4

Ivan’s POV:

I slowly open my eyes to see morning sunlight seeping in from the slightly opened curtains of my bedroom window. Before rolling over I hear a soft squeak and feel my arms draped over a warm and small frame of a body next to me. Breathing in a sweet scent through my nose and looking down at the small boy made the memory of yesterday’s events come back flooding back to me. Oh right, I brought this frail mouse into my home and into my bed where I have never let anyone else ever spend the night. Not even girls I have slept with were lucky enough to be allowed into this bed.

I removed my arm from embracing Mocha and tried to sit up but he was facing me and had my shirt balled up into his fist as if he were holding on for dear life. He must have been having a nightmare again because his face looked stressed and scared as he was still asleep. What would he be having nightmares about I wonder. I softly petted his hair right behind his little mouse ear as I called out to him, “Mocha wake up you’re starting to worry me.” He woke up panting and looking slightly panicked which made me quickly try to comfort him. I began to speak in a soft tone hoping not to scare him more, “Hey, Hey you’re okay calm down it was just a nightmare. You are safe now I swear.”

His small panicked blue eyes met with my concerned ones and he quickly relaxed his scared expression. He looked like he was almost ready to cry and it made me wonder what that place did to this child to have him so scarred. I felt like I needed answers as to what he was possibly having nightmares about everytime he fell asleep. Unable to keep my curiosity to myself I asked, “What did they do to you? What are you having nightmares of?” He looked taken aback by my questions and hesitated answering as if debating if it were worth telling me.

I gave him a look saying to tell him that I would patiently wait for him to get his thoughts together. His voice cracked and came out in a whisper almost, “Th-they beat us to make us scared so we would obey them. They tortured and killed anyone they wanted as long as they used the excuse that we were not behaving.” I felt my heart sink and thoughts about them possibly beating and torturing such a small kid like him flooded into my mind. “Did they ever do it to you?”, I asked through clenched teeth. His gaze fell from looking up at my face before he nodded his head yes. I felt rage wave over me so quickly it felt uncontrollable. He was so small, so young, and innocent how could they do that without any remorse?

“I- I have the scars to prove it sir.”, he said softly as if he could tell I was angry and assumed I thought he were lying. Hearing him say that made me soften my facial expression and feel my heart sink more. He was only 18 and was already living in a body scarred against his will. I needed to see them for myself, hoping they weren’t as bad as my mind instantly led me to think when he said the word ‘scars’. “Let me see them now, Strip”, I commanded a little too forcefully because now he was scrambling out of the bed and looking at me nervously. He turned to have his back facing me and he slowly and hesitantly removed his shirt. As soon as my eyes laid on his back I saw them, long wide scars that looked like they were once gashes. I quickly moved to his side of the bed so I was close enough to reach out and softly caress my fingertips along his scars making him visibly shiver.

He went to reach for the waistband on his pajama pants I lent him and I scrunch my face up in confusion. “What are you doing Mocha? I only meant strip enough for me to see your scars, I am not trying to get you naked,” I assumed he thought I wanted him naked for some other reason until what he said next. “There’s more than just those sir..”, His voice sounded shaky as he made his pants fall to the ground. Fresh marks littered the back of his thighs and went all the way up his butt that was now exposed to me. I am not sure if it were the sight of the fresh marks or his backside that made my breath get caught in my throat. Once again I found myself tracing his marks with my fingertips as if feeling them made my head process then better, that this was real. He winced slightly in pain as I touched these more fresh ones laying upon his backside, making me quickly retreat my hand and let out a quiet apology in a whisper like tone. “Lay on the bed and I will be back with something to put on your wounds and something else to help with scars,” I quickly got up heading for my bedroom door. I needed to step out of the room for a breather because seeing him bare had my heart doing weird things I couldn’t understand.