Revenge

A figure walked in a dark alley. The person had the body structure of a child, but in the darkness its gender could not be determined. The person wore pants and a long shirt and some type of cap on its head. It wore some kind of bag on its back, possibly a backpack. The figure slowly walked out of the alley, kicking a can out of his way as he went.

The figure emerged from the alley and light from nearby light posts illuminated the child. In the light, the figure could be distinguished as male. He wore grey pants and a red undershirt with a blue and grey sweatshirt halfway zipped up. A pair of dark sunglasses covered his eyes and a black cap covered the majority of his teal-grey hair. A black backpack sat strapped across his shoulders.

The boy stood on the sidewalk of a block filled with red apartment complexes. In front of him, across the street, was a park. He walked across the street, only half checking to see if any cars were passing. After all, it was the middle of the night (he wasn't exactly sure when), and how man cars drove by at night in a nice little town? He sat on a bench near him on the edge of the park.

The boy looked in front of him for a moment and spotted a monument. It had a large stone base and on top of it, a very detailed and well designed star was chiseled. His eyes passed along the words "Kotobuki's First National Park".

Looks like I'm really here, he thought. No turning back now. He slid his arms through the straps of his backpack and laid it down on the floor in front of him. He unzipped it and began checking over its contents: about four to five days worth of clothing, a toothbrush and toothpaste, his wallet stuffed with different ATM cards, a thin silver laptop, and finally a small blue PET. "Looks like that's everything. Then again, if I had forgotten anything, it would be too late now. At least now I won't worry about it though," he thought out loud. He pulled the PET out of the bag and hit the power button. "Sorry for having to put you in there, Acheron," he said apologetically to the standard green navi that appeared on the screen. Although the boy was young, his voice was not as high nor did it carry the same innocence of the voices of other eight year-old boys.

"Sean…" the navi, Acheron, replied. "Sean, are you sure that you want to go through with this? It's not too late to turn back."

Sean looked down to his navi. Behind his dark glasses, his icy blue eyes began to cry. He lifted his glasses and wiped away his tears, and his eyes became stern once again as he dropped his glasses back over them.

"Sorry, Acheron. I'm never going back there. I'm tired of my aunt's and uncle's abuse. I'm tired of my cousins picking on me. And I'm tired of being the loser everyone makes fun of!"

"I'm sorry, Sean. I didn't mean to make you angry."

"It's not your fault. I'm just on edge after running away. But now we are at our destination, and we can begin a new life." The hairs on the back of Sean's neck began to stand on edge. He looked around frantically, trying to spot anyone near him. "Do you see anything?" he asked his navi, fear evident in his voice.

"There is no need to be scared. Unlike the rest of the people in your life, I will not harm you," a voice called from somewhere in the park.

Sean quickly zipped up his backpack and stood up, strapping it to his back. "Stay away from me!"

"I know the pain you have gone through. Your parents died and everyone else has abused you."

"How do you know about me?"

"Like I said, I am not here to hurt you, Sean Obihiro, only help."

"Shut up! I don't need your help!" he shouted to the darkness.

"I know it is hard for you to trust someone else, but-"

"You don't know anything about me!"

"Sean, I know you are suffering much pain. Allow me to relieve you of it."

Sean dropped to his knees. His glasses dropped off his face and shattered against the ground, and his tear-filled eyes were exposed. The silhouette of a man appeared in the distance.

"Let me help you. I can help you through your pain," the man's soft voice spoke to him. His voice seemed so soothing.

"No…" the teal-grey haired boy muttered. "No! I won't trust anyone else!" Sean got to his feet. "Leave me alone! I don't need you!"

"I can see you crying. You want my help. Please, let me help you. I am not like the others you have met. I will help."

"Leave…me…alone!" Sean turned around and ran through the alleys, neither paying attention, nor caring to where he was going.

"Sean Obihiro… run for now. Soon you shall be mine," the man who had talked to Sean grinned.

Sean felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him. He slowly opened his eyes, but shut them again as light attacked his senses. The hand shook a bit harder.

"Come on kid, time to get up," a voice said.

Sean began to open his eyes again and was able to keep them open. In front of him, a man was shaking him softly. He had light brown eyes and brown hair. Age had begun to wear down his face and his hair line had begun to recede.

The man smiled. "Care for some food?"

Sean got to his feet, his backpack strapped to his. "No thanks." He began to walk away.

"You sure?"

Sean's stomach began to grown. "On second thought, sure." Sean followed the man inside and sat at a chair at the counter. The building appeared to be a small restaurant. Booths sat against the walls and several tables were in the middle of the room. The man walked into another room and came back after several minutes with a plate filled with toast and eggs.

"I never properly introduced myself. My name is Dominic," the old man said.

"Hi. I'm… Sean," the young boy replied, taking the plate from Dominic. "Thanks for this."

"Don't mention it. So tell me… why did you run away?"

Sean's body went stiff for a moment. "W-What makes you think I ran away?"

Dominic chucked a bit. "I come to my shop in the morning to find you sleeping at the door with a huge backpack near you. Now maybe I'm weird or something, but that's not what I usually do on Tuesday nights."

Sean looked down at the floor and mumbled, "You wouldn't understand."

The old man turned around and started cleaning up the counters. "I'm not as old as I look. I still remember being your age."

The teal-grey haired boy took a deep breath. "I guess this is the least I owe you for the meal. About four years ago, when I was four, my parents died in a plane crash on their way home from a business trip. After that, I was sent to live with my aunt and uncle. They used to be nice – when my parents were still alive – but when I started to live with them they started to get mean. They would abuse me, both verbally and physically, and I had to do all the chores at our house while my two cousins – their sons – sat around all day doing nothing. And at school, my cousins saw to it that I was always picked on and never had any friends."

"I see… Well, customers should be coming soon. You can either hang out in the back or be a waiter, and we can talk more tonight."

"I'll be a waiter," the young boy replied, smiling. I finally found someone nice I can trust. I don't even know the guy and he gave me food and a place to stay for awhile. Maybe everyone here is like him.

Dominic flipped the sign on the door to 'Open' and in fifteen minutes three tables had been filled up with people eating their breakfast before work. Sean walked up to one of the tables filled with new people.

"Hello, my name is Sean, and I'll be your waiter today," Sean said, mimicking the waiters he had seen when he had gone out to eat.

One of the men chuckled. "But you're just a kid," he commented.

"Aww, that's so cute!" the woman sitting across from the man that just spoke remarked.

Sean smiled. "Can I start you off with something to drink?"

"You know… you're a pretty good waiter," the old man complimented after the day was over.

"Thanks," Sean replied, beaming.

"If you want, you can sleep here for a few days until you find a place to stay."

"That'd be great!"

"Okay. Would you mind flipping that 'Open' sign while I go get your stuff?"

The young boy did as he was told as Dominic went into the back room. A few minutes later, he returned carrying a pillow and a large blanket.

"Now it's not much of a bed, but I hope it will do," the brown haired man said.

"Thanks."

Sean watched as Dominic folded the blanket on the floor and laid the pillow on one end. The child crept in between the folded covers, placed his head against the pillow, and threw his backpack over against a nearby wall. Slowly the boy faded into a dreamless sleep.

Dominic went back to cleaning up the shop. After about thirty minutes he went over to Sean to see if he was asleep. Satisfied, he grabbed the boy's backpack and pulled it onto the counter. He unzipped it and started digging through its contents.

"Clothes… clothes… more clothes… toothbrush… aha! Wallet!" Dominic took the black wallet out and opened it and began counting the hundred's and twenty's inside. "$500. Not bad."

Dominic began walking over to his register. His foot crashed into the side of a stool and it clattered to the floor.

"Ow!" he cursed under his breath.

Sean slowly sat up, supporting himself with his right arm and rubbing his eyes with his left. "Ugh… What's going on?" he asked, looking around the room. He spotted the familiar old man, but something was different. The man's face was not the cheerful face it used to be. Now it was cold and stern. Then the realization struck him like a brick as he saw his wallet and money in the man's hand. He jumped to his feet. "What?" he shouted in disbelief.

Dominic laughed a heart-shattering laugh. "Thanks kid, easiest $500 I ever made."

"I trusted you!" Sean rushed forward, knocking his wallet out of the man's hand with his left hand and tried to strike his face with his right. Dominic grabbed his hand and thrust it behind his back, almost breaking his arm. He shoved the young boy forward into a table, the corner slicing into his right cheek and up towards his ear, spraying blood everywhere. Sean hardly felt the pain. The pain in his cheek was nothing compared to what he was feeling inside.

"I trusted you… I trusted you…" Sean muttered.

The boy got back to his feet and charged Dominic. The old man bent slightly and gave Sean a hard punch to the stomach. Sean coughed, grabbed his stomach and fell to the floor. He grabbed his wallet next to him as he felt the old man grab his arm and drag him along the floor. A few seconds later, his body left the floor as he felt a hard tug on his arm. He landed against concrete a moment later, sensing the night sky above him. Slowly he turned onto his back, blood sliding down the right side of his face.

"Here, take this," he heard the once friendly voice shout as he threw his backpack out the door. It landed on Sean's chest, knocking the air out of him.

"I trusted you… I trusted you…"

Tears began to stream down his face, mixing with the blood. He got to his feet, adrenaline still pumping through him, and strapped his backpack to his back. He ran as fast as he could across streets, through alleys, and arrived at the park. He ran in front of the star monument and dropped to his knees, out of breath with a mix of tears and blood sliding down his face.

"Help me!" he shouted to the darkness. "Tell me how to make them pay!"

The silhouette of a man appeared behind him. "Just do everything I say," the man smirked.