Mark wanted to go and see what was wrong, but his feet wouldn’t move. It felt as if his feet were rooted to the ground. All he could do was watch Alex walk away.
Alex walked over to his locker and grabbed his backpack. He slammed the locker shut and made for his next class. He arrived before the period was done, so he sat outside the door waiting for the bell to ring.
The bell rang and kids from the next grade up started pouring out of Mr. Smith’s classroom. None of them noticed the kid sitting on the floor next to the door, lost in his music. Once everyone was out of the classroom, Alex went inside and sat in the corner next to the window. The rest of that day dragged on, barely managing to drag Alex along with it.
He found himself relieved that he would be ending the day with art. He wasn’t the most gifted artist, but he enjoyed it all the same. Alex stepped inside to see his teacher greeting the students. Alex could see easels and tables with clay on them and colored pencils and acrylic paint and pastels and so many other materials scattered all over the room. This was the first class he’s been in that didn’t have a bunch of seats in straight rows. Instead, there were a bunch of tables covered in paint from projects with permanent materials. Alex looked out the window to see a few kids playing outside and one of the janitors mowing the yard. Alex went over and found a seat next to the closet near to the door and watched as kids started piling in. Four more students in particular walked in.
Mark looked around the classroom for an empty table seat and saw Alex. His eyes grew wide as the two made eye contact. Alex looked away. Mark sighed, and he and his friends walked to an empty table in the middle of the room.
When the day was finally over, Alex rushed out the door and started for home, eager to get away before Mark or his friends could meet up with him. He didn’t resent them. He just wasn’t very fond of drama.
THREE
Alex was by the parking lot as he heard someone behind him call his name.
“Alex! Alex, wait up!”
Alex turned around just in time to see Mark, David, Brooke, and Nicole run up to him and double over, gasping for breath.
“Here to make fun of the new kid again?” Alex asked calmly.
“What? We aren’t making fun of you,” David gasped in between breaths.
“Then what do you call that stunt you pulled during lunch?” Alex asked.
“Um, introductions?” Mark said as he sat down on the grass.
“Look,” interrupted Nicole. “We got off on a wrong start. Let’s re-try this, shall we?”
“Fine by me,” Alex said with a sigh.
“Awesome!” said David. “So. Where are you going?”
“Home. Where else?” Alex asked. “These people get comfortable way too quickly,” Alex mumbled to himself.
“Well…,” Mark turned and looked at everyone and they all nodded their heads.
“What?” Alex asked skeptically.
“You should come hang out with us! It’ll be fun!” David smiled broadly.
Alex thought for a minute and during that time no one spoke. They all held their breath for his answer.
“Sure. It’s not like I have anything better to do,” Alex said thinking that they probably wouldn’t leave him alone so he might as well cooperate with them.
The group of four started walking and Alex followed them, wondering where they were leading him. As they walked, Alex got lost in thought. His father wouldn’t take it kindly if he heard Alex was hanging out with other kids. But he didn’t have to know, did he? If he was late, he could just say he had gotten lost as an excuse. New town. Different roads. It is definitely a possibility.
David interrupted Alex’s thoughts.
“We’re here,” David said.
Alex looked up from the ground and around the place they had led him to: a park next to the beach along the ocean surrounded by trees with a few picnic tables in the grass.
Alex and the others put their backpacks over on one of the picnic tables and went to sit on some of the swings.
“So, do you guys have a dock for cargo ships going out to sea here?” Alex asked.
“Sure do! We’ll have to take you some time!” David said as he swung.
“Since you just moved here, we can take you around town and help you get familiar with the area,” Mark offered.
“We can introduce you to our city. You up for it?” asked Nicole
“I’m sure I’d be bored out of my mind if I didn’t anyways,” Alex smirked.
The four of them talked together about school and other things until twilight when they all had to go home. They all walked home together until Alex was the last one walking, since his house was the farthest away. He couldn’t believe it. He actually had friends.
Alex reached out to open the door, but his hand froze on the handle. No, he can’t have friends. He’d just be in the way. What were his parents going to think? He hadn’t done his chores and the sun was already setting. Maybe he could sneak in his window and act as if he had been in his room the whole time. No, that wouldn’t work. Before he could think about anything else, the door flew open.
“Alex! Where have you been?”
There, stood his father in the door. He was furious.
“There are chores to be done! Why were you out so late? You should have been home six hours ago!”
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise,” Alex lied. “I got lost.”
“I don’t want to hear it! Get to work on your chores!”
“Yes, father,” Alex said.
Alex finished his chores then trudged up the stairs. He pulled his jacket off and flung it on the floor. He flopped down on his bed and looked at the alarm clock on the floor. In bright red letters it read, “11:30.” Alex pulled his headphones over his ears and stared at the ceiling, going over the past day’s events. His chores had taken much longer than he had expected and he was exhausted. It wasn’t long before Alex fell fast asleep.
FOUR
-Beep...beep...beep…’– Alex woke with a start, realizing that it was morning and he had accidentally fallen asleep. Alex jumped out of bed and smacked the button on top of his cracked alarm clock, eager to make the annoying sound stop, and quickly dressed himself. He pulled his jacket on, covering the fresh bruises on his arms, and grabbed his backpack before running downstairs and out the door while his father yelled something after him. Something, he did not hear.
Bruises were a fact of Alex’s life. No matter how hard Alex tried he could never please his father. Alex’s performance and behavior at home were often met with anger—and violence. His father ordered Alex daily to do a long list of time-consuming and exhausting chores, from military-style cleaning of the premises to house repairs and maintenance that would typically require a paid contractor. It didn’t matter whether Alex did a good job or not. His father, often drunk on beer and other forms of alcohol, would insult and sneer at Alex, taunting him and frequently grabbing him or pushing him to the point of Alex becoming bloody and bruised. All the while, Alex’s mother and sister would sit back and watch the show with a wicked grin of satisfaction plastered across their faces, only ever stepping in to throw another insult or a slap across the face.
Alex was already around the corner by the time his father finished yelling. Alex continued running until he saw the towering walls of the school ahead of him. He was early…again. Alex stepped in through the door to find a vast, deserted school. Instead of going to his locker or his classes, Alex decided to check out the underground levels. He only had time to check out the first underground floor, but he did find out that all the extracurricular activities took place down there and that some of the janitors’ offices and supply rooms were there.
Alex looked at the clock. Only five more minutes until the bell rang. Alex went up the stairs to ground level to find Mark, David, Nicole, and Brooke coming around the cor
ner. Brooke spotted Alex first.
“Oh hey, Alex!” she shouted.
“Hey!” Alex shouted back.
They walked up to him and David asked, “How long have you been here?”
“About twenty minutes. Why?”
“Why are you at school so early?” asked Mark.
“Why not?” Alex asked.
“Never mind. Do you want to walk with us to first period?” asked Nicole.
Alex nodded.
The group had decided to meet up during lunch and talk about their plans for after school. The rest of that morning went by like a blur, and before Alex knew it, it was time for lunch. Alex walked up to the hill where the five of them first met and lay down, staring at the clouds, waiting for the rest of them to arrive. They arrived minutes later. Alex’s ears perked up beneath his headphones at the sound of their footsteps approaching. He waited until they all sat down on the grass around him until he finally pulled his headphones off and acknowledged them.
“So, what’s the destination for today, hmm?” Alex asked.
“The docks. You were curious about it before so we thought it was a good idea to take you there first,” said Brooke.
“While we’re there we are going to take you to this great place called the Shack,” Nicole added.
“What’s the Shack?” Alex asked, furrowing his brow.
“It’s only the best ice cream place ever!” Nicole threw her hands up in the air to exaggerate her point.
Alex lay back down to look at the clouds as his friends pulled out their lunches.
Mark watched Alex before joining him on the grass.
The others soon joined Mark and Alex, watching the clouds change and move into different shapes until the bell rang and it was time to go to their next class.
The rest of that afternoon went by slowly like a snail trying to get across a continent. So when the final bell rang, Alex was the first one out the door. He walked up to one of the empty bike racks and leaned against them, waiting for everyone else to get out. While he was waiting, he looked up and saw someone on the roof. Alex squinted to try and see what the person was doing until he realized someone else was there as well. What Alex saw made his heart skip a beat in fright. As he stared up at the roof, he witnessed two figures, one of them pushing the other off the roof.
“Come on. Please, Steven! Why are you doing this?” Jim asked frantically as he walked backwards, desperately trying to get away from Steven. What was his friend doing?
“Really? You have to ask? A wimp like you doesn’t belong in this world,” Steven slowly cracked a smile. For a fraction of a second, his eyes flashed as though a bright fire burned within them, before turning back to normal.
Jim jumped and fell to the ground out of fright.
Suddenly, Steven stopped and threw his head back, laughing maniacally. Jim started to crawl backwards until his back hit something. Jim turned around to find the edge of the roof behind him. His eyes widened as he slowly turned around to see Steven standing right in front of him still laughing. What was going on? This wasn’t Steven! The Steven he knew never acted this way! They were best friends!
“You. Are. Dead!” Steven whispered in his ear evilly before grabbing Jim by the shirt and lifting him up, over the side of the roof.
Alex dropped his backpack and ran inside the building. He dashed past Mark and the others but didn’t have time to stop and explain. He continued to run up the stairs toward the roof, desperate to get there before it was too late.
“Where are you going?” Mark called after Alex but he didn’t stop.
“Let’s follow him. It looked like something was wrong,” David suggested.
They began to run after him. They had gotten up three floors and were just about to reach the top when they all stopped in their tracks. A blood-curdling scream pierced the air. Alex pushed onward. He reached the fourth floor and slammed open the door to the roof. A strong cold wind greeted him. To his right, at the very edge of the roof, a boy hung over the side in another boy’s strong grip, struggling uselessly against his offender.
Steven turned his head to the side slightly and his pupils traveled to the corner of his eyes. Behind him, he could see a kid in a leather jacket burst from the roof door. Alex. His smile grew wider at the success of his bait. Jim stared at him with wide eyes, filled with fear and confusion. Why does Steven seem happier now that someone has come to the rescue? Jim thought. Unless, they aren’t here to rescue me. Jim began to squirm relentlessly in his best friend’s grip. Since when had Steven gotten so strong? He looked down beneath his dangling feet. He could see thousands of teens pouring out of the school doors and scattered about the field, all oblivious to what was happening above their heads.
Steven wasn’t aware of what he was doing to his best friend. He and Jim had just gone up to the roof to finish a project. It was his idea too, or at least, he thought it was his idea. He had no way of knowing that it was someone else’s. He didn’t know he was going to be dragged into a cruel plan to lure another into a test. He began to loosen his grip on his best friend, all the while unaware of his actions.
Alex dashed forward, he was only a few feet away. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the grip around the poor victim’s neck loosen. He flung out his arm in an attempt to grab the kid before he let go, but, he was too late. The boy let go of the other, sending him to a perilous death.
At the same time, Alex slammed the heel of his palm against Steven’s shoulder angrily. Steven was sent sprawling across the roof from the force of the blow. In one swift movement Alex leaned over the side and latched onto Jim’s hand before he could fall any further. He immediately began to pull the boy up, both of them latching onto each other tightly. Alex jerked Jim up and over the side of the roof, sending them both flying backwards onto the hard concrete.
Alex quickly stood up in search for Steven but found him to be nowhere in sight. Alex glanced at the door in case he had gone that way, only to find his friends standing there, open-mouthed and wide-eyed. Alex turned back to the boy and held out his hand for him. Jim hesitantly took it and Alex helped him to his feet. The boy had tousled dark brown hair with blonde highlights. He wore a blue sweater over a white T-shirt and jeans. The knees of his jeans were torn and speckled with dirt from the roof. His hands had small scratches that bled slightly. He was taller than Alex by a few inches with a slightly more agile appearance.
“Are you hurt?” Alex asked as Jim dusted himself off.
Jim looked up at Alex to respond but found that no words would come out. Instead, a small squeak broke through before he was thrown into a coughing fit. When he was finished he brought his shaking hands up to his throat. Around his neck were fresh bruises shaped like a hand.
“I’ll take you to the nurse,” Alex said. “Can you walk?”
The boy nodded. Alex led Jim over to the door of the roof. His friends had recovered and rushed to Alex’s side.
David and Brooke walked down the steps in front of Jim, and Mark and Nicole walked behind him while Alex walked next to him. When they finally arrived, they escorted Jim to one of the spare beds and watched as the nurse handed him a bottle of water. After she extracted his name from him, she left to retrieve bandages for his hands.
“Who was that?” Alex asked Jim after he took another sip of his water.
“That’s my best friend, Steven. I don’t know why he was trying to kill me. We were just going to finish an assignment. He began to act strange. It wasn’t him. He has always been a kind person. It was almost as if someone was controlling him, he didn’t know what he was doing. Steven would never do something like that!” Jim ranted. “Now that I think about it, he did have a strange collar around his neck that I’ve never seen before,” he mumbled.
“Did he have any reason to do that to you?” Nicole asked. She was leaning against the wall next to the door, and everyone looke
d up at her as she spoke.
“No!” Jim shouted at her but his voice cracked. “Did you hear what I just said? It wasn’t him! He’s my friend! He would never do that to anyone!”
Before they could ask any more questions, the nurse walked through the door with disinfectant and bandages. They all shut their mouths as she entered, unsure if they should tell anyone. Jim quickly covered the bruises on his neck with the collar of his shirt. The nurse began to tend to his hands as the five of them walked out. Alex turned toward Jim to say one final goodbye. Jim looked up at him and mouthed the words, don’t tell anyone. Alex nodded to his request before turning and leaving the room.
When they finally made their way back out of the building’s huge double doors and onto the streets, almost everyone had left. The only ones left were a few groups of kids skateboarding on the steps and curb. They made their way to the bike rack where Alex dropped his backpack. All of the bikes that had been chained to the bars before were gone.
“Do you really think Jim was telling the truth?” Brooke asked as Alex scooped his bag off the ground. “Or do you think he was too shocked by his friend’s betrayal to believe the reality that was playing out before him?”
“The more important question is where did Steven go?” Nicole asked.
“Did you see him leave the roof?” Mark asked.
“No. He was just… gone,” Alex replied.
They all stood in silence, lost in thought. Where had Steven gone? Did he fall over the edge? Did he run when they weren’t looking? Did he find another way out? Was he really aware of what he was doing and did he truly have the intention to kill his best friend? These were the thoughts that swam around in their heads.
“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. Jim is safe and Steven is gosh knows where,” David blurted suddenly. His voice was bright and cheerful. He wrapped his arms around Alex and Nicole’s shoulders and looked to each of his friends. “Now I don’t like silence very much, as you all know. What do ya say we head over to the docks?”
The Abnormals: Book One Page 2
