Respite

Back to today...

'So, he is a mundane?'

Casper contemplated as he gave Jean a sidelong glance.

"It is the magic power that is used to protect this place from intruders."

Immediately Jean heard this, the memories about the mysterious spot at their home flashed before his eyes as he struggled to suppress the tension that had descended upon him.

'It seems like what I feared is about to happen.'

Remembering how his mom kept warning him against sharing information about the mysterious spot to strangers made him feel nervous. Although he was sure of not sharing such information with anyone before, he still found it hard to dismiss the possibilities of his kidnap being associated with such information.

What made him doubt such possibilities was the fact that the kidnappers were able to access the city. And since powerful individuals were banned from entering the city without the government's consent, he had a doubt if the kidnappers were the powerful individuals.

When he remembered them carrying a gun, he finally felt assured that the kidnappers were no different from him, as they were mundanes, just like him.

But now sitting besides him, is someone that seems to know something about magic powers. Some years back, he wished to meet such a guy that was familiar with such things, but since his mother warned him about talking about the matter at hand, he was feeling restless and nervous at the thought of this.

As if reading his mood, Casper decided to divert the topic.

"How are you feeling today?"

Giving Casper a sidelong glance, Jean lingered.

"I think I am better. "

"You think, you aren't even sure?"

Casper asked in an even tone.

With a smirk, Jean furrowed his brows.

"Okay, I am better. Does that sound convincing to you?"

With a frown, Casper stared at Jean before letting out a snort.

"So, what are your plans of the day?"

Casper asked in a friendly tone.

"I would say rest. Unless if you have a better suggestion for me."

"I don't think I have a different suggestion for you. It is better you take a rest in case you are still tired. But if you get bored, you can just walk out and join me at the fire place for a chat. We need to know each other better. "

With that Casper got to his feet and without further hesitations, he walked out of the house through the main door.

It was not like Jean was tired for him to come up with a suggestion of having a rest. It was only because he didn't have any better suggestion at hand.

He also felt like it was necessary for the two of them to get to knew each other, but since he didn't know Casper's own plans of the day, he found it unnecessary to come up with such suggestion.

And now that Casper had come up with the same suggestion, it now became clear that the guy was around for the time being.

'Who is that dumb to leave a stranger in his house before knowing him better? What if the stranger decides to set the house ablaze and disappear?'

Jean thought to himself as he grinned darkly.

Although he was enjoying Casper's company, he was still finding it difficult to adapt staying in the forest.

First of all, the surroundings were extremely cold and secondly, the area was too quiet to drive someone insane incase he stays alone in the area for too long.

'How was this maniac able to cling to his sanity by staying in such an eerie place? What if he has already lost his...'

Barring his teeth, Jean found it difficult to complete his next thought because it was the worst thing he could wish for, considering the condition he was in.

Since he had already told Casper that he would rest, he decided to go back in the bedroom and at least have a nap as he tried to figure out his next move. He knew the importance of being a step ahead. This was one of the tactic that played a key role in his escape from the hands of the kidnappers.

Inhaling deeply to confirm if the chest pains were still there, Jean slowly got to his feet. When he noticed the dwindling pain in his chest, he smiled in satisfaction.

'How can a mad person be this great in herbal medicine. Maybe he has his own pastime routines. Did I just say maybe? I think I am wrong. The guy has his way of passing time since he is sane. Unless he is not human...'

Jean almost flinched at the thought of this but immediately composed himself. Staggering towards the bedroom, Jean had one question in mind.

'Why did he avoid the topic about magic powers as soon as he introduced it? There must be a reason to why he did that. I hope that it is nothing bad that could result to my sufferings. I have already suffered enough in the hands of those idiots. At least I need a break from this.

Entering the room, Jean stopped in his tracks and scanned the room for a moment. As he was busy studying the room, his sight caught something familiar to him. On top of the small drawer that stood beside the bed there laid a cellphone.

Lingering for a moment, Jean approached the drawer with a measured gait as he locked his eyes on the cellphone. As soon as he got there, a wave of realization struck him as his eyes widened in bewilderment.

'It is the phone!'

Lying on top of the drawer was the cellphone that Jean took from Marr. Since he lost his consciousness and found himself in the hands of Casper, he had thought that he had lost the cellphone since he remembered dropping it in the process of struggling to reach the forest. So, he had believed to have lost the cellphone and that's why he didn't bother asking Casper about it the moment he woke up.

Just at that moment, he recalled what Casper had promised him a while ago.

'How could I forget such an important thing?'

Jean cursed inwardly.

The thought of him asking Casper his cellphone to communicate with his mom had escaped his mind. And this was something that was very important to him, he didn't want to waste any time.

Without a second thought, Jean quickly grabbed the cellphone from the drawer and immediately pressed down the power button.

After trying the same thing several time without any potent result, Jean return the cellphone on the drawer in annoyance.

'I thought that he had charged it for me.'

At this point, all Jean was thinking was communicating with his mother, nothing else. Just as he was still struggling with these thoughts, his mood darkened as a scowl formed on his reddened face.

'I am lucky the phone didn't power on, else I could have landed myself and Casper in trouble. '

Jean had just remembered that there were some possibilities for Marr's family and accomplices tracking his cellphone. And if he could have mistakenly powered on the cellphone from his current location, he could be tracked down by Marr's accomplices. He was lucky that the cellphone was still dead by the time he was trying to put it on.

With that thought in mind, Jean immediately found it important to go and borrow Casper his own cellphone in order for him to talk to his mom. Since he knew very well that she must be worried of him because he didn't spent a night at their home, he found it important to communicate to her as early as possible in order to clear her worries.

Staggering out of the room and heading towards the main door, Jean sighed.

The moment Jean walked out of the house and entered the veranda, he directed his gaze towards the fire place that stood at a distant in the forest.

The moment he walked out of the veranda and had a clear view of the place, his breathing became somewhat enraged.

Casper was nowhere in the vicinity.

Steeling his mind, Jean decided to ignore what his eyes were telling him and approached the place in a hastened gait.

The moment he got there and confirmed that Casper was not at the place, he immediately grew restless. In the next moment, he was scanning the premises to see if he could at least get a hint of the guy around the area.

Although there was some signs that the guy was in the area since there was a heap of firewood closer to the fireplace. But still, the guy missing in the area startled Jean to some extent.

The reason to why he looked disturbed, was not because he missed the chance to communicate with his mom, but it was because he didn't know how safe the place was despite Casper assuring him about the safety of the place some moments ago.

He didn't know what to expect from the area and he had not had a chance to know Casper better for him to confirm if the guy truly didn't have any ill intentions towards him.

The fact that Casper took him and tended to him without knowing him made him doubt if the guy didn't have bad intentions towards him.

'He seems too free with me. He has now entrusted his house to me by leaving me here alone yet we barely know each other.'

With that thought in mind, Jean decided to leave the area since he had not noticed the guy within the vicinity.

He felt both dejected and worried.

'Why did he lie to me that I was going to find him at this place after my rest?'

Just as Jean was about to make his first step away from the area, he heard a crackling sound right behind him.

His feet grew numb as he froze in place.

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