Lord of shadow

The young man with the weak physical build and pale appearance was sitting near the small shop, holding a plastic bag between his hands. His skin was dull, and his black eyes were sunken with exhaustion. A person like him, one of the poor of the neighborhood, had no chance of entering that candy shop. That place was reserved for citizens of high status only. But… on this very day, Knox truly needed it. After all… his life depended on it. And so he had no choice but to steal. In fact, this was not something new to him; he had been used to it for a long time. But this time the matter was a little more difficult, for he was known in the neighborhood as a big thief. And because of that, he was strictly forbidden from entering any shop. Rather, the shop owners had hung his picture in all their stores… with a clear word written under it: Thief. Knox raised his eyes and stared at a tall woman who was about to leave the shop, wearing elegant clothes. That alone was enough for him to immediately know that she was not from this neighborhood. He knew almost every person who lived here. But her clothes confirmed his suspicion even more. Knox smiled a light smile as he saw her approaching the exit door. "Time. What I was going to do as always: steal and run fast. The matter is simple... stop worrying, Knox." Knox gave the woman a long look. Then he sighed slowly and forced himself to move toward her, whether he would be caught or not… he was determined to get that candy from her. Damn fear. Then, with a light smile, he crossed the street while covering part of his face with the plastic bag. He stood in front of the shop and waited for the woman to come out. And when she came out, she threw him a clear look of contempt, before turning her face and continuing on her way. Knox’s mouth twitched slightly. "What is wrong with this woman…? I haven’t even stolen from her yet. Tsk… I was about to feel pity for her. But now? No… now I do not want to steal from anyone except her." He began to walk behind her quietly while waiting for the right moment. He did not want to steal from her here, for the street was crowded with people, and if he tried now he would be caught immediately. So he continued walking behind her for some time, watching the bag that was hanging from her hand. Knox breathed slowly. "Time… either now or never." He rushed toward her quickly, stretched out his hand and snatched the bag from her hand forcefully before turning and running away. The woman felt shocked for a moment. Her eyes widened, and she froze in her place as if her mind had not yet comprehended what had happened. Then she suddenly screamed in a loud voice: "Thief!" And she pointed with her trembling hand toward the street. "That damned one stole from me! Catch him! He stole my belongings!" But she had been too late. At the moment she screamed… Knox had already rushed into a dark alley and disappeared among the narrow alleys. No one could even see him clearly… so how could they chase him? People began to gather around the woman as she panted in anger. One man said while shaking his head: "It must be that boy again." "Yes… it is definitely him." "That little thief cannot stop stealing no matter what we do." "You are right. Honestly… we should have taken him to prison when we caught him. I thought he would stop after the beating he received back then… but it seems that stealing has become part of his life." While the commotion filled the place, Knox continued running without stopping until he felt safe. Then he stopped while panting, and smiled as he stared at the bag he was holding, and opened it. Dozens of colorful candies shone before him, like a small treasure at the bottom of a plastic bag. His smile stretched until it almost touched his ears. Finally... my chance to survive has increased. I can now dream of living for a longer period. "Here you are, you damned rat!" Knox quickly turned toward the voice. He expected to see a policeman or the person who was chasing him. But when he saw the person, he was a little surprised. Standing a few meters away from him was a boy slightly older than him. His clothes were worn out… and dirty like Knox’s clothes exactly. And he knew him well. He moved a little closer to him and smiled a light smile, and said: "Is that you, mop face? Do you want more beating? Was what happened last time not enough for you? Or did you like it and want more?" "Shut up!" The boy’s voice trembled despite his attempt to remain steady. Then he laughed a nervous laugh. "Do you think I am a fool to come to you alone? Look around you." Knox did what he said, and looked around him, while there were five people surrounding him from different directions. He recognized all of them immediately. Some of them… he had beaten before, and the others… he had stolen things that they themselves had stolen in the first place. Knox clenched his teeth slightly. 'How disgusting... damn. What do I do now? Should I run? I cannot. The place is narrow. It seems that I really fell into the trap this time.' Knox was right, there was no way to escape. For the alley he was standing in was narrow and dirty, piles of garbage stacked on both sides, and the smell of rot spreading through it. And it had only one exit… but those boys were standing there, blocking the way completely. As for going back? That meant returning to the main street… where the crowd was still gathered. And if he went out there he would be arrested immediately, and be subjected to severe beating. So Knox had no choice but to clench his teeth and curse his luck. He raised his head and looked at them with contempt. "Come then… you bastards. Or do you want me to come to you myself?" He did not wait for their reply, before he finished his words… he rushed toward them. His body moved like an arrow inside the narrow alley, which surprised them for a moment. They did not expect him to attack with such boldness, and Knox immediately took advantage of that moment. He turned his body and delivered a sudden punch toward the closest one to him. Tak! His fist collided with the boy’s nose forcefully. His nose broke immediately, and blood burst from it heavily while the boy staggered backward screaming in pain. But the rest did not remain frozen for long. They quickly rushed toward him together. Knox’s expression changed slightly when he saw them rushing all at once. He stepped back quickly, then bent slightly and turned his leg, in a fast low strike, while kicking the legs of two of them forcefully. The two lost their balance and almost fell on each other. But at that moment… Mop Face rushed from behind, jumping onto Knox and grabbing him by his arms from behind tightly. He pulled his body strongly until Knox was no longer able to move freely. And before Knox could free himself—one of them stepped forward quickly, then delivered a strong punch directly to Knox’s stomach. Boom! Knox’s eyes widened as he felt a sharp pain spreading in his stomach. "K… gh…" His body bent slightly even though he was still being held from behind, but the boy who hit him did not stop. He raised his fist again while smiling mockingly. "What happened, you cursed thief? Where did your courage go now?" 'Damn… it hurts. I must find a way to break free, otherwise I will be finished.' Knox was looking around quickly while panting, but before he could do anything he received another punch that made the pain ignite in his body. And while he staggered slightly, his eyes fell on an iron pole lying on the ground not far from him. But before he could move toward it, he received another punch that made him feel even stronger pain. Nevertheless, he suppressed his pain between his broken breaths, and raised his head to look at the boy who was smiling mockingly. He was about to deliver another strike to him. But this time, before the punch reached him, Knox suddenly lunged forward and struck his head forward forcefully. Tak! His forehead collided with the boy’s face, making him stagger slightly from dizziness. And at the same moment—Knox quickly raised his foot, then delivered a harsh strike between his legs. The boy’s eyes widened immediately. A muffled sound of pain came out from him before he collapsed to the ground while holding himself. Knox immediately took advantage of the opportunity. He threw his body backward violently, so he and Mop Face who was holding him fell to the ground. Mop Face was not ready for what happened, so he hit the ground hard, and his grip loosened for a moment. And that moment was enough. Knox freed himself immediately, while rolling slightly, then stretched his hand quickly toward the iron pole. He grabbed it tightly, and in one moment jumped to his feet again. He did not hesitate for a moment, but rushed directly toward the owner of the "Mop Face" and raised the iron pole and struck him on the head. Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! The sounds of the ضربات echoed in the narrow alley, while blood began to flow from Mop Face’s head and fall onto the dirty ground. The other boys stood in their places while looking at the scene with clear shock on their faces. None of them moved. For Knox continued beating him mercilessly, as if everything around him had disappeared. And slowly… the ground beneath his feet began to fill with blood. "He has… died." One of the boys stepped back a step, his voice trembling: "He killed Craig… impossible, did he really die?!" Another shouted in panic: "Stop! Do you not see that he will die if you continue beating?!" But Knox did not stop. He slowly raised his head and looked at them with a cold gaze, and the drops of blood smeared on his face made his appearance more terrifying. The boys froze in their places for a moment, then began to retreat slowly. Even the boy who had been writhing in pain suddenly stood up when his eyes met Knox’s gaze, as if he had completely forgotten his pain, then turned and ran away. The rest looked at the body lying on the ground, then at Knox, and felt fear creeping into their hearts. They did not want to end up like him, so they turned one after another and fled from the alley. Knox remained alone. He wiped the blood from his face slowly, then bent down and picked up the bag that had fallen during the fight. He cast a short glance at the corpse, but his expression did not change. There was no regret and no hesitation, only cold calm. He muttered while turning his back and leaving: "This is the law of life… either you kill first or you are killed, either you steal first or you are stolen from. This is how life goes; either you take from it before it takes from you. This is how the cycle continues… an endless loop." After a short time, Knox arrived at the sewer opening that he had taken as his home. The place was not suitable for living; the smell of rot filled the passages and the walls were damp and darkness wrapped around everything, but for Knox this place was precious, because his friends were here. He ran toward the entrance while calling out in a loud voice: "White! Black! I’m back home!" He raised the bag slightly while smiling and said: "Come on, come out quickly and look at what I brought for you. Yes, as you expect… your favorite sweets, so do not make me wait long, or I will devour them myself." "Meow." Two small cats came out from inside the sewer; one of them black and the other white. They ran directly toward Knox and jumped into his arms. He laughed while hugging them, saying: "Did you miss me to this degree? Well… even I missed you." In fact, Knox had been absent from them throughout the day; some residents of the neighborhood had caught him in the morning, and he did not succeed in escaping until later, so he spent a whole day without seeing them. He took out pieces of candy from the bag and placed them in front of the two cats, and they began to eat happily. Knox watched them with a light smile, but his smile gradually faded when he lowered his gaze toward his right hand. There was a tattoo appearing slowly on his skin, dark lines forming little by little. "It seems that I will become awakened … I think that I will reach seventeen tonight." .... The tattoos first appeared in the world several decades ago. At that time the planet had just begun to recover from a series of disasters that accompanied the appearance of the western continents from nothingness. The event attracted widespread attention across the world, and made billions of humans talk about it without stopping. Scientists tried to explain what happened, so some of them assumed that it was a phenomenon they called "the rising from oblivion," where they concluded that those continents might have existed for millions of years, but had remained submerged under the oceans until the water level began to decrease and they appeared again. But that was not the only explanation. Others claimed that ancient civilizations had been hiding from the eyes of the world, and that they possessed means to hide themselves for long centuries, but those means were destroyed when the wars broke out. This explanation seemed logical to some, especially since the continents that appeared were close to each other and destroyed. However, none of those explanations were more than mere theories. Even today, no one knows how those continents appeared from nothing. But the matter did not stop at that point. After the continents appeared, what happened was far worse… Creatures began to appear from there, and the world was not prepared for that. Soon the monsters overwhelmed the national armies, and even when the countries used nuclear bombs nothing significant changed. It seemed as if the world was slowly heading toward destruction. And in the end… the awakened appeared. They were the first whose bodies were engraved with tattoos, and through those marks they obtained extraordinary powers. And with the power of those abilities they were finally able to stop the rampage of the monsters, and restored some peace to the world, establishing something like a new order. Of course, those events were the first disaster the world had known since the appearance of the continents. But for Knox… none of that had anything to do with him. Not… until a few days ago, when a strange mark began to appear on his hand for the first time. ... After a few hours Knox began to feel severe pain in his hands, for the tattoo was appearing quickly on his skin, expanding little by little until the pain spread with every new line being engraved on his arms. He clenched his teeth while panting with difficulty. "Damn… I did not think the matter would be this painful. It seems they were not joking when they talked about this." When a person awakens for the first time, it was natural to be exposed to tremendous pain. The pain begins from the hands then gradually spreads to the rest of the body, and it may become so severe that it can sometimes kill its owner. For this reason the authorities always warned: when the signs of awakening appear on a person, he must immediately head to the nearest branch belonging to them, or even to the nearest police station. But Knox could not do that, he was wanted by justice, and many complaints had been filed against him because of thefts and fights, so entering a police station for him was like suicide. However, pain was not the only stage of awakening. After the pain spreads throughout the whole body, the body begins to absorb all the sugar in it at a frightening speed. And for this reason everyone who goes through the awakening process had to keep a large amount of sugar beside them. Knox stretched his trembling hand while clenching his teeth strongly from the intensity of the pain, while his vision began to blur slightly. "Where is that damned piece…?" He kept examining the plastic bag nervously until his fingers finally touched a piece of candy. He grabbed it immediately and put it in his mouth, then devoured another one right after it. And slowly… his vision began to return to normal. And the pain that had been tearing his body a short while ago eased. He then lowered his gaze to his arms. There was a long tattoo extending from his fingers to his shoulders, dark and complex lines forming a strange pattern on his skin. He stared at it for a moment before muttering quietly: "So… I have become awakened." A light smile appeared on his face. From this moment on… he was no longer just a small thief living in the sewers. From this moment on… he had become capable of changing his reality.