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Post by jace on Sept 18, 2012 21:30:47 GMT -8
Jace was sitting on a bench, smiling up at the night sky. It had taken weeks of planning.. He'd finally managed it. Slipping the note into Nathan's clutches wasn't difficult. What was difficult was getting Atticus's girlfriend's handwriting... All that was left was to find out when Atticus would be taking his date night... tonight he wouldn't be in their dorm room. So while Nathan was in class Jace set up the stage.
He'd made his way into their room with means only he had...
A note on the desk. "Lake 1am" and next to the note, as if placed to be picked back up...
A cigarette. The one he had taken from Atticus in their first meeting... Months ago...
So now he sat on the bench, wearing a black hoodie and hoping to look like Atticus... That boy wouldn't know what hit him...
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Post by Nathan Stone on Sept 18, 2012 21:59:11 GMT -8
He hated the thing, but it was still gripped tightly in his hand, crushed nearly to pieces between his fingers. Nathan had no clue what Atticus wanted to talk about, but the cigarette he'd left on the desk gave Nathan a conversation topic of his own.
He was going to quit. He'd already quit, and Nathan had the lighter to prove it, still tucked safely away in his pocket as always. Atticus wouldn't let anything happen to Nathan, so the younger boy wouldn't let anything happen to his hero's prized possession. What was so special about, Nathan didn't know, but Atticus made it clear he trusted Nathan with it.
Too bad he was smoking again.
Nathan paused only once on his way to the lake, a brief stop to zip his well-worn jacket, then continued on his way over the dark path. If Atticus wanted him at the lake, it had to be important. He knew what the place meant to Nathan. It was where he'd... killed... Hanna.
Finally he reached the end of the gravel path. As if on cue, a black-hooded figure came into view, seated on a bench near the sand. "Atticus!" Nathan called, instantly elated, then jumped from the slightly elevated path to the sand. "What's going on?"
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Post by jace on Sept 18, 2012 22:02:51 GMT -8
The figure stood up from the bench, turning around, his face still not showing. He started walking toward the boy, his hands in his pockets. As he drew closer, he slipped his hands up to the hood, sliding it back. The white mask was stark in the moonlight, He leaped forward, his hand shooting for the boy's neck. He had to knock him out with the toxin before he got the chance to snap out of it.
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Post by Nathan Stone on Sept 18, 2012 22:10:02 GMT -8
Nathan stopped in the sand, confused. Atticus wasn't saying... anything. Was he mad? Nervous? Had Nathan done something wrong? It took only a moment for his mind to flood and overflow with countless horrible scenarios. What if he'd been too mean to that Alice girl? Was it-
His train of thought froze mid-track as he saw the mask. That wasn't Atticus. That wasn't- what was going on?
Years of avoiding others' touches had given Nathan superb reflexes, but his trust for the supposed Atticus was still partially intact. He only had time to take a half-step back; then he gasped in pain and dropped to the ground.
Atticus... lied...
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Post by jace on Sept 18, 2012 22:29:07 GMT -8
The boy was light... Gonna need to keep the blood inside of this one or he'd faint too easily... That was the thought of Jace as he walked him down the way, having him strewn over his shoulder. What a fun week it had been...
His favorite shed in the woods wasn't too far from the lake. Just far enough he'd say....
He strapped the boy down, just as he'd done many times before. The lighting was set, the stage was live.
"Hey Naaathaaaan... Wake uuuuup... It's time to play a game! I hear you love games..."
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Post by Nathan Stone on Sept 18, 2012 23:11:46 GMT -8
He was falling, falling, tumbling into darkness, and he knew he'd die before he hit the bottom. It was heavy, choking him, too thick for him even to scream out for help one last time-
And then somebody caught him.
Nathan instantly sunk into the familiar arms, his eyes closed as he buried his face in the smoky jacket. "Atticus," he whispered. "Thank you."
"Nathan..."
"Atticus?"
"Wake up..."
No. It was too dark. If he opened his eyes, he would fall away again.
"It's time to play a game."
He snapped to attention. Any other time it would take him a full minute to find himself, but the pressure against his limbs told him the whole story without a word. Something was touching him.
"What-" Nathan stopped, frozen, as he saw the mask before him. "W-where's Atticus...?"
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Post by jace on Sept 18, 2012 23:20:10 GMT -8
"Atticus... is away..." He held up a blade, crusted with blood. "Met him last night actually... Very nice young man... Terrible attitude... Bad sport..." He smiled at the boy, dropping the knife. "But he tells me you'll be very different! You'll be a good boy and play. I won't have to punish you like I did him." He grabbed the boy's chin, wagging it side to side. "Nope. I won't."
He kicked the bag infront of the boy's face, the red stain underneath his chair incapable of being missed.
"Alright little Nathan. Let's start... We will begin with something easy. Who... Is your savior?"
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Post by Nathan Stone on Sept 18, 2012 23:27:30 GMT -8
Nathan couldn't stop the trembling. It overtook his body, left him helpless to control himself, but it couldn't be tamed. He couldn't move. He was restrained and he couldn't move, and he was trapped alone with a lunatic. Every fiber of his being screamed for Atticus, but the boy was nowhere to be found.
The fingers on his skin broke the spell of terror. Nathan jerked away, nearly toppling the chair in his rush. He needed distance, inches or miles, anything between him and that hand whose owner knew no boundaries.
Shaking with terror, he could feel the tears threatening to fall. "A-Atticus... but he... where is he? What did you do to him?"
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Post by jace on Sept 18, 2012 23:38:04 GMT -8
"Tsk tsk... One track mindedness will be the death of you child..." He took a breath, pushing down on the chair to stop it from tilting. "Well I suppose we shall have to give me the first point. You see... I'm the one in control of what happens to you now. Not Atticus. He can't help much of anyone really... No. I am your savior. Or your executioner... Your choice..."
He turned back around, a little disappointed he couldn't bleed him to start with. "We will start light... Yes?" he patted the bound hand. "What did I do to him? Well." He tapped the wrist.... Thinking about it. "Well..." In that instant he grabbed the boy's hair, pulling him to the side and whispering in his ear.
"He's NOT who you need to worry about right now boy!" He cackled, punching the boy in the cheek. A glancing blow, just to split his lip, knocking him over.
Joek picked the boy back up, setting him to his standing position.
"It is greater than God and more evil than the devil. The poor have it, the rich need it and if you eat it you'll die. What is it? And here's the hint... This time.. It's not me."
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Post by Nathan Stone on Sept 18, 2012 23:54:51 GMT -8
Every touch pushed him closer to the edge. His breathing was heavy and ragged, choked with tears that he couldn't let out. He had to be brave, to stay strong until Atticus came to save him... but it was getting harder by the second. It was all he could do to keep from crying, let alone screaming for help.
He gasped in pain as the fingers wound into his hair, dragging him around by his golden curls. A moment later he was on the floor, his face burning with the pain of the blow. Now he couldn't hold back, and the tears ran thick and fast, mingling with the blood on his cut lip.
"I... I don't..." Nathan struggled for an answer. Anything to buy time. What did the poor have that the rich didn't? "D-dirt...?"
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Post by jace on Sept 19, 2012 14:04:37 GMT -8
"Are you even trying?" The voice was a snarl as he tilted his head at the boy. "You will die out here if you don't shape up. The answer was nothing." He stepped forward, putting a hand on either armrest. "Of course... I could give you a freebie. Tell me. Who lets you down more than aaaanyone else? Here's a hint. I know him."
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Post by Nathan Stone on Sept 26, 2012 16:54:43 GMT -8
Nathan shrunk back against the chair, giving his all to lean away from this madman. Bound as he was, there was nowhere to go, and all he could do was stare up and cry. He knew what the freak wanted him to say, but there was no way the man would draw the words from his mouth.
"Don't you dare!" he shouted. "Don't you dare! Don't lie to me! He's never done anything wrong to me! You're a liar!"
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Post by Signal on Sept 26, 2012 18:22:25 GMT -8
Joek let out a sigh, pulling a crumpled piece of paper and tobacco. "Really? You believe that?" He tossed the paper into the boy's lap. "He led you here... He wants me to kill you so that you'll stop clinging to him... Don't you get it!? Atticus haaaates you... I made him see it." He gave a grin under his mask, leaning back.
"Well then... Freebie given to you, you obviously knew the answer. Next question.... Why do you think Atticus hates you?"
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Post by Nathan Stone on Sept 26, 2012 21:23:02 GMT -8
Nathan flinched at the hand motion, sure he'd be struck, but felt nothing. He opened his eyes in time to see the small paper flutter down to his lap. Transfixed, he stared at it. It was... impossible. Wrong. And he could get a cigarette from anywhere, from the store or the street corner or an ashtray or the trash or anywhere, anywhere but Atticus, because he would never-
Never hurt him.
His next reply was forced, a whisper that wouldn't come. "Because... I killed him." He bit his lip to distract himself from the tears, but they came and fell fast. "He died when he was coming to see me..."
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Post by Signal on Sept 26, 2012 21:43:35 GMT -8
The room was quiet with only the sound of Nathan's sobbing for a few minutes. The masked man just stared at the boy's misery. It was quiet at first, a simple shaking of the mans shoulders, and a repeated noise, over and over again. Getting louder and louder with less time between... Joek was laughing. He was watching this boy's pain and laughing as if it was the best thing he'd ever heard.
"You kiiiiilled him! Haaa hahahaha you killed Atticus. You killed him. Killed him. KILLED HIM!" The last words came from his mouth harshly, him reaching forward and grabbing the boy by the throat and sliding the chair closer to him.
"Listen to me you little piece of shit. You did not kill Atticus. NO. You don't get that right. I do. SO. Understand this. And you understand it well. The games over. You have lost, but because I am a merciful person, I'm going to let you see your precious Atticus again... I need you to pass a message on for me though."
He took two blades and slammed them into each bicep, then stood back and kicked the chair over. He then proceeded to kick the young man... Over.. and over.. and over...
He kept laughing while he did it, a highpitched laugh that would probably haunt the boy's dreams forever more.
The kicking stopped when the boy was broken and bleeding on the floor, unconscious.
He drug the boy from the shed, taking him out to the courtyard, using the boy's own cell phone to call 9-1-1.
He bent down and used a gloved hand to trace the boy's chin. "I do hope you understand.... It's all for your own good..."
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