X Element

Bringing the Band Together II

Diane thought the day would get better, she was wrong. At first she thought it would only be Fred giving her problems, apparently, she was also wrong on that, dead wrong. There were the occassional bullies. Tyler, Jack, Brick (his real name was Donald, but he wisely decided that such a name do not fit his character or status. So, 'brick' became his unofficial moniker....it got so ingrained that some teachers would slip and call him Brick). And of course there was the ring leader Fred.

They pushed her in the hallways, threw spitballs at her during class, pulled her hair and spilled her books. But that wasn't the worst part about being back in school. As she told Rachel.

"It's like I'm a ghost, you know. Like I'm here but people just sorta treat me like I'll vanish any second".

Rachel didn't answer, she was staring at something, or someone. Diane followed her friend's gaze.

Nathan Harris was ten feet away from them, talking to his friends. The same Nathan Harris who Rachel had had a crush on since the third grade.

He was in his sophomore year, the 10th grade, but that didn't stop Rachel, if anything, it made the attraction stronger.

Diane cleared her throat to regain her friend's attention. "You know, you might never get another chance like this to go talk to him".

Rachel snapped back to reality, "what!, are you crazy?!, he'll never talk to me. I'll just end up embarrassing myself. Besides, there's no way he'll give a ninth grader the time of day".

"You'll never know until you try".

"Nope. I think I know enough already thank you. Some things are just not meant to be".

Diane looked back to the direction of Nathan. He was with some his friends. Diane had been away for a while, so she did not recognize most of them. But a she did notice a few, mostly because they were notorious trouble makers. These guys weren't just bullies, but gangsters. Rumors were that they were into some shady stuff that they had even been arrested a few times. Mainly, there was Blake and his guys. They were the worst.

"It sucks that Nathan has to hang around guys like those though", Rachel frowned.

Blake turned to face them at that moment. "And what are you two looking at".

The girls froze. "N...n...nothing", Diane stammered.

"Yeah, it better be, now beat it!".

Diane slammed her locker and the two girls scrammed. Escaping one problem and running straight into another.

They crashed into Fred. The boy groaned in confusion, then the confusion turned straight to anger when he saw them.

He regained his composure before the girls could get off the floor. "Oh, you're so gonna get it now. Been looking for an excuse to let loose all week", he cracked he knuckles.

Gentlemen weren't supposed to hit girls. Both Diane and Rachel knew Fred was far from a gentleman. What they didn't know was what Fred was planning on doing to them. But two things were sure; one: it was not going to be pleasant, and two; he would most likely get away with it.

Diane panicked. She wished a teacher, no, the principal himself was here. She wished the principal would appear and tell Fred to get lost, to go to class and not to bother them again. She wished so hard that she began to imagine it happening. Clear in her mind, detailed, down to his voice and the smell of his cologne. There was that headache again.

The next thing that happened was weird. Neither girl understood it. For some reason, Fred just stopped dead in his tracks, like suddenly he was aware of something.

Then he said, "Alright alright", to thin air and walked away. They looked around, there was no one in the hall where they turned. They heard no approaching footsteps.

They got to their feet, scratching their heads. "What the heck?", was all Rachel could say.

*****************************************

Vincent threw up his hand and said, "Ten thousand dollars".

There was an awkward moment of silence. Danny was afraid that Vincent had overshot the price and made it weird. What was worse was the he would probably be the one to pay for it -an ugly antique form a fallen era-. Then someone else put up his hand and said "Eleven thousand five hundred". And like that, the bidding was back to normal. Danny sighed.

Linday said, "For someone who claims he doesn't want to be seen, you do a fine job of drawing attention".

"How long do we have to be here?" Vincent asked in reply.

"What's your hurry?. This shouldn't take long though. Any moment now."

Then Danny noticed something, or rather someone. He was wearing a suit now, but his zebra style tattoos were still visible on his neck. Across the hall, Stripes stood with some other nasty looking company. The drug dealer hadn't changed much. He was pretty much the same lanky tattood smoker, except now he wore a suit. Danny saw that it was cheap, he wasn't surprised. He turned away sharply.

"What is it?" Linday demanded.

"Stripes. He's some kind of drug dealer, weird tattoos. Got some operation downtown." Danny paused, "uses kids as guards".

Linday looked over and frowned. "Simon Carmen, low level street thug. Involved in the sale and distribution of 'Aventy'".

"That's the drug?"

Linday nodded. "A powerful hallucinogen. How the hell do you know who he is. I never pegged you for a user".

"What!, no!. We just sorta crossed paths".

Vincent cut in, "I think it's starting".

"And now for the main event", the auctioneer was saying, as the windows were getting closed and the doors were locked. Even the lights were getting dimmed. "Please switch off all mobile devices and any audio or video recorders."

A glass container with a red cloth over it was rolled to the center of the podium.

"And now ladies and gentlemen", he removed the cloth. A small blue diamond was inside the glass container. It gave off a faint blue glow. Danny could feel his watch beeping madly, as if he needed any confirmation.

"Bidding starts at 12 million dollars".

Danny smiled despite himself. It was at least double the official worth. But this was the black market after all. Most people here didn't have the patience to get it through legal means, even if they had the money.

"I hope you're ready".

"I am". Danny already began to regret his next course of action. These people were dangerous and unpredictable. Still too much was on the line.

Hands started going up placing bids. Danny began.