Godsgrave: Village of sin

chapter 2: Home sweet home

The crisp November air turned the two boys breath to mist, it curled from their mouths like smoke as they continued their walk home from godsgrave prep. The trees arched over the both sides of the road creating a roof of crisp and golden leaves that had yet to fall from the brittle branches that held them. Elija and Tom walked side by side along the side of the empty road, Tom wore a heavy, dark green, combat jacket. Whilst Elija wore nothing over his immaculately kept uniform. It has always perplexed Tom as to why Elija seemed to embrace the cold rather than try to protect himself from it, to which Elija would always reply "what can I say, I'm just in perfect sync with nature."

The walk home to the estate was a quiet one at first, the only sounds that could be heard were the robins calling out to one another from their nests high up in the trees above, godsgrave had come to adopt the robin as their mascot due to the sheer amount that could be seen during the cold autumn months. Eventually the silence was broken by Elija, obviously unable to bare the thought of staying quiet for the whole trip. "Soooooo, it was a bad one huh?" He says while turning his head to look at his pale friend. Tom, who was busy trying to sort out what he would say to his parents when he told them about the sunday detention ms.langstrom had given him, was suddenly brought back to reality by his friends voice.

"What?", "the attack" Elija said in a concerned tone, "it seemed like a nasty one, normally you would have winced, popped a pill and shrugged it off, but this one looked like it hit you HARD" he finished, emphasising the last word. Tom thinks back to a few hours ago, the high pitched whine that had become a screaming shriek, the way his head felt as if his brain was vibrating in his skull, like a clamp was squeezing his head. The soft glow from the sun became a multitude of small, bleach white explosions across his vision that had drowned out the world around him.

"Was it that obvious?" Tom asked already knowing the answer. "One moment you were trying to find a way to save your ass from a weekend detention, the next you were sweating bullets and almost hitting the floor, with your eyes shut the entire time. I mean ms.langstrom was on the verge of giving you chest compressions." Seeing the way Tom rubbed the bridge of his nose as he often did when he was stressed, he quickly began to backtrack, "but you know, i'm sure to everyone else you just seemed tired, or trying really really hard not to cry." Elija trailed off realising that this probably wasn't the comforting answer that his friend was looking for.

Tom let out a frustrated sigh and not for the first time, wished he could physically pummel his unrelenting affliction. "Its my fault" he said with an annoyed groan, "I forgot to take the pills last night and this morning and that must of built up to create the absolute bomb that went off in my head." Elija gave him a hearty clap on the back, trying to steer the conversation away from Toms attack, knowing that if he left him alone in his head for too long he would torture himself. "cheer up Tommie, on the bright side, grace knows you exist". Tom gave a feeble smile "yeah, well after growing up with her for 10 years that's not exactly an achievement." Elija still continuing to walk up the small path that would lead them to the village, spun around to face Tom and started walking backwards. "Listen, tomato, potato, it's still something, right?"

Tom dodged the question and instead responded with "you ever think about yourself once in a while, I mean i'm glad to have you as my not not helpful in anyway wingman, but if your not careful, you might end up like principal crowe, alone, shut up in his office all day and only coming out to torture a kid or two." Elija scoffed at the notion, "please, tommie have you ever known a girl to resist my incredible charm." Tom, knowing full well that Elija hated when he pointed out that for all his wit and good looks he had yet to find a girl, continued to press the subject, because it was a rare thing to be able to fluster Elija Tanner. "Huh, alright then" shot back Tom, seeing one of those rare chances present itself, "if your so charming, then name the last time a girl went out with you"

Elija, who was of course, if nothing else a man of pride, raced to defend his honour, "ill have you know tommie, I was out with a girl last weekend," he said with a smug tone. "It was with that brunette who always has those cute glasses on, what was her name again, ana?, charlotte?"

Just as Tom had suspected, Elija was so focused on displaying his 'skills' that he had lacked the foresight to watch where he was going.

"Wall" suggested Tom, Elija gave him a perplexed stare, "what kind of name is wa-" he was then interrupted by the impact of his head against the dull brick wall.

With a dull thwack, his head bounced off the red bricks. He fell onto his side, rubbing his hands over the soon to be bruise that would inevitably grow. "Hows that charm working out for you?" Tom asked as he watched his friend shoot him a look of pure venom, his mouth contorted into a snarl, and Elijas eyes took on a dark quality. As quickly as it had appeared the look of anger vanished off of his face, with help from Toms outstretched hand he clambered to his feet, "verrrry sneaky tommie, some would say downright traitorous." They continued their ascent to the estate, they walked around the broken clocktower at the heart of the village with its quaint shops and houses before walking up one of two steep roads that led to the estate. "Oh come on it was just a joke" Tom quipped "just remember that the next time you think of boasting, you'll remember the time your dear old friend Tom humbled you, with a wall" finally reaching the estates gates Elija inputted his unique code to open them, every house in the estate was given one, why they felt the need to have code activated gates Tom would never know, after all the last time a crime was committed in godsgrave someone forgot to pay for a pick n mix.

Reaching the turn, they both stopped. A small boy had popped up in the front window of the first house, he held a plastic gun and aimed it at Tom, as he pulled the trigger the gun lit up with bright lights and presumably sounds they were too far away to hear. Tom clutched his heart in mock pain and slowly sunk to his knees, his face twisted into a fake grimace of pain, before finally dying in one last exaggerated flourish. Elija watched this performance with a look of mild amusement and confusion, he cocked his head to one side as if he was struggling to grasp his friends strangeness.

"Why you play along with his sci-fi obsession will forever be a mystery to me". Elija gave his little brother a shooing motion, Tom clambered off the ground, he swept his dark hair out of his eyes smiling the whole time. "Maybe because his big brother is too busy walking into walls rather than playing with him." Elija raised his hands in surrender "fine" he says with a smile "he wall wins." As he walked away, he called back in a sing song voice "see you Sunday, oh wait, that's right you have detention."

grinning at his friends antics he turned away from the laneway back  of houses and continued his walk through the heart of the estate, past the green, past the house at the end of the road with police cars gathered around it, he walked up the cul de sac that contained three houses, two of which were for sale. He continued up to the pale olive entrance of 666 godsgrave estate and used his key to open the door. His father emerged from the kitchen, with a bloody cleaver in his hand and called out in a cheerful voice "carol he's home!"