Chased to Freedom

The next morning, Axel woke up with his body aching all over, to the point where he had to focus to tell where it didn't hurt. Though Marcus didn't cause any major injuries like a fracture, that didn't mean that it wasn't painful; it just meant that Axel would get to rest for two to three days, and for Axel, he felt it was worth getting beaten up for. Axel felt that for the first time in a long while, he had some time to himself, but in reality, only three weeks have passed since he came to the camp.

During his time there, the only thing that Axel had to relax about was learning to cook new things. Even though Marcus demanded a bit too much from him, he also provided him with everything he needed to do it. But for Axel, the fact that he was treated like a slave was agonizing. He felt like an idiot for consoling himself by saying, "At least I learned a lot more stuff than from dad's recipes." That was the lamest thing he could think of, but he didn't have anything better to feel good about.

With a break away from Marcus for three days, Axel finally had some room to breathe, and those who passed by were pitiful of him. But all good things will come to an end. On the fourth day, Axel was put back to work, and Marcus didn't seem to have any intention of asking for an apology; he didn't even think of it. Instead, he was more irritated when he came into the cabin. On the day that Axel was back on duty after his recovery, the first thing that Marcus did as soon as he came in was punch Axel in the stomach with enough force to make him fall two meters away from him and go down on his knees. Axel didn't know what was going on; he just knew that one wrong word or action could spell an extended one-on-one, one-sided session with Marcus on fighting, with Axel at the receiving end.

"Have the cabin cleaned without a single speck of dust, or else you are in a world of pain." Marcus left as soon as he came, and his furious look made Axel tremble; he hadn't seen that fury ever, even when he was drunk and beat him up. Axel cleaned the whole cabin without leaving a single spot; he took the books off the shelves, the lamps, and he didn't even leave out the safes; knowing Marcus, he would probably find fault with them too.

Time went on, with Axel looking at the clock every now and then and trying to do things faster. By the time Marcus arrived, Axel had cleaned, was arranging things, and had completed most of it. Marcus came in, still furious. He looked around and saw that half the shelf was empty and Axel was putting things back in it; then he noticed that the safes were out as well. It was common knowledge for any mafia to have secret documents, and Axel wouldn't dare try to open their locks. When Marcus noticed the safes, he got irritated.

"Get out of the cabin this instant!" Marcus shouted at the top of his lungs; Axel ran out; he was too scared to be there a moment longer. When he came out, the crowd had gathered to watch the show and was surprised to see Axel come out unscathed. That night Axel slept in the dormitory with everyone; it was hard to sleep with a lot of people and constant noise, even if it was a lot less comfortable than Marcus' cabin. It was the first time Axel had a decent sleep after coming to the Sogris Hills without his body aching all over.

The next morning, Marcus called Axel first thing in the morning: "You are dismissed from being my personal butler as of now and will be temporarily transferred to work with the group in the manor with effect from tomorrow." Axel felt like those lines were words whispered by the angels, even if they were coming from the devil; he was way too happy that he felt like floating in the air. Marcus was disgusted by the grin spreading on Axel's face. "But, I am still suspicious of you; if I get my hands on any evidence... then, consider your life forfeit." It was not a threat, but an absolute statement.

Axel came out, and once again the audience, who expected Axel to come out like a ragged cloth, was more than just confused to see him come out instead with the most radiant smile on his face. Axel didn't mind all those gazes, and from what he knew, there was no evidence that could pinpoint him as the killer; he could just bluff that; he made the mistake of thinking Drake's men were his enemies. Axel went merrily to the dorm and slept the day off; he felt as light as a feather. Words couldn't contain how happy Axel felt; he slept like a baby the whole day, just getting back up for eating.

The next day, Axel went to work in the manor; it was a day's walk from the camp, but unlike the camps, the servants sent from all the camps were to work under the head butler and maid of the manor, and none of them were allowed to enter the main mansion, except the servants of the mansion. Most of their work included cleaning the garden, the annexed buildings, the storerooms, and the list goes on.

Axel was clearly discriminated against; the word of him being Marcus' target didn't bode well even with the servants from the other camps. But Axel didn't care about that; he felt liberated just from being away from Marcus; he was too happy to bother about all the even more disturbing rumors that were spreading about him. Among the servants who were all getting acquainted with each other, not a single servant bothered to talk with Axel. But once again, Axel couldn't care less. He was over the moon, and he didn't let anything bring him down.

The servants who work in the manor had better dormitories for both the maids and the menservants, but then again, they weren't as spacious as Marcus' cabin but still better than the dormitory back in the camp. Other menservants shared their bed among two or three people, but Axel had the bed all to himself, mostly because of the stigma of Marcus' target. He couldn't be happier; only good things have been happening to him that week.

The next day, Axel was assigned to clean the fountain that was in the garden of the manor's backyard. Robby was a lovely boy who looked cute like a child despite being older than Axel; he was also assigned to work with Axel on the fountain. They didn't speak a word, but it was decided among them that Axel was in charge of cleaning around the fountain and Robby was cleaning inside the fountain.

Axel diligently cleaned and enjoyed the breeze, its sound, the chirping of birds, and the garden with its fountain. In his opinion, it looked better without cleaning, but he was getting paid for it, and he wouldn't dare question the reapers of all people. But during the time he was working, Axel was irritated by Robby blankly staring at him from time to time; it was unnerving. "You need something?" Axel put the broom down on the ground and faced Robby with an annoyed expression. "Are you sure Marcus beat you black and blue to the brink of death with a metal rod? You look perfectly fine to me."

"What the heck is with that fairy tale? He didn't beat me to death; he just beat me until I lost consciousness with his bare hands and foot." Robby looked dumbfounded, and Axel enjoyed his expression. "Though that is concerning in its own way, I am surprised you can still smile while working despite all that." Axel just then realized that it was the first normal conversation he had after coming to the Sogris hill, a.k.a. the Reaper's grounds.

"That's a huge story, and I don't want to talk about most of it." Axel didn't trust him a bit; for all he knew, Robby could be a spy set up by Marcus to get information about him helping to kill Drake. "If you don't want to, then you don't have to," Robby said with a cheerful smile on his face. A brilliant idea struck Axel's head: if Robby was indeed one of Marcus' pawns, then he could give him information that would benefit him, and if he really wasn't, then he still would get to share the story for the most part and also get some company during his stay at the manor.

"Do you have time?" Hearing the question, Robby dropped what he was doing and came closer. "Yup, till evening, which gives us like six hours; if we work together, we could do the cleaning in three hours, so still, we have three hours. Is that enough?" Robby calculated it so seriously that Axel couldn't help but chuckle. They both sat on the bench facing the fountain as Axel narrated the story and carefully took out any evidence that could hint at his involvement in Drake's murder and turned it into clues that supported his claim. By the end of the story, Robby was in tears and hugged Axel and patted him. Axel felt like crap for lying to him, but better safe than sorry.