Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Prologue
April 6th, 2021, Capital City, Alendor
The streets had been taken by flags and banners in green and red, decorating the city with the colors of Alendor. There was only one day left for the great festivity in celebration of the centenary of independence of our country.
We no longer belonged to Sarnaut, the country that had one day been the greatest potency in the whole world, but that was now crumbling under a major financial crisis; differently from Alendor, which was conquering more space each passing day due to the accelerated growth that happened after the political reforms.
Since the middle of last century, the population were divided in five castes, classified solely by numbers. Those belonging to the lower numbers were the richest and most powerful of the country and the ones in the higher numbers the poorest, the ones who usually worked in big factories, with higher working hours and lower salaries.
My family belonged to this last one.
In the beginning, there were many rebellions against that new system, but the government, instead of receding in their decisions, didn’t hesitate in executing thousands of opponents in cold blood. Therefore, soon the population gave up on fighting against it and started to live in fear.
Although there was a clear difference in the purchasing power between the castes, even us from the lowest class were able to survive and have a peaceful life, even if unable to enjoy many of the comforts that any person would usually dream of. Being able to level up in the caste system was one of the most difficult things to achieve. After all, the only way was through the marriage with someone from a superior caste. Even then, it was necessary to obtain the government approval, which tried to keep every little detail under its control.
There was no homeless in the streets and crimes were almost inexistent, for what made Alendor different from any other country was its rigid Anti-crime Law, enforced after the rebellions. There was no imprisonment or future for whoever committed a crime, no matter how small it could be. If caught, the perpetrator would be sentenced to death by a lethal injection.
This memory made me shiver, almost making me give up on what I was about to do, even though it was for an urgent reason. I had to take a risk in order to help my family. My mother had fallen ill and was unable to work. Solely with my father’s wage and my own, it was hard to buy her medicines and keep us all alive.
We were four: me, my parents and my little brother, who couldn’t work yet, since he was still 10-years-old and the authorization was only given after 14, when he graduated from Middle School. Only people from castes 3 to 1 had enough money to pay for a higher education for their children.
In our jobs, my father and I had access to a meal a day; however, my mother hadn’t eaten anything in two days, in order to give the few things we possessed to my little brother. It was forbidden to leave the plants of the factory with food and if we were caught taking anything home we would lose our jobs as well as anyone in the kitchen who could have assisted us. Watching my family suffering, going through such a hard time, it was killing me.
I had just been released of another day of labor when I decided to try to soften my mother’s suffering, taking something for her to eat. I went to one of the minimarkets in our neighborhood and there were only three other people there: a couple and an old woman. It was an area formed generally with people from caste 5, which was why we all lived in standard houses, identical to each other.
I had no money, but I had the urgency to get something, for my mother was only getting worse without food. The owner of the market was at the cash register, paying attention to the TV news, which were talking about the big party that would take place in the following day. All the shelves were low, allowing him to see of almost the entire shop.
I went to the canned food section. It was cold that night, so I was wearing a coat, which would help me a lot in that moment. I checked if the owner was still paying attention to the TV and, in a quick move, I placed a can of soup in my coat’s inner pocket that served to protect my belongings in the rainy days. That would already help me, but I wanted more since I wouldn’t be able to return there in the next day without raising any suspicions.
I crossed to the other side of the shelf, where there was a small confectionery section. Then, as soon as I made sure he wasn’t watching me, I got a chocolate bar that seemed easy to hide and took it to my pants’ waistband, hidden by my coat.
I was completely nervous and shivering all over. The fear had now took over me; after all, I would have to walk by the gray-haired man, the owner, before leaving the place. I tried to take a deep breath and keep myself as calm as possible in order for him not to notice my anxiety.
When the couple went to the cash register in order to pay for their goods, I decided that was the best moment to leave, praying for the man not to notice me while summing the goods up on his calculator. I walked in uncontrolled steps, not wishing to be too slow to be seen, neither too fast to catch his attention.
I walked alongside the cashier’s in order to get to the door while the owner was checking the price of a sliced bread. When I thought I had managed to get unnoticed, I heard him saying:
“Hey, boy! Haven’t you found what you were looking for?” he asked me in suspicion. The couple started looking at me as well.
“N-no, couldn’t find the brand that I like,” I answered, letting my nervousness show. I had never been good at lying.
“Why are you nervous?” he asked me, getting up from his post and coming towards me. He had already realized there was something odd.
Despair took over me. If he got closer or asked me to take off my coat, he would see what I had caught, so I was taken by a sudden impulse and ran away from there. I heard his shouts from the door of the market, while running through the empty street. He screamed “Come back here, you thief!”.
I felt terrible, but it was a desperate situation and I couldn’t just watch it, without doing anything, while my family was suffering.
When I was just getting to the corner, a white car with 'Police' written on its side and Alendor’s flag hanging from the window appeared out of nothing, making me stop immediately. This was awful. They were driving slowly and, by the open window, I could see two men, dressed in the usual white and blue uniform.
The driver looked at me in suspicion, probably because I was nervous and gasping, so he stopped the car and got off the patrol.
“Are you alright, kid? Are you feeling well?” he asked me, getting closer. I took a few steps back, to keep the distance and try to collect myself.
“Yes, I am. I'm just late for a commitment so I'm running to get there on time,” I lied, praying for my lie to be convincing this time.
“I see,” he commented, still in distrust, but already returning to the car. I let the air out, relieved.
Then, the screaming became closer and, when I realized, the owner of the shop was running towards us, calling the officer’s attention, who gave up on getting back to the car. The other officer came out as well. I was completely screwed up; this time, there was no use in running
away. The few people in the street stopped to watch what was going on.
As soon as the gray haired man got to us, also gasping for air from running, I felt the tears falling from my eyes: I had made things even worse. How would my family survive without me?
“This boy, he stole something from my store!” accused the man. The two cops looked at me and got close. I remained still, waiting for the inevitable.
“We will need to inspect you, kid,” informed the officer in charge of driving the car.
As soon as they took off my coat, they noticed the chocolate on my waistband and felt the weight in my coat due to the canned soup. When they finished their search and realized that was all I had taken, the cops handed me to the owner and stared at me. The other cop, the one who hadn’t said anything so far, could only shake his head in denial.
“Why would you do something like that, kid? You must know how things work around here,” he said.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” I said several times, sobbing.
“Unfortunately, we will have to take you with us,” the other informed me, joining my hands on my back and then handcuffing me.
“You can go back to your store, we will take care of this,” said the cop who was taking me to the car.
They put me on the back seat, took their places and started the car. I could only cry and wonder about my family. How would they survive without me? How would they react when they received the letter announcing my execution for theft?
“You didn’t steal just for the fun of it, you must have had your reasons”, remarked the cop in the passenger seat.
“Yes. My mother is very sick. My father and I aren’t able to keep the bills and pay for her medicines. She hasn’t eaten anything in two days. That’s the only reason why I took those things!” I admitted, trying to reason with them.
“This is sad, I can understand it. Which boy wouldn’t take a risk to help his mother? However, sadly, it is our duty to arrest you. There were witnesses there and, if they see you again in the streets, we might be denounced and we will be the ones to pay for it,” explained the driver.
They both seemed to be nice people and I could sense they pitied me. They exchanged looks all the time, as if talking through their eyes. I knew they couldn’t do anything. By the looks of it, they were probably the police officers responsible for my neighborhood and, if anyone recognized me in the streets after such a scene, one of those gossipers could denounce them.
I cried all the way. My fear of what was about to come was tremendous. I knew the lethal injection was painless, but I could not believe that I, Ianto Wiese, 17 years old, would die so soon and in such a way. I wished I had the opportunity to help my family and, who knows?, maybe build my own in the future. Now, however, there was nothing else to do, just accept the inevitable: I was being taken to death.
I was so lost in my thoughts and sorrows that only when I looked through the window did I notice that the car was going to a distant part of the city. Which made me curious, since the police station was located in the center of the town. Where were they taking me to?
“Where are we going?” I asked them, since they have been silent for a while.
They didn’t answer me, just kept on driving. I felt my anxiety growing. What was going on?
Minutes later, we had already got to the outskirts of the town and there was no car or even a living soul around. They parked the car on the side of that deserted road and got off the vehicle.
I was so afraid of what they were going to do to me. Were they planning to hurt me? When they opened the door beside me and pulled me out, I was shaking all over. I couldn’t believe I was thinking how they were such nice people just a few minutes before.
“Maybe you won’t like much what we are about to do, but I believe it might be better than death,” pointed out the driver.
“What are you going to do with me?” I asked them, confused, feeling my heart almost jumping off my chest.
“We are giving you another chance,” he answered me, taking off a black box from his back pocket.
The other cop held me, keeping me still. I could never have the strength to get myself free. When the box opened, I saw that there was only a small syringe with a yellowish liquid inside. Were they going to drug me?
Then, the man held my right arm to get to my vein and stabbed me with the syringe, injecting all the liquid. I felt a sting and, before I could say anything, I suddenly started feeling myself terribly dizzy. I First, my eyes got blurred. Soon after, I felt myself falling and a pair of hands coming to support me. I fought to keep myself conscious, but there was no way to beat it, my mind was shutting down.
I gave in to that feeling as if I was just falling asleep and, finally, everything got dark.
Chapter 1
White lights took my vision as soon as I opened my eyes, which blinded me for a moment. I had to close them and make three other attempts before finally manage to keep them open without being bothered by the light.
When I looked around, I realized I was in an empty bedroom, as white as its bed and bed sheets, which were the only things there beside me, apparently. As soon as I got up, I noticed I was naked and had not even a single hair in my body, not that I had that much before. After taking a good glance at the room, I saw a mirror on the wall, where I stood to take a better look at myself.
In fact, not only all the hairs in my body had been removed, but also the faint trace of beard I had before. My hair, which was blonde before, was now platinum and with a nice cut. I couldn’t understand it. Where was I? I could remember being drugged by the cops, but… why?
When I realized I didn’t even know how long it had passed, I started feeling anxious about my family. How would they be? Were they already aware of my imprisonment? I walked in circles around the bedroom for several minutes, trying to find a logical explanation for that. The only thing I knew was that the law condemned me to a lethal injection. Then again, why would they bother to shave me and treat my hair if it was just to kill me?
While trying to organize all those feelings and doubts inside my head, I finally heard the door opening and a well-dressed man entered holding some white clothes. He looked younger than 30 years old, had dark hair and a faint trace of a beard. I stepped back and covered my sex as soon as I saw him, remembering I was naked. He closed the door.
“You don’t have to hide this from me, I watched you being depilated from head to toe,” he mocked me, stepping closer.
“Then, tell me why they did this!” I demanded.
“You will find out soon, calm down. I want you in your best for tonight. Here, wear these clothes!” he ordered me, handing them to me.
I took them and turned around to cover my body as fast as I could. There was white pants and a shirt that fitted me perfectly.
“With this round ass of yours I will make lots of money! I'm so lucky!” he remarked, biting his lower lip while staring at me with mischievous eyes.
“What do you mean? You want to turn me into a prostitute?” I asked, nervously.
“Of course not! You know it is illegal. It would be very complicated to hide something like this,” he retorted.
“Then, what are you planning to do to me?”
“I’ve already told you that you will soon find out, be patient. Now, however, I have to make some questions to you.” He sat on the bed and patted the space beside him, signalizing for me to sit too. I complied, but still facing him with distrust.
“If you are going to make me questions, I demand to have some answers too!” I tried to argue.
“You are in no position to make demands and, if you ever question me again I will give you back to the police for them to sentence you to death,” intervened the man, annoyed. I was afraid of his reaction, but at least I found out he had nothing to do with the police.
“Ok. What do you want to know?” I was feeling impatient and nervous, but decided to collaborate in order to gather more information.
“Your name and age, for starters.”
“Ianto Wiese, 17.”
He took from his pocket a cellphone from the last generation, something I had never seen that close. We from caste 5 had no ways of buying such expensive devices like that. He started typing on it, most likely the information I had just given him.
“What is your birth date?” he asked, raising his eyes to me again.
“June, the 9th,” he started typing again.
“I believe you are from caste 5, am I right?”
“Yes, you are right.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?” he asked, making me shake my head in denial, shyly. Due to my job and to my desire to help my family, I barely had any contacts with girls. “A boyfriend?” he asked again, with suspicion.
“Of course not!” I answered straight away, bothered by the question.
“But you have already had a girlfriend, right?”
“No,” I said, without facing him.
“Ianto, be honest: are you a virgin?” he looked at me with a serious expression.
“Yes, I am,” I answered, feeling my face burn. He opened a wide smile.
“This is great! Our tests showed you were a virgin, but I had to confirm,” he remarked, excited.
“Why would you want me to be a virgin?” I stood up, moving away from him.
“Because then you will be much more expensive,” he just retorted, also standing up and approaching me. I stepped back once again. “Even though it’s great for my pockets, it’s a bit sad for me, of course. I would have enjoyed tasting you, but now I can’t,” he said, staring at me with lust.
“Tasting me? What do you mean?” I asked, anxious and confused.
“You are far too innocent, Ianto! I wanted so much to fuck you, kid!” he answered, feeling up the volume between my legs. “Since you are a virgin, though, you’d better remain this way for now,” he explained, taking his hand off me, which was a relief, since I could feel an erection forming.
He put his cellphone back on his pocket and walked towards the door, opening it.
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