1 Ch. 1 - It's Snowing

*CRASH*

"Where are you going to run now!" An ugly teen with a prominent forehead named Toby Longbottom exclaimed.

Behind him stood his crew of fellow degenerates. They had cornered a shorter boy with dirty blond hair and piercing dark eyes in the corner of the room.

"Now that Sister Madeline isn't here to protect you, who are you going to hide behind now? Huh!?"

The cornered boy responded by staring at him with unwavering eyes. Undenouced to the boy, his actions had irked Toby's inflated ego.

"Fuck him up boys! Let's show him what happens when you dare tattle on us!"

Toby and his followers began closing in on the boy; together, they started punching and kicking him. The boy laid on the ground, arms protecting his head from the relentless pummeling.

In the corner, four punks were kicking a boy many years younger than them on the ground. There were other people in the room; however, no one bothered to help the victim of this unfair beating.

"What are you doing Mr. Longbottom!" cried a high-pitched female voice.

"Shit! Sister Madeline is here!" One of the degenerates exclaimed. Toby looked down at the now bruised and battered boy and said, "Consider yourself lucky this time. If it weren't for Sister Madeline, you would be dead!" Toby spat on the boy before catching up with his crew, who had already left the scene.

"What did they do to you Azrail," said Sister Madeline in a caring voice.

Azrail World, the bruised boy, didn't respond.

"I'll make sure to discipline them right after I get you to the infirmary."

Azrail muttered under his breath, "This isn't the first time you've said that."

Sister Madeline helped Azrail to the infirmary, where she laid him down on one of the four beds.

As soon as Sister Madeline walked out of the infirmary, Azrail got off the bed and secretly followed her.

In the next hallway, the degenerates were lined up against the wall, and sister Mary was saying something to them with a serious expression that one couldn't take seriously. Azrail leaned in closer to hear what they were saying.

"What you boys did earlier was wrong. Very wrong. The lord above disapproves of your actions. Fortunately, it is not too late to atone for your sins. I want you to go and apologize to Azrail now, repent for your sins, and promise to me that you will not do this again. You hear me!"

"Yes, Sister Madeline." The boys said, each having their fingers crossed behind their backs.

"That's right children. Now off you go."

As soon as Sister Madeline was out of earshot of the boys, they immediately started crackling up giggling.

"Did you see her face!" One of the boys said mockingly.

"I know right! I almost couldn't hold it in!" laughed another boy.

"How many times has she said that to us now?" One asked.

"At least four times this week this week alone," answered another.

The boys continued laughing.

"Hey, you want to go find that boy and beat him up again?" Proposed one of Toby's followers.

"Nah, he had no fight in him. Let's go steal and drink some alcohol," Toby declared.

"Yeah, let's do that," The boys concurred.

They walked into the hallway Azrail was in and turned to the other direction leading to the exit of the orphanage. They didn't even notice Azrail, whose expression had grown several degrees colder since earlier. A droplet of tears dangled from his left eye.

Azrail headed back to the infirmary and laid down on the bed, covering his face with his bruised arms. If one were to walk by the infirmary now, they would be able to hear a soft whimpering.

—Two Years Later—

In two years, Azrail had grown a few inches, reaching a height of 5'5. His eyes became even more piercing and emitted a light of maturity uncommon for his age.

[Azrail's Perspective]

I had just turned 14. Even though it was my birthday, the orphanage felt just as dead as every other day. There was no birthday cake, celebration, or candles. The orphanage's administration considered those to be "unnecessary" expenses; therefore, they never bought them.

The orphanage is located on the outskirts of Tacoma, Washington, a seaport city. The weather here was unforgiving and humid. Here in the Pacific Northwest exists the darkest winters. The orphanage was built in the late 1880s. Although it is impressive that the orphanage has stood for so long, it has no indoor heating nor water heating. It's perpetually cold in here; cases of the weaker orphans dying of hypothermia during the colder winters are not unheard of.

The current year was 1962, smack middle in the Cold War. I was walking towards the public library after having just left the orphanage.

The library was my only place of comfort. Only here was I able to be at peace and forget about the world dwelling outside. I have come to the library to read almost every day for the past two years.

My favorite subjects to read about were autobiographies and biographies of famous people and subjects concerning the human body. I found these topics to be particularly fascinating.

Noticing that it was getting late, I found a spot to pause in my current book before starting to make my way back to the orphanage.

Sitting on the stairs leading to the orphanage's entrance, Toby and his gang of degenerates were smoking cigarettes.

"Did you see the body of that babe earlier?" One of Toby's degenerates said lustfully.

"Hell yeah. Just imagining pinning her down is giving me a boner," another continued.

Their disgusting conversation was cut short when they saw me walking down the dimly lit streets.

"Well, look who's here," Toby announced.

Toby, along with his crew, all stood up, facing me.

"You ain't gonna rat us out again, right? Mr. World," said Toby, purposely dragging out the last part.

"No," I said so in a stoic manner.

Over the years, I learned that when confronted by scum, such as those in front of me, it was often better to ignore them. Deprive them of the reaction they desire, and they will leave you alone out of boredom.

"I don't believe you," said Toby as he shoved me, causing me to land on my behind.

I repeated myself clearly, "On my name, I swear that I will not inform anyone of your actions here. Satisfied?"

Internally, I hoped that they would smoke more often so that they could develop lung cancer sooner.

Toby gave a pondering look before grinning at me with nefarious intentions.

"Don't care. Beat em' up boys."

My heart sank. Although I didn't fear them, they disgusted me. I was disgusted by their inhumanity, their utter lack of value to this world. I knew that this world would be better off without them. And, reminiscent of two years ago, I laid on the ground, curled up, receiving beatings all over my body, while more and more fuel was being fed to a small but growing flame in my heart.

Toby and his followers got bored of kicking me when my skin had more purple than pink. But the only thought I possessed while lying on the ground, all bruised and battered, was "It's snowing."