Chapter - 2.2

"Now it's time for you to fulfill your promise," The man said as he finally stopped quite a distance from the orphanage building.

"What is it that I need to do?" Alexander also stopped and put his left foot forward, taking a stance, "It better not be anything shady."

The man turned to look at Alexander taking a stance, and smirked, "I told you not to try and go back on your words. You won't be able to handle what will come next."

"I am not going back on my words," Alex said, still not relaxing his stance, "But I won't let a paedophile like you take advantage of neither me nor my sister."

"As if you can sto... Wait... What? Paedophile?" The man was bewildered when he heard Alexander, "What do you mean paedophile? Where did you get the idea from?"

"Why else would you bring me here? To this isolated jungle," Alexander relaxed a bit, seeing the baffled face of the man.

Shaking his head, the man sighed, "Where did you even hear that from?" But stopped Alexander right away, "Wait! Don't tell me. I don't want to hear it."

"... The reason we are here is that we are going to sign a master-slave contract," the man got back to his serious tone of conduct and said.

"A... what? And why do we need to come here for that? I could have signed whatever you want back at the orphanage," Alexander said.

"I want you to follow every command of mine from now on. And you don't believe it is going to be just a sign on paper after you have seen what I can do, do you?" The man said. But there was one thing that puzzled him. He had expected Alexander to be shocked and scared after the unnatural experience he had gone through, but the boy was relatively calm. Much calmer than he had expected.

'Does he know...' The man was just thinking about the possibility when Alexander, after seeing that the man had gone silent spoke.

"Is it going to be like that weird mumbo jumbo you did?" Alexander asked. There was an expression of disbelief and refusal on his face.

'I guess not...' The man was somewhat disappointed.

"Let's not talk about it for now," the man shook his head, "You will eventually learn about it."

And with that, the man pulled out the short stick from earlier.

"Wait a minute... Don't you think you are asking for quite a lot in return for your help?" Alexander asked, "You did nothing, to be honest. You only grabbed us from one place and carried us over to the other. It should not be that hard, is it?"

"If you want to go back on your words, you can," the man said, and it brought a smile to Alexander's face. But it was short-lived after he heard what followed, "But I will make sure there is no place on earth you can call home."

"Fine... But how long are we going to do this?" Alexander asked. The points he made were much more mature than his age. He was trying to cover his bases and strike a better deal with the man.

But the man only smirked hearing Alex and started writing something in the air. As Alexander watched, the bluish-white words came to life in front of him as they floated in the air. It was not English that the man wrote but some gibberish that he had never seen.

Soon, the words danced around in the air and split into two parts, each forming a bluish, disk-like structure.

"Are you confident you won't regret this in the future?" The man asked.

"Do I still have a choice?" The boy asked weakly.

"Not really," the man said as he waved his stick. As it happened, the coiled words in front of the boy sprung towards him and formed a small snake. Before Alex could even try and defend himself, the snake opened his mouth and, with only one fang, bit Alexander on his neck.

"Aahh..." Scared, Alex cried out in pain. It was not a real snake, but the pain was.

"It is alright. It won't hurt you," the man unhurriedly told Alexander.

With his veins popping out of his neck, the snake drank a bit of Alexander's blood, and when it was done, it tried to enter his body through the wound it made on his neck.

Soon, that snake-like being was inside Alexander's body. As it moved down Alexander's body, it left a tingling sensation along the path.

"What is going on?" Alexander asked as he felt itchy below his skin, "What have you done to me?"

"Soon, it will reach your heart," the man said, "After that, it will all be over."

"You tricked me,"

"Now... Now... I did not trick you into anything," the man smirked, "It is even my first time doing this. So let us pray... To whichever God you believe in."

And the man was spot on. Soon, Alexander felt pain erupt in his chest. But because he had gotten used to the pain for a while, he held back from letting out a shrill. Agonizing in pain, Alexander held his chest and fell to his knees.

The pain lasted for about five minutes before Alex's hand dropped, and he looked at the man, exhausted.

"Do you feel anything?" The man took a step forward and tried to confirm.

Angry, Alexander, with what little energy he had left, looked up at the man. But it was evident on his face that he most probably wanted to kill the man.

"Don't," As soon as the man saw that, he cried out in alarm, trying to warn Alexander.

But it was too late. Alexander felt his heart pierced. Something was trying to squeeze his heart.

"Clear your mind. Remove all thoughts about harming me from your head," the man said.

"Huh... As if I could," Alexander said, but he tried his best to do the same. It took some time, but finally, Alexander was able to clear his head.

Panting, Alexander lay on the ground looking up at the sky. He wished he could see some stars today, but it was all cloudy, just like his future.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Without even looking at the man, Alexander asked.

"What we went through was a master-slave contract. Throw everything you have in your mind about maids and servants. And the worst you can think about how the slaves can be treated is your standing in this arrangement," the man explained casually.

"Do you see that snake tattoo on your chest?" The man continued. On hearing the man, Alexander lifted his back with the help of his elbows to look at his chest, and there was indeed a snake tattoo there. Curious, Alexander looked up at the man for an explanation.

"Don't get mistaken about how good it is. There is really a snake coiled around your heart. And if you ever have thoughts about harming me, the pain from just now should be the least of your worries. You might end up dying before you know it, and all that would be left behind would be your grieving sister." The man explained the consequences.

"But don't worry. Soon this feeling of uneasiness will subdue. Well, it is more like you will get accustomed to it. But apart from keeping me out of harm's way, you will not be affected in any other way," the man, further clarified.

"So that's how it is," with a thump, Alexander fell on his back as he relaxed a bit, "I would have appreciated the disclaimer a bit sooner, though."

"You are not afraid?" The man asked. He was surprised by how calm the boy had suddenly gotten. From wanting to kill him to not caring about it anymore. It was a complete one-eighty shift in the mood.

"It would be a lie to say I am not afraid," Alexander took a deep breath and said, "I don't know what I have gotten myself in that spur of the moment. Maybe if I had thought about it more, I could have helped my sister without you." The boy said, "Well, there is nothing to think about anymore. What is bound to happen will eventually happen. No use crying over it."

'I think I have gotten my hands on something decent. He is what? Six-seven? But he will be of great use,' The man could not help but think as he looked at the boy lying in front of him on the ground.

"So..." Alexander turned his face towards the man who was lost in his thoughts, "Should I... Like, call you master or something?"

The man nodded, "For now... That should be the right thing."

"Master, about the orphanage..." Alexander wanted to ask why the man would choose that orphanage, but he was interrupted.

"Don't worry. I will take care of it. From now on, your only job is to get stronger." The man said.

"From getting stronger, you mean to learn that weird thing you were doing?" Alexander also chose not to address the man's connection with the orphanage. And he was still sceptical about the things he saw earlier.

And the man looked at Alexander with a complicated look.

'How should I explain this?'

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