There were maybe five or six security guards headed our way, one on a radio, and two with night sticks already raised. They probably thought we were just a couple of rowdy teenagers involved in a childish brawl. They had NO idea what they were getting themselves into. And I certainly didn't have the time or patience to warn them ahead of time.

Barry noticed the security officers coming, and threw me down on the bowling lane, my face in the gutter. He raised his foot to stomp down on me! Trying to put all of his weight on my neck to snap it like a twig...but luckily I was able to roll out of the way in time. It would have paralyzed me for certain if he had landed that blow. He's not playing around! Then again, neither am I! I swiftly swung a leg around to sweep his feet from under him and knock the overgrown oaf on his ass. Barry got up on his knees with a snarl and punched me hard in the stomach, grabbing me and flipping me over onto my back, knocking the wind out of me. As I fought to protect myself from the floor, Barry tried his best to stomp a hole in my chest. It wasn't until I grabbed him by the shoelaces, and pulled both of his feet up at once, that I was able to catch my breath again. Barry was a powerhouse, no doubt about it. But he was as weak as a baby kitten when he couldn't stand. I pulled him by the laces, and dragged him across four lanes, his head banging against the gutters on each side, before he was able to pull free from my grasp. And by then, his shoes were untied, and I had an entirely new weapon that I could use against him.

My strong kicks came hard and fast in his direction, hitting him both high and low. And just as he got his footing right, I would slam my foot down on his untied laces, and push him backwards to send him back to the ground. He got up to meet another flurry of kicks, only to have me spin around behind him, step on his laces again, and use my butt to bump him forward onto his chest! Unfortunately, Barry wasn't as stupid as I thought he was, and after his third or fourth fall...he snatched the laces out of his shoes and threw them to the side. I was hoping that they'd be too loose on him for him to move like he was before, but it seemed like his feet were big enough to keep them locked onto his feet just fine. Shit! I jumped towards him to try to find another weakness. He had none. He grabbed a hold of my leg during one of my kicks and lifted it up. I flipped backwards to land on my feet...and from there, the fight continued. But I was going to have to be careful if I wanted to win this.

Security had finally reached us at this point, and that's when things got complicated. Two guards rushed down to the lane and put their hands on Barry's shoulders to stop him. The momentary distraction was enough for me to fly forward with a jump kick that nearly caved in his chest two inches, knocking all three of them back to the floor.

"CALM DOWN, SON!" Said two more security officers as they hurried in to accost me as well. But all I saw was Barry and the pain he caused me, the love of my life who had just disowned me over this bastard...and my fury burned even further out of control. Without even thinking, I drew for my saber and spun in one complete circle, slashing both officers across the chest. It cut their ties and right through their pretty little uniforms, but it was hardly enough to do more than scratch the skin. That was the ONLY warning I had planned to give them. "JESUS! He's got a blade!" One of them shouted, and rushed me in an attempt to get the weapon away from me. They had one chance to leave it alone and mind their own fucking business. They blew it. And now...they're becoming a nuisance.

As one of them grabbed my arm, I brought a harsh kick down to shatter his ankle in three places, and then sliced him deeply across his ribs. Not a killing blow, but definitely deep enough to get my point across..and take him out of the equation. The other guard rushed me from behind, wrapping his arms around me in an attempt to push me down onto the floor. He changed his mind when he felt the blade of my weapon pierce straight up through both of his forearms...my hands twisting it back and forth, ripping the wound further open until I was able to slip under his embrace. With the saber embedded in his flesh, I dragged him around me in a circle, his screams of pain falling on deaf ears as he hopped around trying desperately to keep it from cutting an even bigger bloody hole in him. I then yanked it out of his arms, and brought a spin kick around to knock him out cold on the floor. The other guards stopped dead in their tracks, and with a flick of my wrist, I splattered their faces with the blood of their fallen comrades and told them, "I guarantee you...you're not paid enough for this. Run along and play elsewhere."

They took my advice.

It was then that my instincts brought my attention to a quickly approaching object in my peripheral. My muscles pulled me to lean back JUST in time as I saw a giant, ruby red, bowling ball whizz right by my head and embed itself into the wall! The plaster cracked as the ball remained suspended there and I turned to see Barry winding up with another one! I slid to the side as he aimed for my chest with the second one, and it cracked the floor behind me. Two of his friends rolled a few at my legs, and I had to jump over them as I lashed out at them first. I kicked one in the stomach to distract him long enough to grab a bowling ball from one of the girls helping Barry to attack me. I spun around low to the ground, holding the heavy ball by its fingerholes, to break both of her ankles at once. She wailed in agony, falling to the ground immediately. And while completing the spin, I used the momentum to hurl the ball directly at another one of his friends, with the full intent of taking his head clear off.

Barry rushed me from the front, and before I could raise my saber high enough to strike, he rammed into my chest like a runaway train! Lifting me off of my feet, and carrying me all the way back to the wall! He slammed me into it hard enough to create a sizeable dent, the wind knocked out of me as I tried to recover. "Fucking kid! You wanna fuck with ME? OK, asshole! Let's play!" He shouted, and while I was suspended in the air, he continued to ram his shoulder into my stomach again and again, crushing me against the wall as it crumbled from the pressure. I could barely breathe. I could hardly move. And just as his football shoulder dug deeper into my gut, I felt the wall begin to give way behind me. And with only two more powerful thrusts, Barry sent the both of us right through the wall and out into the alley in back!

It took us both a second to shake off the dust and debris that is usually involved with having a muscular powerhouse put you through a wall. But he seemed to be taking it much better than I was, as he didn't have to deal with the painful spasms in the center of his stomach like I did. I moved in too fast. Wasn't thinking clearly tonight. Too emotional. Should have been more careful. More exact. Instead of using the element of surprise, I wasted too much energy trying to fight Barry head on. He's much too strong a vampire for that. Get it together, Cylance. Get on your feet. Come on now, soldier! The game isn't over yet!

I stood up on shakey legs...trying to hide the misery in my center. If he sees a weakness in me, it's all over. And I'm not ready to die yet...not until I'm finished. That's when I saw him brush some of the dust off of his shoulder, and stare at me...waiting for me to make a move. A spark of recognition hit him, and he squinted slightly to see if it was true. "You know what, kid? You're looking real familiar to me right now." He said, and then took a closer look. "Ahhhhh....yeah. I remember you! You're that little faggot we stretched out behind that club a couple of years back! Hahaha, I didn't recognize you without you crying and bleeding and begging like a little bitch! Shit, this is an honor! It ain't often that I get to bleed one of you homos TWICE! I'm actually gonna have myself some fun with you, blondie!"

"So you remember me?" I said, the darkness creeping into my mind. You could hear the restrained anger in my voice, and as I rose from the debris beneath me, I tried to catch my breath, as I sized him up for another go.

"It's not hard to forget your 'prey', boy! You see...all of that tasty life that you had flowing through your veins when you were alive? It became a part of me too. I could feel you swimming around in my head for damn near a week afterwards. I can't rememer the last time I had blood so sweet. You must have been a complete angel back then." He smiled, stepping to the side as I went in the opposite direction. Two angry jackals, circling one another...just waiting for the signal.

"You're right, Barry. I was an angel." I told him. "Things have changed since then."

"I can't wait to tell the boys back home." He scoffed.

"You won't get the chance. You're going to die before the dawn." I told him, but he could only laugh at me.

"Hahaha! Yeah, right, kid! Look at you! You're about as dangerous as a fucking bunny rabbit!" He said. "Boo hoo! Little gay teenager wants payback for the night he got iced in an alley! Pass me a fucking tissue! We should have broken your neck and finished the job right then after draining you dry."

"You're right, you should have. Your hunting buddies paid the prce for that mistake, and now it's your turn." Barry stopped moving for a second to give me a look. "Yes, Barry. All of your friends are dead. Every last one of them. And you're next name on my list."

"Have you lost your mind??? Dead? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Duffy...Spaz...Trixie...Carolyn...they're gone, asshole. Slaughtered. Slowly. Painfully. They're ash by now, Barry. And I can't WAIT for you to join them."

Barry's face wrinkled up into a frown of pure hatred for a moment, the adrenaline filling his veins as he prepared to punch a hole right through me. But then he gave me the most sadistic grin...and he said..."Have you seen your 'daddy' yet? I'm sure he'd be disappointed if he didn't make it into your little sweepstakes."

"I'm working on it. But, you know..." I said, staring him in his eyes as they turned crimson. "...First things first."

"My thoughts exactly, cocksucker." He said, and I heard, for a split second, the sound of him digging the balls of his feet into the gravel. Suddenly, he sprung forward, and I sidestepped him just as he punched another big hole in the wall behind me! He was angry! EXTREMELY angry! And I was hoping that it would keep him reckless long enough to keep myself from getting decapitated with a single blow. I backed up swiftly as Barry swung wildly at my head, his huge biceps flexing as the wind from his strikes was enough to blow my hair back. I didn't have time to think, only to react. Thank goodness my reflexes were fast enough for me to do that. Anyone else would have been completely pancaked by now!

As he finally began to slow down, his chest heaving and arms getting fatigued from swinging at nothing but air...I was able to duck underneath his punch and make a grab for my saber. By the time he had turned around, I had slashed him across his sixpack abs, and sent a rush of blood pouring down over the front of his pants. He hardly reacted, reaching out to grab me by the throat, and reaching back to punch me hard in the face. The strike knocked me clear off of my feet, and I fell back into a pile of trash. I held my hand over my eye, my head aching from the savage impact it had just taken. It took a second for my vision to stop blurring the scenery around me...but as I found my focus, I noticed that Barry was holding the gaping split I had put in his gut, and that was the only thing to keep him from pressing his attack against me. You don't have much time before he recovers! Hurry up! CONCENTRATE! Move in on him while you have the chance!

I kept my one eye closed, and jumped forward to slash Barry on both of his shoulders. I used my strongest kick to push him back against the wall, and kicked the insides of his knees to keep him off balance. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough power to keep him dazed for long, and he began to fight back. Ferociously, he swung at me over and over again. It was better to try to dodge him, as every punch I blocked sent painful vibrations up my arm and rattled my teeth. His arms and legs were like cinder blocks! He seemed almost invinceable to everything that I could throw at him, and even though I was hoping to wear him down by moving around him faster than he could track me...I doubted that I had enough energy left to pull it off.

Barry backhanded me across the face, and I fell backwards to the ground. Then he grabbed me by the ankle, and fiercely swung me around to slam me up against a dumpster like an old ragdoll! He moved over to brutally kick me in the stomach, and then he stomped on my wrist, making me drop my weapon and grab my hand in pain! I rolled over to get some distance from him, but he was quick enough to grab the front of my shirt and sit on my chest...where he began to use those giant frozen hams he calls 'fists' to pound my face into mush! Every punch was more painful than the last, and every strike pounded the back of my head into the concrete beneath me. It was a severe struggle to keep from losing consciousness, my face swelling up and bleeding as he smashed me again and again. I felt one of my fangs crack, and then felt the broken piece sitting on the surface of my tongue...sharp, broken...the taste of blood filling my mouth. I will NOT die this way!

I spit the tooth in his face along with a spattering of blood, and the temporary halt in his beating gave me the chance to raise my legs up behind him and lock onto his neck! I forced my legs down, cracking his head against the ice cold ground, and rolled to my feet. My face was practically numb with pain my eyes swollen so badly that I could hardly see what was in front of me anymore. My peripheral vision was almost nonexistant, and I could feel the warm trickle of blood running out of my nose and over both edges of my lips. But I stood strong, an adrenaline rush of pure rage fueling a second wind inside of me. I balled up my fists, hearing the knuckles crack as I readied myself for the final round.

Barry ran towards me with a battlecry that shook the ground beneath my feet, and I was quick to grab his shoulders and drive my knee as deeply into his nuts as it would go! I could have sworn that I felt the delicate eggs burst as my blow made contact. Barry howled in agony, but I didn't stop there. I pulled him down by his ears, and pushed my knee into the bridge of his nose. Into his lips. Into his cheek. Into his forehead. Over and over, I tried my best to split his head wide open like a fresh melon. And when he reached up, he grabbed a hold of my long hair, and angrily ripped a giant patch of it out...backing up with my golden locks in his fist. It was the last straw! I couldn't hold my fury back. My anger was so far out of control that all of my other emotions simultaneously shut themselves down and I had no sense of mercy left.

My fists began to wail on him from every angle. My kicks nearly shattering his ribs every time he was knocked too far back for my hands to reach him. He backed up against the wall, and turtled up as my lightning fast punches pummeled him beyond defense. I was striing him so hard that I almost broke my own fingers...but I couldn't stop! Not now! All of that anger, all of that pain, all of that panic...it was pouring out of me in buckets, and my body had no choice but to rip this bastard apart until I found away to regain control!

It was then, that Barry rushed forward, and drove his shoulder into my stomach once again, but this time, I wrapped my arms around his neck and climbed onto his back. I held on for dear life as he spun me around, bleeding and angrily shouting at me to get off. He slammed me up against the wall a few times, but I held on, trying my best to work my forearm under his neck to cut off his air supply. I HAD to hold on! If I let go and fell to the ground, Barry would murder me for sure!

Then...before I could even figure out what he was doing...Barry grabbed a hold of my sore wrist, and pried it away from his throat. And while I was still holding on...he turned the palm upwards, and sharply pulled my arm downwards...nearly breaking it OFF over his shoulder! I screamed so loud that the shriek nearly deafened me. I had never in my life felt a pain so intense. My heart nearly stopped as giant shards of bone shot through my flesh and blood sprayed my face! My every muscle shut down from the shock, and I fell to the ground behind him. I was writhing in pain, my eyes wide open as I looked at my bones sticking out from the elbow, the sharpened splinters obscenely showering the ground with blood. I was trembling, hurt, my arm was useless...and still, through tears and sniffles, I used the wall to help me to my feet again.

I won't lose this fight. I can't. I've come too far now.

Barry struck out at me, and I took some heavy damage, due to the fact that I could only block with one arm. But luckily for me, my tae kwon do training was mostly leg work. Something I relied on heavily as he tried to fight back. He could still hardly walk from the attack on his nuggets, and a few hard kicks to his face was enough to back him off of me. It was then that I found the perfect opportunity to get some payback...and as he reeled back from a spin kick to his chest...I used my one good arm to hold on to his shoulder. I jumped up, raising both feet, only to force them down into both of his kneecaps! I felt the bones in both of his knees crack instantly under my weight, and without any further resistance, both of his knees shattered and his legs bent back the wrong way. He nearly folded forward like a lawnchair...and released such an agonizing scream that I thought it was going to shatter the bricks behind him.

Barry fell helplessly to the concrete, and rolled over onto his back in agony. Before he had any ideas about getting up, my body reacted to his position. And without thinking, I spun around two or three times on my way downward, using the sharp splinters of bone in my arm to slam down hard into his chest...spearing his fucking heart without mercy!

Barry cried out loud enough for it to echo out into the night for miles...but it was too late. By breaking my arm, he had given me the one weapon I needed to finally bring an end to all of this. I could feel the beating of his heart against my arm, the wounded muscle curling up around the bone shards...and it began to come to a slow...but inevitable....stop. It was over. There was nothing more that he could do other than to gasp for air, and go into a fit of convulsions from the intense pain he was feeling. He quickly lost consciousness, and his head fell to the side. It's....it's done.

It took me a few minutes to find the courage to move again. I had to struggle to dislodge my bone splints from his chest, and then I rolled over and laid there beside his unconscious body, trying to ignore as much bodily harm as possible. Laying there, the cold winter wind sweeping over my bruised and battered body, looking up at the night sky and stars above me...my mind stuggled for some kind of stable series of rational thought. Some worthy distraction that would keep me from thinking about what I had done, and what had been done to me. It wasn't until visions of Patrick entered my mind that the tears began. The first time he ever let me enter him, that intimate connection, that loving embrace...I collapsed on top of him naked. We were both absorbed in an orgasmic bliss that only an expert poet could describe. And as I breathlessly kissed his lips...I whispered, "I love you, Patrick. I love you so much it hurts." I remember that moment so clearly. It's as vivid as the moment that my broken arm pierced Barry's flesh, ending his existence once and for all. My mind wrapped itself around the memory of my boyfriend's kiss, and soon the tears were uncontrollable. Even as I curled up in the fetal position alongside my latest victim, my sobs and whimpers came bursting out of me nonstop...until I was forced to scream outloud for release. I pounded the grond with my fist, bawling like a baby with my nose pressed hard against the cold concrete beneath me...and I tried to collect myself enough to get up before the police arrived. Already, I could hear their sirens in the background over the noise of the city. I had to get up. I had to move. Come on, kid...you can do it. Get up on your knees, and then get up on your feet. Let's go soldier. We still have one more left.

I got up, and looked down at Barry's face. He was strong, he was tough...but he can't fight fate. He can't punch his way through the horror of the destined events he set into motion the night he murdered me in that alley. Karma always comes to collect....and payback is a bitch. I spit on his face, and then raised my hand to cover his face...giving him the darkest of last rites. The nightfall energy crept out of me and flooded his nervous system, covering his every emotion in a thick black tar, eating away at him. His memories, his joys, his sorrows, everything. I heard the sirens getting even closer, and knew that I'd have to move soon. So I forced the darkness out faster, and Barry's body began to shake in resistence. I pressed down harder, holding him down as the seizures took a hold of him. I think he woke up during the transfer, but I couldn't really tell. His eyes did open in shock, but just as they saw a few seconds of light...coming from those far away stars above us...I saw his eyes turn black, and the image was erased. His mind was gone now. Just....gone.

I struggled to get to my feet as the police screeched to a halt outside of the bowling alley, and limped my way painfully into the twists and turns of the alley, hoping to lose myself in the darkness. For now I was safe. For now.

My body limped forward, sticking to the dark alleys and shadows away from civilization. There was no way to hide this level of bodily harm from anyone passing by. No possible way. My face was swollen, my body too battered and broken to even walk more than a few hobled steps at a time. Blood ran out of my nose in an almost constant river, as well as from the side of my head...where I'm sure it had cracked the cement a bit too hard. And my arm, nearly broken in half, dangled limply from my shoulder. A patch of my hair was ripped out, my breathing was labored and shallow...and I had probably cracked a few ribs. Thank God I wasn't far from the dawn. If I can just bear this pain long enough to get to sleep...I'll be much better off tomorrow. Although, it might take more than one sleep cycle to repair all of this. It might take two or three.

I was too hurt to make it home at this pace. Too fucked up for any kind of public transportation. The last thing I needed was to see a cop or some well meaning citizen on the train, and they'd put me away. Seeing a 16 year old boy beaten up this badly would practically force them to step and do something 'for my own good'...murdering me in the process. No....I had to find somewhere to sleep tonight. I need a spot. ANY spot. As long as it protects me from the sun.

I wandered around for another twenty minutes or so, and then came across some old restaurant that had put a big freezer outside with the trash. It took me a second to remember what day it was, and luckily, trash day was still a few days off. I certainly didn't want to wake up in the city dump somewhere. It was a risky idea. If some curious kid came along and decided to open that freezer during the day with me inside, I'd be ash in a matter of seconds. But I didn't have much choice. The dawn was coming, and it was coming fast. The chance that I was going to find something better in the short time that I had left was slim. So I decided to take a chance on it.

I looked in the dumpster next to me, and ripped open a few black garbage bags full of trash. I emptied their contents into the dumpster and used the dark bags to wrap around my arms and legs. Anywhere that my skin was exposed, especially my face. Of course...if someone opened the freezer, the sunlight would penetrate right through my clothes and sizzle me anyway, but some protection is better than none. It took some time, as I really only had one arm to work with, and just as my eyes got sandy and I began to yawn...I crawled into the freezer, and closed the lid. I made sure to put something by the handle to keep it from locking me inside. When I wake up, chances are there won't be any oxygen left in here, so I'm only gonna have a few minutes to break out of this thing. I settled in as best as I could. Cold, shivering, aching from head to toe in the cramped little space. This is who I am now. This is what my life has become. Maybe I would have been better off if I had just died in that alley two years ago. At least then I could rest in peace.

Before being drawn into the big sleep...I made the decision to help the healing process along a little bit concerning my arm. The bones would heal a lot faster if I just...snapped them back into place. God...I couldn't believe that I was going to do this. I didn't have anything to bite down on, so I just gnashed my teeth together, and closed my eyes tight as I slowly reached down to grab a hold of my wrist. I took a few quick deep breaths...counted backwards from ten...and when I got to three, as though I could surprise myself, I YANKED on the end of my arm, and snapped the damaged bone splinters back into my arm! They didn't fit back together properly, but at least they weren't poking out of my skin anymore. The pain was unbearable, and with a cry that burned in my throat, I tried to suffer my way through the agony. Tears poured out of my eyes, and I sobbed uncontrollably as I sat there in the dark, holding onto the wound as though I could close it by sheer will alone. Was I crying because of the pain? Maybe. At least I was at first. But son those tears were coming from somewhere else. Somewhere deeper than any physical pain could touch. I couldn't even define the misery, but it was as if the whole world turned black all at once...and I suddenly never felt more alone. More helpless. The panic returned to me, and my breathing increased, as my mind and body finally began to realize what was going on. It was an anxiety attack of the worst kind, and it left me gasping for air as I quaked inside and attempted to hold on as I was overcome with hysteria. Calm down, Luke. You're ok. You're ok. You're ok. You're safe. Shhhhh....relax. You're ok.

The only thing that saved me was the dawn. It dragged me into the big sleep, and in an instant, my body went cold. Sparing me another minute of this suffering. Tomorrow will be better. Yes....tomorrow will definitely be better.