Blood in the Water

Chapter Seventeen

It all came rushing back to Eddward at once. The night three years ago he had been attacked, all of the pain he had suppressed to keep from going completely insane. It flooded his mind in vivid, agonizing detail.

Eddy and Ed had fled leaving Edd to fend for himself. There were eight boys of varying ages and all of them looked far too happy about their odds. Edd's first attempt to flee, before the initial assault, had him tripping over an ankle. He landed in a heap on the ground and as he scrambled to his hands and knees a boot pressed to his back and slammed him back down with enough force to wind him.

"Now tell me brat, what exactly were you doing here tonight?" The question was asked by one of the boys but Edd couldn't tell which. It was obviously a rhetorical question given the fact that the man's full weight was on the back of Edd's chest, making it impossible to take in more than a teaspoon's breath. "Fucking with our stuff? Why would you wanna do that huh? We didn't do nothing to you did we? Well see, now you done something to us."

There was a laugh and Edd watched as another pair of boots walked up to stand before his face though he couldn't crane his neck up enough to get a look at the man's face. "I believe it was Hammurabi who created the eye-for-an-eye principle." Said this new man, his voice was low, "You wrecked our shit, now we'll wreck yours." He punctuated his threat with a swift and hard kick to Edd's jaw.

The pain didn't register right away but he did see stars burst across his vision and heard a low thumping sound that soon had his right ear ringing. Only then did the pain begin to blossom and create a dull ache in his head.

The figure before him knelt down and Edd could barely see his face in the low light, all he could make out were amber eyes and wavy blond hair. "Isn't that fair?" Edd whimpered weakly and was still unable to respond. The man reached down and grabbed his hair through his beanie and wrenched his head up painfully, "I said: Isn't that fair?"

None of this was fair. Not one bit of it. Edd tried to answer anyway but couldn't find the breath to do so.

The man scowled and got up, pushing the man on Edd's back aside before sparks of pain lanced up and down the boy's side. The first three kicks happened in such rapid succession that he was unable to respond, and finally he tried to flinch away but the other was on top of him quickly, ramming a heel onto Edd's sternum and once more winding him. He began to see darkness at the corners of his vision from the lack of oxygen.

"Yes!" Edd gasped in the desperate hopes that his agreeing would somehow stop the pain.

The man seemed unsatisfied with this as he stared down at the broken boy beneath his feet. He reached down and grabbed Edd by the neck, pulling him up before shoving him roughly against the wall until he once more saw stars flash in his vision. He stumbled and collapsed to the ground, pressing his bruised body to the wall.

"Look at the little bitch," one of the men said with a laugh, "Alright, let's get out of here Vincent."

The man with the blond hair turned his heated gaze on his companion swiftly, "Leave?" He asked with a snort, "This little brat and his friends tried to ruin our stuff. Since his friends left, he gets all of their punishment as well. We have to teach him not to fuck with us."

"Harsh man, he's just a kid."

Vincent let out a scoff, "Well his parents did a bad job teaching him common courtesy." The words were a verbal punch without even meaning to be, "Go ahead then." He waved his hand and turned to walk away.

The remaining men suddenly advanced, some of them looking rather unsure. But the pain soon came. Kicks and hits, hands grabbing him from every angle. By the time he was dropped to the ground he spat a mouthful of blood and curled in on himself.