The leaves rustled under Sasuke's feet as he walked down the stairs at the entrance to the school.
He loved autumn.
The light mist that hung in the streets of New York in the early morning and the wind that ran through his black hair and destroyed his hairstyle. Not that this bothered him, no, Sasuke loved the cold air around his ears. Besides, the braid his mother always braided for him was way too old-fashioned and girly anyway. One of the many reasons why half the class thought he was a freak. But his parents were big on tradition (including the fact that he was engaged at the age of 14 to a girl from a very old and influential clan, settled in the deep forests of Russia), and he couldn't and wouldn't do anything about it.
Sasuke strolled towards the subway station closest to the school.
His eyes wandered through the crowd. It was his strange habit to look for people who seemed interesting, and then come up with a story about their past life.
Today it was a tall lanky man who caught his attention. He stood leaning against an SUV with a black baseball cap pulled down low on his face and his hands buried in the pockets of his coat. He seemed to be doing the same thing Jack was: people-watching.
The teenager's eyes narrowed slightly. At that moment, the man glanced in his direction; it was as if the stranger had felt his gaze on him. Slowly, the man pushed himself away from the car, and headed toward Sasuke.
He briefly looked around to see if anyone else noticed the man's strange behavior. When the - as can now be seen - unhealthily pale man stood in front of him and stared at him - he had now taken his hands out of his pockets (it turned out that he was wearing black leather gloves) - out of dark eyes. For a moment, the boy considered whether to back away or simply stare back defiantly, eventually opting for the first option. The stranger slowly tilted his head and then said in a hoarse voice that sounded as if he had only been shouting for days, "Well, well. Don't you have any friends to go home with, boy?" In fact, he had no friends to go home with. Most of them rather kept their distance from him, as his quiet manner made them feel insecure. Only a few, among them his best friend Naruto, talked to him at all, counting him to his group of friends.
Keeping his eyes on the ground, he replied in a slightly shaky voice, "They all live in different directions, and don't ride the subway. Excuse me, but I have to hurry or I'll miss it."
He was about to pass the man when he grabbed him rudely by the shoulder. "How about I take you home? It would be a lot faster than taking the subway, and you won't have to deal with so many people." Sasuke could feel the hot breath touching his ear and closed his eyes briefly. His teachers had always warned him about just such situations. About men who tried to lure you into their car by offering you candy. He had already heard some horror stories of child abductions, which had started exactly this way. "No thanks. I'd rather take the subway." The answer came out of his mouth slightly uncertain and rather hesitant. Turning his head slightly, he could see the look the man had given him. In it there was a mixture of paranoia, fear but also anger. "Are you sure? There were some attacks on the subways last week, weren't there?" Sasuke had the feeling the stranger wanted to stare at him until his head caught fire. Slowly it became uncomfortable to feel the eyes on him, so he nodded almost imperceptibly. The man was right, there could be attacks again at any time, especially at the present time, when it was already restless. Besides, the teenager didn't want to know what the guy would do to him if he suddenly started screaming and accusing him of doing something. He wasn't sure, but could that be the outline of a gun in his coat pocket? If so, he would rather not set eyes on it.
Eyes fixed on the tips of his shoes, he gave the stranger another nod of approval, "I think you're right. Besides, my little brother is home all alone. It's better if I get home faster."
Out of the corner of his eye he could see the man's head twitching in his direction and he thought he could see nervous excitement in his facial expression. Shortly after, he felt an arm around his shoulder and he was unobtrusively pushed in the direction of the SUV.
The people they passed didn't seem to care about the two, looking like an uncle and his beloved nephew. The student was rudely pushed into the car and was forced to fasten his seat belt. When he tried to open the door, it did not work. The stranger who had just entered on the driver's side grinned. It was a sickening, gleeful grin. "Oops, I must have set the child lock on that one. So, where do you live? I need the address for the GPS." The grin widened as Sasuke gave it to him after a brief silence.
While the would-be kidnapper entered it into his cell phone, the black-haired man looked out the window at the sky covered with gray clouds.
A slight smile played around his lips, and he thought of his parents. They had always told him to bring food home. He felt his canines sharpen at the idea of biting the stranger's neck. "Mother, Father! Dinner's here!"