by:

After getting punished for a fight he didn't start, Taylor's life has taken a turn for the weird. First it was strange dreams then it was a bizarre feeling that something isn't right. Now he's constantly cold and can't figure out why.
But these things are just the beginning of his problems.

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Admin Note: Originally published on BigCloset TopShelf on Sunday 04-10-2022 at 11:19:09 -04:00 am, this classic was pulled out of the closet, and re-presented for our newer readers.
~Sephrena
 

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Author's NoteHey its been a long time, bet no one thought they'd be hearing from me again, at least story wise LOL. Sorry for the VERY long absence but life has sucked majorly and frankly its NOT getting any better anytime soon. I want to do something besides wallowing in my own self pity though, so I figured I'd try jumpstarting my dwindling passion again. There are only 3 fully written chapters of this so far, so I can't promise much or many active updates but I'll try. Sorry the first chapter is so short :( Also I'd like to thank my beta readers :D

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1.

“Don’t forget the glitter, Cassie!”

I could hear them from the bleachers, even though I was trying my hardest not to. The girls were louder than they should have been, talking, laughing, giggling. I rolled my eyes and tried to hide behind my iPad. I was hoping to get a little more work done before heading home. I just got this scene where I wanted it. It was little use though. I could already see Brittany Clarke glaring at me. She didn’t want me here and I definitely didn’t want to be here. Neither of us had a choice in the matter though. I didn’t blame her for being angry though. Hell, I didn't blame myself for being angry either. The person I blamed was Donny Duncan. All of this was Donny’s fault. It all started last week and all Donny had to do was leave me alone. Donny’s problem was like most of the Assholes at our school, he just couldn’t help himself.

After the fight and the two of us ended up in the principal’s office, my father was called in. His glare had said it all. He was pissed at me for being me. When we got home that night, he chewed me out for not “being man enough”. That was his usual insult. Well, one of them. “Girly Boy” was another favorite of his. I was short, thin and soft-featured. The fact that I liked to wear my near-bleach-blonde hair at my shoulders made me less of a man to him. After several years of his verbal abuse, dealing with Donny was easy. He was a Neanderthal. When he threw the first punch after I insulted him, I was ready for it. I dodged it, he punched Jessica Smith in the back of the head and that was the end of that.

Of course Mrs. Haines saw it all. That’s how I ended up in trouble too. The school had a zero tolerance policy concerning fighting. It didn’t matter that Donny started it. I was involved so I got the attention detention too. Whereas Donny managed to work out his punishment with Coach Franks, I ended up with a far worse fate: dance committee.

“Taylor, are you just going to sit there!?”

Brittany was now talking to me it seemed.

I sighed. I set my iPad down, wondering what torture she was going to put me through today.

“You three seem like you have this one under control.”

She grunted. “Look you don’t want to be here anymore than I actually want you here. You do however have to help us.”

The “help” they were seeking was on posters.

More specifically, glittery, frilly-looking posters advertising the upcoming Halloween Dance. Last week they announced that the theme for the dance this year would be The Fairy Forest. Something I’m sure most of the girls voted on and most of the boys didn’t really give a damn. I was one of them. While I was forced to join the committee for the next couple of weeks, I had no real intention of helping. Especially when I came home last night with glitter all over me. As soon as Dad saw it, he freaked even more. He went on an hour-long rant about how “boys shouldn’t...” Blah, blah, blah. I tuned most of it out. My mother and older sister tuned most of it too. They generally ignored Dad when he flipped on me like that. My parents laid down the ground rules early in life. As a boy, I was my Dad’s responsibility. So he was in charge of punishing me, he was in charge of lecturing. It was his job to raise me “right”. Mom took care of Alexis. They felt it was fair. It probably would have been if I’d been the kind of son that Dad wanted.

Newsflash, I wasn’t.

Bigger newsflash, I didn’t care.

In two years, I’d be eighteen, then I’d be gone. We started college prep courses last week, and I was already planning on going to one out of state. There were a lot of decent scholarships I was looking into as well. I was done with my family and done with this tiny little town. Now I just had to wait two more years for this town to finally be done with me.

“Taylor!”

I sighed even louder. Instead of leaving my iPad on the bleacher where I was certain it would get damaged, I stuffed it into my backpack as I slung it on my shoulder. Better safe than sorry. I could have left all of it just sitting there, but I didn’t trust this place anymore. Even though the gymnasium was deserted save the small group of us, one could never be too careful. Lowering your guard was never smart around this place. Donny had taught me that. I wasn’t just a target of opportunity to him, I was the bullseye he always hit in his game of life darts.

Trying not to think about Donny and his bullying, I begrudgingly stomped over to the small circle formed in the middle of the Gym. Brittney was still glaring, the others were barely paying attention. I only knew a few of them by name, the rest were cheerleaders and student council. None of which were in any of my social circles. Not that I really had a circle, unless Loner counted. I had no true friends to speak of and at lunch, I generally ate in the Quad, under a tree as far away from everyone else that I could. I honestly preferred it that way. I had a problem connecting with people. My mother blamed herself. I blamed other people.

“What do you need me to do?”

I was already annoyed.

So was Brittany apparently.

She huffed. I get it, she didn’t want me here. She already told me that, twice. This was definitely not how I wanted to spend my after school hours. I had planned on drawing more of my comic. As it was now, I barely made a dent on the new page. I’d only been working on it for the past month or so. What had once been nothing more than an itch in the back of my mind was slowly starting to become all I could think about these days. What’s worse, it was starting to invade my dreams too. It was strange really. Before last month, I never had such ideas. Then one night shortly after my sixteenth birthday, the dreams started. First once every few days then almost every night. They weren’t just normal dreams either. They felt so vivid and real, almost as if…

“You’re an artist, right?”

Brittany again, I forgot we were talking.

“How do you know that?”

She huffed, hands on her hips. “I’m not an idiot you know, I see you doodling in class.”

Yes, I did draw in class but I sat in the back of the room, in the farthest corner from the door. Brittany was an overachiever, she sat in the front row. How could she possibly know what I did in the back of the room?

She didn’t wait for me to respond. “You draw those fairies, right?”

Fairies? How could she possibly know that.

Unless…

Donny.

That’s how I got here in the first place after all. Donny caught me drawing fairies. Well more specifically he caught me drawing one fairy. Her name was Maela and as much as I’d like to take credit for creating her, she came from my dreams. I’m not even sure if she was a Fairy to be honest. She did have glittery wings like one but she was human sized. Donny only caught me drawing her because I’d been careless. You see, in my dream Maela resembled me in that she had white blonde hair and striking blue eyes. I didn’t intentionally draw her to look like me but Donny saw me drawing over my shoulder and of course jumped to conclusions. He made a crack about me “being a fairy after all”, I made some comment about him being a “neanderthal” and that’s when he threw the punch. I’m not even sure how I dodged it, I have horrible reflexes.

The rest ended me here.

“Donny has a big mouth.” I finally mumbled.

Brittany laughed. “Donny? He didn’t say a damn thing. Everyone knows what you draw, you doodle them all over the place.”
What?
“I don’t know...”

She cut me off with a hand in my face. “I don’t give a shit. Look I just need you to draw two of them.” She was holding one of their posters. “Here and here.”

I looked where she was pointing, it was on either side of The Fairy Forest Dance, written in some elegant flowing script.

“I’m not sure...”

“Look it's the only reason the Principal put you here. I told him what I needed and he did it. Now do your job, then you can leave.”

So that’s how it was.

Brittany didn’t give me a chance to respond. Instead, she snapped around, almost hitting me in the face with that long red single braid of hers. That thing could be registered as a deadly weapon.

I followed her to the group, dragging my feet the whole way.

I was a Loner by choice. It's not that people hadn’t tried being friends with me in the past, it's just that I wasn’t all that interested. Most of the guys that tried were only interested in a few things, mostly video games and talking about girls. It's not that I hated either, it's just I didn’t think about them all the time. Sure I played games but I didn’t live and breathe them like I was apparently supposed to. I had a look and as such there were certain things expected of me. Those things were different depending on who was talking to me. I was feminine and soft so clearly I was a sissy and gay to most of the jocks. I was quiet and kept to myself, so I was a freak to many others. I dressed in skinny jeans, a hoodie and carried an iPad with me everywhere, so I must be a gamer.

Lots of labels.

Lots of misconceptions.

When I finally reached the group, none of them even acknowledged me.

Well, except for one.

I stopped and blinked.

Mel?

She was the last person I was expecting to find here. We were in Art together. We weren’t friends per se but we sat next to each other. She was cool to be around because she was the kind of person who didn’t take crap from anyone and always had some outlandish stories to tell. Her older brother was some kind of extreme sports junkie and kept getting into all of these messed up accidents. They were usually really painful but she always put her own snarky spin on them to make them fun and interesting. I never in a million years expected to find her here. She just wasn’t the type.

When she saw me, she looked just as surprised.

Brittany shot a thumb in my direction. “You all know Taylor, right?”

Some of the girls mumbled something but most didn’t seem to care one way or another.

“He’s gonna draw some fairies on our posters for us.”

Brittany then proceeded to grabbed a few of the mostly finished posters and found me my own spot, away from them.

Fine by me.

She gave me some really cheap colored pencils and markers and set me to work.

It wasn’t long before I found myself not alone.

Mel dropped onto the floor next to me. When she spoke, they were words almost out of my mouth:

“You are the last person I expected to see here.” she said it with a laugh.

When she did, I got a good look at her tongue piercing.

Yep she was that girl.

It wasn’t her only facial piercing either. There was one in her lip, a stud in her nose and one in her left eyebrow. She had several in each ear too. I wouldn’t call her punk, she once described herself as “Alternative” and I suppose it fit her well enough. Her neon green hair was cut short and shaved on one side. There was a tattoo of an eyeball there. It looked weird and a bit out of place but that was Mel. She embraced the weird whenever she could. Her makeup was dark, her clothes a mismatch of different fashions, today was a long sleeve striped shirt, tartan mini-skirt with ripped blue leggings, and black combat boots. There were a lot of tats that her clothes hid as well, I’d seen them from time to time. Each one as bizarre and as crazy as the next.

I’m not sure why we didn’t hang out actually.

She was my kind of weirdo.

I finally shrugged. “Didn’t have much of a choice.”

“Oh yeah, I saw that shit yesterday.”

I completely forgot that Mel was in my Math class too, where the “incident” took place.

I didn’t really know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. Instead, I tried using the crap that Brittany gave me to draw with but finally gave up after only a few tries. These pencils were horrible and the markers had fat tips, making them all wrong to get the finer details. Groaning, I went rummaging through my pack, hoping that I brought my stuff from home. I generally didn’t carry my good pens with me anymore because most of my drawing I did on my ‘pad now. Sometimes though, I kept the pens in my pack for class. I had to shift a few things, take some stuff out before I found them.

“Hey, you still drawing these?”.

I turned, Mel was holding one of my notebooks. How had she gotten it so fast?

I tried to take it away from her but she pulled it out of my reach.

“What are these things anyway?”

The “things” as she called them were just doodles. I drew them all the time. At first they were nonsensical things I just started drawing a couple of years ago. I thought they were silly at first. I used to daydream and doodle them into page margins and things. Lately though, I’d found myself drawing them more and more. They were getting a lot more elaborate too. First they were squiggles but now they were these complex caricatures that were starting to look like some foreign alphabet. They weren’t though, I looked them up. I spent hours googling but couldn’t find a thing. That didn’t deter me from drawing them though, so I decided to put them in a notebook. I thought maybe I could use them as some weirdo language in my comic. I was even starting to form them into reasonable words.

“Its just some language I made up for the comic I’m doing.” I said, finally managing to wrestle the book from her hands.

“Oh cool, can I see it?”

I hesitated before shaking my head.

I didn’t let anyone see my comic.

“That’s cool, I’m pretty private about my stuff too.”

She liked to talk though, that much I knew from class. I was a person of few words and was generally bothered by people like her. There was something about Mel though, something that put me to ease when I was around her. Maybe it was her stories or maybe she was one of those chill, lax people that I didn’t mind being around. Regardless, her talking didn’t annoy me. Instead, I always found myself working through it. Even now, as I sat cross-legged, sketching out my fairy, I listened to her talk. I liked to sketch things out before doing anything permanent. Usually I did that to music but with Mel here, I felt it kinda rude to put in my ear buds. So instead, I used her voice as my distraction. I let her words wash over me as I worked. It didn’t take me long. I drew out a few crude little fairies before I settled on one I felt worked. It wasn’t my greatest work but it wasn’t meant to be. Brittany hadn’t asked for a masterpiece, just something for some cheap posters.

As soon as my sketch was finished, I quickly set to work putting it to the poster.

The first one took about ten minutes.

I smiled when it was done.

“A pixie?” asked Mel, looking at it over my shoulder.

“It's a fairy.”

She scrunched her nose. “Fairies look like that?”

What did she mean by that?

I looked at my drawing. It was of an elegant looking woman in a simple long gown, with long flowing hair and butterfly-like wings. I even made her bending at the waist, her hands pointing at the words. Sure she didn’t look like something out of Disney but she was a fairy.

“What are fairies supposed to look like, if you’re such an expert?”

She took a moment, was about to open her mouth when we were interrupted:

“That’s AWESOME!”

Brittany.

She had apparently come over to see what was taking me so long. I think she was expecting to chew me out but when she saw the poster, her scowl disappeared. She was now practically beaming. I couldn’t help but smile, it was good to see that someone appreciated my hard work. She really did too. She kept praising me over and over again for a good five minutes. She stood by while I added an identical figure to the other side of the words, so both fairies were flanking the dance’s name just like she wanted.

She was ecstatic.

She took the poster from me as soon as I was done and quickly rushed over to the other girls.

I could hear the ooo’s and ahh’s.

It felt nice.

Mel scoffed, giving my shoulder a bump as I packed up my things.

“Looks like they’re happy.”

I gave her a smug look.

“Well at least they know what a fairy looks like.”

She didn’t have a rebuttal. Instead she stuck her hands into the pockets of her hoodie, shrugged and wandered back off. Just like that, she wasn’t interested in me anymore. I shrugged it off, used to it by now. I drew an audience when I was drawing sometimes. I mostly ignored it. I think Mel was just looking for some company and it was nice to have her around. Like I said though, we weren’t friends. Just as well too, Mel was great but only in small doses. I’m not sure I could stand being around her all the time.

The meeting broke up shortly after. Apparently we only had a limited time to use the Gym. The dance wasn’t until the next weekend after all, we still had a few days before our decorations needed to be done. As per my punishment, I was in it for the rest of the long haul. Which meant I’d be here after school for the next week or so. Not that I really had anything else to do. I knew my Dad was going to be pissed though. I was pretty sure he thought it was going to be a one-time thing. He liked to drag me to the garage as soon as I was done with my homework. It was all a part of his “education”. It was a waste of my time but at least it kept him off my back most of the time.

As I was leaving, I overheard Brittany talking to some of the others, but I didn’t stick around long enough to listen. She did ask me to finish up the rest of the posters tomorrow, which I agreed to. I left the Gym, meandered down the short hallway to one of the nearby exits. It opened up into the west parking lot, now deserted. As soon as I stepped out the door, I was hit by a fierce gust of wind.

I shivered.

It was starting to get cold these last few days.

Not unheard of for late October but kinda surprising.

I thought for sure the forecast said it was supposed to be sunny and warm until the weekend?

Shrugging it off, I pulled my hood over my head and started the mile or so trek home.

Looks like Winter was coming early after all.

Elsewhere

It watched.
It waited.
It listened.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Anything critical you have to say, PLEASE do so in a PM. Pointing out people's flaws or mistakes in a comment is hurtful and NOT appreciated.Thanks in advance...EOF

by:

After getting punished for a fight he didn't start, Taylor's life has taken a turn for the weird. First it was strange dreams then it was a bizarre feeling that something isn't right. Now he's constantly cold and can't figure out why.
But these things are just the beginning of his problems.

Author's Note: I'm posting this on Friday instead of Sunday like I planned. Its a short one too and not a lot happens to move the story alone. Its more of a lot of stuff at home, fleshing out family and things. I also wanted to point out that very briefly I called his older sister "Marie" in the first chapter but gave her the name Alexis later on because I ding dong. I have since gone back and fixed it in Ch.1 LOL. Thanks to that eagle eye beta reader who pointed it out. Also quick note, Ch.3 might be a few weeks off but I haven't decided yet. I'm only 4 pages into Ch.4 and haven't had a lot of time to write it lately.

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2.

The walk home was surprisingly cold.

Thankfully it wasn’t very long. I might not have been as athletic as my father wanted, but I wasn’t unfit. I’d been making this mile-long hike from home to school for years now. We were a small town and because of that there was only one central block of schools for each level. Our elementary, middle and high school were all in one place. The buildings were only separated by large courtyards and in the case of the elementary school, a large playground as well. When I was much smaller, Mom used to drop me off at school but as I got older, Alexis used to walk with me. That stopped after she graduated high school and moved onto college two years ago.

Not that I cared, I liked taking this walk alone. It gave me time to think.

As I walked today, I couldn’t help but think about Mel. It was strange really because I’d never given her a second thought before. It's not like I ignored her, it's just that she was always just there. Now I couldn’t get her out of my head. It wasn’t an attraction thing either. Sure Mel was really cute. She was spunky and fun and full of life. The kind of girl I might eventually see myself with some day. At the same time though, I knew if I ever brought a girl like that home, my parents would flip. Though they didn’t have strict rules on who we could or could not date, Lexi brought home a guy once who had a lip ring and I thought Dad was going to blow a gasket. He was really polite when he met the dude but later chewed out my sister for it. Suffice to say, there was no second date. That was only one lip ring too. I can’t imagine what he’d say to me if I walked in with Mel one day?

I could only shudder at the thought.

There was something more to all of this though. I’m not sure why I couldn’t get her out of my head, it was almost as if this was the first time we’d ever met? That was crazy though because I’d been sitting next to her since school started a month ago. We were in the same freshman Art class last year too. We never talked much back then but she was still the same girl as I remember now. Maybe her hair was purple then? It was hard to remember. The thing is, I never thought about her then. So why now and why so much?

I shook my head.

It was baffling.

My thoughts were interrupted when I arrived home. I sighed in relief because Dad’s truck wasn’t in the driveway, which meant he was probably still at the garage. One less annoyance for me right now. Not only that but I’d be able to get my work done without him chewing me out for not being there to help him today. Generally he forced me to spend most of my time after school at the garage helping him out. I didn’t do “real work” there though because he didn’t think I was man enough for that. Instead, he had me doing things like sweeping the floor and making sure all the tools were put in their proper place.

I’m not gonna lie, I HATED it.

Thankfully, tonight I’d be able to avoid it for a few hours.

Walking up the front walk, I couldn’t help but take a moment to stop and stare at the house. We lived in a development just outside of town. It was one of those cut-outs that sprang up all over the place back in the seventies. At one time, the houses were probably top of the line, now a lot of them were starting to show their age. We lived in a cul-de-sac, our house was the center one. The beige siding was starting to fade in the sun, the paint on the front door and shingles was starting to crack and peel. We were the only split level ranch too, which meant we had a one-car garage and a fairly narrow driveway. Most of the time, Dad’s old pickup sat there. The only good thing about this place was the backyard. Whoever built the house managed to cut us a nice yard. It was the largest one around.

Not that I got much use out of it anymore.

I barely went back there unless it was to mow it.

Making sure not to step on what was left of Mom’s flowers, I made my way to the front door, unlocked it and crept inside. I’m not sure why I needed to be quiet or sneaky, no one was apparently home. Without me, Dad would have to do his own sweeping up and Mom was probably working late at the office. As for Alexis, she didn’t live at home anymore. Not that you’d ever know, she drove here every weekend. She went to a state school that was only about an hour drive away. Mom tried to convince her to live at home and commute but my sister wasn’t having any of it. She wanted her freedom and I could hardly blame her. While Dad had a tough approach to parenting, Mom was downright smothering.

Alexis told me she needed a break.

And she was pushing for me to go to an out of state school too if I could.

I was seriously considering it. There were a couple of really nice Art schools I was eyeing.

Not that my parents would ever approve.

Not that they had much of a say either.

I went into the living room, dropped my pack near the door for a moment, and went into the kitchen to make myself a snack. I was starving, the last time I ate felt like hours ago. Rummaging through the fridge, I couldn’t help but notice that lately my appetite had changed. I wasn’t as hungry as I used to be and when I did eat, it was a lot less. Then there would be these spikes, like now, where I felt like I could eat a whole horse. I heated up some leftovers and started digging into them at the table. I had just started to eat when I noticed it was a little cold in here too. It was strange because I knew my mother generally kept the house fairly warm starting at the beginning of October. Mom was always cold, blamed it on poor genes.

Leaving my food for a moment, I went back into the living room to check the thermostat.

Wow.

It was fifty degrees in here.

Rubbing my cold hands together, I readjusted it and went back to my food.

Had Mom been that careless?

Shrugging it off, I went back into the kitchen to finish my food. As soon as I sat and started to eat again, I noticed the food was ice cold.

What the actual fuck?

Annoyed, I just dumped everything in the trash.

Grabbing my stuff from the living room, I instead decided to just do my homework. Maybe I could get most of it done before Dad got home and started bitching. There was hope anyway. Taking the stairs two at a time, I made short work of the staircase, then the hallway itself. My room was the first door on the left. There were four bedrooms in this house, Lexi’s room was across the hall, my parents’ room at the end of it. The fourth room was the smallest, Mom used it as an at-home-office space. She barely used it though, so we also put a futon in there for guests. Not that we ever had any.

Slipping into my room, I tossed my stuff on the bed.

My room was the typical boy’s room, the walls and my bedding were blue, I had a desk, a dresser and a bookcase. There were shelves too, covered in trophies. They weren’t mine though, they were Dad’s. He said they were there to “inspire” me but they never did. Dad was still holding out hope I’d drop this “sissy” art shit and move onto sports like a real man. There was a lot of other sports crap in my room too, most of it for this team or that. I didn’t really care about any of it. A few years ago, I tried to complain to my mother about it but she told me “the rules are the rules”.

They were the most backwards people I ever knew.

I mean who ignores their kid’s wishes so they can have the “perfect” family?

Grunting, I went to my desk and started on my homework. I was halfway through it when I heard the front door slam hard. Shit. How had I not heard the car in the driveway? I crossed my fingers, hoping it was Mom getting home early after a bad day? The stomping around downstairs told me otherwise. The voice that shouted up the stairs confirmed it:

“TAYLOR!”

Shit.

I heard him stomping up the stairs, trying to sound bigger than he was. A moment later, my door was practically flung open. Dad struck an imposing figure. At six foot four and over two hundred and fifty pounds, he excelled at intimidation. When he was my age he was a linebacker and never let me forget it. Though he was starting to show some of that early forties wear and tear, Dad made sure to take care of himself. When he wasn’t working or going out with his Boys, he was at the Gym. He used to try and drag me there too but when I could barely bench my own body weight, he stopped taking me because I was an “embarrassment”. Just as well, I HATED the place.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!”

“My homework.”

“Don’t get smart with me!”

“I’m not being smart. You asked a question, I answered.”

This was how Dad operated. He asked questions that he already knew the answers to but got pissed off because I refused to “play along with him”. It worked when I was six but I’m not a child anymore. Frankly, I was getting tired of it all. My father had this image of our relationship in his head. That perfect Father/Son bonding experience. One that he tried to force on me for years, even though I made it very clear I didn’t want it.

His eyes narrowed. “You were supposed to be at the Garage!”

I sighed. I wanted to roll my eyes but that wouldn’t have turned out in my favor.

“I had to do that committee thing. We talked about it.”

I say we talked but in reality, I told him about it, he pretended to listen then bitched. He tried calling the school to complain but Principal Hayes tossed it back in his face.

He scoffed. “I told that Principal I didn’t want a son of mine doing that sissy shit.”

Dad was in good form today.

He wasn’t even trying to hide the bigotry and homophobia. At least he wasn’t rolling into his usual racist rants as well. I swear to God my father was a walking, talking stereotype. If there was an Asshole checklist, my father would hit each one every time he opened his mouth. I’d like to say he was a rare type around here but I’d be lying. This part of the state was fairly conservative and men like my father were a dime a dozen. I’m not saying everyone was like him but a good portion of the male population around here was. It was why people like Donny could give me a hard time and get away with it.

“I’m calling him again.” grumbled my Dad, more to himself than me but just as loud. “The Stewart men are not fags.”

Dad of the Year.

He didn’t wait for me to say anything, he just stomped out of my room.

A few minutes later, I heard a lot of screaming then the door slammed. Dad was probably on his way to the bar now, his second home away from home. Just as well, it meant he’d probably be there for a couple of hours and give me some peace. I didn’t let out the breath I was holding though until I heard his truck pulling away. At least I heard it this time. I waited a minute or so longer before I started my homework again. I got it done as quickly as I could.

Just as I was finishing up, I heard the front door open downstairs.

I winced, waiting for more screaming.

“Taylor!?”

Mom.

I didn’t wait for her to come up the stairs looking for me. Instead, I left my room and met her in the kitchen.

“Hey Mom.” I said, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

“Honey, did you adjust the heat?”

“Only to turn it up.” I confessed. “It was ice cold in here.”

She frowned. “Damn thing, I swear your father needs to get that fixed.”

I scoffed and said sarcastically, “I’m sure he’ll put it on his list.”

Mom gave me a look but didn’t say anything.

She knew I was right. Mom wasn’t a bad person but her resolve to let Dad have his own way was ridiculous. I knew there were times she didn’t agree with his bullshit but instead of speaking up, she let him steamroll me. She let him do the same to her when she thought I didn’t notice. It was mind-boggling. Mom was a lawyer, she argued for a living and yet Dad got to push her around too? What’s more, the only thing they argued about was money. Not the typical argument either. You would think that the kind of person my father was, he’d be upset my mother made more. That wasn’t the issue though. He was mad that my mother didn’t spend more. They would argue then later she’d agree.

Then she’d defend him if I said anything.

She always defended him in fact.

It still blew my mind how a sweet, kind woman could ever be married to a Pig like him?

“Where is your father?” she asked, ignoring my quip for once.

“The bar probably.” I said, dropping into one of the kitchen chairs. “He got mad that I wasn’t at the Garage today, even though he knew why.”

Mom started washing the dishes that Dad didn’t bother to take care of last night. I thought I heard her sigh over the running water but it might have been my imagination. Mom had to know some of his crap was wrong but never once bothered to stand up for me. I used to admire her once. When I was little, I used to think she was the most awesome Mom in the world. Then again, what little kid didn’t love their mother? As I got older though, things changed. As soon as puberty hit for me and I didn’t “mature” like other boys, my Dad started his crap. Mom did nothing to stop him. That’s when I started to pity her. Mom was a victim in all of this too.

What I once thought as sweet, I realized was actually docile.

Brave became cowardly.

I wasn’t the only one who thought so either.

Lexi did too.

The way my parents treated me was one of the reasons she barely came around anymore. She tried to fight for me but Dad would not have any of it. Lexi didn’t back down though, already she had more of a backbone then our mother did. She and Dad argued a lot. Dad didn’t like a woman speaking back to him and Lexi HATED how badly he treated everyone around him. The problem is, they paid her tuition still. Well, Mom paid for it to be fair. Even though she toed the line with Dad, she didn’t dare go against Mom for fear that she’d lose everything. I loved her for trying to help but was disappointed she couldn’t do more.

We were one big happy family.

“Did you have fun today?”

These little moments when Dad was gone were the only ones we got to talk.

Without saying a word, I got up from the table and approached the sink. I grabbed one of the washcloths and started drying the dishes as she washed them. She gave me a weak smile. If Dad ever caught me doing it, there would be hell to pay.

“It was ok. The girls asked me to add some fairies to their posters.”

“Fairies?”

“The theme for the Halloween dance is The Fairy Forest. One of the girls knew I was an artist and asked me to help.”

Mom rarely pried into my social life. She knew I didn’t have any friends because I never left the house. She did show concern from time to time. Mostly that she thought it was unhealthy but never tried forcing me to go out more. Dad never stopped nagging me about it though. It pissed him off that his son spent every waking hour at home, especially on the weekends. Men were supposed to be out. When he was my age, the weekends were meant for dating and partying with his friends. He definitely had a girlfriend then.

Dad ran hot and cold on the whole thing though. Last year, I had to do a school project with a girl in my class named Clara. I thought Dad would finally get off my case to get a girlfriend if he actually saw me with a girl. Dad didn’t say anything the whole time she was there. He mostly kept to himself, watching TV. As soon as she left though, he started in on me about how I picked the wrong girl. Clara was short, a tad bit on the heavy side and wore glasses. No son of his was going to date an “ugly chick”. The next time we had to meet for the project, I made some excuse and we met in the library instead. That only made it worse though because Dad started screaming at me because I wasn’t bringing Clara around. I swear the man was a mental case.

“Did you show them your comic?”

Mom knew about my comic. It was our secret. We both knew that if Dad found out, he’d flip. I didn’t go out of my way to show her, she caught me working on it one day. At first I was embarrassed and tried to hide it, but I realized I needed someone to confide in. So I told her about it. She was impressed with it. I’m sure that was just a mother being a mother but she honestly told me it was one of the more interesting ideas she’d ever heard of. I didn’t tell her where I got the ideas from. How do you explain to someone that you have these weirdly realistic dreams?

We finished taking care of the dishes. I was helping her put them away when she stopped me.

“I’m gonna start dinner, so maybe you should go and shower?”

I was confused.

Mom reached up and touched my cheek, running her finger across it. I was confused until she showed me what was stuck to it.

Glitter.

How had Dad not seen that?

“Thanks Mom.”

I surprised both of us with a hug. I couldn’t remember the last time I hugged my mother. Hell, I couldn’t remember the last time she and I just talked like that. Even if it was about nothing, it was nice to have these quiet moments. With Dad always on my case, they were few and far between.

I finished helping her put the dishes away, then headed upstairs.

There were two and a half bathrooms in the house. My parents had a small ensuite whereas Lexi and I shared the upstairs one. The third was downstairs but we rarely used it. It was mostly for guests, which we rarely had. When my folks bought this house, they were convinced they’d be social butterflies. We used to throw parties when Lexi and I were younger. As we got older and Mom got busier at work, we stopped bothering. Plus, most of the neighbors only pretended to like my father. The same could be said for our extended family. Dad’s parents were in Florida, we got cards for Birthdays and holidays. Mom’s parents were dead. Mom had no siblings but Dad had a sister who rarely spoke to him. I had a couple of cousins but they were practically strangers.

We face-timed sometimes but it never amounted to much.

Thinking about family was the last thing I wanted in the bathroom though.

Undressing to my boxers, I couldn’t help but look into the mirror and frown. No matter how much I hated my father for pointing it out, he wasn’t wrong. I was a frail and wimpy looking kid. Barely five foot seven and thin as a rail. I had no muscle to speak of and my skin was pale white. I looked like I hadn’t seen a ray of sun in a decade. Which was ironic given that my blonde hair was so white it looked bleached. It was especially funny because my hair never used to be this blonde. Mom and Lexi both had honey blonde hair, Dad had dark brown. My hair was always a bit in-between. As I got older though, it gradually started to get lighter. Dad was furious at first, convinced I was doing it to myself.

It was made worse by my soft, girly face.

I sighed.

No wonder Donny wanted to kick my ass all the time.

Leaning closer to the mirror, I saw the glitter Mom mentioned earlier.

I cursed.

Well it could be worse, the girls could have tried putting makeup on me again like in sixth grade.

I shuddered at that memory.

Stripping off my boxers, I turned on the shower and stepped in, hoping the warm water would take away all my worries, especially the glitter.

Huh, I thought this was warm?

I checked the tap.

Maybe Dad needed to get the water looked at it too?

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Anything critical you have to say, PLEASE do so in a PM. Pointing out people's flaws or mistakes in a comment is hurtful and NOT appreciated.Thanks in advance...EOF

by:

After getting punished for a fight he didn't start, Taylor's life has taken a turn for the weird. First it was strange dreams then it was a bizarre feeling that something isn't right. Now he's constantly cold and can't figure out why.
But these things are just the beginning of his problems.

Author's Note: I'm really sorry, I forgot all about this. Its been a long, exhausting few months. This is still the last full chapter written but the next one is nearly finished. I just wanted to make sure that I finally posted it so people don't eventually lose interest in this story. I'm hoping to have the next chapter done in the coming week but considering how I've been writing lately, it could be longer.

-----

3.

There were strange ice chimes hanging above my head.

I blinked.

I’d never seen those before. Looking around, I realized they were the only things I could see and had never seen too. The walls looked light blue in color and there were strange figures painted all over them. Did some of those figures have wings? I tried to look past them but it was all I could see of those. The room was large and cold but I was strangely warm. Bundled up tight and barely able to move except my head. Everything was so big. I was in a cage of some kind, I could see the bars. Yet, there was no top. That’s how I could see the chimes. I was so confused. Had someone come into my room and taken me? To what end though? I was no one important.

Who would want to kidnap me, T…

I couldn’t remember my name.

How could I not remember my name.

I was T...I lived at…

Huh.

There was a commotion from somewhere far away. I could barely hear it but I thought it was running. It got louder and clearer. It was running. Then there was shouting. I think it was coming from right outside the room. The shouting was followed by a loud bang and a rush of air. Someone was in the room with me then. Two someones and they were in a hurry.

“My lady, we don’t have much time!”

A woman.

“I can’t...”

That voice.

I knew that voice.

Suddenly she was there.

Maela.

She was smiling down at me, those bright purple eyes, that dark reddish hair.

She was so big.

Why was Maela so big?

Someone rushed into the room, a man this time.

“They’ve breached the gates, my Queen!”

The other woman spoke. ‘Get every able body you can and hold the courtyard.”

“My life for yours.” said the man then he was gone.

I tried moving again but still couldn’t.

“Are you sure this plan will work?” asked Maela.

She was reaching for me and suddenly I was in her arms. Was she that strong or was I that small? I felt as light as a feather as she gently held me, smiling down at me. Though she was smiling, she looked sad. As if this was the last time I was ever going to see her. The dark makeup that usually adorned her eyes was smeared, her cheeks stained. She’d been crying. I didn’t understand it though, I didn’t understand anything. Was she crying for me?

“Are you sure this will work...”

The other woman was there. “It is the only way.”

Maela stroked my cheek, a single tear dropped onto my forehead.

There was a loud banging…

….Banging on my door.

I snapped my eyes open. My heart was pounding in my chest, I was drenched in sweat. Groaning, I slowly sat up and blinked. Confused. I was in my room, in my own bed. A dream. Another one. I sighed, throwing off my covers. Whoever was banging on my door was still doing it, but I ignored it for a moment. I had to take stock of my surroundings. I was home, in my own house. I was Taylor Stewart, sixteen years old. I sighed again. That dream was a weird one. I’d never quite had one like it before either. Usually my dreams had me as a silent third party observer. They were like watching a movie, the events unfolding in front of me but I never actually interacted with them.

I’d never been a part of them either.

The banging was louder.

I cursed.

I slowly got out of bed and as soon as I got to the door, I fumbled clumsily with the lock. Opening it, my father was glaring at me.

Of course he was.

“What took you so long? I’ve been banging for twenty minutes.”

I shrugged. “I was sleeping.”

I looked at the alarm clock. It was a little after five in the morning. Jeez, he should try it sometime. Why the hell was he waking me up an hour before usual anyway?

“Get dressed, we’re running late.”

"Late for what?”

He gave me a look like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Well seeing as I can’t get you after school, you’re gonna have to come to the garage before it instead.”

I groaned. Was he fucking kidding right now?

“This weekend we’re going hunting again too.” he added as an afterthought as he started down the hall.

This man, I swear to God.

He could just never leave well enough alone. I knew what he was doing, he was punishing me. He was so afraid that I was going to somehow tarnish his good name. This wasn’t the first time he’d pulled something like this. Every time I did something he deemed “girly”, he spent days trying to reinforce my masculinity. Last time it was a week-long gauntlet of sports games, fishing and camping. Ironically, I didn’t hate all of it. I was a fairly competent fisher and Dad was a bowhunter. I’d been learning to use a bow since I was six. I considered myself fairly competent with that as well. I liked being in the woods too. It was quiet there. Dad seemed to embrace it as well and he wasn’t such an asshole when it was just the two of us out there. After all there was no need for me to “be a man” when there was no one around to judge.

When Dad wasn’t talking and not trying so hard, I could almost get along with him.

Almost.

I looked into the corner of my room where my bow was sitting. I’d never actually killed anything with it though. That was the one thing that Dad couldn’t stand. Not that I couldn’t kill something. Like I said, I was fairly good with the bow. I just didn’t like the idea of killing something for the sake of killing it. It's like all those martial arts classes Dad wanted me to take as a kid. He wanted me to be a badass fighter, but I was never really into them. It only lasted a couple of years before the teacher told him outright that I didn’t have the aptitude for it. Dad was disappointed but didn’t stop trying. By the time I was in middle school, his attitude shifted and he became angry with everything I did that he didn’t approve of.

Our relationship---what little there was---was never the same again.

I grunted and made my way to the bathroom. I went through my morning routine as fast as humanly possible. After a short shower and a fresh change of clothes, Dad handed me some toast at the bottom of the stairs. He didn’t say another thing, instead rushing me toward the door. I barely managed to get my iPad into my backpack before he pushed me into the truck. The drive to the Garage was done in silence. Dad was never much for small talk. The only time he ever spoke to me outside of yelling was when he wanted to “lecture” me on the important things I should know. That was generally a list a mile long, too numerous to name everything. Suffice to say, none of it was “girly” stuff.

When we arrived at Stewart and Sons, Dad pulled up around back.

The Garage belonged to my grandfather. When he retired, Dad took over the business. For as long as I could remember, all Dad talked about me was me inheriting it someday too. He already had my whole future planned out. After graduating high school, I was to go a trade school like him, become an auto mechanic like him, marry, have sons and pass the business onto them. It was the most perfect and simple future. For my father. Whenever he told me these plans, I would just smile and nod. I didn’t know what else to do. Of course I wasn’t going to follow through with any of it. Dad would often lecture me about being Independent and my own man but was trying to force on me the same life that was forced on him.

It was disgusting.

It was a vicious cycle passed from father to son that was going to stop with me.

Whether he liked it or not.

“Start in the back and work your way to those boxes up front. When you’re done, I’ll drop you off at school.”

I looked at the stack of boxes and groaned.

This was going to take a while.

Thankfully there wasn’t actually a lot to do. It took me about an hour, but I managed to clean the back of the store area and shift the boxes from the front to the back. I’d completely forgotten that yesterday was the day Dad got shipments in. No wonder he’d been so pissed. Usually it was my job to take the boxes to the back room for storage. Apparently without me, he just left them there. I know he had other employees, so leaving them was some kind of punishment. Thankfully they weren’t very heavy. Moving all of them was still exhausting though, as soon as I was done, I was panting.

“All moved?” asked Dad as he came out of the little walled cubicle he called an office.

He knew I was done, the cubicle had a large window.

I nodded. Dad pulled four twenties out of his wallet and handed them to me. The money was the only thing I liked about this job. Call my father many things, but he wasn’t stingy when it came to paying me. The problem was, he only paid me if he thought I did a good job. Apparently today was one of those days. In a rare form of affection, he even ruffled the top of my head. He must have been in a good mood today. In fact, I thought I saw a smile.

“Frank, I’m taking the boy to school, you’re in charge!”

“Sure, boss!” shouted the only other employee present today.

I followed Dad to the truck. Again, I thought it was going to be one of those quiet drives like usual. I was surprised when he actually started talking:

“Your mother and I had a conversation last night...”

More like an argument. They were shouting for an hour.

“I’m not happy with any of this.” he continued with a defeated sigh. “But I also know it wasn’t your fault. You have to understand something, you’re my son and I just want what’s best for you...”

We pulled up in front of the school. The Garage was only a five-minute car ride away. I could have walked. I wasn’t sure why Dad wanted to drive me before but now I knew. He wanted to have this conversation with me. We used to have semi-reasonable ones like this before. He tried to start out nice and kind but in the end he made it all about him again. He couldn’t help himself. He was a classic Narcissist. Frankly I was getting a little tired of it. These tactics used to work when I was younger but after yesterday and the weeks that led up to it, I was feeling particularly and uncharacteristically bold this morning.

“You don’t though.” I said, standing up for myself for the first time. “It's NEVER been about me, it's ALWAYS about you!”

I grabbed the door handle in anger.

I pulled my hand back just as fast. It was freezing cold.

Looking at it, it was covered in frost.

“You can’t...” he started, angry.

“Yes, I can!”

This time I didn’t care about the cold handle, I grabbed it, pushed open the door and stormed off. Dad had his window down and was shouting something but I ignored him. I ignored the stares I was getting too. Instead, I lowered my head and stormed into the school in anger.

“That was intense, earlier.”

Mel caught me as I was leaving second period. I jumped a bit, I wasn’t used to people talking to me. She sidled right up beside me though, like we were best friends or something. It was weird actually. I’d known her for well over a year now and this was the second time we actually talked. It was almost as if she was going out of her way to engage me now. Now that I was complaining though. Not having any friends was kinda lonely. You never know how much you miss something until you realize you didn’t have it in the first place.

“You saw that this morning?”

She gave a short laugh. “Tay, everyone saw it!”

Tay?

Ok, as new nicknames went, I suppose it wasn’t the worst.

I winced a bit though. “That’s not embarrassing at all.”

“Don’t worry about, I don’t think anyone really cares.”

Just as she said it though, Donny was coming down the hall toward us. He had that look.

“You and Daddy fighting, princess?” he said with a laugh, getting his two cronies to laugh along with him.

He slammed his shoulder into mine, knocking me off balance.

Mel sidestepped him completely then in one quick motion, swept his foot out from under him. Donny’s fall was downright comical. He staggered a few feet, trying to catch himself before landing face first into the floor. Everyone in the hall erupted in laughter, including his “friends”. Neither one of them bothered to try and help him up either. I did though. Hey, he might be a dick but I was raised right. I held my hand out for him but he smacked it away. Hey, can’t say I didn’t try. Mel gave me a look. The corner of her mouth twitched into maybe a smile?

Donny wasn’t done though.

He jumped to his feet, turning on me in a flash.

“You itching for an ass kicking, Stewart!”

Me, he thought I tripped him?

I looked at Mel, she gave an innocent shrug.

Donny grabbed the front of my shirt. A crowd was already starting to gather.

I was waiting for the “ass kicking” but it never came. The large hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Mr. Franklin.” said a stern voice. “I see you didn’t learn your lesson after all.”

Principal Clarke was a large man. Rumor had he used to play college football and would have gone pro but he got injured and fell back on an education degree. As it stood, most people knew not to cross him. He was a huge black man, towered over just about anyone he met, including my pompous father, I might add. Mr. Clarke was an intense, scary man when he wanted to be.

He looked right at me. “Anything you want to add today, Mr. Stewart?”

“No, sir.”

“He tripped me!” snapped Donny.

His friend interjected. “You tripped over your own two feet, doofus.”

Wait, what?

Mel tripped him, everyone saw it, right? I looked around, wondering if she’d say something. Wait, where was Mel? Did she rabbit on me?

“Everyone to class, now!”

No one second guessed Mr. Clarke. The crowd quickly dispersed. I was happy to see that he didn’t ask me to stay behind this time. I guess it's different when there’s a whole crowd of people around to see the bullying. I couldn’t help but smile smugly at that as I started to my third period class. It was just down the hall and as soon as I got into the classroom and found a seat, Mel dropped into the seat next to me.

“Sorry about that, I can’t get in any more trouble.”

Where did she come from?

I looked around, confused.

“Where did you...how did you...”

She smirked. “I have mad skills.”

I wanted to say more but the bell rang. Class went into full swing and for a good portion of it, I couldn’t stop thinking about Mel. There was something about her again, something just at the back of my mind. It nagged at me all throughout class, making it almost impossible to focus. By the time I actually did, class was over. I moved onto my next class but the feelings were still there. It was made worse by the fact that Mel was there too. It was funny because I didn’t remember her being in this class. The same thing happened in the next two classes as well, both times Mel was there again.

Thankfully, she was nowhere to be found during my lunch period.

I was able to focus on my food without wondering why she kept popping up.

After lunch, classes resumed as usual.

No sign of Mel.

Maybe I was just overthinking it after all?

The rest of the day was fairly normal. I went to class, took notes, stopped thinking about the weirdness from before lunch. After the bell rang for my final class of the day, I did my best to navigate the halls to my locker. At my locker, my cell binged. I was expecting a text from Dad, it was his usual way of barking out orders. What I didn’t expect was one from Brittany. Apparently, they didn’t need me today. There was something about having enough people. I sighed and texted her back, telling her I didn’t have a choice in the matter. She texted back quickly:

All clear with Clarke.

Ok then, guess that means I’m off the hook for the day.

Dad was going to be happy at least.

I wasn’t sure to smile or groan as I dropped off my books, grabbed what I needed for homework tonight and headed down the hall. I thought about texting Dad to tell him I’d be there today after all but I thought against it. Maybe I could give myself a day off. After all, Dad wasn’t expecting me to begin with. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. Besides, I wasn’t up for another screaming fit like this morning. To be honest, I’m still not sure what came over me. Up to this morning, I was perfectly happy letting my father push me around. Well maybe “happy” is the wrong choice of words there. I’m not exactly sure what happened to make me finally push back, but I’m not upset that I did it. My father needed to learn that I wasn’t going to let him walk all over me anymore.

Maybe it was time that other people learned that too?

I couldn’t help but smirk.

Listen to me, thinking I’m some kind of badass.

Then again…

No.

That made me too much like him.

That was the last thing I wanted.

Sighing, I pulled out my phone.

They didn’t need me. I’m on my way to the Garage.

Yep, I’m a wimp.

Walking out of the school, I shivered. It was cold again. It didn’t make any sense either. I checked the weather report last night. It was supposed to be in the sixties still. It felt like the thirties at least. I blew into my hands, seeing my breath. Either the weather man was smoking something nasty last night or there was something seriously wrong with their equipment. Looking up into the sky, I couldn’t help but notice the clouds didn’t look dark and dreary. Maybe our tiny little town was just going through some fluke frost event then? Sure, that made about as much sense as me actually being friends with Donny. I scoffed at that idea and decided to stop wasting time trying to figure out the weather.

Pulling my hood down lower over my face, I made my way through the parking lot.

There was only a few straight paths to the Garage from the school. The most direct one brought me past the depot where the school buses were kept. It was a large brick building that blocked out most of the sun and a good portion of the road beyond. The path between it and the fence surrounding the school grounds was narrow, barely big enough for one person. Definitely not big enough for someone to turn properly without backing up. Walking at a brisk pace, I was hoping to walk the few blocks as fast as possible.

Picking up my pace, I was just to the corner of the warehouse when he appeared.

Josh Martin.

One of Donny’s goons.

I didn’t have time to react as he quickly grabbed the front of my hoodie and pulled me forward. The fist that met my stomach was hard. I doubled over in pain and actually saw stars. Josh didn’t let me fall though. Instead, he cradled his arm around me as I coughed. I was in no position to fight back as he half-walked, half-pulled me along.

“Try anything and I’ll push your ass into traffic.” he hissed into my hair, his mouth inches from my ear lobe.

His hot breath on my cheek.

We were walking along the street now.

Cars were whizzing past.

The school was built on one of the busier streets in town. There was always a lot of traffic.

Unfortunately for me, with so many cars, no one really paid much attention to the sidewalk.

Josh pushed me along, leading me around the other side of the building.

There I found myself in another alley, this one a bit wider but leading to a dead end. It was where the depot kept their dumpsters. It was also where a lot of the assholes from school hung out between classes or sometimes during. Apparently, that transferred to after school as well. There were three of them here now, besides Josh. I didn’t know all their names but I’d seen them around, mostly with Donny. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on. I also noticed that Donny wasn’t with them either. Which meant he either didn’t want to get into more trouble or didn’t know this was happening. Either scenario, he was smart enough not to get involved.

Josh shoved me forward.

I stumbled, barely able to catch myself before ending up on my knees.

The others laughed.

I recognized two of them from the hall this morning.

Keeping my balance, I snapped up to look at their faces. Both were blonde and nondescript. They were both wearing their letterman jackets though. I’d say football but no one on the team was stupid enough to do something like this. There was too much at stake. If you were caught fighting, you’d get kicked off the team. If I had to guess, I’d say wrestling maybe. Most people didn’t think twice about the wrestlers causing trouble. They were loud mouths sure, but they generally blended into the background. The wrestling team was pretty shit too, so no one cared if they got caught fighting. All the more reason why Donny probably made them do his dirty work.

“We saw what you did this morning.” said Josh, stepping around me. “You’re not as slick as you think you are.”

What I did?

Wait, did they think I tripped Donny?

“It wasn’t me.” I said truthfully.

Josh scoffed. “I was there. You don’t expect us to believe he actually tripped over his own two feet, do you?”

Wait, if he was there, why didn’t he see Mel do it?

“No, but...”

Josh didn’t wait for me to say anything else. The three of them were clearly of little intelligence and didn’t really care about conversation. All they wanted to do was beat the crap out of me. Josh took another swing, this time I saw it coming. I snapped my head back, avoiding his swing. I might have been five when I stopped taking those karate lessons but that didn’t mean I was helpless. I’d been in a lot of fights over the years. Most of them with guys like Josh and his friends here. Sure, I’d never actually been in a fight with odds stacked against me like this, but bullies rarely fought alone.

As was the case with this group.

As soon as I dodged Josh’s punch, I was tackled to the ground.

It was a cheap shot.

The guy was bigger than me and he hit like a truck. I didn’t have much time to react and it was clear that he was definitely on the wrestling team.

He got one of my arms pulled behind my back and with one of his knees, he pressed my face into the pavement. I started to struggle but it was no use, this guy was a lot stronger than me. This was all total bullshit. Three against one because their buddy was butthurt I got him in trouble for something he did. I never understood how bullies operated. They were the most selfish, self-centered morons on the face of the planet. What’s worse, they got away with it. Thinking about how stupid it was really pissed me off.

“This is how it's going to go” said their ringleader, now crouched with his face once again inches from my own. “You’re going to Clarke’s office tomorrow. You’re going to tell him that you tripped Donny and that you were only out to humiliate him and then...”

Josh stopped talking.

At first I thought maybe it was because he ran out of threats but then I noticed something. The alleyway was starting to get really cold. I felt the moron on top of me loosen his grip. I pushed up, managing to knock him off of me. I was surprised at how easy it was. He didn’t try to push me back down, in fact, he staggered away from me. Taking the opportunity, I jumped to my feet. The air around me was cold, colder than I’d ever felt before. It was almost as if the four of us were standing in a giant freezer. I wasn’t the only one to notice either. The two wrestling morons were looking around, probably trying to see if there was some kind of giant fan or something. I’m not going to lie, I took a look too. It was way too cold for this to be natural, especially because I knew the weather forecast. Yet, here we all were, in a deep freeze in the middle of nowhere.

“What... ttt-the fuuuu---ck is th-iiiis...” one of them asked, his voice stuttering, his teeth chattering.

The other one wasn’t talking at all.

He looked pale, his skin was starting to turn a slight blue.

I didn’t wait around to see anymore.

Taking advantage, I scrambled to my feet and started to run. I didn’t get very far before Josh tried to stop me. First he tried to grab for my pack but when I turned away from his reach, he changed tactics and grabbed my arm. Sometime in the scuffle before, my sleeve got rolled and my bare arm was exposed. Josh grabbed it, no doubt hoping to use his strength to his advantage once again. I felt his fingers wrap around my wrist, I felt him tug me back and then I heard him scream.

It was loud and blood-curdling.

I looked at his hand and watched in awe as his flesh turned blue and a thin layer of ice spread up from his fingertips up to his elbow. Josh was screaming at the top of his lungs as it was happening, thrashing and trying to pull away. I saw his flesh split, watched as the blood and bone froze. Then I reacted, pulling my arm away sharply. As soon as I did, Josh’s bones cracked. I heard snapping, two of his fingers broke away.

I almost puked but instead, I ran.

The last thing I heard was Josh’s screams as I dashed out of the alley and down the street.

I never once looked back.

Elsewhere

It watched.
It waited.
It listened.
It chuckled.
“There you are...”

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Anything critical you have to say, PLEASE do so in a PM. Pointing out people's flaws or mistakes in a comment is hurtful and NOT appreciated.Thanks in advance...EOF