Chapter seven
Frederic was not in the best of mood. Even with treatment, Tobin was looking horrible. Frederic had the group stop moving a few hours ago when Tobin got a fever. His wounds had probably gotten infected before Luke had a time to treat them. There was also Donnica whining and complain about how worried she was about Tobin. If Tobin did die, what Frederic was going to do everything in his power to make sure didn't happen, then he was going to kill Donnica right after. She wouldn't mind, he was sure, since she would be able to be with Tobin anyway. Or some bullshit like that.
Tobin couldn't die though. Frederic had already lost James; he wasn't about to lose someone else. "Tobin," Frederic said, looking over at the injured boy, who was resting against a tree, "remember, I haven't given you permission to die yet."
Tobin gave a weak laugh, "yeah. I know boss. I'm not going to die yet. I owe you that much."
Frederic nodded, and kept look out. Luke was busy taking care of Tobin, and Donnica was no help, so that left him to deal with keeping look out. Tobin… Frederic could still remember how they all met, him, Tobin, James, and Luke. It wasn't all at once, but most of the situations were the same. Frederic had saved their lives…
James was dead now, but he had been on barrowed time for a long time anyway. When Frederic first met him, James was planning on dropping out of school. He skipped most days, and only actually went when his mother actually found him and could force him. All day long, he'd be out in the worst parts of the local neighborhood, doing drugs. Frederic never asked what James actually did, but he knew he injected it. The problem with drug addicts was they always needed money.
James had tried to steal money from the wrong people. Frederic wasn't sure if there was really a 'right' people to steal from, but it would have been better to steal form some old lady than trying to do it to Frederic's father. Frederic's father was, well, for all intensive purposes the head of what Frederic would call a mob. His father called it a gang, but it acted more like a mob for those old movies his mother loved to watch. Gang or mob, you don't steal from them.
"Do you know what happens when you try to steal from my boy? It doesn't matter if you're a child or not," Frederic's father said, calmly. Frederic watched from a cracked door. He had heard that a boy from his class might be able to get killed and he wanted to see if he know it was.
"I-I…" Was all James was able to choke out. Frederic could see he was trembling, only able to keep standing because he was being held still by two men that Frederic knew were some of his father's enforcers, though he wasn't really sure what that was.
"No one steals from me and gets away from it," Frederic's father got up, taking out a gun. "And to think you thought you would get away from it."
"P-please, d-don't," James tried to plead.
Frederic ran out of where he had been hiding and over to his father. "Stop! James is one of my best friends. You can't kill him!" Frederic couldn't let him father kill some kid who looked so afraid. Frederic wasn't really friends with James, having only seen him a few times. He had heard rumors about James' drug use though, everyone talked about it, or at least the people who were always in other people's business. "He does drugs; he must have been high when he tried to do it. I know he would never steal from you if he was in his right mind."
Frederic watched his father frown and look at James again. "If you ever try to do something like stealing from me again, not even my son will be able to save you."
Frederic sighed in relief. As soon as the men let go to James, Frederic grabbed onto his arm and pulled him off to his room. Once they were both inside, he locked the door. "My name is Frederic Mars. I'm in some of your classes when you actually show up."
"Why did you save me? You know I'm not one of your best friends," James said, sitting down. He was still shaking, and his body still looked tense.
Frederic was quiet a moment. "I saved your life, that makes it mine. I… I don't really have any friends, so you're my friend now. Besides, we'll need to keep that up otherwise they could still kill you. You're getting off those drugs, I'm going to help you." His father always said that you needed loyal friends you could always trust and count on. James would be a good friend, right?
James was quiet a moment, "You really want to be friends with me?" He laughed. "Well, why the hell not? Sure, lets' be friends. And what do you mean my life if yours?"
"It means, you're not aloud to get yourself kill until I say it's okay. I'm not going to be losing the few friends I have," Frederic said.
James laughed again, looking like he was feeling better. "Sure fine. I won't die until you tell me too. You are a strange one, you know what Frederic? If you think you can honestly help me then let's see your try."
James had only gotten off drugs because Frederic had talked his father into sending him to rehab. It wasn't fair. James was going on almost a year sober, when he died. Frederic blamed himself more than James had James was dead. Frederic should have found him, should have protected him. That was his job. His father always said that if you are going to demand loyalty, it's your job to do what you can to protect them in return as they protect you. That was why Frederic's father had so many lawyers working for him, at least that was what he said.
He looked over to Tobin again. Tobin couldn't die too. When Frederic had met Tobin, he was at the top of his class in school. He was doing well in almost everything he did, and then one day he just started to be quiet and doing poorly at things. James was off in rehab still at the time, and the only person he saw as a friend was Leo and Leo wasn't a good friend. Leo's father had to be the best lawyer that worked for his father. Mr. De Sars did a lot of high profile cases, and took jobs from other people than just his father. Still, Leo had always been told to 'play' with him when their fathers were talking about things that children should hear. Leo spent most of his time with Lance, Alex and Emily though so Frederic wasn't sure if he could call them good friends even if he wanted too.
Frederic had been put with Tobin to work on a group project. Everyone else picked partners and he had been stuck with Tobin. No one wanted to be Tobin's partner after he started to do so poorly at school, and no one wanted to be Frederic's partner because he scared people, or so he heard. Frederic took charge of the project and said they were going over to Tobin's house to work on the project. There was no way that they were going to his own house, filled with all of those mobsters, that sounded so much cooler than gangsters. Tobin protested, but Frederic wasn't taking no for an answer.
That was when Frederic found out what Tobin's mood had changed so dramatically. Tobin's mother had just gotten remarried, and Tobin's step father was abusive. Frederic saw it first hand, and he knew he had to do something about it. Tobin was a good kid, and Frederic decided he was going to be one of his friends.
"Dad, I need help with something," Frederic said. He had originally planned on asking for a gun to go and kill Tobin's step father, but he had gotten a better idea.
"What is it Frederic? I am a bit busy at the moment, so make it quick."
"A friend of mine's step father is very abusive. I'm worried he's going to kill my friend and I don't know what to do," Frederic said. "Please, I need to help my friend."
Frederic's father was quiet a moment. "Who is this friend of yours?"
"Tobin Lan."
"I'll take care of it for you."
Tobin's parents were both killed. That wasn't what Frederic had wanted. Tobin ended up moving in with them, as Frederic's father pulled strings to make it happen.
"Tobin. I-I'm so sorry. I didn't think that my father would kill both your parents. I just, I just wanted to help save you from your step-father," Frederic said.
Tobin looked up, his face was covered in tears. "I-it was your fault my mother is dead?"
"I.. yes. It is." Frederic wasn't going to lie to him. "I just saw what was happening with your step-father and-"
"I understand. You probably did save my life. He was hurting my mother too, and I… I'm sure he would have killed us both sooner or later," Tobin said. "But, what am I supposed to do now? My whole family's dead… I don't understand why I didn't die with them."
"You're not aloud too."
"What?"
"I said, you're not aloud to die. I saved your life, that makes it mine. You can't die until I tell you it's okay. Until I give you permission. I'll do what I can to make sure no one ever hurts you again, but your life is mine," Frederic explained.
Tobin was silent, but gave a small nod. "I suppose it's at least something to live for…"
Tobin still lived with him. Frederic had failed him though, as Tobin could be dying at the moment and there was nothing Frederic could do to save him. Luke was doing what he could, and so was Donnica, but that was it. It was going to be soon that Frederic would give Tobin permission to die, so it would be okay. Frederic couldn't let him die feeling like he was a failure.
Then there was Luke. They had met Luke under much more normal terms, on the track team. It had been James' idea to join, saying they should try doing something productive. Well, it was mostly because running helped keep his mind off drugs. That was a good enough reason for him. Frederic made Tobin join too. Tobin was still depressed at the time, but running seemed to make him feel better and he had just met Donnica.
Luke ended up in their relay team. They never came in first, but they almost always placed. The four of them started to hang out a lot, but Luke was never as close as Frederic was to Tobin and James, at least not at first. Tobin got seriously ill, and the three of them went to the hospital to see him.
"Tobin. You can't die. I haven't given you permission to die yet," Frederic said, looking down at the sleeping Tobin. His friend had something wrong with his lungs, and as long as the antibiotics worked he'd be fine. It was just so far advanced that they were worried they might not work.
"What are you talking about Frederic? Why would he need your permission to die?" Luke asked.
"Because we owe our lives to Frederic, and so we gave them to him," James cut it. Frederic didn't really remember them actually giving him their lives, more like he just claimed ownership of them. Frederic liked James' version better.
"He owns both of your lives? Must make you all close," Luke said.
"It does. I don't know what I would do without Frederic. You should give him your life too, pledge it to him. He always looks out for you," James said. Frederic wasn't sure he really liked where this was going. He hadn't done anything for Luke to justify what James was saying.
"Fine. Frederic, my life is yours," Luke said. "I'm sure you'll take good care of it."
Frederic didn't know what had come over Luke at that moment. He figured he just wanted to fit in with the rest of them and didn't fully understand what he was saying.
Still, he wasn't going to hurt down this offer. "Alright, just remember you can't back out of this. You can't die until I give you permission."
Luke took it seriously, as seriously as Tobin and James did. Tobin of course got better, though he couldn't run track anymore. He was still on the team, he was just a manager. He could even run with them, just not enough to run in any of the meets.
"Frederic, I'm sorry. If I wasn't so sick, we would have found Emily by now," Tobin said softly.
Frederic shook his head. "It's fine. I'm sure Leo will keep Emily safe until I find her. She also knows how to shoot a gun. We'll find her and then we'll figure out what to do from there. We'll be the last ones standing, and then we'll figure out what to do. Until that point, you're not dying on me Tobin."
"You always were such a hard ass sometimes Frederic," Tobin siad.
"Just get some rest," Frederic said.
Emily… She better be okay. If anyone deserved to make it out of his game alive it was her. If he had to pick one of them to make live, it would be her. Or she would die by his hands. Those were the only options he was giving her, so he had to find her quickly.
He'd have to thank his father again for him meeting Emily. They were never all that close in school, and Frederic believed the rumors most of the time that she was dating Leo, or Lance, or Alex. She would always deny it, but no one believed she wasn't dating one of them. She was beautiful, but would have never been his first choice for a girlfriend. There were prettier girls, there were smarter girls, there were girls better ay everything than she was, but they weren't who he ended up with.
Frederic had been walking back to his room when he heard someone screaming for help.
"Let me go! Please! S-Stop it!" It was a girl's voice, and it was coming from one of his uncle's room.
"Ooh, it looks like we have a screamer. She's so cute too, where did you get it?" his uncle asked.
"We found her on our way to pick up Frederic after his track meet. I think she does to his school. With her age, I bet she's a virgin too," one of his father's men said.
"Stop it! Don't touch me!" She screamed again.
From his school? Frederic knew they would kidnap women off the street and do things to them he rather not think about, and then end up prostituting them out. It was one of the ways his father made his money, that and drugs, and all that organized crime stuff his father liked to pretend he didn't fully understand. But a girl from his school? And now that he was listening closer, he knew it was Emily Dashallson. She was his age. They couldn't do this to a girl his own age! Not one he knew…
Frederic ran into the room, glaring at the men in the office. His uncle was in front of his desk, looking at Emily, whose clothes were ripped up and she was crying, trying desperately to cover herself. Their were more men in there than he had originally thought, but that wouldn't stop him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Oh Frederic, why don't you run off and play somewhere else. I'm busy right now," his uncle said.
"That's my girlfriend. How dare you lay a finger on her? I should go and tell my father right now what you're doing to my girlfriend," he made sure to make the my stand out, and keep anger in his voice and the fear out of it.. Emily looked up and him, confused and still afraid. She didn't say a word.
"F-Frederic, we didn't know. There's no need to get your father involved in this. Take you with you," his uncle said.
Frederic walked over to Emily and helped her up. "Just go along with it for now," he whispered softly to her. He then pulled her along out of the office and into his bedroom.
"What are you going to do with me now? Rape me yourself? I'll fight back," Emily said. Her voice no longer held fear, but a kind of malice.
"I just saved you. I'm not going to rape you. I'm going to protect you, understand? If we don't act like we're actually dating, they'll think we broke up and go after you again. So, unless you want to go back to that room with all of those men, you're going to have to act like your my girlfriend, understand?" Frederic asked.
Emily calmed down, and looked relieved. "You're really not going to rape me then?"
"Yes, I'm really not going to rape you."
Emily started to sob, and she hugged Frederic. "I-I was so afraid. Th-thank you so much for saving me," she sobbed into his chest. "I don't care, I'll be your girlfriend. You saved me. Y-you saved me…"
Frederic didn't know what to do. He just wrapped his arms around her and held her until she stopped sobbing.
The more he got to know Emily, the closer they became to a real boyfriend and girlfriend. He was sure that was what they actually where now. He loved her, and he was sure she loved him. Emily had been the only life he had saved he didn't own. He never told her she had to get his permission to die. He never had the kind of relationship with her that he had with his other friends, but he liked it that way. She had wanted to learn how to use a gun, so he had taught her and bough her one. She said she never wanted to feel so helpless again, and he was going to do everything in his power to make that the case.
It was how he was sure she would live until he found her. While he knew she hated to hurt people, and he had seen her sobbing again in that classroom, clinging to Leo, but there had been nothing he could do. He wasn't a touchy feely kind of guy. Leo could give her better comfort than he ever could, and they both knew that. He loved Emily, but he figured she was happier with her friends, and liked them better than his friends. He was okay with that. He could protect her, and that was what he was going to do.
He didn't mind most of her friends. The only one he couldn't stand was Lance. The kept trying to get Emily to break up with him, and made sure that everyone knew how much he hated him. Frederic didn't understand why Lance hated him so badly. He had been trying to be nice to all of Emily's friends. He was already friends with Leo, and Alex wasn't all that bad, but Lance. If Frederic could kill him he would. He was going to. With his luck, he was with Emily right now so when he found her he would kill him. Emily might hate him for it, but that fine. He couldn't protect everyone he needed to in this horrible game, but he was going to do the best he could.
Once Tobin had fallen asleep, "what are his chances Luke?" Frederic knew that he didn't know a lot about medical treatment, none of them did, well Emily did but she wasn't here, so the question was kind of pointless. Luke wouldn't know any more than he did.
"He still have a fever, and it's getting worse. I'm not sure if he's going to be able to make it much longer. I gave him something for it, and I'm hoping if he can make it through the fever he'll be okay, but… I don't know," Luke said.
"He'll be okay. H-he has to be okay. I think he's just sick from the blood loss. He's wounds were taken care of. He-he might have been fighting something and the loss of blood made him actually get it. Tobin gets sick a lot… Donnica said.
"I hope you're right," Frederic said. He guessed he just had to wait now. It was about six pm now, and they would have to move out of where they were, B4, before midnight and this area became a danger zone as well. He would just wait as long as possible for that to happen. He didn't want to move Tobin any sooner than they had too.