No Longer Freedom

7. Welcome to the team!

Tom's POV

This was the first time when I really saw the town properly. As we walked around the town, wet dark brown mud under our feet squelched. I saw the stone barriers that separated abandoned looking buildings from each other. How some sort of ropes that hung between each structure, had a few wet pieces of fabric on top of them. In the middle of the town was a little wooden platform. I have seen those in most of the towns when I have flown over them but this one, it was not just a platform. In the middle of the platform, there was a raw wooden log pointing towards the sky. From the log there was another log attached to it, but that one was a lot shorter than that one that pointed towards heaven. From the smaller log was hanging a strong and painful looking rope that was tied to a loop. Finally, under the rope stood a little lonely wooden box. Strange... Why is that platform so much different from others?

"Here we are!" Tord shouted as he started to smash the door aggressively. "Patryk, you fucking sleepy head! Open the door!" He continued. "Tord, calm down. What is wrong with you?! Let him sleep, jeez. I have the key." Paul pushed him to the side and started to open the door carefully. "Oh, shut it. We have to get him inside." Tord snapped as he pointed at me. "I have a name." I noted with a flat tone in my voice. To be honest, I didn't really care at this point where they would dump me. I was tired of this pointless arguing, from this night.

"Stop whining." Tord mumbled as he dragged me into the house. Surprisingly, the house was actually pretty cozy and warm. Nothing like I would have imagined. I thought he would lock me into the dim and damp cell or something like that room where I first was. It was the worst. "I'm awake... I woke up when you left outside." A tall slim man corrected his posture as he tightened a fluffy belt around his waist. His long deep red coat which reached from his always covered neck to his bruised knees and his fluffy brown wool socks softened his footsteps as he walked closer to us. "Sorry Pat." Paul crossed his arms after he threw his cigarette to the small glass jar on the light birch floor among the other burned ones. "Did you have a bad dream?" The other familiar looking man asked with a caring tone in his morning voice. "We can talk about it later when we don't have any visitors." Paul coughed as he tilted his head towards me and impatient looking Tord. "No hurry pal, go ahead and you know what, even make out. He can wait." Tord hummed sarcastically as he pointed at me with his thumb. "Don't talk nonsense!" Paul and Patryk jolted together. It was kind of funny how they were so in sync. They must have been friends for a long time.

I smiled a bit to myself as I watched how they both started to panic. Paul coughed uncontrollably and took a few steps back while Patryk laughed nervously as he waved his hands in front of him. "Sorry! Tell me what's the thing. I assume he is The Midnight Pearl. Am I right?" Patryk smiled and took a few steps towards me. I growled at him, just to test his reactions. If he is scared of me, I know he won't possibly hurt me as much as Tord would, what a bitch he is.

Like I thought Patryk backed up and raised his hands. That only meant he respected my personal space. Maybe he is not that bad after all.

"Sorry, didn't mean to annoy the precious one." He chuckled nervously. "Yeah he's a feisty one. But don't worry, you will get used to it." Tord hummed as he crossed his arms. "Anyways, do you guys mind if I dump him here for a few days? Let's say that we have some dishonest ones among us. Tom accidentally managed to kill a spy a few hours ago." He explained. "SPIES!?" Patryk jolted up with a gasp escaping from his mouth. He looked at me with a proud and warm expression on his face. It was so weird. Why did they always look at me like that when Tord explained the situation we had? It made me feel things I didn't want to feel. After all, they were bad people more or less.

"Yes, we have traitors living with us." Tord spat. He bit his lower lip, causing it to bleed while he raised his glare. "I need to...interview a few people." He continued with a dark expression on his face. Something about his voice disturbed me, but I couldn't tell what it was. He wasn't screaming, no. It was like pressure or maliciousness, something like that.