A Different Kind of Animal

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

“Leonardo, wake up.” 

Through the slowly receding haze of sleep, Leo heard the deep, gentle voice float through the darkness once more.

“Wake up, Leonardo.”

“Sir?”

“Yes. I’ve brought you breakfast.”

The seven-year-old boy looked up into Sir’s face, eyes wide with innocent inquiry. “Why don’t you call me Leo, Sir? Everyone else does.”

“Leo’s not your name, now is it, Leonardo?” Sir’s handsome face lit up with a faint smile, a rare thing to witness, making Leo’s own mouth spread into a wide grin.

Sir’s smile disappeared. “You look like a little demon every time you show those teeth of yours,” he said without much emotion, causing Leo’s smile to instantly evaporate into a sad, straight line.

“All right, then, eat up. Don’t you want to grow big and strong one day?”

“Big like you, Sir?”

Sir almost smiled again, but instead turned away to retrieve the cold metal tray. Leo squealed with delight at the sight of a mountain of sizzling bacon and scrambled eggs.

“Don’t make a mess, child,” Sir warned as Leo reached eagerly for the food. 

Nodding obediently, Leo placed two pieces of bacon on his tongue, savoring the juicy, somewhat sweet flavor before quickly chewing and swallowing and moving on to rapidly consume the rest of the mountain. Towards the bottom of the dish, Leo began to wonder why he’d received such an unusually varied and bountiful breakfast. The norm was a steak, piece of fruit, and glass of milk, which he still loved. But this was so much better!

Sir had left the room earlier, and now he came back in just as Leo finished scooping up the last fluff of egg with his spoon.

“I didn’t think you’d actually be able to finish the whole thing,” Sir said, raising his thick black eyebrows in light surprise. “I’m impressed.”

Leo grinned proudly; then, remembering that Sir didn’t like his teeth, he quickly closed his mouth. Still, his eyes were glued to Sir’s face, hungry for any ounce of his guardian’s attentions.

“Now that you’ve had a nice breakfast, I want you to go with these gentlemen here, all right?” Sir said, his tone friendly. But it wasn’t friendly enough to encourage questions or protests on Leo’s behalf.

Silently, Leo left his bed, ignoring the shock from the cold of the tile floor on his bare feet. He warily eyed the three men standing just beyond the door to his room, and then his eyes widened at the sight of the plastic wrist restraints that the one in the middle held.

“Sir?” Leo’s voice came out in a tremulous whisper. Nothing like this had ever happened before.

“Go on, Leonardo, you’ll be fine. I promise,” Sir assured him, urging him forward with a heavy, but gentle hand.

But the men weren’t gentle. They even seemed a little afraid as they tightly gripped Leo’s arms and bound his wrists behind his back. They kept firm grips on his shoulders as they quickly ushered him down the brightly lit hallway to another room, one Leo had never been inside before. Leo tripped more than once since his shorter legs had a hard time keeping up with the longer strides of his keepers, but the hands that held him kept lifting him back to his feet, unrelenting.