Something About Him

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: Back to Jason’s POV.

Helga: The hood is a nasty little piece of work, there’s more interesting devices as the story goes on. Thanks for being a faithful reader! *winks*

DrkDreamer: **massages shoulders** relax, Hunny, you are way too tense! I will lose the looses :-P Actually, I already have, I just wanted to say that. Thank you for the constructive criticism. I do have spell check, however, since “loose” is still a word that doesn’t do me much good. But again, thank you for pointing that out, I know how it is to have something that nags at you during a story, mine is when people misuse apostrophes. Omg that annoys me!

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Chapter 4
Plans of Escape

Jason didn't fall asleep right away even though he felt extremely tired.

"I've got to find a way to escape. I refuse to be someone's trained monkey...I've got to get back to Kara...God I hope nothing's happened to her." Jason’s thoughts kept spinning as he thought of possible times to escape.

He knew his only chance was to do so before they were back on his new master's property. He was, after all, likely to have security of some sort. He wasn't fooled at all by this filthy Vessel’s fake kindness. He'd seen the way the other slave shrank at the first sign of his anger. He was only trying to fool Jason so that he wouldn't cause any problems on the journey. He was, no doubt, every bit as cruel as Jason suspected, and at any rate Jason refused to stick around long enough to see. Besides, there was no excusing what the man did to the young boy back at the auction, that alone should prove his cruel nature. He had to free himself. He knew that his best chance was to escape relatively soon after leaving the city, and if he could do so without the Vessel knowing he would have a chance to make it back to the city and blend in with the crowd. He lay awake for quite sometime working out all of his plans, and then set in to ensure his easy escape.

He clenched his teeth tightly and then pulled hard with his feet and his ankles against his chains until he felt them begin to cut into his skin, finally he let out a strangled cry as he thrashed around violently. His plan worked flawlessly as he felt his master fly to his side, soothing him as Mark rushed in, turning the light on.

"Shh, shh, it's just a dream, you're okay." the Vessel cooed at him with such syrupy sweetness that Jason nearly laughed out loud at his act.

Jason slowed his breathing from his expert faux gasps of panic.

Mark brought a glass of water, which Katan raised to Jason lips.

"Forgive me, Master...it's embarrassing that I should react so to a stupid dream." Jason sounded shy and embarrassed even to his own ears, repressing a satisfied grin at his excellent acting abilities.

"It's okay, it's most likely a reaction to the sedatives they had you on, they're notorious for causing nightmares."

Katan's eyes ghosted over Jason's wrists and ankles. "You've injured yourself...you may not be able to feel it due to the pain killer I gave you for your feet."

"Have I?" Jason glanced up at his wrists as Katan unchained them.

Jason couldn't help smiling to himself as he saw through Katan's act of false concern. Mark brought a bowl of water and towels to the bed without being asked, and Katan quickly cleaned and wrapped Jason's wrists and ankles.

Katan sighed. "Well I can't very well re-chain you..."

"Please, Master, if you don't trust me, chain me up."

"I can't do that. Weather or not you feel it, it would be damaging to your wrists and ankles."

"I don't want to cause you any problems, so please, chain me."

"No, I'll trust you not to run."

"Master, would you like me to go get the harness restraint for him?" Mark suggested.

"A very good thought, Mark, but it's so easy to slip out of it'd do little more than leaving him unchained. We'll just trust him."

"Would you like me to stand guard Master?"

"No, that's okay, I need you well rested to help me with him tomorrow."

"Yes, Master."

"Lets all try to get some sleep."

Everyone settled back down and Jason smiled to himself as the lights went out. His plan was working perfectly. He drifted into a peaceful sleep, secure in the knowledge that he would soon be a free man.


When morning came, Jason was pleased to find that his plan had worked perfectly. Katan awoke and was pleased, though not surprised, to find Jason still in his bed.

"Mark, let's get going, traffic is bound to be a nightmare even this early." Katan said a bit crankily

'Should I go get the harness now, Master?"

"No, you walk in front and I’ll walk behind him." Katan turned to Jason, "I'm sure you're pain killers are about to ware off, just hang in there until we get out of the city. There's a little dinner we can go to and eat breakfast since you really shouldn't take them on an empty stomach."

Jason said nothing, but nodded, a bit surprised that the man was aware enough of his needs to know that he was beginning to feel a dull ache in his wrists, feet, and ankles.

The horrors Jason saw as he was led through town convinced him even more so that he could not stay in this strange world of Vessels. Everywhere he looked there was pain and suffering.

He nearly vomited as he saw a little girl of about 12 years old being sold as a love slave. She was chained naked, spread eagle and completely helpless as prospective buyers poked, prodded, and touched her.

There was another young girl, about 15 being led into a tent with a sign in front that said "Live Snuffings! Admission: 50 gold."

It seemed every sight his eyes rested on was more terrifying than the last, and suddenly a strong sense of panic washed over him as he realized how high the demand for young girls was. It was all he could do to force himself not to make an attempt at escape then and there. He fought hard against the tears that sprang to his eyes at the thought of his dear baby sister meeting a similar fate.

His stomach turned as they passed booths advertising prices for various services, such as a certain amount of time with a slave in a dungeon, or, for a slightly higher price the ability to participate in the torturing of a slave till death.

The most disturbing sight, however, came not form a booth or tent, but from another vessel, as he watched a slave that wasn't paying attention walked into the back of his Vessel Master having not realized that he had stopped to talk to someone.

The Vessel turned on him with more anger than Jason had ever before witnessed. The slave immediately began to apologize sincerely, bowing until his face was mere centimeters from the dirt, which Jason recalled was also a sign of respect. The Vessel, however, showed no signs of forgiveness as he kicked the slaves chest so hard that the sound and the actions of the slave left no doubt that he had collapsed one of his lungs.

The vessel's eye's glowed a terrifying green color and the slave was immediately pulled and held to the ground as if by invisible chains, the Vessel pulled out a cruel looking whip, and it took only 5 forceful blows, no doubt at the vessel's top strength, to cut the boy completely in half. It was as if the images and the sound of the slave's agonized screams and the sickening tearing of his body were burned into Jason's senses.

This was the first time Jason had witnessed the full strength and power of a Vessel, and it left him trembling. He now began to reconcile himself to the fact that if he didn't successfully escape, if he was caught, he would not live to see his sister again.

By the time they reached Katan's elaborate and beautiful carriage, Jason had regained his composure. Katan helped him into the back of the carriage.

"Should I ride with him, Master?" Mark asked

"No, he'll be fine. I need you to help me up front."

"Yes, Master."

Katan turned to Jason, his fake smile plastered in place,

"The road out is a bit bumpy, but the diner isn't far, so just hang in there."

Jason replied with a nod.

Jason waited, carefully waiting until they were right at the edge of the busy little city before taking a leap of faith out of the back of the carriage.

The pain that shot through his feet was excruciating, but he was too scared to stop, he sprung forward and ducked into an alley way, pausing to peek back around the corner to watch the carriage, which to his relief was still moving in the opposite direction.

He followed the alley, which lead him to an equally crowded street in the city. This street had a very "dark" feeling. It was clear that this was where the shadier and less glamorous dealings went down.

A chill of fear went through him as he began moving quickly toward the opposite end of the city, eyes glued to the sidewalk as he pulled his dirty, tattered coat around him.

"I guess you really were a troublesome one."

Jason ignored the voice, sure it wasn't speaking to him, until his body involuntarily turned to reveal a man with purple hair, whose eyes were glowing yellow. It was immediately clear that he, too was a vessel, though not a strong one. Jason tried to fight against the pull of the Vessel's powers on his body, but it was completely useless.

'My boy, you've run out of the trap and straight into the beast’s mouth."

Jason's eyes widened as he suddenly recognized the voice to be the one belonging to the man from the auction and the restaurant.

The man's eyes glowed again and Jason screamed as an intense pain like nothing he'd ever felt before tore through his insides. It was as if every muscle, every bone in his body were under a great pressure, one that threatened to crush him from the inside. He dropped to his knees, his injured feet and ankles no longer able to support him.

The man looked at an old fashion lantern that was lit outside a run-down tavern, the flame suddenly materializing in his right palm, and igniting into a blue-white ball of fire. Jason began trembling in fear, as the man brought the flame close enough to his face that heat from it made sweat form on his forehead and upper lip.

"Let's see how ole' Katan reacts when he finds his expensive acquisition scarred beyond recognition..."

As the flame was inched closer the pain in Jason's body intensified and tears began to flow freely from his eyes as he realized that his chances for escaping back home were about to be lost forever.

"Please..."

The man sneered down at him.

"What self-respecting slave begs like a little bitch?"

As the fire crept closer Jason let out an involuntary scream at the first contact with his cheek. The man pulled the fire away.

"Better accept the pain, boy, I intend to make this very slow."

Jason's body trembled in terrified anticipation as he watched the fire again creep closer, his collecting tears blurred his vision, and when finally they spilled over he was relieved to see that the fire had been extinguished.

His relief was short lived, however, as he heard the unmistakably angry voice of Katan behind him.