A New Rival

A man with black hair ran his fingers down his face as he watched in the darkness of the night standing outside a large dark building on the outskirts of town. Dressed in all black lurking in the shadows he stood out among the other men in the street. His face held no emotion as the men who passed him either ignored his presence or looked away from it. The only one to give a second look was a young girl walking her dog a few yards ahead of him. She had short blonde hair and wore a plain white t-shirt.

He panicked inside if she had seen him but calmed himself when he saw she continued on without any pause or even acknowledgment for what he may have looked like or how he might have seemed. He let out a sigh of relief when she turned away at the next corner. A few moments later, however, he was once more caught in her sight.

This time she didn't even acknowledge his existence, just walked past him uninterested in anyone but her dog. Her eyes were closed as if she wasn't paying any attention to anything around her as she walked. She looked happy and comfortable in herself despite the circumstances.

It was so beautiful. It was hard not to be envious of that. He'd never be that way if it weren't for his life and the fact he could never see what it was like to live that way. There was no freedom in this life and no happiness. He wished there was some way he could take away the misery and bring about that same kind of peace in everyone else.

"Normal…" He thought. "Just a dream. Let it go. Just a fantasy."

He took a deep breath. For a brief moment, he let himself enjoy the feeling of happiness and contentment for a while before it slipped through his fingers again.

The black clad young man had no choice. It was the reality he lived in now and he couldn't change that. But sometimes, he did have an option. He could choose to make this nightmare a reality. It wouldn't be easy, but he believed it would work if he really set his mind to it. It was worth a try. Even if it ended up being futile. At least he tried.

His fingers slipped pondering as he snuck around the side of the dark building. With practiced movements he scaled the tall metal pole in front of him and made a slow climb towards the top window. It was dark inside the room and the window had been broken for years from what he recalled making the interior pitch black. As he climbed, the wind picked up, blowing the papers off the desk against the wall.

"Fuck," he swore under his breath as he lost his balance and nearly fell from the window sill as the door to the office slammed open. An angry man wearing thick framed glasses stepped into the light illuminating the office from the doorway. "Shit, shit, shit!"

The man' hand shot out clutching at his wrist trying to yank him back down to the ground but only succeeded in pulling him up further. Once again he nearly fell as he grabbed onto the windowsill with his other hand trying to keep hold of something in case he was tossed backwards to the floor.

The man with thick glasses could hear the sounds of struggle below him and quickly reached for the gun he kept tucked under the desk. If it was too dark to see, he figured he could shoot his captive with his right eye and get a good picture of the attacker. It would be difficult since his glasses were fogged over and his vision was spotty at best.

"Who is there?" He yelled looking down at the street far below him. "Show yourself!"

He pulled the trigger, hoping to hit the man who had gotten so far below where he was supposed to stand. He hadn't expected anyone to be up this high at this hour. In the distance, he could see the silhouette of a figure moving between buildings.

A young man with wild white hair holding a gun stood beside the other man with thick glasses looking confused. The other man's face bore a mix of fear and anger as he stared at him. He was dressed in black leather pants with long black boots and a dark gray T-shirt. He looked as if he was ready for a fight.

"what the fuck..." the man in hiding whispered. He slowly moved until he was able to sit up and brush dust from his clothes. He rubbed his head trying to clear his blurry vision as the adrenaline rush wore off. He glanced across the room and noticed the other man staring back at him. He looked terrified.

"Hey, I wondered when you would come out!" the snow haired man smirked. The whites of his eyes flashed as he grinned menacingly showing a set of very white teeth. There was still blood dripping from his nose and mouth and it splattered on the wall and floor around him. "I got your name, though." He raised his eyebrows as he cocked his gun. "Now show yourself!"

The snow haired man lunged, grabbing the man's arm with one hand, using his free arm to strike the man across the throat with his gun. Then he pulled a knife out of somewhere and slashed at the white haired man's cheek leaving a red line as the blade grazed his skin.

"Juel, you need to be careful with this guy!" The knife vibrated. That had to be him shaking with excitement. "You're going to cut his fucking arm off."

"Shut up!" Juel snarled as he swung at the man. The knife bounced off his forearm as he blocked it with his own weapon.

"I'm sorry, my bad." The man chuckled. He ducked out of the way as the white haired man charged him again.

"If you want my arm you'll have to kill me first. Like hell." The snow haired man sneered swinging his leg out.

He stumbled slightly as he landed on his ass. Juel rolled quickly getting onto his feet, raising his knife, and aiming for the man's ribs. However, he missed and the knife sunk into the wall instead, knocking off several loose nails that stuck outwards.

Juel lunged forward, stabbing the snow haired man in the chest as he tried to dodge him. Unfortunately, the snow haired man dodged to the left, allowing himself to get closer to Juel than he anticipated. Juel tripped backwards and landed on his back. He scrambled up again but this time, the man grabbed him and held him fast, forcing him back against the wall. He pressed his knife against the man's throat and held it there, watching as the veins on the white haired man's neck bulged with every pulse.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to hurt you…" He smiled and winked.

The man laughed and shook his head blushing annoyed by the invader's presence. His hands tightened on Juel's arms, causing them to tighten painfully. It felt like they were going to snap.

the white haired man pulled the knife out of the wall to point it at Juel . He brought his free hand to Juel's face, gripping the knife handle as he pulled it upwards bringing the blade down on Juel's skull. Before Juel could register what was happening, pain erupted in his left temple. His whole body went numb as his consciousness began slipping away.

"Bye Bye! I will be taking these documents!" he said with a smile on his face.

When he awoke he found himself lying on the floor outside. He groaned rubbing his throbbing headache with his left hand. He looked around the room to find out where he was and what happened. His heart skipped a beat as a memory came rushing back.

"Fucking brat!"

Juel wasn't in the house anymore, but the agency laying in the nurses ward in the bed as he stared at the ceiling thinking about that kid who bested him. His knife laid beside him on the cabinet as a reminder of what almost happened. He clenched his fists and sighed in frustration.

" What did I do wrong?...What am I even doing here?!?" He gritted his teeth together. No matter what he did nothing would ever make sense.

Yawning could be heard from his knife while it woke up. It had fallen asleep after the incident with the man in the house the night before and was waiting patiently for him to awake before it slept again.

"Drake! Wake the hell up already!" Juel shouted.

"Make me! You're not strong enough, are ya?" Drake laughed coming from behind him, startling him. "You should have listened to me when I told you not to mess with that white boy. Now look what you've done. You fucked it all up!"

Juel jumped, dropping the knife and spinning to face him. The knife fell to the floor and skittered away under the chair. He backed away from Drake. He hated Drake. Drake hated everyone and everything. He was the reason that he was here now, in the hospital ward.

"You didn't listen to me. But you didn't listen to him either," Drake added smiling cruelly.

"That stupid white punk haired bitch! Let me see him again! We will mess him up for sure…I was just caught off guard is all!" Juel said flustered.

"Don't bother to even fight that kid you saw!" A voice yelled.