~Worlds Away~
By Virgil Redcrevan

~~Prologue~~

(August 24, 2018)

  The sun was beginning to set, bathing the sky in a gorgeous golden-orange, a few birds were still singing their final songs of the day. The air was hot and muggy, but not as oppressive as it had been earlier, despite the heat it was truly a fine way to begin the weekend on this late August Friday afternoon, at least for everyone who hadn't gotten the living crap beat out of them.

  Jack laid curled up on the concrete of a filthy narrow alleyway. Both of his eyes were so swollen he could barely open them fully, his nose was gushing and his mouth filled with the acrid taste of blood, the thirteen year old rottweiler mix's young body was covered in bruises and bite marks, the damn pedigree bastards even used their teeth! His vision was spotty and the ringing in his ears helped him drown out the taunting words of his assailants, leaving them as nothing more than indecipherable background noise. A blow to the belly landed hard and the battered pup felt as if he was going to vomit any second. But he did not. HE WOULD NOT! Those pieces of shit weren't going to get the satisfaction! He swallowed back a bit of bile that had escaped into the back of his throat and suddenly realised It had stopped. no more shoes came down upon his form. He was bloody. He was beaten. He was nauseous. Every single inch of his body was sore. He had lost. Yet even still, he was smiling. 

  The rottie, with vision slightly blurred, looked up at one of his attackers, a furless canine about the same age as him with a bloody lip and black skin covered in purple bruises, he didn't know the breed or why the fuck the ugly sonuvabitch was bald, but it left him an excellent view of his handiwork, Jack's grin widened as he realised just how good he had gotten the freak who started the damn biting. The rottie then turned his attention to his other attackers to assess their conditions, a brown furred dog boy whose facial structure and large erect ears looked similar to the furless one seemed to be faring a bit better than his bald cohort much to jack's disappointment. The fluffy white bitch who started all this shit was hanging back nursing his bloodied muzzle with tears in his eyes, Jack felt nothing but apathy for that punk, he never laid a hand on the rottweiler, he was clearly too rich and self-important to get his paws dirty so he got his little minions to do it instead, Jack found it even more satisfying to stain that sniveling cunt's pretty white fur red than turning that bald toothy cur purple. As the rottie observed the brown furred and black furless dogs walking away alongside his fourth attacker, A german shepherd boy who served as the little fluffball's Lieutenant, Jack was sickened to see him unscathed, if it had been a fair fight he would've beaten that sorry motherfucker so bad his momma wouldn't even recognise him! Jack felt his hackles rise and a low growl escaped his muzzle. The rottweiler HATED german shepherds, all of them were cops, related to cops, or knew cops, and every damn one of them thought they were better than him and could do whatever the fuck they wanted! HOW DARE THAT PIECE OF SHIT TURN HIS BACK ON HIM!?

 Jack lifted his head and spat blood on the concrete, "Thaawyegawht!?" He called out taunting the shep, slurring his words so severely only he was certain what he had said, but it caught the german shepherd's attention nonetheless, who turned and looked his beaten foe in the eyes, bared his teeth and answered only with a snarl, before turning his back again and continuing to walk away.

  The rottweiler boy wanted to get up and teach him a lesson he'd never forget, he wanted to threaten him and make sure he knew he was going to pay him back for this someday, but he was too exhausted, so instead he flopped his head back on the concrete in total defeat and submission, and felt moisture begin to bead up in the corners of his eyes. NO! NOT THAT! ANYTHING BUT THAT! He couldn't show them weakness now, he had come too far, it was almost over, he only needed to hold out a little longer! But it was already too late, his lip quivered and warm tears streamed down his face, soaking into his cheekfur. Only a single pathetic whimper escaped his gullet, and with a herculean display of restraint, the boy was somehow able to suppress his body's urge to sob like a fucking toddler. But it wasn't enough to stop Jack from feeling utterly disgusted with himself. He had been though shit so much worse than this, and never shed a single tear. Why now? How could he allow a bunch of fucking preppy little pedigree shits to make him cry! He hadn't cried in seven years, he was tough! NO! He was a BADASS! And he knew he was lying to himself, he wasn't a badass, he was as weak and pathetic a pup as that crybaby bitch who did this to him . . .

  The fluffy white canine, while making his way over to join his friends, stopped and stood before the teary eyed rottweiler, Jack didn't bother looking up at him, the rottweiler mix was too ashamed to look his enemy in the eye, instead focusing on the other boy's pricey sneakers and the cuffs of his khaki trousers. Jack was expecting him to get the last shot in and be on his way. He did not expect what would actually happen. The fuzzball squatted down and gently laid his expensive wristwatch on the concrete, just within the rottweiler's reach.

'Huh?'

  Jack stared at the luxurious timekeeping device. Curiosity and incomprehension had ceased his tears and led him to once again meet the face of his attacker. The bloodied white dog's  dark almond shaped eyes were still damp, yet his face was completely expressionless. Jack thought the other boy may have said something, but he wasn't sure. He had tuned out their words long ago.

  By the time Jack tore his eyes off the magnificent object, the other boys were long gone. But he was left to contemplate one question: why? The fluffy bastard didn't have to give it to him, it surely wasn't a bribe to buy his silence or some sort of apology. Pity perhaps? Nah, not pity. Maybe he was just gloating, making sure Jack knew he had so much money he didn't even need it. While that possibility seemed more likely, it didn't seem to fit quite right either. He didn't understand. He COULDN'T understand. The rottweiler shook his head in frustration and opted to set aside his questions for now.

 Jack winced as he reached out and took the watch in his paws and began inspecting it, even someone as poor and unrefined as Jack, who had no knowledge of such things and didn't even recognise the brand name, could see he was holding something valuable. The timepiece displayed a shining rosegold case and bezel with hands and Arabic numeral hour markers of the same colour, if he weren't so confused he would've gotten a snicker out of the fact that fag was wearing a pink watch. The rottie became mesmerised by the watch's movement, it did not tick, the second hand traveled smoothly around the coal-coloured dial with remarkable fluidity. The bracelet was a leather strap that featured a deep brown exterior and creamy interior and secured with a rosegold buckle clasp. Jack turned the watch over and found the back of the case was transparent, he took a few moments to admire the motion of the gears and mechanisms within, although he admittedly did not understand them. Surrounding the window into the watch's inner workings, various information was engraved, most of it didn't interest the pup, however the words stainless steel caught his attention. Damn, it wasn't real gold! But he quickly shook off his disappointment, realising that detail probably wasn't going to devalue it all that much given the craftsmanship overall. This thing was potentially life changing for someone like him. A big toothy grin swept over the mutt's muzzle, the prospect of selling that motherfucker was starting to make him giddy. A giggle escaped as he stuffed his treasure into the pocket of his sweatpants. Then immediately his eyes widened and his smile disappeared as a sudden realisation dawned on him. OH SHIT! he must've taken a harder blow to the head than he thought, he should've seen it all along! The fluffy cunt was setting him up! Trick him into taking it then have his german shepherd bitch sic his cop friends on him! Regardless, there was no way in hell he was leaving that watch, but there was no way in hell he was going back to juvie either. He had to get away NOW!

  Jack groaned and clutched his belly as he forced himself to sit upright and quickly inspected himself for broken bones, he was going to be feeling it in the morning but no serious damage, good. The rottweiler grabbed onto a nearby dumpster and with great effort managed to pull himself onto his feet.The boy was about to take off before remembering something important, they had wrestled his pocket knife away from him during the fight, dammit! He didn't have time for this shit! But he couldn't leave it either. The teen let out an irritated growl and with great urgency began frantically searching the alleyway, quickly scanning the ground and tossing litter and garbage bags out of the way, but it was nowhere to be seen, and Jack knew those sons of bitches had taken it. The Rottweiler clinched his fists and began vicious snarling as he was overcome by a fit of rage, those assholes had beaten him, robbed him of his dignity, set him up, and even stole all he had left of his Dad!? It was all too much! The pup repeatedly smashed his fist into a brick wall,

He wanted THEM to die! *pound*

He wanted HER to die! *pound*

He wanted to die! *crack*

Jack let out a blood-curdling scream as he felt the agony of his knuckles shattering. Tears filled his eyes once more. The pain was excruciating, his mental anguish was almost as bad, but it didn't matter, he should've already been long gone, Jack gripped his broken paw and as quickly as his feet would carry him, ran off into the sunset . . .

To be continued . . .