1 How (Not) To Run For Your Life

Alex looked at his knees, all covered in cuts and bruises from when he had landed hard on the gravel.

<Not my fault!>

He could hear them talking, no doubt it was about him. If only they would listen.

Would it matter anyway? The deed was done already.

Why?! The thought gripped him. Why do they always blame the wrong person?

He pictured the incident in his head. The day had started so smoothly, it was just his luck that this happened.

<Maybe I don't need to stay here, maybe I c->

"Alexander Drake!" a shrill voice called interrupting his reverie.

He looked down the narrow corridor until his gaze fell upon the speaker - Ms Pin.

Suppressing a groan he got up from his seat and walked towards the mean-looking woman.

The children had a poem at the school he attended made just for her;

'Ms Pin, Ms Pin

Mean and thin

Misery and sadness

follows her place.

Not a smile ever

adorned on her face.

A heart of deepest black,

And a soul from hell and back.'

Yep, middle-schoolers were cruel, but still, most of what they said about her was true -She was only ever around when someone was in trouble or sad, she never smiled only scowled, and she was very heartless.

This is probably why Alex's anxiety doubled by eleventy-billion when he saw her smile, it wasn't a kind smile, instead, it reminded him of the smile a predator would give its prey.

"Follow me, Mr Drake." She spat before turning on her heel and speed walking towards the Principal's office.

Why she was speed walking escaped him as the Principal's office was literally just around the corner.

As they arrived he noticed his parents standing outside the office with his twin sister, out of all their faces his sister's was the only one that gave him a sense of confidence.

She shot him smiles and gave him a few thumbs-ups.

Alex barely had time to smile back before he was roughly shoved through the door.

"The Principal is waiting for you!" She hissed before skulking back to her desk.

Alex hit the floor in the office with a thud.

Standing up, he couldn't help but notice some things about the office and its sole inhabitant.

The room had a faint smell of cheap Champagne and made him feel extremely uncomfortable. He swept his eyes over the room drinking in the details before settling his gaze on the figure at the far end of the room.

The Principal was an imposing man who went by the significantly less imposing name of Dawk Kallin. It didn't help that he looked like a greasy weasel.

Kallin looked over to where Alex was standing and beckoned him over. "Come, take a seat.".

As Alex sat down he winced.

<Could these seats be any harder?!>

Looking at his discomfort with glee, Kallin asked. "Alex, may I call you Alex?".

Alex nodded.

"Perfect! Let's continue, I understand you got into a fight this morning, care to tell me what happened?".

Looking down at his hands, Alex forced himself to be confident.

"It was Malcolm, sir.".

"We don't point fingers in this school! Continue.".

"I was sitting at the back of the bus like I always do when they came on, "

He paused briefly before continuing.

"I like sitting at the back as it is normally quite peaceful there, they destroyed that peace.".

"Really? How did they do that?".

"Malcolm and his girlfriend... Mindy? I think her name is Mi-"

"Taylor.".

"Huh?".

"Her name is Taylor.".

"Oh.".

"Can we continue? Please focus!".

Kallin sighed, "What happened next?".

"Well, Taylor started to smoke on the bus, the bu-,"

"Smoke? You're sure she was smoking?".

"YES! Why am I answering stupid questions?".

"You best watch your attitude whilst talking to elders. " Kallin paused, reached into the drawer beside him and pulled out a bottle of Vodka which he then proceeded to take a large drought.

Alex's mouth fell open in shock, his right eye twitching in disbelief.

Red-eyed, Kallin chastised him. "Close your mouth, you'll catch flies.".

Alex nodded, still in shock.

"Continue," Kallin commanded.

"Righ- right, anyway the driver informed them that she couldn't start the bus until they stopped smoking, that's when Malcolm got violent, he said he was going to punch her in the face.".

"So you threw your heavy Biology textbook at his head?".

"Yup, pretty much sums it all up.".

"He needs stitches now, what do you have to say for yourself?".

"I. Don't. Care. Geez, he attempted to assault a bus driver and I'm the one in here? What's wrong with you people?".

Taking another swig of alcohol straight from the bottle, Kallin glared at Alex. "His parents fund our sports department, you and your smarty-smarts friends demanded more funding for your Art and Drama and Sciences, now we can't fund sports properly!".

"That's entirely your problem! I don't appreciate being used as a scapegoat!".

"I see... Then I guess I'll have to expel you then.".

"You really don't want to go down that route!".

"Is that a threat, Mr Drake?".

"I know my rights!".

Kallin and Alex glared at each other. Will vs will.

Kallin caved first. "Fine! You can continue your classes,"

He leaned closer so that their eyes were mere inches away from each other.

"But I will have the last laugh, this country is run on muscle, not poindexters!".

Alex raised an eyebrow.

The Principal was clearly insane.

Kallin glared at Alex one last time, he spat out a hasty "You may go!" in Alex's direction before going back to his bottle.

--------------------------------------------

Even though he had won the battle, Alex still felt as if he had lost the war.

Also, there was a lingering sensation of injustice.

Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, Alex forged ahead in his English Lit class.

It was free to study session, so Alex could read what he wanted, as of right now he was reading the Iliad.

Was.

Malcolm strode into the classroom, he was wearing a sporting new head cast.

Alex was contemplating whether he should stand his ground or run away.

Standing his ground won over in his head, probably because he was feeling confident from his encounter with the Principal.

That was an incredibly bad idea.

"Hello there, Alex." Malcolm sneered.

"Hello." By now Alex was starting to feel a little nervous.

"They say I cracked my skull. That's a good arm you've got."

The look on his face did not give the impression that this was a friendly chat between chums.

Sitting down on Alex's desk, he pulled out a switchblade. "Got me some nice stitches, in fact, they look so nice I think you should have some." He smiled, it wasn't a nice smile.

Petrified Alex could barely look at the blade much less talk.

Smiling, Malcolm got off the table and made for the door.

The relief flooded his body like water floods into a canal.

He turned back to his book to continue reading, he couldn't help but hum a cheerful tune under his breath.

Hearing a sudden rushing of feet he turned, realising two things - the first, Malcolm was in his face grinning... Well... Malevolently, and the second was that there was a sharp pain in his abdomen.

<Wha- what?>

Staggering backwards, Alex fell off of his chair, he tried to get up... But his feet kept sliding on something slippery.

For a second he thought he heard his sister shouting, but his hearing was getting murky.

He felt like he was at the bottom of the lake, a very warm lake.

Thoughts of his started to clouding over.

There was something sticky on his arms. Some sort of crimson fluid.

He felt so warm, comfy.

<I feel so tired, maybe I should take a small nap.>

There was this odd feeling like he was fading...

--------------------------------------------

An alien sky greeted his visage.

Looking around he saw that he was strewn across the bank of a great river. The river sparkled with broken promises.

Upon the shore, all around him, beautiful lilacs bloomed. A breeze like a regret rippled through the wondrous field.

Time had no meaning in this place and yet something felt forgotten.

A feminine cry graced his ears, desperate and tinged in pain.

Wading through the fields he came across a little lady in a sundress, tears and hope adorned her face.

"Please mister, will you help me? I seem to have a thorn in my foot.".

"If my lady would permit my assistance, I will rid you of this inconvenience." He kept a steady gaze while he inquired.

She nodded. Tenderly grasping her foot, He firmly pulled the thorn out. A deluge of scarlet hit the ground staining it a perverse crimson.

"Thank you, mister. Want to play a game?" She asked full of childhood innocence.

"It would be my pleasure, little lady." He smiled a broken smile.

"Tag?" She inquired. "You're it." He replied.

She ran around him in circles, then lightly tapped him. "You're it! Catch me if you can!" She took off like a fleeting dream and he followed.

But like a fantasy, this dream has to end...

<<You need to wake up!>>