Through Smoke and Ash

PROLOGUE: Blood is thicker than water

BOOM

The sound echoed through the room without a warning, just as a drop of sweat ran down the young boy's neck.

The seven year old boy's eyes scanned the man in front of him, who was holding the weapon with which he had just killed his father, the man's gaze was penetrating and intimidating.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, the tension being able to be cut with a knife.

The man looked down at Alec, his gaze never shifting, always as cold as ice and imposing. Alec's body shook, his eyes watering. He watched as blood dripped down his father's forehead, getting inside his half open eyes and mouth, his body lying on the floor, unmoving.

The sight was unnerving and terryfying for the young boy's eyes, who had to use all his strength not to puke and faint right there and then.  His heart was beating out of his chest. He had so many questions:  who was this man?, why did he kill his father? and, was he going to be next?

The man crouched down, his long black hair falling forward and getting in the way of his eyes, but he didn't bother to move them out of the way. His gaze was piercing and mad, it looked like he was looking right into Alec's soul, in a bad way. 

Alec felt disturbed by the man's stare and he tried his best not to run away, knowing he'd be shot dead right away. The boy drifted his gaze behind the intimidating man and saw two other men. These looked unbothered but dangerous. They didn't seem  to want to interfere with the black haired man's business, though. 

The man grabbed Alec's chin harshly and forced him to look at him. His eyes remained slightly open, giving the sensation that he was more than crazy, maybe even insane. His grip tightened and when he spoke, he tilted his head slightly to the side.

"Huh." the man's voice sounded flat, no emotion whatsoever "so The Devil has an offspring... since when?"

The mad man's eyes scanned Alec up and down, the grip of his chin moving to his cheeks, grabbing him so hard his nails dug into them and made them bleed slightly.

Alec hissed in pain and a tear ran down his injured cheek. 

"He's weak..." the man muttered as he frowned, seemingly disappointed.

"Juls, let's just kill him, he's not worth keeping around, that way we'll ensure The Devils reign and lineage is over once and for all." one of the men behind him, the one with red braids and skin as dark as charcoal, spoke. 

"He's weak." Juls, the crazy man, repeats, his eyes widening with insanity and a hint of frustration in his voice.

The braided haired man frowned. 

"Juls, enough!" he tried to move and grab the black haired man's shoulder to take him out of whatever trance he might be on. But before he could approach him much...

Click, BOOM!

The red haired man eye's widened and his breathing became sharp. He mumbled something incohesive and put a hand to his  stomach, the white shirt he was wearing begining to tint red rather quickly. The man dropped to his knees as his jaw fell open, his mouth running dry. His eyes rolled back and he fell forward, dead.

Alec's eyes widened and his senses intensified, the smell of his father's dead body and the newly dropped blood clouding his mind in fear and digust. He held in his vomit.

The other man, his companion, now terrified, held his own gun high.

"J-Juls, what the heck...?" he stuttered as he reloaded his pistol and pointed it at Juls. "s-stop it, you're going mad!"

Juls's eyes never left Alec's. He seemed to find some sort of admiration toward the young child. He was weak, nothing like his father, but Juls knew he had potential, after all, his father was the most famous gang leader out there. Well, he had been the most famous gang leader, just before Juls ended his reign.

Alec shook as he held the black haired man's gaze, but his emotions began to switch. Although he still felt fear, and dread, he felt safer. Juls had just proven he didn't want to kill him, at least not yet. He still felt the need to puke and run, which made him shake even more.

"Juls.. stop this... just... kill the child... No one has to know The Devil had a son..." the man's voice trembled as his finger got closer to the trigger. 

Juls's head snapped back, his gaze mad and terryfying. 

"Kill...him?" Juls muttered. Alec's breathing grew heavier.

Juls's grip on Alec's cheeks disappeared, setting him free for a moment. The boy held his injured cheek, sliding back against the wall, terrified.

"He has potential." Juls said, his voice sounded a bit desperate in a crazy way "we can't kill him... It's in his blood..."

The man shook his head and confronted the manic man again.

"No! I'm sorry Juls, but those are the orders... kill every possible witnesses... and that kid is nothing more than that." 

"You're just like the rest..." Juls sighed "I thought you and Rei were different..." he looked down at the dead red haired man. "I guess i was wrong..."

"Different?" the man echoed.

"That you wouldn't let that low life man that calls himself the leader order you around..." Juls ran a hand through his hair. "...to an extent."

The man shook his head "I'm sorry, Juls. I have to- I need to kill him."

Juls tilted his head to the side, anger flashing through his eyes. 

"You won't" Juls said as he reached for his gun.

"Juls... WAIT!-" A loud bang echoes throught the barely lit room. 

Alec shut his eyes closed as he hears the sound and breathes heavily, his ears ringing. He doesn't need to open his eyes to know what happened, the metallic smell in the air was enough to tell him everything.

He heard footsteps approach and his heart beat even faster.

A hand rested on his shoulder. 

Alec opened his eyes to find the long black haired man there. 

The boy's eyes felt like they were about to break and tears were going to come out. But he held them in, just as he held his fear and anger. Alec didn't want to seem weak now. This man had spared his life, he couldn't disappoint him now.

"I'm going to teach you and train you to become stronger than what your father ever was, stronger than the dimwit who calls himself leader of my gang." Juls's said, his voice flat once again. 

Alec breathed in deeply, trying to avoid his eyes from drifting away and seeing whatever had happeend to the other man.

"And you're gonna suprass and kill him." Juls's tone was firm. It was a demand, not an invitation.