No Longer Freedom

10. Red liquid.

Tom's POV

"Man, I'm so tired." I groaned and smashed my head to the table. "Jeez, Drama queen, take it easy." Paul took a sip from his creepy looking cup. "It was your fault, you wanted to use the bath for some reason when I tried to sleep. Who even bathes in the middle of the night?" I pointed out while raising my gaze to him. "You?" Paul chuckled while reminding me how I actually washed myself a few hours before Paul did. "ugh, whatever." I rolled my coal eyes as I tightened the fluffy belt around my waist. Patryk kindly lent me his deep red coat and wool socks when I was on my way to move to the couch last night. He said that I could use them until this man infront of me would be ready with his project, whatever it would mean then.

"Are you hungry? We should have some dried pork and water. Tord said we should feed you often." Paul's throaty voice asked. "I will tell you when I'm hungry." I answered shortly. "Why so quiet?" He left his other eyebrow up as he placed down his now empty cup. "I'm bored." I tapped my index finger nail against the wooden table. "You explored our house so figure something out." "Well unfortunately I don't know what to do. That's the issue." Massaging the bridge of my nose I shut my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. "Well then if you want something to do I can teach you how to read till Patryk comes back." He shrugged as he stood up. "Where's Patryk anyways?" I haven't seen him since he lend his bathrobe to me and I went to sleep. "He left early in the morning. I guess he has a shift or something like that." Paul explained. "You don't work together?" I was quite surprised that Patryk was working without Paul. Weren't they supposed to be working partners as well? "Sometimes we work separately so we can convince people that we can work on our own. It's part of our tactic." He clarified while he carried some dirty dishes to the kitchen. "That's a smart move" I nodded and turned my head towards the cracked window.

The chilly foggy air hugged tightly the naked trees while the sun blessed us with its light. The sunbeams strained through the warmly colored leafs as the weak wind danced some of them to the ground among the other fallen ones. Sleeping plants surrounded the quiet town that couldn't stay silent. Buildings around us were still as spooky and dreary as they were in the night. Moss covering the rotten and wet blanks and the dead stones screamed neglect. The soldiers marched past the cottages while their weapons clanked subduedly against their armor. People that were on their free time focused on their tasks like cleaning windows and yard maintenance. Everything was peaceful but for some unknown reason I still felt a pressure against my chest.

I placed my hand against the small and cold window and let out a languor sigh. "What's your kingdom's name?" I turned my head towards Paul who was washing the dishes in the back of the kitchen. He looked at me quickly over his shoulder with his tired looking eyes. Bags under his eyes he answered. "It's the Kingdom Of The Lost Ones aka KOTLO. The forest that is surrounding us is actually called "The forest of Erased ones", or so we call it and the ocean below the cliff is called "The bath of the sirens.""

"Suits this Kingdom." I agreed. "I'm done with these dishes, so if you want to learn how to read I can teach you now." Paul turned towards me and pulled his black sleeves back down covering his hairy arms. "If it's necessary." I commented. Paul only nodded and walked behind the corner. When he came back he had a brown piece of paper and a coal stick with him. "Let's start with these. I will write an alphabet for you and we are going to say it together." Paul clarified as he drew a circle to the paper. "That's O." He explained as he moved his gaze to me. "Looks like a circle." I noted and rolled my eyes. "I know, now say O." He sighed. "I know how to talk. I just can't read or write." I complained as Paul shut his eyelids tightly together. "No shit, But you can read if you memorize all the alphabets." Paul explained with an irritated tone. I felt like a total idiot for not understanding that. "Ooou" I mumbled to myself. "There, it was not so hard." Paul rubbed my shoulder and drew another sign. Without even noticing I managed to say the letter right. A huge feeling of success reached my heart and pushed me. It gave me motivation, joy and a feeling that I was getting smarter little by little.