Raised in the Mafia

(See prologue)

~ 23 years earlier ~

I remember the cold. The hunger. Eating away at me. Why did God bring me into this world, only to have me be abandoned, and now dying four days later? Right now, shouldn't I be snuggling on my mother's chest in a warm house? No, that is not what I get. I am a four day old infant, with no mother.

All I can really think right now is 'FOOD!', and I know none of that is coming soon. The minutes are slowly going by as I start to feel numb. Is this how it all ends? Right as I am about to give in to sleep and give my body the rest it deserves, I hear a noise. I weakly start to cry. The noise is so soft, yet rough, because my throat hurts so much.

I hear someone say, "It's coming from over here!"

Another voice asks, "In the dumpster? Blake, why would crying be coming from a dumpster, ya idiot?"

"Yeah, yeah. You're probably right..."

"I typically am, and come on, I mean, we are in the slums, but nobody could be that cruel, right?"

"..."

"..."

"Shawn, I'm just going to check just in case."

"... Fine, if you insist."

"..."

"Okay, I think you might be right! Stop looking at me like that! Yeesh!"

There is a grunting noise and the crash of something metal. At this point, I feel like my Throat is bleeding from all the crying and not enough food. I try to wriggle as much as my tired body will let me, to show them where I am at.

"Shawn, look! Something is moving in that garbage bag!"

"My God, these people really are like animals..."

"Hey, hand me your pocket knife so that I can rip open the bag."

"And where is yours? Blake? Don't tell me you lost it again!"

"Is now really the time?"

"Ugh... This conversation is not over!"

"It never is with you..." The man named Blake grumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said I was going to open the bag now!"

"Uh-huh... Sure."

I have finally given up on crying as it is now hard to breath. I am not hearing anything and think that they must have opened the wrong bag and given up. Then, suddenly, there is a blinding light. I squint my tiny eyes, and slowly let them close. Maybe they are too late, and I will leave this world soon. Screw this evil world. Right before I pass out I hear,

"Oh my God! Shawn, it's a baby! Not an animal!"

"What?"

"Holy crap!"

"Well, hurry up and get him in the car!"

"Why?"

"You're not that dumb right? We are taking him to the hospital!"

"Oh, Good idea!"

"Ugh! Just hurry up!"

There is more talking but I'm too weak to listen, so I finally let the blackness that has been creeping at the edges of my vision, take over.

The next time that I wake up, I see a clear dome above me. Beyond that, there is so much white! My eyes get adjusted to all the light and I can see a lot of squares where the sky should be. When I try turning my head, I realize how weak I have become, and that one movement makes the black come over me yet again.

I wake up yet again, and when I look up this time I see this lady in some all blue-ish clothing and a mask. When our eyes meet, she gasps and drops what she is holding. The object meets the ground with a loud metallic crash. I start to hear a cacophony of cries and screams all around me. I look to the sides to see more babies, just like me, in clear domes, one after the other. They are on both sides of me, and while I am trying to figure out why the lady above me looks frantic, another lady dressed in a similar fashion bursts in a door, a little ways away. She rushes to the nearest crying baby while saying,

"Nita, what happened in here?"

The first lady, who I assume is Nita responds,

"I am so sorry! It's just that, you know the baby that has been asleep for the past month and a half?"

"Yeah, what about him?" she says then turns to the baby she is holding and lulls him, "Shhh-shhh... It's okay, go back to sleep"

"Well, Quinn... He's awake..."

Quinn had put the baby down and was about to pick up the next when she stopped.

"What did you say? That's impossible! His pulse stopped an hour ago when he woke up the first time! He had a heart attack! Stop spewing nonsense and help me put the babies back to sleep!"

"But Quinn, loo-"

"I told you to shut up and help, Nita!"

"Listen here, he is awake and his heart is still beating! Check for yourself and then see if you dare call me a liar!"

"Ugh! This is a waste of my time, but if it gets you to quiet down then fine."

The lady named Quinn comes over, and for the first time I get a good, clear look at somebody. She is definitely thicker than Nita, and she has dark brown hair that is put in a tight blob on the back of her head. I later learn that it is called a bun, and it turns out that if a male wears one, it turns into a man-bun! Anyway, she peers down at me with her mouth wide open and her brown eyes go round. She hurriedly backs away and screams,

"Demon!"

Nita looks at her with a pale face and asks in a quiet voice,

"H-how can you tell that it's a d-... d-demon?"

"How can I tell? How can I tell!? It's heart stopped for almost an hour, and look at those weird eyes!", Quinn roars, shaking Nita by the shoulders.

At this moment I am thinking that my luck is as bad as it can possibly get, and then I hear a deafening noise.