Anterograde

light in this downpour.

A piercing gust of wind shook the trees above their heads showering the already miserable frame with a fresh deluge. They had wiped the water from their eyes with a wet sleeve and out of nowhere, the dark figure was approaching, his eyes widening with madness. He was carrying what looked like a blade, long, sharp, and glistening with red damp blood.

They were afraid but there was no running, the figure was too close to them, and even though they were longing to escape their bodies felt paralyzed. He couldn move. He couldn shriek. He couldn grasp. Felt hollow and numb, like a skull, emptied of live flesh. The shock had wrapped around his body, battling down his throat. ”It is their time to die he thought.

Feeling cold vulnerable scared and soaked from the rain, there was no point in resisting, exhaustion succumbed and all that went through his mind as it was just a bad dream that would end, lightening struck lightening up the dark, Jeremy was a year older than him and tried to protect his brother by standing in front of Jack.

”Empty your pockets said the deep voice. ” Jeremy emptied his pockets and came across a chain he was holding onto for their mother.

”This chain doesn belong to me please take everything and leave the chain. ” He pleaded, thats when the dark figure grabbed Jack and place the blade of the knife on his head.

”You do not want to mess with me kid. ”

Jeremy handed the chain and even though there was a cut on Jacks neck from the sharp blade that pushed against his neck. Jack never felt it, Jeremy saw the blood dripping down his neck, Jeremy pulled out a pocket knife, Jack a screamed no, as the man hauled to Jeremy and stabbed him several times, Jack ran up to him to save his brother when the man was about to stab Jack, two guys with pistols came running up to them, when the guy saw the men he ran, as they fired shots.

The man had disappeared into the darkness, His brother lay bleeding on the sidewalk in the rain. He was eleven years old and wore a pale blue Sunderland football shirt.

Printed across the back was the name number 11.

He had been stabbed five minutes ago. The knife had entered on the left side of his chest, tearing a wide gap in his flesh. The rain was driving and any blood that ran from his wound seemed to be absorbed by the pavement.

He had felt the excruciating pain as the knife plunged into his chest then the sudden relief as the jagged blade was pulled from his body. Jeremy had heard the words ”you will be okay ” he was losing a lot of blood, as he saw two elderly men frantic on the phone, the one guy held a cloth on the stab wounds applying pressure,

His body was on the ground, the warmth of life stolen away by deaths cold embrace. Synced with the impact to the concrete ground, Jack promptly sprinted to his brother, ignoring the fatigue in his swaying legs set in from the ongoing battle. Jack was desperate to find any flickers of life or hope left in his brother but was met with cold silence broken only by the breeze gently blowing the cold air into his face looking up at the two men the dispaired expressions on their faces he could tell. Jeremy was gone.

He had never felt that vulnerable and alone, at that moment the cold air never bothered he sat on his knees help endlessly crying. When he heard a siren from far The ambulance came with aggressive speed, the kind of sheer driving audacity that let everyone know the siren wasn a polite request to move.

The two men ran to the center of the road, as the ambulance came to a stop, two paramedics ran over to Jeremy, they had checked for a pulse and tried to resuscitate him, but he was long gone it had been over a half an hour, since the incident.

Jack sat there in silence in the rain looking at his brothers motionless body covered in blood.

When the paramedic shook his head Jack knew his brother was dead. The chain his brother was holding onto was taken by that low-life scum.

He swore he would get revenge. Being this young age and going through such a trauma has affected him, sleepless nights and having a replay of the scene in his dreams.