Damian walked out of the gym after the Friday night session, his mind still focusing on Jackson’s words.

I need to train like this all the time; it hurts, but it feels so good.

He continued the walk home, slightly frustrated that his mum couldn’t pick him up as it was starting to get dark. He chucked on his hoodie as he felt the frigid air outside.

Far out, it feels so much colder than it should be for summer.

His legs were still in agony from the strength training at the end of the session, so he just put one leg in front of the other as he journeyed toward home. The street lights glowed dully in the dusk as he glanced up at the buildings surrounding him, their shadows casting a sense of fear and uncertainty deep into his mind.

Why does it have to be so creepy here?

He rounded the corner of the industrial block, and seemingly from nowhere, a person shot from a hidden nook in the building and tried to grab him. Adrenaline kicked in and Damian felt the world slow down around him. He made the most awkward step of his entire life, dodging the man’s grasp by inches. In the process, he went completely off balance and was unable to dodge the roundhouse kick that was already flying toward his body. As the attackers' shin crashed into his ribs, Damian’s face contorted in agony, and the cracking sounds alerted him instantly to the fact that his ribs were broken.

How is he so fast? flashed through Damian’s mind as he flew backward through the air.

The power from the kick knocked him back and his whole body skidded across the floor, resulting in excruciating pain from his ribs. His whole body was aching, but Damian forced himself to stand anyway, struggling to his feet. It seemed as if this random guy wanted to hurt him badly, if not kill him, and the knives he now wielded only seemed to confirm that.

What in the world is going on? Why is this guy attacking me?

The attacker leaped toward him, swinging his knives in a smooth arc aiming across Damian’s chest. Damian leaned back just in time to avoid being seriously hurt by the blades, but not fast enough, as he got a long slash across his chest which blood started seeping out of immediately. Damian put his hand across his chest and felt his hand get wet with the blood trickling out. Damian snapped his concentration back to the fight, just in time to twist away from a slash to his neck. He felt the blade dig into his skin as it raced across his back, and he cried out in agony.

Turning back to face the black-clothed attacker, Damian couldn’t see the attacker’s face as it was covered by a black mask, but he could sense them getting more and more frustrated. Damian almost saw the humor in the situation.

He must be so frustrated that he can’t take out a little kid. I can’t run with my body like this, and I’m trapped in the corner. So I’m going to drag this out and start screaming; someone will be around. I’ve just got to survive.

Damian stepped past another strike and let out a long scream hoping that someone nearby would hear him. He kept on facing his attacker and did what he could to dodge each strike as it came. It seemed as if Damian was moving faster than he’d ever moved before, but somehow the attacker was faster, and once every couple of strikes, the blades would nick his skin, causing more and more blood to flow from all his wounds.This continued for what seemed like eternity, and Damian could feel himself slowing down as the blood loss started to get to him. He heard the squeal of car brakes jolting his attention for one second, and his attacker used the momentary distraction to stomp his foot down on Damian’s left ankle. A loud snap filled his ears, his leg buckled, and he collapsed onto the floor.

Lying in agony on the cold hard concrete, he looked up as the assassin raised his knife to stab down at him, as he was lying helpless on the ground. Everything seemed to unfold in slow motion as Damian stared upward realizing this was the end.

Is this how I’m going to go? Really, at least it’s dramatic.

As the attacker stabbed down, Damian raised his hands in one last desperate attempt to save himself. The world seemed to slow down even more, and he noticed the purple blood on the back of his hands, saw the knife coming down toward his head, and tried to move, only to realize that his body had stopped responding. In the split-second before the knife was about to make contact with Damian’s neck, the assassin was body-slammed away as Damian saw a flash of color fly into the assassin.

Jackson? Relief flooded through Damian as he realized he was no longer alone, but this was quickly replaced by fear as he realized that now Jackson was probably going to die as well. The assassin rolled away from the initial attack, jumped to his feet, and ran straight back at Jackson, wielding the knives in a flurry of attacks. Even though the assassin towered over him, Jackson dodged and blocked the knives with ease. Stopping the attacker’s outstretched arm, he struck through the back of the elbow. A loud pop occurred as both Damian and the assassin realized that Jackson was in control of the fight. Almost instantly the attacker bolted, realizing he was outclassed, and Jackson turned to Damian.

Jackson said, “Wow, you’re a mess, man. Let’s get this fixed up.”

Damian, weak from the blood he lost, vaguely heard a motorbike roar in the distance as Jackson was on the phone to the ambulance. He was so calm, it seemed as if was he was talking about the flowers on the side of the road. So weird, Wait, will he notice my blood isn’t fully red? He almost panicked for a second, then he realized that the lighting was terrible. Jackson probably couldn’t see anything weird about the color.

Wait, my blood isn’t fully red. Does that mean...

Damian was still woozy from all the blood loss, but he felt himself being bandaged up. He forced his eyes open to see what was happening and saw that Jackson’s shirt lay in strips on the ground, and pieces were being used to stop blood loss from the cuts all over his body.

I suppose that works.

Damian passed out as Jackson said, “It’ll be all good, little man. The ambos are on their way.”

The arrival of the ambulance with their flashing lights and sirens snapped him back to reality, but he was only awake for a brief second to hear Jackson scream, “We’re over here,” before everything faded back into oblivion.