CHAPTER 2: Blood in the Alley

  Aeon

  The sunlight poured through the cracks in the window, warm and relentless. It forced me out of the haze of restless sleep. Groaning, I swung my legs out of bed and started my daily routine. Push-ups, sit-ups, shadowboxing—anything to keep my mind sharp and my body ready.

  Once I was done, I showered, dressed, and checked my safe. “Just a little more!” I whispered as I thumbed through the stack of crumpled bills. Becoming a pilot wasn’t just a dream—it was my ticket out. The certificates, the training, the schools—it would all be worth it. I’d miss the thrill of street fights, but I craved stability more than the chaos that followed me everywhere.

  Stepping outside, I bumped into her—the girl from yesterday. The one who had tried to talk to me. She flinched, lowering her gaze, and hurried past without a word. I thought about apologizing, maybe even remembering her name. But as quickly as the guilt hit, it faded.

  “Soon, I’ll kiss this cashier job goodbye,” I muttered as I locked the corner store’s doors after another grueling shift.

  The night air was heavy, the streets quieter than usual. That’s when I heard them.

  “Hey, you! Come with us!”

  I turned to see five guys blocking the path ahead. One held a bat slung over his shoulder, another kept his hand buried in his jacket—a not-so-subtle hint of a weapon.

  “Sure,” I said with a shrug, masking my unease with indifference.

  They led me to an alleyway. The same one where I’d seen a teenager get beaten the day before. I recognized one of them—a face I wouldn’t forget.

  “You jumped our brother yesterday,” said the leader, his tone sharp, his grip tightening on the bat.

  I smirked. “You mean the crybaby? The one no woman will look at again?”

  The leader’s face twisted with rage. He swung the bat with a roar, aiming straight for my head. I ducked, my instincts kicking in, and delivered a punch to his gut, followed by an uppercut that sent him sprawling.

  The others closed in fast.

  One of them managed to land a solid punch on my jaw before I deflected his second swing and retaliated with an elbow strike to his nose. He stumbled back, dazed. I followed up with a kick to his chest that knocked him to the ground.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Too late, I realized someone had grabbed me from behind, locking my arms. Another fist slammed into my stomach, then another into my face. Pain shot through me as I collapsed to my knees.

  ‘They’re just going to beat me up, right? They won’t kill me… right?’

  The thought echoed in my mind as the punches rained down. My vision blurred, the world dimming.

  I opened my eyes to endless darkness. It wasn’t just dark—it was a void, stretching infinitely in every direction.

  “Where am I?” My voice echoed, thin and hollow. “Am I dead?”

  “No. Not yet.”

  A figure emerged from the fog—a humanoid shape, its features cloaked in mist. Its presence was both overwhelming and surreal.

  “Who are you?” I asked, my voice trembling.

  “I am what you might call a god,” it said, its voice deep and resonant. “Long ago, I made a deal to watch over you. To guide you when the time came. And now, that time has come.”

  “A deal? What deal? What do you mean, ‘watch over me’?”

  “You’ll understand soon enough. For now, I grant you a gift—a power. Use it well. Show us a spectacle worthy of the divine.”

  Before I could respond, the figure dissolved, and the void shattered.

  Pain brought me back to reality. Fists still hammered into me, but something had changed. My body felt… different. Stronger.

  The next punch barely fazed me. With a sudden surge of strength, I kicked upward, sending one of them flying into the alley wall. Still on the ground, I twisted and leapt to my feet in one fluid motion.

  The men froze, startled. I moved before they could react, jumping higher than I thought possible. Time seemed to slow as I came down, slamming a kick into one man’s face. He collapsed instantly.

  Another tried to swing a pipe. I caught it mid-air, snapping it like a twig before driving my fist into his chest. The impact sent him sprawling, his ribs audibly cracking.

  The remaining three stood in stunned silence, fear etched on their faces. One of them fumbled in his pocket, pulling out a gun. His hands trembled as he fired.

  The first bullet grazed my shoulder, but it barely left a mark. The second missed entirely as I moved faster than he could track.

  In a blur, I was in front of him, grabbing the gun from his hands and tossing it aside. Gripping his face, I slammed him into the ground.

  “Monster!” he screamed, his voice breaking.

  His words barely registered. Rage consumed me as my fists fell again and again. Blood splattered across the ground, his face unrecognizable. It wasn’t until I saw my reflection in the crimson pool that I stopped.

  I was smiling.

  The sound of sirens jolted me back to reality. A crowd had gathered at the edge of the alley, their expressions a mix of fear and horror.

  “No,” I whispered, stumbling back. “I killed him.”

  My hands trembled as I looked down at the lifeless body. The weight of what I’d done crashed over me.

  I turned and ran. The city blurred around me, my thoughts racing.

  ‘I can’t go to prison. I still have to become a pilot. I haven’t started a family. I haven’t lived the life I wanted.’

  The sirens grew louder. I skidded to a stop, gasping for air.

  Then the sky split open.

  A radiant light bathed the city, silencing everything.

  “Humans,” a voice boomed, vast and unyielding. “We are the gods. A new transition is coming. Your world will end, but you will thrive anew in another.”

  As the light faded, stars returned to the sky. One by one, people began disappearing—dissolving into radiant fragments.

  I stared in shock, unable to process what was happening.

  A car, abandoned by its driver, hurtled toward me. The impact knocked me into the air, and everything went black.