Darkest Descent

“ Is something the matter, Mr. Faggers? You seem to have gone pale” the dark skinned buyer asked, a smirk on their face as they bent forward to catch the pen before it rolled off the desk.

Hearing the name sent chills down Trenton’s spine; he broke into a cold sweat as he snatched the pen from the Doushe slave. Twenty years-- it had been twenty years since he’d last heard that terrible name spoken.

Xinasuya.

Despite all those years the name still filled him with fear.

“I am fine!” he snarled, combing a hand through his thick, combed-back hair, as he filled in the blank spots on the contract.

Just a few more signatures and this creature would be out of his sight, taking the memories of the owner of that horrible name with him.

There was not a person here on the New world that did not know the name Xiansuya. The owner of that name was an archaic blight upon the world that caused destruction and chaos where ever it went. All Trenton knew were the stories his father had told him as a small boy. A creature from the Zhoui tribe, the one known as Xiansuya had slaughtered countless villages and cities in the name of chaos. The man that had claimed to kill Xiansuya all those years ago had never been heard from again after telling his wild story to anyone that would listen.

Then four years passed and the rumors of Xiansuya began to spread like wild fire. People swore that if you spoke the name, the vicious creature would hear you, and you would be visited by ruin. It was one of the last few “true” names used by the creatures in this world; and to hear it be spoken so casually (despite the hushed tone the Doushe used), it made Trenton wonder about this Doushe. Only a fool would speak that name and dare to look smug about it.

“Take your contract” Trenton muttered, shoving the thin sheet of paper at the Doushe. “And get the hell out.”

The entire ordeal felt surreal to him. Hearing that name, it made him feel strange in ways that he could not describe. Groaning softly, he rubbed at his temples, trying to relieve the growing pressure that was forming behind his eyes.

“The one who owns me would like to thank you,” the buyer said softly, rising from the seat. “For your transgressions against his slaves.”

An invisible hand gripped his heart, squeezing it in a harsh caress; Trenton wheezed out a raspy breath, clutching his chest as he tried to find some relief from the pain. His thoughts were jumbled and scrambled, while some thoughts did not feel like they were his at all.

“Now. Now. You’ll only anger him if you fight it,” the buyer said, as he folded the contract paper and tucked it away into the inside of his suit jacket.

The cold sweat on his brow now became heavy perspiration; he could feel the flames of the furnace licking at his face as he viewed the flames through the eyes of the dead that now rest inside it.

“Wh-What the hell are you doing to me?” Trenton asked, as he tugged down his tie and unbuttoned his the first few buttons on his shirt.

“How cruel. To insult me this way,” the buyer said, staring down at the groaning man with a look of disgust. “I would not waste such talents on something like you. I would have simply killed you, the one who owns me, on the other hand… This is more his style.”

Slumping forward, Trenton gasped as the grip tightened around his heart. ‘Am I going to die?’ he thought to himself.

“You’re not going to die” the Doushe muttered as they headed towards the door. “However, I hope that this experience teaches you something. However, what that lesson is, is completely up to you. Goodbye Sir.”

Trenton’s eyes widened in shock, his words coming out in frantic gurgles as his vision began to fade to darkness. He could see it! That child! That pretty little Doushe boy, with the mocha skin and the fear-filled crimson eyes. It smiled a sad little smile at him, those crimson eyes now filled with unfathomable sorrow. The image then changed into the burning image of Beryl.

“Somebody…help…me…”the words came out as a gurgled groan as his vision faded to black.

xxx

Jessui smiled as his head was pushed beneath the steaming hot water. There were soft hands holding him down, as brushes like sandpaper scrubbed his skin clean. The young Doushe could hear soft voices speaking, but he could not see them; he was too deep into the darkness to see them. Besides, there was no need to see them as hands delved between his legs and touched him in that spot.

“What are you doing? There’s no time for that! Fagger’s wants these slaves out of here as quick as possible,” a rough voice said from somewhere in the background.

“Geez, calm down. I was only washing” a soft, feminine voice said.

A voice whispered to him that he should sleep, and those loving arms wrapped back around him and pulled him deeper down into the darkness.

“Is it really that bad, just listening?” he asked, frowning when he heard no reply.

If he was only listening, then it had to be all right. Nothing could hurt him from listening to someone else speak. Maybe if he listened hard enough, he would hear the voice of the Doushe that had brought him. There was something about that person that Jessui liked. That buyer was not mean like Trenton or Hugh; but it worried him, how did Hugh know that person? If Hugh knew that person, did that mean that they were bad just like Hugh was?

It hurt to think about Hugh; Hugh was supposed to be his friend, but then he had to go and do something like that. Jessui could not understand it, and the more he thought about it, the more betrayed he felt.

You can’t trust them.

Jessui could not understand that either. Why were humans so untrustworthy? Humans were no different from the Doushe or any other non-human being in the New world. What gave humans the right to judge what could and could not be done? It was not fair. If the humans were allowed to hurt each other, as well as the other beings in this world, then why were they allowed to do so?

“I don’t like these thoughts” Jessui whispered to the darkness.

But you need them. Without them, you will not be able to survive. For some, hatred is all they have.

“But… I don’t want to hate,” the emptiness of the darkness no longer felt warm. It was a fathomless cold that filled him with terror and fear. “I don’t want darkness anymore.”

We don’t deserve light.

xxx

It was nighttime by the time the final procedures were finished. The five slaves were given a real bath; each one bathed by the trainers and rubbed down in pretty and expensive scented oils. The slaves were then given fresh clothing; it was nothing fancy, a simple robed garment of soft black cotton. They were all given silk slippers to wear on their feet.

This was done only to hide the fact that most of the slaves sold from this facility were sick and suffering from malnutrition, among other things. Another standard procedure was that the slaves were usually hand delivered to the homes of their masters, but the five slaves that had been brought by the Doushe were considered a “special case” and thus, after being bathed and clothed, were herded back into the Choosing room to await the Doushe arrival.

Sitting in one of the chairs, Meryl stared down at the floor and smiled. Despite the excellent job that the Healer had done, there were still signs of his earlier injuries. There was a fresh looking scar beneath his left eye, and another scar on the side of his jaw. It was clear that despite his body being healed, his mind was still mentally scarred.

“Why are you sitting there, Brother? We are about to go,” he whispered; bending down to pick something that could be seen only by his eyes, up from the floor. “We will get in trouble if we don’t pick up our things, remember Beryl? Beryl? Where did you go?”

Hugh turned away from the pitiful sight, and instead watched Jessui, who was sitting in one of the chairs closet to the double doors. There was something different about the Doushe boy. The boy had never been that talkative, but the boy had never been completely silent either.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, reaching forward to touch Jessui’s hair; when the boy flinched, he frowned. “Why are you acting like this? All I did was fuck you.”

Jessui’s attitude pissed him off. Hugh knew that he was wrong for not asking, but it was not like he had raped Jessui either. The boy was not in pain or bleeding when he had finished, and the boy had come as well, so why was Jessui treating him like he was one of the trainers?

“Answer me!” Hugh yelled, grabbing the slight boy by his shoulders and shaking him. “Why are you acting this way?”

“Hugh!”

The Irish boy released the terrified Doushe as the double doors burst open. His eyes widened as he saw the older Doushe. This time the butterfly masked had been removed, and he smirked as he saw the familiar scar over the Doushe’s left eye.

“Lydriel,” he murmured.

He groaned softly in pain as the Doushe walked over and slapped him hard across the face. ’So I guess that was not a name call of happiness’ he thought bitterly, as he rubbed his stinging cheek.

“This child is under the protection of the one who owns us. If you harm him, I will not be able to shield you from his wrath,” the Doushe, Lydriel, said, their crimson eyes narrowed in anger, and what seemed to also be fear.

“I was only asking a question,” the Irish boy said, as he backed a couple of steps away from Jessui.

Just who was this person that could cause Lydriel to feel fear?

“You can ask your questions to me, later when we are in private” Lydriel said, a slight smile on the Doushe’s face as Lydriel turned away to address the other slaves.

Looking over at Jessui from the corner of his eye. Just why was their new owner so interested in a slave that they had not even met? Once again, Hugh began to feel that old feeling, the one that he always felt before something went terribly wrong.

xxx

It would take them two days to reach the home of their new master. They knew this because it was the first thing that Lydriel said to them as they were herded into the back of a covered wagon. As the two worlds continued to synchronize, motor vehicles were becoming more popular (mostly in the more technological cities); but since most of the terrain was unpaved, covered wagons were still the preferred mode of transportation.

The four slaves sat in pairs of two beneath blankets that Lydriel had given them. Meryl sat beneath the blanket, staring quietly into space, as his mind remembered happier moments from his past that involved his brother. While his body was now completely physically healed, the mental wounds were something that would never heal.

Jessui shared the blanket with Meryl, and he too blankly stared off into space. He remained buried deep within himself, but Hugh’s betrayal was still fresh on his mind. Why would Hugh betray him? The older boy was the one that had been kind to him.

‘That is the way of all humans. None of them can be trusted. That is why, they must be dealt with’ the protective voice inside him whispered.

It was something that Jessui did not want to believe. How could he believe that? Weren’t Doushe the same as humans? What were the differences between him and Hugh? Why did they have to be different?

He felt Meryl’s shivering body twitch violently beside him. The memory of the twins’ beating was fresh in his mind. Why had Meryl been chosen to live, while Beryl had been chosen to die? Meryl and Beryl were human, just like Hugh was, so why had they been chosen to suffer? Where were the gods that were supposed to protect them?

‘Do you really care that much for them? You are such a saint’

Jessui closed his mind to the voice in his head and allowed himself to drift deeper into himself. The closer that they moved towards the home of the man who owned him, the more control the voice gained. It now spoke to him without his permission and caused confusion in his thoughts.

The voice was protective but persistent. There was something cold in that warmth that the voice caused him to feel. The arms wrapped around him were still protective, but it was a suffocating protection.

It was something he now knew that he did not want.