He felt the hard metal wholly on impact. A tooth or two might have been knocked out. He tasted blood, he was bleeding inside the mouth. His jaws felt displaced a bit. The muscled man stood looking at him after the strike. He who had just been hit couldn’t really see the man’s face. The room was dark except for a dim light source elsewhere in the room. The place was putrid, and he had been locked in it for days. The man grabbed hold of his neck with one hand. He knew the blood from his mouth was pouring into the man’s hand by now. He kept a steady eye on the man whose hand was covered with his blood. He still couldn’t see the man’s face.

The man released his neck. “Why are you doing this?” the man said, tired internally. He did not answer. A fist landed on his stomach this time. “Answer me!” the man shouted. But he was struggling with the pain in his stomach. More blood sputtered out from his mouth. The ground was wet, and though he could not see, he knew it was wet red. He received another kick on the side, which toppled him over. He was struggling to breathe. The man struck him again, and again. Then the man picked him up by the neck until they were face to face. Eye to eye. They stood there looking at each other, before the man pushed him away. He was so weak that he collapsed from the push, breathing heavily. He struggled to get up… slowly. The man just looked at him. And he looked at the man.

His blood was all over his half-naked body. The man was also breathing heavily now. Breathing heavily, heaving into a cry. The man’s knees weakened, he knelt down before him and cried bitterly.

“My Lord…” the man addressed the bloodied half-naked man. “Why are you doing this?”

He did not answer. The bloodied half-naked man who was beaten half to death knelt in front of his kneeling, crying tormentor, and embraced him.