Chains of Desire

Malakai lay on the floor of his cell pondering about the news his ‘caretakers’ had given him, the and dusty concrete seeping into his already freezing bones. He did not know what his custodians wanted him for, but he knew it wouldn’t be good, quite the contradictory. 

“Up and at em,’ kid,” a gruff voice said from the outside of his prison, unpleasantly rough hands gripped his sore yet broad shoulders. “You’ve been sold to some… interesting people.”

Malakai reluctantly rose to his feet before being dragged out of his miserable home. He wondered if this would be his chance to live and not just survive, a chance to eat three meals a day and live a normal life, perhaps even find someone to spend forever with.

“These will be your new handlers, Anabelle and Morison Izan, they are the owners of a hotel and technology company, Gen Lodgings,” the man explained. “Be on your best behaviour, Malakai. You might not get a second chance” and with that, the man was gone.

“Come with us,” Morison Izan ordered. “We’ll get you water and something to drink. you look half-starved.” Morison started walking at a speedy pace into a sleek black car and declared that Malakai go in first. “There are a few ground rules we’ll need to go through, but we’ll do that when we fill in the paperwork.” Morison noticed Malakai’s confused expression “the adoption papers, we’ll be your new family” Morison explained “you see, we are highly against the crimes slave’s ‘R’ us have been committing, we hope our assistance in your current living conditions can help you heal.”

Malakai ran a hand through his hair; he always wanted a family, but something about the Izan’s seemed a little off. Maybe I’m just imagining things. A little while later the car skidded to a halt in front of a mansion with enough glass to make a beach jealous, there were two lofty pine trees guarding the entrance like soldiers guarding riches, a pool lay to the right of the ingress, the water gently lapping the tiles surrounding the edge. Morison hopped out the vehicle and walked towards the estate’s towering doorway, Malakai followed suit careful to keep his steps light on the grass unsure of how his new guardians would feel if he broke a single blade.

When they went through the door, Malakai was shocked to see what was inside, the floor was spotless, the windows could blind a man. This place was a huge change for Malakai; he’s used to dirty floors tinged with his own blood, not pristine white marble that sparkles like diamonds. “I’ll show you to your room, sweetie,” Annabelle said, putting a hand on Malakai’s arm, “I’ll ask a maid to draw you a bath and get you a fresh set of clothes.”

Malakai followed his new mother, still getting used to his new arrangement, struggling to memorise the winding hallways leading to his room, “We’re here,” Annabelle declared, “I’ll give you some time to get comfortable.” The sound of the door closing followed her last sentence.

Malakai dropped onto his bed, another thing he wasn’t privileged with at his time at slaves ‘r’ us, he sat in silence that was only broken by a sudden knock on the door. “U-um... Mr. Malakai...?” came a shy voice, “Mrs. Annabelle asked me to draw your bath... may I come in...?” the voice asked, Malakai went up to let her in, she shyly rushed to the bathroom to run the bath. Malakai decided to study the room, a large bed sat in the corner lying on top of a plush white rug, a desk was pressed against a wall with a chair to match.

“Alright, done. I’ll put your clean clothes on the bed for you.” The maid told Malakai “I’ll leave you to get sorted, lunch is at twelve” She left with a curtsey

ΔΔΔ

When the clock struck twelve the maid came back to lead him to the dining hall, once again Malakai tried and failed to memorise the path, they came to a stop in front of a large white door. Inside sat a marble table with many black dining chairs, only two were filled. “Ah, Malakai. Glad you could join us,” Morison greeted with a smile on his face, “Ashe, you may take a lunch break.” He ordered the maid. “Sit here, son.” Morison patted the chair beside him, Malakai obeyed.

Mere moments later plates of food were brought into the room, Malakai was disgusted by how much would go to waste. “Don’t fret, all the food we don’t eat is donated, we don’t waste here.” Annabelle assured, “We’d never throw away food that could be eaten.”

ΔΔΔ

When they finished eating Morison broke the loud silence, “Malakai, we’d like you to start school at Eastwood Academy, there are good people there who I know would help you heal.” He stood up, “you better get your well-deserved rest, I’ll see you at dinner. your dismissed.”

Malakai made his way back to his room, wondering if they really do donate the food or if it was just a white lie damn trust issues Malakai thought to himself always second-guessing things Malakai scratched the back of his neck at least I ate... first actual meal in months... Malakai closed his eyes and drifted off.

ΔΔΔ

The car stopped in front of a modern looking school, Eastwood Academy, the school Malakai was unwillingly enrolled to. He wasn’t used to seeing so many people at all, never mind in one huge place. When he got out the car people instantly started staring at him, “Isn’t that the new student?” a studious looking girl whispered to her friend, “I think so, he’s kinda hot in the ‘I’ll punch your face if you look at me’ kind of way.” The friend replied while applying a fresh layer of lip gloss.

“Hey there!” A voice shouted from next to him, “I’m Lukas! I was asked to show you around!” the boy explained “Welcome to Eastwood!”

As they made their way through the crowd of students (most frozen at the sheer height of Malakai), Lukas asked many questions. “What school did you go to? Where are you from? Can you talk? Are you listening? Why do you have so many scars? Is that a sensitive subject? Are you ignor-”

“...If you don’t shut up, I’m gonna shove my fist so far up your ass, I’m gonna be waving out of your mouth and wearing you as a sleeve.” Malakai interrupted, silencing Lukas. “O-oh! At least you talk!” the sentence earned Lukas a hostile glare from Malakai. “Right, no talking. Oh hey! We’re at your new class! And there’s Axel! You’ll get along great with him!” Lukas grabbed Malakai’s arm and ran towards a blonde headed boy, presumably Axel. “Hey Axel!” Lukas greeted “This is Malakai! He’s new!”

“Hi, Malakai, nice to meet you. Lukas, I thought I said you should stop drinking energy drinks, save some energy for the rest of us, bud.” Axel ruffled Lukas’s hair. “We should probably go to class now... Who’s Malakai’s homeroom teacher?”

“Your mom. I have a feeling she’ll have her hands full... The grade twelves are rowdy this year... That’ll be us soon.” Lukas put his arm around Axel’s shoulders, “Hey look, there’s Maddis- and there she goes... Always must be early for class. You’ll meet her soon, she’s nice.” the bell rang “We gotta go too! Bye Malakai! Good luck!” And they were both off leaving Malakai to face the day alone.

As Malakai walked through the door, he saw his classmates, six boys and six girls, eleven more teens he’s never seen. Malakai sat in the only seat left, next to a pink haired girl with enough makeup to shield her face from mosquitos. “ooohhh, your hot! And you chose to sit next to me! It must be a sign, right?” The girl batted her eyelashes “I feel honoured, really.”

“...This was the only seat left...” Malakai explained, clearly uncomfortable with the excessive flirting. “Anyway, I’m Vanessa, and you are?” Malakai tried his best to ignore Vanessa’s headache inducing voice as he stared at the bored wondering when the teacher would come in. “Come on! Don’t ignore me!” Vanessa complained.

The door suddenly opened and in walked a blonde-haired teacher, “Hello students!” her cheerful voice filled the room, “We have a new student today! Say hello to Malakai Izan! He’s from Spain! He moved here when he was ten.” That was true, Slaves ‘R’ us originated in Spain but got discovered so they had to move to America, Malakai knew both English and Spanish. The class greeted him. “Now, Malakai, I want you to know you can come to me if you ever need anything. And of course, our class president. Malakai, this is Maddison Shima!” She added, smiling as Maddison stood up.

Malakai’s gaze darted to her briefly, before looking away. It was the first day of school, and he was already overstimulated by the information. One thing for sure, was that this Maddison girl looked rather... Enigmatic. Gentle, almost motherly, yet he knew there was more depth to her.

“Oh! So, your name’s Malakai, weird.” Malakai shot Veronica a glare to shut her up. “Settle down, class. I know a new student is exiting but we need to focus on today’s lesson.” Scolded Miss. Harper, who was writing the lesson on the board.