Underclass Hero.
Chapter 6.
Work.
A/N: There may be a scene that is a bit gross, so be warned. Also be warned that I'm unable to write action scenes so said warning isn't much of a warning at all (:
Disclaimer: Really, if I owned it, you'd be reading the manuscript for Fable4 ;3
They had all been lined up near a different door they had entered; it was a hidden door, in the corner on the back wall. A red curtain had been hung over the wall; the door was thick and made of wood planks. Big metal hinges kept it bolted to the frame; there were two hooks on either side of the door that another wood plank would be placed in that kept the door secure and shut. Levi swallowed the lump in his throat, which was suddenly dry. Suddenly things didn't look so good, he scanned the room, and guards were placed at the entrance door. Big men wielding sharp axes and swords, another guard kept watch at the wood door.
"What you sup'ose we're bein' sent in there to do exactly?" A rather high pitched voice questioned behind him. Levi turned his head to be met with a girl who was chubbier than the rest, with freckles and dusted her round cheeks. Her short brown hair accentuated the fullness of her face. She looked at him with blue eyes and questioned again. "Well, what d'ya think eh?" she had an accent that gave her away as a yokel from a distant farming town. He gave a short shrug and shook his head when another girl from behind the current one spoke up in a rather soft, meek sounding voice.
"I heard terrible things from the other girls about what goes on at these parties" she kept her hands together at her chest and fiddled with her finger nails as she spoke. The chubbier one turned and gave a questioning look, examining the new girl up and down. She was skinnier than most of the girls here, her clothes looked far too big and her hair was wiry and frizzy.
"Eh? What kind of terrible things?" The round faced girl asked rubbing away at the powder that failed at covering her freckles in the first place. The other girl retreated a bit and looked towards the guards stationed at the doors before looking back down at her bare feet.
"Well…I overheard that…that the entertainers to some of Reaver's parties…don't even come back out" She looked up at the final part, her big watery eyes darting between his and the other girls all the while still fidgeting with her fingers. If there were any words to be said, there wasn't time. The big wooden door could be heard opening with a long groan. It opened outwards and when it did it showed nothing but blackness and stairs that descended downwards into it.
"All right girls! Get movin'" a booming voice called out, everyone jumped and followed its orders moving towards the doorway and down the stairs. Once on the stairs it was harder to keep balance than Levi had expected, the stairs sloped awkwardly downwards, the walls slimy and moss covered. His eyes adjusted best they could to the overwhelming blackness. The only light filling the narrow passage was of the guard's torch which led the way. Many girls slipping and gasping, their soft cries echoing, trapped in the walls around them. The moisture in the felt suffocating as it clung to his clothes, weighing him down, his skin and face felt sticky. The guard moved to the side after opening another barred door and let the girls pass through, once in they all huddled together in the middle of the room unsure of what to expect. When they all passed through the guard placed the torch in a lone rustic torch bracket. The door was heaved shut with another groan and the lock could be heard as it clanked shut the sound of the guards boots retreating back up the stairwell was a lonely sound. The place they were put in looked the circular; a cage had been made around where they were. It was made from rusty bars that stuck in the ground in a semi circle all the way around the door they entered from. The floor was cobble stone but covered in dust and dirt, patches of plants grew from the cracks in the ground. Not much could be seen from inside the bars, there were other arch ways along the walls of the room that faded into black as there were too few torches in the room to see properly. What couldn't be seen could be heard though, echoing in the distant were vile screams and terrorizing laughter, and objects could be heard being broken, deep growls could be heard coming from another room. A cry from behind him startled him causing him to jump back and a few others, one of the girls had fallen to the ground and was crying helplessly. Levi noticed it was the mousey girl from earlier, the chubby one had bent down and was cradling her in her arms, patting her shoulders and rocking her gently. Other girls huddled around them and stared at Levi who was out of the group and examining the surroundings. A groan came from above and wheels began to turn from within the wall as the roof parted in half and off to the side retreating into the walls. Light flooded between the ever growing opening and soon people became visible and also more of the room. Above there was a golden balcony that had red and gold material draped from the railing protecting the guests from the fall. The room was lit by a magnificent chandelier that hung gracefully above from the center of the room. The people he noticed were all dressed up in big dresses and stiff suits, masks of different animals covered their faces, some of the half masks revealed smug sneers. The Girls rushed forward towards the bars and cried out for mercy, some for help. Stretching out their arms between the bars, some of the other meeker girls kept to the wall, still huddled together.
"Hello my pretties" An all too familiar voice called out playfully. Reaver appeared from the crowd, dressed to a tee, he flaunted his wealth in his clothes. Some of the guests chuckled or fanned themselves knowingly. All their eyes peering down at them, they were rats in a cage. Reaver moved towards the railing and a man that resembled a rat handed Reaver a golden champagne glass.
"Ladies, ladies, save the screaming for later" A laugher erupted from the other guests; Reaver raised his glass the others followed this act and greedily emptied their glasses. Reaver handed his glass to his rat friend who took the glass and faded into the crowd. An iron gate could be heard groaning as its rusty chains struggled to lift its heavy weight. The maniacal evil laughter that had been echoing the tunnels and chamber calmed, followed by shuffling footsteps. The arch door adjacent to the barred cage began to revile shapes moving. The girls and Levi edged their way back towards the wall, the hysterical crying ceased to fill ears, now just silent or muffled sobs. As if they were trying to hide subconsciously from whatever was finding its way towards them. The nervous shaking jingled their golden bracelets, their breath hitched and they hiccupped. Noise filled the air, booming as if a book had been slammed shut beside your ear. Followed by a howl of laughter as a dozen or so Hobbes crashed into the scene, the girls screams picked up again and this only seemed to please not only the Hobbes but also the guest on the balcony above as their laughed mixed into one. Hobbes wielding swords, axes, maces, revolvers, there were Hobbes on stilts with huge rickety guns, Hobbes who summoned other Hobbes, little self destructing Hobbes. The girls behind him pushed themselves towards the walls, another shot fired by a Hobbe and they fall to the ground covering their heads, Levi dropped to his knees. Panic swells up in his chest as he tries to think of a way out of this. Looking frantically around for some sort of weapon, he spots the torch left behind by the escort guard. Waiting for a clearing between the explosions of Hobbes and gun shots, he makes a mad dash for the wall with the door. One of the girls across the cage is screaming the loudest, alone one of the Hobbes managed to take hold of her dress and was pulling her against the bars while other Hobbes danced wilding, sneering and lashing out at her. Cutting her forearms and back, blood trickled down the bars; her face looses all color as her eyes roll back. This results in more panic as the girl slides down the bars motionless, Hobbes still trying and pull her through the bars. Levi struggles with the torch but manages to push it up and swipe at the Hobbe beside him, who gives a screech and jumps away from the flame. Its squinty eyes staring at the torch with distaste as Levi shuffles towards the huddled group of girls, poking the torch through the bars at the approaching Hobbes. He looks to the girl motionless against the bar and is horrified; her arm has been ripped from the socket and bleeding uncontrollably spilling into a pool of dark red liquid around her. He shudders and covers his mouth in his free arms elbow, her short brown hair now only in clumps as most of it had been pulled out. Her mouth twitched, Levi gasped, how anyone could survive that he wondered in disgust and awe was too much. She was still alive, without a second thought he reached out and grabbed her ankle pulling her towards him, some of the girls behind him screeched in terror as he did. The Hobbe who had her by the hair glared with its small dark eyes, pulling her back by her hair. Levi lunged forward and pushed the torch through the bars, the flame met the Hobbes eye and it gave a high pitched howl as it jumped back. Not wasting a second Levi put his arm under the girls remaining arm and hoisted her up dragging her off to the group of girls who spread away from the mangled girl. A shot was fired and one of the girls dropped, screaming in pain as the shrapnel wound on her leg began to bleed. She crawled back to the wall with the help of one of the other girls, Levi did his best to bat away at any of the Hobbes that tried to come close, but the number of Hobbes to the number of Levis wasn't looking good. Struck by shock he glanced up at Reaver who watched only mildly amused, his eyes piercing Levis who felt bare and exposed under the man's powerful stare. A smirk crossed the man's faced and Levi glared, he hated that man and his sick nature. The man's eyes shifted to something else in the cage and Levi followed. In front of him was a Hobbe with a gun, pointing it at him. Ducking out of the way he pushed forward, taking hold of the bar and pulling himself forward he managed to puncture through the belly of the Hobbe causing it to cry out. It shuddered as blood spilled out of the wound, diminishing the fire and covering his arm in greasy blood. Pulling his arm back Levi watched as the Hobbe crumpled to the ground, its gun falling from its clammy grip. Darting towards the gun he reached his arm through the bar, inching for it on his stomach as he was still trying to avoid the other gun shots that by this time have taken out two other girls. His fingers grazed the grip and he managed to slip it into his hand, retrieving his arm before one of the bigger Hobbes jumped in front of him, snarling at him it lifted its heavy axe above its greasy head before bringing it down between the bars. Rolling off to the side Levi pushes himself to his knees, fumbling with the gun he goes to pull for the trigger but misses and hits the trigger guard, a second time and he fires a shot. The vibration crawls its way from his hand to his core, rattling him, his shot managed to hit the big Hobbe in the face sending it flying backwards. Pulling back of the hammer he stood and fired again, hitting another followed by another. Picking off the small ones and the stilted Hobbe, the bigger ones proved to be difficult as they mostly took two hits and were able to dance around his amateur shots.
A sudden shot fired from someone other than Levi startles him, looking around another fires from above, Levi looks up as Reaver fires one last time and kills the remaining Hobbe. The guests clap and cheer, before filing out of the room by two separate exits. Reaver looks back at Levi who's covered in sweat, blood, and near to tears. The adrenaline rush slowly fades and he finds himself in shock. The iron ceiling begins to close blocking out the light from the chandelier leaving them in the faint eerie glow from the remaining torches. The girls cry and fumble; whimpers are heard in the darkness as Levi falls to his knees his grip still firm on the gun in his hand. The door is opened and girls flood towards it, the guards chuckling darkly to themselves. A hand rests itself on his shoulder and he jumps back towards the bars before realizing where he is, he crawls towards the walls.
"Hey, kid, stop movin' would ya'?" A voice called after him, recognizing the voice Levi lifts himself to his feet and turns to see Vic reaching out his hand. Filled with a sudden rage, Levi lunges himself at Vic; tackling the bigger man to the ground.
"YOU COMPLETE ASS!" Levi hollered out pinning Vic's chest with his legs he tries to reach for the man's neck. Vic's hands swatted away at Levis smaller ones and he pushes him off without ease.
"Calm down kid! I didn't know this would happen!" His voice boomed over Levis and echoed in the empty room, a howl followed from one of the other rooms. Levi jumped and his eyes darted in the direction of the sound before fixing on Vic again. Vic reached out to put his arm across Levis shoulders but the boy pulled away as he was led towards the exit. All too eager to exit the room Levi practically ran up the slippery stairs on all fours. Once in the room he noticed the other girls were already gone, when empty the room was rather spacious. He turned towards the stairs as Vic appeared with an expression Levi couldn't read. Moving across the room stiffly he grabbed a quilt and tossed it to Levi who caught it clumsily and wrapped it around himself following Vic out of the room.
The walk was rather quiet, and Vic seemed too serious as they made their way through the halls and up a stair well guarded by six or so henchmen. Levi drew back and shot a mistrustful look Vic's way the man said nothing but kept walking, pulling Levi by the arm. Once in the stair well Vic turned to him.
"You are okay right?" His expression was now one of concern and confusion, Levi said nothing as Vic looked up and down the stair well. "I didn't know that's what they were up to kid, I swear I never would have sent you in if…" he furrowed his eye brows together and his mouth clenched into a straight line. Levi nodded in understanding but a slight resentment remained for the man. Vic gave a soft smile and ruffled the boy's hair in a brotherly fashion before leading him further up the stairs. At the top was a door that wasn't like the rest of the doors in this mansion, which seemed all too much like a labyrinth. The door was polished dark oak, with golden hinges and handle, a small flamboyant red carpet was laid out before it. Levis shoulder dropped and he shot an apathetic look Vic's way, Vic returned it with a wide cheesy grin and shrugged as he rapped his knuckles on the door before pushing it open and pushing Levi through it, closing the door swiftly behind him. Levi turned his head in horror as the door shut. He was in what he assumed was Reaver's private chambers. The circular room was adorned with rich red velvet walls, the golden drapes fell like a fountain in front of the series of wall sized windows. The floor was the same polished oak as the door and had a balverine skin rug spread across the center, just at the foot of the bed. The poles of the bed nearly reached the ceiling, deep red wood, carved into the most amazing design, the black sheets covering the bed looked all to inviting next to the mountain of pillows. Everything in the room was extravagant, expensive, and almost always velvet and red.
"Fought Hobbes before have you?" a sickly sweet voice purred, Levi looked around confused. Behind him the man was standing on another balcony he hadn't noticed before. A small stair case led to it, with a wall of books. Levi ignored such things and focused on intensifying his glare.
"Now, now~" The man pouted as he made his way down the stairs, "Such looks should not taint a face such as yours" With Reaver so close Levi felt frozen as Reaver continued to approach. The man's thick musky smell suffocated Levi, he blinked and his eyes watered. Reaver smelt of alcohol and sex. Reaver extended his hand and gave a 'ta-ta'. Confused Levi looked from the hand to the man's face.
"Don't think you'd actually be able to use that against me" he played. Levi gasped and realized he was still holding the Hobbes gun. He looked to his hand as he raised it and released his white-knuckle grip from it and dropped it into the man's hand.
"Oh, it's even trained" Reaver mused to himself giving Levi a look that made him cringe visibly. "Now, I couldn't help but notice it looked like you had handled a Hobbe before" The man talked as he walked over to one of the chairs positioned by the small staircase. Seating himself he gave Levi a long hard look, before tilting his head and placing the gun on the table beside him. Levi fiddled with the silky fabric of the skirt, "I want to leave" He demanded. For the first time the man's expression altered into something explainable, he raised his eyebrows and puckered his lips. Surprise, no one surprises Reaver, his excellent marksmanship makes sure of that.
"Pardon me?" Reaver stands and begins to walk towards Levi again. The way the man walks reminds Levi of a cat, toying with its prey. Reaver walks around the boy before halting off to the right of him. "You want to leave? Are the accommodations not to your standards?" The questions were sharp, and the man's eyes narrowed dangerously. Levi bit back on his words and returned the man's hateful look. 'What are you doing? This is Reaver, R-E-A-V-E-R. The man's a murderer, why are you edging him on?' Levi inwardly panicked and cursed himself for being in this situation. Reaver gave a nasty sneer before placing a hand on his hip, "You will go with Vic's little band of misfits" he explained, Levis expression dropped. "He is being sent to …retrieve, something of mine that was stolen". The man walked towards the staircase again, waving his hand. "Ah, you may go." Without wasting his time Levi turned on his heel and trotted for the door. He was met by Vic who jumped back as the door swung open; he cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck.
"So…?" Vic looked down at Levi, who looked up at Vic, who raised an eye brow. "You gonna tell me what happened in there?" He huffed.
"You were eavesdropping, so you should know" Levi crossed his arms over his chest and pushed past Vic, eager to get as far away from the chamber as possible as soon as possible. Levi heard Vic sigh and trug along behind him, "Yeah, yeah. I wasn't eavesdropping, I wa-". Levi cut him off, "I don't wanna know what you were doing, where are we going?"
"Huh?" Vic paused.
"Where ever you're going, I'm going too" Levi rolled his eyes as he explained.
"Well, we are going to Brightwall Academy" Levi paused and looked back as if to say 'oh really'. "Reaver has a presentation to give" Levis heart dropped, he just couldn't get away from this man.
THERE WE GO3
I tried to make it longer but, meh.
Reveiwswouldbenice ^3^;;