Warm Welcome

A young man lying on the ground, twitched his fingers. Then he slowly moved his hands and finally, opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the sky and it was dark.

"So my first day here starts from the night." The man spoke and he was none other than Pablo Castillo.

He got up from the ground and looked around.

"This smells familiar."

Pablo was greeted with foul stench and around him, laid various kinds of waste.

Dead bodies of different animals, pukes, garbage, excretory waste of animals as well.

"I was killed in a garbage dump and born again in a garbage dump. Cycle of life I guess."

Pablo looked around more and surprisingly, he found many huts.

"Don't tell me people live here."

He looked closely and found the huts as poor as ever.

They were makeshift huts as only a big and wide plastic cloth was placed as a roof on them.

Pablo then turned behind and saw a similar hut.

"I was lying just outside this place. It must be the house of this boy."

Pablo looked left and right and went inside the hut.

"Oh. Not bad for the first day."

Just upon entering, Pablo saw a dead body of a girl lying on the floor.

He had seen enough dead bodies to recognise if a body was dead or not.

And since he had seen so many dead bodies, his reaction was mild as well.

The inside of the hut was very small and the dead body covered the whole area.

Nevertheless, Pablo walked forward and sat beside the dead body.

On the top of the dead body was a ragged brown cloth but it was a dress.

The dead body wasn't wearing it but instead it was placed upon her body like a blanket.

Pablo then touched the thighs of the girl from above the dress.

He slid his hand on her inner thighs as well.

He could have removed the cloth from the girl but he had a feeling he wouldn't like it.

"Hmm. I see." He nodded and removed his hand from the body.

"She was raped. There is blood on her dress, her hairs disheveled, swelling around vagina. She was gangraped. What a warm welcome I am receiving."

Pablo looked for more details around the body of the girl.

"This boy was lying outside this house. Could it be that he forced this girl as well and got killed in the process?"

Pablo speculated various things and darted his eyes on the girl's face. It was hidden by her hairs so Pablo brushed them aside and got a clear view of the face.

However, as soon as Pablo saw the face of the girl…

"Ahnggh!" Pablo clenched his head. Veins popped up on his neck as the man groaned like an injured dog.

The sudden pain arose deep inside his mind, it felt like his head would split in two.

"What i-is… happening?" Pablo had no clue about the current event but the next second, his brain registered some things.

"Are these.. memories?"

Images flashed inside Pablo's mind and he saw things from someone else's perspective.

"These are the memories of this body. I should pay attention."

Pablo gritted his teeths and focused only on the memories. The pain would go away eventually. The memories were important.

Pablo paid attention to the memories of the boy and finally came to the part where he saw the happenings of today.

The boy was seventeen years old and his name was Void Grief. Pablo could feel the emotions and everything that Void felt. For a while, he was Void himself.

Void was walking down the road and the surrounding was the same garbage dumpster where Pablo currently was. It was day time as well.

After working for ten hours straight in a coal mine, Void was coming to his hut or home.

He held a piece of bread in his right hand and walked with hurried steps.

"She must be hungry. I should hurry."

Void picked up pace and in two minutes, he arrived in front of his hut.

"Freya. I brought you some food." He said and went inside.

There he saw a girl sleeping on the floor. There was no bed. She was sleeping on the rough ground.

"Freya, wake up."

The name of the girl was Freya and Void shook her body.

Freya opened her eyes and sat back up. Her cheeks were sulked inside, her lips were dry and her bones were visible all over her body.

"I brought some food and your medicine. You will be fine in no time." Void took out three white pills from his pocket and gave them to Freya. He also gave her the piece of bread.

Showing a weak smile, Freya ate the bread and then put one pill inside her mouth.

"Nice and slow. I am sorry there is no water."

Freya shook her head at Void and slowly gulped the other two pills.

"Thankyo-"

"Hey. Do you have some money, kids?"

"You better don't say no."

"Bring something to eat as well."

"What can two little runts give us?"

"They must have something. Check all around."

Five men barged inside Void's home and all of them were bigger and bulkier than him.

"We don't have anything. We are barely living. Please understand." Void pleaded with joined hands. His shoulders trembled, he didn't even make eye contact with the five men.

He had no idea who these five men were but the way Void acted showed that it was not the first time something like this happened in the slum he was living in.

Freya did the same thing as well. She too joined her hands and pleaded.

But the five men ignored them and searched the entire place.

After three minutes, they stopped.

"They really have nothing. Waste of time." One man said and all the other four men had the same thought.

They all glared at Void.

"You piece of shit. We are hungry and you have nothing to give us! Little scumm!" One man cursed and raised his leg at Void.

And without any consideration, he kicked the young man on the face.

Void flew to the side and his nose was now broken. Just by one kick, Void suffered an injury.

Slowly getting up on his knees, Void bowed down his head. He kowtowed in front of the five men.

"I am sorry, lords. I have nothing to give you. Please forgive me." He said with utmost respect he could muster. He even called them lords.

"Tch. Waste of time."

The men spat on Void and the same man who had kicked Void, moved towards him again.

But before he could kick the bowing Void again, Freya came in front.

She bowed her head just like Void. "Please forgive us, lords. I beg of you." She said.

Void raised his head after hearing Freya's voice. He would have stopped her but it seemed Freya's request worked.

The man stepped back a little and looked closely at Freya.

The other men also joined him as they all focused on Freya.

"You know, Ted," A fat man said. "We can satisfy our hunger here after all."

Ted, the man who kicked Void, smiled. "Yeah. I was thinking the same thing."

The other men also nodded and their faces found a smirk. They licked their lips and grinned.

Void looked at their faces and they were the most sinister faces he saw in his whole seventeen years of life.

All five men moved towards Freya and Void understood that wasn't good.

"Freya! Run! Run away!" He shouted with all his power.

Freya raised her head from the bowing position and saw the five men.

Their hands were reached out and Void's shouts were clear enough to know that their hands weren't good for her.

Freya quickly stood up and dashed towards the exit of the hut.

She was just about to step her foot outside the house but a sudden pull of her hairs brought her back inside the hut.

Ted held Freya's white hair and slammed her on the hard ground.

Freya's weak body couldn't handle the impact as blood began to ooze out from the back of her head.

"No! Freya! You bastards! Let her go!" Void pounced on Ted and bit his hand that held Freya's hair.

Ted let go of Freya's hair and stared at Void.

"What's your relationship with this girl?" He asked, completely unfazed by the ongoing biting on his hand.

Seeing Ted leave Freya's hairs, Void stopped biting his hand. But he didn't move away from Ted.

"She is my little sister. Don't touch her. Talk to me only." Void revealed. He glared at Ted and all the other men.

Ted heard the boy and lips curled up.

"Did you hear that, boys? She is his sister. This became more fun."

The four men laughed out loud.

"I won't let you do even one damn thing to her. Fight me, asshole."

"Jeffrey," Ted spoke, without looking back. "Shove him aside."

A tall man came forward and directly held Void's neck.

He then threw him in the corner and the next second, all five men surrounded Freya.

"I will go first. You four just hold the boy." Ted spoke and removed his clothes.

He stood in front of Freya and Freya with her half open eyes, watched the naked man.

Void from the corner saw the pool of blood under Freya's head and he instantly jolted up from the floor.

"She will die! Leave her! Please! She is jus-"

"Stay put."

THUD!

The four men came behind Void in an instant and held his hands and neck.

He was on his knees and the men made his head kneeled to the ground. Now he couldn't even see Freya.

"Br-Brother. Hel-p… me." Freya whispered but in that whisper there was a hope that his brother would save her. In that whisper there was a scream that was only heard by Void.

"I beg of you! Please let her go! She is just fifteen! I will do anything for you. I will become your slave! Just let my sister go!"

Void pleaded at the top of his lungs but the men didn't budge.

Void couldn't outpower their strength. He couldn't even lift his head from the ground.

Ted, on the other hand, sat down in front of Freya and held her dress with both his hands.

Then, he tore it and now Freya was naked as well.

Ted then spread Freya's legs and brought her closer to himself.

"Please. Let my sister go." Void spoke the same thing and this time, Ted stopped.

He looked at Void and again, a sinister smile came upon his lips.

"She is your sister, right?" He said.

"Yes!" Void shouted.

Ted looked at the four men behind Void and with the same sinister smile, he said :

"Make him Watch."