Hidden In Plain Sight (MxM)✔

Chapter 27 - How Strange

Luke jolted awake. His eyes flew wide and the first thing he noticed was that his vision was obscured.

Turning, he realized someone had tossed a sheet over his body. Confused, he ripped it off and sat up, scratching his head and wondering what he was doing on top of a table.

There was an oddly sweet scent all about him. The room had stone walls and a dirt floor with a few wooden planks to make walking easier. There was a fireplace to his left next to a stone staircase leading up to a trap door. To his right was another door, closed tightly yet emanating a powerful herbal smell.

He wondered where he was and what had happened. The last thing he recalled was pain. Absolute pain. Then Cortez's evil smirk flashed in his mind and Luke glanced down to find that his abdomen was wrapped in bloody gauze. Carefully he peeled the bandages back, curious to see what sort of damage he had suffered. Yet when he finally had them removed, he found that his flesh was completely intact, give or take a few stitched strings sticking out.

Carefully, the plucked one of them out and it fell away painlessly.

The sound of rats scampering about had the man sitting alert on the table and glancing around, wondering where they were. Scanning the floor, he spotted one in the corner, but could still hear many more.

There were dozens as a matter of fact, inside the walls and up above. That wasn't all he could hear either. He also heard hushed whispers, some too jumbled to decipher, others giving fearful warnings. It took him a moment or realize that what he was hearing were people outside.

Making sure the rat was far away, he daintily removed himself from the table and worked his way towards the door to see if anyone else was here with him. Luke jumped when it creaked, and he knew any hope of stealth was lost, so he threw caution to the wind and opened the door where he found a small kitchen beyond.

There were a few wheels of moldy cheese on a cutting board, a barrel of what smelled like rum, and some herbs drying above the oven. He could smell so many things in here, including an obnoxious amount of clove.

Scrunching his nose, he backed out as his stomach gurgled hungrily.

He was reminded of the other scent hidden under the herbs. Something sweet, and tantalizing.

Sniffing the air, he tried to figure out where it was coming from, and he circled the table. It was the same sweet scent he first noticed when he woke up, and it was tempting him. He had to find it, so he sniffed about some more until he stopped at the pile of gauze he had just ripped off. Picking them up, he realized the sweet scent was coming from there.

But...These here his bandages...

Another growl had him tossing the bandages down fearfully as he realized that appetizing smell was his own blood.

He decided to make his way upstairs to figure out where he was, and on his way he noticed one other important thing.

The fireplace was not lit.

He stared at the dead embers. This was the only source of light in the room, so if it was out, how was he able to see so well?

Swallowing hard, he pushed that question out for now and ascended. When he went to push open the trap door, it held fast.

Flashbacks to all the times Frederick had locked him away had Luke urgently pushing against it, hoping he was wrong and causing the wooden door to splinter in half. He stared up at it, wondering just how rotten the wood had to be for it to break so easily? 

Luke then popped his head up slowly, and he turned to get a better look at his new surroundings. This building appeared to be some sort of tavern. There were tables strewn about, some tilted sideways, some with mugs sat upon them. There was also a bar on the northern wall with barrels stacked behind it and a door leading out. Since there didn't seem to be anyone else nearby, he climbed out.