Ash rode off to grab some food after cleaning the bike. He had no groceries at home other than a half-pack of Gatorade and chili bean cans. He still had a budget for a small takeout order for the night until he found an after-school job.
He made his way to a burger joint that was close to his home, it was cheap but had the cheesy cinema style theme to it to lure customers in. Ash went inside where the greeter was seated in the horror section like he wanted. He wanted that one because the server there was someone he knew.
Ash saw the girl coming his way, she had long black hair with purple highlights in it, black eyeshadow and lipstick with a lip ring, and green eyes. The server was Lita, his only friend since middle school.
"Hey, Ash," Lita called out.
Ash waved, Lita was more than excited to see him. She wouldn't admit it but she did have a crush on him, she was just self conscious with herself.
"Surprised to see you're here this late, did you run out of food?"
"Unfortunately, and I don't want to spend my inheritance on it. It's just for bills and rent right now."
Lita felt bad, Ash was pitiful in his situation. She wanted to help but her family wasn't better off either.
"If you need food you can come here more often. I can sneak some near-expired meats and bread for you."
"Not a chance. You'll get fired and I don't want that on my conscience. I'll be ok for now. Can I get my usual please?"
"Sure, one double avocado bacon burger with extra onions, chilli fries, and strawberry milkshake. And chilled monkey brain desert."
Ash chuckled at the last one. She was referring to the Indiana Jones movie with that joke since that's how they met, watching Temple of Doom at a retro theater when times were calmer.
Lita came back with the food and purple milkshake of her own to drink.
"You on break now?"
"I asked for a favor. I got the most tips tonight so I gave half to the other girl for a quick fifteen."
Ash almost choked on his shake. "You did what?"
"It's fine, I made enough this week to afford losing forty bucks. Besides I wanted to spend a little time with you after I heard what happened."
Ash was quiet for a moment, he didn't want to talk about it, least not yet. But he was comfortable around Lita so he didn't need to keep his guard up.
"Was it him again. That asshole Casper again. What's his deal? He's had it out for you since freshman year."
"Whatever it is I don't care. He's an idiot, but for the fact that if he didn't have a Grade A-level wind ability he would be a loser quarterback. He's just lucky he's from a rich family."
Lita couldn't argue with that Casper King wasn't the brightest jock in the school but his ability was his best point. It helped him win his games despite the rules against using abilities or Skills during competitions. No one would argue with him because his winning games brought money to the school.
"What did he do this time?"
"He and his goons dumped coffee on my brother's bike and kicked it."
Lita squeezed her cup hard, any harder, and she would have shattered it in her hands.
"He trashed Isaac's bike. That son of a bitch! Does he know how important that bike is to you? That's the last memory of him and Amelia before they passed. Please tell me you stuck him like the pig he is!"
"No, I didn't have the knives you got me. But I did stab his stupid legs with some pens from a smart kid's pocket protector."
Lita giggled at the idea. "Revenge of the nerd's pens!" She said making them both laugh at the lousy must joke. Her break was over, she left to pick up the check for Ash, even sneaking a small doggie bag of chicken tenders for him to take home. Ash gave her the money and asked her to keep the change. Lita handed him his check, bag, and a napkin.
The napkin had a lipstick mark on it with a message. 'I'm off Friday night. Let's hang out.'
Ash smirked reading it. He knew too well how Lita felt, he just wasn't ready for a relationship with how poor he was, let alone his best friend who deserved better than him.
Ash went to his bike to head home, but he noticed it wasn't starting up after he turned the key. When he checked all around he felt foolish in the moment. He forgot to put gas in the tank before he went to the burger joint.
"Oh come on seriously. Of all the dumb luck. Damnitt and the gas station is a long walk."
Ash held his face in disappointment. He forgot the one rule his brother told him about bikes, never forget to keep the tank from being empty.
Ash groaned at his rotten luck, he had no choice but to walk to the gas station to get a small gas can or risk leaving the bike overnight with the chance of someone stealing it.
It took him nearly two hours to walk to the station, he passed every homeless person on the sidewalk who was a victim of the Kraegan attacks. Sad now that it wasn't drug abuse or gambling for homeless rates, now it was people losing their homes and families to a Kraegan causing their misery.
Ash got to the station finally, and the attendant was on her phone not paying attention to anything.
Ash was already annoyed as is and this wasn't helping him at all. He bought a small can of gas and a bottle of water with the little he had left to spend on his budget.
Carrying the gas wasn't a problem, walking back and forth was the annoying part for him. He was wasting time he could spent resting or training, he just needed to stay busy to avoid negative thoughts about the day. He struggled to keep his anger in check when he was at his limit, worse because of all the bad things that happened to him he was thinking horrible ideas on how to get payback on those who hurt him, some ideas that even scared him. He did not think those thoughts, he was afraid of what he would do if he let them take over.
Ash hit the button for the crosswalk, he was ready to walk over when a speeding car nearly hit him. He dodged thankfully but in the moment he dropped the gas can and it got run over instead.
He picked it up, motionless and quiet he held it and walked over to an open spot between two buildings that led to a small alleyway away from the public.
"F****CK!!!!" He shouted to the heavens as he threw the broken gas can to the ground.
He kicked everything in his line of sight. The negative thoughts he held back flooded his mind relentlessly. The memories of his dead parents, his brother's corpse being brought home with a dishonorable discharge on his record, and his sister-in-law Amelia being in pieces after being attacked by a Kraegan. On top of that everyone including Casper messing with him only fueled his anger.
He continued to flail around, eventually punching the wall of the building regardless of the skin tearing on his knuckles or possibly breaking his toes kicking the dumpster next to him.
He finally stopped when he felt his shoe warm with blood in it. He fell to the ground holding his throbbing head as he broke down in his grief.
"Why? Why me? Why is this happening to me? My parents didn't deserve to die before I got to really know them. My brother was a good man he didn't do those things they said. Amelia was a kind soul she didn't deserve to be a Kraegan lunch."
His head was spinning, and he started slapping his head in frustration. All he could see were images of everyone laughing at him and the bodies of his loved ones. His eyes were red from the tears and anger in his heart.
"Burn…..burn...burn them all. I wish they all burn! I want to get them, hurt them, break them, rip them apart. I want to slaughter them all!!!!"
He shouted hard about what he was really feeling. He hadn't cursed anyone this hard since his parents died. He felt so much hate in his heart. His teeth clenched hard and his gums began to bleed from the pressure. He had to calm down he knew how bad his feelings would get if he let them go.
He tried to think of anything to calm his nerves or distract him. The thing that calmed him down echoed in his head, a faint voice, gentle and soft. The voice began to become clearer as he concentrated on it with everything he had in his mind.
"Fly fly raven, fly into the sky. See the stars of the night, reach them in your flight. Don't be afraid as you fly, follow true in the moonlight. Fly fly raven fly, across the starry sea, don't be afraid you're not alone now, you're always with me."
The voice he heard was Amelia's. She sang that to him when he was angry or scared when he was a kid. She made it up on the spot but it stuck with him when he needed to suppress himself.
"I'm ok. I'm ok now. God, I'm so stupid." He was calm now that his bad thoughts left him. He couldn't believe he let himself lose control like that. He got himself up to head back to his bike. He figured he would ask Lita for help in riding home or if she could loan him some gas just for the night.
As Ash limped barely a foot he heard a noise. The sound of it was like someone being attacked, anyone would just leave but Ash was curious. He needed to know if someone needed help. It was a good thing he brought some of his throwing knives with him just in case.
He followed the noise, the sound becoming clearer the closer he got. He made it to the source, instead of showing himself he stayed hidden behind a corner to say what was going on.
Ash saw a little girl sitting on the ground, she looked out of place, her clothes from the colonial area, with platinum blonde hair, holding a pumpkin.
The other was a man, who wore a black tailored suit. The left side of his jacket had dark magenta colored designs including his fedora hat. The face couldn't be seen clearly from the shadows except for the white of his eyes. He looked menacing as he towered over the girl.
"Thought you could get away. You can only run so far little one. Now, I think it's time your precious pumpkin gives me back my head."
The man held up his hand, a light formed in it then took the shape of a colored bat. The bat screeched as it dashed to the girl, it missed on purpose at first to scare her before circling back to actually strike.
The sound of air being cut howled as a knife struck it down before returning to Ash.
"Well well, someone has come to our party. Sorry son, but this is invite-only. Be good and run along don't need to lose your soul over this."
Ash walked in front of the girl staring the man down. He knew it just from seeing his face and demeanor. He was an evolved Kraegan. Ash was out of his league, but he wouldn't abandon the girl in need.
"You know I've had a really crappy day and now I've found something to stab at till I'm satisfied. So, let's have some fun you demonic freak."
The Kraegan even without facial parts still formed a smile with its smooth face, as if it were made of clay. It fired more bats as the injured Ash fought back. The girl watched the fight emotionless, she only took her eyes off when the pumpkin in her arms whispered to her.
"Is it him? Is he the one you want?"