Rosetta’s POV:
It was getting quite late and I was very tired. Erik had promised that we were to go see the Shah’s mother. That partially frightened me and partially excited me. I had no idea what this woman was like. But something made me nervous. Oh, well, I would be with Erik so I had
nothing to fear. He would keep me safe.
I stretched a little and closed my book. Erik had managed to find a book written in English for me. It wasn’t very interesting but it provided some means of entertainment. He had been gone all day dealing with the palace and only had just arrived a thirty minutes ago.
I looked over at him and saw him hunched over his desk, examining blue-prints and various important papers having to do with the building. I stood up and said,
“Erik, I am going to bed. Where do you intend to sleep?” He looked up at me and said,
“Why should I sleep? I am not tired.” He smiled slightly and turned back to his work. I rolled my eyes and stated firmly,
“You have been awake for I don’t know how long. I would have to say close to seventy-two hours. Now, I think you need some rest. Where will you sleep?” He placed the papers in a folder and turned to look at me. He looked quite irritated.
“Rosetta, go to bed as you wish. You need not be worried about me.” I looked him over and realized what it was. The morphine kept him even. It kept him somewhat calm. He hadn’t had it for twenty-four hours. His brain was reacting by going into withdrawal.
I wasn’t a drug expert but I know some things. And I knew enough to know what was happening. He took a step towards me but I saw his gait falter. He moved back to his desk and started to prepare a shot of morphine.
I shook my head and grabbed his hand. He stared at it then looked back at me.
“What are you doing?” I smiled sadly and said,
“Erik, no morphine. Not tonight. Sleep. You need it. The bed is big enough for two. I will sleep on one side and you on the other.” He looked at me with shock and slightly horror on his features. He pushed the morphine away and drew himself to his full height.
“Have you lost your mind? Are seriously considering sharing a bed with m-me?” I nodded at looked at him calmly. I knew he wouldn’t try anything. He was a gentleman even if he was a dangerous one. I had once thought he might but he had promised.
I squeezed his hand and said,
“No, I haven’t lost my mind. I am considering sharing a bed with you. You need sleep and I know very well that is the only bed in the place. It’s okay. You won’t try anything. I won’t try anything. Everything will be fine.”
Erik’s POV:
I was panicking. She wanted to share a bed with a monster. My mother always said my touch was death and would kill any who touched me. But this girl wasn’t dying. She was accepting my touch and even sharing her bed.
I had long ceased to call it my own. I never intended to use it again. I had thought there was no way she was going to let me sleep even on a corner. But, no, she was inviting me to sleep in it. I was so exhausted. I needed my sleep for the show I would have to put on for the Shah’s mother.
I squeezed her hand back and followed the golden-haired girl into the room. She slipped beneath the covers and was asleep in a matter of minutes. I slipped off my shoes and crawled in on the other side. The moment my head hit the pillow I was fast asleep. But with sleep
came nightmares.
“Monster!”
“Freak!”
“Corpse!”
“Devil’s Child!” People surrounded my cage and I couldn’t get out. They kept screaming in my ears and in shouting. I tried to cover my face but my hands were bound. I could do nothing about their tormenting.
I was an ‘it’ to them. I wasn’t a human. I wasn’t a lost boy who wanted someone to love him. No, I was a creature to be taunted. An ‘it’ to be feared. I didn’t want to be an ‘it’. I wanted to be a boy.
I wanted to be human.
I would never be human. I had been born this way and would die unloved and rejected as a freak by all mankind. No one could ever love me. I needed to stop trying to find it. I needed to stop trying to be something I never would become.
The mocking drowned away to the faithful night when I killed my master when he tried to rape me. That was how the nightmare progressed. It had done so for years. Ever since I had been a teen. No, I never had been a teenager. I had been a child then an adult. Even at the tender
age of thirteen I knew more about the outside world than most men of twenty.
The scene changed again. This one was different than the others. I was alone as always for the first little bit but then a girl appeared beside me. A pretty girl who I immediately recognized for Rosetta. She was spinning around in circles, perfectly happy.
I was laughing and every now and then I would catch her around the waist and spin her around with me. I had the odd feeling I was supposed to feel something but it was an emotion my heart and mind couldn’t conjure up.
It was supposed to happiness. But I knew not what happiness was so my subconscious couldn’t imagine it. Suddenly the blue sky turned dark and the scene lost its beauty. Rosetta reached for my mask and ripped it free.
Lightning split the sky as thunder roared. She screamed and fled. I was screaming for her to come back. Screaming, but she didn’t stop running. I collapsed onto the ground and started to cry. Cry the tears I thought didn’t have any more of.
I sat bolt upright in the bed, my shirt soaked in sweat and tears coursing under my mask. My breathing was ragged at best. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself.
My body jolted when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked to my left and flinched away from Rosetta. She looked truly worried. The nightmare was still branded in my mind and I was still under the control of the fear of it.
I moved away from her a little more. She reached out again and took my hand.
“Erik,” she whispered, “what is wrong?” I looked at her and found the courage to whisper,
“Nightmares.” Her face clouded with concern as she crawled closer.
“Do you wish to tell me about them? Get it off your chest?” I shook my head slowly. She didn’t need to know about the horrors I lived with. It was enough for her to know I wasn’t the fearless, dangerous, murder she knew. She knew what was underneath. She didn’t need to know why I was like I was.
Her innocent sixteen-year-old mind didn’t need to know. She moved closer to me and gently massaged my shoulder.
“Erik, you need to tell someone.” Her voice was soft but firm. I shook my head again. She sighed slightly and whispered,
“Well, then, try to go back to sleep. You are safe.” She laid down a lot closer to me than I might have expected. I laid down as well, and she started to sing that song she had sung before. It was a lullaby. I never had heard one before until now. I knew what they were but never had one sung to me. I was asleep again in moments. The whole rest of the night was spent in dreamless slumber. The most peaceful sleep I had slept in years. Or, well, ever.
That moment when I woke, I found her hand still held tightly in mine. Tears welled in my eyes at the gesture. For the first time in my life, someone felt something other than pity. Someone felt something that was strong than that. Friendship. Yes, for the first time in my life,
I was truly not alone.