Val felt his bowels clench in fear almost automatically. He couldn't help it. As scary as his memories and the bloody bones had been, they hadn't tormented him for years like the bastard, who had him by the collar. The dirty blonde haired teen snarled in reply. “Thought you'd forgot'n me there for a bit, Val.”

  Ribus didn't look too good, from what Val was seeing. The older teen's face was bruised on one side, and Val saw that the bully was also sporting a black eye and busted lips. Maybe sensing what Val was thinking, the older teen growled, spit flying all over Val's face. “Nice ain't it. Ay got me some presents, thanks to ya!”

  Val choked out, “I didn' do nothin'.” Trying to struggle against the older boy was futile, as the teen pinned Val up against a nearby wall. Guffawing a hoarse laugh, Ribus punched Val in the stomach hard enough that he was left reeling in pain and feeling like he was going puke.

  “Din'na do nothin'. Hah! You littl' fucker.” Shaking Val almost like he was a rag doll, the older boy kept venting. “Ay was told to run ya little pukes to the ground. Make ya cry! See! That's wha' ay did. Jus' like all the other shits. Just like all the uther times. But ya always acted like ya were better than us. Talkin' smart and kissin' up to that tavern bitch. Well, guess wha', yer nothin' but rat shit!” By the end, Ribus was almost yelling.

  Val was trying to catch his breath in between being slammed up against the wall, but even then, he was cognizant enough to understand what the older teen saying. “Never said... better...” He tried to gasp out a reply, anything to make the older boy stop.

  Ribus, who's eyes were wide in anger, pushed Val as hard as possible, throwing him to the ground to the side. Crouching slowly to loom over Val, the boy continued speaking, his voice coming out in the middle of ragged breaths. “Turds like you... ya don' need.. need to say shit. Way ya act... like.... like little mice... too 'fraid to do shit... too smar' fer yer own good. Gotta prune 'em. That's... that's what the boss says.”

  Val felt his thoughts freeze when he heard the last sentence. Even with all the pain he was feeling and the immediate threat before him, he felt like his world just stopped. It was the worst case scenario. There was only one 'boss' in the Bone Crushers, and Val realized in that moment that he was on the 'death list.'

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  As he watched Ribus reach over to grab his tunic again, Val snarled in anger, almost roaring “RAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” It made the older teen flinch back, but Val wasn't done yet. Grabbing a handful of the dirt beside him with his right hand, he flung it into the older teen's face.

  “Gahhh! You lil' shit!” Ribus stumbled back, losing balance and coughing as he rubbed his eyes and face. Val didn't hesitate. A hard kick to the older boy's face sent him reeling backwards and made him loose his balance, falling on his back and grabbing his face in pain. “Ahhhhhh!”

  Not hesitating, Val scrambled to his feet, his face locked in a snarl and adrenaline fueling his anger. He wanted to pounce on the older boy and beat him senseless, but that's when he noticed another teen further down the street. A quick glimpse was enough for Val to know that it was one of Ribus' flunkies. So, instead, putting as much strength into his right leg as he could, Val stomped down hard on the older teen's privates, even as the Ribus was starting to sit up.

  “AGGGHHHHHH!” Val heard Ribus scream and saw the older boy fall back down, curling up into himself, while coughing and blubbering. Not waiting to watch any further, Val began running as fast as he could. All of this had only taken a short time, but the older teen's flunky was already halfway to where Val and Ribus were.

  As Val dashed to the end of the street, holding his abdomen in pain, he heard yelling behind him. “Run, ya rat! Gah! They'll get ya!” The older teen's voice echoed in Val's ears as he entered the main street, dodging past a handful of onlookers, who had gathered due to the noise. Behind him, he heard their confusion and shouting.

  “Wha's all this, then?”

  “That child.. he was being beaten!”

  “Call the guards!”

  He didn't know how far he had run, but by the time he stopped, he was out of breath, gasping as he hid behind some crates. His hands shook, as his mind raced to make sense of what he'd just heard. He realized how utterly stupid he had been. Val realized he had been relying too much on logic and incorrect assumptions, rather than trusting his gut instinct that had been telling him to run. He had been thinking of himself like some protagonist from Earth's fantasy novels, rather than what he really was: prey.

  Unfortunately, the trap had already been sprung the previous night, and if Ribus was right, Val was not supposed to have survived the beating or maybe what followed. Truth be told, he had considered that possibility since finding the grisly remains in the morning, but he had brushed it aside, thinking it didn't make sense for them to have left him alive overnight. However, he now realized that the gaps in his information were bigger than he thought and that he had underestimated the danger he was in. Worse yet, everything he had done so far felt like a waste of time. “No, not a waste...” Val suddenly remembered he had to meet with Bernice, and looking up at the sky, he realized it was mid afternoon already. He hesitated a brief moment, before deciding to take maybe his best chance of surviving.