Nixxon groaned as he opened his eyes and faced the white ceiling. He thought he was back at the hospital, but the scent was different.
The scent in the room was one of Luxury, freshness, and cleanliness, not the strong antiseptic scent of the hospital.
He didn't move, not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.
His whole body felt like a lead container filled with iron fillings, the iron fillings shifting and grating against his bones; he felt weighed down like an anchor in the deep ocean.
He tried to move his head to the side but winced; his head hurt.
Was this overall body weakness what Neireda suggested as being human? Mermen never felt this tired and hurt especially royal blood.
He thought his healing abilities were coming back on track; what was this indescribable fatigue?
His stomach suddenly growled very aggressively, surprising him, another phenomenon he wasn't used to.
He wanted to speak but started coughing, for a split second, his mind went back home. He recalled how he'd be swimming freely in their castle and around it, watching the Mermen from his window, reading his books alone. He missed his tail and fins that had now been replaced by these limbs that were no use to him.
'Should I have stayed home?' He thought in regret.
However, he dowsed that idea immediately. Being human was better; maybe he'd just met the wrong set of people. If he could just leave this place and explore other parts of the human world, he was sure he'd find better humans.
He didn't like the people he'd met so far, they were just like his father and Pelagius.
His heart jumped into his chest when he heard the door slowly opening; he knew they'd come for him again.
They kept asking him who he was. he thought saying his name was enough, but it seemed like it wasn't. He couldn't tell them he was a Merman, but he could tell them the name of his kingdom; maybe they'd leave him alone if he told them.
He heard the quiet footsteps walking closer to his bed, and his nose immediately took in Vernon's scent; it was a mix of sandalwood and vetiver: Warm, earthy, smoky, and irresistibly smooth.
There were other scents he could identify, and he realized that Vernon wasn't alone.
"He's awake, Boss," A voice spoke beside Nixxon's bed.
"Get him out," Nixxon heard Vernon's cold command.
"Yes, boss," Another voice replied.
Nixxon suddenly saw two unfamiliar faces staring down at him, and before he knew it, he was roughly pulled to the hard floor.
He could only grunt quietly, too tired and weak to make a proper sound.
He was pulled over to kneel in front of Vernon's tall figure, The men stood beside him as if ready to pounce on him if he dared to attack their boss.
"Are you ready to speak?" Vernon questioned, looking down at Nixxon's hunched figure.
He could see how unstable Nixxon was getting, and that was exactly what he wanted: to make him weak and vulnerable.
"Yes..." Nixxon answered, keeping his answers short.
Vernon smirked, 'Seems like you're not that good at pretending, after all,' he scoffed.
"Then, tell me..." Vernon thought of words to use to make Nixxon understand his question.
"How did you appear on my property, the water?" He questioned.
Nixxon heard water and knew they were talking of the beach which he had crawled from.
"From my kingdom, Tidalonia," He answered.
Vernon clenched his jaws. he looked to one of his men and ordered, "Browse that."
"Yes, Boss," the guard replied and put his phone to use immediately.
Vernon stared at Vernon as he lightened a cigarette, the wispy, winding paths of smoke rising from his lit cigarette.
The moment the smoke trails reached Nixxon's nose, he went into a coughing fit, causing Vernon to pause and stare at him.
"Boss, there's no such place; it doesn't exist," The bodyguard announced, distracting Vernon's thoughts from figuring out why Nixxon was suddenly coughing.
"Not a real place..." He chuckled, a dark aura hovering all over the room.
He lowered himself to a squat in front of Nixxon, blowing smoke on his face.
Nixxon choked and tried to move away from Vernon, but his chin was grabbed between Vernon's thumb and index fingers.
"Now, listen to me, Mr. Amnesia." He stretched out his hand to the bodyguard on Nixxon's left side, bringing down a gun to Nixxon's chest.
Nixxon's pulse was racing; he clenched his fists at his inability to escape his captor's grip; he knew that the object Vernon pressed against his chest was dangerous. Vernon wielded it like a weapon, and he could feel it in his bones; the weapon's effect would be brutal.
"Let go," He managed to say.
Vernon smirked. "Let go?" He locked his gun, "Seems like you're not understanding you're situation. You're not leaving until you give me a valid response. Tell me, where the hell did you come from?! Who sent you?! What gang are you affiliated with?!" Vernon grabbed the hair behind Nixxon's head, forcing his face up to look at him.
Hot tears brimmed in his eyes. "What is a gang? Please, let go," Nixon cried; he didn't like it here.
"Bastard!" Vernon angrily hit the back of the gun
"Ugh!" Nixxon fell sideways to the floor, his shoulder jamming the floor.
Vernon had hit him right where he had sustained an injury when he fell from the stairs.
"You want to mess with me, right?!" He dragged him up by his hair, throwing a blow to his face.
"Ugh! Pl- Uhg!!" Nixxon cried.
Vernon kept hitting him, again and again and again.
"Boss, Damon is back with some information," One of his men announced.
"Damn it!" He pushed Nixxon away, frustrated.
He looked down at his wrist and felt a little satisfaction when he saw Nixxon's blood coated over it. A slow smirk played on his lips, his jaws clenching in withheld anger.
'I'm just getting started with you, Nixxon,' he thought angrily as he glared at the curled-up man on the floor.
"Get Armani. I need him downstairs in two minutes, and I don't want his blood staining my tiles," Vernon huffed and stormed out of the room, slamming the door.
Nixxon was breathing; he believed he would die if he should face such cruelty again. His toes curled as he cried, 'This wasn't the freedom I sought for,' he mentally cried.
The worst thing in his situation was that he couldn't even escape; how could he? He can't walk.
He suddenly heard the bodyguards leaving his room and didn't know whether to celebrate or cry; if they left him, he might die from pain, but if they stayed, he might die from their torture; either way, he died.
He let his cry out the moment the soft click of the signified that the bodyguards had left.
He cried louder and louder; being human was a tumultuous experience for Nixxon.
He immediately stopped crying when he heard the door open once more; he silently prayed for whoever it was to spare him.
He heard a sigh beside his lying body.
"Hello, Mr. Nixxon, can I touch you?" The voice asked gently.
Nixxon didn't respond; he simply bit his lower lip to keep from making a sound.
"I'll take your silence as a yes; please brace yourself; I'm carrying you into the shower," The man's voice announced.
The next thing Nixxon felt was someone's hands under his neck and behind his knees.
He knew he was being carried, but he still didn't make a sound, too scared to do it.
He could only wonder where they were taking him this time.
"Just hold on tight, and I'll, ah, it opened," The man sighed.
"Can you sit?" The man asked Nixxon as he carried him inside the small bathroom; it only had one single overhead shower and a sink; nothing else was found inside the grey-tiled bathroom.
Nixxon noticed that the man beside him was the first to seek his consent before doing anything to him.
"Do you understand me?" The man asked gently.
Nixxon slowly nodded, looking up at the man's face for the first time. He had blue eyes just like his, but the man's own were a darker shade than his. His face was defined, but he could feel the calm and peaceful aura around him, unlike Vernon.
"Yes..." Nixxon replied weakly.
"Alright, so I'm going to put you down on the stool; you can release my neck whenever you're comfortable," The man said and slowly lowered Nixxon to the tall stool in front of them under the shower.
"Comfortable? I mean, good?" Armani questioned.
"Good," Nixxon nodded.
"You can call me Armani. Vernon asked me to make you look presentable, and we don't have much time; I need you to cooperate with me while I help you shower and brush. Okay?" Armani asked.
Nixxon nodded. He didn't understand every word, but Armani's urgent tone was clear...they needed to be fast. If not, Vernon would be mad.
"Okay, so I'm going to turn on the shower and - Oh!"
The moment the warm spray rained down, Nixxon's eyes widened in sheer panic. He scrambled backward, slipping, his body twisting in a desperate attempt to escape the invisible assault from above. Armani barely managed to catch him as he thrashed, his breath coming in short, panicked gasps.
"Nixxon, relax! It's just -"
But Nixxon wasn't listening. His entire body trembled, his grip digging into Armani's arms like a lifeline.
Then, a voice cut through the chaos.
"What's going on here?"
Both of them froze.
Vernon stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable... but his eyes locked onto Nixxon with something dangerously close to suspicion.