Learning To Submit

01: David

PICTURE OF DAVID

The cold rain felt like needles on David's skin. He trudged slowly to his destination. Clothes slightly torn from a previous confrontation, he slowly climbed the rusty 7ft tall fence. When he was at the top he just sat, looking over the wet, small, grassy field, thinking about what he was going to say to the person he hadn't seen in two years. He jumped down and cursed when he hit the ground. Pulses of pain erupted in his ankle, but quickly subsided after he began his walk to the small house. If David hadn't have been slightly bruised, the walk would have seemed shorter.

When David got to the porch of the cozy house, he took a few minutes to gather himself. He climbed the steps and brought his hand up to knock on the old, wooden door. His hand refused to obey the orders we was giving it. "Damn it..." he mumbled and straightened his beanie and ripped shirt. David took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut, and knocked on the door. After a couple of seconds, he slowly opened his eyes. He attempted to peer in the window but the curtains pulled back abruptly, making him jump.

"Go away!" A little girl's voice sounded from behind the door.

"Where are your parents?" David asked.

"Gone for a few days. They told me not to talk to anyone though!" She sounded scared. Almost like she was on the brink of tears.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I just kind of need them right now." David almost felt bad for making this little girl so afraid, even if it wasn't intentional. He looked out at the field.

The sound of the door unlocking made him turn his head back quickly. The little girl opened the door slightly, just enough to see that she had tears running down her face.

David tried to get a better view of the girl's face. "Annie? Is that you?" His eyebrows furrowed as she closed the door, but smoothed out when she unhooked the chain and opened the door wider. "Can I...?" He trailed off looking behind her to the portrait on the wall. Annie nodded and he walked into the house.

Annie closed the door and eyed David suspiciously. David eyed her back. He remembered babysitting her some years back, when he was 17. They used to do the same thing. Leave for a few days without telling where and come back like nothing happened. He wondered who was babysitting her then because he sure wasn't.

David walked around the small house. It had two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small living room, and a kitchen. Hanging on the walls were numerous portraits, some of them newly taken. In multiple pictures, Annie's father had his arm around her mother's waist, but if someone were to look closely they'd see the discomfort. He looked back at Annie who was already staring at him.

"Where did you say your parents were?" David shifted his weight from foot to foot, suddenly uncomfortable.

"I don't know. They never tell me where they are. I miss them...a lot." Annie looked down at her white socks with holes in them.

David kept his eyes on Annie. His thoughts were racing a mile a minute. He had an urge to take Annie and never allow her to come back. He thought that a child of Annie's age should not be treated the way she was being treated. David thought of all of the terrible things that could happen to Annie while they were gone.

David's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. He followed the sound to a bedroom with a broken window, but the window had cardboard covering it. David cleared his throat and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He answered into the phone.

"Hello? Who is this? Where are Annabel and William?" A deep voice responded.

"They are...gone. My name is David, I'm Annabel's nephew. Who are you?" David didn't know why he gave all of this information to a stranger.

"Just tell them that Anthony Peters called." David's eyes widened at the name.

"Wait...Anthony." David cringed as his voice broke. "I told you they are gone. They even left Annie, their-"

"I know who Annie is." Anthony said harshly.

"Sorry." David mumbled. Somehow, Anthony had made David feel small even over the phone.

"They aren't coming back." There was a moment of silence. "They left Annie there with no one watching her, that means that they're gone for good those no good pieces of.." He trailed off, cursing left and right. For some reason David didn't feel any type of way when this man said those things about his aunt and uncle.

"Well, um, bye er whatever." David said awkwardly.

"Don't leave, I'm coming to pick you guys up." With that, Anthony hung up.

David's mouth hung open. Even though no one was on the phone anymore, David still didn't know what to say or do. Who David had talked to was Anthony Peters, CEO of Peters Enterprises. David had little knowledge of Mr. Peters, except the fact that he could crush David without thinking twice about it. Then David remembered what he said and gasped.

Speed walking back into the living room where Annie was, David looked at the full length mirror in the hall way.  He stood at 5' 10", though he wished he was a little taller. His hair was disheveled and his blue, black, and white plaid shirt was ripped. His black skinny jeans were also ripped, but on purpose and his black and white converse were dirty and worn. After David looked himself over he stared at his light brown eyes.

All of a sudden a knock on the door made David jump nearly out of his skin. Slightly feeling panicky, he walked over to the door and took a deep breath before opening it. Outside was the one and only Anthony Peters. David couldn't stop himself from staring at Anthony's blue eyes. It looked like David was trying to get lost in them.

"Are you okay?" Anthony asked smugly.

"I'm, um, yeah. I'm okay." David's cheeks burned hot and he wanted to get out of this awkward situation as fast as possible.

"Are you ready to go? I don't have all day." Anthony looked into David's eyes and that made him blush even harder.

"Yes sir." David cursed himself and turned around to face Annie. "Annie let's go."

Annie grabbed a blue bunny and walked to the door. She looked between Anthony and David and asked, "where are we going?"

Anthony responded with "To my house. Now go get in the car," he looked up at David, "you too, let's go." David quickly nodded his head and walked out of the house, closing the door behind himself.