𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ℂ𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ➶

𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕪: ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤

Vincent knew there would be hell to pay the moment he heard Valentina was transferring schools, spending the rest of the academic year at some normie high school on the West Coast. He didn't know yet just how painful it would be when Gomez came to collect his pound of flesh.

But it turned out... Very.

He dodged the Addams boy every chance he got, only daring to face him in crowded, public spaces... But it was only a matter of time. He knew his time was up when he wandered just a little too far from Jericho's town square and got roughly yanked into a secluded side-alley.

He was half-carried, half-dragged down the full length of the narrow passage between buildings. While he fought as hard as he could, his captor simply reeled him in as if he was a particularly large and cunning fish. Before he knew it, he was thrown into a chain link fence. His body bounced back and hit the pavement hard.

Looking up, he found himself surrounded by three of the players on Nevermore's rugby team in a play formation... If he had one and only one guess, he'd say they were hired muscle. And then there was Gomez Addams, standing back a few feet, leaning with his back against the damp brick wall, lighting up a cigar.

After he'd had his first puff, he peered up at the scene, had the gall to look as if he was surprised. "Hello again, Vinny! Old buddy, old pal!" Gomez crowed like a rooster at the first sight of dawn. As if they were still friends.

Vincent climbed to his feet with some difficulty --his right shoulder ached from the odd angle that he'd fallen on it-- before remarking, "It's Vincent, not Vinny. And I'm not your buddy or your pal." Then, before the other boy could reply, he demanded, "What's this about, Addams?" Like he didn't already know. If Gomez could play dumb, so could he.

That didn't work out for him, though... Not with the powerplay clearly being in Addams' favor.

"I think you know what this is about," he ground out, bearing his teeth in the facsimile of a smile. There was a sadistic gleam in his eye that spelled out bad news for Vincent. "You drove my valentine away."

"Oh, please! Take some responsibility for your actions, for once in your damn life. You drove Valentina away... Not that she was ever fully present with you to begin with anyway."

That must have struck a nerve, because Gomez nodded to the burliest of the boys and he gave two of his friends a gesture. It was so obnoxiously like a bully to use play signals as a weapon, but there it was. Nevertheless, the two boys lunged forward like a couple of loose dogs, grabbing each of his arms and kicking out his shins so he fell to his knees.

Any kind of resistance was futile. He was thoroughly locked in place. There would be no escape until they decided to let him go.

"If it weren't for you and your awful false accusations, mi cariño would still be in my arms right now."

Vincent scowled. He'd been hearing that combination of words --false accusations-- a lot lately. Apparently, enough money and influence meant one could get away with not just battery and kidnapping, but murder as well.

The more he thought about it, the more he began to suspect that Deuce hadn't been Gomez's first victim. The problem was that no one believed him. Everyone --from all of the authorities to his own two parents-- thought his visions had morphed into hallucinations. He knew what he saw, though.

"But! I'm a very, very forgiving man. So I'm going to let you off with a warning." For such a boon, it sure came across as menacing. Then he nodded to the lead rugby player, who proceeded to close the distance between himself and the prone boy.

The first hit came from a fist that landed hard and fast into his left eye socket, almost immediately causing it to swell and blacken. The next was a trainer that very well could have fractured a rib, if not broken it completely. He didn't keep track of the rest of the blows rained down on him after that.

As a way of escaping from the trauma, he began to dissociate.

It was odd, the things that stuck out to him between the bright flashes of pain. How quiet the alleyway really was: the silence filled solely by the sound of hits falling and the heavy breathing of the boy beating him senseless... As well as the occasional shout or yelp from Vincent. He tried biting his tongue to deny Gomez any more satisfaction in the proceedings, but stopped once he started to taste blood.

The rugby boy was sweating buckets by the time Addams called out, "You can stop now." But, despite much prayer, the violence didn't end there.

He leisurely strode up to his fellow Nightshade, making him wonder if he just wanted the final punch. Only, as he walked, he dug around in his suit pocket and withdrew... A Swiss Army knife.

Vincent recoiled but didn't bother struggling any further. Whatever happened was going to happen. He didn't have the power to stop it.

With a flick of the wrist, Gomez flipped out the largest blade, before rounding the boys so he was situated behind his former friend. Vincent hadn't a clue what he was doing as he yanked up the back of his flannel shirt. That was... Until he started to narrate his thoughts and actions.

"Such a sensitive area, the back. The spinal column in particular! You know... If I stab you right here," he said, poking a spot along his lower spine, "you'll be paralyzed from the waist down. So... For what I'm about to do, I suggest you don't struggle too much."

That's when Gomez dug his blade into the meat of his back, just to the left of his spine, like the other boy was a tree he wanted to carve his initials into.

Vincent didn't see the method to his madness, couldn't make out any letters, numbers, or patterns in the heat of the moment. But then again, the pain was practically blinding. All he could do was scream and, like he said, try not to writhe around too much.

A short eternity later, Gomez and his knife pulled away. He stood, and even went so far as to take a step back to admire his work.

"Yes, yes... I think that'll do nicely."

Vincent couldn't see him, but Addams must have made some kind of gesture to the boys restraining him, because they abruptly let him go. He hadn't been expecting the release, and thus didn't have enough time to catch his fall. As such, he face-planted into the concrete, likely breaking his nose in the process.

"Consider this your one and only warning, Vincent. If you so much as breathe another word to Valentina ever again, I'll ruin you."