Bow To The King

Beginning

My story starts from the beginning, the very beginning when I was just five years old. There was only one bedtime story my mother used to tell me. It was about the god of nightmares, Gelid, who singlehandedly defeated and humiliated his brother, Adelio. It is said after the war everyone cut their ties with Gelid. Most of them sided with Adelio because he was older and considered him more worthy of their respect. He was left all alone in his realm where he continued to reign and would do so for eternity. Although the story was quite crude, filled with betrayal and loss, not really suitable for a young child, it still gave me comfort. Maybe because my mother was the narrator.

My mother passed away shortly after my sixth birthday. At that time, I really didn't know what death was. One day, I woke up for school but my mother didn't. I remember watching her and thinking how peaceful she looked while sleeping, just like an angel. She used to bake cookies every day and distribute them in the neighborhood. When my neighbors noticed how strange it was for her to not show up without informing anyone, they came to check up on us and that's when everyone realized that my mother was gone. Social workers came and took me away, comforting me with all the nice words there were in the English dictionary. Still, I felt anxious without her.

I remember that night to this day, when I finally realized she was never coming back. Before that, I had hoped that it was just for a few days, she would come back and take me away from there. But when months passed by and there was still no sign of her, that's when it hit me that she was gone forever. I recall crying for two whole days and then promising myself I would never cry again.

It was a good sunny day when it was revealed I was being adopted by a very wealthy and influential family. When I saw them for the first time, I remember thinking how kind and lovely they both looked. Ms. Scarlett sat elegantly in her red gown and Sir Benedict stood close to his wife. After all the farewells, we went off to my forever home.

I was in awe when I saw the house for the first time. It was like a castle you'd see in the movies. I had no idea such beauty existed outside the movies in the real world. They had a son, Nathanial, who was the same age as I was. He stood in the entrance, with his arms folded in front of his chest, observing me carefully. Although I was afraid, I still gathered all the strength I had left in me and took a few steps towards him in hopes of introducing myself and eventually befriending him. But as soon as he saw me walking towards him, he suddenly ran inside the house and disappeared. Did I do something wrong? My younger self said to himself, confused, now more scared than before.

The first few days were fine. Everything was normal. Although we didn't talk much, I was still given everything I needed.

And then it started, the mental and physical abuse, the punishments and all the worse things you could imagine being done to a child. I was soon moved to the servant's headquarters and treated worse than them. Nathanial, who I thought would be my friend, was the most rotten person and scared me the most. He kept me close as his punching bag. No matter what he was feeling, he would call me and punish me for things I didn't even do. This was all a game for him.

Eleven years went by and nothing changed. From crying myself to sleep every night to being immune to all the pain afflicted, I grew up. In all these years, I never found out much about my adopted parents. The one thing I observed though was that the parties and all the events arranged by the family were attended by some of the most absurd people. Some of them didn't even look human. Growing up, I always wondered what happened at these get-togethers behind closed doors, but I was never invited inside.

One day, Nathanial had just come back home from school and called for me. We did this every day. He would call me in his room and talk to me for hours about his day in detail, boast about his popularity among the female population, how he defeated the rival school in a basketball game and then get mad at me for no reason, which always led to him punching and throwing things at me. The cycle continued every day.

I went into his room and made my way to the little sitting area he had generously allowed me to sit in. "You are not gonna believe what happened today!" He looked extremely happy today as he excitedly paced in the spacious room. I forced a smile, "What? tell me." He looked at me and smacked his hands together. "So you remember Jennifer right? I told you how hot she was and everything and today..... you are not gonna believe this, but today a friend of mine told me that she has a crush on me, ON ME." He emphasized the last part as if I failed to hear him the first time he said it. He continued his rant about how he was going to get laid when someone knocked at the door and interrupted him midway. "Mr. Benedict wants to see Aiden, Sir." It was the butler of the house. "What does he want? tell him we are busy." Nathanial shouted from the inside. After a few seconds of hesitation, the butler again spoke meekly, "I'm afraid Mr Benedict insists, Sir. He must see him right now."

Nathanial had enough. He grabbed me by the shoulder and pushed the door open, almost hitting the poor man in the process. He barged inside Mr Benedict's study room and pushed me forward violently. "What do you want?" Mr Benedict sighed but didn't say anything to his son, as he knew nothing good would come out of arguing with him. Instead, he turned his attention towards me and his gaze hardened. He threw a picture and ordered me to pick it up from the floor.

"Kill this man and I'll set you free."

He was a man of few words, but when he spoke, it was always to the point. "What do you mean by setting him free dad? You can't do this!" Nathanial protested in the background. "Don't worry son, I'll get you a new toy," He consoled his son softly, which was unfortunately of no avail.

Instead of listening to their bickering, I focused on the picture. This picture was definitely taken by Paprazzi but the man in the picture was someone I had never seen before. He looked perfect. Before I could analyze the picture further, Mr Benedict spoke to me again, "Now go away and pack your things. You'll leave first thing in the morning,"

I bowed and left the room immediately. Finally, after years of pain and suffering, there was hope. I was going to be free.

**********************************************************************************************************

Benedict was reading when Scarlett came inside and looked at her husband with an amusing look.

"So you've finally decided to send Aiden there. But for someone who is as smart as you, your decisions sometimes really make me question my sanity. How could you send a mortal to kill him? You do know the moment he enters there, he is going to get killed, right?" He didn't look up from the book he was reading but smiled at his wife's questions. "Babe, you really think I would make such a mistake when he is involved? Aiden is never supposed to come out alive. I know he'll die."

Scarlett was somehow now more confused and looked at her husband hoping for some clarity, "Why did you send him there then?" Benedict sighed and finally closed the book he was reading. "The person who we chose to kill him is someone else. Aiden doesn't even know how to hold a gun. He is of no use in that regard". He stood up from his armchair and started walking towards Scarlett.

"We will equip Aiden with a small hidden camera that even he is unaware of. To this day, no one knows what the screening process inside the building is. Once we get that, it will be easier for us to strategize our plan."

Scarlett was dumbfounded. She was amused and scared at the same time at how evil her husband was. But she was sure about one thing: Aiden wasn't going to come out alive.

Only if she knew how things would turn out in the future.