“Guys, I think he’s dead,” A child’s voice said.
Bade felt a stick poke him in the side before he groggily opened his eyes.
Then memories from the night prior flooded his mind and he bolted straight up, startling the small group of children away.
Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he clutched a hand against his bare chest, feeling his rapidly beating heart. Trying to calm down his erratic breathing, he took deep breaths and glanced around the take in his surroundings. He was in a small wooden shed. It didn’t have a door, which would explain how the children had found him so easily. There was nothing in the shed beside the hay bed he was laying on.
Bade noticed that his clothing had been ripped and was now laying on the ground scattered around him. There was no use in trying to salvage the scraps, the clothing was too torn to do anything with.
Instead, he just sat there for a little while, the tears finally spilling over. He put his face in his hands, body racking with sobs. His whole being ached, with deep scratches and bruises littering his body and memories that would never be able to leave his mind. Bade started shivering, finally realizing how cold he was with the icy winter wind hitting his naked body.
Finally making his decision, he grabbed the blanket from off of the hay and wrapped it around his body, standing up on shaky legs and slowly making his way out of the shed, leaving behind the terrible feeling inside of it.
This was just the first of many accounts, but Bade could never get used to it. He didn’t want to. He couldn’t walk into a public place without being jumped or groped. He had to cover his face with a mask and wear a cloak to conceal his body. Yet, he was still sometimes caught, grabbed and pulled into a secluded corner or dark alley. Bade hated it. He hated himself for not being able to stop it. He hated how he had this type of aura that attracted people to him. He hated it, he hated it, he hated it.
He was powerless against the people that would harshly grab at him, leaving marks on his skin and soul. The physical proof of these incidents would fade, but the wounds in his memory would never completely leave him.
Every time someone brushed against him or got near him, he would flinch. Bade would try his best to stay away from crowded places, not wanting to draw any attention to himself.
He didn’t have a place to go home too, which could be another reason to why he was so frequently taken advantage of. His mother had died little over a year before and then Bade no longer had a family or a home. He had never known his father, and he didn’t really care to ever meet the man. Especially since he abandoned his mother. But, soon after his mother died was when these terrible things had begun to happen to him.
Bade would wander the streets of his town, sometimes he wouldn’t sleep for days out of fear of the people around him. When he did sleep, it was usually in secluded areas of the town or when a shopkeeper that wasn’t affected by this curse would let him stay in their shop for a night or two.
Bade wandered into a tavern in the more central area of town. It was run by an old friend of his mother’s, and she would often feed him for free.
“Good afternoon, Millie,” Bade said as he sat down at the bar, taking off his mask but making sure that the hood of his cloak covered his face from the wandering eyes of strangers.
“Hello Bade, what can I do for ya?” Millie replied after handing a beer to a man sitting a few seats to the side.
“Is it okay if you could give me some food? My stomach’s been begging for some all day,” Bade said with a breathy laugh.
“Alright,” Millie said with a smile. “Just sit tight and I’ll be back with some in a little bit.”
Bade grinned and said a quick thank you as Millie walked back into the kitchen.
There was a slam as the door to the tavern burst opened, startling everyone inside. Yells and shouts could be heard calling after whoever had just entered. Bade turned to see who it was and gulped, his face turning pale. It was a very tall, muscular man that was often seen around town. Most people called him a criminal, but no one was ever able to prove that he’d done anything wrong.
He’d met this man before. Many times. He couldn’t seem to ever get away from him. It’d been an entire year and he still hadn’t been able to escape his grasp. He was the first man to ever take advantage of him, and he had done it multiple times too. Bade hated him with a fiery passion that seemed impossible to put out.
Bade unconsciously pulled his hood farther down his face to hide. It didn’t work. The man saw him. After the ruckus near the tavern’s entrance calmed down, the man walked behind Bade, grabbing him roughly by the arm. Bade was certain there would be a bruise there later.
“You’re coming with me,” The man whispered in a hoarse voice.
Bade was tugged off his seat and he could feel his eyes already brimming with tears. Not this again. Please no.
He was dragged out the side door of the tavern, into the back alleyway. He quickly scanned his surroundings, trying to find a way to escape. He looked out into the bustling street in front of the tavern, making eye contact with someone. He quickly mouthed a silent plea for help as he was pulled further into the darkness of the alley.
When the man was sure they were out of sight of any prying eyes, he slammed Bade against the wall. Bade whimpered in pain from the impact. He could feel the man clawing at his clothes, trying to rip them off. He struggled against him, but the brute strength of the man overwhelmed him and he became powerless against his offender once again.
There was a quick shuffling noise that became louder as it got near. A grunt came from the man behind him and suddenly the overbearing hands were gone and Bade was left alone, standing on wobbly legs.
He turned around and had to cover his mouth from shock. The man was lying on the ground, a puddle of his own blood pooling around his head. Bade began crying, from fear or relief he didn’t know.
He felt an arm make its way around his shoulder, and he flinched from the touch before he heard a calming voice talking to him.
“Hey, it’s okay now. You’re safe.”
Bade looked up to make eye contact with a stranger. He was quite a bit taller than Bade, with his head coming to about his shoulder. He had reassuring brown eyes, with spiky hair to match them. He was smiling down at Bade, while keeping a comforting arm around his shoulder, holding him tight.
There was also a girl there. She was wiping the blood off of a sword using the newly dead man’s clothing. She was scowling the entire time. She had long, straight, blonde hair that reached about mid back, and her eyes were beautiful, having a different color on each side. Blue on the left and green on the right. But Bade also noticed that there was something lurking in them. A type of madness that wouldn’t go away.
Finally coming out of his initial shock, Bade spoke up.
“Thank-thank you,” Bade stuttered out. “Thank you so much.”
“It’s no problem. Now, what’s your name?” The strange man asked.
“I’m Bade.”
“Well, nice to meet you, Bade. My name’s Jay, and little miss grumpy is Elise.”
“I’m not little and I’m not grumpy,” Elise huffed.
Bade didn’t know what it was about these people, but he was inexplicably drawn to them. It was like there was something that connected them together somehow. Maybe it was just fate? Or was there something more, something deeper than that that he couldn’t even imagine.
“How about you come with us for a little bit, kiddo?” Jay asked.
Bade slowly nodded his head, as he had no other plans for the future and this was the first time he felt he was able to trust some strangers.
Elise glared at Jay before grabbing him by the elbow and pulling him away. The two had a quickly whispered argument from the looks of it before it seemed like Elise finally just gave up and stomped off.
“Alright well let's get going,” Jay said.
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