Chapter 1: End Of The Line

The thumping of punching bags echoes throughout the gymnasium.

A fist swings at my head. Fortunately I'm able to swiftly parry it and step back, keeping my composure calm and focused. Quickly afterwards my opponent follows up with a fast roundhouse kick of which I duck under, giving me an opportunity to sweep the other guy's leg leading to him falling and landing on his back.

He springs up onto his feet, staring at me with a fury in his eyes.

Filled with emotions which takes over him, he throws a multitude of kicks and punching in the hopes of overwhelming me. Unfazed by this I block the majority of his attacks, with a few I quickly dodge, with ease. Frustrated, my opponent throws a wild right hook consumed with rage.

Too slow. I duck under his arm while simultaneously closing the gap between my opponent, leaning into the right side of him. Next I bat my elbow up into his face causing him to stumble back. Leaving me with enough space to raise my left leg, I kick him in his face. With that my opponent collapses onto the floor, as blood starts pouring from his nose.

"Match over!" The referee announces, blowing a whistle to signal the end.

"Damn, I would not want to mess with that guy."

"Brad couldn't even hit that guy even after all those attacks. Who is that guy?"

I walk off the ring, ignoring the multiple glares coming from the crowd.

Taking off my gloves and hand wraps to put in my bag, my instructor comes walking up to me. The instructor is a well built man in his late fifties, with a surprising amount of strength and agility. He fixes his messy hair and tank top which is damp from the training sessions he gave to the other fighters, grabbing the towel from his shoulder to wipe of the beads of sweat off his forehead.

"What an amazing performance you showed off today Vincent. Honestly every time I think you can't get any better, you go and pull out moves better than most trained fighters. You are something special kid!" He says, grinning eye to eye to.

"Heh I appreciate it sir, but we both know that you are the reason behind my improvement. I'm probably not even close to your level though," I respond whilst packing my gloves into my bag. "I did promised to keep up with my training, whenever I have the opportunity to. As I like to say if you only reveal some of your skills to others, they won't be expected the ones you don't reveal. By doing that it gives you the upper chance in an fight by taking your opponent by surprise."

The instructor laughs in amusement, "You are a unique person Vincent. I can proudly say that it is an honour to train you as my student!" He exclaims, patting me on the shoulder.

"Thank you sir. Anyway I best be going now, take care Raymond!" I respond, a smile emerging on my face.

Picking up my bag, I bid farewell to Raymond and walk through the exit.

As I step out of the building and into the dead of night, I am greeted with a fresh cool breeze. I walk into the parking lot which is partially illuminated by the moonlight and open the boot of my car, placing my bag inside it. Closing the boot after retrieving my keys I enter the car.

Grabbing the key and placing it into the ignition lock, I turn the key to start the car and begin driving.

The nightlife is what I love the most when driving home.

It puts me at ease even after an intense spar in the ring. When I was a kid I always enjoyed being out at night and just relaxing by myself for some reason. Hell even now I sometimes take a stroll at night simply because I enjoy it.

At least, that's what it used to be anyways. God I wish it still was. My memories begins to darken in my mind.

Why? Why do people in this world love to make others suffer, all because they have power or for the sake of their own pleasure? Why is life so goddamn cruel?! I don't get it.

I inhale deeply.

"Pull yourself together Vincent. Don't let it get to you man."

After a few seconds I exhale, my breath shaking. Clearing my mind I continue the drive home in silence.

After about forty minutes, I eventually pull into the driveway of my house and park the car. The house is fairly big and isolated from any main roads or other houses, which is how I like it. The walls around the perimeter not only help seclude the area but because of how tall and thick it is the inside of the premises is protected by any animals or intruders.

Turning the ignition off I step out of the car and close the door behind me. Walking to the boot of the car I unlock it, open it and retrieve my bag from inside quickly. Closing and locking it behind me I head to the front door, exhaustion washing over me.

As I insert the keys into the door the whistle of the wind blows harder and louder. Opening the door and entering the house, there is nothing but the darkness engulfing inside. But it quickly brightens up as I flip the lights on, closing the front door as I do so.

Taking off my shoes and placing it into the rack I walk upstairs. When I reach the top, I head to my bedroom to pack my equipment away along with the bag and to have a shower before changing my clothes.

Opening the door I walk to my desk, placing my bag on top. Removing my equipments from the bag and storing them away, I put down my bag under the desk. Grabbing a spare set of clothes I left out beforehand i head over to the shower.

Turning the cold water on I start taking off my clothes and enter the shower, instantly jolting while electrical impulses rockets to my brain. Breathing deeply the discomfort slowly dissipates easing my mind and body.

After about a minute, I switch the water temperature to hot. I do this because alternating between hot and cold water can strengthen the vasculature and therefore improve the integrity of my cardiovascular system. Additionally, it can help filter out toxins in the body because it stimulates constriction and subsequent relaxation of the blood vessels.

After another minute later I turn the water off and get out, grabbing a towel at the same time. Drying myself off and changing into my clothes I stare into the mirror, planning on what to do tomorrow.

"Hm, what the-?" As I stare in the mirror, my face begins to contort and change. At that moment the reflection of my face was gone and a different face begins to appear. "What the fuck?" I question. What used to be a reflection of myself has now disappeared.

The face in question looks younger, way younger than me, like an eight year old. His hair colour is brown, the same as mine. His eyes are the same, a dark brown colour that matches mine. Suddenly it changes again. Instead of an eight year old, its now a teenager, likely at the age of seventeen. "What is going on?"

As I mutter this, it begins to change again and I go to touch the mirror. Just when I'm about to make contact the lights begin to flicker, the mirror starts shaking violently. I stumble back, trying my best to stay calm. The lights flicker even quicker and the mirror shakes more violently. A high pitch ringing fills my ears, disorienting me.

Suddenly the light bulb explodes. The mirror drops shattering into pieces, spreading glass everywhere. I fall backwards onto the floor. The ringing in my ears stop. I sit on the floor in silence, not moving at all. "Haa huu haa huu…". I breath heavily as my heart pounds in my chest. I slowly stand up, keeping my composure as best as my can.

Not wanting to be in there any longer I rush out of the bathroom, avoiding the broken glass on the floor. When I reach the bedroom I close the door behind me, locking it shut. Unsure of what to do or think about the situation I decide to go downstairs to calm down.

Turning the lights off in my room, I walk downstairs and head to the living room. Opening the door I walk to the sofa and lay down onto it.

A few minutes go by of me laying on the sofa and thinking about what happened, my exhaustion becoming less bearable. Giving in to my cravings for sleep I decide to rest for the night downstairs on the sofa. My breath slows to a more steady rhythm, before eventually I drift off for the night.

The sun shines through my window, waking me up. Yawning I sit up and rub my eyes, trying to recollect last nights events. Eventually the memory is brought back from what happened. Then something occurs to me, "Oh yeah. I have to buy a new mirror and light bulb now. Goddamnit." What a nuisance.

Getting up from the sofa I walk upstairs to the bathroom. Slowly unlocking the door, I open it and enter inside being careful not to tread on the broken glass. Crouching down to open a cupboard door I reach inside to get a dustpan and begin to brush the glass onto it, putting it into the bin.

Next, I carefully twists the broken bulb and takes it off dropping it in the bin. I pick up the now smashed mirror and place the bin on top carrying it downstairs to dispose of it, internally crying to myself knowing I need to buy a replacement.

After disposing both the mirror and the bulb, along with the glass, I decide to go for a walk to ease my mind. Changing into something more appropriate and having some food I walk to the backdoor of my house and leave.

"This is what I needed. A peaceful stroll with the shimmering sunshine above and soothing winds to help clear my mind." I mutters to myself softly.

Spotting a lake in the distance, I walk over and sits near the edge. Picking up some stones I skim them across the water to past the time. I lose track of time slightly as a few hours go by. I spot something shining in the water, with colourful beams bouncing off of it.

Curious I walk over to it and reach my hand in the water to grab it. I make contact with it and pull it out, revealing it to be a crystal with a mixture of purple and black colours.

"Huh. Never seen one of these before." For some reason, this crystal gives out an aura that I can't quite describe, "Strange. I'll keep this with me." I store the crystal in my pocket. guess I should start heading home before I lose track of time. With that I begin to head home, remembering that I need to go shopping for food.

Arriving at the house I go into the kitchen to figure out what foods and ingredients I need for the week, writing it down just in case. After completing the list I grab my keys and walk to the car. Entering it and turning the ignition key on, I begin driving to gather them.

The supermarket is a little over twenty three minutes from my house so it doesn't usually take too long to get the things I need and leave, unlike the gymnasium which takes roughly forty five minutes just from the journey there alone. From there and back it totals to an hour and a half.

Twenty three minutes later, I arrive at the supermarket as the sun begins to set. Parking near it I exit my vehicle and walk towards the entrance locking my car as I do so. As I enter the building, I grab a cart and pull out my list in order to scan the isles one by one for the foods I need.

This is probably the most boring thing I do all week, just shopping for food isle by isle. So. Boring. At home I have my own little farm in the garden which is convenient as I don't need to shop for certain things like bell peppers; tomatoes; potatoes; garlic and so on. However other things I need to buy which is a pain is the arse. Which reminds me that I need to get a new mirror and bulb.

Last night was something I've never experienced before and I'm still a bit distressed by it. I'm trying to ignore at the moment as every time I'm reminded of it, it sends shivers through me.

However there's something bothering me about that incident. When the reflection was changing for the third time I was about to touch it, which is likely the reason the rest happened. Because of that the third face wasn't able to form. Unless that happens again, I will probably never know what the last face looks like.

But for the sake of my wellbeing, and the money I spent on getting a replacement, I really hope it doesn't happen again.

As I slowly fill my cart up almost finishing my shopping, I notice something. I'm being followed. Whenever I change isles the same two people follow afterwards and they've been tailing me for some time now. As far as I'm aware, they don't seem to realise that I've caught on to them.

Keeping my guard up I finish my shopping and head over to the checkout. I can't let them figure out that I know of their presence, so I have to remain calm and normal.

"You can do this, you're trained for these things remember." Right…I've been trained for situations like these. And worse.

Packing everything in separate bags and paying, I head to the exit still keeping a close eye on the two individuals. I think it's best if I leave the mirror and light bulb for another time.

As I walk the my car I open the back and start unloading the bags inside. After all the bags are inside, I close the back and put the cart back where is belongs. I notice that the two individuals seem to have vanished. Which either means that they're gone or that they're planning to ambush me.

Walking back to the car I pull my keys out to unlock the car when I hear a gun cocking behind me. Shit.

"Don't make a scene you hear me?" A voice commands. A deep male voice, probably in his early thirties.

"I understand." I reply, keeping my composure steady.

"Good. Walk to your car, now!"

I begin walking to the car, where I see the second individual waiting with a knife in his hand. Reaching my car the guy tells me to face the window and starts rummaging through my pockets, taking my phone and wallet and trying to find anything of value.

Looking at the reflection in the window I analyse his appearance and movements, determining whether I have a chance to escape or if it's too risky.

If I try to escape, taking down the guy with the gun is my first priority. He's right handed which means he is probably right side dominant. When an opportunity opens the quickest way to take him down would be to twist my body and knock the gun out of his hand, punching him in the face to make him stumble back.

If I try to take possession of the gun it could result in it going off towards me leaving his buddy to have an opportunity to stab me.

Once I create distance between the first guy his buddy will most likely try to go for an attack. When he does, I'll have to act quick and dodge the attack to grab his arm following up with a knee to his stomach, elbowing his face afterwards.

He'll likely get knocked down, but still able to fight. The next worry is the first guy. Since his gun is on the floor he'll engage in hand to hand with me to give his buddy enough time to grab the gun and shoot me. Which means I'll have to prevent that from happening by catching his attack and flipping him over me onto the second guy.

With this, I can either take the gun or kick it away from the two men and get in my car to drive away.

If I do this, everything needs to be quick and precise. Otherwise I'm done for. Waiting for a good opportunity I compose myself.

Now!

I swing my elbow at the gun knocking it out of his hands. Twisting my body towards him I bat my fist the guys face, causing him to stumble back.

"Aughhh!"

The second guy then comes charging towards me with his knife. He slashes the knife at me, which I dodge. Then I grab his right arm and shoulder to knee him in the stomach.

"Gah!"

He crumbles forwards, clenching at his stomach. With this I bat my elbow up at his face. He falls back smashing into the ground hard like an anchor. Then the first guy throws a right hook at me. I intercept and throw him over my shoulders. He collides with his buddy on the floor.

Locating the gun, I kick it away and pick up my belongings from the ground dashing to the car and entering it. I quickly twist the ignition key and the car starts. Putting my foot on the pedal I accelerate forwards to the exit and onto the main road.

I take deep breaths to control my breathing.

"Holy shit!" I blurt out in shock. Grabbing my phone to call the police an SUV begins speeding towards me.

"You have got to be shitting me!" I speed up, dialling the police as quick as possible.

"This is the police, what is the emergency?"

"I'm currently being chased by an SUV going seventy miles an hour on motorway 5."

"Okay sir, what is the colour of the vehicle?"

"It's dark grey, with tinted windows and a removed license plate."

"And what is the make and colour of your vehicle sir?"

"It is a black two door musta-" bullets collide with my car, penetrating through the windows and ricocheting off the side of the vehicle. What the hell have I gotten myself into?!

I gun it to create distance, narrowly avoiding multiple vehicles. Reaching through the middle compartment I grab my FN 5.7 handgun. This should even the odds and get these fuckers to back off.

Cocking the hammer and releasing the safety I aim at the SUV and open fire at the driver. The vehicle swerves violently as I discharge a few rounds at the car.

Firing some more rounds the SUV suddenly slams into the back side of the car, causing my vehicle to spin out of control. I collide with the guard rail and the car flips. "Shit shit shit!" The vehicle slams into the ground, flipping uncontrollably and knocking me out.

As I begin to regain consciousness the scent of leaking petrol fills the air. My head pounding strongly each second. A ringing sensation fills my ears. Blood drips onto the floor, creating a dark pool. Looking around I realise that the vehicle is flipped onto it's roof keeping me suspended.

I desperately try to unbuckle the seatbelt, almost on the verge of panicking. Managing to set myself loose I push as hard as I can to open the door but to no avail. Finally, after some more forcefully attempts the door swings open and I begin crawling out.

"Heh, the Reaper lives. How surprising, and irritating." A deep raspy voice calls out. "Unfortunately for you, I have orders to eliminate you and of course, failure isn't an option. Any final words from the infamous Reaper himself?"

I look up at the man, realising who he is. My blood begins to boil. "Fuck you, Keaton! You're a traitor to the agency you bastard! I will come back for you and even if I die before then, I'll see you in hell motherfucker!"

"Is that so? Well, then I must ensure there's no possibility of survival. So long Reaper." He whistles to one of his men and begins to walk away. The guy takes out something that seems to be a grenade from his belt and pulls the pin, tossing it at my direction.

Is this really it? After everything I've been through. After the pain I have suffered and endured. Why? Why did my life come to an end like this?

You win, I give up. I accept defeat.

The grenade detonates and everything turns black.

"A warrior does not give up after fighting a fierce battle even in defeat. So pick yourself up and stand your ground!" A voice echoes in the abyss. "You have the potential to be something greater and more powerful. This world doesn't deserve you, nor will it ever. Your potential is limited and wasted in this world of which you come from."

What the hell? I look around trying to find where the voice is coming from. "Who are you and what do you want?!

"You may call me The Watcher. As for what I want, I wish to see your full potential by offering you...a second life!"