Troubled Waters, Idled Minds

Chapter 10: Abe

They looked almost the same from their uniforms to their tightly pulled ponytails. Makeup heavily covered how they actually looked like and while it was pretty and really didn’t bother me, it was a good illustration showing how they hide their true colors behind their beauty.

They were all seniors, that information I knew from barely paying attention to the conversation from before. They must feel invincible with their looks and their status. To be picking on a small person like Callie was unforgivable.

No one who hurt Callie would get away with it.

Standing up, I felt the control slipping away from me and grabbed the nearest girl by her throat.

“Who did this?” I seethed.

The girls were shocked, jolting as reality hit them of what they’d done and what consequences awaited them.

I squeezed harder and harder the longer my question was left unanswered.

“Who?”

I never liked repeating myself but these girls were experiencing my wrath for the first time so I decided to cut them some slack even though all I wanted was to torture them worse than they’d hurt my little nymph.

“We - I - ,” stuttered one girl. Immediately, I remember her being the captain of the cheerleading team. It was hard to forget that red hair of hers. It was such a sight though not a pleasant one.

Callie groaned on the floor and my hand dropped.

I scooped her up in my arms as fast as I could while also trying to do it gently. Her bloody head rested on my chest and I felt the warm liquid soak through my black shirt.

These f*ckers would pay, I vowed to her.

“You,” I drove a glare to one brunette girl. “Come with me to carry her bag to the clinic.”

I turned towards the door and managed to open it. I did not look back to see if the girl followed us or not, I knew she was. My voice held a promise that she would be wise enough to be afraid of.

There was a lanky boy holding on to his folder wiping his mouth just as he resurfaced from the drinking fountain.

“The nurse’s clinic. Where is it?” I demanded.

For a second I thought that he’d puke but then he saw the limp body of the girl I was holding and the reservation in his eyes vanished.

“Straight ahead, make a right at the first left turn.” He gestured with his thin arms to where I should go and I hurriedly went that way.

The looks we got as I strode past the corridors of busy students trying to get to their next class made the short trip seem like forever. They parted to let us through, eyes lingering for a moment before I made a swift swivel.

I kicked the swinging door to the clinic and wasted no time. “You need to call an ambulance.”

The nurse jumped from her chair, phone in her hand as she made her way towards us. I laid Callie down on the nearest bed and applied more pressure to her head.

My handkerchief was now soaked with her blood and I cursed myself for taking too much time back in the bathroom with my anger. I should have brought her here in the first place. Maybe I underestimated her wound and it was far deeper, more critical than what I had assumed.

While one of the nurses spoke on the phone, the other tried his best to clean the blood from Callie’s forehead, temple, ears and the side of her neck. I watched as he then futilely bandaged it, the gauze was soaked in less than a minute.

When he was done and started to clean up, I moved back beside Callie, running a finger back and forth on her soiled white shirt.

Despite the sight, the girl looked whimsical.

Like a fairytale creature whose blood stained clothes made her even more exquisite. It was such a wonderful contrast to her flawless skin.

A memory flooded my vision, of a bewitching dancing deity beneath the glassy surface of a lake, with hair so thick and light it glowed under the moonlight.

Her beauty was incomparable and was highlighted even more by her horrible habitat.

Her round bright eyes bore into mine, asking, begging for my help.

As much as I would like to pull her out of the depths, she was just so arresting, too stunning for me to disturb her in her natural element.

Who am I to dare ruin such an ethereal picture of a drowning goddess trapped within the dark, filthy waters?

I knew that the second I reached out and touched her, she would disappear. That was why I vowed to hold on to the image of her for as long as I could.

“Mom,” Callie murmured, head lolling to the side, eyes still shut. Her pain was evident in the deep frown between her eyebrows.

I couldn’t resist rubbing my thumb on her smooth cheek.

“You’ll be alright, nymph,” I promised in a low voice.

“Excuse me, could you tell us what happened to your girlfriend?” the female nurse asked me, a notebook and a pen on her hands.

I almost laughed at the insinuation but I didn’t bother correcting her.

I know, I’m a twisted bastard.

My eyes slid to the side, noticing the brunette girl had indeed followed us here, Callie’s backpack was still hanging on her shoulder.

“Why don’t you ask her?” I nodded towards the she-devil.

She had the nerve to look terrified. After what she’d done to my nymph.

The doors opened, making her jump, and came in the principal. I knew him from when Ane and I came here with our mom to finalize our transfer.

Behind him was Harry and two other kids I didn’t know.

“Callie.” Harry was on her side in a flash, pushing past Mister Moores and taking my place on the head of the bed.

She was like a sister to him the same way that I was like his brother. It was not unusual to see him care about her excessively like this.

The other two students went on the other side of the bed with the girl holding on to Callie’s hand while they guy rubbed her back.

I recognized the girl as the one sitting beside Callie during English class and the dude must be part of the football team if his varsity jacket was any indication.

Their faces held the same distress as Harry did when he spoke.

“What the f*ck happened?”

If it wasn’t in such an inappropriate situation, I’d have patted my cousin at the back. The golden boy never cursed being the perfect guy that he was, that it was such an achievement to see him so vehemently riled up like this.