Jump into the flame so quickly. Jump right out again. Play with all the fire’s burning, Until ashes rule the land.

---

I’ve never been lucky. 

I’ve never gotten the girl.

I’ve never even been paid above minimum wage. 

I’ve never lived anywhere but my parent’s dusty old house, left to me in an inheritance after they were assumed dead over 20 years ago. Back when I was just a baby. 

My aunt raised me to be obedient and mild. Always assuring me the meek would inherit the earth. 

I’d never killed a fly, a beatle, or a bee. 

I’d never killed anything until about 6 months ago. 

And now……

Now I’ve killed so many. 

I found out I was special. Although, no surprise, my uniqueness makes my heart break and bleed each time I explore it.  

I’ve learned to harness my power. And my power…..well, it’s exhilarating. 

Let me explain. 

One night, I was walking home from my shity job, upset because my boss embarrassed me in front of the staff again.  In front of her again…. It was dark outside and the air felt cold and unclean. The street lamp bulbs were mostly broken,  casting large stretches of sidewalk into shadow. The few that weren’t shattered, flickered and buzzed, releasing electric energy into the ozone around me. 

I felt a heavy weight on my chest and didn’t know why. The hair on my arms pricked and I couldn’t help but think, “THIS is where I’m going to die.” 

I hurried along until I was in front of my house. 

The front door was open. 

My aunt sometimes did that, when she was bringing in groceries or sitting on the porch. But she was nowhere in sight. 

I carefully crept up to the house and listened. 

Nothing. 

My aunt normally played light hearted church music. There were no choirs singing tonight. No encouraging instrumentals. 

A large lump lodged itself in my throat and a generous amount saliva settled in my mouth. 

Something was wrong. 

I didn’t have a phone. I couldn’t afford one. 

I looked back at the flickering lights and long stretches of darkness behind me and knew, I had to go in. There was nothing back there for me. I had to go in.

The floor boards groaned with my weight as I walked through the front door. 

I followed my instincts to the warmest room in the house, the kitchen. And on the floor, my aunt laid soaking in a puddle of her own reflective blood. 

The saliva thickened in my mouth and as I turned away – BAM 

I was whacked in the head with what felt like a hammer. 

It turns out, it was a hard, fast fist. 

There was a tall slender man all dressed in black, smiling at me. His dark brown eyes were fixated on mine. He was laughing. 

“Look at you!” He said. “They were worried about you?!?…HAH!” He narrowed his eyes and continued to study me. He pulled out a blade and dragged it across the counter. The sound was almost unbearable. 

I stayed silent. 

“BOO!” the man laughed again and lunged forward. With the only luck I’ve ever known, he tripped and fell face down, flat on the floor. 

I seized my moment. 

I jumped on his back and slammed his head into the floor…. repeatedly. 

Each slam felt like an electric jolt. Something was happening. 

Glimpses of memories flooded my brain. Memories that weren’t mine. 

A red bucket swing, swaying alone in a nest of trees. 

SLAM

A woman, with fierce green eyes, naked, moaning. 

SLAM

The feeling of dual wielding daggers, dashing around, slashing, piercing.

SLAM

A man giving a mission – that mission, kill Brennan Don. 

My name is Brennan Don. 

SLAM 

My aunt begging for her life, in the cozy, warm kitchen. 

I screamed. 

SLAM

“Who wants to kill me?”

SLAM 

“Why?!?” I cried. “Why? Why? Why!!”

I saw an address – a house. I felt a direction. 

I knew where to go to find him…the man who gave the mission. The man called Reve. 

I slumped off the body,  knowing all the energy of his soul had dissipated. I sat on the floor for a long time. Wondering what had just happened….wondering what I was supposed to do next. 

I’ve spent the past 6 months trying to get to that man. That man who put a hit on my life. 

I’ve followed my gut and gone everywhere I’ve been guided, letting the souls that I’ve collected steer the course. 

Each person I kill on this journey of vengeance and curiosity and furry, leaves me with memories and skills I’ve called upon during their times of death. 

Fighting

Navigating

Calculating

Sneaking

Tracking

Each person I dispatch drives me deeper into an ever sinking madness I know I will never escape. 

And now. 

Now I am standing in front of the hit man’s door….Reve’s door. 

Every muscle in my body is humming with anticipation. This is how I imagine every kid feels as they run into the embrace of their mother and father. It felt right. It felt like home. 

I held the dagger in my hand, twirling it in my palm, wondering if I should drag out the death as long as possible so I could get more information, or if I should make it quick, easy.

Based on all the other’s memories, Reve was a force to be reckoned with. He was not someone who liked to mess around. 

I decided to make it quick. 

I rang to doorbell. 

I made sure to dress in the secret clothing of his society, so I didn’t seem like a threat. 

I held back the bats that threatened to explode from my stomach. 

The door opened. 

And there he was. 

The man who ordered my death. 

“I am Brennan Don.” I said, as I plunged the dagger into his right temple. 

His eyes flickered and I saw…..

Me, killing him. 

I saw….

Him looking down and smiling at a sleeping newborn baby. 

I heard him say. “Welcome to the world Son – I love you Brennan Don.”