As he dozed off, Liam curled up on the couch. After a minute, he opened his eyes and stroked his stomach, which felt like a burning fire.
"I think I may have eaten the wrong stuff." Liam gulped while rubbing his stomach. As soon as he took a swallow, a black gas came out of his mouth, and his stomach pain subsided.
Gerta finally exited the bathroom after spending thirty minutes taking a bath; she was dressed in a black robe, her hair was silky and moist. Liam had been dozing off for a while when she turned to face the living room. "It's your turn now" she said as she approached him and lightly tapped his palm.
"Huh?" It took Liam some time for his brain to process what was happening as he opened his eyes and wiped them in confusion. "I'm sorry, I guess I was tired,"
Before getting up and moving for the restroom, Liam yawned. As she watched him leave, Gerta had an epiphany and instantly stopped him. She went to her room and got a white towel and brought it out for him.
"Uh, is that your towel, Gerta?" Liam's thoughts briefly went blank as he took the towel from her hands; he wasn't sure why, but his body was responding in an odd way. Every moment he spent with Gerta seemed to make him want to sleep with her more. He heard Gerta's next sentence, and all of a sudden his irrational ideas and emotions subsided.
"You don't have to be concerned; I just bought it."
"Why should I be concerned if the towel was originally yours?" Liam asked with a furrowed brow.
"Well, I imagined you wouldn't want to share stuff with a total stranger." Gerta muttered.
"Haha, well, then I wouldn't have minded coming with you in the first place." As he went into the bathroom, Liam laughed. He moved in the direction of the mirror after locking the door behind him.
Wow! Liam took off his blood-stained shirt and exclaimed. W-when". Liam had an average body when he last checked, but now he was the complete opposite. He was neither slim nor muscular. His biceps had somewhat enlarged, and his abs were fully matured. He glanced in the mirror and instinctively touched his face. Even though he had always been attractive, he had to accept that he was now in a whole different league from who he had been. "It makes sense why Gerta kept glancing across at me. I'm beginning to understand why she invited me in the first place, perhaps."
When Liam approached the tub, steam was rising from the water inside of it and red flowers were floating on top of it. As soon as Liam inhaled the steam, he started to feel intoxicated. Although he wasn't familiar with the aroma, he wouldn't confuse it with anything else, therefore it wasn't the flowers that made him feel this way. "This odor... It's Gerta's; did she purposefully do it or did she forget to release the water? She won't ever forget to let it go, though."
Without giving it any thought, Liam jumped in; the smell and warmth of the water were just what he needed to unwind. Liam held his breath as he sunk to the tub's bottom.
*******
He didn't know how much time had gone but when he opened his eyes he was no more in the tub neither was he in Gerta's house, "What is happening? How did I get here."
Looking at his surroundings, he discovered that he was currently in an island he was familiar with. It was the island where he left Lina.
He looked around but he couldn't find anybody, he tried walking but he couldn't. All he could do was scream out. He tried slapping himself to see if he was dreaming but he clearly felt the pain.
"This is no dreaming. What is going on, why am I back here. HELLO!! ANYBODY!!" he shouted out but he got no reply no matter how much he called. It soon turned night and he was tired of screaming. He closed his eyes to sleep but he couldn't, soon nights turned to day, days turned to week and week turned to month. He didn't know how long he had spent here. His mind had been broken and refixed a few times.
*********
Gerta had dressed up and she had been waiting patiently for Liam for the past three hours. She called out to him a few times but he wasn't answering her call.
After much consideration she removed a spare key from her pocket and opened the bathroom door.
She stepped into the bathroom and she looked around but couldn't find Liam. She stepped towards the tub softly and suddenly saw him under the water, his body was shaking as if he was been held down unwillingly.