The Den

Bits and pieces of last night clung to my mind like tendrils of shredded cloth. I sat up and a dull throb immediately knocked at the back of my head. Lifting my hand, I touched it and felt something wet and sticky. A wave of nausea hit me hard and I almost blacked out.

Not again.

I tried to speak, but my tongue clung to the roof of my mouth; it felt stuffed with cotton wool. As I looked down at myself, I noticed I was still wearing last night's clothes; a pair of black jeans and a black hoodie. I didn't need to take a sniff at them to know I smelt like a brewery.

What really happened last night?

My mind was blank, until I spied an empty transparent bottle at the foot of my bed and all the memories rushed back at top speed. Disgust and shame filled me up inside and I belched loudly. Wasting no time, I struggled to stand and a wave of dizziness filled my vision, but I still managed to by gripping the edges of the bed tightly. My foot touched the bottle and I kicked it out of the way and watched as it sailed in the air, hit the door with a bang, and landed with a crash as it broke into tiny pieces.

I knew it wouldn't be long before someone came, so I waited.

Sure enough, footsteps echoed on the tiled floor, getting louder as they got closer. Before I could make a move, the door was thrown open to reveal a woman. She took one step inside but didn't get very far before she stepped on broken glass.

I tried to imagine what was going through her mind but I gave up when my head started to feel like it was splitting in two.

"Look at you, a horrible mess is what you are, and look at this pigsty you call a room." She took a quick look around the room, her lips coiling in a sneer.

Choosing to remain quiet, I turned round and backed her, busying my hands by putting some of my clothes in a backpack. Whether they were clean or dirty, I didn't care, I threw them inside. I blanked out, only slowing down when I noticed my hands were becoming shaky.

"Silence – that's all I get, that's all you keep giving me, and where do you think you're going?"

She kept quiet and I heard the crunch of glass. I thought she was about to walk away, seeing as she had finished her ranting, little did I know she was going to go there.

"You're such a deadbeat, John, treating us like a meal ticket after all we've done for you trying to make something of your life. Now you want to just up and leave us in the lurch. No thank you's, nothing except indifference."

As confused as I was, I probably should have left well enough alone, especially after what happened last night, but something welled up inside of me . . . and I let it.

I licked my parched lips and tried to swallow past the rising knot in my throat before I turned round to face her. The look on her face told me I looked worse than I felt. "I'm a deadbeat?" Even though it felt like my head was about to explode, I threw my head back and laughed wildly. "You're a fine one to talk, Mirabelle, kidnapping a seven year old boy from the orphanage and letting Harry have his way with him . . ."

I paused and watched her reaction. She seemed to be having a hard time digesting what I had just said. Her eyes went big and round, but I didn't care. I was past caring.

"Didn't think I'd remember, did you?" She said nothing, so I continued. "You did nothing to stop him, instead, you'd tell the boy to let Harry have his way, that it would be easier on him, and stop the beatings as well. When he ran away, you found out and brought him back instead of reporting him. When that boy grew older and stronger, and began fighting back, he took it out on you and . . . "

"Stop!" Her voice came out as a whisper as she held up a hand, as if that would stop me from talking. "Please, just stop." Tears fell from her eyes and suddenly her knees gave way and they buckled.

I turned away from her and shrugged on the backpack, but as I took a few steps towards the door, she clutched at my leg.

"Please, John . . . don't go."

I looked at the woman before me; a broken and empty shell with only bitter memories as her friends.

"That's not my name anymore. It's Terobe, try to keep up." I took one long look at the room I had called mine for the past ten years and shook my head. There was nothing left for me here. I was done.

With a last look around the room, I shrugged off her hand from my leg and walked towards the door, the crunch of the bottle beneath my boots, a reminder of last night's situation.

I touched my forehead and winced.

Harry would definitely be in a worse of situation than I'm in right now, that's for sure.

The walk to the den took longer than expected. I made sure I took a shorter route, but I think the fates were against me because for some reason, there seemed to be quite a number of people going to the marshlands. I heard whispers as I passed two boys, so I made sure to pull the hood over my head in order to shut off the stares. I knew I looked like shit but there was nothing I could do about that now.

Ureo would have made a piss-ass statement, probably get into a fight while he's at it.

Against my will, I smiled and instantly regretted it. My jaw felt tight, like someone had given me an upper cut on my chin.

Harry probably did.

I made a mental note to check how bad my injuries were in a mirror once I had the chance.

The walk to the den took longer than expected. Even with the hood over my head, I still drew whispers from people, even though I made sure I didn't pass the middle of the town. When I noticed people had started gawking and pointing, I decided to pass through the forest.

No one was around when I got there.

I had found this uncompleted building near the edge of the forest. The owners abandoned it and never came back. Luckily, no one had laid claim to it, so whenever we went for a raid, we would all split up and meet later at the uncompleted building to share the loot.

With the exception of Ureo and Jedd, the guys began staying there full time and we named it - The Den.

Well, they'll just have to make room for one more person.

I dropped onto the bed and it was lights out for me.

                *

Everywhere was quiet when I woke. Wayy too quiet, and dark. Where was everyone? Maybe I was dreaming. Or dead.

". . . and that's why we have to do it tonight."

"I think you're right."

It was bad enough I wasn't sure if I was dead or alive, and now I was hearing voices as well.

"We strike tonight."

One of the voices sounded familiar but I was too spaced out to place it.

I strained to listen but everywhere was silent once more. I came to the conclusion I was asleep because not long after, someone was shaking me awake. My heart did a gallop and I felt all sweaty for no particular reason.

I had been dreaming of something. What it was I couldn't remember, but it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Terobe, wake up, you've got to hear this."

Opening my eyes was a struggle, my lids were heavy and it felt like sand was trapped in between them. Varag stood staring at me with a concerned look on his face. I stopped a yawn from slipping through and got up. That's when I noticed I was on the floor.

Somehow, I had fallen down and gotten tangled in some clothes.

"Old Danny Gap tooth's house was broken into, and it wasn't us." He didn't wait for me to comment on that, he continued speaking in a rush. "Can you imagine, thousands of dollars were stolen?"

My bottom lip fell open. I saw an image of two people struggling with a man sitting on a chair. His back was turned to me, but one of them was holding a gun. The image dissipated from my mind as soon as it entered.

I looked up at Varag. "How many of them were there?"

He gave me a look that made me feel dumb. "Out of all I said, that's all you gotta ask?"

"Just tell me."

"I don't know, alright, but what I do know is its going to affect the economy of the whole town."

"Look at you talking big." I tried to smile but pain shot through my whole face, so I gave up and settled for a frown instead.

"You haven't heard the worst."  Varag's face suddenly changed.

What could be worse than your money being stolen?

I didn't have long to wait. He dropped onto the floor beside me, sunk his head in his hands and whispered. "They killed him, Terobe, they murdered Old Danny gap tooth."

A/N

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