Author's Note: Can you believe that after writing for what seemed like ages, I finish chapter 1 only for my computer to crash, losing all my progress, infuriating, not only that but I then suffer from writers block as well, maddening, and this is only chapter 1, of like a bazillion chapters (I have a lot of space in my head for fiction) anyway never mind, if you're reading this then it means that I did something right and managed to not mess up for once, the standard disclaimer applies-I don't own the Darkness, it belongs to its rightful and respective owners, this is just fiction (not meant to be taken seriously) and I hope you enjoy it, Thanks.

Chapter 1: My 18th Birthday

I was walking home around eleven, thinking to myself as you do, I was so engrossed in my own thoughts that I didn't hear the footsteps behind me, too late I turn around only to get smashed in the face with something heavy, I feel my nose break once again, this time though I Feel it break, blood once again starts gushing from my nostrils as I hold back the tears of pain, as I'm dealing with that I get shoved against the wall of an alley, I must have stumbled into it in my pain, I clear my eyes only to find that the object which broke my nose pointed at my face, it's a gun, and not a toy one either, the guy holding the gun barks something at me in a language I can't understand, just as I'm working up the courage to try and grab the gun from his hands another guy peels out of the shadows, most likely the guy's accomplice, him I can understand as he orders me to give him my wallet, I tell them okay and grab my wallet from inside my coat pocket, I got to open it but the second guy grabs it from my hands and pockets it, I remember that there's a picture of Lilith inside my wallet, from just before she was adopted, I tell them they can have the money but just let me have the picture back, the guy with my wallet opens it and starts going through, before finally holding out the picture, I go to grab it, but he doesn't let go and the picture rips, then he and the other guy start laughing as I watch the pieces fall to the floor, then the gun goes off.

Only the thing is, I'm now standing where the guy with the gun was and he's lying on the ground with a smoking hole in his forehead and his blood pouring out onto the concrete, his buddy, now staring at me with eyes so wide you could fit your fist in them, starts to back away, before turning and running full pelt up the alley, I watch through eyes that aren't mine as my hand raises, the gun still in it, I watch in agonizing slow motion as I pull the trigger, I watch as the bullet, travelling with unerring accuracy explodes against the back of his head, I watch, dumbfounded as his legs go slack beneath him and his body crumples to the ground, I watch for the next five or so minutes as blood pools around both the guys heads, one face up, one face down, before I start to run, faster than I ever had before, I run past countless flashing lights before I finally make it to my apartment block, just before I head in though I realize I'm still carrying the gun, quickly I shove it in my pocket, thinking I can discard it later before heading up the three flights of stairs and down the corridor to my door, just as I'm about to put my key into the door I hear a loud moan coming from the other side.

Of course, I forgot, my mom had a date that night with some guy from the orphanage, "Eww" I think to myself, "Gross" I decide that its probably better to get far, far away from this place so I turn around and go back down the three flights of stairs, going down is a lot better than coming up I think to myself as I descend, "you know, you're awfully calm for someone who just committed double murder" a voice in my head says, I just stop and stare into the distance while rooting through myself, looking deep down within for

something, anything to make me feel bad, hell even remorseful, but there's nothing, I just reason with the voice that it was self-defense, no harm no foul, and weirdly I felt better after thinking that, I don't know if that makes me a bad person but at that time in my life I felt better than I had in a long time, then I check my watch and notice the time, 00:07am, must just be because I'm now officially a man, not that double murder isn't man-making it just looks bad on paper, a lot worse than "just turned 18", I decide to celebrate with a drink, I have no idea where to get a drink but I decide to go out and celebrate nonetheless, so opening the door I breathe in the somewhat fresh night air and step out as a man.

As I exit my apartment block I feel a sudden and intense throbbing in my nose, My nose!, of course it's still broken, I touch it ever so lightly and almost cry at the sudden, sharp pain that shoots across my face in every direction, "Right" I think to myself "I have to get cleaned up first, before I can think about getting drunk" that however, is easier said than done, if I go to the emergency room I run the risk of cops, not to mention the gun still sitting pretty in my pocket, so my only option is to keep walking, "if I'm lucky maybe some random hobo can fix it", glad to see that my sense of humor isn't dampened I start walking, after an hours or so of walking I find myself in a apart of the city I'm unfamiliar with, but undeterred I continue onwards, a few corners later and I came across one of those 24 hour diners, "they would probably have a toilet you can get cleaned up in" I hear the voice say, "You know, you're right" I reply out loud without thinking, earning me a few stares from some passing pedestrians, "I'm definitely crazy" I think to myself before shaking it off and heading inside.

Stepping in from the cool night air I head to the counter and call the waitress over, when she arrives I ask her if they have a toilet I can use, luckily there is and she points me towards it, as I'm turning I catch out of the corner of my eye that the look on her face changes, maybe it's because I'm covered in dried blood or maybe, just maybe she caught sight of the gun, wanting to get someplace safe in a hurry I half walk half run to the bathroom, inside I take my coat off and hang it on one of the hooks in a stall before walking to the sink and turning the tap on, splashing the cold water on my face I feel my nose throb again, looking down to see the blood running down the drain, I feel ten times better as I gently scrub the dried remains from the bottom portion of my face, when I'm positive that I look a lot better I grab some paper towels and dry my face, before bunching some up and gingerly pushing them up my nose to stop any further bleeding, glad that I look a lot less crazy and deranged I grab my coat and exit the bathroom, no one gives me a second glance as I head to a corner booth and sit down, going over what happened in my head I'm too pre-occupied to notice a different waitress coming over, it's only when she asks me if I would like anything that in shock I jump a little, startling her and causing her to drop her notepad.

apologizing I scoop the notepad up and hand it to her, catching sight of her name badge as I do, Lilly, it says, suddenly the voice returns "Hey, wasn't the girl we grew up with called Lilly?, you should ask her if it's short for anything" Without even registering my lips moving I hear myself ask her if Lilly is short for anything, there's a pause before she replies with "Yeah, it's short for Lilith, but nobody calls me that... it's a stupid name."

"Actually," I reply, "I like it", after that she stares at me for a few seconds before she whispers my name,

"Gabriel?"

"Lilith" I reply, meeting her gaze and holding it, all the while my mind's racing with questions, she sits down opposite me and we talk, about tons of things, about her, what happened after she left, what she did, where she went, who she met, and then me, although when I get to tonight I stop talking and just look at her, she notices and asks me what's wrong, I say that what happened tonight changed my life, she asks me to clarify, so I reply with the fact that I found my best and closest friend again, then she asks about the blood on my coat and I have to tell her about getting mugged, leaving the part about me killing the guys and still having the gun out, she looks shocked, then she wants to know why I'm not at home, I tell her about almost walking in on my mom with some guy, she just laughs, then she mentions my nose and I tell her that it's broken again, and that I don't want the cops involved so I won't be going to the emergency room, then I get hit with the worst news ever, she says that her boyfriend is a nurse and that he can fix it for me, I'm still going over why I feel so chewed up inside when she asks me if I have anywhere to stay for tonight, I don't and tell her that, then she says that I can crash on the couch in her and her boyfriend's apartment, I, after going over the options in my head accept and she says that she gets off work in a few minutes and we can go then.

Outside the diner after zipping up my coat I check my watch again, 01:29am, wow, never been out this late before, hope my mom's not worrying about me, then again I don't really want to go home, not now that I'm with Lilith, as if she heard my thoughts, Lilith comes out of the diner with her coat and belongings, I take her coat from her and help her put it on, then she starts walking, I'm soon beside her, but don't quite know how far away to stand so I bump into her, she laughs again and I apologize, feeling myself grow redder, she waves my apology away and then links her arm through mine, my heart starts beating a little faster and I hear the voice again "Really?, You kill two guys without a second thought, but THIS gets your blood pumping?", I ignore it and we talk some more on the way to her place, I'm really enjoying getting to know her again that I'm shocked by the time we get to her apartment and she points out her boyfriend's car, noting that he's not meant to be home till the morning, we walk up the stairs out front before I open the door for her and follow her in, making for the stairs I'm surprised when Lilith calls out to me, turning around I see that she's standing in front of two elevator doors that are sliding open, standing in the elevator as it ascends I breathe a sigh of relief and exclaim that I'm happy to not have to walk up all those stairs, that earns me a chuckle, I smile and for the first time that night feel normal.

Upon emerging from the lift we turn right and walk down the hallway until we stop outside a door, Lilith retrieves her keys from her pocket and unlocks the door, opening it and standing aside so I can go in first, I enter and come face to face with a guy who, asks me who the hell I am and why am I with his girlfriend, he must be real nice if he asks and doesn't just hit me, I reply that I'm an old friend of Lilith's and that she said I could crash here for the night, he looks like he might believe me but needs more clarification, just then Lilith shows up and introduces us to one another, his name's Tom and he is indeed a nurse, after we all get to talking for a while, with beers, which I'm happy about, we seem to get on with each other, although that might be because we're both a little drunk, it's well after 02:00am when Lilith and Tom retire to their bedroom and leave me alone in the lounge area, my head has barely hit the cushion before I'm off, the one thing going through my mind before I finally drift off is that my nose still isn't fixed.

Author's Note: Well, here it is, Chapter 1, Finally, just a heads up, if I'm writing too much Exposition, don't be afraid to tell me, it's just that writing this thing is kind of like making a sandwich, there's the bread, then the meat, then more bread, I promise that when we get to the meat that it's going to go on for ages and there's going to be a lot of it, that's the one thing I excel at, hope you enjoy it.