Chapter II: Spilling Blue Blood
Assignment III: Pappa Bear's never been more vicious
A/n: As you all know, normally, my friend James just brainstorms with me. I do the final drafts. However, I always give credit where credit is due, and I wanted to clear a few things up anyway. Attempt to rise was originally written in 2007. James was at the time, the sole WRITER, and I was a brain-stormer with him. The 2009-present version currently published is 110 percent revised. I am now the sole writer (most of the time) on these final drafts. However, this time, James did write a portion of this section. From the beginning, to where I have placed "-J-" to signify the end of his portion. Also, if there are a few more errors in this than usual, I apologize. My cursor is gone, and so it's a bit harder to type than usual.
Loki
9/16/2014
A pillow colliding with my head awoke me from my trance like sleep. Sasquatch was jumping up and down; throwing jabs and kicks around the room. He was dressed in as white undershirt and black jeans, with no shoes.
"What are you doing?" I muttered, yawning.
"Preparing". He said, before he blocked a punch from a pretend foe.
"What for?" I asked groggily, rubbing my eyes and hopping down onto the floor.
"August". He said as he threw a roundhouse kick across the length of the room. His foot smashed into my favorite lamp, sending it flying across the room towards me. It shattered on the bunk bed and splayed shrapnel across the floor.
"Damn it! Stop that!" I groaned loudly. He changed direction and swung his other leg around, sending the second lamp behind him to the far wall, where there were pretty little shards of porcelain spread across the ground. He stopped himself and looked at me with joy on his face.
"Stop what?"
"Turning our room into your own personal sparring arena! I live here too!" I said as I slid into some clothes.
He smiled and grabbed a shirt off his dresser. He pulled it on and grabbed a towel from his bed. He spun it into a knot and started to walk toward me. I realized what he was doing, and I sprinted for the door. I made it about halfway before a loud cracking went off behind me and my ass seemed to catch fire. I cried out in pain. I grabbed my butt and turned to glare at him menacingly. His loud, echoing laugh practically shook the floor.
"Towel snap me again, and you'll hang from the fucking bell tower!" I cried.
He laughed loudly, and slung the towel into the hamper. He pulled on his boots, and we walked out the door, with me rubbing my ass reproachfully. We were walking past Harrington House when Sasquatch grabbed my arm and pulled me down into a bush.
"What the fuck man?" I said before he clapped a hand over my mouth and forced me onto my stomach. I struggled for a second before I noticed what he had seen. A Rolls Royce was parked near the fence of Harrington house, and two adults that looked like high class executives with platinum blond hair and ritzy looking suits stepped out when the driver opened the suicide doors. He practically bowed to them as they stepped out and took in their surroundings.
"Sir, we really shouldn't park the vehicle here. Its against school policy to…" the driver was interrupted by the mans large hand raised in front of his face.
"I, in my endless mercy and generosity, have allowed this pitiful school to stay running. Last year alone, I found it in my heart to donate five million dollars to the establishment because my boy Harvard wants August and Blake to be happy. Consideration is the only weak bone in that boy's body. The only man to ever donate more was Mr. Harrington. Mr. Kowalski won't dare cross me, lest his river of green suddenly dry up". He smiled a shit-eating grin, his teeth dancing with the sunlight. The driver bowed, and closed the door behind them. Their steps were light and well formed as they walked up the stairs and into Harrington House. (-J-)
Sasquatch and I looked at each other gravely. "How much you wanna bet that's August's father," I asked.
"I'd bet my fucking life. He's even more arrogant than the prick himself" Sasquatch replied.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT," the man yelled from inside
We sprinted the short distance to the door, which had been left open, and looked through the window of the interior door. There stood August, looking toward the floor. His father was berating him mercilessly.
"You're a goddamn disgrace August. When Harvard was a junior here less than two years ago, he never lost a fight! People respected him! He hardly ever HAD to fight, because he let people know without violence that he was in control. Now, because of two new students causing trouble, you're losing control that has been in this family for years. My younger brother already lost it once when Derby Harrington came as a sophomore. I won't have you losing it again!"
Sasquatch laughed quietly. "August is getting railed because of us! This is fucking sweet!"
I had to agree. I was enjoying this. I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I even laughed when his father hauled off and smacked him across the face.
"Don't you raise your eyes. You don't deserve to look me in the eye. Not until you've regained our family's pride".
"Father" August said in a surprisingly small voice, "I haven't completely lost my control. Everyone is still afraid. And I've won every fight I've been in with the new students. They got away only because I allowed it".
"So then you've gone soft? Is that it? Perhaps you need to learn once again what it means to be a fighter. BLAKE, COME HERE!"
The eleven year old descended the stairs like a madman, desperately trying to get there faster.
"Yes…Father?" he asked, not looking at him.
"August has forgotten what it means to endure. To ignore pain. And most importantly, to never show weakness. Mercy is weakness"
With that he ran to him, lifted his knee, and slammed it hard into his youngest son's stomach. Little Blake gasped in pain. I gasped from pure shock.
"NO" August yelled, his cold eyes, suddenly filled with emotion. He began to run to Blake, but stopped when he heard him whimper "Don't!"
"If you take another step…I will hurt him far worse than I will if you take it. You cannot show mercy. You cannot feel if you wish to lead. It will lead to your downfall. You must only calculate with your mind, never your heart".
He stomped hard on Blake's chest. The young boy grunted in pain. August flinched.
"I understand father," he said, but his shaking voice betrayed him, "Please desist. You are far too strong to be striking Blake in this manner".
His father grinner coldly. "Thank you for the compliment August", he said, before he brought back his foot, and began kicking Blake in the ribs. The boy began crying, which seemed to only make him kick his son harder.
Sasquatch gritted his teeth next to me, I dug my nails into my knees to stop from yelling. This was wrong. Blake hadn't done anything wrong, even by Dr. Masters' sick standards. Yet he was being punished for a "fault" of his older brother. Even though I disliked Blake almost as much as his older brother, It was still very difficult to watch.
Dr. Masters mounted his eleven year old son and began slugging him repeatedly in the face. Before long, his nose was broken and his whole face was bruised and battered so badly, he was barely recognizable. Blood stained his blond hair. My breaths were coming in gasps, but I stopped breathing completely when I heard a barely audible 'click'. It all happened so fast that looking back on it, it was a blur.
Sasquatch bolted past me. I heard a scream of "MOTHERFUCKER", a cry of "SEAMUS?" from August, and saw Sasquatch swing my spare switchblade wildly.
The blade pierced the flesh of Dr. Masters' shoulder and he gasped. Sasquatch let go of my blade, and slammed his boot into the man's face, knocking him off of Blake and a good five feet through the air. The man collapsed in a heap by the stairway.
"You think you're so tough you stupid fuck? Why don't you fight someone who can fight back?" Sasquatch yelled. Dr. Masters removed the switchblade from his shoulder and tossed it to the floor. With incredible speed, he was on his feet, rushing Sasquatch. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen, a sixteen-year-old Irish giant brawling with a blond, bleeding doctor.
Masters ducked a swift punch, and sent Sasquatch flying back into me with a jumping spin-kick
We both lay on the floor for a moment, dazed.
"Is this the kid that caused you so much trouble August?" Masters asked.
August swallowed. His fear of his father was audible in his voice as he replied with a meek 'yes father'.
"We'll finish this later. Hold my jacket," he said, removing his suit bloodstained suit jacket and his tie and throwing them to his older son.
"I was quite the scrapper myself in Bullworth, class of 1992. Of course, you hadn't even been born yet" Masters sneered, staring down my friend, who had gotten to his feet. "Tell me, are you full blooded Irish?"
"Yes" Sasquatch said stiffly. The two began circling each other.
"It's no wonder you're so strong. No wonder you're so stupid either, but I guess our origins cannot be helped" Masters said.
Sasquatch growled. "Shut the fuck up you trust fund pussy".
"Hm. How brazen. Boy, in my Forty-one years, I have learned fighting styles and abilities that you couldn't learn in a whole life of bar brawling. Oh well, I've always known that some peoples are just inferior. Don't feel bad; it's who the Irish are. Ruffians with no class or finesse".
Before I could tell him not to take the bait, Sasquatch charged and swung a wide right hook, which Masters grabbed, and in his surprise, he left his stomach completely open.
Masters lifted his knee and slammed it into his stomach. He grunted, but refused to go down. He swung his left fist, but Masters simply spun out of his way and pulled his right arm behind his back. He grabbed my friend's left arm then, placed his foot against his back, and I heard a sickening popping noise as both of his arms left his sockets. He fell face and knees, and soon was completely on the ground from a well-placed stomp to his lower back.
I knew I would just get my ass kicked if I tried to fight him alone. I sent out a group text to Jacob, Marcus, and Jeremy.
"Please get to HH quick. August's dad wrecked Sasquatch and I'm next".
With that I ran toward him, raised my fist, and faked a punch. Dr. Masters grabbed my fist as my knee came up and slammed into his side. He barely even flinched. He grabbed me by the leg while still holding my fist and picked me up I grabbed him by the neck and attempted to choke him, but he simply let go before I had the chance and I fell to the floor. He then stepped hard on my throat and my gag reflex went crazy.
"I sincerely wish I could end your life here little boy. Sadly, that would involve a lawsuit, which would take up far too much of my time. But I'm warning you, if you are ever too brazen as to attempt to choke me again, I'll crush your jugular with my bare hand. I'm going to let you up now. And you are not going to tell the authorities about any of this, or I shall put out a hit on you, and your trashy friend, and you'll be nothing but an ugly memory".
Suddenly I saw a flash that had nothing to do with the lack of oxygen to my brain.
"You aren't gonna do any such thing fucko," Jacob said "and if you don't get off of him this instant, I'll email this to everybody I know".
"Little boy, you just made a serious mistake" Masters said smoothly.
"I'm eighteen and I'm a goddamned adult. You wanna fuck with someone, fuck with me. Not a little fifteen year old kid".
"I just turned sixteen," I said rubbing my throat reproachfully.
"…Very well little boy. You win this time. May I at least now the name of the little shit who thinks he's important enough to interrupt private matters?"
"My name is Jacob Denton. Noah and Seamus are my friends, and nobody fucks with them. So get the fuck out of here before this picture goes global".
Masters frowned. "I will not be blackmailed, especially not by a transvestite in women's jeans. August. Get that phone, and erase the little mistake that you caused"
"…Very well sir" August said. And he rushed toward Jacob with vigor I had never seen before, letting one punch after another fly. Jacob only managed to block the first two before the third one slammed into his face hard. His glasses shattered and the frame dug into his face, leaving a few jagged cuts dripping blood, and my friend laid out on the floor.
"JACOB!" I shouted, as if it would make any difference. August made a grab for the phone, but was suddenly driven backward with a barrage of pellets. Marcus and Jeremy both had super slingshots and were relentlessly pelting August with hard steel marbles.
Jacob grabbed the phone and threw it with the last bit of his strength toward his friend's, and Marcus caught it, and pocketed it, before continuing to fling pellets at August. Jacob attempted to stand, but was barely able to stand straight without falling. He seemed to be extremely dizzy from the sledgehammer like blow to the face that August had administered. August managed to push past the hailstorm just long enough to throw another punch that sent Jacob sprawling backward into his friends. If there had been any hope of repairing his glasses before, there sure as fuck wasn't now. Jacob reached a shaky hand toward his face, and removed the twisted metal frame and tossed it aside. He slowly picked the glass out of his face and I felt like crying. Jacob was pretty built, not as much as Sasquatch, but pretty strong, and definitely at least a little bit stronger than me. And all it had taken was two strong punches to wreck him, and possibly leave permanent scars on his beautiful face. At the bare minimum, he would need stitches.
We had one choice. We were outmatched, and It seemed only I was willing to admit it. So I did something I had never really done before, and it haunts me even today. I begged.
"Please Doctor Masters. We give up. Just please let us leave. We surrender. You win."
He looked at me, mildly surprised.
"You interrupt a personal family matter, attempt to choke me, stab me with a switchblade, and attempt to blackmail me, and you want me to let you go? I don't think so child. You're leaving here soon though don't worry… on a stretcher. And all I'll get is a fine, which you and I both know I could pay with my pocket change. I do enjoy being wealthy. Not that you and your street scum friends will ever know the feeling"
"CLEANUP TIME" a voice yelled. And the short bald janitor I had met earlier that week sprinted toward Doctor Masters, and the two began brawling fiercely. I was absolutely shocked when his left hook struck Doctor Masters in the temple and rendered him unconscious in a matter of fifteen seconds.
"Stupid fucker. Pickin on a bunch of goddamned school kids. You alright Noah?" he asked grabbing my hand and helping me up.
"Yeah. That was incredible. How'd you learn to fight like that?"
He smirked and flexed his muscles. "I was class of 09. You kinda had to know how to fight to deal with all the phony psychos".
I smiled. "Well man, I don't know how you did it, but I'm glad. Jacob needs help, stitches and shit. Can you get nurse McRae out here?" I asked.
"No problem" he said, and he got his walkie out and radioed her.
He turned to Masters' driver, who had watched the spectacle with almost palpable shock.
"Take him and get the fuck outta here before I finish him off. Believe me, I wouldn't think twice," the Janitor said.
The driver nodded and dragged Dr. Masters out of Harrington house and drove away a short while later.
The janitor looked at August with disgust. "Masters, Detention tomorrow from 3 to 6:30. You can give the team a break and set up their shit for practice".
August looked at him incredulously. "You do know who.."
"Yes I know who your goddamn father is moron, he was just here. Now ask me I give a flyin monkey fuck?"
"Why, exactly, are you giving me detention?"
"Well, judging from what I know about you, I would say you floored that Denton kid, and let that creep father of yours waste your little eleven year old brother, while you stood there and let your manhood shrivel and crumble like 500 year old meat. Tell me, you got any dick left?"
"Well I NEVER"
"Get used to it ya little bitch. Petey may sit there and take your crap outta fear of your father, who by the way should have a nice little bruise on the left side of his head now, but I sure as shit don't. I dealt with enough shit from Derby back in the day and I didn't bow down and suck his dick and I won't do it for you either".
He just stood there looking affronted. As Nurse McRae and the Janitor lifted Jacob onto a stretcher, Jeremy and I helped pop Sasquatch's arm back into it's socket.
I checked my watch. It was a new record. All that shit and it wasn't even ten a.m. yet.