The Twisted Links

Chapter 9

*I am tired but wanted to update. Sorry for the errors.

CHAPTER 9

Indigo Sky Territory... Several weeks ago...

Lona's small body hit the hall's beige colored cinder block wall. Her bullies today were three boys in her grade. She had been on her way to class when the ring leader, Neil Braxton, yanked her into this small side hall that no one paid attention to because only the janitor's closet sat at the end of it.

"You made me look like a fool in class. You think you are such a smart bitch?" Neil asked, before punching her in the stomach.

Lona wheezed. "I answered a question that you got wrong, correctly. I can't make you look like anything. You do it to yourself."

The boys knocked her down and started kicking her. Bloody from the beating, Neil spit on her. "Well you can't do shit but I can make you uglier than you normally are, you pile of horse shit."

Lona coughed and spat out the blood. "It doesn't matter what you do. Wounds can heal and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Stupidity however can't be cured and you'll always be a fool."

The other two boys got nervous that their friend would take things too far so they held him back.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Neil ground out through clenched teeth.

"I don't care. I've already seen the other side of death and it isn't as terrible as they say. You are the true horror. The bully. The bad one. But what I don't understand is 'why.' Why be this way?" As if something took a hold of her for a moment, Lona slammed fist down on the ground and said, in a voice more commanding than her own, she screamed, "Tell me why?!"

Neil's gaze went blank. "I feel like I'm as stupid as you say. My mom ran off and left me with my grandmother. She had a new family. A new husband who already had two kids. He didn't want me around his 'all stars.' He said that I was too dumb. So she left me. I hurt people because I'm hurting and it gives me a sense of control. I hate you because you show me that they were right. I am stupid." he confessed. Tears ran down his red cheeks and the blank look disappeared as vulnerability and fear clogged his throat. Sobs burst from his lips as he ran away. The two other boys didn't know what to think and they ran off as well.

Lona sat on the floor and cocked her head with a quizzical expression as she stared at the now empty hall. Her mind was busy with theories and possibilities. She had always been able to tell if someone was lying. Her stepfather, Mick, capitalized on that ability to help cheat on card games. The one time she had failed because she had been sick, Mick offered her virtue as payment. Fortunately, the biker guy with the alias, "Lug Nut," declined the chance to be a pedophile.

Sifting through curious notions, she wondered if her powers have expanded to where she could now compel people to tell the truth. Interesting thought but how to test it? Shrugging, she figured that the opportunity would eventually present itself. In the meantime, perhaps her bully could use some tutoring.