playdead

Chapter Nine

Teddy had an idea.

While he was packing up to leave, he and his buddy Henry would go down to Wet Fish (no one wondered why the swampy area near the forest was called that) and grab a bike. They would go through the forest, faster than those bullies, and make it to Kietzke Lane before 3:00. It was flawless!

Henry was able to convince the black haired kid (Simon, apparently was his name) to join in. Teddy waited hiding behind the stairs, out of sight of Patrick and his apparent "new friends."

Henry and Simon soon walked out the front doors, as the other kids flooded out. In the middle of the parking lot, about 20 inches to the left, was Patrick and his friends.

Henry and Simon met with Teddy behind a dumpster.

"Who're those other guys?" Henry asked.

"Dunno...that's what I was trying to figure out." Teddy asked, peeking from the side of the dumpster.

"The more the merrier..." Simon cautiously said.

"Patrick doesn't have a twin brother, does he?" Teddy asked, after a few minutes of complete silence between them.

"Uh...not that I know of, no." Simon answered.

"Shit...alright." Teddy said. He faced the other guys and sighed.

"There was about four of them there. One girl, three boys. One was, for sure, Hothstetter. The other one, looked like him." Teddy said.

"Let's wing it, boys." Henry said. He usually smiled when he said that, but this time he frowned. "Follow me, alright?"

"Oh! And I almost forgot." Teddy said, grabbing three little red balls with green strings on top of them.

"Ya pull this stringy, you get the boomy. Only pull this if you're in trouble, alright?" Teddy said, handing one to Henry and Simon. "You got about...a second after you pull the string to run or something."

"WE KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE, YOU LIL' PUSSIES!" Patrick shouted.

"Three...two..." Henry counted down, jogging in place.

"Godspeed, boys." Teddy said. They all got in position to run.

"One!" Henry shouted.

Henry, Simon, and Teddy all sprinted from the dumpster to the road to the left of them. Instantly, the four bullies noticed them and began to run after them.

"IM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!" Patrick screamed.

"Oh lord! He's right on our tail!" Henry said.

"Stop complaining! You literally run a marathon every day!" Teddy replied.

"Up ahead! Wet Fish!" Simon shouted.

A few minutes of more swearing and insults from Patrick, and heart attack type pain, they made it to Wet Fish. They turned a sharp left, into the wet and soil filled forest.

"Split! Split!" Henry shouted, running straight ahead.

Teddy went left, and Simon went right.

Screams erupted from the forest, as Teddy's feet bounced off the ground. Leaves crunched under his Vans.

Teddy was getting out of breath. Patrick and some other kid was behind him.

Suddenly, a sharp pain came up from Teddy's leg. It spread like wild fire up his leg. He fell down into the dirt and rolled about two times. Ted looked at his leg. Bleeding. They threw something at him, most likely a rock.

"We gotchu now, FUCKER!" Patrick shouted.

Wait...two kids were after Teddy. Only four kids were chasing them. That means the others were only chased by one person. They're gonna be fine.

Teddy attempted to get up, but slipped. He fell.

"Look at this bitch, Cameron." Patrick said.

Cameron, the other kid, let out a blood curdling laugh, and went up to Teddy and picked him up by the collar.

"Hi! I'm CAMERON!" Cameron shouted. He punched Teddy so hard, he went flying. Teddy's vision blurred.

"More where that came from, gay boy!" Patrick shouted. Patrick and Cameron went up to Teddy and started kicking him hard, in the ribs and along the sides of his body. Teddy felt so much pain it numbed in some spots.

Ted's head hurt. He closed his eyes.

He didn't know what was going to happen to him. But it doesn't matter. If he died, let them know that they were going out with him.

Teddy opened his eyes.

Suddenly he was hunched over a bridge. Right over a running river, slightly green and blue.

"Eh? Why don't you take a bath?" Patrick said. He pushed Teddy to the edge and lifted him up by the heels of his feet.

He was dangling off of the bridge, held by Patrick Hothstetter and a kid named Cameron.

"NO! PLEASE! DON'T!" Teddy shouted. He screamed in agony and fear.

"Yeah baby, BEG! DO IT!" Cameron shouted. He gave out his laugh again. That damn laugh.

"Ooh! My hands slippin'!" Patrick said.

"HELP! HELP! SOMEONE!" Teddy shouted again. No one was nearby.

"Whoops!" Cameron and Patrick both said. Teddy flew downwards to the river. He crashed into the water, back first, and was surrounded by extremely cold water. He swallowed a mouthful of water before struggling to escape.

Teddy trudged to a river bank by the bridge and looked. Patrick and Cameron were laughing at him.

Ted's anger overfilled his shivers and grabbed the little ball. He pulled the green string and threw it at them.

"Oh, baby's got a little weapon hu-" Patrick's voice was cut off from a massive shock and boom coming from the sky. Colors and shines spread all around.

Patrick and Cameron ducked and ran off the bridge.

"FUCK!" Patrick shouted, before running off.

Teddy laid on the river bank and started to control his panic and breathing. He calmed down.

"Shit..." Teddy whispered.