Crimson and Furs

Bullies Again

That morning Daniel woke up earlier than usual, his eyes puffy as if he had not had a good sleep. The truth was, he didn't actually have a good sleep throughout that night. Every time he slept he would have a nightmare, jolting up instantly in fright. He still remembered the incident from yesterday and it was plaguing his mind.

Calm down, it's only a delusion, Daniel told himself as he stood up from bed in order to prepare himself for today. He was a 16-year old kid at Grade 10 in Crimson High School, the biggest school in that city. He was well-known to supercede his peers in the classroom. In the aspect of academics, he was considered excellent and very intelligent, always topping the class. He has also made a mark for being one of the most punctual students in his class so he had to maintain that image.

He hurriedly tied a white towel around his waist and dashed to the bathroom to take a bath. In no time he was done with washing up and went to dress up. It was at this point he noticed his room was very scattered. In reality his room was not scattered as there were only two books on the ground. He actually had a tidiness OCD so he couldn't help but want to always keep his room in the best condition.

He picked up the books and arranged them neatly on the reading desk which was facing the window and then turned to glance at other parts of the room. The wooden wardrobe at the right side of his bed was neat, his bed had been well arranged and the red rug carpet was very much clean. Yesterday he had taken his time to clean the rug carpet. Well if he had spotted the slightest dust on the rug carpet, he would have immediately gone mad out of frustration (how did the dust get there in the first place!).

Daniel moved his eyes to the corners of the room, scanning for cobwebs. There was none. The blue walls of the room were very much clean. He heaved a sigh of relief as he proceeded to comb his head as he hung his backpack. He then turned to look at the long mirror standing near his wardrobe as he smiled. He was dressed in a white polo and black jean jacket, a pair of black jean trousers and white sneakers to match. He looked handsome, his face having a natural charm and innocence.

"Heh, Felicia won't be able to take her eyes off me," Daniel said as he remembered his crush. That was the same girl Walter had beaten him because. He shivered when he thought of the incident yesterday as his eyes narrowed. He quickly regained his composure as he shrugged, "It's only a delusion. None of that happened."

He then made himself believe that the bullies wouldn't beat him for crushing on Walter's ex girlfriend. It wasn't his fault the girl had a crush on him and he also had a crush on her. Nonsense! That was naive and stupid to begin with! Why would someone suddenly beat someone else because he has a crush on his ex? That was actually very, very immature. And to think that Walter was 17 made him view him with so much nativity.

"He's so naive and stupid," Daniel scoffed as he dusted imaginary dust off his cloth before walking out of the extremely neat room. He made his way to the dinning room and waited for his mother to prepare breakfast. While waiting he helped himself with a newspaper on the dinning table. The headlines read: Boy found unconscious at Crimson Woods.

His facial muscles twitched after seeing that. When did the incident became a news? I thought those cops were gonna let go of the stuff.

"The boy suspected to be delusional ran away from the school during closure and made his way to Crimson Woods," Daniel began reading silently. "After having so many hallucinations due to fear of the rumours heard, he became unconscious. If not for the timely intervention of two cops, he would have been gnarled upon by the wolf which was beside him."

Kids of nowadays should avoid Crimson Woods and not recklessly dash into that place, Daniel read inwardly. It's not a place for playing hide and seek—wild animals are there having picnics.

Whoever wrote this piece of news had a sense of humor, Daniel remarked after reading the last line. He then scoffed at the cops for not being able to keep his secret. Thankfully they didn't leak out his name or the name of his school or he would have journalists knocking at his door to interview him before he would be transferred to Crimson Juvenile Hall or the asylum to beat the delusion and recklessness out of him.

"I wasn't been reckless," Daniel muttered to himself habitually. "It's just that I was escaping from those bullies. Crimson Woods was the best place to go."

"..."

After saying that his expression became blank as he remembered the 'delusion' his mind had formed. The corpses and skeletons, the putrid smell, the ungodly presence and the huge Lycanthrope which towered over him at Crimson Woods still made him cringe in fear. He was still conflicted if it was actually a delusion or a reality? But then he couldn't believe it was a reality since the claw marks from the Lycanthrope scratch wasn't on his chest at all!

Just to make sure he wasn't mistaken, he unbuttoned his jacket and pulled his polo up right above his right chest. There were no claw marks. He sighed as he brought down his polo.

Just then Mrs. Stark walked to the dinning table carrying a tray bearing a plate and a large cup. Daniel had no way of seeing the contents as Mrs. Stark was yet to place the tray on the table. But then he could smell the aroma rippling straight out of the contents of the plate, filling the whole dinning room. A sweet fragrance wafted the atmosphere, causing his throat to bob as saliva filled his mouth. He swallowed hard as he regained his composure.

"Good morning, Mom," Daniel said. He had to maintain his manners at all times. Manners first before food. Wait! It was food before manners! Who cared for manners when one was very hungry?

"Morning, Dan," Mrs. Stark said as she placed the tray on the table. "How was your night?"

It was at this point that Daniel saw the contents of the plate. They were mushrooms fried in meat fats, flanks of cooked muttons surrounding them. At the bottom of the plate was a thick soup which had the scent of garlic, ginger, pepper and other spices. In the jug was cold milk filled to the brim, the fragrance of vanilla and sugar billowing out from it. It was such an appetizing scene for Daniel.

Daniel picked up the fork lying at the side of the plate and forked several mushrooms at once, stuffing them into his mouth. He chewed on them slowly, the softness and meat fats drilling into his mouth. The taste of the mushrooms was a bit salty and spicy but it was very good. That was the effect he wanted.

He hurried with his food and drank the jug of milk before making his way out of the house. He didn't bother to wait for his mother to drive him to school since he had a bicycle. He quickly made his way to the garage and made away with bicycle, his feet pedalling like crazy.

It was 6:30am and the highway was yet to become busy. Only a few vehicles and pedestrians could be seen moving around. Daniel rode his bicycle without obstruction for thirty minutes before finally arriving at Crimson High School. The school had no walls surrounding it and was very much open. There were lawns on both sides of the path that led to the school buildings, trees standing on the lawns and giving the environment a natural feeling.

Daniel rode his bicycle to one of the buildings on the left and packed his bicycle. The building had two doors. On top of the door to the right was labelled: Grade 10, Science Class. The door to left had the label: Grade 10, Art Class.

Since he was a science student, he made his way to the label with Science Class. As he opened the door to enter into the classroom, his eyes narrowed in shock. Sitting on the desks in front of the class were Walter and his gang of four bullies. He stared at the yellow haired boy in daze as his mouth owned slightly.

Walter chuckled after seeing him, his green eyes boiling with malice. He stood up from the desk he was sitting on, his chest bulging out and his biceps standing erect. He was very muscular and tougher than his age mates who were 17. Technically all his gang members were all 17 of age. They all gave Daniel a mocking look.

Daniel who was still in daze suddenly snapped out of it. He had been shocked because he was the one that always came first to school. Why were these bullies here before him today? What were their intentions?

He secretly glanced at the wall clock near the whiteboard and heaved a sigh of relief in secrecy. It was now 7:05am. Students and teachers would begin arriving so the bullies wouldn't try any nonsense with him. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Walter timidly, afraid to maintain eye contact with him for so long. In reality, he was actually very timid. He didn't even know how to throw a punch or a kick. Compared to Walter, he was so weak and powerless. So powerless.

"You've got a death wish, huh?" Walter said. "Thankfully you didn't die in that woods."

Huh? Daniel was momentarily at loss before realizing what Walter meant. It wasn't a delusion but something that had happened! He glared at Walter as he said, "You! You tried to kill me!"

Walter chuckled as he moved close to Daniel till they were just an inch apart. He then said, "Go on, report us to the fucking cops. No one would believe any word you say."

He then turned to his mean looking buddies and laughed, "The kid is delusional!"

All of them burst into an uproar of laughter as they sized up the weak looking Daniel who couldn't help but boil inward. He threw a weak punch at Walter out of anger but the latter easily grabbed the punch with his left hand and pressed it.

Daniel grimaced in pain as he struggled to break free but he could not. He heard Walter's voice, "This is a warning to you. Next time you'd be found dead in the closet."

Daniel stared into Walter's eyes and discovered they were very much filled with anger. It was very much true that he was capable of killing Daniel. This made the latter shudder in fear as he panted.

Walter didn't even exert strength into his left arm as he easily spun Daniel around, causing him to crash to the ground with a thud. Thankfully the backpack took the impact of the fall and Daniel was not hurt. He was only momentarily dazed as he seemed to see stars.

"Why are we in school boys?!" Walter yelled at his buddies.

"To make life miserable for Daniel!" they all replied as they burst into an uproar of laughter.

Walter glared at Daniel for some time before saying, "That's a warning."

Then he left with his bullies, leaving the weak Daniel fuming with anger. Why were bullies in all schools? Why didn't they leave in alone for one day? Why was he so weak? Why?

He had so many whys and couldn't help but fume with each question. The fault stemmed from himself. He was too weak. Too weak. And that was why he would keep being bullied by those bullies.

"I'm so weak," he muttered inwardly as he shut his eyes, blocking out the outside world. So weak.