As usual, night study ended at 9:30 pm. Julian looked around the hall but did not see Gary anywhere. He wanted to apologize for how he had reacted. After thinking about it, he realised that Gary would never try to sabotage him. Gary had been there for him since he stepped in that school. Gary used not to get bothered by anyone until he started supporting Julian.
The bullies usually left Gary alone because he was one of the rich kids. They only attacked him when he tried to defend Julian, but he still continued to do it whenever he could. Gary had been his only friend and he should have listened to him. What if Gary had been actually telling the truth? He needed to find his friend so he could start planning for a way out. Sighing, Julian grabbed his text book and summary sheet. He walked out of the large hall with the other students.Fetterville Private School was fairly large with five buildings and a large compound. The vicinity was well lit. The administration block, main hall and classes were near the school’s main gate. The two dormitory buildings were at the other end. There was a small quadrangle between them and the other two buildings.Julian was crossing it when someone bumped on him from behind. He stumbled and his books fell down. When he bent down to pick them, he felt a kick on his behind and loud laughter. He picked up his things and stood up, then looked back to see who had been mistreating him but everyone had started moving and he couldn’t pin point who could have done it.He continued to walk to the dormitory. When he got to his room, he locked the door and lay on top of bed to relax and wait for Gary. That room was the only place he felt safe in that school, apart from the classroom. The classroom was safer because it had cameras and no dared to touch him but he couldn’t relax there. In his dorm, he could relax as long as the door was locked. No one had ever tried to break it down before.Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Julian who had been about to fall asleep climbed from the bed and went to open it, thinking it was his friend. He was too sleepy to remember that he should confirm first like he always did.Julian’s eyes went wide when he saw that it was not Gary. It was Robbie, one of the poor boys. Robbie had never bothered him so he relaxed.“What is it?” Julian asked.“It’s Gary,” Robbie said. “He’s at the bleachers. He thinks he broke his leg. He fell when he was going for night study. Come and help me bring him back.”“Okay,” Julian said, stepping out and closing the door. “Let’s go. Why was he there in the first place?”“Apparently, he had gone to make a call to his girlfriend. He tried to call for help but there was no one around so he just tied his cardigan around his leg and decided to sit it out until someone came around. He couldn’t call anyone since he assumed everyone had left their phones in the dorm. He just called a minute ago.”“That must be painful. Let’s hurry.”There was a large field behind the dorms. It stretched on for 60,000 square feet. The bleachers were at the lower end near the school fence so Robbie and Julian had to walk through the entire field to get there. From a far, Julian could see a figure lying on the bleachers. He started jogging so he could reach his friend faster.“Gary,” Robbie said, going to crouch near him. He touched Gary who sat up. Only it wasn’t Gary.“What the hell,” Julian said, staring at Logan in shock. He turned to look at Robbie. “Robbie, what is going on?”Before Robbie could answer, Julian got up and started running away but Robbie caught him. He was fighting off Robbie when two other figures came from behind the bleachers and all ganged up on him.Jake produced a set of handcuffs and cuffed Julian’s hands together. Julian’s heart was pounding so loud he could hear it. He realised that Gary had been right when he warned him. Were they going to kill him?“It’s over for you, boy.” Kyle said. “You’re not getting that scholarship.”“Can I go now?” Robbie asked.Logan grabbed him by neck. “You can leave, but you must take this secret to the grave. No one will ever know what happened on this field on this night.”“No,” Jake said. “We can’t let him go now. He has to stay until it’s done. Here’s a pair of cuffs for him,” he tossed the cuffs to Kyle. “Cuff him to that pole. He should be present so that he will think twice about reporting us. He will be an accomplice to everything.”“You’re right,” Logan said.Kyle went and put the handcuffs on Robbie and cuffed him to a thin pole. Julian screamed but Jake slapped him, before putting a hand over his mouth. Julian bit the hand but Jake did not let go. He heard something being ripped and Jake removed his hand. It was replaced with duct tape.Julian’s entire body was shaking and his mind was going crazy. He wasn’t ready to die. He didn’t want to die, no, not when he was still young. Kyle and Jake held each of Julian’s arms and dragged him to the dark area behind the bleachers. He tried to resist but he was powerless against the two huge young men. Julian was so scared as they made him lie down on his back. The grass was cold. One of them placed a hand over Julian’s eyes and Julian thought he was done. They were surely going to kill him.Suddenly, he felt something hit his legs. Julian tried to scream but it came out as a muffled sound. He tried to move his legs. He felt another hit on his right leg and heard something snap. It was broken for sure. The sharp pain spread though his entire leg immediately. Julian could feel the tears soaking the palm that was covering his eyes.“That’s enough,” someone said. The hand was removed from Julian’s’ eyes and the boys stood up. Julian saw Logan holding a baseball bat and continued to sob. The pain was increasing each passing minute.“Should we leave him here?” Kyle asked.The three boys were silent for a while.“He might die if he over bleeds,” Jake said. “I may be a lot of things but I’m no murderer.”Jake bent down and unlocked the handcuffs. He stood up and put them in his pocket. “I’ll free the other one.”He left and returned with Robbie. “Take off the duct tape. If you scream, we shall finish you off.”Julian believed it, so he didn’t. He stayed silent as they ripped the tape from his lips. Jake put it in his pocket. “I’ll take all the evidence with me,” he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, squirted hand sanitizer gel on it and wiped the area around Julian’s mouth.The three boys took Julian to the school infirmary and claimed to have found him screaming in the field. The nurses seemed to believe them. They called the ambulance and started giving first aid to Julian who was in extreme pain. He was glad when they decided to give him some pain meds and sedatives. The paramedics came and took him to the hospital that day. Julian spent a week in hospital. The doctors placed a cast on his leg and because it wouldn’t heal fast enough, Julian missed the final game. He was able to go and do the high school exit examination and other tests with the cast on his leg but he had barely studied. Julian knew that his results were definitely not going to be good. Unless the scholarship review team decided to understand and be lenient to him, there was no way he was getting the scholarship. He had applied for other scholarships to improve his chances but he was worried that he wouldn’t get them because of the results.Besides, there were suspicions about his ac
Tears streamed down Julian’s eyes as he watched his home turn into ashes. Julian watched the flames flickering through the windows and smoke coming from the roof of the house. When he had just arrived, he had tried to go into the building but got held back by the neighbours who had gathered. The smell of everything he owned burning up made his stomach churn. It was something he knew he would never forget.The flames crackled and the fire intensified. At that moment, the firefighting truck came into the street, heading for the burning house. Julian just stood there, feeling numb. His home, the place he had grown up was gone. It was the only thing his parents had left him.A few minutes later, his uncle arrived. Uncle Mason screamed when he saw the house burning. His girlfriend stopped the car and they both got out. Julian ran to his uncle and fell into his arms. He had never seen Uncle Mason crying. Mason was a free spirited guy who lived life to the fullest. When they pulled apart, J
Julian couldn’t believe that his uncle was thinking of leaving when he needed him the most.“What are you talking about, uncle?” Julian was shocked. “You can’t leave me like this. Everything has turned upside down. I don’t know if I’ll get a scholarship, all my belongings have been destroyed. I have no idea how I’ll get my life on track again. You promised my parents that you would take care of me. They died trying to save you from the fire. How can you repay them like this?”Julian had been told that his parents had died in a fire when he was eight years old. Julian had been in boarding school by then and a fire had broken out in the vacation house they owned. They ran out but soon realised that their nephew Mason was still inside. When they went back for him, a beam collapsed on Julian’s father and he died instantly. His mother had managed to take Mason outside but she died soon after. The neighbours called in the police and the paramedics who declared both adults dead. Julian had a
Other than his uncle, Gary was the only person Julian trusted. Although his uncle had told him not tell anyone about the treasure, he did not hesitate to tell Gary about it that evening.“So, are you’re going to look for it,” Gary asked. They were seated in the entertainment room watching a sci-fi movie they’d seen before.Julian laughed. “Are you mad? Of course not. That’s ridiculous. I’m going to find a job and work as hard as possible so I can get my own place. I don’t have time to go digging around the city in the hopes of finding some ancient treasure. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?”“You admitted that you’ve always found your family mysterious,” Gary said. “Maybe there’s no treasure but there has to be a reason why those spots were marked. What if they mean something to the family? What if this holds some of the answers you have sought your whole life? You said your parents’ bodies were never found. What if this has something to say about that?”Julian sighed. “I think
The whole street was silent. Stars shone above as the car pulled into Gary’s driveway. As Julian got out of the car, he hoped that Gary’s parents were not awake. Unfortunately for them, Mr. Dyer was back and he was standing at the landing when they got in and switched on the lights.“Where have you been?” he asked, looking at his son.“We had gone to see Danny,” Gary said. “We played a few games and didn’t realise how late it was getting. Sorry dad.”“Don’t do this again,” the man said, his gaze lingering on Julian as if he was blaming him for leading his son astray. Julian felt the man was right. It was his fault, after all.They claimed the stairs and Gary turned off the lights at the landing before they went to his room. Closing the door behind him, Julian went and placed the box on the table.“What do you think is in there?” Julian asked, fearing to open the rusty box.“I have no idea,” Gary said, sitting on his bed. He removed his jacket and placed it on the bed. “We’ll never kno
The sun was shining bright on that day. It’s a good day to die, Julian thought as he entered the forest. The air was thick as he started hiking up the hill. His heart was thumping so hard that he could hear it. The trees towered above him, and he could hear the gentle sway of the leaves, bringing a calming feeling to his heart. His mind was raging with all kinds of thoughts.A few minutes after hurrying up, his breathing had grown laboured and his legs heavy. His legs felt like lead and he was so tired that it was affecting his vision. Because of that, he nearly stumbled over rocks and tree roots on the path. At that point, he felt like he was dragging himself up the trail, his feet barely lifting off the ground. Desire everything, he continued.After what seemed like hours, he reached the top and immediately collapsed on the ground. He lay on his back under a shady tree and stared at the bright blue sky. The world was so beautiful and he found himself wondering if ending his life was
The shed was a small single structure in the backyard of the house. It was made of wood and had a single door. The exterior wall was painted grey and the inside was a lighter shade of grey. The shed had a shelf on the eastern wall where several equipment were kept. Julian noted that his uncle had nearly cleared it out and it was cramped as before. All that was left were a number of useless equipment that were either too old or broken. Julian saw that some of the wooden planks that made up the floor had been removed and a hole dug inside. He knelt down and looked down to see an old wooden box that had been emptied of its contents. As he was looking though the dusty shed, he spotted something, a hole in the wall. It was very small and he had never noticed it before. Reaching in, he touched it and tried to widen it. Suddenly, the paint near it gave way and Julian saw a crevice inside the wall. He had always noticed a bit of mystery in the family but all the things he was discovering we
Julian opened more pages of the book but couldn’t see anything. All the pages were blank. He sighed and closed the book.“Useless book,” he said.“Sorry man,” Gary said. “I thought you’d find something useful in there.”Julian wanted to throw the book out of the window but he remembered everything that had happened to him. Maybe the book would come in handy at some point.When they reached Gary’s house, Julian wanted to be alone. He went to his room and threw the book on the table. The book fell open when it landed on the table top. Julian was about to turn away when he saw words on the open page. He did another take to make sure he was seeing right. He could swear that the page had been blank before but he chose not to dwell on that.He picked up the book and saw an address written on it. He opened other pages to see if there was something on them but found nothing. Julian grabbed a piece of paper and copied the address hoping it wouldn’t disappear. He opened the drawer and saw a few