Chapter One: The Beginning

It was a stormy night. Rain has been pouring down so hard it was impossible to walk outside. With sudden lightning, ear deafening thunder follows along. The whole place lights up for a while and a small suburban house comes into focus. With a dimly lit dining room, faint voices are heard arguing.

"I blame you for his behaviour. Breaking plates and wasting food, it's like you're just asking for a beating. I don't work 12 hours a day for him to be this spoiled and for you to keep doting on the fool." A middle aged man seems to be yelling at his family. "Honey please. He made a mistake and he knows it. He'll do better from now on. Won't you, Jack darling?" A middle aged woman defends a young boy from his abusive father. "No. It seems my beatings have gone soft on him. The boy needs to be taught a lesson. What if he did that while we have guests over. Have you even thought about what they would have said. The boy needs some tough love just so he'd behave when we have people over." The dad starts taking off his belt. The mom looks at Jack without saying anything. Scared stiff Jack starts shaking. Tears start dripping down his cheeks. "We're doing this for your own good. So you should be grateful." The dad says gripping the belt. "It's... True honey. We have been getting complaints from the school lately too. About how you don't fit in with anyone and that you don't talk to anyone. So you should be happy that we're trying to make you a better person when you grow up." The mother says. With a hard swing, the father hits Jack several times. Jack cries out but it didn't seem to make his father stop. And seeing his mother is not doing anything to stop it, his cries grow louder. After several lashes from the belt, he is sent to his room to think about his actions.

Still shaking, the boy sits on the edge of his bed. Flinching to every little sound he hears from outside the door. "Hey." A sudden voice surprises him and he falls from the bed. "It's just me. I saw how it all went. Are you alright?" The voice asks in a sympathetic voice. "I don't know what I did wrong. The sudden thunder surprised me and the plate fell." Jack says in a voice so low that nobody could hear. "I'm always here. If you need to know. I'm sorry I can't do anything physically. But I'm here for you." The voice says. "Yeah. What could you do anyway. I'm suffering here. And you're not even real. You know what. No." Jack says sobbing. "I." The voice starts but gets cut off. "No. Leave me alone." Jack says as he gets under the blanket and puts the pillow over his ears. "These voices I hear. I've been hearing it for as long as I can remember. But no way in hell do I know who you are." Jack says. "You do know what I am. You just don't want to accept the truth." The voice says. "I'm not going to go and believe that you're something I created in my head to get over all of that mental crap." Jack says. "See. I told you." The voice says. suddenly. the door flings open and Jack's Father steps into the room. "Now did I tell you to sleep. Or to think about what you did today?" Jack's Father yells. Jack sits up straight in a flash. "Dad... I." Jack starts. "Didn't I tell you to call me Father? Guess I have to teach you some manners again." Jack's Father says. He slapped the boy until his cheeks were red. Downstairs, his mother puts a headset in her ears and lays down on the sofa. After giving him another beating, Jack's Father walked out the door, slamming the door behind him. Laying on the ground, Jack sobs quietly. "Hey." Jack says. "Yeah?" The voice replies. "It has been 10 years. Why do I not remember them being gentle and kind? Oh yeah. They never were that stuff." Jack says sitting up. He has stopped sobbing and is sitting quietly staring at the ground. "Hey kid. You alright? Say something." The voice says. Slowly Jack stands up. He walks over to the closet. In the mirror a scary smile can be seen on Jack's face. He opens the door and takes out a raincoat. "You're going to go out in this rain? They'll beat you more." The voice says. "No. I'm done. With this shitty place." Jack says wearing the raincoat. He opens the door and walks down the stairs. His parents are sitting on the sofa. Watching some old movie. Jack heads towards the kitchen. He picks up the biggest knife in the stand. He grips it tight and heads towards the living room. "Hey. You're not going to kill yourself are you?" The voice says. Jack's smile grows wider. He crawls behind the sofa and readies himself. "Nope. The one dying right now, is not me." Jack says as he stands up. He hovers his hand high in the air and stabs his father in the neck with all the strength he had. His father yells and falls down the sofa. "Jack! What the hell are you doing?" His Mother yells. Jack gets on his Father and says. "Mind your language mother. Or I'll rip out your tongue. Manners, remember?" Jacks stabs his Father countless times in his neck and chest. He stabs and drags the knife across his body. His Mother looks at the gruesome scene, disgusted and scared. "Son. Give Mommy the huge knife. Everything is going to be okay." His Mother says as she reaches for the knife. Jacks shoots a stare at his mother to which she stops in her tracks. She retracts her arm and starts whimpering. "Say, Mother. Why do you hate me so much?" Jack says pulling out the knife from his dead father's body. He points it at her. "Why is it that every time, he beats me up or yells at me. You act like you don't care? Did I ever disobey you in any way?" Jack says stepping closer and closer to her. Scared stiff, His Mother couldn't utter a single word. She reaches for the knife again. "Because you're a nuisance and ruined our life." She yells as she tries to snatch the knife. Jack dodges her and stabs her in the stomach. He laughed as he moved the knife around in her body. Soon Her screams died down as she lost all strength and fell back on the sofa. Jack stabs her body countless times. Jack looks at the scene and thinks to himself. "The police will know I did this. So I'll have to make sure they don't figure it out." He breaks the window and calls the police. "Hello? There has been a robbery at our place. They. They killed Mother and Father." Jacks cries as he talks. "They stabbed my leg when I tried to run." Jacks says. The cops find out about the address and sends a squad to Jack's location. Meanwhile, Jacks attempts to stab his leg but can't seem to bring himself to stab it. "You... Finally lost it huh?" The voice startles Jack and he stabs halfway into his leg. "If they just accepted me for who I am and didn't turn my daily life into torture. This wouldn't have happened." Jack says.

A few minutes later, the cops break down the door and attend the scene. They carry Jack away from the scene and into the ambulance. They give first aid to him. "How old are you son?" The Policeman says. "15." Jack says. The Policeman puts his hand on Jack's head and tells him not to worry. That everything would be fine. The ambulance takes Jack away from the house. "Damn. You're pretty smart." The voice says. "It just came to me. They'll only find my fingerprints on the weapon anyway. So it's better to make it look like I was gripping it because I got stabbed." Jack explains it to the voice. "You feeling alright now?" The voice asks. "So much better." Jack smiles.

* 1 Hour Later *

Jack lays in a hospital bed his leg bandaged up. For support a nurse stayed by his side. 2 police officers kept coming inside the door and leaving. "Hey. How're you feeling now?" The nurse asks. "It still hurts when I try to move it." Jack says weakly. "Now. The policeman wants to ask you a few questions. Is it alright with you?" The nurse asks. "Sure. It's alright." Jack says. The nurse leaves as the two policemen sit beside Jack. "Hey kid. How are you holding up?" One policeman asks. "I'm feeling alright." Jack says as his voice breaks. Tears flow down his eyes. The policeman ruffles Jack's hair and tells him he's doing great. "Did you see what he looks like?" He asked. "No. But I noticed only one thing. He had a green dragon tattoo on his forearm." Jack says and starts coughing. "Ok kid. We'll do our best to find this person." The policeman says as he rubs Jack's back. The other one rushes out to get the nurse. The nurse rushes in and starts trying to ease Jack's pain. She gives him some water and his coughing stops. "Maybe the crying has made him unable to speak much." The nurse says. "It's alright. We have gotten enough to work through. Justice will be served. Stay strong kid. We will be back with good news." The policeman says as he walks out the door.

"There were no cameras either pointing at that house or in that house. Good place to rob and escape without anybody noticing. What they didn't notice was the kid. Ryan what do you think?" The policeman says. "And the kid said a green dragon tattoo on his forearm. That sounds familiar, James?" Officer Ryan says. "Yeah. Now that I think about it. That one serial killer that we have been trying so hard to get has been running loose. So he decided to put his claws on this family?" Officer James says. "Well let's pick our brain at it at the station. Can't help anybody hearing about this." Officer Ryan says as he starts walking towards the exit. Officer James follows him.

"Okay no you rest for the night. If you need anything, just call for me." The nurse says as she walked out of the room. "Okay now explain. How did you come up with the dragon tattoo?" The voice returns. "Remember when we were at school? And they told us to be careful when returning home or while being outside alone. The notice about a dangerous person lurking around?" Jack says. "Yeah. You're smart I give you that. But what's your plan now?" The voice says. "Well as I remember, My Aunt lives nearby. They might let me stay with her. But if she doesn't show up, I'll be allowed to stay with a friend or in an orphanage. Honestly, I would prefer the Orphanage." Jack says. "Oh Aunt Agnes I assume. Bitch was an asshole through and through." The voice says harshly. "Hush now. We should rest. And be happy, because starting tomorrow, I'll be free." Jack says as he pulls the covers up to his chin. "Sleep my little villain. Get your rest." The voice says.

* The Next Morning *

"Good morning champ." The policeman's voice wakes Jack up. "Good morning officer." Jack says in a sleepy voice. "Guess what? You will be staying at an Orphanage for a while. But don't worry, we will visit you. So nobody will bully you." Officer James says. "You know. After you say Guess what, at least let them guess. or else what's the point of saying that." Officer Ryan says. Jack lets out a little chuckle. "Stay strong Champ. We'll get you through this." Officer Ryan says. "Remember. No swimming in those bandages. No running in the bandages. And no taking off the bandages. Every once in a week, come back to change the dressing." The nurse advises Jack by the door. Jack waves The Nurse goodbye as he's helped into the police car. The ride to the orphanage was quite lively with Officer James trying to make Jack laugh. Jack didn't budge one bit and kept a poker face all throughout the ride. "Quit it James. You'll traumatize the kid even more." Officer Ryan yells at his partner. To which he calms down. "Now Kiddo. You'll be staying here for the time being. And don't you worry. That bad man can't come to get you here. We'll take care of him soon" Ryan says. Jack nods and walks towards the Orphanage. His head down. "So tell me. What is your big plan? Does it stop at your mom and dad? How about the kids who bullied you at school? Everybody else?" The voice says. "I can't kill again. My chances of getting caught are high. They think I'm traumatized, so they're keeping an eye on me. We'll have to lay low for a few days, maybe months." Jack thinks to himself. "Welcome, Young man. The Policemen told me what happened. And we'll make sure you're treated well here during your stay. So get comfortable." The Owner of the Orphanage says. "Oh thanks. Don't worry. I'll adjust." Jack says. He smiles widely.