Jake placed the candle on an old stool, brushing his dusty hands. He had finally found the manhole down into the sewers after thirty minutes of rummaging in the basement. Of course it was in the very back and covered in old furniture and dead bugs. Grime was caked under Jacob's short and stubbly fingernails, giving them a dark and murky color, as dark the manhole he had just pried up.
Wiping his hands on his pants first, Jacob squatted by the manhole and dug his fingers into the cracks, lifting up the heavy metal. It took a lot of muscle and strain, more than Jacob thought he had in him. All the vessels in his arms were popped as he struggled to lift up the giant circle of iron, and slowly it groaned its way to freedom.
The manhole made a grating sound along the concrete floor as Jacob dragged it out of the way and placed it a few feet back. He went to the hole and peered down; there was no light. Only the inky black darkness and stinking sewer smell greeted the small candle light flickering near by. Jacob wrinkled his nose, leaning over to feel the iron bars of the ladder leading downwards. The kids were going to hate this. Half of them would refuse to go down or pee their pants trying.
He straightened up and hurried off to the upper levels, and he hoped dinner was done. The faster he got through this, the better.
"Guys!" Jacob sprinted into the main part of the house bringing a musty and moldy stench with him. "Hey, everyone!" He shouted as he burst into the kitchen.
"Hi, Jakey!" Greeted a few little kids, waving as they lifted spoonfuls of chicken broth to their faces.
"You stink!" Said one boy, pinching his nose.
"Kid's right," Terace grinned, "you smell like you been rolling in the dirt."
"When you go digging in dirt you tend to smell like it." Jacob responded as politely as he could so as not to start a fight, but Terace had a way of digging under his skin with the simplest of phrases. "Forget that!" He waved his hands, shaking his head, not wanting to get off topic. "Marlene, hurry it up okay?"
"Right!" Marlene said, her voice rising in a note of panic. "Hurry it up kids!" She turned back to them, waving her hands to hurry up their eating. Just then there was a knock at the door. Denzel let his spoon splash into the soup in shock, eyes wide.
"Get them down now!" Jacob hissed and turned to head into the hall. "Forget dinner."
"Y-you heard him!" Marlene stood up, hands shaking violently. "Dinner's done."
"Why?" One protested, pouting and waving her spoon about. "I'm still hungry..."
"We're going an adventure." Marlene said as Denzel reached under the table and passed out a few weapons to the older kids. "A long one. We'll eat more later."
"Really? What kind of an adventure?" Marlene continued to coax and mother the children, keeping them calm as she and Terace took the front, Denzel the back, shoeing the lagging kids to hurry.
"Jacob!" Hissed Dekel. His face was whiter than normal, and his body shook all over. "Jacob, please-" he whispered.
"Go Dekel," Jacob said over his shoulder, the knocking continued. "I'm coming!" He shouted to the knocking.
"Jake! Don't make me-"
"Go," he hissed, "I'll be down soon. Follow Marlene. Do what she says." Jacob watched as Dekel's forlorn face disappeared around the corner. "Coming!" Jacob shouted again.
"This is ShinRa! Open up!" Jacob's breathing began to quicken. He had to buy time.
Carefully, Jacob opened the door so only his face popped out. He grinned widely at the two guards from before.
"Sorry, I'm busy cleaning up dinner... can you come back later...?" Jacobs voice was steady, and he marveled at how cool he sounded. Slowly he began to close the door, but a hand smacked around the corner, pulling it open.
"Got a few questions first," the one smirked. "before you rudely shut the door in our faces."
"Shoot," Jacob said, leaning against the wide open doorway, tucking his shaking hands into his pockets. "Gim'me your questions." He was trying to sound cool, collected, but his attitude didn't match the guilty look starting to spread along his face, his small burst of confidence now crumbling to nothing as the situation went on.
"When does Cloud Strife get back, boy? And I don't want any lying this time. We know he's here or will be soon."
"The neighbors confirm seeing him and some suspicious other characters a few months ago." The other said stiffly, giving Jacob a cool glance.
"So save us the trouble now and spill it." The first said, stepping into the doorway. Jacob backed up a step, feeling himself stumble slightly as he did.
"Sorry, I told you, I haven't seen him. If he is around, he's not around much." Jacob's face began to turn red.
"Look kid, you keep lying and we'll have you arrested. Tell us, where is Cloud? Him and all his friends and them hideaways."
"The reward is a fine one for turning him in." The other stared down his nose as he tempted Jacob.
"N-no! I don't know anything. I t-told you before, I don't know a Cloud." Jacob began to stutter again, and he knew his facade was falling apart. Not that he had much of one.
"Not much of a liar." The other lifted his hand and plunged it into Jacob's gut. Jake doubled over, retching up vomit as the heavy hand buried into his belly. The boy sank to his knees, coughing and gagging. "Want to try that again? Where is he?" The man took a handful of Jacob's hair and lifted his head to look up. "Where are the white-heads? And where are our smugglers?" Jacob shook his head furiously.
"Don't know!" He coughed out and the man's knee found its way into Jacob's stomach. Instantly, Jake lost all the air in his lungs, and he lay gasping on the ground, puke dribbling from his chin.
The man raised a foot to plant it into the boys spine, but the other soldier stopped him.
"Leave him there. Let's check this place out and then come back. He won't say anything if he's dead after all."
"Fine, but we'll be back, kid." The man lowered his foot and growled at Jacob, spitting down upon him. The men walked off, their feet clicking on the ground. Jacob lay, gasping in as much air as he could, forming a plan. He had to find the others, and fast, but couldn't yet. Not with these two in the house. How to distract them?
Jake's blood shot eyes darted around for a weapon of some sort, his own left in the kitchen.
"Damn, now they'll know something is up without a doubt if they see that gun lying on the floor..." Jacob thought as he continued to flounder.
Jacob slowly lifted his bruised and battered body from the floor to sit on his knees. He began to wipe away the vomit clinging to his face with one hand while the other rubbed his stomach. A grimace formed over Jake's face as he touched a sore spot on his ribs.
"This is going to make travel difficult..." he thought bitterly as he touched the forming bruise.
The clatter of boots and upturning of chairs, the loud swearing and yelling, went from wall to wall and back again. Jacob let a small sigh pass through his teeth, wincing a little at a small burst of pain, and carefully he stood up.
A new emotion now stuck in the boy's heart; he wanted to save his home. Although he had a warm bed to return to on the other side of town, this was the only place in the world those orphans considered safe, and it was Jacob's job to keep it that way. He had been here for years now anyway, it was as much his home as the orphans'.
Jacob leaned his slightly shaking body against a wall, tried to look pathetic as he could, really weatherbeaten, and shouted out for the men.
"Alright!" He said in a feeble voice, a slight squeak catching him in the throat. "Alright." He panted and looked to the kitchen door with glazed eyes.
"What was 'at?" He heard a voice from behind the door. "What you yellin' on about now?" The two guards pushed the doors wide and marched out to meet Jacob.
"I'll-I'll tell you where Strife is. But promise you'll leave here without coming back. Leave the kids out of this I mean." Jacob glared meaningfully from one man to the other. A gleeful and almost greedy grin spread the first guard's face.
"You got yourself a deal. So tell us, where is Mr. Strife?" Jacob breathed in and out a few times, trying to settle his fluttering stomach and beating heart.
"Train station. They always come by train and hide out in one of the carts. They won't come out 'till night though, not until they're sure the cost is clear."
The first guard looked at his stiff backed friend to Jacob, as though trying to detect something, his eyes beadily darting from man to boy.
"Sounds alright." He said at last. His stiff backed friend stared hard at Jacob who tried as hard as he could, willed himself with all his might, not to drop that gaze. Slowly, the man nodded in agreement.
"Let's go. We'll be back with your reward boy-if, that is, if we find Cloud Strife. If not, your head is ours." The man jabbed a meaningful finger into Jacob's chest. Jake nodded in understanding, but said no more, not trusting himself to open his mouth.
"We'll be back." The first man said and nodded to his friend. "Let's get."
The two men left the house quickly.