Chapter 7

Criminal

- And justice walked upon the earth, dealing death to the wayward -

The knife dripped with blood. And the pale dead eyes stared at the sky. Limp and cold. Flies covered the body and tiny maggots were already crawling all over.

Thonavar bolted upright. His arms showed a thick sheen of sweat. Cold sweat. He shivered and wiped himself with his blankets. It was dark and he was in bed.

It was a dream, he thought to himself. Just a dream. He sighed in relief and stared out his small bedroom window. The dwelling was quiet and the streets rang with silence. After all, it was early in the morning and no one was about on the streets yet. Even from his room, Thonavar smelled the familiar smell of wet earth and stale air.

Outside, the winds were whistling throughout the cold and damp streets, and it was drizzling slightly. Rain fell from artificial clouds hanging under a construct sky. While real destructive electric storms raged outside the curtain, Thonavar often marveled at the wonderful technologies developed by the Scientists that could control the speed of water particle movement in the atmosphere. Technologies that allowed the formulation of any type of weather pattern conducive to living.

Thonavar groaned as he rose from a bed of hard wood and thin clothsheets. It was about an hour and a half left before college began and he dared not return to sleep for fear of oversleeping and being late for college as a result. Thonavar proceeded to wash himself clean by dunking several buckets of cold water prepared by his mother the night before, over his head, before breaking his fast with a thin gruel-like meal made from eggs and rice which he wolfed down hungrily. He then moved toward the door of the dwelling without careful not to make any noise. Father was already gone. He had left the dwelling minutes before Thonavar had woken up. Thonavar jumped down the steps and hurried down the street. As always, Mirya watched from her window until Thonavar turned the corner and disappeared into the next street. Thonavar knew his mother watched him but pretended not to notice.

He had plenty of time to make it to the college now and what was more uplifting was that the sun was coming up. As he walked, his spirits lifted when he saw the sun, emerging from behind a real cloud in the skies outside HavenGuarde, beyond the curtain, shining gloriously. Its rays had pierced the curtain's translucent surface and fell into the streets below city above, illuminating the streets with a soft golden light. The effect was mesmerisingly beautiful. Instantly, the streets were bathed in a golden light and Thonavar felt as though transported to another place. Gone were the dark and damp streets. Gone was the smell of stale air. Now was the time of the sun. There was light and there was hope.

What enchantment is this? thought Thonavar, his breath caught in the golden beauty created by the sun's majestic rays. The sun, a golden coin, suspended in the heavens above, whispered Thonavar, to himself. Someone behind him laughed. The sun's glory disappeared behind a cloud, along with the warmth and comfort it had provided moments ago and the streets were once more plunged into shadow.

"Hello demon", a familiar voice called out. “Oi, it’s the white-haired demon!” Thonavar's heart skipped a beat. It was the unmistakable voice of Alexis! Curse him, thought Thonavar. What does he want now? Had he been waiting to ambush me?

"Leave me be", said Thonavar coldly, searching for Alexis' hiding place. "I do not want trouble."

"He does not want trouble", repeated Alexis mockingly, emerging from behind a wall at the side of a street. There were only five boys with him this time. "Is your hooded friend around this time? Is he going to save you today again?" taunted Alexis. Thonavar did not reply but braced himself for a fight, his eyes glancing to the left and to the right as he judged the situation. I will have to be quick. I cannot let them surround me and close in on me.

But as Alexis brought his hand up threateningly, Thonavar made out silver glints of a knife. The other boys clutched bats and thick sticks. The situation was serious.

"Do you know what you have done? Do you even know what you have brought upon me you cursed demon filth? Half of my boys have left me. And you know why? There were afraid. And they were cowards. Like you", continued Alexis, advancing on Thonavar menacingly, the long knife blade in hand. His eyes were wide and bright, nostrils flaring.

"True, some of them did mention that they did not wish to be involved in such violent activities", said Alexis, with a forced measuredness. This time, there was a glint of madness in his eyes. "But I am not a violent person and I do not conduct violent activities, do I? All I want is to put people in their place", said Alexis, his eyes bulging maniacally. Some of the other boys shifted uneasily. "Is that too much to ask?"

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"You are insane Alexis. The boys in your gang left because you are the coward. Yesterday, you only dared to face me with so many others behind you. You let others fight your battles for you. Face me alone and I will show you that I am no coward", said Thonavar, his anger rising. He clenched and unclenched his fists. As he said those words, a memory floated into his head.

It was the first day of school and Alexis, two years older than Thonavar, had bumped into him intentionally, causing Thonavar to trip and fall, smashing his new keeper. It was an expensive device and father had to work twice as hard for a month in order to purchase it for his son to bring to college. Thonavar reacted with fierce anger, pulling Alexis towards him and dealing him such a punch to the face that Alexis had hit the floor hard, his nose bleeding profusely.

Alexis, was a retainee - one that had failed his promotional examinations and had repeated for two consecutive years at the college. He would have been kicked out of the school if not for his family's influence in city above. At first, Thonavar pitied Alexis. For astute as he was for his age, Thonavar saw what made Alexis the bully he was. Desperate for attention and not being able to enjoy success in academic pursuits at the college, Alexis formed a gang and called himself the leader, enjoying the position of power and the significance it brought to him.

But the pity had evolved into a blind hatred. For since that day, Alexis had hunted Thonavar relentlessly throughout his time at college with gangs of boys, coercing and inciting them to follow him with tales of Thonavar's cursed upbringing by a northern witch-family. As proof, he had cited Thonavar's dark hair with streaks of white as an unnatural product of witchcraft practiced by his family. But for Alexis, the stories became a reality as he bullied Thonavar throughout the years, reveling in the boy's suffering. In bullying Thonavar, Alexis found a sense of cruel purpose. He maintained control of a gang of boys and this taste of power and leadership became a part of who he was. Furthermore, part of Alexis' psyche truly believed that Thonavar was cursed and this justified his desire to cause Thonavar as much suffering as he possibly could.

Meanwhile, Thonavar snapped back to reality, which was coming toward him clutching a knife. He looked around quickly, though inside he was calming himself. He had been in this situation before. He just needed to out-think Alexis once more.

With a roar that sounded like a dying animal, Alexis surged forward, gesturing his gang to attack. As the first boy leapt forward, club raised, Thonavar experienced the familiar surge of energy that flowed through his body.

He caught the boy's wrist and spun the boy around. As the boy struggled to his feet, a thunderous left hook from Thonavar dropped him to the floor again. The fallen boys' club cluttered to the floor and Thonavar swept it up, glad to feel the strength of a weapon in his hand. Alexis was next and Thonavar smashed his shoulder with the club, hearing a satisfying yelp of pain. But a large boy, coming from behind, grabbed Thonavar in a bear hug. Thonavar dropped the club and head-butted backwards, smashing the boy's nose. Spinning around, Thonavar came into range. A barrage of ferocious elbow jabs from Thonavar into the large boy's face stunned him, splitting the skin below his cheekbones. The fight was far from over, as two equally big boys, wielding large sticks ran into Thonavar, swinging their weapons wildly. Thonavar took a stinging hit to the face but deflected the second boys' stick with his club, before ending his swing in an arc that smashed into the boy's teeth. Thonavar’s heart pumping wildly. He was angry that he had to resort to such violence. However, he had learned to be ruthless. For he knew too well the consequences of showing mercy. To Alexis, mercy was interpreted as weakness and a weakness to be exploited. And if Thonavar was not ruthless, he would become an easy target, like some of the other boys at the college.

Just then, Alexis, who had fallen upon the ground, swept up his knife and charged at Thonavar with another roar. Thonavar, upon dispatching another boy with a mighty right hook to his jaw, dropped to a knee. He picked up the club which had fallen to the ground and threw the club straight into the face of Alexis. Alexis shielded his face with an arm but kept on charging. Thonavar took advantage of this and side-stepped, catching the big Alexis as he charged past, unable to stop his motion. Instinctively, in a fierce anger, Thonavar took Alexis' knife-arm and using his knuckles, smashed Alexis's wrist, loosening the grip on the knife. Then with a roar of anger, Thonavar wrenched the knife from Alexis, and as Alexis spun around to face him, Thonavar plunged it home into his chest.

Time seemed to stop. And then everything started moving once more, though with incredible speed. Alexis eyes widened in shock. He stared at the blade embedded in his chest and looked up at Thonavar in disbelief. Then he fell onto his side, his body hitting the damp street floor with a sickening wet sound. The other boys upon seeing their leader fall, fled.

Thonavar, upon seeing the bloodstain that was spreading rapidly on Alexis' shirt, also stared in shock. Thonavar's head pounded and his mind became clouded in a mix of confusion and shock. He did not hear the whirring of a playback device as it ended its recording nor the shadow in his peripheral vision. A slight rain had begun to pour and Alexis' blood had already pooled out onto the wet ground, mixing with dirt and grime. Not long after, someone screamed. Thonavar continued his staring, squatting down beside Alexis' body. He did not notice the sudden arrival of men in dark-blue robes. He did not see Alexis hauled onto a stretcher and driven off to a medical chamber. The rain became heavier. Thonavar started to shake and someone hauled him to his feet, forcing his hands behind his back. Thonavar tried to shake the man off but something hit him in the head from behind and he blacked out.