Mystic Ink - Ch. 03 Look at the bright side, at least its not my problem.

--This is available free to all viewers, it was removed from RRL by admin---

Just as Birdie said, the guards came in a little bit later distributing dark bread and gruel. Not much different from the Church if Cass thought about it. The guards also grabbed a few kids, one of which was Stone. The first two left quietly, but Stone tried to refuse kicking and struggling until one of the guards punched him in the gut and dragged him off.

Who they grabbed seemed completely arbitrary, a person could be taken in a day or spend months in this cell. However what seemed to be a constant was making an offering to the boss, the kids lined up and split half of their bread as a tribute to Rat. Cass had expected as much, this was normal behavior for a street Boss.

When he brought her bread to Rat he grinned lewdly down at her, “You will be sleeping in my room tonight girl.”

“Y-yes Boss.” Cass’s voice trembled, but the fear in her voice only made Rat smile wider, exposing his gruesome crooked and cracked yellow teeth and gaps. Cass would not let herself cry, the more she showed her disgust and fear the worse Rat would treat her. Sadism was a common trait on the streets.

She took her gruel and bread and retreated to the corner, and ate quietly. It tasted disgusting of course, but Cass did it best to keep it down. The little bit of light that filtered into the cell from the barred window across from the cell was fading, night was falling.

Suddenly, there was a crash and a yell. Cass saw Rat standing over a cowering Birdie, “Damn bitch, you think you can cheat me?”

There was a couple pieces of bread fallen near Birdie where she trembled, Cass figured she had tried to steal from Rat. Cass thought she must be an idiot, that weren’t enough kids down here for Rat not to be able to keep track of the bread.

Rat kicked Birdie again and again as she begged on the ground.

“I’m sorry Boss!” She cried, “Mercy, please!”

“I will teach you the meaning of respect, fucking bitch.” He grabbed Birdie and dragged her towards the room in the back, then glared at Cass. “You, mouse, come with me. Let this be a lesson about what happens to people who break the Boss’s rules.”

Cass did as she was told and followed Rat into the room. It was not any different from the other part of the cell, except that it had small bed with a dirty straw mattress. Rat tossed Birdie onto the bed and Cass curled up in the corner, trying to ignore Bidie’s screaming and begging as Rat forced himself on her.

The priests had said, when they gave the orphans their charity, that nothing happened but that the Gods willed it. To have good things happen to you, you had to be good. If bad things happened to you, you must have done something wrong.

Cass wondered if tomorrow night, when Rat turned his attention on her, if that would be what she deserved for being relieved that Birdie was being hurt instead of her now. Perhaps the Gods knew her thoughts and knew what a terrible person she was.

Even when Rat finally finished and went to sleep, Cass could not. She just stayed curled up in the corner, listening to Birdie’s quiet sobs until the sun rose