Kasia Wiśniewska stood right next to Leon, her face irritated at the mere sight of him. She even spat, but missed, landing just beside Leon's face.
Leon wanted to chuckle at her issue with skill, but he remembered he was in great pain!
"How dare you take Mister Feuillâtre's attention away from me? He took interest in you of all people?!" she spewed at Leon.
Kasia is so disgusting!
Leon recovered from his fall, and gave her an annoyed look:
"Not my fault you're ugly!"
"Huh??!" Kasia reached the peak of her temperament.
She was one of the people who'd been waiting for Klaus Feuillâtre's autograph for years, but it was Leon who got in her way. Not to mention, there was an immature insecurity within her heart that an Obcy like him could garner the attention of a man like Mister Feuillâtre.
Kasia looked at the three thugs.
She pointed at them, then, with a command, she yelled: "What are the three of you waiting for? I got the Obcy right here! Teach this brat a lesson!"
Leon weakly looked back at the alley, only to see all three thugs glaring at him with fury in their eyes.
"Oi, Obcy, didn't we warn you that we'd squash you like a bug?" said Ralts. He looked disheveled, having just fallen right on top of his friend.
"Hah! You'll squash me like a bug? Like what you did with your malnourished friend when you fell over him!" Leon still had the energy to run his mouth.
Ralts and Scarnwy looked offended as they glanced at each other. That's when the muscular one, Knuch, rushed in front of them and yelled: "This brat! Get him!"
"Let me tell you something!" Leon tried to utter, but… he felt their hands already grabbing his foot…
Mister Feuillâtre… I don't think I'll meet you at next year's Więźni exam.
Whoosh—
Leon was yanked by the foot into the farthest corner of the alley, enduring a brief, controlled beating.
"You punch like a little girl!" Leon, who was now held by Scarnwy and Ralts, said back—then he felt a punch in his gut.
GAH—!
It was Knuck, then Leon groaned, yet he smiled.
"Still punches like a little girl…" he uttered, smiling despite the pain.
Another punch.
"Oh yeah — that's the spot…" Leon said.
"What?" Knuck was a little weirded out by Leon.
Even Scarnwy and Ralts seemed thrown off.
Knuck hadn't planned to hurt Leon too badly; he made sure to strike areas that wouldn't cause any visible bruises to avoid alerting the adults, so the face was a no-go.
Their goal was simple: to teach him a lesson.
Leon wanted to say more words to there faces — however, even he knows when to stop talking.
Damn, was I born to be a mere punching bag?!
Kasia Wiśniewska was watching from behind them; she had a satisfied expression on her face. "You boys taught this Obcy his lesson. Wrap it up already before we get caught; just take the money and leave."
"Yeah yeah," Knuck said as he took Leon's money pouch from him, and then he ordered Scarnwy and Ralts to search his pockets; they were empty.
I'm actually being robbed. Leon murmured at his fate.
"That's everything; we already took all the coins that are on the ground, so this brat now has nothing," Ralt said with a mocking tone.
Then finally, Leon was let go, causing him to drop to the ground with his weakened and pained body.
By then, it was already approaching afternoon.
"Don't ever think about crossing us again, you brat!" One of the thugs warned as they walked away with the pouch of coins — bouncing it with one hand.
"Outsiders should know their place. Oh, and don't even think of telling anyone; we know where your family lives," remarked Kasia Wiśniewska as she walked alongside the three thugs, whom she has known for years.
"I also know… where your family lives…" Leon murmured silently to himself.
He let his beaten-up body just lie down; his family was threatened, but right now all he could do was stare at the autumn sky.
His mind was blank… he never really understood why he was hated by them, only knowing that there's something different between him and them, but to Leon, it never really made sense to hate someone because they're different.
"They have been like that towards me for years, one of my dreams is just getting out of this place and not dealing with them anymore…"
But Leon wasn't the type to be mentally affected by such people; in fact, he didn't let such things hinder him, as he got up.
Then, he put his hands behind his pants, directly at his rear, to retrieve 5 coins.
All of them were wedged inside the crevices of his buttocks — it was the amount he could fit and clenched without them falling down or making any noise!
"They didn't check the inside of my pants, Mister Feuillâtre… you have no idea how much trouble you caused me without you even knowing!" he ranted, though he wasn't all that bitter about it.
He looked at the palm of his hand, holding the five złotys.
"This is still a good amount, but I wish I could've fitted more!" Leon sighed and pocketed the coins properly inside the compartments of his pants, then absentmindedly walked out of the alley with a disheveled look.
But there's one thing a boy like him loves doing — a core memory of his childhood.
"At times like this, I want to see the lake…" he murmured.
It was a place that holds importance in his heart.
He didn't care for his appearance, well… he did try to tidy himself on the way through the marketplace of the town, ignoring all the weird looks he was getting.
Slowly and surely, he ended up at the gate of the town that leads directly into the forest, near the lake.
"Leon, what happened to you? You look like a mess!" remarked Uncle Michał Kowalczyk, who was a friend of Leon's father.
He was an old man wearing leather armor with strong red embossing.
"It's nothing, Uncle. I just want to go and see the lake, if that's alright?" Leon has every right to file a complaint with his recent experience, but the boy genuinely couldn't care less about the existence of rascals, and in most cases, it would only bring more unnecessary trouble to his life.
Uncle Michał gave Leon a knowing look; he seemed reluctant to let the boy through.
"Leon, have you heard of the news of our sister town of Brzozówka?"
Leon tilted his head.
"No, uncle, what happened?"
Uncle Michał sighed and pointed at the right side of the gate that held a huge line of people being escorted and guided by the other town guards.
It appears the guard presence is heavier than usual…
"Those people are refugees."
"But why, Uncle? Isn't Brzozówka big enough for all of these people?" Leon asked curiously.
Uncle Michał's eyes darkened.
"Leon… Brzozówka has been attacked… by a vampire."
Chapter End.