[Vincent's POV]
[2:40 A.M. - Unknown Location, Badlands]
Even though it was the middle of the night, most of the Raffens were still awake—shooting their guns into the air, getting high, blasting music, or, if they had captured someone… torturing them. Or worse.
Earlier, one of them had told me that the Raffen boss wanted to see me. I figured they had found out that I was the one who helped the Aldecado girl escape. When I saw her, I couldn't help myself. She reminded me of my sister. I knew that once the Raffens found out, they'd probably kill me. But I don't regret it—not after what they would have done to her.
I don't even know her name, but I still remember the look on her face when I helped her escape. Her desperate words echoed in my mind as I reached for my neck, lost in thought—
"KEKEKEKEKEKEKEK..."
A sickening laugh snapped me back to reality. I turned toward the sound and saw Kenny—the psycho bastard I hated the most out of this pack of Raffen Shiv. I still remember the twisted joy on his face, almost like he was getting off, when he slaughtered my clanmates during a patrol. The same look he had when he was about to kill me—until the Raffen boss stopped him.
"KEKEKEKEKEKE… Are you off to see that bloody woman, Vini? I hope she doesn't kill you… 'Cause when she's done with you, I wanna be the one who does it." Kenny sneered.
"Fuck you, psycho," I shot back, not holding back my disgust.
"KEKEKEKEKE! I told you to leave that Aldecado girl alone, but nooo... Vini had to be the hero! The good little nomad risking his ass to save her! KEKEKEKEKEKEKEKE!"
He tilted his head, staring at me with those wild, bloodthirsty eyes.
"You know, boy, I still don't get why that crazy bitch let you live… But you really do have a death wish, don't you?"
"That's what you bastards keep saying. I never begged you for my life."
"Tch. Don't be like that, Vini. You've been with us for eight months now—we've kinda gotten used to your little rebellious streak. KEKEKEKEKE! It cracks us up. But tell me, kid… You wouldn't want us to go after your clan, would you? If the boss kills you, we could always pay them another visit. You have a sister, don't you? I wonder if she'd be as feisty as you… KEKEKEKE!"
The moment he said that, something inside me snapped. I walked past him, pretending his words meant nothing, but my fists clenched at my sides. Kenny cackled as he turned his back to me.
That was his mistake.
Nearby, a rusted metal rod stuck out of a burning trash can, glowing hot in the firelight. I grabbed it.
"STOP!" one of Kenny's buddies yelled, seeing what I was about to do.
Kenny barely had time to turn around.
"Fuck you."
BAM!
I drove the metal rod straight into his chest. His eyes went wide with shock as blood gushed from his mouth.
"Bluaghhgggeee…" he choked, vomiting blood all over my face.
I watched the terror in his eyes as he realized he was dying.
"That's for my sister," I growled. "And for my clanmates you butchered… BASTARD!"
THUD!
Kenny's body collapsed to the ground, twitching as he bled out. I stood there, breathing hard, staring at what I had done.
"YOU BASTARD, YOU KILLED KENNY! I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"
Kev—the Raffen who had shouted earlier—drew his gun and aimed it right at my head.
I knew this was it. My last moments.
"I'm sorry, Valerie," I thought. "I couldn't stop myself."
"STOP!"
BAAM!
A gunshot rang out, but it wasn't Kev's.
Bloody Maria—the leader of this Raffen pack—stepped out of the abandoned building they were using as a camp. She carried an M2038 shotgun in one arm. The other was a cybernetic prosthetic, barely held together with scrap metal and filled with transparent vials of some unknown liquid.
Kev turned to her, still aiming his gun at me. "Maria, he fucking killed Kenny! I'm not letting your pet screw us over anymore! If you won't deal with him—I will!"
Maria tilted her head, her grin widening. "You think I give a fuck that he killed Kenny? I've wanted to kill that asshole since the day I met him. Frankly, I'm glad the kid did it."
She stepped closer, eyes locked on Kev.
"But tell me, Kev… Since when do I let you talk to me like that?"
Silence.
Maria raised her cybernetic arm, flexing her fingers as the vials in her forearm gleamed.
"You know, Kev, I was married once. My husband was a firefighter. A good man. And you know what? I learned a lot about fire."
Kev's eyes darted around nervously.
"Do you know how long it takes for a person to burn to death, Kev?"
He swallowed hard. "W-wait—"
"Depends on the accelerant."
A sudden hiss filled the air. Maria's cybernetic hand sprayed a liquid straight at Kev. The stench of chemicals filled my nose.
The other Raffens stepped back, watching in grim fascination. They knew exactly what she had just doused him with.
"No—wait! Maria, please—"
"Too late, Kev."
A tiny spark ignited from Maria's hand.
FWOOOSH!
Kev's screams filled the night as flames engulfed him. His body convulsed, his skin charring, his voice breaking into inhuman shrieks of agony. The fire consumed him within seconds.
And when his burning corpse finally collapsed, Maria turned to the rest of the Raffens, her face twisted in a manic grin.
"LIKE WHAT YOU SAW?!" she roared. "ANYONE ELSE WANNA FUCKING QUESTION ME?!"
Silence. Then—
"WEEEEEYYYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The entire camp erupted into chaos.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Gunfire cracked through the night as the Raffens howled, firing their weapons into the air like the deranged animals they were.
And as the madness unfolded around me, I stood there, gripping the bloodstained metal rod, knowing there was no turning back.
The Raffens cheered, celebrating their leader's words as if they had already forgotten Kev's agonizing death—burned alive by Maria herself. And in the chaos, it was as if they had also forgotten that I was the one who started this mess by killing Kenny...
As if she had protected me.
"You. With me," Maria said, wiping the manic grin off her face and replacing it with a serious expression as she looked at me.
Once we were inside the building, where no one could hear us, I finally spoke.
"Why, Maria? Why don't you kill me? I murdered one of your own. Why go to such insane lengths just to protect me?"
"Insane?" She scoffed. "You think that was crazy? Kid, you have no idea what insanity even looks like. Walk through that door, and maybe then you will.
Tell me, Vincent, do you know what people think insanity is?
They say it's repeating the same action over and over again, expecting a different outcome. But I disagree. That's not insanity. That's hope.
Like a mother praying every second, every hour, every day—begging for her half-dead son, beaten within an inch of his life, to recover. Fooling herself with hope.
No, Vincent. Do you want to know what insanity really is?
It's a bad day.
One single day when everything—EVERYTHING—you care about is taken away from you.
When they rip away your entire world with a lie, using you and your family as a sacrifice to satisfy the masses—without a second thought about what it would do to you.
When the injustice is so immense that it breaks you.
When the despair is so suffocating that you drown in it.
That, Vincent, is real madness.
It happens when the one thing you love most—the thing that matters more than anything—is dragged through a fate worse than death. When your child is humiliated, hated, tortured, made to suffer before dying.
And when that happens, something appears in your mind—a door. A way to escape from reality. A way out.
Madness.
A defense mechanism to survive when you can't take it anymore.
You know, I should thank the Raffens for that. If they hadn't found me in the middle of the Badlands... if one of them hadn't tried to rape me... I never would have stepped through that door. But the moment I did... I was free.
And that's when I realized—what I thought was injustice and despair wasn't that at all.
No.
It was hatred. Resentment. Rage.
Hatred for the mindless masses, swallowing every lie they're fed like animals, so eager to punish an innocent boy that they beat my son to death—stripping him, burning him, taking pictures and uploading them to the Net as if they were heroes delivering some karmic justice.
Resentment for the media, vultures who profit off the suffering of others, wearing a hypocritical mask of 'truth' while never once caring about the consequences of their words.
Rage toward the politicians who framed my family just to save their own worthless jobs—until my husband finally threw himself off a rooftop.
THAT is why I fucking hate this world. THAT is why I despise it. Do you understand, Vincent?!"
Maria's dark eyes bore into mine as she grabbed my head, pulling me closer. Up close, I could see it—the madness, the pain, the fire burning inside her.
"Do you want to know why I saved you, Vincent?"
"The same reason you saved that Aldecado girl. She reminded you of someone—your sister, right? Well, you reminded me of my son.
I still think about him every day, even after stepping through that door. But don't get too excited. Don't think that means you can do whatever you want and get away with it. Because let me tell you something, Vincent.
If I could bring my son back... I wouldn't.
Do you know why?"
"..."
"No," I muttered.
"Because I don't want him to live in this shitty world."
"THAT is the real madness, Vincent. Not killing. Not chaos. Not violence.
No.
The real madness is living in this world."
"..."
"That's why I don't give a damn about killing one of my own. You say Kenny was 'one of my people'? I don't see it that way. To me, watching them die is just watching those who started the fire burn.
But listen, kid. Behave. You wouldn't want the leash I put on you to explode, would you?"
Maria's words made my hands instinctively reach for my neck, fingers brushing against the cold, metal clasp of the collar—the one strapped with explosives, ensuring I could never escape this hell.
I didn't know if it was a good thing or not, but at least Maria was the only one with the detonator.
"Now, get to work, kid. I want the cars ready to move by dawn. I don't know how long your clan is going to keep searching for us, so we better stay ahead."
"Fuck you, Maria," I muttered, refusing to show my fear. This psycho had threatened to blow me to pieces, but after saving my life twice, I couldn't bring myself to hate her.
Maria just laughed. "HAHAHAHA! Oh, Vincent, when I burn that fucking city to the ground, I'll go wherever you want."
Her laughter died down, and her voice dropped into something colder.
"And one more thing.
I know at your age, you want to impress girls and play the hero, but listen to me—
If you ever pull that shit again and free another Aldecado…
I'll leave you to take her place."