The boy with short blond hair, dressed in a typical school uniform, covered from head to toe in sweat and panting from exhaustion, was running as hard as he could down a dark alley. His pants were ripped in several places after he had accidentally overlooked a motorcycle that had suddenly come out of nowhere, and he hit his knee hard on the pavement.

But despite the unpleasant pain in his leg, the boy did not slow down. It never occurred to him to stop and give up. He just couldn't afford it.

Dark clouds gathered together, blocking the view of the night sky. The moonlight could not penetrate them, so he could only discern the road by the dim light of the street lamps. This only exacerbated the already gloomy atmosphere of the damned neighborhood

'Just make it...Daniel, hold on a little longer, I'll be there soon,' the boy thought, and these thoughts seemed to give him new strength, opening his second breath.

Soon he saw an abandoned two-story building ahead. Broken glass in the windows, all kinds of trash scattered everywhere, and walls painted with ugly graffiti were the first things that caught his eye. But he knew for sure he had come to the right place. Because he had been here many times before.

This place was next to a liquor factory that had been closed a decade ago, and people rarely went out for a walk in this area. And what could a normal person be doing in a place so dirty and full of stench that you could hardly restrain your gagging?

But the boy had been a frequent visitor to this neighborhood and especially to this brick building. Unfortunately, it was not of his own free will that he used to come here.

He still remembered how much blood he had left on the cold stone field. How much pain he had endured as he lay curled up against one of the dozens of supporting columns. How many times he had only through incredible willpower forced himself to get up on his feet and walk home through those unfriendly streets.

"Ahhhhhh." - The silence of the desolate wastelands was broken by a shrill male scream. And he recognized that voice at once. There was no way he could have been wrong, for he had heard it almost all his childhood.

The boy did not hesitate, quickened his pace, forgetting any pain or fatigue, and rushed up the old creaking stairs. His path led to the open flat roof where the previous frightening sound had come from.

He pushed the old metal door open with force and flew onto the roof. Unfortunately, He saw precisely the same picture he assumed he'd see.

"Ahahahah...how do they taste to you? You must love it, you disgusting pervert." - said a big guy about 17 years old looking, also dressed in a standard school uniform. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, exposing his arms, pumped up from years of sports.

Now he was, with a satisfied grin on his face, leaning over the guy with the glasses lying on the ground. The last one was clearly frightened and could barely contain his tears. But that was not what struck the imagination. It was a familiar sight on this rooftop, one that could be seen every day, even with the same cast of characters. But what deserved special attention was an object that was forced into the mouth of a young boy with glasses...a girl's panties.

"Oh...who has come to visit us? Could it be Arthur Hayes himself? How's it going? What's new?" - The big guy turned around and looked at the boy who had just entered and breathing heavily after running so long. His eyes expressed both joy, happiness, and anticipation of what was to come. Beside him stood two more of his henchmen, who gave the newcomer the same intrigued looks.

"Zack, let him go." - Arthur roared, unlike the three ruffians who were enjoying what was happening, he was overwhelmed with nothing but unconcealed rage and anger.

"Let him go? Why? Am I holding him? А... you must be confused by the panties in his mouth. Arthur, don't worry. I didn't do anything wrong, it's just that today your friend was staring at my girlfriend so horny that I thought... he does like her. I mean, he probably wants to fuck her, no? So why not give him a little extra support for his desires. So, as a thoughtful classmate, I gave this pervert what he wanted so desperately..." - laughed Zack, to the encouraging nods of his minions.

"Yeah, Arthur, Zack is just expressing his concern."

"Daniel was lucky today."

The taunts came one after another without ceasing. Arthur's face twisted at this vile behavior. He remembered that a year ago he had been in the place of his humiliated friend and had been attacked by these three in the same way, until he went to actively train to be able to fight back. And he succeeded. When these bastards realized that Arthur was no longer an easy target for bullying and could easily bite back, they left him alone. In return, they found themselves another victim, Arthur's friend Daniel.

He didn't hesitate. Stupid talk won't help here. These bastards understand only the language of force. Arthur lunged at Zack, ignoring the other two guys beside him, and with a single blow of his foot struck him hard in the face while he was still in a half-sitting position. The blow took everyone by surprise, Zack didn't even have time to put his arms out as a block. His foot hit him in the face, breaking his nose in one motion.

"Kill him." - Shouted the fallen Zack, holding onto his bleeding nose.

But while the other two froze in indecision, Arthur managed to run up and grab his friend's hand.

"Come on, run," he shouted, and with a sharp movement, he lifted Daniel to his feet.

"Don't just stand there, you idiots. Grab them."

One of the henchmen came out of his stupor before the other and, realizing that their victims might escape, rushed to intercept them. And, unfortunately, he succeeded.

Arthur, seeing that the exit was blocked by one guy and the other was already creeping up behind him, pulled his friend to the unoccupied side of the roof. Even if he got beaten tonight, he'd make those bastards remember this night, too.

"Grab that iron bar," he commanded the frightened Daniel as he noticed the object lying in the corner. His friend nodded hesitantly and picked up the dangerous piece of iron with shaky hands.

"Where are you going, Arthur? Come on, let's play." - said Zach, who had risen to his feet.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Why not. Three of you, two of us...not exactly a fair game, but I think we can handle it."

Zack froze, then covered his face with his hands and laughed. His fat body trembled with each nasty laugh. Wiping away the tears that had come out, he uttered:

"Arthur, you seemed to have good grades in school... then why are you counting so poorly?"

"What?" he said in surprise at the unexpected phrase of his hated enemy. And then suddenly he fell to his knees. A monstrous pain pierced his back, so much so that it made him involuntarily groan.

"I told you, Arthur, you're not counting well...it's not three against two here. It's four against one."

Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw Daniel holding a raised iron bar with trembling hands.

"I'm sorry, Arthur...," his friend said stammering and struck another blow that finally knocked the boy to the ground.

"I couldn't help it...they said I had to bring you here...this is my only chance to end all the abuse."

"Yeah, good for you, my new friend. Let's have some fun tonight guys." - Zack shouted cheerfully and the hard night for Arthur had just begun.

*******

"Where am I?" - Arthur asked in a weak voice with his throat dry from thirst as he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, it was as if everything was in a fog.

"You are awake. Don't get up," replied a soft, pleasant to-the-ear female voice.

His vision gradually began to return to him. He was able to distinguish the silhouette of the woman who said it. The white neat nurse's suit, the same white hospital walls all around. On his arm, he noticed a syringe stuck in his vein.

'Hospital?' - he thought, still not thinking clearly.

He tried to get up but felt a sharp pain in his stomach area. His hospital shirt was unbuttoned at the bottom and she noticed the bandaged area.

"I told you not to get up. You're not supposed to move yet," the nurse said as she gently and cautiously held him by the shoulders in a lying position.

"Water." - Arthur groaned.

"Oh, I'm sorry, now."

The nurse left the room in quick strides and returned a few minutes later with a glass of water in her hands. But she was not alone. Next to her stood in a white hospital gown, a handsome man with gray hair. He wore stylish glasses, which gave him a special charm, and he radiated a certain hidden nobility.

"Young man, you seem to be awake." - he said with a friendly smile on his face as the nurse gently helped Arthur drink his water.

Finally relieved of his soul-killing thirst and regaining some consciousness, the boy looked around, examining every object.

"How did I get here?" - Confusedly rubbing his temples, he asked.

"You don't remember? You were brought in by ambulance, in terrible condition. You had multiple injuries, bruises, and fractures. To tell you the truth, there wasn't a healthy spot on you." - Without smoothing things over, the doctor said bluntly.

"А? Was I beaten up? Yeah, I think I'm starting to remember...the roof...Zack, Daniel...Well, it doesn't matter. You didn't tell my mother? She must be incredibly worried right now."

Arthur immediately caught something strange. The doctor's face subtly changed, sadness flashed in his eyes for a second. The boy shifted his gaze to the nurse, but she immediately turned away from him, lowering her head dejectedly. She took the glass and slipped out of the room like a shadow as quickly as possible.

"What's going on? Doctor? Where's my mother?"

The doctor adjusted his glasses, which had slipped down his nose. He was silent for only a few seconds as if choosing the right words, but those couple of moments stretched like an eternity for the worried boy. He wanted to yell at the doctor for an answer, but he didn't have to.

A few minutes later, he was looking at the person he wanted to call so badly. The only person he cared about in this shitty world. He couldn't hold back his tears. And he didn't even try to wipe them away, just letting them fall.

His mother had been around the whole time. This night when he was so worried about her mood, he should have been worried about something else. For her health.

He watched as the blond woman peacefully slept in the same kind of hospital bed. Her sleeping face was so beautiful to Arthur, though over the years of caring for him and her constant work, she had no time to care for herself or her skin. But the boy didn't care.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" - Holding back his rage in a hoarse voice, Arthur asked the same doctor.

"Your state of health...I didn't want to give you any reason to be nervous."

"Explain everything to me. I'll stay calm."

The doctor ran a glance over the tears running down the boy's face, sighed, but still decided to tell.

It turned out the three had not only left him with bruises and broken bones. Most of all, Arthur's liver was damaged, so badly that he could have died at any moment. For a few days, he was on life support artificially.

It was urgent to find a donor. But as time was ticking away not even in days but in hours, his mother volunteered to give part of her liver to her beloved son. The operation was a success...for Arthur.

After the operation, however, his mother began to have complications. And now she was in dire straits.

"Is there anything we can do? If you need money..."

"We're already doing everything we can, Arthur. All you can do it's just to be there for her." The doctor replied and patted him on the shoulder.

His mother did not regain consciousness for several days. But Arthur, even despite the constant entreaties of the doctors, never left her room, staying by her side at all times. All he did during those days was hold her hand, pray and fantasize about what he would do to the bastards who had put her in this state.

"You just sit here all day. Maybe you should go get some rest." - A male voice asked. It was his attending doctor, who had been talking to Arthur more and more lately. As he found out, the doctor had a strange last name, Meroving.

"No, Dr. Meroving, I'll stay here."

"Hmm...okay, then why don't you at least turn on the TV?"

"I don't watch it. I don't like it."

"Hmm. Maybe a book then? I heard from your mother that you like to read. I just bought a very interesting one yesterday."

Arthur wanted to refuse at first, but when the doctor pulled it out of his bag, the cover looked very attractive. The boy hesitantly accepted the book held out to him.

"Rise of Darkness? What kind of a pretentious name is that? Who would even make up such a title?"

"Don't look at the title. It's the content that counts."

"Okay, I'll read it. Thank you, doctor."

All night long he still held his mother with one hand and read the book with the other. It wasn't very comfortable, but it was still the best of the options.

The book was really interesting enough that he forgot about sleep and just read without shutting his eyes. He would have continued until the very end, but suddenly he felt his mother's hand twitch.