“I feel… cold, so cold…” James slowly rolled over and opened his eyes, shaking off his fatigue as he threw on a white undershirt and black jeans. “Ahh, what time is it?” he groaned as he switched on the television.

“Yet another alleged criminal has been cut down, only hours after he was released from court. Police still have no clue as to who is behind these attacks, but have now widened their search in order to bring justice to this mysterious figure.”

“Ahh man, just leave the poor guy alone,” James muttered, “he’s doing this country a favour.” Looking down at his watch, James groaned as he realised it was four-thirty in the morning.

Knowing he would not be able to get back to sleep, he instead sat down for breakfast and prepared to start the day.

James sighed as he considered what he would do on his day off; he threw on a black over-shirt, covered in neon-blue flames, and some sneakers.

Heading outside, James grabbed a soccer ball and began juggling it, pulling off some old tricks as well as practising new ones. Growing tired of that, he then began kicking the ball against various walls, trying to anticipate where the ball would end up.

After six hours of exercise, James collapsed with exhaustion. “What a workout,” he muttered to himself as he grabbed a drink from the fridge.

Looking out the window, he narrowed his eyes as a limousine pulled up in his driveway. “What law did I break this time…” he muttered as he climbed to the roof, searching for a less detectable viewpoint.

James gasped as the passengers of the limousine pulled out some pistols and promptly headed towards his house. “I’m guessing this isn’t because my electricity bill is overdue again…”

Fear starting to creep in, James cleared his head and tried to process his thoughts. He had some important information stored on a USB device in his house, and if they were after his computer he would have to wipe it.

Jumping down and following his intruders, undetected, his suspicions were confirmed as one sat down to his computer.

“Okay, I’m sure it’ll take at least ten minutes for them to find whatever they’re looking for, so I have five minutes to cut the power.” James then pulled back out of his house and proceeded to his main power box. As James flicked off the power, his backup power supply came on, as expected.

Heading over to his backup, James flicked it off. Being highly fond of gadgets and complicating things, James had rigged his power so that it would not work unless his backup was working, and his backup was located quite a distance from his house.

Cutting the power supply to the house, James went back to observe the two in his house.

“Find the power supply,” the one sitting at his computer demanded to his accomplice.

“Good luck,” James whispered.

After five minutes, the accomplice returned, informing his partner of his finding. “I found the power supply, but it’s not working. I’m sure he’d have a backup somewhere, but I can’t find it.”

Sighing, the leader got up from James’ computer and proceeded outside, in search of James’ backup supply.

Leaping to action, James grabbed his USB port from the lowest drawer of his computer desk, and a screw driver and hammer from the drawer above.

Placing the screwdriver on the hard-drive of his computer and striking it with the hammer, he completely impaled the drive, shattering it.

Moving the screwdriver to the motherboard, James waited for the power to come back on.

As soon as the lights started flickering, before shattering due to the rush of power, James drove the screwdriver into the motherboard and smashed it forward with the hammer. A spark generated and a stream of electricity jumped over the screwdriver, frying the computer.

James then dashed out of the house and leapt into his car, grateful that the power supply was located on the other side of the house.

He casually started his engine and slowly drove away, not attracting attention and escaping undetected.

Spending the entire day driving around, James returned later that night to pack up his things; whilst there was no immediate danger of them returning due to the state of his computer, they would eventually be back.

As James turned off his lights and headed to his car, he noticed a small figure standing by his front door.

Curious as to how he had missed the child when he entered, James headed over to talk with the intruder.

“You must stop him…” the child whispered, his voice echoing through the house.

“Yeah, sure. No problem. While you’re here, would you like a lolly?” James felt an instant pang of guilt as he said this, and apologised. “I’m sorry… What’s wrong?”

“Zephyr… you must stop him.”

“Who?”

“The one behind the attacks. He is more powerful than anyone can conceive, except you.”

“Do you think you could… maybe… give me a little more details?”

The child was replaced with an image of a young man, with wings and a tattoo of a falcon underneath his right eye. “Stop him…” The image then faded away and James stared hard at the wall, trying to make sense of what he had just seen.

Shaking off his confusion, James finished packing his car and pulled out of his driveway, heading over to his friend’s house.

“Brad, open up!” James knocked heavily on the door, fidgeting nervously as he waited for his friend to open the door.

“Hey, man,” he was greeted, “what’s up?”

“The feds are after me again, I need a place to stay for a while.”

Brad smirked. “What’s new?”

“This time they were armed.” The smile faded from Brad’s face, and was replaced with a look of concern.

“Well, you’re always welcome to stay here, but…”

“You got a hit tonight?”

“Yeah…”

“I can’t, man. I gotta work tomorrow!”

“We need you! They’re gonna bust up the Shelter, and we’re the only ones that can make them reconsider.”

“No guns?” he asked. Brad didn’t reply. James sighed. “Come on, man. There are way too many children around there for us to just go in and start shooting.”

“It’s for the benefit of good,” Brad argued.

“There’s no good in taking a life!” James insisted.

“Alright, alright… No guns.”

James was having serious doubts as he donned a black sweater and black shoes. He slipped on a set of black gloves and a black cap. It had been two years since he had assisted Brad in a ‘mercy mission’. Basically, he was a part of a gang that worked for the people, defending the streets from rogue gangs.

“Why’d you stop?” Brad asked.

“I had to. I couldn’t keep going to work with cuts and bruises and the other injuries I had. The cops would’ve gotten involved and we would’ve been found out.”

“You were our best. There wasn’t a single enemy you couldn’t drop from hundreds of yards away with only a pistol. I shudder at the thought of what you could do with a scoped weapon.”

“I left that all behind me. I’m only helping you now because I can’t bear the thought of women and children being slaughtered. I’m still not going to kill.” He emphasised this last point, a stern expression forming on his face.

Brad came up beside his friend. “You changed so much when she died… I’ve never seen anyone so determined to turn clean. You were just a kid, but you could take a life without a second thought. You really did bring justice to our town.”

“I now know what it’s like to lose someone close to you. All life has meaning. I’m now working to build lives, not destroy them.”

Brad climbed into the car and James followed; the two then proceeded to pick up the other members of the gang.

“Hey, it’s James!” Craig exclaimed as he jumped into the car. “To what do we owe such an honour? I guess these guys must be hotter than I thought.”

“Shut-up, man. I’m only here ‘cause I’m under heat from the feds again.”

“Gonna wipe out a few crooks to make you feel better, eh?”

“Dude, stop!” James removed his cap and wound down his window, letting the wind ruffle his hair as he tried to drown his feeling of doubt.

Drew was the next stop. He, too, was surprised to see James alongside Brad, but kept his mouth shut.

The car pulled up in the small town where the Shelter was located, where they were greeted by Patrick. A glance at his watch told James it was two-thirty; no way was he going to get any sleep before work.

Looking around, he remembered that many of his students lived around this area; James lowered his cap to cover his face, and pulled up his hood.

“What is it?” Drew asked, coming up beside James.

“Something doesn’t feel right…”

“Like last time?”

“I don’t know.” James slowly followed the others as he talked with Drew about what he was feeling.

The last time James had partook in a mercy mission, his best friend had been shot in front of him, and his sister had been gunned down as she tried to protect him. He had a similar feeling that day, but had kept it quiet. Now he was alert, his eyes scanning the area as he clutched the pistol inside the pocket across his jumper. James had vowed to never take another life, but he was well aware that if his friends were attacked again, he would fight back, even if to only injure his enemies.

“Now we wait,” Patrick ordered as they came to rest in front of the Shelter. The feeling in James’ gut grew more and more intense. He looked around, and realised that he was outside Naomi’s house. Naomi was a student in his grade nine class; he had once dropped her off home after her parents had been called out of town suddenly.

As a car slowly turned into the street, James snuck away from the group and towards the Shelter. He came to rest among the shadows of a stack of boxes, only metres away from the door. He knew that the group would not move until his order, so he crouched in full security that he would gain the element of surprise.

The rival gang pulled up outside the Shelter and stepped out of the car. There were five in total, equipped with a shotgun, two pistols and steel pipe. The unarmed member was obviously the leader. They stepped up the door, where they were intercepted by James.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve,” James spoke, “but I suggest you turn back.”

The unarmed gang-member stepped up to James and sneered. “Why should we listen to you? You’ve got nothing on us. You and your mercy band are gonna fall just like you did two years ago.”

James raised his head and stared into the eyes of his adversary. “You’ll never get away with what you did back then. You’re gonna pay for what you did to my sister.”

“What’re you gonna do, kill me? Isn’t that against everything you live for now?”

“When I’m through with you, you’re going to wish you died.”

The leader smirked, and turned to the man with the steel pipe. “Juno, take care of this guy.”

Juno stepped forward and smiled at James, raising the pipe before swinging at James’ head. James ducked and pulled sideways, punching Juno in the gut swiftly in a counterattack. Before Juno could react, James twisted his arm and spun Juno around, holding the pipe to his neck before turning to the other gang members.

They all pointed their guns at James, but James simply smiled. “You’d kill one of your own to fulfil whatever it is you’re trying to do?”

“We’ve all gotta go sometime,” the leader smiled, withdrawing a gun from his jeans before firing a shot at James. James threw his hostage forward and jumped back, gasping as the bullet struck his left arm. He rolled to the side and used the wall as cover whilst he withdrew his own pistol.

He leaned out and began firing; the rival gang peeled and split, seeking cover within the street as they sprayed bullets.

Brad and the others headed for the car, pulling out pistols as they returned fire.

Soon a full gun-fight ensued, and James ran from the Shelter so as to lead the attack away. He screeched to a halt outside Naomi’s house and used the yard as cover as he targeted his shots.

The gun-fight raged on, the sirens in the distance offering no closure to the battle. As James’ gun fell empty, he reached for a clip, but hesitated. Turning slowly, he noticed Naomi at the front door, staring at the gang-leader as he aimed a shot at her.

James realised this, and sprinted to the door whilst struggling to reload. Sliding the clip into his gun, he cocked it along his leg and dove towards Naomi. He caught her as the man fired, and the bullet whizzed past the two and shattered a vase directly behind where Naomi had been standing.

James turned to look at the leader. His hand was to his stomach. James smelled the gun powder before the smoke had reached his eyes. Looking down, he realised he had instinctively returned the shot. The leader dropped to his knees, gazing into space as his life faded away from him.

James sheltered Naomi as he cursed under his breath. Not only had he taken another life, but he had done so in front of a young girl.

The remaining gang members leapt into the car and sped off, leaving Brad and the others to regroup.

Drew was the first to reach James. “Oh no…” he muttered as he noticed Naomi huddled up and shivering in James’ arms.

James stood up and left Naomi on the floor. “I can not deal with this right now!” He left Drew to tend to Naomi before storming off.

“Hey…” Drew said in a soft voice. “Are you okay?” Naomi nodded. “I want you to go inside, and I want you to lock the door, okay?” Naomi looked towards the house. “Listen to me. Go inside, lock the door, and go to sleep. Don’t tell anyone what you saw, okay? Promise me.”

After Naomi ran inside, Drew headed over to James. “Look, man, you didn’t have a choice.”

James, furious, turned and slammed his hand against the wall.

“Listen to me! If you hadn’t done anything she would have died!”

James hesitated, thinking about this. He raised his fist so as to strike the wall again, but Brad gently caught his hand.

“He’s right,” Brad agreed. “It was her life, or his. A sinner died, to let a young girl live.”

“Come on…” Drew encouraged. “Let’s go home.” The two friends helped James to the car, leaving the area not long before the police arrived. There would be a large investigation, but that would have to be dealt with at a later time.