The day the scholar became a killer

I was lucky to have found Timothy, because I found not only a pawn but also a punching bag in him. It won't be long now until he is completely under my control and then I shall grab hold of his supplier then I shall be in the world of crime once more, I too am like an addict who can't get enough of that rush, the only difference is that I am still in my right mind.

I left Timothy on that room I found which will temporarily be his home, just until I have broken him completely. I went back to the dorm slightly dirty but nothing too suspicious and I was half suspecting everyone to be giving me angry glares for punching Harry but everything was the same, and Mrs. Bingley even gave me a warm smile.

Harry's room is just ahead of mine and I knocked knowing he would be inside and at first he said that he was busy studying but after hearing it was me and that I came to apologize he reluctantly opened. His left cheek was slightly swollen but other than that he looked fine, by tomorrow it would be almost unnoticeable or not notable in the least.

"Hey I'm sorry about how I punched you earlier, it's just that- "

"It's fine Arvior, it was my fault I shouldn't have pried." Harry took the blame but it was obvious he was still mad at me; I came prepared however.

I came nearer to him to which he instinctively backed away I showed my phone (the real one this time) to him as if to say I was letting him know now. He nodded and allowed me to come closer.

"This is extremely personal to me" I then showed him a picture of a couple holding a baby. The man was a bearded, strict looking man wearing a suit and the other was a beautiful woman wearing a silver pendant and holding a baby…me.

"What's so private about your parents?" Harry looked speculatively at me as if in doubt and I had no choice but to explain.

"These are my real ones, I am adopted you see and this is the only picture I have to remember them by, they died when I was very young and to me this picture is my greatest treasure, well second to this one" I then took out the silver pendant hidden in my shirt. It was one of those that can be opened and inside was a picture of the same lady and gentleman.

"I still don't get why you have to be so secretive about it"

"I'm sorry but before I stole this pendant, I never knew what they looked like and it was my greatest secret from my foster family after I did so for as long as I could remember, this family was my only and most protected secret. I hope you can understand why I Instinctively tried to protect my secret when someone tried to take it from me"

Harry was silent for a while but then he smiled. "Okay I get it. I'll try to be more careful next time. I'm sorry for trying to take your secret from you and thank you for showing to me anyway."

After a brief exchange I left his room. This will keep us civilized for a while but the rift between us still exists and I was fine with it before but someone who can keep his mouth shut is worth apologizing to, even with a lie. When I got back I put the pendant back to my drawer and deleted the photo. Needless to say it was all a lie, that wasn't the only photo I saved and of course I'd know what my parents look like, I was 13 when they died.

I lay in bed finally then fall asleep, I done what I needed for today but when I dozed off I had another nightmare. This time it was when Valencio taught me how to fight, before that I had only been an academic, I knew nothing outside from the world of books so of course I was at my attacker's mercy. It was just a week after they took me in and I was sleeping in my bed when Valencio dragged me outside and brought me to a nearby alley as a strong storm was occurring and a young man in his early twenties, wearing a thick coat waited.

Valencio said nothing and only left me there as he went inside the estate and closed the gate, I was terrified at what just happened and I tried to pry the gate open but it wouldn't budge then the man walked closer and closer, I knew from his looks that he wasn't coming to talk.

I tried to reason with him but he was certain of what he wanted to do which from the looks of it was to kill me, he punched in the cheek before I could dodge and that's when I understood there wouldn't be a peaceful way to deal with this man.

I knew very well I wouldn't be able to defeat him if I tried so I went on the defensive, I tried to run but my skimpy legs were quickly outrun by his long and athletic ones, my next instinct was to curl up and hide my head between my legs and try to take his beatings but that was only met by more attacks, eventually I couldn't bear anymore and I let go and after a few more hits the man relented.

I got back on my feet and as I saw the intimidating man in front of me who was taunting me to attack, I let my rage take over. I expected to at least deal a heavy blow but my weak arms were like pillows to him and after letting me have 2 free hits he continued on with his barrage of fists.

I felt pathetic and as I watched my surroundings, Valencio was standing on the front porch just looking. I couldn't see his face clearly but I knew that menacing gait from the moment I first met him, no one was quite like this man who was terrifying and calm, who even from his stance you'd know that he is looking down on you. The man went on with punching my 13-year-old body and I just kept taking it until my body grew numb from the pain.

It was then that my mind went blank, I wanted to kill the man but in a fair fight I could never beat him…Fuck it all! I am a 13-year-old dragged while he was sleeping to fight a grown man in the middle of a thunderstorm, this was never fair to begin with so why then should I be fair?

The man kicked me and I crawled my way to Valencio who frowned at me from the railings of that accursed black and hoped that he would have mercy on his adopted child but the man dragged me from my legs and pulled me towards him where he continued his attacks. Drifting in and out of consciousness I looked to Valencio and slowly he walked towards me one step after another and when he did he only looked at me with disappointment.

The man didn't even notice Valencio and was in like a violent trance for all he cared about was to keep on hitting me. My eyes were swollen, my body filled with bruises and I barely had the strength to breathe as the man kept punching my rib so much that I felt like was broken.

"He'll.Kill….me" I tried to plea to Valencio who was now standing right right next to us, to this he only smiled at me and for a moment he looked like the devil himself as lightning flashed before him.

"Not if you kill him first" He then dropped a gun just under my reach I like to think that in my place anyone would have done the same that everyone in the brink of death found it easy to take another's life. That was what kept my sanity for what I was about to do next.

My body who without hesitation took the pistol and shot the man's brain out. After that I took a while to stand up then fired again, and again, and again until the gun was empty the gunshots rang all around us but it was barely distinguishable due to the loudness of he pouring rain and thundes. The flash the gun made as each bullet was released from its chamber was like the lighting alighting lighting the darkness for a brief second but jus like lighting this light did signify safety but danger, not hope but despair, for that day I crossed the line that must never be crossed and I wished I could say I felt remorse over what I had done, that there was some voice in my head that told me what I did was wrong, because then I would still be called human but there wasn't and any sentiments I had towards life was gone that night.

I woke up from my nightmare out of breath, the dream occurred as what I remembered but instead of the boy, I was the man who beat him and I awoke the time he pulled the trigger. I was in the hospital for a week after and I sustained so much injuries that it wasn't until the next 5 years that I completely recovered, that didn't stop Valencio however because right after I left the hospital he dragged me again at night outside where another crazed man would be waiting for me and Valencio would watch dispassionately as drugged up sickos would beat his son to a pulp. This became a regular occurrence for me. Valencio would open my door, kick it down if he couldn't then drag me, awake or no, outside. Some boys are afraid of the dark because of the monsters under their bed but for me, I feared the dark because of the monster I called dad. Never did I think that my next family would become like this, a negligent mother and a psychopath father, never did I think I would get accustomed to the nauseating and despicable feeling of killing another, never did I think that death would be something you will get used to, never did I think that I would enjoy it.

That was when I understood what a fight truly is, it was a lawless event where morals and sensitivity became weakness and the only thing that matters is victory. I learned from the first time to no longer run away or stoop down, but I also learned to not fight battles you cannot win so I fought unfairly. Sometimes I would use a rock, sometimes gardening tools, after the second attack I started hiding weapons on the front porch. The men never used weapons, were always under some drug that made them half insane and above all reason, and something I learned after so many times, they never actually knew how to fight. Valencio would coach me when he was feeling up to it, allow me access to coaches and trainers but he always looked down on them saying they don't know what a true fight was and that I could kill them if I wanted to. Valencio got into my head and I soon became arrogant, started picking fights on my own and every so often when I am utterly beaten, Valencio would pull out his gun and give it to me or sometimes when he was feeling mad would shoot the man himself. Valencio enjoyed violence and living with him taught me that violence was a weapon that I could use to get what I need.

I shake off thoughts and get ready for school. I wore my black blazer and blue slacks fix my hair like Styles taught me and think of conversation topics in preparation to the interactions I will inevitably have in my every day school life, I wonder if other students think school sucks as well. Damn, I never thought I would come to despise the day when I became a normal boy who came to school like everyone else, hung out with friends, dance with a pretty girl but still I hated every day I have to spend in this purgatory, I was accustomed to a life of danger, of intense pressure that push one's very mind to its limits and only in that life will I find peace.