UNKNOWN AREA,
Inside a dilapidated house a child slept on a fractured bed . His body was slick with sweat.
His eyes snapped open.
Confusion and terror showing on his face like he has woken from a nightmare. The last thing he remembered was a flash of light . Then, nothing. Now , this.
The room walls were covered in tiny cracks . Dust and garbage everywhere with air filled with flies. It was less like a home where humans lived and more a breeding ground for despair.
As he was examining the room and tried to sit up, a sharp pain jolted through his skull . He cried while clutching his head , as memories that were not his own hammered in his head .
The voice of women ,hollow with hunger
"Here take it"
Who despite suffering from hunger herself was giving her own share to him .
The voice of a man or rather a father who despite himself being thin as a skeleton still smiling and praying for a better future
And a name called over again and again like a broken record .
"Alex.... Alex... Alex..."
His name or the name of the child whose body he is in.
The pain faded as a terrible truth settled he has transmigrated in the body of child
The child's parents had gone out two days ago to search for food and haven't returned until now .
The child was almost 9 but due to years of negligence and poverty. He barely looks like a five year old . Face covered in dirt and hair damped with grease.
Ben or now Alex had just barely a moment of relief when the door of the house started banging with that came of the voice of men
"Open up! Open up, you little runt! it's been two days where the money for this week"
Fear unknown to past Ben but remembered deeply by the now present Alex jolted through his body
He immediately remembered the voice of local bullies living on the flesh and blood of the poor.
His parents had gone two days ago to beg for money because of their constant extortion
He tried to stand up but two days of hunger and the fear in his bones didn't allow his body to move an inch
'Bang'
The door opened with a bang four men covered in dirty clothes with smirks on their faces entered the house like they owned the place.
The leader with a scare on his face examined the room and his eyes caught the sight of the child trembling while sitting on a bed.
A smirk on his face . In two strides, he crossed the room and grabbed Alex by the neck, hauling him like a rag doll
"Little punk" the man sneered. "Finally got you. Now you've got nowhere to hide. Where's your worthless parent? And where's our money?"
Pain jolted Alex as the man tightened his grip on his neck.
"Sirrr!" Alex gasped , spittle flying from his lips as the grip tightened" The money.. it's here! "
The scarred man's sneer shifted instantly to sharp interest. He loosened his grip just enough for Alex to suck in a rugged breath."Why didn't you say earlier, you little rat?" He growled but the greed in his eyes was brighter than the cruelty now. He hauled Alex off the bed like a sack of grain. "Where? Don't play games."
"I will take it now" Alex replied in gasped breaths while clutching his neck
"Then hurry up!" The man said with greed-filled eyes fixated on Alex's face.
Alex moved with unsteady steps to a broken hole in the wall, covered by a scrap of cloth. He carefully pulled the cloth aside, pressed his hands into the cavity, and retrieved a single, broken copper coin with a fire sigil engraved on its surface. With his right hand, he held up the coin. With his left, hidden from view, his small fingers closed around the cool, rough handle of a rusty knife he'd felt in the hole.
The scared man seeing the broken coin instantly flew in rage, grappled Alex by the neck again and growled "Rat! Are you playing with me?"
Alex started moving his legs in pain . The man seeing him in pain showed a look of pleasure and moved his face to his companions
"See! This is how you teach rats who don't know his--"
Alex seeing the man's distracted face tightened his grip on the knife . His left hand moved in perfect precision and drove the knife in the man's neck with an intent that said he had already chosen death over the unbearable pain.
The man's grip loosened. Alex slipped from his grasp and backed to the corner grasping for breath.
The companions seeing the horrific scene all rushed towards their leader . One man with a rough beard stepped forward to check on the leader but found the leader with no breath, only hot red blood gushing out like a broken dam.
"Dead! The boss is dead" the bearded man grasped
All the three men simultaneously turned their head towards Alex's eyes filled with rage . The bearded man stepped forward and tossed Alex on the bed. He snatched the iron rod he had bought and started beating Alex with pure rage.
The first blow took the air out of Alex's lungs. The second shattered the bones in his body. Third forth rods simultaneously coming at him.
This is it, a detached part of Ben/Alex thought. I escaped one death only to find another.
The bearded man raised the iron rod for a final, skull shattering blow...
something happened.....