I Was Free Once

Chapter 5

I squinted my eyes and felt the warmth of the sun cascade over my body. It took me a while to get used to the daylight once again, and it reminded me of when I was younger. I continued to follow my new master along a pathway through a patch of trees.

“My truck is just on the other side of these woods,” he said. “It shouldn’t take much longer to get there.” Shortly after he told me that, we came upon a clearing, in which there was an old, dark green pick-up truck parked. I started to climb into the trunk, but was stopped by him. “Sit in the front with me.”

He started up the engine and drove for a long time, past places I had never seen nor heard of before. I sat there quietly, watching the world outside and listening to the music he had turned on. It was nearly dark by the time we stopped driving. I got out of the truck and followed him up a shaded pathway until we came to a small, run-down farmhouse.

I entered the house and found I was standing in a hallway. He led me down to the end of it and into the kitchen. There were dishes piled up in the sink, and papers all over the small wooden table. He reached in the pantry and pulled out a bag of dog food to fill the bowl on the ground. A large, gray dog came from the hallway and sat in front of the bowl.

“There you go, girl,” he said to the dog. “That’s my dog, Shadow.” He reached down to pet her and continued speaking to me. “So, you must be hungry. Sit down and I’ll fix you something.” I sat down, a bit confused, and watched as he pulled out some bacon slices and eggs from the fridge. “I hope you like your eggs scrambled, ‘cause that’s the only way I can cook them.”

About ten minutes later, he brought me a plate with bacon and eggs on it and a cup of coffee. I hadn’t smelled the fresh aroma of coffee in years. “I’ll be back in a little while; I have some work to do. Enjoy the bacon and eggs.” Then, he went into the hallway, and all was quiet. I picked up my cup of coffee and took a sip. It was just as I had remembered it.

I ate what was given to me and finished my coffee rather fast. Shadow put her head in my lap a couple times, while I was eating, so I gave her some bacon. I went over to the sink and started washing the dishes, assuming they were there for me to do. I heard footsteps coming down the hall, but I paid no attention to them.

“What are you doing?!” my new owner shouted. “Why are you cleaning the dishes?” I dropped what I was doing and sank to my knees. “Now why are you on the floor?” He waited for me to answer.

“So that you can punish me for my wrong-doing, master,” I replied with my head down.

“What the fuck…? Get up!” I stood up with my back towards him and my head still hanging. “Turn around and pick up your head,” he said in a soft voice. I did as he told me to, but I avoided making eye contact with him. “Now, tell me, why were you doing the dishes?”

“Because I am your slave, and I am to make your life easier, master.”

“Look at me. What is your name?” I looked him in the eyes for a moment before answering.

“I have no name until you give me one, master.”

He put his hands through his long, gray hair in frustration. “Enough with this ‘master’ shit! Now, I know you have a name. You weren’t always a slave. Now tell me, what is your name?” I looked at him, then at the floor, and then back at him. It had been so long since I had used my name. It was almost as if I had forgotten it.

“My name is Darien. Darien Maleficus.”

“Darien? Alright, well, Darien, please do not refer to me as ‘master’. My name is Salvo Prospectus, but you can call me Sal, okay?” I nodded. “Good. Now that we have that settled, why don’t you go get a shower? I’m sure you’ll feel much better.” I nodded again, and followed him back down the hall and through a door that was on my left.

Sal handed me a towel and some shorts to sleep in. He showed me how to work the shower, and told me to leave my clothes in the bathroom so that they could be washed. “I’ll be in the kitchen. Come get me after your done, and I’ll show you to your room.” He left and went back down the hall again.

I had never taken a more refreshing shower in my life. My thoughts just seemed to wash away with everything else that night.

I got out of the shower and dried myself off. I changed into the shorts Sal had given me and hung up the towel to dry. I pulled back my hair loosely using a band I found on the sink. I looked at myself in the mirror. The image that stared back was scarred, broken, and without wings. I turned away from it; I couldn’t stand to see myself like that.

I opened the door and went back down the hall to the kitchen. I saw Sal sitting at the table scribbling away on a piece of paper, with Shadow lying by his side. He quickly turned around and put it underneath a pile of similar looking papers. He stood up quickly and pushed the hair out of his face.

“Come on, I’ll show you where you sleep.” He opened a door next to the pantry, which had a set of stairs inside. I followed him up and turned left at the top. There was a short hall with a door at the end. “That’s your room,” he said. “Inside there’s a bookcase full of things to read and a desk with some paper and a pencil on it. The bed’s a bit dusty, since it hasn’t been used in quite some time, but I’ll clean that tomorrow. Good night.”

I entered the room, and saw that he was right. No one had been in there in a long time. I closed the door behind me. I sat on the double bed and took a look around. Strangely enough, there wasn’t a window in the room, but I could have cared less. The bookcase was filled with classic novels from centuries ago that I hadn’t read in a while. On top of it were knick-knacks and other oddities. I got up to look at them.

There were porcelain figures of animals and glass paperweights laid out in no particular order; it was almost as if they were thrown in the air and left how they had landed. I picked up one that was shaped like a blue flower, and, while I was looking at it, accidentally dropped it. It rolled underneath the bed without breaking, so I crouched down to get it.

I couldn’t see anything, when I looked under the bed, so I felt around. It took me a few minutes, but I found it lying next to a book. I grabbed that too, so I could place it on the bookshelf with the others. I brushed the dust off it and saw that it was no book; it was an old photo album. I sat down on the bed with it and decided to take a quick look before putting it on the shelf.

I flipped through lots of various pictures. Most of them were of Sal when he was younger with, who I assumed were, his friends and family. I noticed that he had always had silver-colored hair. It seemed quite strange, but I thought it might have just run in his family. I kept flipping through the book until I came to a page where the picture inside fell to the floor.

It landed upside down and I noticed there was writing on the back of it. I bent down to pick it up and saw there was only one sentence written:

“I’LL KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE BASTARD IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO.”

I turned the picture over and placed in back in it’s slot. It wasn’t until I had finished putting it back in that I saw who was in the picture. My eyes opened wide as I viewed this picture of a man and woman standing next to Sal, who was holding an infant. I dropped the book.

The picture was of my mother and father, and I was the infant.