Chapter 1

It was late at night, the moon hung high in the sky, like an unreachable eye, looming over the world. It was on a small road, a small distance out of a small town, in the middle of nowhere. This road was leading into the neighbouring forest that seemed like a huge, unending wall, covering the back of the town.

It was here, on this road, in the middle of the night that a young boy was running. Not running for the tranquil pleasure of the night, nor running for the benefit of an athlete’s body, no, he was running for his dear life. This young boy, no older than sixteen. He was gasping for air, as he ran furiously. He was not that well-built, being a scrawny little kid.

He was very thin, and had little to no muscle on his body. His legs were even shaking from the exhausting run. His hair was rather long, reaching to his neck, and almost covering his eyes, as wet and sweaty as it was. He wiped his forehead with his arm, as he ran, slightly moving the hair out of the way, but it wasn’t long before it found its way back.

As for what this young man was running from, it could be seen not too far behind him. A group of four youngsters, around the same age as him. However, they weren’t like him. From a single glance, you could tell what they were: Delinquents; bullies. They were chasing him with frenzied viciousness, clearly mad beyond reason. Just as much, the young boy was running away franticly.

It took only a moment before they entered the forest. Inside the forest, was different than outside, since there were no roads to follow; only the rough ground, and uncountable trees.

“Damnit, we can’t let him go!” One of the delinquent shouted, as he took chase into the forest. Even then, they were a bit wary, since it was easy to get lost in the forest.

“Shit, maybe we should just turn back. It’s way too dark in here,” another responded.

“Idiot, why do you think we brought the flashlights?” The other shot back, much to the other delinquent’s dismay in his own stupidity.

“Oh right,” he responded, as he took out his flashlight. “Quick, we can’t let him get away,” the one who seemed like the leader said, as he, too, took out his flashlight, and continued his chase into the pitch-black forest.

A small distance further ahead, the young boy was fumbling over overgrown roots, and trying his best to get away.

‘Shit, shit, shit, they’re crazy!’ He thought franticly, while crawling his way forwards. As he made his way under one overgrown root that had grown into an arch, he suddenly saw his own looming shadow, as he was covered in light.

“Shit!” He cursed, as he looked back. The delinquents were already catching up to him again.

“Give up Shin, you can’t get away! Just give up, and we’ll make sure it’ll be over quick, hahaha!”

‘Shit, shit! They’re really going to kill me! I have to do something.’ The youngster, named Shin was getting anxious. He didn’t doubt for a second that these psychos would kill him. Not just because they were unredeemable, psychotic delinquents, but also because what he just did to them. Not even an hour before, they had been bullying him, extorting him for cash. However, in a moment of inspiration, Shin, the one who had always been known for being a weakling, had punched one of them in the face.

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Even if he wasn’t very strong, a sudden, unexpected, full powered punch out of nowhere, was still enough to send the bully to the ground. However, this wasn’t enough to make these delinquents this mad. It was what he did next that really got to them.

Shin, the weakling, had thrown his open drink on the grounded bully leader, soaking his brand-new smartphone in soft drink. Naturally, it was ruined. At the loss of his brand-new smartphone, he truly became angry. To add to the flame, Shin managed to quickly bolt, and had been running from them for the longer half of an hour already.

This was enough to anger them to the point of murder. They felt fairly sure that if they dumped his body deep in the forest, no one would ever find out. To top it off, they had connections to some pretty influential gangs in town. And to make it even easier for them, it wasn’t too unusual for someone to go into a forest, to kill themselves. Not that it happened often in this small town, with a population of only a few tens of thousands people.

Shin continued to run, but he was starting to grow tired, so he decided he had to at least try to solve this crisis.

“Please, I didn’t mean it, I didn’t mean it! It, it… it was a moment of temporary insanity, that’s what it was! I’ll pay for your phone, so please, just let me go!” He pleaded, while not slowing down at all. However, they had none of it.

“Haah? You’ll pay for it? As if! Do you have any idea how expensive that phone was! I swear on my name; you’re not getting out of this forest in one piece!” The bully leader shouted back at him.

‘Jesus, they are really… God, what do I do?!’ He thought to himself, as frantic as ever, while still continuing to run with all his might. He knew that if he slipped up even once at this point, he’d be done for. However, in the next moment, it was as if he ran into a wall. Or, more like he ran out of ground to run on. He had found himself on a cliff, leading straight down into a roaring river.

“Shit, shit, shit, shitshitshit!” He screamed, as he almost stumbled down the cliff. However, his mind was fast, and he immediately turned around, but it was too late. They were already there.

“Haha, seems like you’re done for now, huh, Shin?” The leader of the delinquents said, as he slowly walked towards Shin. But there was nothing Shin could do. He was already surrounded. Behind his back, there was a fall of assured death, and in front of him there were four delinquents, all capable of kicking his ass.

“Please, Cliff, don’t do this! If the police find out, you’ll definitely go to prison!” Shin said, once more trying to convince this crazed bully.

“Prison? Are you stupid? Even if they find your rotting body, they’ll just think that you fell, or even more likely, you committed suicide!” Cliff said with mad glee. He had been chasing this punk for almost an hour now, so he was quite mad.

“No please, I’ll do any- Gah!” He said, but before he could finish, Cliff had punched him in the stomach, causing him to hunch over in loss of breath. Shin looked up to Cliff again, with a pleading look, but before he could speak, Cliff punched him again, this time on the face.

“Gah!” Shin grunted, as he fell to the ground. Cliff continued to punch him, continuously, as he forced Shin further and further back to the edge of the cliff. This was really ironic, really. He was about to be killed on a cliff, by a person named Cliff. Could it get anymore stupid?

However, before Shin could think any further, he was already at the edge. As his eyes leered over the edge, he quickly tried to stand up. With one hand on his knee, he somehow managed to stand. He looked over to the smiling Cliff, but before he could speak a single word, Cliff’s leg raised up, and kicked Shin. In one swift motion, he had been pushed over the edge, and he fell to the dark abyss below. The delinquents looked down, at the falling, screaming Shin. Suddenly, they had a dark thought. It was only now that they truly realized what they had done. They looked over to their leader, Cliff. There was a new light in their eyes now. The light of fear, and this light wouldn’t be exclusive to only them. Many people would come to fear Cliff. Not just because of his strength, but because of the new status he now held. Someone who had taken the life of another. A killer. A murderer.

Splash!

They were quickly shaken back to reality, as they heard the sound of a body, colliding with water. Somehow, they took a few steps back. All of them, except for Cliff.

“Hmph. What a waste of air, he was. Let’s go,” he said, as he finally turned around, and left the forest. There was no doubt in his mind. Shin Adkins was dead.