CHAPPIE 4
(Seto's pov)
It had been three days since Joey Wheeler's disappearance. When I woke up on the side of the road the morning after he was taken from me, the pain was overwhelming. Not so much the physical pain that left me in the hospital for two days, but the emotional pain. It was my fault he was gone. It was me who threw him out that night. Today, I'm going to get my one and only back.
The school bell blares until every last person exits the class in a massive mob of pure din. I stand up, picking my laptop up. I haven't been working lately. I told them I would be on a stress leave for a few weeks. A stress leave that will last until I find him. I quickly packed the laptop away in my bag, which was full of printed papers about how to prosecute a gang. I only hope Joey will be alive to be there beside me for a first-hand witness and victim.
I walk out of the classroom, head down, not thinking of anyone but him, and stumble right into someone. I don't have to look up to see who it is.
"Oh...hi Seto. I'm sorry." Yugi's face is white and he looks like he hadn't had much sleep for the last few days, not unlike me, or I assume any of Joey's friends. I look away shamefully. I feel so bad for how I used to treat Joey and his friends. But I quickly regain my self control and composure.
"Please Yugi. I don't have time for your silly little games and tears."
Yugi doesn't say anything, but tears well up in his eyes and he hugs me. Not a lover's hug, but a friend's hug. Something I needed right then, though I automatically put on a look of sheer disgust and pushed him away before anyone saw me in a potentially reputation-deteriorating situation. But Yugi didn't say or do anything defensive. Instead, he smiles faintly at me, and walks away down the hallway. Does he know about...no he couldn't. He couldn't know about Joey and I. Nevertheless, shaking the question out of my head, I head down to the door, a dismal rain is falling outside. I push the heavy door open and head out to my limo which is waiting faithfully right tin front of the school. I jump in as fast as I can, and slam the door, pushing the button that leaves a soundproof black screen between my driver and me.
"Kick it home. I don't have time to waste today." I choke as the screen closes. I fall back onto the floor and shake with tears. This is the most I've ever cried, and the first time since I can remember. I had been chewing on how to solve this sick mystery.
"Joey...Joey if you can somehow hear me...hold on...I'm coming..."
I cried on the floor until I was empty. I felt the limo lurch to a stop and I stumbled to my feet and tried to dry my glistening cheeks off. I exited the limo and sauntered up to my doorstep heavy and tired and still fighting the pain from bruises and gashes, that had caused me to vomit in the hospital, hastily shoving the key into the lock, then punching in the code, 6-3-7, with shaking fingers. I figure I should get some sleep. It'll be a long Saturday tomorrow. I hunched up the stairs, and shuffled into my room, the first on the left. I dropped into my bed, throwing my computer case onto the floor beside me, and falling asleep with the blinds shutting out all the grey of the monotonous rain.
"Joey...I'll save you..." I whisper, half-asleep, as I drift off into a world of nightmares.
(Normal POV)
Joey slumps in a corner, cracked cement walls seemingly caving in on him. He tries to sleep, it was the first chance he had gotten in three days time. It seems the familiar gang members have shifts, but tonight they are all taking a break from their victim. So here he sits, head down, hair clumped in bloody strands, and such a filthy face no one would recognize him anyway. Here he sits, in the dead, grey cement basement of Hirutani's dingy house; the gang hangout.
Joey finally comes to his senses, eyes slowly adjusting to the dark after opening them. They are swollen and black, and it hurts to open them, but he peers out into the darkness, where an old wooden table and wooden chairs are thrown lazily about to decorate the small room, which connects to some other rooms, a bathroom, something Joey was permitted to use due to "we don't want a mess in here", and another room which Joey remembered as a planning room, where the gang would discuss what to do to sadistically amuse themselves with their captives.
He slowly pushes himself off the wall with a grunt and a gasp, but when some weight is shifted onto his left knee, he buckles and falls back into the corner, smashing his head against the wall and stifling a yelp. He had forgotten how the gang had dragged him outside and ran his leg over with a car blaring music, filtering out his desperate, futile screams.
He bites his lip and lets his head fall backwards onto his shoulder, letting a tear slip.
"How am I going to get out of here? If I don't, I'm dead for sure but..." Joey looks down and cries a little harder. "Who would I go home to..."
His head bolts up from staring at the floor, which had sickening bloodstain patterns on it no one has bothered to clean up, when a loud booming, creaking sound echoes throughout the filthy, low-class house. He tries to wedge himself into the corner a little more when none other than Hirutani, who hadn't yet had his "turn" with Joey yet, comes crashing down the filthy carpeted stairs.
"What the fuck are you doing, yelling like that?!" Joey doesn't answer and Hirutani grabs a well-known metal baseball bat that is leaning against the far wall.
"Let's do an exercise. I'll hit. You don't scream. Got it? Good." Hirutani grabs a fistful of Joey's hair and pulls him up. Joey whimpers and bites his lip so hard it starts to bleed. His ripped jeans show a thick black mark across the leg, and Joey leans on his other leg, still trying to breathe properly. Hirutani pulls him out from the wall. The bat collides with Joey's bad leg. Joey crashes to the ground with a blood-curdling scream.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU? NO NOISE, BITCH!" Hirutani hits him again over the head with it, following through, and Joey collapses onto the floor, bleeding and unconscious.
(Seto's pov)
It had been three days since Joey Wheeler's disappearance. When I woke up on the side of the road the morning after he was taken from me, the pain was overwhelming. Not so much the physical pain that left me in the hospital for two days, but the emotional pain. It was my fault he was gone. It was me who threw him out that night. Today, I'm going to get my one and only back.
The school bell blares until every last person exits the class in a massive mob of pure din. I stand up, picking my laptop up. I haven't been working lately. I told them I would be on a stress leave for a few weeks. A stress leave that will last until I find him. I quickly packed the laptop away in my bag, which was full of printed papers about how to prosecute a gang. I only hope Joey will be alive to be there beside me for a first-hand witness and victim.
I walk out of the classroom, head down, not thinking of anyone but him, and stumble right into someone. I don't have to look up to see who it is.
"Oh...hi Seto. I'm sorry." Yugi's face is white and he looks like he hadn't had much sleep for the last few days, not unlike me, or I assume any of Joey's friends. I look away shamefully. I feel so bad for how I used to treat Joey and his friends. But I quickly regain my self control and composure.
"Please Yugi. I don't have time for your silly little games and tears."
Yugi doesn't say anything, but tears well up in his eyes and he hugs me. Not a lover's hug, but a friend's hug. Something I needed right then, though I automatically put on a look of sheer disgust and pushed him away before anyone saw me in a potentially reputation-deteriorating situation. But Yugi didn't say or do anything defensive. Instead, he smiles faintly at me, and walks away down the hallway. Does he know about...no he couldn't. He couldn't know about Joey and I. Nevertheless, shaking the question out of my head, I head down to the door, a dismal rain is falling outside. I push the heavy door open and head out to my limo which is waiting faithfully right tin front of the school. I jump in as fast as I can, and slam the door, pushing the button that leaves a soundproof black screen between my driver and me.
"Kick it home. I don't have time to waste today." I choke as the screen closes. I fall back onto the floor and shake with tears. This is the most I've ever cried, and the first time since I can remember. I had been chewing on how to solve this sick mystery.
"Joey...Joey if you can somehow hear me...hold on...I'm coming..."
I cried on the floor until I was empty. I felt the limo lurch to a stop and I stumbled to my feet and tried to dry my glistening cheeks off. I exited the limo and sauntered up to my doorstep heavy and tired and still fighting the pain from bruises and gashes, that had caused me to vomit in the hospital, hastily shoving the key into the lock, then punching in the code, 6-3-7, with shaking fingers. I figure I should get some sleep. It'll be a long Saturday tomorrow. I hunched up the stairs, and shuffled into my room, the first on the left. I dropped into my bed, throwing my computer case onto the floor beside me, and falling asleep with the blinds shutting out all the grey of the monotonous rain.
"Joey...I'll save you..." I whisper, half-asleep, as I drift off into a world of nightmares.
(Normal POV)
Joey slumps in a corner, cracked cement walls seemingly caving in on him. He tries to sleep, it was the first chance he had gotten in three days time. It seems the familiar gang members have shifts, but tonight they are all taking a break from their victim. So here he sits, head down, hair clumped in bloody strands, and such a filthy face no one would recognize him anyway. Here he sits, in the dead, grey cement basement of Hirutani's dingy house; the gang hangout.
Joey finally comes to his senses, eyes slowly adjusting to the dark after opening them. They are swollen and black, and it hurts to open them, but he peers out into the darkness, where an old wooden table and wooden chairs are thrown lazily about to decorate the small room, which connects to some other rooms, a bathroom, something Joey was permitted to use due to "we don't want a mess in here", and another room which Joey remembered as a planning room, where the gang would discuss what to do to sadistically amuse themselves with their captives.
He slowly pushes himself off the wall with a grunt and a gasp, but when some weight is shifted onto his left knee, he buckles and falls back into the corner, smashing his head against the wall and stifling a yelp. He had forgotten how the gang had dragged him outside and ran his leg over with a car blaring music, filtering out his desperate, futile screams.
He bites his lip and lets his head fall backwards onto his shoulder, letting a tear slip.
"How am I going to get out of here? If I don't, I'm dead for sure but..." Joey looks down and cries a little harder. "Who would I go home to..."
His head bolts up from staring at the floor, which had sickening bloodstain patterns on it no one has bothered to clean up, when a loud booming, creaking sound echoes throughout the filthy, low-class house. He tries to wedge himself into the corner a little more when none other than Hirutani, who hadn't yet had his "turn" with Joey yet, comes crashing down the filthy carpeted stairs.
"What the fuck are you doing, yelling like that?!" Joey doesn't answer and Hirutani grabs a well-known metal baseball bat that is leaning against the far wall.
"Let's do an exercise. I'll hit. You don't scream. Got it? Good." Hirutani grabs a fistful of Joey's hair and pulls him up. Joey whimpers and bites his lip so hard it starts to bleed. His ripped jeans show a thick black mark across the leg, and Joey leans on his other leg, still trying to breathe properly. Hirutani pulls him out from the wall. The bat collides with Joey's bad leg. Joey crashes to the ground with a blood-curdling scream.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU? NO NOISE, BITCH!" Hirutani hits him again over the head with it, following through, and Joey collapses onto the floor, bleeding and unconscious.