Ch. 1

Ch. 1

“Yeah kick that p***y’s a*s, Mike!  F****n’ little b***h!”  Gabriel wondered, P***y?  B***h?  Who are they talking about?  But the same time as Michael’s fist connected with his nose, he realized, Oh, it’s me…

With a crunch and a cry of pain he fell to the ground. Lying there with closed eyes, he felt Michael’s weight upon him.  He opened an eye, and immediately had it pounded shut with a vicious strike.  “You think this is what I want, HUH?  But you just don’t f*****g GET IT do you?!”  The fists began to fall, again, and again, and again.  Each blow drove Gabriel’s head into the ground, hammering him towards a merciful blackness that would fall on him like a soft blanket.  I guess it’s not going to be alright huh, Dad?

About to black out, he was heaved back to reality by a fresh sensation of pain, making the beating pale in comparison.  In Michael’s hand was a beautifully carved bone handle of a switchblade knife, its blade buried between Gabriel’s lowest pair of ribs.  The shriek ripping from Gabriel’s throat silenced the jeering crowd.  With a short, sharp, jerk Michael pulled the knife from his body, and bent to his ear, whispering.  Gabriel was surprised to notice his cries were muted.

“That hurts huh?  Don’t worry, you’re not gonna die, a cut like that won’t kill you.  I’ll leave you here to think awhile, maybe you’ll come to your senses.”  The boy felt the weight leave his chest and caught the fading words from Michael to his small band of spectators.  “This is what happens when you cross me, but the rest of you remember, you won’t get a second chance.  This one, he’s an exception.” 

Michael walked away, his boots leaving a wake of bloody prints stemming from the pool which Gabriel now lay in.  Gabriel’s breath came in ragged gasps, light fading from his eyes.  Slipping out of the physical world, he felt the phantom kiss of the wind upon his cheek, and the sole drop of rain which fell upon his outstretched right hand.