"Um.. are you okay?" The kid asked.
Matthias flinched from the sudden question and he turned his head toward the kid, who was silently scrutinizing his face.
".. Yeah. Why do you ask?"
The kid suddenly looked down, no longer meeting Matthias' gaze. Matthias frowned on seeing the kid's action.
Am I scary or what?
"Um… looks like we're the only kids they keep here from our previous group," the kid meekly replied.
Oh. I didn't realise.
"Is that so? I don't really keep tabs on the other kids."
"Me neither. But I remember you because you got into trouble with that bald man. I think the others would have remembered you as well."
Oh.
Matthias' face was unexpressive. He looked at the kid who had started a conversation with him. The kid's hair was a mess and his clothes were also filthy. Matthias was wondering whether he looked worse than that kid, since he had puked so much on that one time.
"Hey, what's your name?" Matthias asked the kid.
"Regan." The kid said, his voice low.
"Hi, Regan. I would have said 'nice to meet you' if we're in a better situation, but you know the state we're in. I'm Matthias, by the way."
Regan softly smiled on hearing Matthias say that. He extended his hand towards Matthias.
"Well, I don't care about the situation we're in, so nice to meet you, Matthias."
Matthias' eyes became slightly wider seeing Regan's actions. But he quickly smiled back at Regan and shook his hand.
That whole day, Matthias and Regan chatted amongst themselves and told each other all about their hobbies and interests, also how they got into the situation they were in.
"One day while I was visiting the market, a man suddenly grabbed me from one of the alleyways and made me sniff something. When I woke up, I was in that previous place they kept us in."
Regan has a gloominess present on his face when he recounts his story to Matthias. It seemed like he was also itching to go back to his family, just like his newly found friend. On seeing his face, Matthias remembered how he was planning for an escape just before Regan started a conversation with him. So he suddenly had an idea.
I can definitely use his help on planning the escape.
He leaned closer to Regan and whispered, making sure the other kids did not hear about their conversation.
"Hey, do you want to escape from here?"
Regan suddenly flinched on hearing that, making Matthias flinch as well. Regan was nervously looking around the other kids and after making sure no one was listening into their 'little talk', he whispered back to Matthias.
"Of course I want to. But you know how difficult that is going to be, right? That is, considering if we even get to succeed."
"Yeah, I know. But I don't feel like sitting here and just waiting for them to do whatever they want to us, like a pig in a slaughterhouse."
Matthias gritted his teeth. He definitely was going to make his plan work and if it didn't and he ended up getting caught by the retards instead, he definitely was not going to go down without a fight either.
Regan sighed on seeing Matthias.
"Well we can try and devise a plan, or do you already have one?" Regan was carefully examining Matthias.
"Not right now, but I'll have one soon."
On the sill of the ventilation on one of the walls, a raven with blood-red eyes was closely looking at Matthias and Regan, almost as if it was listening to their conversation.
_______________________
On the outskirts of Port Hane, a man clad with a black robe was standing in front of a small dilapidated house. He could see that the house was run-down, as every single creak and squeak caused by rats told the onlookers it had long since been abandoned.
"Hmm… Too bad, I was hoping to catch them here. Where would they have gone now?"
The man rubbed his chin and slightly tilted his head in a contemplative manner.
"Has Mira found them yet?"
He was looking up at the sky which was turning dark, signalling the oncoming rain. There was mirth in his eyes, which were blood-red, as if he was entertaining the sky to quickly let down its rain.
The man suddenly paused.
"Oh, so that's where they are," he said. Quickly, he went back to his carriage and told the driver to head south.
He was nearing his destination. Just a bit more, and he would see the boy again.