Thirteen year old Jeff Woods sighed with discontent as the rusty, maroon car pulled up to the run-down apartment building. The brown color of the building had begun to fade. Illegible writing in graffiti was sprayed all over the entrance door. Jeff glanced at his older brother Liu, who didn't seem too happy about the move either.
"Mom, do we have to move here?" Jeff said.
"Jeff," She replied, a sense of care and maturity in her voice. "You know we don't have much money, the old house was getting to expensive to maintain, this one is within our budget. I've told you this many times before." Jeff sighed again, with anger towards his father. They only reason they were moving was because Jeff's ass of a father was a drunkard, who couldn't quit drinking. Their family would have been better off if he had just died of liver cancer and Jeff and Liu had to work to earn money. But Jeff didn't dare say that to his parents.
Jeff looked around. They were in a bad, and poor, neighborhood. Thugs and gangs were undoubtedly going to be a problem. Trash littered the filthy and worn out streets. Other buildings had graffiti on them, none as severe as the one on Jeff's building's doors. Jeff noticed a bunch of people, who looked liked they wanted to harm the family, pointing and making faces at the four. Jeff was the first to get out of the car. He slammed the car door shut,and it made a loud bang. It attracted the attention of nearly every soul in the immediate vicinity. A guy who looked somewhere around nineteen or eighteen, with a shaved head,and a snake tattoo wrapped around his bare left arm, abandoned the group of people he was conversing with and walked up to Jeff as his family got out of the outdated car.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Randy. You must be new here", the person said in an unexpectedly polite manner which astonished Jeff. Randy's lips formed a toothy smile as he held out his hand for a shake.
"Yeah, we just moved here, into apartment 2G. I'm Margaret, this is my husband Peter and these are my sons Liu and Jeff," Jeff's mom replied.
"Well, I'm in apartment 2H, it's right next to you, if you need anything, just give me a knock."
"We'll be sure to do that", Jeff's mom responded almost immediately. Jeff wasn't too sure about trusting the guy.
Just before Randy was about to return to his group, he squeezed Jeff's shoulder, leaned down a bit and whispered, "I'm gonna have a lot of fun with you, kid." As he was walking toward his gang, he yelled out at the family, "It was nice meeting you!" Jeff's mother smiled in agreement. Jeff noticed suspicious lumps in Randy's and his friend's trouser pockets, and some black object poked out them.
Inside, the building was even more worn out than the outer walls. Paint cracked and peeled off the walls revealing bare, cracked stone.
The apartment was really small, one living room, bathroom and kitchen, and two bedrooms. Jeff and Liu were supposed to share a room. The movers had already gotten the boxes there, there weren't many of them so unpacking them wasn't much of a problem.
A few days later, Jeff and Liu had their first day at the new school. They glanced around at the students as they walked through the large corridor. A small kid was getting his lunch money taken from him. A few students were talking in groups and pairs, others searched for books in their lockers, some were making out. As the duo walked through the corridor, they felt eyes on the backs of their heads.
Jeff and Liu’s lockers were on opposite walls. As Jeff was busy hurriedly shoving his books into his locker, he didn’t notice the big athletic guy approaching him. Jeff felt a powerful pull on the back of his shirt collar. He was pulled away from his locker and forcefully turned around. He looked at the beefy guy in front of him, his mind unable to process what was happening. The boy pushed him up against the lockers and Jeff’s head collided hard with the metal locker.
“You new here?” The boy smirked, with a feeling of power over the younger kid in front of him.
“Yeah”, Jeff moaned, the pain in the back of his head still fresh.
"You were talking to my girl?"
"No I wasn't. You have me mixed up with someone else."
"You weren't, huh? Don't lie to me. I'm gonna let you off this time. On one condition..." He smirked. "Pay up."
Jeff, finally understanding was was going on, replied slowly and calmly "I don't have to pay shit to anybody, bitch!"
Jeff certainly would not hand over his pocket money to some asshole, even if he did not have much money, besides, Liu would protect him. Hopefully.
"Hope that a few lousy bucks are worth getting beat up." With that the boy struck a blow onto Jeff's face. His fist hurt from the impact on the bone of Jeff's nose. He had broken it. Jeff fell back. He lay on the floor, the only part of his body that moved was his chest, furiously heaving up and down.
Liu noticed what was happening, and being the protective older sibling that he was, punched the guy straight in the kisser as soon as he turned. The kid was probably a year older than Liu but he didn't care.
He fell back and leaned against the locker next to Jeff's. He quickly got back on his feet. He wiped the red liquid off his mouth and glared at Liu, who now had a sense of fear in his eyes.
"You got a lot of guts, kid," he said as he grabbed Liu's collar.
"Hey! Let my brother go."
Every eye in the corridor followed Liu's gaze towards Jeff. His nose was crippled, blood leaked down it. His tongue reached up and wiped the blood that reached his lips. His eyes had a crazy look on them and a menacing frown was fixated on his face.
"What're you gonna do about it?"
"I'm glad you asked," Jeff muttered to himself while advancing toward the older person, walking clumsily, each step getting more stable than the last. The boy shoved Liu to the ground, his spine hit the ground, causing him to wince in pain.
Jeff and the other boy came at each other with their fists raised. Jeff was faster, his fist connected first.
The guy's head went back from the impact. Jeff, ignoring the unrelenting pain in his broken nose, grabbed his head and pulled it toward his raised knee. Bone met bone. But Jeff didn't stop there, he pulled his head in for another kick, and another, and another. And another. His face bared the look of rage, of insanity.
He continued this charade for what seemed like minutes, not even stopping for the school bell. Not a single soul budged, not wanting to miss a moment of the fight. Fatigue didn't set into Jeff's muscles yet, but the pain in his broken nasal bones intensified.
Only did he stop when he heard the scream of a male adult, "Greg!" The principal. So that's his name, Jeff thought.
Jeff's grip on Greg's head loosened and he let him drop to the ground. Lifeless? No. He was breathing, but barely. Jeff may have killed him if the principal hadn't noticed the commotion and stopped him. Greg's face had been bloodied and battered, and his facial features were rendered unrecognizable.
When Jeff dropped Greg, Liu, who had been staring at Jeff while he taught Greg a lesson, his mouth open in amazement, jaw dropping toward the floor, choked out, "Jeff, how did ... how'd you do that?" Jeff, looked at Liu himself astonished by his actions, searched for an answer but found none.
The principal, however, was not as appreciative of Jeff's actions as Liu was. Jeff was immediately suspended, and his parents were called.
A lawsuit was filed against Jeff, but he was surprisingly let off as he was protecting Liu and Greg was a bully.
A few days later, Jeff and Liu were sitting in their room. Jeff was surfing a troll website on his netbook while Liu had his nose buried in a comic book.
"I liked it, Liu"
Liu looked up from his comic and turned his gaze toward Jeff, still surfing the net, his eyes automatically went to Jeff's bandage covered nose. "What?"
"I liked beating up that asshole. It felt good." Jeff faced Liu, a visage of concern and fear on his face. "That doesn't make me crazy, does it?"
Liu hesitated before answering, but he finally said "No, Jeff, It's...that's totally normal" though he knew in his heart that it wasn't.
Months passed, and Jeff's nose eventually healed, but it remained slightly flat.
Jeff and Liu were frequently bullied severely by Randy, and two of his friends, Troy (An obese stoner) and Keith ( A gothic looking skinny dude, also a stoner) but they didn't tell anyone as they believed that would only make it worse.
One day, Liu was sent by his Mom to buy the groceries. Liu walked carefully, checking each corner and frequently glancing behind him, looking out for Randy or his buddies. Others in the neighborhood didn't bother them at all. Randy, Troy and Keith were the only problem. It wasn't until he was already out on the street that he realized:
"Shit, I forgot the cash!"
"Going somewhere, Liu?"
That voice made Liu freeze in place with fear. His heart pumped twice as fast as normal. He turned his head to look at three figures behind him. One was skinny, one rotund and one the average smile for a person.
Randy motioned with his head toward Liu's waste where he found a gun, equipped with a silencer, aimed straight at his kidney. He turned to Keith and motioned forward. Keith took the lead.
"Follow Keith," Randy directed. Liu followed Keith into an alley.
"Give me your money," Randy said. Liu gulped, his mouth dry.
"I-I don't have any money," He stuttered.
"Oh really, then why do you have a list of groceries? Did you expect that you would just get them for free?" Randy said. "Troy, search his pockets."
Troy did as he was told, and sure enough, Liu didn't have any money, so Randy raised his gun to Liu's head and pulled the trigger. Liu didn't even get a chance to react. Randy was messed up, but he wasn't expected to murder someone over a little money.
Jeff had realized that Liu did not take the cash with him, so he had grabbed it and set out to give it to him. What he did not expect to see was Randy taking him to an alley and killing him. He knew he should have done something, Liu protected him often, but Jeff didn't do anything to save him now. He was overridden with guilt, and his eyes blurred with tears.
He went home as fast as he could, constantly stumbling because of his misted eyes. Tears dripped down his cheeks and reached his chin, irritating him, but he cared not about that. As soon as he got home, he told his parents all that he witnessed. The police was called, but for some reason, Troy, Randy and Keith weren't arrested. They had probably bribed the crooked cops.
Jeff began to suffer from depression, due to the loss of his only true friend. Since Liu died, Jeff's father's drinking problem had returned, with a vengeance. He would frequently come home late, and drunk. A stumbling, blabbering mess. Sometimes, he would be so wasted that a man had to carry him home.
He would abuse and beat Jeff's mother, sometimes even to the point of sexual abuse. The first time, Jeff tried to stop him, but his efforts were proven to have been in vain when his father's arm struck his head and the blow sent him toward the floor.
Jeff was surfing the internet on his tiny netbook computer, trying to ignore his mother's pained screams. Tears streamed down his face. Tragedy, tragedy and tragedy, that was the synopsis of Jeff's life.
He accidentally clicked a link and came across a website on devil worshiping. He became intrigued, and started to browse the contents of the site. He learned that you could make a deal with the devil by performing a ritual. It was far-fetched but Jeff would do anything to get Liu back, or get revenge on Randy. He read what he was supposed to do and memorized the Satanic verses required for this ritual.
It was midnight. Jeff's parents were asleep now, or at least quiet. He got a knife from the kitchen, and came back into his room. Then with the knife, he made a small cut on his finger, it stung and Jeff winced, but he bore it, and made a pentagram on the floor. He sat in the middle, closed his eyes and began to mumble demonic verses.
He felt the temperature rise around him, and then heard a voice.
What do you want, foul human?
He didn't dare open his eyes, as he knew that his soul would burn if he looked at the devil. " I-I wa-want my brother back."
I am afraid that is out of my hand, pitiful mortal.
"I want revenge on Randy, Keith and Troy for what they did to Liu."
How about I give you immortality and allow you to kill them and gain your revenge, but...you must continue to kill, so that more souls are sent for torment to hell. Deal?
Jeff hesitated for a moment. He had known that there would be a catch. He spoke, his word a whisper: "Deal."
Jeff felt a weird feeling, he felt powerful. Also, his entire body felt numb, as if, the blood circulation throughout his body had stopped. The heat faded around him and he opened his eyes to find himself in his room. The only evidence of the Devil being there was that the pentagram of blood had turned ash black. He noticed his hands were yellow, the blood flow to them had stopped. He felt a sharp pain on his torso, and found a pentagram burned into his flesh.
Jeff put on his white hoodie, and walked out of his apartment. He tried the door to Randy's apartment, and luckily, it was open.
He looked into the first room. It was Troy's. The second. Keith's. He came to the third room. Randy slept soundly on his bed. Jeff slowly slid on top of him and wrapped his hands around his neck. He squeezed the neck tightly. Randy woke up, an astonished look on his face, he had to struggle hard to get Jeff off him. Jeff fell to the ground, knocking over Randy's nightstand in the process. There was a gun on the nightstand, which Jeff noticed, grabbed quickly and pulled the trigger. Randy was prepared for death, but when no bullet came out Randy and Jeff both realized the safety was on. Jeff turned it off as Randy lunged at him. There was a struggle for the gun and the trigger was pulled. A deafening sound was heard. There was no silencer on the gun this time.
Jeff pulled himself off of Randy's corpse. A bullet wound in his shirt, in the place where his heart was located, leaked blood. He looked at the blood stain on his hoodie. Some blood dropped onto his black trousers but it wasn't noticeable. Jeff sat there, admiring his work, smiling to himself. He had finally gained his revenge, although he wished Randy's demise to be more painful, more torturous.
A while later, Troy and Randy rushed into the room. And Jeff shot them point blank. He just stood there admiring his work, when he heard police sirens. He escaped the apartment by leaping out of the window and he landed on his feet. He was on the second floor but the fall didn't even hurt him. He ran, police firing at him. Bullets pierced his body and the bullet holes bled but Jeff felt no pain. A police officer stood in his way, he went down with one punch. He ran out of the neighborhood and found an empty restaurant. He couldn't see anyone inside. Not even staff. He ran to the back and hid in the freezer.
He must have been in there for five hours. His skin had turned pale white, but he didn't feel cold.
A middle-aged employee opened the freezer door. Jeff lunged at him. The man fell back. Jeff got on top of him and punched his face again and again and again until the man lost consciousness. Jeff broke the man's jaw. Jeff put on his hood and went back home, careful about police. It was dawn now and the first streaks of sunlight shone onto the ground.
After a long time, he was finally once again happy. He had now lost all sanity. All he wanted to do now was to kill.
He went into the bathroom taking a knife and a box of matches with him. He carved a chelsea smile into his face. Blood leaked out, but he felt no pain. He took the matches and burned out his eyelids. This left black circles around his eyes. Eyelids are for moisture. Since Jeff was immortal, he didn't need them.
For some reason, which was probably his deal with the devil, his skin wouldn't return to normal. His brown hair didn't sit right with his new terrifying face. It seemed out of place. He used his mom's hair dye (silver hairs in her head had started to show up) and dyed it black. Now he was truly terrifying. He wanted that the last thing his victims saw would be his terrifying, and happy face. Anything human left in Jeff was now gone. He was no longer human, but the sinister shadow of a once normal boy. His eyes reflected his soulless body. He was a beast, a menacing monster. He felt an odd tingly feeling spread throughout his mind.
His mom had to go to the bathroom, and walked in to see her son, a terrifying sight. He would be the last thing she saw as he lunged at her, knife in hand. She didn't even get the chance to react by screaming. His feeling only intensified and one word echoed throughout his head, 'Kill', he liked the feeling. It was uncanny how one incident could change so much in an innocent boy, how one day could destroy his mind and his humanity.
He got duct tape, and wrapped together his father and the bed. His father woke up in a daze. Even in his hungover state he realized what his insane son was doing. He struggled and screamed but to no avail. The tape was too strong. Jeff turned on the light so that his father could see him. When he saw Jeff, he screamed loudly.
"Don't be afraid, Dad. I'll make you like me."
"NONONONONONO!"
Jeff put the knife into his father's cheek, and attempted to cut a smile into his face. His father shook his head, resulting in a frown being cut instead of a smile.
"Aw, Dad, are you sad?" Jeff inquired sarcastically, enjoying the torture, his voice disturbingly calm. "Don't worry, I'll make your sadness go away." His father's screams drowned out Jeff's voice but he continued to speak.
"All you have to do is..." He said, plunging the knife into his father's heart, as his screams faded away. "Go to sleep."
Written by Sykokillah Content is available under CC-BY-SA