Elijah wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his yellow shirt and said:
"My story isn't as harsh as Ruby's. My parents were fishermen. We lived in poverty, near the port district.
I was the only child in the family. We had to survive by sharing a single small fish among us.
Most of the catch was taken by the man who oversaw the port. Sometimes he even beat my father so badly that his eyes swelled shut and he couldn't see for two or three days.
I never went to school, because we barely managed to pay the rent. You can imagine, there was no money left for clothes or education.
One day, my father overheard two sailors talking. They said that if you sailed past the restricted boundary, you could get a huge catch.
Without listening to the rest, he rushed home. After telling my mother everything, they decided to go out that very night.
The words he didn't hear became my parents' last. One of the sailors had also said that no one should go there that week — a big storm was coming.
In the end, my parents left, locking the door while I was asleep. They never came back alive. I was left without food or water for two days.
I tried to break the door — couldn't. The windows were locked too. I was dying of hunger and thirst for 47 hours until my eyes, before closing for the last time, saw light breaking into the house.
The man who oversaw the port saved me. For two years, I lived worse than an animal — eating spoiled food and working like a horse every single day.
But one day Alaric came for me and saved me, buying me out from that bastard.
That day, the sun was already setting beyond the horizon. I sat in Alaric's office waiting for him to return. To my surprise, he didn't come alone — there was a girl with short black hair whose tips were dyed bright red.
That girl was Ruby. That's how we met," Elijah said, nodding toward Ruby.
"And what about you? What's your story?" he added.
Lucien thought for a moment, staring at the ceiling, then turned his gaze back to them.
"I never knew my parents. They died when I was born — that's what the old man told me. After that, I lived and studied in his house," Lucien said quickly.
"What old man?" Ruby asked.
"Volbus Duskrend, the current head of the White Siren organization," Lucien replied.
A sudden silence filled the room. The kids' eyes widened, their eyebrows shot up, and leaning forward, they asked together:
"You lived with the head of the organization?"
"With the one respected all over London?" Ruby added.
"Yeah, that old man used to annoy me so much with his books. I couldn't stand how he'd throw them all over the house.
And he always said: 'Lucien, you must read more — the more you know, the less likely you are to make a mistake.'" Lucien said, mimicking Volbus's voice.
Silence again — but only for a moment. Then they burst out laughing, falling onto their backs.
For the first time, Lucien felt surrounded by friends — and he quietly laughed with them.
Their evening came to an end. They finished the remaining meat, cleaned up, and went to sleep.
"Hope everything goes well tomorrow," Ruby said.
"If it does, I'd like to draw our group together," Elijah mumbled through a yawn.
Lucien didn't answer — he was already asleep. He had an interesting side ability: to fall asleep instantly.
Meanwhile, in Alaric's room, heavy thoughts tormented him:
"What if someone gets hurt? What if I can't protect them? What if someone dies?„
He stretched out his hands before him, clenched them into fists, and said:
"No. It's my duty to protect my group. I won't let them down."
The next morning, the room was silent — the group was still asleep. Suddenly, Alaric burst in shouting:
"Rise and shine! Get up, we don't have time to sleep — evil never rests!"
Lucien jumped down from the top bunk, got dressed, and waited for the others by the door.
A few minutes later, everyone was ready and heading to their first mission. Their main goal was to eliminate a demon boy on the outskirts of the city, in a small forest cabin.
[The Day Before the Mission — Forest Cabin]
Night had already fallen in the forest. Only a small cabin gave off a dim light seeping through its curtained windows.
"Grandson, come eat! Dinner's ready, grandson!" an old woman called out.
But there was no reply.
"He must've fallen asleep. It was a hard day — he and grandpa chopped wood from morning till night. I should go check on him,„ she thought.
She wiped her hands on a rag beside the table and headed toward her grandson's room upstairs.
After climbing a few steps, she heard a screeching sound that pierced her ears.
Pushing the door slightly open, she saw her eleven-year-old grandson crawling across the ceiling, biting into it with his teeth.
His skin was pale, like that of a corpse, and his voice — like a man who had smoked for forty years.
"They… will… all… pay…" the boy growled.
[Road to the Forest Cabin]
"How much longer? I'm tired, my legs are about to fall off," Ruby complained.
"Almost there, about two kilometers left," Alaric said with a smile.
"Hey, Lucien, you asked about our abilities, but we never answered," Elijah said, running ahead of him.
"My ability appeared recently — what I draw becomes reality. But there's one catch: I have to use a special pen and special paper made in Alaric's lab," he added.
"Mine's blood control. For now, I can only shoot it from my fingers, but I hope I'll improve it someday," Ruby said, demonstrating by firing a drop into a tree nearby.
After half an hour of walking and talking, they finally reached the cabin. An elderly couple greeted them at the door.
As soon as the old woman saw them, she rushed forward, fell to her knees, and clung to Alaric, crying and begging him to save her grandson.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of everything — trust me," he said, kneeling down.
Then they went inside. As they neared the boy's room, a sharp stench of rot and filth hit their noses.
"Ugh, what is that smell?" Ruby muttered, covering her nose.
Only Lucien walked calmly ahead. When he reached for the doorknob, Alaric stopped him.
"I'll go first," he said.
He opened the door slightly — the stench grew even stronger. Alaric reached into the pocket of his gray coat, pulled out a small round vial, and tossed it inside.
An explosion. A scream.
They rushed in — the boy was writhing on the floor, rolling from side to side, growling, "IT HURTS! IT HURTS!"
Without waiting, Lucien dashed forward, his hand bursting into flames, ready to strike the boy down.
At the last moment, Alaric grabbed Lucien's hand and pressed a seal to the boy's forehead with his other hand.
No scream, no sound — the boy's skin slowly returned to its natural color, his eyes were no longer empty.
The group exhaled, "That's it."
But Alaric remained serious — he knew the fight wasn't over yet.
In the corner of the room, he noticed a dark figure resembling a shadow, with red, laughing eyes.
"I'll be back…" it whispered — and vanished.
Thank you for reading the chapter. I'll be glad for every comment and will gladly answer your questions. You can learn more on the Discord server. I'm really looking forward to seeing each of you there.