Pain!
So much pain!
It felt as if his soul was being peeled away from his body.
This wasn't just Aryan's imagination. It was a cold, stinging reality surging through his entire body like an electric current. A sharp, burning pain radiated around his ribs, as if a red-hot iron rod had been inserted there and was slowly being twisted. With every breath, it felt less like he was inhaling air and more like he was dragging shards of glass into his lungs.
The rain of Mumbai... people say it washes the city, cleans it. But here, in this small alley, the rain was doing something else entirely. It was mixing the rot of garbage, the stench of the gutter, and the metallic tang of his own fresh blood into an atmosphere thick enough to suffocate a man.
"Get up, you trash! Stop acting!"
A heavy voice echoed in the alley. It didn't sound like a human; it sounded like the growl of a hungry wild beast.
Standing before him was James. He didn't look like just a high school student. In this dim light, where even the street lamp flickered, his body appeared massive, like a mountain.
*Thud!*
Another kick. This time straight to the stomach. "Gah!" Aryan's breath hitched.
"I heard you bought a new bag for your sister?" James said, leaning down. There was no humor in his voice. Only a sadistic pleasure.
He grabbed Aryan's collar. "Tell me, Aryan? Where is that bag? Or will I find that in this mud too?" James laughed.
Peace... Mother always talked about peace.
"Strength isn't what hurts others. True strength is what maintains peace."
"Then forgive them. Because the day you become like them, that day, my Aryan will be lost."
"Mother..." Aryan whispered. "You were wrong."
"What did you say?" James slammed him against the wall. "Remembering your mom? That whore is dead, isn't she?"
Aryan's heart skipped a beat.
In the corner, two shadows stood watching. Tyson and Kai. Sons of Scientist Raze. They weren't bad people. They were just... weak.
*Crack*
Suddenly, a sharp sound snapped through the air. James had grabbed Aryan's right hand and bent his index finger backward.
"AAAAAAAAHH!" The scream echoed through the alley.
"Scream," James whispered. "Scream and beg."
Sister. Hearing that word, the silence inside Aryan shattered. Is this what dying feels like?
KA-BOOM!
Lightning flashed. Aryan looked into James's eyes. There wasn't just anger there. There was death.
Inside Aryan, in the deepest corner of the darkness, something began to stir. Something ancient. Something hungry.
RAGE.
"I said... SCREAM!"
"Heh..." A suppressed laugh escaped Aryan's throat.
James threw a punch. But for Aryan, the world had slowed down. Tick... Tock...
THUMP-THUMP.
Aryan caught James's punch in mid-air. Silence fell over the alley.
Aryan grabbed James's pinky finger. "No..." James whispered.
Aryan didn't answer. He simply tore it off. Not broke. Not bent. He separated it from the root.
KRR-CHHH!
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" James screamed, rolling in the mud.
Aryan threw the finger into the mud. "Pick up your trash," he said.
Tyson and Kai stood frozen in fear. That fear... was for Aryan.
"Get up," Aryan said. His voice was no longer that of a scared boy. It was the voice of RAGE.
"Don't act, James. The game has just begun."