Casper’s House

At this point, Jean was wondering which right way Caper was referring to. As a result, he opted to inquire about it.

"Please make me understand. What did you mean when you said that you will show me the right way?" 

Casper was somewhat amused by Jean's statement which turned out to be weird to Jean himself.

'What is funny?'

Jean thought to himself as a complicated look surfaced his face.

A moment later, Casper's expression turned serious as he looked at Jean straight in the eyes.

"What I was trying to imply was that; you should give me a chance to tend to your injured body with my medicine, and if you end up recovering, you will come to understand what I am capable of."

Casper explained in a friendly tone before turning his gaze in the direction of the house.

Jean found Casper's words simple to understand and nodded his head with a satisfied look.

Later on, he cleared his throat to grab Casper's attention, which he managed as Casper quickly turned in his direction with a "What is it" look on his face.

Having attained his aim, Jean didn't even waste a second and inquired the moment Casper turned in his direction.

"Are you trying to say that you are willing to treat me?"

Jean asked with a confused look.

"Yes"

Casper said with a nod.

"What if I give you the chance to treat me and I end up not recovering?"

Jean said jokingly.

In response, Casper chuckled and waved a hand dismissively.

"Let me just pretend that I didn't hear anything."

Casper said with an amused face.

When Jean heard this, he let out a chuckle.

"Follow my lead"

Casper said as he started heading in the direction of the house. Instead of Jean following him, he remained at his spot as a series of expressions suddenly flashed across his face.

During this moment, his hands were rummaging through his garments as if searching for something. After walking for a few meters, Casper seemed to have sensed Jean standing in his spot. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Jean.

"Is there anything wrong?"

Casper asked out of confusion.

After lingering for a few moments, Jean asked,

"Where is this place?"

"Oh, that? I thought it was something serious. We are in Milen."

Pausing for a moment…

Jean shuddered from the inside the moment he heard this familiar name being mentioned by Casper.

'So, it is true I am in Milen.'

Jean thought for some moments as he forced himself to maintain a reserved state.

It was not that he was doubting the data he got about his current location from App-Map. But he was only surprised that he was still in the same location, even after Casper moved him from the spot that he collapsed at…

"Why did you ask, is this your first time in this part of the country or what?"

Casper asked with a curious face.

At the same moment, Jean limped forward and approached him. The moment he got to him, he walked a few meters past him and stopped. He then turned back and faced him with a subtle grin surfacing his face.

"Something like that."

Jean answered with a smug.

The moment Casper confirmed to Jean that they were in Milen, the next question that Jean had prepared to ask was the country they were in.

So, the moment he answered Casper, he jumped straight to his most disturbing question.

"I have another question that I would like to ask"

Jean requested out of curiosity.

Just at that moment, Casper walked past him and gestured him to follow.

"Let's get in the house first, it is too cold out here"

Casper said without looking back as he moved in the direction of the house.

On seeing this, Jean felt frustrated but suppressed the feeling from showing on the outside. He really needed this answer, but unfortunately to him, Casper chose to dismiss him.

When he considered Casper's suggestion, he found it as the best option to take because his uncovered feet were freezing from the chilling cold in the forest.

Aside from the question about the country they were in, Jean still had another serious question that he was longing to ask Casper. And that question was about the distance from where they were currently and where Casper found him.

He needed the answer to this question in order for him to have a basis to gauge the chances of the kidnappers getting to him. 

After lingering for a few moments, Jean lunged forward and followed Casper to the house.

As he trailed from behind, a series of questions started running through his mind.

'How many are they in this house? If there's an extra person, will the person be willing to welcome me in? What if he decides to chase me away the following day?'

A couple of minutes later, the two had arrived at the house. This was the moment Jean had a closer look of the house and noticed some features that he couldn't notice from a distance.

The house had wooden walls, that was forged from furnished pieces of timber closely fitted together leaving no fissure or gap between them. The roof was made from grass and the floor in the veranda was strangely wooden just as the surrounding walls of the veranda that barely reached a meter high.

Two lamps hanged on either side of the entrance door. The entrance door was wooden as well, with a wooden doorstep right at the edge of the veranda. In simple terms, the house was eighty percent wooden.

What awed Jean was that each visible piece of wood that was used in constructing the house, was furnished. Although someone could tell that the house was old with just a single glance, the vanish was still noticeable.

The natural patterns under the wood looked extremely attractive in the eyes of Jean.

Being his first time seeing a wooden house, Jean couldn't help but gulp, as his jaw dropped in amazement.

Casper noticing this strange reaction from Jean, he couldn't help but let out a mischievous smile as stepped on the wooden doorstep and entered the veranda with a measured gait.

Jean the followed suit as his gaze darted around the wooden structure.

Suddenly, Casper's voice echoed within the wooden structure, snapping Jean from his reverie in the process.

"Welcome to my humble abord, Jean."

Casper said with a broad smile as he gestured at Jean to step in the house.

In the next moment, the two walked into the house with Casper leading the way.

The moment, Jean stepped in the house, he noticed a lamp hanging on the left wall and another one on the left wall from the entrance. Lowering his gaze to check on the floor he was stepping on, he noticed that the floor, just the veranda one, it was wooden.

Despite it being wooden, the pieces of timber were closely fitted together that they resembled a single wooden table. Nothing could fit between the joints. The floor itself was raised a few meters above the ground.

Just a few meters from the entrance, there was a fancy wooden table surrounded by four wooden armrest chairs. At the opposite wall from the entrance, there was an exit door that was locked. A few meters from the door, there was a book shelf full of books and a small table with some items on it.

The living room was minimalistic in nature, which didn't surprise Jean considering the small size of the house itself.

Raising his head, Jean's gaze shifted to the nearby wall on his left. Right at the middle of the wall, a wooden door opened to a lone room. Although it was currently closed, Jean could easily tell that the was a room behind it.

Shifting his gaze to the right wall, just a few inches on either side of the lamp, there were two framed portraits. To the left of the lamp, it was a portrait of an old man sitting in an armrest wooden chair, while to the right, it was a portrait of a beautiful woman in her late twenties holding a three-year-old kid in her arms. 

'Could those be his family members? And where could they be?'

Jean asked himself a couple of questions in quick succession.

From his deductions, he could easily tell that the people depicted on the portraits were Casper's family members.

The moment he noticed the portraits, he quickly retracted his attention from the portraits and scanned the house.

The moment Casper noticed this weird reaction from Jean, he gulped and remained indifferent as he walked and sat in one of the seats in the living room.

As if understanding Jean's situation, Casper gave him time to study the house before he could welcome him to have a seat.

As Jean scanned the house, he didn't notice any extra soul apart from Casper who was now seated in one of the wooden chairs in the living room.

This realization didn't sink well in Jean's head.

The first thing Jean expected to see the moment he first stepped in the house, was one of Casper's family members, but to his surprise, he didn't meet any.

'Perhaps they are in the room to the left.'

Jean thought to himself as he limped for a few steps before sitting in the seat next to him.

Just at that moment, Casper snorted and stared at the roof.

"Who told you to seat there?"

Casper asked with a deadpan expression.

Almost immediately, Jean struggled to get to his feet, but before he could rise fully, a mocking chuckle resounded in the room.

"How silly! I didn't expect you to take that statement serious"

Casper said as he turned in Jean's direction.

The moment Jean heard this, he let out a frustrated sigh as he collapsed back in the seat.

"I didn't expect that from you either"

Jean said with a frustrated expression.

"If you don't mind, apart from you, who else stays with you in this house?"

Jean asked as he directed his gaze towards the portraits on the wall in front of him.

Suddenly, a grave silence settled in the room like a third person.

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