The Serpent of Cinders

How It All Began

     Timothy Warren was just an ordinary, everyday kid trying to make his way through life. It was March 20th; just a normal day in New York City. The streets were bustling with traffic, cars were honking their horns, pigeons crowded windowsills, and Timothy was sleeping on the couch in the five-room apartment that he shared with his dad.

     The apartment was of average size and content. It contained one bedroom, living room, kitchen, dining room, and bathroom. There was also a closet for Timothy to store his personal belongings. It wasn't much, but it was home. It had been home for the last 2 months. Timothy's dad was a lawyer, so they had to travel around a lot to keep up with his clients. The current case was dragging out for a longer time than usual.

     Timothy groaned and rolled over in his blanket as his cellphone alarm went off. The smell of pancakes hit his nose with its mouthwatering aroma. He got up and got ready for school before rushing to the kitchen. His dad had left a note on the counter, along with a stack of pancakes. The note read, "Happy 16th Birthday son! Have a great day at school!"

     After scarfing down his pancakes, Timothy grabbed his bag and bolted to the elevator to descend to the lobby. The school bus had just arrived, and Timothy climbed aboard.

      Timothy went to a small school called Liberty High School. The entire school only had about five hundred students and thirty teachers. The school building itself had a rough exterior with cream colored walls. The entire school was surrounded by a grass courtyard with a flagpole at the front. As he walked across the school's courtyard, Timothy was treated to an unfriendly face.

     "Hey, Timmy-boy!" a voice called mockingly. Timothy turned to see a small, but well-muscled boy swagger towards him. The boy was flanked by a small posse of four taller boys of more muscularity. This was Devon Jan.

     Contrary to classic bully practices, Devon was not the biggest person in school, but he was by far the baddest. When he had first arrived at Liberty, he was one of the kids who got all A's and liked to brag to other people about it. This quickly attracted the attention of Liberty's biggest bully, Jake Zucker. Jake had been intimidating kids smaller than him for the full four years that he'd been at Liberty. He was actually very intelligent, but that day he crossed the wrong man.

     Jake had finally cornered Devon and prepared to "enlighten" him about why he shouldn't brag about his grades. What he was not ready for was the quick series of lightning-fast punches that Devon used in self-defense that covered Jake's face in welts for the next few weeks. He came back to school proclaiming Devon as his protege. After Jake had graduated, Devon took his place as the top bully and took up the torch of bullying, but unlike Jake he did his bullying through verbal abuse.

     Timothy got on Devon's radar on his first day of school. Just being the new kid would have singled him out for a shakedown, but it was topped off with the fact that Devon's girlfriend, Cherry, was his guide for the day. After that day, Timothy became Devon's favorite target.

     Back to the present, Devon trundled forward to stand in front of Timothy. Timothy was actually almost half a foot taller than Devon, but that didn't matter; Devon's posse made sure of that. His group of close friends consisted of four of the school's biggest kids: John Stamos, Ian Trent, Brett Zorten, and Brent Zorten. The latter were identical twins and were notorious for their synchronized assaults.

     "Hey Timmy-boy, I'm talking to you," Devon enunciated. "Wanna have some fun today?"

     "Not today Devon; I'm not in the mood," Timothy replied, he muttered under his breath "It's my birthday."

     "What was that Timmy-boy?" Timothy decided to keep quiet. "I can't hear you Timmy-boy." He turned to his friends, "Any of you guys hear him?"