Jake's eyes lingered on that scar. It looked like something one would get from a whip. He forced a smile, acting like he hadn't seen it. She took the coins, bowed in appreciation, and walked away.
"Master, those people that were watching you left immediately after the girl left," Crypt said.
"Huh? Is that so? There is something off with the girl, Crypt, let's follow her," Jake said. He couldn't shake the feeling that this girl was tied to something that wasn't good, but for some reason, he believed this girl was innocent and pure.
[....]
Lily walked through the night. She looked over her shoulder as if scared someone was coming for her, and after a few more steps, she walked into an alleyway.
Split splat—the routine sound of dripping water made her skin crawl. Her eyes caught the silhouettes of small creatures running around in the dark.
Her footsteps became short, her breathing heavy, yet her eyes didn't waver, as if she knew what was to come.
"Ho ho ho, the little rascal has returned," a raspy voice came from the darkness. The sound of metal clashing against itself followed, a spark flew, and a big cigar was lit.
The short but bright burst of light showed the outline of a man standing, leaning against the wall. He used a small pocket knife to stab into the cigar and take it up to his mouth.
He drew a deep breath and let out a cloud of smoke in her direction. "Boss man, the little brat is back," the man said.
Suddenly, torches lit up—four of them, held by four men. The alleyway was immediately illuminated. There were seven men standing there, including the four torchbearers and the smoker.
Finally, there was a large man with sharp eyes. A saber hung on his waist. To his side was a young man with neck-length hair and a massive scar on his face.
"You are finally back," the large man said. He took a few steps toward the girl. "My men watched you all day. Seems you caught a big fish of some sort. They were rich, from what I hear.
He even gave you a lavish feast. You filled your stomach like some pig," the man said. He stood in front of her. His towering figure intimidated her. She stared up at him, trying not to look intimidated, but it wasn't working.
"So? What did that man give to you?" he asked. She instinctively pulled out two gold coins and handed them to him. She had come to learn that if she didn't disobey, her life would be much easier.
The man looked at the coins. He took them from her, a smile forming on his face, but after a few seconds, it shifted into a frown.
"Where's the rest?" he asked.
"That is all I got," she responded, her voice shaking.
"Don't play with me, brat. Where the hell is the rest?" he yelled, his voice causing her to flinch.
"You mean to tell me that you met someone rich and all you could get was two gold coins? Why didn't you snatch his purse or whatever he used? Why didn't you get more out of him?
You are one of my smartest ones, so why didn't you make up some story to gather his sympathy? You spent all day with him only worried about your guts, filling it with food that could have been my money," he roared at her, and without a moment of hesitation, he swung his hand.
SLAP.
The sound echoed. She was thrown to the floor, her face burning, her eyes watering, yet no voice left her mouth.
"Talk, you bitch," he roared, kicking her in the gut. Her small body arched backward. She vomited the contents of her stomach right there, yet she didn't say anything.
"Fine, since you won't talk, tell me what you know about this man, and I'll go get the money myself. That's all you have to do—tell me about him," the man said, squatting beside her.
She heard what he said. It sounded like a good way for her to get out of all this pain, but could she? Could she give away the one person that might have understood her? That wasn't disgusted by her? The one person that fed her without complaining?
She couldn't. Her heart wouldn't let her. She might have lost it all in this life—a lost kid—but she was smart enough to know that if she did this to Jake, she would be throwing away what little she had left of her humanity and becoming a monster like these men.
She had sworn to herself: she would never be like them, no matter what happened.
Lily kept quiet, refusing to speak. She closed her eyes, ready to accept the pain that was coming. Seeing this, the man grew enraged. He kicked her again, this time even harder, and then walked to the smoking man and snatched the cigar.
He walked back to her. "Since you don't want to talk, I'll burn that mouth of yours so you never talk again. Blame yourself and your bad luck," he said.
"Everywhere, blame your bad luck. Everyone, blame your bad luck. People doing whatever they want to others and calling it the other person's bad luck. People like you disgust me," Jake's voice sounded in the alley.
His footsteps were slow and heavy, and behind him was the sound of metal hitting the ground. He drew the attention of everyone there. They looked, trying to see who it was.
When he finally came into the light, the man yelled, "Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here?"
But Jake didn't answer that question. He simply spoke to Crypt.
"Crypt, kill them all—but not their leader. Keep him until the end."
"Gladly, Master," Crypt said and vanished from sight, a black blur cut through the light of the torches, he appeared in front of the leader, kicking him away from the girl so hard that the man slammed into a wall—but he didn't die.