Chapter 9.
"There is nothing quite as wonderful as money,
There's nothing as beautiful as cash."
- Monty Python.
I've been cold and lonely for too long. It's been a couple of days since the incident with that man and my pathetic attempt at trying to sell my body for money… After all how could I think that I could sell my body?
No longer an issue considering I seem to have gotten better. In other words that sort of fever I had contacted into my body is no longer a problem.
I've heard some gossip from the kids in the factory and the ones that are panhandling on the street that the Youth Centre is beginning to lose funding and so there are major cutbacks. I don't know whether or not I'm upset considering only when I am desperate do I go there. But I was getting use to the company there is. The not-so-cold-people or fear-me-I'm-gonna-rip-your-guts-open.
So I think I'll use the 2£ I was able to get and grab a coffee than head over to the Youth Centre.
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The old building has grown on me. In fact lately I've found myself relieved more than I would ever care to admit, when I see the sight of the decrepit place.
So I push the door in and smell the sort of air freshener that the volunteers spray in here. It smells like citrus scents, that I think they buy purely because the kids who come here love it.
There are more people here than I'm used to. Their conversations a wide range of things.
"So I was like…."
"That place downtown is nice…"
"Anyways, I got a…"
I like it. For some reason it brings that soft smile that was rare even when I had the whole world in my pocket to my face.
I stop when I survey the people and come up with more red heads than should be allowed in the world. Especially two identical ones.
They're talking to the middle aged man with a clean-shaven chin that runs the Youth Centre in the corner of the room. The place is so crowded that they won't be able to see me properly.
Not that hey would recognize me for what I've become. I barely even recognize myself, even when I'm not looking in a mirror.
I turn to Kit who's sitting at a table playing chess with…
Dear Merlin!
I can imagine my the pupils of my eyes becoming contracting…
The red head doesn't even bother looking at me.
I'm near the door so I could easily slip out without any one of them noticing me.
Out of the corner of my eye I see someone staring right at me.
They have messy hair and a definite body build that I couldn't mistake for anyone having studied it when I was once Seeker.
I can imagine the green emerald eyes becoming 'Avada Kevadra'.
For some reason during this panic to get to the door it occurs to me that the Demon Twins are here to help with the funding of the Youth Centre.
Suddenly and without reason it also occurs to me that I feel betrayed by the Youth Centre.
I walk out the door as two more street kids come in through it.
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I refuse to go back. I don't want to be caught. I don't want anyone to know what I've become. I don't want anyone to know that I'm a street kid and I have to steal and beg in order to get just a morsel of food.
I'm ashamed.
Dear Merlin, I'm ashamed of myself.