"Hey shitboy, here's some more shit for you to take out!!"
A pile of literal shit was thrown right at Rayburn, who barely dodged it, and now has some of it on the clothes he just finished cleaning and drying.
"Yes Mr. Reg, I'll go take it out."
This boy has been collecting and throwing out people's waste for the past ten years barely making ends meet.
At times he decides not to buy food so he can save up so he could leave and get a better life. He started eating trash to save money and was ridiculed for it.
"Oh look we found another rat and it's a big one too."
"The bigger they are the more dangerous and diseases they bring, so we should beat it so it leaves, right Jome?"
Jome and Frin were Rayburn's main harassers. Both of them seemed to have nothing better to do since this was their weekly routine.
Jome short in stature, brown hair, and hazel eyes. At first sight, she looks like a decent person but obviously, it's the opposite. She makes sure that her presence is known since her father is the mayor of this small town.
Frin on the other hand is a timid boy and the same age as Jome with similar features. It's understandable why he is timid with such a person in their life. However, he isn't any better than her.
"What is it this time? Are you going to push me into a pile of shit, beat me to a pulp, or take my cloth and tear em"
Ray was not in the mood to deal with the twins. He was given extra work even though he already worked half the day and won't get extra pay from this.
"Whatever you are going to do, please do it quickly. I need to get back to work."
"Nevermind Frin, I am not in the mood anymore. It's not fun beating up a rat if there isn't a chase."
"And here I was thinking of blowing some steam after we did so much work at school."
As the two leave Ray finishes the job and is counting how many crels he has made.
"One, two, three... thirty-five, thirty-six and thirty-seven. Guess I am eating garbage again today."
Whenever Rayburn finishes a job and gets his money, if he doesn't make more than forty crels he will eat from the garbage. He does this to save money to get a better life and finally go to school too.
As Rayburn finishes counting his makes it to an abandoned building he was living in. which was far away from the village he worked at.
It looked like a small worn down tower. There were three floors, the first floor was Ray's makeshift living room, the second was his bedroom, it's where he keeps that special amulet and money. Finally, the third floor was for watching the night sky if he wanted to escape his thoughts.
"Just a few more weeks until I get to move to a new town and start a new life. Finally having a working bath and not eating other people's scrap."
As a few tears run down his face Ray walks up the stairs to his bedroom and goes to these pillars that hold the torches that lit the room up. He pulls the torch holder and brick and there is a hole with a bunch of crels that he has been saving up.
...
"Jome, I thought we weren't going to do anything to him today?"
"Lower your voice Frin, I didn't like the way he was talking to me and I'm going to make sure he learns his place, also father told me to leave this letter for him, why would such a rat get a letter from a prestigious school."
"M-maybe he did something to upset them and they are going to punish them. can't you just open the letter and see for yourself"
"And you didn't think I tried that! The person who sent this used magic to seal it so only the person who it's sent to opens it. and it's a strong one that not even our father could open"
Hopefully, it's a letter that will make his life much more miserable than it is, Jome thought with a twisted smile across his face.
"Grrrrr"
"HYAAA"
"Frin you are about to be a grown-ass man soon in the adult ceremony tomorrow, get your act together. you sound like a helpless little girl. this is why father favors me because you act so weak"
"Sorry"
Frin about to cry a river, Jome stops him and finally notices Rayburn's dump of a house.
"Jome looks at the window in the middle I think I see him doing something"
Jome and Frin take a closer look and they see him place his money in that spot which gave Jome and idea that she'll put it into motion.
"Let's just place the letter inside and leave, we won't be doing anything today"
They continued to watch Ray until he went up to the 3rd floor and they went inside and placed the letter on the table under a poorly made bowl.
'Father is going to love this'
Jome leaves giggling while Frin is wondering what's gotten into his sister.
...
After a few hours, Rayburn went back downstairs to the first floor to eat something he got from the trash. As he walks down he notices a letter on the table under the bowl he made out of wood. He took the letter and checked who it was for since it had a stamp from a very famous school that Zinnia showed him. Taking a closer look at it, he recognized the logo because it's from the school he aims to get in when saved enough.
'I think they may have made a mistake and sent this to the wrong place. I haven't applied or got the money to join'
He turns the letter to the other side to see who it's for and it says 'Rayburn'. Rayburn with excitement from the opportunity of the lifetime opens up the letter.
'Hello Rayburn, we sent you this letter to see if you are compatible. there should be another slip with a magic circle. Place a drop of your blood to get accepted.'
"If it's this easy to get in I would have done it sooner"
He falls to the ground and cries a river from all the joy that he had just received. He could finally better his life.
Ray gets back and gets the knife he used to make the wooden bowl and cuts the tip of his finger.
"I'm not wasting this opportunity"
his finger with the blood pressed against the magic circle. It started glowing red then it stopped.
"Huh did I do something wrong. maybe I didn't use enough blood."
He makes another cut but much deeper this time with desperation with his motion. Placing his finger on the magic circle again but the same thing.
"No no no no-no-no. finally had a chance to change my life and I fucked up. I don't want to be a bottom feeder anymore, I don't want to eat from the trash. I'll do anything, just let me get a chance to become something else."
The magic circle began to light up again and even brighter than before, almost blinding. Then something came out of the sign.
A huge red and black figure appears right in front of Rayburn. Two horns from the top of the head curving to the back of the head and curve back to above the ear. A long skinny tail with the tip of a spade and well-toned muscles.
Shocked at what he had just seen and tried to run. But to no avail, the demon grabbed him like it was nothing.
"whyyyyyyy wax mec like like fish"
The last thing Ray sees is the demon's mouth growing, surrounding him and everything turns black.