A Demon's Ascent

"Crack!"

The sound of a gunshot echoes through Conrad's ears

His legs crumple beneath him as he falls to the wet concrete.

Eyes, bearing the cruelty of this dark world, burn him down to his core.

"Now you get to watch."

Blood pools the ground beneath Conrad.

His eyes bleed pain as the last light in his world is defiled right before his eyes.

A knife cuts the seams to her dress, the man wielding it seething with excitement as the dress begins to fall away.

Screams echo through the night.

An eternity plays out in a seemingly endless loop.

Three men destroying the life of the best sister one could ask for.

With Conrad forced to watch a sight no brother should behold.

'Everything was finally changing.'

'What more could I have done.'

'If only I were stronger.'

The light of the world fades into an abyss of nothingness.

His soul rips from his body. Bearing the cracks of hatred.

...

"Bang!"

The screen to Conrad's laptop slams shut.

"Haha! I did it! I really did it!" He shouts, his voice echoing off the walls of the trash heap of an apartment he calls "Home."

"30,000$ into 100,000$ in five days!"

"I'm a goddamn genius."

Conrad celebrates the fruits of a year's worth of labor. He's finally accomplished his dream to establish himself as an independent Stock Trader.

'A year of working like a dog is really all I needed! I'm not coming into work tomorrow. Screw that! I'll never have to work a day of construction or sales again. Heck, if I'm ever working a job again it'll be for my own Trading Firm!'

Conrad's thoughts die down, as he's welcomed back to reality by the familiar unpleasant odor of his studio apartment.

No matter how many times Conrad is greeted by the terrible quality of life he's endured, it's still 10x better than the past 23 years of life he's lived through. His family, at one point, led an immaculate and prosperous life, but sadly none of that is a memory for him. His parents split around his 4th birthday causing him to never experience the happy days his older sister and brother tell him about.

No. All he got was a bed and days of torture until he turned the ripe age of 16 and was kicked to the curb, told that he was the cause of all the beatings and problems in his family. But with strife comes knowledge, something Conrad knows all too well.

The one gift that life gave Conrad was intelligence. Instead of focusing on the problems in his life, Conrad focused on school to escape. History, mathematics, science, and communication were excellent skills under his belt. And he used them to succeed.

Using these skills, Conrad was given scholarships for his academic successes, and the government grants from being an orphaned youth allowed Conrad to pay all of his university expenses. Graduating from Yale with a degree in finance, Conrad was set in life.

Until more problems arose.

The company he had been working at suddenly went bankrupt, and Conrad was forced back onto the streets with nothing and no one.

Fate's betrayal of his hardwork, at the hands of the corporate world, shattered his dream of rising through the corporate ladder of society. Resulting in him vowing to claim his rightful place as a "somebody", in this world. 1 year ago today, he set out on a quest to become a self-made millionaire. Someone that the world is forced to respect.

"Sniff. Sniff."

"Damn I need to take a shower."

An epiphany sparks up in his mind.

"I need to celebrate!"

"Sniff."

Conrad recoils his nose in disgust.

"But definitely after a shower."

...

1 hour later.

Conrad's leather boots patter against the wet sidewalk splashing small puddles from the rain earlier that night.

Footsteps behind him.

Brown hair brushes past his face. That's a familiar scent?

A woman with a beautiful figure walks by him.

"Julie?" Conrad says with a tinge of sadness.

"Conrad?" She replies with a cracked voice.

Conrad's eyes squint as he watches Julie turn. Once the face of a beautiful woman, now just a husk. Her eyes sunken in, skin pale as ash, with eyes fidgeting to the surroundings. The symptoms of years of drug abuse take their toll. Bright red lipstick, a full face of makeup, and a skin-tight black dress desperately trying to conceal it. But his eyes can see right through the façade.

"What are you doing back in this part of town?" Julie says. Unknown to her that after university, Conrad was forced back into poverty. Back to the same part of town, they grew up in.

"Things happened. Don't worry." he replies. He is hiding that this is his last day in this dump. Money won't change who Julie has become. Nothing will.

A man tugs at Julie. He's big. The kind of big significant years in prison will get you. It's confirmed by his sagging jeans and various gang tattoos along his arms and neck.

"Let's go, babe." The man says.

'What a joke. Is this the kind of life she still chooses?' Conrad thinks.

"See you around Julie." Conrad says as his heart wrenches at his throat.

Seeing the only person who had ever shown him kindness slowly dying away.

"See you, little bro." She replies.

Conrad stops for a moment watching the last piece of his heart disappear.

Turning to his right, Conrad walks into the bar named "Olde Towne" his staple destination to take the edge off now and then.

A few too many whiskeys later...

Conrad stumbles out of the bar without a care in his mind.

'Guess I should head home.'

His boots patter against the still-wet concrete.

"NO! STOP, NO!" A woman screams from somewhere nearby.

'Just another day in this shithole.'

Conrad continues walking home, the screams getting louder as he approaches a nearby alley.

'It's not my problem. It's just the way things are here...'

Passing the alleyway, Conrad takes a look.

'FUCK WHY NOW OF ALL TIMES!'

Julie's head is pounded against the brick wall. Two men stand in front of her, one beating her to submission. The other uses a knife to cut her dress to shreds.

"Shut up bitch! You're going to enjoy this." The man with the knife says as he pulls down her panties.

"Gong!"

A metal pipe resounds as it smashes into the side of his skull with the strength of countless days of hard labor.

"Get off her, you bastard!" Conrad says, pointing the pipe at the last man standing.

The man smiles, pulling a large knife from his belt.

"You're fucking with the wrong guy!" He says, rushing at Conrad.

Lunging forward with the knife pointed towards Conrad's head.

'Shit!'

Instinctively Conrad tries to stop the knife with his left hand.

The knife hisses through his palm, stopping a few centimeters from his eyes.

Adrenaline pumping, Conrad swings the pipe at the man's temple.

"Gong!"

Blood pours from the second man's head as the pipe strikes him.

"Fuck!" The second man yells as he pulls the knife back from Conrad's hand.

Conrad uses the time for another swing as the knife is pulled out.

"Gong!"

The pipe smacks the man in the chin. His eyes roll back in his head as he falls.

"Let's go!"

Conrad grabs Julie by the arm and quickly moves to the end of the alley.

Julie, still shaken by the recent events, numbly follows his lead.

"What were you thinking!"

"Why do you keep doing this to yourself?!" Conrad says knowing that the line of work Julie is in means hanging around at the corners this late.

Julie, still shocked, just blankly stares back at Conrad. Unknowing of what to say and without a feeling in her body.

"What happens-"

"Crack!"

Conrad stops. Suddenly his legs give out.

'What's going on?' Conrad thinks to himself.

A sharp pain begins spider webbing from his back.

His vision is blurry. Conrad grabs his back.

He looks back at his blood-covered hand. Then up at Julie.

Her eyes look past him back down the alley.

Fear.

"You just had to interrupt the fun." The first man comes into view, pointing a revolver down at Conrad.

The second man, still bleeding from earlier, quickly grabs Julie. Fear-ridden Julie doesn't put up a fight.

The first man kicks Conrad flat on his back to look him in the eyes. The man gets within an inch of Conrad's face, the stench of booze oozing off his lips.

"Now you get to watch. Hero." The man says with a deranged look in his eyes as he steps back.

Blood pools under Conrad. His eyes unblinking and coated in rage, watching the scene before he plays out.

"why.." Conrad whispers to himself, the light in his eyes slowly slipping away.

Julie is forced back against the wall by the two men.

Conrad struggles to get up.

His fingers twitch, and his legs don't move. The bullet struck him in his spine. Shattering it and leaving him paralyzed. He is forced to watch the only light in his life ripped away from this dark world.

'no no no NO!' Conrad's eyes watch everything unfold before him.

Seconds feeling like minutes, minutes feeling like hours. An eternity of pain plays before his eyes.

Until the light finally goes out...

'What could I have done...'

'If I were stronger back then, maybe something would be different.'

'I wish I was stronger.'

Conrad's heart stops, finally bringing an end to his suffering.