Nixxon wasn't weak as a Mermen, but as a human, he'd discovered that he was not only weak but also dumb.
It irritated him.
Why couldn't the perks of turning human include acquiring all their skills and knowledge?
Tears dropped down from his eyes as he crawled on the hot floor. He was scalding; he'd never been subjected to such intense heat all his life, but the moment he stepped foot into the human world, he'd been witnessing different levels of hotness.
He crawled up the stairs and toward the door where he'd seen Vernon and Dane walk through.
He paused in front of the door and caught his breath, thinking of how he was going to open the door.
Suddenly, the door in front of him opened, and he looked up to find Dane staring down at him.
"Thank you," Nixxon said and muttered his remaining strength to crawl into the house.
He sighed loudly in relief as he felt the cool, smooth, black, shiny tiles on his hands and knees; he looked around the grey living room in search of where the cool air was coming from but couldn't find it; all he could see were giant objects and black sofas.
"Oh my! Who's this thing?" A female voice asked scornfully from a distance.
Nixxon looked to his left side and found a lady who could almost pass as Valtira's twin, except that this one had legs and no fins; maybe he felt that way because their characters matched.
"Ms. Linda," Dane bowed his head in greeting.
Linda ignored Danes's acknowledgment and kept walking toward Nixxon, who was sitting behind a stylish black sofa.
"Who are you, a new dog?" Linda asked, her face scrunching up in disgust. She saw hints of dirt all over Nixxon's exposed arm, neck, face, and especially his legs.
She wondered where Vernon had found this kind of person.
"Dog?" He asked her, panting.
Linda scowled, "Are you playing dumb with me? Who are you? And how did you convince Vernon to bring you to our home?" She glared at him.
"Calm down, Linda. He's just a captive; he'll be gone once the boss is done dealing with him." Dane stepped forward and explained.
Nixxon could see the hatred in Linda's eyes; he started questioning if this was how every human was. Were Dane and Dr. Zee the only good ones? If so, there was really no difference between his kind and the humans.
"A captive? Then take him where captives are kept." She pointed toward the door.
"Dane?" Vernon's dark voice called, causing everyone in the living room turned to see him walking out of the underground stairs.
The living room was large; one end had stairs that led down, while the other stairs led upstairs.
Nixxon felt a cold chill down his spine, a feeling he was familiar with: fear. A feeling that made him want to crawl and hide away from Vernon, just as he always hid from his Father.
"Oh, Vernon, I was just about to come to find you. I found someone in our house and asked Dane to send him away, but he refused." Linda ran and met Vernon halfway in the living room.
Nixxon watched with curiosity as the female threw herself into Vernon's arms and kissed him.
'Mates,' Nixxon thought.
No wonder she had such authority as she spoke; she was the queen of his home.
Vernon gently wrapped a hand around Linda's waist and led her to him.
Nixxon suddenly started coughing; his throat felt like it was burning; his eyes immediately flew to Vernon's hand that held the cigarette to his mouth, watching the cherry bottom flame up as he puffed the smoke out.
He didn't like it; he knew his lung irritation was coming from that thing in Vernon's mouth; he kept coughing and coughing as the smoke kept wafting into his nostrils.
"You don't have to worry about him; his days are numbered," He said, his tone distasteful.
He ignored his coughing fit and kept smoking, he wasn't going to bother about some maniac who was seeking attention.
"Now, Dane, take him to the cells." Linda smiled triumphantly.
"Take him to his room," Vernon ordered and stepped away from Linda.
"Yes, boss," Dane bowed and went to help Nixxon up.
"Vernon, what are you doing? You want to let him stay in -"
"He's an enemy, Linda; we have to keep him close," Vernon replied, lightening another cigarette.
"Well, he's close enough in the cells, in the other part of the compound, please; I don't like him; what if he sneaks up and kills you at night?" She questioned, horrified.
"Enough, Linda. Take him away, Dane; I need to check if he's still having his amnesia." He chuckled darkly.
"Amnesia? What's going on here? No, no, wait, why are you helping him up? Can't he walk?" She drew Dane away from Nixxon, causing him to fall heavily on the floor.
Nixxon grunted, his eyes immediately sought Vernon's in a silent plea, "Please? Help?" He whispered.
Vernon raised a brow at him; it was the first time the culprit was speaking directly to him. His voice was cracked as if he'd cried; it annoyed him.
Was he so eager in trying to prove that he was an innocent criminal that he had to cry as a man? he was weak, and Vernon hated weakness.
"Let him crawl up the stairs, Dane," He said and went to sit on the sofa to entertain himself with the crawling human.
"Follow me, Nixxon," Dane said and started walking toward the stairs across the large living room.
Nixxon's tears fell again; he hated it; he was so weak as a human. He didn't seem to have control of his emotions; he felt hurt, betrayed, and misunderstood.
His limbs were officially overused; for someone who had just gotten his new limbs for just a week, he sure was overusing them, and wrongly, too.
Every raise of his hand and knee was torturous; the pain seemed to be going straight to his abdomen; It was already healing but he could feel it slowly opening it back up, he felt hot water-like liquid start to prickle out of his skin. He reached the center of the living room, paused, looked at Vernon, and pleaded again, "Please, help?"
Vernon scoffed, puffing his smoke and crossing his legs over. "Pathetic." He frowned and kept watching.
Nixxon sniffed and resumed his torturous journey.
"Vernon, please, tell me this is a joke. Is this some kind of human experiment or something? He can't walk, can't form proper sentences, acts dumb and naive, what else, he's a virgin?" Linda was frustrated.
"I'm as curious as you, Linda; we'll have to wait and find out. I found him in my..." He paused, remembering that even Linda didn't know bout his private property.
"Where, Vernon?" Linda asked curiously.
"I found him where he wasn't supposed to be; he pretended to be wounded, so I took him to Zee to make sure he stayed alive so I could question him, but it turns out... he had amnesia from his accident." He smiled crookedly.
Linda chuckled, "Unbelievable, this guy is a genius; I believe the Raja family must have sent a dumb one this time." Her shoulders shook as she chuckled, staring at Nixxon, who hadn't made it very far up the stairs.
Vernon didn't seem to share in her amusement; his face had hardened the moment Linda mentioned the Raja family. "And they would pay dearly for it." his voice was very low and guttural; anger was evident on his face.
He stood from the sofa, towering over Linda, "Babe, where are you going? Do you want to jo and teach that traitor a lesson?" She smiled sweetly at him, raising her hand to touch his cheek.
"Step aside, Linda, I need to work," He said, his eyes narrowed at how Nixxon's limbs shook from crawling up the stairs.
He turned away, ignoring him. He had just taken a step when he heard a loud thud.
Everyone turned toward the stairs and found Nixxon passed out at the foot of the stairs. He had fallen.
Dane immediately rushed down the stairs and lowered himself beside Nixxon. "Boss, I think his head is bleeding," he reported.
Vernon was pissed, his chest rose and fell in anger. He immediately lit another cigarette, a hard frown marking his cold, handsome face.
He couldn't understand what was happening, the young man he had captured was perfect at playing weak and clueless, this was a tactic he'd never seen before, Nixxon was really good at what he was doing, but he was about to show him that he's been in the game longer, he wasn't one to be fooled.
His jaws clenched before he blew out his smoke. "Take him away," He ordered.
"Yes, Boss," Dane bowed and lifted Nixxon off the floor.
"Dane," Vernon called as Dane carried Nixxon up the stairs.
"Boss?" Dane paused, Nixxon's arms falling freely beside him.
"Gather every Intel on Raja, I need every little update, especially their latest mission about me," He ordered.
"Yes, Boss," Dane replied and carried Zeno upstairs.
Vernon walked out of the house, he needed to make a call away from Linda.
Nixxon was too suspicious; safe to say, he was the most suspicious human Vernon had ever seen.
He knew the Raja family was wealthy and influential; they must have sought the best spy to send to him, someone who would act clueless yet send them every little detail he heard and saw.
He'd given Nixxon a week, but now he's taking it back, he was dealing with him the moment he opened his damned eyes.