I never stayed with the same handler, master, or whatever they wanted to be called, longer than six months. I was always too quiet, too willing to serve, or not the right age. Or a mix of it all.
It never made sense why someone would demand me to follow orders, but the next wish I wouldn’t.
Wasn’t the entire purpose of following commands so I didn’t get punished? It wasn’t like any of the owners couldn’t hurt me if they wanted. Many of them did, just for breathing wrong.
Unfortunately, Erik wasn’t willing to give up on me that easily. Every chance he got, he was trying to pull some sort of answer from me. Even though I did not give him what he was after, he still didn’t give up.
I did find out that he was sixteen, although he looked younger than that. He’d been a runaway at my age and got picked up by some guy, and ended up here. He’d been here the longest. I assumed it was his soft demeanor that kept him here this long.
I didn’t want to know personal details about Erik or Will, or any of the other boys here. That made being here more real than it needed to be. It’d make it harder to watch as they died slowly, day by day. Or it’d tear me apart when I left, taken from this place and sold off to yet another man.
Or maybe, for once, I’d find death at the hands of one of these men. If only I had the strength to fight the orders.
When the speaker that sat high up on the wall, metal wire surrounding it, blared to life with my number, my thoughts scattered.
Since there were no orders to change clothes, I stood where I had that first time my number had been called. I knew, from what Erik had said, that the camera above the door watched all of our movements. I wasn’t sure if they had hidden ways in this room to hear us talk, which made me keep my mouth shut more than I normally would.
Moments later, the door opened, and a man stood on the other side. I wasn’t surprised about the number of men who owned this place. It felt bigger than anywhere I’d been before, and that was before I’d gone farther than this one room and that doctor-like room.
“Come. Keep up. And listen.”
Easy enough, I thought.
Stepping towards him, I set my eyes back to the ground, watching the back of his legs so I’d know where I was being led to.
Once the door was firmly shut, closing the rest of the few boys that were in there, the man began to walk off. I had to move my legs twice as fast to keep up.
“You are to meet with someone special tonight. He has complete say over nearly everything you do here. You will respect him, do what is told, and answer when asked a question. Tonight, nothing much will be expected of you. Maybe a blowjob, but mostly, it’s to see you in person. He’s...picky about boys. But you seem like you’re doing just fine. With that body....” I could feel his gaze look over me from his shoulder. “He has a type, and you sure fit it. Anyhow, all your tests came back clean, which is good. Do well, and you’ll last longer here. We don’t like little boys who whine and cry and throw a fit like a brat. We like boys who have their thoughts, so when asked for your thoughts, answer. Sometimes, he’ll not like your answer, but still answer.”
That was not entirely helpful, but I nodded anyway, just in case the man was looking at me for a response.
“Do well, and you will be rewarded. Do bad, and things will be taken away, including but limited to food and sleep.”
“Understood, Sir.”
“Ooh, he’ll like that. Manners will get you farther than just obeying.”
I swallowed, my mouth dry.
This was always the worst part of it. Meeting the clients for the first time. I never knew what to expect, and over half the time, they were unpredictable.
After a few more turns, up a set of stairs, where I had to wonder how many levels of this place there were, the man stopped and knocked on a closed door. I was out of breath, clearly out of shape from lack of doing much. And maybe lack of food over the last however many years.
So far, while there were protein bars always available, they were low calorie, or so the packaging had said. We got one decent meal a day. It was either some sort of soup or sandwiches. Nothing with high doses of sugar, but it was filling and better than anything I had up till now.
When a low voice from within spoke, the man opened the door and I followed a few steps behind. My feet instantly sunk into the plush carpet, the fibers tickling between my toes.
“Sir,” the man greeted, bending at the waist slightly. “Number eight, as you requested.”
“Very well.” My heart was in my throat, waiting for orders that I knew were going to come. It took all my effort to keep my breathing even, to not show the fear that consumed me.
A moment later, the man left, leaving me alone with the one who held the keys to my life. How long would he dangle those keys in front of me?
“Head up, boy.”
I lifted my head, gazing unseeingly at the wall in front of me. It was better not to know where things were.
“You are a sight to behold,” the man spoke as he stood from a wide back chair. His steps were nearly silent as he approached me, then circled around my form like I was his next obsession. Or all I knew, that was exactly what I was to him.
