Dine and Dash
*~*~* Chapter Ten : Devil’s Sinister Kid *~*~*
"How beautiful you are! You are more beautiful in anger than in repose. I don't ask you for your love; give me yourself and your hatred; give me yourself and that pretty rage; give me yourself and that enchanting scorn; it will be enough for me." (Charles Dickens)
Today went a lot like yesterday. As the day progressed, things kept getting worse! People remained apprehensive thanks to Seth's impromptu visit to the school, it sort of reaffirmed the fear they felt at Edward's barefaced threat on the tree in case they forgot about it at some point. But I was now the girl affiliated with two gangs. Everywhere I glanced, people looked at me with contempt hidden in their eyes, before promptly averting their gaze if I looked up.
It wouldn't bother me too much if it weren't for the fact that I was getting the same treatment from my 'friends'. I hadn't seen Angela today. I don't think she was at school and I missed her a lot because no one else seemed to be in a hurry to speak to me. The closest thing I got to 'friendship' through the first three classes was a sympathetic look from Eric after he saw Mike and Jess make a point of ignoring my presence in biology as they left. But he still walked out after them too, leaving me alone in the company of his look, the lone one I'd received all day that held no scorn in it.
Joy.
I was stuck between two extremes. I was being alienated by the entire school while still being locked under their inquisitive stares and glances of disapproval.
I don't give a damn about people's opinions in general… but this was the entire school… Come on I'm only human… It sucked. Bad.
The bell rings, signaling lunch. Pushing aside my thoughts, I grab my stuff and trudge towards my locker, fiddling with the long sleeves of my shirt.
Every step I take forward fills my veins with dread. It's an odd sensation that I've learnt to trust. Gang instincts. No one meets my gaze but I can't shake the feeling that a lot of them are waiting for something. It's foreboding and despite being a relatively hardcore girl considering my life with the Wolves, it's the not 'knowing' that making me nervous.
Shaking off the feeling and straightening my back, I continued to my locker deciding that I wasn't going to spare anyone a second thought if they were going to treat me like a show monkey. Stopping in front of it, I balanced my books precariously in one hand and entered the combination to my locker and watched, as if in slow motion, as a horror unfolded before my eyes.
Blood.
Lots of sticky, thick and dark blood leaked in heavy flows down the metal as it cracked open. My breath ceased, my body screamed from shock. A strong need to get away struck me, despite my limbs feeling immobile and slowing my movements. Crimson ran in a steadier stream as I backed away from my locker. The now unsupported door flew open from the pressure, more blood gushed out and to my horror, I saw the huge rigged jar of crimson that had been slipped into my locker topple over to the floor.
My piercing scream cut through the hall, ringing out, as I saw the unblinking, beady eyes of the black and grey haired pig head strapped to the jar, gawking at me. My mind propels my body back faster than my limbs can process as the drained blood of its missing body pools on the floor from the jar. Stumbling backwards, I don't have any time to steady myself, before I'm slammed against the wall by my unsteady legs, as they finally give out. Slumping down, my breaths come in gasps. All the while, the horror show that is my locker haunts me from across the hallway.
Around me, there was a mixture of reactions. Everyone either stared at me or at my locker. Some of them looked from me to it as if I deserved it, a haughty air about them as they tied me to the pig massacre in the jar. I heard some gasps, some screams of shock, but then I heard a lot of catty sniggers too. 'Nice one.' 'Who did that?' 'Genius.' 'That's so cruel, poor girl.' 'They should just leave her alone.' 'Please. Gang girl? If you ask me, she deserves it.' 'Look at her, freaked out on the floor like she hasn't seen worse.' 'Little bitch.'
The whispers wouldn't stop; it was an insistent buzz all around me. I couldn't tell which voice belonged to whom. My chest began heaving, I was sure I was having a panic attack. Whoever did this did it because I wouldn't be able to put a name or face to it. They couldn't speak to the Wolves or go against the Shadow Fangs, so they hid behind anonymity. As my brain processed all of this, I feel bile rise in my throat. Coward! Who could be so brutal?
After three days of dealing with their crap, I snapped.
"What the hell is wrong with all you people!?" the outburst came right from my gut!
Every fiber of my being screaming for me to lash out at these idiots! I gaped around the hall shock, disgust and anger spelled out on my face clear for all to see. How dare any of them assume they knew me! How dare they judge me! I've never even spoken more than a handful of words to anyone besides my 'friends'! And some dumb fuck coward went so far as to kill a poor animal and stuff it in my locker because they don't agree with my real friends, my family or my lifestyle! Whether they're pissed at me for having Grey Wolf family, the new growing closeness to the Shadow Fangs or both! Who the fuck are they to judge me? They don't even know me! And they sure as hell don't know my circle! The guys I know might be dangerous, but at least my crowd had spine!
I wasn't sure when my eyes welled up, but it was angry tears.
"Gang-girl's having a freak out."
I heard to my right but the owner of the voice was lost to me in the sea of people gathered in the hall.
Gang-girl? Did they suddenly forget my name?
Gang? What did they know about gangs? They knew the gangs at face value! I fucking knew gangs! They knew of them! They saw the bad! I saw the people! And they were judging me for it like I owed them something.
"Are you seriously that depraved that you slit and drain a defenseless animal just to get to me because you have a problem with who I know! It’s none of your business!!" I yelled, my voice going hoarse and breaking as blank faces stared back at me. It was like screaming at a brick wall. Their emotions never swayed, their gazes never lost the judgmental edge. I could count in one hand the number of people who looked remorseful or slightly empathetic. "You’re so scared shitless of them you don’t have the guts to just come at me and tell me what the hell your problem is! Who’s the monster now you cowards!" I spat the words, grabbing my books off the floor. I pushed myself towards the crowd trying to get through, but the people were frozen in place, a drone of whispers as I fought against the sea to get past.
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"
I heard the booming voice of Principal Greene behind me as he entered the hallway. There'd be an inquiry I was sure but nothing would come of it, we didn't have a culprit. His presence only made the insistent buzz around me worse. The voices blurring into one steady stream of bullshit.
I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs!
Suddenly, I felt a big firm hand grab my arm from behind. People in my direct contact seemed stunned as they, en masse, tried to back up however much the crowd would allow.
"Shut your holes! And back. The. FUCK. Up!" I heard a thunderous roar from deep within a growling chest. Tyler.
This half of hall silenced to a haunting level at his threatening frame. I turned towards him. His gaze fixed on the students around us. Not intimidated in the least that we're outnumbered and that they could easily, by his behavior, tie him to a gang if they hadn't already. His presence is lethal and looming. The permanent scowl on his face is replaced with a menacing set expression that matches his cold, hard and dark eyes. "You pussy's better hope and muthafucking pray I never find out who's behind this, cause believe me there's gon' be fucking hell to pay!" His gaze holds a warning in them. "C’mon, Bella." He says in a lower tone still glaring at the crowd. He grabs my arm, and pulls me down the hall.
As we walk by, they meet his gaze and hastily back up, allowing us through.
We break through the sea of students and by now, I've caught myself. The numbness that harbors your thoughts when faced with something gruesome or cruel has worn off and I'm back on my feet.
"Thanks Ty— Crowley." I quickly correct, because even though I used his name on the bike, I'm not sure which he prefers. I follow him out to the bleachers even though he isn't holding my arm anymore.
He glances at me, his stance still rigid, "You good?"
I nod.
He lets it go. Only, you know, he doesn't. He doesn't ask anything else, but his body language is wrong. I know this vibe. I'm looking at a gangster. Wolf or Shadow, it's the same characteristics. Angered; Hanging on by a thread; Dangerous.
It's familiar. And I'm completely at ease with it. I feel safer here with him like this than I did in the hallway with 'regular' teenagers. I still couldn't believe what just happened…
"Crowley—"
"Tyler's fine." He says, his eyes coming back to me, but his gaze is distracted by his thoughts.
I nod. "Tyler. Can I have one?" I point to his leather jacket pocket.
He wordlessly reaches in and retrieves his pack of Marlboro, tossing it to me. Then, he fishes something out the other one. His phone.
Uninterested in anything else right now, I open the box and pull out the lighter tucked alongside the long-stemmed cancer sticks. My eyes move past the cigarettes to see a couple joints. My fingers itch to lift one, but I remember that we're at school. What a sick joke.
"That one's out." I hear his phone shutting. He slides it into his pocket with one hand while grabbing something out the other. "Here," he says, chucking me a metallic gold lighter and throwing the other far out into the field.
I watch it fly high into the sky as I light up my demon. As I inhale a deep calming lungful, I see him light a joint and suddenly realize I may have gotten him into trouble.
"May not want to mention this to Edward," I gesture to the demon between my fingers.
He smirks, chuckling under his breath. "Edward will be fine with it." Then his face slips back into its air of peril.
He sounds so sure, I decide to just take his word for it. I'm not exactly in a mood to talk either so I don't ask him how he knows.
We sit silently for a long while smoking, but not doing much else. When I get hungry, my stomach's growls turn into churns when I think of my sandwich soaked in the blood of that poor pig. Dark red soggy bread, covered in the stench of death. Tyler asks if I'm hungry but it changes to, 'You 'kay?', after he sees my face turn a little green. I nod my head and he doesn't push so we're back to silence.
When he faces away, I run the burning end of my second demon along the inside of my wrist. As I do it, the searing shoots through my skin, up my arm and slowly the image of the beady eyes frozen in horror from the jar fade away, along with the accusing stares of the crowd.
I don't go back to the building. I'm not up to being in class with those people just yet. Tyler doesn't leave either and I'm sure it's just because of me. I feel different levels of gratitude. My thoughts drift to Angela and wonder when she gets back if she'll be different as well? I sigh deeply, about to ask Tyler for another cigarette, maybe a joint even, but before I can, I hear a sound that freezes my entire body, from my heart to my limbs.
Engines.
Loud ones.
Familiar ones.
"C'mon." Tyler says, rising and picking me up by my arm again when I don't move. He lets me go when I'm on my feet. He doesn't have to say it. I already know.
Shadow Fangs.
I don't budge. The noise is too big, bigger than I'm used to. He snatches up my books, placing them in my arms. Automatically, my fingers wrap around them.
The roaring is now louder. Closer.
It's too loud. The bleachers vibrate before the engines cut out. Throwing the joint on the ground, Tyler grabs my hand, just above my wrist and makes me walk. I trail behind him before my brain catches up with what we're doing. I speed up my steps to match his long dominating strides as he leads us back towards the school.
Once we pass the bleachers, I'm able to see the parking lot. I can't believe my eyes. Cars, Jeeps and bikes fill any free space there once was in the entire lot. All black, red or gold.
I hear crashes. Lots of them. Stuff toppling over. Lockers being beaten with something solid. Fierce yells followed by loud shrill screams. Gangsters followed by teenagers…
As we enter the school we're met with several muscular guys. They're shoving more teens into the sea of people they've already gathered in the hallway during a class period. Several of them have bandanas tied around the lower halves of their faces, and they acknowledge Tyler as we walk forward. They're threatening and tall, dressed in dark colors and covered in tattoo's, bike chains wrapped around their wrists, brass knuckles on their fisted fingers and guns or bats visible in the hands of others.
Tyler and the other Shadow Fangs exchange nods as we pass them and Tyler shoves his way through the crowd. A huge menacing shield as he gets them out the way so we can get to my locker.
I can't believe what a switch this is. Just moments ago when I walked through this very hallway, I was angry and shaken up while they stood tall above me with their looks of resentment and disdain painted across their faces. Now they were the ones terrified, as they were shoved into the same hallway they had earlier refused to let me out of.
"Move bitch." Tyler snarls gruffly, shoving a kid out the way. As we finally break through the crowd, I find myself staring at a very casual scene; a stark contrast to the mayhem around us.
Not at all what I expected. Edward, James, Jasper, Emmett and Caius are leisurely pacing the open area of the hallway. Laurent, Demetri and a couple others are not too far off pushing their way through the handful of new kids they've rounded up. They step into the area in front of my locker as well.
The other guys wearing the bandanas remain at the back, keeping the gathered students from running off. A few kids from every class within the area form a semicircle in the hallway at my locker and to say they look petrified wouldn't be a strong enough description.
I swallow hard and watch as Edward leans against the locker next to mine, his stance deceptively patient and calm, waiting for his guys to round up an impressive enough horde for him. He looks up briefly when Tyler moves to the side so that I'm visible.
Head lowered his once green eyes dart to me and I inhale sharply because I find no sign of the undercurrent I usually see in them… There's no hidden storm… No, the storm is out there in the open, no longer containable… He's furious. His fierce eyes scan me as if taking inventory before they darken further, looking like burning coals of green. Its' hells fires burning sinisterly in what was once my boyfriend's guarded emerald oceans.
He looks away, his head dipping to his side looking down lazily at my locker stained with the remainders of dried blood. My heart pounds wildly in my chest, I can feel the steady beat hammering against my ribcage, blood pounding in my ears I grind my teeth hoping to abate the nerves erupting in me. He kicks off from the locker, his sneakers loud against the flooring, amplifying the tension in the hall as everyone anticipates him pouncing.
At his full height he easily towers over most of the students, his presence shrouded in deadly caged anger. He's like a ticking time-bomb and they're dreading him exploding. It's futile. The explosion's already happened. They just don't know it yet.
I recognize him. He's the guy I saw fight the Wolves in Forks. He's lethal in his calculated calm. His precise movements are intentional and natural, but it's a front. He's dressed head to toe in black, save the dark red logo on his shirt that matches his windblown mussed hair and a sliver of gold from his chain around his neck. He fists his hand methodically. Brass knuckles donned on each threateningly and a gun tucked at the front corner of his jeans.
Just like the night of the fight, I see James and Jasper from my peripheral vision, they're cold, calm and deceivingly appear disinterested, as they lean on the wall and lockers respectively but I can tell they're on alert. No gangster is ever unguarded, let alone in a setting like this, where they've obviously been pissed off. And this isn't just any run-of-the-mill gang. They're feeding of Edward's body language again. It's déjà vu as I watch them, perfectly in tune with each other. On one silent command from Edward, all hell's going to break loose in Forks High.
I don't move. I'm where I'm supposed to be. The irony is not lost on me that I've just assumed my usual station with the Wolves with the Shadow Fangs. A huge difference though, considering I'd never witnessed the Wolves like this before that night in Forks and on that night as well, it was simply because they didn't know I was watching them in the first place. I'm scared but oddly not of them, more of what I can feel in my bones is going to happen. It's recycled adrenaline coursing in my bloodstream because just like with the Wolves, here with the Shadow Fangs that are visibly unhinged, I feel safe.
"Funny story, James."
Hairs bristle as Edward finally speaks. The words are threatening without effort. There's no humor in his smile. He cocks his head incredulously and looks at James.
"We're on our way out and I get this message that says there's this butchered creature in a locker at Forks High." He words are mockingly impressed. "And I just couldn't pass up the chance to fucking see it!"
"Sure brother, that's some hardcore muthafucking shit." James words are daunting, his lazy stance is ominous.
To my far right Emmett and Caius snicker. The sound is menacing at best.
Edward smirks, his sharp pearly whites pulling into a sinister grin.
"James, language!" Jasper drawls, his face expressionless. "We've got school kids in our midst!" There's no sign of chastisement in his voice, it's a mocking comment meant to highlight the juvenility of the students against notorious criminals. His head still tipped back against the locker, his blue eyes are threateningly hard as steel as he runs them along the inside of the crowd, staring at the students.
I get it. I finally get it. An attack on me, anonymous or not, they've had their authority challenged.
"Shit. My bad!" James is the picture of innocence. Only he's not. He tips his head to the side and fixes them with a piercing glare, his hand absentmindedly spinning the bike chain free from his fingers in a silent threat that's impossible to miss. "Now never do you little boys and girls use language like that." He tsks, breaking his knuckles in a fist and popping the one in his neck.
I can feel the temperature reaching arctic levels when Edward speaks again. "Another thing you never do, kids, is forget your place in the food chain."
He slowly walks back towards my locker, staring at the dried blood with dark interest. His tone is scornful, but I know him well enough in this short time to know from his body language that he's teetering. He sneers venomously. His cold green eyes threaten to freeze the school.
"Pay attention cause you're about to get the most important lesson of your lives!" James voice loses the humor too. Straightening up, he stands at his full height. "Relatively short ones at that if you fucking ignore it!" he barks.
Edward slams the door to my locker with a deafening BANG causing the entire school mass present to jump. "Someone in this fucking school forgot who we are! So now we’re going fucking remind you!” His voice booms from his chest, the sound as frightening as the man delivering the threat. The veins along his arms popping, running from his fisted fingers to his neck and pulsing hard and thick at his temple, his body language alone sends the threat loud and clear."You kids muthafucking like blood?" he sneers his voice dangerously calm, before his facial expression snaps and he roars over the top of his lungs to his gang."RENDI SANGUINARE QUESTI STRONZI! (MAKE THESE BITCHES BLEED)"
I have no idea what he said, but I have no time to dwell on it because suddenly the gang flies out. My surprised scream is drowned out by the terrified ones of the others in the hallway.
They move too fast across the floor for anyone to react. Edward snatches up a guy by his collar and shoves him hard against the lockers, as his body collides with the metal I recognize him as Dean, one of the jocks. Despite how these people treated me, I want to tell Edward to stop because if this were the Wolves, that's probably what I'd be doing too, but before I can pronounce the first syllable, I hear his voice in my head 'I am dangerous. I won't stop fighting because you ask me to'. So instead I stand paralyzed as I watch Edward, his cousin, James, Demetri, Tyler, Emmett, Caius and Laurent beat the shit out of the buffest kids they find in the crowd.
The weapons they'd donned are left untouched. They fight with their bare hands. I recognize the message instantly and I'm sure the rest of the students do too… There's a huge difference between the school and the Shadow Fangs… It's a degrading warning to tell them not to cross the line because the gang will kill with no hesitation and they'd be able to do it so simply that they won't need anything but their hands for the job.
I hear the deafening cracks of fist on flesh and look around in horror as they deliver blow after blow to the most buff guys they identified in the crowd. Dropping them when they're practically lifeless and grabbing another, having too much fun with reiterating the message of their rule. With no weapons the fight is legit and the school 'bad-asses' are beaten to a pulp in a split second. Bloody, swollen and bruised they're released, the last of them collapsing unceremoniously on the ground.
Edward flings the guy he grabbed after Dean hard against my locker. The boys face slams into the metal with a deafening bang! Saliva and blood spray out his mouth in heavy thick lines and splatters onto the stained metal, recoating parts of the dried pig blood. He slides down and collapses on the floor like a rag doll, I have a brief flash of concern that he might be dead but I see his faint breaths as he lies there too broken to wake up and feel slivers of relief.
"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY GIRL!"
Rage bleeds menacingly into Edward's words. He threatens the entire school with his furious glare. He's seething, his body taut and his frame looming as he's visibly lost control.
Behind him, Caius reaches into his hoodie and pulls out two cans shaking them and throwing one to James as Edward continues speaking.
"Anyone find out about this. Breathe. A. Single. Fucking. Word." The warning hangs in the air. He doesn't have to complete it; it's loud and clear in his ferocious stance. The hissing of the cans behind him adds to his menacing presence. He scans the crowd calculatedly slow and there's no doubt in any mind including my own that the faces his sinister eyes sees are engraved in his memory. "And I'll burn your houses to the fucking ground one muthafucking one at a time! Right before I muthafucking cap all you little fuckers!"
There's promise burning in his jade orbs as he grinds out the words. Every syllable laced deeply in death. "This is Shadow Fang territory!"
As he says it, Caius and James complete the tag on the wall. Beautifully menacing red and black graffiti reading SHADOW FANG. Edward doesn't spare a glance at it. The gang noticeably working with precise, silent sync makes them appear infinitely more deadly than we already know them to be.
"REMEMBER THAT!" His feral bark is thunderous with finality, right from his gut, making me jump just as much as the crowd does and the words aren't even meant for me.
He strides forward wordlessly flanked by the others. A formation of murderous gangsters, tall angry and nonchalant their presence demands respect and fear as they storm through. Respect and fear is what they get. Edward grabs my wrist as he passes.
We walk through the terrified sea of students straight past Principal Greene and Mrs. Cope. It's only at that point that I try and tug my hand free from his steel hold but it's useless. He tightens his grip and sneers as we pass Greene, pulling me into his side. My heart shoots straight to my throat when Principle Greene ducks his head fearfully, his feet shuffling backwards until he's as far away from Edward as physically possible in the crowded hall.
I tug harder because in these two seconds I realize Forks is seriously run by a gang… I really have been living in a self imposed bubble.
The Wolves are the Fangs arch rival, meaning they're exactly alike?
~.~.~D&D chap10 cont~.~.~
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