?Caesar

I guess when two unlucky souls come together they just end up in more misery.

We both tried to run but failed and now after being taken to God knows where we stand here in a room, being groomed so that we can be rented.

As punishment for running away we were whipped.

As punishment for resisting and struggling we were beaten, till the time we fell into obedience.

It left permanent scars but it didn't dim our spirits, although it did teach us.

A peculiar type of collar was strapped around the neck of every slave there.

Such a disgusting, horrifying, sickening and revolting place this was.

For the first few days we were given plenty of food to make sure we looked proper.

Arius's hair was grown longer because the waiting clients said he looked pretty.

The nights although were horrible.

We along with other fellows could hear the voices through the walls and dreaded the day it would be out turn.

Arius and I were made a pair. We were the same age with such contrasting features that everyone found fascinating.

We were called a pretty pair.

On the day of our first we were sent to a special room.

The client was a VVIP.

"Ready?" Arius whispered and I nodded.

We entered the luxury room where a middle aged slim but well built man waited for us while two men guarded the door.

He smirked when he saw us.

I scanned the room immediately.

There was no window, no other door, no way to escape.

I glanced at Arius and he nodded.

It only meant we could let him have his way with us and then beg him to buy us both.

He looked like he could

***

It hurt like hell.

A hellish experience but we managed to convince him by telling him that we only wanted him.

For him to be our first and last.

It took a bit of effort but we succeeded.

We got a way out and just as planned we acted happy.

Till the time we got in the car and he began to drive away.

Arius and I were both handcuffed together with the car rod but that kind of a thing wasn't a problem for me.

I had to steal many times to satisfy my hunger.

As we were driving further and further away I moved and took out a hair bun pin from Arius's hair with my mouth.

His longer hair proved quite useful in hiding it along with another small item.

As quietly as possible I turned the pin and molded it to the shape of the hole. Then unlocked it.

I was right behind the driver's seat so it was hard to see me. After I successfully managed to free myself. I stayed still for a few seconds.

Arius was looking at his feet.

It was the cue that the man was suspicious and looking back at us.

After a few minutes Arius looked at me and gave me a short nod.

Carefully I moved closer to him again and searched his hair for a tiny blade.

"Hey! What are you doing!" The man shot his heads towards us but I found the blade, grabbed it and jumped on him.

With a clean sweep I slid the blade across his neck.

Blood gushed out from his neck and it terrified me.

At that time it didn't cross my mind that I had actually killed someone and committed my first murder.

I realized that fact much much later.

"Caesar! The breaks!!!"

Arius's voice brought me back to reality and I looked down.

The last pedal.

I remembered asking one of the fellow unfortunates.

I pressed it hard with my foot and the car came to a sudden stop.

I breathed heavily and then looked back at Arius. He rattled his hand cuffs and I went back to him, opening them with the pin to free him.

"Let's go." He said and we both ran out of the car that was currently on a long road with nothing else in sight.

We raced out of there with all our might and we ran and ran and ran until the point we couldn't any more.

We reached a point of maximum exhaustion and fell on the ground tired as hell.

I looked at Arius and he stared back at me.

After weeks, we finally smiled at each other.

A genuine one, then drifted into sleep.

***

When I woke up I found myself on a bed.

Scared I sat up and shot my head around.

Arius wasn't there and it seemed like I was in a hotel bedroom.

The door opened and an arab man came in, "You're up." He spoke with a weird accent.

I scurried away and searched for a weapon.

"Oh oh! Calm down boy!" He raised his hands to calm me, "I'm not bad man. I'm good man."

I paused and glared at him when another man entered the room, his clothes were different but he looked like a muslim too. They exchanged some words and the other one said, 'Your friend is safe." His spoken was a lot better, "He woke up before you and is eating in the dining room."

"Really?" I said in a low tone.

"You can come down if you want." He nodded, "But change your clothes first. They're filled with blood." He came in and dropped the clothes on the table that I didn't even notice he had in his hands, "The bathroom is right there." He pointed to a door, "You can take a bath if you want."

He then left with the other guy and I relaxed.

***

I went down to the dining hall after cleaning myself up and saw Arius there. He was already done with his food but as soon as he saw me he gestured me come over.

I went and sat on the seat besides him.

"Arius, how can you eat like this with strangers?" I whispered to him.

"They saved our lives." He whispered back, "Brought us to a proper bed and even offered food." He looked into my eyes, "At least eat." He smiled, "It's delicious."

I nodded and grabbed myself some food.

When I came back to the table after picking some dishes from the buffet, three arab men were sitting on the table against Arius.

I went and sat with him and started eating.

"I'm Ahmed." One said, "From Yemen."

"I'm Bilal." The middle one said, "From Iran."

"Qasim, from Saudia." The one said, "We're friends travelling together."

"We met by pure coincidence and decided to stick together." Bilal said, "Do you like the food?" I nodded my head.

It was really tasty.

Bilal had a weird accent along with Ahmed but Qasim's accent was really nice.

"Where are you boys going? Any place we can drop ya?"

Arius and I looked at each in confusion.

Should we say it?

"Across the border."

"You're not from this country?" Bilal asked.

Arius shook his head, "We were smuggled." The three looked at each other wide-eyed after hearing Arius.

"We managed to run away from where we were being kept." I said,

"We just want to go back home."

The three began to converse with each other in their own language while I finished my food.

This felt like heaven. The food I mean.

"So," Ahmed spoke after they were done talking among themselves, "We can take you to the border."

The news perked both of us up, "But you will have to cross over by yourself. Okay?"

"YES!!" We both exclaimed in glee.

Finally! After God knows how long we got things to go our way.

I don't know why people say muslims are bad.

The ones we met were awesome.

They were life savers.