Chapter One- Guns n' Groceries

My Dad once told me that curiosity is a poison. Cheery as he was, you'd think he would've mentioned that curiosity can also be a 9mm bullet…because personally, I didn't need to learn that first-hand.

My name is Jason Blake. Up until recently, I was pretty much your average teenager, albeit one stupid enough to skulk about a seedy neighborhood after dark.

Okay, maybe I'm being a little too dramatic.

I just stepped out of the neighborhood 7-Eleven with a loaf of bread and a bag of peanut M&Ms. Since my dad left, I've been stuck with a lot more responsibilities than just mowing the lawn once a week.

It wasn't the best of neighborhoods either, which is why my left hand kept drifting to the switchblade in my back pocket.

Maybe a mugger can use it to clean their nails after they're done with me.

I was trying to ignore the stench of a nearby dumpster when I heard it.

"Where are your so-called brothers now?"

The voice came from an alley just around the corner- a cold drawl- a young man, by the sound of it.

I hesitated before edging along the cool brick wall to my left, dropping my stuff behind the offending dumpster as I approached the corner.

"Gulgamtgai novsh!" a second voice snapped, a girl. The language sounded vaguely Asian, but judging by the venom those words carried, it didn't take a professor to figure out it was an insult.

"This isn't your problem, Jason" I chastised myself, "Don't be an idiot."

A sickening thud pulled me from my reverie, followed by a stifled cry that made the hair on the back of my neck prickle.

Well, if it's just one guy…

I'd stepped into the alleyway before my brain even registered what I was doing, willing my eyes to adjust to the inky darkness.

The man had her backed against the wall, deliberately cocking his fist back for another strike. He stood imposingly over the girl in question, who was struggling to get to her feet. Her face was obscured by a black hood, which made her almost indiscernible from the grimy cement behind her.

"This doesn't concern you, boy." he spat, turning before advancing slowly towards me.

Any retort I could've hoped to come up with died in my throat.

I cautiously reached for my back pocket with a sweaty hand, praying he didn't notice how badly my legs were trembling.

He was barreling towards me before I even got close. Instinct alone dragged me out of harms way as I sidestepped at the last second. Seeing what was most likely my only opportunity, I latched my left arm around his neck. Putting every ounce of strength I could into my right fist, I began to pummel away frantically.

His nose, forehead, jaw, neck…I connected anywhere I could before the adrenaline coursing through my veins ebbed away.

He thrashed about so wildly that I'm pretty sure I felt my left shoulder pop out of place. The sharp bolt of pain only spurred me to redouble my efforts. By the time he had been forced to his knees, my knuckles were warm and slick with blood. Whether it was my blood or his, I didn't care.

A satisfying crunch accompanied the blow that followed and he keeled over with a soft groan. Only the occasional rise and fall of his chest gave any indication that he was alive.

I staggered towards the stooped figure now propped up against a rusty drainpipe.

"Hey, are you-" I began.

"GET DOWN!"

Dizzy and slightly deafened by my own blood pounding in my ears, I stumbled, and then dropped into a crouch seconds before blinding agony flared in my left arm. I clawed at it instinctively, trying to staunch the flow of blood that steadily dripped off my elbow.

Despite the stars that burst before my eyes, I still managed to catch a glimpse of the pistol-wielding culprit on the fire-escape above…heard the metallic hiss and the surprisingly loud phit! as the knife grip suddenly sprouted from his throat. He collapsed like a defective marionette, retching violently.

I thought I spied two more cowled shadows descending from the adjacent rooftop before my eyesight grew dim.

As I succumbed to the ether that laced my vision, an absurd part of my mind thought of the bread and M&Ms that I'd ditched behind the dumpster.

It'll probably become some vagrant's midnight snack now…