Fear Games

6. The Capture

KAEL

When the fist first hit my face, I was completely surprised and fell to the ground, unable to to defend myself. Standing before me were four guys, all friends of Brett's, whose names I knew well now after the stealing-clothes incident. The tall, muscular blond was named Zen, but was definitely the opposite of anything near zen. He was a couple grades older and seemed to be the new ringleader of the group now that Brett was expelled. Standing with him was a dark-haired freshman named Xavion, another dark-haired kid named Rye, and a redhead named Axton. Together, they were here to make my life a living hell now that Brett was gone.

I touched my nose and pulled it away, noticing that blood was dripping heavily and I looked up at the boys. "What the fuck is wrong with you guys?" I demanded. As if life hadn't been difficult enough the last few days without them here during their suspension. The entire school saw my naked ass on their social media, so that was something I was dealing with. I begged Mom to let me be homeschooled, but she wouldn't allow it. So instead she forced me to come back to school to be tortured.

I hated this.

As I lie on the hard cement of the parking lot, I stared up at the guys and wondered why they were so insistent on messing with me. Sure, Brett hated me, but I just didn't understand why I was a target. Maybe it was because I was smaller than them and they did it just could. Or maybe there was no reason at all. Maybe they were just pure evil.

Just as I tried to stand up, the boys started kicking me, knocking me back down to the ground. I tried my best not to cry from the pain as their feet met my face over and over again.

"We're not afraid of you, faggot," Zen said.

"Yeah," Xavion said. "Just because your Mom works for the school doesn't mean anything. Brett will be back. And when he returns, he won't be a happy camper."

"He's...expelled..." I managed to say through the pain.

Once they stopped kicking, I thought for sure that they'd start up again. But something was distracting them. I turned my head and noticed that there were three other people standing there besides the bullies.

It was Harlin, Freddy, and German.

"Get away from him," Freddy said, taking a step forward toward the other guys.

"Oh, what are you going to do?" Zen asked. "You're nothing but a bunch of weak little bitches. You can't stop us."

"Maybe not," Harlin said and took a step forward toward the bullies just like Freddy had. "But we're willing to try. Stay away from our friend."

"Or what?" Axton asked.

"Or you'll have to deal with us," German said. They stepped forward as well, unafraid of these tough guys that were standing before them. "And we're not a group you want to mess with."

The bullies all stood quiet for a moment, as if they were thinking of what to say next. Finally, Zen said, "Fine. We'll leave him alone for now. But we're not afraid of you."

Harlin smirked. "Sure you're not. Now, go along. I'm sure you have somewhere else to be."

The group of guys sauntered off, leaving my friends there to help me up off the ground. Freddy grabbed one arm and Harlin grabbed the other, lifting me up and helping me dust dirt off myself.

"Those guys are assholes," Harlin was the first to say.

"You're telling me," I said, wiping more blood away from my nose. "How bad does my face look?"

"Looks like you just got it smashed in by a bunch of dumbasses," Freddy said. "Come on, let's get you inside to the bathroom and washed up before the club meeting today."