Exchange(2)

Matthias opened his eyes when he heard sniffling beside him. He turned his head and saw a kid who looked a bit younger than him crouching in the corner. Her hair was unkempt, dry and facing every single direction. Her clothes were also tattered and dirty. Matthias pondered if he looked as shabby as the little kid himself.

She must have realised the gravity of the situation she's in, he thought. Or she must be missing her family like I am.

He sat up and looked around, soon he realised he and several other kids were kept in a tiny room of a small run-down house. There were twenty kids in total, who all looked drained of life and energy. Some were just lying on the floor while some were staring blankly in front of them. Some other kids were also sniffling amongst themselves.

Matthias sat with his back against the wall, thinking of his own situation. He clearly remembered Emis telling him his friends were kidnapped and taken to a ship. But when he looked inside the ship, not a single fragment of his friends were there. Even now, when he looked around the tiny room where they were being kept, he saw no one who could resemble even close to his two friends. Was Emis making a mistake? Thinking some of these kids were Matthias' friends?

Or could that cat be lying to me?

Matthias gritted his teeth. If that were the case, he really was going to strangle that fucktard of a cat. He didn't care if it was a Nolte oh so divine, all he cared right now was the fact that the cat caused him to get kidnapped and also took him away from his family he so dearly misses.

But why would Emis lie to me? What reward could that cat possibly get from me getting kidnapped?

Matthias could think of nothing that would have prompted the Nolte to lie to him. What could Emis possibly get out of this situation? It was not like Emis was ever going to get a share of the money the kidnapper's were going to get from selling Matthias. Not to mention he really didn't think he was ever going to amount that much money.

The reason?

He was scrawny and lacked energy. His face was so pale he looked like he had been malnourished ever since he was a kid. He also did not think he was beautiful, not for a single moment, even if he was scaled in every range of the beauty meter.

The only selling point he could have may be him being a Gaur, but Matthias was determined to keep that one a secret from the kidnappers. Who knows what they would have done to him if they even got a hint of him being a Gaur? His parents had always been anxious about him and Izana getting their secret blown. He really was not very thrilled to find out why his parents were the way they are.

But at that moment, one detail of his conversations with his parents came to his mind. It was like he was experiencing an eureka moment.

Didn't my mother say Noltes demand something in return for their help? Emis had healed my injured leg. What if Emis considers me getting kidnapped as some form of compensation?

Matthias was contemplating hard. He could see the possibility of that being true, since his parents had told him Noltes' demands vary from each other. But in order to make sure about that, he first has to talk to Emis again. Though the cat had been uncommunicative ever since the bad guys took him to the ship.

The door to their tiny room opened with a loud bang. A man with a shaved head and a scar on his lower chin entered the room carrying a sack on his shoulder. He was exuding a bad energy, like one wrong word and he would smash your head on one of the walls. All the kids including Matthias flinched upon him entering the room.

"Here's your ration for today. Don't even dare to ask for more," he gruffly said and threw the sack on his shoulder to the floor.

Inside the sack were loaves of bread, about a dozen. Upon seeing the bread, Matthias' stomach rumbled. He realised he had not eaten for a whole day, or was it two days now?

He really couldn't care as he was starving so bad he dived towards the bread and gobbled them up. On seeing his actions, the other kids were quickly moving towards the bread and soon, they were fighting for even a single loaf of bread.

Was it the intention of the kidnappers to make them fight like animals? It wouldn't have been so far-fetched since there were twenty of them and the man had only brought a dozen loaves of bread.

Sick bastards!!

Matthias cursed them in his head. The other kids started to fight amongst themselves for the bread which must have greatly amused the man since he was creepily smiling at them.

"What a bunch of pigs."

The man was giggling while grabbing his crotch. Matthias wanted to puke at the sight. He was also licking his lips which greatly disturbed Matthias. However, he soon realised he must have stared too much at the man when that said man started approaching him.

"You got something to say kid?"

The creepy man stood in front of Matthias and glared. The other kids who were busy fighting amongst themselves just seconds ago suddenly went quiet. Inside the tiny room was so devoid of a sound that one could probably hear themselves breathing. Matthias' heart was beating so fast he wondered how it was still intact inside his chest.

"Sir, I really want to poop." Matthias came up with the best excuse he could come up with in his situation.

"Tch. How annoying."

The man was still glaring at Matthias. Suddenly he grabbed the collar of Matthias and swung him towards the door. Matthias loudly crashed on the ground and he hissed in pain.

The man was approaching Matthias again and lifted his hand. Just before he could hit Matthias, another man, probably his colleague, interrupted him with a sense of urgency in his face.

"You gotta come. We have a situation."