Chapter 21: Bonfire III
Still overwhelmed by her emotions, Claire continued to cry buckets of tears on my shoulders, her body trembling. I could feel her increased heart rate due to our proximity, she was afraid.
I knew that in situations like this, words meant very little so I deigned to remain silent and only tightened my hold over her, acting as a pillar of support or security to ease up the trauma that was eating her heart.
It was heartbreaking and frustrating seeing her like this. The Claire I knew was a strong and brave girl who wasn't afraid of almost anything but now, she seems as fragile as a fine China, one wrong misstep would be all it took to break her...
Something stirred in my heart as she wrenched her heart out on my shoulders, her sweet voice overtaken by sorrow and grief and as that feeling bloomed, my arms involuntarily tightened around her, closing any form of distance that lay between us.
As I held her trembling body, feeling how fragile she was, I felt this sudden need to protect her, protect her from anything that would harm even a hair on her head.
It was the kind of thing I felt anytime I was around my sister, an obsessive need to shield her from the world but this time, it felt different, like it had surpassed some kind of block.
I couldn't really put a finger on it so I just pushed it down mentally and ignored it for the time being.
I saw the blonde depressed girl coming through the holes of the partly broken fence, she was running.
A cold gust of wind enveloped our surroundings, dousing us with a chill that made Claire's trembling increase and the girl stopped as she came in front of us, behind the fence.
Her eyes widened in shock and surprise, her mouth slightly opened as she stared behind me at Brody who was still releasing groans, grunts, and moans of pain.
She stared at him for a while and shook her head, maybe in an attempt to get rid of her shock, and hurried through the broken part of the fence to get to us.
"Is she alright?" She asked, her small voice riddled with concern as she stopped a few feet away from us, respecting our or Claire's space.
Her droopy eyes shifted in alternating patterns as she took short glances at the twitching Brody and us, still wearing a mask of surprise on her face.
"...Yeah, she is. Got here just in time to stop it." I muttered carefully, picking my words so as to not trigger any unpleasant memories in Claire.
She didn't react, her cries still drowning the silent place but they were quieter and her arms weren't trembling anymore.
"Mnmh," She hummed in understanding and then glanced at Brody again, this time her face twisting to be as cold as ice, her eyes brimming with intense rage and disgust. "It's good he's in pain. At least now, he'll know a fraction of how I felt."
At her words, Claire's crying paused and I felt her turning her head in the girl's direction.
"...Lisa Trammel?" She sniffled, her voice shallow and almost a whisper.
Did she know her?
"Hi, Claire." The girl in question turned to her and squeezed out a sympathetic smile.
"...Did he als—"
"Yes, only he went through with it. I didn't have anyone to save me when it happened. And I'm not the only one." She explained slowly, a sad smile plastered on her face.
Her words seemed to affect Claire because I felt her shiver in my grasp. She had stopped crying now, only sniffling.
"Claire, can you stand?" I whispered to her and she nodded on my wet shoulder. "Okay, we need to leave now. Get you home so that you can rest." I told her and she slowly unwrapped her arms around me, still not leaving my grasp.
Taking it as a sign, I climbed to my feet slowly, bringing her up with me. I removed my arms around her also but she grasped the side of my hoodie, as if afraid I'd leave her so I used one hand to hold her shoulder gently but firmly, while the other dangled at my side.
I glanced at my hands, focusing on my knuckles. They were covered with dried blood and bruised, the pain was still there but bearable with occasional stings of pain flashing. They were almost numb.
"...My car is parked around here. I can give you guys a ride if you're comfortable with that." Lisa suggested as Claire held me close, our sides practically sticking together.
"That would be perfect, thank you." I looked at her and thanked her genuinely, squeezing out a small smile, and then turned my head to look at Claire's face.
Her tears were drying but she looked worse for wear with her reddened eyes and puffy eyelids. Our eyes met and I could see the gratefulness and regret in them as she stared at me emotionally.
I could also see strength in them, she was trying her best to pull herself together, and knowing her, she'd heal from this in no time and become stronger. Seeing this brought a smile to my face and surprisingly, she managed to force one out too.
"Ugh..." A drawn-out groan caught our attention and Claire froze, a smile threatening to break or fall.
I turned to look at Brody and saw him propping himself up to sit, his arms quivering like a leaf with his left hand covering his face. My cold eyes met his hazy fearful ones. It was time to tie up loose ends...
"...Lisa, can you hold Claire for just a moment?" I turned my head to her and asked calmly, my voice chilling. I could feel Claire's head prop up to look at me but I didn't look down at her and focused on Lisa who nodded gravely and stepped up to me.
"I'm coming Claire, just give me a sec," I whispered reassuringly as she refused to let me go, a little agitated and defensive when Lisa came to stand in front of us.
She looked into my eyes for a while and then let go of me unwillingly, Lisa immediately stepped up to hold her but she shook her head, "I'm okay." She mouthed as she used her sleeve to clean her tears, and Lisa stopped to give me a look.
I nodded at her with a smile and then turned my back to them as I took slow steps toward Brody, my left hand slipping into my pocket.
When he saw me coming towards him, his eyes widened in alarm, afraid but not exaggerated. But the moment I took my hand out of my pocket, grasping an object, his bruised eyes widened in terror and he started backing away.
The moment I came close to him, I stomped on his legs hard and he howled in pain, immediately ceasing his motion. I took two more steps and paused when I got to his grimacing bloody face and crouched calmly to his level.
"See, I have it on good authority to finish the job right at this moment to end your pain. It'll only take one good incision at your neck, just one knick to a vein and you'll be chocking on your own blood in no time," I started calmly, using the edge of my pocket knife to press on the side of his neck, my voice low enough that only he could hear me.
He started shivering in fear, looking at me with wide eyes like he was watching a monster.
"But...that's just too much trouble so I'll make you a deal. The moment we leave this place, ran back to your car and get out of here, go home or something, just don't stay here.
"In the event that you go to a hospital for treatment or your parents ask what happened to you, say anything you like just don't mention my name or anyone here right now.
"If you fail to do that, Lisa over there has a recording of what just happened and with Claire and I as witnesses together with all your victims, you can trust me when I tell you that jail time would be the least of your problems.
"So I'd advise you to simply go home, sleep or get treated, and then stay out of school for the next couple of days, I'm sure you can manage that with your injuries. You don't talk and neither do we but you've got to promise to switch schools or something.
"I don't want to see you anywhere near our school and certainly not around any of us anymore. Do you understand?" I iterated slowly, making my voice as cold and calm as possible, and finished with a question as I stared into his black terrified eyes that seemed shocked.
"Do you understand?" I stressed the question again, this time sinking the edge of the weapon deeper into his skin, just a few millimeters of drawing blood and he jolted back to reality, nodding his head frantically.
"...I g-got it." He stammered a desperate reply, utterly spooked.
"Good. Then let's hope this is our last meeting together Brody Mitchem. The next time we meet won't be so pretty." I nodded in satisfaction and then pulled my blade away from his neck, tucking it inside the pocket space of my hoodie, and then stood up.
Glancing at him one last time, I caught sight of his pants getting wet, his body still trembling, and scoffed at him in a mix of derision and disgust.
How could someone this spineless have the guts to rape girls? It was appalling, to say the least seeing him like this but to be fair, this wasn't my first rodeo in scaring people, and I'd threatened people much more fierce than him before so I guess his reaction was only normal.
This wasn't the end. There was no way I was going to let him go scot-free, all the things I said were bluffs.
I wasn't going to let him be the first blood on my hands and going through a legal process to get him behind bars would only draw attention I didn't want and deprive me of my precious time.
I had an idea of how to deal with him and it wasn't conventional, it was outright inhumane. But it was suitable for someone like him, I wasn't a judge but he deserved what I had planned for him.
Some would argue that it was a fate worse than death but if it was someone like him, I wasn't going to lose sleep thinking about it...
I turned to face Claire and Lisa and walked towards them as they stared at me with wide eyes.
"Let's go Lisa. He won't be a problem anytime soon." I commented dryly as I stopped next to Claire and she nodded dumbly, not knowing how to react.
"There's a shorter route over here, one with no eyes around." She turned to face a path that cut through the sparse trees and foliage and started moving, gesturing us to follow.
My left hand snaked onto Claire's shoulder and she let herself get closer to me till we stuck together, almost snuggling as she relaxed. We followed Lisa soon after...
As we walked, I could see her steps getting cautious, her eyes unconsciously stealing glances at our surroundings, searching for maybe any possible threat, and I could feel her heart rate starting to rise once again.
"Don't worry Claire, you're safe. Nothing will happen to you, trust me." I squeezed her tense shoulders and whispered soothingly as we walked along the path bending Lisa, passing by some trees to appear around the path that lead to the bonfire grounds.
We could hear the sounds of them still partying, the smoke from the fire thicker and darker as it rose to the sky like a beacon.
Claire took a deep breath and then exhaled softly, the tension and fear clearing out of her body as she relaxed again. She looked up to look at me and our eyes met again, her expression had changed...
"Thank you, Xander." With a grateful smile that didn't look forced, she whispered, her voice stronger and filled with energy.
I smiled back at her and shook my head, "You don't need to thank me, Claire. You might've been quite bitchy when this whole thing started but for what it's worth, you're my friend Claire and that means that I'll always be here for you."
Her eyes started tearing at the sound of this and she stopped and grabbed me into a hug, a very tight and affectionate one that surprised me.
She started crying again, but this time it was a weird mix of tears of joy and sadness. And the thing I could do was also wrap my arm around her supple waist while the other covered the back of her hair.
"...Thank you, Xander, thank you so much..."
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