Monster's Mercy

by William D. Arand

  We’ve our own demons to wrestle with and must slay, but even we had a safe place to sleep at the end of the day.

  “What guild are you part of?” Rene asked, his grip like iron even as the child struggled to pull back and escape.

  After several more tugs, the boy gave up. Hanging his head, the child looked crushed yet said nothing.

  “Are you part of Albert’s gang?” Rene prompted.

  The small boy shook his head a bit. “Bert’s.”

  Bert? Albert is Bert, Bert is Albert. We’ve already encountered one of his.

  Rene’s brain flashed to the child he’d caught several days earlier.

  “You will lead me back to Bert’s. You will not reveal yourself to Bert or let yourself be seen. Once you’ve done this task, you can go. I’m going to have a talk with Bert.” Rene stood up, holding the boy’s wrist tightly.

  The boy nodded again.

  “Good. Lead on,” Rene said, releasing the boy. The child looked up at him, as if weighing his options, before eventually setting off at a slow pace.

  Rene kept close to the child’s side, his hand ready to grab at the boy if he decided to try and make a break for it.

  The boy probably sensed Rene’s lack of tolerance for anything, however, and walked along without incident.

  Ten minutes later, the boy pointed towards an intersection ahead of them. “Turn left. Second on the right.”

  “Good enough. Run along,” Rene said, walking forward. After he turned the corner and made sure no one was there, he pulled the black hood down over his face and straightened it.

  Following the simple instructions, he found himself looking at a ramshackle building.

  Frowning, Rene gazed up at the edge of the roof. If he did this wrong and there was a back door, his target could be gone before he got a chance to bag him.

  It was a large building that looked more like a warehouse than a home. With that in mind, Rene believed there was almost certainly a back door. An exit one could flee out of to vanish in seconds.

  Jumping up, Rene grabbed the edge of the roof and hauled himself up and over. Quickly and quietly, he flowed over the roof to the rear of the building.

  He peered over the edge when he got there and found exactly what he’d been thinking of.

  A rear exit.

  Rene dropped down to the ground, then pulled out his dagger and wedged it into the locking mechanism.

  Twisting the blade slightly and pulling on the handle, he felt the whole thing shift and then click as it came undone.

  Shaking his head at the security, Rene took hold of the handle and quickly thought through his plan.

  Nothing had changed, however.

  Deciding to press on, he pulled on the door handle while keeping his hand with the dagger free and ready. He eased the door open, then slipped inside and closed it behind him.

  He was in a hallway that led toward a wall. Spaced along the hallway were doorways that led into other rooms.

  Feeling with his Awareness, he began to glide along the wall, his dagger held low and ready.

  Unfortunately, his senses were confused. The house was full of life and it felt like even now he was passing next to a human being. Yet there was no one there.

  Looking into the rooms, he found they were full of crates covered in tarps. There was no noise at all, no sounds, no movements. They were just empty rooms filled with crates.

  Near the end of the hallway, he stepped into another hallway that led back around to the front of the building.

  There, in the front room, he found his target. The man was sitting in the corner, his back to the walls, counting coins and jewelry into boxes that were set about his feet.

  Rene frowned and unhooked his crossbow with his left hand. Using the hilt of his dagger, he cranked the string back and dropped in a bolt.

  The sound was loud, startling his target.

  Albert was already moving to stand up.

  Stepping out from the shadow he’d been hiding in, Rene leveled the weapon at the man. He held it casually, his dagger still loose in his right hand as well.

  “Evening, Albert,” Rene said, his finger resting on the trigger guard. “Take a seat.”

  Albert sat back down and gave him a greasy smile.

  “Course. Course. I didn’t realize I rated so highly on the list,” came the weasel’s response.

  Rene didn’t respond.

  He wasn’t one for idle chatter to begin with. He took aim carefully at the man’s shoulder and began to squeeze the trigger.

  “I can get you information on the other guilds. I’ve got contacts in each of them. I give them a share of what we pull in to leave me alone,” Bert offered.

  Rene paused. It wasn’t a bad offer, and realistically it could provide him with everything he needed to figure out who had brought him here.

  “Listening,” Rene said.

  “I figure, you’re in this to make money off bounties. Maybe clean up the town a bit. I give you names and locations, even information about the guilds, and you let me keep operating.”

  The face of the boy floated up in his head. He hadn’t seemed abused, but he also hadn’t seemed taken care of.

  Before he could finish that thought, a light weight rested on his right hand.

  Looking down, Rene saw a tiny hand resting on his own. Turning most of his vision back toward Bert, Rene lifted the tarp that the hand was reaching out of.

  Except what he found wasn’t something he was prepared for at any level. It was a small girl that couldn’t have been any older than two years old.

  Under her cage and beside it were more cages, more children. All locked and covered up.

  Rene let out a slow breath as he realized this whole building was filled with children in cages underneath the tarps.

  In the dark.

  The dark. Locked in the dark with nothing but us. Alone.

  Locked in. Locked. Locked. Locked. LOCKED!

  LOCKED!

  Rene’s skin flushed, his hands started sweating, and his heart missed a beat. Sheathing his dagger, he gently pressed the child’s hand back into the cage and lowered the tarp.

  They need not forget what they don’t see.

  Calmly, Rene removed the bolt from the crossbow, and then un-cocked it. Hooking the weapon to his belt, Rene looked to Albert.

  With a bone-chilling grin, he launched himself at the man.

  ***

  Rene was dragging Albert through the streets by his empty eye sockets. He’d gone ahead and removed the man’s eyes, lips, nose, tongue, and most of his teeth. He’d been clean and methodical about it, going so far as to sterilize the wounds to ensure the man would survive the ordeal.

  All around him, men and women screamed and yelled, parting before him like flesh under a sharp knife as he marched along.

  Several guards had come and gone. None challenged or approached him.

  Rene dragged the moaning man towards the courthouse unperturbed and without haste. Inside his head, the Monster whistled a merry tune.

  A happy tune.

  One full of absolute joy.

  Rene was having a hard time not whistling along with him.

  When he reached the courthouse, he dropped Albert on the landing and stepped in front of the waiting magistrate.

  “Albert. Alive,” Rene rumbled.

  “I-I-yes, I see.” The magistrate fumbled around with a purse on his side.

  Rene said nothing more and stared at the man.

  Waiting.

  After ten seconds of this, Rene growled, his patience faltering.

  Your skill in Intimidation has increased (14)

  With that one noise, his Intimidation skill had jumped all the way up from nine.

  One of the guards dropped their weapon with a clang against the stones. The magistrate shoved the entire purse at Rene.

  Rene opened the purse, counted out his ten gold coins, and then tossed it back at the magistrate. It bounced off his chest and landed at his fee
t.

  Spinning on his heel, Rene entered the crowd and used his Sneak ability, pulling his hood free at the same time.

  Almost instantaneously, people around him began asking where he’d gone, and if he was a ghost.

  Working through the gathered audience, he managed to make his way out the other side.

  He got out of the immediate area quickly and moved off towards the library. He needed to speak with Alana. There were a large number of children that he had to start getting out of cages.

  After he picked up Alana, he’d swing by the Delacroix house to pick up Odelia and the payment of three hundred and sixty-six gold coins.

  Go, hurry, quickly. They linger in darkness.

  “Yes, yes, agreed,” Rene muttered, picking up his pace to a light jog.

  ***

  The door clicked shut behind him. Rene ignored the large receiving room they were in and turned to face Alana and Odelia.

  “Ok, I need your help. Both of you. I need to buy a house I can turn into an orphanage. I have…” Rene paused to check his inventory sheet. “Four hundred and ten gold. I imagine Odelia’s father will be paying me three hundred and sixty-six next week. I’ll also be posting to my father to access my bank account and have it sent this way,” Rene explained.

  Both women stared at him in open-mouthed surprise.

  “I, ah… I don’t understand,” Odelia said finally.

  Alana folded her arms across her chest. He’d wrangled her into joining him even without explaining the situation.

  “Agreed,” the Elf said.

  “Alright. Albert was running a gang of kids. He kept them in cages. I’m going to round them all up and start an orphanage. Simple as that,” Rene said, trying to keep it to the barest of discussions. “Now, what do I need to do to get a house large enough for this project and the associated paperwork taken care of? Preferably before the day is over.”

  Alana pressed a hand to her head and closed her eyes. Odelia opened her mouth and closed it.

  With a small shake of her head, Alana opened her eyes and looked at him.

  “First, we’ll need to figure out which property can support this endeavor. I can’t imagine you’d want to purchase property in the rich quarter,” Alana said. “That’ll stretch the gold you have a lot further.”

  Odelia put a hand to her mouth and tapped one full lip with a finger.

  “I’ll send a few messengers off to the clerks our family has connections with. Let them know that the Anatolis lending family is looking to open an orphanage here in the city,” Odelia offered. “That’ll get this sped up quickly.”

  “Great. That sounds perfect on both accounts.” Rene nodded.

  “I’ll be at this address,” he said, pulling out a scrap of parchment. Alana took the paper from his hand, her dark eyes flicking down to the address. “I’m going to be taking care of the kids there. Please come pick us up when we have a property set.”

  Rene looked around for a moment, feeling awkward.

  “Thank you. Both of you. I appreciate it,” Rene ground out, unable to meet either woman’s eyes.

  Before anything further could be said, he left the room. Hurrying across town, he got back to Albert’s house of horrors.

  Rene entered the house only to find a group of children clustered in the room where he’d found Albert.

  They were huddled in the center of the room, talking quietly to one another. All conversation stopped when he entered and all eyes landed on him.

  Rene suddenly found himself glad he’d taken Albert apart in one of the far back rooms. Full of empty cages and the dust of untold months.

  “Hi,” Rene said lamely. “Albert is gone. I’m going to be taking care of you from now on. My name’s Rene.”

  Collectively, that didn’t seem to mean much to the children. They seemed more like the soldiers he’d met in his past life. Those who had just come off the line and knew they’d be going back in soon.

  “Do you all live here? Do any of you have parents or…?” Rene let the question hang in the air.

  Of course they don’t have parents. They’re all street children or cast-offs from prostitutes.

  “Can we be fed today? We have enough to buy bread,” one girl ventured.

  Rene swallowed heavily and nodded quickly, his breath catching.

  Taking out the twenty-two silver coins he had in his inventory, he held it out to the children.

  “Please go buy enough bread and water for everyone here. I’m going to start letting everyone out of the c—out. Eventually, someone is going to come and take you away to another place. I promise it’ll be better than this,” Rene choked out.

  He hadn’t felt like this before.

  Ever.

  This was all new to him. The rage at Albert had been common enough, but not this. This… sadness. This gut-wrenching pain.

  Two little girls took the coins from his hands and scurried off while the other children settled back down on the ground.

  Clamping his teeth together, Rene set about unlatching each and every cage and coaxing the small children out. Most were filthy, and he had to pull quite a few from their prisons. Some simply refused to budge.

  An hour later, all of them were free of their cells. The two girls had returned with an abundance of bread and now every single child was sitting in the main room, happily eating.

  Rene had taken the time to give the house a quick once-over and collect anything of actual value.

  In the end, he’d added fifty gold to his purse in various coinage. Now he sat in a chair, overlooking the herd of children as they talked quietly and ate. His face felt dirty, covered in grit, and his hands were soiled and then some. He considered his nails idly and wondered how long these children had been treated this way.

  A hesitant knock at the door broke him from his reverie.

  Rene moved to open the door and found Alana on the other side.

  The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows of posts and roofs across the street.

  Alana peered at him, her overly large eyes taking in his appearance. Then they tracked to the room behind him and widened.

  Licking her lips, she looked back at him.

  “It’s all done. Odelia’s at the house now. She was excited about one thing or another. I suspect her father is involved.

  “I’m here to escort you there. I rented a covered wagon. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to parade the children through the streets,” she said.

  Rene gave her a smile and ducked his head to her.

  “Thank you, Alana. I appreciate your kindness. We’ll have to pack them in deep, but it’ll help. My earlier count came in at thirty-one.” Rene turned and called to the children. “Everyone, this friend of mine has gotten us a ride to our new home. Please exit quietly and get in the wagon. Bigger kids, please assist and escort the smaller ones. Let them sit in your lap on the ride to save space and keep them close.”

  In ones and twos, the children began filing out of the dirty building and into the street.

  One very small child, no older than maybe two years old, patted Rene on the knee. “No cry. It’s ok.”

  That having been said, the small child trundled off towards the wagon.

  Rene blinked and then touched his cheeks. Apparently, he’d started crying at some point and there were wet streaks on his face.

  He went to scrub at his face with his hands, but remembered how dirty they were.

  A small folded kerchief landed in his hands. Alana’s fingers withdrew quickly after depositing the fabric, her eyes watching him.

  I like her.

  Chapter 14

  Rene looked around at the courtyard. Pre-dawn gloom clothed the paving stones, benches, and debris in shadows. The promise of sunshine was there, hidden but coming.

  Taking a deep breath, he nodded once.

  He wasn’t quite happy with how the situation had played out last night, but it would do.

  The memory of it threatened to cheat him of his go
od mood. Odelia had done him a massive favor, and indebted him.

  In fact, it had been right here that Odelia had greeted him as Alana shepherded the children into the main entry, where all the kids had promptly fallen asleep for the night.

  In contacting the people she knew, she’d had to enlist her father. When Odelia’s father had found out Rene had plans to opening an orphanage, the master of the house had immediately set out to match Rene coin for coin in the purchase of property. He’d matched Rene’s three hundred gold with three hundred of his own, and the deal was struck.

  Which was how they’d ended up owning what was once a large boarding school. It sat prominently between the merchant district and the upper-class district.

  The property was large. Nearly as big as some of the modern college campuses back in Rene’s old life. They could easily fit three hundred students in the three-story dormitory.

  This didn’t even include the fifty larger apartment-type rooms that had been built into a dormitory for the staff, both employees and school faculty.

  The entire property was completely walled-in along the perimeter. The buildings were set far back on the grounds to grant privacy to the population of students and staff.

  The count of three hundred was based on a single room per student. Rene had plans to pair up an older child with a younger child throughout and give them all bunk beds.

  A buddy system of sorts.

  The main schoolhouse was nearly as big as the dormitory and had something like thirty class rooms with attached offices, several studies, one grand library, and an open hall structure that connected it all.

  It was a sprawling, massive complex that had fallen on hard times the previous year. In the hopes for a purchase, the property had been kept fairly tidy. Only a minimal amount of work would be needed to put this place back to its original glory.

  Exhaling, Rene closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

  The smell of stones and grass, and the quiet of the area soothed him.

  An idea struck him nearly at the same time as the first ray of light landed on his eyelids.

  Let us try it.

  Practice.