1 comments/ 14613 views/ 24 favorites Realms of Eden: A Warrior Rises By: sddconst Foreword Thanks to those of you who were kind enough to read and comment on my first submission of Realms of Eden Book 1 – Sydney comes of Age (it's in the Sci-Fi section). This is a rewrite of that book but from the story teller's perspective rather than first person. My characters told me that they didn't think they got enough time in my first book having to rely on Sydney's view to get them noticed – so this is for them. I have introduced a new character, expanded out some of them and given some more thought to how some things were happening. Of course it now finishes before the first draft did – and the second book is almost finished to catch up the rest. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it and I promise book 2 will be up soon. All feedback welcome. Special thanks to CajunBill, dloold87 and zerses_01 who made me think Realms was worth all my effort. Cheers ACT 1 – Turning a sapling into a tree. Chapter 1 – The end of childhood An aqua light glowed in his mind and a soft whisper drifted across his thoughts. "Stanton, honey, it is time for me to leave you for a while. I will return before..." the voice didn't finish its thoughts, both of them knew what she meant. "He is born then?" he asked back. "Yes and he will need me." The glow dimmed then was gone. The man rolled over to his side, a smile played on his full lips and his dark-blue eyes closed as he resumed his interrupted sleep. Realms of Eden: A Warrior Rises "Whoa!" he had said, "I think Kelsey might like to tell you that information. After all," he had said, with a wink at the boy, "I am only the father!" Kelsey had laughed along with him, though sadly she thought to herself, I wish Sydney was. Kelsey laughed in remembrance of the young man pestering her for all the information, watching his happy face as for the rest of the afternoon the discussion centred on babies and house improvements. She hoped that somehow some of those improvements might be to find a room for the boy across from her when he became a man. It was not that Kelsey didn't love her husband, it was that he didn't love her. She knew that he considered her a thing, a prize, the jewel on an imaginary ring on his finger that he could lay aside or pick up whenever he wanted. Resentment grew within her as she knew that he was meeting and bedding other women in his business trips away, but he was prone to going into long sulks or jealous rages if she mentioned anyone that may have caught her eye. Then suddenly he changed, he became attentive, caring, his business trips ceased, hell some weeks he didn't leave the house, as he tenderly and passionately loved her in their bed. His renewed attention coupled with the exceedingly passionate and constantly more and more erotic dreams she was having with a man that she imagined was Sydney fully grown, kept her for a small time exceedingly happy and carefree. It was little wonder that she fell pregnant. Six months after the couple had told Sydney, Jennifer Anne Gilroy came into the world; Sydney fell in love with the red curly haired bundle with her big brown eyes that looked innocently out at the world. Kelsey Gilroy let the young man hold her child the first day she bought her home from the hospital. As Kelsey passed the small bundle to the seated boy it seemed that the little girl looked right into his heart as she lay quietly in his arms. Kelsey could not help the thudding of her own heart as she watched them, she made a promise to herself that she would pass his child to him one day, not the pretence that had played in her mind as she had handed Jenny to him now. As Jennifer grew and began crawling Sydney would spend many hours letting her chase him around as he played with her stuffed toys and set up blocks with her. Kelsey always told Sydney that she was so pleased to see the little girl so happy when he was around as sometimes she was so restless with David and never really settled until the boy had shown up and given the little one some playtime. David was so inconsistent in his behaviour of late, sometimes she wondered who the hell he was, his surly face and too busy attitude made her want to scream and shout at him, other times he would sit for hours with the child lying in his arms as she looked up at him crooning lullabies. Sydney had not been near her for nearly two months, he had not gone to school, she watched for him every day, spying on the house further up the hill as she went to feed the ducks that also seemed to be restless and unsettled as their frequent visitor stayed away from them. Jenny cried constantly, her tear filled face appeared to be terrified at something but nothing could be done to settle her. It was only when the quieter, softer David would appear after a business trip or returned early from one of his trips that the little girl would settle and give Kelsey some much needed sleep. Not that the sleep easily came as she cried and sobbed into her pillow over her missing little man. Unbeknown to Kelsey, Sydney's father had rammed his head into his bedroom wall after his mother had told him that Sydney was, "Abusing himself under her roof!" The young man had not even known what she meant, but Peter Douglas had belted and punched the boy much more thoroughly than he had ever done before. His masters had warned him to watch out for this sexual awakening and ensure that it never came to fruition. Again he was told that he could not kill the boy, however damaging the boy's head would be acceptable providing him with diagrams of the areas of the head that he should target. His belting of the boy's head into the wall had knocked him out and the dizziness and weakness that resulted forced Sydney to stay in bed for almost a week as the injuries prevented him from standing up. Peter Douglas reported the continued tirades of the mother against the kid as he crawled to the bathroom to relieve himself rather than suffer another flogging from her for wetting his bed. The satisfied response of his masters and the implied rewards he would receive from them set his balls roiling and his rough arse fucking of the mother causing her to screech and beg him to be gentler had his sperm hosing her face and mouth earlier than he anticipated. He made her sleep on the floor as he spread his large body over the bed and dreamed of virgins bleeding on his rampant cock. When the dizziness finally relented Sydney's mother refused to let him out of the house. His battered face could not be seen by anyone, let alone the slut that lived on the next property. Shrewdly she contacted the school telling them that the boy was suffering from a nervous disorder, symptoms that she had gleaned from asking Peter to search the internet for her. He had even gotten a certificate from an out of town doctor to present to the school to stop anyone coming out and checking on him. One of the teacher's aides that lived nearby had begun dropping off school work for the brat as well, she lost some of it, deliberately and gave him other parts of it with incomplete pages and missing notes. She hated the boy so much and her tender arse-hole was sure it was his fault. Eventually Sydney was allowed to return to school and the teachers nodded sympathetically to him as they allowed him a little extra time to catch up on the eight weeks he had missed. Kelsey Gilroy gave him the biggest hug of his short life when he shyly knocked on her back door after his long recovery. Inside Kelsey wept, the marks had not quite disappeared to her scrutiny of his handsome face, the monsters had obviously gone past their usual care in hiding their abuse. She wondered what the hell the beautiful boy had done to be treated so. Hands ruffling through his hair found the barely noticeable bump on his head and she felt him stiffen a little as she held him against her breasts, ensuring that his face lay tightly against them as if the heart beating beneath them could somehow reach through to him and heal the last of his hurts. Kelsey watched the young man's face and saw the surprise and delight on it when her little girl toddled towards him with her hands held aloft droning, in the monotone that toddlers get when they are almost ready to talk. The droning only stopped when she was lifted up and snuggled into Sydney's neck. Sydney, sitting with the little girl sucking her dummy and staring into his eyes contentedly, was telling Kelsey that he was very sorry that he had not been able to come and see them before now. Kelsey decided to push her luck and gave him a searching, open look saying, "Sydney is there something you want to tell me?" She sighed when he ducked his head feigning sudden interest in Jenny's smiles and didn't answer. The boy took Jenny on little walks with him up to see the ducks and as she began to speak her baby talk Kelsey found that he was answering a lot of Jenny's questions and clearly understood most of what she said. Obviously he truly connected with the little red head and she with him, goodness knows that David and I have no idea half the time what she is saying, she thought, yet he can always get the book, toy or piece of food she wanted. Kelsey's heart would thud, as laughingly she would open the back door just as he would knock, his face red with embarrassment as he heard Jenny excitedly yelling, "Syddy! Ducks!" in the kitchen behind her. When Kelsey told Sydney that Jenny got very sick, not eating, sleeping and continuously crying when after another severe belting from both of his parents had kept him confined to the house for a couple of weeks Sydney decided that he would try to do everything to make her better. "It seems," said Kelsey, "that Jenny knows when you are sick." She emphasised the word sick making Sydney think that she was not quite buying the stories that he was telling her. Kelsey had also confronted the boy's mother, hinting to her that she was worried about how many times a young growing boy was getting injured and spending so much time away from school. Sophia reported this to Peter and for a while the beatings were restricted to the use of his belt across the boy's bare buttocks. Buttocks that Peter Douglas often pictured in his head, after administering another flogging, being parted by his stiff tool as he did to his now thin again wife as he bent her over the kitchen table. However, the appearance of Bonnie Gilroy caused the beltings to increase but they were now distributed across more than just his arse. His back and legs, chest and shoulders were whipped, Peter Douglas enjoyed the screams as the end of his belt oft times found the boys genitals and nipples. Much more care being taken to hide the bruising with clothing, even forcing the boy to wear sweaters in the summer months, the family lie of his susceptibility to chills being used as an excuse. Sophia's tirades had never abated and Sydney lived life in fear of her and of being stuck down by someone called The Almighty. Bonnie Gilroy was a little black haired, brown eyed tom-boy who arrived at the Gilroy house with a small suitcase full of clothes and a sadness that seemed to engulf the whole world. She made Sydney want to hug her from the first time he saw her. Bonnie was 16, Sydney was now 17, his lanky frame and a 10 centimetre growth spurt during the last year made his body seem all the more awkward. Kelsey had inwardly cheered at his growth, his head now almost reached her breasts when she stood beside him and much to her husband's hidden disgust she began to wear clothing that allowed her cleavage to be seen quite easily at Sydney's new height. David Gilroy laughed, as it seemed the lad was very careful not to look there, he suspected that the young lad with his handsome face may be homosexual. To Sydney it seemed that Bonnie Gilroy carried the weight of the world on her shoulders and when David introduced her to him as his niece Sydney wondered what could possibly have made this girl so sad. He stuck out his hand to her, though inside he really wanted to put his arms around her, she shyly shook it and said, "Pleased to meet you, Sydney." Sydney raised his eyes to Mr Gilroy who was waving at him from behind her back, he mouthed, "Ducks." The young man nodded and asked Bonnie if she would like to come and see the ducks while Mrs Gilroy looked after Jenny. They sat by the pond for what seemed like hours and kids being kids chatted about this and that until suddenly she broke down and began crying. For once in his short life Sydney's awkwardness fell away from him and he placed an arm around her shoulders and gently hugged her to his chest while she sobbed. Through her tears Bonnie told him of the deaths of her parents, killed in a hover crash coming up from New South Wales to see Aunty Kelsey and the baby. Her father was Dave's brother and Dave had quickly arranged to have Bonnie come and live with him and Kelsey. Sydney had wondered why the Gilroys had left unexpectedly, asking him to feed the ducks and mow the lawn. They had been gone for over a month returning with the girl in their hover. As he hugged her closer patting her hair until her sobs stopped finally she sniffled and he handed her his handkerchief. "Thank you," she said, "I had been told that you were a nice person and you are." "Yes, he is," a soft voice came from behind them, turning to find Mr and Mrs Gilroy standing behind them with Jennifer nestled in her Mum's arms smiling at them. Sydney's mother made the next few years a living hell for him, constantly berating him for any little fault she could find. She did so on her husband's instruction, his masters did not like the appearance of the black haired girl and the influence she could have before they finalised their plans. He had offered to have her kidnapped and sold on the under-age sex market, but they had strongly insisted that he do not touch either her, the red haired child or the mother. A nightmare of his testicles thrust into a vice and tightened until they burst in a bloody mess with his screams ringing in his ears, reinforced their message. The mother encouraged the two younger brothers, as they began to mimic her, running to her or his father to tell lies about what the boy had done. The beatings became more frequent, escape routes limited as doors that would be open were suddenly locked and Peter Douglas would corner him at the front or back door. Sophia rewarded her two little brave soldiers with extra helpings of food, taken from the plate of her oldest son; she also subtly displayed her female charms to their curious eyes. Peter Douglas, observing these little displays would grasp her hairy sex and tell her how she was going to be the family slut when his boys were old enough to fuck her. She could only nod as his other hand painfully gasped the hair on her head forcing her mouth to swallow his spurting cock. Sydney's school work began to suffer and as further punishment his participation in sporting activities became limited when his parents, fearing that he was getting education in other areas that they had forbidden on the trips away, wouldn't sign permission slips for trips or provide money for registration fees and the like. At the beginning of his senior years of education his parents pulled the ultimate in humiliation of the boy, refusing to pay for his text books or pay his school fees. Even though it was compulsory for students to attend education facilities until the age of 21, Sydney's parents were trying to ensure that their wayward brat would certainly be forced to beg them for the money and support that he needed, otherwise he would need to borrow or steal texts to keep up. Without an education he would be forced to remain at home until he was an adult, declared when he turned 25. Peter Douglas' masters had assured him that they boy would never survive to that age. Kelsey found the boy sobbing over this latest humiliation and she began to understand why the boy was so frightened of his parents, if they could carry out this sort of act they would not be too concerned about the beatings that she knew they were handing out to him. She had already spoken to the police about the matter but they had told her that unless the boy complained to her and she had absolute proof there was nothing they could do. Contacting her parents' lawyers she desperately planned ways to help the boy without his knowing, her mother was in her dotage now and her father had died years before her marriage to David. The man was the major planner in her life, he was everything to her and she knew that if he had been alive, David would never have married her. The lawyers set aside money from her company interests and under a false company name they arranged for Sydney to be given a part time job as a gopher and labourer. Kelsey smiled as Sydney breathlessly told her about this piece of good luck and she helped him secretly create the bank accounts he needed to have his wages paid in to and helped purchase his books and pay his school fees. The mother of Sydney roundly abused her when she found that Sydney not only had the money for his books and school fees, but also had some additional money for other small luxuries. Kelsey had found that for once in her life she was capable of murder and that frightening thought must have shown through to the woman who rapidly backed down from her sneering tone and eventually told the woman to stop her interfering. Kelsey politely told her to go and fuck herself. Bonnie and Kelsey Gilroy were the only brightness in Sydney's otherwise bleak life. They tended his cuts and bruises when they found them, even though Sydney was pretty good at covering things up and explained a lot of his injuries, as he also did to teachers and coaches, as getting used to his changing body and not being quite as coordinated as he used to be. Kelsey just fumed every time she heard the lies but she was screaming in frustration on the inside. "Please Sydney just tell me, show me!" she would cry inside her head. Peter Douglas was also careful to leave bruises only where the most observant would notice them. The back of the neck was one such place, usually by his large hand as he dragged Sydney into a room to administer further welts to his bare arse and back with the strap that held up his oversized pants. Bonnie and Sydney had formed that special bond that goes with people in distress and they leaned against each other for support. Bonnie's tears had dried up but her heart always seemed heavy at different times when she would quietly tell Sydney about the things she used to do with her parents. During a hike through the adjoining properties to the mouth of the creek where it spilled gently into the river, Bonnie finally found out the whole truth of her friend's relationship with his family. It was just after a Bonnie's twentieth birthday party, of course Sydney had not been allowed to attend and she had not longed returned from an extended holiday to visit relatives in the New South Wales town that she had come from. Bonnie had a crush on Sydney, the thin, freckled boy, his dark-blue eyes made her feel funny when she caught him staring at her. Preening she would pretend not to notice him, but her clothing began to get a little skimpier as her breasts grew and the soft fur covered her sex. It was the moisture that covered her curls that worried her the most about her reactions to his eyes and soft voice. Her aunt Kelsey had told her that her reactions were very normal around the handsome boy and even confided in her niece that sometimes Sydney caused that reaction in her as well. The two women had shyly giggled over the fact and Bonnie found that she liked the honesty of her aunt and the open way that she complimented her dress and her body. Bonnie found that she had a crush on her aunt as well. The day was hot and the water looked very tempting. The young couple knew the creek almost as well as they knew the back of their own hands and had swum many times in the cool water and fished there during the colder winter months. They caught plenty of fish but never took any home to eat, as Sydney told Bonnie, "Fish have a right to live too and we don't really need them to live on." She would always agree copying him in his nonsensical whispering to the fish as he removed the barbless hook giving them a quick pat before letting them swim off his hand into the deeper water. Her Uncle Dave reckoned Sydney was "nature's friend" and pointed out how the ducks would never fly off when he walked near them. He also pointed out how several other creatures that roamed around the bush at the back of the properties always just watched as Sydney walked by but would skitter away and hide if anyone else tramped through their territory. She suggested a swim, her real intention was to show Sydney how much her breasts had grown in the couple of months that she had been away and she was happy when the boy had readily agreed. She watched him remove his shoes and socks and had peeled off his shirt in preparation to dive into the deepest part of the creek. Bonnie gasped as she saw the welts across his back and she demanded, "What the fucking hell is that?" Realms of Eden: A Warrior Rises Bonnie's language was never very colourful and her tone and choice of words pulled the boy up short as he hastily pulled the shirt down over the strap marks that covered his back and replied, "Nothing. Come on let's swim!" diving off into the water before she could query him further. Sydney surfaced in time to see her diving in and as usual noticed her lithe form as she cut through the water a couple of metres from him. He had definitely noticed the extra swell in her bikini top and was treading water, waiting for her to reappear to perhaps get the chance to admire some more of her soft flesh. He was caught by surprise when she came up behind him trying to duck him under the water by pressing on his shoulders and neck. His yelp of pain immediately stopped her and when her hand moved the collar of his shirt back slightly she could not hold back her gasp of horror. Bonnie watched as he swam away from her and climbed up onto one of the large rocks that marked the creek's entrance to the river and sat there drying in the sun. She climbed out beside him standing up on the rock planting her hands on her hips saying, "You have to tell someone about what that monster is doing to you!" Sydney turned his head to look up at her, found the effort too much so he dropped his eyes and found them staring straight into her crotch. His mouth went suddenly dry and he could feel his heart beating hard in his chest. Even as his dick stirred in his shorts he could hear his mother's voice in his head screaming at his wicked thoughts. He thanked whatever deity it was that possessed him to wear loose pants today as it covered him from any embarrassment of what the girl would think of him for reacting in such a way to her innocent display of her sex moulded against the thin, wet fabric of her bikini bottom. Bonnie knelt at his shoulder and gently tugged his shirt upwards, Sydney gave up trying to hide them and let her lift the shirt up entirely, wincing only slightly when she removed his shirt completely. "My Goodness, Sydney, what did he hit you with?" the horror in her voice as she asked the question was obvious. The marks across Sydney's back and shoulders, which she could see were purple and fiery red. They looked like they were recent, very recent. She wondered what he had done, if anything, to deserve them. "His belt," he replied. "Look let it go will you. I can look after myself!" Angrily he dove back in the water leaving her kneeling there with his shirt in her hand and a hurt look on her face. She watched him paddle back over to where he had left his shoes and socks, unable to swim properly as his shoulders would have been far too painful to allow his arms to move in the necessary fashion. He tugged on his shoes and socks and began tramping off into the bush. She caught up to him within 10 minutes and tossed his shirt at him, "Put this back on!" she snapped. Bonnie watched him begin to pull the shirt back over his head, hissing in pain as he caught his hand in the sleeve as sharp pain ran down his right side. Immediately Bonnie was beside him, gently untangling the mess and when his head popped through the right hole he found himself looking straight into her eyes. Eyes that were filled with tears and concern as Bonnie's fears and love bubbled to the surface and made her desperate to find some way to make him see that he needed to get out of the horror he was caught up in. For Sydney the tearful eyes caused a reaction as basic as the need to breathe as his heart lurched inside him as he looked back at her and suddenly found himself leaning forward to gently kiss her soft lips. Her mouth felt like fire and he pulled away not believing what he had done, Bonnie's eyes were closed now and two big fat tears began to roll down her cheeks, Sydney raised his hand and gently wiped them away. "OK Bonnie, what do you want me to do?" She opened her eyes, "Tell Uncle Dave! Now!" was her immediate reply. Bonnie would have preferred him to tell Aunty Kelsey, but David Gilroy was, to her mind, the one that could go over there and belt Sydney's father to within an inch of his life for hurting the boy she was in love with. They walked slowly down the back paths, away from anyone's prying eyes, especially Sydney's mother's, if she had seen them walking hand-in-hand there would have been hell to pay. Not only did Sophia hate her son, she hated Sin, as she called it and with a capital S. Sydney's ears had been vibrating with her tirades against all sorts of things to do with sex since he was a small child, to actually see him holding hands with Bonnie would have sent her into hysterics. Sydney told Bonnie of her favourite reference to women that she would yell at him, "All women are out to trap you! And you are just the sort of devil to let them!" she would add in the same insulting tone. Sydney did not tell her about the threats that were made against his genitals or to himself in general, should his mother ever catch him with a girl before he was married. He was not aware, of course, that his parents had no intention of him ever being able to be with a woman ever. Peter Douglas had instructions to castrate the boy if he ever got to that stage. Bonnie was never told either of her stinging blows across Sydney's face when she burst into the shower one night and accused him of, "Carousing with that Gilroy slut!" Sydney didn't even know what she meant but that made no difference to her or to his father's added belts later that night when he returned home from the local pub. Stinging blows that doubled him up in agony as his father ensured that his genitals caught stinging blows from the end of his belt. His mother had grinned evilly as she watched his testicles try to shrivel into his body to prevent further damage as she held the boys hands to stop him from protecting himself. Sydney hurriedly dropped Bonnie's hand when they came to the last stand of trees before the back of their properties. They walked casually up to the Gilroy's house where Bonnie ran in calling for Uncle Dave. Both David and Kelsey Gilroy were home as Bonnie began weeping and trying to talk all at once. David Gilroy looked at Sydney and suggested that they leave the girls alone for a minute and head out to the back veranda. Sydney made to go with him until Bonnie suddenly yelled at him, "Show him! You promised to show him!" with that she burst into fresh sobs. Kelsey Gilroy looked at Sydney and knew that somehow Bonnie had gotten Sydney to give her some evidence, her heart thumped and she pressed onward as the boy suddenly seemed very interested in his sand-shoes. "Show him what, Syd?" she asked softly. As the boy began to lift his shirt up and turn to show them both the welts across his back she walked to the wall phone and began to dial. His finger hitting the mute button surprised her but when he said, "Please you will only make it worse if more people find out! I am only showing you because it hurts a little and I promised Bonnie," she almost lost her cool. The wall monitor had lit up and a young policewoman, sitting behind a desk, was displayed she was asking for the details of the emergency. She started to say something before her husband cut her off, "He's right, Kel. If we get the police or someone else involved he will only deny it or blame it on a heavy drinking night or any other excuse that he can name, the worst he will get is a slap on the wrist from some judge and the boy will be in for it again." Kelsey reluctantly turned back to the monitor and said, "Sorry, the kids were playing with the unit," then she hung up. Kelsey and David looked at each other for a long time, finally Kelsey conceded his point but her look told him that she would not let it happen any further. Bonnie was helping Sydney take off his shirt completely. David Gilroy helped the shirt over Sydney's head as his wife muttered something about pigs which he didn't catch but understood her tone. If she was angry about the boy's back, wait till her saw his chest. David's eyes watered as he saw the bruised chest, especially the nipples that looked like they had been ripped with something repeatedly. Kelsey placed a hand covered with cold cream on the boys back, she felt him shiver slightly and she apologised for the cold. Soon Sydney's back was feeling better and his chest but as he was ready to put his shirt back on Kelsey asked her husband and Bonnie to go out the back veranda and fix up some cold drinks out of the fridge. "Take these with you," she said to Bonnie as she passed her the biscuit tin. Sydney smiled at Bonnie as she looked at her Aunt then Sydney before walking out after her Uncle. Sydney turned to Kelsey and she shocked him with, "Drop your pants young man." Sydney shook his head and said that he was fine and she came back with, "Either you drop them now or I get Bonnie and Dave back here to help me!" Kelsey was deadly serious and slowly Sydney unfastened his shorts and lowered them to the ground. Sydney kept his hands in front of his genitals but Kelsey said, "Relax, now turn around." As he did Kelsey covered the welts across his cheeks and hip. Her hands felt very warm on Sydney's skin despite the coolness of the salve and he found his hands being nudged by his dick as it started to grow. His hissed, "I think I am done now, Mrs Gilroy," along with him trying to move away from her slightly to try and get his pants up as fast as he could alerted her to something else not right with the boy and she turned him to face her. Her eyes opened in first a little surprise because she saw that his cock was hard and she grinned to herself that she had at least caused a little reaction and then in shock as she saw the marks and bruising across he reasonably large testicles and across the relatively small penis that she pushed his hands away from. "Just a little more, Syd, now stand still!" she said softly trying to keep the fear from her voice as she saw the damage that had been done to him. She lifted a hand covered with cream and applied it to the inside of his thighs and across his battered scrotum. "They will be fine," she whispered tenderly rubbing them and his small penis. As she spoke Sydney could feel her hot breath on his penis and suddenly her face and lips were covered in white sperm. He had become so aroused from the attention that his body simply reacted. He did not understand what had happened but it caused him to become extremely ashamed and the boy burst into tears. Kelsey grabbed the boy's hips and looked at him, her eyes frightened that something worse had happened to him. She held his hands and told him to stand still while she got a cloth. She came back a few moments later with a warm wash-cloth and wiped his groin and testicles. Sydney noted that she had already cleaned her face, he did not know that Kelsey had greedily swallowed his creamy spurts and wiped the excess into her mouth with her fingers as she retrieved the cloth from the bathroom. For some reason she found herself feeling even sorrier for Sydney than when she had seen his marks from his beating. "Do you understand what happened?" she asked. When Sydney told her that he had had evil thoughts and that this punishment was being dealt out to make him a shameful wretch in the eyes of his friends she saw red, "Well that is it!" she exploded, "that is the last straw!" Sydney drew back from her, grabbing his pants, hurriedly pulled them up and snatching up his shirt pulled it over his head as ran out the door. "Syd, Syd!" she called after him but he had started running and was soon up the track and away to one of his hidey-holes that not even Bonnie knew about. Sydney stayed there for the rest of the day and returned to his parents' house about 8 pm that night. His father was waiting for him. Peter Douglas was fuming, he had had to deal with two policewomen all afternoon that had asked him questions about his son, how he had been treating him and what could they tell him about the reports of his been beaten by someone with a belt. He had been told that it was not the first time either and that they wanted to know where the child was. They had only left an hour or so ago and he waited for the little bastard to return to finish what his masters were still telling him he had to wait for. He may not be able to kill the boy but he was going leave this goodness forsaken dump and the slut that was passed out drunk on the bed inside. He knew that his masters would not be happy but he had a little surprise for them as well, he had already packed and told his sons, Anthony and Aaron to grab their clothes and some food ready for a trip. Tonight was going to be the last time he had anything to do with Sophia and Sydney Douglas, they didn't even deserve to use his name, he would make that little cunt know that before he died as well. The drunken slut on the bed had had her arse-hole and mouth full of his cock and cream for the last time and he watched her slump in a heap on the bed as he removed his belt and waited in the living room for the showdown with her eldest son. He heard him come up to the front door, which he didn't normally do, Peter Douglas suspected that the boy wanted to avoid any additional hits or slaps from his brothers who normally stalked the back door when he returned late. His kick into Sydney's stomach threw him back down the stairs and he heard something crack in the boy's arm as he landed. "Never mind Sydney, you still have the other one!" Peter Douglas jumped down the stairs wailing into the screaming boy with his belt and kicking him with his booted feet as Sydney tried to curl up into a small ball trying to protect myself. "Dob me into the police you little cunt!" he snarled as he swung his belt again. "If I thought you were worth the trouble I'd just kill you now!" his booted foot slammed down on the boy's right leg and he saw that the boy had passed out. Sinking his boot into the ribs of the body on the ground a few times he called out for his sons. The next thing Sydney saw was his brothers' feet as they stepped over him, then felt one of them kick him in the head laughing as he groaned. Finally Peter Douglas knelt at his head and whispered into his ear, "One day I will kill you! But for now I will leave you to your mother's mercies because she is going to be really pissed when she wakes up and finds that we have gone and taken the 25 million with us. Yes that's right you little shit-eater!" he hissed, "I won 25 million on the lotto and neither you nor that drunken slut inside is going to get any." With that he stood unzipped his fly and pissed on the face beneath him. He laughed as the boy tried to get away and screamed with pain trying to turn on his broken arm and ribs. When he finished he leaned down one more time, a knife appeared in front of Sydney's eyes and he felt a sharp pain as the man drew a triangle on Sydney's forehead and softly whispered, "You're not even mine! I am going home now with what is mine! But I have marked you for the one who does own you, pray Sydney that he never finds you if you live through the night!" He turned, walked away, a hover started and drove off down the road. Kelsey and Bonnie Gilroy were in a panic, they had been searching for Sydney everywhere, it had taken them hours to find and search all of his hidey holes but they never found him. Finally David convinced them to call it a night promising that they could start again at first light. Sydney passed out because the next thing he knew it was dawn. His mother was down the stairs screaming at him, "It's all your fault! You bastard! You bastard!" her screams got louder. He heard the sound of running and the gate opening just as his mother began kicking into his already broken ribs. He tried to move, his body did not respond, he had lost too much blood from the protruding bones in his chest and the badly fractured left arm. He finally found voice to scream as she deliberately stood on his broken arm. Bonnie Gilroy had started searching as soon as there was light and when she heard the commotion at Sydney's house she had bolted up the paddock and found the woman cruelly bashing her broken and bloodied son on the pathway at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the house. She swung her fist, thump then another and finally she screamed at Sydney's mother, "You touch him again and I will kill you!" Her eyes were full of deadly promise and as the woman, nursing her bloodied nose began screaming again Bonnie's hands rapidly slapped the woman's face twice, "And if you don't shut your mouth I will do it now!" Sophia Douglas sat down abruptly on the stairs muttering to herself. Sydney tried to look up at Bonnie but she quickly knelt down beside him telling him to hang on as she flipped her cell open and said, "Emergency Ambulance and police at this address and hurry please!" She held the phone over the bleeding face and broken body for the operator to record and pass on the image of the injuries to the ambulance officers then snapped her phone shut. She was crying and telling the broken man to hold on as help was coming. Sydney could taste blood in his mouth and blinked his eyes trying to clear them of the fresh blood that was coming from somewhere on his head. He barely heard the scream of sirens and the jet engines of a high-speed craft but just before he passed out again he noticed that he could see up Bonnie's skirt. Chapter 2 – Mother cuts the apron strings When Sydney awoke the first thing he saw was Bonnie's concerned brown eyes looking down at him and then she smiled as she realised that he was awake. "Hi," she said. When he tried to answer she quickly placed a finger to her lips saying, "Don't try to talk you have a thing in your throat." Sydney opened his eyes wide in alarm as she patted his hand, "Don't worry, they say that you are going to be OK," with that she burst into tears and pressed the bell for the nurse. In fact Bonnie had been told that it may be a blessing if Sydney didn't regain consciousness, his body had lost so much blood, his injuries were horrific and the exposure to the cool night had most certainly caused other complications in his system that may not be detected until his body returned to something like normal. The doctors sadly told Kelsey and Bonnie that this may not occur for several months, if at all. Leaving them with assurances that they would be doing everything they could Bonnie and Kelsey cried on each other's shoulders and waited. The nurse looked at his charts gently patting the boy on the leg before saying that she would get the doctor. She lifted Bonnie's face and with a tender stroke of her hand across Bonnie's cheek suggested that she go and get her Uncle and Aunty from out in the hall. Soon the doctor arrived with David and Kelsey Gilroy, Bonnie and little Jenny, who was looking at everyone with her big eyes, sucking furiously on the thumb in her mouth. They watched as the doctor got Sydney to cough slightly as he removed the tube from his gullet. "Now don't tire him out!" admonished the doctor and with a pat on Sydney's shoulder said that he would come back shortly and fill him in on anything else he needed to know. Jenny spoke first, "Syddy sick?" she asked and Sydney smiled at her inquisitive look but groaned in pain as he started to laugh. "Careful there, son" said David Gilroy, "you have several broken ribs among other things." Sydney in fact had eight broken ribs on his right side, two of them had punched through his lung and another had pierced the skin of his chest. The onset of pneumonia was expected, despite the drains that were still in place and the mixtures they had injected into the body and specifically into the chest cavity, it was this that they believed would cause the most problems. His left arm had been badly broken, the consulting doctors to the resident superintendent, Dr Patrick Evans, had recommended amputation, but the doctor, supported by Kelsey and Bonnie Gilroy had strongly opposed it.