After breakfast, Ben York took Leon with him to restock the pizzeria.
They drove a delivery van rather than Leon’s SUV.
With the amount of flour, cheese, sauce ingredients, meat, vegetables, and other supplies they needed to haul back, they would need the extra space.
Despite his age, Ben remained remarkably talkative.
The moment they got on the road, he started telling Leon stories from his younger days—some Leon had already heard more than once, others somehow getting more ridiculous every time Ben told them.
Leon drove while listening with half a smile.
At one point, he nearly told Ben that distracting the driver was technically a safety hazard.
It would’ve been particularly satisfying considering how often the old man lectured him about speed limits, overloaded motorcycles, seat belts, helmets, and practically every other possible danger on the road.
Then Leon remembered exactly how hard Ben could smack the back of his head.
He wisely kept his mouth shut.
Sometimes respecting your elders simply meant knowing when not to annoy them.
The van continued smoothly down the road.
Ben talked.
Leon occasionally replied.
Neither of them noticed at first that something around them was changing.
Traffic was thinning.
A few cars disappeared down side streets.
Then a few more.
Minutes passed.
Soon, there were almost no vehicles around them at all.
Leon finally noticed.
His eyes moved to the rearview mirror.
Empty.
He checked ahead.
Also nearly empty.
His smile faded slightly.
“That’s weird.” Ben glanced over.
“What is?” Leon didn’t immediately answer.
The van was approaching an intersection.
Something about the situation bothered him, though he couldn’t explain exactly why.
This wasn’t the middle of nowhere.
The road shouldn’t have been this deserted.
Leon eased his foot slightly off the accelerator.
Then— A voice exploded inside his mind.
Rough.
Hoarse.
Urgent.
“DANGER!
MOVE!” Leon’s eyes widened.
What— Less than two seconds later, a massive truck shot through the intersection from the side.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
Leon barely had time to turn his head.
The truck slammed directly into the side of the van.
BOOM!
The world became violence.
Metal screamed.
Glass exploded.
The van was thrown sideways as though it weighed nothing.
It rolled.
Once.
Twice.
Leon lost all sense of direction.
His body slammed against the restraints as the cabin twisted around him.
Something struck his head.
The windshield shattered.
The van continued tumbling down the street like an empty can kicked across pavement.
Then it crashed through the front window of a roadside store.
Wood splintered.
Glass burst inward.
Metal folded.
And finally— Everything stopped.
For several seconds, Leon heard nothing except a piercing electronic whine.
“Eeeeeeeee—” His vision blurred.
He tried to breathe.
Agony tore through his chest.
Leon opened his mouth.
“Ghk—” Blood spilled over his lips.
His whole body felt broken.
He couldn’t tell how many bones had shattered.
The steering wheel and collapsed driver’s seat had crushed inward around him, pinning his chest.
Every breath felt like broken glass moving inside his lungs.
Leon tried to move.
Nothing happened.
He coughed.
“Cough—!” More blood poured from his mouth.
Something warm ran down the left side of his face.
A shard of glass had sliced open his scalp.
Blood streamed over his eyebrow and into his left eye, staining half his vision red.
Leon tried to raise a hand to wipe it away.
His arm didn’t respond.
He looked down.
The limb was bent in places it should never have bent.
For a moment, Leon simply stared at it.
Then another thought struck him.
Ben.
His heart lurched.
Leon forced himself to turn his head.
The movement sent another wave of agony through his body.
He didn’t care.
“B…
Ben…” What he saw destroyed whatever remained of his composure.
A broken length of wood from the shattered storefront had punched through the windshield.
And through Ben’s chest.
The jagged beam protruded from his body.
Blood soaked the passenger seat.
One of Ben’s arms was twisted horribly, hanging uselessly against his leg.
His chest barely moved.
“No…” Leon’s breath caught.
“No, no, no…” Ben’s eyes were still open.
They found Leon.
There was pain in them.
But even now, there was something stronger.
Love.
Concern.
Not for himself.
For Leon.
Ben’s eyelids were already beginning to droop.
His life was draining away in front of him.
“Ben…” Leon struggled against the wreckage.
His ruined body wouldn’t move.
“Ben!” Blood poured from his mouth when he tried to shout.
Ben’s lips trembled.
He was trying to say something.
Blood bubbled between them.
Fragments of damaged tissue clogged his throat, making speech impossible.
Still, he kept trying.
Leon stared at his mouth.
One word.
Ben forced his lips to form it.
Live.
Leon’s eyes widened.
Ben’s gaze softened.
Then the strength left him.
His lips stopped moving.
The light in his eyes faded.
His chest became still.
“Ben…?” No response.
Leon stared at him.
“Ben.” Nothing.
“Ben…
wake up.” His voice collapsed into a wet whisper.
“Come on.” He tried moving again.
His broken arm remained useless.
“Wake up…” Blood filled his mouth.
What came out next wasn’t even a word.
Only a helpless sound.
A broken, choking whimper.
Ben York didn’t move.
Leon continued staring at him.
Minutes might have passed.
Or seconds.
Leon couldn’t tell.
Eventually, something inside him went quiet.
The panic disappeared.
The struggle stopped.
Even the pain seemed distant.
Leon rested his head against the wreckage and stared through his blood-covered vision.
Death no longer frightened him.
Why would it?
He had already died once.
He’d been an orphan with a sick body and a short life.
Then, through some impossible miracle, he’d been given another chance.
A healthy body.
A home.
A future.
Most importantly— Family.
Ben had given him all of that.
For four years, Leon had experienced the kind of ordinary happiness he hadn’t even dared dream of in his first life.
And now it was gone.
Just like that.
Leon looked toward Ben one last time.
Maybe four years was already more than I deserved.
His breathing became shallower.
His eyelids felt heavy.
The thought of fighting to survive seemed exhausting.
What was waiting for him if he did?
An empty house?
An empty chair across the breakfast table?
A pizzeria filled with memories of someone who would never walk through its doors again?
Leon didn’t want it.
He had already been dead once.
Maybe he was simply returning to where he belonged.
Fine.
His eyes slowly closed.
I’ll go with you, Ben.
A strange sense of peace came over him.
Just don’t walk too fast.
Wait for me.
Then— The rough voice returned inside his head.
Louder this time.
Angrier.
“Damn it!
You’re seriously giving up?!” Leon’s fading consciousness stirred slightly.
“I can keep you alive!” The voice sounded desperate.
“Just accept me!” Leon barely had enough energy to think.
The offer sounded like something out of an old story.
A dying man.
A mysterious voice.
A bargain for his life.
Maybe the devil had finally come to collect him.
Leon didn’t care.
No.
His mental voice was exhausted.
I don’t want to live anymore.
Silence.
Leon felt himself slipping away again.
It’s fine like this.
His last thought drifted toward Ben.
I just hope he waits for me.
The voice said nothing.
Leon assumed it had given up.
Then, just before his consciousness disappeared completely— “Even if the people who murdered him get to walk away?” Everything stopped.
The desperation had vanished from the voice.
Now it sounded cold.
Deliberate.
Leon’s eyes snapped open.
What did you say?
His heart gave a weak, uneven beat.
This wasn’t an accident?
A low, ugly chuckle echoed through his mind.
“Heh.
Of course it wasn’t.” Leon stared at the destroyed intersection through the broken storefront.
“You really think you were unlucky enough for a truck to come flying through that exact intersection at that exact moment?” The voice continued.
“The driver already ran.” A pause.
“Didn’t hesitate.
Didn’t panic.
Didn’t even check what happened.” Leon’s breathing changed.
“And you noticed the traffic disappearing before the crash, didn’t you?” Yes.
He had.
Leon remembered looking into the rearview mirror.
The empty road.
The strange silence.
His unease.
Blood gathered beneath his left eye and rolled down his cheek like a crimson tear.
Something inside Leon began to change.
The despair didn’t disappear.
It transformed.
Pain hardened into hatred.
Grief became rage.
His face twisted.
Who?
The voice remained silent.
WHO DID THIS?!
Leon’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth hurt.
“I’ll kill them…” The words emerged through blood.
“I’ll…
kill them…” His body convulsed with another violent cough.
Blood splattered across his shirt and the crushed dashboard.
Leon no longer cared.
“I’ll kill whoever did this!” The mysterious voice responded immediately.
“Then live.” Leon froze.
“I can give you what you need.” There was something almost eager in its tone now.
“Accept me, and I’ll give you the power to take revenge.” Leon breathed through the agony.
“Together, nobody will stop us.” The voice grew darker.
“Anyone you want dead?” A low growl.
“We’ll tear them apart.” Leon looked toward Ben’s body.
The old man’s final word replayed in his mind.
Live.
His despair cracked.
Something vicious crawled out from underneath it.
Leon didn’t know what was speaking to him.
He didn’t know whether it was a monster.
A demon.
Some hallucination produced by a dying brain.
He didn’t care anymore.
“Keep me alive.” Blood ran down his chin.
“Give me power.” His eyes burned with hatred.
“I don’t care what you are.” Another weak cough shook him.
“I only want them dead.” For a moment, there was silence.
Then the voice answered.
Satisfaction filled every word.
“I hear you.” Something moved deep inside Leon’s body.
“I can feel your anger.” His damaged organs began to itch.
Not painfully.
Strangely.
Deep beneath his skin.
“So come on, Leon.” His heart suddenly slammed against his chest.
THUMP!
Leon gasped.
Another beat.
THUMP!
Stronger.
Blood surged through vessels that had been moments from shutting down.
Warmth began spreading through his dying body.
“Accept me.” Something black moved beneath his skin.
“And let’s become one.” Leon’s heart thundered again.
For the first time since the collision, it felt as though life was flowing back into him instead of draining away.
He tried to focus on the sensation.
He couldn’t.
An overwhelming wave of exhaustion crashed through his mind.
His vision went black.
Leon lost consciousness.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Leon opened his eyes.
A white ceiling stared back at him.
For several seconds, he had no idea where he was.
Then he noticed the IV line running into his arm.
The heart monitor beside him.
The sterile smell.
A hospital.
His memories returned all at once.
The truck.
The crash.
Ben.
Leon stopped breathing for a second.
A nurse passing the open doorway noticed his eyes were open.
She disappeared.
Only a few minutes later, a middle-aged doctor entered the room.
He had the calm, composed appearance of someone who had spent many years delivering both good and terrible news.
Several uniformed police officers followed him inside.
The doctor approached Leon’s bed.
“Leon?” Leon looked at him.
“How are you feeling?” Leon didn’t answer immediately.
The doctor began examining him, checking his pupils and the monitors while asking about pain, dizziness, breathing, and several other symptoms.
Leon responded when necessary.
His voice sounded distant even to himself.
The examination continued for several minutes.
Finally, once the doctor seemed satisfied that Leon’s condition was stable, he stepped aside.
One of the police officers approached the bed.
His expression was grim.
He hesitated before speaking.
“Leon…” The officer sighed.
“I’m very sorry.” Leon stared at him.
“When we arrived at the crash site…” The man paused.
“Benjamin York had already passed away.” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS SYSTEMATIC_MANIAC Enjoying the novel?
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