The Day Everything Changed (1)

The time was nearing midnight and the air was cold and damp just as it usually was. Aurik, a 22 year old young man, just locked the doors to the restaurant he works at and started his commute home through the dimly lit city.

His dark black hair was becoming increasingly wet as he weaved through the various streets and alleyways that he had become accustom to traveling on. His brown eyes stared ahead listlessly, ignoring everything around him and focussing only on the route he needed to walk to get home as fast as possible.

-Sigh- 'I can't believe he's making me close the restaurant and be the one to open it in the morning. He's been making my life a living hell ever since he found out I went to one of those 'rich kid schools' or whatever he called it. He's such a sad man.'

Aurik couldn't help but lament about his work situation and the image of a plump bald man popped into his mind for a moment as he thought about his boss. 

'Whatever, I'll only be able to get five hours of sleep at most so I should pick up the pace if I don't want to suffer any more than necessary.' Aurik started walking a little faster, bordering on a light jog.

His suit jacket flapped behind him as the wind picked up and a light amount of rain began falling from the sky, revealing the yellowish white shirt he wore beneath. The pants of this suit naturally matched that of his jacket, with both being a light brown colour that had clearly faded from a once darker colour.

Aurik had to admit that his suit often looked better when he was forced to walk through the rain since the water would make the colours appear darker and the suit would almost look brand new again until it started to dry. 

It didn't help that his hair would stick to his face and cover his eyes but sometimes you had to look on the bright side. He lifted his hand and ran his fingers over his head, pulling his hair back in the process as he reminded himself to get a haircut when he had a day off.

After about ten minutes of walking Aurik turned into an alleyway that he often used as a shortcut when he felt like rushing home. Walking through alleyways in the middle of the night wasn't exactly a good idea with the level of crime the city experiences day on day but Aurik viewed himself as someone lucky since he had never encountered a problem in one of these alleyways before.

Unfortunately, that streak of luck would come to an end tonight.

Aurik wiped the water from his face and let out a sigh of relief now that he was finally under some cover that protected him from the rain. His listless eyes had changed to show his annoyance at being drenched but he was able to remain relatively calm since the rain was something he enjoyed immensely. It's just that walking in the rain and watching it through a window were vastly different experiences.

This particular alley was poorly lit, something that induced some anxiety within Aurik the first few times he walked this way, but he had long since gotten over the fear that dark spaces caused him.

Due to the poor lighting, however, he wasn't able to notice the figure standing against the wall near the end of alley just ahead of him until he was practically right next to it and the moment his eyes flickered over the figure everything took a turn for the worse.

The figure lunged at Aurik without warning, moving so fast that his body seemed to blend into the darkness itself. Aurik felt a pulse of panic spread through his body and raised his arms in front of his chest in an attempt to defend himself.

The figure reached out with both hands and grabbed onto Aurik's forearms tightly. The amount of pressure he felt from the figure's grasp was immense and no matter how hard he tried to pull away nothing changed and the figure held onto him firmly.

"Sorry, kid." The figure said with a deep and raspy voice. "Wrong place, wrong time. You know how it goes."

Aurik felt a tinge of anger mixed into the overwhelming fear that assaulted him and found the courage to reply with a shaky but intent filled voice.

"I-I don't even have anything on me! There's nothing for you to take!"

The figure looked up for the first time, making eye contact with the nervous young man in front of him. Despite the situation, Aurik immediately noticed how the man's eyes appeared to be a dull grey colour, something he wouldn't have been able to see under normal circumstances given how dark it was but the eyes stood out due to one distinct quality.

'Are... are his eyes glowing?'

The grey eyes belonging to the man narrowed and he spoke in the same deep voiced he used before, only this time it felt somewhat weaker.

"I'm not here to rob you. I need something far more important than that!" His last few words almost came out as a shout filled with urgency, showing that for whatever reason this man was in a hurry .

Aurik was trembling as he spoke, realising that this man might intend to take his life.

"W-What else cou-" He was part way through his sentence when the man tugged hard on his right arm, lifting it towards his own face.

A jolt of pain shot through Aurik's shoulder and elbow due to the sudden jerking motion, which cut off his words as a loud popping sound exited his elbow. The grey glowing pupils disappeared into the darkness as the man closed his eyes and opened his mouth, causing a small amount of steam to rise into the air from his warm breath.

Aurik was about to shout from the pain he felt but before he could a far more powerful jolt of pain erupted from his forearm as the man sunk his teeth into Aurik's flesh.