Chapter 337: No two Guides are the same

It was a good thing to remind Kellen and his Dad about the Guides who had been rescued during Uncle Parker’s attack on his city. After all, they had helped Guides who had been in a similar situation before. There was also the simple fact that the Guides would probably be traumatized and scared as well.

Kellen was sure that they would feel more comfortable around fellow Guides since they had been held captive by Espers up until this point. He was pretty sure that would be the case, considering that was something that they had to be aware of when Rhys had rescued the Guides from the hideout that the E.A.G. had in their city.

Uncle Parker didn’t seem to think that would be the case, but after he voiced his concerns that Kellen and his Dad might be in for a shock, he shut his mouth. It was clear that they didn’t believe him and it was pointless to argue with them. So, he just led them to where they were being held.

Kellen found that wording particularly odd, since they were Guides who’d come from a rough situation. He even gave Uncle Parker a strange look, confused as to why he’d said that, but Uncle Parker only gave Kellen a look like he was about to find out.

And find out he did.

Kellen was brought to a secure room that, like when they brought in the Guides into the Saturn Guild, wasn’t too far away from the Medical Bay of the Phoenix Guild. Uncle Vance was outside of the room when Kellen, his Dad, Uncle Parker, Brent and Sergei along with Rhys. It was quite a considerable sized group, and when Uncle Vance turned, he didn’t look pleased to see any of them.

His eyes tightened at the corners, clearly under a lot of stress and pressure. It made sense. He had three groups to tend to, some having been injured on their missions, plus the Guides who had been brought in. It was amazing that Taylor had been able to handle it, was still handling everything that had been put on her plate, Kellen could barely understand how anyone else could do what she had been doing.

"Are you lot here to see the Guides?" He asked, immediately confrontational. Kellen was surprised. That was not like Uncle Vance at all. Kellen’s Dad frowned.

"We are. Is there something wrong?" He asked and Uncle Vance turned his gaze towards the door that two Espers were standing in front of. Everyone looked rather serious, concerned as if the room held some kind of beast, not Guides.

"Well," Uncle Vance began, before he sighed and shook his head. "I know that Jeff warned you so I obviously can’t convince you otherwise. Enter at your own risk and good luck." He sounded exhausted and Kellen felt his body tense. What the hell did they mean by that? They were victims, they clearly wouldn’t have anything that could hurt them.

Brent, however, gave a low, amused laugh.

"Oh. I see." Brent said, grinning. Kellen looked back at Brent, confused, while Brent was grinning as he looked between the exhausted Espers. "I think I see what’s going on here. How about I take the lead on this, Kellen?" Kellen was surprised that Brent seemed to be so confident, even as Uncle Parker and Uncle Vance looked like they needed a few hours of sleep to recover.

Rhys gripped Kellen’s hand tightly, while Sergei hovered behind Brent, quiet but supportive. Kellen’s Dad didn’t pick up on what Brent was clearly able to understand, but Brent didn’t seem to mind.

"I mean, sure? What are you understanding that we aren’t, Brent?" Kellen asked and Brent just smiled. He winked at Kellen, amusement dripping off of him as he approached the door.

"Oh, you’ll see. Vance, how many are we dealing with?" Brent asked. Uncle Vance didn’t seem comfortable that he was leaving this all to Brent, but he didn’t have another choice.

"About seven Guides of varying ages. Some are as young as 12, while the oldest appears to be in their 30’s." Uncle Vance explained. "I wasn’t able to get close enough to them to get any answers." Kellen was a bit concerned by that statement, but Brent took it in stride.

"Great. My area of expertise. Let’s go." Brent said, placing his gloved hand on the handle of the door and shoved it open. He wasn’t quiet, he wasn’t exactly polite and Kellen watched, his mouth slightly ajar as Sergei followed after him as if this was completely normal.

Kellen rushed to follow him, Rhys and his Dad following behind as well. Uncle Parker and Uncle Vance remained as the last people who wanted to go into the room and it was only after Kellen had entered that he understood.

The room wasn’t a small one. Kellen hadn’t realised until he stepped in that it was more like an open concept apartment then it was just a plain room. There was a large room ahead of him, but to each side were long hallways that seemed to have smaller enclosed spaces, but no doors.

Privacy, but not too much. Kellen wasn’t exactly sure why they would have these kinds of rooms in the first place, but he could tell that the people who had been brought to this room didn’t seem to mind.

There were only seven of them in a space that looked fit to house about twelve. The main space that was narrowed before it opened up appeared to be set up as a main living space of sorts. The place was rather sanitized, which was neither here nor there in Kellen’s mind. The light colours didn’t matter, nor did the fact that the Guides weren’t in normal clothes. They appeared to be in hospital gowns, which did bother him, but if that was what they wanted to wear, Kellen couldn’t force them to change.

What did bother him was how they were acting.

As soon as they saw Brent and Sergei, they made a beeline for Sergei. Brent let out a laugh as they reached for him, desperate, their hands gripping onto the rather surprised Sergei as they tried to pull him closer, pressed their bodies against him, and were in general, too sexual with him.

It made his stomach roll as the 12 year old approached, clearly intent on doing the same when Brent grabbed the female child and held her back from doing the same.

"Don’t touch me!" She snapped, annoyed at Brent. "You’re just a lazy Guide! You don’t get to touch me!" Kellen stared, stunned as Rhys moved past Kellen and went to help Sergei. It had the opposite effect as the Guides then turned to Rhys and clamoured to guide him as well.

Rhys and Sergei were professionals about it, but Kellen could now understand why Uncle Parker and Uncle Vance had been so exhausted.

When you were a good person, this kind of temptation was horrifying and heartbreaking.

"A lazy Guide?" Brent voiced, then gave an unkind laugh. "It’s better than a puppet for Espers." That snapped the attention of the Guides who were all over their partners towards Brent. One of them snarled before spitting. The spit landed near Brent and Sergei flinched. He clearly didn’t like that, but it was the subtle head shake from Brent that had him remaining where he was.

"A puppet? What the hell would you know about being a puppet? At least I have a purpose. At least I have value! All you do is deny your true nature! You gorge and gorge until you’re too fucking fat to be worth anything!" They were speaking to the two worst people to ever say that to, and Kellen couldn’t help the small laugh that left his lips.

The Guide who had spoken snapped his head towards Kellen, who waved a hand dismissively.

"Oh, don’t mind me. Get your true feelings out. Please, tell Brent and I how we are the lazy ones." Kellen couldn’t help but find it funny, and even Brent laughed. His grip didn’t change on the smaller girl in his arms, leading to her letting out a shout of frustration.

"Let me go!" She screeched, and Brent gave her a look of mild amusement.

"Children do not get permission to throw themselves at grown adults. Any adults who allowed that should be taken out back and shot." Brent said, amused. "You know what? You give me names and I’ll do it for you. Better yet, we can crowdsource it. Who do you think would volunteer for that position?" Brent asked, turning towards Sergei, Rhys, Uncle Parker and Uncle Vance. Uncle Parker let out a low, dangerous growl.

"Brent, be careful with her, would you? And to answer your question, it’s not a competition. Captain Dina would do it." Brent whistled.

"What an honour for them then. She’s been so well-behaved, hasn’t she? I can tell she’s a hot head." Brent joked. Uncle Vance groaned, running a hand over his face.

"This is not the time for jokes." Uncle Vance said through gritted teeth. He was clearly at his wits end, while Kellen and Brent were finding amusement in this situation. Even Kellen’s Dad looked shocked. He’d not faced this kind of hostility towards him with the other group but Kellen and Brent?

Well, Kellen wasn’t as acquainted with this level of hostility, but Brent was.

"You’re just a useless Guide! I bet you’re just a C Class! Well, I’ll have you know I’m an S Class Guide! Better than anyone else in this room!" The male shouted, and the little girl huffed.

"We’re all S Classes! Our guiding can’t compare to anyone else in this room." Kellen felt his stomach roll as he heard that, but he didn’t miss a beat.

"Wow. What a coincidence, I also happen to be an S Class Guide." Kellen told the group of Guides who were slowly being contained by Sergei’s power. They clearly weren’t happy, but Sergei was at his limits. He was essentially holding them like birds so that they wouldn’t hurt themselves. Tucking their ’wings’ safely at their sides, their legs free to kick and throw a fit while he hovered them safely in the air.

"Yeah, what a strange and wonderful coincidence." Brent added, laughing. "So, shall we, as fellow Guides, show them a few pointers? It seems that they might need it." Brent joked, but when he met Kellen’s gaze, he could feel the fury there. It was clear that Brent was doing his very best at the moment to put on the laughing, humourous Guide.

He hadn’t been joking when he asked the little girl to tell him who had let her guide them.

"Sounds good, Brent. Should we call Taylor?" Kellen asked, glancing at Uncle Vance as he made the suggestion. He realised after he’d asked the question that he might be stepping on toes, however Uncle Vance raised his hands as if he wasn’t going to make a stink at all.

"That sounds like a great idea, Kellen." Brent said after catching Uncle Vance’s response. "She’ll probably have some great insight, and these lot can speak to a few other Guides who had the wonderful experience of being used as a fucking food source." Kellen winced. That probably wasn’t the right thing to say, but Brent’s anger was allowed to spill out a bit.

Kellen couldn’t even blame him as the Guides kicked up a fuss, anger and hatred, along with a rather alarming dose of fear, filled their faces.

Uncle Parker was right to describe them as he had, but he was glad that he was here. Compassion, along with understanding would be able to get them through this.