1 Shadow [Chapter 1]

(A/N: Have you read the Aux Chapter yet? No? Well go do that so you aren't leaving my a thousand comments about the book for accuracy or what is going on in the world. I isn't that long of a chapter. Alright enjoy the book..... Now, Let's...........Motherfuckin'..............Go!)

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Inside of a morgue a teen who looked no older than eighteen, well he is eighteen, was standing over a body that he knew all to well. The eyes were lifeless, not his the corpse, but even he didn't show any emotion seeing the person who is lying as a lifeless body on the steel cold slab.

"We found him washed up in Manhattan and luckily he still had his ID and Wallet on him so we don't think it is a mugging. At this point we don't have any information about what happen to him." A police officer who had guided the teen down said patting his shoulder trying to get him a sense of comfort.

The was a flash of something across the teens eyes but it was gone in a moment, if at the moment he wasn't wearing a hoodie then someone would have seen the cold light flash in his eyes. He nodded but even looking at his dead fathers body he still felt nothing, well considering his past then it wasn't that mush of a surprise that he didn't feel anything.

"We will contact you if you can think of anything that can help us lead to the capture of who did this to him." The officer said again sighing since they couldn't get the kid to talk other then IDing his dead dad.

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Ryan after leaving the Police station looked up at the gloomy sky, it looked like it was going to rain, he thought it was appropriate since it would wash away the past or him. Hailing a taxi like most New Yorkers did he told them his address which happened to be on the other side of the city, the bad side, the side where walking on the street got you killed.

This is why the taxi driver stopped a block away before letting him out of the taxi, after paying he walked the rest of the way while ignoring the gangbangers on the side walks. He passed the worn prostitute that had been working the same corner since he was a kid, with a small wave to the woman he walked into his apartment building.

The place was run down and there were holes in some of the walls making it where you could see into the apartment of others, Ryan ignored all this and made it to his place. This was where he had grown up, but it wasn't home, if he had enough money then he would leave this place for good but he had nothing on him.

Going inside memories rushed into his head as he looked around the place coming to terms with his new situation, the place was a mess filled with needles and beer bottles. Like a flash he started to remember all of his life until this point.

At the age of two his mother left him, he faintly remembers her walking into his room and looking down at him in the little bed she smiled down at him sadly. She was sporting a black eye as she spoke to him, "I'm sorry sweetie but mommy can't take you with me at the moment, but I want you to know that I will come back for you. I love you with all my heart."

These words were always in his head but even sixteen years later she never showed up to take him away like she said she would. This turned that love he had for her into hate but it went away today, for ten years it was what got him through the day but when it never happened he finally gave up on looking out for her.

At the age of four is when the true hell started for him though, it was the first year that his dad started to beat him whenever he was high or drunk. For a kid it was confusing for something like this to happen but all Ryan could do was take it since no one else was there to help him out.

He learned when he was younger that he shouldn't cry or the hits would come down harder on him, these were lessons that no kid should have to ever learn but he already knew them. This is also around the time that he started to speak less and less until he eventually only spoke one sentence a day.

Since his dad was always high or drunk then he was never signed up for school, no one was there to help him out at all in the troubling times. All this because his mother left but with the beatings he received he knew why she did it, it didn't make him hate her any less though.

At Fourteen is when he learned to read and write, his dad made him go out and make money some way, he got a job collecting trash and selling it since no one would hire him. Although it was a small amount it was enough to feed his dad's habits and pay some of the bills.

With the freedom though he learned about the library and started to master reading and writing with a little help from the computers, it was a whole new world opened up to him. In between collecting and that he was slowly mastering cooking in his free time, which is when his dad passed out from to much drinking.

That is how he got his current job as a cook it was something knew he was actually starting out as, a new restaurant run by a famous cook was willing to give him a chance. Of course he had to cook something and pass which he managed to do but it was a trail basis as a trainee cook, $12 an hour more than he thought he would ever make.

Although he got beat more as he grew up for bringing in less money it was worth it, he was using the hidden money to complete online school which let him fill out a lot of the stuff needed. Last week he was able to graduate and celebrated himself by buying a pizza and staying out late it was the best night of his entire life.

How sad is that?

Now looking around the empty and drafty apartment he smiled, it was strained though since he hasn't done it in a very long time, like since his mom left long. Going further in he took out a garbage bag and started to clean everything up one by one, it was time for him to start a new life in this world without being under the thumb of his father.

*BANG* *BANG* Ryan stopped and looked to the door where it rattled from the harsh knocking that was happening on it, putting the fourth bag back in the kitchen he walked over to it. Standing outside was the building owner Steven.

"BA---- Oh Ryan, is your dad here? He owes me two months rent and he promised to pay it today, I know his habits and if he can't pay then I am sorry but I need to rent this to someone else." he spoke nicer after realizing that it wasn't Baxter Ryan's father who opened the door, he actually liked Ryan he was a nice kid.

"Ah he is dead, they found his body in the river last night. I got a new job if you can wait until I get paid then I will pay you the rent for the past two months and this one." Ryan said saying more words then he has in a while.

Steven was stunned this was the most words he had ever heard from the kid ever but he quickly came back to himself, "What is the job? Collecting trash won't help you that quickly."

"Trainee Cook at a new restaurant." Ryan said his voice softer then it was before earlier.

"Oh that is a good job. Alright then I will give you this chance you should be paid in about three weeks depending on your paying period, I will be back then to collect. If you can pay me by then I will change the lease to your name and let you stay here." Steven said smiling and then walking away, he wasn't the type of person to say goodbye.

Ryan nodded and closed the door, he went right back to cleaning the place up, he had plans for the place now that it was all his. The rent was only $300 a month his first check should cover the last two months and from his hidden stash he had about $400 so he would be fine.

After the apartment was clean he decided to go take a shower to get the sweat and filth off of him. Walking into the bathroom he stripped his clothes and walked to turn on the shower, there was a long ugly scar that went from his right shoulder to the middle of his back.

Ryan stood at six-three but he was lanky and looked malnourished some, he had dirty black hair that in the right light it was a dark blue color if you looked at it, his silver-green eyes dull. Stepping into the shower he let the lukewarm water wash over him, he knew he only had twenty minutes before it would become freezing cold so he quickly washed.

Getting out he ate a simple meal and went to sleep he started work tomorrow and didn't want to be late for his first day, he already needed to go across town to get to work. While he was sleeping a black ball fell from the sky, it passed through his roof and went straight into his head, after a small frown he continued to sleep.