Chapter One

Valhalla

Jacob was wandering down a dusty dreary road when he spotted a building that was covered in neon lights that pointed it out over the other buildings on the road. He slowly walked in and scanned the room, there was loud music sending sound waves that shook Jacob to the point it made his back and heart hurt. He slowly made his way to the back of the room passing the stage watching the women on it dancing errodicly and looking like they were feeding off of all the attention from the men in the room. As Jacob stepped into the back room the sound almost instantly went silent save the bass coming from the other side of the wall, a short portly man with a braided goatee and a blue mohawk quickly stepped over to Jacob and handed him a clipboard and a name tag on a black lanyard with some strings and buttons covering it.

"What's up jacob, I need to to go and grab a cooler of soda for after the show take my truck out back, its waiting for you at the seven eleven." Trevor told Jacob and threw him his keys.

Jacob made his way through a red door down on the other side of the backstage sliding the clipboard into the back of his jeans so half of it could stick out and be easy to grab.

As he stepped through the parking lot to find and old blue c20 '76 Dodge short bed truck. He looked at his reflection in the drive side window to see his dark brown hair that was fixed standing up and somewhat toward the back, he adjusted his thick black glasses and fixed his leather jacket with a yellow hood and a thin blue hoodie underneath with the sleeves sticking out at the wrists. he was wearing blue faded jeans and combat boots with a black bandana around one. He unlocked the door and jumped into the truck to see a large collection of bobble heads on the dash and there was a McDonalds bag with track in it in the middle of the truck. Jacob starts to drive off and turns on the radio at a very low volume, once he made it to the seven eleven Jacob seen a group of teens on the corner smoking a few cigarettes and on the other side there was an old man sitting on the ground wrapped up in rags and blankets there was a jar next to him with one penny at the bottom.

Jacob walked in through the double doors and pulled out the clip board.

"I'm here to pick up a cooler for the concert down the road." Jacob handed the clipboard to the clerk behind the counter after inspection of the paper on the clipboard the clerk waved Jacob to come behind the counter. The two of them walked through a freezer area and reached the cooler that was in the corner it was strapped to a small grey dolly and ready to be wheeled out.

"Alright thank you I'll make sure to bring the straps and the dolly back to you after the concert." Jacob slipped the clipboard into one of the straps so that it will stay with the cooler.

"Who is playing at, huh, concert?" the clerk asked struggling to properly speak english.

he was a skinny hispanic man with dreadlocks, white converse, and three rings on one hand then a beaded necklace with a cross at the bottom.

"I'm not to sure some french and german bands who were wanting to tour in america." Jacob never made eye contact with him just continued to work and make sure that nothing would come out of the cooler while he was driving.

Jacob wheeled the cooler through the store and seen that the old man was standing in the window looking into the store, when the teens who were messing around on the corner started making there way to the old man. Jacob didn't think much of it but always kept his eyes and focus on the old man.

"Can I grab two sandwiches as well really quick?" Jacob asked reaching him hand in his pocket for his wallet. He glanced up at the clerk to see him nod for approval Jacob made his way to the back of the store and noticed that the old man never took his eyes off of him. He grabbed two sandwiches and made his way back to the counter when he heard a large thunderous noise, he looked up to see the teens having the old man against the window yelling and laughing.

"Hey you fucks! let him go!" Jacob ran and busted through the front two doors grabbed the trash can and threw it at the kid holding the old man making him fly back a few feet. One of the kids grabbed a butterfly knife and everything got quiet Jacob looked at the knife and seen that it had a long blade on it almost five or six inches from the handles the whole knife together was almost a foot long and looked used. The clerk quickly rushed out with a super shorty 12ga. shot gun pointed at the teen with the knife once he got outside the teens made a break for it and Jacob helped the old man up on his feet.

"Are you ok sure?" the old man put both his hands on Jacobs shoulders and blinked really hard, when he opened his eyes they were filled with wonder and confusion.

"Are you ok, do you need anything?" Jacob repeated slowly

"No no im fine, thank you." The old man patted Jacob on the shoulder and walked back to where he was sitting before and covered up in a blanket. Jacob stepped back inside grabbed his sandwiches and the cooler then walked outside like nothing happened. Jacob looked over to the old man then jogged over to him and gave him both of the sandwiches and and the change that he got from the sandwiches then walked over put the cooler in the truck bed and drove off.

As Jacob made it back to the parking lot to see Trevor walking out from the back door to give Jacob a hang with the cooler.

"Sorry for being late some shit went down at the seven eleven." Jacob said grabbing the clipboard from the cooler.

"Its cool man, just hurry the other deliveries, and, your nose is bleeding man." Trevor leaned down and pointed at it in comparison to his face. Jacob touched his nose to see the fresh dripping blood then whipped it away.

"huh, weird." Jacob said whipping the blood away Trevor wheeled the cooler into the back door and Jacob drove off again in his truck. Jacob was driving all around LA it seemed like he never got a break from being behind the wheel going from a store or gas station and back to the concert. After seven deliveries Jacob finally finished and was able to actually enjoy the concert he walked through the red door and heard the deep bass and beats continuing from the stage area. Jacob grabbed a soda out of a small mini fridge that was covered in stickers and scratches.

"Yo, grab me a Mountain Dew." Trevor yelled out to Jacob making his way to him

Jacob grabbed him one and threw it to him, they both leaned on the table and started to watch the french band walk out from the stage area. Once they opened the door a wave of applause filled the backstage area and almost shook Jacob off the table, the door shut making everything go back to normal and quiet.

Jacob looked and seen the girl he watched as he walked in to work, she was wearing a long tight blue dress her hair was straight and she wore blue gloves that went up to her elbows. She walked by and looked over at jacob once she walked by she gently rubbed her fingertips on his chin and made her way out to a large bus that was out in the parking lot. A bouncer walked up to Jacob and patted him on the shoulder.

"Dude she likes you, you're one lucky man." The bouncer walked out the door making sure that no one would cross a metal fence.

"I wish i had your luck with women." Trevor remarked as he sipped his drink

"I don't think I have luck." Jacob said he threw his bottle into a trash can across from him

"Whatever your a ladies man, anyway back to work."

The two of them walked over to a box full of junk.

"Remember if you find electronics or wallets they will be returned, the rest is free takings." Trevor started to rummage through the box checking pockets for loose change

"Right." Jacob reached in and found a few wallets and phones.

"Alright I'm going to try and return these."

"Hold up, let me do that I'm going to take it and announce it over the intercom."

"What ever man." Jacob walked off and stepped into the stage area to see the German band step onto the stage and present themselves in english then started singing in German Jacob looked around the room to see the room filled with people and the next three floors that were exposed above were also filled with people. Jacob walked through the crowd gently gliding through the people trying not to be noticed as he stepped outside a figure caught his eyes it was the old man from the seven eleven Jacob thought nothing of it and continued walking. His apartment was just a few blocks down from the building where the concert was being held, he turned the corner to realise out of the corner of his eye that the old man was following him.

Once the wall passed by cutting off visional of the old man Jacob burst into a full sprint he could see his apartment a few blocks from there and knew he had a long stretch. Jacob looked back to see the old man behind him now in a sprint quickly gaining after Jacob. It felt like a nightmare where someone is chasing you and you just couldn't run fast enough, Jacobs side started to hurt and cramp. He looked back once more to see the old mans rags and blankets slowly fly off to reveal a nice silk lined suit plum suit, he wore black pointed toe boots that had a purple lining on them, his hair was white and parted down the middle and hung down to his shoulders he had a scruffy five o'clock shadow. Jacob started to slow down seeing that the man looked presentable and may be reasonable until the old man pulled out a long butterfly knife like the teens at the seven eleven. Jacob started to rush to his apartments, he made it through a narrow hallway to his room and quickly stepped in slammed the door then locked it. He leaned his back against the door and slowly caught his breath he slowly stepped over to the window and seen the old man standing out in the parking tol holding the large knife. Jacob made sure the windows were locked and blinds were closed he left his lights off and tip toed to his room. Jacob picked up his phone and called the security office for the apartments.

"Hello Res-" the voice on the other end of the line spode then was cut off

"Hey, there is a guy after me and he has a weapon, Hello?" Jacob waited for a moment to listen for a response.

"Hello this is security officer Clark what is your emergency?" the voice answered after a few seconds of waiting.

"Oh thank god there is someone after me and they wave a weapon." Jacob looked to see the man in the purple suit was gone, across the parking lot he could also see the security guard in the booth talking on the phone.

"I'll be right over to check it out." Jacob listened to to click from the phone and watched as the security guard slowly walked over, after hanging up the phone Jacob quickly ran into his room to grab a weapon for protection during the night. The repetitive knocks banged at his door echoing through his apartment Jacob slowly made his way to the door clinching the bat as hard as he could once he touched the col door knob and glanced into the peep hole to see the security guard he slowly twisted the old knob and opened the door having it catch on the chain. Before any words were said Jacob seen the head of the security guard roll off and the door was kicked open throwing jacob back onto the living room floor.

The man in the plum suit walked in holding the the long knife in his hands from closer inspection the blade reached from the mans him down to his knee and the handle was equal size he slowly walked into Jacobs apartment scanning the room. Jacob realized he was still holding the bat and started to swing at the man, but for some reason the weight of the bat changed Jacob looked and seen the the bat had been been cut cleanly in half. He looked at the part that was cut and it looked as if someone cut it with a skill saw Jacob looked back at the man who was about to swing again. Jacob rolled to the right just as the man swung and pinned his blade into the floorboards of Jacobs apartment.

"Who are you what do you want?" Jacob yelled as he grabbed a chair and threw it at the man.

The man let go of the large knife and and almost like it was a reflex he grabbed the chair even as it was hurtling towards him. Jacob seen his opportunity and ran at the man as fast as he could driving a shoulder deep into the man's stomach as he was holding the chair still. As Jacob charged the man they both hit the wall so hard the whole apartment shook, they almost went through. Jacob got up and turned to see the sword still stuck in the floorboard he ran to it and attempted to pull it from the floor. The man slowly got up and ran at Jacob planning on tackling him but just at the right moment Jacob stepped out of the way and watched the old man fly into the door of Jacobs refrigerator. Jacob pulled the sword from the floor boards and ran out of the apartment flipping it shut.

Jacob ran as fast as he could back to the concert to try and lose the man in the crowd he looked back to see the old man standing in his apartment doorway just standing there looking down at Jacob. He gave jacob a small grin then it seemed like the wind picked up behind jacob sending a wave of violet flower petals flying past Jacob. He watched as the man disappeared within the title wave of colors and wind, Jacob looked around to see where the man went. it was quiet and dark. Jacob slowly flipped the large knife open and made his way back to his apartment. the body of the security guard was gone along with the blood Jacob made his way into the apartment which was still trashed from the brawl that the two man had. Jacob flipped the knife shut and walked through the demolished apartment to his bedroom taking off clothing as he did. once he reached his room he threw himself on his bed and seemed like he almost fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow.