The mansion

They were in the living room and with a quick glance, Hero saw finely crafted furnitures, the house was too clean in that he felt that he had defiled it for stepping in with his dirty clothes. There were beautiful chandeliers with Edison bulbs that shone their beautiful light upon the smiling faces of the geezers, an analog watch which displayed an old picture of the geezers when they were still in their youth and a bookshelf.

'So, the old man found his soulmate at last. Anyway, he is rich, which lady wouldn't accept him?' Hero thought after he averted his gaze from the old woman and glanced at the picture on the watch.

In front of the old woman, Hero saw a transparent glass cauldron and an emptied champagne glass but he didn't pay it much heed.

Before he could move closer to greet the old woman, she urged him to place the box on the table beside them. 

Behind Hero, he could clearly hear the old woman's hushed voice.

"You brought in another one? I hope he wouldn't be as stubborn as the other one."

"Son, before you can see grandma and Tracy, I would like to see you in a new look." The old man smiled. He patted Hero's shoulder with a smile but it was at this point that Hero jerked.

One second old man Hutchinson was talking to the old woman and the next he was very close to him. Hero was flabbergasted. Did Hero have a memory lapse? He didn't feel the old man move and the fact that Hero left himself so open, it scared even himself. Why was he not guarded against Hutchinson.

Hero felt like he should just stab the old man's heart with the nail and end it all but something was telling him not to do it. After all, Hutchinson hadn't done anything bad to him.

"Errm... Sorry about that. It's just that I didn't see you move. So, I was scared." Hero said with an awkward look plastered on his face.

"There is no need to apologise son, you haven't done anything wrong. Come, let me show you where the bathroom is." Old man Hutchinson walked away and Hero quickly stole a glance at the old woman and he saw that she was drinking a red liquid in silence.

'What is she drinking? Is it blood?' Hero asked himself before he followed behind the old man.

They passed through the corridor which was brightly lit by Edison bulbs and Hero could see several beautiful murals on the wall.

While he followed behind old man Hutchinson, Hero kept thinking as to who exactly was old man Hutchinson. He had never heard of him. What was his aim? Did he have good intentions? What did the old woman mean when she said that you brought in another one? Who was the other person that was brought in before Hero and where was that person? Or was Hero overthinking things? Maybe old man Hutchinson was just magnanimous, right?

After several turns, old man Hutchinson came to a halt and stared at Hero.

"This will be your bathroom from now on and the room beside it is your bedroom. Feel free, relax and enjoy. You are now one of us. Don't be afraid, you will enjoy living with us because we are not that annoying." The old man said with a grin.

Hero stared at the old man with his eyes narrowed into slits. He didn't smile, it was as if he wanted to see through the old man but he couldn't. 

"Thank you old man Hutchinson. It will be my pleasure to accompany you. I might be a bad person now, but I will make sure that I acquire a good character. Please, don't kick me out." Hero finally said with a genuine look of weakness. He held the door to his bathroom and turned to look at the smiling old man for one last time before he walked into the room.

"Son, remember, we humans are just like a fleeting cloud. Your grandmother and I will be waiting for you." Hero could vaguely hear old man Hutchinson's voice.

Upon entering into the bathroom, Hero was astonished. He saw the bathtub, the toilet seat which was a metre away from the bathtub, there was an independent shower room here, a mirror, a change of clothes for him, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a sink just under the mirror and the floor of the room was tiled. Hero had never seen anything like this.

All this was his. Unlike at the slums where they used to share one bathroom with close to ten people, this bathroom was only for his own use. The bathroom at the slums was usually dirty because no one would choose to wash it just for their ungrateful neighbours to use it. Hero would choose not to shower for a month than to shower in such a bathroom where he had to line up for his chance, instead, he would better take a shower in the kitchen of their house when his father was not at home before he cleaned it up.

But now, everything was different. Hero didn't knew how long this bliss will last but he had to cherish this moment.

He walked towards the mirror and took in a deep breath. 

He could see the reflection on the mirror staring at him. His golden hair was disheveled, his shirt was dirty and generally, he looked like a street rat, but this couldn't hide his handsome features. His eyes were green, his body was slightly emaciated and he was almost six feet tall.

Hero turned away from the mirror and glanced at the bathtub which was already filled with warm water.

"I think only girls are the ones who use this stuff." Hero ignored the bathtub and walked towards the shower room.

"These rich people surely know how to enjoy themselves." Hero felt relaxed as warm water rained onto his naked body from all the showers around him. However he didn't ask himself how the bathtub filled itself with water or how the geezers knew his size of clothes that he was supposed to change into even before he appeared to this place.

"This is my new life, what now?" Hero asked with an expressionless face.