Chapter 3: Wanting Revenge
1730 Words
The walk back felt longer than it should. Kai kept his hood up, the stolen pistol heavy against his hip. The new strength in his arms made every step feel too easy, like the ground was giving way under him instead of the other way around. He passed a group of kids kicking a deflated ball against a wall, same kids who’d laughed at him last month when he’d limped home bleeding. Today they didn’t even look up.
He stopped at the edge of the market square, scanning faces. No Dominion patrols close enough to notice him yet. But word traveled fast in places like this. Three of Kael’s boys beaten bloody in an alley? By tonight the whole district would be buzzing. By tomorrow, Baron Kael himself would hear. Let him.
Kai slipped into a side street, found a shadowed doorway, and pressed his back to the cool brick. He needed a minute. Just one. The core hummed under his skin. Like a cat that had licked cream off its paws.
Current Status
Strength: 7 (+2)
Agility: 6 (+1)
Shadow Affinity: 2
Skills:
Shadow Step (Lv. 1)
Intimidation Aura (Lv. 1 – Passive)
He stared at the floating words until they faded. Part of him wanted to laugh. The other part wanted to puke. This wasn’t a game. This was his life. Lena’s life. And whatever this thing was inside him, it didn’t care about fair or right it just wanted more.
He pushed off the wall and kept moving. By the time he reached their building, the sun was high and merciless. Sweat stuck his shirt to his back. He took the stairs two at a time, ignoring the ache in his legs from the stamina drain earlier.
The door was still closed from inside. He knocked twice. Their signal. The door opened. Lena’s eye appeared in the gap, then widened. “You’re back early.”
“Promised I would be.” She pulled the door wider, stepped aside. “You smell like blood and trouble.”
“Only half true.” He slipped inside, bolted the door behind him. Lena crossed her arms, studying him. “You’re different again. Walk different. Stand different. What happened out there?”
Kai set the backpack down. He’d detoured on the way home, hit a couple of abandoned apartments he remembered from the first timeline. Scored canned beans, a half-roll of bandages, even a small solar charger that still held a charge. Nothing fancy, but better than yesterday.
He pulled out the pistol and laid it on the table between them. Lena’s eyes flicked to it, then back to his face. “That’s new.”
“Borrowed it.” He lied
“From who?” she asked brows raised.
“People who won’t miss it.” He answered nonchalantly.
She didn’t blink. “You kill them?”
“No.” A pause. “Not yet.” He said staring at the pistol.
Lena let out a slow breath. “Kai… I know you’re trying to protect me. But this...” she gestured at the gun, at him “...this isn’t you.”
He met her gaze. “Maybe it is now.” She flinched, just a little. He hated that.
“Look,” he said, softer. “I’m not turning into some psycho. But the world out there? It’s the same one that let you get sicker while I came home with nothing. The same one that watched our parents disappear in the first big rift tear and did jack s**t about it. I’m done waiting for someone else to fix things.”
Lena sat on the edge of the mattress, hands in her lap. “And what’s the plan? Shoot everyone who ever looked at us wrong?”
“No.” He crouched in front of her. “The plan is we don’t starve. We don’t cough ourselves to death. We don’t get stepped on anymore. And the people who made sure we did? They get to feel what that’s like.”
She searched his face for a long time. Then she reached out and touched the fresh bruise blooming on his knuckles. “You’re scaring me a little,” she said quietly.
“I know.” He said looking down, not wanting to look into her eyes.
“But… I trust you.” The words hit harder than any punch he’d taken today.
Kai swallowed. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Not again.”
She gave a small, crooked smile. “Big brother promises, huh?”
“Always.” They sat in silence for a minute, the city rumbling outside like distant thunder.
Then Lena nodded toward the backpack. “Show me what else you stole.” He laughed, surprised. He started unpacking.
They ate cold beans straight from the can, passing it back and forth. Tasted like heaven. After, Kai cleaned the pistol while Lena sorted the bandages. She hummed under her breath.
When the light started fading, he stood. “I’ve got one more thing to do tonight.”
Lena looked up sharply. “Already?”
“Gotta move while they’re still licking their wounds.” She stood too. “Then I’m coming.”
“No.” He said bluntly, not wanting to risk her life for any reason.
“Kai...” she tried to protest, but he interrupted her.
“No.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “You stay here. Lock the door. If I’m not back by midnight, you take the backpack and head to Mama Rin’s. She’ll hide you.”
Lena’s jaw tightened. “I’m not hiding while you play hero.”
“This isn’t hero s**t. This is survival.” She glared, but he didn’t back down.
Finally she exhaled. “Fine. But you come back. Or I swear I’ll hunt you down myself.” He ruffled her hair like when they were kids. She swatted his hand away, but she was smiling. “Deal.”
Outside, night had swallowed the streets. Kai moved through the shadows like he belonged to them.
He knew where Vance would be tonight. Same place every Thursday, the Iron Dominion’s outpost bar on the edge of the old commercial zone. A squat concrete building with reinforced windows and a constant haze of cigarette smoke leaking from the cracks. Vance liked to drink there after collections, liked to brag about his latest score, buy rounds for the boys, act like he was already running the place.
In the first timeline, Kai had walked past that bar a hundred times. Never went in. Never had the balls.
Tonight he walked straight up to the door. Two guards blocked the entrance. One raised a hand. “Private party, scavenger. Beat it.”
Kai stopped just outside the ring of light from the neon sign. He let the Intimidation Aura leak—just a trickle. Didn’t even focus it. Just let the core do what it wanted.
The two guards stiffened. One’s hand twitched toward his rifle. The other swallowed hard. Kai tilted his head. “Tell Vance Kai Thorn’s here to talk.”
The first guard blinked. “Thorn? The nobody?”
“Yeah. That one.” They exchanged a look. The second guard disappeared inside.
A minute later the door opened wider. Vance stepped out.
Tall. Clean-shaven. Uniform pressed like he thought he was still in some pre-Shattering army. Same easy smile that used to make Kai feel safe.
That smile faltered when he saw Kai standing there alone, calm, unmarked.
“Kai?” Vance laughed, but it sounded forced. “Man, you look… different. Heard you roughed up some of Kael’s boys today. Didn’t think you had it in you. ”Kai didn’t smile back.
“I want to talk. Inside.” He said wjth a straight face.
Vance glanced at the guards, then shrugged. “Sure. Why not? Old friends catch up.” He turned, waved Kai in.
The bar was loud, clinking glasses, low music. Heads turned as they walked through. Whispers followed.
Vance led him to a corner booth, slid in first. Kai sat opposite, back to the wall, eyes on the room.
Vance leaned forward, elbows on the table. “So. What’s this about? You finally ready to join up? I could use someone with your… grit.”
Kai studied him. The same face he’d trusted for years. The same voice that had promised they’d look out for each other after their parents vanished.
“I remember,” Kai said quietly. Vance frowned. “Remember what?”
“Everything.” A beat of silence.
Vance’s smile slipped a fraction. “You’re talking weird, man.”
Kai leaned in. “Three months from now. The big rift raid on the east tower. You tell me it’s a sure thing. Easy loot. Glory for whoever brings back the most. You lead the team in. Then you hang back. Watch the monsters tear into me. And when I’m bleeding out, you laugh. Say Lena’s next.”
Vance went very still. His hand drifted toward the pistol under his jacket—slow, casual.
Kai’s voice dropped lower. “Don’t.” Vance froze. The bar noise seemed to fade.
Kai continued. “I died screaming your name. And you walked away richer.”
Vance’s eyes darted left, right. Looking for backup. Finding none close enough.
“You’re delusional,” he said, but his voice cracked.
Kai reached across and tapped the table once. “I’m giving you one warning. Because we were friends once.”
Vance laughed nervously. “Warning?”
“Stay away from Lena. Stay away from me. Quit the Dominion. Leave the district. If I see you again, I won’t talk.”
Vance stared at him like he was seeing a stranger. Then he leaned back, forced the smile again. “You threatening me? In my own bar?”
Kai stood. “I’m telling you the future.” He turned to leave.
Vance’s voice followed him, low and venomous. “You’re nothing, Kai. You always were.”
Kai paused at the door, looked back. The core pulsed. “Not anymore.”
He stepped into the night, behind him, the door slammed shut. But he heard the whisper inside his head, clear as day.
Potential echo target marked: Vance Harrow.
Threat level: Rising.
Kai smiled into the dark. Good, let it rise.
- Writer
