A young man lies face down in a dark alleyway, barely conscious. Above him, the sky lets out a thunderous roar and begins pouring water onto the city below, splattering on the ground with increasing intensity. Chilling raindrops penetrate the gaps in his tattered and bloody clothes and saturate his jet-black hair, plastering it to his pale face.
Stirred by the sudden cold, his eyes slowly open to reveal eerie, shimmering irises that seem to fluctuate between shades of grey. He shivers and reflexively pulls his bare feet and arms closer to his body, trying to warm himself, but the motion only elicits a pained cry and a fit of bloody coughing from him.
As his ragged breathing settles, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his eyes finally seem to focus on his surroundings. After a moment, a dark smile finds its way to his face, and he spares a raspy chuckle. He closes his eyes again and rests his face against the dirty pavement.
All things considered, Rain can't be accused of lacking a sense of humor.
'So, I'm going to die in the rain...how ironic...'
Truth be told, Rain's given name was Rainbow, so the irony is debatable. However, the caretaker that found him on the steps of the orphanage as a baby named him that hoping he'd become a cheerful and likable child. He...didn't.
Rain's vibe is more...creepy. At least according to all of the adoptive families that interviewed him. They never said that to his face, of course. Well, most of them didn't. Rather, he'd often overhear the caretakers discussing it. Apparently, it's his mirror-like eyes and "depressing face". So, rejection and him are old friends.
To top it all off, rejection gave him a seventeenth birthday present a few months ago. He hit the age limit for the orphanage, which meant being tossed out with nothing but a meager breakfast and the clothes on his back. Since then, he's been living on the streets. To be specific, the streets in the Rim. Honestly, Rain never thought he'd actually miss his life at the orphanage, but the Rim has lowered his standards considerably.
For all intents and purposes, the Rim is a mass homeless encampment surrounding the city. Sure, the government built basic shelter, water lines, and sewage systems there, but they don't maintain or police anything, and it's wholly insufficient for the Rim's population. Plus, the water and air pollution, lifeless soil, and residual radiation make conditions outside the city barely hospitable to human life.
Nowadays, the only shot at dying of old age is citizenship – behind a city's defensive walls, with air and water filtration systems and artificial farming. Otherwise, you're the quarter of the human population destined to die young on the outskirts of one of Earth's ten remaining strongholds. Rain didn't come from a family with known citizenship, or get adopted into one. So, once he lost the orphanage's protection, he had no right to stay in the safety of the city anymore.
That's how he found himself in his current, rather dire, predicament. The Rim can be...hostile. With so few resources to go around, the only way to survive is to take what you can while others go without. That, and form tight-knit groups for safety. Unfortunately, he's just as bad with people in the Rim, so latter efforts were a bust.
Still, Rain thought he was doing okay. He only stole from small groups, and nothing highly valued. Only half-eaten, expired nutribars – printed, synthetic bars meant to provide a day's nutrients – to sustain himself. He also didn't keep anything flashy on him, to avoid being mugged for his possessions. Unfortunately, shoes seem to be a robbery-worthy possession in the Rim...go figure.
A group of guys cornered Rain in this alley earlier, urging him to hand his shoes over. He'd gotten pretty used to dangerous situations in the orphanage. So, like an idiot, he thought he'd be able to flee or fight his way out this time, too. Now he's facing the consequences of that miscalculation. While all four of them had violent personalities and short tempers, one of them also had a knife. So, he has the pleasure of slowly bleeding out in this beautiful alley.
'Gotta love new life experiences...what a way to broaden my horizons.'
Rain stretches his hands forward as another groan escapes his lips, and begins crawling out of the alleyway, leaving a trail of pink rainwater behind him. He's not too far from the city's main entrance, if only he can make it there. He has no delusions that they'll take him to a city hospital, but one of the guards may take pity on him and provide enough first aid for him to live. At minimum, they'll drag him somewhere where his corpse doesn't spread disease...perhaps he can at least bleed out somewhere warmer.
Ignoring the throbbing in his side, the numbness in his feet, and the blurring of his vision, Rain continues to inch forward painfully across the ground. Eventually, he can make out the faint glow of the city's entrance, and he quickens his pace at the expense of the skin along his legs and elbows. However, his arms collapse under him about fifty meters from his goal, and his head impacts the ground with a sickening, wet smack.
Struggling to hold onto some semblance of consciousness, Rain tries to call out for help towards the faint lights in his vision. But, only a weak cry escapes his lips, easily drowned out by the sounds of the storm. Rain sighs weakly into the puddle that's partially covering his mouth.
'Goddammit....even my own body is sick of me.'
He relaxes his body, trying to ignore the throbbing in his side, and waits for the numbness to encompass his senses. However, after a few minutes, he begins to feel a warmth in his chest.
'Ah, guess that's a sign I'm just about done...at least I won't die cold.'
Rain focuses on the warmth, counting his dwindling heartbeats, hoping for it to spread through his body before he loses consciousness. However, the warmth does not begin to spread. Instead, it becomes more intense, more focused...until it's borderline painful.
'What the hell...can't a guy die in peace...'
As he tries to ignore the pain, hoping to drift off to sleep, the warmth in his chest suddenly flares into a blistering heat, as though an incandescent cattle iron has been shoved mercilessly into his skin. Rain's eyes snap open and the fog clears from his mind as he lets out a bloodcurdling scream. He rolls over on his back, still screaming in agony, hoping the rain will quench the flames assaulting him. However, he finds no relief...only more pain.
Rain begins to claw at his chest in vain, tearing his shirt further in the process, and continues wailing like a wild animal. The warmth starts spreading to the rest of his body, and at the same time, he faintly registers the sounds of shouting, lights, and approaching footsteps from the direction of the city's entrance. As Rain continues to writhe on the ground, a guard appears a few meters from him, hollering in a calm but admonishing tone.
"What the hell are you yelling for brat!? Are you on drugs or something!?"
The guard raises his rifle lazily at Rain, demanding a response, but Rain doesn't even register his words anymore. All that's left for him is the pain. As his screaming reaches its apex, and he continues clawing at the now exposed spot on his chest, the guard's face focuses on where Rain is clawing himself. Peering through the rain, tattered shirt, and bloodied skin, he finally notices it – a thick black rune burned into Rain's very flesh. Immediately, his expression transitions from one of anger to fear, and the guard's face pales.
"Shit...don't tell me..."
The guard rushes over to grab Rain by the wrists and observe his chest closer, then focuses on Rain with frantic eyes. He screams out in desperation, all semblance of calm shattered.
"How long, kid!?"
But his words don't reach Rain...his entire being is nothing but the burning pain now, and he can feel that he's on the verge of mercifully fainting. Growing more desperate, the guard begins shaking Rain ruthlessly, and screams out at him once more, their faces only inches apart.
"Damn it, kid, answer me! How much time is left!? How long...how long have you been Marked!?"
As Rain's fractured mind faintly tries to comprehend the guard's final words, his consciousness finally slips away.