The Gift of Shadows

Chapter 1

{Blade Stained in Red}

"Spare her life! She's just but a mere child!" A woman would exclaim with tears running down her face. She was kneeling on the wooden flooring with her hands bound behind her back, with splattered blood stained in to her clothing. She didn't look like she was in the best condition, with all those bruises and gashes on her slender frame, to be making any demands.
"And why would I even agree to that? You did nothing but ruin my life after you locked away my mother.." The man hissed as at her.
"She needed to be locked up! Did you witness how many innocents she mur-"
"Silent bitch!" He slapped my mother mid-sentence making her lower her head to him, "I frankly don't care about why you locked my mother up. Honestly, she can rot there for the rest of her miserable life."
It was infuriating to watch something unfold without having any ability to take control of what was going on. My eyes were watery and my throat was so dry. I couldn't even manage to get a word out as I sat there unable to do anything for my own mother.
"Then why do this?" Her mother asked with her head lowered facing the floor, "Why go to such lengths! What reason do you possibly have for taking away my family?!"
"Why you ask?" A faint smirk appeared on his face as he took a few steps towards her before crouching down and raising her head up, using his index finger to lift her chin up to face him properly. "My family was ruined because of you. My father was ruined after his wife was imprisoned. No one wanted to hire him after hearing the countless atrocities his wife had committed, so he soon fell into a great depression and saw the only way out by drinking himself to death. Then, there was my sister. She was bullied at school relentlessly until one day she had nothing left to do but take a dive of the school's rooftop. Then there was-"
"Enough! I get it!" My mother spoke tears forming in her eyes, "I can't imagine the pain you went through..."
"No you really can't, now can you?" He said as he glared at her.
"But do you really think this what your family would've wanted?! Their own son following in his mother's footsteps? You can stop all of this and still turn your life around!"
"I think it's a bit too late for that," he stated as his arm slowly shifted into the form of a silver metallic blade, "I don't have a life to go back to."
As he slowly stood up, positioning himself, he took his time preparing for the final blow. Time seemed to move in slow motion as her mother mouthed 'I will always-'
And then there was red. Her head had been completely severed at the nape of her neck.
"And now you..." he said turning himself to face her, the blade smothered in red liquid with the silver metal glistening in the dim light. He raised the blade at me and before I knew anything, everything was black.