I made my way to the house of my old friend, David. He had been my closest companion before everything changed.
When I knocked on the door, he opened it almost immediately, his eyes widening in shock.
"Where have you been, man? And why are you here?"
I looked at him seriously. "Can I come in?"
"Of course, this is your home too."
I stepped inside and sat beside him. He bombarded me with questions about where I'd been and what had happened.
I had no choice but to tell him everything.
By the time I finished, David was stunned, struggling to process what he had just heard.
"And now… what do you plan to do?" he asked hesitantly.
I leaned forward, my voice steady. "I'm gathering people… people who will help me get revenge."
David's eyes widened. "Are you kidding? That's a crime! That's forming a gang!"
I cut him off. "Enough talk. Are you in or not?"
Without hesitation, David placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "I'm with you till the end, my friend."
David lived alone, away from his family, trying to be independent. That's why he had no one holding him back.
But we had a major problem—recruiting members.
Every person we brought in had to be an orphan, someone who had suffered through a cruel, lonely life. Only then would they understand our purpose.
David and I decided to search the streets for homeless orphans.
Wearing dark, shadowy clothing, we scoured the city. After hours of searching, we found no one.
We had no choice but to split up.
By the time we met back at David's house, we had two recruits: Leo and Rio.
As we sat around the room, David pulled me aside, whispering, "Are you sure about this? These guys are drunks… and they're wanted by the cops."
I smirked. "Don't worry, David. They're with us, not against us."
David shook his head. "You've changed so much since your training, Shadow."
I ignored him and turned to our new members. "Alright, are you ready to hear the plan?"
Silence.
Leo was dozing off, while Rio was disgustingly wiping his nose.
I clenched my fists and slammed the table. "Are you going to listen or not?!"
Both snapped to attention. "Fine, fine. What's the plan?"
I laid it out.
We would rob a convenience store and a gas station in the city, take the money, and use it to buy small weapons from the black market.
David immediately tensed. "Are you insane?! We're stealing now?! What if we get caught?!"
I raised my voice. "That won't happen if you do everything right!"
I slammed my fist against the table again.
Then—
A sudden, violent knocking rattled the door.
Whoever was outside pounded on it hard, making the whole doorframe shake.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
We froze.
Someone had found us.