The Club

Twenty-Six

My first week back at school was hell. I tried my best to avoid Grimshaw and his club members, but I will run into them from time to time. Mostly Grimshaw and Hector. I tried to avoid Tynan, too. But it’s like he’s following me now. I noticed him one day when I was in my drama club, and he was sitting in the back watching. I felt very anxious. What makes matters worse? I didn’t have Joz to talk to me anymore. He’s been mute for the entire week. I’m not sure why, but I felt very alone. Well, until Iridiana comes around to help me and gives me advice. As the days go by, it always feels like the end of the world is coming closer, and it might very well be so. I have yet to talk with Stacy, so I’ve been avoiding the cafeteria until I do so. The question that always burns in my mind is still burning to be answered. Do I trust Stacy? Do I even trust Paula? I know I can’t trust Tynan and Grimshaw and his club members. I just want this year to end already. I want to be free of this wretched school.
“Well, well, look what we have here.” 
I froze as I turn around from heading to my club room as I skipped going all last week. Which upset Iridiana, but I explained I needed to catch up, which she understood. The last person who I ever wanted to see was standing behind me, and it occurred to me I haven’t seen him at all last week. Which was fine with me, but what does he want now? Finn looked the same as I remembered him, except he looked thinner and paler, which looks odd on him. 
“What do you want?” I ask just wanting to get away from him.
“Oh? Acting brave now are we?” Finn asks as he steps towards me, but I noticed he was limping and he looked like he was in pain.
“Finn? Whats wrong with you? You look like you’re hurt.” I noted not out of concern but out of curiosity. 
Finn stops as he looks at me in shock but shook his head as he continues limping towards me. I noticed beads of sweat running down his forehead, as if this was taking a toll on him and he looked like he was about to pass out. I didn’t know how I should feel about this situation. It looked so wrong. It looked out of place. I feel in my gut that this isn’t right. I don’t know why he’s pushing himself like this when he’s in so much pain, but it doesn’t seem like he would do this. I watch as Finn suddenly collapsed on the ground, and I can hear him gasping for breath. What the hell is going on?
“Finn, what the hell is happening to you?” I ask but still keeping my distance from him. 
I watch as he glances up at me, but he looks like he’s in too much in pain to reply. I hate this guy, but right now he looks like he’s dying and I don’t want him dying in front of me. I ran past him to get a teacher, but there was no teacher in the hallways. So, I ran towards the first classroom but nobody was in there. I then figured instead of wasting my time, I’ll just go to Mr. Pilcher for help. He’s a neutral teacher, so he would help. I ran back towards Finn and told him no funny business as I help him up. I then half walk and half carry him all the way to my drama club. I kicked the door open, scaring everyone inside. Mr. Pilcher runs up with wide shock eyes as he saw what’s going on. 
“Can you help him?” I ask, feeling myself wobble from Finn’s weight.
With no questions, he nods and takes Finn from me and brings him to his office. I gave myself a second to breathe before I follow Mr. Pilcher into his office. I knocked first before walking in after he said to come in. I closed the door behind me as I look over to where they were. Mr. Pilcher had Finn laying on the couch he had in here and has a wet washcloth on Finn’s forehead. I walk closer to them staring at them as I didn’t know what exactly happened. 
“You were brave to help this boy, Lonnie.” Mr. Pilcher tells me with a sigh.
“What do you mean? I couldn’t let him die out in the hallway.” I tell him honestly, making Mr. Pilcher look over at me. 
“You don’t have to worry about that. He would not die, but he is seriously ill.” Mr. Pilcher tells me, looking back over at him. 
“Do you know what happened to him?” I ask, curious.
“It’s a rare thing that happens to dark users. Since you know they share blood with the demons that they summon. If the demon they summon deceives them, or lies to the once who summons them. Then their blood will let their master know. It will boil them from the inside out, making their blood feel like it’s burning from the inside. It will feel like they are dying, but they aren’t. It doesn’t kill them, and it will pass once all the demon blood they have in their system boils and dissolves.” Mr. Pilcher explains to me. 
“That-uh, that sounds intense.” I say, shocked. 
“No shit.”
Mr. Pilcher and I look over to see Finn awake and sitting up. I noticed he’s still pale, but he looks better. It still doesn’t explain why he got so thin, though. Oh well. It’s not my problem. Mr. Pilcher tells Finn to take it easy but Finn just slaps his hand away before standing up and limping towards the door. 
“I don’t need this stupid club’s help.” Finn hisses.
“If it wasn’t for us, you would be out in the hallway where everyone would have seen how you got betrayed by your demon.” I commented, angry at how he’s being. 
Finn froze as he stood there by the door, and I noticed something else that I hadn’t earlier. Finn kept holding his right side, like it’s bothering him or something. Mr. Pilcher mentioned nothing about a demon betrayer physically hurting their summoners. So why is Finn limping and holding his side in pain? Something fishy is going on. I know Finn won’t tell us, but he’s a bad guy, so it won’t be so bad if we blackmailed him to tell us, right? 
“Finn, you could at least thank Lonnie before you leave.” Mr. Pilcher says as Finn opens the door.
“No.” Finn plainly says. 
“Don’t thank me. I don’t care, but I want to know why you’re so hurt when it should just be your blood gets affected by a demon’s betrayer, right?” I ask, looking over at Finn knowingly. 
Finn slams the door close as he turns towards me enraged as he hisses, “Do not bring that up McPurthy!” 
“I won’t, if you tell me why you’re so hurt.” I say, crossing my arms. 
“Why do you even care?” Finn asks, getting frustrated by his situation.
“I honestly don’t care, but I’m curious about why you got so hurt when it should’ve just been your blood getting boiled.” I tell him seriously. 
“It’s none of your business!” Finn hisses. 
“Okay. Don’t tell me. I’ll just go out and tell everyone out there what happened to you.” I tell him as I head for the door.
“Wait!” Finn yells, grabbing onto my arm. 
I look back at him with a glare but then soften my expression when I saw the hurt and scared expression written across his face. Maybe I’ve gone too far? I thought as I turned towards Finn. I turn towards Mr. Pilcher, who’s standing there wide eyed at the entire scene. I ask him if he could leave us for a moment. Mr. Pilcher raises an eyebrow at me but nods as he walks out of his office. Huh. That was easier than I thought. I realized as I turn back towards Finn and froze as I saw a single tear sliding down his face. I placed my hand on his cheek, making him freeze before he shoved me away. I bump into the door as he stumbles and crashes into the desk with a painful groan.
“Finn. I get it. You’re hurt, you’re scared, but you’re trying to keep up this big bad boy act. Why? Who are you trying to impress?” I ask keeping my distance from him. 
“You still don’t get it, do you?” Finn asks through gritted teeth. 
“What could I possibly not get?” I ask, not believing that I missed something. 
“You must already know about the ritual that Tynan and his father are planning to do at the end of next month. Right?” Finn asks, refusing to look at me.
“Yes, of course.” I tell him, rolling my eyes. 
“Then you know that Tynan’s father wants to summon the devil?” Finn asks once again, making me roll my eyes.
“Yes, yes, get on with it.” I tell him, getting annoyed.
“McPurthy. I don’t want them to do that.” Finn nearly whispers. 
“I-wait, what did you say?” I ask, almost not believing what I just heard. 
“I do not want them to summon the devil.” Finn tells me again, but slower and clearer. 
“Is this a trick? You’re on Tynan’s side, aren’t you?” I ask, not believing him. 
“McPurthy, he’s the most dangerous and powerful dark user besides his father. I had to pretend in order to get close to him and learn what he was planning. When I did I tried to stop him.” Finn explains as he sits back down on the couch. 
“If this is all true, then that means Tynan beat you up for trying to stop him?” I ask, surprised, but not. 
“Would you get surprised if it wasn’t Tynan who did this to me?” Finn asks, looking up at me.
“If it wasn’t Tynan, then who was it?” I ask crossing my arms. 
“Grimshaw.” Finn simply says.