The Dreamer's Blood

Chapter 5: The Janitor's Closet

Chapter 5: The Janitor's Closet

"How's your neck?" Skip asked as we walked to the cafeteria.

"Fine," I responded. "It doesn't hurt much."

"What did you do to your neck?" I turned and found Bree following behind us. Skip didn't hesitate.

"Some gangster tried to--"

"A frisbee hit me," I quickly cut him off, casting him a side glare.

"A gangster threw a frisbee at you?" Bree raised an eyebrow. "You guys can keep it a secret if you want, I don't care." I opened my mouth to say something intelligent, but a shout across the hall saved me from embarrassment.

"Ritter!" Skip tensed and slowly turned around.

Scud.

"What do you want, Marvin?" Skip shouted back.

"You know what I want! Give me back my money now." Scud's massive frame started to move toward us.

I turned to Skip in disbelief, "You stole from him?! Are you out of your mind?" Skip ignored me.

"I didn't take anything from you, you big thug!"

"Watch your language," someone said. One of Scud's goons, Kidd, appeared at Skip's right. Another guy known as Fist came up to my left and then I noticed the two others, Reed and Wolf, come up behind us near Bree. Don't ask who came up with these names.

"You really think I wouldn't miss a hundred dollars, Ritter? You've got some nerve." I saw a hint of a smile cross Skip's lips. That was all the confirmation I needed.

"Are you crazy?" I whispered. "A hundred dollars? Give it back!"

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to touch other people's things?" Scud was only twenty feet away now.

Skip yelled back, "Didn't your mother ever you not to...to..." and he burst out laughing. He was cut short when Kidd raised a fist and delivered a swift punch to his stomach.

"Hey!" Bree snapped. "Leave him alone!"

"Who's gonna stop us?" Reed challenged. "You?" Bree made a face at me. I knew I had to do something but what could I do, really?

The hallway was completely deserted. The bell had already rung several minutes ago so people were either in class or at lunch. But it's not like that made much of a difference. This hallway was always deserted. It was the janitor's wing in the back of the school and there was nothing here but locked closets and noisy rooms full of machinery. Skip and I usually walked this way to lunch as to dodge the masses of running kids. Unfortunately, it was Scud and his gang's hangout area too, but we usually did pretty good avoiding them.

"Yeah," I finally said. "Leave him alone. He'll give you the money." Skip looked at me and smirked. "Well? Where is it?" I asked him. Skip didn't answer.

For crying out loud . . .

"He's not talking," Wolf growled.

"Well search him then," Scud commanded. "It's got to be on him." Wolf and Kidd moved in to grab him. Without thinking, I dashed up to them, shoved Kidd to the ground and threw a solid punch to Wolf's face. Kidd attempted to get back up but Bree kicked him hard in the gut.

"Run!" I yelled at Skip, who was frozen and staring at us in shock. But before any of us could act on it, I felt an enormous hand grab my shoulder and swing me around so that I was face to face with Scud. I saw him sneer, raise a clenched fist, and then the ceiling, spinning above me.