002. A Child Appears
Over a hundred years had passed since the event called the night of blood took place. In the outskirts of country was a small town known for it's rather rotten state.
The numbers of buildings in the town were scanty and barely numbering a dozen, their walls looking quite old and cracked. If one looked much deeper these strange cracks were infact marks, scars of what the buildings had seen in their life span.
The only building that was alive in the eerie dead silence of the time was the tavern, it's walls looked dirty but considerably easier in a more better state than the other buildings in the town.
Aside from the constant cheers and bellows coming from the tavern, the only sound left was that of the owl that had made it's home in the buildings there.
A small shadow crossed across the ragged landscape at a quick speed, there was the sound of small footsteps that was uneven. The figure tripped over a lump on the ground that appeared to be the thigh bone of an animal or human.
"Omph!" A voice escaped the figures lungs, rasps of ragged breathing filled the once quiet street. The figure was dressed his sackcloth stained in ash and now sweat and dust. "Ack--!"
There was a deep cough as the figure stood up with unsteady feet and proceeded to the only place with life in the area. A trail of blood in the shape of small footprints was left by the naked feet of the figure as it closed in on the tavern.
"Hoot. Hoot." The owl staying in the shadow watched the scene with an air of strangeness.
Soon after a second figure appeared from the outskirts of the town and made his way into the down, his eyes following the trail of blood left byhis prey. He looked up with his one good eye, his other one gone for reasons known to him.
"That damned kid, bleeding like this will--" He barely restrained his anger. His mind lingered on a dark thought perhaps on what blood always called.
He made his way to the tavern with a hasty speed.
Meanwhile the small child had reached the tavern and was about to knock when the door swung open and a man was thrown out clearly drunk and out of money. The child was not noticed in that moment allowing for the child to slip in.
The child walked into the inner confines of the tavern that reeked of alcohol and maybe mouth odour. The child gagged unable to believe humans breathed the awful stench.
It seemed the fear of going outside was much more grave than the smell of the tavern so the child welcomed it and made for the counter trying to get as far away from the door as much as possible.
A few of the men in the tavern caught sight of the child but either due to being drunk or not having any interest they averted their gaze and went back to their business.
The child welcomed this alienation and stopped before the counter where two figures sat, the one on the left was a beat up buff man covered in a thick black fur coat, the one on the right a bald man of a smaller stature dressed in a singlet and trousers.
"Hmm?" The bald man turned and looked down at the child. "What's a little lad like yourself be looking for here? Want a drink or something?"
The child hid behind the thick mass of messy curly brown hair. Ash betrayed the colour of the hair at first but with a closer look it could clearly be seen.
The bald man looked deeper at the child and said. "Oh, I see now. A beggar has no reason to be here, scram."
"Please sir, save me from the bad man." The child sobbed lightly.
The man took pity on the child and smiled. "Sorry about scaring ya, I'm actually quite fine of kids."
The child looked up at him with a shy face. "You'll help me from the bad man."
The man sighed in defeat and said. "Well—"
Before anymore could've said the door swung open with a sharp force and there stood the man in with one good eye. In the light he looked like a middle aged man, in one hand he had a sickle that looked quite sharp.
It seemed the shifty stranger knew not to cause a ruckus in the tavern so he started in a hoarse tone that might have been intended to sound polite but was really giving off the opposite effect.
"I'm after a small child that came this way!" Without an introduction he went straight to the point.
His intrusion itself had already managed to piss of half the clients inside and the shifty stranger did not look to be making any friends anytime soon.
"Does this look like a babysitting house or something?" Bellowed one of the clients as he squeezed his beefy palm around his glass bottle from which he drank.
The shifty stranger took a step in and the quietly shut the door behind him. This scene was not inviting in the minds of anyone there.
Feeling the need to inspire the folks he changed his approach. "Whoever hands the child over will receive 10 silver pieces."
Now his voice sounded sweet to the ear.
Those that had seen the child earlier started to look around with unease. The moment was only seconds when someone spoke.
"Double the price for this girl right here and maybe I'll let you have her alive." Said the bald man from earlier as he held tight to the child's shoulder and had a mad gleam on his face.
The child looked up at him and trembled. "B-- you said you would protect me."
The bald man chuckled, his eyes filled with greed. "I don't remember saying that kid. Besides how could I turn down a paying customer."
The shifty stranger looked up and said. "Done. Hand her over."
The bald man gripped the child tighter filling him with dread and saying. "Sorry kid it's just business."