Hi everyone. So I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed they really motivated me to get this chapter out. I know it's a bit slow but its setting up a bunch of things. If it takes me a while to write its because I can't stand short chapters they bug me. And I apologize in advance for any laziness in updating that may happen. So with out any further dawdling here it is…
"Would you please stop wiggling?" Hanschen, like the stubborn fool he was started struggling in Melchior's arms just as he got to the door marked with a red cross. Melchior held him forcibly knowing if he squeezed the squirming kid any harder he would crack a few more ribs. "I swear I will drop you Hanschen!"
This finally got through to him and he calmed in Melchior's arms until Melchior opened the door and he burst back into a struggling spree.
"I can walk! I am fine! Put me down!" Hanschen was unspeakably agile for someone with broken ribs.
"Fine!" Melchior let him fall to the ground where Hanschen screamed and glared up at him. Melchior smiled smugly down at the anger in the boys face. "You asked me to put you down…"
"That is enough of that! Melchior is this your doing?" both boy's heads turned to face the nurse. Hanschen's mouth fell open. The largest woman he had ever seen towered over Melchior. She had biceps thicker than his head and the mole that peppered her cheek seemed to have its own gravitational pull because it had a magnetic quality of drawing one's eyes to it. Her crisp white uniform fell to her ankles as if they didn't make them long enough and her combat boots poked out glaring at Hanschen, angry that he had dared to trespass on the floor which was their territory. The woman looked down at Hanschen with a critical eye then back at Melchior with almost a motherly frown. "Melchior Gabor did you do this one?" Melchior shoved his hands in his pockets and chuckled softly.
"No frau it was not me… this time." She glanced quickly back down with a gentle appraising eye at Hanschen who was still cowering on the floor obviously appalled by the strange woman. She smiled softly and it seemed out of place on her hard features. "Lets see. By the way you are clutching your ribs I assume they are broken and that means you were most likely kicked while you were down. The split upper lip is from a sharp single punch to the face… the only thing that doesn't fit is the nose…" Melchior laughed and interjected quickly.
"Different fight frau! He got that this morning from the warden." Her face lit up with recognition.
"Oh of coarse! Then this is Hellmuth's handy work. Never could fight a boy while they are on their feet." Melchior clapped quietly smiling.
"Right again Frau. You have a gift." She laughed and offered a massive hand to Hanschen who weakly took it. She nearly yanked him to his feet and quickly sat him down on an old cot that was riddled with mysterious stains from prior patients. Hanschen grimaced at the mattress and tried hovering just above it, his germ phobia kicking in badly. The nurse pressed him down flat into the bed and he shivered in complete disgust.
The nurse palpitated Hanschen's chest gingerly and his eyes bulged and he began trying to bore a hole in his lip with his teeth.
"Tender. I know. Just relax. I need to count." The nurse furrowed her brow and continued to rove her hands over his chest. Melchior couldn't help but think Hanschen deserved it a little. Had he just listened for three seconds to him he would be completely fine. "Three. You are a very lucky boy." She helped Hanschen back to a sitting position. "Melchior help him get his shirt off while I get a bandage." Hanschen quickly started undoing his buttons.
"I don't need any help." Melchior rolled his eyes and walked over anyway.
"Try getting your shirt off now…" Melchior smirked waiting patiently. Hanschen went to take his shirt off attempting to lift his arms but screaming in a sudden burst of pain as his chest shifted. "That's what I thought." Melchior pushed Hanschen's hands away and quickly pulled his arms out of his sleeves. Hanschen glared away staring at the sanitary white walls. He didn't much feel like looking at Melchior so he turned his attention to the nurse fumbling in a large closet. She confused him. She scared him. He was oddly excited by her masculine muscles and her dagger sharp chin but as he slipped his eyes to her chest he rolled his eyes in disgust. If only he could find all of her attractive. But if he could he wouldn't be here in the first place.
She resurfaced and started to gently wrap the bandage around his bare chest to add some support and limit his mobility. She smiled and tried chattering happily to ease the obvious discomfort Hanschen was in. "So what is a nice handsome boy like you doing in a place like this. You don't look like the usuals we get around here."
Hanschen's jaw clenched tightly but not from the sudden pain caused by his jump at her question. "I killed a man. He stole something from me." Melchior rolled his eyes and glanced questioningly at Hanschen. Hanschen glared strongly back over the nurse's shoulder. Melchior kept his mouth closed for the time being knowing he would interrogate Hanschen later.
"How lovely. I never would have thought you would have the gal." the nurse chuckled lightly as she safety pinned the bandage. Hanschen gazed once again appalled at her light heartedness, even good humor, at the thought of such a crime.
"How on earth can you laugh at that?" his mouth hung open and his eyes appraised her judgingly.
"Dear if I didn't laugh about those kinds of things I would hate my job." Hanschen cocked an eye brow and wondered how a woman could like this job despite a sense of humor or not. He once again examined her rippling biceps and understood now that they were used to hold down rambunctious boys like himself. They certainly did not make these kinds of women back home. The dainty waifs back there seemed almost laughable in the impressive shadow of this woman. "Now off to bed. No classes today you would just end up shouting in pain every time you raised your hand. You can accompany him Herr Gabor since you were a good upstanding reformatory boy and helped him here." Melchior smirked and held his hand out to Hanschen to help him from the bed. Hanschen looked at it for a moment with a glazed expression then stood stiffly by himself.
"Fine have it your way." Melchior was growing rather bored with the boy's constant refusal of his help. "Just don't expect me to catch you when you fall."
"I won't fall." Hanschen brushed past Melchior bumping his shoulder which probably caused Hanschen's broken ribs more pain than Melchior. Melchior sighed and the nurse beckoned him over with a quiet flick of her fingers. Melchior walked over keeping a wary eye on Hanschen who was slowly and painfully making his way to the door.
"Where did you find this one?" the nurse tossed a casual thumb at Hanschen's back.
"New kid. We kind of know each other from back home." The nurse smirked quietly to herself.
"Well keep an eye on him. He won't last very long with out a friend." Melchior sighed and eyed Hanschen with an aching sense of protection tugging at him. He gave a polite nod back to the nurse and walked tiredly to the door passing Hanschen who was still shuffling carefully avoiding any extraneous pain. Gallantly waving his hand Melchior opened the door for him. Hanschen glared his icy blue eyes dragging disgustedly across Melchior. He hobbled over closed the door and then opened it again for himself.
"I told you I don't need your help." He stumbled out the door looking more like an abandoned kitten than a self-sufficient able bodied young man. Melchior couldn't help but chuckle softly at his boundless stubbornness. He followed close behind Hanschen and despite what he had said he was ready to catch him when and if he fell.
Melchior followed silently for a while but at Hanschen's painfully slow crawl he couldn't help but let curiosity get the best of him.
"You told the nurse you killed someone…" for a long while his voice hung unanswered in the air and Hanschen almost seemed too focused on moving forward to give him a reply. Carefully Hanschen slowed his gait and looked over at Melchior with a stiffening emotionless gaze.
"So?" Melchior was unprepared for a response like this. He couldn't exactly place why he cared about how Hanschen got sent here. Really it only mattered that he was stuck with him in this atrocity they tried to pass off as a place of healing. But still… a Rilow in a reformatory is a curios occurrence to say the least. Not because they were exactly upstanding citizens but because they had enough money to buy themselves out of any kind of fix they got themselves into.
"Well… it is quite a substantial lie. I know you didn't kill someone. You know how curios I get… if you don't tell me yourself I will find out somehow."
"Mind your own damn business." Hanschen tried to pick up his pace but he was getting tired quickly. Melchior took a few quick steps to catch up to him and he tried to catch Hanschen's eye but he refused to turn his head from his adamant march forward.
"Can I at least know who your friend was? The one you sacrificed yourself for? You got pretty touchy over him in the courtyard…"
"I told you if you ever brought him up again I would knock every one of your teeth out. I meant it." Hanschen finally reached the door to the dormitories. He yanked it open angrily with a flounce of a tired pout.
Hanschen stomped proudly in and Melchior followed him like a worried mother hen. Hanschen finally made it to his bed and he carefully pulled out his suit case from under his bed. He set it gently down on the covers and opened it deliberately ignoring Melchior who was curiously peering over his shoulder. Hanschen began taking out his clothes and placing them neatly in the chest at the end of his bed. Piece by piece he focused all his energy into not looking at Melchior and making the clothes immaculate. The silence in the room felt like a smog stifling out any sense of friendship Melchior could have felt for the cold boy. He carefully cleared his throat.
"So how is everyone back home?" Hanschen remained quiet and continued to fold and place his clothes away. Melchior's patience was wearing thin. He quickly turned Hanschen to face him. He had been completely prepared to yell at him but the cold and distant look in Hanschen's eyes made his voice dwindle away. As gently as he could he looked into Hanschen's eyes. "I asked you a question. I would like to know how my mother and father are. My friends. Your friends. Just what its like on the outside. Please Hanschen. I am asking as nicely as I can." Hanschen exhaled quietly. He didn't want to talk. He didn't want to remember and Melchior was making life very difficult.
"Things are exactly the same as when you left. The girls are idiots who giggle too much. Otto and Georg still chuckle about Georg's piano teacher. The parents still are terrified of us and when they get frightened enough they send us here." Hanschen turned back around and went back to folding his clothes leaving Melchior gaping at where his face had just been. Things can't be the same. When I was there everything was in shambles… Wendla… Moritz… they had to have learned from that. They had to. Melchior's throat was feeling rather tight but he had to not dwell on things. It didn't really matter. There was nothing he could do in here anyway. He gently shook his head as Hanschen finally finished with his clothes. Hanschen reached down into his suit case and his hand bumped something and his hair stood slightly on end.
Hanschen spun on his feet to face Melchior. His eyes shifted back to his suitcase for a moment before he addressed Melchior.
"I am hungry. I didn't get breakfast. Is there anyway I could get something to eat?" Hanschen's polite smile was frightening Melchior slightly and he stood on his tiptoes to try and see what Hanschen was trying to hide from him in his suitcase. He caught a glimpse of a leather bound book before Hanschen stepped in front of him and blocked his view.
"I can walk down to the cafeteria. It should be about lunch time." Melchior glared at Hanschen skeptically his curiosity eating away at him.
"That would be highly appreciated Herr Gabor. You should do that immediately." Hanschen quickly spun on his heels and zipped his suitcase shut. He even went so far as to sit down on top of it. He could sense Melchior's hungry eyes on it and he could not risk him trying to open it. Melchior huffed loudly and walked out the door. Hanschen was finally alone. He sighed loudly and curled painfully onto the bed.
"This sucks…" he addressed the room knowing that it was the only thing that could keep a secret. Although the situation being terrible was not exactly a secret he didn't need anyone knowing that he was in pain and hated being here and was… afraid. He glared momentarily at his suitcase. It waited seducing him with its secret contents. It almost seemed to be calling out his name coyly. With a loud groan Hanschen caved and opened the case quickly glancing around the room for the eighth time to make sure it was truly empty.
His hands trembled slightly as he reached for the book inside and paused momentarily to harden himself and to stop his hands from quivering.
It's just a book. A little book…his book. No just a book. Hanschen bit his lip hard to stop his mind from rocketing around. It's a meaningless stupid book. If that's true then why the hell did you steal it from him? Hanschen angrily slammed the suitcase lid down again in a frustrated rage. He obviously couldn't handle doing this yet. But he wanted to see it…
His hands carefully opened the lid once again and before he had a chance to think he snaked his hand in and yanked out the book. He gently brushed the silver gilded letters. God I am evil… I stole his holy bible. Hanschen couldn't help but smile weakly as he remembered how Ernst totted the stupid thing everywhere. He slipped the suitcase back under the bed and crawled under the covers with the book held tightly in his hand. He pulled the covers over his head just incase anyone walked in. It was against the rules to bring anything but clothes to the reformatory even bibles were contraband.
He sighed and stared at the letters surrounded by a sea of black leather. It was pretty and quaint much like its former owner. Ernst was probably frantic looking for it… he probably actually needed its words and guidance for once in his happy little life but Hanschen couldn't smother the selfish thought that he needed it more. He flipped the weighty book over in his hands and gently rubbed the worn spine. It had been opened so much by Ernst that the leather had become near velvet and Hanschen's fingers could hardly get enough of it. It reminded him vaguely of the soft fuzz that covered the smooth skin on Ernst's cheek. He bit his lip again to stop the stupid sentimental thoughts from clogging his head.
He had to keep moving or he would get bogged down and not even be able to open to the first page. He carefully flicked the cover back and the glanced at the blank white page with the words holy bible typed in organized black scrawl. He turned his attention to the inside cover which had the words "property of Ernst Robel" written neatly in the very center. Ernst's handwriting was painfully loopy and girly and Hanschen carefully traced a finger over each letter.
He stared once again at the open book his mind falling silent. Under the covers was impossibly hot and he was tempted to pull them off of his head but a sudden rush of embarrassment stopped him from doing so. He felt disgusted with himself. He was fawning over a stupid meaningless book that happened to once belong to a boy he may have once enjoyed spending time with. He cut his heart beat down to a slower thump and he quickly opened the bible to the first page. A strangled cry escaped his throat as he realized what a terrible idea it was to open it.
Along the margins Ernst had drawn grape vines with meticulous detail and amongst them kittens played and batted at blue butterflies. Hanschen almost drowned in the boy's sentimentality but he couldn't take his eyes off of the page. He painfully flicked through a few more. The same thing. Scenes of summer winds tumbling and stirring vineyard leaves, kites being held by a boy who looked uncannily like himself. He couldn't help but gasp like a suffocating child as he flicked page after page. The entire book was filled. Halfway through he realized that the grapevines curved in such a way to spell out his name. On the inside back cover Ernst had drawn a grapevine heart and in it he had written both his and Hanschen's name intertwined gracefully.
Hanschen slammed the book closed and squeezed it tightly to his chest. He tried terribly hard to convince himself that the tearing pain he felt in his chest was from his broken ribs. He needed a distraction. Anything to take his mind off the book now cradled in his arms. Where the hell is Melchior with my food?
Meanwhile Melchior had just gotten off the lunch line. He held two bowls of soup precariously and figured it would be best if he stopped and ate first so as not to try juggling two bowls all the way back to the dormitories. He scanned the shifting mass of burly boys all pushing and fighting anamalistically for food. Melchior couldn't help thinking that this place only reformed them to revert to their primal needs which he found to be truly evil.
He found the table in the corner where he usually sat alone. He cursed under his breath as he saw Hellmuth and his croanies sitting at his table. He walked over as confident as possible knowing it would be impossible to fight back if they attacked unless he dropped both bowls.
"What the hell do you think you are doing at my table. You know I eat alone." Hellmuth smiled sharply his crooked nose shifting slightly to the left because of his uneven smile. Melchior couldn't help but smile proudly at the remnants of his prior fights. Before he had come here Hellmuth's nose had been as strait as a line.
Silently two other boys rose from the table and casually wheeled Melchior to a seat across from Hellmuth. Melchior's survival senses were on fire as he realized he was surrounded on all sides.
"Philosopher we don't much care for your little charity case. We don't want trouble with you so just let us have our fun with him." Hellmuth leaned forward threateningly.
"How is having fun beating the kid until he can hardly stand?" Melchior stared angrily down at the wood grain of the table and saw with tired anguish the marks he scratched in the wood to mark off each day he was trapped in these walls. There were too many to count.
"Since when is beating a snide little pretty boy not fun?" Hellmuth was honestly asking the question. Melchior clenched his fists and dug his nails into the inside of his palms. He didn't belong among these beasts. "Besides Reinhold has a special interest in the boy. He doesn't want you claiming him without a fight." Wide eyed Melchior glanced up at Reinhold who was leaning a few feet back against a wall his arms folded across his chest. He had a smug smile and cocked a challenging eyebrow at Melchior. Reinhold was quiet for the most part and took orders from Hellmuth but he was a strong and lanky boy. He could give Melchior a run for his money but the look in his eyes made Melchior assume the worst. He wouldn't let Reinhold anywhere near Hanschen.
"Tell Reinhold he will not get anywhere near him. He is mine. Why do you think I have been so nice to him?" Hellmuth laughed but it sounded more like an angry grunt.
"So you go for dumb blondes huh? Gives you plenty of control, say a big word and he might just pass out from confusion and you can do what ever you please to him." Melchior pressed his nails into his hands harder and felt a bit of sticky damp blood under his nails. He had to play along.
"He is mine. Just tell Reinhold to stay away unless he wants trouble." Melchior tried to stand up and leave but the two boys grabbed his shoulders quickly holding him in place. Hellmuth waved his hands dismissingly.
"It's alright boys. Let him go. He is obviously not going to cooperate. We will just have to handle things the hard way. More fun for me." The boys obediently dropped their hands. Melchior didn't want to get into a scrap right now. He glared quickly at Hellmuth but his eyes finally settled on Reinhold who had not flinched. Melchior looked away disgusted with him. He grabbed the soup bowls and ran back to the dormitories as quickly as he could. He tried moving quickly enough to race away from the dark and worried thoughts he had for Hanschen. Reinhold's smug smile was annoyingly embossed into his minds eye.
He finally got to the dormitories and opened the door quietly trying to compose himself so as not to give anything away to Hanschen. He walked over to the bed and smiled halfheartedly as he saw that the covers pulled over Hanschen's head.
"Sorry kid that doesn't keep the monsters out around here." He gently pulled the covers off of his head and found Hanschen asleep, a painful grimace frozen on his tired face. Melchior's eye caught on the leather bound book peaking shyly out from Hanschen's arms.
Carefully he put the bowls of soup onto the chest and surreptitiously slipped the book out from Hanschen's arms. For a moment Melchior's breathing stopped as Hanschen grumbled. But after a painful oxygen less moment Hanschen settled again and remained asleep. Melchior sat on the edge of the bed and looked curiously at the book. As soon as he saw that it was a bible and not a diary he had no qualms opening it.
He found it odd that Hanschen would risk sneaking a bible into the reformatory. He had never been particularly zealous about religious class. Melchior flipped the book open to the middle and smiled with curiosity at the pretty illustrations. He had never pegged Hanschen as a doodler much less one who drew flowers and kittens.
Maybe it's a girls. Poor boy is love sick. Melchior chuckled lightly. It would explain a lot. He quickly flipped to the front of the bible. Instead of finding Thea's or Martha's name scrawled happily was Ernst Robel's name. For a moment Melchior's mind stalled. This was intriguing and confusing. He glanced down at Hanschen who was still resting tumultuously.
Melchior couldn't help but feel guilty. He couldn't help but to feel as if he had actually intruded onto something very personal and private. Carefully he slipped the book back into Hanschen's arms and took a few pensive steps around the room. Ernst Robel… and Hanschen Rilow… things were not making sense. But Melchior silently committed himself to find out why Hanschen had Ernst's bible. A small squirming feeling inside him confused him and he questioned why he was so very determined. His mind came up blank and his eyes fell back onto Hanschen. He couldn't help but to smile. Hanschen had certainly shaken things up for better or for worse he would have to wait and find out.
Tah dah! Thanks for reading! A very eventful chapter is coming up next. The more reviews the sooner things get done. I was really really happy with the reviews I got last time they were all very encouraging! If there is anyone who doesn't like it let me know so I can try and get better and those who have reviewed thanks and keep up the great work! Much appreciated!
