This is BEFORE Samuel murdered his father, so the dad is still alive and Sam is about 10 years old.
Enjoy! :)
A young Samuel lay cowering within the safety of his sheets. He clutched tightly onto its edges and smeared his head against it, hoping it would shield him from the sounds of his poor mother screaming in agony. It was like this every night, listening to his mother scream. His father, Ivan, would take out frustration on her when it was time for Samuel to sleep, but even so, he never could fall asleep. Everything was so loud.
He could hear his father shout out words, but couldn't hear what exactly he was saying, for it sounded muffled, but he could hear the sounds of of glasses shattering and a large shriek of pain. He covered his ears and clenched his teeth, curling himself into a small cocoon in hopes of once more, shielding the disturbing sound.
Oddly enough, the shrieking dies down. There's a couple more words spoken, but they seemed cool and collected.
The door to his bedroom slowly opens and his father appears, hands bloodied and all.
That's my ma's blood...Samuel thinks to himself.
"You up, child?" Ivan asks him. His father was tall, and Samuel favored him perfectly. He had the dark brown eyes and the dirty blonde hair just like him. The only trait he shared of his mother seemed to be his facial shaping, and partially the submissive attitude towards his father.
"Yes, papa. I'm up." Sam answers, gliding himself above the sheets and setting his legs down on them. His father sits on the edge of the bed next to his right leg and sighs. He looks at Sam and tilts his head, curiously, and brings his hand to pet Samuels head, causing him to slightly flinch from his touch.
"Listen, son. I know I'm not the best father, but I try, y'know? It's just that this is how yer granddaddy raised me. Ye understand, boy?" Samuel quickly nods, afraid of being smacked. His grandfather died years ago when Sam was still only an infant, probably only around the age of two or three years, but his mother always claimed that he was the nicest man around. "Yer a good boy. You know? I don't like hurting ya, but I get so upset; and yer so easily breakable. You and yer mama. I can't help myself. Ye understand?"
Samuel nods once more.
Ivan smiles and cups Samuels cheek, smearing the warm blood on his face. Samuel clenches his teeth and watches. There was nothing else he could do. The blood was still liquidity, like it just happened, and dripped down onto his neck. The warm sensation of his mother's blood on his neck tickled him, and he had to stuff in a giggle. "Th'atta good lad. As a reward, get out of bed. You and I are going somewhere!"
Samuel grudgingly pulls himself out of bed and follows his father, looking down at the wooded floor, to afraid to see his bleeding mother lying halfway dead on the ground. "Bye mama. Papa and I will be back soon. I love you." Was all he could say.
"I.....l-love you too, s-sweetie..." His mother, Sarah, painfully responds and lays her head down back into the cold, hard floor with a sigh.
The air hits him hard. Living in the Underground, it seemed fairly cold. It would sometimes be warm in the spring and summer time, but it was rare, for the ceiling blocked out any rays that were to come. Despite the coldness of the Underground, the ladies always dressed proper and wore their frilly dresses. The air crosses Samuels cheek and sends a rush of coldness up his spine as he remembers the blood.
"Papa, t-there's b-blood....on my cheek." He says quietly and rubs his arms in fear of being smacked by the older man.
The father looks over at Samuel and licks his hand, "Turn round', child." Samuel does as told and Ivan rubs the saliva stained hand across his bloody cheek, wiping away all of the blood and leaving just a smear of red. "There ye go." The father wipes his now bloody stained hands against his pants. They were of a dark hue, so luckily the red didn't show up. Not that'd anyone would care. There were no police in the Underground, and the MP's only came around to subdue thugs that kept sneaking up to the Surface.
Ivan greets some men walking on the sidewalk, gripping onto Samuels shoulders and guiding him forward.
"Papa, where are we going?" Samuel asks. He was curious, for his father never takes him anywhere. Ivan looks down at him and flicks the side of his head roughly. "Ow."
"You ask too many questions, child. We're going someplace special! A lot of children your age will be there. Maybe you'll make some friends, preferably boys. You hang out with too many girls. I'm afraid that'll harm yer thinkin'."
That confused Sam. The only girl he ever hung out with was (Y/N). Ivan must've confused that for hanging out with other females because (Y/N) could usually be spotted running around playing with them at the Central District. Samuel wasn't much of a people person.
His father continues, "It'll be a win-win scenario for me. Probably not for you, but I guess it all depends, huh? If this works like they say, your bloodline will be strong beyond your imagination, son! Isn't that nice?"
Samuel nods. He was still confused as to what Ivan meant, but he figured to not ask any other questions.
They continue to walk along the ragged path in the cold atmosphere. Samuel would breathe out and as his breath turned into fog. He then threw his hands threw it, smacking it away. After, he would breathe out once more, but this time like he was smoking a pipe like the men did. His mother would always get on to him about that, saying that's not how "True gentlemen act." It was so chilly. It being nighttime didn't help. Samuel snuggled himself into his jacket and stuck his hands deep into his pockets, and then sticking his chin inside of his jacket and breathing to let the heat radiate back onto him.
It was a long walk. After about twenty minutes, Ivan finally stated, "Right bout' there child. See all the children lined up? That's where we're going. The building is all lit."
Samuel looked up and observed. His lips slightly parted in awe. He had never seen this building before, and it looked as it had just been built. There had to be at least fifty other children his age standing outside in a long, curved line, mothers or fathers along with them. The windows shown a bright color of blue, and Samuel had to strain his eyes to see what was inside, but he couldn't really tell. As the two neared, he took example of all of the children. They all seemed so upset as if they didn't want to be there. Some were even crying.
"Papa?" Samuel looks up at his father with wide, scared eyes. He had no clue what to expect, and judging from the outside, it didn't seem so good. Ivan glides Samuel forward and pasts the line of children. "Papa?" Samuel asks once more.
"Hey. My son, Samuel, is a cousin of one of the men running this. Can he go ahead of all of these other children?" Ivan greets a fellow man who was short, but bulky. He had a stumbly black beard, and Samuel couldn't help but feel the urge to stroke it. The man looked down at him and frowned.
"No. Get back at the end of the line. I don't give a care who the brat is related to." He responds, crossing his arms.
Ivan smiles and laughs, "I don't think ye heard me. I said, can my son go ahead of all the other children?" Samuel hears the small slink! of a dagger being pulled out of its holder. The man looks down at Ivan's hands and grunts.
"I'm not getting paid enough for this. Go ahead. It's just round back. You'll see some tables, about several men, and some children."
Ivan thanks the man and sticks his dagger back into his pocket, "Glad we could come to an agreement. Come on, son."
Samuel follows his fathers footsteps and doesn't say a word. He looks around and sees more children, mainly girls, in the back of the large building. There were tables just like the man had said, and a bunch of adults. Some children lay strapped in the tables with a cloth over their mouth.
"P-Papa..they're hurting those kids." He whispers and clutches onto his fathers jacket for safety. Ivan nudges him away.
"Be a man, Samuel. It's nothing but a bunch of syringes. It's going to hurt for about a second and then yer done."
A woman of a tall nature comes on to the duo with a small notepad. She bows before Ivan and sticks a lock of her brown her behind her ear, "Ivan Bekket? And Samuel?"
Ivan nods.
"Follow me." She leads them along, dodging people quickly walking towards their destination and children trying to run away from their destination. "You came just in time. We're almost about out of juice."
"Hear that, Sammy? We're in luck!" His father beams, gripping tightly onto Samuels shoulders.
"It's quite complicated, Ivan. We've been wasting so much of the drug on these kids, and it's not kicking in. You don't know how many corpses we've got stacked up. I'm surprised this entire section isn't being ran by the stench." The woman sighs.
Samuel was unaware of what she meant. "Excuse me, ma'am, what is a drug? And what's a corpse?"
Ivan smacks Samuels head roughly and curses at him, "Shut up, child! Nobody gave you permission to speak! Now stop asking so many questions! Yer annoyin'!"
He does as told and no longer says a word. The adults continue to chit chat while the woman escorted the two towards their sector. After they finally reached, yet another man greeted them. "Uncle Ivan!"
"Hi there, boy. Is it ready? I don't want to be here all day, you see. Samuel, say hi to your cousin, Edward. He's a fine fellow, ain't he?"
Samuel looks up at the man. He had a long scar reaching down from his left eye and covered him when he saw how Samuel was staring. "A-aha, thank you, Uncle. And yeah, it's all ready. I've been doing this shit all day, let me tell you. I'm so tired. Lay down right here, buddy." He says, setting a palm on a table for Samuel to lay down on. Samuel does as told. "The children have been mighty feisty. They've been throwing up fights and screaming. Some were so feisty we couldn't even give them the drug. We just had to—" Edward looks down at Samuel and then at Ivan.
"He doesn't know. Go ahead." Ivan says.
Samuel knew. He knew a lot more than what he let on.
"We just had to shoot them. Their bodies are stored up in the storage inside the buildings. It's going to take a hell of a long time clearing it all out. And don't even get me started on the stretch!" Edward groans. He grabs a dirty rag from off of the ground and wraps it around Samuels eyes.
"Papa?" Samuel calls out for his father for confirmation that he was still there.
"I'm here, child." He responds. For some reason, instead of the realization that his father was still there with him, that he hadn't abandoned him, was worse than not knowing. He honestly would've been just good picturing that he did.
Suddenly, Samuel hears loud screams. It sounded of a girls. "Don't come near me with it! I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you! Don't come near! Let go of me you scumbags!" It shouted.
"Hey! Idiots! Do something about her, will ya? Just don't shoot her. Don't waste the bullets. Only if she tries to run, got it?" Edward says. Samuel feels straps wrap around his wrists, and a click as it had been snapped shut. "I'll make this quick."
It was a slight pain. Bearable. He had withstood more from the beatings of his father. It didn't last ten seconds before he was done. The rag was unwrapped from his face and he was unstrapped from the table. Ivan picked his son up from off the table and set him on the ground. "You feeling okay, son?"
Samuel shook his head no. He felt really queazy, like he were going to throw up. His head randomly began to throb and he grabbed it instinctively and began to rub, trying to soothe the rampant beating. His heart began to beat faster and harder. So hard he could actually hear it thumping.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump, thump.
The screaming of the girl began again, and Samuel looked towards the noise and spotted a girl with jet black hair and icy blue eyes. She was being grabbed roughly and forced down onto a table by a man much bigger than herself. "Get off of me! You slimy pig! You putrid mutt! Get off!"
Her screaming made Samuels head pound harder. He clutched his temples and groaned. "Papa, I don't feel good."
Edward walks over to the screeching girl and punches her, cleanly knocking her out. "Was that so hard? Teach this girl that her loud mouth has dire consequences."
Ivan grabs Samuels shoulders once more and escorts him away through the way they entered. As they pass, Samuel notices that the same girl with the black hair and icy blue eyes lips was now stitched together. He quickly looked away.
After a while, the side effects Samuel had felt had faded away, but his head was still throbbing quite painfully. The duo trudged back home in silence.
After reaching home, Ivan opens the door for Samuel and pushes him inside, "Go talk to yer mama. I've got to go back to that building for Edward. Tell her how it went." And then he slammed the door, roughly.
Sarah seemed to had fixed herself up after they left. She was no longer bleeding, and her hair was pint up in a small bun, "Sweetie, are you alright?" She greets with a warm hug.
"Yes mama. I'm fine. Papa took me to this strange place with a bunch of other children. They were screaming and fighting and crying. It was awful. They stuck a needle inside my skin and they said they had a whole bunch of dead bodies lying inside of the building. I was so scared, mama."
Sarah nods and hugs her child tightly again, "I know, baby. I know. I'm sorry you had to go through that, but it's worth it. I promise you. Did you feel weird after you got stuck with the needle?" She asks.
Samuel nods, "Yes mama. I felt like I was going to puke and pass out. It was awful."
Sarahs eyes widen with glee as she hugs him tighter, "That's amazing! That's good, Samuel!"
She gripped tightly onto Samuels hands and escorted him towards his bedroom. "I'm going to have to wake you up early. You and me have to do something. Your father won't be here, so. Best get it done quickly." She says as lays him down inside of his bed and tucks him under the sheets. "Sleep well, my little Kano."
"Kano?" Samuel asks, raising a brow.
"Nevermind that, baby. Go to sleep." Sarah responds and kisses his cheek softly, "Goodnight.
She leans over and blows out the lit candle on the side of Samuels bed, making the room dark. She exits the room and gently closes the door.
Votes and comments are appreciated!