DON'T PRAY TO ME

08 - Ariek

Through the darkness of the night, two boys carry a third one out of the remote shed on the Deir side of the campus. The boy in the middle is bruised, bleeding, and broken. He's thrown into the van, alongside two other beaten up souls. Inside the dingy shack, Thomas is hanging from his wrists tied to chains. His face, arms, clothes, even toes, are covered in his own blood. "P-Please," he whispers. Begging for the end. Whether that's freedom, or death, either is kind for Thomas at the moment. At the center of the room is a metal chair, where a fit, handsome, and tall boy is sitting. His hand is on the armrest, holding a silver coin. He flips it into the air, and catches it, not moving his eyes away from Thomas.

It has come to boredom, and it's been a long journey from his home to school - Ariek would like for the day to end. But important matters have to be dealt with first. And, dealing with an insubordinate classmate is the most important now. Ariek flips and catches the coin once again before slapping it to the armrest. He leaves it there and gets up. Thomas starts to weep as Ariek comes to him. Soon blood pours out of Thomas' body, from his eyes, ears, mouth; even pores on his skin bleed. It is one of Ariek's favorite powers to use as a punishment. A Deir can control the life force of a living being in many ways, including the blood. The extent of the control varies from helping heal a scratch to replenish blood enough to explode a body, depending on the rank and skill of the Deir. While Thomas is uncontrollably bleeding, Ariek is keeping his inner organs, like brain and heart, working so that Thomas stays alive, and conscious of the pain.

"You know, there is a way to stop the proliferation," Ariek says, "But a fool like you wouldn't know... To be honest, I don't know, either." Ariek closes his eyes and turns up his head towards the ceiling. He smiles. "I'm sure she knows. She knows everything, even when she can't work with them all. That's how my future Ittere is like," Ariek says before looking down at Thomas. "You should've stayed away from my things." The diminished streams of blood grow again on Thomas' body. Thomas screams. It can be heard by those in the boys' dorm, but not in the staff quarters and girls' dorm. That's why Ariek prefers this place for punishing. It'll instill fear among the rest of the boys, without causing the staff to meddle in his affairs or scaring away Rachel. But Ariek knows Rachel is terrified of him already. His charm doesn't work on her. Neither does his family name, or influence. And that only makes him want her more.

After Ariek is done with him, Thomas is also thrown into the van. The hurt boys will be taken to a place where they'll heal before coming back to school. It'll be a while before they can return, but no one in the school will ask about the boys who disappeared on the night of Ariek's arrival. Ariek and his friends, Morrison and Garth, step out of the shack and light up their cigarettes. Ariek breathes out the smoke. "On that day," he says, "they weren't hurt? Other than Thomas' broken shoulder?" "No," Morrison says, "Those cowards ran away as soon as they saw him." "What about Rachel?" "She was fine. A little shaken. But wasn't hurt." "She saw him?" "We don't know. She never mentioned the incident, or made a complaint, probably out of fear of those dogs." "What about at the Sunvey Trip?" Ariek says, "She talked to him there?" "What? That's not possible," Morrison says, "I don't think she even knows who he was. Also, he and his boys were not with their group. Heard they went to a boxing studio or something." "She might not know him. But she'll surely feel grateful to him, and I don't like that," Ariek says, "No one gets to be her hero but me." "You're overthinking it," Morrison says, "If anything, she'll be terrified of him more than anything else." Ariek smirks and taps his cigarette. The breeze carries away the glowing ashes. "You don't know about her," Ariek says, "It's true, she gets easily scared, but if she thinks she's safe with someone, she'll stand by even Tytan himself." Morrison laughs. "What are you saying? That she's going to become friends with Slade? She doesn't even hang out with the girls from our year." After one last smoke, Ariek drops his cigarette to the ground and crushes it with the sole of his shoe. "You're probably right. What happened to the LE, by the way? Did she agree?" Ariek says. "No," Garth says, "Knofsek tried talking to her, but she refused. She signed herself into Kyvs' class and used that as the excuse. Why don't you talk to her yourself?" Ariek shakes his head. "I'll talk to Kyvs. Let him know she needs to be in my team. He'll let her go." "What if she still doesn't join your team?" Garth says. "She will," Ariek says, "After being dropped by Kyvs she will need to take part in LE for the extra credit. Knowing I want her, no one else will take her. She'll be in our team in no time."