AVERY REED

{Breaking news! My name is Roland Knight with The Bull's Horn News and I bring you report on yet another case of the alarming, Shadow Loss Fever. This marks the eighth case in the last month of this mysterious outbreak and our victim this time goes by the name of Alexander Mark. Mr. Mark is a veteran military general from the town of Star-Crest, where this report is being made, and sadly, he now joins a lineup of personnel who suffer from the dreadful Shadow Loss Fever, a strange phenomenon where one's shadow just ups and vani—}

"Yeah right… Another day another dreadful story on the TV. I wonder if there's ever going to be something interesting that'll make me stop thinking about how shitty this place is" Said Avery Reed, rolling his eyes as he put the TV on mute.

Avery was manning the counter of a convenience store where he works full time.

["I don't know, Ave. Star-Crest is the neighboring town from ours so I'm not sure how to feel about an outbreak being so close. Maybe you should listen to what's being said on the news and take caution. We both know what's said about people who suffer from the Shadow Loss Fever—"] replied a stunning young lady who was on a video call with Avery.

Avery scoffed "Whatever, Caz. If you ask me, this is all propaganda being sprouted by the news. I mean, missing shadows and going crazy because of it? Give me a break!" He said then rolled his eyes.

"Very soon, they'll say we can't leave our current location and I swear, I'd rather blow my brains out than stay in this godforsaken town any longer," Avery said then grimaced with annoyance as he started massaging his left palm.

His knuckles had a lot of bruises and calluses on them and even though he tried being gentle in massaging his palm, the muscles and veins he had were very prominent.

["Hey, don't say that! I know you're joking but don't ever say something like that to me again. You're the only family I have left after mum and dad passed away so stop it. I know you hate it here, even I would hate this town if I had your chance to leave, only for it to be taken away by the same accident that took Mom and Dad from us but please just have a bit more patience. I'm working as hard as I can so we can afford to pay for your surgery and when that happens you should be back to how you were real soon"] Cassandra Reed, Avery's older sister said.

In response, Avery frowned.

["What?"] Cassandra asked.

"Caz, how many times am I going to tell you before you finally accept to stop worrying about me and focus on your own life? Don't you have rent and your student loan to pay off?" Avery asked but Cassandra smiled and waved dismissively

["Don't worry about those things. They aren't as important to me as you are. All you need to worry about is how big of a return to the boxing world you're going to have after the surgery. Don't forget how dangerous your left punches used to be—"] Cassandra said but was cut short when both she and Avery heard the ding of the convenient store door being pushed open.

"I have customers to attend to. I'll talk to you later" Avery said then was about to press the button to terminate the call but Cassandra had one more thing to say.

["We'll continue when you come back home"] Cassandra said and Avery rolled his eyes.

"There's nothing to continue talking about concerning this topic. I can take care of myself and I don't need you worrying about me—" Avery replied but then looked at the screen only to see the reprimanding look his older sister was giving him.

["Avery"] Cassandra said and Avery sighed in concession.

"Alright fine. Do whatever you want. I have to attend to these customers so see you when I get home. Bye," Avery said then ended the call.

Though it was a very short call, the way Avery sighed afterward made it seem like it had gone on for a very long time. He was glad that it was over.

Avery's head was lowered, facing the ground when he heard the footsteps of his customers approach him at the other side of the counter.

Avery took in a deep breath, exhaled and then prepared for the service he was about to give. He raised his head to look at these customers of his.

"What would you like to buy today—" Avery said as he faced the customers with a welcoming smile. However, what he saw was a bunch of hooligans with weapons in their hands and wicked smiles on their faces.

"Buy? No no no, who said we're here to buy anything? You're going to give us everything we want at a hundred percent discount and we're going to walk out of here. Sounds good, don't you think?" Said the guy in front of the group who wore a leather jacket and in his hand was a metal bat which he dropped on the counter to threaten Avery.

Immediately he saw what these people in front of him were up to, the welcoming smile that Avery gave quickly vanished.

"I'm going to do what, exactly?" With a raised brow and a discouraging expression, Avery asked.

The leader of the gang widened his eyes as he found the grit and confidence Avery just showed interesting, to say the least. He started to chuckle and face the gang members around him.

They were about six— seven adding the leader of the gang standing at the other side of the counter from Avery— and all of them were similarly dressed in windbreakers minus the leader who wore a black leather jacket that had a fur collar.

"Would you look at that boys, seems we have a tough guy on our hands. Y'all know tough guys are my favorite type of guys, right? For some reason, they are always fishing for a world of hurt!" The leader of the gang said then used his metal bat to sweep the lollipop and pen rack on the counter by his left to the ground.

"Sorry 'bout that, my hand slipped," the leader of the group said then smirked mischievously.

Avery who was extremely pissed— evident by the way his nose twitched— had his fists clenched and vibrating under the counter. He was like a volcano about to erupt and he was doing his best to contain himself.

"Hey, my bad. To make up for the slip-up, why don't I help you with the mess!" The leader of the gang said then struck at what was at the right side of the counter which was a rack of cassettes and earpieces and his gang members all started laughing.

They all propped and praised their leader for what he was doing while also making fun of Avery because they felt he couldn't do anything to challenge them, except watch.

"Listen here tough guy, open your mouth to say something that's not in line with what you are asked again and I'm going to bash your head in, got it? I've already proven how dangerous this here bat is but in case you're too stupid to learn, I'll be glad to test it out on your head so you know that I'm not playing around" The leader of the gang said then suddenly...

"Hey boss, we've brought the things you wanted. All that's left is to get them packed up and we'll be out of here like a prostitute with a broke-ass client" said one of the gang members who had a bunch of items from the convenience store in his arms.

Two gang members had gone to get everything the leader and the rest of the gang wanted and they had just brought it to the counter for Avery to bag them up.

They dropped everything on the counter in front of Avery.

"You see these items, right, and since here's your station I reckon you know what to do. So, don't waste my time and bag these up if you know what's good for you…" the leader of the gang threatened as he used the end of his bat to press against Avery's chest then leaned forward to stare at Avery's name tag.

"Avery Reed. Hmm, nice name for a loser but whatever. Pack my shit up Avery or else imma smash your head in" said the leader of the gang.

"No" Avery replied coldly and the leader of the gang frowned.

"What did you just say to me?"

Avery pointed at the notice pasted on the glass wall of the convenience store and then he said "Read what that says, that's if you can, but if you can't then allow me to read it for you. No money, no service, so either fork up some cash or debit cards, or you and your gang of dancing princesses can get fucked"