Cries of the Past
Part 1
1997
"New school, new life!" A 16-year-old Peter Petrelli sighed. "Hopefully everything goes well from here…"
Swinging the school bag to his back, he took a deep breath and walked into the new school with his head held high. Well, new school, new life, and hopefully Nathan would have forgotten their little episode by the time he came home for his next break, which would be at least a few months time.
Peter shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about Nathan right now. He needed to focus on other things; just like what Nathan had told him. The only little problem was that he had grown up worshipping Nathan as if Nathan was the center of his universe. His big brother who was almost never at home, but seemed to always miraculously be there to save his day when he was in trouble. As far as Peter's memory stretched, there hadn't been a time that Nathan had let him down. He could still remember the time Nathan saved him from their father's wrath when he accidentally destroyed his father's neatly stacked paperwork in the study. He also remembered how Nathan had coached him basketball one Summer where he moved from being the small kid that sucked at sports to the fastest moving kid on the basketball court who can shoot as many 3-points as any of the much taller kids.
In Peter's mind, Nathan was perfect and he loved him. He loved him so much that he believed he was 'in love' with him. He made the mistake of actually working up enough courage to tell Nathan about this.
Peter smiled bitterly. He still remembered the shock in Nathan's eyes. He also remembered he had reached up and pressed his lips against Nathan's. It may be his imagination, but he could swear Nathan leaned into the kiss for a few seconds, before he was firmly pushed back. With both hands on his shoulder, Nathan gently told him he was confused. In a calm tone that Nathan always used when his little brother got into trouble, Nathan had told Peter in no uncertain terms that he would forget this conversation ever existed as long as Peter never brought it up again. This was wrong, immoral, and un-brotherly.
Emotionally devastated, Peter made several bad choices right after. The worst being caught drinking on school ground and attempting to punch the teacher who caught him. Things could still work out if Peter's father Arthur Petrelli was willing to use his influence to interfere, but Peter and his father had never really seen things eye to eye. Arthur simply agreed to the school's decision to have Peter expelled, and this time Nathan didn't come by to intervene. Peter was to transfer to a local public high school, which he didn't really mind. Maybe a change of environment could get his mind off things.
XXX
Gabriel Gray was an insignificant nobody in the class. His results were average. It was certainly not outstanding, but it wasn't too bad where the teachers would be concerned about. He didn't do too well in sports, but it wasn't exactly too bad either. He was quiet, and seldom had anything to say in the class. He sat at the corner of the classroom and wouldn't catch anyone's attention.
However, Gabriel's neatly combed hair and the black glasses he wore sometimes made him attracting attention from a certain group of students – the big bullies who like preying on nerdy, weak, shy looking students. This was the time when Gabriel wondered why his insignificance didn't make him invisible from the eyes of these unfriendly fellow students.
"Gabriel, Gabriel" Cindy snarled down at Gabriel, one foot on his chair, bending forward, "Any lunch money you wish to share with us today?"
Gabriel shook his head meekly. Yes, he was being bullied by a group of girls. The leader was Cindy Johnson. She was the head of cheerleaders, and girlfriend of a football player. She had always ignored Gabriel in the past, but this year she seemed to take a liking in tormenting him. She couldn't care less about Gabriel's money. It just seemed like she was into tormenting him and making his life miserable.
Maybe it was just his luck this year. Gabriel thought despondently. He thought he heard a rumor that Cindy and her group of girls picked a new target every term and made the person's life a total misery for the whole term.
"If you don't have any money to contribute, why don't you give us your shoes?" Cindy smiled. She was a pretty blonde, and her voice could be sexy, but right now she looked like a horrifying witch with a harsh voice to Gabriel, "Take off your shoes now, Gabriel. You can walk around the school in your socks for the rest of the day."
Gabriel slowly bent down to remove his shoes. There was no point delaying the inevitable.
"What's going on here?" A clear, pleasant voice interfered.
The groups of girls turned around, including Cindy. Gabriel looked up as well.
It was a teenage boy with dark hair standing behind them. His long bands covered half of his face, but did nothing to hide his beauty. Delicate features, pretty for a boy; Gabriel thought to himself, this boy's best features was his eyes. Those eyes were full of compassion and life.
Cindy was giving elevator eyes to the boy in front of her. The sharp retort on the tips of her tongue was on hold as she seized up and down of the new comer. The teenager was attractive. Cindy would give him that much. Her eyes traveled to his wrist, and her eyes widened slight at the piece of fine watch he was wearing. Cartier Pasha Seatimer. That watch cost about 40,000. Attractive AND rich; Cindy's snarl quickly became a smile, "I don't believe we have met, you are?"
"Peter Petrelli." The newcomer said with a node, "I'm the new transfer student."
"Oh" Cindy flashed Peter her most friendly smile, "Welcomed." Looking around, she pointed at the seat next to hers, "Why don't you sit over there? Carolyn, move your stuff!" The last part of the sentence was directed at a girl standing next to her.
"Nah, thanks but that's ok," Peter walked a few steps forward and put his things down on the empty seat next to Gabriel's. "I will sit here."
"… ok…" Cindy was taken off a bit as if the thought that somebody would rather sit next to this Gabriel instead of her was unthinkable. Shooting Gabriel one last nasty look, she walked back to her seat.
"Hi, I'm Peter." With a smile, Peter waved at his neighbor.
"Gabriel. Gabriel Gray." Gabriel hastily answered, then added, "Gabriel Gray, not Gabriel Gabriel Gray."
Peter smiled, "Yeah, it would be funny if you have the same middle name as your first name, wouldn't it?"
Gabriel couldn't help returning the smile.
XXX
Peter and Gabriel quickly became friends as Peter settled into the new school without incident. Cindy and the others left Gabriel alone for now, since Cindy had taken an interest in Peter and wanted to give him a good impression.
For the time being, things were great. Peter focused on getting to know his new friend and not thinking about Nathan. Gabriel enjoyed having a real friend for the first time and being left alone by the bullies.
XXX
"I heard Cindy has asked you out on a date for the 3rd time." Gabriel suddenly said.
Peter looked up from eating his ice cream, spoon still tucked in his mouth. Pulling out the spoon slowly, licking away the ice cream on the spoon, Peter gave a small shake of his head.
Gabriel thought his heart jumped a beat, staring at the way Peter's sensual mouth sucked on the spoon.
"Nah," Peter smiled sadly, "She is not my type."
"What is your type?" Gabriel didn't want to see the sadness in his new friend's eyes, and tried to lighten the mood, "Dark hair, tall, muscular, strong thighs?"
Peter's spoon fell onto the table. "How do you know?"
This time it was Gabriel's turn to drop his jaw. "R… really?"
Peter picked up his spoon with a thoughtful look on his face, contemplating, "It's just… just happened that he looked that way. The person… that I'm in love with."
"Oh…"
They sat in silence for a while.
"I told him I love him." Peter finally said in a soft voice, "He told me to forget the whole thing. He… he is my older brother."
He didn't realize his face was wet until Gabriel gently reached out to wipe away his tears.
Peter's lips curved up into an attempted smile, "Sorry. Didn't mean to ruin the day. Are you're still going to be my friend? Even… after you learned about this?"
Gabriel reached up, and touched Peter's cheek. His hand was cool, almost cold. "I will always be your friend."
Peter put his own hand over the one touching his cheek, and held it. "Thank you, Gabriel."
XXX
It was a Friday.
Peter was doing his homework upstairs in his room when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Peter answered without taking his eyes off the science project he was working on.
"Hey, Pete."
Peter's head rise sharply. It was none other but his beloved big brother standing at the doorway, clad in a fine Italian tailored suit, hair neatly done, looking as perfect as ever. The smile on his face, the confident in his stand, and the love in his eyes; Peter felt his heart sped up to a dangerous speed.
"How've you been doing?" Nathan walked into his room, "I heard you get into some trouble at the previous school and got transferred to the public school?"
"Yeah, it's no big deal." Peter said lightly, "I enjoyed the public school more than the private school actually. It was kind of fun."
"That's good." Nathan pulled a chair over and sat down next to him, one arm automatically swung across Peter's shoulder, pulling him into a tight embrace. "You know, if Ma had told me earlier, I'm sure I could get something worked out instead of having you kicked out."
"Like I said, it worked out fine." Peter shrugged. The close proximity simply reminded him how much he loved this man, and how much of it wasn't brotherly love.
"Good." Nathan gave him one last thug before letting go.
"I didn't know you're coming home this weekend." Peter looked at his brother, genuinely curious.
"Yeah, it was unplanned, but a case ended earlier than I anticipated. The DA office said I handle it really well. I have some free time at hand so I decided to take a weekend break."
"So you're spending the whole weekend at home?" Peter's face lit up, as always, when he got to spend time with his brother.
"Yep," Nathan stood up, and got to the door, "By the way, Ma said dinner is ready." With a shrug of his shoulder, "You coming?"
"Of course!" Peter jumped up from his chair and followed Nathan down the stairs.
"We are using the formal dining room tonight?" Peter babbled happily as Nathan led the way towards the formal dining room which was usually only used when there was special guests. He was a little surprise since this should be a family dinner.
Nathan didn't answer. He simply walked in front of Peter into the formal dining room.
Peter stopped abruptly when he saw Nathan walked across the room towards a very beautiful, attractive woman.
"Heidi, I want you to meet my younger brother." Nathan smiled warmly to the woman and put a hand around her waist, the other hand pointing towards Peter.
Peter just stood there with his mouth opened like a gold fish.
"Peter, this is Heidi, Nathan's girlfriend." Angela Petrelli appeared behind Peter and nudged her younger son into the dining room towards the couple.
"Peter, it's so nice to finally meet you." Heidi smiled and extended her hand. "Nathan talked so much about you."
Only years of proper social training kept Peter from bolting. He took the hand into a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you too, Heidi."
"It's good to see that you haven't completely forgotten about your manners since you transferred to a public school," the cold voice of Arthur Petrelli pulled Peter back to reality.
"Let's sit down, shall we?" Angela's smile was as perfect as always.
Peter sat through the meal tuning out all conversations and without really tasting anything that he put into his mouth. He knew Nathan had girlfriends, several of them. However, Nathan had never brought any of them home and introduced them to the family like he was doing with Heidi. He must be really serious this time.
The timing of this could not just be a coincidence. Peter thought to himself. Judging by the way they communicated with each other, Peter had to guess Nathan had been with Heidi for quite a while. Yet, Nathan had failed to ever mention Heidi to him. Now, shortly after he told Nathan about his feelings, Nathan brought home this gorgeous girlfriend, showing him how serious their relationship was.
He didn't even have the courtesy of informing me about her while we were in my room just now. He wanted me to find out about this in front of everyone. He wanted me to have no time to corner him. I need to act appropriately in front of mom and dad. Manipulative bastard! Peter thought with anger in his heart.
The 3 hours dinner ordeal finally dragged to an end, and Peter excused himself to his room. He sat down in front of his study desk, and stared blankly at the universe model he had been building for the last few hours before Nathan came home and dragged him downstairs for dinner. He had half a mind to smash the thing into pieces.
There was a knock on his door.
"Come in." The words were spat out like venom this time.
As expected, Nathan stepped into the room. He still looked as dashing as he was 3 hours ago, but Peter only felt anger towards his brother right now.
"What do you want?"
"What's wrong? You hardly eaten anything just now."
"You know what's wrong!" Peter shouted at him.
"Keep your voice down." Nathan closed the door behind him. "I don't see why you're so upset."
"How can you not know?" Despite himself, Peter lowered his voice, "I love you. I'm in love with you. Why do you have to do this to me?"
Nathan stood firmly in front of Peter. His taller frame towering over Peter, and his expression was unreadable.
"I told you last time, never said things like this again."
"But that's how I felt!" Peter argued, "And… and I knew you leaned into the kiss last time."
Nathan tensed for one quick second, but was back to normal faster than any human eyes could detect. Peter in his distraught state completely missed it. "You are mistaken. I love you, Pete, but only as a brother. I am in love with Heidi. If nothing goes wrong, I'm going to marrying her next year. I planned to propose to her this weekend while we are here."
"Married?" Peter's voice broke.
"Yes, Peter." Nathan pulled his statue like brother into an embrace, "The feelings you have for me, they're just some confused teenager feelings for a big brother that always looked out for you. You will get past it. You are never to speak about it again, do you understand?"
Peter pushed Nathan away.
"Yes, of course. Don't worry." Peter straightened up, "I won't embarrass you in front of Heidi or say anything that's inappropriate, if that's what you're afraid of. Now if you will excuse me, I have to meet a friend for a science project."
Grabbing the Universe model and the car key, Peter dashed out of his room, down the stairs and drove away in his car without looking back. He never had a chance to see the heartbroken sadness in Nathan's eyes.
XXX
It was around 11p.m. when Gabriel finally got to the school ground. When he received a call from his drunken friend, it was already past his curfew. However, there was no way he was going to leave his new best friend alone in that distraught state. So he sneaked out of the house, and he prayed that his parents, who were asleep at 9p.m. everyday, would not wake up and find him gone.
"Peter? Peter!" Gabriel found his friend's car parked at the school's empty parking lot at night. Peter sat on the floor, leaning against one of the wheels. Several empty bottles were scattered around.
Gabriel expected to be finding his friend sopping, but instead, he found Peter starring at the night sky with an unreadable expression. The faint light of the stars were reflected on Peter's face; he looked like a fragile statue of beauty, something from the ancient Greece maybe. To Gabriel's surprise, Peter looked sober. None of the drunkenness displayed over the phone was apparent in his eyes.
"Peter…" Gabriel called out softly and knelt down in front of his friend.
Peter turned his attention from the night sky towards Gabriel and gave a little smile, "Sorry I smashed our science project while waiting for you."
"It's ok." Gabriel looked at the scattered pieces around them. They would get a zero for next Monday's science class. "How are you feeling?"
"I've calm my head somewhat, while waiting for you." Peter sighed. "The sky is beautiful. Nathan took me stars gazing once when I was 8 years old. I could never forget the beauty of those pale yet sparkling lights." His eyes blinked and Gabriel thought he could see the twinkles in those beautiful orbs.
"I wanted a star from the sky." Peter smiled, "I remembered Nathan looked at me with a kind of slightly annoyed, yet a little amused look. He pulled me close to him and placed a quick kiss on my forehead. He told me, I'm like a star, to those around me, especially to him."
"It's just something silly, but I didn't ask for a star anymore, because I have him. He is my star. Even though I seldom see him, he is always there, with me." Peter said slowly, "But from tonight on, I can only love him as a brother. That's what he wants. So I will only love him as a brother. I won't cross the line…"
Gabriel decided it was time for him to cross the line. He leaned forward and kissed Peter on the lips. He wanted to kiss away the sadness in Peter's eyes, and be Peter's star.
When they broke the kiss, they were both a little breathless. Gabriel looked at Peter and before he could say anything, there was a screeching wail from behind.
"You faggot!"
It was Cindy and her football player boyfriend James as well as two other students. They must be having a late night party at the school and happened to eavesdrop on this two.
Cindy had been boiling a hatred for Peter ever since he turned her down for the 3rd time. Nobody turned her down. It became worse when words reached James and James had been bugging her for an explanation. Now, she found that Peter preferred a loser Gabriel to her, she was not going to let this go easily.
"James, looked like we found a couple of homos right here." Cindy said in a spiteful tone, "What should we do about them?"
"What do you suggest?" James and the other 2 big guys circled Peter and Gabriel.
"I know!" Cindy grinned evilly, "Why don't we make them stripped each other naked and fucked in front of us for our entertainment?"
Peter slowly stood up, still leaning against his car. Gabriel stood up next to him. He noticed Peter was a little unsteady, probably due to the amount of alcohol he had consumed. It was very surprising to him when he heard Peter spoke clearly without any hint of sluggishness, "You, are a sick bitch."
Cindy's face turned red.
James swung his fist against Peter.
Peter waited until the second just before the fist was about to connect to move his head out of the way. The punch was powerful; there was no question about that. But instead of landing on Peter's face, which would have been quite painful, it landed against the side window, smashing the glass, and bloodied the hand.
"Ouch!" James screamed. He looked at his bleeding hand unbelievably. Peter gave him a crooked grin. James was not the first guy that had underestimated him because he was smaller in frame. Actually, because he was shorter and smaller, he was able to move relatively faster than his bigger opponent.
"Peter, are you ok?" Gabriel asked beside him.
"Yeah, it wasn't my first time fighting while I'm drunk. Besides, I'm only half drunk this time." Peter flashed him a grin.
"Get him!" James shouted, "I'm going to beat you till you wish you were never born!"
One of the guys lunged himself towards Peter. Again, Peter waited until the very last second before quickly jumping out of harm's way, and the guy missed his target in front, lost his balance and kissed the ground instead. Peter may not be a very skillful fighter, but he had learned enough on how to use his opponent's advantage for his own advantage. His own punch wouldn't carry enough force to damage his opponent, but he let his opponents own strength took them out.
Another guy jumped in front of Peter, and this guy was more careful. He circled Peter looking for weakness instead of simply attack. Peter was just as cautious.
Cindy looked around in frustration, and she noticed Gabriel starring at Peter in concern. With a small nudge of her head, James saw the same thing and an evil grin appeared on his face. Using his uninjured hand, he sneaked up to Gabriel and gave him a punch in the stomach.
"Ow" Gabriel hugged his stomach and doubled down onto the ground.
Peter lost his concentration for a split second and that was a big mistake. The other guy didn't need any prompting to jump onto Peter like attacking a football and pinning the smaller teenager to the ground. One hand squeezing Peter's throat, the other came down as a fist connecting Peter's cheekbone.
A few more punches and Peter's ears were ringing as he gasped for breath.
"Now now, what should we do with you, you little faggot?" James snarled. Cindy and the other guy walked away from Gabriel who was still crouched on the floor towards where Peter was pinned down on the floor.
"He is not bad looking at all." The guy who managed to pin down Peter because of his distraction suddenly commented. A big hand came down and swept away the flock of hair fallen across Peter's face. The other hand was still firmly holding Peter's neck, forcing him to stay on the ground.
"What are you saying?" James asked.
The guy shrugged. "Since he is gay, he probably likes to take it up the ass. I said we give it to him. We ALL give it to him."
"You BASTARD!" Peter screamed and doubled his effort to get free.
This seemed to excite the guy more.
"Well, I'm not interested." James said in disgust, then grinned, "But I don't mind watching. How about you, Steve?" He turned to the 2nd guy who tried to attack Peter but failed.
"I'm totally in." Steve laughed. "Never done it before, but could be fun."
"OK, then get over here and hold him down so that I can take off his pants!"
Steve gave a toady laugh and walked over.
"Bastard!"
Gabriel heard Peter screamed. He couldn't see Peter from his position, clutching his stomach down on the ground next to the car, but he could clearly hear the panic underlying Peter's shout. Then there was sound of clothes being torn away, and more cursing from Peter, each of the screams getting more desperate.
The screams seemed to clear Gabriel's head. The pain in his abdomen no longer noticed, he looked around for something he could use, and spotted a fist size stone laying on the ground. Tic-toc-tic-toc. It was as if something in his mind cleared. He picked up the stone and walked calmly towards the group. Cindy and James were both starring intently; two guys were holding a struggling Peter down, with his pants removed down to his knees.
Gabriel felt nothing when he slammed the rock against the skull of the guy trying to remove Peter's pants. It just gave a soft "thud" and the guy collapsed onto the ground. Steve turned around in horror, and his head met the same fate. The red, sticky blood flowing freely, seeping into the ground seemed to keep everyone in a truce. Cindy and James made no move to stop Gabriel as he pulled Peter up.
"Are you ok?" Gabriel asked softly.
Peter gave a shaky nod.
"Quick, let's go then!" Pulling Peter with him, they made a dash for the car. He pushed Peter into the car, and took the keys from Peter when the other guy appeared too shaken to drive.
Gabriel was surprised how smooth their escape went. They soon left the scene and was driving on highway. Gabriel was glad he had taken driving lesson before even though he didn't own a car. He drove at 65 miles an hour; not speeding, and not too slow either, making sure he won't attract any attention from the police. It could be hard to explain the blood he had on his clothes if they were stopped for a traffic violation.
He finally exited and pulled into an empty state park when Peter appeared to have calm down. Peter had silently pulled up his pants while Gabriel was driving.
"Thank you, Gabriel. You saved me." Peter said; he voice no longer shaky.
In contrary, the braveness and calmness Gabriel had been feeling since the moment he picked up the rock seemed to dissolve into nothingness. His hands begun to shake, and his face paled visibly staring at the blood stained on his hands.
"Wh… what… what have I done?"
"You saved me." Peter moved closer.
"Do … do you think they die??"
Peter tilted his head and seemed to be thinking for a moment, "I don't think so. I recalled hearing that first guy still groaning and Steve's hand was still moving. Besides, from what I watched on TV and what I have read before, there should be a lot more blood for the head injury to be fatal."
"Really?" Gabriel asked hopefully.
"Yeah," Peter nodded confidently, "I am thinking about going into nursing for college, so I paid attention to this type of things. I'm sure Cindy and James would take them to the hospital immediately, so they should be ok."
Gabriel let out a sigh. "I don't know what I was thinking. I just know that I can't let them hurt you."
"Why?"
"Because you're my friend." Gabriel said hesitantly, and he saw Peter backed up a little with a soft 'oh'.
"Because I love you." Gabriel grabbed Peter's hand, taking a deep breath, willing himself to say it, "I know you're in love with your brother. But I can't help falling in love with you. Even if we have only known each other for a short period of time…"
Peter leaned in and sealed his babbling with a kiss.
XXX
Some time later…
Peter woke up. His body ached all over. He opened his eyes and saw Gabriel looking at him. They were still in the car, parked at the empty state park.
"What time do you think it is?"
"It's still early. Don't worry. We didn't sleep for long." Gabriel took a look at his watch, "It's only 6a.m.; it wasn't that comfortable to sleep in a car afterall…" He suddenly looked away uneasily.
"Hey," Peter's voice was soft, "I'm not in this for a spur of a moment thing, ok? I admit, I love Nathan. A part of me still do, and maybe I will always."
Before Gabriel could interrupt, Peter continue, "But he can't love me the same way I love him, and I have already made up my mind to put that behind me, even before you came find me by my car. I don't have many friends. I have trusted wrong people and ended up hurting for many times. But I trust you, and I have a special feeling for you. I want to be with you, do you understand? You, Gabriel Gray, are special to me."
Gabriel can only nod.
"Stop grinning like that!" It was only when Peter teased him lightly that Gabriel realized he had been grinning like an idiot.
"Now, let me take you home?" Peter suggested, "Or would you rather drive?"
"No," Gabriel shook his head. "You drive."
Peter yawned and switched seat with him. "You drove well last night."
"Yeah, but I don't have much practice…"
Peter smiled, "Why don't I drive by your house everyday and you can drive us to school together?"
The mention of school cost Gabriel's grin to lose some of its happiness. Sensing his anxiety, Peter comforted him, "Don't worry. They tried to hurt me and failed, they won't dare to tell any school authority about it."
"They may tried something else…"
"Then I will teach them to mess with a Petrelli!" Peter's expression darkened for a split second.
XXX
By the time Gabriel sneaked into his own house, it was around 7a.m. It was lucky for him that today was Saturday. His parents made a point to get up at 7:30a.m. for Saturday instead of their regular 5:30a.m.
He changed out of the bloodied cloth. He was about to throw them away but instead he hid them at the bottom of his cabinet.
He hit the bed and was soon snoring away until somebody knocked on his door. Blinking sleepily, he saw his mother pocking her head into his room.
"It's 2p.m. already." There was a suspicion in her voice, "There was a boy looking for you. He said he was here to do a science project together with you?"
Gabriel bolted up from his bed. "Yes, mother." He quickly changed into a set of new clothes, and sure enough, there was Peter waiting at their living room, looking at the snow globes his mother collected in interest.
"We are going to the library to do the science project."
Gabriel looked nervous as his mother stared at him for a long time, "OK. But you know you have to be back by 7p.m."
"Yes, mother,"
When they were in the privacy of their own car, Peter asked Gabriel, "So your curfew is at 7p.m.?"
Gabriel sighed, "Yes. She is a little overprotective sometimes."
"Yeah, speaking about overprotective…" Peter smiled, "There was almost a search team going out for me last night… Nathan… he was worried when I didn't go home, especially he thought I would do something incredibly stupid after our conversation."
Gabriel felt a pang of jealousy just hearing the name Nathan.
"But everything was ok. I explained I run into some bullies at school and got knocked out." Peter shrugged, then smiling towards Gabriel, "We need to spend this whole weekend together, rebuilding the universe."
"Sure, delighted." Gabriel agreed pleasantly.
XXX
Angela Petrelli looked at the pictures lying on the table. She was starring at the photos of 5 teenagers; 1 girl and 4 boys. There was a mesmerizing glint in her eyes. It didn't take much for her to get the full story out of those 4 teenagers. These teenagers had dared to hurt her son. She would make them pay, eventually.
Her focus was on the last picture. A teenager with neatly combed hair, shy smile, huge glasses. She tabbed her finger on the table lightly, deep in thoughts.
A mother knew best for her son.
Decision made, she swept the pictures into one hand and dropped them one by one into the shredder.
End Part 1.
TBC.