Silence Falls

Hermanni’s peculiar eyes extended the moment her mind expressed to him that she didn’t believe he gave a damn about her misery brought on by being denounced by Bam. His words were even more damning for her because the poor girl had no memory of her previous life, and for all she knew she probably was a whore! She had no insight to tell her otherwise.

Hermanni promptly stepped forward to close the distance between them enough for him to reach out and touch her if he felt she needed to be made docile. Mildly, he quelled her before she could shout at him some more, his intoxicating eyes blocked her from rebuffing him like she yearned to by shoving him away from her. Taking her quivering tight fists in his, he tenderly uncurled them and then kneaded her palms to alleviate the muscles as he explained himself. “No, Onika, that is not what I meant at all! To be honest, I do not understand why you are affronted by a remark such as his when you are clearly too exquisite and comely to be a streetwalker soliciting companionship from strangers. You are not a streetwalker, anyone beholding you can easily see that without having to know you. Indeed, you must feel it within yourself.” Raising his hands, he framed her face, and tenderly caressed her soft cheeks. Everyone marvelled at how gently and proficient Hermanni was with a fuming Onika whose temper could never be snuffed in the past by anyone. From his perspective, however, he was merely helping a woman he had come to care profoundly for in their short time together.

“You don’t know my past, and neither do I. Bam could be right for all we know.” Onika breathed, blabbing out one of the many thoughts of who she could have been in her former life to him as if no one else was there but the two of them. “I could’ve been a whore.”

“You were no streetwalker. Trust me.” Hermanni assured her, an upbeat smile on his face.

“Oh yeah? And how could you possibly know that?” Onika prodded.

Hermanni watched as her fury depleted before his very eyes. “I can feel it.”

That was it. That was all he had to say and Onika was no longer hurt or outraged over Bam’s coarse words. Only minutes ago she was ready to slash his balls off with one hand and construct earrings out of them, but now she felt like prancing through the mall singing lively tunes and casting flower petals everywhere. Which was weird of her to do...

“Anyway!” Otep cut in, stepping forward and bringing the two back to the present. “What you’re saying is that we should handle Bam with more understanding rather than sentencing him into a cell like we did to you? What if he doesn’t want to talk this through, or spouts a bunch of lies to us? Hell, what if he attacks us?”

Bert was taken aback that Otep was actually asking Hermanni for his input instead of him. One moment Hermanni was a former prisoner that no one was sure could be trusted up until recently, and now one of their most capable and dutiful members of their group was asking the former prisoner for advice so soon after his release. Bert wasn’t envious at all, he just wondered what Hermanni did to procure Otep’s trust and respect so damn quick.

“We were all thrown down there for different reasons. We were either unhinged to begin with, or we came out of that facility that way as a result. I could tell from my first meeting Bam that he had not been down there long. He always sparred and distrusted everyone in the group, but no one else did. I could see that everyone counted on you and Bert without a doubt in their minds, all except for Bam. I presumed he came down there already mistrusting and bitter with the world, and that it had nothing to do with years of medication.” Hermanni shared, aweing everyone with his speech and how perceptive he actually was. “The only sanest patients left assembled together with you and Bert. All the other souls that lost touch with the world above and around did not. Bam is not one of those souls, he just has something mentally awry with him that makes him operate like a monster.”

Bert and Otep looked at each other in surprise and with the same idea bouncing through their heads. Perhaps Hermanni too could become a dependable leader himself one day. Especially when you consider that the groups consisted of five women and five men in total. Demitria, Alexis, Onika, and Natasha were fiercely devoted and compliant to the group, and most importantly didn’t cause anyone trouble. Otep was the only female that demonstrated higher skills in leadership which is why she and Bert became the main leaders of the groups. Cris was always able to direct the girls and keep them out of peril while his brother Connor was their only muscle. Bam and Hermanni were the newest members, and while Bam created only complications thus far Hermanni was starting to exhibit some promise.

“You know what Hermanni, I think it might be worth a shot. We’ve been stuck down in that shithole for so long we’ve lost touch with our own humanity.” Bert permitted while rubbing his weary face with his hands. “Man, sometimes I feel like I’m messing up this job of being the intrepid liable leader.”

“No, Bert! That’s not true.” Cris inspired him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been the best leader this group could ask for!”

“He’s right, Bert. If it wasn’t for you we’d be dead.” Onika backed, coming over to swaddle her arms around him and give him a side hug. Soon everyone joined in except for Otep, Connor and Hermanni. Bert let out a resigned groan at the mushy-ness of the whole embracing huddle that made both Hermanni and Connor laugh.

“Hey, Hermanni, go on ahead. Try and talk some sense into that asshole before we end up killing him, okay?” Otep confided to him, before pushing him towards the stairs. Hermanni nodded in response before exiting the ‘Bert appreciation’ party.
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Bam was up on the roof, sitting atop a small concrete building that was used as storage for the mall's generator parts. The night wasn’t cold nor hot, it was absolutely excellent. It was the kind of temperature that made you want to stay out longer past your bedtime. The sky was black against all the bright stars that seemed to keep him company tonight. He didn’t mind, he wasn’t planning on heading back inside anytime soon. Maybe he’ll end up sleeping up there instead. Bam let out a sigh, closed his eyes and hung his head down towards his crossed legs. The events earlier today were trying to draw his attention again, but he didn’t want to face them when he was still bristling over it. Bam had no idea why he called Onika a whore, it just came out of nowhere! Hell, she was wearing some white shorts with black fishnets underneath, leopard print combat boots, and a white crop top hoodie under an oversize jean jacket decorated with print letterings. Her behind wasn’t hanging out of her shorts, there was nothing see-through nor was there a nip slip in sight! Everything was appropriate yet the word ‘whore’ was the only thing whispered in that mall within that very moment. Bam honestly didn’t think Onika was a whore in her past life or even now. In fact, he never even reckoned it because he simply didn’t care about her cryptic situation…but then why did he call her that in the first place? Why?

Suddenly, Bam’s attention was drawn to something manifesting out of the corner of his eye. His head snapped to the left to Hermanni standing beneath the light of the moon. Typically Bam would tell him to get lost like he would to anyone else that came upon him tonight, but...he was hiding in the shadows unlike Hermanni and was therefore out of sight. Still, Bam took the time to peruse Hermanni who appeared oblivious of any other soul but his own.

Hermanni was focused on the night sky above him. There were many stars glittering the sky before his incarceration, and now he noted less tonight. He took it all in anyway as he casually strolled the rooftop.

Bam warily leaned over the edge to get an even closer look at the foreign boy. For as long as he’s been alive and certainly until the day he dies, Bam has always been entranced by the opposite sex. He had never challenged it before. Until now. Bashful to admit it even to himself, Brandon Margera found Hermanni to be attractive in a very deep penetrating way. The thought of kissing the guy, or going as far as to bury his own dick into his body didn’t make him shrink in the slightest. The saucy, but inquiring thoughts came flooding into his mind whenever he looked at him and generated these strange feelings that woken without qualm. The whole thing felt as natural for him as it would if Hermanni was an elegant woman in the flesh. There were plenty of hot guys in the world that Bam had come across, but never had they stirred him in this homosexual way like Hermanni did. He was physically exquisite. His nose had a fitting shape in every angle you looked at him at, his lips were plump and craving to be tasted like a ripe fruit. His skin appeared to have no deficiency at all, and was so silky soft to the eyes that it seemed to invite anyone to touch. His eyes were unreal! Those green and blue orbs...were magic.