Second Time's a Charm (MxM)✔

Chapter 1 - Reflection

"Don't count the days. Make the days count."

-Muhammad Ali

Trigger Warning: Graphic depictions of being burned alive. Some readers may find this disturbing. 

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Pain and agony rocked through Cain's charred body. Every scream he tried to let out only invited more searing hot air to destroy his lungs.

Hopeless tears evaporated as soon as they were shed while the young man thrashed helplessly in the pit, his ribs and legs broken, and the large welt on his face bubbled as the flames licked at his flesh.

The edges of the stone pit were only three feet high, but his shattered bones did not allow him enough movement to escape, so he was forced to suffer under the night sky as a group of robed figures stood by and watched him in his final moments.

The men were focused on one thing and one thing only, the yellowed scroll that was clutched in the thief's right hand which, unlike the man, seemed immune to the flames.

All his life, Cain just wanted to be happy. He had worked his ass off to be recognized as a noble, which failed miserably. So now he was trying to get at least a small glimmer of recognition as a skilled thief. But instead of being acknowledged by his employers for his efforts, he had been used, abused, and now, murdered.

Perhaps a life of crime was not the best path he could have chosen? Then again, Cain wasn't given a choice. His parents wanted nothing to do with him and openly favored his younger brother. As the eldest, Cain normally would have been made a Marquess, inherited the family name and eventually the title of Duke, but instead, because he was born from his father's infidelity, he'd been cast aside.

Born to a rich family yet raised without a penny to his name, Cain had lived his life being shoved in a corner where no one noticed him.

Thanks to his brother spreading nasty rumors, polite society never accepted Cain. When he was younger he had tried to run away a few times, which only resulted in him being the target of desperate criminals. He'd even been held captive once, but when the villains learned his own family wouldn't pay the ransom, they'd taken pity on him and set him free.

The very criminals that he was told to hate had shown him more kindness than his own family ever had. This was what made him decide to lead a life of villainy.

Where society shunned him, criminals welcomed him...For a price. He had to prove his worth as a thief, but once he did, he felt right at home in the slums of the capital. And after all that work trying to climb his way to the top of the underworld, he eventually landed an apprenticeship under the greatest crime boss of all time, Sabre Maddox.

That was his ticket to success! That man had everything! Money, looks, respect. Even the nobles wouldn't dare cross him. That was what Cain wanted for himself! What's more, he had grown infatuated with the man. Whether it was because he wanted him, or just wanted to be him, he was unsure, but in order to become his equal, he followed the man closely every day, hanging on his every word, doing his every bidding, and hoping that one day Maddox would notice him...Right up until he was dismissed...

"To be my apprentice, you need be more than a thief. If that is your only quality, then you're useless to me." The man had claimed with a dark scowl. His wild black hair, steely eyes, and sinister aura made him a very intimidating figure to stand before. Especially in his black-scaled armor, and after all his time working under the man, Cain had never been the target of his irritation until that day. He had been so shocked that he failed to get a single word out to defend himself. Instead, he just dropped his head and walked out, downcast and beaten.