The Perfect Shade of Red [OLD]

CHAPTER 2

Helen didn't know how to take anything anymore. As he sat in the lunch room, a girl approached him. She had asked Helen to draw her and when he asked how much she'd pay him, she got offended and walked off.

Certainly she didn't expect him to waste his art supplies on her? He went to look at her again but noticed her sitting next to Olivia. A scowl on the girls face as Olivia stared him down.

He tensed and turned around, zoning out on his sketch. It consisted of various ideas, most of them scribbled out.

The bell rang, signaling the start of the 5th period would be soon. Helen got up and scurried to the art classroom. Before he could reach the door, he was pushed to a locker. A popular jock by the name of Sebastian stood at his height. Clicking his tongue he smacked the side of Helen's head.

"You heard me, Ted Bundy?!"

Helen kept his composure and stared at him. "First it was Dahmer, now it's Bundy. Which one am I? I can't be them both you know."

Sebastian tsked and grabbed a fist full of Helen's hair. "Say that again, punk!"

"That again."

Before Helen could comprehend, he was slammed face-first into the locker a few times. Something warm trickled down his face as a teacher rushed to grab Sebastian off. He licked his lips and tasted metal. Ears pounding and vision fuzzy, Helen leaned against the lockers.

The art teacher, Mrs. Reid, grabbed at Helen, holding him up and asking him questions.

"..." Helen stared but couldn't focus on anything, his mind going a mile a minute.

Mrs. Reid cleared the hall as students went to their classes, the bell ringing. She scoffed at the blood on Helen's face and went to grab some paper towels from the woman's bathroom. "I'll be right back Helen. Don't go anywhere."

He stood there, dumbfounded at what was going on. Stumbling a bit he leant against the lockers.

"Shit! Sorry I meant to grab you a chair too, um lemme get that." She handed the paper towels to Helen before going into her classroom, grabbing a chair and carrying it outside. "Here sit down, away from the class."

He sat down with a bit of a struggle and relaxed. The paper towels he pressed against his face slowly dampened and changed colour. The once dull shade of brown was starting to gain the beautiful colour of red. Mrs. Reid called the nurse on her classrooms phone, explaining the situation as best she could.

Helen moved his hand away from his face, the paper towel coming into his view. His eye dilated at the sight of the blood. Fascinated with the colour, he touched his lips with his bare fingertips. A small bit of blood stained his finger, smudged a bit.

His train of thoughts were interrupted by the classroom door opening, Mrs. Reid stepped out and smiled at him. He didn't like the smile, he knew it was out of pity. He stayed emotionless as she sighed.

"The nurse is on her way to escort you to her office. She's going go make sure you're not concussed along with other things." She made a motion towards his nose. "You're still bleeding a bit as well Helen. Go grab some more paper towels in the bathroom, I'll be in class if you need me." She smiled once again, sadness evident on her face.

Helen's eyes narrowed at the now closed door before standing up and going into the boys bathroom. He watched the dispenser slowly roll the paper towel out. Grumbling to himself, he ripped the towel and wiped st his face aggressively. His hands moving on their own, he smeared the blood around his face.

Looking at himself in the mirror, a smile spread across his face. A Cheshire like grin looked back at him. A knock on the bathroom door caused Helen to frown immediately.

"Helen Otis? Are you in there? It's the nurse. Take your time but not too much."

Helen gripped the edges of the sink as he stared at himself more intensely. 'I really let myself get pushed around and cornered by some nobody.' He motioned for the dispenser to let out more paper towels. 'I will not be pushed around by a nobody. I will be a somebody one day.' He ripped the paper towel and wet it, beginning to clean his face up. 'Just wait and see. They'll get what's coming to them. I'll make sure of it.'

With his now clean face, save for a few scratches, Helen headed out the bathroom. Not before silently chuckling to his thoughts. The nurse escorted him to her office and began to go through a checklist to make sure he was alright.

All Helen could think about was a revenge plan. Before he could come up with just the right plan, the nurse made a sad sigh.

"I sure do hope they find those kids." The nurse stated, as she looked at her computer. Peaking Helen's interest, he asked about what the nurse was looking at. She turned her monitor a bit to show the raven haired teen a article with missing posters.

"It's the neighboring town. 7 teens went missing on the 31st. So far no leads but foul play is suspected." She stated as she allowed Helen to look through the posters. A certain missing poster caught Helen's eyes, a black haired male with medium length hair.

"How recent was this article?" Helen asks as he looks at the missing dates.

"Umm. About 1 week ago. Why?"

"It's just such a large group of teens, there hasn't been any updates recently? No evidence?" The nurse backs out of the article and begins to type 'westerhaven missing teens'. The most recent article being posted yesterday, she clicks on it and they skim through it.

The only update they get isn't any concrete evidence. "Huh." Helen leans back and tilts his head. The last bell of the day rings, students bustled down the halls. Helen grabbed his bag and thanked the nurse for making sure he was alright.

He started to head home, wanted to do his own research on this case. His morbid curiosity got the better of him as he imagined what could've happened. Was it a serial killer? Drug trip gone bad? An endless array of possibilities but mostly ending with murder.