Nixxon slowly placed his hand in Vernon's, shivering when Vernon closed his hand on his, his hand was much smaller than Vernon's.
Vernon remained silent; he gave Nixxon his other hand and watched him hesitate before he placed it in his.
'Good...' He thought.
He liked it as Nixxon feared him; there was no room for comfort for him beside him.
"Root your legs to the floor," Vernon commanded.
Nixxon struggled, but he understood 'legs' and 'floor'; he knew Vernon wanted him on his feet, so he tightened his hands on Vernon's and stared up at him.
"Stand," Vernon ordered, pulling Nixxon up from the bed.
Nixxon used Vernon's hands as support, lifting himself off the bed and standing in front of him.
"Good." Vernon was about to release him and step back, but he was surprised to feel Nixxon's hands grabbing his arms.
"Hold me... please..." Nixxon's eyes turned watery.
He was scared of falling, he'd had a fair share of falling since he came to the human world.
"Please..." He pleaded again.
For the first time, as Nixxon leaned his upper body close to Vernon's, Vernon realized how flawless and smooth his skin was. He wondered why Raja would choose such an incapable man to use as a spy. To him, Nixxon looked weak as fuck; he'd never recruit him for anything, not even as a cook.
He stared into Nixxon's ocean-blue eyes and felt like Nixxxon was too close for comfort; he felt like he was seeing past his soul, seeing secrets he never wanted to be discovered.
He held Nixxon's shoulder and pulled him away from himself, "Listen, Mr. Amnesia, don't get comfortable around me, all I want is your recovery, do you understand?" He put Nixxon's hands down to his sides and held him tightly by the shoulder.
Nixxon nodded; he was aware that he had been threatened; the look in Vernon's eyes was threat enough for him; he didn't need the word-to-word translation to understand it.
Vernon clenched his jaws; it wasn't as if he was following Dr. Zee's orders and being kind to Nixxon; no, this wasn't kindness; this was him trying to help Nixxon recover his damn memories quickly.
Maybe he'd heed to the part of keeping Nixxon close to himself to help him remember if he'd had any memories of him before the accident. He wanted to get to the root of everything before the weeks ran out.
Nixxon suddenly choked when he felt Vernon's hand around his neck, slightly strangling him. He opened his mouth to say something, but Vernon cut him off.
"Shut your mouth and listen," Vernon snared, glaring at him.
"You will learn how to walk, speak, and damn well remember all your lost memories; do you understand?" He asked in a low, cold tone.
Nixxon nodded. "Yes," He replied.
Vernon released Nixxon's shoulder but not his neck. he kept his hand around his neck as he drew out his phone from his pocket. "Do you know what this is?" Vernon smirked as he saw Nixxon's scared eyes staring at the image of a gun on his phone.
Nixxon shook his head.
"I'll show you what it is. Armani!" He called, staring Nixxon dead in the eyes.
The door immediately opened, and Armani walked in, his eyes widening when he saw Nixxon's face turning red as Vernon pressed hard against his neck.
"Boss," He cautiously called beside Vernon.
"Bring him out," Vernon ordered and pushed Nixxon back on his bed before striding out of the room.
Nixxon finally drew air into his lungs; he coughed, his hand going around his neck as he caught his breath.
"Come on, Nixxon, the boss wants you down," Armani said and lowered himself in front of Nixxon, but Damon walked in before Nixxon could enter Armani's back.
"Quit suffering yourself for a criminal, Armani. Here's a wheelchair." He pushed the wheelchair into the room and easily lifted Nixxon onto it.
Nixxon wrapped his hand around the arm of the wheelchair as he was pushed out of the house.
Wind.
Heavy wind was the first thing that blew against his face the moment he was pushed out of the house.
As he passed the fountain, he felt the spray of water carried by the heavy wind on his skin, adding to the chill he was already feeling in his bones.
They pushed him along the long path they had driven through when they were coming back from the hospital. The trees(huge plants) were waving around from the wind, catching Nixxon's attention. He watched them, wondering if this was the same thing as witnessing a heavy storm underwater.
"You better recall your memories quickly, Nixxon. I don't think the boss had that much patience left for you," Damon said, walking beside Armani.
Nixxon remained quiet, staring down at his legs.
He cursed them in his head; his hand went up to the locket, holding it.
He thought back to when Neireda told him that he would encounter a different fate as a human and that the locket would guide him.
'Did she lie to me?' He thought in disappointment.
What kind of fate was he facing? Was this his punishment for abandoning his kingdom? His duty?
Whatever this was, Nixxon decided not to settle for it; he had escaped once, and he would escape again.
However, if he wanted to escape, he needed to adapt to being human, especially the art of walking.
He wasn't about to stay here and let them kill him for something he had no idea about.
"We're almost there, Nixxxon; try to understand every word he said, okay?" Armani encouraged.
Nixxon remained quiet; his eyes watched the darkening sky; he saw flashes of light above the sky that looked like something produced from his father's scepter. He knew something was about to happen, but he couldn't say what.
They reached a secluded area where towering trees formed a natural barrier around a lone building standing at the center. The structure was unlike anything Nixxon had ever seen...its dark exterior blended eerily with the shadows cast by the dense foliage. The walls, painted in an inky hue, absorbed the dim light filtering through the leaves, giving the house an almost foreboding presence. Sharp edges and clean lines defined its architecture, exuding a modern yet unsettling charm. The windows, tinted and reflective, revealed nothing of the interior, adding to its air of secrecy. It was a place that demanded attention yet remained shrouded in mystery.
He didn't like the place one bit.
"Take him right in," Damon instructed.
"Inside?" Armani asked in a hushed tone.
"It's orders," Damon replied and walked toward the building.
There were no grasses on the ground, unlike the place Nixxon had seen a little lake when the car was bringing him in earlier that day; the ground here was concreted, solid, and firm; Nixxon could almost imagine how hard it would feel underneath his feet.
The wheels of his tire gritted over the solid ground as he reached the door of the building.
Nixxon was surprised to see the door opened by Dane; he was starting to question Dane's character; he seemed like a good guy, but he was always seen in ugly places, doing Vernon's ugly duties.
Nixxon decided not to trust anyone, not even Armani; at the end of the day, all their loyalty was to Vernon.
"He's waiting underground," Dane mentioned to Armani as he pushed Nixxon into the dark room.
Nixxon hated dark places; it reminded him of the last time he saw his mother being thrown into the black vortex when he was little; so far, he'd managed to avoid dark places till his current age, but now, it seemed like Vernon wanted to make sure he faced all his fears.
Luckily, the lights came on, but they were very dim, barely enough for one to see one's next step.
His heart started beating a little faster as they pushed him into a small box, getting in beside him, he clasped his hands together on his lap in fear as the small box started to move downward, his heart felt like it wanted to take flight, leaping heavily as the box kept descending lower and lower.
It suddenly came to a stop, and Nixxon heard the smooth hissing sound as two doors slid open in front of him.
The light here was much brighter as they pushed him out of the box. His eyes immediately found Vernon sitting on a high stool in front of a long, metal table at the center of the room. The walls were made of floor-to-ceiling closed shelves; everything was still in black, including Vernon's black shirt that was unbuttoned to the chest, and as usual, tendrils of smoke drifted off from the cigarette between his long fingers.
Nixxon felt the irritating sensation start to build up in his throat as he inhaled whatever that smoke was. He always wondered why Vernon consumed such a harmful thing, or perhaps it wasn't harmful to him.
"Welcome, Mr. Amnesia; you've just discovered my favorite spot in my home." Vernon elegantly stood from the stool, striding over to Nixxon.
He lowered himself in front of Nixxon and blew a mouthful of smoke on Nixxon's face, his gray eyes charged with dark, malicious intensity.
Nixxon lost all control of his lungs, he let go of the cough he'd been trying to subdue from the moment he entered the strange room.
He coughed, his lungs burning like the cherry bottom of Vernon's cigarette.
Vernon scoffed. "Pathetic." He stood and nodded at Damon before looking back at Nixxon.
"Right here, I'll help you revive your memories," Vernon promised darkly, his eyes shining with mysterious excitement.
Nixxon was anxious; he didn't know what Vernon had planned for him, and... he didn't want to know. But at that moment, Nixxon knew he had no choice, no voice, and no right.