Chapter 1.

It was a sunny morning as the busy street jerked to its daily chores, everyone seems preoccupied. Students could be seen hurrying up towards a bridge as large number of crowd had gathered to take a look at a death scene.

"Oh my goodness! Is that child still breathing?" One began. Uproars could be heard in this place as more people gathered to have a look below the bridge, the sight was gothic that it could give one goosebump.

"I saw him jump off!" Another interjects. Indeed no one could survive such a great fall. The siren blasted at a distance heading towards the bridge as they could see an ambulance and a stretcher being rolled out to place the corpse on.

"I suspected his moves!" The third added as some passerby took footage of the scene. A woman pressed through the crowd, she had panic on, her heart pounced with fear, indecisive of who it might turn out to be. The crowd created a path way for her, and as the woman saw who was placed on the stretcher, she collasped on calling out to the name;

"Ethan!!"

***

A young boy could be seen dragging his legs bit by bit as he held a box of books in his hands, he turned slightly to gaze at a man who sigh sharply in his car, while a woman whose face looked trouble closed her eyes at him, his eyes met the girls in the back seat chatting and playing. He shifted those grey eyes to the inscription on the box that wrote;

"Be a good boy".

A tear dropped from his eyes as he glanced at the building he was relocating to, it was a duplex having different swift perhaps only the rich could afford to live here, only his eyes spoke and observed his surrounding. The barking of a dog could be heard close by, his eyes rang at the sound while his eyes travelled to where the dog was chained. The car had driven off without its occupant saying a word which sadden his heart the more.

"We're in the same shoes, chained" he muttered as he took a step further and rang the door of the apartment below.

"Hello?" He called in a faint voice but the excitement in his face faded when he saw a woman slide the door opened. He shuddered and stepped back almost falling down the doorstep but she held him back.

"Who are you?" She asked curiously gazing at him, his reply was a letter which he handed to her, he looked witty and so innocent as everything here petrified him. He could see her eyes reading it, her facial expressions was emotionless.

"You're welcome" she suddenly muttered as she gave a charming smile to him and he peeped inside without uttering a word. This boy dropped the box and suddenly ran towards the road like a lunatic and the woman followed suit as two other men chased after him, he ran as fast as he could, this boy was unease with environment he found himself and ventured for somewhere safe, however whom he expected to see couldn't be found. In a short while, the two men caught him and tied him all up while separating to make way for her.

"Where do you think you're off to boy? You're already misbehaving on your first day here" she snapped panting hard as her voice became cold. Her face became serious and he could feel his stay over here was unwelcomed with her sudden attitude

"Take him in" she furthered shifting her gaze to the road curiously. The beeping of her phone interrupted her thoughts, while she answered it, he could see her eyes on him as the men led him inside. His eyes widened at what he behold in here, he could see blood stained everywhere around the walls and the rattling sound of a chain close by.

"Welcome to your new home" a voice grinned between ears and he shoved his gaze at the being as he pressed forward to leave but was tamed down. He screamed for help and no one offered him.

"Hey kid are you lost!" An old man barked as he found a boy standing in his barn, he seems lost in thoughts as his face was tensed and scared over something.

"Boy in black! Get off my barn!" The old man cried racing at him with a rake.

"I wish you die too!" The boy unexpectedly uttered with red blood shot eyes and the old man paused shocked at this boy's statement. He had snapped out of imaginations and turned his gaze at the bewild old man.

"How dare you say that!" The man cursed boiling in rage at the boy's words. To worsen it, this boy still stared at him in an undaunted manner which got him infuriated and he dragged him out of his barn making him fall hard to the ground.

"You're just a beggar claiming rights!" He snarled spiting at the boy who glared at the ground which hurt his palms to bleed. The boy managed to get back on his feet, cleaned his bloody palm, brought out an earpiece which he placed in his ears to avoid noise and tugged his hands in the pocket pockets while striding away as though nothing happened to him few seconds ago.

"Humans could be scary" he quoted with fixed eyes on the ground recalling the years he spent in a psychiatric hospital even when he begged to be given a chance, everyone assumed he was a lunatic but he knew hatred led him there. His family never wanted to associate with him as he was blamed for their misfortune, he grew over the years to become a loner and an orphan in this cruel world striving to meet ends needs. No one within this area knew this boy's name as he was common with the nickname; the boy in black because he was accustomed to only dark clothings that he was suspected to be a gangster or silence assassin who was hiding in an innocent face and character. He was hostile and quiet most times, one thinks he's dumb as his words were hard to hear even though one was close to him. His silence actions looked like one who would commit suicide over and over again. His dull and unexpressive eyes never changes as most times elderly ones called him a cute baby searching for its parents, they wonder why a minor was leaving alone all by himself. Indeed life was tough on him mostly in this neighborhood. His apartment was on the 10th floor, the most isolated floor, it was usually preserved for quiet people and such places suits him, where he could drown in his sorrow with no hope for a better future.