WICKED REFLEX

Chapter 6: Ben, Kyle, and Brown Cadillac

Nick skipped his last class to go outside and smoke.  It wasn't allowed on school property, but he knew he could just push any adult authority to not see him if it came down to it. And he needed it.

His nerves, -his brain was frayed.

Being around her... He had forgotten the intensity of that. And now... It was so much stronger than when they were kids.  The pull between them had morphed into something...less innocent.  It was always there, like some invisible fishing line constantly being reeled in.

He had wanted to kiss her so badly in the boiler room but he feared what would come next. He knew addiction. He knew obsession. He'd seen it often enough in those shitty foster homes. Of the people he'd stayed with, a far few were wrapped up in toxic relationships.  Seeing what that did to people... 

 And last night...

There was an intense kind of greed he felt for her that he tenuously held in check.  A different kind of push, and he could sense something similar in her now, and... He didn't want to hurt her.  He didn't want either of them to be consumed by it.

He didn't want to be entangled in the way he had seen so many others... It never ended well, when it was like that.  

"Hey, Nick Cave."

Someone, -Kyle he guessed, had plucked the back of his head hard. He took his time turning around to meet his eyes.  Kyle was flanked by two of his teammates from the football team.  Offensive tackles, judging from the size of them.

"Heard you took my girl into the boiler room today."

Nick rolled his eyes and tried to walk past him.  

"I'm not done talking to you." Kyle stepped close enough to bump Nick's chest with his own and blocked him from leaving. "Did you take Sammie into the boiler room?  What did you do with her in there..." Kyle flicked his nose. "Did you try to fuck her?"

Nick sighed. "What do you want me to do?  -Give you an excuse?  You don't really need one do you?  This is your favorite hobby."  he took a drag of his cigarette and smiled.

He wanted the hits that came next.  The pain might be enough to dull the pull of that reel just a little bit.

From the pavement, he felt her presence, -felt her come into the fray before he saw her. 

"Leave him alone!"  Sam shoved Kyle away and knelt down beside him with her shaking hands hovering.    "...Ohmygawd, Nick!"

"WHAT DID YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?!?" Kyle roared, from behind her.

She stood up and turned to stare at Kyle, and Nick felt the terrifying buzz of power building within her.  Kyle must have sensed something too, because he stopped yelling.  But instead of what he expected, that snap of energy released that would cause an aneurysm or worse, she merely slapped him. Hard enough to redden his cheek.

"That what you wanted? Him beaten and me upset?  You got your wish. Now go.  ...Don't ever approach me. Don't ever talk to me again." Her voice trembled with fury.

Kyle did what he was told without another word.  

...A small push.  

She then turned back to Nick and assessed the damage.  His lip was bloody and his eye was already swelling.

"Come on.  I'm taking you to my house." she said, and carefully assisted him to his feet and walked him to her car.  

///

Nick followed Sam into her pristine suburban home.  He looked around warily, like just his presence in this space was a kind of contaminant. 

She directed him to sit at the kitchen island while she retrieved a bag of frozen peas from the freezer.

"Press that to your eye..." she said.

She left the kitchen for a moment and returned with some gauze, disinfectant, and antibiotic ointment.

"Let me see."  she said, angling his chin up as she stood in front him.  Even seated he was slightly taller than her.

He parted his lips.  She could see a cut and a little bruise forming and his mouth was still bleeding at the corner, but it wouldn't need any stitches.  She dabbed the corner of his mouth with the disinfectant-dampened gauze and then used her pinky to apply a little ointment there. 
He didn't even flinch.  He was far too used to pain.  

He watched her intensely as she worked.   She then did the same to his eye, this time applying a small bandage before replacing the frozen bag of peas.

"It's not bad." she said.  "We caught it before it could swell too much."

"I can't believe you and him.-" Nick said.

"-Me either." she replied with a smile.  "I guess, I did it because I thought we made sense. The cheerleader and the football player, you know?  Stupid."

"-You're not stupid.  You just didn't know you're too good for him... You do now though, right?" 

She glanced up at his eyes and nodded a little.

"You did well, by the way... You controlled it." he added.

"Yeah, and you did too." she said. "Though part of me kinda wishes you hadn't."

"-You don't mean that."  

"I don't know.  Not using it is what feels wrong, you know?"

"I do...  Where are your parents?" he asked.

"Mom is always in her craft-room at this time of day.  Dad doesn't get off work until late... But my brother is usually home by now.. He's probably out playing with his friends.  ...Why?"

"Because , I think maybe now is a good time to work out what it's gonna take to get them to leave us alone permanently.  The push.  You have to get better at it."

"What you did when you broke us out. You're stronger now. That's what  you have to do." he said within her mind.

///

Earlier that day, Ben had fallen asleep at his desk in school. The disturbances from the night before had kept him awake through much of the night. Still, for the most part, it was a normal day, even with his occupied mind.  His friends and teacher noticed his exhaustion, but he shared nothing of the strange goings on in his home.

His two best friends Carlo and Timmy, a tiny Italian boy in overlarge glasses and a chubby black boy, about three shades darker than himself walked with him home, just as they always did, despite his protests this time.

"Ben, what is going on?" Carlo finally ventured.

"I don't know... I guess, I had a bad nightmare or something, last night." Ben said, but he knew it had been no nightmare.

"It was super-messed up, huh?" Timmy offered.  "Like all blood and guts and Freddy Krueger slicing you up?"  

"Worse." Ben supplied.

Carl and Timmy looked at one another.

"Well don't leave us hanging.  Give us details!" Carlo said, looking eager.

"I just... was kinda hoping to forget about it."  Ben said, as they cut down a familiar wooded  shortcut behind the suburban homes. The many kids who'd walked this route had worn down a dirt footpath in the tall grass between the trees.

A twig snapped behind them and Ben stopped, his eyes wide.

"Dude.  You know other kids walk this path, right?" Carlo said, frowning suspiciously at his friend's jumpiness.

But Ben remained frozen for a moment, anyway.  Seeing his sister's unseeing eyes in his mind's eye...from where he'd heard the sound, in the shadow of the trees.

After a beat, a pair of of giggling girls rounded the corner and came into view, passing them.

"See?" Carlo said, bumping Ben's shoulder a little.

"Yeah." Ben replied, looking sour.
  
They reached Timmy's home first, the back fence enclosed the high deck around his townhome. Timmy opened the large heavy red wooden gate using his entire body and did the same to close it behind himself.

Now, it was just Carlo and Ben, and Ben would reach his home next.

The sun was setting early, owing to the season, but they both trudged along slowly.

"If I tell you something, promise you won't make fun, or tell anyone." Ben said, quietly.

Carlo stopped walking and looked up at his friend.  "I promise, I won't make fun or tell." he said seriously.  

"I think...I think my sister is possessed or something. Late last night, I saw something weird happening in her room.  Stuff moving on it's own.  Flashes of light.  And I swear to god... She was the one doing it."  Ben was so freaked just recalling this, his eyes watered. 

"Damn. Like Poltergiest?!"  Carlo said. "...You sure it wasn't some kind of prank?-"

"It wasn't a prank! I know what I saw."  Ben shouted.

"Alright-alright, keep your voice down.  Have you talked to her about it?"

"No. ...I'm scared to."

"Well, you should.  If it were me? That's what I would do.  Even if she thinks you're crazy, she'll still have your back. You know?"

"Yeah." Ben replied.

"And she's your sister."

"Adopted sister.  You know. I never told you this, but when mom and dad first brought her home? She scared me.  Just... Something was wrong with her."

"That why you never seemed that close?"

"Well, mostly it was just that she's older, but... yeah."  

" Hold up... did you see that?" Carlo said.

"What?"

"I thought I just saw... Man, it's late. And with your story?  I was seeing things."

There were two small pops, like the sound of a BB gun and both boys dropped on their backs.  

Brown Cadillac appeared from behind a tree, looking in every direction cautiously.  The darts weren't just a sedative, but a mild amnesiac.  Neither would remember anything of the past couple of hours.

The light brown boy was Ben.  Four's brother.

This was someone he could use.