Neon lights and revs of engines of vehicles passing by. The heavy breathing of a young man can be faintly heard as he ran through the bustling streets of the city.
The stars in the sky can only be faintly seen due to the heavy light pollution of the urban town. But the moon's glow permeated through it. Nonetheless it was ignored by the young man who was running with his black bag on his back.
After a few minutes of running the young man arrived at a quiet part of the town. This neighborhood was chilly and quiet, different from the bustling cityscape earlier. The rustling of leaves as the chilly wind can be heard.
The young man then stopped his run and continued by walking to catch his breath. Soon, he arrived at a small clearing— a perfect spot for a date due to its cozy ambiance further accentuated by the chill the trees provided. This place was uphill and you can see the view of half of the town from here, along with the distant mountain of the next city.
Everytime the young man came here there would be couples hanging out watching the stars in the cloudless night sky. But it seemed like there were no one here tonight.
Since there was no one around, the young man decided to stop here for a few minutes and appreciate this beautiful view for a bit.
He sat down at the grass and looked at the stars up in the sky. What a beautiful view it was. The young man hoped that... this time could stretch forever. A time of peace where you have to worry for nothing.
But this peace did not last long as the picturesque scene was ruined by the sound of ringing cutting through the otherwise calm surroundings.
The young man took out his phone from his pocket and looked at the name of the caller on his phone. His expression didn't change, it was still impassive as he decided to ignore it and just closed his phone before standing up with a sigh.
As he patted his pants after standing up, he felt something from his pant's back pocket. After taking it out he saw that it was a cool looking glass amulet with a rotating torus inside.
He then remembered that he did buy this thing from that stall vendor lady near the school about three days ago and dismissed it. He liked the sci-fi design of the amulet and based on what she said, the torus can keep rotating for a month at least. Also it was cheap.
As he walked down the stone stair path slowly, he wore the amulet and hid it inside his shirt. He likes novel things and can sometimes be swept away leading to him wasting all his money. At least he got this necklace for cheap.
After he left that grove he didn't run anymore and just walked the rest of his way home. As for the reason why he was running in the first place, it was a routine of his to run half of the distance from his school as a way to exercise. His home was quite a distance away— about 1.3 kilometers.
As he walked under the light of the street lamps through the quiet street of the town, he listened to the new song of his favorite japanese singer with his earpod. He has been saving to buy tickets for her concert that will happen next year here in his home country's biggest Arena.
Just as he was walking calmly through the street, he suddenly felt a cold metal being pressed at his side making his scalp tingle and his hairs raise.
"Drop your bag and other valuables. Don't turn around or you'll bleed to death like a dog here."
He froze. His heart was beating fast and adrenaline was starting to circulate through him. He tried to regain his calm and looked around with his eyes without turning around, trying to see if the man has any accomplices around.
"You better not have any thoughts, boy. What are you waiting for? Drop your things quickly."
Hearing the gravely muffled voice many things ran through the young man's mind in a second. He slowly removed one strap of his bag off his shoulder before removing the other one.
"That's right. I don't want to make a mess of thing— UEAGH!"
But before the man could finish talking, the young man quickly threw the heavy bag at the face of the criminal trying to mug him hitting him straight to the face.
Due to shock, the man lost balance and fell, accidentally pulling the trigger of the gun and firing two shots. One of which incidentally hit the young man at his right chest.
"Kogh— Fuck... me! Bastard!"
The young man, his mind clouded with anger and hatred, quickly picked up the gun that the criminal dropped and fired all of the bullets left in the chamber at him before he could stand back up.
*BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! CLICK!*
"Go to *cough* hwell..."
The young man wheezed as he felt his adrenaline fade away and pain kick in. He felt a burning sensation throughout his whole body and mainly in his lung. His tired body slumped and leaned at the lamp post, smearing it with his fresh blood.
He felt his consciousness blurring. He fought the urge to close his eyes and sleep for eternity.
Mustering all his strength he had left, he took his phone from his pocket and messaged an account with his bloodied fingers staining the screen of his phone.
Verz: [ I lost. I'm gonna go first, Tish. ]
But despite his unwillingness to pass... he soon drew his last breath and died untimely, at a young age of 18.
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