It's all over

"What did I do so wrong?" Josh thought this for the fifteenth time this week. "Josh! Didn't you get paid yesterday? Where is our cut?" Josh heard a voice calling out to him on the way home from school, he recognized the voices as his "friend" Quinton. Quinton was the leader of his small clique within the school, he and Josh used to be good friends at one point but due to the change of feelings entering high school they got more distant and now he is used for all he is worth.

"I haven't even gotten groceries this week, can't you just make your own money like a normal person?"

"Hell no, that's way too much work and I don't feel like it." Quinton pushed Josh over and he fell on the ground in front of him.

Josh looked at Quinton with a grimace and took his wallet out of his pocket and fished out his recently attained pay and handed it over. Josh knew that he would have to just have to wait until he got more money in order to get food but that wouldn't be for another week.

"Thanks for your patronage" Quinton smirked and said over his shoulder

Josh pounded the concrete below him. Josh knew he couldn't fight Quinton, he was 6 foot 2 inches and played football. He was a big guy who practiced martial arts in the off season. Josh didn't think about attacking him considering that he was a chubby 5 fight 6 inch nerd. He spent his time watching movies or shows and playing video games. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance in the occasion that he fought against Quinton.

Josh had short dirty blonde hair with very minimal styling, he had murky brown eyes along with a stocky face and large nose. He knew he wasn't the most handsome guy on the block, he only wished that someone would care for him the way he is. Josh thought he was a nice enough guy and he damned the world for not allowing him to have any decent friends and cursing him to forever stand in the shadows. Josh couldn't play sports because he had bad lungs due to the conditions of his house life. His father was a pothead and was constantly smoking something, half the time he didn't even bother to open up a window in the house so it filled with acrid gas. His mother had left long ago with the excuse of family so he was left with his deadbeat pothead father. He was the main source of income for the household and his father claimed half of it for his secondhand drugs. Josh just wished he would die, his father never cared for him and just like his friends from school he only plans on using him until he is completely used up. Josh hated this lifestyle and wished to escape with every fiber of his being.

Josh knew that his father would be pissed once he learns that Josh's money was stolen and would just shoo him out of the house anyway. Josh didn't bother to return to his house that night, he ended up going to the local supermarket. Josh walked into the supermarket with his empty backpack. He knew what he was going to due but the idea of it was still nerve wracking.

Josh walked through the isles of the store and fished out any bare essentials he could see himself using to survive for the next week while he didn't have any money. He had work for 4 hours a day Monday, Wednesday-Friday, and he worked for 8 hours on Saturday. He didn't have time to do much except for Tuesdays and Sundays hence why he chose today (Tuesday) to go and get some essentials. Josh ended up grabbing a 12 pack of ramen along with some other small things he knew he could put in his backpack and pockets.

Josh played it slowly and discreetly as to attract the least amount of attention as possible, if he got caught he was screwed. Josh finished got everything he needed to survive for the next week until he got paid again and walked out of the store. Josh had done this multiple times before, he knew the blind spots of the cameras and put his hood up in the unavoidable spots. Josh sprinted to his alley that he tends to hide out in when he needs a place to stay for the night. He moved the vent cover in the alley to expose a small stash with some empty water bottles and a small tabby cat.

"Hey Pip, how are you doing? Josh held his hands out to the cat and he accepted the gesture as he cuddled up to his familiar hands. The cat purred to the sensation of Josh's hands scratching around his ears. Josh smiled and hugged the cat, the cat was the only thing Josh thought of as a true friend. Pip had accompanied him through all the tough times that Josh had to fight through which happened quite frequently considering his family conditions along with his abusive friends. Josh knew he wanted to change the way he lived his life but couldn't even begin to think of a way out of the hell he has been living in for so long. He has grown quite accustomed to this lifestyle.

"Boom, Crash" sounds exploded from around the corner as a homeless man flew into a trash can standing in front of him. The impact was enough to dent the metal trash can and cause severe injuries to the man. The man was certainly knocked unconscious at this point, Josh was petrified he refused to move his body and looked on in horror as he saw a thin man walk into view and over to the homeless man. He wore killing intent around him like a coat and slammed his hand into the homeless man's neck and began to choke him out. The homeless man startled awake and began attempted to scream to no avail, his airway was completely cut off thus ceasing his voice as well. The sight was extremely brutal, it almost looked like the thin man was lifting the man straight into the air without any struggles. This was impossible, the homeless man didn't look to weight too much but by the looks of it the thin man couldn't have weighed any more than the homeless man. This sight was very unsettling and frightening for Josh. The color escaped from the face of the homeless man as he breathed his last breath. The thin man turned to Josh and looked him directly in the eyes.

"No tough feelings but I can't have you reporting this to the police" the thin man said with a vicious stare. Josh's vision began to blur and he started to feel wheezy, his already bad lungs were struggling to the best of their abilities to supply oxygen to Josh. The thin man lunged at Josh with an unsettling speed that shouldn't be human. Josh screeched as he scrambled to his feet. Too late. The thin man was already upon him, the thin man had his hands on Josh's neck and was half a second away from breaking his neck when Pip the tabby cat bit on the thin man's hand with just enough force to surprise the thin man allowing Josh to stomp on his foot and run in the other direction. Josh didn't look behind him and just ran, in the distance he could hear the cat growling at the thin man for around 20 seconds before the cat stopped making noise. Josh knew what happened to the cat and he could almost feel the cat tell him with his dying breath "run". Josh ran as fast as his legs would let him. The thin man was still on his trail but he had been delayed a fair amount by the cat. Josh came to a crosswalk in the middle of the intersection of a road. He ran across with all his might knowing if he stopped here he would get killed by the thin man anyway. As he ran across he could see red lights blaring in every direction and heard the horns of numerous cars as they screamed to a halt behind him.

When he arrived across the crosswalk he looked behind him and saw the angry drivers of the vehicles screaming at him as well as the thin man peaking into the intersection with a brutal grin while staring directly at him, he turned around and walked back into the alleyway. Josh knew he wasn't normal, he saw the smile that the man gave before walking back into the alleyway and it gave Josh shivers.

Josh collected his thoughts about the last 2 minutes of his life. Pip was dead, he lost his food for the week, he couldn't go home and his alley was taken by a serial killer, he didn't have any friends he could rely on to help. "Alone" was the one word that could come into Josh's mind. He felt a tear drop from his right eye and then his left eye. After a second his eyes started dripping tears like a river. "It's all over"