Novel: Beyond I: Born / Chapter 1!

Chapter 1: Shadow and blood

One night is not only darkness, shadows exist in the gloom, individuals move among the cold tenebrosidades that eat away at the heart of the fragile and flood the strongest in despair. A birth occurs in degradation, right after death at the hands of a cold ice in the heart. It is not about being a hero, humans are always reduced to impulses, always composed of desires; anger that rages, pain for loss, greed, and even an ideal that they long for. It's not about doing the right thing, it's about decisions, and how dark scenes will rule the way. Where the blood is so bound to the darkness, that the shadows were continually dyed red.

It was after twelve in the morning and, to be the city that never sleeps, the streets of New York enjoyed a great calm, almost being deserted, like the outskirts of a ghost town. But that did not mean that nothing would happen in that at first sight, peaceful night; since it was in the cold darkness when crime and crime came to the fore to continue in their work of bringing decadence to the big city. For several months, the crime in New York has suffered a drastic increase and murders, assaults, robberies and kidnappings have occurred almost daily. The police worked hard to take care of everything, but many times situations got out of hand. That night something was about to happen at the docks.

The docks of New York were a place where containers were unloaded daily, which used to arrive with all kinds of things; from the simplest messenger package, to the merchandise and products of a private company. That night, a group of employees of a mafia waited for a special cargo.
The group consisted of 5 men between 20 to 40 years of age. They worked for the criminal family "Lapsus", a mafia that emerged recently and which is in charge of selling drugs in the city, becoming a strong competitor of the biggest crime family in New York: the "Primus" family. The mafias were in constant conflict and clashes were continually taking place between them, turning the streets of New York into war camps, causing the death of innocent people as collateral damage. The victims accumulated like rocks on a cliff without a bare bottom. The men would use a cargo truck to transport the goods they expected. After looking for the container and checking that nobody was around, they opened the large doors of the container to check its contents. They looked at each other uneasily, watched their backs with great concern, as if the shadows could move and attack them.

They satisfactorily found what they were asked to collect, in the container there was a group of women and children brought from a European country. These people were kidnapped to work as slaves in one of the numerous drug labs scattered around the city. They brought in the poor kidnap victims in the back of the cargo truck and headed for the place where they were to take those unfortunate people. After driving for about 20 minutes, the truck reached its destination. The men had arrived at an abandoned house in the slums of New York. They were to remain there until their boss gave them another order.

As soon as they entered, they could see that the house had been abandoned for a long time, since most of the walls were in poor condition and had several cracks. There was no electricity and darkness was flooding the place. There was no furniture or decoration in the house. After inspecting some rooms in the residence, the men took the abducted women and children to the basement where they would be locked in a small and improvised cell and throwing aside any material that could give them the possibility of escape; they took away hope and the possibility of a free future.

"You two, stay here," ordered the man in charge of the work, pointing to two of the criminals who accompanied him. They looked at each other with uneasy looks, but nodded in agreement that they had no choice. If you want, have some fun with the women, try not to mark them so much, they will soon be working.

After leaving two of his men as guards, he went with the rest to the living room of the house. In that place there were no chairs or furniture for the men to rest and they had to settle for the dusty and worn wooden floor.

• Will we be here for a long time? - asked a man, short and with reddish hair, an expression of dissatisfaction bathed his face.

-The time that is necessary -Said the boss of this-. Surely we will receive the order that we must leave at any time.

"I do not like this place," said the youngest of the group, he must have been about 20 years old and he was of medium height, he had a clear expression of fear on his face.

• Are you afraid of the dark, Peter? The red-haired man scoffed. Relax baby boy There is nothing to fear.

"It's not the dark I'm afraid of, George," Peter protested to the red-haired man.

"I see, you mean that rumor," said the chief, he had been listening quietly from a corner. In the darkest corner there is the most concentrated light and in the light there is a deep darkness ...

• What rumor do you mean, Mike? George asked.

"One that has been scattered recently," Mike said. For a few weeks, among the criminals there have been stories about several assaults and robberies that have been thwarted by a kind of vigilante. According to the victims, this guy is like a kind of shadow that hides in the darkness of the night and attacks the criminals.

-It is also said that he has the strength of ten men, that he is able to jump great heights and move very fast. They say that he leaves his targets seriously injured, with fractures and multiple injuries throughout the body. They say it's a monster ...

Silence reigned in the dusty room, only the faint breathing of those present was heard. But just before a heavier atmosphere was created, a laugh came from George.

• Are you really afraid of that? George questioned after finishing laughing. It's just a dumb urban legend or some imbecile playing the superhero. With a good Beretta it will end up just as bored as a sponge.

Saying this, the three laughed nonchalantly, even Peter did. But then they heard a noise, as if something had just entered the house. The three jumped and went to check, but found nothing in the darkness of the house. They returned to the room and sat down again when they heard again several blows accompanied by the unmistakable sound of a gun firing and they came from the basement.

Alarmed by the sounds, they hurried towards the basement of that abandoned house. When they arrived, they discovered on the ground the two guards who were watching the kidnapped women and children. One of them had his pants unbuttoned and seemed to be entering the room with the victims.

These men were unconscious and there were bullet holes in the walls. The guards showed signs of having been attacked by surprise by something with great force, as they had wounds and some fractures in their body.

The three remaining criminals took out their weapons and arranged to look for the cause of those attacks. They started by recording where their kidnapping victims were locked, but there was no sign in that place that someone had just entered.
Then they went to the first floor of the house where they checked the kitchen, the living room and the bathroom. But they found nothing.

"Whatever it is that came, it will have scared you," said George, who stood with his back to a wall, unconcerned and lowering his weapon. And when he was about to say something else, he was interrupted.
The wall on which he was leaning back was pierced by what appeared to be an arm. This arm took him by the neck and as if he were a rag doll, he took it to the other room, leaving a big hole in the wall, before the horrified eyes of Mike and Peter. From the other room you could hear George's cries of pain, until they suddenly ceased with the creaking of bones.

And without warning, Mike started shooting through the hole in the wall where he supposed George's attacker was, but he did not know for sure if he shot his target since the room was so dark that no sparks that came out of the firearm illuminated a little. Only a breath could be felt and the click of bones.

After firing about 7 times, still aiming the gun stopped pressing the trigger. Peter looked at Mike who, like this one, was terrified.

• Will he be ... dead? Peter asked, and with a lot of work he could barely pronounce those words.

But when Mike was about to answer, from the hole George's unconscious body was thrown to him, knocking Mike down and the force of the blow leaving him unconscious as well as his partner.

Peter fell to the ground in shock and dropped his weapon several inches away. Peter crawled around the room with a look of fear and, as he was about to reach the place where his weapon fell, a silhouette got in his way.

The boy saw his attacker with horror and could see clearly, he was tall and fully dressed in black, had a leather jacket with hood, which was wearing. In his hands he wore dark gray gloves.

And on his face, he wore a black mask with small, delicate white details that gave him a skull-like appearance, and also gave him a demonic air. Through the two holes of the mask, astonished Peter could contemplate the eyes of his attacker.
The eyes of the strange figure were illuminated in an intense scarlet red. It seemed that he was crossing Peter with his gaze, in which they found a lot of feelings that Peter could not even try to enumerate. Peter came to himself, tried to reach for his gun, but the masked man was faster and with a kick, threw Peter across the room. The young man was writhing in pain and holding his hip, he must have one or more broken ribs. The masked man went to where the boy fell and stood facing the young delinquent again.

• What ... hell ... are you? Asked a terrified and wounded Peter, that by the expression of suffering on his face, saying each word required great effort on his part. But the man did not answer, he remained silent, watching Peter.

"I've never known that," the masked man whispered, breaking the silence. It seemed to Peter that that voice must come from someone as young as him. But the masked hit the boy in the head and left him on the floor unconscious. Goodbye…

Then he took the phone from Peter's pants pocket and dialed 911. He told them about the locked women and children and gave them the address of the abandoned house. After that he left the house and went into the dark and silent alleys of the city.
The night began to give way to the dawn and thus the day had finally arrived in New York. The hooded figure realized this and stopped. For him it was time to take off his mask. The time had come to be the person inside the vigilante.

He took off his mask and the sunlight reflected on his face, he was just a boy, about 18 years old at the most. But this was not an ordinary boy, this young man had gone through many things, and to which he still had a long and difficult path to follow. This boy is called Chris and his story was just beginning.

…

In a beautiful living room, full of decorations and a cozy and comforting fireplace were two girls in front of a television; one of them, was a blonde of short stature and with a youthful air she kept her eyes on one book and the other, with long black hair and that transmitted of being a little older, her gaze went to the television, the news was divulged morning There was talk of an incident where several women and children were found in an abandoned house and members of the Lapsus family, very hurt, were imprisoned. The victims said that they heard screams and the criminals spoke of a strange being with great strength and red eyes.

-Hello linduras-greeted a blond boy going through the living room and going in the direction of the kitchen.

"Hi, Jake," the blond girl said delicately, still looking at the book. She turned her greenish eyes from the letters printed on the paper to the girl next to her. All in order?

The brunette turned off the television and said with confidence:

-Is he.

…

Alone in a small room, watching the drops of water fall from a small ventilation connected to the drain, the girl with blue hair leaned her back to the wall thoughtful of the events that are already happening and which will start in close months, but he has never been able to remember what happened before, long before his life was like that.

-Only a few months left ... octuber... -the girl said observing a calendar.

An intense shriek caused it to go towards a ledge that connected to the central part of the whole extensive structure. A man was looking at a boy, little more than a child, he was spitting dark blood almost drowning between his own suffering and difficulty to even keep on his knees.

"You never question what I'm doing," the man said, smiling sadistically. He unbuttoned his long black leather trench coat, fully indicated for cold climates. He placed his hand on the young man's chest. You are afraid, your heart beats very fast, do not fear. It's over.

The man sank his fingers slowly into the boy's chest, until it was already inside his skin. And then he lifted his body in the air, the screams resounded like a desperate macabre orchestra.

"Silence," said the man, pulling his arms on opposite sides and dividing the body in two. The warm blood fell completely on the man, who began to laugh twisted while his eyes shone like marble reflected in a white tide. They were delirious stars and as bright as the purest astral light. But so malevolent that the shrill laughter froze everyone in the installation.

"Soon everything will be chaotic ... soon everything will end up like him," said the girl with blue hair and black strands with a chill running through her body. Even the man was laughing, and the blood kept dripping, it would always continue to drip.

Author's note:

I hope you enjoyed it, the novel has a total of 59 chapters divided into three parts, I will only upload the first 5 chapters here, but you can enjoy the complete novel on the Wattpad platform, where there are already 18 updated chapters and more will go up constantly.
If you want to comment your first opinions about the novel, the story is just beginning, do not hesitate to read it, you will love it.

Direct link to the novel in Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/89899146-beyond-i-born-en-edici%C3%B3n

It says goodbye, E.S.Esquivel.