Garden of Spiders Volume 1: A Companion Book to The Fallocaust Series Book 3

by Quil Carter

  Nero winced and sucked in a sharp breath, trickles of blood running down his face like bars on a jail cell. He hesitated before slowly nodding his head. “Yeah,” he responded.

  My heart jumped at this confession. Nero was in so much trouble, and here I was beside my master, where I should be. He was educating me on what it would be like as ruler; this is why he was letting me watch this. I was a man now, and he trusted me to be old enough to watch such grown-up things. I won’t disappoint him.

  “You wanted to see Prince kill the rabbit… Why?”

  Nero flinched again. He stared at his sneakers and sniffed. “I thought it would be cool to see.”

  Silas stared at him, before nodding. “You thought it would be cool to see, did you?” Silas leaned down and grabbed Nero’s arm. “Get up.”

  “No,” Nero howled. “NO!”

  “Get up and act like a fucking man!” Silas screamed at him. “You want to act like an adult and take lives like an adult, you’ll be treated like one. Now, STAND UP!”

  Silas ripped his hand away from Nero’s shoulder. My little brother stood where Silas had left him, his body shaking and his bloodied face now turning red. He was covered in red welts, and prints from where the buckle had hit him. I should be shocked at seeing such a sight, but my mind was completely in the moment, there was nowhere else for it to stray.

  “Your fucking brother was almost killed because of you,” Silas growled at him. “That dog was trusted with you four when you were infants and never had I feared for your safety. But because Garrett made the mistake of attempting to take the dog’s prey away from him, his instincts drove him to attack Garrett. A boy that dog loved.” Silas slowly walked around Nero; Nero remained standing, his body still shaking like a leaf. “I can no longer trust that dog, Nero, because of you and your actions.”

  “What?” I gasped. I choked on my words, panic running through me like electricity. “It wasn’t Prince’s fault! It wasn’t his fault at all. Don’t hurt him.”

  Silas shot me a look and I remembered myself. I swallowed down the lump in my throat, and forced back the tears burning my eyes, then I stood up straight like he’d taught me.

  “Elish, if you are to rule Skyfall beside me, I expect you to rule fairly and in the best interest of your people, and most importantly, your family.” He stopped and stared down at me. “I will leave this decision to you,” he said. I felt prickles rush my body as he said this. “We have a dog that has attacked a member of your family, cruelly set up by another member. Though not the dog’s fault, he now poses a threat to your family and you, and he cannot be trusted not to lash out again.” Silas walked to me, there was blood speckled on his face.

  “What do you do, Elish?” Silas said. “What would be a king’s decision?”

  My mind reeled. It was up to me? I thought of Prince, our family dog that we loved, who pulled us around in the wagon, who let us pull on his ears and crawl all over him. I loved that dog, he was my friend.

  But Silas’s words were right behind every good memory I had of Prince. He’d attacked Garrett; he almost killed him. If he did it once, he may do it again, and we would always be watching ourselves around him. Nero especially; he’d already demonstrated that he couldn’t be trusted around animals.

  No matter what… my family had to come first, just like King Silas always said. I had to watch out for my brothers and my sister. I had to keep them safe, because it was my responsibility. Being the favourite and the golden boy wasn’t all fun and praise, I had to look after my younger siblings too.

  And I would, even if it hurt my heart.

  So I straightened myself up and looked King Silas right in the eye. “The dog cannot be trusted,” I said to him. “He must die.”

  Silas’s expression read nothing. “Why can’t we rehome him?” he asked me. He was testing me; I knew he was testing me.

  “The Dekker family takes care of their own problems,” I responded, not missing a beat. “They don’t pass them off to others.”

  Silas’s pupils dilated; he put a hand on my shoulder and patted it. I knew I had made him happy with my decision, but at the time, I didn’t know just how much. “I’m proud of you, Elish,” he said simply and walked past me. My heart swelled, it was so full of warmth I felt like it was going to burst. I knew I would never forget this day; the first day he’d said such a thing to me.

  And riding on this emotion controlling me so, I turned as Silas left the room.

  “I want Nero to do it,” I said.

  Silas stopped mid-step and he turned around. There was a look in his eye, but like the other emotions I had seen on my master, I couldn’t read them. How could I when I had never seen them before?

  “Yes, love,” Silas whispered. He smiled and got down on one knee. He brought his hand up to my cheek and looked into my eyes. “That is exactly what we shall do.”

  “Do what?” Nero whimpered. Silas’s emerald eyes shot past me and looked at Nero. I turned around as well and saw my younger brother still standing, droplets of blood falling from his nose and chin and collecting on the floor like fallen rain.

  Silas reached past me and grabbed him. Nero yelped and shied away but Silas took him by his arm and dragged him out of the room. I followed them, forever my master’s shadow, and they headed towards the stairs.

  I turned away quickly and ran to Master Silas’s room. I headed straight for the gun holstered at the foot of his bed, and grabbed it. It was a lot heavier than I thought it would be, so I held it with two hands and ran to catch up. I reached the bottom of the stairs just as Silas was dragging Nero through the sliding glass door.

  I slowed down when I saw Prince.

  Prince was sitting on his favourite dirt pile, a chewed up toy beside him. He was cowered down and his head was hung low. Prince knew he had done something wrong.

  Doubt filled me for a moment. I was ashamed to feel doubt, but I knew why I was feeling it. Because I loved Prince and I didn’t want bad things to happen to him. I was attached to that dog.

  This made me feel uncomfortable. I was conflicted between my feelings for this animal and my duty. I had been so sure with my decisions previous, it hadn’t occurred to me that personal feelings could get in the way of my duty as prince. Did Silas have to go through the same thing?

  Well, I was aware of it now, and that meant I could move past it, right? I held up my chin and continued my walk towards Silas and Nero, but with every step my heart betrayed my reasoning, and soon there was a horrible pain in the back of my throat.

  No, I wouldn’t allow myself to be sad. I was Prince Elish Sebastian Dekker, first born chimera, protégé of King Silas, his golden boy. I was above feeling such things!

  “Elish, tell Cristo to…” Silas, in the middle of turning around, stopped mid-sentence when he saw I was holding his handgun. He gave me a short nod and took the gun from me.

  “You will be a man and take responsibility for your actions,” Silas said, turning back to Nero. I walked over and saw that Nero had his arms around Prince, tears rolling down his eyes. “That’s what soldiers do and that is what my future Imperial Commander will do.”

  Nero’s puffy eyes looked up at Silas through his long black bangs. I saw then what I believe I saw in myself, the reminder of who we were. I could see my brother remind himself of who he was, and the proof was when he let go of the dog, and stood up.

  “Yes, s-sir,” Nero said, his voice cracked and broken. He held out his hand and Silas gave him the gun.

  “We’ll see if this is cool to see, Nero Dekker,” Silas said coldly. “None of this would’ve happened if you acted like I had designed you. You’re a disappointment and I’m ashamed to call you my descendant.”

  The devastation was clear on Nero’s face, and I knew that he too would remember this day. This was the first time Nero had disappointed our master so severely, though it would not be the last.

  And in actuality, this incident with Nero couldn’t have happened at a worse time. With the pr
oblems Silas was already dealing with weighing on him, and Nero’s issues becoming all apparent, he was second-guessing Nero’s future. One thing that I found out later was that if I’d have told Silas to kill Nero, he would have done it. Truthfully, the thought had never crossed my mind, but hearing that straight from Silas’s mouth was fascinating none the less. Silas was not happy with him and he wasn’t liking the first brute chimera ever created. Little did we know, this incident triggered Ceph’s creation, Nero would one day find out that little red-haired boy was going to be his replacement. Thankfully, for him, the final straw never came, and Nero eventually won our master’s respect and his pride as well.

  But today was not that day. As Nero held up the handgun, his breath catching in his throat and his body shaking, I saw nothing in Silas’s eyes but hatred.

  Nero raised the gun with both hands and pointed it at the rottweiler, the poor old dog not even realizing what was happening. I hid behind Silas’s leg and watched, waiting for the loud bang that I knew would follow. There was a big knot in my throat, and even when I told it to go far far away, it remained and only grew bigger.

  I knew I was feeling sadness, but I also knew that I shouldn’t. I was a chimera; I was special made. I had to act like it.

  I had to act like it.

  “I’m sorry, Prince,” Nero whimpered. My eyes began to burn, Prince was looking right at him, not even running. Prince was looking at him and he didn’t even know what was happening. “You’re a good boy.”

  Nero turned his face away and he pulled the trigger. The gunshot made me yelp and cover my ears, but the scream that Prince made, forced me to look.

  Prince rolled off of his hill as he thrashed and twisted, his left eye blown out and his body trembling and shaking. Nero screamed and dropped the gun, and fell to the ground with his hands covering his ears.

  Silas grabbed the gun and he pointed it at Prince. He shot our dog in the head, killing him instantly, then he turned and gave the gun back to me.

  “Elish, this is very important to learn,” Silas said as he leaned down, his hand still clasping the gun. “Once a member of your family has been punished, they will be forgiven. We do not hold grudges in this family. We all make mistakes and once they have been disciplined, it is forgotten. Understand me?”

  There should be many emotions running through my head, but I was stunned, I could barely move, but at least I managed to nod.

  Silas nodded back and walked over to Nero. He picked up my little brother and held him in his arms. I watched Silas rub his back and shush him, then carry him towards the house.

  I didn’t follow him. I turned and walked to Prince. He was laying on the ground with pink foam around his lips and blood coming from his head. He didn’t look like our family dog anymore, he was still and quiet, stiff and at an awkward angle. This dog would be the first big dead thing I had ever seen, and I felt my heart weigh down with sadness.

  Once again the shame followed that sadness. Even at five I knew I was young, and that my emotions were young as well. This sadness had to be extinguished, or else I would never be able to be a good king.

  Finally, I turned from the dog and walked back into the house. Nero was sobbing in Silas’s arms and Silas was sitting on the couch speaking softly and shushing him. Perish, Cristo, Caleb, and our gardener Valdez were in the kitchen, talking to each other in hushed voices. Dylan must be at the hospital with Garrett. I wondered if Garrett was going to be deformed now. I bet he’d need a lot of stitches.

  “Elish,” Cristo called me over. I walked over to him and he tried to give me a hug, but I wiggled out of it. I was an adult now and adults didn’t need hugs.

  Cristo had a look of concern on his face when I rejected his affection. “Are you okay?” he asked. He made a noise and wiped my face with his hand. “You have blood on you…” He smoothed back my shoulder length blond hair and glanced at Perish. “It’s all over his hair and his damn shirt…”

  “It’s not mine,” I said. Nero gave a wail behind us and I turned to look at him. He was clinging to Silas and unleashing his sadness onto the world. “Nero got his punishment and Silas says we’re supposed to forgive him now.” I hesitated before speaking my mind. “But I don’t forgive him yet. I’m still angry about Prince. It’s something I need to work on. I shouldn’t grow attached to things; it’ll interfere with my job as ruler.”

  Perish laughed at this which made me mad, but Cristo only gave me a funny look. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. “That’s a rather… complex bunch of emotions for a five-year-old.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen counter. “Everyone grows attachments to things, Eli. It doesn’t mean you’ll be less of a king. Of course you’re going to be mad about what Nero did, and you don’t need to forgive him right away.”

  “I cannot follow Master Silas’s orders to the letter due to a fault in my emotions,” I explained patiently to Cristo. He was always patient when I didn’t understand my schooling, and I would show him the same back. “He says I must forgive Nero, but I can’t. I can’t because I loved Prince.”

  Cristo’s funny look didn’t change. He only nodded once, then smiled at me. “Why don’t you go and make sure Ellis is okay, Eli. She’s upset and could probably use her big brother. I need to get dinner started anyway.”

  I nodded. Cristo then handed me two packs of fruit snacks, one for Ellis and one for me, and I ran off to find Ellis.

  That evening I heard fighting downstairs. I got out of my purple bed and tiptoed past my two sleeping brothers. I opened the door and crept to the top of the stairs.

  I saw Cristo’s back and his crossed arms. I could sense tension even from the stairwell, and I decided to stay back and listen.

  “The only one who shows even a remote level of being normal is Garrett,” I heard Perish say. “And even he’s too intelligent for his own good, not to mention the fact that he’s a total pansy.” There was a flicker of a lighter and I heard Perish take in cigarette smoke. “You’re seeing small versions of their future selves, and I’m telling you right now, it’s going to be a disaster. Elish will overthrow you, Nero will kidnap and rape you, Garrett is going to be a hermit shut-in with twenty cats, and Ellis is going to be a jilted single mom or an angry lesbian.”

  “Watch your fucking mouth!” Silas bellowed. My eyes grew wide. Why was Perish saying such mean things about us? And what’s a lesbian? “I asked you for your input, not to insult my descendants.”

  “Your children?” Perish said smugly. “Oh, right, it creeps you out to say that since you know what you’re going to eventually–” I gasped when I heard a smack, then Perish stumbled and fell beside Cristo’s feet.

  This was serious!

  Cristo looked down at Perish, but he didn’t move. Then Silas spoke. “Cristo, you wanted to talk to me about Elish?”

  Oh gosh, that’s me. My body filled with shivers but also intrigue; I wanted to hear what Cristo had to say.

  “I… can see this isn’t a good time, my king.”

  “Say it, Cristo.”

  Cristo shifted on his feet, then crossed and uncrossed his arms. “I’m just worried about the stress you’re putting on him, the responsibility. He’s showing extremely complex emotions and an understanding for them, and I’m worried since he’s so self-aware, he’s going to stress himself out with perfection and wanting to make you happy. He told me he doesn’t want to love anyone because it’ll interfere with his job as ruler. And Master Silas… he’s only five.”

  “Elish so far is the only one out of all four that I’m even remotely proud of,” Silas said. “My golden boy is a genius and a prodigy, and he’s mature enough to handle these emotions he’s feeling.” I clapped my hands over my mouth at this. I remember feeling such a swell of feelings over it, I didn’t know what to do with them. I wanted to dance around, but I ended up proving to myself just how mature I was and staying completely still and quiet.

  “Master Silas… I don’t believe he is,” Cris
to said slowly. “He has the most Type-A personality I’ve ever seen. He has all of his life to be an adult and a ruler, why don’t we let him just be a kid right now? Just let him be a little boy, not… not making him make decisions that involve the family dog being shot, or his brother getting beaten.”

  “You dare offer me advice as to how I raise my protégé?” Silas growled, his voice low and threatening.

  “You hired me to help raise your children and to help educate Elish,” Cristo said patiently. “I love that little boy, you know I do, and I just want to see him enjoy his childhood.”

  “He lives in a paradise as the world dies around him,” Silas said lowly. “He has more of a childhood than any other child of the Fallocaust. He has animals, siblings, three meals a day, structure, discipline, and education. Elish is free to enjoy his childhood as he sees fit.”

  Cristo shook his head. “That’s the issue, as he sees fit. Elish wants to make you happy and ‘as he sees fit’ isn’t a childhood. If you want him to just be a kid… you have to stop putting so much pressure on him to be an adult and a ruler.”

  “I’m educating him for his future,” Silas said. “As I am all four of my descendants. My training started when I was five, and theirs started when they showed the intelligence to understand my teachings. They don’t need less education and pressure, Cristo, they need more.”

  “They need to be allowed to be kids,” Cristo countered.

  “They’re chimeras, they are not children,” Silas hissed. “And it is time for my chimeras to show off their genetics. They’ve been sheltered from the world enough. I’ll be moving them to Alegria to live full time with me.”

  “What?” I gasped, and at the same time I said it, Cristo said it too.

  “Skyfall? Why would you take them to Skyfall when they have everything they need here!?” Cristo said, his voice rising. I don’t think they’d heard me.

  “Because my chimeras will be ruling Skyfall, they won’t be ruling their childhood home,” Silas said. “They’re smart enough, and emotionally advanced enough, to start being exposed to this world, Nero and Elish especially. Garrett can start his apprenticeship with Doctor Zamir, his son Uzeyer is a few years older than Garrett and it would be valuable for those two to become friends.”