FLASH TO THE PAST II (Ch. 20)

Konan stares on now standing before a huge modern complex of apartments before stepping into the reception office, (i feel like I'm at a hotel every time i come here), after completing the mandatory checks and questioning he head's up towards the elevator, upon getting to the front door he knocks before exhaling deeply, Elyan's mom comes into view beaming a heart warming smile towards him once he comes into her sights

"Konan!...it's been such a long time ...how have you been? Come on in..ely's in his room" she states releasing him from her strong embrace.

Standing before Elyan's door he freezes momentarily before going over what to say,

(the guys wanted me to bring you?....no.... If you don't go I'm dead too.....no, Elyan! Come back to school?....are you hurting?...you should try cheering up...no...)

(I'd thought up some bullshit to feed him..to make myself feel better about throwing him to the wolves...but...)

Stepping into the room.. Konan looks around tensely

"Elyan?....are you sleeping?"

"Konan?...is that you?" Elyan calls out from his haze

(His face doesn't look so bad...)

"What's going on?" Elyan inquires

"Well you didn't come to school i thought something was wrong" Konan states smiling nervously "i just thought i should lend you my notebook"

Konan looks around the room smiling briefly as his eyes catch their old action figures and widen when he see's the bloodied napkins and disinfectant bottles stationed on his desk

(Blood!?…is he hurt?...did they hurt him that bad?...how should i tell him to come to school?)

"Elyan you're missing a lot of school work...."

"Konan.... don't worry.."

"What?" Konan calls out nervously

"I said don't worry...i'll go back to school... I've really been sick for the past two days"

(At that moment...i was elated)

"Re..really!?...th..then i'll give you the school work you missed!" Konan states excitedly,

(his face is still red from the fever...the blood must be from his nose)

"I'll show you what i wrote down...no i'll copy them for you...

Konan walks around Elyan's bed and towards his reading table but notices as Elyan scurries under the covers

"Konan.. the...p...pen....kee..keep...i..it..away"

Elyan states raising his usually apathetic voice, his face morphing into one of fear

(What?.. he's shivering?....why!?...is it because of the.... pen?..) Konan thinks staring at the pen in his hand, (no...no way ....no way...no way!) His mind races, Konan jumps unto the bed forcing Elyans covers off him...he pulls his arms aside ignoring his protests and bristles with shock..hate..self loathing at the sight before him...'his friend'... Covered in bloody cuts..,

(Ijhoo's cutter!)... On the skin are..words... letters.. shapes... inscribed on skin still fresh with blood...'fuck,.....shit'....vulgar words...signs..diagrams... freshly cut and struggling to heal, the bed below him soaked in the red of his own blood

"Konan.... it's okay... it's nothing" Konan's hands shake.... tumbling of the bed his sight blurs, his mind blanks with denial...(

no.....no i ...i just ...) Turning away he stops at the door ... gripping the handle till his fists shade white,

"Elyan!.... don't come to school tomorrow"

(I decided then...that I'd been a coward long enough)

Konan stares at the ground subduing his fear as Ijhoo and his lackey look at him in question

"Where is he?.." Ijhoo inquires

"He's hurt...leave him alone" Konan stutters, he tumbles clutching his face in pain, from the strike.... gritting his teeth he remains soundless as the mohawked lackey continues his assault...

Ijhoo watches as he cackles to himself loudly.... dripping with insanity,

(they think i'm a joke? They think I'm a joke!...)

"You go to the corridor and be on the look out" he states pointing at Jim, while walking up to Konan, he crouches before him pulling out a sharp metal object....a cutter

"I told you yesterday if you failed to bring him you'd be playing with me in his place... You know what this is?" Ijhoo states lifting the object into view "it's used to cut things.... preferably flesh.....skin!"

"Stop it!" Drawing the surrounding attention the group turn to the voice in tandem, Elyan stumbles into the class with Konan staring at him in shock...(Elyan?...he came? Why!?)

"I came..." he states clutching his injured side as he forces his back to straighten, walking before Konan he shrugs of his jacket before dropping into a boxing stance...his carved body visible to the shocked school kids.

The murmurs rage as they look in shock, the two lackeys attack from both sides quickly beating Elyan bloody, forcing himself up he holds his stance....Konan walks up to Ijhoo taking to his knees

"Please forgive us...just this once please" he cries out...Ijhoo takes his hand pulling him up to meet a barrage of punches

(Fuck this kid just won't go down...are those carvings?... Ijhoo's a fucking psycho..this is too much..i think we need to report this) holding Elyan in an arm lock mohawk signals for his companion to move..the tall hooded figure in blue walks towards the class door but is sent flying by a kick.

The group turn towards the class entrance, Konan spots the upperclassman he'd seen Ijhoo bully, to his side a tall guy for a middle schooler at least with green dyed hair, clad in all black with big black glasses and almost steam white lenses hiding his eyes, he grins from ear to ear...

"That him?" The figure inquires

"Yeah" the upperclassman replies

"That one's fainted..so two left?.... three hundred per head so nine hundred hundred"

"I'll leave it too you"

"Hey worm...are you crazy?" Ijhoo growls glaring at the upperclassman, recoiling backwards he quickly regains his confidence, he looks to his side

"Hey Jhon are you sure about this?"

"The payment has been calculated nicely....wait wait" wuu states pointing at mohawk... "That pigs to big i want twenty percent more" he says

"Fucking money gobbler.....fine!" the senior concedes

"Who the hell are you" the mohawk growls lunging at wuu...

Smiling wider he stamps his leg against mohawks knee, the unexpected move sends him falling downward face first into a waiting knee

"Where quite similar y'know...i'm also a bad guy"

Konan and the rest look on shocked at Jhon's apperant insanity...

"he's my cousin...same age" the senior states grinning triumphantly ....

Forcing himself up mohawk screams as wuu's leg connects with his third member,

"he's really cruel...even high schoolers don't dare touch him...his biggest problem though is that he likes money way too much" the senior states while watching the fight intently

Wuu sighs as he disposes of the mohawk with lackadaisical apathy, "I'd really like to beat them to a pulp..this is no fun" he murmurs to himself, Ijhoo who'd heared it along with the rest of all present picks up his cutter, turning he smiles at his cousin mischievously

"he's got a weapon so that's going to be a added fe..." Pausing his speech midway as his eyes land on Elyan's body...

"he did that?...with the cutter? There's a weapon and a victim!, How wonderful!", His smile widens almost from one ear to the next while he chuckles excitedly,

"I'll do him for free" Wuu states much to the fright of his cousin who inhales sharply,

(not good!)

Aiming for his torso Ijhoo lunges at Wuu only to be met with a chair to the side of the head, smashing the chair against Ijhoo's skull again before he stomps the heel of his wooden shoe against Iijhoo's fingers, the snapping of his fingers loud enough for all to hear, Ijhoo screams,

"You know there was a guy who wanted to stab me in my town....i broke his fingers" his smile already impossibly wide griws wider as he stomps Ijhoo's fingers one at a time while humming to it's cracking chime,

"Why....why are you doing this?.." Ijhoo screams coughing the blood out his clogged throat,

"Why?...i don't have a reason to do this..... we're the same y'know, you didn't have a reason for what you did too...did you?...you made a random one up right?.....see i know...i know because i'm just like you, because it's FUN!" Wuu replies his voice dripping with absolute ecstasy...

(Fuck i was worried about this, this is why i didn't bring him sooner...this crazy fucker just went insane), the senior watches contemplating intensively on how to defuse the situation, (should i just..... Leave?)

Ijhoo stares at Wuu's smile in horror as he loses his bowels..for the first time... he'd met someone who was more insane, someone who if allowed would torture him till death.

(Eventually the teacher got there... and at that point they couldn't feign ignorance any longer)

Now seated in front of the principal Konan and Elyan stay quiet listening to Ijhoo and his lackeys shout and point towards the senior's cousin...

"I'm going to be send you all to the police station" the principal concludes uninterested in the matter

Wuu stares, his trademark smile blooming into view.

"hmmm yes the station, but my my, look at the state of that kids body, I'm sure the press and his parents will enjoy this...."

Now taking a closer look at Elyan's body the principal quickly reneges on his word's

"I don't think there's any need for that...these three did that?" The principal inquires staring at Elyan who nods in response...

"alright, I'll go call the cops"

(And like that everything was settled)

Standing before the school gates Elyan calls out towards the green haired.

"hey!.....ho.... how do i get strong...?"

Wuu waves him off tossing the workout magazine he'd been reading to kill time towards Elyan, picking it up Elyan reads the page Wuu had been on,

(one thousand push ups...one thousand press-ups....and ten kilometers... increase workout load after that), attempting to return it Wuu waved away at him again

"Keep it"

(i trained with him every day after that, thing's eventually went back to normal, well .....as normal as they could be, Elyan had developed a phobia for needles....pens... knifes..and anything even remotely sharp)

Standing proudly Konan points to his tattoo of a bird... over his heart...with Elyan looking on at him beaming excitedly...

"You want one?" Konan asks...

"Yes!" Elyan shouts nodding his head profusely.

(I'd thought hard and long and the only way i could think of was to help Elyan get tattooed...it was the only way to cover up the carvings)

Seated off to the side the tattoo artist watches as Konan and Elyan gesture... speaking to the other excitedly

"Am i really about to tattoo two middle school kids?, I'll be lucky if i don't get the cops on my ass for this....", (but....i've got to applaud the boy's determination...i wouldn't be doing this if i wasn't tired of his constant pestering), recalling how Konan knelt beneath the falling snow for hours at a time every day..(he's a good kid....)

(That was three years ago....) Konan grins thinking of all the crazy shit they'd been through since

"He really is.." Konan mutters in response.