Broken Bonds and Stolen Hearts (discontinued)

Chapter 2

Louis froze, unable to process what he just did. His friend's burnt face was facing him, his limbs were cut and placed weirdly. As if he was a decorated chicken. His eye holes were facing Louis, as if he was throwing daggers at him, blaming him for all that happened. Louis felt his insides burn before everything came back. He threw up the content of his stomach on the plate.

"You gotta be shitting me. I'm so sorry sir. Lemme take care of this," the jail keeper groaned before he grabbed Louis's arm harshly.

"Easy there, he's just a kid. If you are too hard on him, he will become rotten. You have to take better care of those who will become our future," Gary quickly responded with a poker face. He wasn't fazed by the incident as he continue to eat. Louis was horrified by the older man, he couldn't understand how could anyone do this and not feel anything. He didn't understand. Was he the one in the wrong? Is this really right to do?

There was no answer, for Louis who was born into this kind of life. He didn't meet other people who weren't traffickers. All those who weren't traffickers were dead. Or at least those who crossed the traffickers' way got killed.

"What do you suggest I do with him then? If we let him do what he wants, he will become rotten as well," Kevin kept his strong grip on Louis's arm as he talked with Gary. The grip was definitely going to bruise later.

"Do you miss your mother?" Louis felt his body shudder at the mention of his mother, if he said yes, they might hurt her... But if he said no... It's lying. They will know he is lying and hurt her anyways to punish him.

Gary kept his eyes on little Louis while munching on his food as he waited for the little boy to respond. Louis gave a hesitant nod, muttering a small yeah under his breath.

"Ooh, so you can speak! Would you like to go see her then?" he exclaimed while slamming his hands on the table. Louis flinched at the loud sound and nodded his head frantically, feeling desperate and scared.

"Use your voice kid," Gary leaned forward to where Louis was.

"Y-yes..." Louis managed to let out, his heart beating in his ears as he looked at the cannibal in front of him.

"Good... Good. Well, let him go see his mother, will you?" he nodded at Kevin, whose grip on Louis loosened as he looked at Gary dumbfounded. Gary just nodded his head at Kevin instead.

"Go get ready kid. We will move today," Gary spoke again, now addressing Louis while nodding his toward the door. Louis quickly jumped off the chair and ran to the door, not wanting to be inside the room any longer.

"Close the door behind you!" Gary yelled after him, and Louis didn't look back, but he closed the door behind him nonetheless.

It's been 5 months since he got separated from his mother. So for Louis, it should be a happy occasion, he should be glad. And yet, he couldn't help but feel scared. He couldn't stop his heart from beating too fast, and he couldn't stop his hands from shaking.

He really missed his mother but at the same time. Louis didn't want to see her yet, she would probably be disappointed because he isn't doing well. He was scared that he will only bring her trouble by going to see her.

Did she miss him too? He would wonder that a lot. And he would wonder about how his little brother was doing too. Would she send his little brother to this place too? Would they be together then?

Louis ran all the way to where he slept with a bunch of other kids. The room went quiet once Louis entered, the kids threw Louis terrified looks. They would speak to each other in hushed tones, but Louis could hear them nonetheless. He chose to ignore them as he went to where he slept, the bed next to him was empty now, and he looked at it for some time before he gulped the lump that was forming in his throat.

He didn't have a lot of stuff, so the little bag under his bed was sufficient. The other kids didn't even spare him a glance, they chose not to because they were scared he would get them killed too. They accused him of being the reason Rei got killed, and so they forsake him. Even though all of them promised not to let go of each other. Even when all of them knew the truth.

Louis didn't look at any of them as he packed, but he could feel their gazes burn into his skull as he moved around.

"Are you not going to apologize?" One of the slightly older kids spoke up loudly. His ginger hair was the same color of fire, and his face was just as red as his face. He always despised Louis, and Louis never knew why. The others looked at Charlie before looking at Louis, waiting for his answer.

"What for? You saw everything," he glared at Charlie, who scoffed in response

"Yeah, I did. It's your fault that Rei is dead. You should have been the one who died, not him," he started walking toward Louis as his face got redder and redder with anger.

"Well. I'm not dead, and I'm leaving. So you can pretend I died too if it makes you feel better," Louis wore his backpack and turned his back to Charlie with the intention of getting out of the room.

This made Charlie furious, and he grabbed Louis by his hair before dragging him back. Louis scratched and pinched Charlie's sides in an attempt to get him to let go of his hair.

"You can go die too. NO ONE WOULD CARE!" Charlie tripped Louis and got on top of him while grabbing his hair and cheek. Pinching him and pulling his hair.

"GET OFF!" Louis tried to get Charlie off him, but he couldn't. He was already tired because he was hungry and sad. The others stood there circling the two kids, none of them tried to stop the fight or get an older person.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO??" Kevin entered the room, and his loud voice boomed into the room. Making the two kids freeze in their spots.

"Get off the goddamn floor before I wipe the floor with the two of you stupid little shits," he hissed as Charlie scrambled to his feet before pointing a finger at Louis, who was in the process of sitting.

"He started it, he said th-"

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE. GET YOUR ASS UP LOUIS!" Kevin snapped at Charlie before he yelled at Louis as well. Charlie huffed before glaring at Louis, who glared back as he stepped out of the room.

As soon as the door to the room was closed, Kevin smacked Louis on the head.
"We told you to get fucking ready. Not pick fights. What will it take for you to learn? Huh?" Louis bit his lips to prevent himself from lashing out. One wrong move and he won't be able to see his mother no more.

"Let's get moving," Kevin pushed Louis roughly, making him stumble before he managed to prevent himself from falling. Louis kept a steady pace as he walked, not wanting to be pushed again.

Gary was waiting near the exit, but he wasn't holding any kind of luggage. Wasn't he coming too? Louis quickly pushed his thoughts away once Gary looked at him.

"Say hello to your mom for me yeah?" he ruffled Louis's hair before standing up and looking at Kevin.

"You know what to do," He handed Kevin a folded paper before he patted his shoulder.

"Yes sir," Kevin firmly nodded his head before he placed the folded note in his pocket. It felt as if they were speaking with their eyes, but Louis had no idea what they were talking about.

He couldn't help but feel worried though. It felt as if something wrong was going to happen again.