"HEEELP!" His scream tore into the night but the roar of traffic swallowed it whole. The city's backstreets didn't care.
"SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP!!" His voice cracked as he stared down at the ground far below. His ankles were bound, his body hanging over the edge, his life dangling by a rope.
"Are you done?"
He froze, slowly looking up past his own dangling legs.
Standing there was a well tailored figure calm and composed with black coat. A book resting in one hand.
"Ta… Taxman… please… don't do this…" Sweat poured up his face as his voice trembled.
The man said nothing. His gaze was steady, indifferent. As if he was not looking at a person, but at a number.
"HELP!!" the man screamed again.
But tonight was the weekend.
The city was alive cars honking, people laughing, music echoing through the streets. No one heard him.
"Please… I'll pay you back! I swear! I'll give you everything!" Tears streaming upward across his face as he hung there, gravity pulling him closer to death.
The Taxman finally spoke.
"No need." His voice was calm.
He opened the leather bound ledger in his hand, "I can recover my losses, by selling your organs."
"NO! PLEASE DON'T...!"
The Taxman didn't even look at him.
Instead, his gaze shifted to the man holding the rope.
"Drop him." The order was casual yet absolute.
The guard let go.
"HEEEEE..." his screams were gone as the body hit the ground far below with a dull, distant thud.
Everyone on the rooftop knew, he was dead.
A man nearby trembled violently, standing beside one of the Taxman's guards.
The Taxman turned his gaze toward him.
The man swallowed hard.
That look alone said everything. 'Pay up… '
The Taxman closed his ledger.
'That should be enough to send a message' He glanced at the trembling man again. "Escort Diaz home."
The guard nodded. "Move."
Diaz didn't argue. He followed immediately.
He had survived.
And he understood.
The Taxman stepped toward the edge of the building, looking out at the glowing city.
It was beautiful.
People always wasted this view.
They spent their last moments begging… screaming… cursing.
No one ever appreciated it.
No one ever appreciated anything.
You give them money in they're desperate moments and they forget.
You remind them, they complain.
You collect, they treat you like a monster.
Vance Grave stared at the city.
His expression didn't change.
"Go down" he said to last guard. "Collect what's usable."
"What about the remains?" the man asked.
"Leave them." Vance looked up at the night sky, "the dogs will handle the rest."
"Yes, sir."
The guard left.
'He should have enjoyed this sight insted of begging for his life.' Vance stood alone in silence, watching the stars.
Then
A crack.
Not on the concrete roof but In the between the stars.
His eyes narrowed, 'What is that?'
The thin fracture stretched between the stars.
He blinked, it grew.
He blinked again, it grew wider.
His grip tightened on the ledger.
Then
It tore open, consuming the stars around it.
The city stopped, cars halted, voices faded.
People stepped out into the streets, staring upward.
For the first time…
The city fell silent.
Then
Light.
Blinding white light, It poured from the tear in the sky.
Everyone covered their eyes then.
"AAAAAHHH!!" A woman's scream shattered the silence, the smell of blood filled the air.
Vance raised his gaze and saw it.
A towering figure of stone.
Screams erupted.
People ran in every direction.
Order collapsed instantly.
The creature raised its arm and brought it down.
"THUD" Bodies burst beneath the impact like crushed cherries painting the gravel ground red.
Twenty one people, gone in a single moment.
Vance didn't move, his eyes widened in shock.
'Damn it.' He ran, turning his back on the beast.
"What happened?" Someone mumbled as they ran through the crowd, other had tears in their eyes and blood across their faces.
With people fleeing for their lives and tears streaming down some faces, it was clear that everyone had a single thought echoing in their minds. 'RUN!'
Vance grip on the ledger tightened, his eyes moving through the fleeing crowd. 'Diaz..'
While he ran for his live, one thought surfaced above all others. 'Where are my debtors?'