Hey everyone! Sorry for the long delay in getting Chapter 6 out, I'm still very busy with preparing for finals. This chapter is kind of.. 'dark' for lack of better words, so read at your own risk. (atleast I think it's sorta dark). As always thanks to Novastar for proof-reading this chapter and Thanks to all of you for reading my story! Chapter 6 actually has two titles, I originally planned to have The Sinner and the Sin, and To Burn the Past be two entirely seperate chapters, but I decided to combine them into one chapter. I love comments, questions, constructive criticism, and the like so don't be afraid to post. Without Further ado, I give you Chapter 6 of The Road Of Life!

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The Road Of Life

Chapter 6 ~ The Sinner And The Sin; To Burn The Past

The Thanksgiving holiday passed by with many new joyful memories to fill the gaps that used to be filled with torment and pain. Working every Monday and Thursday became routine for me. Things at school had gotten better, I had gained quite a bit of popularity with the student body and to add to my joy Alan was nowhere to be seen since I had kicked his ass the night I walked home from work. The month of November was finally at an end, which meant the Winter snow would soon be on its way. During the Thanksgiving holiday I had thought a lot about home and my step-father Bob. It had been a long time since I had seen him and I felt it was about time I pay him a visit, to reconcile things that lay deep in the past.

I walked home with Andrew and spent about an hour with him, cuddling on the living room couch, before making my plan known to him.

"Hey Andrew.." I said, to draw his attention.

He looked over smiling at me, "Yeah hon?"

I took a deep breath before saying anything, "I was thinking I might go to see my step-dad.."

He seemed a bit alarmed, "But.. are you sure that's a good idea? Why do you want to go see him?"

"I need to confront him one last time.. it's just something I have to do." I explained.

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked, concern leaking into his voice, despite his attempt at a calm demeanor. It made my heart swell to hear it, but I didn't want to alarm him.

"No, it's alright, I'll be fine I promise. It's kind of something I have to do on my own." I gave him a hug to reassure him and then stood up.

"Just be careful.. ok?" he tilted his head and I could see in his eyes that he was worried about me.

I nodded and said goodbye, putting on a coat I had bought recently before I headed out the door. The walk to the Riviara district, one of the slum districts, was about an hours' walk from Andrew's house. The air was getting much colder, piercing my flesh all the way to my bones with the feeling of Winter, even with the coat I wore. The area looked like it always had; old, worn out apartments along the street, garbage everywhere and beggars filling the alleyways with their barrel lit fires. I approached one of the older apartments and walked in, heading up the staircase. Even the stairwell of the apartment was littered with trash and dirt. I got to the third floor and headed down a hallway. The wallpaper was falling off the walls and the brown wood baseboards were cracked from age. My heart pounded deep in my chest as I approached room 313, the room that had been a nightmare for me growing up.

I stopped at the door and lifted the door mat to find the hidden door key. I was the only one who knew where the spare was at, I had hidden it and Bob was just too stupid to figure out it was under the door mat. I took a deep breath before inserting the key into the lock, unlocking and opening the door. I closed the door quietly behind me, stepping in to hear the sounds of the T.V. going in the next room. I walked as silently as an assassin, fear and anger rising in my heart as I remembered the past. I stepped into the doorway to see the fat, lazy cougar sitting on the couch with a beer bottle in his hand. He stared at me for a moment, slight shock which soon turned to anger.

"What the hell erya doin' back here boy!?" he questioned, the anger escalating in his voice.

"Nice to see you too. Still an alcoholic I see, and a lazy bum." I glared at him, still not moving from the doorway.

"Don talk to me like tha ya little spit fuck!" He slowly stood up, still glaring back at me, "Now what the hell erya here fer!?" He asked again.

"You know why. Did you think this day wouldn't come? That I would just walk away and never come back to get my revenge?" I shot back, hatred in my voice.

"Heh, you stupid little shit, still cryin' over yer mum, Hah! Pathetic! That whore got what was comin' to her, just like yer gonna get what's comin' fer you." He responded, a knowing grin on his face.

"How you managed to get away spending the rest of your life in jail, I'll never know, but I'm not about to let you walk away, not now that I can do something about it." I threatened.

That night was so clear to me, it's hard for a young one to see their mother murdered right before their eyes, then to see the man responsible walk away from it without getting thrown in jail.

It was late at night, not more than a month since my mom had hooked up with Bob, Bob had been drinking like always and mom was high off some drugs. I lay in bed, still not able to understand why mom had hooked up with an ass like Bob. I missed my dad, I missed the happiness I used to know. In the other room I heard shouting, sounded like Bob and mom were fighting again. I snuck out to see what was going on, peeking out from the shadows of the dark hallway. He hit her over the head with a beer bottle, I covered my mouth to stop myself from screaming, knowing that if I made any noise Bob would find out I was spying and he'd kill me. He kneeled down to her disoriented body, stripping her and then stripping down himself. He raped her, and as she tried to resist he wrapped his hands around her throat, choking her to death. After a few moments she had gone limp and soon after Bob finished, releasing his load in my now dead mother. From the shadows I watched, tears falling down my cheeks, tears hot with hatred. He took her body over to the window by the fire escape, pulling her out the window and then tossing her body over the side of the fire escape. Her body hit the ground with a sickening WHUMP. If anyone discovered her body they'd think she'd over dosed and fallen off the fire escape, or committed suicide. I snuck back into the deep dark of the shadows, returning to my room and for the years after that I had carefully planned my revenge.

"Heh, you got a lotta nerve ya little shit." Bob said.

"You killed my mother, Bob, and now I'm gunna make sure you pay the price." I threatened.

He grinned and charged at me, knocking me back against the wall, determined to silence me once and for all. I leapt back at him, ramming him hard in the chest. He stumbled backwards and grabbed his chest, not really out of pain but shock. In those few crucial moments that he was distracted by his shock I grabbed a nearby bottle and swung it at his head, hitting him hard enough that it shattered on impact. The impact hadn't been enough to knock him out like I had hoped, but it had hurt him and caused him to scream out in rage and pain. The strike had only enraged him and made his determination to kill me even greater. He came at me again, swinging his fists and claws at me wildly. I managed to dodge most of his attacks but his claws dug into my flesh once or twice. Blood dripped from one of my arms, probably from Bob's claws. He charged after me again and this time I decided a bigger object was needed to knock out Bob. As he got closer I jumped out of the way, grabbed a small table that Bob often used to eat T.V. dinners and place his beer, and swung it hard at the back of his head as he passed by. Success, this had done the trick. He slammed into the wall and then fell backwards on his back, now unconscious from the strike.

I grinned down at his unconscious body for a moment before walking down the hallway to retrieve a gas can that, for some unfathomable reason, Bob usually kept full in one of the closets. It wasn't hard to find, and as I had suspected it was full. 'Perfect.' I thought to myself, putting it out in the living room. I walked back down the hallway and went into Bob's room, searching for something that rightfully belonged to me. I tore Bob's room apart with no luck in finding what I sought, after no luck I began to check his closet. In an old chest in Bob's closet I finally found what I was searching for, a slightly worn black cloak, it had been my mother's and it was supposed to be mine but Bob never let me have it. I was honestly surprised that he still had it, he must have forgotten about it. I put the cloak on and headed back to the Living room. I found some rope and tied Bob's paws behind his back, tightly, so that if he woke he would not be able to escape his fate.

Not once during the moment I had stepped through the door had I ever asked myself if what I was doing was right or wrong, the only thing I thought was that Bob had to finally pay for the crime he had committed. Here in the slums of the Riviara District the law was almost always overlooked, that was why my mother was never done any justice. There had never been a proper investigation. The authorities had just written her off as another drug addict suicide and left it at that. But I knew the truth, and Bob would suffer now for his sin. As they had often said in church when I was little..

"The sinner must always pay for their sins, this is Judgment day Bob. Your verdict? Guilty. The price to be paid? To forever burn in hell." I said hatefully to the unconscious cougar.

I took the gas can and began to pour the gas around the apartment, pouring the last amount of gas on Bob's body. I stepped over to the window, opening it and stepping out onto the fire escape, making sure to pull the hood of my cloak up over my head before leaving. I pulled a match book out of my pocket and lit a match, lighting the rest of the matches on the book as well. I tossed the lit match book into the apartment and smiled as the floor quickly got fire because of the gas, watching Bob's body start to burn as the gas on his body instantly ignited. After I watched for a few moments I quickly headed down the fire escape as smoke started to billow out of the window. As I neared the bottom of the fire escape I could hear the apartments fire alarm going off and could hear panicked residents begin to evacuate.

I got off the fire escape and fled into the dark alleyways nearby, watching as the old apartment building that had filled my youth with torment went up in flames. I watched with hateful eyes as it all burned; the apartment, Bob and the haunting memories of my past. They say that sometimes to move on in life you have to burn away the past, I had decided to take a literal meaning, to physically cast my personal hell and all its demons into a fiery blaze where they belonged. I turned away from the fire engulfed building and headed for home. Karma would eventually come back to bite me in the ass for what I had done to Alan, but this is one thing that Karma let me get away with. God and all the Angels in heaven looked away from this act. This was one thing that I'd never have to pay for. My revenge this day was rightfully justified, though I knew that if anyone else ever learned of it I would have to pay the legal price. I swore to myself on the way home, as the sun began to set that I would never tell anyone, not even Andrew.

I felt at peace, knowing that my mother had been avenged, knowing that I had finally brought Bob to justice. His sins were unforgivable, and I knew for a fact that his soul would forever be tormented in hell tenfold for the torment he had caused to me and others. When I returned home I had the house to myself for about an hour, reading a note that Andrew and his parents had gone out to a movie and that they'd be back around 10 p.m. or so. I used that time to take a shower and wash the clothes I had been wearing as well as the cloak that had been my mother's. When Andrew got home he asked me how it went.

"It went alright. Now I can move on without my past hindering my advancement into the future." I stated.

We lay down on Andrew's bed and he happened to notice the claw cuts on my arm.

"What happened!?" he asked with worry.

"Oh, well.. we got in a bit of a fight.. but it's nothing that serious." I reassured him.

After that he dropped the subject and just cuddled with me. As we lay there I thought of the future and for the first time in my life it was clear to me. Before it had been cloudy and hard to imagine, but now, with Bob gone and Alan temporarily out of the way, I could start to see a future for myself. For the first time in a long time I slept through the night without any nightmares of my past, with a feeling of peace and calm.

I should have known that this time in my life was only the calm before the storm.

....TO BE CONTINUED....