The Devil's Harem

“Excuse me!” Jessica walked up to the reception and called out to the man behind the desk, trying to get his attention.

“Yes, mam,” the man turned towards Jessica and asked. His eyes glowed when he saw the beautiful Jessica in front of him. Well, who wouldn’t be happy to have a one on one chat with a beauty? But being a seasoned person in entertaining guests and having seen a lot of beauties, the man quickly recovered, “What can I do for you, Miss Jessica?” The man asked. He had also remembered her name.

“I need your help with something,” Jessica said, pointing towards the entrance. Hesitation was evident on her face, which did not go unnoticed by the man. It was second nature in his line of work. To do their job better, they have to be attentive to the smallest things.

The man paused for a moment, and his eyes examined Jessica from top to bottom. Her shoes were covered in mud, while her clothes were dirty. He was sure that not everything was right, but being in his position, he could do nothing but smile and agree.

“Certainly,” the man nodded, and whispering some words to the lady standing beside him, he followed behind Jessica.

As they walked out of the hospital, the man followed behind Jessica without asking anything. Silently, the two of them headed towards a taxi parked some distance away from the front of the hotel.

.....

Opening the back door, Jessica moved and gestured for the man to take a look. The man took a step forward and inside found a man wearing all black, lying unconscious. It was Alex, but the man could not recognise him, maybe because Alex’s head was turned in the other direction.

Before Alex fell unconscious beside the dumpster, Jessica bought him clothes all black so the blood won’t show on his clothes. And when he gained consciousness for that short duration, Jessica helped him get into a taxi, where he fell unconscious again.

While things turned out okay and easy for Jessica in the end. When they arrived at the hotel, Jessica had to ask for some help. And this was where this man came in.

“He is?” The man from the reception looked at Jessica and asked in confusion.

“Alex Rutherford,” Jessica replied, “He is also staying here.” Jessica had thought that this would be enough, but although the man nodded, acknowledging her, he did not move to help Alex.

“He is a friend of mine, and we were out having drinks. Well, he ended up drinking a bit too much,” Jessica further explained how she knew Alex, “I was hoping if you could help me carry him back to his room?”

The man looked at Jessica and then towards Alex. He was not gullible enough to believe her. She looked perfectly sober to him, while he could smell nothing in the air. But well, it was his duty to serve the guests with everything possible, and this was a small matter. With a smile that never seems to leave his face, the man bent into the car and, with some effort pulled out the unconscious Alex.

When the man pulled out Alex, Jessica paid the driver and stepped forward to help, but the man refused, “It’s alright... Uhh... I can handle it,” the said man as he put Alex’s arm around him and they walked towards the hotel. Jessica was more than happy to have the man do it all by himself, she had already done enough.

Entering the hotel, under the curious gaze of everyone, the man walked with Alex towards the elevator.

‘Why do they drink so much?’ A woman thought, looking repulsively at Alex.

‘Another poor soul...’ A man thought, ‘He must have lost huge today.’

Everyone present in the hotel lobby was thinking along the same lines.

“What’s the room number?” As the man called for the elevator, he asked.

“It’s... It’s... ” When suddenly asked, Jessica could not remember outright. She had been to his room just this afternoon, but it had slipped out of her mind right now, “I know it, but I can’t seem to remember it right now... Just give me a moment,” Jessica said and tried to get her phone, but it was gone with her handbag. She wanted to call Veronica as she was the one who told her Alex’s room number.

“I think I forgot my phone in my room,” Jessica apologetically looked at the man. She was afraid that the man might think she was no friend of Alex, but some rich girl in heat, trying to take advantage of an unconscious man.

“It’s alright, mam,” the man said and stopped one of the young boys from his staff passing by, “Listen, go to the reception and get me a key for the room in the name of Mr Alex Rutherford,” the man said and looked towards Jessica. When she nodded that he was right, he turned towards the young boy, “Hurry up.”

Getting his instructions, the young boy complied and, with rushed steps, walked away from there. It did not take him long, and he was back in a minute. Handing over the key, he said, “It’s room number 1607,” the boy told the man and offered his help, “May I... help you?”

Jessica was the one who took the key from the boy, and the man refused, “It’s alright. Get on with your work, I will manage...” saying so, the man walked into the elevator supporting Alex, followed by Jessica. Others also wanted to enter the elevator, but the man politely asked them not to, citing Alex had a medical condition, and it won’t be good for him. And without explaining any further, he pressed the button for the 16th floor.

As the elevator moved up, Jessica thought of calling Veronica to let her know that she was alright, in case she was worried. But she didn’t have her phone with her, and she didn’t want to call Veronica from someone else’s phone as she might end up divulging her contact details to many.

‘Ah! I am going to my room after this anyway... I will just tell her everything then,’ Jessica finally decided.

*Ding!

The elevator stopped on the 16th floor. The man didn’t have to look around, thinking about where they had to go. As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he turned left and soon stopped in front of Alex’s room.

‘Well, this is a familiar sight,’ Jessica finally breathed a sigh of relief. All she wanted to do now was take a long hot shower and crash on her soft bed for as long as she could. Just a few minutes more, and she would be back in her room.

Jessica opened the door, and the man, along with Alex, walked into the room.

The layout of the room was the same as Jessica’s, but unlike her, his room was a bit more organised. She had her bags and clothes all over the place.

But she didn’t have time to admire or think about Alex’s OCD. She asked the man to put Alex on the bed. The man followed what he was told and gently, he put Alex on the bed.

But as soon as the man stood up and turned towards her, Jessica frowned. His greyish-blue suit had a lot of red patches. Even the man had noticed by now the peculiar patterns on his clothes. Concerned, he turned his attention back towards Alex.

“Here...” While the man was not looking at her, Jessica pulled out a bunch of notes from Alex’s wallet and forwarded them to the man.

“This...?” The man was not sure why he was given the money. Was it to make him shut his mouth?

“Firstly, your clothes got ruined because of us. This is the compensation for that... I am sure this will cover it all,” Jessica was back to her poker face self, “Secondly, I hope you won’t spread this matter in the hotel. And just to ease your worry, we did nothing that will implicate you.”

The man nodded but still did not reach out to take the money.

“And if possible, I would like to have you send out a good number of towels and first-aid kit to this room. And you can put it on my tab. I will clear everything out before I leave.” Jessica continued, with her arm still reaching out to give the money.

“Don’t we need to go to the hospital?” The man asked. He didn’t want Alex to denounce his body on his watch in the hotel. He might end up losing not only his job, but his career will be ruined as well.

“Just do as I say,” Jessica was still patient, which was out of her character, “As I said, you won’t be implicated.”

In the end, the man could only agree reluctantly. He took the money and left the room in a hurry to make all the arrangements Jessica had asked for.

In no time, everything was delivered to the room. Jessica, without wasting any time, walked into the bathroom and soaked all the towels in the basin. After that, she walked up to Alex and removed his shoes and socks, followed by his shirt. The shirt was the tricky part. With all the blood that had seeped out of his wounds, the shirt had begun to stick to his body.

Carefully, Jessica removed the shirt so as to not hurt Alex as much as she could. As she was done removing the front of the shirt, Jessica was actually surprised by the sight in front of him. Though his chest was all red with blood, she could feel that the wounds had started to clot, and the blood was not oozing out of them anymore. Now, that was a rare sight. Even if she had never studied medicine, she was sure that it was not right.

Still, Jessica didn’t indulge in thinking about it for long. She carefully and meticulously cleaned Alex’s body. But every time she wiped the blood off his body, she was more and more surprised. Alex’s body was full of scars. Be it the side of his waist or the two round wounds on his back, there were scars everywhere. And the one that disturbed her the most was the one running all the way from above his heart to his navel. She could not help but feel it with her trembling hands.

“Who are you?”

* * * * *