Till I'm Gone
Sora Matasuki
Chapter Twenty Five
Hiro's feet slapped against the cold tile, his breath coming out in pained wheezes. He wanted to stop and catch his breath but the thought of what Fred could be going (was going through) pushed him onwards.
He was nearing the offices when he abruptly noticed that he was in familiar territory. Coming to a split decision, Hiro veered a hard left and practically bodyslammed into the door. A door he'd seen every morning that he'd attended this forsaken school. Head spinning, the boy staggered back just in time for Mrs. Clarke to open her empty classroom door.
"Hiro?"
The boy froze, face contorting to that of a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming car. A strangled squeak escaped his throat.
"Ms. Clarke! Hi! Uh…" Hiro tried to act cool, he really did. "Nice weather we're having?"
The woman known as the English Dragon arched a thin eyebrow. Her fiery red hair pulled back in a tight bun wasn't really leaning towards an image of accepting tomfoolery and weak excuses. She glanced down then back up. "Where are your shoes?"
Hiro laughed nervously, hand reaching to scratch at the back of his neck. "A monster took 'em!" He blurted out then went cross eyed at his own words. 'A monster took them'. Really? Really? He couldn't just say the truth?
That he might have been - his mind refused to even think about it. There was a literal blank spot when he tried.
A monster took them. He grimaced. His subconscious scared even him sometimes with how onpoint it was. Thomas certainly was a monster.
"Anyways that's not important!" It kinda is. "I need your help. Do you know Fred Lee? Wiry, thin, tends to wear a beanie on his head, despite the school handbook saying no hats allowed?"
Ms. Clarke snorted. "Know him? Kid's a literary goldmine. What about him?"
"He's in trouble." The words were flowing better now, spilling out of his mouth in a rush even as he sidestepped what kind of trouble the older teen was in. "Like big trouble, traumatizing trouble."
Ms. Clarke's eyes narrowed. "He's not doing drugs, is he? If he is I swear I will march his rear to the office and smack him upside the head with one of those comics he's obsessed with, student protection laws or no."
Hiro stared up at her, brain momentarily stalling. "Wait, what? No!" He dragged trembling hands over his face as his mind desperately fought not to think about it. "I wish it was that cut n' dry."
Ms. Clarke stepped out of the classroom fully, shutting the door behind her. "What's going on kiddo?" she asked, crouching down in her dress pants to get to Hiro's level. "What's wrong?"
Hiro wavered, trying to find his words again as they scattered. His fingers curled around Tadashi's green sweater, thumbs tracing the threads in an attempt to ground himself. The twelve year old closed his eyes. "There's predator in the school population and he's targeting Fred. He's a senior and Fred's not legal." To Hiro's ears his voice sounded distant and clinical, but he couldn't stop the shaking his frame was adopting.
"Did the senior touch you too?" Ms. Clarke's voice was soft but strong as steel.
"I-I… I don't know. I passed out. I woke up and my shoes and shirt were gone and my-"
"Hiro it's going to be alright."
Hiro kept his eyes squeezed shut, shaking his head violently as the trembling got worse.
"Hiro look at me. Look at me." As Hiro cracked open an eye, she continued, "It's bad right now, but it will get better. Trust me. Your life will be comprised of the best of times, of the worst of times, times of personal peace and times of internal war… but you will overcome this. Be the protagonist of your own story and do something with your life."
Ms. Clarke tapped his forehead. "Write your own script kiddo."
Hiro breathed in shakily, "We need to help Fred." he squeaked out.
The English teacher stood up. "C'mon kid, let's get the Cavalry up and running."
The twelve year old steadied himself, swallowed and let out a meek 'Okay' as he trailed after her.
Tadashi found an empty hallway. The only way to tell that it had been the right place were Hiro's shoes, shirt and jacket that had been tossed aside. Strips of useless duct tape littered the tile.
The sixteen year old clenched his fists and swore through gritted teeth. He'd been too late. Fred and Thomas were gone. But where could they go and why did they leave?
Thomas certainly couldn't go that far, he didn't have a car and Tadashi knew that Fred didn't have a license yet.
The teen paced a short stretch of the hallway, stooping down to gather Hiro's discarded belongings into his arms as his mind raced.
Why did Thomas take Fred and leave, anyways? If it was just a brawl, it would make sense to stay in this secluded area. Unless… it wasn't just a brawl. Hiro's shirt and shoes had been taken away, and there was duct tape on the floor….
Tadashi's skin crawled as an epiphany loomed over his head, waiting for that final puzzle piece to slot into place. But his thoughts were interrupted by the insistent buzz of his phone ringing on silent.
Startled, Tadashi fumbled with his phone, nearly dropping it to the ground where it would surely break. His eyes glanced down to see the ID of the caller and felt his heart freeze in his chest.
"Fred?" Tadashi answered, "Are you okay?"
A breathless, giddy giggle met the teen's ear. "Freddie's a little occupied at the moment, Hamada. I can take a message for him though."
Tadashi's teeth made a horrible noise as the teen's jaw clenched, the grind of molars sending a vibrating pain up into his gums. "What did you do to him, Thomas."
It wasn't a question it was a demand for answers.
"My, my… such a temper. It's what I'm doing actually." the older senior corrected, voice mild, "Isn't that right, Freddie?"
Tadashi could hear a pained yelp, followed by a bitten off swear word.
"Thomas, stop it. Whatever you're doing to Fred, stop it!"
"Oh Tadashi, Tadashi, Tadashi." Thomas' voice turned to mocking pity, making the eldest Hamada growl low in his throat.
Thomas continued, "You still don't get it, do you? I would have thought Hiro told you by now."
Tadashi's eyes narrowed. "Tell me what exactly?"
"What Fred saved him from. Why he's here, with me and not out there, with you. But… I guess, what with all the mistakes you've made, making him feel worthless and all… it comes to no surprise that he'd keep this from you."
"SHUT UP!" Tadashi practically roared, "Just SHUT UP! You know nothing of my family!"
"Oh, I know a lot of things." Thomas purred. "I know about how you're considering leaving home. Despite aaaaall that's happened to your little brother, you're still going to leave him. Alone. He'll be so lonely without his big, strong, popular older to look after him. No one's gonna look at him, they'll only see an upstart brat."
Tadashi's jaw moved but he couldn't say anything, he was too angry.
"That's not going to change, Tadashi. You'll be across the city. That's too far to do anything. So if your little brother relapsed… well… who'd be there to save him? Certainly not you. You're leaving him after all."
"Stop it. Stop it! How do you even know about that!" the sixteen year old was shaking, his knuckles were turning white from the grip he held on his phone.
Thomas' voice sounded smug. "Oh… I have my ways…"
Then Tadashi heard a weak voice speak up. "T-Tadashi… don't listen… it's what he does! He twists thing-" The resounding smack of a hand on a cheek crackled through the phone to Tadashi's ear.
"Fred! Fred, are you alright?! Thomas, stop it! Stop it now!"
Thomas laughed at the desperate anger in Tadashi's voice. "The thing about my family, Hamada, is that when we want something, we always get it. No matter who or what stands in our way. Auntie Christina got Uncle Stan, so why shouldn't I get what I wanted?" There was a dark edge to the eighteen year old's voice as he continued, "But none of that, I'll cut you a deal… A game if you will. If you find us, you can have Freddie, do whatever you want with him. But if you can't find him by… let's say… the end of the school day - that gives you an hour; Fred will be mine to do with, to play and use. He's been my toy first after all…"
"Fred's not some 'thing' to play with, Thomas! He's a person and you have no right to treat him like the way you do!"
"Tick tock, Hamada. time's running out…" Thomas sang.
The ensuing silence was deafening to Tadashi's ear. "Oi! Fred's not some prize to win - and he hung up. Great." The hand holding his cellphone lowered to his side to swing there loosely.
"Tadashi!"
The sound of several sets of feet pounding the title rushed to his ears and the senior spun around to see his little brother round the corner with a herd of adults at his heels.
Tadashi jammed his cellphone into his pockets, a dark scowl on his face.
"He got away. And he has Fred with him." he reported, turning to the woman who was their campus police officer. "Thomas called me and issued a challenge for me to find him."
Hiro let out a whimper, knees giving out a hand over his mouth as he swallowed harshly and sunk to the ground. "Oh Fred no…" Despite the hand muffling it, Tadashi heard it loud and clear.
The puzzle piece wiggled, nearly ready to slot into place. All it needed was one more little nudge.
Meanwhile, at Tadashi's words, the aults surged into action. The police woman was radioing in on the situation and alerting all stations nearby to be alert and the woman Tadashi recognized as Ms. Clark approached him, serious faced.
"Tadashi, do you know where Thomas could have taken Fred? I know he was your friend, they both were. There must be something you know."
Tadashi shook his head. "I don't-" he was interrupted by his pocket buzzing.
It was a text from Fred's phone.
"When you meet the person at the end of the street,
who has three eyes all in a row,
all beware the third yellow eye who bids them to slow:
Turn left.
"Then you'll find the empty place
where things get wetter, water laced,
the more it dries
the faster he dies.
"You'll find us in the house of the one who can run but not walks
has a mouth, but never talks
has a head but never weeps,
has a bed but never sleeps."
There was a hush as the whole group pondered the riddle.
"I've heard the last one." Ms. Clarke spoke up. "It's a river. They're by a river somewhere. But which one?"
"We need to figure that out." the security woman said grimly. "Backup can't help when we don't know where it is."
Tadashi turned to his little brother, "Hey Hiro, what do you think of thi- Hiro?"
But Hiro was gone.
Hiro's feet were slapping against the cold tile before his mind caught up with his actions. What are you doing? his mind shrieked at him. You can't take Thomas down, you're twelve!
Another part of him shot back, You know adults don't do anything to help, they're useless!
Ms. Clarke's not… the other part muttered sullenly before becoming silent.
Hiro kept running. He was almost to the back doors when a hand caught the collar of Tadashi's sweater and yanked back, stopping the twelve year old in his tracks. Hiro's world whirled sickeningly as he was spun around.
Tadashi folded his arms, a stern frown etched deeply on his face. "Just where do you think you're going?"
Hiro let out a nervous giggle. "Ah… out?" He squeaked, shoving his hands behind his back, rocking back and forth on his feet.
Tadashi raised an eyebrow before letting out a heavy sigh. "Hiro, we need to talk."
"Talk? Talk about what? I'm perfectly fine!" Hiro's voice was rising higher and higher as his anxiety spiked. He really didn't wanna talk about this, especially if it was about the thing he thought Tadashi was referencing. Heck, he didn't even wanna think about it!
Tadashi got down on the floor to be eye level with him and gripped Hiro's tiny shoulders gently. "Hiro… did Thomas touch you anywhere? Anywhere you didn't like?"
Hiro could feel his face drain of all color and he looked away, a mulish expression on his face. "I-I don't know, okay? I passed out! So I can't answer your question 'cause I don't know! I just don't!"
"Shhh…. hey…hey…" Tadashi pulled the twelve year old forwards and engulfed him in an all encompassing hug. "We'll make it through this." The elder Hamada's fingers carded through Hiro's hair, gently teasing out tangles. Hiro pressed his face into his older brother's chest as his breath caught in his throat, startled to realize that he had tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I'm scared, 'dashi." Hiro whispered, "I can remember him hurting me then…" The twelve year old struggled to find his words. "It's blank. Like an abrupt scene change. I didn't have my shirt, my shoes… even my socks were gone. And I couldn't move away cause of the tape!"
"Then Fred saved you." Tadashi breathed in dawning revelation. Hiro nodded into Tadashi's chest, sniffing away another tear.
"He switched places with me, now he's probably being-"
"Hey… we'll save him." Tadashi said gently, pressing his forehead to Hiro's. "We just gotta work together. Just like old times. You up to that, buddy?"
Hiro swallowed thickly, then gave a tiny nod. He curled up around Tadashi's lap so tightly, it was like he was Mochi turned human. Tadashi gently ran his hand up and down Hiro's spine, tracing circles in his little brother's tense shoulders. Slowly, ever so slowly, Hiro relaxed, growing limp and boneless.
The boy was almost asleep when a thought zinged through his mind and caused him to sit up faster than his head could follow.
"I know that look." Tadashi smirked, tapping Hiro on the nose. "You've practically solved it, haven't you."
Hiro was too busy looking cross eyed at his nose to verbally answer but the goofy look of elation told Tadashi all the senior needed to know.
They were one step closer to saving Fred.
AN: First of all, big thanks go to bibliophilea because they pointed out something that helped me solidify my plan for the end of this arc, extending it a little bit more than I originally planned.
It looks like we're reaching the end of this second arc and with this arc, the end is in sight. I don't know how long the next arc will be but I hope that it won't be as much of a monster as this current arc has been. *shakes fist at Thomas, who jUST COULDN'T STICK WITH THE PLAN! THIS MONSTER OF AN ARC IS TOTALLY YOUR FAULT TOMMY* And I don't think after this we'll have as many upsetting topics. I'm not 100% sure because stories tend to become very alive and have a way of getting derailed from the tracks of preplanned plot. *cough*thisarc*cough cough*
ANYWAYS, sorry for not posting earlier (and that it's unbetaed), Mel and I are graduating this week and we'll be swamped with a ton of activities and such. Plus a dear friend from my hometown is coming up to visit over my birthday so I'll be busy with that too.
BIG THANKS GO TOOOOOO: Melanie-March (as always for being such a good sport about my craziness and stubbornness and so on and so forth), KodiakWolfe13, BlueD, regularshow565, perky511, DreamGirll, seems-pretty-legit, sherlywherlylock, Epically-ME, BeatriceBennet, DisneyandWildKrattfangirl, DestinyWing, LadyWendy202, Fyphoniex, snowflakeangel21, wubtastical, Purpalz Miner, Sand-wolf579, awal216, LDK, Guest, Kitsune2.0, bibliophilea (thanks again for that review, it really helped my brain make up its mind), HamDashi, Guest, nanriac4aslan, Guest (#2), Izi Wilson, readeatcook, Fuchsia Phantom, IndiaMoore, Guest (#3), Atariel Tsukai, AAAAAAND Lizzy!
P.S. everyone's welcome to take a stab at the riddle to see if they can decode it~ leave your guesses in a review or PM me too if you want. I'll acknowledge those who guess it right (or pretty close to it because I took some liberties with geography tbh).
EDIT (06-04-2015): I went back and changed something. I'd forgotten I hadn't done that. You all might wanna go look at what I've done...