• Each second is like a ticking time bomb, I realized. I could go off at any time, any place! I had to get out of here. If anyone approached me at this time, I would probably punch them in the face, or do worse. People don’t realize what they have done to me. They have turned me into a monster. I haven’t always been this way, but people of this world drove me to be crazy. Now, with the government on my back, I have to hide. I was probably all over the News. Noah Watson wanted for murder of classmate John Reed. Suspect has red hair, small, scrawny, but muscular. Suspect could be anywhere from California to Indiana. What they didn’t know was that in Chicago there were many places to hide. The only reason I killed Johnny was because he was pushing me around, he pushed me too far. I was tired of being picked on by all the kids at school because I was small. Those kids were stupid. I might have been small, and smart, but I could lift anyone of those kids in the air and slam him down on his head. Johnny though, what he did was horrible, he wouldn’t have gotten in trouble for doing it. Maybe a detention or two, but nothing else. I wanted to make him pay. Therefore, I did. I killed him with my own two hands, and right now, they were in trouble.
    I lifted the lid of a sewer drain, and crawled down into the hole. It might stink down here, but it isn’t used anymore, and nobody would think to look for a thirteen-year-old killer in the sewers. I walked over to my backpack that I took with me from that day.
    I had run home after beating Johnny up to wash his blood off my clothes. Soon after, I heard sirens. I grabbed my backpack, and emptied it on the floor. Then I stuffed clothes and food inside, not even bothering to see what I had brought. I remember running out the back door, and riding my bike along the back roads trying to stay out of sight. I rode a long ways, but after awhile my bike chain broke. I left it behind, journeying towards Chicago, where I knew I’d be safe.
    I slung the backpack over my shoulders as I walked through the sewers towards another opening. I heard police sirens coming from the street above, and I knew they were probably looking for me. A couple hours later, I climbed out of my hidden tunnel, and realized I was outside of a bar. I searched through the dumpster at the back of the building, but there was only garbage. Nothing to eat, nothing that I could sell, just plain old garbage. I looked towards the street. All was quiet. I knew I was in the bad side of town; it wasn’t this quiet at six o’clock downtown. I heard something rustle in a box near the street. I walked towards it, only to be scared by an old man who came crawling out of the box begging me for money. Politely, I told him that I had no money, that I was like him, only without a nice box like his to live in. He seemed to believe me, looking at my dirty, ruffled jeans, and grubby hair. I continued down the alley, only to be stopped by a man. I could tell he had just come out of the bar, because he was drunk. I considered jumping him, I was sure the man in the box would help me, but I decided that it wouldn’t be right, so I tried to step around him. “Where are you going, boy?” he said. “You look like that kid from the news. That Noah kid.” “Yes.” I said. “There was a big reward for finding you, but I think I would rather have a little fun with you before I turn you in.” He said. Then he reached for me. I ducked out of his way. “Aw come on. I won’t hurt ya.” He grabbed for me again. This time he caught my backpack. He pulled my face close to his. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. “I just want to play with you a little bit.” He said. I knew something bad was gonna happen, but I wasn’t going to stick around to find out what. I took his arm and flipped him on his back. I went to run, but he grabbed my leg. I punched him in the nose, and then kicked at his sides. He shouldn’t have messed with me. I was like a fuse ready to blow. I had let him off with a warning, but he didn’t take it. He was asking for it. I kicked and punched harder. I just couldn’t stop. Finally, I got to my feet. “Oh no.” I thought. I did it again. I reached down to see if the guy was breathing. He wasn’t. The guy from the box looked at me, and then the guy. He started running, probably for help. I started running towards the street, even though I knew I should have been going towards the sewer. Now, they would know I had killed him. I heard sirens wailing. I kept on running. I saw a police car pull out behind me. I still kept running. “Stop! Or I will be forced to shoot!” I heard the police officer say in the bullhorn. “We can’t shoot at him! He’s only a kid.” I heard another person say. I kept running. “Well, then why did you tell Dexter to bring him back dead or alive.” They were arguing now. “How professional” I thought. Out of nowhere, another cop car came at me. I was about to be sandwiched. I still kept running. I heard another cop car start shooting at me. I pushed myself to go faster. Then as I turned onto a main street sidewalk, I ran into a gang. I ran through them, but then I heard a cop say, “Get him!” I heard a single gunshot, and then all of a sudden, I was falling towards the sidewalk. I felt myself hit it. It didn’t hurt, nothing did. I vaguely remember the coolness of it, and the way the loose rocks smashed against my face. Then, I remembered nothing.
    “Good work boys.” One police officer said. “That was a good shot.” Another police officer pulled up the body. Blood soaked the back of his T-shirt and hair. “I don’t understand. What did he do?” One woman asked from the crowd that was forming. “He beat up his classmate to death, and then did the same to a drunken man. We have information of this kid having trouble controlling his temper.” The officer replied. “How do you know that his killings weren't for self-defense? You said that the man he jumped was drunk.” She said. “I don’t know, lady. I don’t know.” He said.
    Evenually everyone left. Everyone, that is, except the old man who came out after the police left to inspect Noah's bloody body. Which, an irresponsible police officer left behind. The old man went over to Noah, and pressed his ear against his chest. He heard a steady thump, thump, thump coming from the boy who was said to be dead. Using all his strength, the old man grabbed Noah's arms, and started pulling him towards his box.

    AWAKENING

    When I woke up, I saw a familiar man hovering over me. Then he said, "Son, you were lucky. When I came and found you your heart was barely beating." Then he pointed to a young man sitting outside of the box, "Thanks to Jimmy, you would probably be dead right this second." "I thought I got shot though." I said even though I was way to tired to ask questions. "Oh, you did, Noah. Just not in a life-threatening spot." Those were the first words I heard Jimmy say. "As you notice, your arm is wrapped up. Well, thats because thats where you got shot, the arm. I removed the bullet, and stitched up your arm, then I wrapped it up so it wouldn't get infected out here. Jeremy wouldn't let me move you." He said. I guessed Jeremy was the old man. "Thanks." was all I managed to get out before I collapsed into a deep sleep.
    Waking up again, I realized that I wasn't in Jeremy's box anymore. I was on some kind of couch, with a blanket on me."Oh! I was wondering when you'd wake up." Jimmy came through a door to my left. "Jeremy and I decided you would be better off staying with me until your arm heals up." He said. "Didn't Jeremy tell you I was a killer?" I asked. "Yes, but I knew it was for self-defense." He replied. "How do you know?" I asked. "I just do. Would you like to take a shower and get out of those clothes? Your filthy. I'll go get you some clothes to wear, and some towels. The bathroom is over there." He said pointing to a door next to the one he came out of. I walked in there, and looked around. This guy was a neat freak. he had everything in order, and everything clean. It was no wonder he wanted me clean too. Just then Jimmy walked in carrying a towel, faded jeans, and an old tanktop he probably got from a garage sale. They were the nicest clothes I had seen in awhile, but I was sure Jimmy picked these out of his really old clothes box. "Here you go. I'll leave you alone, come into the kitchen when your done. Okay?" He said. I nodded and he left. It was going to be horrible living here.
    After taking a shower, I felt better. It was the first time in three weeks that I felt clean. The jeans were to long, and so was the shirt, but at least I had clothes. Jimmy was waiting for me when I came out of the bathroom, I wondered why he wasn't waiting in the kitchen like he said. It wasn't like I was going to steal anything. He took my dirty clothes from me, and told me to go to the kitchen because there was a microwave dinner in there for me. I nodded again, and headed that way. He watched me eat. Jimmy was crazy. He never left me, afraid I would do something like kill his annoying cat. I needed out.
    Later that night, when I was sure Jimmy was asleep,I grabbed my backpack, and looked inside. It had an old pair of jeans, a flashlight, and my shoes in it. I pulled out each shoe, and put them on, then I walked into the kitchen. I knew this wasn't right, but then again, how was anything I did right? So I reached into his fridge, grabbing only leftovers, and a few cans of pop then stuff it in my bag. Then, I took a tour around Jimmy's house looking for my clothes. I came across his laundry room, and went inside. Soring through all of his clothes I found mine in a stack that looked like they were going to be given away. I shoved all of the clothes in, Jimmy wouldn't need them, and walked back into his living room. Then, I jumped out the window.
    I didn't actually jump out his window. I jumped onto the mobile home that was speeding past his window. Since he was on the second floor, I could pretty much skip onto the mobile home if I felt like it. But I felt like jumping. I rode the trailer for about five miles, and nobody noticed. At the next stoplight I simply climbed off.
    I was really tired, and I knew I was far enough away from Jimmy's that he couldn't find me if he wanted too. To be safe, I lifted up a sewer lid, and crawled in. I climbed down the ladder, and then looked around the sewer. It hadn't changed much. I set down my backpack, and used it as a pillow as I slowly drifted off to sleep.
    The next morning, I ate some of Jimmy's leftovers and began to walk towards a homeless shelter. It was more like a homeless children's shelter, but I was still a kid, so I qualified. That is, unless they read the newspaper, or watch the news. I don't think killers qualify as a homeless child.
    I had finally reached the building when the sun began to set. It looked beautiful, but I had problems, and staring at a sunset wasn't going to solve them. It only wasted time. I walked into the building, and straight up to the headmaster. "Yes? May I help you?" She asked. "Um, yes actually, you can." I said. "You see, I was thrown onto the streets, and I have nowhere to go, may I please stay here?" I asked her. "Um, we are all filled up right now, but..." She said looking at my clothes. "I think we can take in one more." So I was taken to a small room with four bunkbeds, and assigned to the botttom bed that was closest to the door. " All the other children are outside, but you can stay in here and settled down. The boys will be up in a half hour." She said then closed the door, leaving me in the room by myself to unpack my flashlight and old jeans. Seconds later, the other boys came in.
    "I'm telling you. You can't trade an apple for a pudding, the cafeteria lady isn't going to fall for it." One of the boys was talking, the others were listening. When the one talking saw me, he stopped.
    "Look at what the cat dragged in." He said. " Could it be Noah Watson? The juvenile delinquent from the news who killed his classmate? Or just a boy trying to imitate him." "I though Noah was dead" Another boy said. "No boys, I am Noah, but why should it matter? Anyways, I don't think any of you could take me." I said "So you think your strong, huh? How about you and me have a little wrestling match?" The first boy said. "Thats okay. I can't afford to lose my temper, but maybe some other time." I told him. "Oh come on. You honestly think you can take any of us? Or maybe all of us?" He said. "Yes, I do." "Well, then you can put your skills to the test tomorrow at 11:00am when we are at breaktime in school." He said. I sighed. "Fine." I woluld show them.
    The next morning, I got my schedule for school, and was sent to homeroom. I didn't feel like going to school, I hadn't done so in awhile, and I was far behind. I tried to concentrate, and not think about breaktime. I didn't want to kill again. But I wanted to show those losers who was boss. Then the bell rang signaling the start of breaktime. I headed towards the playground.
    I waited till the end of breaktime for those boys to show up. When the bell rang, I began to walk to class, only to be snatched by someone, then blindfolded, and then hands tied behind my back. I was pulled forward, and and pretty soon I felt that we were in the shade. The blindfold was removed, and the kid who had challenged me the day before was standing in front of me. "Hello," He said. "And welcome to the place where you will be pummeled to a pulp." He had a big grin on his face. He thought I didn't know what was coming. I decided to ruin his happiness. "I'm guessing your going to beat me up with my hands tied behind my back?" I said. I watched his smug smile fade. I continued on. "Because thats how a fight really is. One apponent is tied, and the other has both of his hands. You have shamed all the pro wrestlers to come. How could you?" I finished with my own smug smile. "Let's get this over with." He said to the kid next to him. He came up to me, and started punching my face, hard. It hurt, and I felt the odd feeling of deja vu come over me. This had happened before, with Johnny. I felt the pocket knife in my pocket. Yes, I thought. Exactly like how Johnny got himself killed. Punch after punch i felt the blood run from my nose. I knew there was no denying what I had to do to live. I would have to hand my sane body over to the killer part of my body. I slipped the knife out of my pocket, and cut the ropes tied around my hands. I stuffed the knife back into my pocket. I wanted this to be fair. I acted as if my hands were still tied, until he ran out of energy, and turned to sit and rest. Then I sprung at him. I had had power packed beneath my punch, and it was gonna hurt. I smashed my fist right into the back of his head, where the brain stem was. It killed him instantly, I knew, because he wouldn't have fallen without a sound. If he hadn't been dead, he would be crying and screaming. All the other boys jumped on top of me. I forced them to the ground, and began kicking different people. One of them got ahold of my leg and pulled me down, but I used that to my advantage. I began beating their heads in with my fists, only one of the boys got away. He ran towards the school, and I ran towards the children's home.
    I burst through the door of my old bunkroom, grabbed my backpack, and stuffed clothes into it. I took all I could find. Even if it wasn't mine. Then, I ran out the door, and into an alley. I searched around for a sewer lid, pleased when I found one. I lifted it up, and climbed in pulling the cover on after me. I sat alone in the darkness listening to the sirens above me and thinking, "What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?"