It was dark. It was cold. It was late. The street lights and the dull haze that rose from the city made only a few of the brightest stars dully glow in the cloudless, black night sky. The cold wind blew off the ocean and up the hill on to the frozen skin of Kixus Everide, who was walking down to his car and mumbling obscenities under his icy breath.

His car was as the bottom of the hill and he was swearing his way down to the bottom. He hated being out past midnight, especially after having worked all night in the shop. A shipment had come in from China that night and the owner of the import store that he worked at went home with the flu, leaving Kixus all the work of checking inventory and restocking the shelves.

"Fucking slave driver," Kixus grumbled. "Fucking flu my ass. Probably sitting on his ass..."

His voice trailed off into inconsistent mutterings as he shivered and blew smoke with each growl that came from his mouth. He wore the plainest of t-shirts and the most generic pants he could find, neither of which provided him any extra warmth that he needed at the time. It only made him think more and more of his thick winter coat, which much like everything he desired was at the bottom of the hill in the parking garage.

He continued his march, closer and closer to his goal of a car heater, a song on the radio, and a way back to his apartment. Looking to his left, he saw the same homeless man that he passed every night, huddled in a ragged blanket and shielded by a thick gray beard. He did no more than glance though, but instead reached into his pocket and continued walking. He then pulled his hand out, revealing a dark red apple. His hand moved in a choreographed way with out a single pause or hesitation and dropped the apple without a single full look from Kixus at what he was doing. The homeless man moved his hand in the same staged way, catching the apple in the exact same spot, with the exact same thoughtless grace he had done on nights before. He gave a small salute, placing his fingers momentarily to his forehead, and ate the apple, not bothering to watch Kixus walk away.

By the time Kixus reached the concrete garage, his cursing had reverted entirely to simple growls. The stone walls of the car garage offered him no comfort. They had long since lost any heat that they might have collected during the day, and now seemed to only vacuum away the precious heat Kixus had left. Kixus began rubbing his bare arms, hoping whatever friction he might cause could give him just a little warmth. He paused only to reach into his pocket for his keys, which he twirled around his right index finger as he approached his car. Only a few steps away, he reached his hand out towards the lock. "About damn time," he grumbled.

But as he moved his key towards the lock, he felt a cold circle of metal press into his back. Just like the concrete, it was freezing, but it was shaking in the unsteady hand of whomever it was that held it.

"Hand over your keys, and all your fucking money, or I'll fuck you up!" shouted a voice behind Kixus.

Kixus sighed.

"You think this is a fucking joke?" shouted the man.

"I certainly hope it is," said Kixus.

"Don't fuck with me! Turn around slowly and give me your keys and your money!"

The gun was shaking even more in the hand of the assailant, the adrenaline and the shivers of the cold mixing together in his blood. Kixus turned around slowly and looked at his would be attacker.

"You're kidding, right?" Kixus said, looking over the shaking man who stood just a few inches shorter than Kixus. "Tonight really isn't the night for this. Go home. Take a warm bath. Try again tomorrow. But don't fuck with me tonight... It hasn't been a good day..."

With that, Kixus began to turn back around.

"Shut the fuck up and put your hands up!" the man shouted back.

Kixus rolled his eyes and raised his hands up. In his right hand, he held the keys that he so desperately wanted to use to get home, but in his left hand he held his middle finger and thumb together. He just kept staring at the man with the gun, breathing mist with each exhale of breath.

"Drop the keys!"

"You sure you want to do this?"

"Just drop the fucking keys or I'll kill you, fucker!"

Kixus sighed.

With a quick motion, Kixus snapped his left middle finger and thumb together. A loud crack and a flash of blue light raced from his fingers and gripped the man's shaking gun. The electricity quickly raced through the cold metal and into his hand. He yelled and the gun dropped from his hand. It fell to the ground, clanking against the cold concrete. The man looked at his burnt hand and at the calm, composed Kixus, who had already lowered his arms and crossed them to stare at the man.

"I told you, didn't I?" mocked Kixus at the man and, kicking the gun away, slowly turning to open his car again.

"Fuck you!" screamed the man and he lunged at Kixus with his burnt hand clenched in a tight fist.

In an instant, Kixus turned, revealing suddenly his eyes, which were now blazing a bright red. Before the man could even land his punch or recoil in fear of the fire that burned in the eyes of the one he was attacking, Kixus placed his hand on the chest of the man. A blast of intense flame exploded from the contact between Kixus's hand and the chest of the man. The man's feet slid from off the ground and he flew, crashing to the hard concrete.

Kixus walked slowly over to him, greatly annoyed by having been delayed getting home by so much. He had landed a few feet away from where the gun had been kicked. Kixus smirked, and stood over him.

The man looked up, not moving from the ground. His body shook, but not with shivers or excitement this time. His eyes were wide and his teeth gripped tight in his mouth, as he looked up at Kixus standing over him. He was unable to speak and not a single muscle would move no matter how hard he willed it. It was as if he had forgotten how to walk or move or do anything but shake.

Kixus glared at the man, and began to place the fingertips of his left hand on his forehead. With his right hand, he pointed at the gun with all his fingers. He then started to shake and growl, and looked back and forth between the man and the gun. He could see the fear growing second by second in the man, so he began to shake more and let his eyes roll back in his head. The gun began to glow, dimly at first, but slowly getting hotter and redder.

The man just stared in fear, looking at Kixus and the gun, which appeared to get hotter with every second. The heat soon ignited the gunpowder inside the bullets, and with each blast of an explosion within the gun the man would shake and scream a little more.

Kixus was shaking violently now, but then stared directly into the eyes of the terrified man. "The devil! The devil!" Kixus shouted. "I have the devil! I have come for you! Feel the fire of hell! Feel the burning of demons upon you!" Kixus spoke louder and louder, and the man shook wildly with fear. Then, not even saying anything and staring directly at the man, Kixus let out a terrible scream that filled the parking garage. With that, the gun burst into flames and melted on to the ground.

The man screamed with Kixus, shouting at the top of his lungs. His arms and legs flailed wildly as he jumped to his feet and began running like animal that was being hunted and eaten. He wailed out as loud as he could, "The devil has come for me! The devil has come for me!" He ran out into the darkness and when Kixus was sure he was gone, he stopped yelling and let his arms drop back to his sides. He was laughing, not a trace of his apparent convulsions remaining.

"The devil... where do I come up with this stuff?" he asked himself as he placed the keys into the lock of his car and turned it to hear the desired click of the door unlocking. He quickly reached for his coat and wrapped it around him, climbing into the front seat.

"I'm a damn good actor I suppose. Could have looked at the gun and melted it, but I just love to see them squirm," he chuckled to himself.

He continued to chuckle as he turned the keys in the ignition and heard the car start up. "I'm sure Bellinia will enjoy this one... she's always told me to mess with people more often, when she's not messing with me," he stated in soft laughter to himself.

Putting the car into key and lowering the parking break, Kixus turned and drove out of the garage. He was heading home.