A Favor (1)

- "Someday everything will make perfect sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason" -

~ Anonymous

He was trapped by the length of chain wrapped around his chest and torso. He took breaths in gasps as the whip continuously ate at his flesh. Squirts of red leaped into the darkness and landed on a wall somewhere near him.

"It's been years... but I waited for just the right time," he blossomed with euphoria as if he had just cracked the code for a safe, massaging his hands and smiling hysterically.

He averted his bloodthirsty eyes to his hostage and licked his lips before asking in a low voice, "Did you miss me?"

The chains tightened and the whip crashed unto his back and tore his already open wounds, causing him to arch and holler to every wave of pain it sent rippling through his body. Endless ungodly shrieks of agony escaped his lips one after the other. He was hopeless. His body was crippling with pain. Just then, before he could reach any bit of strength left deep down inside him to hold himself up from the pain, he felt leather fingers from behind him reach into the fresh wounds to force them open further. Immense pain and shock paralyzed his brain for a second and his legs, already unreachable, became noodles. His sharp, feral scream, almost demonic, pierced the air like a knife and every cell in his body shattered.

The one and only man enjoying the drama broke into laughter and slowly advanced, revealing the weapon he was armed with. From the corner of his teary eyes, he made out what was like a rusty piece of irregularly shaped metal, crooked and bent in many places as if it had suffered to the hands of someone with severe anger issues. His heart was in his throat and he squirmed in his position before arms from nowhere forced him to remain still in his place.

"I wonder what it'd be like to have only four toes...? What do you think? Shall we find out?"

The colours around him merged as his vision became blurrier and he thrust in the firm grip in futile attempt of escape, hoping there was a chance to get as far away from the maniac as he possibly could.

"How about we take the big toe first. My dog, Suzie, likes them thick."

His throat constricted at the repulsive image that simultaneously flashed across his mind and weak to the knees, the tears slipped pass his water lines and streamed down his already wet cheeks. All hope was gone. The last thing he could make out from the shadows that engulfed him was the large grin, the metal, his large rough hands in black leather gloves, politely tracing a finger along the length of the weapon.

"Please..." he croaked, begging for mercy but his smile only grew larger.

His heart palpitated like ten thousand men on horses. It was the only avid sound that throbbed aggressively with life, leaving him deaf. He tried to escape but there was nothing he could do. He had to just wait for it... It was too late.

"NOOOOOOO!"

"Liam!... Liam!... Liam?"

A head of messy brown hair jolted up immediately with beads of perspiration crawling down his face and a petrified expression as if suddenly struck by electricity. He looked as though his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. He perked up in his seat, straight like a pin. He locked eyes with concerned and confused soft blue ones which were closer than he would have liked them to be. His shirt clung to the sweat running down his back and his heart throbbed like an African drum. He searched his surroundings frantically. Chords of the afternoon sunlight pierced through the sheer curtains in the classroom filled with air charged with desolation. He gazed down at his feet and noticed the old pair of black canvas shoes still glued to them like they had been that morning. His toes seemed to still be in tact. It was all just a dream.

"Are you okay?" she managed to ask with a worried gaze, "You were shuffling in your nap. Did you have a nightmare?"

Her breath was warm against his cheek and he felt uneasy and embarrassed.

"Uh I'm fine, thanks... Francesca," he quickly mopped off the drool at the corner of his lips with the back of his hand and looked away, trying to distance himself.

He felt awkward.

She chuckled lightly before gathering her hands together behind her back, "It's okay, you know? I have nightmares too. Sometimes lovely dreams. You don't need to be shy about it," she cupped his face suddenly and pinched his cheeks, "It happens to everyone sometimes!"

His eyes dilated and gently pushing her away he exclaimed, "Boundaries, Francesca, boundaries!

She grimaced. "But you like it when I touch you! Yes?"

"H-Hell no!" he yelped, the blood rushing to his cheeks as he waved his hands about in rebuttal. 

He swore under his breath and rose to his feet with a stumble. Spotting his bookbag a couple seats away from the two of them, he quickly crafted a way to escape while wrapped in a cocoon of worry. Whilst he was grateful it was only a dream, it didn't mean that he wasn't shaken to his core with fear by how vivid and real everything seemed.

"Leaving already after I waited for you??" Francesca wailed, watching the boy gather his things in a flash. "How ungrateful!"

He threw a look at her over his shoulder and feigned his million dollar smile.

"I, uh, have a lot of things to do so I really must go."

She frowned.

"Idiot."

And before she could even open her mouth to utter another word, Liam disappeared behind the door.

The tap of his hurrying footsteps against the tiled floor resonated throughout the hallway. The only thing he could think of is running, running, running and running. Where to? He wasn't sure. Why? He didn't know. Francesca was yelling something after him. His heartbeat drowned every word she was saying. He could only feel her stare burning a hole in his back and imagined how fuzzy she would look if he took a chance to glimpse her from the distance behind him but he could not stop running. His heart pounded in his chest cavity. A river of thoughts flooded his mind. He felt confused, trapped by interconnected branches of uncertainty. The last thing he wanted was to remain in the building any longer.

He raced out the door and jostled through the maze of students on the school compound who were convinced that he was a lunatic on the loose. He didn't care. He'd take himself anywhere where he could to clear his mind and think straight. Who knew; if he was lucky, he'd probably find a ladder to heaven, a ladder to freedom, maybe or at least that was only what he wished.

Suddenly, as he came to an abrupt stop at the Cherry Blossom to catch his breath again, a pair of sullen grey eyes entered his line of vision. Emma was sitting in the grass near the tree, gazing nonchalantly. Breathing heavily, he returned the stare and the two remained like that for what was like an eternity as if they were both mentally calculating who should break the silence first. She gazed icily at the reflection staring back at her in his brown glassy eyes when he directed an open hand her way. She raised an eyebrow whilst still maintaining her relaxed look.

"Can you do me a favor..." Liam began between breaths, just as she gathered strands of jet black and clipped them away with a hair clip.

"Can you do me a favor and run away with me?"