Adrian

Adrian was seventeen when he was frozen; left at an age where his eyes are soft, and his skin is smooth. His hair is wild and black, his eyes are clear and blue; he wonders why he was chosen to work for his Master. Then, he thinks, It's because I wouldn't step out of line.

He's sitting on the peak of a building, hugging his knees and looking down on the high, diamond wire fences. Barbed wire loops in perfect circles along the top, just to make sure nobody escapes. When the wind blows, it's cold as ice. So, he stands from his place at the edge and leaves.

He's been sent to bring his Master another girl. He's sent out regularly--almost three times a week. When they leave his Master's chambers, they're always quiet; they do what they're told. Adrian can tell they've been broken. When he was young, lying on the cold, hard ground holding the device tightly in his hands, he froze all the girls he loved, so they couldn't leave him. Then he wondered, What happens now?

There was no specific place from where he took the girls. They were always young; they had friends. These were the girls that would be missed. When his Master finished with them, Adrian would take the girls away, and care for them. He would try to make them talk again. After doing it for so long, he wouldn't bother anymore, knowing so well that they wouldn't ever wake up like they had before.

Sometimes, though very rarely, he would find a girl he liked. He would see her beauty, and want her for his own. "Master," he would plead, "please, let me take this one. Please... I can bring you another!" But the man would just turn away, back to the flaming logs in his fireplace and say, "No, Adrian." He wouldn't give a reason. Adrian would just have to accept it.

But when the girl came out with empty eyes, a blank expression, stumbling over the stairs that led down to his Master's lair, he would take the girl away, and lay with her on the hard bed and crisp white sheets, whispering in her ear what he wanted her to think. Always, their eyes were unblinking, mouths agape. They would still breathe, but their breaths were empty and haggard.

On some nights, he would climb to the top of the building, and stare out at the fence. He would cry, but not for himself. If he had stayed inside, he would have heard the screams of the girls as they were taken into the chamber.

He had served his Master for years. Seeing so many girls broke his spirit, and Adrian went along with his duties. He had brought so many of them that he no longer cared what happened to the families after their daughter was kidnapped. There wasn't any specific place for him to go. All he knew was that he was sent--sometimes near, sometimes far--to find someone for the man.

Then, one night, he had brought back a pretty, young girl. She was everything that he had wanted for himself, and as he placed her asleep on the thick, violet carpet, he asked his master for her. "Master," he said, "I've brought you girls over and over, and I've cared for them with their broken spirits. But, please, Master, let me take this one..."

His master looked at Adrian with hardened eyes. He didn't say a thing, just waved his hand to send Adrian off with the girl. He smiled boyishly, and lifted the girl from the ground. "Thank you, Master."

The girl still slept when Adrian lay her down on a bed near the other girls. He lay down beside her, his eyes half-lidded, and watched her sleep. She wouldn't move yet, because Adrian had made sure that when they were taken, they would sleep at least a while until his Master needed them. Then Adrian would wake them up, and walk away as they screamed for their families.

By the next morning, he was atop the building again.