Devil May Cry: Reloaded
Ch. 1
"Where am I?" he thought, "Who am I?" A chill ran down his spine. It felt like something was breathing down his neck. He turned slowly and came face to face with a giant black monster whose fangs were bared and drool dripped down its chin as it snarled. The young man backed away slowly. The monster lunged at the boy and he screamed.
He woke up in a cold sweat and looked around: he was in his bedroom, not that it really passed for one. It was only a dream then. He pulled his "blanket" up and closed his eyes, trying to go back to sleep. His room was nothing more than an abandoned house and his blanket no more than a rag. He tried laying on the couch his first night, but it collapsed under him. The floor became his bed.
He had wandered there a few weeks ago. He never stayed in one area for long because the monsters would always find him. This city was large enough to keep him hidden for now, but eventually he would have to leave his run down home like every other down home he stayed in prior.
People noticed him to easily. Word would spread and the monsters would hear and they would come after him. He ran his fingers through his white hair. That was how the monsters were able to find him. People remembered the kid with white hair. He had tried dying it, but every time it washed out like he never used any at all.
He actually managed to find a job in this city. That was good: he could save up the money so maybe one day he could get a place of his own. Assuming he ever got away from the monsters for good. Maybe then he could stop changing his name all the time to.
Every time he stopped at a town or city to rest he chose a new name for himself. In this city he was called Red. He picked it after the color of is old wore out coat.
The only things he owned besides the clothes on his back were his red coat, an old book bag, and the items inside of it. He had his money, a picture of a beautiful blonde women he swore he knew from somewhere, and a necklace with a red jewel on the end. He knew that was important to, but he had no idea why.
Truth is he didn't remember much of anything. Oh sure he remembered spending the past several years wandering from town to town, but he couldn't remember his early childhood. He couldn't even remember his birthday. He assumed he was eighteen because that's how old people seemed to think he was, so that's what he went with. He decided his birthday would be May 18th. That was the day he got his job and swore that he would have a new life. While he was saving up for a place of his own, that's what he told people, he was secretly saving up for something else first: a gun. Something he could use to fight these monsters. He was keeping track of the amount of money he had. He had gotten other odd jobs before putting him at $57.38. He wasn't sure how much he needed for a gun, but he had a feeling he was still a ways away.
He rolled over to his side to look out the window. He got really good at telling time from where the sun was since he didn't have a watch. It was about five in the morning. He'd have to get up to go to work soon, so he groaned and stood up.
The place that he worked at was called Sweet Tooth, it was a bakery owned by a middle aged couple whose son was away at college. They talked about him a lot. Tim had just turned twenty-one and would be graduating in the spring. He was studying to become a doctor and had plans to go to medical school.
His parents had a small place over the bakery where they lived. They were keeping their son's room clean for when he came back to city to go to school there. They were both very excited and Red was happy for them to.
He arrived at the bakery ten minutes later. He had to jog in order to get there in time. He didn't mind it though since he was always in good shape. Truth is Red really didn't know how. Oh sure, he travelled on foot a lot, but he never lifted weights or anything yet his whole body had muscle. He figured it was the same reason he has white hair and why the monsters were always after him.
He went into the bakery via the side door and headed into the back to wash his hands. He put his apron on and got to work getting out the supplies.
An older man came down the steps and clasped his hands. "Red! Bright and early as always."
Red gave him a cheesy grin. "I look forward to wearing a pink striped apron and bake cupcakes everyday!" he replied sarcastically.
"Ah, stop it!" the man waved his hand. He was the owner of the bakery, Mr. Garrith. He had met Red on the street one day while getting a newspaper. He never saw a kid with white hair before. Truth is he didn't know anything about him, but he seemed honest enough and was willing to work, so he hired him. Ok so it was his wife's idea, but he didn't regret it one bit. They had a surprise for Red as well.
"Ok," Mr. G, as Red called him, began, "you wanna make the frosting today and I'll do the cakes?"
"Why not?" Red shrugged as he readied the ingredients. He secretly liked doing the frosting since he was good at it. It always turned out so rich and creamy. He even got compliments from customers before!
Mrs. Garrith came down the stairs and smiled, "The two of you look so cute working together."
Red and Mr. G looked at one another awkwardly. "No we don't!" Mr. G chuckled nervously. "We look like men hard at work."
"Making cupcakes." she pointed out slyly.
"Oh you!" Mr. G laughed. "Hand me that do-hickey over there will you? I gotta get this done."
"It would help if I knew what a 'do-hickey0 was." she countered. The two of them poked fun at each other for kicks. Red continued working quietly as he listened.
"I see you smiling over there!" Mr. G yelled at Red.
"I'm not." he replied while trying to keep a straight face. Trying.
The bakery opened a few hours later. Red was polishing the glass case when there first customer came in. "Hello and welcome to Sweet Tooth." he said mechanically. "How can I help you?"
The customer that came in was short, about a foot shorter than Red, but with a big upper body from going to the gym. His face was swollen and his black hair was matted down in front of his eyes. He did not look like someone that wanted a chocolate cupcake with rainbow sprinkles.
"Can I help you?" Red asked again, unsure of what else to do.
The man sniffed loudly and looked around at the different sweets. "I'll uh...have one of these. The red velvets."
Red wasn't sure but it sounded like the man empathized "red" to much. Nah, it was just his imagination. Either way he carefully placed the dessert in a bag and handed it to the customer who then handed Red a ten dollar bill. "Keep the change." he muttered and walked out.
"What the hell?" Red muttered under his breath.
The man picked up the pace as soon as he was away from the bakery. He turned a corner and threw the cupcake into the dumpster. A stranger was leaning next to it. He was wearing a sweatshirt with its hood up. "So?" he asked.
"Yeah, that's him." the man with the swollen face answered.
The hooded man looked up at him and smiled. "Good." he said. His white bangs could be seen covering his left eye.