Devil Ash Disarray (Devil Ash Saga Book 3) (15 page)

Chapter Ten: Orphans

Shiva made a disappointed sounding grunt. “This can’t be it,” she said, always the skeptic. She stood on a street in East Hell with the boys, staring at a building that seemed to be losing the battle against time.

“This is definitely the address she gave us,” said Ash, double-checking the information Raley wrote down for him.

“It doesn’t look like a house,” said Aura. “It looks more like a run-down old schoolhouse or something.”

The building was larger than a house for sure, but what really threw them off was the tall iron fence that surrounded the block. In the front yard, children of all ages played on a variety of run-down playground equipment. Some had small toys like sticks, hoops, or balls. None of the children looked particularly clean, as most of their clothing was old and raggy, covered in mismatching colored patches.

“Why don’t we go in and ask if she’s here,” Ash said. He stepped into the yard through the open gate and his teammates followed his lead. As soon as they passed through the gate the children took notice of them.

The loud playful laughter of the children stopped at once. Games were paused and every pair of eyes was on the team. Ash made eye contact with a few of the wide-eyed kids he passed.

“Hello,” he greeted them with a friendly smile. “We’re looking for a girl.”

The children’s eyes lit up. An energetic roar of whispers tore across the yard, each kid repeating the same word over and over again.

“
Prospects
.”

“
Prospects
?”

“
Prospects
!”

Suddenly the children were all on their feet, scrambling through the yard to line up by the front door of the building, effectively blocking the team from entering.

“
This is weird
,” Aura whispered as some kids struggled to find their places in the line. It looked like the older kids were on one end of the line and the younger children kept to the other end.

“Um,” Ash said, not sure whom he should address here. “We’re just looking for a girl-”

“I’m a girl! Take me!” one of the little girls cried.

“No, pick me! Pick me!” another little girl joined in.

“I wanna go! Take me too!” a little boy added.

“No Tommy! They said they wanted a girl!”

The children started bickering for the team’s attention. Noise levels quickly got out of hand, making it hard for Ash to think. He looked to his teammates, confused as to how they should handle this unexpected situation.

“
Everyone shut your little traps
!” Shiva bellowed. The children were silent at once. She turned to Ash with a smirk of confidence, allowing him the floor to speak.

“Hello everyone,” Ash said. “I don’t know what you all
think
we’re here for, but I assure you we’re just looking for our friend Aralia and that’s it. Have any of you seen her?”

“
I’ve
seen her,
ya butts
!” came a familiar, annoying voice from far off. The team, following the children’s stares, looked up. Hanging out of one of the first floor window.

The Sneaker.

“Oh great,” said Aura. “This kid again.”

“If you want to know where she is, I’ll tell you…” the sneaker said with a devious smile. “It’ll only cost one more Devil’s Duel deck!”

The team stood with crossed arms, unamused. Shiva considered launching a fast attack and finally putting an end to this annoying brat’s antagonizing actions, but she didn’t want to involve the thirty other children present.

“
Uverstarr get down here this instant
!” a girl’s voice roared, loud and demanding.

The sneaker in the window was so startled he slipped and fell. Shiva, who was already itching for action, responded right away. She jumped forward with arms open, catching the boy before he hit the ground. Not that it would have hurt him much anyway.

“
Caught you
,” she said, grinning. The sneaker’s bandana had slipped down in the fall, underneath it his actual teeth were bared like a trapped animal.

After putting a stop to The Sneaker’s annoying antics, Aralia stepped out to join everyone. “Hey guys,” she said. “Meet Uverstarr!”

“
This kid
is Uverstarr?” Shiva said, aghast, as the sneaker squirmed in her arms to free himself. “
What have we done
…?”

“Let go!” he cried, trying to break free. His feet touched the ground but Shiva kept a tight hold on his hood, which fell off his head revealing the boy’s face at last. Uverstarr was black skinned, with a short dark layer of fuzzy hair covering the top of his head. He scowled and cussed as Shiva kept a tight grip on him.

“Not so fast without your little wheelie-board, are ya?” Shiva gloated.

“I can’t believe that little brat is already registered on our team,” said Aura with a disappointed droop of his shoulders.

“We can still change it,” Shiva said. “
Probably
.”

“Everyone go inside and wash up,” Aralia said to the other children. “Mr. Kurdis will be home any minute now and you should all be getting ready for dinner.”

“
Awww
,” the children all whined in unison. “
Guess
they’re really not here to adopt us
.”

Aura couldn’t help but let out a pleased chuckle at their disappointed little faces. “Yeah,
no
.”

“Raley, is this place an… orphanage?” Ash asked her.

“Sure is,” she replied, shooing the kids back inside. “Is that a
problem
or something?” she asked, glaring back at the boy.

Ash blinked. “Not at all!” he replied. “I had no idea there was an orphanage in Hell! That’s so cool! Do you work here or something?”

Aralia eased up. “You could say that,” she replied. “But I live here too. How do you guys know Uverstarr?”

Shiva noticed she was holding an empty hoodie instead of a squirming brat. Uverstarr slipped out and fled across the yard heading for the gate with a triumphant smirk on his face.

“We’re in the middle of an epic game of hide and seek!” he said.

“That’s
not
what we’re doing,” Shiva assured her.

“We ran into Uverstarr after the tournament,” said Ash. “Now that I think about it, he must have been mad that I beat you. He stole some cards from me.”

“Are you
butts
talking over there?” he turned and shouted as he reached the front gate. “Cause all I hear is:” Uverstarr cupped his hands around his mouth and made a loud farting sound. That’s when a man wielding a tin cup cracked him in the back of his head with it. The boy stumbled forward a little, his head throbbing.

“I thought I told you
no more stealing
, Uverstarr,” the older man scolded him. “And try to show some respect. These people are our guests.”

The man with the cup stepped inside the yard. He had a bulging grocery bag slung over his shoulder. His fading black hair saw some salty sprinkles of white starting to come in. He put a hand on Uverstarr’s shoulder and walked him back to the group. Uverstarr trudged along obediently with his head down in shame.

“About time ya decided to show up,” Aralia said to the man with a tone of familiarity, almost as if she were scolding him.

“Hello everyone,” Mr. Kurdis ignored her. He turned to Shiva and her team. “When Raley told me you were all coming over, I had to hurry out for some
decent
grub. Lady Shiva, it’s an honor to have you. I hope Uverstarr hasn’t been troubling you
too
much.”

“Not at all,” Shiva said, keeping her cool.

Mr. Kurdis turned and looked at Ash. “And you must be the human boy who invited Aralia to join your Soulstice team.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ash said, extending his hand for a handshake.

Mr. Kurdis extended his tin cup. Smiling, he said, “I’ve heard all about your accomplishments, and working for Mr. von Gosick, the Royal Advisor, what an honor! A job like that must pay well!” Kurdis shook the cup a little, the distinct
CLANK
of a few coins jangled inside.

Ash knew at once what the man wanted. Smiling politely to buy time, Ash nervously dug in his pockets for any spare skorch. He was able to produce only a five-skorch coin and dropped it in the man’s cup.

“Why thank you! I had no idea humans could be so generous!” Kurdis smiled wider, turning his cup on the others. “Don’t tell me my devil brother and sister won’t find it in their souls to match this boy’s act of-”

CLANK. CLANK CLANK.

Aura flipped one five scorch coin to match Ash’s, while Shiva plunked down two ten scorch coins, just to show the boys up while simultaneously shutting up the old man.

“Wonderful! Many thanks to all of you! Now why don’t we go inside,” Kurdis said, waving them towards the front door. His smile faded instantly. “I’ll give you the tour before we get started on dinner. And let’s not forget about returning their stolen cards,
Uverstarr
.”

“
Yes sir
,” replied Uverstarr, his head still turned down in pain.

“Please don’t think of Uverstarr as the representative for our orphanage,” said Kurdis as he motioned everyone in. “He’s what we like to refer to as the
blackened sheep
of the group.”

Kurdis sent Uverstarr off to prepare for dinner and fetch the stolen cards before leading his three guests on a short tour of the orphanage. The building looked big enough from the outside, but the team quickly discovered the run-down conditions on the inside could be considered close to poverty. They entered into a room that served as the children’s play area, a dingy living room with fading green wallpaper that was peeling all over.

The large room felt cramped with eleven or so kids still chattering loudly as they played games, told jokes, or wrestled. There was very little furniture in the room, but the couch and chair that were there looked about to crumble under the weight of the children jumping on it. Ash almost tripped over two kids who ran by, using him as a shield as they played ‘devils versus demons’. Aura felt dangerously out of place, and the lack of objectify-able lady parts available made him feel uncomfortable. Shiva kept her arms crossed and her guard up.

Mr. Kurdis passed right through the chaos unfazed. “I’ll give you the quick tour. Thomas! Melinda! Take the groceries to the kitchen and get started!” he barked at two of the children. Kurdis dropped the huge sack of groceries before them and they all peered inside at its contents. They gripped their noses in disgust, doubling back.

“Yuck!” the boy said.

“Is this stuff even eatable?” the girl asked.

“Everything’s eatable in stew form, quit complaining!” Kurdis told them. “Now get going!” The two children begrudgingly lifted the heavy sack and made off for the kitchen. “Now where was I? Oh yes, here you see the living room. This is where the children play and get way,
way too loud
!” Though he had to raise his voice significantly just to be heard over all the chatter from the children, no one paid him any mind or quieted down. Kurdis hung his head, grumbled to himself, and moved on.

He took them upstairs to see the children’s bedrooms. The boys and girls had separate rooms, but that was about all the division that happened up there. The hallway divided two giant sleeping areas with fifteen or so small beds crammed together tightly. Each bed had a small pillow and one thin, short, itchy-looking blanket.

“Here’s where I sleep!” Raley said, rushing over to point out her own bed. She pulled Ash along with her. He wasn’t expecting to be taken by the arm and felt his cheeks redden as Aralia dragged him across the room. She jumped down on the bed and patted the seat next to her, signaling for Ash to sit down.

“
She seems to have warmed up to him pretty quickly,
” Aura whispered to Shiva. The Royal Princess grunted in response.

Ash sat next to the smiling girl. Her many piercings no longer looked so intimidating. Suddenly he wished the room wasn’t crowded with other people so he didn’t feel so on display. The bed was stiff and uncomfortable, and before Ash could think of a suitable compliment to award the girl a small head poked out from under the bed between his legs.

“
It’s gone
,” the head of the little girl said, flat and disappointed.

“Mal, come on out and meet everyone,” Raley said. With a sad huff the girl scooted out on her back from beneath the bed and through Ash’s legs. “Ash, this is my little sister Amalia. Say hi to Mr. Ash, Mal.”

The little girl stood up and dusted off her raggy dress, uninterested in the new strangers in her room. “
Zabo’s gone
!” she said, stomping her bare foot on the cold hardwood floor.

Ash wanted to ask if they were truly sisters by blood, but thought it an inappropriate question for the time being. Instead, he put on his most child-comforting voice and addressed the little girl with a pleasant smile.