Senza - Chapter 1

    The city was dark, just like always. The rain was battering the sidewalks and all who roamed the streets of the city. The concrete jungle was silent. Buildings towered the cars that rode from point A to point B. Sure the city's streets were lit only by scattered lamposts, but the skyline was illuminated by the bright lights that shone from the towering buildings.  The city centre has always been the busiest part of the city, as you would expect, but many little places were silent, almost isolated to the rest of the city. Warehouses relaxed quietly and docks stationed themselves on each point of the city. The boats that transported goods both in and out cruised the still waters either retrieving or delivering materials. sleeping ferries stood alone, stationary at the docks, but they weren't the only things. A dark silhouette stood at the end of the pier and look out at the deep water. The rain made small temporary ripples in the water that lay in front of the man like a dark blue carpet. He had a cigarette loosely placed in his mouth. Its end was glowing orange in a black world. His feet were encased in tattered, almost completely broken black dressing shoes, that were half hidden by long, too long, black trousers. Just above that, he wore an old grey button-up covered by a long, patchy coffee-coloured coat. The figure took a puff from his lit cigarette and pushed the smoke ring from his mouth. His rusted gun was holstered on his waist tightly. This gun had seen many adventures and many corpses. This gun belonged to an expert, a legend. This legend's name was Harvey Denver. He'd been with the Senza City Police Department for 22 years, and today marked his 23rd. The rain was still bettering the pier and the man that stood upon it. He left the cigarette to relax in his mouth as he reached down towards his occupied gun holster. He unbuckled the revolver and looked in the chamber. One bullet. He spun the revolver's chamber and placed the barrel against his temple. He closed his eyes and applied slight pressure to the trigger, not enough to set off the firing mechanism, but enough to make Harvey think about what he was doing, and he did think about it. He released his pressure on the trigger but kept his eyes closed. He took a deep breath and pressed the trigger fully down, but there was nothing but the sound of an empty chamber slot. 
    In all honesty, Harvey couldn't have cared less if the bullet went straight through his skull, if anything it would have done him a favour. He sighed an almost disappointed sigh and secured his pistol back into his holster and covered it with the long coat with one smooth movement and took another puff of his cigarette and blew it out into the crisp night sky. 
    The rain may have been louder than anything else that night, but footsteps could still be heard from behind Harvey. They belonged to an S.C.P.D rookie, Damien Childs. He was the opposite of Harvey. He was smartly dressed as if he had only just bought it. He wore smart, unscathed dressing shoes the shone in the heavy rainfall, and perfect fitting tailored trousers that were held by a smart belt with a metal buckle. Just above those, he wore a nice, white button-up shirt that donned a smart red tie that was half-covered by his black trench coat. He had black leather gloves on. His right hand held a black umbrella that protected his slicked-back hair and the rest of the clothes he bore. 
    He slowly walked towards the veteran and held the umbrella over both himself and Harvey. No words were exchanged for a while.
    Harvey brushed his middle and index fingers against a small scar that resides on his neck. Damien didn't know how it got there but had heard all kinds of stories, but he never wanted to just hear one and stick to hear, he wanted to have an open mind. Harvey removed his fingers from his neck and stepped out from under the umbrella. He took a step, then another, and then another, until he reached the end of the pier. He took one long last puff from his cigarette and flicked it into the water. He stared at the spot the cigarette landed. He slowly lifted his head and squinted his eyes as the rain pattered down onto his face. He looked back down and stared back out into the depths.
    "So, which story do you believe rookie?" Despite still staring out at the boats, Harvey's voice was still loud enough to reach Damien's ears. Damien didn't answer, because, well in all truth, he didn't know how to. Sure, he told himself that he kept an open mind, but you can't blame a man for believing that the possibility of at least one of the rumours must be true. Some of them were ridiculous, but some of them weren't too farfetched. After a while, Harvey finally spoke again, this time he turned towards Damien to do so, "D'ya reckon it's the one where I killed my wife, and I got this scar from a knife slash as she tried to defend herself? Or maybe the one where I killed my parents, then took a brand new name, this name, to make myself look innocent?"
    "So you know about all the rumours people spread about you?" Damien asked in a surprised tone. Thinking about it now, of course Harvey knew, Damien had been in the S.C.P.D and he had already heard a load of rumours about him. Damien got no reply so he just continued, "I mean, no I don't believe any of them. I'm here to take down criminals, not make friends, we're partners, nothing more." Harvey slowly nodded as he took out another cigarette. He offered Damien one, but Damien refused. 
    His mother and his father used to smoke, his mother a light smoker, but his father a chronic smoker. He saw the effect on both of his parents and promised himself that he would never end up like that. 
    Harvey pulled himself under the umbrella with Damien. He reached into his right pocket and pulled out a silver flip lighter and looked at it for a moment before flipping it and lighting his cigarette. He took a few puffs before Damien's walkie began to sound. He took it from his side and listened closely.
    "This is officer Alisha Daniels requesting backup! Senza City Center Bank! we're under fire! Requesting backup! The White Shadow is back! The white shadow is ba-"
    Damien gave Harvey a very worried look. "Senza Bank." He repeated. "And who's White Shadow?" 
    Harvey gave Damien a look, a look that Damien had never seen in a man before, it was fear, pure fear. "The White Shadow..." Harvey quietly repeated. "The White Shadow is the one... Who gave me this scar."