I searched for something to help me escape while the guards walked after me, trying to figure out how to get the hell out of my situation. Yet so far nothing was available in sight.

The more I thought about it, the more I panicked. I really couldn't believe I couldn't think of anything to help me escape right now.

I could feel that those guards were inching closer by the second. And I didn't want to imagine being imprisoned or even being put to death for my petty crime.

Oh, c'mon, Mike. Think there for a sec. Think! I really need you to keep thinkin', bro! I can't afford to be captured, especially on my first day of being in this brand new world!

Then something popped up in my head when I examined the kebab in my hand. I smiled all of a sudden.

I got it! I finally got it!

I immediately grabbed one of the kebabs from my hand, licking my lips. I turned to the guards one last time before I returned to the kebab.

Sorry, lil' buddy. I gotta go make some sacrifices.

Placing one of the kebabs on the street vendor's wrist, the street vendor closed her eyes and screamed in pain. She kneeled down and covered a burned mark on her wrist with her hand while the kebab dropped on the ground.

I grinned at her for a brief moment. Well, looks like that worked out well.

As soon as I ran away from the street vendor, the guards gritted their teeth at me. "You there! Halt!" One of the guards roared as they held onto their swords in their shaves and dashed after me, turning it into a cat and mouse type situation.

Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Oh, shit! OH, SHIT!

I fought through the crowds while people stood there and watched me get chased by the guards, gossiping about me, particularly from women.

"Haaalt!" Another guard roared behind me.

I tried to search for a hiding spot but couldn't find it so far. Oh, c'mon! There has to be a hidin' spot somewhere! Where the hell is it?!

With sweat pouring down from my forehead, my heart began to beat fast and hard from anxiety on my chest and I could feel it, trying my best not to get caught by the guards. Yet I stopped moving a bit and widened my eyes when I saw a couple more guards with their backs staring at me, seeing them watch over the crowd.

Holy, shit! More guards!

I looked at the guards behind me and in front of me. Okay, I definitely need to find a way out of this place!

I looked both ways and saw two alleyways, frowning at them. Oh, great! Which way do I need to go now?!

"You there! Stay right where you are!" One of the guards said behind me, alerting the other guards in front of me.

Then I quickly turned left and headed for one of the alleyways, while one of the guards behind me signaled the other two curious guards after me, and his partner chased after me. Okay, I hope there isn't a dead zone there, 'cause I would be done for if that's the case.

With four guards on my ass, I tried searching for a hiding spot again but still couldn't find it. Dammit! Where the hell's the hidin' spot?! It has to be here somewhere! It has to be!

It was like no matter how many times I tried to find a hiding spot, I would still fail to find it. Sighing, I began to lose some energy after a while of running and the guards smiled as they were getting close to catch me.

"Well, well, well. Looks like we almost caught the thief," one of the other guards declared.

"Yeah, me too," the other guard's colleague said, chuckling a bit.

I frowned as I believed that the end was coming to an end for me soon. Perhaps I at least explored this kingdom a bit to see what it was like.

Maybe it was my time to give up. Maybe this truly was my punishment from God. Maybe my family's right for not believin' in God. Who knows?

Then Gideon grabbed me from the alleyway and pulled me into the dark room, as there appeared to be no door inside and the doorway magically turned itself into a wall. With his hand on my mouth, my eyes turned to him and he placed his finger in front of his mouth. "Sssshhhh, Don't say anything and we should be fine," Gideon whispered.

I took a look at my surroundings. Ooo, where the hell am I? This place smells rotten.

With dust and cobwebs everywhere, I saw nothing but a small old table, dirty kitchen with a filthy window which the sunlight barely pierced through and the broken, wooden stairway. Only silence echoed in the room and the stench aroma smelled like rotten eggs.

"Hey, did you see that?!" One of the guards' voices vibrated from outside.

"Yeah, we almost got him. Where'd he go?!" Another guard's voice echoed.

"I think he went in there," the third guard's voice answered as the guards stood in front of the former doorway.

"He used magic to escape from us! Dammit!" The fourth guard banged on the wall. "We got to spread out and look for him."

"Got it!" His colleagues agreed as their footsteps walked away from the wall.

After a while, Gideon let go of my mouth and I joyfully turned around to look him in the eye with a grin on my face. "Oh, thank you so much for savin' me!" I exclaimed.

"It is my pleasure," Gideon said as he shook his head. "It is my pleasure."

Then I looked down at my kebab and I no longer saw smoke coming out of it, frowning. There were four pieces of meat on it.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Oh, man. My meal must be cold by now from all that runnin' 'round! Dammit!

Placing my hand on a cooked piece of meat on the kebab, I no longer felt heat on it. Once I put it in my mouth to chew on, its coldness dominated my tongue, causing me to frown even more.

Oh, man! It's cold! Dammit!

Gideon looked down at my kebab, then back at me. "You don't like the kebab?" He put his hand out. "Well, here. Let me only have a couple of those, please."

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Uh, are you sure? It's cold. And why only a couple? I don't want to eat the whole thing."

"I'm sure. I don't really mind it. Plus, I don't have any food at my own place, so you might have to eat two pieces of meat."

"You can't be serious…"

"I'm afraid I am."

Sighing, I handed two pieces of the kebab to Gideon. "Well, then here. You can have these, I guess."

"Why, thank you, Mike."

"You're welcome, Gideon."

The old man turned around and waved his fingers backwards. "Come follow me, Mike. I'll guide you to my place."

Gideon led me to the exit while he and I ate the kebab, and I began to follow his lead. And since the skies were getting dark, I had no reason to complain about spending the night at Gideon's place.

"And we're here!" Gideon declared as he moved the wooden plank away from the giant hole of the abandoned building in a different alleyway. He turned back to me. "And please excuse the place. I know it's not like you imagined it to be."

He kneeled down and entered the hole. I kneeled down as well but took a look inside.

Whenever I took a look inside, I frowned at the place. Seeing how decayed the room is after Gideon lit a candle above the small table, the floor looked like the muddy ground. I placed my finger on it and it felt dry instead.

There were plants on some cracks on the walls. The table's height was halfway in the room, and only a candle and an empty basket stood there staring at me.

When I stared at the candle, I gave it a blank stare when I saw that it was probably shorter than ever before. I noticed right then and there that all of its wax was about to be gone soon.

Silence echoed in the room and I was surprised it didn't smell so bad. I couldn't even see blankets everywhere in there. Not even on the floor, making me frown even more.

What? No cushions. Don't tell me Gideon can't even get the cushions!

I looked up above me and I saw nothing but a crappy room around me. "So um, why do you live down here instead of inside?"

"The three people live there and they'll be arriving soon. They're very territorial like a pack of wolves. They won't let anybody besides themselves to live there, as they don't trust other homeless people there in their homes," Gideon responded. "So can you close the hole with the plank, please?"

"Oh, sure thing," I responded as I entered the hole and closed it with the plank behind me.

We had to sleep down here instead of a house due most abandoned houses were occupied by homeless people. Too bad for them their houses were about to be destroyed by the Basilian government any minute, so it was best for us to stay here for as much time as possible before that happens.

Plus, can you even believe that homeless people wouldn't even trust each other, nor share their homes with other homeless people? This place was indeed a total nightmare.

I wondered where we would move if that happened and how long we would stay here. No one knew, not even Gideon knew.

Oh, so this is also my punishment from God for not believin' in Him?! Is this what Hell actually looks like here?! Oh, kill me. Kill me now!

"So, Mike. What was your world like and how did you come here?" Gideon sat down on the floor and invited me to sit on it as well.

I explained everything to Gideon, except my life growing up there and my part time job. I didn't feel comfortable talking about that at all.

Gideon shook his head. "Interesting…very interesting…and how was your life like growing up?"

The moment I heard him asked me this question, I looked down below me and immediately turned my nervous face to Gideon. "Oh, uh, that? Let's not talk 'bout that, okay?"

Gideon raised his eyebrow at me. "Oh? And why not?"

"'Cause…I don't feel like talkin' 'bout it, okay? Please stop talkin' 'bout it," I begged while frowning at him.

"Well, there has to be a lot more reason than that."

I was gradually getting irritated by Gideon at this point. "Gideon, please stop talkin' 'bout it."

"Oh, c'mon now. Tell me."

"No, Gideon…Jus' no…"

"Tell me, tell me, tell me…"

Would this old man quit already?! Here I am tryin' to have a good evening, and he's out here tryin' to ruin it?! Like, seriously! What the hell?!

"Oh, c'mon, Mike. Please tell me. I'm begging you!" Gideon continued.

My fist was clenched and I looked down below me out of anger, breathing deeply a couple times while still listening to the old man still bugging me about it, wanting this discussion to freaking die already. "I had a bad life back in my old world, okay?! Is that what you want me to say, old man?!" I yelled so loudly that it alerted a couple people outside the hole.

"Hey, did you hear something?" A young man's voice echoed.

Ooops, guess I overdo it.

"Yeah, I heard that too," a young woman's voice echoed.

"Me three," another young man's voice vibrated. "But where the hell did that come from?"

"I don't know," a young man's voice reverberated, "But we're about to find out."

Gideon leaned forward. "Those are the three people that I spoke of," he whispered.

"Aaaahhh, I see…" I whispered back, turning to the plank and Gideon back and forth.

And by finding out, they meant standing there and listening to my voice again. They wanted to make sure they weren't hallucinated by my voice earlier. Gideon and I remained quiet for a while. Once that was over, a young man's voice said, "Alright, let's get going then. I'm starving."

"Yeah, me too!" A young woman and another young man's voice agreed as their footsteps entered the house, chatting with each other both outside and inside. Gideon and I could hear those people chatter on the inside.

We both sighed and I looked down at my hand, clenching it. Damn, I better get my anger under control.

I turned to Gideon and frowned at him. "Gideon…I'm-I'm…"

Gideon puts his hand up with his eyes closed at first. Then he reopened them and put his hand down. "Don't worry about it. I accept your apology as long as you accept mine. It was my fault I made you yell like that, and I apologize for that as well."

I smiled at Gideon. "Well, it's alright and I accept yours."

Gideon grinned back at me. "It settles then." Gideon and I chatted with one another in our low voices to prevent the people inside from hearing us, and I laid on the uncomfortable floor after Gideon blew the candle out. While I laid there, I stared at the plank while the guards' footsteps echoed outside from patrolling the area.

Okay, first thing in the mornin'. I gotta go steal some breakfast food, then go get some clothes for job searchin', 'cause I can't keep livin' like this forever. Hopefully I'll be hired tomorrow.

As soon as I went to sleep, I would be ready for the next day. I hoped the next day was better than today was, because that was what I would like for it to be.