Marucho woke up to the sun blinding him from the ceiling. He closed his eyes back up and cuddled more into Allie's side. His wings felt comforting around Marucho, like a blanket. One of those big and fluffy blankets that weighs a ton. But it wasn't an uncomfortable weight on him. He just felt safe. Safe in Allie's hold.
He opened his eyes again and looked up at Allie. He was smiling in his sleep, his bangs spread over his eyes as they twitched. Marucho gently moved the bangs to the side and Allie's eyes calmed. Marucho could stare at Allie all day, just seeing the glow from the rays of sun shining upon him. His horn looked even cooler as the gradient from red to black was shown clearly.
Marucho turned away from his face to see the rest of him. His wings the golden specs were shining brightly, just as Marucho's diamonds might. And the feathers made them look fluffier than a birds wings were. They were beautiful.
Marucho reached out to touch one of them but then it was as if his world glitched and there was now a bleeding hole there. Marucho drew back his hand as he fliched.
"'Geppy, how could you?" Marucho turned around to look at Allie's face. Tears running down his face and a bullet hole on the side of his head beneath where his horn was. He glitched the same as the wing did before as his face became more distorted.
"How could you?" Allie's words sounded less like his each time he said them.
"How could you?"
"How could you?"
"How could you?" And Marucho now noticed that the voice started to become familiar again.
"How could you?"
"How could I?"
"How could I?" Allie's face stopped glitching and Marucho could see that his mouth stayed still, despite the words still being audible.
"How could I?"
"How could I?"
"How-" Marucho put a hand to his mouth and stopped the words from coming out. He felt something flow onto his fingers and he pulled his hand away to see what had happened. Blood?
"Really Marucho. How could you?"
Marucho woke up with a start and was sitting up in his bed. His breath was heavy, it was a shock for him to finally be able to hear it again after such a long time. He quickly put his hand up and looked at it. Nothing. He sighed in relief as he fell back onto his bed.
It was just another nightmare. Serves him right for sleeping that early. He knew that he was bound to have one. He got up and got dressed. Today was the first day. They were going to talk to him about his deal and what he was and wasn't allowed to do as well as what they expected from him. It was going to be an annoying day.
Marucho didn't like the fact that he couldn't see Allie. He wasn't allowed any visitors, the only interaction with others being when they slid food through a slot on the floor to him. They said it was for safety measures, since Allie could allegedly mind control and manipulate people. Marucho had argued with them saying that he wouldn't know if Allie was alive if he couldn't see him.
But they told him that he could write letters to him to assure that they hadn't killed him. It was bullshit. They knew that Marucho didn't know how to read or write yet. That's why he begrudgingly sat at the table with Frederick each day to learn. Now he was learning the different sounds that the letters made since he could say them.
He didn't want to speak or interact with Frederick, but it was what he had to do to reach Allie. And even if he did write letters to him, who's to say that Allie was the one writing back to him? It was shady, really shady. But he still wanted to give it a try for the hope that Allie would actually receive them and write back.
Because if he was alive, they would have to give him the letters. Or else they might have to deal with a Allie who went insane from loss of human interaction. That was if they thought that he really needed it. So there he was sounding out words to create a letter to be sent to Allie. He was told that the prison wasn't too far, so the letter would get there in two days, and come back in two to three days.
It was fast, but he guessed it was to be expected. It wasn't like they were that far technologically; they weren't riding horse back everywhere. And it was a small town as well, so far wasn't even that far, Marucho bet that he could walk to wherever the prison was in a day.
His pen was dipped in the ink as he tried his best to write out each of the letters in a readable way. He had a sheet with the alphabet on it to help him with it. He wrote sentence after sentence, spacing out the words an unnecessary amount to make sure that Allie could read each of them.
He ended up having to write on four separate pieces of papers to make a proper letter. And once he was done, he left them spaced out on the table to dry as he took a bath.
'Hi Allie. I hope that this gets to you and not sum othr random persun. How r you? I know lief in prisun is hard with out sum one to talk to but thay told me I cood rite to you. I think that they said you cood rite back to. So if I dont get a letr back Ill go ovr ther my self and kick ther as. I have ben learning how to reed and rite so I cood rite to you. If it dusnt get to you, it meens I lurnd for nothing. I also wantd to say that im sory. If I had not run a way to you you wood not be in prisun. I cood hav just not yeld for help. I dragd you in to my problms and I shood hav left you alone. I apologise. Yor frend 5k3ppy.'
Once he was done with his bath, he ran to the mailbox down the street and put it in. He made sure to put all of the papers in an envelope as well so that they don't fall out. He was proud of himself for being able to write so many words. And even though he had some of the words memorized, he couldn't memorize exactly how each of them were spelled.
In a book, it was easy to see a the word and say, 'I've seen this word before, it sounds like this.' When he had to write it down, he had no other reference besides what he thought it looked like and what letters it sounded like it had. If he had been able to speak a while ago, he would be way more advanced than he was now. Because even if he could read, he wrote as if he had only been learning for a week.
Once the enveloped papers were in the mail, he turned around and headed back home. He thought about just running away again to another place that would hopefully accept him. But the thought of leaving Allie behind would haunt him wherever he went.
And if he didn't have enough to run from, karma wasn't going on the list. He knew that if he ever left or disobeyed, Allie would be dead on the spot.
They had no feelings toward the demon. They wouldn't feel regret even if Marucho had choked on his tears and died with him. They didn't actually care about the boys' relationship. They only cared about keeping Allie held captive in return for whatever Marucho could give them. Allie could already be dead. Marucho didn't believe that they could kill Allie that easily, especially since the two of them made a promise to one another.
They would see each other again. Marucho just hoped that Allie wouldn't hate him when they did. He hoped he made the right decision in keeping Allie alive instead of ending his miserable life and killing him. Was this all worth it? Marucho had given up his normal life to put his friend in a prison. It seemed like a loss for both of them. But then again, he probably won't have been able to live with himself if he killed Allie.
He imagined how he would go. Allie would be brought to the middle of the crowd so that they all could see. And Marucho wouldn't be able to pull his eyes away from him. Allie would turn to Marucho and give him a smile, telling him that it would all be okay. Marucho wouldn't be able to smile back. And then when Allie started to bleed out, is when Marucho's imagination faltered.
Would Allie still wear that smile as his soul was dragged to another place? Or would it bare a look of hated towards Marucho, as his will to pretend faded? Or would he just look in pain and shock until he breathed in and out for the last time?
Marucho couldn't imagine the weight that would follow him if any of that happened. And now, when Marucho thought about it, there might have been a better option than the four that he had thought of. He had been doing it this entire time, but even so the thought hadn't crossed his mind. He could have ran. Ran away with Allie to a place far away from any sort of civilization.
They would probably die soon wherever they went from lack of survival skills, but at least they would both be happy and together when they died.
Speaking of running away, Marucho had a doctor's appointment next week in five days. They decided to let him settle in a little bit more before they started to remove the diamonds. And like they did in his old town, there would be separate appointments for each part of his body.
He would be going on for his face for the first visit in two days, then he would be going in for his shoulders in the next two days, then he would go for his collar bone, and then finally his hand. Then he would get three to four weeks off until the next appointment.
He hated how similar his life was now to back then. He only had a mother, he wasn't allowed to go outside anymore, besides to put the mail away. He had to alert Frederick every time he did it to make sure he didn't run off as well. He would be exploited for money. And he was alone. The difference was that he was now learning to read and write, something he refused to do back then.
He wished that he had followed his father's wishes then. At least he would be able to write a proper letter. Even so, the thought of his father being right disgusted him. He was glad that he was learning now. Back then he bet that he would just be made fun of for being years older than the other kids. And young kids are brutal with their insults.
He stepped in the house and ignored Frederick's welcome back as he headed straight to his room. He didn't feel like giving her the time of day. She was part of the reason that this was happening. If she hadn't shot Allie, maybe the two of them could have flown away together. And she was also the one that kept them there instead of bringing them home.
He sat on his bed with a piece of paper and a book. He had taken the ink and pen from the table and sat it on the bed next to him. He opened the book and started to read the first paragraph.
"On the eve my beloved Ryczar was born," Marucho closed the book and tried to re-write what he had just read.
'On the eve my belovd Razcar was born,' He looked back at the book and closed it again. He re-wrote the words.
'On the eve my beloved Ryczar was born,' He looked at the page again and smiled, happy he did it right this time. Then he read the next part.
"under a bright full moon," he closed it and started to write again.
'undr a brite full moon,' He looked back and re-read. He closed it and tried again.
'under a brihgt full moon.' He looked again and saw he wrote 'bright' wrong again. He re- wrote the sentence for a third time.
'under a bright full moon,' He looked back at the book and saw he got it right.
The next part, "the north wind whistled and howled." 'the north wind wistled and howled.' He looked back at the page. Good, he was learning.
The 'duh' sound at the end of the word wasn't just a 'd' as he was taught. It was actually an 'ed,' when it was at the end of the word. He closed the book and wrote the part again. 'the north wind whistled and howled.' He repeated the process with ease until the words became hardy readable.
"Woronzova? Vorontsov's?" Marucho closed the book and sighed. Frederick had given him the book to challenge him to read bigger and more complex words. But he didn't need to learn that now. Besides, they were words from Russia, it said that in the top of the page.
He placed the book on the floor and pulled up the sheets to drape around himself. But he forgot about the ink that he had just set on them and it fell onto the floor. He looked down to see the damage and saw that the edge of the book was soaking in the black. He picked up the book and shook it off. That made the mess worse. He groaned and looked at the pages to see how much got on them.
The ink easily flooded the pages to the words and made most of the sentences unreadable. Good luck reading that now. He put the book back on the floor and went to the bathroom to find something to clean his floor off with. He didn't want to try and ask Frederick for another book, but if he didn't read and write on his own, he would have to talk with her more as he read with her. He quickly cleaned as much as he could and put the ink, pen and book in a safe place.
Luckily for him, he knew exactly where he could find a book or two. Actually, more than that. But it would mean convincing Frederick to let him go to the farm and possibly talking to Tate on his way in. Even though it was more interaction than he ever wanted with either of them, he thought that it would be worth it. He wanted to read what Allie had read.
He also wanted that book back in his hands again. Then he would take a break and remind himself of the time he got to spend with Allie. That week where he was happy straight through. Nothing made him regret a single second of running away. He wished he could go back to that time. Because now it was the opposite. He regrets every single moment that he had with Allie. And it was because he gave Allie hope. And Allie gave him hope. Marucho regretted he ever hoping.
He stepped out of his room and went to the door where he put his shoes on. "Where are you going?" Frederick asked.
"I'm going to the barn. I left something there." Marucho replied.
"Well, make sure you check-in with Tate when you get there so we know you didn't go somewhere." Frederick replied.
"Yep." And then Marucho was on his way.