Psychopathy

Chapter One

Theo could faintly hear the snickers of his classmates as he sunk under the surface of the ice-cold river.
"Why would they do this?" Theo thought as he instinctively kicked his legs, trying to reach the surface.
"I thought they were my friends," he thought, still kicking and thrashing wildly. Had he really sunken that far? All of Theo's body screamed for him to stop; his lungs burned for air. A cry arose deep in his throat, but he forced it back down and thrashed harder.
Theo stuck his arm straight up, silently begging to feel the surface, when his fingers touched the cold, crisp... air! Relieved, but still aching, Theo kicked and pumped as hard as he could.
Theo's head burst up from the water as he inhaled a big, wheezing breath of sweet, cool air, but immediately the water submerged his face again, reminding him about the shore... and about Roger and his other classmates.
"You can do this," Theo silently encouraged himself. Once again, Theo thrashed and kicked, this time swimming toward the shore. Finally Theo lay, his body still half in the water, coughing and sputtering.
"Aww, the poor little kit can barely swim!" Theo looked up at Roger, the leopard anthro who Theo, for the first week of school, had thought of as a friend, along with his two shadows, Jace and Mason.
"Roger, why did you do that?" Theo asked, still coughing and wheezing.
"Roger, why did you do that?" Roger mimicked. Jace and Mason chuckled.
"You told me you were my friend!" Theo spoke again in disbelief.
Roger stepped forward and looked down at Theo, a greedy expression on his face.
"You really think I would want to be friends with a kit?"
"That's not fair," Theo thought. He was the only cat anthro in his class, and he was abnormally small for his age. Often the classmates would have arguments on whether cat or big cat anthros like lions and tigers were better, but the big cats always had the advantage, because aside from their animal versions being strikingly larger in size, the big anthro cats always grew more muscular, and with bigger teeth and claws. That led to Roger and his wolf and lion anthro friends being "cooler."
"J-just give me back the photograph, Roger," Theo stood up, his body aching.
Roger scanned the photograph up and down for a moment. "No." Roger grinned.
Another cry rose deep within Theo's chest, and he felt hot tears cloud his eyes.
"Aww, the little kit's gonna cry!" Roger elbowed Jace and they both chuckled.
"Who does he think he is...?" Theo felt that same unusual anger he only felt toward other anthro beings.
"And what the heck is this thing?" Roger showed Jace and Mason the photo.
"I dunno," Jace snickered. "Looks like-"
"It's my dad," Theo retorted. "Give it back. Now." He took a step forward and held out his hand, still panting. Roger looked at him, rather surprised.
"Well! Look who wants to go for another swim!" Roger, who was about a foot taller than Theo, grinned and grabbed him by the fur on his head. Theo squeezed his eyes shut and got ready for another round of hell.

•

"Hey... um... Roger...?" Theo heard the voice of Mason, the young anthro wolf, and opened his eyes. "Maybe you shouldn't... I mean... if you throw him in and he doesn't make it this time... we could be in really big trou-"
"Shut up, Mason!" Roger sharply retorted. After a tense moment of Theo hoping not to be thrown into the water again, Roger grinned and let him go. He made a quick gesture to Jace and Mason, and they both stepped forward and grabbed Theo by the arms.
"What will they do to me?" Theo thought fearfully. Roger stepped back and held the photograph up, grinning at Theo.
"No, wait..." Theo half-whispered. Then, Theo watched in horror as the only memory left of his father was ripped to shreds before his eyes.
"NO!" Theo thrashed and yanked, immediately breaking free from Mason's rather weak grasp, but still being held back by Jace.
rrriiiiip
The terrible noise of his tearing photograph filled his ears. The snide grin on Roger's face as he tore the photo filled Theo with a rage that fueled him.
"STOP IT!" Theo yanked as hard as he could, only to feel Jace's massive lion claws tear through his skin. Theo let out a sharp cry of pain and finally felt the hot tears running down his face.
"Ha ha, look, Mason, he's crying!" Jace taunted. Theo covered his face with his one free arm, but heard no reply from Mason.
Finally, Jace jerked Theo to the ground and the boys followed Roger's command to leave. Theo frantically scuffled the leaves and pine needles aside, trying to gather up each piece of his father. Mumbling curses, Theo heard the snickers of the boys fade as they drew further away.
Theo looked up to see Mason still standing there, a sort of sorrowful look on his face. Mason opened his mouth as if he was about to speak when Roger yelled.
"Mason! Come on!" Roger's pressuring demand sounded from a distance away. Mason straightened his baseball cap and started off. Theo was still glaring at the trees long after they left.