The first thing Niel noticed was the sound of birds singing what he thought was rather loud. A groaned escaped from his lips as his brow furrowed. A headache was killing him. Never had he felt such pain.
Slowly Niel sat up, expecting to be met by nature, by the same place where he fell down only to be surprised he wasn't there anymore. He was laying down on bed with what he thought were the softest sheets he had ever felt. Turning his head Niel saw where the sound of loud chirping came from. The balcony door stood wide up and on the railing of said balcony was a blackbird singing his love song.
It was then he came to the realisation he wasn't home, nor in a hospital. Niel was in the home of some stranger. The pain booming from his head was soon forgotten as he sprung out of the bed.
Maybe the pain in his head was gone, but the second Niel set foot on the hard wooden floors of the room a sharp pain shot through his ankle right up his leg. Leaving him screaming loudly as it was so unexpected.
A normal person would curse out loud, but not Niel. No. Camilla brought her children up learning that cursing was just as a great sin as stealing, hurting others and adultery. So when Niel screamed, he yelled different fruits in a sentence.
"Grape, orange, lemon, ah!"
Quickly Niel settled himself on the bed again, avoiding putting weight on his bad leg. Once seated he inspected his injury. When Niel fell his ankle got twisted, not so badly that he fractured it, but badly enough that his ankle had now various colors of the rainbow painted on his skin. Also it had swollen up like that blue girl in Charlie and the Chocolate factory.
Niel groaned as he had no idea how he would get home now.
His yelling had alarmed the residents of the building he was located at. Soon Niel could hear footsteps nearing the main door of the luxurious bedroom. It was quite spacious, he had noticed just then.
When the door opened Niel's breath hitched. Should he trust this person? Would this person mean any harm to him? Where had this certain person brought him? Was he close to home? Or was this person way more dangerous than he thought? Should he get an item that could function as a weapon? Questions swarmed in the boy's mind.
Walking in was a tall muscular man. Close to Niel's own physic but just slighty more. He had ginger hair and a small beard was forming on his jawline. Only by appearance this guy should intimidate Niel, but the calm words leaving this guys mouth threw Niel off. Lowering his guard by just a bit.
"Ah I see you are awake. How are you feeling?" The tall guy seemed so relaxed, like it was any other day that someone harmed ley in his house.
Niel could only look at him in confusion and slight fear.
"Oh right, shit. I am sorry. Didn't think how this would come across, but – uh... No need to be afraid." The ginger said with his hand held up as if he had surrendered himself. "We are just some people living away from town and we found you at the lake, well actually our a- uhm... our boss did. But hey – you are safe and sound." The guy rambled on.
"Anyway, do you think you can stand on that leg?" Niel didn't answer the man with words, rather more with actions. He stood up and tried to put his weight on his foot slowly but surely. As he had trouble with finding balance, the ginger tried to help him.
"Need some help with that?" The guy had asked as he was about to reach for Niels hand. Luckily for the teenage boy he quickly withdrew his hand before unwanted skin contact was made.
"Alright, take your time." The ginger said slowly, trying not to be offended by Niel.
When Niel found a comfortable amount of weight on his foot he slowly tried to walk forwards, which didn't go as smoothly as he would have liked, but good enough to move around.
"You good?"
"Yeah." Niel quietly replied.
"My man!" The ginger said hyped up. "Alright I will bring you to the al- no I mean boss, yes boss. He wanted to speak to you."
Niel grew wary of the fact someone wanted to speak to him. The only thing he wanted was to leave this weird place, and to leave this weird guy as he wasn't used to this kind of hyper energy. Who was this boss the ginger was talking about? Why was there a boss here in the first place? Was this person some kind of mayor? Was this cult? These questions and more swarmed through the young boys mind.
It took them some time to reach the office as the building where the bedroom was located Niel found himself in was way bigger than he expected.
When they finally reached their destination the ginger knocked on the big mahogany doors. The type of double wooden doors you saw in big mansions or in posh school where the doors would lead you to the principal's office.
The men heard a small 'come in' and the ginger opened the door for Niel to enter but the other guy stayed put in the hallway. Niel didn't like this. Even though he thought the ginger was too hyper to match his own energy, he was the only one Niel knew who wasn't dangerous.
Once inside a big, classic all wooden work office surrounded him. On both sidewalls were from top to bottom bookshelves full with thick, dusty books. Books that looked like they weren't touched in centuries. At the end of the room were two big windows and in front of them a huge, bulky desk where a man was sitting.
Niel was just standing there awkwardly, not knowing what to say or to do.
When the man looked up he smiled and stood up. This scared Niel. If the guy from before was tall and muscular, what was this guy then? Niel wasn't small in the slightest but this guy with his six foot two. But this guy could easily be close to seven feet tall. And his muscles, they were humongous. Watermelons could be ripped apart with those arms.
Another thing that stood out to Niel was the long black hair. He'd never seen a guy with such long hair that reached just below his broad shoulders. In his town anything that was seen as too feminine for men was shunned. If you are a male you should look like a male.
"Please have seat." The huge guy gestured to the two chairs in front of him, chairs Niel didn't even took notice of as he was thrown of his guard when seeing the big man.
Niel slowly limped through the office, the sound of his dragging foot echoing in the office. He was incredibly apprehensive. Was this normal? Niel thought. Any decent human being would tell a person just after they woke up what had happened, tell them where they are, that they are okay and giving them a lift home. So why was this, why where these men dragging this on?
Niel's guard went right up as he slowly took a seat in the leather chair.
"Well I am glad you are awake and walking. We were not so sure how badly you were injured, but you seem somewhat fine, which was all we could hope for." The big guy spoke professionally.
"So-"
"Why am I here?"
The big guy chuckled and leaned backward into his chair. "I see, straight to the point. Totally understandable seeing the predicament you are in right now." He cleared his voice before he continued. "So what had happened was I took a walk around the lake and found you. Now I could take you to the hospital but that is a bit far away than this small town here. Therefore I took you here, hoping no serious damage was done and now you are here. Almost in full good health."
"Who are you?" Niel did not give this man any peace. He needed answers right away and wanted to get home as fast as possible. Making him more assertive than he normally was, or maybe it was his panicked mind that turned him into a detective who played the bad cop during the interrogation.
"Ah, my apologies. The name is Atlas Adkins." This flustered Niel. The name, it was odd, just like his own. Somehow Niel liked they shared that, that there was something they could bond over... Wait. Why would Niel want to bond over something with some stranger?
The teenage boy shook his head to shake off the weird feeling the big guy, Atlas, gave him the longer he was in his presence.
"Now I think it's fair if I ask you the same."
"What?" Niel questioned. His head snapped right up but afraid to make eye contact. He focused on the big guy's chin.
"Your name?"
"Oh, yeah, Niel... uh Johnson." He didn't know if he should give this strange guy his last name but the big guy did it as well and Niel Johnson was a very generic name.
"Niel? Is that shortened version?" The big guy was taken interest and Niel grew wary of that. Why would he ask such personal questions? Well technically it was just his name, but names were personal. They were like doors to someone's identity. Ugh, Niel hated when he got all philosophical with his thoughts. It would led him to places in his mind he didn't want to wander off to.
Distracted by his own thoughts Niel answered honestly. "Yeah, it's short for Othniel, but I don't like that name..."
"I see, well it's nice to meet you Niel."
That small sentence spread a warmth inside the teenage boy. Nobody, literally, nobody would call him by his nickname during introductions. Even when he insisted. Niel never knew it was out of respect, that the people he first met didn't feel like they had earned to call him by his nickname. Or that they didn't like to call people by their nicknames. Either way this was his first positive experience while saying his name.
"So, Niel, if you want you can stay a bit longer here while your ankle heals. We have the means to accommodate something for you."
Niel quirked up a brow. It wasn't normal to be that welcomed, right? Shivers went down his spine. Something felt off. He moved in his seat and started to fumble with his fingers. It was like the air in the room shifted. At least that is how Niel experienced it. Atlas on the other hand felt never relaxed as he did right then. Like a missing piece in his life had finally settled in his own puzzle and now he was finally complete, ready to live his life to the fullest.
The two men couldn't be more opposite.
"Uhm-uh no, no, uh, no I would like to go home... Please?"
A sad smile settled on Atlas' lips, a smile Niel didn't know what to make of it. He couldn't explain the sadness and that was when he definitely knew he wanted to escape that place as fast as his injured ankle would let him.
"You don't have to ask, of course you can go home." Atlas replied with a small chuckle. "It is quite the walk to town, shall I arrange a car for you?"
Now Niel stood in front of a huge dilemma. If he walked his ankle would worsened and it was also now that it dawned to him his injury would effect his possible soccer career. But going in a strangers car was just as dangerous for his own well being. He had no idea where he was therefore he wouldn't know if the driver would make a wrong turn to drive him to some other weird place.
But then again what was their gain to kidnap Niel? He wasn't a girl, or did they know people who were into guys? Horror filled now his mind. The uncertainties of his situation made him more anxious with the minute.
Atlas noticed the anxiety in the smaller boy in front of him. He tried to make himself smaller in his appearance. The exact opposite he normally did in his daily life. Where he was extremely depended on his more intimidating exterior. Atlas used a calm voice, the kind of voice used to children to slowly explain something bad happened but there was no reason to panic.
"Look, I understand the predicament you are in seems shady, but we mean no harm. We are just a community that likes to live... of the grid, so to say. We have no interest in harming you in any way. So if I were you I would take the offer for a free ride to your house or the local hospital."
This did calm Niel's nerves. Even though some rational thoughts in his mind told him it could all be a trap. His gut feeling told him it was safe.
The words came out hesitant. "Okay... then I think I-I would like the car drive."
Niel didn't only like to be alone but he was also highly independent. Accepting help from others he rather avoided because of the guilt.
"Alright." Atlas stood up, ever so slightly slow to not scare Niel. "If you follow me, I will take you."
"O-okay."
It was another long walk through the building to reach the exit. Atlas had offered to help Niel several times with walking which was declined every time it was offered. Highly independent. Atlas took notice of that rather quick.
Niel was surprised by the exterior of the building he just walked out of. It looked like a giant mansion. So he had walked through a home? Who was this guy that could afford such a family home? But that was not it that blew his mind. Once outside he saw a small town that was integrated with the forest. Big paths, small paths lingered through the trees. You could see they were maintained by the cut off tranches and trees. And along side the paths were small houses where families lived. Niel could see children, teenagers of his own age and adults walking around. Living in a small village as a community it was what Niel expected, to see families. But the thing that stood out was the weird stares from them and mostly their appearances. They were all significantly taller than average humans and they were all either toned or extremely muscled. Even the women and teenagers.
Maybe there was something in their water...?
When he turned further with his body he could see the small village was settled next to the lake. Maybe that is why no one knew of this place, he thought. Because such a big house should get some attention from his own town hadn't it been from all the stories.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Niel turned around and once again he couldn't make eye contact. But answered nevertheless, still distracted by his weird surroundings. "Yeah."
The two men walked to a small parking area where several expensive cars were lined up. Atlas settled on a jeep and opened the door for Niel. The teenage boy was hesitant to enter but knew this was his best option.
When they were driving through the thick forest it was when Atlas asked for directions. "Where should I drop you off?"
"Uhm... just at the edge of the forest that sides against the suburbs. It's close to my home."
'I can also drop you off at your home,' is what Atlas wanted to say. He held his tongue though, knowing Niel would get scared if he made such a offer.
"Okay, then it will be around ten more minutes." Niel nodded his head and kept looking out of the window. The whole time all he wanted was to go home, to be home. It was then in the car he suddenly didn't want to go there. Niel knew what was waiting for him. An angry father. A worried mother. He had seen that it was already close to the start of the evening. Meaning he was away all day which wasn't normal for Niel.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by Atlas. "We are here."
Niel looked around and saw they were indeed at the edge of the forest. They were standing on some sand road. The one everybody in town avoided except for those were into hunting.
"Thank you for everything." Niel said in small voice as he tried to open the door.
"No problem and..." Atlas stopped himself which made Niel turn around. The big guy was contemplating his next words. "It was nice to meet you Niel Johnson."
"Oh y-yeah... nice to meet you too – uh – Atlas Adkins." And with that the teenage boy left the car leaving the big guy with big feelings which left a storm inside of him.
A/N: you can read up to chapter 8 on my Patreon.
Thank you for reading and have a nice day or night!