FicWad

I don't feel a thing I don't feel a thing
and I stopped remembering
The days are just like moments turned to hours
Mother used to say
if you want, you'll find a way
Bet mother never danced through fire shower
Walk in the rain, in the rain, in the rain
I walk in the rain, in the rain
Is it right or is it wrong
and is it here that I belong


There had been rain, solid for over two days. It made the city slick with dark water in the night. It looked like tar as it slid across the blackened roads and the sickly pale yellow of the street lamps reflected it poorly. Every wrapper discarded and every cigarette butt extinguished washed into drains.

One ear had music in it, covered by the cowboy hat that was dripping water onto the coat as heavy booted feet headed down the sidewalk. He could have turned down any alley and swung to his car quicker but it seemed to enhance the feeling that he was incapable of doing something normal in his life. Perhaps it was why he was walking through the worst place in town. Perhaps he was hoping that he'd get beaten up like any normal guy.

The car tires made a screeching sound as the car was hurled around the corner. It spotted the man in the black trench coat, cowboy hat and paid no attention. The men inside had a greater mission in mind. It was time to do a hit. This was the tale of the big time...

No more playing pocket money games for the boys up top. This time it was guns and blood and with it glory! A genuine hit... This one was a good chance to secure their territory and make their mark. If they could get the small time fat slob to squeal they could get the money to secure a better rank in the mob's businesses.

The car pulled to a halt only a hundred yards from the stranger who wanted to walk past. He wanted to stay out of it and then he heard a click. It sounded like a gun and he slipped into the shadows. Above in the flats two people were arguing and there was a loud knock at the door. Tru watched as the men gathered themselves up and headed up the steel steps. The ladders rang with the tune of their footsteps.

"I don't have it... The woman cried. "I can get it by tomorrow I promise."
"You said that last week." The man shouted back at her the gun waving dangerously in her face.

Tru could see the gun and slipping into the shadows and teleported to the balcony and hid there. A dark shadow appearing around him and concealing him. The man inside was none the wiser. His cheeks flapping as they argued. The woman crying. It was pitiful in all its raw sense because of the desperation in her already strained voice.

"You already killed my husband... isn't that enough?" She wailed her hands shaking.
The fat man in the room was looking around. Tru watched as the four men in the car piled up the stairs. This was a messy situation and not only had they now got several guns; he could see that the woman was looking to another room.

Tru realised what he had come for. His anger rose and he slipped through the shadows to check the next room. A young girl only three or four by his guess was cowering under her bed. The girl had her teddy and a night-shirt on. Tru wanted to reach out and tell her it would be fine but it would alert the others he was there and show them right to her.

"I want that two grand or your kid. The kid won't know what hit her. I promise." He said the gun again waving close to the mothers' face.

'I'm becoming less defined as days go by
Fading away
And well you might say
I'm losing focus
Kinda drifting into the abstract in terms of how I see myself'

The song carried on his ear. Less defined. Tru sighed and looked around. He slipped in through the living room window. The others were about to reach the top floor and then... then there would be more rain.
"I don't have two thousands. You already took my husband. We can't afford your protection. You know that." She said trying to calm her voice and then it happened.

It was like a slow motion film, the door broke open. A hail of bullets thudded without prejudice into the room. The man was struck down with a blow to his shoulder. The child screamed. The woman screamed. Blood rained.
Tru slipped from his hiding place in the shadows. His hands ripped the gun from the injured man. From the back of the trench coat a tail whipped round. He took the second gun and he pointed them at the men who had broken in. He pointed them and heard the girl cry.

Instinct that is what he would later come to call it. One of the men tried to run to the child. Tru shot. The man's eyes widened, his bowels collapsed, his lung destroyed. He fell and Tru looked to the others. It was time to clean the room and they lifted their guns.

"What the hell?" One of the men ventured.
"Your worst nightmare." Came the gravelled voice from behind the hat. He looked through the glasses into the men's eyes. They were afraid. Scared men did stupid things.
"Hellion." Whispered another. "I heard of him. He's like some vigilante. Why you saving some fat mob boss huh?"
"I have no interest in him." He said noting that the injured man was reaching for a knife. He turned and shot. Blood exploded around them. Tru heard it splatter up the back of his leathers. "Get out while you have the chance."

"You are making things difficult." The man from behind said stepping over the dead gang member. He lit a cigarette. Hellion (Tru) let out a sigh it was time for him to make the deal. "Now we are only here for his body and the woman. She is a good barter."

"No can do." He said bluntly.
"Then we have a small dilemma." He shot the woman before the beast in front of her could react. "Now you have no reason to stay here. Get out and let us do our job."

There wasn't a conscious thought behind his actions after that. The woman screamed and her voice filled the air. The child screamed too. Tru took up the guns and fired. It was like rolling thunder as the bullets flew into them all. Hellion, no rationale left, shot until the clips and the guns fired- nothing. Then came a strange clicking for several seconds, empty chambers. He was still on auto fire though.

"It's ended." The woman said gasping. Blood ran down her side and Tru could smell death on the air. Tears streamed down his face. He looked for a phone to call an ambulance. "Help..."
"I don't know how to save you." Tru said the guns dropping as he moved closer.
"Get Charlie out... save my baby girl." She cried. "It's too late for me."
"No." Tru's hands went to touch her. She stopped him. "Let me help you..."
"Don't get blood on your hands. She needs an angel right now." The woman said gasping and pleading with her eyes.

"Guess you picked the right night then." He said gently. "They say I am the child of a Saint. I'll get Charlie to somewhere safe."
"There is nowhere here." She said weeping softly. Tru kissed her forehead.
"Then she stays with me." He said as the woman's eyes closed. "I'll look after her. I promise."

"Thank you." She said before she slipped back to the kitchen floor. Black blood spilled from the wounds. Tru stepped back and looked out of the window. It was still raining. The rain was flooding down the outside of the kitchen windows. The windows inside were steamed up.

"Mummy..." There was a small voice in the silence after the death. Tru looked down at the floor. There were guns, bodies and there was blood.
"Stay there Charlie!" He said as he stepped over it as best as he could. "I'm coming."
"Mummy!" There was a louder shout. Tru knew he was shaking. "Mummy!"
He stepped into the nursery and found the little girl there. She was clutching onto her teddy. She had wet herself and her eyes went wide with fright. The pigtails had come loose from their bobbles and Tru put one hand to his mouth to try and stop the sick from rising. The poor kid had lost everything.

"Mummy?" She asked again quietly.
"Mummy sent me to come and look after you." He said after a long silence. There were noises of sirens in the background.
"Who are you?" She asked nervously biting one ear of the teddy and standing up.
"My name is..." He paused in thought for a moment. "They call me Tru. Your mummy told me that I have to look after you. I am your guardian angel." He said looking at her with the best smile he could muster.
"Where's mummy?" She asked quietly.

"Mummy had to go away." He lied. "She wants you to come with me." Charlie didn't look too convinced but the noise of the gunfire was gone. Tru also looked very big and like he could look after himself. Eventually she held her arms out to be picked up. Tru looked at her for a while longer and then picked her up.

"Do angels have tails?" She said pointing as she looked over his shoulder.
"Well this one does." He said holding her close and skipping out into the hallway. ' This one also won't kill another man or get blood on his hands again' he promised her mother as they left the apartment. "This one's also got a car for a Charlie to ride in. You ready to go?"
"Do you have sweets in there?" She asked looking a little concerned as they left without her mum. "Will mummy have sweets?"

"I would think so. In heaven you can have whatever you like." He told her honestly. "Even angels like sweets." He stopped shaking and got her to the car. She took his hat and held tight onto it. Tru heard the explosion behind him. The flat was being torched. The rain was still beating down and as the fire raged he made the decision to tell no one about the real events. It call all be washed away, with the rain...