Chapter 31: Shorty

"What happened?" Leon thought inquisitively, staring with suspicious eyes at the dangling broken chains of the steel cuffs still wrapped around Reo's wrists. Unlike the others, Reo's binds had already been broken by the time he came to get them.

It was indeed perplexing; Reo already possessed the keys, yet his cuffs remained broken on each wrist.

"We'll need to keep going down this path and then turn right into another tunnel. Lia and I were brought through here, so if we stick to the same route, we should all make it out safely," Reo explained, handing a flame torch from the wall to Kyle.

"And we should hurry. The other guard could be alerted by this and come to find us," Reo urged, his tone laced with urgency.

"The other guard?" Leon interjected, his voice weighted with suspicion as he emphasized the word 'other'. He glared at Reo with narrowed, disapproving eyes, taking deliberate strides toward him.

"What happened?" Leon demanded, his gaze unwavering as he locked eyes with Reo, searching for answers within the tired, apathetic look in Reo's eyes.

Reo held his gaze with his, still and taciturn, suppressing the urge to breathe a tired sigh.

"I took care of him," Reo casually said in a dismissive tone before turning away.

Leon found the reply unsatisfactory, only fueling his curiosity further. Reo's sudden nonchalant demeanor bothered him. He had been acting differently since his return.

"Took care of him? What does that mean?" Leon asked, his tone tinged with skepticism.

Reo restrained an irritated scowl from surfacing as the shadows in his eyes grew colder. Then, he turned and gestured to the limp body of Don supported over his right shoulder.

"Do you mind giving me a hand with him? We need to get out as fast as we can."

Leon remained unresponsive, his scowl glaring at the nonchalant black-haired boy. Despite his reluctance to let it go, he decided to bite down his tongue for now. Just as Reo requested, he helped support Don by offering his shoulder.

Reo shared a final glance with Leon, followed by a nod wiith the rest.

Then they ran.

***

It was faint, but Shorty felt the slight tremors that traveled through the tunnel paths from his assigned station. It was so subtle that he could have easily dismissed it as maybe a mild earthquake or something.

But just at the same time, Shorty was considering taking a leisurely stroll. And maybe while at it, he'd stop by the kid's cell to mess around with one of them or something. If his brother could have some fun, why couldn't he?

'I think there was a cute one this time around?' Shorty mused internally with a dirty chuckle to himself.

Speaking of his brother... it had only been a few minutes, but Shorty had failed to hear the harrowing and ear-piercing screams of the kid dragged off by his brother earlier.

It usually wouldn't take this long for the torturous cries to rampage in an echo through the underground tunnel walls. At least it didn't take as long for Don...

"...Oi," Shorty suddenly rose from his seat with a slightly tight expression.

"That bastard couldn't have killed the brat already, could he?"

And there was also that slight tremor as well.

Filled with a strange premonition, Shorty clicked his tongue and decided to make sure himself. Currently, the Boss was getting ready for the ritual back at the chapel's altar. There's a chance the booming sound and rolling tremors hadn't made it all the way there.

If the kid really is dead, then they'd have to quickly get rid of his body before the Boss became aware of it.

Fortunately, they had yet to inform the hooded, hunched man about how they had already recovered the other two missing kids.

"That baldy better not have done something stupid," he cursed under his breath.

Shorty walked confidently down the tunnel paths, navigating them like his backyard. It was evident that these people had been residing in the strange tunnel network for a considerable amount of time.

Along the way, Shorty picked up a flame torch from one of the many lined along the cave walls. The pale tongue of fire cast a soft glow along his chosen path, pushing back the dark ancient shadows and illuminating his way.

It didn't take long for Shorty to arrive at the cavern chamber.

"Hey, baldie! That quake... what did you do?" Shorty threw out the accusation before he could even meet face to face with his brother.

His short, round figure loomed like a massive boulder just before the entrance to the cavern. With determination, he took his first step in and looked around.

Pebbles, dust, and debris still rained from the ceiling in receding amounts. The whole cavern space seemed much worse than usual.

"...What the?" Shorty mouthed in confusion as he surveyed the scene.

There were piles of rocks and debris littering the floor all over. Massive cracks ripped across the surface of the ground, segmenting the whole cavern into parts. A caved-in dent covered the back wall furthest into the cavern, and just a few feet away from it, there was a body slumped across the ground.

Shorty's eyes widened in shock. He found himself throwing the torch he held in his hands to the ground as he rushed inside and hurried towards the body.

"...O-oi...what happened to you?" Shorty's lips trembled as he let out a shaky voice. He stood just over the body, gazing at the blank, unmoving expression his brother had.

"Hey. Hey, wake up!" He called out, but the body remained still and unresponsive. Shorty even proceeded to nudge him with a little kick, but there was no reaction.

His expression froze, his eyes trembling with disbelief. He walked over to the body and lowered himself down on one knee.

With trembling, hesitant hands, Shorty found himself reaching for the limp body of his brother.

"Hey, baldy," he shook him. "Wake up," he continued, "where do you get off taking a nap on duty, you bastard. The boss is gonna have your head if he finds out." He shook him again.

Then he stopped. Shorty's movements became still.

"It can't be..." He muttered in a very low voice, a deep shadow casting over his face.

'No.'

His arms moved again, shaking the limp, unmoving body just slightly.

Shorty's brother's head was wedged into the hard ground, forming crevices as his neck appeared twisted and broken. Upon closer inspection, Shorty observed that the side of his brother's head protruded in a bump, with his eyes rolled back, leaving only the whites visible. Blood continued to trickle down from his ears, nose, and gaping mouth, and the side of his face looked almost crushed, as if caved in.

It was clear that his brother was definitely dead, his dumb expression frozen in death. The skin around his neck was twisted like a wrung wet cloth, with a purple bruised bump rising on one side. The body had turned cold.

"Ah-! Ah-! A-ahh!" Shorty backed away from the body, cradling his head in both hands in shock and horror.

The surface of Shorty's trembling eyes glistened and glazed over with tears as they rolled down his chubby cheeks and bulging chin. His face contorted into an ugly mess of pain and sorrow as the first cries of wails left his lips.

Shorty let out a hoarse cry next to his dear brother, continuing like this for a while until his eyes stung from the tears.

By the time he was through, Shorty seemed to have undergone a slight transformation. His chubby face appeared leaner, with the sides of his cheeks sunken. His eyes were widened and bloodshot red from all the crying and tears shed.

"I...I...," Shorty stared at the cold, lifeless corpse of his brother with a broken shiver in his strained eyes. His lips continued to tremble heavily as he struggled to articulate his thoughts.