A Pack of Wolves: Deepest Scar

 

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Feniks was the name of Blacky’s hostel, home for boys who were rescued from a life on the street. Most boys knew about its existence, by word-of-mouth advertisement, and knocked on the door when they were ready for it. Others were taken there by the owners themselves, especially when they found boys addicted to drugs or whoring themselves to get money.

It was a home for boys only, not girls. Mainly because in this city, Amersfoort, a gay gang ruled; The Wolves from Hell.

The gang was a magnet for other gays, and they in turn attracted young boys looking for easy money. The Wolves liked to keep the city safe and clean. Prostitutes who liked their job were supposed to go elsewhere.

D’jon Black, a Jamaican hippie better known as Blacky, had been a prostitute himself. As an orphan, he was unable to find a safe home in Jamaica, and he saw no other option than to sell himself in able to have a bed at night. In Jamaica, being gay meant being in danger, and while there were always men willing to pay for an encounter with him, he feared for his life in many occasions. He wanted to get out of that life and out of the country. Lucky for him, he had a relative living in the Netherlands.

He came to the Netherlands to visit his aunt, but once he arrived, the woman appeared to have passed away some years before. The travel had cost all his money. If the Black Wolf, Lon, hadn’t found him, he had been forced to continue his job in the Netherlands.

Lon had given him a new life. And to thank him and repay him, Blacky had founded Feniks, to help boys the way Lon had helped him.

Blacky wasn’t alone. He was married to a Chinese Wolf, Ao Mengdao, nicknamed Midnight by the White Wolf, Lin, because his eyes sparkled like a cloudless night.

Like Lon had taken Blacky under his wing, Lin had taken care of Midnight and his little brother Ao Musi. They too were orphans, but instead of finding an easy way to survive, Midnight had decided to fight the authorities. He had refused to go to an orphanage and Midnight refused to let his much younger brother go. He would take care of the both of them, against the will of the authorities. Without Lin’s help, he would have failed.

When Blacky met the two, Midnight was already suspicious and hardened, and it took years to win his trust. Ao Musi, called Mouse because he was so very small, loved the tall Jamaican from the beginning, and soon considered him his father.

Now, more than twelve years later, Blacky and Midnight were married, Mouse lived on the attic of the hostel together with his cousin Li from Hong Kong, and they were all members of the Wolves from Hell.

*

One of the new inhabitants of Feniks was Kim Bae. He was a Korean teenager, fragile and sweet, and had come to the hostel entirely voluntarily. To be honest, he didn’t have much choice… Bae was stolen from his home in North Korea, where he had led a poor life in a small village. He was supposed to be a whore, but he’d run away after a few months. He had ended up in Amersfoort, far away from his kidnappers.

He had no idea how to get home… Or what to do, for that matter. He spoke some English and no Dutch at all, was illegal in the Netherlands and would never get a decent job.

He’d heard about the hostel in Amersfoort, Feniks. It had taken quite some difficulty to find it, but no trouble at all to get a room. Blacky and Midnight gladly took him in, they took care of him, and finally, Bae could relax again.

Feniks was a house of love. It was written on the stuccoed wall in the main hall, surrounded by scribbles and sketches made by the guests; the mood board.

By ‘love’, they meant of course ‘happiness’. Taking men up to make money was strictly prohibited, as well as using drugs. Midnight cleaned the rooms himself on a daily bases, and his punishments were severe if he found used condoms or traces of drugs.

Bae had listened carefully to the speeches of the men, nodding with a serious expression, understanding only half of it. No men, no drugs, check. And he had to keep his room tidy, check. He almost saluted when the two were done, and was glad to occupy his room.

New clothes had been waiting for him. A home, friendly people, clothes and three meals a day. Bae was very happy.

*

One afternoon, Bae decided to take a long bath. He loved to soak in the scented water, reading comics while he listened to music on his Walkman.

He realized it was cleaning day when Midnight came in while he waited for the bath to fill up, but the man winked at him and left him to it.

For the next hour, Bae was happy and at ease, and all alone in the house. Or, so he thought.

Just as Bae climbed out of the bath, the door opened.

“Hey!” he yelled startled. “Would you mind?” But then, he saw no other boy standing in the doorway, but a tall, Chinese man, the man he’d only seen briefly, so far. “Oops, sorry… I forgot to lock up, didn’t I?”

“Sorry,” mumbled the man, quickly averting his eyes. “I’ll come back later.”

Bae hurriedly covered himself with the towel, grinning embarrassedly. “Oh… Don’t be shy! My name is Kim Bae. What’s yours?”

“Shi Ailiang… But people call me Liang.” He still didn’t look up, even when Bae stepped closer, offering his hand.

“Pleased to meet you…” Bae shook Liang’s hand, giggling softly. “Now shoo!” he said, waving his hands. “Let me dress up! And no peeking, bad boy!”

Liang left in a hurry, and Bae dried off. When he was dressed up, he cleaned the bathroom, and wanted to go back to his own room. He hesitated on his doorstep. Maybe he’d been too hard on the man, he had looked quite shocked…

Instead of going inside his own room, he walked to the other side of the hall, to knock on the man’s door.

“Liang? Are you in there? It’s Bae… I’m sorry, Liang…”

There was no answer at first. “Li-aang…” Bae slightly whined. “Open up! Please?”

And finally, the door opened. Bae beamed up at the tall man, who was looking at him with a dark expression.

“What do you want?” growled Liang, obviously not pleased with visitors.

Bae seemed completely ignorant. “Hi! I wanted to say I’m sorry to send you away like that.” He pouted cutely, folded his hands behind his back and cleared a foot over the floorboards, looking like a kid who did something bad and awaited a punishment. “Are you mad at me now?”

Liang took a deep breath. “No,” he said, still with a hoarse growl. “Don’t worry. Is that all?”

With a shrug, Bae looked up. “Can I come in?” he asked sweetly. Liang was interesting, with his distant attitude. It made him curious.

“No,” said Liang again. “It’s alright, Bae, now leave me alone.”

Bae pouted again, genuine this time, when Liang closed the door without looking at him. Now what was not nice, was it? “You’re mean!” he whined. “I only wanted to be friendly!” He jerked away from the door, and stamped his feet on his way to his own room. Just as he wanted to open his door, he heard a yell behind him.

“Bae!” Liang was standing in the hall, his arms crossed, looking grimly. “Come back then, and come in. If that’s what you want…”

“Yes!” Bae had forgotten his anger instantly, and skipped on his way back. “Thank you!” he beamed, passing Liang and going inside. He walked to the bed immediately, which was transformed into a huge sofa, and climbed on it. “Cool place you’ve got!”

Liang followed slower, and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Thank you…”

Bae shifted a little closer, so he could take a good look at the man. Liang was at least ten years older than him, much more mature, and he looked a bit unfriendly. “Why are you here?” asked Bae carefully, smiling to disarm the man. “Surely you’re no prostitute?”

Liang blinked, and then laughed aloud. “No… I’m no prostitute, Bae… Are you?”

Bae shrugged, shifting a bit ashamed. “I think I was, I’m not sure…”

“How can you not be sure about something like that?” Liang frowned, observing the boy. “Did you sell your body?”

Bae bit his lower lip. He knew what the man meant, he didn’t mean actually selling himself, like an object. “Yes,” he murmured, turning his eyes down. “I did.”

Liang nodded briefly. “Well then… There you are.”

“I didn’t want to,” said Bae in his defense, blushing a bit. “But the men who took me from home, would hurt me if I disobeyed…”

In that one sentence Bae had managed to draw Liang’s full attention. He slowly looked up, opening his mouth to speak, but closing it again. He only made a grunting noise as he looked away again. It sounded truly disgusting.

“I think I’ll go now,” mumbled Bae quickly. He shifted to the edge of the bed.

“Stay put,” said Liang. He didn’t sound angry or stern, in fact a bit warmly. “I want to hear more…”

“I don’t like to talk about it,” said Bae, shaking his head. “It’s not nice to think back at.”

“Alright, then don’t talk about it. But stay here for a bit longer. You wanted to be friends, didn’t you?”

“Yes…” Bae looked up, surprised. Suddenly Liang wanted to be his friend? He hesitated, but then, he sighed deeply. “No,” he whispered. “I don’t think so, Liang.” The men he’d been with, sometimes told him they only wanted to be friends with him. And they all ended up hurting him very badly. “It’s okay, I’ll just go.”

The man didn’t stop him, and was quiet until he left the room. “Come back if you want to talk,” he said before Bae closed the door.

The boy stopped, but then softly pulled the door shut behind him. He would see about that…

Liang stared at the door, thinking. He didn’t like the idea of the young whores in this hostel, and had stayed in his room to avoid any confrontation with them.

He was aware some of them would have had good reasons to sell themselves. He also knew the boys in here, were in fact ex-whores, willing to get out of that horrible world.

But despite his understanding, they reminded him of his own past.

Shi Ailiang had never sold his body for sex. But he’d sold himself alright… To kill.

When he was a young boy, his father had been addicted to gambling. One night, he was dragged from his bed by unknown men, while his parents were screaming and crying in the hall. They didn’t try to stop them from taking him away…

His father had lost so many bets, he no longer was able to pay for it. And instead of money, he’d given his son away.

Sons were very valuable in China, in those years. But for the men who took him, he was nothing but scum. Treated harshly, Liang grew up to become a merciless killer.

He’d worked for his boss for many years. And for the man who replaced him after he died. His last boss though, Mr. Bei, had made a fatal mistake, only a month ago.

The two people he was assigned to kill, were more than anyone expected. Liang had refused to assassinate the couple of young men, because he liked them, and because they were what he had always wanted to be, when he grew up. They were so young and pretty, and so obviously happily in love with each other...

They were in Hong Kong, and had found drugs in a hidden room of the parents of one of them. They never wanted to find it, and didn’t want to have it. Mr. Bei, Liang’s boss, did want it. And he was willing to kill both boys to get it.

When Liang refused, Mr. Bei sent others at them. Liang had helped the couple in an awful fight. And at that moment, he discovered they were Wolves… Members of a powerful Dutch gang, not afraid to use a bit of violence themselves. Many of Mr. Bei’s men were killed by Mouse, who had these incredible lethal boots with knives hidden in the heels. He wasn’t afraid to use them and could fight incredibly well. Still, he broke rib during the struggle, and if it wasn’t for the Wolves bursting and putting an end to it, they would have been killed. All of them.

The White Wolf had ordered Liang to kill Mr. Bei. And Liang had obeyed.

Mouse had refused to leave Liang behind. The man had fought at his side, and had helped saving his life. Since Lin liked the assassin, they had accepted Mouse’s request. They had taken Liang with them. Now he was here, in the hostel belonging to the Wolves, for the same reason as the young boys living here. Here, he had a peaceful home. Here, he could rest, and start a new life.

Here, he was supposed to be happy.

Kim Bae was recognizable to Liang. Stolen from his home, to be hurt by others. It didn’t matter the pain was different. It made no difference at all, really…

He realized he had somehow upset the boy. He felt sorry for it. Suddenly determined, he stepped into the hall, and knocked on the door of his neighbor.

“Bae… Open up for just a minute, please.”

The door opened, slowly, and the boy peeked outside. His big, innocent eyes looked up with caution, trying to determine if it was safe or not. “Yes?”

Liang knelt down, so he could look up at the boy instead. “I’m sorry I caused offense, Bae,” he said softly, bowing his head. He placed his hand on his heart. “I promise you I’ll never hurt you. Trust me.”

“I- Oh, I- Okay,” the boy stammered surprised. He giggled softly. “Get up, silly, it’s okay!”

Liang stood up again, nodding. “I’m your friend,” he said sincerely. “Knock on my door if you want to talk.” Without awaiting an answer, he walked back to his own room. He would never hurt that boy… He couldn’t, ever.