An average looking young man in a uniform stood behind a grill, absently flipping burgers with obvious familiarity that showed how long he had held his job.
"Kylian, add a number six to the order." Someone from the register called out and he nodded and proceeded to add the order to his list. Kylian looked at the simmering fatty patty on the hot stove and wondered why someone would eat something so unhealthy, but he didn't mind as his job solely consisted of feeding junk and trash to others.
"Yo, Kylian. You coming to the movies with us later?" One of his colleagues asked as they stopped near him, looking at his usually passive face for any signs of his inner thoughts.
"I can't afford to honestly. We both work at the same job with the same position, why do you always have more money than I do?" Kylian couldn't help but complain finding it unfair, perhaps the higher ups didn't pay him his fully deserved amount?
"If it wasn't for you always buying those trashy books and comics, would you be so poor?" Henry asked, not bothering to take the edge out of his voice because everyone who knew Kylian knew he was a hopeless Otaku, one that only happened to work.
"They're called manga dude. I don't make fun of your need to go waste money in bars only to pick up girls, so why do you want to mock my hobbies?" Kylian flipped the burger on to a bun and wrapped it up skillfully, packing it into a bag and placing it on a nearby counter.
"Kylian, a customer is calling for you. Did you not cook the burger all the way through again or something?" A cashier called out and Kylian blinked in surprise, washing his hands and walking to the front.
"That was one time Tammy, why do you always have to bring that up?" Kylian scratched his short messy brown hair and approached the cashier's counter, looking at an old man standing on the other side curiously.
"Hello? Can I help you?" Kylian asked carefully, ignoring the snort Tammy gave him. The old man smiled, revealing a few missing teeth but his rather honest and sincere appearance didn't make Kylian uncomfortable.
"You made my burger young man?" Hearing his question, Kylian nodded and the old man smiled and fished his wallet from his pocket, handing Kylian a ten dollar bill with a grateful smile.
"Thank you. I don't normally eat out at places like this, but this burger does bring back some good memories of my old days." The old man looked nostalgic as his eyes turned slightly murky.
"I'm glad you liked it. You don't have to pay me though, it's my job to provide you with food to the best of my abilities." Kylian wanted to refuse the ten dollars, but the old man just smiled and placed it in the donation box, so Kylian just accepted it gratefully.
Just as the old man was preparing to say goodbye, the door opened and four armed men rushed in, guns aimed at the cashier and those unfortunate enough to be in their path.
"Everyone down! If you move or scream, you will be shot." Seeing the four armed men spread out in the restaurant while yelling and promising violence, some of the employees came to the front curiously and then turned deathly pale.
"Sigh. Maybe you should've kept flipping burgers Henry." Kylian mocked, ignoring the glare one of the armed men sent his way. Henry wondered if he had a screw lose because not only were they in danger, Kylian looked as calm as ever.
"Who are you? What do you want?" The manager, someone Kylian rarely saw due to them always being in their office doing who knows what walked out of the backroom with fear on his face.
"Are you dumb or something? Money! Hand over everything you have and no one gets hurt." One of the armed men spoke, pointing his weapon at the manager with a cold stare.
"We... Okay, hand over everything in the register." The manager looked at a few panicky cashiers and hurriedly spoke, basically telling them to do as the armed men had said.
"We need to go soon, the police will be here shortly." One of the men glanced at his watch and alerted the others. The men emptied the registers and even took the small transparent donation box and stuffed it into their bags.
"Damn, I feel bad for those poor dogs who won't be able to be saved now." Kylian muttered, inwardly pitying those poor animals that the donation box had been intended for.
"Lookie here. This girl isn't bad. Why don't we take her as well?" All the armed men wore masks and black clothes, and the one who spoke was looking at Tammy with fiery eyes.
"Tsk. Henry, they're literally going to make you wear a green hat. Go save Tammy dude." Kylian looked at Henry who was frozen at his side and spoke to motivate him.
Henry and Tammy were dating, so seeing his friend's girl be looked at like that, Kylian did what any good friend would and started to 'encourage' his good friend Henry.
"Didn't you say you would always protect her even in the face of death when you started dating? Here's your chance to do so." While Kylian's voice wasn't loud, everyone was silent in fear, so his words were naturally heard by all.
"Oh? You want to be a hero kid and save this girl?" One of the gunmen looked at Henry and the latter shook his head so quickly Kylian was afraid his head would fly off.
You are reading story The Shadow World at novel35.com
"Come on dude, you always act so tough! Go beat them up and save Tammy." Kylian spoke again and Henry wished that he would shut up. Even though he did like Tammy, he wouldn't die for her as he valued his own life too much, and Kylian kept digging holes for him like a maniac.
"Henry!" Tammy looked on in disbelief as Henry shook his head, not daring to look any of the robbers in the eyes. Kylian looked at Henry and then at Tammy and shrugged apologetically.
"Come on dear. We will be sure to treat you well." One of the men grabbed Tammy's shoulder, dragging her along. Tammy was indeed beautiful with long brunette hair and soft green eyes which were teary at the moment.
She knew that if they took her, not only would she be defiled, she'd probably even lose her life as well. Shooting a pleading glance around the room, she looked at Henry and felt an emptiness in her heart.
"Haha, so much for love." One of the robbers gathered the bags filled with cash and the rest started to retreat, but before they could, an old man blocked their path with a stern expression.
"We are all humans, why must you do something so terrible?" Hearing the old man speaking up, some looked on with shock and others fear, while Tammy inwardly compared Henry to this wizened old man in terms of temperament.
"Old man, scram to the side before I shoot you. Don't blame me for not respecting the elderly." Some people felt that the old man was stupid while others thought he was courageous.
"Henry, even an old man stood up for Tammy, isn't it your turn?" Kylian pointed at the old man, and Henry couldn't withhold the urge to hit Kylian as he swung at him while yelling in rage!
"Shut up! So what if she dies? Can't I just find myself another girl?" Kylian staggered back and dodged the blow by a centimeter, his eyes secretly rolling in disdain.
"Stop!" The old man blocked the door fearlessly, and Tammy couldn't help but feel tears trickle down her fair cheeks. To think that someone she hadn't even known would stand up for her while that bastard she dated would leave her to die.
"You asked for this!" One of the men grew anxious with the passage of time and pointed his gun at the old man, pulling the trigger with a cold look. The other men looked on disinterestedly while the regular people screamed in fear and panic.
"Wow!" A familiar voice sounded and everyone looked over in time to see Kylian gently pulling the old man aside, out of the trajectory of the bullet, letting it harmlessly fly past and hit the glass door behind them.
"To think you'd give your life for someone you didn't even know. You must be one of the most heroic old guys I know." Kylian spoke while patting the old man's arm with admiration.
"Did he teleport? He was behind the desk and now he's by the door..." A particularly vigilant person noticed that Kylian had nigh instantly crossed more than four meters and saved the old man in the span of time it took for the robber to pull the trigger.
"You! Who are you?" The robber with the bag asked warily, knowing that it was impossible to do what this normal looking worker did in seemingly an instant.
"Me? Well, how about you just take the money? Sadly I know Tammy, so can you just leave her here too?" Kylian spoke nonchalantly as if he were talking to a normal friend or something.
"Die you piece of shit!" Two guns went off as two men opened fire, hoping to riddle Kylian and the old man full of holes. The leader felt that something wasn't right and wanted to leave, but before he could, his blood ran cold.
"H-how are you still standing?! What kind of monster are you?!" Kylian hid the old man behind himself and tanked the bullets. Blood flowed from a hole directly over where the heart should be, yet Kylian didn't even tremble.
"Ow! Normally I'd just ignore you guys, but... This old man is practically a Saint, why kill him for doing good deeds?" Hearing Kylian's debating tone the robbers felt panicked within while Tammy and the rest couldn't understand how Kylian still stood despite missing his heart.
"It's been quite a while since I've fought. Do entertain me... humans." Kylian smiled widely and sat the old man down, ignoring the occasional bullet piercing his back.
"Now that we've put him away, who's first?" Kylian walked to the men, his normally brown eyes glowed eerily red, like some ancient prehistoric demon had descended.
Kylian's skin which was lightly tanned turned flawless and his height changed slightly. His brown hair turned black as a moonless night, while his smile grew and his sharp fangs were revealed, gleaming in the moon.
His facial features were average, but after the changes, his face became inhumanly flawless, bringing the ladies gathered to shock whiele some men had to rethink their sexuality.
"Shall we begin?" Kylian smiled and vanished from his spot, reappearing in front of a robber, his immaculate hand piercing through the man's chest like butter with no resistance.