After Sigmarus left, Grace reentered her shack and sat on the dirty floor next to her sister’s sleeping mat. A small smile appeared on her face, though her forehead creased with worry. Choosing to trust Sigmarus with this secret of hers took all of her confidence. If he could sort out the issues of finding them a place to stay, she could finally rest easy.

Gently rubbing Merci’s head with one hand, Grace pulled a thin rugged blanket over her sister’s body with her other hand and mumbled, “I don’t want to depend on him too much. He’s already done more than enough. I won’t ask him for help again. That’s the right thing to do, right?”

Some jumbled sounds came out of Merci’s mouth as though in answer.

Not finding any solace in her sister’s kind eyes or unintelligible words this time, Grace hugged her knees and lowered her head.

“I wish Mom and Dad were still here.”

Just as a familiar loneliness started to weigh down her shoulders, the shuffle of multiple footsteps outside the shack distracted her, replacing her heartache with wariness. She leaned toward the wall and peered through one of the small holes in the scrap metal wall. Outside were three men who all had annoyed expressions like they would prefer to be anywhere besides Shingle Alley. The only notable thing about them was their green goat skull tattoos. They were obviously walking toward her home.

Grace sucked in a breath of cold air and then muttered, “No… Why? Why are they here right now?”

Face darkening with fear and anxiousness, she turned her head and looked at Merci with worried eyes. Then, she looked back outside to see that the three men were already in front of the shack.

The first man pulled aside the cloth covering the entrance and intruded into the small shack. The other two quickly followed behind him. They all looked around the inside of the shack with obvious disdain.

Staring at the men with trembling eyes, Grace shuffled sideways in an attempt to block their line of sight from her sister’s enlarged and malformed skull.

“Good. You’re here. Come with us.”

“...Why?” Grace replied in a quiet and trembling voice.

“Bitch…” The first man who had a scar on his chin mumbled. Then, in a sharp tone, he said, “Your owner wants you to come, so come.”

Grace clenched her fists and bit her lip before replying, “You aren’t my owners. I paid my debt already.”

The man sighed, but then stepped forward with a menacing gait and said, “Nobody escapes from us, so either you come with us willingly, or we drag you back.”

In the middle of his sentence, he grabbed Grace’s shoulder and squeezed hard enough to make her wince.

Grace bit her lower lip once again and trembled under the man’s vice-like grip. Her eyes turned upward to glare at the man. Her mind whirled and her heartbeat quickened astronomically.

I never should have gone there.

I should have been smarter.

If only Merci hadn’t been so close to dying before.

Several thoughts rushed through her mind, sending her emotions into a whirlwind. Anger? Frustration? Sadness? Regret? She didn’t understand exactly what she felt, but she knew one thing: Merci and her couldn’t go with these men today.

“Hmm?” The man looked up from Grace’s trembling figure and finally noticed the swelled forehead of the person under the blanket. His brows lowered, and his eyes hardened. He released his grip and tried to step closer to the girl under the blanket.

To the man’s surprise, Grace immediately side-stepped back in front of the man to prevent him from approaching her sister. She glared at him and snapped, “No! You can’t touch her!”

“Move aside, brat,” The man growled, pushing against her face to shove her away. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on the palm he pushed her with. He retreated a step and looked at his hand. A deep bite mark that almost broke the skin gradually formed with a reddish tint under the dim glow of the fires outside. “FUCK!” The man exclaimed. He slapped her across the face and yelled, “You little shit! How dare you bite me!”

Recoiling under the sharp smack, Grace rubbed her sore cheek while maintaining an angered glare. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes because of the stinging pain. A moment later, her head whipped backward as one of the other guys pulled back her hood and pulled her away by the hair.

“Let go!” Grace yelled, grabbing onto the man’s arm. Her long nails dug into the man’s skin. He grunted and pulled harder. She dug into his skin harder.

“Kevin! Grab her arms for me! This fucking hurts!” The man yelled toward the third man.

“Gotcha.”

The two struggled to hold Grace down. She fought against them with all her strength, but couldn’t do much in the end.

“Stupid brat,” The first man mumbled to himself while rubbing the bitemark on his palm. He then ignored her and bent down to pull the blanket off the girl’s sister.

“Stop! Please!”

“Shut up.”

Smack!

This time, the man with small cuts on his arm due to Grace’s nails slapped her in an attempt to shut her mouth. Meanwhile, the first man pulled back the blanket.

“Ugh!” The first man gagged and recoiled a step and a half upon seeing the girl under the blanket. His face contorted with disgust, and his two companions also sported similarly pale expressions shortly after. All three of them spit on the ground between themselves and the severely mutated girl. Then, the first man’s nose wrinkled as he said, “So you were trying to protect this disgusting goblin? Fuck! You disgusting whore! Ugh…”

The man forced himself not to gag, looked at the third man, and said, “Kevin, throw this goblin in the sewers! Nate and I will bring the girl back.”

“Why me?!”

“Wha-?!” Grace exclaimed, eyes widening in horror. Why? Why would they do that? Struggling even harder under the grip of the two men who were far stronger than herself, she yelled, “No! Don’t you dare!”

“Goddammit, girl, stop struggling so much!” The second man yelled, losing his restraint as he shoved her face down onto the dirty floor.

“Stop it, Nate,” The first man grumbled. Glaring at Grace, he said, “Even though she’s dirty from living with this goblin, she’s still a product in Boss’ eyes, so don’t mess her up too much.”

“She tore my arm up, so just this much is fine, right?”

“Whatever. Now, switch with me, Kevin.”

“Fine,” The third man groaned and switched with the first man. Grace struggled free for a brief moment, but they quickly restrained her again.

“You bastards! Don’t you dare hurt her!”

“Shut the fuck up,” The first man said while he and Nate dragged her outside the shack. The man named Cross followed behind shortly after, dragging the malformed Merci by one leg. Merci whimpered, obviously not comprehending what was happening.

Tears streaming from her eyes, Grace yelled and flailed. She wanted to escape. She wanted to protect her sister. She needed that innocent smile to prevent her from losing her mind in this hellhole.

“Stop! I’ll fucking KILL you if you hurt her!” Grace yelled loud enough for her voice to crack.

Still flailing and shouting obscenities, Grace cried. Merci’s eyes looked up from the ground and met with hers. Upon seeing her younger sister, a bright and pure smile lit up the girl’s malformed face. Grace’s teary eyes focused on her older sister who had protected her with that pure smile during the years since their parents died. She struggled even harder to escape, but couldn’t. She couldn’t.

I can’t…