Waking Up

Downstairs, in the kitchen.

Serah and Emma were talking to each as they got ready to prepare dinner, when they heard a bone chilling scream.

"AHHHHHHH."

The both of them immediately raised their head and looked at the concrete ceiling above them, where the scream came from and they turned and looked at each other with the same question in their mind.

"I-Isn't that his voice?," Emma asked with a slight shaky voice. The scream gave her a big scare and a very bad feeling.

"Yes, it is and It seems he's in pain," Serah replied as she raised her head and looked at the ceiling again with a worried and anxious expression on her face.

It only took a seconds and she turned and grab Emma hands before dragging her upstairs alongside with her.

"Come, let's go check out what's happening. We won't get an answer if we keep standing there, looking at each other and the ceiling," Serah said, dragging Emma upstairs.

Emma could not react in time and could only be dragged along. She looked at Serah and asked, "Are we going there? what if it's something dangerous?"

"Emma, what do you mean dangerous? What could possibly be dangerous in this house that we have been working in, for almost a week?," Serah replied Emma's question back with a question.

"If it's nothing dangerous, then why did he scream so loudly and why does it sound painful?," Emma couldn't help but ask back.

"It doesn't have to be something dangerous, besides household accidents can happen."

Their loud, hurried footsteps came to a halt when they got to the door of Silas' bedroom. Serah wasted no time as she pushed the door and barged in, still dragging Emma along.

When they got into the room, they saw that it was empty, but what caught their attention was the mist that was in the room. The two of them walked slowly deeper into the room.

Slowly, they walked deeper into the room and got to the bathroom's door, where they saw a small empty bottle on the floor and the door of the bathroom wide open with steam pouring out the bathroom through the open door like someone poured hot water on dried ice.

Seeing this, Serah anxiously rushed into the bathroom and Emma followed along.

Inside the bathroom was filled with so much steam that it affected their visibility.

"What's with this steam?," Emma asked as she waved her hands to clear the steam in front of her to increase her visibility.

Serah did not reply to Emma's question as she also waved her hand, clearing the steam and moving deeper into the bathroom.

It took them some time for their vision to finally get used to the steam around them and they were now able to make out a view of the bathroom vaguely, and there, they saw a hand sticking out of the bathtub, unmoving.

"MR SILAS!" Serah screamed and ran towards the bathtub.

When she got to the bathtub, she saw an unconscious Silas lying in a bathtub filled with hot black liquid. She didn't know whether to call it black water or liquid as it looked somewhat like a lotion. She saw that his body and his clothes were also soaked in the same black liquid.

She became more anxious when she saw this, she could not understand how such a thing got into the bathtub but she felt that it might be the reason for him being unconscious.

She reached out her hands and grabbed the hand that was sticking out of the bathtub to check his pulse.

She placed two of her fingers on his radial artery in his wrist. After feeling the steady beating pulse, she saw his heartbeat was normal and let out a relief.

She was able to do this because of her knowledge in first aid but still, anyone could be able to do it as all it takes is a little bit of knowledge and observation.

Serah was happy and relieved when she felt Silas pulse meaning that he was alive and only unconscious. She had really feared for the worst but fortunately her fear were unfounded.

She started taking off his shirt as she called out to Emma, "Hey Emma, come help me out here."

Emma, who was still standing behind her, heard this and walked towards Serah.

"Where did this black water come from?" She asked when she got to where Serah was and saw the figure of the unconscious Silas and the bathtub filled with black water.

"Stop asking stupid questions with no possibly no answers to them and help me out here.

Drain out the water from the bathtub and fill it up again."

Emma decided to kept quiet as she pressed a dial near the overflow cover to drain the bathtub. After she pressed the dial, the water in the bathtub started reducing until it drained completely and what was left was a black substance that stuck to the bottom and body of the bathtub and some was in some part of Silas body.

"Start filling it up immediately, his body is dirty and we need to clean it up," Serah said to Emma. She was already done with taking off Silas shirt and now contemplating whether to take off his pants and underwear.

The moment of contemplation only lasted briefly as she swiftly reached out her hands and started taking off Silas pants.

Emma saw Serah action and opened her eyes wide. She also saw the black substance on Serah's hands and she wanted to ask if the black substance was harmful or not, but she decided to keep quiet.

Knowing her friend, she knew all that she would receive in response is a cold silence.

She turned her attention and dialed the button again and the bathtub started filling up back with water.

Serah was done taking off Silas pants and left him with only his underwear as she waited for the bathtub to get filled up back with water.

"Emma, get me a disposable refuse bag for these clothes."

"These clothes are made by top luxury brands, are we really going to throw it away?"

"What else do you think we should do with it? They are already completely covered in this black substance which makes them unwearable again even after washing."

"Fine, I will go get the disposable refuse bag," Emma said and left the bathroom.

When Emma left the bathroom, Serah saw that the bathtub was almost filled with water. She grabbed the bathing products on the bathtub and started adding them to the water.

After that, she grabbed the sponge and lathered it, and started lightly scrubbing Silas body. She first started with his face and started going down his chest.

As she scrubbed his body, she could see that his body was becoming clearer and fairer. The color of his skin was improving and Serah could not help but think that it now looks way better than before.

If Silas' face before has some semblance to someone that has gone through the rough path of life, then his face now looks like that of a prince from one of those fairytale stories.

Serah kept on scrubbing his body but she avoid the region from his waist to where his boxer ended as she felt uncomfortable going to that region.

Emma returned with the item just when Serah was about to finish with cleaning Silas up.

Seeing Emma, Serah immediately rounded up what she was doing and told Emma to drain and refill the bathtub with water again as she collected the bag from her and started putting the dirty clothes into it.

Serah knew that Emma would not agree to touch the clothes if she told her to put them into the bag, so she decided to do it herself.

Throughout the whole time, Serah and Emma's head was filled with questions but they could only keep it to themselves as there was no one to give them an answer.

Even if there was, Serah decided she won't ask but wait until Silas decides to give them an answer. Serah has a saying that she usually says to herself.

A saying that goes: "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask and don't care about what you shouldn't care about. Keep your curiosity in check"

Emma continue to drain and refill the bathtub with water everytime and each time the bathtub was refilled, Serah would scrub and clean Silas body.

After multiple intervals, the girls could finally relax as Silas now look very clean and now completely devoid of the black substance, the same goes for the bathtub.

"Emma, why don't you go and prepare something for him to eat? He might be hungry when he wakes up. I will stay here to look after him,"

"Ok," Emma replied and left for the kitchen to prepare dinner.

After Emma left, Serah continue looking at Silas sleeping figure and watched his chest move up and down slowly in rhythm with his breath, in slight admiration.

Serah continue to admire Silas figure, his slightly ripped chest and abs, his cherry red lips and his handsome face.

Serah felt that she could compare him to the most famous South Korean Actor.

Time passed slowly in silence throughout the villa. The villa was usually silent but this one in particular was more noticeable and somewhat heavy.

*****

No one knew what time it was when Silas finally came to and opened his eyes.

He looked around him and saw that he was still in the bathtub with some difference being that he was stripped down only to his underwear and he was no longer feeling that scorching heat in his body.

He turned and looked at Serah who was now asleep with her head resting on the bathtub.

'I feel like I almost died. Phew… I was so stupid and impulsive.'

[Ding!]