~~You know the thing about chaos? It's fair~~
-Joker
Chapter 1: "Stories Have to Start Somewhere"
When Gwen woke up at the sound of multiple knocks from down stairs at 1 in the morning, she wasn't happy. No one in their right mind would try to disturb the woman, much less cause a racket at her front door. So Gwen did the most sensible thing a person of her position would do.
She went back to sleep.
"Ms. Wages! Ms. Wages! We need your help, please!" Insistent yelling continued at the front door downstairs. Gwen groaned, but finally got out of bed, putting on a shirt and headed down her front office. It was a very small room compared to the rest of the building, with just a simple marble counter, a row of metal cabinets that stood behind it that contained patient information, and small simple chairs lined up the drabby grey wall that faced the door to her sanctuary. It was a cold room, to say the least.
The tired woman looked through the window next to the door, squinting to see who it was in the dark. All she could make out were 2 figures, with something between them as though holding onto something.
"Who's there?" she croaked, still not ready to fully wake up. With this kind of town, there was an unspoken curfew; no one dared to walked on the streets unless they were drunk or they came from or towards the ports. Gwen put her hand to her side, gripping on an object that she hoped not to use. She hear a grunt from outside.
"Ms. Wages, it's me, Yorkshy Donovan!" Gwen raised an eyebrow. Donovan was a local fisherman. A relatively kind man who was one of the few who could stand at least 5 feet near Gwen. However, seeing him at this time of day was strange. He would usually be out in sea by now.
"Connor is with me too. We have a man we need you to look at! I think he's hurt pretty bad." Gwen opened the door, curious as to why they came to her out of all people.
In came in 2 men, each holding onto another man by the arms to give support. Donovan was a burly man, late 50s with salt and pepper hair. Despite being a bit on the old side, he was well-built, thanks to a lifetime devoted to hunting fish. Connor, on the other hand was a frail and thin man with mousy hair. He looked even more ill than the strange man they were holding.
"Why are you giving him to me?" said Gwen, flatly. Connor was eyeing Gwen, distrust in his eyes; however, Donovan didn't seem to notice her tone, obviously more concern about the man he was holding.
"Dr. Kindersin is on the other side of the island. Apparently, a fight was started by a few of the alley gangs and there were too many injured for the doctor over there to manage. He left a few hours ago," Donovan explained, "You are the only other professional in the town with medical knowledge."
Connor mumbled, "Are you even sure her type actually know how to keep people alive." Donovan hit the boy's head on instinct. Connor bent forwards, shouting in pain. Gwen frown, more upset about the Connor's comment than she liked to.
She hunched over to stare at the unconscious man. For one thing, he was breathing, although shallow. She lifted the man's head and tried to look for something. The man had oddly pale skin, almost a greyish blue.
'Odd,' she thought. Behind his eyeglasses, the man's eye was swollen, a shade of purple getting darker. Around his body were nicks, cuts and bruises as if the man was thrown into a group of rocks. Then Gwen noticed the man's bare chest and saw the large patch of ripped tissue, right at the middle. Unlike the rest of his bruises and cuts, this one looked old, a scar that hasn't and would never heal.
"How did you find him? He doesn't look familiar," Donovan scratched his head and sighed.
"Well, I was heading out for the early morning fish with Connor. More game at dusk during this season.. As we were going out of the boat, we hear this moaning sound. Now, I don't know about you, but when I hear a moan, I know someone's hurt. So I got to the direction of the sound, heading towards those beach houses that those groups live in." Gwen stared at Donovan with wide eyes in shock. No one dared go in that private area. It was like having a civilian walk into the house of a Celestial Dragon. It was too dangerous to attempt. Donovan saw the face Gwen was making and looked away in guilt. Connor glared in outrage at his father.
"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT HE WAS OVER THERE! YOU SHOULD HAVE LET HIM LIE THERE TO DIE!" Donovan looked away.
"It was dark. I didn't see where I was going until I saw the lights", he mumbled , "Look, I head down under the docks over there and I see something move. I walk up to it, touching it with my foot. Must have touched a bad spot cause the thing groaned in pain, then I knew it was an injured man. Picked him up and carried him back to Connor. He was kinda awake when I arrived back to my boat. The last thing I heard him say was that he needed to see a someone. Didn't catch the name."
Gwen furrowed her eyebrows. It seemed as though the man might have wash onto shore, from a shipwreck. However, his injuries didn't look like any boating accident she had ever seen before
Suddenly, the man's head shot up. She froze, eyes alert. Gwen heard mumbling coming from the man, whatever he was saying she could not understand. He slowly rose his head up and opened a groggy eye. He peered at her, face fill with fatigue and said mournfully
"I'm looooossssttt!"
And thank you for reading the first chapter of "There is Always a Price for Revenge"! This story has been in a development for months but it was only been recently that I finally got the story to finally debut. So, how did you like it? Might seem a bit lighthearted now but it gets demented later on. Not much to go on, but this is just the beginning! I just hope you will follow me on this ride.
If there are any questions need asking, mistakes need fixing, or critiques need making, go ahead and message me here or on my tumblr. Link is on my profile page.
