|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 5:12 pm
Drew really didn't expect the kid to hit him. He hadn't even considered it, not until the fist slammed into the side of his face and pain flared up all up and down his jaw. While he had missed the strangely familiar ferocity in the boy's gaze, Jude would miss the way his lips had curled back, the violence momentarily seizing his face and twisting it into something ugly as his thoughts were momentarily soaked in blood.
Then, after a moment, Andrew straightened as though surprised, fingers idly ghosting over the pale cheek that was already flushed from the abuse.
A level stare was fixed on the boy for a moment, his head tilted slightly as though to suggest he wasn't quite sure what to do now. Well. He wasn't Lt. Obsidian right now. He was merely Andrew Collins.
Weak, insignificant Andrew.
"If you can't keep yourself from lashing out at people, I'm afraid your coach will have to hear about it." And it was odd to him how calm his own voice sounded, the way the urge to maul had so quickly faded. Even his fingers had stopped twitching. With that said, the man simply turned and walked away, tongue roaming over his lips over and over again.
It wouldn't be long before teeth sank in deep, drawing blood so he could at least taste what he had rightfully denied himself. Oh Jude, dear, sweet Jude.
He was gonna ******** hang your entrails from a flagpole one day.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:10 pm
He wanted to scream at this batshit crazy excuse for an educator. Just yell, b***h and whine about how he'd started it, and how Jude would never, ever hit someone unprovoked. (Some people he wouldn't even hit provoked; Andrew Collins was not on this list.) But he couldn't. No, really, he couldn't.
As dramatic as it sounded (and it really, really did), it felt like the words had pierced his heart. Not in some romantic way, in the way someone had literally taken a dagger (probably Mr. Crazies himself), stabbed him in the chest and drove it through his beating heart. The panic, confusion and anger at himself for caring was overwhelming.
Wasn't this what he wanted? To be free?
Yes. It had to be. He was Jude Lawson, and there was nothing Jude Lawson was about more than freedom. Yet, when the face-to-face threat of actually being dismissed from the school reared it's ugly head, he felt more like someone in the stands watching himself than that freedom-loving Jude Lawson guy.
"W-What?! Wait! Wait!" Speeding around Drew, he stopped with a start in front of him, wanting so badly to hold his arms out as if it would stop him. He didn't, fearing they'd be taken hostage again. Yeah, he could swing, hit and hurt, but he didn't want to and no man was invincible. "Please, I'm sorry! Really! I'll do anything you want, but don't tell Coach!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:22 pm
Jude was turning out to be one of those unpredictable sonofabitches, the ones that he tended to classify as melodramatic. Seriously, talk about flip-flopping much? Did track mean so much to him that he was actually going to beg?
Green eyes were narrowed as they flicked over the other, wondering if he'd honestly just used himself as a human barricade. Not a smart idea, not at all, but Drew found himself shifting his weight to one leg even as he stared the kid down. Well, almost.
"No?" Drew questioned, tilting his head from side to side as though really trying to mull it over. "Give me one reason that doesn't involve you hitting me in the face or, woe, not showing up to class, and it'll be our little secret." He snorted, throwing the boy's words right back at him with relish. "Thought this was what you wanted anyway, hey Jude~ No more obligations to hold you back and tie you down, am I right?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:34 pm
What a b*****d.
Wasn't the whole reason Anny came here because he didn't show up to class?! Now he was acting like it didn't matter?! What. A. b*****d. The younger man who had assaulted him had to bite his lip to keep from shouting at him loud enough for the whole school to hear. The twinge of pain warned him his teeth were getting too deep into the flesh, and then...
"You're bleeding," Jude noted in surprise, having just realized. The idea someone would intentionally cause themselves harm, so slight or not, was beyond him. (At least, beyond this him.) So for the same reason he wouldn't leave school grounds, he didn't put two and two together; he just couldn't. Busted his lip during the punch was his assumption. Yikes.
"I'm sorry," he repeated, but this time it was sincere enough to make a rainbow form over the track that would rain down unicorns and fairy dust. That didn't happen, thank God, but he really was sorry. How did he let his temper get such a hold of him? "This place..." Was messing with his head. Horribly. "This place, something is wrong with it. You have to notice it!"
As if it somehow emphasizing his point with the gesture, he motioned behind him toward the building, all the while keeping his gaze locked with Drew's. Let no one say this student feared eye contact. And, let no one say he was a master of seeing true intentions either. Far as he could tell, if someone was so willing to throw him out, there was no way they were part of whatever was going on.
"I do... want to leave, but I can't." Gathering all the courage to continue he had, he went on to ask, "Can you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 9:59 pm
As if summoned to strengthen Jude's case, a loud shrill scream erupted from sky before Drew had chance to respond to the question.
Both men would look up just in time to see a falling form, a flailing screaming form that was coming down at such a speed that it was nearly impossible for their eyes to focus on details, her gender given away by her petite form and the long, wild hair flying everywhere as she plummeted towards the ground.
It only took seconds from hearing the scream for the woman to hit the ground, her small form smashing hard against the track. The sickening thud of her body echoed and replayed itself in their ears, and both Drew and Jude had to wonder, as twisted as the scene was, how her body managed to stay in one piece after such a traumatic landing.
And just like that, there was silence once again on the track, Jude's question still lingering, unanswered.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:02 pm
Well, that had been his first fake intention, yes. It was harder to care now though, especially when it had been made plainly obvious to him that he didn't want to be Andrew Collins right now. What did it matter being a 'good teacher' when these kids were just going to--
A brow arched itself at the mention of blood, and he absently swiped at his lips with the back of his hand instead of his tongue (thankfully). And now he was apologizing? A chuckle rumbled deep in his throat before he was aware of it, and Drew was shaking his head like he just didn't get it. "You don't punch and apologize, kid--it doesn't work like that." Man up, in other words. Actions did speak louder, after all!
Still, he couldn't help but mull when Jude revealed that maybe he knew more about this place than most the students seemed to. Well, how to answer him, then? "Well--"
Then the piercing shriek echoed so loudly through his ears that he had to stop dead for a minute, eyes widened with brief surprise at the floundering woman who smacked into the track with a wet splat. Silence passed, measured in the sound of heartbeats, before Drew would eventually speak again.
"Sure I can leave. Everyone can. What sorta 'wrong' are you talking about?" He asked calmly, eyes fixed on Jude's face again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:14 pm
But by that time, Jude was no longer looking at him. He was looking at the body--no, gawking at it was probably more appropriate. A horrified expression that could frighten the timid by seeing it alone long before the corpse came into the picture. To his credit, he didn't run, didn't scream, and maybe that said something about his bravery?
Or maybe not. The thing was, Jude hadn't been paying attention to Andrew for a little while. After he'd turned down the apology, he had to finally rip his gaze away, just to let him finish talking before he could counter with his own side of the... this. Argument? He didn't know anymore.
Alas, the spotlight was stolen by something he couldn't steal it back from. Jude hadn't noticed Drew look up--he was too busying, you know, looking up--and his reaction (or lack there of), worried him more. Was he insane? Did Anny even see her? He had paused, so he must of, but then he wasn't reacting, so he couldn't possibly of.
Jude just stood there and stared back at him for the longest time. There were no tears, but his eyes did quiver. Breathing in loudly (his lungs reminded him, the idiot, he needed oxygen eventually), Jude just turned from him and to the body, walking slowly, so, so slowly over to it. He knelt down and hesitantly reached out his hand, knowing no matter what happened, he was going to have the best FML submission ever. Ever.
Either he was insane or this woman, this real woman, was dead.
This was why the "real" Jude dropped out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:35 pm
The body lay there, limp and lifeless. Blood had already begun to pool itself around her, like dark slime oozing its way from the smashed up torso pressed against the track. It was clear that bones were broken, that the body had distorted itself when gravity forced her to slam against the track's hard ground. Jude was having difficulty visualizing what the front half of her body looked like as he leaned down... but he didn't have to visualize for long.
As his hand reached out, so did hers, the skin cold and clammy. She had an iron grip that latched on to his hand, refusing to let go.
"Heeeeeeeeeelp meeeeeeeeeee."
Had Jude really just heard that? It wasn't a voice... no, it was like a hiss, it wasn't human.
It said it again, but this time, the head of the woman turned, dark hair covering half of her face as she turned up slowly to look at him. The half he did see, however, was a sight he wouldn't soon forget.
Her cheekbone had shattered on impact and jutted through the skin, her nose nearly entirely ripped away. Flaps of bloody skin simply dangled from her face as blood continued to stream down, covering the mouth that continued to rasp out its plea.
"Heeeeeeeeeelp meeeeeeeeeee."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:39 pm
[Drew was only staring incredulously at this point, hands propped on his hips as the boy scrambled over and crouched down to the fallen woman, acting as though he hadn't the faintest clue what Jude was up to. "Hey, uh, hello?" And then the rasp came, the dead woman stirring in order to snatch the unfortunate hand closest to hers; Drew might have smiled, but if Jude were to look back, he was only staring as though faintly annoyed.
"Earth to Jude... Eh." He shrugged dismissively as though about to walk away, slowly circling the struggling pair. Maybe the kid would shout after him, beg him to come back and help. Hell, wouldn't that be a riot. If not, well... He still would linger about to enjoy the fun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:50 pm
Had it been a man that lay before him, it would have still be freaky as ******** holy ********>, but knowing it was a woman there dying just made it worse. It was not only terrifying, it was heart-wrenching in a way that made it so he couldn't breathe no matter how many times that little voice in his head reminded him to. Speaking of, voice that spoke to him outwardly wasn't human, and the face was... some likeliness of what could have once been once.
Given the givens, not a whole lot was actually happening very quickly, but to him it felt like the world had suddenly come crashing down. Soon forget? Screw that. Try never. No matter who tried to wipe his memory, he was sure he would never forget this.
And it wasn't just the bloody among them he would always remember.
Jude tried to free his hand, but he couldn't. All he could do was stay kneeling, not to mention shaking.
Earth to Jude, indeed.
Swallowing his spit, fear and perhaps somehow his pride all in one gulp, those blazing pink eyes that held a ferocity not even close to rivaled by their earlier rage looked not at her, but at him.
"It's you," Jude hissed, and his voice didn't sound quite as human as it always had either. "It's always been you." Staying calm was easier said then done. He made a second attempt to tug his arm free, forcing himself (and it took every fiber of his being) to keep his eyes on Andrew. Or was it keep his eyes off the woman? "You're doing this."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 11:18 pm
The second hand moved up to latch onto his arm, and the woman was using him as a weight to pull herself towards him. Her hair moved, exposing the other half of her face, the cheek torn, her eye socket empty from the damage her eye must have taken with the pressure.
What sounded like a please came out as more of a garbled whimper than anything, the blood choking her as it continued to pour down her face at a steady rate. The choke produced a cough, and the blood sprayed itself all over Jude's chest. She gasped for air, still clutching and holding on tightly to him as she pulled her face ever-so-closer to his.
"Ple-eease..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 9:24 pm
If there was one thing Drew prided himself on these days, it was being a damn good actor. Brows arched with surprised at the boy's babblings, and the sudden, crimson spray was enough to encourage him to step forward, a hand oh-so tentatively clapping on the boy's shoulder. As shown earlier, he could roll with the punches--and baby, this was one hell of a punch.
"Listen to me carefully, Jude." He said in a voice that was far too soft and sympathetic to be Drew's on any normal occasion. "You're shaking, you feel hot, and you just... you just vomited blood, okay?" Playing the role of the concerned teacher was way more easy than he thought it'd be. "I think you're very, very sick all of a sudden--have you... been taking anything?"
AKA, drugs.
"Let's go to the nurse, okay? I think you need to lie down..." You know, after the woman eventually decided she wanted to let go of him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 9:38 pm
You could try and explain the horror that this boy must have felt just then, but no words would have been fitting. To put it simply, had he not been in such good shape, it was possible he'd have died of a fear-provoked heart attack with how fast and uneven his was pounding. The unsteady breathing didn't help matters. If he wasn't insane before, maybe he was now. So many thoughts, accusations: Was this a nightmare he was damned to live in forever? Was this school really some sort of Hell house? Was everyone but him in on it, or was he nothing more than one of many, all of which were cursed to die here? But then, when he thought about it, living here was so much worse.
So much worse.
Jude closed his eyes tightly and again made a struggle to free himself, shaking his head rapidly as he did so. "Just die, damn it!" he screamed at the poor woman. "It's the only way out of here! Just die! You'll only get out that way!"
Having forgot Drew entirely for those number of seconds--even after accusing him of being the one pulling strings--Jude was more frightened to feel a hand on his shoulder.
Damn it! DAMN IT! Was he doing this or not?!
He'd been so sure he wasn't, then so sure he was, and now...
God, Jude thought, but not to himself. Why are you letting them do this to us?! But what he really meant was: Why are you letting them do this to me? Jude had not been a perfect man, but a good one. Not deserving of this. Not by a long shot.
One of his older brothers, being a very typical lawyer, had told him the defense was more of a chore than anything. "They always want someone to blame, Jude," he'd said only a few years ago, before his sibling had left home. What a bad move that had been. He'd told his brother he was wrong, and that humans didn't always need a scape goat just to feel better. Now, he was eating those words, grabbing Andrew's hand with the only free one he had.
And there were those eyes again, filled not just with a ferocity, but a complete, utter loathing so hateful he could have passed for being in the Negaverse. "If this is you," Jude snarled, "I'm telling you to make her to stop. Now."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 3:24 pm
Her mouth widened, exposing rotting flesh, bleeding gums, and broken teeth. She wobbled as he shook, but she remained latched on tightly, refusing to let go of the terrified boy that begged her to put herself out of her misery.
Her lips were nearly at his face, her purpose for drawing so close to him still unknown. The stench of the body was repulsive, gag-worthy, and if it hadn't been obvious before, it was clear now that this was not a human being attached to Jude, but some horrifying monster.
She froze at his last words, her one eye moving up towards Andrew, then moving back towards the boy. Her lips opened even wider (Jude would never have thought it possible!) and a shrill shriek erupted from within her. As she screamed, her flesh slowly began to melt down and off of her bones, poor Jude still attached to the wailing woman. Her latched hand soon became nothing more than a skeleton hand, which soon crumbled into dust, releasing its grasp on the student. Her face had melted entirely off, her hair falling apart as the remainder of her body began to dissolve into a puddle on the track.
It only took moments before the monster completely disappeared, the puddle evaporating as quickly as she'd melted. Soon enough, nothing was left on the track but an oblivious teacher and a horrified student.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:43 pm
Jude was not unfamiliar to screams. Petrifying, panicked, alarmed--these and more he had heard at least once in his mirage of a life. The real one? Who knew how many. In neither had he bared witness to something quite like this. The stench, coupled with the sound that aimed to drive you to the brink of deafness only to let you linger, refusing to spare you from it by finishing the job, was too much to handle. The relief that he deserved, he needed, crumbled away with the woman. Dust in the wind, and nothing more.
Now, Andrew's verbal sketch was very much correct: the brighter-eyed among them was shaking, and felt as though his skin was scolding. Maybe it was his imagination, but he doubted that was the best it could do after what had just happened.
Then again...
Standing, he turned to face his teacher--his partially unknown enemy of the past and the present--and tried to speak. Cheesy dialogue was not something Jude would sink to. He would never preach to someone as a senshi about justice and whatever else they rambled on about. Still, he wanted to say something. He wanted to tell this man that he would personally end him if he was doing this. Tell him he'd never kill another student here again.
Unfortunately, Jude was no hero. Not even brave enough to actually open his mouth, let alone speak from it. So instead, he settled for a shaky, venomous leer. The march past Andrew Collins was as fast as someone could move without running; it felt like it took forever. At some point, he did start running, and quickly. He ran around the school, behind it, as far as he could force himself before it all came crashing down and he went right along with it.
On his hands and knees Jude threw up everything but his stomach itself, and there were tears; so many of them. More than he'd cried in years put together in just ten minutes time. Hysterical didn't begin to cover it. Not even close.
Why, God?
Why did you let this happen?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
