Every Time I was knocked out by that big mass of muscles, I could see trails of memories of the not-so distant past.

“Boss we have a problem.”

The man in a polo shirt that draggedf me there had approached an average sized man in a suit seated in front of a table in the middle of the mildly, lit, smoke-filled room. The room seemed to be too out of place to be in an ordinary warehouse, it looked like something straight out of a Hollywood movie. The room was furnished with marbled flooring and a red carpet that started from the entrance of the door and ran all the way to the other end of the room. It was equipped with abstract paintings and vases that seemed to fit into a museum than a sketchy warehouse like this. At the end of the room, where the carpet ended were a massive desk and a lofty swivel chair that just screamed “high luxury”. In the middle of the room, the suit-equipped man was playing a game of Mahjong along with some other old men. It was smack dab in the middle of the room with four reclining chairs surrounding it. It seemed like the man was losing because he barked back at the other man with contempt.

“What do you want? Can’t you see I’m about to win?”

Shifting his hostility towards his opponents, the man smirked and winked as if telling them that “no matter what you guys do I’m going to win”. The “Boss” then put up his hands and walked away from the table as if signaling that the match was over, the other three people on the table proceeded to recline on their seats seemingly exhausted from the game.

“Well, that’s what I get for ignoring business for six hours straight. What’s the matter, Isaiah? This better be good.”

The man in the polo shirt named, Isiah bowed his head to the Boss and whispered in his ear while pointing at me who was glaring at him while laying down face down on the door. I had handcuffs on my wrists and two people were actively holding me down from both sides. The Boss silently approached where I was laying down and as I was glaring at him, our eyes met. He then proceeded to squat down and pat my back.

“I see. Because of your little stunt, I’ve lost quite a bit of money. All part of the business. I could kill you right here and set you as an example for those that try to get in my way, but I heard a most peculiar thing. Are you an immigrant?”

Tired from what had transpired fifteen minutes ago, I refrained from answering his question. It had only took five seconds for the "boss" to get impatient. He asked for a cup of hot coffee, took a sip out of it and dunked me on the head with it, shattering the glass and causing me to scream out in pain.

“See you do have a set of vocal cords. Now, are you going to answer my question?”

“Guhh Ye-”

Before I could finish the sentence, the “Boss” took out a letter opener from his pocket and stabbed my right hand which was handcuffed on my back. It didn’t feel like it penetrated all the way through, but it left my right-hand bleeding.

“GAHHHHHHH”

Hearing me scream, he smirked and proceeded to shut my mouth with a kick. Tutting his fingers, he continued stomping on my head. He whispered something to Isaiah and started talking again.

“Oh my apologies, it would be a shame if you died by biting your tongue. I control your death here. I tell you when to live and to die. You brought shame to my company, your life is basically forfeit. ”

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Still groaning from the pain, I glared at the old man and was about to unload a whole slurry of words at him. I didn’t care if I died, I had to see my decision through! I have no way home now. This was my decision, if I was going to die by it, then so be it.

One of the two men that were holding me down, kicked my balls so hard that I felt like they’d burst and as I was squelching from the pain, the other man gagged me with a handkerchief he had.

“Now that’s better, you’re ruining the ambiance of the room you know?”

Isaiah, who had scampered somewhere after being whispered something by the Boss came back with a long leather object that I wasn’t familiar with. Seeing my careful gaze at the object the Boss smirked as he started waving it around.

“This? It’s a crop whip, something that equestrians use to train horses to act certain ways. Now come with me.”

He grabbed locks of my hair and pulled me out of the luxurious room and into a room a few meters away. Inside was something I did not imagine existed outside of fiction. It was a room full of chains and various torture devices and inside were two other people. He pulled me with enough force and crashed my head into a nearby wall.

“Look guys, I brought another playmate today. This one ruined today’s delivery. Say hello! Also, boys, uncuff him and cuff him to the chains on the walls.”

The two men that were trailing behind him started to uncuff me and bind me to a pair of shackles on the wall. As I was being prepped up, I took a glance at the two other people in the room. What I believe to be a young woman who was passed out completely naked sprawled on the table covered in wounds and in some other kind of liquid that I didn't even want to imagine and a guy in a blood-soaked t-shirt chained and gagged on a chair.

AHHHH This can’t be happening. I know I said that I’d see my decisions through, but...This is a bit too much, right?

“Had a good look? These two are lovers, Evelyn and Clark. Clark ran my security detail a few months ago and Evelyn, well..she was just dragged into this. Boys leave us, I’ve got a party to get to.”

Snapping his fingers, the three men left the Boss alone in the room closing the door and locking it from the outside.

Hearing those words, Clark, the bloodied young man started weeping and put his head down. Peering at him the Boss smiled and proceeded to start whipping me from out of nowhere.

“Sorry to do this out of the blue, but if I didn’t do this then these two would feel like you’d be getting the VIP treatment. Though, I do have special plans for you.”

He proceeded to whip me for a good fifteen minutes, which to me seemed like an eternity. I couldn’t really scream because I was gagged so with every whip and every torn piece of skin felt ripping off my body, I could only just bear with it. It didn’t take long for me to pass out from the pain. I passed out from the pain only to be woken up with another whipping. I could only whimper a bit, and whenever I did. it felt like every subsequent whip would be heavier and more painful.

“Hah, Hah. Immigrant, I’ll talk to you later. I have a game of Mahjong to play. That’s it for now, but your training has just begun.”

He let go of the whip and approached the naked woman on the table and proceeded to caress different parts of her body, making sure that Clark could see all of it. Finally, he punched Clark on the stomach and stormed off while sneering. He knocked on the door and the person in charge of guarding the room opened it for him. He made one last satisfying look on his face and smiled at the chaos he caused the three of us and left us.

It was a distant memory that I didn't want to remember, one could say it was the turning point of this life, rather than the fact that I ran away from home. Nonetheless, things started to change with me after that. I had determined that no matter what might happen to me on this "pilgirmage" that I would still be "me". Boy, was I wrong.

After that splendid blast from the past, my head became fuzzy again and I had woken up, only to see old man Aoi, knocked me out again by that stupid ball of muscles a mere minute later. It seems like my brain was in rewind mode, as memories of the past kept flashing everytime I was knocked down. This time I was sprawled out on the street near the homeless area next to the pier.

I had woken up from an old gutter near the pier and had decided to walk inwards to the city. I felt that if they were looking for me, their first instincts would be to think that I would escape the country and from the angle they saw me escape from, they would concentrate their search towards the pier area, or towards the districts closest to the sea.

I had taken shelter in a public park and had blended in with the crowd there. They didn’t even ask anything about me and had proceeded to give me a blanket to dry myself on and dragged me to an open fire where they were cooking their food. I was a bit emotional because this was the first time that anyone was nice to me after everything that happened. It seemed like their creed was to “help those in need and not pry into each other’s personal lives”. It seems they’ve been through some shit too.

It wasn’t long before I heard sirens go off near the park and upon hearing them I instinctively stood up. Looking at my cautious aura and putting two and two together, the group of homeless people started to hide me in one of their tents as police officers came to question them about anyone suspicious. The “Leader” of the homeless people, a bearded old man named Fritz, confronted the police officers, assuring them that there was no one suspicious there. It seemed like the police were too unbothered with the homeless presence in the city and payed them no mind. According to one of the homeless people there, the bigger threats were the underground organizations near the pier that were always causing mischief and chaos in the city.