Nebula's Anamoly

A Date with Death

Panting and out of breath, a Red faced Eli had briefly stopped on the side of the pavement. When a car drove past, seamlessly oblivious to the teenage youngster breathing heavily, crashing through a large puddle, it doused Eli from his chest to his nose in dirty water. He needed to make it back home to his younger sister who was, as of right now, in excruciating pain. Rain continued to pour as it had for the past 35 minutes, which was actually why he was in his current situation; he had missed the bus. Nevertheless, in spite of his unathletic physique he continued to sprint on the wet concrete, splashing in puddles indiscriminately, leading to everything below his ankles to be absolutely soaked in muddy water.

Eli had just finished picking up the prescription for high class painkillers, in order to temporarily relieve the stress Faye was experiencing and it was for this reason that instead of taking the usual route home, Eli decided to shortcut through an alleyway that'd cut down the length of his journey considerably. It was often discouraged by many in the neighbourhood not to venture through that alley, especially at night, and most definitely not alone. This was because it lay rest to muggers, which is why Eli usually took heed to those warnings, however now was not the time to take it slow, for his sister's medical condition required Eli's utmost attention.

As he raced down the twisty labyrinth of an alley he had the awfully unfortunate luck to run directly into the back of a young man. As a result, it had caused Eli to stumble backwards landing on his butt and prompting him to profusely begin apologising.

"Sorry! I really am very sorry, I wasn't paying attent-" As Eli opened his eyes and scanned the individual, looking up from the man's feet until he reached his face. The man had turned around and their eyes locked, at that moment Eli cut himself off.

The young man was wearing scruffy, ripped jeans that were clearly very worn. Instead of wearing them appropriately they sagged around the middle of his thigh, with a Maroon belt loosely hanging through the loops. 'Why would you wear a belt just to let the trousers sag?' Eli pondered. The man wore a black top that was rolled at the sleeves, just above the elbow, with a black, sleeveless leather jacket over the top. The jacket was roughly 2 or 3 sizes too big. His whole attire caused him to look like an individual who had suddenly shrunk in his clothes while wearing them. The most peculiar aspect of this man was his hair, it was Jet Black and parted to one side, but shaved underneath, leading the hair to droop onto the left side of his scalp.

"What's this little s**t doin' 'ere?" The man asked irritably, squinting his eyes, yet the question wasn't aimed at Eli, but to the two men standing beside him. On either side were two more young men that were similarly clothed, also with dyed Jet-black hair, they resembled something of a makeshift gang. A ridiculous one at that. The next second, the man proceeded to laugh, and the other two men joined.

"Told yous lot we was gonna get lucky" One of the men snickered.

"Yeah yeah whatever, let's just get his wallet and we done yeah?" The second one said.

On their own the men wouldn't have been particularly intimidating, they were all at least a head taller than Eli, but each had very slim builds. One of the men, the one who seemed particularly eager to hurry, was especially skinny, bearing a striking resemblance to a skeleton. However, there were in fact three of them and to add further to the dismay, Eli was already in a vulnerable position with his butt resting uncomfortably on the damp floor. It was abundantly clear that he was about to be mugged. Eli was far too determined to be in fear right now and was thinking relatively calmly, for he knew that if he handed over his belongings and complied with their abuse, he would most likely come out unscathed, and more importantly without wasting too much precious time.

"This is all I've got on me" Eli stated pulling out his wallet. He was honest in his actions and wasn't even trying to deceive them, it's not that he feared they were sharp enough to catch on, but it was a matter of urgency and he really didn't want to be held up any longer. As the man in the middle, supposedly the leader of the group, snatched the wallet out of Eli's hand donning an expression which showed he was incredibly pleased with himself.

Eli was disheartened but he began to stand up, he didn't even bother to brush himself off and thus started to jog forward, half a second later he came to an abrupt halt as his wrist was grabbed by the awfully haired individual whom he bumped into earlier.

"Like thas gonna makeup for bumpin' into me" He angrily declared, ignorant of the fact that it was an accident. He pointed at the prescription in his Eli's hand. "Pass 'em over."

Tightening his grip on the paper bag Eli mustered the courage to deny his request.

"I-I can't do that." He stuttered.

The man looked at him in disbelief, how absurd for a child to say no to him! He pulled out a retractable knife from within his leather jacket and directed it towards Eli's position. The short-tempered fellow was becoming enraged and it was painfully obvious to Eli and this man's companions that he wasn't in any need for the medication, it was a matter of his damaged ego.

"I don't fink u 'eard me, pass 'em over" Raising the knife threateningly.

As a result of the sudden change in tempo, Eli became increasingly terrified, causing a chilling sensation to pass down his spine and course through his body, his knees began to tremble and his heart was thumping so loudly he felt as though his eardrums would burst. On top of that, the rain drops had become significantly colder and felt like pellets against his skin.

Eli thought that perhaps if he begged that his sister was in a medical emergency they'd let him be or maybe if he just ran the rest of the way home he'd be fine or even if he just handed them the meds the situation would diffuse. Alas, Eli's body would not respond, it in fact seemed to react completely opposite to what he wanted it to do. His throat tightened and his clutch on the chalky bag only stiffened. Consequently, Eli began to slowly walk backwards. After about two paces one of the other men decided to speak up.

"Jaaack, pudit away." The gentlemen elongated his vowels, like he was talking to a baby, most likely in an attempt to calm Jack down.

"Yeah man, we got some cash, let's split" The skeleton-like individual chimed.

Jack was ignoring his partners and swiped the knife, not with harmful intent, it was just intended to frighten Eli, what he hadn't anticipated was his strike to actually hit the mark, piercing into Eli's lower abdomen and causing a Scarlet pool to begin forming on Eli's uniform. Fostering tears upon his face, Eli crumpled to the floor. His head was heavy and his vision blurry. There was no scream from Eli, he wanted to yell, but his throat still felt clamped and not a sound left his body.

"Oh s**t" One mumbled.

"Oh s**t, s**t s**t s**t" Another undiscerned voice spoke.

"Jus run, jus fuckin run'."

Soft, muffled footsteps followed. The voices were indistinguishable as Eli's hearing weakened, it was reminiscent of being underwater. It was an odd experience, after the initial puncture Eli couldn't feel the pain, only the acute sensation of heat leaving his body, and he suddenly felt extremely thirsty. Staring at the Crimson mess that was spewing from his abdomen his face paled; as his perception of time stretched the last 10 seconds had felt like minutes.

"Faye…" He chuckled. "I'm really-" Blood was expelled from his mouth as he coughed.

"I'm really sorry I couldn't make it in time. I always was a lousy big brother." He sighed. "Couldn't even make a stupid bus on time."

He continued to smile despite his blackening vision and he resumed coughing up blood, which was now a more frequent occurrence. 'Could really use some water' Eli thought. The shift in dynamic within his own head was due to the fact that his mind was in a state of panic. Yet strangely, he was simultaneously very calm. 'So this was death, how peaceful' his mind continued to wander. Eli felt at ease.

"If only I was a little bit stronger…" His voice trailed off as his mind drifted towards the darkness, Eli felt as if there was no need to resist the pressing urge to fall asleep, for death was far more comfortable than he could have anticipated. It was only at the moment that everything fell silent, and his vision had completely blacked out did he feel a jolt of true terror. Only when the realisation that he was genuinely about to die occurred, did it petrify him more than he could have ever truly imagined.

For, like every living being, he did not want to die.

His final thought was 'Please don't let me die!' to which everything then turned Black.