**Trigger Warning**
(Ace)
In another Lifetime...
The heavy thuds of footed feet pounded against the weak wood of the rotting staircase. It had been many years since the upkeep of the house had been seen to, it was slowly perishing over the course of time. The walls once brightly coated in fresh wallpapers were peeled and cracked. The roof had holes the size of fists all throughout its structure, streams of water found their way in, collecting in puddles on the floor. A room once decorated in rich vibrant colors, and stacked high in collections of exotic toys, now laid bare. Rat carcasses piled around, ants collected on top of their treasure, and roaches scattered across the walls. The only window, the only source of light, had been boarded up by long flanks of wood. Rusty nails hammered into the foundation, sealing off any hope of fresh air. A piss stained mattress left to fester in the corner was all that remained and on it, huddled against the far side of the wall, was young Ace Ryker.
Tears were already beginning to form, coating his eyes. Ace closed his lids tightly, willing his lashes to keep them from falling, it would just make things worse. The low groan of the stairs was warning him, HE was coming, sooner than he usually did. Something must have set him off for a once a month visit to turn into a two time. The door to Ace's room was thrown open, the force knocked it against the wall, leaving a hole from the knob's penetration. "There you are you little bassstard." The man slurred. Ace flinched at the chilling voice of his father and cowered back as far as the wall would let him. "If it wasn't for you, she would still be alive! She just had to give birth to a selfish monster like you. I begged her to terminate youuu but she couldn't do it, now I'm stuckkk with youuu, and she is deadd." He was heavily plastered with alcohol; the stench came off him in waves.
"I- I'm s-sorry." Ace stammered, not daring to look at the large male hovering above him.
His father let out a long string of curses, "If you were s-sorry," he mocked, "You would remove yourself from my presssence. You are just a constant reminder of what I lossst, you are a ssstain that I can never get clean." The man reached out and grabbed Ace by his hair, jerking him up off the bed. "Look at me when I talk to you boy!" he snarled.
The putrid odor on his father's breath was hot on his face and Ace had to hold in the urge to vomit, the pain laced through his scalp and against his will a tear escaped, "P-please." He started to beg.
"Crying like a little pussy, I'll give you something to cry about." The grip on Ace's hair hardened as he was now being dragged from the security of his small room and down the flight of stairs. Ace tried to twist away from his father's grasp, but it was no use, the man was too strong, an Alpha's strength bent him. At his twelve years old, his own wolf has yet to emerge, and would not until his sixteenth birthday. Ace's body was too frail from years of neglect and abuse to do very much anyway, his need to fight and stay alive almost nonexistent. There was a sick crunch of rib against wood as his body was hauled down step by step like a little rag doll and then hurtled through the air as he was thrown to the ground. The bright light of the outside world greeted him. Scents of overgrown grass, dirt, and honeysuckles crept into his nose as he took a deep breath in. The action made him gurgle lowly in his throat and before he could process everything his face was being stomped in by a heavy sole. Reeling to the side, Ace felt the bones in his jaw shattering, dots danced behind his eyes. The razor-sharp lance of fire scorched down his eye and cheek as his father's clawed hand gripped his disfigured chin. "If you know what is good for you, then die right here." With those departing words he spat down into Ace's face.
Broken, bloodied, and dazed Ace laid on the ground. Weakly he tried commanding his body to move but nothing was happening, it was an effort just to make breath wheeze into his collapsing lungs. There was not much time now, he was dying, he could feel it deep within his soul. Fear makes many men do stupid things, the fear was bone rattling now, he did not want to die. As horrible as his life was right now and as many times as he had wished to die before, now that he was on death's doorstep it was the last thing he wanted. "Help me," it was a broken plea to no one and everyone at the same time. There were no other people around to come to his aid, yet Ace just kept repeating it like a chant in his head. The sun suddenly faded around him, it was as if a veil had dropped over his eyes, and a moment of panic set in. This was it; he was crossing over to the afterlife, his breaths came in shallow spurts.
"Poor boy," came a hiss in the distance, "Broken boy."
Ace tried turning his head to see who spoke, but no one was there, it was if a web of darkness had spread, coming closer to his stiffening body. "Who is there?" he asked in his mind, not able to voice the words out loud.
"I heard your pitiful cry for help, and it intrigued me," the voice was almost melancholy now. "Do you not wish to die, to no longer suffer?" it asked curiously.
Ace mentally shook his head, "No, I want to live."
"Why?"
His body was so cold, spasming against his will, "I want to get stronger, be the most powerful shifter in existence."
There was a sinister laugh from the shadows, "and what would you do with so much power, poor boy, broken boy?" it asked in a delightfully wicked tone, it washed over Ace making his skin crawl."Kill those how have abused me and protect the ones that have been abused." He stated without hesitation.
There was a swish in the darkness, it crept closer, the fog of night enveloping his legs. "If I saved you now, gave you everything you wished for and more, what do you have to offer me in exchange?" the entity was upon him now and it sounded almost hungry.
Ace thought for a moment, "I have nothing to give but myself."
"Poor boy, broken boy," the haunting hum came from the shadows, "I will grant you immense power, immortality for ages…in return, I will take you from this world for a time. You will be my protégé and rule in my place. I will teach you to walk behind the veil and cross into the living as you please. I will show you what true power is, does that sound enticing?" it was almost purring now.
"What are you?" he whispered into the unknown.
The entity laughed once again, "Call me Azrael, the phantom of shadows, creator of the Court of Infernal Ink, do you agree to my terms poor boy, broken boy?"
There was not much of a choice, if he did not accept than he would perish into the unknown darkness. No future in death. "Y-yes." He stammered in fear of what was to come.
The black webs of the abyss curled around his feet and up his legs, covering his whole body in its icy rapture. Ace felt his bones popping, being forced back into their rightful place, the pain made him cry out. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before, he was being mended from the inside out, remade. Lifting his hands up in front of him he was shocked to see the blue-black markings marring his almost translucent white skin. "The kiss of death is imprinted on your skin, it is the courts infernal ink, display it with caution."
Ace could once again stand, he was sore, but alive. His whole body was glowing and for once in his life he felt powerful and strong. "What did you do to me?" he asked.
Azrael took shape in the darkness, he was a solid wall of smoke, "Come, you have much to learn and much to master." He whispered and opened a portal into the ground. Ace hesitated for just a moment but decided not to look behind him, not to acknowledge his past, this was a new day. A new life awaited him, and he was going to seize every opportunity and learn whatever the shadow phantom had to offer him. A promise was made right then and there, he would return one day, and slaughter the man he once called father.