The Head Precinct was like a five-story fortress of brick and steel. A rounded entrance guarded the square building with barred bulletproof windows, twenty-four seven guards on the ground topped off with a few snipers on the roof for good measure. Inside beyond the front desk were what looked like countless rows of cubicles, occupied by blue collared law enforcement while the offices along the walls separated them from the higher ranked.

  “So where’s your holding unit at?” Andre asked, walking alongside Jacklyn and Officer Bennis.

  “Underground beneath the center training grounds,” The cop replied. “And our research unit is at the top.”

  Jacklyn’s eyes scanned the area, still chewing her gum from earlier. “Cool, now how do we get down there?”

  Bennis muttered something to himself. “Follow me.”

  He led the two to the back exit where they were greeted by a courtyard surrounded by a concrete walkway with a few statues on the corners with men on horses. Clouds parted with the sun setting to dusk. In the center were dozens of Blue Collared men performing drills in four rows of six in a wide square-shaped area at the center of the precinct. At the head was a dark Blue Collared man with a huge upper body and arms, a tight blue shirt, and a thick black mustache was commanding them with strict barking.

  “Left, FACE!” he yelled.

  All of the men spun to their left, arms at their sides.

  “Right, FACE!”

  All the men now spun to their right.

  “Push up positions! Then practice ‘catch and release’!” he barked. Turning his attention to the three, the fair skinned man’s expression softened to a smile. He approached them offering his hand. “Officer Bennis, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “Officer Strongarm,” Bennis smiled, shaking the man’s hand. “We need access to the holding cells.” He showed him his I.D., “Also, we’ll need you to open up the interrogation wing.”

  Strongarm nodded, noticing the other two. “And it seems we have a few guests. Government grade Blues it seems.”

  “Congrats, your eyes still work,” Jacklyn said, rolling her own.

  The man chuckled, “What about you, son?” he said looking at Andre.

  “Just get us down there,” he said flatly.

  “Tch!” Jacklyn chewed harder. ‘Great, he’s still pissed.’

  Grinning, Strongarm put his hand up. “Men, split, FACE!”

  Quickly, the Blue Collars split into two groups, moving to the sides. Bennis led Jacklyn and Andre to the center where the grass began to slide away into a metal shaft underneath, revealing a staircase before them. The lights inside blinked on. Four Blue Collars hurried to their sides to escort them.

  “These are Empire City’s ‘pride and joy’,” Officer Strongarm said, “Otherwise known as the strongest Bodily types on the force. Don’t mind them escorting you, just some good ‘ol hospitality on our part.”

  Bennis took the lead, “Hurry up,” He grouched.

  “Shut your mouth!” Andre snapped, shoving past him, “Actin’ like we don’t already know how these Precincts work. He have all your files and layouts on hand at the Heptagon, dumbass.”

  Officer Bennis felt as if his blood pressure spiked. Jacklyn on the other hand couldn’t stop giggling.

  ‘Ta! Funny when it’s not me though,’ She thought.

  The two went down a wide stair way into a large chamber full of four clear glass cells. Each was stuffed with people, tired, dirty, and bewildered. They blinked rapidly at the rare sight of light, rubbing their eyes and rushing over to the glass, only to be knocked back as the electrical current zapped them for touching it. Bennis made a face.

  “This place stinks. Hey, you two, how long is this interrogation gonna take?”

  “Hmm,” Jacklyn smirked. “It really depends…”

  Bennis glared.

  Andre took off the small chain from his wrist, “Give us everything you have on these guys, we’ll decide from there.” His eye caught the sight of an anxious looking balding man constantly biting his fingertips. His brown clothes were rugged and his foot couldn’t stop tapping. He looked to Andre but he quickly turned away, still, the man scrambled close for Andre to hear.

  “Hey!” he whispered loudly. “Please, you gotta help me!”

  He pretended not to hear.

  “They’re gonna kill me! They’re gonna kill us all! We’re useless to them!”

  Andre glanced behind him, thankfully Jacklyn was distracted. He looked back to the man. “Listen, maybe if you just keep your mouth shut—”

  “Hey!” officer Bennis said, motioning to a few Blue Collars. “Bring that one in, looks suspicious.”

  Andre watched as the large Bodily Talented stormed the cell, pushing anyone out of their way and grabbing the man by his wrist, forcefully dragging him from the cell.

  “I’m up, I’m up!” he shouted. Andre stole a quick glance before looking forward, shaking his head.

  “Alright, we’ll take him and three more.” Bennis approached the other cells, watching the inmates instinctively move back, their faces terrified. His eyes traced over several; one in a baseball cap glaring at him, one in a beanie, and an old woman in a red scarf closing her eyes and mumbling to herself. He pointed, “How ‘bout this—”

  “Oh no, I’ve got them.” Jacklyn said standing at the sell furthest from the door. There in the back, full of bruises, were three former Collared workers, Left, Right, and Bob. Jacklyn grinned. She crouched to the floor so she could look directly at Bob’s face, “You said you needed three, right?”

  Andre watched. He felt his Gi grow tense.

  Bob moaned, sitting up. Upon seeing Jacklyn, his eyes filled with tears. “J-Jacklyn? Is it really you?”

  She just smiled at him. She motioned for the guards to open the cell.

  “I-I think it is! It is!” Left cheered. “Right, look!!”

  Right was rolled over, clutching his bandaged missing right hand. He heard the cell doors open and ignored it, until he saw the sight of two uniformed Collars standing there. His eyes lit up.

  “Miss Wolfe? Carmichael? Is that you?” His face scrunched, trying to get a better look. The cell doors opened, two Blue Collared cops shuffled towards the three, grabbing them and yanking them from their cells. Right grinned in excitement, “Well, well, it’s about time!” his face shot towards Officer Bennis. “Once I return to the Capitol, Bennis, I’ll see that you never work in law enforcement again! Again you hear me?!!” he shouted. “You and these so-called—”

  “We ain’t here for you,” Andre said, “We here to interrogate you.”

  Left and Bob’s faces filled with a mixture of anger and surprise. Officer Bennis looked confused.

  “Hey, these men weren’t even involved with the homeless. Why’re we wasting time on them anyways?”

  “Cause these punks were involved with the murders at Amesworth remember?” Andre said, his voice hinting at a cocky tone. “They’re all in cahoots I’ll bet.”

  “H-how dare you!” Bob exclaimed. “Jacklyn, tell this thug—“

  ‘WHAM!’ her foot shot into Bob’s chest, sending him sliding across the floor. He gagged, clutching his stomach. He looked to his sister, face twisted further in anger and confusion. Jacklyn walked over to him, picking him up by the top of his head.

  “Hi, Bob. Miss me?” she sneered and twisted his face in Andre’s direction. “Miss him?”

  Bob groaned, “I knew it was too good to be true. I knew he’d infect your mind…”

  “Infect?!” The woman hurled him further along the floor, his back slamming into the prison cube. “You’re the infection! You Bodily types! So privileged to have it easier than anyone else just cause of your genes!”

  “It’s not true, it’s not!” Bob whined, getting up. “Mom and dad—“

  “Don’t even start!” she yelled, sending her foot into his ribcage. The man toppled over, coughing up blood. “You know that’s why mom and dad favored you over me! Why you got birthday parties, new clothes and everything else a normal kid should’ve gotten growing up!”

  ‘WHAM!’ her foot kicked his chin upwards to which the man cried out in pain. He looked at her again, remorse in his eyes.

  “I…I don’t know what that thug did to you Jacklyn. GACK!” he coughed again, holding his mouth. “But you know I’d never, ever, hurt you.”

  Jacklyn stopped abruptly. She took a moment to eye her brother, bleeding on the floor. She looked to the blood on her boot, then back at him. Relaxing her posture she hunched over him, avoiding his eyes.

  “Jacklyn?” Bob asked, “Are you—“

  “I’m fine…Bob,” she said quickly. She took a breath and shook her head. “You’re always doing stuff like this, wasting your time to make sure I’m okay.”

  “Well I am kind of like a punching bag so…”

  The two laughed. One of the officers exchanged a nervous glance with Andre, who opted to his phone. Bennis felt himself shudder, ‘Do all these government Collars got some sort of screw loose?!’

  Jacklyn wiped a tear from her eye. “Remember that day when we we’re at the crosswalk and you saved me from that truck?”

  Bob gave a weak smile. “Yeah!” he laughed. “We were late getting off school and—”

  ‘BAM!’

  Her clasped hands crashed across his face, crunching bone, and spewing a mess of blood and teeth from his mouth. Left screamed. Right’s mouth doped open. Even Bennis’s eyes widened in shock.

  “You should’ve DIED that day!” She laughed, kicking him again. “Damn, now that would’ve been a fucking birthday gift!”

  Bob’s sad face attempted to meet hers. “But why—”

  ‘WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!’

  More kicks struck him; this time, his stomach, his screaming face, and groin. She continued to kick him, over and over again, relishing the sound of his pleas for her to stop. Bennis’s face scrunched, he looked to Andre who was still on his phone. He looked back to Jacklyn, who showed no signs of stopping. Bob coughed up more blood, trying to crawl away and protect his head, but that only made her kick him even harder.

  ‘WHAM!’ ‘WHAM!’ ‘WHAM!’ ‘WHAM!’

  “H-hey!” Left called out, “Leave him alone! Stop it!”

  Right looked on, flinching at each strike to Bob. He forced himself up, “Miss Wolfe that is your brother! Stop this! Stop it right now!”

  Jacklyn couldn’t hear them anymore. She was only focused on Bob, watching his teary face look to her in horror as she continued to beat him. Hearing him scream, louder, and louder, sounds she hasn’t heard in years filled her ears.

  It was like music.

  Finally, Bennis adjusted his tie, feeling it grow tight. “Hey!” he exclaimed. “These boys get fed scraps, they’re Inner-gi ain’t shit! They’re not even a threat to a puppy! So quit killing our potential witnesses!”

  The woman mercilessly sent her foot into the man’s face. A sickening ‘crush’ had Bob gurgling now. “Privileged piece of shit!” she spat. She let out a long breath and fixed her hair, readjusting the strands along her face. “You can have him now.”

  Bennis looked down at the beaten man. His weak coughing made is skin crawl. “Can he even still be interrogated?”

  Andre felt a quick exhale escape his nose, “Trust me, he’s way tougher than he looks.” Putting his phone away, he pointed to the right side of the room, “Can we get the wing open now?”

  Shaking his head, Bennis flashed his card over the wall, a green light blinked twice, sliding upwards into the ground revealing several stations hidden behind them. One station had a few strands of rope hanging from the ceiling and a bucket of water. The second one contained a thick glass wall with a single set of handcuffs chained to the floor and a pair of headphones inside. The third contained a large metal box hanging from the ceiling with its door wide open, showing a few rusted nails sticking upwards inside. Left and Right stared in horror while Bob was dragged to his feet, still dazed.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “Hey…where are we?” Left asked.

  Right shook his head, “Hell, this is hell!”

  “Everyone!” Bennis shouted towards the prisoners still in their cells. “Let this be a demonstration of what happens when you break the law!”

  “I didn’t do that!” A younger woman cried. “I was just sleeping—”

  “Quiet!” Bennis yelled. “We’re going to make this simple. Anyone with information on unusual homeless activity may not take a trip to interrogation station!” His eyes scanned the crowd, then the four men behind him who were first to be interrogated. “Now who’s first?”

  The anxious man’s head snapped from left to right, “W-w-w-wait h-h-how do we e-even know i-i-if you’ll even—even let us go?!”

  Andre inspected the man. He was short and wore worn brown and gay sweats and boots atop his shaking body. Stealing a glance over his shoulder, Andre leaned in. “Look bro, there’s a strict no-fatalities policy for interrogations. If you don’t do anything stupid, I can run you through real quick. It ain’t gonna tickle, but you can trust me.”

  “…” the man’s chin dipped to his chest, “Yeah…maybe I could—”

  Abruptly cutting himself off; the man’s legs shot off the ground, zipping past both Andre and Jacklyn—not that the pair seemed to care. Bennis cursed, whipping out his sidearm and firing at the man bouncing around the room.

  ‘BLAM!’ BLAM!’ BLAM!’ BLAM!’

  ‘Dammit, can’t hit the bastard!” Bennis said, continuing to fire. ‘Not only that, his stutter-step stopped right before he boosted. Is he on some type of delayed enhancer? If so what type of Talent’s being boosted here?’

  “YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!” the anxious man screamed. Each bounce he took was like a small shockwave, making the chamber shake more and more with each jump. “NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER—EVER!”

  The room filled with cheers from the other prisoners, clapping for the man.

  “Hurry!” The old woman in the scarf had stopped mumbling and was now yelling. “We believe in you!!”

  “Are you even trying to hit him?” Jacklyn asked blowing a bubble.

  “Are you even TRYING to help?!” Bennis shot back. He watched the man get faster and faster. ‘No, we cleared everyone for Bodily Talents besides Bob Wollfe. How could he be so fast with just a material—wait a minute…his shoes!’

  In an instant, the man’s busted duct-taped boots seemed to glow, a surge of gi expelled from them briefly before exploding off the wall opposite from them. Bennis could only watch the blur of him zoom across the room and shoot up the stair shaft. His exited laughter could be heard echoing, growing fainter and fainter as he made it to the outside. Bennis spun to the two, his face beat-red.

  “WHAT THE HELL?!” he boomed. “Whose side are you all supposed to be on?!”

  Andre shrugged. “I thought you already knew his Talent was his shoes.”

  “Don’t play DUMB with me!”

  Right broke out laughing, “HAHAHAHA! Serves you right! To think I once saw you two as—”

  ‘CRUNCH!’

  The anxious man’s lifeless body tumbled back down the stairs, his face visible, eyes rolled to the back of his head, his chest caved into a large hole. The sound of hearty laughter along with a shadow preceded it, sending the room into an awed silence as sound only intensified.

  “Bwahahahaha!” Officer Strongarm laughed. He shook off his bloodied arm, which seemed to have grown and gave a thumbs up. “You outta have a lot more faith in your men, Bennis. I mean, how would it make the great Eastern precinct of Empire city look if we needed a couple of Government workers to deal with a little homeless man?”

  The old woman screamed, falling to her knees. Someone in the back broke out laughing. A roar of noise erupted, filled with terror, people pleaded and banged on the glass—only to be shocked back again and again. Andre found himself staring at the dead man. He couldn’t stop, almost as if he were in a trance. Jacklyn playfully smacked the back of his head.

  “Hey, you still there?” she asked and put a hand to his shoulder, “C’mon, don’t tell me you need to tap out already.”

  Andre shook his head, brushing her hand off and turning away. Confused, Jacklyn looked down to see Bob giving them a revolted look. Her eyes instantly widened in anger.

  “You!” She grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him to the first station, throwing him against the wall. She shot her head back to the other Blue Collars, Strongarm, and Bennis. “Well what are you waiting for? Toss ‘em in! Now!”

  “No, no, no wait!” Right yelled as he was thrown in the second station and handcuffed behind his back to the floor. Let was thrown into the third, screaming for Right as a bag was placed over his head. Right looked up to see officer Bennis snapped the headphones on him, blocking out all sound, leaving him in silence as he placed a cloth bag over his head, tying it tightly around his neck.

  ‘Huh?’ he thought watching the men leave the station, closing the door behind them, they took out a device with an antenna on top. From his angle he could see a control panel. ‘Oh no. They’re gonna use sound?! No wait, these headphones, I could—’

  RRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNG!

  Right’s head shot back, his teeth clenched, his body tight a sound poured into his ears. Loud didn’t even describe it. He felt as if knives were being pushed through his ears and into his brain, twisting in every direction, going deeper and deeper.

  ‘I-can-I-I-can’t th-thiiiiiink s-s-s-stra-st-straight!’ his mind raced. His eyes opened, everything hurt. He was blinded by tears, barley making out blood spilling from his nose. He knew this was banned by the Heptagon for a reason. It discombobulated the person to the point where they were brain-dead. ‘N-n-ner-nerve l-l-loss f-first, t-t-th-t-the-n m-my v-vision…t-th-then m-m-my…m-my…’

  He knew he was dead.

  ‘N-N-N-NOOOOO!’ his mind screamed at him. ‘NONONONONONONONO NO! I-I-I have—must get OUT! Headphones…HEADPHONES!’

  With a cry, the man threw his head forward, his face smashing to the floor, the headphones flying right off.

  But the sound never stopped.

  “AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Right screamed…

  “As you see, It’s not the sound the breaks them,” Officer Strongarm explained to them. “It’s the idea of the sound being inescapable.”

  Andre nodded. “Makes sense.” He looked over at Left, who was being stuffed into the box. “What we got here?”

  “Our Bodily guys are gonna shake the box around with him in it.” He rubbed his hands together, “Real fun stuff”

  Jacklyn popped her gum, “That sounds underwhelming.”

  “Well in this case it’s what’s inside the box.” Strongarm motioned for the men to grab each side. “Observe.”

  Left felt a sudden shift as he was thrown face first to the side. Something jabbed into his cheek, but before he could grab it, he was thrown to the other side, feeling his head hit something sharp. Moaning, he glanced forward to get a better look, only to see pitch black, so much so he couldn’t see his own hand.

  ‘Gah! Sharp, sharp, sharp! I can’t see a thing in this stuffy place. No air. My face…my head…’

  He was thrown again, this time, nothing hit him. He tried to lift himself but was violently jolted to the side, feeling pain jab up the side of his nose. His hand shot to his face, yanking at the sharp object as hard as he could. It was then he was thrown upwards and his head hit the roof of the box.

  ‘This feeling it’s…a nail? Wait, is that what’s hitting me…’ he thought, feeling the top of his head. Blood was already pouring from the wound, wetting his hair, the same for his nose, hand, and cheek. ‘I—I can get through this…just memorize where the nails are—’

  The box was suddenly jerked forward, and then back. His body was flung in different directions, nails piercing his hands, stomach, legs, feet, and face. The shaking alone was already nauseating as it was. Being thrust to the side again, he furiously swiped for the nail about to pierce his cheek. Unfortunately, there was nothing there.

  ‘Wait—wait! Something’s not—’

  He covered his head with his arms the best he could, feeling one jab into his ear. His head was thrown to the roof again, however this time a small nail jabbed the top of his head. He now trashed franticly, trying to feel where it was, but the nails kept moving, one hitting the back of his ankle. He opened his mouth to scream, but it was drowned out by the violent shaking of the box…

  “So, you get pricked to death?” Andre said. “And you never know where the spots are?”

  “Correcto!” Strongarm pointed. “These tactics are more, let’s say, psychological than physical.”

  “Damn,” Jacklyn said watching the bottom of the box bleed. “You sure he’ll live from that?”

  Bennis rolled his eyes.

  “They better,” Andre said, watching Bob be shackled to the ceiling. “They still got work to do, and a lot of it.”

  ‘You especially, Bob,’ he thought, ‘you’d better hold on until I—’

  The sound of Bob’s screaming interrupted his thoughts. Andre didn’t have to see to know; this was used at the Heptagon all too often. Bob was hung upside down by his ankles over a large bucket of iced water. Someone held his head up while another placed a Bag over it. Jacklyn watched.

  “Make sure it’s niiiiice and tight,” She said.

  Bob fought and thrashed, then he felt his head fall back into a splash of freezing water. Pain shot through his body as he struggled to breathe—only to get a nose full of ice cold water. Jacklyn picked his head up, leaning in.

  “Do you know anything about the homeless?”

  He coughed, “You…you know I don’t!”

  The brunette got even closer to his ear, a smirk forming across her lips.

  “Oh, I know,” she said. His head dropped back into the water.

  _____________________________________________________________________

  9 Years ago

  “I’m still pissed!” Jacklyn exclaimed later at recess. She sat on the far right end of the white side of the playground against the fence. The other kids were talking amongst each other or gossiping about the other side, usually leaving foul-mouthed Jacklyn alone where the fence line met the shrub. The girl banged on the fence. “Hurry up, Annaline! I need someone to talk to.”

  “Don’t make demands to me!” A snobby sounding younger voice said. From the bushes emerged a younger, round-faced girl, with matching long blond pigtails with pink highlights in each one. She blinked her blue eyes rapidly at the shrub. “Ugh! You should be happy I still meet you here anyways!”

  “And you should be happy I’m even still talking to you.” Jacklyn eyed her glittered pink top and skirt. “Rich girl…”

  “Oh, you don’t really mean that!” she giggled, “You know how much I value you as a friend!”

  The brunette waved her hand, “Yeah, yeah.” She held out her same hand, “Now cough it up.”

  The blonde made a face. “Eh, ‘cough it up’? I swear you poor people’s dialect gets worse and worse every time we meet.” She reached in her white bag and stuck her hands inside the fence, dropping two piece of gum in the girl’s hand. “There, happy?”

  “Finally!” Jacklyn said, spitting the one on her mouth to the ground and shoving the new pieces in her mouth. The other girl’s face grew more grossed out.

  “Aren’t those the ones I gave you last week?”

  “Yeah, then the weekend hit. So what?”

  Annaline stuck her tongue out in disgust, “Ewee! Ok, with that done you now owe me…hmm…I’d say twenty minutes.”

  She nearly spat out the gum. “Twenty?! That’s my entire recess!”

  “My fee went up. Instead of five minutes per piece, I changed it to ten.”

  “Fuck you it was two before!”

  “That’s another one for the swear jar, missy!” she shot back, “Or two for the f-bomb…hmm…”

  “In that case gimme more,” Jacklyn said, “I’m extra mad today.”

  “When are you not?” the blonde sighed, passing her more pieces from the fence. “Oh but what is it this time? You’re parents killed another stray dog you found? Broke your bike again? Left you outside—ooh! Perhaps they finally—”

  “It’s not them this time,” She replied, stuffing the candy in her pockets. She pointed to the other side of the playground where she saw the boy from the office playing with another kid at the basketball hoop. “It’s that kid.”

  The younger girl pressed her face against the fence for a better look, “The taller one with the weird hair?”

  “Yeah, him.”

  “Ooh, scary! Can I have him?”

  The brunette was taken back, “Uh, what?”

  “I’ve never had a boyfriend before!” she chirped excitedly, clapping her hands.

  “Maybe because you’re ten?”

  “Silence!” she squeaked, “Now, tell me his name!”

  “I don’t fucking know!” she said and rested her back against the fence. “Something…Carmichael, I think—actually shut up I don’t take orders form you!”

  “Ah!” she shrieked and ducked back into the bushes. Puzzled, Jacklyn looked back and groaned, wishing she could to the same. Bob’s bald head nearly blinded her, his eyebrow-less face shot her blood pressure through the roof, so much she didn’t notice his three other friends at his side, Left, Right, and Center.

  “Jacklyn! I was so worried when you were late again!” Bob said, running over when he saw she’d noticed him. He shook her shoulders. “What happened?! I heard—”

  “Can you back up?!” she said, shoving his hands off, “And don’t sound so concerned! Both you, me, and mom and dad know why I’m late—again!”

  “Jacklyn,” Right said reassuringly with that same dumb smirk on his face, “Bob being anything but materially talented nothing to do with you. It’s not his fault he didn’t get unlucky.”

  She flipped him off.

  “Hey!” Bob snapped to the blonde boy, “My parents love us both! They just have different standards for their children. Dad always told me whenever he took me on patrol!”

  “Did he also tell you that when I got locked out last night for being late?”

  “There were those guys from the other side of the railway yard running around!” Bob said, “You know how they are, we could’ve been shot!”

  “No, I could’ve been shot!”

  The other boy with black hair next to Bob rubbed the back of his head, looking away. “Um…hi, Jacklyn…”

  “Hi, Cenner.”

  He chuckled nervously. Right rolled his eyes, “Well, if our love sick puppy is done here we can get going now. Right, Bob?”

  “Uh, oh yeah!” he said. A basketball bounced past them all of a sudden, attracting Bob’s gaze. “Hey!” he said chasing after it.

  Cenner pointed. “And he says I’m like a dog.”

  Jacklyn laughed, making the boy blush even more. Bob then stormed back, holding the ball. “Hey, guess who threw this at us?” he shot his finger across to where the basketball hoop was, “Those two!”

  His three friends sat up in alert. Cenner looked over, making a disgusted face, “Thugs.”

  Right scoffed.

  “They could’ve hurt my sister!” Bob exclaimed. He grinned back to his friends. “Let’s teach ‘em a lesson, shall we?”

  The four excitedly left for the other side of the playground. Jacklyn could watch only in awe at what was about to happen.

  ‘Great, now my dumbass brother’s gonna get that kid killed and I’ll take the blame just cause we’re related. Guess I’m skipping school for a week again.’

  Annaline popped her head from the shrubs, breathing hard while spitting.

  “Pa! PA! Ew, ew, ew!” she said, wiping off her tongue, “Warn me next time your brow-less brother and his goons show up!”

  “I’m just as surprised as you are,” she replied, watching Bob and his friends confront the boy. They went back and forth with her brother grabbing him by his chain and yelling in his face. Jacklyn sighed, “Wonder how long he’ll last.”

  The other girl peered over herself, “I’d say…thirty seconds, give or take!”

  “Really?” Jacklyn said, “I was gonna say at least a minute and a half.”

  The blonde smirked, “Well someone’s rather optimistic.”

  “Call it whatever you want,” The brunette chewed, resting her back against the fence once again. “I’d kill to see someone put my brother in his place for once. Thinks he’s so big and privileged cause he’s potentially Bodily Talented.”

  “Why not spiritual?” Annaline asked.

  Jacklyn didn’t answer.

  “Hey, don’t ignore me! I said—!”

  “Shut up, Annaline!” Jacklyn said, her eyes glued to the gathering crowd in the middle, “Is that kid…winning?”

  Interest peaked, the shorter girl hopped up and down as much as she could for a better look. They could make out Bob struggling to catch the other boy, who ducked and dodged his punches, even retaliating with quick flicks of his chain to his face.

  “Oh my gosh!” Annaline said her hands to her mouth. “Um, I…can’t believe I was right! I always said my boyfriend would win! Right, Jacklyn?”

  Jacklyn was still in awe. She watched him get behind her brother, hooking his chain around his throat and pulling, Bob struggling for breath. The other kids from her trailer park jeered and booed, yelling for him to let go, but Jacklyn couldn’t help but mumble to herself.

  “A little longer…just a little bit longer…”

  Her friend looked over, “Uh, Jacklyn…”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, leaving quickly. Annaline angrily grabbed the fence as she left.

  “Hey, no fair! That was barely ten minutes! Get back here, gumball!”

  Jacklyn hurried over, shoving past the kids on her way to the front.

  ‘Please, please tell me I’m not dreaming!’ she thought.

  The sudden sound of a gunshot quickly quieted the crowd, freezing the girl in place. From her view, she could make out Right rolling in pain on the ground as Bob struggled to his feet. Their teacher, Mr. Singh, stood between them, his face with its usual bored expression.

  “Mr. Carmichael, you weren’t in class today,” He said.

  ‘Fuck!’ Jacklyn thought, ducking her head down under the crowd. ‘He sees me I’m fucking toast! Shit I thought he was in the teacher’s lounge. Damnit and it was getting good!’

  The crowd began to disperse, her cover fleeting. She was about to leave but something caught her eye. It was Bob, his arm over Right and Left’s shoulders, being dragged from the playground to the nurse’s office with Cenner quickly following them from behind. The girl couldn’t help it; her face broke into a wide-eyed grin at the wonderful sight. She was so happy she didn’t even notice the other boy with the chain looking at her, before being yanked away by his siblings. He went back and forth with them, before swiftly leaving. His other brother called out.

  “Andre, wait!”

  ‘Andre,’ Jacklyn thought. Her grin turned on to a full-on smile, ‘Just what makes you so special?’