Somebody like you (boyxboy)

24. Hero

Trevor

"What are you doing here, boy?" the man asked fiercely.

"I'm here to find Charlie, dad. He's in trouble." The man stiffened and gritted his teeth.

"He's always causing trouble!" he snarled. "It's because of him of course, that they're here. Idiot boy!"

"Dad, he doesn't know –"

"Leave, Raymond. And you too, boy. Get out of here!" And suddenly Raymond was nothing more than a child, a little boy who did whatever his father told him to.

"But what about Charlie?" I asked.

"Oh, who cares about him? They've got him. Leave before you get involved too. Leave, Raymond, now! That is an order!"

"No, Raymond, are you just going to leave because he told you to? Where is Charlie, monsieur? Please just tell me where he is." The man pointed behind him, and I grabbed Raymond's elbow.

"No, not you. Go back to school, Raymond." I yanked at Raymond and finally he followed me.

"Trevor, we should probably go back," Raymond panted. "Dad will take care of everything, I'm sure."

"You are such a coward!" I yelled. "Your father will leave Charlie for dead without blinking an eye, Raymond! Jesus, there he is!"

"Oh my god, Trevor stop!" But it was too late, I'd already thrown myself on the forest floor beside Charlie, not even noticing the fact that he was surrounded.

"Charlie, are you alright? Can you hear me?" His eyes were heavy lidded, and he was unable to focus on my face. His lip was split, again his hair was coated with blood and tangled with leaves and dirt. He looked like he'd been drugged. His hands were tied behind his back and his nose was bleeding, the crimson red making a horrible contrast on his pale skin.

"What the hell's going on here?" an unfamiliar voice said sharply. "You, boy - get away from Charlie Nichols."

"No!" I replied with a shaking voice and tried to shield Charlie with my own body. The man pointed his gun at me.

"Come on, move away or I'll hurt you," he said casually.

"Trevor, please leave," Charlie whispered.

"No, I'm not leaving you here. They wouldn't let me leave anyway." Charlie whimpered and tried to shake me off, but he didn't have enough strength. "If you're going to shoot him you'll have to shoot me first!" I said stubbornly, making everybody laugh.

"Take it easy, boy. Nobody is shooting anybody, we just want to talk to your friend here, he has some information for us. Isn't that right, Charlie?" Charlie didn't respond. "You promised us. I don't like it when people don't hold their promises, but I guess you have it after your dad, he never holds any promises either, does he?"

"Can we get this over with? It's time we leave," another one called, as he tied Raymond's legs together forcefully.

"Where's your dad, Charlie? And what did he do with our money?" The first man advanced on us, but put his gun away. I got up on my knees in order to stop him, but he swung at me and next thing I knew, I was face down on the ground and unable to feel the left side of my face. He grabbed the front of Charlie's jacket and pulled him up a bit, then hit him in the stomach. Repeatedly.

"Just tell us what we need to know, and it will all be over. That's why you arranged this meeting. Come on Charlie, don't go back on your promises, don't be so spineless." The man hit again and I cried out, but no one paid attention to me.

"Stop it!" Raymond finally yelled. "Stop it, he doesn't know anything! I'll tell you, just - please stop hitting him!"

"Lies! Lies, lies, lies! You always lie, Raymond, that's why we didn't invite you!" The man hissed.

"Why don't you just leave us alone?" Charlie gasped. He earned a blow to the face for that.

"Because your debt is overdue."

"We don't have a debt to you!"

"But your father does. Your mother has been kind enough to pay us back for some time, but then she stopped. You still owe us money."

"But that was all dad! It wasn't us, it was dad! Wasn't it enough that he died?"

"Stop telling us he's dead! Don't you think we know better? You're a bloody idiot!"

"But he did!" The man started hitting again, and I launched myself at him. I managed to get on his back, but then a shot was fired and everyone froze.

"Charlie!" I yelled and for one silent moment, I could swear my very heart stopped beating and listened. Then it came, a half strangled, but relieved answer.

"I'm fine, it wasn't me."

"If everybody would please calm down!" My eyes instantly went to Charlie, and I saw the recognition and disbelief on his face as he heard his father's voice. Then his expression turned to horror.

"Ah, there you are," the man that had been hitting Charlie said cheerfully, and got up.

"I'll come with you, if you let them go," Charlie's dad said.

"Everybody, drop your weapons!" a new voice rang through the forest.

"Police!" someone yelled. Complete confusion broke out, but I could only focus on the fact that Charlie's body was being pulled away from under me.

"No! No Charlie!" I yelled and grabbed onto him. People were running and a big, black boot connected with the side of my head.

As if through a haze I saw the little clearing get filled with men, guns at the ready. The men that had been interrogating Charlie tried to leave, but after a few shots in the air, nobody moved.

I remember being pulled away from Charlie and put on a stretcher, unable to say anything other than: "no, don't take him away. Charlie? Don't take him!" over and over. I tried to grab for him, but didn't even know if he was beside me anymore. Then I blacked out completely.