Chapter 2: I smell a Rat

Daniel slowly walked towards the entrance while paying little attention to the ogling crowd.
"That's that Wayne kid right?"
"Yeah that's him"
"Wait you mean the same Wayne who beat up Brian! That Wayne!"
"Yeah! I heard Brian couldn't get up for a week!"
"A week? I heard he couldn't get up for two weeks!"
"Sheesh! I heard he broke a couple of his bones too"
"Yeah! I was there when Wayne broke his knuckles like they were made of spaghetti!"
"No one mentioned he was such a hottie though". A girl giggled
Daniel's eye slowly twitched as he heard the discussion in the crowd.
"Sheesh they still remember that little incident, don't they have anything better to talk about" He mumbled to himself as he entered the hallway.
Nevada Hill High boasted the largest number of students among the other high schools in the area, known for its impressive facilities, dedicated teachers, and impeccable academic performances which cemented its position as the number one among the other high schools in the city.
Every Year the school goes through intense inspection and renovations where needed which made the same old hallway look brand new. The tiles seemed to give off a polished glow, the lockers were neatly polished and painted and, Daniel's personal favorite, the hallway was filled with the lively atmosphere of teen school life.
Taking a deep breath, Daniel proceeded to his designated locker as per the norms. Several students could be seen having quiet discussions, arranging their lockers, a particular kid was skateboarding in the hallway and one particular couple were making out a few lockers away from him.
"Tsk, can't they go elsewhere I can hear their slurping from here. It's times like these I wish I could turn down my super hearing" He muttered under his breath with a slightly annoyed look on his face.
" Hey yo, Danny! You trying to ditch your old buddy eh" A voice yelled from across the hall.
A vein slightly bulged on Daniel's forehead as he heard the voice already knowing whose voice it was. Collin Garfield, the only person seemingly unafraid of Daniel and is actively willing to talk to him. While Daniel wasn't a particularly scary guy or mean in any way, people still subconsciously feared and stayed away from him since he had an intimidating aura surrounding him which unbeknownst to them was simply the aura of a predator.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Danny". Daniel said with visible frustration on his face and a hint of helplessness as Collin came into view.
" Aww come on! What's wrong with Danny, it's groovy and cool" He said with a grin on his face.
Daniel's slowly narrowed at his words as he let out a low grumble.
"I mean not as cool as Daniel haha, but everyone's gotta have a nickname right" He said as he let out an awkward laugh while scratching the back of his head as he felt the pressure coming from Daniel.
"Well, I don't like it" He said as he shut his locker and stared straight at Collin." The last person who called me that got her head bashed into a wall".
"hahaha" Collin nervously laughed and slowly gulped. "You're joking right".
Daniel slowly shook his head as he wondered why exactly this guy chose to stick with him despite his intimidating aura.
***Last Semester***
Daniel was minding his own business like he usually did when he heard noises further down the hall, opting to check it out he saw Collin facing off against Brian. He was apparently standing up for some bullied kid, admirable but somewhat stupid seeing as he was no match for Brian.
Brian was tall from most people's perspective, he was a little over 6ft tall, taller than Daniel who was about 6ft and he had a fit muscular body which guaranteed his spot as the captain of the school's basketball team. Brian's bullying attitude wasn't an unusual sight as he seemed to take pleasure in the suffering of others.
" Kinda reminds me of a wraith". Daniel thought.
Collin was a tiny inch off 6ft tall and had a body of a typical lazy youth, most times he was easy-going and quiet but something seemed to have caused him to snap today as he showed no fear in taking on Brian. Certain parts of his face were already swollen and he had a bloody lip but despite how many times he got hit and he got hit a lot, he didn't back down and kept trying to hit Brian, and eventually he managed to get a good hook straight to Brian's nose which caused it to start bleeding.
"You little piece of shit" Brian yelled angrily as he felt the blood running down his nose. With a frenzied charge, he tackled collin to the ground and furiously dished heavy punches on his face.
The teachers should have interfered and stopped this a long time ago but they seemed to be having one of their monthly staff meetings and were nowhere nearby.
Blinded by rage, Brian kept punching Collin's face and by now he was bleeding an alarming amount of blood. Brian drew back his fist to deliver another punch when his hand was caught by a now pissed-off Daniel.
"That's enough" He said coldly.
"F*ck off Wayne" Brain angrily yelled as yanked his arm free and delivered a punch straight at Daniel's jaw.
Caught unaware the punch connected cleanly with Daniel's jaw pushing him a few feet back and causing him to fall.
"Motherf*ucker" Daniel yelled angrily as he eyes glowed yellow momentarily. He stood up with clenched fists and a face twisted with rage.
And unsurprisingly Brian was beaten so badly he ended up in the hospital alongside Collin except he had a couple of broken bones.
Ever since Collin found out who saved him, he stuck to Daniel like a fly to shit!... wait no, like glue which served as the beginning of their budding friendship.
****Present***
Daniel was currently in class, he was dragged out of thoughts as he felt a nudge from Collin.
"You're not concentrating" He whispered while scrolling through his phone under his desk.
Raising an eyebrow at this, Daniel wanted to rebuke him but helplessly let out a sigh and decided it was pointless, he wouldn't stop anyway.
"Mr. Garfield!!!" Their teacher, Mr. Martin, yelled.
The abrupt shout cause Collin to jerk causing him to drop his phone.
"Shit!" Collin muttered
"Well Mr. Garfield, seeing as you see it fit not pay attention in class why don't you answer the question on the board" Mr. Martin said with an indifferent look on his face.
"Huh? Oh yeah sure, Lemme just quickly google it first" Collin said quickly whipping out his phone again causing the usually stoic Mr. Martin's face to twitch.
"You can do all the googling you want in detention" Mr. Martin said, his eyes still twitching.
"Crap" Collin groaned as the bell rang signaling the end of the school day.
"Well I hope whatever you were doing was worth getting detention over" Daniel mocked with a smirk on his face.
"Here check it out" Collin suddenly said as he quickly scrolled through his phone, all traces of the earlier sorrow gone.
" They found a body in an alley somewhere with the organs and intestines completely ripped out, the victim was covered in claw marks too and I think it could either be some kind of wild animal or some looney psychopath" Collin said with a somber look on his face.
Daniel looked at the pictures with a contemplative look on his face. He frowned as he wondered who would be so bold as to hunt in a city.
"And that's not even the worst part" Collin said. "This isn't the first time either, this has been happening for a while now, people suddenly going missing and then turning up dead somewhere with their organs ripped out".
" Hmmm, it's probably some rogue wild animal that's prowling around in the city" Daniel said with a strange glint on his eyes.
"It'll get caught eventually".
" I hope so! my Mom wouldn't let me stay out late no more, not like I would dare either I don't wanna get munched by some rabid beast!" Collin said, a shiver running down his spine.
"You'll be fine, any beast can see you'll obviously taste bad and probably give em indigestion" Daniel laughed as he slung his backpack on his shoulder and proceeded to exit the classroom.
"Hey! I'll probably taste great" He yelled. His eyes suddenly widened as he processed his words, beads of sweat started running down his face. "Not...not... not like I'll wanna find out or anything".
Daniel pondered the murders with a frown on his face as he exited the school and got on his bike completely ignoring the girls gossiping about him. His eyes suddenly turned sharp as he gazed in a certain direction.
" I smell a rat".