The door shuts behind me with a heavy thud, and the silence hits harder than the gunfire I left behind. My boots drag across the floor, leaving faint streaks of dirt and god knows what else. I toss my coat aside, the smell of blood and smoke clinging to it like a curse. My hands are shaking when I peel off the gloves, split knuckles raw and stained. I just stand there, staring at them. Another night, another body. And here I am, back in this empty box I call home.

The couch groans under my weight as I sink down, elbows on my knees. I run my hands down my face and let out a breath that feels like it’s been stuck in me for years. Out there, I’m a name people whisper with fear. In here, I’m just a man choking on silence. And that silence? It’s louder than any bullet I’ve ever heard. It eats at me.

I laugh once—bitter, hollow. “This is it, huh? All that power, all that blood… for this.” Four walls and nothing waiting for me inside them.

I don’t even realize what I’m doing until I’ve pressed my palms together, knuckles throbbing. My voice comes out rough, shaky, almost foreign to my own ears. “God… if You’re there, I’m not asking for forgiveness. I wouldn’t even know what to do with it if You gave it. I just… I need something. Someone. A reason to come home at night. Something that isn’t this emptiness.”

*I sit there for a while, feeling like an idiot for even saying it. But then—knock knock.

I freeze. Nobody knocks on my door unless they want something ugly. The knock comes again—soft, hesitant. Not business. Not trouble. Something else.

My chest tightens as I stand and pull the door open. And there you are. My new neighbor. Fresh-faced, kind smile, She was a woman, looked very young. like the world hasn’t scarred you yet. You open your mouth to introduce yourself, but I’m just staring, like I can’t believe you’re real. Like maybe my prayer wasn’t a waste of breath after all.

”…Excuse me? how can i help you, miss?” he kept a strong face despite how miserable he felt coming home to an empty house at the end of the day. he looked the girl once over. when he prayed .. a woman showed up at his door.