It was October thirty-first, and it was shaping up to be a day like any other for Charlie, despite the fact that there were quite a few individuals tromping around in rather ridiculous get-ups. He stuck to his usual routine, making a brief trip down to the local corner store to wash himself up in their restrooms before simply returning to the little space that he had claimed to watch over his things and hopefully pick up a few dollars. It was a fairly warm day out and Charlie was wearing a long sleeved gray shirt along with a pair of baggy black sweatpants, both of which were less than forgiving when one was sitting out in the sun, so he had taken the liberty of rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. This wasn’t something he often did due to the awe, or terror, that his scars often inspired, but it was warm enough out and people were distracted enough by their own lives that he justified it to himself. It would turn out to be a rather massive mistake on his part… or perhaps some would argue that it was one of the best things he ever did, for it would be a large part of what set into motion the events that led him to first meeting one of the most important individuals in his life. That’s getting a bit ahead of the story, however, so back to October thirty-first.<br/><br/>Charlie spent the day nestled away into his corner quite comfortably, happily watching the children and their parents as they strode up and down the sidewalks. He couldn’t mask the faint, warm smile that found its way onto his lips as he watched the children move along in their little costumes; they held such vibrancy, such an innocent wonder about the world around them, Charlie genuinely wondered what it was like. He’d had this thing within him since birth, it had attached to him the moment he came into the world and it didn’t seem as though it would ever go away, so he had lost his childhood. He never got to experience that unbridled amazement, that excitement about life - it had all been quickly snuffed out by the creature within him. It wasn’t as though he had anything to really long for, thankfully, as he’d never experienced that particular sensation, but he did occasionally feel as though he’d missed out on something that was so inexplicably human that it made him doubt his own parentage. He sighed softly, his grin having disappeared as he focused in on these darker thoughts about the innocence he’d been robbed of. He looked on dimly, sitting there on the corner as day gradually faded into dusk, and the kiddies ran home with their guardians to tuck into some candy before it was time to retire to their beds. They got to leave the streets, where a breeze that was just cool enough to be uncomfortable would most likely find its way into the city of Chicago as night crept in and autumn rains came along with it.<br/><br/>The young man slowly stood, lifting the small tin cup he kept in front of him and looking at his meager earnings for the day. He began to count out what he had as he started strolling down the street, leaving a vast majority of his belongings behind. This was as good a time as any to head to the one of the local McDonald’s a few blocks down, he could pick up a small meal and perhaps even a warm coffee with the small bits of change he’d managed to save up in the past few days. He wasn’t a particularly huge fan of the bitter drink, but anything that could warm up his insides on a chilly evening was worth the money to him. He moved down to the fast food restaurant and picked up a small order of chicken nuggets along with a small coffee, and he found himself beyond blessed to have interacted with an oddly kind cashier that evening, and she surprised him by adding a large fry to his meal. He hadn’t eaten a full meal it quite a while, and though he was sure he wouldn’t be able to finish all the food he thanked the woman behind the counter profusely, though she simply waved him off as if it wasn’t an issue. Charlie walked out of the establishment with his cup and to-go bag feeling like a million bucks. He had a pleasant little smile on his face as he moved down the street back towards his designated spot, and he even found himself humming a sweet little tune. It had been quite a while since something simply and genuinely good had happened to him, and he found that it effected his mood in a rather drastic way. Something as simple as a box of fries was enough to turn a man’s day around; something as simple as a group of high school friends was enough to tear all of that short-lived happiness away again.<br/><br/>He paused a few yards back when he suddenly noticed a group of individuals were standing in his corner, clearly waiting around for him as they ruffled through the few belongings he had in the world. It was still light enough that he recognized the kids standing there, they walked past him nearly every day on their way to the local high school, and they had never given him any trouble aside from a handful of choice words that got spewed his way every now and again. He was used to that much, however, and the words rarely bothered him anymore. This evening, however, the crew of them seemed to have slightly more malicious plans. Why else would they be standing there, dressed in their “edgy” costumes; a few of them wore all black and some gothic makeup, some were dressed as Kiss performers, and one of them appeared to be going for a Dracula sort of deal. Charlie hung back for a little while and watched them, holding his drink and his bag close to his chest. When it became clear that the group of them weren’t planning on leaving anytime soon Charlie let out a heavy sigh of resignation and he started on his way forwards. He didn’t even take into account that his sleeves were still up, his horrifically mutilated arms still bared for anybody and everybody to see and judge, but the kids took notice of course as soon as they laid eyes upon the smaller man.<br/><br/>“Oh God, dude! That Halloween costume is sick!” one of the pubescent boys dressed as a member of Kiss crowed, stepping forwards and grabbing Charlie’s arm quite abruptly before beginning to examine the heavily layered scarring.<br/><br/>“Yeah! A little druggie bitch baby, on the run from his abusive girlfriend! You pull the look off great, I have to say,” another one commented dryly as he reached forwards and plucked the bag of McDonald’s from the man’s hand.<br/><br/>“Shit, he even picked us up dinner, guys! This one knows the meaning of hospitality, truly,” a third cried excitedly as they peeked into the recognizable bag and immediately began to pick at the meal.<br/><br/>Charlie jerked his arm back away from kid that was holding it, gritting his teeth as a bit of his coffee splashed down onto his exposed skin. “Yeah, I’m a real gentleman, I know. You can take the damned food, just get outta’ here, I know you must have some candy to steal from some middle schoolers,” he muttered irritably as he turned to attempt to settle down into his spot again. Before he could sit, though, he was promptly shoved forward by one of the boys, and he stumbled a bit but managed to keep in his feet, though some more of his drink spilled, unfortunately. He grumbled softly to himself as he turned, cocking an eyebrow at the horde of them questioningly. “What, don’t have anything better to do with your lives than fuck with a little druggie bitch baby?” he snapped irritably as he turned back to face them. He opened his mouth to say something more, perhaps something a bit more venomous, but then he noticed something: one of the boys was holding something in his hand, it appeared to be a taser, and that sight stopped Charlie in his track. Surprisingly enough he didn’t deal with pain very well, despite the fact that he had experienced quite a bit of in in his lifetime, and so even the unspoken threat of it made him rather shifty.<br/><br/>“Listen, I don’t want any trouble, you guys. I just want to sit down and spend my night in peace, alright?” he said quietly, his tone very suddenly changing at the threat of physical harm. The kids didn’t seem to heed his offer though, in fact, they outright ignored it.<br/><br/>“What sort of things do you think we could get away with doing to this hobo?” one of them murmured, the group of nine of them closing in on him slowly.<br/><br/>“Probably anything… Everybody hates the little shit anyways, he just sits here stinking up the block,” another commented, a nasty little smirk painted upon his acne ridden features.<br/><br/>Charlie swallowed hard, hugging his coffee to his chest tightly as he stuttered out, “G-Guys, seriously, I-I don’t want n-no trouble,” his voice barely even rising above a whisper. That didn’t stop them, though. The next thing he knew one of them was eyeing the cup in his hands, and despite his best efforts to turn and keep it away from him, he reached forwards and wrenched it from his hands.<br/><br/>“I wonder what boiled bum smells like,” he murmured thoughtfully as he yanked the top off of the broiling hot drink and glanced inside. Charlie’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth again to speak, to do anything to delay what he knew the kid was inevitably going to do, but only moments later the little plan was carried out. The kid splashed the boiling hot cup of coffee directly into Charlie’s face, and he wasn’t able to fling his hands upwards fast enough to shield himself. He did shut his eyes before the liquid made impact, thankfully, but that didn’t lessen the pain much. The smaller male couldn’t bite back a rather disturbing shriek at the burning that followed, and he reached up to frantically wipe at his face and eyes with his bare hands whilst the group around him laughed and watched him stumble back against the wall.<br/><br/>“The damned thing has so many scars I doubt he really even felt that. I bet he’s just playing to try and get us to feel guilty or somethin’” one of them sneered, grabbing a hold of Charlie’s arm again and yanking him forwards, “I wonder if his whole body looks like this,” the same child murmured thoughtfully before looking to his friends expectantly. There were then hands all over his shirt, tugging it upwards whilst he struggled against them to try and yank himself away; he was so much smaller and weaker than they were, and he stood little to no chance against the entire pack of them.