Reincarnated as a Failed Villain: Fallen Angel

3:00 A.M. The stillness of the small town night was shattered by a howling police siren.

"Shit." Lucas said to himself under his nose as he ran down a dark alleyway, soaking wet from the rain.

Lucas's white-dyed hair, face and torn grey jumper were covered in the young blood of four men. His footsteps pounded the rain puddles, leaving a tiny trail of blood.

"How did they find me so quickly?" Lucas said while nervously biting his lower lip, leaving a slight wound.

The echoing police sirens moved away, towards the centre of the town. All that was left was the sound of rain hitting the ground and Lucas's footsteps on the wet concrete ground.

Lucas ran to the end of the alley and saw a familiar man wearing a raincoat and holding a gun pointed at Lucas.

"It's all over. Lucas. Enough."

"Shit." Lucas stopped running and raised his hands. His pulse quickened with the adrenaline rush; Lucas smiled impishly.

"Hi James. Haven't seen you in ages."

James holstered his gun. His eyes were puffy from sleepless nights and endless tears. His hands shook with cold, and fear.

"I see you haven't quit drinking yet?" Lucas laughed awkwardly and took a step forward.

"Still working as a detective on my case?" Lucas asked while trying to lower his hands.

James stood in silence, observing Lucas's every move. James couldn't risk it in front of a monster.

"Say something." Lucas got annoyed and took another step forward.

*BANG*

James shot, aiming for Lucas's leg, but missed due to shaking hands. The sound of the shot reverberated down the alley, deafening Lucas for a moment.

"Nice aim, sir." Lucas chuckled.

"Please, Lucas. Don't make me do this."

"I'm not making you do anything... Just release me." Lucas said with a furrowed brow.

"76 people. In the last 8 years, you've killed 76 people..."

Lucas raised his eyebrows in surprise; as if he didn't know. He slowly lowered his hands and tilted his head in thought. He didn't feel guilty, on the contrary; Lucas felt ecstatic. Besides, he knew how to break detective James.

"What was your daughter's name?" He asked, putting his finger to his head in thought.

"Lucas... Please." James began to beg again. He didn't want to hear what Lucas would say.

"Lilith. Her name was Lilith." Lucas said while slowly closing his eyes.

"Tell me, Mr. James. Who killed Lilith?"

James felt his chest tighten; the words caught in his throat. He wanted to answer, but he couldn't utter a word.

"And who locked that murderer in the warehouse, and set it on fire?" Lucas lost patience and raised his voice.

"ANSWER ME!" Anger flashed in Lucas's eyes, and he started walking towards James.

"Lucas... 76 people, Lucas."

"You know yourself that they were all the same."

"Just give yourself in, Lucas. You know you need help."

Lucas's heart was pounding, but this time not with excitement, but with grief. Lilith, a brunette girl, around 11 years old; appeared smiling in front of Lucas and terrifying him. That face faded into a pale ghost with blood flowing instead of tears.

"STOP HAUNTING ME!" Lucas screamed in rage, waving his hands in front of him, trying to push away the horrible image.

Suddenly, Lucas lost control. There was a fury in his eyes that he knew only one way to stop. But not this time.

"I'm sorry, Lucas." James said as he saw Lucas approaching him at almost superhuman speed. And after a moment, he pulled the trigger.

*Bang*

James fired as Lucas came within arm's length. The bullet tore through Lucas's brain; killing him. After Lucas fell to the ground; James put the gun to his own temple.

"I am sorry." He apologized again, as tears formed in his eyes. James took off the hood of his raincoat and let the rain wash away his tears one last time.

"But yes, Lucas; you were right."

As much as James didn't want to admit it, he was weak after Lilith's death; he was always grateful to Lucas for the crime he committed. However, he knew that Lucas had slowly lost his sense of right and wrong. Lucas's last victims were simple drunks who jokingly threatened a girl and went their separate ways.

"Lucas, I should have killed Lilith's murderers myself."

"The twelve-year-old shouldn't have taken over my burden. Forgive me and thank you."

A year after the shooting, Lucas's soul woke up in darkness. Somewhere in the depths of the universe. But it was a nightmare for him.

"I don't see anything."

For several years, they floated in an endless void. Alone. Lilith began to haunt him, but this time, he was glad that at least his imagination kept him company. All he could do was hope he would fall asleep and never wake up.

"What do we have here."

A childish voice drifted past Lucas. The sound echoed and shook the cosmos, however it did not harm Lucas; it made him curious.

"Who said that?" Lucas began to look around until he finally saw a rapidly growing dot in the distance. Quickly, Lucas realized that the dot was moving towards him, taking on a human shape.

"Wow, the creatures of the imagination speak." Lucas said in amazement as he watched the red-eyed man wave his hand in front of his face.

"I've been called a lot of things, but I've certainly never been called a figment of the imagination." The red-eyed guy laughed.

"So you..." Lucas's eyes bulged in surprise.

"I'm as real as you are." The red-eyed man said with a small smile on his face.

Lucas smiled back. Finally, after a long period of solitude, he has someone he can talk to.

"Are you Lucas?" The boy asked, watching Lucas's face idly.

When the man approached, he turned out to be a young guy with brown hair and sparkling red eyes. His white coat with golden accessories was too wide and hung down on him as if he were a child wearing his father's robe.

Lucas stared at him suspiciously, not sure if he was a real person or a figment of his imagination. But the moment the guy started talking, it was clear to Lucas. This is a real person. The figments of his imagination never speak, only watch him.

"Yes. And who are you?" Lucas asked with a small smile, a little pleased that he finally had someone he could talk to.

"I have no name. Or rather, nobody gave me one. Not yet." The boy smiled gently and walked over to Lucas.

Lucas's hair fell over his eyes and he nervously brushed it away. He stared into the stranger's red eyes, which began to glow brightly, hiding the pupils and leaving the whites of his eyes dyed red.

"You don't belong here, Lucas." Suddenly, the guy grabbed Lucas's shoulder and smiled brightly.

"This dimension belongs to the gods, not the ghosts. Come back when you're a god."

The void turned red, and before Lucas could panic, his eyes darkened again. There was no trace of the red-eyed boy; for a moment, Lucas thought he'd just got lost or was dreaming.

"What a realistic dream." Lucas said under his nose, disappointed that he didn't have a conversation partner again. But when he listened closely, he heard someone cursing.

"That's what you get for staring at me, loser!" A young voice reached Lucas's ears, but it wasn't the red-eyed man's.

"W-What?" Lucas uttered again, his voice trembling.

Lucas felt a punch to the face, which resulted in a blow to the head, as if he had fallen to the ground. As if Lucas had a body. His head was dizzy, but Lucas was satisfied. Lucas didn't care about the pain, or the dizziness, or that someone had hit him. He finally had a body.

"I'm back." Lucas said, looking up at the sky covered with tree branches.

"I'm back at last." A mischievous smile appeared on Lucas's face.