Sanctuary

Chapter 9: Regret

When Freed finally snapped back to reality, he was sitting in a bathtub. His body was in a warm bath, his knees were crouched up touching his chest. His long hair flowed slowly under the water.

I will live on to see your legacy through.

The verbal contract he signed with his father, just moments ago, played through his head. Oh right... I'm not in Magnolia anymore. He lifted his arms out of the water and examined the wounds on his wrists. Bruises and burns were left onto his skin from the restraints.

How did I get here? In a bath?

Freed began to remember what happened after his surrender:

"Clean him up. The last thing I want is for him to taint the Justine name even more than he has. He begins the next stage of his training tomorrow."

"Yes sir," Marissa and Damian both responded to their master.

After he pledged his loyalty to his father Freed must have blacked out. He didn't remember Damian carrying him to his new room, which was a hell of an upgrade from the cell he was kept in for months. Damian ran a bath and placed Freed inside. He started running water through Freed's hair and that's when he noticed tears falling from Freed's eyes. He reached over to wipe them away and was met with a smack from Freed's hand.

"Get out," Freed said in a cold tone.

"I'm... not supposed to leave you alone" Damian was shocked to hear Freed finally speak to him.

"Then wait outside the bathroom. I don't need your help with this anymore now that I'm not restrained."

Damian looked like he was going to argue but decided against it. He got up from his crouching position and left the bathroom.

And that's when it hit Freed.

I'm alone.

The tears from his eyes were streaming nonstop. He was trying his best to silence the sobs leaving his mouth through clenched teeth. His brain felt like it was on fire and his body was sore. Not to mention his mental state was still spiraling.

No one's coming for me. I have no home. I was never good enough for him. No... I don't need anybody. I don't need a home.

In that moment, Freed decided the only way he could not feel all this pain is if he shut down his mind completely. He closed his eyes and tried to push down all of these feelings, to the point where he messed with his own memory.

So that's what happened. I'm on my own now. Just like I was when I was a child.

Freed regained the brief memory after staring at his beaten wrists. He felt nothing now. Mission accomplished. Nothing but emptiness. It's what he needs if he wants to survive whatever kind of personal hell this is. He extended his legs out across the tub and submerged himself under the water completely, letting the water muffle all the noise from outside.

***

Freed wrapped a towel around his waist and stood in front of a mirror to examine himself. He could barely recognize the man staring back at him. His face was pale, his eyes were red and had dark circles underneath them, the hair on his temples was nearly singed off from the shock treatments, and his chest had a long scar down the middle. He had lost a lot of muscle weight which was not good. He made his way out of the bathroom. He still felt a little too weak to walk on his own so he'd grab the wall for assistance. When he walked out he saw Damian standing next to the door.

"You done? I brought you a change of clothes." Damian pointed at the bed.

Freed walked toward the bed, dropping the towel around his waist along the way. He unfolded the clothes and looked at Damian, feeling his lingering eyes on his bare body. As soon as Freed looked over Damian averted his eyes.