The tunnels of Occam and the ultimate betrayal

Chapter 4

Separate Ways

Aden:

Strange ain’t it? how the power of one woman can change the fate of many men, even when I first lay eyes on her I knew she had potential but what I didn’t know is the amount of pain and hurt I would cause her unwillingly. Those ruby red eyes only saw hatred in this world, the way she stared everyone down in one glance made us boys scared to the bone sometimes. She turned us boys to men in a matter of months, her sheer determination was awe inspiring to say the least. It's a shame the boss hates her guts for glory, he beats her silly and all we can do is sit and watch. Not one of us have the guts to face up to him but she does, every time she stands back up, bloodied, bruised and still determined. Never before had there been a woman quite like her in our century of misfits, she fit in well with us lost boys but it was only a matter of time before the boss would move on and I had fears he had plans to ditch the girl. The man had no heart and only used her as an asset for him to steal what he needed, regardless she brought us food home every night and just got on with it. I never thought I'd ever have such a strong connection with this woman but it seems we are bound by destiny for greater things, not now but maybe later on we'll be able to get away from him and the boys can be free finally.

Me and knife ears had spent over a year and a half together, the boss had planned for me to get close to her so I could steal something she valued very dearly to her heart. It was my prime mission to obtain her pendant and meet at said location to move the boys to another location, although this was normal for us to do Rayne had no idea of our plans because we had been silenced by the boss to keep it under wraps until the plans had followed through. Spring was fast approaching as the boys and I made our final preparations to move out, I had to do it today it had to be done or the boss would have my head for it. I’d been planning for us to go through town and have her stop by one of the inn’s nearby, I was going to back out of doing all this but I had ****. The lost boys were my life and I couldn’t just risk it all, I had to sacrifice Rayne, she had to be left behind. It took all my courage to do it but I did, at the cost of a friendship.

It was close to sunset and the trap was placed, Rayne was in a room and my heart sunk a little to watch her by herself knowing what I was about to do. I was sat outside her window carefully waiting for the opportune moment to grab the pendant, until I became suddenly very distracted by an almost naked half elf. The word wow was an understatement at this point, before all this I had shared so many memories with that I had forgotten the hidden beauty she really held. I watched how her long and beautiful hair swished against her back, the few nicks and scars she had across her body from previous beatings and misfortunes. The way her curves and dimples on her body really popped out, it was like staring at a very expensive piece of art and I had front row seats. My cheeks burned and my eyes went into a little blur as I kept staring in awe of her beautiful body, she never made me feel like this until now. How ironic it was as I spoke to myself quietly in a trance of uncertainty and guilt, my hand reached out to grab the pendant she had taken off to get herself clean. Shame filled my soul and I felt a deep sorrow as my eyes finally left her body, “Forgive me” I said unmistakably out loud as my foot had moved and misplaced itself and I fell back screaming hitting the ground. “Aww fuck” I rubbed my sore prided bottom and got up feeling the strain as my body felt everything on the trip down.

It wasn’t long until I heard her screams of anger, my skin burned as her fire eyes stared right at me. “Adennnnnn..” she yelled, “Get back here you little perv..” soon enough I could hear her feet moving quickly inside, I got myself together real quick and legged it. I didn’t want to face the wrath of Rayne, I’d seen what she’d done to others and I wasn’t about to get caught with my tail stuck between my legs if you know what I mean. I was almost to safety, I could hear her a street away yelling “Where is he?” as she angrily knocked over someone’s food stall. Damn she was mad and I gritted my teeth as I ran my little legs off to get as far as I could from the crazy woman, I slipped into a broken chimney and hid myself away. I saw her feet walk by as I held my breath and hoped she didn’t see me. I did my best to be unnoticed, but it was almost like she knew I was there. She stood there tapping her foot as her patience started wearing thin, “I know you're here you little shit.. You were never faster than me I could always outrun you..” she banged her foot angrily. “Come on Aden.. If you come out now I won’t be mad I promise.” I could tell she was mad, very mad and my body started to tremble in fear from the beatings I knew she would give me If she ever found me. I heard her walking off and waited a little while before retreating, another wave of guilt hit my body as I managed to catch up with the boys. Now it was the start of our retreat, I handed the pendant over to him as he patted my head. “Good boy now I have a secure down payment..” he laughed and walked off.

The impending guilt and fear struck my body as I watched them all walking in front of me, with my head in my hand I sighed, deep down wishing her all the best. I hope you’ll forgive me someday knife ears but this is the start of our separate ways, I clenched my fist in anger and pity for myself. Pointing it at him, our boss “I’ll avenge us knife ears.. One day I’ll grow strong enough to take back what’s rightfully ours” I opened my hand as my cheeks felt hot. A wide grin crossing my face, “And maybe I’ll be able to touch those godly sized breasts again.” chuckling to myself and licking my lips in thought as I dreamed of the day I would see her again. “She’ll be pissed..” my hand dropped and my sudden cheekiness disappeared, “I’ll probably get my ass beat..” sighing in the moment again.

“But It’ll be worth it..”

Rayne:

“Adennnnnnnn…” I screamed pulling my shirt over my head as I descended the stairs In hot pursuit of the little brat that had been perving on me, running fast and hard my heart pounding as my rage started to build up in my body. “I’ll teach you to sneak up on me you little shit..” rolling up my sleeves I reached the door kicking it open, almost breaking off the hinges, my rage had no limit at this point and my blood was boiling. Shoving people out of the way someone fell into the fruit market stall as I yelled angrily at anyone watching, “Where is he?..” a woman pointed down an alley as others tried to help the fallen that I had given no thoughts to. I knew he couldn’t have gotten far, he lacked any agility or endurance so he might have hidden to try and sway me off track. Entering this slim alley something felt off and I could sense his presence, I stood and thought for a minute, maybe I could lure him out. “Come on Aden.. If you come out now I won’t be mad I promise..” my patience wearing thin and slowly running out of time I jog on forward hoping to catch the little rat but he was nowhere to be found. I scowled the town for him and any signs of the lost boys but It’s like they upped and vanished in a day, How could I have been so blind to see. I was being used, I should have known better, just when my faith was slowly restoring in humanity, it goes and fucks me over tenfold. Never again, I will never trust a single soul again as long as I shall live. My gains and goals will be purely for myself and no one else, I hope the little rat falls under pressure and he gets himself into a rut.

It was only when I returned to the inn that I noticed my pendant was gone, “So that’s why you were lingering..” a sigh of disappointment was shed after I sat down on my small bed and realized I had been played from the very beginning. Fists of fury punching away at the dirty old pillow as a few tears ran down my cheeks from frustration, “God dammit Aden.. Why.. Why would you betray me like this.. You are the reason I don’t trust anyone now.” more tears, more frustration and more anger. I couldn’t stay here, I had to move on and quickly, my only choice was to leave town before any others caught a whiff of me. I hated that I was some kind of prized possession when I first arrived here but things have changed and it’s almost like I have felt eyes on me since being here, I can’t take chances I must leave and now. Grabbing all of what I had left I felt the night descend upon the town, the streets were empty and heart sank as I walked towards all I could think of was hope. As I looked up I saw the towns guard on high alert, a group of men with torches holding up what looked to be a picture of a woman. Looking closer, the woman was me, gasping with eyes wide open I hugged the wall next to me in desperation. “That fucking coward.. he set me up.. and now I’m trapped..” looking around it felt like they could show up any minute and my only hope was right under me. Pulling the sewer cover up I quickly advanced into the dark, deep disgusting tunnels under the town, it smelled like a pile of rotting corpses and I had to quickly cover my mouth.

Walking slowly through the tunnels it was cold and dark, I could hear the water running as my every step felt like a puddle, quite frankly I didn’t want to know what I was stepping in but I carried on regardless. The tunnels felt never ending and a long time had passed since I last saw some kind of light, after a short while my eyes adjusted to the darkness and It came into my mind whether or not I should stay down here until dusk at least. I leaned against a wet inner wall and took a deep breath, my feet were hurting a little and what I wouldn’t do to go back to the warmth of that bed in the inn. My clothes were filthy, my eyes felt heavy and I had the biggest headache coming on but I really didn't have time to stop and think I needed to go, just as I went to lean off the wall I could hear footsteps, In front?, Behind?. My head shot back and forth trying to find the source of the noise and whether or not it was after me, could the guards have come down here so soon. Question after question played in my mind but my legs weren’t moving at all, eventually I moved on ahead and tried to think nothing of it. Then somewhere echoing in the tunnel I could hear humming, no it was singing and it was getting louder and louder with each passing second. I swallowed my fear and tried to calm my breathing, who was this sick person playing mind games with me. “Rayne.. Rayne go away, go come back another day..” I heard them sing my name loud and clearly over and over again, It sent a cold shiver down my spine and made my heart pound with every growing second.

“Rayne.. Rayne go away, go come back another day” there it was again, and again, playing twisted mind games with me before I could even escape town. I had come to a corner part of the tunnel and saw a ladder heading up, “Finally” I exhaled with a long sigh of relief. Out of the shadows a hooded man appears and pins me to the wall, I couldn’t see his face but It was obvious he’d been tracing me. “Rayne Rayne Rayne.. Your a hard girl to pin down, aren’t I the lucky one.” He laughed to himself. Panic and fear coursed through my body but that never stopped my disobedient soul, “Get your filthy hands off me..” I said calmly at first holding back my anger. “I’m sorry what was that?..” he asked being petty and sarcastic, my arm flew up to try and move him off of me but the sly bastard grabbed it and slammed me to the floor. “Hahahaha.. Ooh you’re a fiery one aren’t you?..” he placed his foot on my chest and pressed down hard, “I know all about you and today is your lucky day because I’m here to recruit you.”. Grabbing onto his boot and shoving it away fast I climbed back up as best as I could and went to go for him again, only this time with my dagger in hand. Pissed off and angry I jabbed straight for him only for him to dodge hit it out of my hand and grab me by the throat, “Careful now I was just warming up to you.. don’t make me take you back in pieces.”. His hand squeezed around my throat making me **** for air, “You’ll never.. take me.. alive” I swung my foot up to connect it right between his legs but it was too late, as I did he dragged me across the wall and threw me to the floor. “Now we can do this the easy way.. or you can stop attacking me and hear what I have to offer you.” he said brushing his cloak off, coughing and **** I got my breath back and finally looked up to him.

“And what could you possibly offer me, the guards are out to get me and the town is on high alert. How in the hell am I going to get out of this godforsaken town.” slamming a fist down into the dirty water that surrounded me. The hooded man crossed his arms and leaned against the wall just like I did before, he seemed calm and more willing to talk now. “My master has a proposition for you, says he sees potential in you, says you could go far. With the right training of course.. which I’m here to offer you right now, but I will tell you now this is a one in a lifetime chance. My master doesn’t offer his training to many but from the first day he saw you when you were a little girl, he knew you’d go far.” his words hit me, and they hit me to my core. How did he see me as a child?, Have I been spied upon since leaving my family and the farm behind. How could this be? has my destiny already been set out for me and why does this person want to train me?. These questions ran through my head as he spoke to me again, “Rayne.. Don’t you want **** for what happened today? Don’t you want to find your parents killers?” My head jolted up as did my body on its own. “How dare you speak of my parents.. You don’t even know me, you don’t know anything or the things I’ve seen.” panting angrily as tears fell down my face. “You know nothing of ****.. Ya hear me.. NOTHING..” my back hit against the wall as my hands held my head in place and I slid down crying, holding my myself as my wet knees gently touched my forehead. Feeling nothing but anger and sadness I cried again, just like I did the day they died in front of me. It felt like time was standing still for the first time in my life and I was finally taking everything in everything that had happened for the past few years, what had my life become? I was nothing but a street rat and I deserved nothing more than that.

More time had passed in reality and I heard more footsteps again, the hooded man still stood there watching over me until another hooded figure appeared behind him. “It’s time to fight back Rayne.. It’s time to find your will.” he said as the other figure came closer and closer before kneeling down to me, its face was like a tigers it had big eyes and it looked intimidating as hell. He held his hand or paw or whatever it was out to me and looked me straight into the eyes and spoke, “It's time to pick a side Rayne.. and I want it to be mine.” even after being among the nasty sewers it lifted my hand and kissed it like a gentleman to a fair lady. Confused and a little honored to be in its presence I humbly nodded back and really thought about what I would say next, “Make me the best.. “ panting with excitement in my voice and my eyes now I smirked a little before finally saying.

“Make me a killer..”

I don’t know where Aden had gone but little did I know he had plans of his own to finally meet me again someday, this would be the start to one hell of a crazy journey and one that would finally put me on other peoples radar. I felt it deep down inside of me, this was my calling, this was my destiny.