The voice only came when he slept. It never told him where to go. Only to run. The voices in his head were louder this time. He woke up with sweat dripping down from his forehead. He looked around. He was in the cage, where he usually woke up at his stepmother's house. He still couldn't accept them as their parents, normal parents do not lock their son in a cage. He got up and got the blanket that he had thrown down from his bed while sleeping.
"MAX," his stepmother shouted his name, like always. He hated that name; it sounded like them, like normal, like not a prisoner. He used to have a name before Max. He just couldn't remember it anymore after all these years, but he was sure people called him differently back at home. He got up, stood in front of the iron bars, and waited. The key turned slowly. Max didn't move. He never moved before she spoke. His stepmother opened the door, looking disgusted. She had her hair pinned straight, and her clothes were all black, ironed as always. She was a woman who liked to keep herself tidy, but Max found her looks terrifying, and as he looked at her, a cold chill ran down his spine every morning. Even though he told himself that he would get used to this feeling, he did not.
"I'm hungry. Ada wakes up in thirty minutes. Make her breakfast." Max nodded, but in his mind, he cursed the god up there for making him live this horrible life.
He went downstairs to make breakfast for others. The kitchen was always too bright. His room was never so he liked cooking here, dealing with the sun hitting his skin and warming him from inside. He always tried to make more food than they could eat so he could eat the leftovers and hoped his stepmother would not notice his trick. As he was preparing some eggs and bacon, little girl Ada came downstairs. She may be little, but she was like a menace to him, like her parents. She had the same evil look and rich blonde hair as her mom, and the same rage and the same hateful reddish brown eyes as her dad. She gave him a disapproving look and smiled. He could tell it was not out of amusement or kindness. He tensed up.
"I'm hungry, hurry up, or I'm gonna tell mom that ur being lazy so she can throw you in that dark, smelly cage." He couldn't help but roll his eyes at his words. He took a plate from one of the drawers and carefully put the eggs and bacon on the plate. Ada hated it when the eggs touched the bacon, or she just wanted to torture him. She made sure her parents knew when he did something wrong, which eventually led to him being locked up for a day or two. As Ada sat down, her father came downstairs to eat too, without looking up from his newspaper. Max hoped that his stepfather would forget his newspaper at the table while leaving for work. He liked to read. He knew his reading speed was not as good as that of other kids his age, but he didn't mind. He knew if he could go to a special school like Ada, he could have read and even done more. His parents always reminded their daughter that they paid tons of money for her education. At that moment, he felt sorry for the little girl, but of course, it didn't take long before she did something that would get him in trouble.
The mother sat down at the table, too, so he left the room after he served her, too, as he was expected to be. As soon as he left, the kitchen started to fill with the voices of a happy family. His stepfather was one of the politicians who bombed his home, his people. He didn't think that the man was smart at all; he was tall and fat, and he did anything his boss said like a slave. His lack of personality makes him disguised. He couldn't help but see him pathetic. He sat down on the wooden floor of the living room, listening to what they were talking about in the kitchen.
"The peace will be established soon, Vega." His father announced proudly to the table that he would not be freed ever. He didn't want them to get in over their heads. If they win this, they will enslave other children like him.
"Aladfar, what if magicas find out about… him?" The father tensed up, and it could be seen that one of the veins on his forehead popped.
"They wont, we wont let them… you know how dangerous he can be." The boy heared his chair scrape up the floor, his footsteps getting closer to him. As Aladfar stood in front of him max could see hesitation in the eyes of the old man. Then his stepfather grabed him by the collar of his shabby shirt and pulled him to his feet.
"Go and clean the kitchen boy." He ordered to max and of course he obeyed as always. He saw Ada kind of sad in a way that he couldn't put his finger on. Avoiding his eyes was so unlike her. This made him even more anxious. He heared his stepfather leaving the house. His stepmother also started to pack her daughters back to leave. He started to was the dishes without wasting anymore time. Within fifteen minutes they left the too. The house was finally his.
He saw a wallet on the counter he knew it was wrong but he opened it. More money than he could ever imagine… he took a few bucks so the old dotard wouldn't notice. This money he took could be the chance for him to run away without being reported to the police. The locals here worked with money if he got money to give as bribe he could be free. The thought alone excited him. He ran to his cage and put the money alongside the other bucks he stole before. He layed down on the floor which is a bed to him and started dreaming about future and. Before he could knew he fell asleep.
His father was holding him while his mom hummed a soothing song. Their houses were like tree bark. It certainly looked more primitive than his stepfamily's house.
"Salvador" his father called out for him. "You are going to save the magicas my son, you have to."
He felt like he was someone, someone important. He also remembered the feeling of being safe, being loved by someone.
He woke up feeling sad that the dream is over and he can't stay there forever. Something in his heart told him it was real and he lived all those good memories but how can he be sure about it. His step parents wouldn't tell him if he asked, maybe even punished him for it. The only thing they told him was they saved him from a war, his 'hideous' people, and this serving them was his payback to them and the only words he can consider as truth for now.