CHAPTER FIVE
Kaphas hopped off thebed and hurried to the workout part of his new room. It was like needing to take a piss every five minutes. If he didn’t exert what flowed through his muscle, blood, and bones, he’d fucking explode.
Again, he punched the bag and flashes of heat shot out through his brain, the random patterns drawing itself on his eyelids. When he closed them, the images were there, drawings of something. The energy he exerted? The pattern he exerted it? The reason?
Would this energy ever level out? Why did it keep building up? What would happen if he didn’t answer its demand?
He added the questions to the list Quantum asked him to make of what he was experiencing. His memory was like a computer, able to easily recall whatever information he had, if he needed it. So, his symptom’s list was as long as he was bored.
He went to the corner of the room and turned on the shower, rinsing the sweat from his body while cooling himself down. A sound reached him, and he shut off the water, angling his head. Grabbing the towel hanging, he wrapped it around his waist and made his way to the front of the room, his steps freezing at seeing her. Then he realized he knew her somehow.
She screamed at seeing him through the glass then covered her eyes, turning. “I’m very sorry, I did not know somebody was here.”
She waved her arm around as if searching for her way out.
“Are you lost?” he asked, not ready to lose the only company he might get till morning.
“Uh...no, I was...looking for somebody.”
“Who?”
“My friend,” she said, finding the wall and feeling her way toward the door. “Handy.”
A jolt of heat hit his cock and stole his breath as his mind sputtered with flashes of images. Too many, too fast. A blur of colors.
“I know him,” he said, not sure how.
She spun to face him, forgetting her fear as she hurried to the glass. “Do you know where he is? He needs me, I’m his friend.”
He angled his head at her. “I might.”
“Then tell me,” she urged. “He has nobody to help him.”
“What does he look like?” he asked, needing more details for his blotchy memories.
“Well, he’s... he’s different,” she began, initiating that thing in his brain that drew shit on his eyelids.
“How?”
“We can’t judge a book by its cover,” she informed, her words heating up that part of his mind. “And he was going to get a real body as soon as he learned to...master the body he was in.”
“What body was he in?” he asked, the drawing on his eyelids turning darker.
“Well, it’s a...” She looked off to the side before bravely meeting his gaze. “Suit of armor.”
His laugh surprised him and her. Him because it was his first in his upgraded body and her because...she was offended.
“I don’t see what’s funny. You don’t see me laughing at your...” She pressed her lips together. “Laughing’s not nice, Mr...”
“Kaphas. Without the Mr.,” he said, smiling at her. He knew Handy somehow and that she defended him was a good thing and as soon as he had more details, he’d figure out why. “How long did you know Handy?”
Her hesitation brought that heat back in his brain. “Friendships can’t really be measured in time, you know,” she explained, telling him theirs was a short relationship.
“Two days? Two weeks?”
“Well, maybe I lost track of time. But it feels like forever,” she assured, as if feelings trumped facts.
“Why did he leave?”
She held those soft brown eyes right on him. “Because...well, I think he was in trouble. He did a thing that made everybody very angry here.”
“Like what?” he asked, his cock stirring with a knowledge only it knew.
“Well,” she began, whispering now. “There’s a really nice lady here named Butterfly and he played a trick on her, but it was to protect his brother, Pain.”
“What trick?” he whispered back, feeling the revelation building up and heading down the corridor of his mind.
“He tricked her into thinking she was pregnant, and she wasn’t,” she whispered. “Before you judge him, you should know he did it for the good of...very important things,” she said, her head nodding with those fact/feelings.
“The good of what things?” he asked, his fondness for her also building with the revelation coming. “Did he tell you?”
“Well, he would have,” she assured, distressed. “He didn’t get a chance cause they took him away but even without knowing why, I know him, and he’s a good person.”
“He doesn’t sound very good,” Kaphas couldn’t help while wondering why he needed to provoke her Handy obsession.
She eyed him with angry eyes, sweeping them up and down his body. “What would a silly soldier like you know about it? That’s what you are, isn’t it? Which of the Sisters are you made for?” Guilt washed over her face as she lowered her head. “Mercy, forgive me,” she whispered. “I forgot you’re not...all the way finished till you’re with a woman.” She worked her compassionate gaze up but stopped at his neck. “Maybe when you become more human, you’ll understand. Whatever sister you get will help you, I do know that,” she assured softly, hands clasped before her.
“Are you an angel?” he asked, getting her worried eyes.
“Of course not.”
“Could I possibly be your soldier?”
Her head shook quickly. “Oh no, no, I can’t,” she said, pained as she took a step closer. “I...I’m planning to belong to Handy when he comes back,” she whispered. “If he’ll have me. But even if he doesn’t have me, I want him to have his soldier’s body,” she determined with a firm nod. “Everybody deserves a chance to live and even if I don’t get to be his, well, I’m okay with that, just so he’s happy.”
Kaphas watched her tears fall and the sight provoked inhumane urges in him he didn’t understand. “Don’t cry,” he whispered, placing his hand on the glass. “What is your name?”
She wiped the tears from her face. “Celeste.”
The name brought the revelation flooding in and his breath left him so quickly he momentarily lost strength. He was Handy. And she was his.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her compassion sucking his cock harder than ever now.
“I’m better, yes. So...do you think Handy wanted you to be his human link once he got his body?”
She looked down, fidgeting with her sleeves. “Well, I... I didn’t ask, that would be a rude thing to ask him.”
His gaze moved over her tiny body, hungrier than ever. “Did he know you wanted to be his?”
Again she barely shook her head, wiping more tears. “I know I’m not the prettiest of the sisters,” she barely whispered.
“Well...I think you’re beautiful.”
Her brown gaze fluttered up in confused surprise. “Well...thank you Kaphas, that’s...nice of you to say. I do know that Handy liked me. I just don’t know...how much.”
“Hmm...” he said, deciding not to tell her yet. Not when there was fun to be had testing her loyalty. “Your lips are decadent. And your eyes make me hungry for...caramel. Can I see you naked?”
She spun around with a gasp, and he smiled. “That is very inappropriate to ask, Kaphas,” she said, or educated.
“I’m not sorry,” he informed. “I guess that means I’m not a real man yet.”
She eased her way back around. “But you will be soon,” she comforted, already back to thinking of others. It made him ravenous.
“Tell me. Why do you like Handy so much.” He watched in rapture as she gathered herself together, her little human struggles forming an invisible line of tension from his chest to her.
“I found him all alone,” she whispered, her breaths shaking. “In the dark.” She wiped her face, keeping it lowered. “And when I learned why he was there, I...”
The line tightened and tugged as she fought with her delicate humanness.
“I just wanted to help him. Because I know...what it feels like to be thrown away. Left alone. In the dark.”
His chest burned hot as he raised his hand on the glass, aching for his sweet angel.
“I always prayed for somebody to save me,” she gasped, wiping her tears and shaking her lowered head. “And I realized,” she said, hitting him with her beautiful gaze. “I was getting a chance to answer my very own prayer.” She nodded at him. “In saving him...I saved me too.” She sputtered a little laugh. “It’s silly,” she barely whispered.
“It’s beautiful,” he whispered back. “Just like you. Inside and out.”
She managed to blush and laugh and cry and the sight filled him with unspeakable need that hurt to the very depths of him. “I want you for myself. My very own angel.”
Her brow furrowed with agony. “Oh, precious man,” she whispered fervently. “You will get your angel, you’ll see.”
“What if he doesn’t ever come back? Will you be mine then?”
Anguish filled her tiny face. “Don’t say that,” she pled soflty. “Don’t ever say that, you don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. “You have to have faith, you have to believe.”
His tongue was on fire with the confession she needed to hear, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He needed to experience his angel just like this. To see her deepest yearnings and breathtaking beauty up close and right in his face.
No. He wasn’t ready to stop. Not yet.
“Will you be my friend until I get my own human that will never be as good as you?”
He smiled at her burst of laughter. “You’re teasing,” she said, blushing. “Of course I’ll be your friend, I kind of have to. I’m a nun,” she informed on a whisper.
“And what if you weren’t a nun?”
She grew serious. “Maybe not.”
“Why?” he wondered, already smiling, before he heard her answer.
“Because you’re quite handsome,” she admitted quietly, her gaze avoiding him as he laughed again. “Oh,” she said, regretfully. “With a handsome laugh too.”
“I promise to behave.”
She looked around his room. “Do you live here?”
“For now. Until I get my own room, I guess.”
“When will you?”
“I don’t know.”
She nodded, seeming to think. “When do you suppose you’ll be getting your...human to link to?”
He shrugged, wondering what his next upgrade would bring him. “I’m set to grow five years each day.”
He relished in her shocked expression. “You’ll be a thousand years old in a year!”
He laughed at that. “I started at twelve years old. I stop at thirty-two.”
“So...how old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
“Seventeen!” she gasped. “You’re not even a legal man!”
He smiled. “Don’t I look like a legal man?”
Her sputtered reactions were pure entertainment. “I suppose you do,” she said, back to avoiding him then she snapped her wide eyes on him. “When did you turn seventeen?”
“Last night,” he said, wondering what he could do to see beyond that dress.
“You had a birthday last night!”
He returned to the entertainment of her expressions. “Four birthdays.”
“All at once?”
“All at once. Well...it took about fifteen excruciating minutes and a quick death.”
Her jaw dropped in horror. “You died? Did they mess up?”
He licked his smiling lips. “No, it’s part of the procedure.”
“You have to die on all your birthdays? And you have...three more?”
“Yes.”
“Every day?”
“Every day. Would you like to come to one of my birthday parties?” His laugh filled the room at the look she gave.
“This is...terrible! Do all the soldiers go through this?”
“Not that I’m aware.”
Her instant anger hit his cock. “Why would they do this to you?”
He considered his answer. “They didn’t. I did. So will you come?”
Her mouth remained open as her face slowly transformed with concern. “Do you... need me to?”
Oh fuck. “Very much,” he said, not even thinking. “It would be the best birthday present. I don’t think Handy would mind if we’re just friends.”
She weighed that with great care as he contemplated accidentally dropping his towel. “I think it would be okay.”
“It’s part of your vocation,” he reminded. “You could hold my hand. And pray for me.”
She nodded slowly then faster. “Yes. Of course I would do that. When does this happen?”
“Tomorrow afternoon. I think around five fifteen. I’ll send you an invitation.” He chuckled at the sick look she wore then watched as something came over her.
“And why are you in here again?”
“I think surveillance,” he sighed.
She eyed him carefully. “Well, I think it’s not good for you to be alone, surely,” she said. “You may not be a newborn, but you’re newly born, and solitude is very bad for you.”
His smile faded at realizing she spoke from a place of painful experience. He watched her pull out her phone. “What are you doing?” he asked, back to ravenous.
“I’m calling the higher-ups is what I’m doing.”
Fuck, he loved her.
“Mr. Harlow,” she began with her cute adamance. “I have a situation here below the castle. Yes sir, I did. No, I did not find him but what I did find is a young man locked away from humanity at a vulnerable time in his life. I expect you know all about it since you’re in charge of such things? That’s right,” she said. “He’s been very respectful and kind.” She gave cute sounds of annoyance. “He is no more dangerous than my pinky finger and that means he’s not dangerous at all.” She paced now. “Because I have instincts for these things. Yes sir. Well, I just think he needs to be with people.” She paused. “What about his link?”
She turned and regarded him then hurried to the door. “I see it, yes.” She waved him over. “Yes sir. I’m giving it to him now.”
Kaphas made his way to the door and opened the drawer, taking her phone out of it and putting it to his ear. “Hello?”
“Did you tell her?”
“Harlow,” he greeted. “No, I didn’t.”
“And why?” he whispered.
He considered his answer, torn with several. “It’s not the right time.”
He let out a long sigh. “Buddy... what are you doing?” he pled.
He made his way toward the back of the room. “Maybe...having a little fun.”
“You cannot hurt this girl,” he barely said.
Kaphas paused. “I would kill... anybody who touched one single hair on her head,” he promised quietly.
“Alright,” he surrendered after a span of silence. “I’m guessing you want unfettered access to her.”
“That would be a definite yes if it wasn’t just up to me.”
“I’ll take care of her.”
“How?”
“They technically all work for me.”
“I see,” he said, excited now.
“So...maybe you’re in a special program that requires special measures to evolve you. Like...friendship, or some shit.”
He held back a laugh. “Okay. Do I get to always be with her?”
“Do you want to?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes. You’re not to be left alone.”
“I want to see her.”
“What do you mean?”
“Naked.”
“Well, what the fuck you want me to do about that?” he cried.
“Fuck if I know, I’m only two days old.”
He let out a laugh that made Kaphas grin. “Bruh, you’re definitely our brother. How are you feeling by the way?”
“I have a list for Quantum.”
“So...what you wanna do with her. Tell me straight.”
He considered that. “I just...maybe I want to hold her.”
“Jeeeesus Christ,” he barely said. “She used to sleep with you in that tin body so it shouldn’t be hard to arrange.”
“But I’m Kaphas,” he reminded.
He listened to several more sighs. “Okay what if we tell her she’s right and you can’t be alone but...we don’t really have any females ready to help you evolve with friendship. She’ll likely volunteer?”
“Maybe.”
“You want to try it?”
“Yes. When will I be allowed out?”
“You’re technically allowed now, I just don’t have anything ready yet. That’s it!”
“What.”
“We’re getting your room ready and maybe she can bunk with you till then.”
“If she agrees to be my evolving friend,” Kaphas said.
“Yes.”
“Why wouldn’t I sleep here?”
“Because...there’s trauma there, and you’re not wanting to stay? So we need to move you?”
“I sound like a pussy.”
“Okay genius, top it.”
“Maybe you can set off some kind of alarm that requires us to evacuate? Ask if I can bunk with her till the morning?”
He gave a low laugh. “You’re definitely Kult’s brother.”
Kaphas grinned. “I think he likes me.”
“Yeah, I think we all do, you little shit. Put Saint Celeste on the phone. And get ready for the alarm.”