by Quil Carter
“Oh, I had about five of them before I gave up keeping them alive,” Silas chuckled. “I ended up calling all of them ‘Hammy’. Even if I originally named them something else, they all ended up being Hammys.”
I peeked at the hamsters through the little window in the blue lid. The peach one was walking around, probably wondering where he was and what was going on, the brown one was sniffing some seeds that had been tossed into the container. “Hammy and Cristo,” I said with a smile. Cristo would be happy with me about this. I was going to see him when I got home for my spelling lessons. He also read the pages of the book I was writing and pointed out the spelling mistakes.
“Indeed,” Silas muttered. He took my hand as we exited the pet store and walked towards the black car.
“That’s Prince Elish!”
My attention turned to an adult woman with a big blue purse and fluffy white hair. She was standing beside another woman who was younger and they were both looking at me with excitement.
“He’s cute as a button! Look at those eyes,” the old woman cooed. “What a fine young man. You’ll be a wonderful ruler by your king’s side, little one.”
I smiled big at the compliments. I was special to them and everyone in Skyfall. Whenever I went out, people always stopped us to give me compliments. I enjoyed it and I had learned how to answer them back.
“Thank you, Madame,” I said. They gushed over my manners before Silas pulled my hand and I carried on, exchanging only short pleasantries with the women.
“Fucking wenches,” Silas muttered when we were inside of the car.
The door slammed and I did up my seat belt. “What’s a wench?” I asked.
“It’s an insult,” Silas replied. “If I catch you saying it I’ll smack you across the face.”
My mouth dropped open. “What was that for?” I asked him. I turned away from Master Silas and stared at the window. “I wouldn’t say it…” I didn’t know what I had done to make him angry, or at least at the time I didn’t, and I continued to look out the window.
~
This is just one of the many times I wasn’t aware of my actions, or the continuous tension between Master Silas and my caretaker and teacher. The incident I had witnessed when I was one and a half years old had been pushed to the back of my mind for ages now and I was oblivious to Silas’s growing hatred towards Cristo. Cristo was my friend and I loved him dearly, and I thought it was a compliment to name my hamster after him.
But in truth, I was walking a dangerous tightrope with Silas. I didn’t know but at this time in our lives Silas was incredibly stressed out. He was dealing with the terrorists that always seemed to be a backburner issue, and the stress of having four five-year-olds. Not only that, his success with me and my siblings had planted a new hope that Sky could be cloned, and around this time he was using brain matter left and right to try and clone the long dead boyfriend. He wanted Sky to help raise his chimeras, so we could develop a bond with him that we’d already established with Silas.
But that was a pipedream.
The scientists that Silas did have now, were not the trained chimera scientists we see today. They had their own opinions, their own personal goals, and Silas felt like they were no longer taking his requests for a Sky clone seriously. Our creation had driven up excitement in them, and they wanted more chimeras to be born. Silas, being the one raising these young ones, didn’t want more chimeras yet, and it was creating a tension that was pulling my master in two.
And on top of terrorists, disobedient scientists, and a dream of a Sky clone dying before his eyes, he was also having trouble with my younger brother Nero. Perhaps Nero had the cards stacked against him from the beginning. He was a brute chimera, with an intelligence chimera and a science chimera for brothers, both with more mellow attitudes. Nero was a loud, obnoxious comedian with a bloodthirsty streak that was keeping my king up at night.
Now, today as I write this, we’ve all seen these characteristics in our young boys, and we know what to expect with our chimeras, especially our first stealth who would be born when I was nineteen. But since Silas didn’t know that now, it was something that was alarming and unsettling.
But none of this I was aware of. They were adult issues and I was just a boy of five. My life was consumed with lessons and learning as much as I could. I loved King Silas and I wanted to impress him. Quite frankly, I enjoyed when he yelled and hit Nero, because in my young brain the more he disliked him… the more he liked me.
And I was okay with that.
~
As we approached our home, I saw Garrett riding his bike in the driveway. Ellis was practicing her martial arts in the front yard, something she had been addicted to since three, and Nero… Nero was chasing chickens with a clown mask over his face.
Silas and I both watched as Nero tripped over a bush and landed on his face. I heard Master Silas sigh and mutter something under his breath.
“He’s not supposed to be chasing the chickens,” I said, hoping to gain not just his favour, but also throw some more dirt on Nero’s name. “Valdez says they’ll lay less eggs if they’re frightened.”
Silas didn’t say anything to me. The car stopped and he got out, and I did as well. I followed with my hamsters in my arms, and made sure my box of their things was right behind me.
“Did you get them?” Garrett asked, his short black hair combed back against his head. He ran towards me, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he sped along.
~
Garrett had this odd thing he did, whenever he was excited about something, he’d stick his tongue out. I would love to say he eventually grew out of this, but in time he’s only added jumping up and down and hand clapping to the strange routine.
~
“Their names are Hammy and Cristo,” I said. I lowered the container so he could see. Ellis was behind him, wearing her gi. According to her she was already a black belt and had won several awards. When we asked her why the family wasn’t invited to the award ceremony, and why we hadn’t seen these awards, she had stated that it was girl’s only and she kept her awards hidden away so we wouldn’t break them. She was such a liar.
“Velvet is fluffier,” Ellis said, in an obnoxious tone that anyone with a small girl child was familiar with. She turned with her nose up in the air and ran towards Silas.
“Yeah, well we ate Velvet last fall; that’s not even the real Velvet,” I called after her. She ignored me and I turned back to my hamsters. “They have to be separated or Cristo says they’ll eat each other!”
“Cool!” Garrett said, his green eyes went wide. Caleb had dressed him in a sailor outfit today; Garrett loved wearing outfits. Last year he’d refused to take off a batman outfit that Perish found while investigating an old mall. The only reason he still didn’t wear it was that he’d outgrown it. “Want to see if they’ll fight mine? We can have WWF matches!” His tongue stuck out at the mere thought of it.
“No, no, I don’t want to hurt them,” I said. I looked down at the two furry little things and felt a swell of protectiveness. “I like them. I want them to be happy.”
“Let’s find toilet paper rolls and make them homes then,” Garrett said excitedly. I also got excited about this idea. He’d made some neat homes with tissue rolls and paper towel rolls, and had even got some heavy cardboard ones from the maintenance sengils. Garrett knew more about this than I, since he’d been making them for longer, and I decided it was time for me to become better at it than he was.
Garrett and I ran up to our rooms. We enlisted the help of Caleb and for the next several hours we were making castles and tube roads for my hamsters and Garrett’s mice. While we were working on this project, Caleb set up the hamsters’ two cages in our pet room.
Our pet room was what it sounded like. Since boys were prone to losing things and Master Silas didn’t want one of those things to be living, breathing vermin (in his eyes), our caged animals were sequestered to a small room off of my, Nero, and Garrett’s bed
room. It was airtight and locked off, so any loose rodent would remain lost in that room only.
During this time playing with Garrett, I felt myself bond with those two hamsters. They were mine and only mine, not the family’s like our dogs and cats, but something that was my own and my responsibility. I decided that since I was destined to protect Skyfall, I would prove that I had what it takes and take care of these two hamsters.
I put down Cristo the hamster and watched him stuff himself inside of the tube. Garrett laughed at how silly he looked, since his fluffy fur was sticking out in both ends.
“I maybe wish I got hamsters instead of mice,” Garrett said. I was on my feet picking out a book to read the rodents, in front of me was a large window, and below it, the yard. “They’re just so soft! And slow; my mice are so fast.”
I thumbed through a Disney Aladdin book to decide if I wanted to read it. “Master Silas told me he wanted only me to have the special hamsters,” I said. A bald-faced lie. “Because I’m his golden boy, and his favourite. He loves me the most.”
Garrett pouted and crossed his arms. “He doesn’t love you the most…” Garrett said. He looked upset, I felt proud of myself for that. “He loves us all equally.”
“Maybe you and the other two,” I said. I turned from him and looked out the window. “But I’m above you three. I’m his prince. When I’m older, I’m going to rule Skyfall beside him. Me and…” My voice trailed off when I saw something strange in the yard. “Velvet’s in the yard… she’s all alone.”
Garrett walked to the window too and looked outside. “Prince is back there but he’s tied up. Where’s Ellis?” We’d been up in our rooms for over two hours. The sengils had come and gone and it was quiet downstairs. Garrett and I quickly put away the rodents and ran down the stairs to the main level of the house.
I heard the theater room’s television on. The show it was playing was Strawberry Shortcake and only Ellis liked that garbage. I wanted to shout at her that her stupid rabbit was about to get eaten, but the theater was too far away and Garrett was already running towards the sliding glass door to outside.
I followed him and we slipped out into the backyard. There was an expanse of grassy flat land in front of us, and in the distance was a fence that surrounded the property. This was the backyard where Prince was kept and Velvet shouldn’t be back here.
Garrett was already running towards where we saw Velvet and I decided to follow him. I thought of how I was going to tell Silas that we had saved the rabbit, and then I thought of how Ellis was going to get a spanking for leaving the rabbit out. Perhaps I would use the rabbit as blackmail. Ellis did own a purple umbrella that I’d always been jealous of; if I played my cards right I could force her to give it to me in exchange for my silence.
“There she is,” Garrett whispered. He stood up against the house, my pulse was racing at this point. I felt like a thien finding a missing child, or maybe a legionary about to arrest a disgusting greywaster.
The grey rabbit was eating some of the green sprigs of grass, not a care in the world or fear for her safety. “Okay, let’s sneak up on her so she doesn’t hop away!” I hissed to Garrett. “Really slow now…”
Suddenly, with a swiftness that made me unsure just what was going on, there was a flash of black, followed by a high-pitched squeal. I screamed and froze when I saw Prince with Velvet in his jaws, our family rottweiler holding his prize before shaking his head back and forth.
Blood flew from the dog’s jaws, and the rabbit’s eye was white and terrified. She screamed again, a horrid whistling shriek, and to my left, Garrett ran towards her.
“No, Prince!” Garrett yelled. He reached down to grab the rabbit, and Prince let out a vicious snarl. Garrett recoiled his hands from fear, but it was too late, Prince dropped the rabbit… and jumped on Garrett.
The dog bit my younger brother’s face, opening him up from lip to ear. Garrett screamed, blood pouring from the wound, the dead rabbit lying in ruins beside him.
The next thing I knew, I was running towards the dog, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a burly boy with ear length messy black hair: Nero.
Nero was coming from where Prince’s cage and zipline were, his eyes were terrified, and he was holding a leash in his hands.
Nero grabbed Prince by the collar and pulled the dog back. Prince coughed, his blood-stained teeth flashing, and he lunged for Garrett again. I was quick though, I snatched Garrett by the arm and dragged him away from the dog. Garrett was sobbing, and the blood… there was so much blood.
Then a door slammed. I looked over and saw Silas running towards Garrett. He was going so fast I thought for many years after that Master Silas could fly.
And I saw as he ran, his eyes turn black. My attention turned when I heard Prince scream, and saw the dog fall to the grassy ground, his body trembling.
Silas reached Garrett. He picked up my brother in his arms. “Get inside with Nero, now,” he said to me. His voice wasn’t even angry, it wasn’t anything; he sounded like a robot.
I looked down at Prince. Our family dog was still twitching, and there was foam on the edges of his black lips. I wanted to make sure he was okay, but when Nero ran towards the house I followed.
I passed Ellis who was crying into Dylan’s arms, and ran to the living room. I saw Garrett bloodied on the floor; he was sobbing and screaming, and over him was Silas who was preparing a needle.
“They’re bringing the car around,” Cristo said, he was on a remote phone. “He says to stick the local anesthetic into his face to numb it, and flush the wound out with antiseptic. Does he have any other wounds on him?”
“No, just the face, I believe. Elish?” Silas said. He hadn’t even looked up to see if I was there, but he seemed to know. “What happened?” He put a hand on Garrett’s face and comforted him, Garrett whimpered and continued to cry.
“We saw Velvet outside… and we went to bring her in and Prince was loose,” I said, but as I said this, something occurred to me. “Master Silas… I think Nero had let him out. Nero was running from Prince’s zipline and he had his leash in his hand. I think he let Prince out on purpose.”
Silas looked at me sharply, Cristo behind him had his mouth open in shock. “Are you sure, Elish? You must…” He shook his head. “Don’t bother, I know you’re being honest.” He swore and his fists clenched. “Dylan, take Garrett and accompany him to the hospital. I must remain here and take care of my child.” He rose to his feet, the green fire still blazing in his eyes, and swept past me.
“Elish, come with me. I wish for you to watch this.”
I hid the smile, my relief over Garrett being okay making way for a more… vindictive emotion. Nero was going to get into so much trouble! I knew better than to show my happiness on my face however, I kept it what Silas called stoic.
I remained in Master Silas’s shadow and followed him up the stairs. Silas first checked our bedroom, where I thought Nero was, but he left it with a blazed look and began checking his bedroom and then Ellis’s. Nero was nowhere to be found; I think he was hiding.
While Silas checked the closets, I went back into the bedroom I shared with my brothers, our cribs now long gone and our single beds taking their places.
I scanned the room. My bed, sporting a purple comforter, was undisturbed; Garrett’s bed, with his black Batman comforter, was still made too; and Nero’s, his bed decked out in a He-Man theme, was also untouched.
But then I tuned my hearing to its super mode, and heard a noise. I ran out of the bedroom and found Silas.
“He’s hiding under his bed,” I whispered to him.
Excitement rushed through me when I saw the expression on Silas’s face, one that made him look like he was about to explode. Silas then turned around and I saw him undo his belt buckle as he stalked towards the bedroom.
My mouth dropped open, but quickly, as quick as Prince grabbed my brother, I closed it and stood up straight. I was my master’s golden boy and I was going to be just li
ke he was. I was five years old now, I wasn’t a baby anymore. I would rule Skyfall beside him one day, so I would be just like him.
I wouldn’t let my master down.
My chin lifted up into the air and I walked into the bedroom, just as Nero let out a frightened howl.
Silas had him by his foot and he was pulling him out from under the bed. His belt was in his hand now and he was grasping it so hard his knuckles were white disks.
Nero clawed at the floor as he was dragged, then Silas wrenched his body up off of the floor and dropped him. Nero fell onto his stomach with a gasp, and I saw Silas raise the hand that had the belt.
He started whipping Nero on the back and butt, his arm flying back and forth as he rained blow after blow down on my younger brother. I could hear the smacks, blending in perfectly with the screaming howls of Nero, they mixed together until they became the perfect song.
Nero, still screaming, got away from him, ran to the corner of the bedroom and curled up. He made himself as small as possible and protected his head with his hands, but it did nothing to stop the barrage of blows from Silas, now leaving streaks of blood in their wake.
Then finally, Silas stopped. He glared down at Nero, his shoulders heaving from the energy exuded from beating my brother. The tension in the room was so thick I could walk on it, and it was accented heavily with the aroma of both blood and terror.
There was a dragging noise as Silas raised his hand, the buckle of the belt scraping against the hardwood. I could see blood dripping from the silver and leaving streaks behind like a snake travelling through sand.
“You deliberately set it up so Prince would attack that rabbit, didn’t you?” Silas whispered, his voice coarse and full of rocks. “You wanted to see him kill it. Tell me I’m wrong?”
Nero, his breathing wheezing gasps, shook his head. His violet blue eyes were wide, and his shaking body smudged with blood. He looked terrified.
“Nero Sebastian Dekker, don’t lie to me,” Silas said sternly. “I can tell when you’re lying. I will ask you once more: Did you set up the dog so he would kill that rabbit?”