13 Where Am I?

Morning. 7am. The sun had just risen over the hills of Country Z. The playful rays of the sun lands gently on the slumbering young man. The warm hue lights up his face, highlighting his cute and subtle features. Ash's eyelids trembled as his eyes slowly opened. As he shuffles his body slightly, his face immediately contorts and forms a grimace.

A sharp pain that paralyses his upper body overcame him for the first time since the interrogation done by the Immortal Bloods Gang. And yet, there was a layer of warmth and softness that was wrapped around his body. Why was that?

Ash winced his eyes as he tries to move his stiff neck around. To his confusion, the young man was no longer in a cell. Rather, he was lying on a soft and warm bed in an extremely large room. The size of the room was equivalent to his living room and his kitchen in his apartment complex. The pain from his back was so bad, coupled with his extremely heavy migraine, Ash did not move anymore.

'Where am I?' Ash thought to himself. He was sure that the torture and failed mission was real. Anything after the whipping was unclear to him. Not knowing what to do, Ash sat in bed and stared at the door that leads outside the room. What awaits him outside that door? The young man did not know.

Eventually, approximately thirty minutes after he had awoken, a lady wearing a maid dress, followed by a bodyguard in a black suit entered the room. Ash's guard was up, but he knew that whatever they would do to him next, he would not be able to retaliate. The human body had its limitations and obviously, Ash had hit his own limits.

"Oh? Good morning, Mr Vicars." The lady in the maid dress smiled warmly as she greeted Ash. Ash was utterly confused by the situation he was in. "Let me help you redress the wounds on your back."

Before Ash could even comprehend what was going on, the bodyguard had already helped Ash up and his shirt had already been taken off. The young man realised that the wounds from yesterday had indeed been bandaged up. And now, he was being treated off his injury.

"I uh.. Where am I?" Ash directed the question to the lady in the maid dress. He would bet his money that the bodyguard was most definitely not there to talk.

"You are in the master's house, Mr Vicars." The lady in the maid dress answered.

"Who is the master of the house?"

"Young master Jovia is the master of the house."

"Jovia? Like Jovia Tabola?! Ah!" The stitched wound on his back opened up again as he reacted too strongly.

"Ah! Mr Vicars you need to calm down for a moment. The stitches would break even more if you keep moving around so vigourously." The bodyguard held Ash firmly while the lady warned him.

Ash stopped resisting as he got his wounds bandaged up again. His head was already spinning from the pain and now, he had just received information on where he was residing. 'Why did the mafia boss invite me back to his house? Was this some kind of sick ploy of his?'

The young man had experienced many tortures first hand and none of them resembled such a setting. 'Was he planning to make me let my guard down and when I least expect it, poison me with the most vile poisons in the world? Or were they going to nurse me back to health before torturing me once again?'

"Mr Vicars. I will be excusing myself out now. Rest in bed for now. I shall bring you breakfast in a moment." After fifteen minutes of careful bandaging, Ash was laid back in bed and the lady and the bodyguard excused themselves out.

The young man could do nothing, but create numerous scenarios in his head. None of which resulted in a good outcome.

As the time went by, the door opens once again. This time, instead of the lady in the maid dress entering, a devilishly handsome man entered the room. Jovia wore a simple black long sleeve shirt and three quarter pants. Compared to his usual look, Jovia wore glasses and his hair wasn't gelled to the side.

He came to the front of the bed and looked straight into Ash's eyes. There wasn't a hint of emotion in Jovia's eyes. Only after getting a good look at the young man, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

Of course, Ash did not know how to reply. Should he say that he was fine after getting whipped multiple times over? Or should he be like 'No! How could I be fine after the shit you put me through?'

Anyhow, Ash did not reply to his question.

"Do you remember what you said to me before you passed out?" Sensing that Ash was not keen in answering, Jovia followed up with another question.

Ash was confused as he tried to think back to that time. It was all a blur and so Ash simply shook his head.

"You said that you would offer your life to me if I did not pry into your university life." Jovia repeated what Ash had said. He then added, "And so, from now on, you belong to me."