Eviction Notice by K'wan

tossed him to the ground to bleed out and turned his attention to his last opponent. “What you waiting for, homie?”
    The remaining thug croaked out something in Spanish, and the next thing Animal knew, more thugs were coming out of the woodwork and he found himself backed into a corner. They were at least a half-dozen deep and armed. It was about to pop off.
    He had been warned: keep a low profile and avoid causing scenes . These were the words K-Dawg and Justice had drilled into Animal when he was first introduced to his new life, but their words were drowned out now by the demon whispering in his head that it had been too long since he had fed his cravings. Being confined to boundaries set by K-Dawg was making him feel closed off from his true nature and he needed a release. The thugs had come along looking for a victim, but what they had found was an animal.
    “This is your last chance to leave with your dignities and your lives,” Animal snarled at the thugs. He tossed the knife from one hand to the other and back again, testing the weight and getting a feel for the weapon.
    “We’re gonna fuck you up now, bro,” the thug who had hit him with the pipe threatened.
    Animal nodded. “So be it.” He moved with more speed than any of them had expected, swinging the knife in a complex pattern, causing the thugs to backpedal. One of the thugs felt himself and tried to step in the square with Animal, waving a box cutter. Animal faked high and went low, opening the kid’s belly with the knife. When he stooped over to try to stop his guts from spilling into the street, Animal drove the knife into the base of his skull, severing his spine and taking him out of the equation. Another kid swung a bat at Animal’s head and ended up connecting with air because Animal was already standing behind him with a fistful of his T-shirt. Animal shoved him into the crowd and bolted for the street.
    Animal dodged through the busy marketplace with the thugs hot on his heels. Had he known his little shopping trip would turn into a mad dash for his life, he probably would’ve stayed at the house. He laughed as he thought about how he managed to end up fleeing for his life no matter what country he was in. A shot whisking past his ear from one of the thugs wiped the smile off his face and brought him back to the reality of what he was dealing with. One of the thugs managed to close the distance and get close enough to grab the back of Animal’s shirt. Without breaking his stride, he spun around and cut the thug across his face, which would require almost fifty stitches when he finally got around to getting it treated.
    Animal had managed to put some distance between himself and the thugs chasing him, but his pack-per-day cigarette habit was catching up with him. He tripped over a fruit basket, which allowed the thugs to get close enough to try to grab for him again, but fate intervened when a flower cart was pushed out into the street and tripped the thugs up. The boy who had sold Animal the rosary gave him the thumbs-up and motioned for him to keep going. As Animal’s lungs began to heave he tired of the game and decided to put an end to it. He came across an alley a few blocks down and ducked into it, determined to bring the chase to a close.
    The thug who had hit Animal with the pipe was the first to arrive at the mouth of the alley, with the rest of his mob joining him a few seconds after. He couldn’t see much, but he heard Animal moving in the darkness. “Let me get the hammer,” he said over his shoulder. After a short conversation about who was armed, he was handed a gun and led his party into the alley. It was so quiet that all he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears. A can rattled somewhere to his left, causing him to fire two blind shots into the darkness. A frightened alley cat darted past him and into the street. When the thug turned his attention back to the hunt, something whistled past his ear, followed by a