The Marked

~ Prologue ~

My name is Jake Sacral, at the age of eight I was wanted for the murder of my beloved father. I grew up in a sole parent family; I admired my father's dedication when it came to raising me. Not once was I hit or verbally bullied by him not even in a joke way. But I've been on the run for nine years for the crime of murdering my father, but they got the wrong man... or whatever the killer was. I'd never harm my father; I was framed by a creature whose large golden eyes were fixated on me that night. The moment it looked away from me the large black fingernail from a single finger sliced my father's head off. I watched in terror as his severed head quickly rolled towards me, when I looked up the creature was already staring towards me. It had the face of a bull but a masculine human body that was completely covered in short brown hair, the last distinguished feature was that the beast shared the legs of a goat. His hoofs echoed against the creaky floorboards as he walked slowly towards me. I looked up in regret, his face alone made me shake like a single leaf in the middle of a destructive hurricane. A thick puff of breath is unexpectedly blown in my face; it was so thick if I had a butter knife I could probably cut into it. I immediately turn and ran away; I was kinda hoping to call the police with the phone next door. Sadly before I could open the door and make my way outside my arm was aggressively yanked back and I was slammed hard against the wall. The creature held me up high, stared into my eyes and growled deeply, it faintly sounded like a rough yet high pitched moo; it was so intense I felt as if I was being pushed through the wall. The beast stopped, frozen in front of me he looked deep into my inner being. With my free hand I took the opportunity and wiped the sticky saliva off my face but without warning the beast bit deep into my neck. I clutched my face in pain screaming in sheer agony. I don't really know what happened after that, the only thing I remember is waking up inside of an ambulance.

Over the course of a week I stayed at my affluent grandparents, they called me a pitiful disgrace. They accused me of making up lies, no one believed me. In the end I was deemed insane, they hypothesized that I was the dreaded killer. The only person who believed me was this detective Frank Jones; I heard he got demoted for it. The last night I heard my grandparents murmuring, I peered out of the guest room just to watch them cursing me calling me the vile monster. Heartbroken I slammed the door behind me and looked out at the stars; I abruptly awoke to the sound of sirens loudly blasting through my ears. The red and blue lights blinded me for a few seconds; in response I immediately rushed out the back door and ran into the forest resting behind my grandparent's estate. Dogs were frantically barking in the distant and police officers murmuring to each other as they walked by, it seemed like every sound made me feel a sure of dread. Since the event my body started reacting different, for one I could see clearly in the night and my ability to hear things sharply increased, this may sound great in theory but the confusion wasn't. I heard police officers nearby, I could hear them breathing they were that close. I looked around in panic ignoring what was in front of me, in shock I notice two police officers in my path. Impulsively I jumped, I don't understand how but it was extremely high, I was a few feet above the forest's roof, it was odd but I felt so free. At the height I could see the exit in the distance, but gravity kicked in and abruptly sent me to the ground. I started snapping through thick branches as I crushed to the surface, surprisingly all I felt was a slight sting but over time the pain grew. By the time I reached the convenience store my breath was slowly fading, my heart was rapidly ticking from my exhaustion and I could barely walk the pain was that extreme.

Walking in I felt a cold breeze followed by a soft bell. The air conditioner was rustled but it didn't bother me. I looked up at the small box TV hanging in a metal cage in the corner. It was the news, the reporter spoke fast but you could somehow catch every word that left her lips. My eyes shook in terror as a picture of me and my father flashed on the screen "in recent news the father of child Jake Sacral was murdered by his own blood, he is currently being apprehended. It's hard to believe a child could betray a person who loved them unconditionally." I spontaneously heard a phone dialling from behind the vacant counter, I immediately fled in precaution. Before leaving I stole a bottle of water and a packet of chips, this was the start of my endless record of theft. A few weeks from being on the run I started to pick up fighting, it was odd but any fighting move I saw I could effortlessly replicate it. Was this because of that night? In recent news of my "crime" I noticed a mark on my neck; it kinda looked like a purple bruise shaped like a dagger, though it never really hurt even when I applied pressure. Not even a few days on the run and I started robbing people for food, water, keys, etc. It was really anything I could use. The skill of replicating fighting moves came in handy for surviving.

At the ages of nine to ten I ignorantly walked the streets freely, but I was often running from any officer in sight. From eleven to fourteen I lived in the forest and learned how to hunt, when officers started snooping I had to leave. From fifteen to seventeen I've been traveling around, and now here we are. Right in front of me stands Frank Jones, the one person who believed in me. I guess it crippled his honour and he needs to bring me in. I may be a thief, gambler, brawler, an underage smoker and drinker but I'm not a killer. Is there any way I can make him believe me again or am I finally caught? He lunges at me, I go to dodge but he tackles me to the ground, he rapidly places handcuffs on me before raising me to my feet just to slam me against the hood of his car. Shit, I'm caught, I'm sorry I couldn't get the truth of your death told dad, I'm sorry I disgraced our family name, please forgive me, my loving father.