Chapter Ten:
Will Stronghold walked slowly up the path leading to his front door. He hung his head low and scuffed his red Converse All Stars on the ground. He felt lost as he paused outside the door of his house. It had only been two days since his lover murdered his friend and he hadn't been home since he flew to the alleyway. The murder had been covered up, handled by the police department ran by hero's, who hid the worst of super villain evils. If this sort of thing got out into the general public, heroes would be completely denounced. For the most, the public was completely aware, but not for things like this. What Warren did was... unseemly. Will flinched as the image of Ethan's body flashed into his mind.
He unlocked the door, stepped inside and threw his keys onto the small table beside the door. He looked at the photo from homecoming on the wall and felt his eyes well up with tears. Will shook his head and walked slowly up the stairs to his room. Every movement took all of his energy. His limbs felt heavy and his head was hot, throbbing in pain. Will stopped as he saw Warren's jacket sitting on the banister at the top of the stairs.
"He must have forgotten to take it." Will whispered slowly. His voice was strained. He picked up Warren's heavy black jacket and carried it into his bedroom, slightly surprised by how soft it was. He lay down on his bed and held the jacket close to him. The scent of Warren still lingered on it, and as Will breathed it in, he began to sob uncontrollably, and loudly, until his stomach hurt and his throat was coarse. He cried for Ethan, Warren and he cried for himself. He cried until he fell asleep.
-
Will woke up early the next morning. No light shined through the small gap in his curtains and he knew it was no late than five in the morning. He sighed as he sat up, already wide awake before the had even moved. The mornings were like that now. His first thought of the day was always Warren, as well as the last, and most of the ones in between.
He threw his legs over the side of his bed and stood up quickly, stretching silently. He didn't want to wake his parents yet. He couldn't stand the way they were acting around him, both accusingly and sympathetic. His father barely spoke to him, whether he was scared of saying the wrong thing and upsetting Will, or admitting he suspected Warren was bad, Will didn't know. And he didn't care. It all seemed gray now anyway.
Will picked up Warrens jacket and smelled it once more, before throwing it in his wardrobe. He then walked down to the hall and into the bathroom. As he stepped into the shower he shook his head and tried to smile. He promised himself he wouldn't cry today.
-
Warren Peace sat in his cell quietly. In the few days he had been in prison, he had learnt it was better to be quiet. Safer. He looked at the three bare walls around him and hung his head.
"So this is it huh?" He thought to himself sullenly "this is the rest of your life Peace."
He heard heavy boots stomping down the hallway, he hard the metallic din of a baton being pulled across the iron bars of various cells, and banging on the solid doors of the other, more dangerous villains cells. The guard walked down to the end of the hallway and pushed a large red button on the side of the wall.
The cell doors sprang open. Prisoners emerged from their cages, including Warren, and stood by the doors ready to be released into the courtyard, or showers. The groups of men were separated into a few groups, mostly to avoid fights. Warren's group was, first to the showers. He walked quickly to the long row of showers, ignoring others in his group. Even though everyone's powers were neutralized, Warren still didn't like to take his chances. His father had a lot of enemies in the villain community, and naturally, they assumed Warren was the same. This mostly meant that his father's enemies were now his. Even though Warren was very strong, compared to the other guys in prison, he was...Zach.
He walked into the showers, pulled off his clothes and stood under the showerhead furthest away from the others. He turned his back to them and began soaping up his body. After a few minutes, he relaxed; assuming nobody would bother him. He felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Peace?" Said a loud, gruff voice. Warren sighed, stood still for a moment and then turned to face the voice. Standing before him was a man only slightly taller than him, his face covered in tattoos? Warren sighed, squared his jaw and folded his arms.
"Yeah?"
"I heard about your daddy. Him and me weren't good friends." He said, and put his arm over Warren's shoulder "you did me a favor finishing him off Princess."
Warren looked at him with a mixture of amusement and confusion "Princess?"
"Yeah. And I'm gonna look after you while you're here."
"I can look after myself thanks." Warren said and went to turn back to the showerhead. The mans hand flashed in front of his face, blocking Warren from standing under the shower. He turned the young boy around.
"See those guys over there?" The man asked, while pointing out three men standing together whispering quickly, occasionally glancing at Warren. "Your dad is the reason they are in here. You gonna have a lot of enemies, you need someone on your side."
"And what's that gonna cost me?" Warren asked confidently. He had seen enough prison movies to know that if you were confident enough, you could get out of most situations.
"I'm sure I can think of something. I got my eye on you princess." He said, and left Warren, standing alone under the showers. Warren san his hands through his hair and sighed. Prison was going to be hard for him and he knew it.
-
Will stepped off of the school bus, ignoring the concerned looks of his friends. It was Will's first day back at school after a few weeks off. It had been exactly three weeks since he had seen Warren in prison, sitting in his small dark cell, wearing the orange jumpsuit. None of his friends had spoken to hi since Ethan's funeral. Zach blamed him, and the girls were so worried about Will that they couldn't get through a hello without bursting into tears. It made them all so uncomfortable, they stopped coming over. The four of them began to walk the steps together, but alone, each in their own world of confusion and pain. Will stopped, turned to face the others and let out a long sigh.
"Look," Will said, tears already welling up in his eyes "I know you guys hate me right now, and I know you blame me for this. I brought Warren into our lives... and I trusted him. I'm sorry. But Ethan was my friend too, and I'm sorry, but it's not my fault. I loved Warren, and I thought he had changed." Will's voice trailed off, tears falling down his cheeks.
"That's all I wanted to say."
He turned around and climbed the steps quickly, almost running from the others, ignoring the whispers of other students, staring at him. As he ran inside, he slowed down, still trying to ignore the people around him. He waked past Ethan's locker and his stomach turned. Pictures of him covered the area, as well as bundles of flowers. Will stared, feeling his cheeks grow hot and wet with tears.
"He was very popular." Said a cool male voice from behind him. Will turned around. The voice belonged to a man he hadn't seen before. He was dressed in a clean, well-pressed suit. His hair was long, but tied back tightly, letting everyone see his face fully. He was handsome with clear, lightly tanned skin and sleek black glasses framing his bright green eyes.
'He was." Will said quietly. He drew a hand up to his chest and hugged himself slightly.
"It's a tragedy, but it wasn't your fault Will."
"How do you know who I am?" Will asked, still facing the locker
"I looked you up, there was a lot about you in Mr. Peace's file. I'm the new counselor."
"Oh." Will said "you probably get a lot of business after this then."
"Yeah."
"So, who's fault is it?"
"You already know that don't you?"
"Yes"
"Maybe you should come to my office." He said, as he placed his hand on Will's back, guiding him into his small office. Will sat down in a comfortable black chair and shifted uncomfortably.
"Will."
"Mr..." He looked at the plaque on his desk "Roberts"
"Please, feel free to call me Gareth."
"Gareth. I don't mean to be rude, I'm sure you're a great counselor, but I really don't ne..."
"You're being very brave Will." He interrupted "but you don't need to be here. I know it's been a hard year for you. Coming out is always hard, especially when your parents expect so much of you. "
"Oh everyone was cool about that."
"Right, but you must be so...exhausted. Mr. Peace couldn't have been very caring. From what I heard, he was quite domineering. Maybe you should look at this in a positive way."
Will laughed "what? My lover murdered one of my friends. This is positive how?"
"Oh please, don't be offended. I'm just saying, now your safe, safe from an obviously abusive relationship."
"He was never... abusive." Will smiled slightly, the first true smile in a long time "I have super strength, I'm fairly hard to be abused."
"Oh. Of course. I just heard he was fairly uncaring. That's all."
Wills brow furrowed. Mr. Roberts was beginning to make him feel slightly suspicious.
"Will, have you ever considered vengeance?"
"Pardon?" Will said. He stood.
"Well, he did hurt you, maybe you should try hurting him. Fair is fair."
"I'm not like that. That isn't fair. Vengeance isn't justice." Will said "who are you?"
"Oh Will Will Will!" He said, also standing, expressing his words with apparent glee "you are a smart one, Ange said I should be careful with you. Guess I was a little too obvious."
"Ange?"
"I guess you know her as Ms. Fletcher."
Will felt his knees go weak. Ms. Fletcher, the teacher Warren had problems with before he... before the incident. He clenched his fists.
"Don't bother Will. You should know I could squash you immediately. Barron Battle doesn't deal with the weak."
"Barron Battle? What's he got to do wi... His followers. Like Warren said."
Mr. Roberts smiled "Are we all catching up now?"
"You set him up?"
"You got it kiddo. Wow, you put it together a lot quicker than we expected."
"Why? Why are yo telling me this?"
"Because it's my duty. It's not about ruling the world or any of that nonsense. Your faggot boyfriend killed our master. We could have killed him within a minute, but this is so much better. He is in jail now, being beaten and abused on a daily basis, while his boyfriend is out in the world dealing with the mess."
Will felt anger surge through him.
"It's so delicious don't you think?"
"Sure, except for the part where I kill you."
Will moved to punch him in the face, missing by mere inches as Mr. Roberts disappeared suddenly.
"Over here babe."
Will whirled around. Mr. Roberts stood behind him grinning.
"I gave my life to the master. His vengeance has been exacted, nothing else matters now."
He disappeared again, this time leaving the room completely. Leaving Will alone. He sank down to the ground, pale and shaking. He howled at the injustice of it all. He screamed as he kicked he desk in front of him, smashing it into small pieces. He threw chairs and roared until it was all out. Until he felt numb again.
"Will?" Said a voice from the door. It was Principal Powers.
-
AN: Hmm, big chapter, a lot going on. But hey, now we all KNOW Warren didn't do it. I hope the word Faggot didn't offend anyone, but before using it I thought, hey I am one, I should be able to say it whenever I want.
Review would be awesome!
