Beneath The Moon
Life::Risk It All[9]
Days went just about the same; spending every waking minute with Holly, copying each other’s homework, hanging out at our bench and smoking. Confident and determined to remain in Las Vegas [mostly due to Holly’s existence] I got a job working at a local café as a busboy. The pay wasn’t great, but it was better than nothing. At the very least, it kept me from having to steal money from Franklin to buy a pack of smokes.
Practically a week after the second semester had started, I spent a Thursday night over at Holly’s. It was a chance to get out of my own hell-hole, and it wasn’t as if Margret [Holly’s mother] cared. It wasn’t really that night that mattered, however; it was the day after.
That Friday, we decided to skip school, considering we really had nothing better to do [that is, other than studying…]. Holly and I headed down to the mall, relishing our newly-received paychecks [Holly worked at the local Barnes & Noble]. Even though we weren’t really being paid more than minimum wage, one week’s worth of a paycheck was good enough for me. Totally forgetting to even give the school a reason as to why we weren’t there, we spent our day hanging out around the food court, and in Spencer’s, Hot Topic, and Border’s Books.
“I’m glad you came to Vegas,” Holly claimed as we walked out of the mall together. We were headed back to my house; I did need to stop there every once in a while to prove to the Durmur’s that I wasn’t dead. Holly adjusted to my arm resting on her shoulder, and went on.
“Ever since you came along, I’ve actually had a social life. Without you, my life would diminish back down to nothing.” She looked up at me and smiled pathetically.
“I’m glad I moved here, too,” I agreed with her, although I didn’t really think she knew how big of a part she played in my life. Instead of filling her in on that, I just took a deep breath and kept on walking. Soon enough, we reached the house. As soon as I stepped into the entryway, I could tell something wasn’t right. There was an awkward, cold feeling hanging in the air. Then, as if he had appeared out of nowhere, Franklin welcomed Holly with a curt ‘hello’ and turned his attention back towards me.
“Your friend needs to go, now. If she doesn’t, your punishment will be more severe than it already is,” Franklin warned. I gave Holly a sideways look and then motioned her out the door. I just hoped that she could tell that my eyes were saying ‘shit’. Not the most useful thing to say with your eyes, but hey, I try. As soon as Holly was out the door, Franklin was on me like a vampire to blood. Delaney wasn’t present; whenever Franklin was going to talk to me, she had, conveniently enough, somewhere else to be.
Franklin stepped closer to my face, so that I could vaguely smell his sickly-sweet cologne that made me want to gag every time I inhaled.
“You can’t pull this shit anymore. I won’t let you,” he said darkly. It was that same tone that had made a shiver run down my spine. I bit my tongue, hard.
“Alright,” was all I said, and I started to head towards the stairs. Franklin pulled me back by my shirt again, the same as last time; this time using more force. I bared my teeth for a second before Franklin could see. I bit my tongue again. Once a hold of my shirt, he grabbed my upper arm so tight that there was no way I was escaping that vice grip.
“Let-go-of-me,” I said, biting my tongue, gritting my teeth, and digging my nails into my palms from clenching my fists that hard. I was about ready to break; you would not believe what level of control I had to contain just so I wouldn’t knock his lights out.
“No, I don’t think I will,” responded Franklin. I swung my arm around, attempting to unlock my arm from his grip, but he held on tight. Realizing that I would try harder than he thought to get out of his grip, Franklin pinned me to the nearest wall, so that my back was facing him. He released his hand from my arm, but kept his other on my neck, pushing down on the pressure points. I bit my tongue, tasting blood in my mouth. I heard a metallic clattering sound, and Franklin pressed a straight-edged object up against my back. I breathed deeply.
“Nobody disobeys me. They all learn in due time,” Franklin said. I felt a tug on the back of my shirt, the cool air touch my skin. There was a slight ripping sound coming from behind me.
“What the hell are you doing?” I yelled, and Franklin pressed harder on my pressure points. He softly stuck the point of a huge kitchen knife right next to my face.
“I’m teaching you the rules,” he replied coldly.
Practically a week after the second semester had started, I spent a Thursday night over at Holly’s. It was a chance to get out of my own hell-hole, and it wasn’t as if Margret [Holly’s mother] cared. It wasn’t really that night that mattered, however; it was the day after.
That Friday, we decided to skip school, considering we really had nothing better to do [that is, other than studying…]. Holly and I headed down to the mall, relishing our newly-received paychecks [Holly worked at the local Barnes & Noble]. Even though we weren’t really being paid more than minimum wage, one week’s worth of a paycheck was good enough for me. Totally forgetting to even give the school a reason as to why we weren’t there, we spent our day hanging out around the food court, and in Spencer’s, Hot Topic, and Border’s Books.
“I’m glad you came to Vegas,” Holly claimed as we walked out of the mall together. We were headed back to my house; I did need to stop there every once in a while to prove to the Durmur’s that I wasn’t dead. Holly adjusted to my arm resting on her shoulder, and went on.
“Ever since you came along, I’ve actually had a social life. Without you, my life would diminish back down to nothing.” She looked up at me and smiled pathetically.
“I’m glad I moved here, too,” I agreed with her, although I didn’t really think she knew how big of a part she played in my life. Instead of filling her in on that, I just took a deep breath and kept on walking. Soon enough, we reached the house. As soon as I stepped into the entryway, I could tell something wasn’t right. There was an awkward, cold feeling hanging in the air. Then, as if he had appeared out of nowhere, Franklin welcomed Holly with a curt ‘hello’ and turned his attention back towards me.
“Your friend needs to go, now. If she doesn’t, your punishment will be more severe than it already is,” Franklin warned. I gave Holly a sideways look and then motioned her out the door. I just hoped that she could tell that my eyes were saying ‘shit’. Not the most useful thing to say with your eyes, but hey, I try. As soon as Holly was out the door, Franklin was on me like a vampire to blood. Delaney wasn’t present; whenever Franklin was going to talk to me, she had, conveniently enough, somewhere else to be.
Franklin stepped closer to my face, so that I could vaguely smell his sickly-sweet cologne that made me want to gag every time I inhaled.
“You can’t pull this shit anymore. I won’t let you,” he said darkly. It was that same tone that had made a shiver run down my spine. I bit my tongue, hard.
“Alright,” was all I said, and I started to head towards the stairs. Franklin pulled me back by my shirt again, the same as last time; this time using more force. I bared my teeth for a second before Franklin could see. I bit my tongue again. Once a hold of my shirt, he grabbed my upper arm so tight that there was no way I was escaping that vice grip.
“Let-go-of-me,” I said, biting my tongue, gritting my teeth, and digging my nails into my palms from clenching my fists that hard. I was about ready to break; you would not believe what level of control I had to contain just so I wouldn’t knock his lights out.
“No, I don’t think I will,” responded Franklin. I swung my arm around, attempting to unlock my arm from his grip, but he held on tight. Realizing that I would try harder than he thought to get out of his grip, Franklin pinned me to the nearest wall, so that my back was facing him. He released his hand from my arm, but kept his other on my neck, pushing down on the pressure points. I bit my tongue, tasting blood in my mouth. I heard a metallic clattering sound, and Franklin pressed a straight-edged object up against my back. I breathed deeply.
“Nobody disobeys me. They all learn in due time,” Franklin said. I felt a tug on the back of my shirt, the cool air touch my skin. There was a slight ripping sound coming from behind me.
“What the hell are you doing?” I yelled, and Franklin pressed harder on my pressure points. He softly stuck the point of a huge kitchen knife right next to my face.
“I’m teaching you the rules,” he replied coldly.