A Mouse & The Fallen Star

Chapter 7. The First Encounter

The brothel was a land of chaos. The singing, drinking, and fondling never stopped for a second. Luc smirked at the familiar scene, but he didn't stay to watch. He didn't leave through the front door as he was supposed to either. Instead, he ducked under the stairs and went into a narrow corridor that led past the kitchen to the backyard.

The laughter and voices faded away with each step he took. When Luc reached a small door next to a series of storage rooms, he heard crying and Tim yelling on top of that.

"...You dumb cunts will pay for it. Do you understand me? Took up so much of my time and now this. This! Fuck!"

The man hissed and cursed about how his night had been ruined and how he would punish them all in great detail. Tim was acting like a rabid dog. Luc knew it meant only one thing: He had gotten in the bastard's way of satisfying his sick needs tonight.

Tim was a coward sadist who acted like a shrew in front of people who were more powerful than him and unleashed all of his darkness on the weak and defenseless. He was a pig, not picky with who he fucked and tortured at all.

In some way, Luc was the same, but he'd like to think he still had some standards and was not a damned soul like Tim.

Luc peeked through the gap between the door hinges. Tim was still talking to himself, pulling the little hair he had left on his head. His face was beet red as expected.

What caught Luc's eyes was the girl dragged around by Tim. Her hair was the color of late sunset under the fickle light of the two old lanterns. It was tangled in Tim's fist, wrapping tightly around his bony knuckles. The way her eyebrows squeezed together and her face turned pale, it must hurt a lot, but the girl didn't make a sound. Her jaw clenched, and she bit down her bloody lip so hard that Luc thought she could bite it off.

Interesting.

The girl must not be more than seventeen human years, but her eyes contained the pain and grit of a lifetime. Luc could imagine what she had witnessed. All the girls here, in fact, had the same look.

Luc had been on one or two slave ships through the years, so he had some idea of what went on on those journeys. Humans could treat their kind so disgustingly, Luc didn't think they needed any help. Hell, Heaven, they were all here on this planet.

His brutality couldn't even match sometimes.

Luc stepped out from the shadow and faced Tim with a friendly smile. Luc was satisfied with the way Tim jumped when he saw him. It always made him feel good.

"Aren't you tired, Tim? With all of the jumping and cursing?" Luc passed the man who seemed to have swallowed his own tongue and stopped in front of the girl.

She glared straight at him with so much hatred in her amber eyes that Luc was sure he would have died a thousand times over if looks could kill.

"Little mouse, what are you thinking?" he whispered to her. His eyes twinkled with amusement.

Luc didn't expect the girl to talk back, but she did. In a raspy, damaged voice like dry leaves crushed under one's feet.

"You pale demons... I wish you were all burned alive."

She spoke in her native tongue. It was beautiful and full of fire. Luc had heard it before, a few centuries back, both in battles and in the daily life of a faraway land. Sometimes, he wished he could go back and enjoyed the pure, simple things once again. Instead, he had been reduced to nothing but a glorified salesman who schemed and hustled among the rats.

"So you do speak..."

Luc's interest rose. He could read the thoughts in her eyes, even without his power. The pain and anger were so familiar to what a broken creature, who was forced to leave his home, losing everyone and everything in the process, had had many lifetimes ago. Luc thought that part had been locked up, and the key had been thrown away, and still, it rampaged inside.

Couldn't fully enjoy his moment of nostalgia with Tim's ugly face right there, Luc turned to the guy.

"How about I take her off your hand?"

"What do you...Sir! Madam Bessie had ordered me—"

Tim, of course, didn't want to let go. He tried to use Bessie as an excuse, but the truth was, if the madam heard a peep about this, his ass would be on the chopping block. Bessie had been clamming down on his 'side activities' since she had found out about what he did in his free time, announcing that if Tim wanted to continue staying at the brothel and working for her, he'd better stop, or she would make him. Tim knew Bessie meant it. His hobbies got messy sometimes, and the madam didn't want unwanted attention to her business. On top of that, she sympathized with those whores...

Tim's hands were tied. His reputation preceded him in that no girl would want to come near him, and he was not rich enough to go around buying slaves or hiring kidnappers. He surely couldn't do the kidnapping himself. God didn't bless him with strength, or anything. All he could do was get off with the little Garrick offered him on the side once every blue moon.

"Oh, don't you worry about Bessie."

Luc shushed him like a child, but his tone was non-negotiable. The man lifted the girl's face with his index and thumb, studying her like a new toy. She tried to fight him, but Luc held her in place with not much effort. Those long, delicate fingers looked like they could belong to an artist, but Tim had seen with his own eyes the damage they could do and the mere thought sent chills to his bones. Luc only let go when the girl whimpered.

"Could you be so kind to pack her up nicely and take her to my coachman?" He smiled. His eyes fixed on the girl.

Luc knew Albert had been waiting for him in the front. It was half past four in the morning and his coachman was very punctual. Rain or shine, the man would show up where and when he was expected.

Luc stared at Tim until the man's brain could register what he had said. Tim yanked the girl toward the gate while struggling to keep his cursing down. He was fully aware Luc was still watching him like a hawk but couldn't help himself and the noncompliant girl made it worse.

"You stupid c—"

"Be gentle, please! You're damaging my good!"

Tim stopped dead in his track and whipped his head around so violently that Luc thought the man might get whiplash.

"Yes, sir. My bad." He gritted his teeth.

"Indeed. Carry on!"

Luc dismissed Tim with a wave then turned around and winked at the line of dirty, skin-and-bones young girls who stood there, baffled by what had just happened.