Capítulo 8: Night in the Pearl

A high moon stood in a dark lapis lazuli sky with treadmills of clouds . The clouds were swallowed by the darkness of night and appeared as whispers of smoke in the heavens , only noticable when they drifted in the lunar halo .

The orphanage was still , the corridors devoid of sound except for the pit and pat of several pair of feet . These were the Sisters charged with checking that no children were out causing mischief in the night . They walked down the halls , with a single candle to illuminate their paths since the generator was turned off at half past nine .

One Sister in particular walked briskly through the corridors , barely glancing around . She was to afraid to look around in the dark . Her candle fought a losing battle with the shadows inside the halls and she felt her heart drop everytime a breeze flew in from who knew where and her candle flickered . She was very much afraid of the dark and especially at night in the corridors of Pearl orphanage . Rumour had it that the soul of the first overseeing father floated the halls , trying to fulfill the duty he had failed and reprimanding anyone he saw . It made her skin crawl with fear .

" Ah ! " The sister gasped as a breeze almost put her candle out . She looked at the hall she was supposed to go through and deciding it was relatively quiet and clear , she decided to go back to her room and huddle in her blankets . She turned around and rushed back , her lips praying that the candle would last her up the stairs and back to her room .

What the sister didn't know was that almost everyone was sleeping , except for four people .

....

Link listened to the retreating steps as the sister moved away from the corridor . He waited atleast four full minutes before risking to open his door a crack . He saw that no one was outside and he carefully opened the door wider until he could squeeze out .

He closed the door after him and listened closely in the stillness . The corridor was vacant , and close to dark except for the sliver of moon light from the window . With it , Link could see almost as good as daylight and he moved quietly down the corridor and made a turn at the corner , after checking no one was there .

He moved stealthily , like one who had roamed the night many times and that was completely the truth . He had done what he was doing then , many times before . He followed the hallway until it led to two corridors . He took the left one and started counting the doors until he found the one he sought .

He moved to it and gave two slow taps , which resounded in his ears like a gong . He cursed mentally , he hated this signal but unfortunately the person behind the door wouldn't have let him in otherwise .

A moment passed and then the door opened to reveal a blonde haired boy dressed in a night shirt and pants . His hair was disheveled and he looked slightly sleepy but was alert . Link licked his lips and moved into the small room .

" Stuart , I hate tapping twice . " He said in a whisper , whilst sitting on the bed , " Someone will hear me , someday ."

" Well you can't just open the door . " Stuart said sitting down next to him ," I'd be scared of some crazed man or demon coming in here . This way I know it's you ."

" You're just asking for me to be caught , I know it . " Link said with a frown ," Tapping twice makes more sound and this place is as dead a crypt at night ."

" Don't talk about the dead now , I'll get the willies ." Stuart admonished him and Link nodded his head . Stuart placed a hand on his knee and stroked it .

Link smiled amused , he was wearing nothing but his night pants , his chest was completely open . But just like most nights , Stuart would not start to touch his naked skin immediately .

" You thinking about something ? " He asked Stuart after a moment of silence and the other boy nodded his head .

" It's Henric . I get the feeling he's in pain more than usual . " Stuart said ," I had to coerce him to come to dinner the other night and yesterday I heard he got reprimanded for accidentally spilling his breakfast . "

" Nerves winded tight , that's what I see . " Link said ," The guy is wound like spring and I think some tension is easing out . "

" What if he completely unwinds ? What if he gets into trouble ? I really don't know what's wrong with him . " Stuart said biting his lip and Link sharpened his eyes at the action . He loved it when Stuart did that .

" You know , I'd be feeling jealous if I didn't know you liked me more than him . " Link said and Stuart gave him a look .

" Well you do like me more than him , ain't no arguing that . " Link stated like a fact and Stuart groaned .

" I like you both equally but ... differently . " Stuart said and stood up , he turned to Link and positioned himself on his lap , straddling him .

" How do you like me ? Can I get a thorough lesson ? " Link asked with a smile and Stuart blushed slightly with a grin .

" Like this . " Stuart said and planted his lips on Link's closed eyes , giving light brushes on each eyelid .

" Any other way ? I'm not sure I know how different you like us . " Link said and Stuart leaned in and brushed their noses together .

" Like that ," Stuart said and before Link could ask for more , Stuart leaned in and put their lips together.

" And like that . Happy now ? " Stuart asked and Link furrowed his brows as if thinking .

" No . " He said pulling Stuart closer to him , " Cause it's my turn to show you , how much i like you differently ."

....

Christan groaned in satisfaction as his ejaculation receded . His breathing was deep and his body hot from the images that had swirled his mind .

He lay on his bed with no blanket , pants opened and nerves twitching . He reached to side a used a cloth to wipe away the whitish clear liquid on his chest . Afterwards , he closed his pants and looked up at the roof .

He sighed softly , still thinking about the face he'd visualised as he performed the act of self love . He tisked his tongue at the futility of it . He could never have the other person in real life . He'd be rejected , shunned and worst of all ; thrown out .

He made his hand into a fist and grew tense with anger . He was different , so what ? He still followed the rules and wasn't that enough .

No , he thought sullenly and opened his hand . It wasn't enough in this place , nothing was ever enough for anyone here . You could act like a saint but nobody would praise you and definitely none would care .

Thinking of saints , the face reappeared in his mind of the most selfless person he knew . A real saint to him but a nobody to everyone else . He turned to his side and shut his eyes . Soon he fell asleep , with a look of longing on his face .

....

Henric lay in a deep sleep , his body happy to rest from the wood cutting he had done . His breathing was slow and peaceful and his face was put in such a relaxing state , that none could guess the emotional turmoil inside the boy .

The moon shined light into his room , illuminating everything . The clothes Henric had worn were folded ontop of the night stand and his shoes were in the centre of the room .

Henric had been truly tired that day and so when he fell onto his bed , his tiredness had consumed him like a beast but another beast still ate at him .

He had reached out and pulled the mirror from the drawer and looked at it . His face had been obscured in shadow but he hadn't cared .

" She left ... She's gone and I'm ... all alone . All alone . " He had said to his reflection , he liked to imagine his reflection could know him best . After all , who knew you better than you ?

It could be argued that Henric was losing his mind , considering this was the third time he was talking to his reflection but that wasn't the case . From an early age Henric had attached considerable importance to Sister Cali , especially since he grew up in the orphanage where no one was treated importantly , except for the Reverend father . But Henric had a mentally of high attachment and need , not for love exactly but for an individual . He had needed Sister Cali to be around , whether she acknowledged him or not . But with her gone , Henric was spiralling . He needed someone to give him the affection of being noticed with care , something that no sister or brother could give him . So , sadly , he'd begun talking to himself to cope with something he had never felt before ... loneliness .

" I wanted to write about her ... she was the first person I thought off in my assignment ." He said tiredly and his head rolled on the mattress ," but if you love someone ... then why leave them with nothing ? Nothing to remember... them or to show you meant something . Just ... a piece of glass . That's all she gave me . All ... She thought ... of me ...I ..."

In the end the boy had fallen asleep with the mirror still pointed at his face . It layed there , with his reflection shown to him .

" Alone ."

The voice was soft , barely even a whisper and something the boy could not hear in his sleep . The mirror glazed over and for a moment Henric's reflection was gone and another face was shown in the glass . Then the mirror changed back to show the sleeping boys reflection and suddenly it tilted flat onto the bed and lay staring at the moon . The wind blew a cloud above the orphanage and in the garden a petal fell and was blown into the fountain .