With an aching face and his wrists tied up behind his back he sat in a small cage around an open area.
Surrounding him were small huts, with only one of them bigger than the rest, it was clear they were confident with their hiding spot so there was no reason to question why they'd just keep him out in the open in a cage.
With his legs left unbound it was quite easy to entertain himself, even if it was just a bit of walking it was better than laying around doing nothing.
Before him and all around him were masked men in all sorts of shapes and sizes. The one in front of him was sitting on a wooden beam with great balance. His mask was just a wide smile with shut eyes curving upwards.
He hasn't moved one bit, if anything Mikel began questioning if he's even breathing.
They were constantly facing each other. He took note that if he wanted to he could grab the man though the bars, but something else was going through his head.
—
"The original owner huh?" Mikel scratched his chin while sitting on the roof of an old home.
"Yes sir!" A man grinned at him.
"You seem rather chipper for someone who starved to death. What's your name, Arlon right?"
Arlon's face lit up even more brightly than before but he couldn't get closer to the other man.
"You remember!!"
Mikel could only nod while the other man began kicking his feet.
"I'm just so excited, I finally get to talk with you!! I thought I could speak with you in your dreams but… You were busy dreaming."
"What am I doing now?" Mikel raised his eyebrow.
"Unconscious!" Arlon beamed.
"Just like that?" "Yes sir!"
He let out a defeated sigh and rested his head on his hands.
"What did you wanna talk about then?" Mikel questioned with an expressionless look.
"The man I slept with ofcourse!!" Arlon exclaimed with a smile and the thief's jaw dropped.
"THAT WAS YOU!?"
"Yes! That's why your bounty is so high!!" Arlon seemed so proud of his little bounty that he barely took note of Mikel's reaction.
"I wanted to help you with who to avoid.. He may come back to get you once you're in jail! But he won't come immediately, he's always been busy."
"Not busy enough to hold back his libido…" Mikel muttered.
"What?"
"Nevermind, go on."
"He did say he wanted to change careers to have more time for me, but by then I was already determined to leave him." Arlon explained while waving his hand.
"Why break up?" Mikel leaned closer, clearly interested.
"I… I can't say.." Arlon confessed nervously.
"I won't judge." The thief reassured but he only shook his head.
—
I wonder what the reason was..
Mikel was staring off into the distance when he saw another masked man approach with a letter.
"Can you understand this?" He asked the masked man who was watching the cage attentively.
He turned his head with a snap, snatching the paper and scanning through it.
Mikel curiously tried to read What's on the paper through the light but he couldn't.
The man wearing the bland mask shook his head and returned the paper.
"Seriously? Not even you?" The other shook his head in frustration.
"I could." Mike cut through. Both men turned to him but decided to ignore him.
"I guess they don't wanna know what's on the paper." Mikel shrugged to himself casually and leaned against the bars behind him.
He perked up once and saw the man flip over the sheet only for his face to turn pale.
Although the contents were something to laugh at, the way it was written was not.
It wasn't code, it was French!!
He quickly avoided eye contact, fully aware that he didn't mask his facial expression fast enough.
"I can't read it."
"BULLSHIT!" The man banged the bars, bending them inward while the one who had been watching the prisoner attentively quickly pulled him back.
"What does it say." He demanded but Mikel wouldn't budge.
Instead his expression turned timid. "I'm just a thief.." He responded barely above a whisper, changing the atmosphere entirely.
He wasn't gonna make the letter seem suspicious since it could be one of his comrades writing this, but it could help him get out of the cage a few times.
"Report that it's something to be suspicious of." The other man sent the other off and pounced back on his little seat.
After some observation it was clear that he was watching the cage because the bars had gaps big enough to possibly squeeze through so they wouldn't risk an escape.
Smart.. But not smart enough.
Mikel recalled the letter for a second. Since it was talking about simple hi's and hello's it must've been a first letter, but they talked about pregnancy..
He stopped his train of thought once a migraine began setting in. It was as if each time he tried to recall something he'd start getting whiplash.
Two faint names in the back of his head he couldn't ever bring close enough to recall.
"When do you guys plan on giving me away?" Mikel asked, not expecting an answer.
"Soon."
Vague.. Not enough.
"Would you let me take walks?"
"Is the cage not enough?" The masked man scoffed.
"Come on.." He got up, walking closer to the man without getting too close to the bars.
"I can tell you guys about the letter." That offer caught the man's attention. But instead of answering he walked off but Mikel couldn't try escaping. There were eyes everywhere.
Deciding to just act quiet he sat down in the middle of the cage and stayed put. Not like he had to go anywhere.
After what felt like forever the man returned and unlocked the cage door.
"Hm?" Mikel was about to get up but instead he was grabbed and thrown over the man's shoulder like a sack.
My ribs…
Mikel groaned internally while he was being carried off into the largest hut.
The wooden floor was creaking beneath the man's weight, growing a layer of uncertainty in Mikel's heart.
When finally thrown onto the floor with a loud thud his body ached, but when he rolled to his side he saw a creature with its back turned. Sitting on the floor, hair sprawled everywhere, covering his entire body and head.
It was like a silky smooth veil that left nothing to the imagination nor eyes.
It's a bit scary..
When the creature before him moved, Mikel realised he was facing him the entire time. Startled, he looked back at the man behind him.
"You wanted to negotiate right? I'll leave you to it." With a mocking tune he walked off slamming the sliding door behind him.
Its hair was occasionally twitching with candles burning at the very corners of the room.
Mikel really couldn't say anything. He tried to play it cool but the being before him felt like an entirely different entity.
It felt like they were both waiting for the other to speak first and the thief finally took the bait.
"Hello." Mikel greeted but that thing didn't budge. He was much larger in size compared to him but the worst part was being unable to tell anything about him outside of his hair.
He grew frustrated but kept his demeanor calm. He took a deep breath and sat up properly.
"I wish to be handed over for my bounty." Mikel confessed. "It's a large sum so giving me away benefits both your allies and I."
No response.
"Hello?" Mikel reached out when suddenly he realised something.
Untied?
When he turned to check he saw long lines of hair swallow the rope that was used to tie his wrists.
When did he…
Before Mikel could question it, his eyes widened when he realised the snake-like hair already was surrounding him.
Shit!
He tried to get up and step away but his legs were already tied to the ground by the ropes of hair.
IS EVERYONE IN THIS WORLD A TOUCHY WEIRDO!!!!
Mikel cursed in his heart yet the hairs were already pulling him closer bit by bit towards the large cocoon.
Another lover I should know about!? Huh!? Arlon!
Cursing in his head he was body to body with the creature. Mikel placed his hands on the thing's shoulders that were barely poking out.
His body tensed for a second before relaxing. Instead of acting shy and timid he decided to be straightforward with this being.
"Is this any position for us to be in?" He glared, his eyes carrying a large amount of hostility.
The creature was taken aback, this was nothing like how the thief, and the world described him.
Deciding to take a more forceful approach Mikel dug his Nails into the Monsters shoulders moving himself till their faces were mere strands apart.
"Do you feel lonely? Little monster." Mikel smiled, his eyes filled with a look of disgust.
Monster, he was a monster in the thief's eyes. Not until he proved himself to be something else.
Maybe monster wasn't the right word, the man was cunning, to read the atmosphere and act on it. If he wanted Mikel close, why not let him?
"You don't speak a lot do you… The men I met were all of few words, is everyone like this?" Mikel twirled a strand of the man's hair between his fingers.
Its silkyness was almost unnatural, it definitely was an ability.
Since the beginning of his run he's been chased from man to man, animal to animal, and now from monster to monster.
"If only I could look into your eyes as intensely as you look into mine." Mikel sighed, dropping a strand of black before leaning away.
The creature hurried in pulling him back up to his chest out of the curtain of Hairs a hand extended, it was thin and pale its finger tips were stained black.
"You poor thing.." Mikel commented while taking the creature's wrist. "Does it hurt?"
A false emotion of care emerged, his eyes softening and his touch suddenly as gentle as his smile.
Maybe I won't have to go to prison after all, I'll just walk away from here. If he feels the need to get this close, then surely there is a reason.
Mikel released the thing's wrist, its shaky hand reached up to caress the smaller man's cheek.
Frail, he looked Frail to it.
Without much thought Mikel moved his face to lean into the creature's hand, its fingers were ice cold, the nails sharp grazing his skin ever so slightly.
"You have a lovely accent…" With a chuckle it traced the curves of Mikel's pale lips.
Accent?
"Accent?" Mikel raised his hand to his lips confused, what accent? Has he had an accent this entire time?
"Otherworlder.. Have you served your punishment yet?"
Mikel's eyes shot wide open, beginning to kick and punch to get away. When just for a second the creature let go it was no use when its hairs tied his legs together.
His attempts were futile.
"Should I punish you instead, is that why your path has led you here."
Otherworlder?
"Let go of me!" Mikel cursed while the creature's body loomed closed strands moving aside to reveal a pair of white eyes.
"Tell me!" It hissed
"I AINT GOT NOTHING TO TELL YOU!" With his nails digging into the ground he attempted pulling himself with his arms even if his legs wouldn't move, but that was just a faraway dream.
"TELL ME WHERE LYNN IS!"
"I DON'T KNOW HER!" Mikel turned, his eyes meeting the whites of the other.
Tension sparked between the two, the candles flames dimming with the atmosphere of the room.
"Tell me…" The creature leaned over Mikel, his body shaking from its own weight. "How did you.. How did you get here?"
His eyes flashed with an eerie glow, creeping all the way down his throat giving it a tight squeeze.
"I don't remember." His voice got forced out.
A Spell? An ability?
The creature's body twitched. "TELL ME!"
"I don't remember." The other weakly repeated.
The room was silent, the man's bones cracking as his body shifted back and forth. Strands of hair tightening and loosening a mess of strands shifting and moving as they please.
"Why can't you remember?" The man's voice came out in a quiver, his hair covering his white glow.
"I don't know." A frustrating response.
"WHAT DO YOU KNOW THEN!!!" He snapped.
"I'm missing my pieces, and I can't stop looking for them."
The hair all around the room twitched in curiosity. "What are your pieces?"
"My reason." Mikel responded, his head turning back to the floor.
"Why do you wanna go to prison!"
"BECAUSE I'M CONFIDENT I CAN BREAK OUT OF PRISON."
His eyes twitched when he turned around he saw two glowing lights stare right at him.
"Confident?" He repeated to himself his bangs covering his eyes once more.
"How about I ask you a question." Mikel glared.
"Ask…" The creature sizzled.
"how did you know?"
The room fell silent and the candles blew out drowning the room in darkness. The hairs around Mikel's legs retreated giving him the room to get back up.
"I will let you know once you tell me about the things I asked you." A small candle lit up in the middle of the room. Its dim light barely reached the walls showing Mikel that he was left alone.
"You wanna go to jail, to be trapped, once you escape, you go where?" A voice all around him questioned.
Mikel didn't feel an urge to talk so they must have lifted the spell, or maybe they don't expect an answer anymore.
"I don't know." Mikel responded with a grin.
"How cruel."
"Where did you get the letter from?" The human immediately questioned.
Silence filled the room once more.
"I don't know. I hope you can help me remember."
Ah. I get it.
"So I am 'free' to go?" Mikel scoffed.
"I hope you find even more discomfort in your next cage than you have in this one." The voice echoed back.
Mikel turned his heel, silent steps leading out the sliding door. Seeing that no one was guarding it he made his way back down the hall.