Rayve sank onto the ground and buried his face in his hands.

“He will never forgive me,” he mumbled to himself. “He’ll never forgive me.”

A child’s screams, a sound of fear and despair and loud crashing as the roof overhead caved in –

Rin did not want to give him time to feel sorry for himself. “Where did you go?”

His head jerked up. “What do you mean? I’m supposed to ask you that question. Where did you go?”

Rin’s stony silence gave him the answer.

“I was just standing there. It suddenly became night, and you were gone!” He waved his hand, returning to his usual irritable self. “I just kept walking and walking and ended up in the same place all the time. There was no way –” He stopped when he saw her expression.

She folded her arms. “Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?"

Rayve seemed to struggle with himself for a moment. Rin could practically see his pride and helplessness waging war with each other. Then, pride gave in, and he said, “Fine. I’ll talk.”

*

When the twins were born on the thirteenth night of the moon cycle, the village labeled them as a pair of misfortunes.

When they were three, their family was forced to move to a house at the edge of the village as an excuse to spare most of the town from their inauspicious aura.

When they were four, Hayle found their father sleeping at the door, holding an ax in one hand.

When they were five, some villagers tried to throw them into the river.

When they were six, their village was attacked by a Seed.

They lost their parents and their home. Rayve nearly lost his last remaining family member.

As though the destruction of houses was insufficient to satiate the ravenous Seed, it turned its attention towards the helpless twins, picking one of them between its claws and preparing to devour him.

Six-year-old Rayve begged the heavens and anyone, anything that could hear his pleas to save his brother. By some miracle, the rubble above crashed onto the Seed, and in its moment of distraction, released its grip on Hayle.

Rayve did not look back. He grabbed Hayle and fled.

But the Seed’s ability took a toll on Hayle, making him ill.

The survivors of the massacre did not look kindly at the twins. Doomed, the Seed must be their retribution – yes, it had to be them!

One day, under the temporary shelter set up for refugees, with Hayle sleeping next to him, Rayve heard the villagers talking behind their backs.

"They not only cursed their parents; they took everyone down with them. What little horrors," someone lamented.

"They should just die." The voice dripped with venom.

"We would be better off without them."

"Shh... What if they hear you? You'll be cursed!" a frightened voice squeaked.

Something inside Rayve broke.

"Shut up!" he screamed. The townspeople jumped back as though he carried a contagious disease. Hayle startled awake. "Go away!"

A rock hit him on the head. A hot trickle ran down the side of his face.

"Rayve!" Hayle clutched at his shirt. He started to cry. "Don't –"

"How dare you scream at us, little devil?" Someone bent down to pick up another rock. "You – your existence killed our kin! Aren't you monsters?"

"No one is going to protect you now, monsters! Serves you right!"

The older twin turned around and protected his younger brother as they were pelted with rocks.

On the same day, they were driven out of town armed with nothing but the clothes they had on their backs.

*

The filthy alleys were home to many: those who lost everything to failed investments, those who were kicked out of their homes, and those who had no one to take them in. To these people, the main street was the outside world, the place that had shunned them, the place they lost their footing in.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Every morning, the street burst to life with people going to work. They walked, drove, ran, and cycled. They moved. The inhabitants of the alley got ready to go to work as well. Getting ready involved walking out into the hostile outside world and picking a spot, waiting for coins to drop at their feet. It did not matter whether it was out of disdain or sympathy. All that mattered was that they would not have to go to bed with growling stomachs.

The people of the outside world mostly ignored them; beggars were merely eyesores that were better off unnoticed. Every day was the same. Even beggars had a routine - a routine to stay alive.

The spot beneath the rusty staircase of an abandoned shop was the home to a pair of twins. It was not exactly the best one, but at least it provided a little shelter from the rain.

Dying because of starvation and the bitter cold of the winters was a norm in the alleys. The cruelty of life did not matter. If someone was sick and starving and was unable to go out to earn some money, it was their business.

In this cruel world, there was only themselves and no space for anyone else.

Rayve grew up hating humans. He only saw them as self-entitled beings who were sources of money and food. He learned to recognize who to beg from – the kind elderly ladies, the pious rich who would give themselves a pat on the back after an act of philanthropy. He learned to pickpocket from the oblivious office-goers, teens hanging around with their friends, too busy talking to realize a light bump on their shoulder and a careful sleight of hand. Living off the streets hammered into him the fact that human hearts could be as filthy as the uncleaned chimneys at the tiny houses at the other end of town. He also learned that human lives could be as melodramatic as the shows he watched through the glass windows of the electronic store opposite his usual spot.

Gazes of contempt, lovers’ spats, betrayals, hushed discussions behind the signboards, quick and illegal exchanges in the shadows of the alleys – he saw plenty, but bothered with none.

His exploits earned them enough food to get by and money for medicine whenever Hayle got sick. The winters were especially bad, with ruthless chills and increased Seed sightings. Hayle had grown very sensitive to the presence of Seeds ever since the incident, and going near Seeds would contribute to the relapse of his unknown disease.

Rayve eventually got them shelter in one of the quieter alleys at the back of the town. Hayle managed to find blankets from the nearby dumpster, some used clothes, a very useful electric cooker, and a not-so-useful small cupboard with a broken leg.

Hayle, being the kind soul he was, to Rayve’s chagrin, would leave crumbs and leftovers of their hard-earned food for the strays outside to munch on. While Rayve learned how to live off the streets, Hayle seemed to have earned a self-taught skill on how to win arguments against him.

“They are as homeless as we were. Don’t you feel sorry looking at them?” Hayle said that one time Rayve caught him putting out slices of cured meat for a stray dog that lost one of its hind legs in a scuffle.

And he would put on the most piteous look in his eyes that rendered Rayve speechless.

But he let it be. Because if one of them had to retain their humility, it would be Hayle.

They got through several seasons, but the second winter was when it all changed.

In that particular alley, they were not the only inhabitants. Rayve had always known the beggars that shared the same alley as them had always been keeping an eye on them – envious of their warmth and food, but they had always kept their distance.

One winter day, Hayle had been unwell. Rayve left him, promising to bring home enough money to buy some medicine and cook him something hot.

When he was away, the beggars came knocking at the door, begging Hayle to let them stay because one of them was very ill. Kind, good-willed Hayle let them in.

When Rayve returned, he found Hayle knocked unconscious outside their door and their ‘home’ taken over by the beggars. Alone against a group of full-fledged adults who would do anything to defend their newfound nest, he was no match for them.

Left out in the cold and with no money with them, Rayve carried Hayle to the nearest clinic only to be turned down.

Hours turned into days, and Hayle grew increasingly weak. Huddled together for warmth, Rayve desperately tried to shield his twin from the wind, all while trying to ignore the rumbling in his stomach.

“Don’t die on me, Hayle,” he whispered to his twin, whose body shuddered from the cold.

Please don’t leave me alone, he thought. You’re all that I have.

The world had abandoned them – no, they had been abandoned from the start. Why were they even born to begin with?

Were humans born to suffer and die? How unjust.

Rayve was so cold he couldn’t feel his hands and feet anymore.

Maybe being a Seed would be a great idea. Then, he could devour all those who made them miserable. Curse the world, he thought. Curse it all…

“What are you two doing out in the cold like this?” a voice asked, sounding very far away. “You’re going to die, you know.”

Yes, and what does it matter to you? Rayve thought to himself, barely having any energy to speak the words aloud.

There was a small sigh, and the voice said, “Never mind. You’re coming with me.”

There was a slight tug as someone lifted Hayle.

Rayve retaliated. No one was taking Hayle away from him.

Between the crack of his half-opened eyes, he saw a middle-aged man, no older than his father, peering at him – one hand on Hayle’s arm, wearing a bemused expression, curious eyes behind his oval glasses.

“Your brother is dying, little guy. And you are too unless you come with me,” he said. “Don’t glare at me like that. I’m not a witch that eats children, you know.”

The man carried Hayle up in his arms and turned to Rayve. “Are you coming or not?”

He was a Council officer, and he gave them what nobody had ever offered the twins.

In front of a warm fire within proper brick walls, shielded from the blizzard outside, Hayle safely tucked in bed after taking medicine, Rayve finally came to terms with knowing that man had saved them. He had forgotten what it felt like to take a hot bath, wear clean clothes, eat freshly made food, and sleep in a proper bed.

And most importantly, that man saved Hayle.

Rayve was standing on a breaking cliff – jumping or falling would make no difference, and that man was all the difference he needed.

The man, who would then become their mentor, was light brighter than the sun itself – their ray of hope and their ultimate savior, and Rayve vowed to repay him in any way possible.