Jenna had been hearing rumours about Kai all day. They were saying he'd left the pretty, youngish English teacher in a flood of tears. Apparently, a girl had to fetch the principal because they couldn't console her—she was sobbing so hard.Charlene was pestering Kai for every detail, eyes shining bright as she listened to his story.Kai curled his lip and shifted away from the girl. He seemed to be getting annoyed by her persistent questioning."Did she beg you?" Charlene wanted to know. "What did she say exactly?""Why does it matter?" Kai scowled at her. "Mind your business."Charlene did not seem to hear him. Her eyes misted over. "I hate that dumb cow. I wish I'd been there to see it. At what point did she start crying?"She didn't even seem to notice when Kai glared at her."You should have made her kiss your shoes," Charlene mused.This comment was met with an equal mixture of amusement and annoyance from Kai. He scoffed, tutted and laughed."What the heck is wrong with you? You
Kai walked the same route he had taken for the past few nights, listening to the birds squawking and shuffling inside the bushes. This time he was alone, but people still crossed the road to avoid him. 'They aren't wrong to do so,' he thought.A kid he recognised from school was out walking his dog. When he saw Kai coming, he quickly looked down, as if desperate not to be noticed.Kai looked down at the kid's dog—a sleek and dainty-looking whippet. It was a cool dog.The poor kid looked like he was about to crap his pants when the dog stopped to sniff Kai's hand. "Good dog," Kai said, giving it a gentle pat.Its grateful eyes and soft fur made him want a dog. Dogs were loyal... unlike people.He couldn't help but be annoyed with his mates. Deep down he understood why they were unwilling to carry on, and he was happy to let think they had won.But they hadn't. Kai told them he was going to force her to do his coursework to make his defeat more believable.Without a care in the world
As Jenna waited for Kai to return home she couldn't shake the horrible feeling that something was wrong. If he was only going there to make demands, why had he been gone so long?She sat on her bed with the curtains open. Every time someone walked down the street in front of the house she jumped up and peered out, hoping it would be Kai.A young lad stared up at her as if she was a peeping tom, frowned and waved. On instinct, Jenna waved back. Maybe it was one of the neighbours, who knew?She tried to concentrate on her homework, but it was just too boring to keep her attention for long.The crusades, Shakespeare, The carbon cycle...'Why do we have to commit so much pointless crap to memory?' she wondered. Her life goal was to forget as much of this rubbish as possible.Her only interest was art and design. Maths wasn't so bad either.But the other subjects felt like they were just a waste of time.She sat there, mind wandering, tapping her pen on the blank paper until Kai finally ap
Kai stared at the envelope of drawings for a moment before stuffing them into his bag. He couldn't figure out Jacob's motives. The only thing that made sense was to him was that Jacob was trying to steal yet another girl away from him. For whatever reason, Jacob always seemed to like the same girls as Kai, but once he had them, he'd rip their hearts to pieces.'Well I'm not letting you do it again,' Kai thought. Bullying Jacob was no longer entertaining or satisfying anyway. He decided he'd find someone else to pick on. It wasn't as if he got off on bullying them. But if he didn't fulfil the role of biggest, baddest bully... who even was he? Just a nobody?Being so widely feared and revered gave him a sense of worth that was hard to get elsewhere. "What are you dreaming about?" Char asked, staring at him as usual. He flashed her his usual angry look--that look that said 'fuck off and die you nosy bitch.'"Grumpy," she teased, punching him lightly on the arm. The same arm that had
The scene in the toilet stall wasn't a violent one. Nevertheless, she wouldn't want to be in Gordon's position. Kai had him kneeling in a ball on the urine-covered floor and was using him as a footstool as he sat upon the toilet, reclining with a cigarette in his mouth. Jenna had come to learn that Kai was not addicted to smoking—just a casual smoker who would light up when stressed.She watched as Kai flicked ash in the face of his captive. "I mean, you are so much smarter than me right, Mr Brainbox? So you explain it to me.""E—erm, well, I, uh, I don't—" Gordon stammered.Kai lifted his foot and stomped it into the lad's side before placing it back down on his back."If you aren't going to be helpful, I'll just beat you instead," Kai warned."I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Gordon cried. "Erm, I guess... from what you told me... I'd say Jacob is trying to protect Jenna."Jenna frowned. Kai was getting advice from this guy... and about the Jacob situation? 'He... he cares,' she thought.
The scene in the toilet stall wasn't a violent one. Nevertheless, she wouldn't want to be in Gordon's position. Kai had him kneeling in a ball on the urine-covered floor and was using him as a footstool as he sat upon the toilet, reclining with a cigarette in his mouth. Jenna had come to learn that Kai was not addicted to smoking—just a casual smoker who would light up when stressed.She watched as Kai flicked ash in the face of his captive. "I mean, you are so much smarter than me right, Mr Brainbox? So you explain it to me.""E—erm, well, I, uh, I don't—" Gordon stammered.Kai lifted his foot and stomped it into the lad's side before placing it back down on his back."If you aren't going to be helpful, I'll just beat you instead," Kai warned."I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Gordon cried. "Erm, I guess... from what you told me... I'd say Jacob is trying to protect Jenna."Jenna frowned. Kai was getting advice from this guy... and about the Jacob situation? 'He... he cares,' she thought.
The punishment was all Jenna could think about. From that moment in the bathroom right up until they returned home. She wondered when he would do it. Would he make her wait to build up the suspense?When she saw Charlene sitting on the doorstep, Jenna figured it was going to have to wait.'Or not,' she thought as Kai swanned past the girl without acknowledging her existence.As Jenna followed Kai inside, she went to close the door behind her, but Charlene jammed it with her foot."Do you mind?" she sneered at Jenna."I'd just go home if I were you," she warned the girl. Somehow, she knew this wasn't going to go the way Charlene was hoping. She was saying it to help, not to be cruel.Still, Charlene took it the wrong way."Do you know how to mind your own business? she asked, scowling.Jenna, no longer caring, took a step back and let her walk towards Kai's in the living room. After lingering in the hallway, she couldn’t help but become a peeping tom once again.She tried not to make a
Gordon was halfway through a game with his online friends when Charlene from school walked into the internet cafe. He'd never seen her there before in all his years of hanging out there after school. Not once.She wouldn't be seen dead in such a nerdy setting... so why?When she spotted him and began to walk over, he realised what was happening. She'd come there specifically to find him.The other guys in the shop were equally shocked to see an attractive girl in their midst, even more so when she sauntered over to the biggest nerd present."Gordon, can I talk to you?" she asked.In the past ten years the only things she had said to him were cruel taunts, bullying words or warnings to stop looking in her general direction. For that reason, as well as his fear of Kai, he ignored her completely."Oh, come on." She tutted. "Kai isn't here and he will never find out you spoke to me."Charlene pulled out the chair next to him and plotted into it, giving him that grumpy, evil stare of hers.
Kai paused as he passed Miss Connell's classroom, staring in at her until he'd caught her attention. He gave her the creepiest smile he could manage before turning away.He hadn't decided whether or not to take out his anger on her or just Tom. She hadn't actually done anything, but still—messing with her would hurt Tom.But Tom could wait for now. He saw Gordon up ahead and he wasn't going to let that little weasel escape. "Get him," he whispered to the others."Kai," Jenna asked, placing a hand on his arm. "Do you really have to do this?""They almost killed me, Jenna," Kai said through gritted teeth. "I know what they did was wrong. But what you did to them in the first place was wrong too. If two wrongs made a right, then..." Jenna waved her hands in the air. "I don't even have the math skills to figure out who is right, who is wrong, and who is just a total psychopath."She was looking over at Damien as she said that last part."Just don't go after him," she said, pointing her
Jenna sat on the corner of the bed, her hand inside Kai's weak grip. It felt foreign seeing him so vulnerable. So weak. He gave her a thin smile as he looked up at her. "You can go home, you know? You don't have to stay here the whole time.""I want to stay," Jenna insisted. She felt like he would disappear again if she let him out of her sight.'I can't believe Jacob is dead," Kai muttered. "I've never seen anyone die before. It—""It was—" Jenna agreed, though neither of them could find the word.There were no words for the sinking, dark feeling that was creeping up inside her brain. It was always there, lurking in the shadows of her mind, even if she wasn't actively thinking about it. 'It will go away,' she assured herself. 'It can't stay forever.'The doctor had mentioned counselling, and while Jenna had been happy to accept the help, Kai had refused. He said he didn't need to talk about anything that had happened, or that he would find a friend to talk to about it. He wouldn't
Kai found it too hard to sleep inside his hole. It was uncomfortable and freezing since he'd wet himself.'I should have asked him to let me go toilet,' Kai realised far too late. He probably would have refused the request, but still, it felt weird to pee himself without even asking for a trip to the loo.He'd tried screaming again and again until his throat was raw but to no avail. 'This place has to be in the middle of freaking nowhere,' he realised.Still, it was his only hope, so he had to keep screaming in the distant hope that a dog walker would happen to amble by.When footsteps finally sounded outside—he knew it was Jacob. He could hear the familiar sound of his keys jangling as he dropped them. Jacob swore under his breath as he finally entered the shed. Then Kai's world was flooded with light. It was so bright. 'Maybe I'm already dead,' he thought, feeling dizzy. It had been a while since he'd had anything to eat or drink, so his blood sugar was all over the place. It t
Kai chewed the warm sandwich, not caring about the fact it was tuna and he hated tuna. It was food. And he was hungry. After he swallowed, he stared up at Jacob. "Why are you bothering to feed me if you're just going to kill me?" he asked. Jacob shrugged. "Honestly... I have no idea."Kai knew. Deep down he knew. Jacob had revealed his secret to Kai. He would keep him alive so he had someone to talk to about it. Someone who would listen and not judge. This theory was confirmed when Jacob took a seat beside him and opened up. "I was just a child," he said. "I never even understood anything about death. The permanence of it. The... consequences.""But you do now," Kai pointed out. "Just let me go. I swear I won't tell a soul. Like I said... I'm not a snitch."Jacob ignored his request."I sometimes dream about it. I dream about killing all the time," Jacob went on."But you don't have to do it," Kai said. Jacob passed the sandwich to his mouth, letting him take a bite. Kai did so
After spending the morning at the police station, Jenna was no closer to finding Kai. They had listened to her statement and said they would take Jacob and Gordon in for questioning. But questioning them was all they could do without any actual evidence.Harry was pacing the waiting area when she got out of the interview room. He turned to face her so fast he spilt the paper cup of coffee in his hand over his jacket."What is all this?" he asked. "Who is this Jacob guy, and why do you think he has something to do with Kai going missing?"The barrage of questions—questions she had just spent hours answering—made her brain hurt."I honestly don't know. All I know is, Jacob pretended to shoot Angel, Kai chased after him and I haven't seen him since. Jacob is... weird. He's obsessed with Kai," Jenna said. She was trying her best to explain it, but it was hard to put into words. Jacob was an enigma."Do you know where this Jacob lives?" He asked. "The police said they were going there no
Jenna waited with Kenny, both of them huddled behind a wheelie bin on the corner of Jacob's street. "He's not usually late," Jenna whispered. "Hmm." Kenny nodded, his face taut with worry. It was strange to see him without a silly grin. He had to be really worried about Kai.'I'm worried too,' Jenna thought. She was deep in thought, imagining the worst when Kenny pounced out from the hiding place and landed on Jacob.Jacob's things spilt from his bag, splattering his lunch and notes over the pavement. He lay there underneath Kenny, looking shocked for just a second.Then he smiled."Hello, Kenny," he said in a creepy voice."If you don't tell me where Kai is, I'm going to break your arm," Kenny told him. He already had his arm cranked into a position that his arm did not usually want to bend.Jacob laughed. Even as Kenny pulled at him, he continued to laugh. "Go on," he taunted. "Break it. I'd break it myself to get a week off school if I had the body strength."As Kenny pushed h
It was dark. So dark. Charlene thought that her eyes had to adjust eventually. She waited and waited.The world remained pitch black.It was terrifying and disorienting, but it was not as bad as the cold. She was colder than she had been in her life. Here, on the hard, damp stone floor, she looked back to her days in the manky old shed with fondness. It had been like a holiday camp compared to this.After Damien had left, she had felt about her surroundings. Inside her box-shaped room, consisting of three stone walls and one metal bar wall, was nothing but a metal toilet. She couldn't see it, but through the sense of touch, she had a mental image of something like she'd seen in prison dramas.Was this place a prison cell?'How long have I been here?' she wondered. She had not needed to use the weird toilet, but then, she also had not had anything to eat or drink.There was nothing inside the room. Not even a bottle of water and stale bread. When she heard a lock click, a light fl
Kai woke in a dark, groggy state. It took him a moment to realise it was daytime and that his eyes were covered. Tiny slants of light became visible as his eyes focused. His headache intensified as he concentrated on them."What the heck?" he mumbled, recognising the familiar situation he'd found himself in.He'd been tied up here before, many years ago. That was before he'd started working out on a daily basis. Before he'd learned self-defence. Before he'd been a 6 foot 4 guy with an eight-pack and virtually zero body fat. 'And yet... here I am again,' he thought, pulling at the knots around his hands."Damien?" he asked, hearing the shuffle of a footstep. "I promised I'd leave you alone and I did, right?"He sighed, hearing only silence. "I never touched you. I never spoke to you. Hell... I never even looked at you," he argued. "So why?"He felt a blinding flash of pain as the blindfold ripped away from his face. Squinting in the sunlight, it took him a moment to make them out.
Jenna and Kai were walking the dog later than usual—specifically to avoid Jacob. But there he was."For fuck’s sake," Kai hissed under his breath. "It's like he knows when we are leaving the house.""Maybe he does," Jenna muttered in return. "It wouldn't surprise me if he planted a bug in your bedroom."Jenna was half joking. The guy was clearly a little bit disturbed and completely obsessed. People like that did crazy things.Kai was obviously thinking the same thing. His face screwed up as he muttered, "It's just too often to be a coincidence."Today, Jacob did not have his mother's pair of dogs in tow. He wasn't even pretending to be out there for a particular reason. That, coupled with the fact he was staring them down, made Jenna nervous. Even though Kai was a lot bigger, stronger and faster. Even though there were two of them and one of him. Something about the line of his lips and the steely cold in his eyes made Jenna nervous. Eyes that she once found irresistibly gorgeous