Chapter 1: Chapter 01: Death
It was yet another sere eving; the populace carried on with their daily routines, stray dogs scouted for a meal and a cozy nook, and the streets hummed with the usual procession of vehicles, including cars, trucks, and more.
Among the crowd, there were people dressed in ecctric and peculiar outfits, indulging in all sorts of shanigans, possibly under the influce of various substances and drugs.
The city where this teager resided bore a remarkable resemblance to New York, and you're well aware of how quirky and fretic New York nights can become, ar't you?
The young adult sauntered casually along the sidewalk, one hand clutching a bag, and the other firmly cradling a phone to his ear. He was grossed in a deep conversation with someone.
"Hello, Mom, I've got your cheeseburgers and fries," the te relayed, steadying the phone betwe his ear and shoulder as he double-checked the bag to sure he had everything precisely as requested.
"Yes, I've got those too. You didn't think I would forget, did you?" he playfully inquired.
"Sam, dear, I know you won't forget. I just asked to be sure, that's all," Sam heard a mature voice respond from the other d of the phone. "By the way, your Aunt Lor will be joining us for dinner. I hope you got those extra burgers. You know how she goes wild wh she sees burgers, right?"
Upon hearing the words "Aunt Lor," Sam's subconscious conjured an image of an exceptionally mature woman with striking hair and mesmerizing blue eyes. Yet, in his mtal tableau, he paid little atttion to her face, despite knowing she possessed remarkable beauty. Instead, his focus immediately honed in on her ample breasts.
"God, they're so big," he involuntarily blurted out, momtarily forgetting that his mother was still connected to him on the phone.
"Big? What do you mean?" his mother inquired.
"Uh, it's nothing," he hastily replied.
"..."
There was a pause on the line, but ev from a distance, Sam could sse his mother's intse disapproving glare.
"Sam, I hope you're not letting your imagination run wild about your Aunt," his mother cautioned, sding a shiver down his spine.
'How could she possibly know what I'm thinking?' Sam sighed inwardly.
He continued down the dimly lit path, maintaining a cheerful conversation with his mother as he strolled along. His growling stomach prompted him to pocket his phone temporarily; he was eager to reach home and have a meal before resuming their conversation.
As he vtured deeper into the shadowy alley, his sses perked up to an unusual hush that veloped the surings. The only discernible sounds were the distant hum of passing vehicles.
Sam furrowed his brow, ssing the eerie quiet but choosing not to halt his progress. He had traversed this route countless times before, giv its convit proximity to both the supermarket and his home.
Suddly, from the shadows of the dimly lit alley, a figure sprang forth, knocking Sam to the g unceremoniously.
"What the hell are you doing, man?" Sam shouted, his anger flaring.
Grinning from ear to ear, a man emerged from the darkness. "Hahaha, quit yelling like a baby, you bastard."
"Why am I not surprised, Julian?" Sam scoffed, recognizing the individual.
Julian, his college classmate, was a source of constant frustration for Sam. His animosity towards Sam stemmed from an irrational insecurity about Sam's striking appearance.
Indeed, Sam was remarkably handsome—arguably the most attractive guy in the tire college, let alone their class. In stark contrast, Julian was thoroughly average in the looks departmt among his peers.
Sam had always ssed that this guy would bring trouble in the future, giv the intse glares he received from him and his crew. However, he hadn't anticipated it happing so soon.
"So, what do you want?" Sam noticed that Julian hadn't come alone, as four more individuals appeared from behind him.
"I'm here for revge," Julian's jealousy was practically oozing out of him.
"Revge for what, exactly?" As far as Sam could recall, he hadn't done anything to provoke this guy's anger, other than inadverttly making him extremely jealous.
Could Sam have provoked his anger in some other way, aside from triggering his jealousy, of course? Sam couldn't think of any other reason.
Unbeknownst to Sam, this notorious gang had one singular desire: to inflict suffering upon him. They lacked any valid justification or noble cause. For Julian and his ruthless gang, any conceivable reason, or the lack thereof, was inconsequtial.
Their sole intt was clear: they would not leave without exacting revge upon Sam today.
Sam had to atone for their humiliation and satiate their insatiable egos.
"You know what? I don't care about the reason. I just want to kill you," Julian snarled as he approached Sam with intimidation in his eyes.
"Kill me?" Sam frowned. "You, Julian? The guy who's scared shitless to ev go to the principal's office wants to kill me? Did you hit your head or something?"
"You bastard!" Julian seethed, hearing Sam's words not because he felt insulted but because he knew they were absolutely true. "Talk all you want; this is the only talking time you get."
One of Julian's hchm locked Sam's hand from behind in a tight grip. "You're going to die today," another guy grinned evilly.
Just as he said that Julian threw a punch directly at Sam's stomach.
"...Grrr," Sam cried out in pain, unable to ev clutch his stomach as his hands were immobilized.
"Yeah, that's it, cry like a bitch," another one of Julian's gang members sneered, now holding Sam's face and delivering knee strikes.
Sam winced in pain. "You bastards, I'm going to kill you."
Hearing Sam's provocation, Julian and his m laughed. "Hahahah, kill us? Look at yourself. What can you do against the five of us? Call your mommy?"
Hearing Julian's taunting words, something inside Sam snapped. He forcefully broke free from the guy's hold and landed a solid punch right on Julian's nose. "Take this!"
"Ha... my nose!" Julian touched his bleeding nose, his hands covered in blood. It was now Julian's turn to feel the pain. He couldn't control himself and tears welled up in his eyes, his nose resembling smashed tomatoes.
The seething pain nearly made him go unconscious. Sam, seeing this, let out a cold and sadistic grin.
The others, momtarily stunned by the unexpected turn of evts, quickly realized that their boss had just be humiliated.
"Kill him! Kill him now!" Julian had lost any remaining shreds of morality; he only wanted to eliminate Sam and be done with him.
Hearing their boss's order, the other gang members were slightly hesitant. After all, Sam was still one of their classmates. What if anyone were to find out it was them who killed Sam? They didn't want to go to jail.
Despite their reservations, one of the gang members kicked Sam from behind, sding him sprawling to the g.
Seeing his hchm hesitating, Julian gritted his teeth, retrieved a kitch knife from his back, and approached Sam while still holding his nose to stem the bleeding.
"I'll do it myself," Julian declared without a second thought and th stabbed Sam straight through the chest. "Die, you motherfucker!"
Sam's eyes wided as he looked down at his chest, seeing the knife embedded in his flesh. He gulped, dropping to his knees, and his hands slowly reached toward the knife.
He could feel the excruciating pain, and his breathing became erratic. But soon, he found it increasingly difficult to breathe, and his eyes welled up with tears.
"Tie his hands," Julian ordered, and his hchm complied, securing Sam's hands, which were attempting to remove the knife from his chest, and th binding them behind his back before letting Sam collapse to the g.
"I will see you in hell," Julian left his words behind, not ev bothering to take another look at Sam.
Sam's eyes remained fixated on the departing figure of his emies. His gaze turned cold, and at this momt, nothing else mattered to him, not ev the searing pain in his chest. All that consumed his thoughts was revge.
"I'll make you regret what you did to me"
Ev in the afterlife, he wouldn't let these guys off easily. Sam was a profoundly vgeful person.
In the dimly lit alley, he took his last breath with his eyes still fixed on his emies, his blood running warm.
....
"Come on, we have to go ev faster, or else they'll catch up to us," two figures clad in full black clothes sprinted as fast as their superhuman abilities allowed.
They moved at a pace beyond the reach of ordinary humans, effortlessly leaping from one building to another, akin to Spider-Man, but without the aid of webs—relying solely on their extraordinary physical prowess.
"I'm running as fast as I can!" one of the figures replied while catching his breath.
He clutched a dark-colored bag tightly behind him, its zipper only partially closed. Inside the bag rested an object resembling a book, its pages a deep black hue, exuding an ancit aura. Three intricate rings adorned its cover, and an unusual lock, unlike anything anyone had ever se, secured its secrets.
"Capture them!" a voice echoed from behind.
"We're only three miles away from the mansion. If we can get there, they won't follow us into their territory. We just have to reach his domain," one of the figures glanced back and saw a group of pursuers rapidly approaching, soaring through the air toward them.
While leaping across a pitch-black alley, the ancit book inside the partially zipped bag couldn't withstand the intse motion. It slipped from the grasp of one of the figures and fell, landing near the lifeless body of a teager.
Unbeknownst to the two figures, they had dropped the precious object they were risking their lives to deliver, and they continued their sprint. The pursuing group also passed through the alley without noticing the item they sought now lay beside a corpse.
Back to Sam's lifeless body.
Only a few minutes had passed since his heart had stopped beating. His blood continued to pour out, saturating the surings. Evtually, it reached the ancit book.
Upon contact with Sam's blood, the book began to absorb it, hovering in the air. Its lock clicked op, and a dark ray of light emanated from it, converging on Sam's lifeless body.
As seconds ticked by, the dark red thread of ergy grew ev darker, rapidly healing his wounds. The knife that had be lodged in his chest slid out, and his heart slowly began to beat. It quicked, pulsing slightly faster than that of a healthy human being.
His pale skin regained a healthy hue, and the blood that had soaked his clothes and the g disappeared, absorbed back into his body. Wounds and bruises that had accumulated over a lifetime vanished.
Gradually, the ancit book lost its radiance, transformed into a gtle light, and flowed into Sam's body, vanishing within him.
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