Destroying him

As usual, night study ended at 9:30 pm. Julian looked around the hall but did not see Gary anywhere. He wanted to apologize for how he had reacted. After thinking about it, he realised that Gary would never try to sabotage him. Gary had been there for him since he stepped in that school. Gary used not to get bothered by anyone until he started supporting Julian.

The bullies usually left Gary alone because he was one of the rich kids. They only attacked him when he tried to defend Julian, but he still continued to do it whenever he could. Gary had been his only friend and he should have listened to him. What if Gary had been actually telling the truth? He needed to find his friend so he could start planning for a way out. Sighing, Julian grabbed his text book and summary sheet. He walked out of the large hall with the other students.

Fetterville Private School was fairly large with five buildings and a large compound. The vicinity was well lit. The administration block, main hall and classes were near the school’s main gate. The two dormitory buildings were at the other end. There was a small quadrangle between them and the other two buildings.

Julian was crossing it when someone bumped on him from behind. He stumbled and his books fell down. When he bent down to pick them, he felt a kick on his behind and loud laughter. He picked up his things and stood up, then looked back to see who had been mistreating him but everyone had started moving and he couldn’t pin point who could have done it.

He continued to walk to the dormitory. When he got to his room, he locked the door and lay on top of bed to relax and wait for Gary. That room was the only place he felt safe in that school, apart from the classroom. The classroom was safer because it had cameras and no dared to touch him but he couldn’t relax there. In his dorm, he could relax as long as the door was locked. No one had ever tried to break it down before.

Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Julian who had been about to fall asleep climbed from the bed and went to open it, thinking it was his friend. He was too sleepy to remember that he should confirm first like he always did.

Julian’s eyes went wide when he saw that it was not Gary. It was Robbie, one of the poor boys. Robbie had never bothered him so he relaxed.

“What is it?” Julian asked.

“It’s Gary,” Robbie said. “He’s at the bleachers. He thinks he broke his leg. He fell when he was going for night study. Come and help me bring him back.”

“Okay,” Julian said, stepping out and closing the door. “Let’s go. Why was he there in the first place?”

“Apparently, he had gone to make a call to his girlfriend. He tried to call for help but there was no one around so he just tied his cardigan around his leg and decided to sit it out until someone came around. He couldn’t call anyone since he assumed everyone had left their phones in the dorm. He just called a minute ago.”

“That must be painful. Let’s hurry.”

There was a large field behind the dorms. It stretched on for 60,000 square feet. The bleachers were at the lower end near the school fence so Robbie and Julian had to walk through the entire field to get there. From a far, Julian could see a figure lying on the bleachers. He started jogging so he could reach his friend faster.

“Gary,” Robbie said, going to crouch near him. He touched Gary who sat up. Only it wasn’t Gary.

“What the hell,” Julian said, staring at Logan in shock. He turned to look at Robbie. “Robbie, what is going on?”

Before Robbie could answer, Julian got up and started running away but Robbie caught him. He was fighting off Robbie when two other figures came from behind the bleachers and all ganged up on him.

Jake produced a set of handcuffs and cuffed Julian’s hands together. Julian’s heart was pounding so loud he could hear it. He realised that Gary had been right when he warned him. Were they going to kill him?

“It’s over for you, boy.” Kyle said. “You’re not getting that scholarship.”

“Can I go now?” Robbie asked.

Logan grabbed him by neck. “You can leave, but you must take this secret to the grave. No one will ever know what happened on this field on this night.”

“No,” Jake said. “We can’t let him go now. He has to stay until it’s done. Here’s a pair of cuffs for him,” he tossed the cuffs to Kyle. “Cuff him to that pole. He should be present so that he will think twice about reporting us. He will be an accomplice to everything.”

“You’re right,” Logan said.

Kyle went and put the handcuffs on Robbie and cuffed him to a thin pole. Julian screamed but Jake slapped him, before putting a hand over his mouth. Julian bit the hand but Jake did not let go. He heard something being ripped and Jake removed his hand. It was replaced with duct tape.

Julian’s entire body was shaking and his mind was going crazy. He wasn’t ready to die. He didn’t want to die, no, not when he was still young. Kyle and Jake held each of Julian’s arms and dragged him to the dark area behind the bleachers. He tried to resist but he was powerless against the two huge young men. Julian was so scared as they made him lie down on his back. The grass was cold. One of them placed a hand over Julian’s eyes and Julian thought he was done. They were surely going to kill him.

Suddenly, he felt something hit his legs. Julian tried to scream but it came out as a muffled sound. He tried to move his legs. He felt another hit on his right leg and heard something snap. It was broken for sure. The sharp pain spread though his entire leg immediately. Julian could feel the tears soaking the palm that was covering his eyes.

“That’s enough,” someone said. The hand was removed from Julian’s’ eyes and the boys stood up. Julian saw Logan holding a baseball bat and continued to sob. The pain was increasing each passing minute.

“Should we leave him here?” Kyle asked.

The three boys were silent for a while.

“He might die if he over bleeds,” Jake said. “I may be a lot of things but I’m no murderer.”

Jake bent down and unlocked the handcuffs. He stood up and put them in his pocket. “I’ll free the other one.”

He left and returned with Robbie. “Take off the duct tape. If you scream, we shall finish you off.”

Julian believed it, so he didn’t. He stayed silent as they ripped the tape from his lips. Jake put it in his pocket. “I’ll take all the evidence with me,” he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, squirted hand sanitizer gel on it and wiped the area around Julian’s mouth.