Letting out a frustrated sigh, Jean remained rooted to the ground for a while.
He had seen Casper take his dirty clothes back in the room that he took his shower from. After that, he expected Casper to at least explain to him why he did that. But to his surprise, Casper didn't say anything and instead, walked past him.
Standing rooted on the spot, Jean gazed at the disappearing figure of Casper with bewilderment. Later on, he limped on his feet while observing his steps from time to time as he headed towards the house.
By the time he got to the rear door, Casper was nowhere to be seen. He shivered in the night cold as he vigilantly scanned the surroundings.
After confirming that Casper was nowhere in the vicinity, he walked straight in the house through the rear door.
When he got in the house, he shut the door behind him and scanned the room.
'Where is he?'
Jean thought to himself after noticing that Casper wasn't in the living room.
What was a trick to buy him sometime for him to come up with a manipulative lie, in order for him to be able to convince Casper on how he managed to escape from the kidnappers, had unexpectedly resulted into a whole turn of events that had lasted for more than a half an hour?
Shifting his gaze towards the door leading to the bedroom, Jean's expression softened.
'He might be in here'
With that thought in mind, he limped forward and started heading in the bedroom.
When he was a couple of steps away from the door, he heard a clangour at the rear door and immediately stopped in his tracks.
After lingering for a few moments, Jean slowly turned around and faced in the direction of the door.
Right at the door, Casper was finishing locking the door with his right hand while holding a container in his left hand.
When Jean saw this, he heaved a sigh of relief and immediately regained his composure.
'This is how scary it is to reside in a forest? I don't know how long it will take me to get used to this. it is only good that I at least have someone by my side. If I was to live here on my own, perhaps I could have lost my mind.'
Jean pondered on the matter as he eyed the container that Casper was carrying in his hand.
'What could be that that he is carrying?'
Jean asked himself as his eyes widened.
As soon as Casper was done with locking the door, he turned away from it and gazed in Jean's direction. In the next moment, he lowered his gaze and looked at the container in his hands.
When he lifted his head again and looked at Jean, he noticed a questioning look on Jean's face.
Understanding what the look was hinting to, Casper casually stepped forward and approached Jean with a smile on his face. When he got to Jean, he patted him on the shoulder and grinned.
This act from Casper startled Jean for a bit but he didn't let it show on the surface. He steeled his mind and waited for Casper's next move and action.
"I know you must be wondering what is this that I am carrying?"
Casper said as he gazed at the container in his hands. When Jean lowered his gaze and looked inside the container, he noticed a steaming liquid inside. Since the position they were standing was brightly lit up, he managed to see the brownish colour of the liquid.
In an instance, he was stunned and without hesitation, he lifted his gaze and stared at Casper with a questioning look.
When Casper noticed Jean's reaction, he let out a mischievous smile, shifted to the side, moved to the table and placed the container on top of it.
After placing the container on the table, he tentatively turned in Jean's direction and smiled gently.
"Go put on the clothes and come back here immediately, there is something that you need to do before retiring to bed"
When Jean heard this, the thought that sparked in his mind was about the question that Casper had asked him a while ago about how he managed to escape from his kidnappers.
'So, he hasn't forgotten. He still wants me to explain it to him. I can't blame him for that, because if I were in his position, I would still do the same.'
Jean mused before gazing in Casper's direction.
After a short while, he shrugged and entered the room.
Five minutes later, Jean came out of the room wearing a black trouser and a blue t-shirt. By this time, Casper was seating crossing his legs, on one of the chairs. In front of him on the table, there was the container with the steaming liquid.
The moment Jean set his eyes on the container, he shuddered from the inside.
'Could that what I am thinking it is.'
Jean pondered.
At this point, he was recounting the medicine he took after he woke up that Casper had handed him while outside. As he thought of this, he subconsciously placed his hand on his chest.
He then inhaled deeply but suddenly stopped midway.
The pain that seemed to have faded away, came back thus preventing him from sucking in more air.
He only did this to confirm if his chest was still aching. Although the pain was still there, the degree at which it had subsided since he took the medicine, was so high that it was difficult for Jean to believe.
'I think he wants to give me another dosage of the same medicine, if I am not wrong.'
With that thought in mind, Jean approached the table with measured gaits. When he got at the table, he gave Casper a furtive look and noticed him closing his eyes. In the next moment, he glanced at the container on the table with a complicated look.
Out of his expectations, Casper remained unmoved despite all this. He was currently leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed, as if sleeping, but from Jean's observation, he was able to discern that he wasn't asleep. After prying on him for a while, he sighed and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
This was the moment he remembered something.
'Where was he when I was coming in? I was to ask him this question, but the idea escaped my mind the moment I saw this mysterious container.'
Jean recounted.
Without asking, Jean outstretched his hand and reached out for the container. But before he lifted it off the table, Casper's voice reverberated in the room, forcing him to quickly retract his hands from the container.
"What are you doing?"
Casper asked as he quickly opened his eyes and straightened up.
It was not that Jean wanted to take whatever that was contained in the container, but he was only trying to have a closer look of it or even smell it to see if he could recognise it.
Just as Jean was about to answer, Casper continued.
"I have to say that you are curious to know what that is, isn't it?"
Casper asked as the corners of his mouth curled upward to reveal a smile.
In response, Jean nodded his head as if a chicken pecking on seeds as he wore a deadpan expression.
Lingering for a moment, Casper looked at Jean, at the container then back at Jean.
"It would be better if you would take a seat first"
Casper stated as he motioned Jean to seat.
Without a second thought, Jean took a couple of steps forward and lowered himself in a seat next to Casper.
Not long after, Casper rubbed his hands, let out a smirk and leaned towards Jean.
"Before I tell you what that is, I think it will be better for you to answer my pending question"
Casper said with a glint of curiosity evident in his brown eyes.
"W-Which pending question?"
Jean asked with a stutter, clearly pretending not to have a clue on the question Casper was alluding to.
With a sigh, Casper let out a mischievous smile and blinked for a couple of times. This act made Jean avert his gaze by pretending to stare at the container in front of him.
"Okay, let me repeat the question for you. How did you manage to escape from the kidnappers?"
Casper asked in a relatively low tone.
"Oh, that?"
Jean asked as he turned in Casper's direction.
"Yes, go ahead and tell me how it was."
Casper stated enthusiastically.
Since Jean had had enough time to come up with the appropriate lie, he didn't panic. Instead, he paused for a while and grinned.
"It is a long story, and I don't think there's enough time for me to explain it to you, but to cut the long story short, the thing is that; I fooled one of them into believing me after which he played a key role in my escape plan."
Jean answered without batting an eye, but deep inside, he was tensed.
He was getting used to lying. This was something that was new in his character but since it has proved effective, he wasn't going to drop it any soon.
"Interesting! Making a fool out of your enemy in such a dire situation! That deserves an applause."
Casper said with a nod.
He was pleased by the fact that Jean was able to come up with a quick plan and it worked for him.
Just as Jean was about to say something, Casper added,
"I can't wait to hear how you managed to pull out that escape trick in full details"
As soon as this statement fell on Jean's ears, he shuddered from the inside. He had expected Casper to believe his statement, but he didn't expect him to go to the extent of demanding for an explanation about the escape incident.
'I have to be ready for this, so that I won't mess-up anything. I didn't know that lying was this precarious. You need a lie to coverup a lie.'
Jean cursed from the inside.
According to the way things were going, the lies were working out for him, but at this point, he had encountered the other side of the lies and he was almost regretting his actions.
Now that he had already taken the route of lies, he had to embrace it together with its shortcomings.
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