Government Experiment: Soulmate

Chapter 9

Nathaniel POV

I knew that my face was bright red by the time the men from my dreams left the room. I didn't mean to call him handsome. It just slipped out. I know I'm not supposed to think men are attractive, but I can't help it. I wish it was a choice though because if it was, I would choose to like women.

(flashback)

I remember seeing a cute same sex couple at the park, they were just enjoying the scenery, but I remember being pulled away from them by the sleeve of my jacket. Pa had been jerking me along with him while Ma grabbed little sis off of the play set. When we got home he sat me down, I was only seven at the time, but I can remember exactly what Pa had told me, he said,

"You listen closely you little shit, if I ever see you holding hands or smoochn' with another man, I'll make you wish we left you in a ditch. Ya here me?" His voice was so venomous it gave me goose bumps. I nodded so that he knew I understood what he was saying even though I didn't. He then turned to my three year old sister, then spoke to Ma.

"Same goes for her. I don't care if she is my real child or not. If she likes women she can rot in hell, weather that hell be in life or death I don't care." He grunted as he stomped off toward the kitchen for another beer.

Little did Pa know at the time, but I was already a lost cause and his little girl wouldn't even make it to be old enough to go to school.

(flashback over)

"Alright sweetie," A soft voice broke me free of my thoughts, and I turned to see the dark haired doctor who dragged me into the room. "Is it alright if I give you a check up?" She asked me nicely. I wasn't expecting her to be so kind to me honestly. At first I thought it was an act she put on around others, like Ma did, but as I allowed her to check my pulse and listen to my heart beat, she was continually asking if she was making me uncomfortable or if she hurt me.

I won't lie, I know I was abused, but that doesn't mean I didn't feel like I deserved it. I got exactly what I deserved; Ma and Pa had to spend too much money for food because of me, so they cut back my meals to one every few days, I was always taking Ma's attention away from sis and Pa, so I was left home during family trips, I acted out so I was hit as a punishment. Though it got to the point that Pa would just beat me if he was bored, and I know that's not how a normal family works, but that's how mine worked, and I didn't want to be taken from my family again when I was younger, so I stayed quiet.

"You space off quiet a bit don't you sweetie?" The doctor, whose name I learned was Cleo, asked me with a playful look in her eyes.

"S-sorry Miss. Cleo." I quietly apologized. She only laughed and reached up to rub my head. I couldn't help leaning into her soft motherly touch.

"Now, don't you worry your cute cheeks about it." She smiled big, showing me all her pretty teeth. "And you don't have to call me Miss. Cleo. You can call me Cleo or even Mommy if you want to Hun same with Stephon, you can just call him Stephon or Daddy or Pops. After all you are our boys soulmate." She winked. There it was again; Soulmates. A fictional concept being talked about as if it  were actually real.

"What do you mean by soulmates Miss. Cleo?" I questioned her. "Soulmates don't exist, my Ma told me so when I was young. They are make believe. Fiction." I told her and she , once again, smiled.

"Why don't you take off your shirt so I can continue with your check up, I will explain as I work." She turned away to put a pair of gloves on, and I slipped off my shirt completely forgetting about the many cuts and bruises that littered my torso. I tried to cover my self before she turned around, but I wasn't fast enough. As soon as she was fully facing me, she let out a gasp. Whether it was a gasp of horror or disgust I didn't know, but she immediately reached out and pulled my arms away from my body, exposing my black, blue, purple, green, red skin, and the bandage that was covering the small puncture wound that Pa had left yesterday.