Hey dudes! I'm back with another chapter of NCM! We're gonna pick up where the last chapter left off with Rudy. If you noticed, he seems to have done something to scar poor Melba. But what? We'll also get a look in his thoughts and conscious. So I hope you enjoy it.

Warning: Contains scary nightmare sequence

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 13: Inner Demons

"What did I just do...? Who am I...?"

Rudy sat down in the alleyway... he couldn't get the last few hours out of his head. Did he... did he really do that...? Did he really try to do that...? Why? What was he thinking?!

I know I can be a jerk... he thought, But I'm not that cruel... I just scared her... had her thinking I was going to destroy her... but I didn't... but why did I do it... or rather... why didn't I do it...?

He thought back to when he stepped foot into the house... he knew in doing so... there was no turning back. He had Melba backed into a corner, dragged her up to her room, and had her pinned... but before he could even attempt to do anything...

"Rudy... you are much better than this..."

It was his good conscious, speaking on his shoulder. It was essentially an angel version of himself, "You have this poor girl scared to death. Don't hurt her. She hasn't done anything..."

"Don't listen to that wimp. Do it! That shrimp has pissed you off for the last time. This is the best way to get back at him!"

Another conscious appeared on his other shoulder, only this one was a bad devil version of himself. Rudy had frozen at that moment, he just stared at Melba, who was breathing heavily with tears streaming down her face. He didn't let go of her... he just glared at her while his conscious' spoke with him...

"Rudy, you have done enough damage already with Russell. Don't continue with hurting his friends..."

"You did a number on his dumb brother. Do an even greater number on this diesel mouthed girl!"

"What would your mother think?"

"Screw your mom! She was one of the ones who turned against you when you first hurt that runt!"

"You've just been dealing with a lot of stress. Just leave, take a breath, and relax!"

"Don't do that! Break this brat! She deserves it!"

"Rudy... you're a good boy. Don't tarnish that by doing something that will tarnish that will affect her... you're friends... and eventually yourself..."

"Don't be a wimp, Rudy! Do it! DO IT! This is your chance to BREAK that shrimp, as well as this big mouth brat! So DO IT!"

"No, Rudy!"

"YES, RUDY!"

Soon, Rudy had enough of his conscious arguing, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" He had shouted, pulling out the knife, raising it above Melba, who screamed at the sight of it. He kept it raised... before bringing it down slowly when he heard the little girl scream. He looked at her for a few seconds... before putting the knife away.

"Melba... I'm so sorry... I'll... I'll leave... please don't tell anybody about this..."

He slowly got off her and left the room, leaving the girl still sobbing in fear.

Now here he was, sitting in an alley two hours later, thinking about how he just scared a girl to death, making her think he was going to hurt her in a most horrendous way.

And honestly... he felt sour with himself.

"Why did I do that...? I mean, yes I'm pissed... but I shouldn't take it out on Melba..."

"You did the right thing, Rudy..." Said his good conscious, "You could have done something so serious, it could have scarred her for life..."

Rudy sighed, "Yeah... but I'm sure she's still scared though. Just even attempting it frightened her..."

"True..."

"You're a wimp, you know that..." His bad conscious frowned, "You had the perfect chance, and you chickened out!"

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't hurt her like that..."

"What about taking revenge...?"

Rudy frowned deeply, "Would it have been worth it...?"

His good conscious shook his head, "No... it wouldn't have. If you did it, and you got caught, you would have been in serious legal trouble, Rudy. So you narrowly avoided that..."

But to be perfectly honest... Rudy didn't feel better. He may not have done what he intended to do... but he felt bad for even trying. What programmed in his mind to even try? Because of a dream that Russell had?

"I wish that shrimp didn't talk about his dream to us... then maybe I wouldn't have gotten that stupid idea..." He muttered, "Actually... I wish things were different... what am I doing...?"

Rudy held his head, trying to think clearly... but he couldn't... he really couldn't...

You really hurt poor Russell. You blame all your problems on him, and you expect everyone to love you... but really, what he says about you is true! You really DON'T have any class! If you're doing all of that, then it's true! And then you had to go and roughen up Bill, and scare Melba! What kind of sick demented monster are you?! One that takes pleasure in tormenting little boys! You have NCE... No... Class... Ever-"

NOOOOOO! Shut up! JUST! SHUT UP!"

The rich boy stood up and ran out of the alleyway. He continued to run as fast as he could... until he reached his house. He knew his parents were working late, so he had the house to himself for a while. He burst in, stormed into his room, flopped down on the bed, and sobbed loudly and uncontrollably.

"Get out of my head! Get out of my HEAD!" He cried, punching his pillow before burying his face into it.

You know it's true, Rudy. You can't deny it...

As much as he didn't want to listen to his inner thoughts... he knew they were right. He had truly made a mess of things... and he only had himself to blame... he hurt Russell... he hurt Bill... he almost hurt Melba... and now...

He felt hurt...

Emotionally...

"Who am I... what am I...?"

Rudy continued to cry and cry... until he eventually fell asleep...

Rudy found himself... in a cage. Much to his confusion and fear, "Huh... wha... what's going on...?" He looked around, and to his shock, he saw the other guys sitting in chairs at a table, "Dudes...?"

Albert looked towards Rudy and shushed him, "Shh... don't speak... or else he'll come...?"

"He? What's going on?"

"H-H-He's lost it..." Donald whimpered.

"He's gone insane..." Harold added.

"He's gonna kill us..." Bucky whimpered also.

"Who is he?!" Rudy asked.

Suddenly, a door opened, and a person walked through. They were shadowy at first... but once they came into the light... Rudy was shocked at who it was...

"R-Russell...?"

Yes, indeed it was the little boy. But something was different about him. First off, his clothes were stained with blood, along with blood smeared on his mouth. Secondly, he was holding a weapon in his hand that Rudy couldn't identify at the moment. And thirdly, and this was the scariest thing to Rudy... was the psychotic smile on Russell's face.

"Hello, Rudy... fancy seeing you here..." The boy greeted slowly.

"Well, you had to be the one who put me here. Let me out!"

"I don't think so... not after the pain and suffering you put me through."

Suddenly, Russell kicked the cage, making Rudy jump, "Do you even realize how bad I've felt lately?! I've had to deal with your crap for weeks! All because you can't handle a joke! You always have to overreact over the littlest of things! I could be happy! But I'm not! Because of YOU! You've RUINED my LIFE! This is all your fault! And worse, you have to take it out on the other dudes, my brother, and even Melba!"

Rudy flinched at those words, before trying to speak, "B-B-But!"

Russell cut him off, "But what?! Are you gonna say it's not your fault? That you were just angry and jealous? Well, guess what?! I've seen wrestlers who handle their anger better than you! You're like a school on holiday! No class!"

Okay, that one stung more than Rudy had intended. But honestly, all of it hurt. Why? Because what Russell was saying... was the same things he said to Russell. He was currently having his words thrown back in his face.

All the boy did was look away in shame, before he heard the cage unlocking. Suddenly, he felt himself being roughly pulled out of the cage by Russell, who said, "Hm... maybe I will take you out... so that you can feel the pain I felt!"

"Huh?"

Before Rudy could fully question what Russell meant, he suddenly felt punches and kicks all over. He quickly realized that Russell was beating him up... while the others just sat and watched. He begged for their help, but they declined, not only because they weren't allowed... but they felt like he deserved it.

"Now you see how Russell felt this summer."

That stung even more. Rudy knew they were right...

The beating seemed to go on for an eternity until Rudy was left as a bruised and bloody mess. Russell chuckled evilly as he held his foot on Rudy's stomach, "You made me this way, Rudy... you beating me up this summer started all of this... and now your life is a living HELL! Just like you made mine a living Hell!"

"P-P-Please... I'm sorry, Russell... I'm so sorry..." The rich boy sobbed, moaning in pain, "Please..."

"It's too late for sorries, you no class jerk! Far too late! You had your chance... and you blew it!"

Suddenly, Russell forced himself down above Rudy and pulled back the collar of his turtleneck. Rudy was confused as to what was happening... until Russell opened his mouth wide to reveal sharp fangs.

Rudy gasped in horror.

He struggled to escape, but it was too late. Russell sunk his fangs deep into the teen's neck. Rudy gasped in absolutely pain and shock. He continued to try and struggle, but couldn't get away, no matter how hard he tried.

After a few seconds, Russell sat up, licking any dripping blood as he grinned at the rich boy beneath him, "That was tasty... I just wanted to make my mark on you... but now, I think it's time we end this, once and for all!"

That's when he grabbed the weapon from earlier... which Rudy could now see is a gun.

"No... no... Russell! Please! Don't! We can work this out! Please! Don't do this!"

But all Russell did was laugh, "Oh, but we are working it out! My way!" He aimed the gun right between Rudy's eyes.

"Goodbye, Rudolph Davis..."

With that, he pulled the trigger...

BANG!

BOOM!

"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Rudy woke up with a scream. He began breathing heavily as he looked out the window. It was cloudy and a storm was coming, which explained the big boom. As he started to calm down, he started to cry. A wave of misery, pain, and guilt washed over him...

"God... who am I...?"

"Rudy... we're home..."

Mom and Dad.

Feeling the need for comfort and confession... Rudy raced out of his room and into the arms of his mother, "Mom... Dad... I need to talk to you. Now! Please... I think I need help..."

Well now. It looks like Rudy had a whole new realization again. All it took was a freaky nightmare to get through to them. And it turns out, he didn't hurt Melba at all, he just startled her. There will be two more chapters after this, and the next one will focus on both Rudy and Russell's road to recovery. Can they reconcile? Can Rudy make amends with everyone else? We'll find out soon enough. I'll see you guys later, and don't forget to review, please. Thank you!