• Lying on his back, Philip wondered how this ever came to happen...why would something like this ever happen to him, and, moreover, from someone he really trusted?
    Breathing was getting difficult. He gazed upwards towards the fast running clouds and the cold moon behind them; seemed like hundreds of souls moving across the skies, and maybe soon he'd become one of them.
    Something tickled his hand and brought him back to reality. There was the same dog of before, the same one who he had almost run over in his bike and cursed the animal for almost killing him to, as he rushed to his friend’s plea and cry for help.
    Phillip lifted his arm to pat the animal, but winced in pain...His wound was deep and was losing alot of blood through it, but managed to scratch the dog behind the ear...
    'Can't believe that this street dog will be the only one to see me fall, the only one making me company in my last moments' and then thought of Kathlyn...How he would miss her! The only true thing for which he had lived for and really fought for in his entire life!
    And yet he felt that she never did love him at all, and because of her...he was there lying in the dark streets in sector 4, the only one where cops never go. But he had because he was trained and could take care of himself.
    'Leo, why did you do this? Why did you never tell me you loved her as much as I did?' and his thoughts wandered back to the moment in which he had been betrayed, stabbed in the ribs, by his dearest friend...
    Jealousy had been the probable culprit, but it felt as if there was something else...

    Suddenly the dog whimpered and fled, leaving him alone again...but a voice surged from the darkness which Phillip recognized to be his assassin...
    "Was it for her, Leo? If you would've told me..." but was interrupted by Leo's sinister laugh.
    "You really think she ever loved you?" and laughed again...
    Phillip turned pale as his fears came to life.
    "She never did love you, she benefited from you...you were the leader of €psilon squad, had skills and abilities reckoned by all in this country...you could fight a war on your own, but she never was yours..." and he smiled as he said that.

    Feeling this hatred rousing from his inside...nothing, he had nothing left...
    He had fought for her, gave everything to be with her, and yet she turned his back on him despite she knew there was nothing else left for Phillip.
    What a net of lies! How false everyone was!
    He did not mind the pain he felt; he knew it might be his last moment...
    Leo was shocked to see that the wounded man turned on his side and stood up...and his surprise turned to terror as Phillip turned around and looked at him in the eyes...those were not normal eyes anymore.
    Filled in anger, rage, hatred...they almost seemed to glow under the pale street lights.
    Phillip slowly pulled out a dagger from his suit, standard to squad members...similar to a one Leo had stabbed him with minutes before...
    Leo whistled and a group of men appeared from the darkness from all directions...30, maybe 40 ex-soldiers and convicts Phillip had put away for evil conduct, all armed up with grenades, rifles and all types of blades...
    "You must die, Phillip..." Leo said "...and it must be done so i can rise my reign of terror, and this is the second reason I wanted you down, so i could step up as rightful owner and become first among this country and..."
    But Leo’s voice faded with the sight of Phillip, his body was becoming darker and a red glow emanated dimly from his figure.
    As Leo screamed the order to fire upon him, Phillip moved like lightning...gracefully, swiftly stabbed the men as they shot to where he was, but he was faster than them. One by one, of maybe two at a time, all fell and failed to hit upon him.
    Tired and exhausted, Phillip kneeled beside one of the fallen and picked up a pistol. He looked at it with interest, trying to remember every detail...
    He suddenly felt menaced and turned around, shot and threw his dagger...
    Two bullets collided in mid-air, but the blade hit its target in the chest. Phillip stood up to look at a agonizing Leo...
    "wh..what are y...you?" he said.
    Phillip just smirked and pointed directly between the eyes and pulled the trigger, and slowly faded away. He fell on his knees and the dog reappeared in the darkness...
    "Come boy…" and the animal came to its caller. Phillip patted him and smiled.
    "Live your life at full, do not trust whom you trust..."
    And with these words his soul escaped with his last breath, kneeling. The dog whimpered and cried...licking the dead man’s face; laying beside him to wait...
    --------0--------
    Whispers.
    Who were they from? His shout echoed in the infinity of darkness. A small light wandered around him and settled over his shoulder.
    “You have proven brave, and fought with honor. The Valhalla awaits you.”
    The light slowly became a hand, extending into a body of light. Color came back to his eyes and he saw his body, kneeling beside him.
    He looked at the figure that had appeared in front of him…how beautiful and breathtaking she was.
    “Must I go?”
    She nodded in response and took his hand, but another voice surged from the distance.
    “It is not his time yet, Skuld. The thread is not at its end.”
    “But, there is nothing more I have foreseen. How could he continue?”
    “It is not something that concerns us. He has chosen long before that this mortal must continue alive, maybe not in this body.”
    “But, Verðandi, whom shall he be?”
    “The choice has been maken. Awaken him.”
    Philip looked at her again. The names…and then he remembered.
    “You’re a…”, but she pushed his forehead with her finger saying some things in a language he could not understand and he was pulled down as if falling.
    Philip opened his eyes again, under a bridge with a river nearby and…what on earth was that smell? To his disgust, sadly, it was him. He had become a vagabond, a nobody that lived in darkness. At first he thought that they had screwed it up, but then realized that he had to be someone unknown to start again. But how could he start a new life if he had nothing to start with?
    Puzzled, he lay on his back and think of how to earn some cash to get started. Philip examined the body that was given to him; not old, thin, pale skinned, no sicknesses of any kind, tall and not very strong, but the last could be fixed.
    The sun was coming up in the horizon, maybe 6 or 7 am. He stood up and found out that there was no pain and moved all the body; average flexibility but good sight and reflexes.
    There was a can on a mild fire and he saw that he had a 2 pots and some plastic…all he needed was some soap and clean clothing, but without cash, how?
    He sat and thought for what seemed many hours, seeing the sun rise in the sky and slowly warm up everything around him.
    Overhead he could hear the vehicles pass on the bridge. Stealing from the drivers was an option, he thought. In the distance he heard a faint siren getting close. Instinctively he hid, though knew that he was a different man and, therefore, not being searched or hunted down.
    Something hit the floor nearby and the sirens passed a few moments later, slowly fading away in a distant echo.
    Curiosity bit him in the neck. Philip went to where he heard the thud and saw it was a bag, more like a back pack. Inside was something that struck him awed. Loads of cash inside, at least $100,000! Coincidence? Maybe, but he thought that they had foreseen it after all, and thanked out loud.
    Nice voice, deep and vigorous.

    The walk to town seemed long and never-ending, but with all the cash in the back pack there was at least one week of survival guaranteed.
    He arrived at a store and bought some things to clean up, leaving the money beside the door and the clerk doing likewise with the things Philip had asked for. The same tactic was used to buy clothing and some food. After a few hours he returned to the bridge spot and started his ‘cleanup’ very carefully. By nightfall he had washed, cut his hair and nails, shaved and dressed properly, and finally ate something, cleaning his mouth up later with a lot of toothpaste and floss. In a small piece of mirror he found among the things he possessed, he saw he wasn’t ugly at all, and laughed about it…
    He set his way back to town, walking by the road. Suddenly a SUV halted ahead of him and, as he was passing, a female voice from inside asked if he needed a lift. Philip looked inside and saw a very nice looking driver and there was more than one woman in the vehicle, all well looking. He just nodded in response and she signaled him to enter beside the driver.
    There was some news on the radio about some thieves being arrested for a bank robbery and that the police was searching for the quarter million dollars loot, but his hostess turned the radio off.
    “Strange place to find someone” she started, after driving a few minutes with all the giggling behind him.
    “My car busted. Been walking for hours” he lied, but it was a harmless one, just to keep a low profile.
    “Odd, didn’t see one on the road, did we girls?”
    “Left it off road, just in case someone wants to steal it” More giggles. Philip overheard ‘he’s cute’ and ‘cute voice’. The thought of it made him smile on the inside, but remained inexpressive.
    They dropped him off in town.
    “What was your name again?” she asked.
    “Philip. And whom do I have the pleasure in thanking?” he replied.
    “Jackie” and with that, she winked at him and left.
    As he rode the taxi to the nearest motel, Philip though about the news he had heard. Maybe it was the money that was in the back pack he had in his hands, but it was already being used by him.
    He shrugged and paid the driver.
    As he lay in bed, Philip thought in what he might to the next day. He knew he had to set things right with Kathlyn. She had to pay the price, but in a different manner, not with blood though.
    For hours he thought untill his mind passed out of the sleep...and he knew it'd be tough, very tough ahead of him.