Redemption (Triplet Sequel)

Chapter 5

Three Years Ago

Zefra POV

Being a rat sucks. Being a human sucks even more so rat it is. I sniffed around for the little food that was dropped in this tunnel. My twin brother Davian and I took refuge in the underground sewers and being a rat was the easiest animal to live there. We hated being above ground only to be criticized or sympathized by people who only saw beggars and thieves. We hated beging and when we were above ground with no money that was all we could do.

Don't get me wrong, we were good at stealing and it was something I loved to do but my brother didn't like it. He wanted to prove the world that Shapeshifters were capable of being civil and making their life while following the rules. I kept telling him that it would never work especially if we died of hunger before it happened but my brother was all I had and I wouldn't go against him.

Davian preferred being above ground so while he begged for money or food, I either stole or stayed in the sewers to scavenge food or things to sell. Many people dropped things below ground that could be reused and I had gotten good at figuring what was good for selling and what was trash.

So here I was, looking for my next meal while Davian was somewhere else. I had been a rat for so long I was starting to forget how to be human. I didn't even know my birthday or how old I actually was, but my brother and I thaught thirteen was a good answer for curious people. It had been years since I last had a shower. I knew that Davian took showers once in a while when he went to the orphanage or when a sympathetic woman cried over a young beggar but I was more feral than he was. I was losing myself to the animals and creatures I was choosing to be.

I heard an echo of a splash coming from inside my tunnel. That was odd, not many things came to visit. Even the normal rats didn't come near my tunnel for fear of dealing with me. I was quite territorial and I could shift in a snake or a goblin and eat my fellow rats if I wanted to, which I did when I was hungry.

A human looking creature came stumbling down the tunnel as he kept looking behind him. I had never seen someone so afraid and I became curious. The man was bleeding from multiple cuts on his body. He certainly didn't look healthy; at least not anymore. He passed me without a glance and continued through the disgusting dirty water of the sewers. Further away, the tunnel split into three different underpasses and he walked to the right. Bad choice, I thought. I knew everything about the underground tunnels: every turn, every destination, every exit, etc. The man was going to a dangerous part of the tunnels.

A moment later I heard another splash and someone walking much slower and with ease. The person who arrived in my sight was the most impressive creature I had yet seen. She was quite small, with the fittest body I had ever seen. She had bright red eyes and brown hair in a French braid. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a leather jacket and black pants. The water came to her mid-thighs so I couldn't see her boots but what was the most impressive was the amount of power she gave out. It made me want to bow or cower away in a small hole until she left. I was not submissive for the least but she made me want to do just that.

I knew that most supernatural creatures stayed young for a long time, shapeshifters included but I could usually see the age in their eyes. When I looked in her eyes, I thought she was at least over a century years old and that gave me the chills.

The woman walked with her nose in the air as she took deep breath. I knew she was sniffing for a smell, I did it often. She didn't look remotely disgust by the repulsive smell of the sewers. She looked as if she could belong here as much as in a castle. What surprised me the most was when she bent down in front of me, uncaring of the brown polluted water arriving to her waist. She looked straight in my eyes and smirked with dominance. I stared back at her with a tilted head. Nobody ever cared to acknowledge me, especially if I was a rat but it seemed that this lady knew I wasn't one.