wall was cracked. "Fuck oh no no no..." I whispered in fear.

My fist was killing me, but at that point I didn't care. He was probably gonna kill me for damaging his property. Ryan rushed over and took my injured fist in his hands, his eyes widening. "W-we need Mrs Costello-Misery's help..."

I frowned and glanced down, the pain in my fist becoming all I could feel. My knuckles were split and swollen, blood was running down my arm and dripping on the floor. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to convince myself it was all in my head. Ryan moved, I didn't know where until a few minutes later.

He came down with Miss Costello, who had a concerned look on her face. "Ricky? Show me your fist." She said softly, standing in front of me. I did and she shook her head and sighed. "Ryan go fetch me a needle and thread...and get Nikki here."
"Yes Miss." he ran off.

She pulled me into a brief hug as I burst into tears. "Ricky don't worry...I know what it's like, you don't need to be scared..."
"W-what do you mean?"
"I...was a slave...like you."
"What!?"

She pulled away and sat down on my bed, playing with her fingers. "When I was 15, I was sold. My...uncle, he sold me. To a different slave company, I can't really remember the name of the owner, but he was horrible. He...he raped us all a-and beat us black and blue. I hated it and myself so much because of him. But then, Gerard and Frank found me two years later, and I was almost dead."

"They must've seen something, potential maybe, but they brought me. I was so fucking scared when they brought me, and Gerard nursed me back to health. They made sure I was okay, they taught me how to be a slave, which I hated. But they helped me with my confidence and I eventually learned to love who I was again. When I was 20, Nikki brought me. At first, we hated each other. None of his 'punishments' worked so he got Chris to do it for him...Chris didn't wanna do it...but him and Devin had fallen out, and he was full of rage..."

She lifted her shirt up to show me a scar across her side. "Chris did that...and after? He cried. He didn't stop crying, he didn't want to hurt me. But after he got worse and worse. I ended up pissing him off that much, he ended up killing a few of his previous slaves. He almost killed me. That's how he got the name Motionless. When Nikki told me he loved me, I felt like shit, I was scared to tell him how I felt. It wasn't until later that I realised Gerard and Frank already knew how he felt and how I felt."

"They told him, and he freed me. We stared dating, and I saw how Chris seemed more detached, empty and stuck with one feeling: rage. Nikki seemed overprotective of me whenever we went to see Chris, he...struggles with a lot. Me and Nikki had been married for a year when Gee asked us to train you and Ryan. So we did, as you know, and Chris at this time was getting worse. He didn't stop beating Devin, he almost killed him, so we had to intervene. I convinced him to get rid of Devin, and to get a new slave, he didn't want to."

"Why?" I whispered, interrupting her story once. "He fell in love. He still hasn't realised it. But eventually, he got rid of Devin and brought you. I see a sparkle in his eyes, something I hadn't seen in ages. He seemed so much happier with you and Ryan. I guess you heard what he said, didn't you?"
"Yeah..."

"I told him no. He won't hurt you as much as he hurt me, you know that right?"
"H-he hates me..."
"Not that much Ricky. He really doesn't hate you, he's conflicted." The door opened and Ryan came in with Nikki. "Ash? Baby are you okay?" He asked, sitting next to her on my bed. She pressed her lips to his and nodded. "Yeah, I need some help though..."
"With what babe?"

She wordlessly pointed to the wall, and he raised his eyebrow. "Who did it?"
"Ricky."
"Why?"
"Don't ask Nikki. Please just fix it, please..."
"Alright, alright." She beamed and kissed him softly. He smiled at her and started fixing the wall with the plaster mix in the other room. How he knew it was there, I didn't know.

Ash made me sit down next to her. "This might hurt just a bit..." I raised my eyebrow in confusion and almost screamed when the needle pierced my skin for the first time. "I promise it'll get better. Just keep quiet."
"Yes Miss..." I mumbled, dropping my head.
She quickly finished sewing the first two knuckles shut when the door slammed open.

(Chris)

I stood in the doorway of the basement, my eyes narrowing. Ricky was getting his hand stitched shut while Nikki was fixing my wall. I didn't have to be a genius to figure out what'd happened.

"Chris don't!"
"Ricky. Get here. Right. Fucking. Now." I snarled, looking at him darkly. I watched him flinch and he tried to walk over, but Ashley and Nikki didn't let him. "What the fuck?"
"No! You're not hurting him. Not this time, not anymore. But deep down, you don't wanna hurt him Chris." Ashley said, glaring at me.

"She's right Chris. Go upstairs, have a drink and calm down. It was an accident, alright?" I ground my teeth together and stormed back upstairs. I grabbed the first bottle I saw and drank half of it before smashing it off of the floor. I couldn't believe that they wouldn't let me punish my slave...what the fuck is wrong with me?! I rubbed my temples and groaned before I walked back Downstairs.

This time, Ricky was alone and sat on the bed waiting. "Ricky. Explain. Now." I hissed.
"I-I...I heard you asking Miss Costello to take me away and I was upset. Ryan asked me what was wrong I told him and he said he'd be alone again and I got angry and punched the wall...Master..." he blurted, keeping his eyes down to his bed. I wasn't sure how to feel, should I be angry at him or myself? Should I feel guilty?

"Come here." He did as I said, standing in front of me obediently. I raised my gloved hand and slapped him across the face as hard as I could. He dropped to the floor and didn't move, he just placed his hand over his bright red face. "That's for cracking my wall bitch." He nodded and as soon as I saw one tear, I knew I had to make him feel better.

But I didn't. If I did, I'd fuck everything up. With that in mind, I turned on my heel and walked out.