Captivated (Chapter One)
NB: Hello, everyone! This is a story requested by A Meta Nephilim who I hope will like it! You can find the uncut version of this on AO3, it has the same title and I still have the same user name because I am not very bright =) I hope you all enjoy the story!
"The best hiding place was love. Thus the conversion from pristine sadism to fabricated hatred, to fraudulent love."- Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye.
...
His death was slowly creeping up to him, with the languid motions of a sleepy serpent. It wrapped around his throat and coiled around his heart, it's fangs pumped the venom of fear into his veins. His hands trembled and his breath was short, sweat ran down his body and drenched him. His death had a name, or rather it had two names. But he would stick with the name that brought doom upon like an spell that was spat out from the withered lips of an old hag.
How Ironic it was, that such an innocent question settled upon him like a dark cloud, and marked him like the door of a plague victim. His death would be equally as cruel, he had seen enough of the prisoners on the Island to know what awaited him. The Polaroids, in their over vibrant almost whimsical colours, sat upon the desk of his employer in neat and well used piles were burned into his memory. The poor twisted individuals only had one thing in common, they had all suffered before their deaths. Their contorted faces, frozen in agonized screams, and their broken bodies had haunted his mind from the moment he caught sight of them. He knew he should have walked out the room when he had the chance.
Now he knew that unless he did something drastic to save his skin, he would be the subject one of those Polaroids and be gazed at by a horrified successor that would likely suffer the same fate as himself shortly afterwards. He did not want that to happen, he did not want to die at the whim of a sadistic and unhinged employer. He was still a young man and had much of his life ahead of him.
"Why did I have to ask about Alexia!?" He lamented as he thought back to only an hour before.
...
It should have being like any other day, his employer Alfred Ashford was a man of routine and habit, he was strict and regimented. Tyrannical and uncompromising, and he always wanted his refreshments delivered into his office at exactly the same time, every single day. Woe betide any poor unfortunate who would interrupt his routine, and woe betide any who would not conform to it.
The only person who was not petrified of Alfred was a certain anatomist who everyone had heard disturbing rumours about. He himself had often heard agonized screams and caught sight of the anatomist in a blood stained lab coat. But like so many other instances on the Island, everyone simply looked away and pretended not to see anything. Or at least that was true in his own case and the few friends he had.
As the secretary to Lord Ashford, Robert Dorson found it hard to make friends. While he was a shy young man and that certainly contributed to the situation, the main reason was simply because of his proximity to Lord Ashford. Many who looked at him, looked at him with pity. Others were grateful that they did not have the job, and looked at him in cruel relief. But he could not blame them, it was not a job he would wish on anyone. Even more so when his employer had begun to show signs of rapid mental instability. The only solice that he had was that Lord Ashford had always stuck to his routines, at least until then.
He had walked to his employer's office with the normal tray of British imported tea and biscuits and knocked on the door with his free hand before he walked inside. He was that focused on ensuring that he did not drop the tray that he never noticed that Lord Ashford was not in his seat behind his desk as was his normal place to be. Once the tray had being placed down, he realized all to late that his employer was not there. Towards the back of the room he heard a faint and familiar voice.
"Alexia, my sweet sister.. Why will you not awaken? How long must you make me miss you? A King is nothing without his Queen, you know that.."
He stepped towards the voice and called softly. "Lord Ashford?"
"..I long for the days when we pinned our squirming moths and pressed our captured frogs. Alexia, do you remember those days? Do you remember all the fun we had together as we turned those creatures into worthless little dead things for science?" The voice continued to speak, unhindered and unhearing.
He stepped forward a little more and saw Lord Ashford standing in the corner of the room. The fair haired man's back was to the room and he was facing the corner, now and then he moved his arms in a fluid motion as he spoke. He seemed oblivious to all around him.
He was worried now, he had never seen his employer act like this. He rushed over as quickly as he could, he could hear how distressed Lord Ashford was as he got closer.
"How many more, Alexia? How many more days? How many more months? How many more years? How much more of my life must I live without you? How can you expect me to survive by only hearing your voice!?"
He reached over and placed a tender hand on his employer's shoulder and was shocked to feel that Lord Ashford shoulder trembled. He spoke in a gentle voice. "Sir? Lord Ashford?"
He was shocked when Lord Ashford swung his head around to reveal a face stained with tears. He had never seen his employer like this. His employer was always confident to the point that it could be referred to as arrogance. He looked down on everyone with the contempt of a man born from a noble and wealthy heritage. He was snobbish and stubborn, he was often cruel towards his subordinates and often wore a small and sardonic smirk.
But the Lord Ashford he saw in that moment held none of those traits, he looked lost and devastated. He looked like a broken man. It was for that reason that he was concerned enough to speak to him. To ask that fatal question.
"Who's Alexia? Are you alright, sir?"
There was an instant change in Lord Ashford's face, it paled to a sickly white. So much so that his skin was almost translucent, his lips became thin as he rasped. "What did you just say?"
He knew then, that he had done the wrong thing. But he could not back out now. "Sir.. I-I just wanted to know if you are alright and who Alexia is.."
The next thing he knew, he was flung back and felt a burning pain just below his eye. He felt the bruise of a hand print already start to form and he began to shake.
"GET OUT!" Lord Ashford roared in a voice like thunder and in his panic he ran and knocked into the desk. It was then that he had a brief glimpse of the Polaroids and the nightmarish scenes contained within them, he ran as fast as he could out of the office. The images burned into his memory forever.
...
"Why didn't I just walk out the office after I put the damn tray down!?" He lamented to himself as he covered his eyes in dispair.
He needed to think of something, something to save himself before it was to late. He wanted to hide, that was his first reaction and his natural instinct. To hide and become invisible, to curl up and hope that he would remain unseen. But he knew he could never hide, so he only had one course of action left.
To make himself invaluable so Lord Ashford would never want to get rid of him, the only question was how. He had racked his mind as he looked through his belongings to see if there was anything that might save him.
He came upon the bottle by accident, in a frantic rush he had strewn his belongings everywhere and stubbed his toe on the bottle. He picked it up and read the well worn label. His heart sank.
'Not like this.' He silently pleaded but knew he had no choice. It might be the only way to save himself.
He stared at the bottle, an old and tastless joke, and decided to make a cup of tea.
...
He walked back to his employer's office and knocked on the door, in his spare hand he carefully held a cup of tea.
He nearly jumped when he heard Lord Ashford shout. "Enter!"
He took a deep breath and walked inside.
...
Lord Ashford was clearly surprised to see him, his cruel blue eyes widened a little and his mouth turned up slightly. "Well, I can honestly say that I did not expect to see you. I assumed that you decided to scurry under a rock in a futile attempt to escape your punishment."
He gulped. "And what punishment would that be?"
"You have seen my pictures, but I will humor you." Lord Ashford lifted up a detailed form. "This is your transfer sheet, you will be going to my magnificent prison for your crimes."
He smirked. "Oh and by the way, I have instructed the good doctor to take exceptionally good care of you. You cannot die before I visit, I forbid it!"
He chuckled and tapped the bottom of the form. "The only thing left to do is add my signature and then..Well.. That is that. It is quite a shame, really. But I can find another sec-"
"No, you can't!" Robert shouted desperately. "You'll never find another like me!" He rushed over and placed the cup of tea on Lord Ashford's desk.
The other man gazed at the tea and chuckled scornfully. "I can go anywhere and find a million men like you, and they will all jump at the chance to be my secretary. After all, any man can make me tea and fetch me biscuits. Any-"
"Not like me, Lord Ashford!" He interrupted his employer with a with a tremor in voice.
"Oh, for havens sake! Stop your whining! It would take nothing short of a miracle to change my mind." Without thinking, his employer picked up the tea and drunk it. "Do not hate me to much." He added with a spiteful laugh as he stood up and walked around his desk so he stood directly in front of Robert.
Robert wasted no time, he jumped forward and grabbed Lord Ashford by his shirt and pulled him forward. He quickly pressed his lips to the other man's and began to kiss him feriously, frantically.
He heard Alfred moan and felt the other man's fingers as they dug into his shoulders.
He forced his tongue deeper into Alfred's mouth before he grabbed the other man's slicked back hair, roughly pulled his head back, and broke their kiss.
Alfred, no longer Lord Ashford, but simply Alfred was panting and gasping. His pale skin was flushed as he gasped out in a tone of voice that was more shocked then enraged. "H-how dare you?!"
He placed his hands on ether side of Alfred's face and made certain that they were eye to eye before he spoke. "You can find millions of men who do my job. You're right about that, no doubt about it. But Alfred, you can search long and hard. You can look far and wide. But you will NEVER find another man who can make you feel the way I can!"
Alfred looked at him, really looked at him before he visibly gulped. "I.. Do not need you."
The lie was crystal clear. Robert gently moved his hands down to Alfred's shirt and began to undress him. Once he had exposed Alfred's chest, he placed his lips upon Alfred's collar bone and kissed him softly. He heard the other man groan and felt his body shudder in pleasure.
"Alfred, if you don't need me.." He whispered between kisses. "Then why aren't you stopping me?"
"I said that I do not need you.." Alfred uttered between groans that had become shaper the more he was kissed. "...I never said that I did not want you!"
Robert, in response, reached down and began to remove Alfred's trousers.
...
When it was over, he stood up and noticed that Alfred had lowered his head in exhaustion. Guilt sprang into Robert's chest and he cleared his throat. "Alfred..? Should I help you get dressed?"
He jumped when Alfred sharply lifted his head up and smiled in a lavish way. "Oh my! You naughty thing! Though I must say that I'm not tempted to feel your hands on me.." Alfred spoke in a voice that was not quite his own, it was high pitched and strange. "..But well, there's only so much you can do in an office isn't there?"
Robert took an instinctive step back and Alfred leaned towards him with a mischievous smile.
Before Robert could do anything, Alfred placed a finger to his lips. " Sshhh.. No need to get so concerned, you've already asked about me." Alfred giggled, but it was an eerie giggle, and it had a level of malice that he had never heard before. "I don't know what you did, you naughty little secretary.. But my poor brother is on the verge of a rather decadent break down!"
"Who.. Are you..?" He asked with fear as he watched Alfred slowly lick his lips in visible pleasure.
"Me? I'm Alexia! Delighted to meet you!" Alfred laughed in that not quite right voice. "And you are going to see soooooo much more of me! Now off you go!" Alfred waved a dismissive hand at him.
"Oh and don't worry!" Alfred called with a wink as Robert turned to go. "I'll tell Alfred that we want to keep you!"
Before he left the room, he heard Alfred's voice. His actual voice and not the disturbing voice he had spoke with only moments before.
"What did you do to me, Dorson?"
He was about to tell him the truth when Alfred interrupted his thoughts with a ragged laugh.
"Alexia...You..Did...you.. speak with her?"
"I..I spoke with you, sir." He said timidly.
Alfred was silent for a few seconds before he said in a voice so quiet that he had to strain in order to hear it. "Get out."
He walked out the room and shut the door behind him. He was aware that he had brought himself a reprieve, he pushed all other thoughts and doubts out of his mind. The only thought he allowed himself to form was..
'Do I need to get more aphrodisiac..?'
(Chapter end)