Find Me On The Other side (Short Story)

BEFORE IT TURNED WORSE

PRESENT DAY

"Hi there.
My name is Ben. I was a sex slave at Maurina's yard and this is my story."

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PAST

I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Most of us here were not. Except for the royalties who lost political chess game, so their sons and daughters had to be sent to slave camps and that's how some of them eventually ended up here, at Maurina's yard.

It usually took a while for most of them to adjust to their new environment as they usually died within the first few months, either by their own hands or by others.

And for those that make it past the few months, those were usually dead behind the eyes as they die a little more inside each day. And with time, they eventually become like us.

I, just like the many, was taken there when I was about five, 16 years ago. I started off as an average slave. I was too young to do anything but they did put me to work that by age 10, I was already washing dishes and clothes, sweeping up and mopping up the compounds. And also going on long errands. They made transport heavier goods as I eventually got older.

And since we were closer to the castle, we were sometimes sent over to work there. The older Maurina gals would go into the chambers of the royal palace members while the younger ones played with the royal children.

With time and years, I fell for one of the officials kids, Sir Charles. Despite the two years difference, I still had to call him sir. He preferred I called him Charles but the rules of the place begged to differ. He made me feel special. He didn't treat me like the servant that I was. He made me feel like one of them.

I would pester my childhood friend, Joseph, to take me into the castle walls when they left for his duties. He would say no but eventually give in. If I knew then what happened when the older boys got behind the door, I would have never bothered Joseph about it. But I was a naive young boy with a crush. Of course, I was an idiot. But sadly, that was a lesson that I had to learn later.

My first ever kiss was with Charles. We had pulled away from the other teenagers as we usually did. And in the corner somewhere between the buildings, we had our first kiss. It was sweet and tender.

"You need to clean your area before we go any further." Charles had laughed at my confusion. He obviously knew more for a 16 year old boy.

That was the first time I learnt about all the acrobatic preparation that came with sex between two boys. I had no idea. All I knew was that, my heart throbbed for him. And so did two other parts of my body.

I didn't ask anyone from Maurina's yard about this as there was a rule about not reaching for the stars.

"These are not people on your level." Maurina had lectured us one afternoon in her office. "Always tell me everything that happens, you got it?" She had demanded of which we had agreed. But affairs of the heart are hard to manage.

And for the past year, Charles had been another reason to wake up every dawn. He was what made the 5 am to 9 pm workload, bearable. I wasn't about to let that go easily.

And in that past year, we interacted like lover do, but in secret. We would sometimes sneak out of the palace and find our favorite spot behind a rock in the forest, where we would make out. And though we had talked about sex, we didn't have it until six months after our first kiss. It was my first time and it was beautiful. That was the best year of my life.

We were from two different worlds. He was the star in my sky and I was a maggot on the ground. Too far away to reach him, but he had thrown down a ladder.