FicWad

Gabriel ducked out of the ear-splittingly intense noise of his Wednesday afternoon Maths class and out into the tranquillity of the empty corridor. The door made a satisfying ‘click’ noise as it shut behind him and all the chaos of his class was lost. Sighing contentedly, Gabriel pulled the headphones that were wrapped tightly around his phone from his pocket. Plugging them into his ears, he pressed play. Immersed in the music, Gabriel began to walk. As he walked, he picked the scabs that decorated his cracked knuckles and cursed as they began to bleed. Gabriel knew his route well. Every door and turn, Gabriel knew them all. He spent so much time walking this path, there could’ve been a little groove in the floor from where he had walked. All those times... For so many years.

The cheap, plastic based floor squeaked under his shoes with every step he took. Turning left at the end of the corridor, he found himself face to face with a grime smeared door. The door was embellished with a small faded plac featuring a stick figure of a man signaling that the bathroom was for males. Gabriel pushed the door open with the tips of his fingers, touching the door as little as he could. Stepping through, Gabriel glanced around himself. He walked over and kicked open each graffiti adorned blue stall door, making sure he was alone. He made his way toward the least dirty, least scratched mirror. Gabriel stared intensely into his own eyes reflected in the mirror, for what could have been seconds... Or minutes. His reflection stared back at him. His own straight, dyed black hair, his light brown roots betraying him, cut raggedly at his shoulders. His bright green eyes inspected at the bags that hung beneath them. Gabriel began rubbing his eyes viciously as if to rub away the sight of his own reflection. He stepped back and snapped out of his thoughts, causing him to step into a small puddle of unknown liquid. Gabriel cursed, staring down at his shoes. He hoped that the puddle was water.

Gabriel glanced up at the mirror again and began to admire his new white shirt, it’s slim fit meant that it hung closely to his body, exaggerating his muscles- his favourite thing about himself, causing him to instantly forget about his shoes. The shirt was a present from his brother and the most expensive thing he owned. He was incredibly proud of it.This shirt was his only reminder of the future he could obtain. The shirt reminded him of skyscrapers in large cities, and clean white hotel room sheets. The shirt reminded him of the man he could become, a man that would move away from this town, away from all the people he knew here. He could start afresh. He could be whoever he wanted. He didn’t have much, but Gabriel was incredibly proud of what he did have.

Gabriel kicked the bathroom door open once more and began making his way down the grubby corridor, his shoes beginning to squeak again as they dried off. He stopped, reaching the tower block stairs. Glancing down the stairs, Gabriel could hear the faint murmurs of other classes in their rooms, invading his thoughts. Despite his headphones. Gabriel bowed his head, looked at his feet and began to walk. The bright lights above him reflected off the shiny floor, blinding him to the point where he had to look up again. He had to look forward.

Gabriel reached the stairs and began to make his way down them, slowly placing one foot in front of the other, almost cautiously. The stairs were one of the oldest parts of the building, and even though the tiles that lined the floor had been replaced, you could still occasionally feel grooves in the floor, reminding you that you were not one of the first to walk down these stairs, and you were certainly not the last. This feeling made Gabriel quite uncomfortable, as he never really liked the company of others much, let alone the feeling of closeness to all the other students that had walked down these stairs. Gabriel pulled at the collar of his shirt trying to increase it’s ventilation. The feeling of claustrophobia began to get at him, as it usually does when he walks down these stairs. The feeling always made him a little too warm. Gabriel nudged the discarded remains of someone’s lunch on one step out of his way with the toe of his shoe, disgusted. A very welcome slight distraction from how uncomfortable he was feeling. Gabriel’s pace increased as he became fixated on leaving the small staircase. Turning sharply left on the ground floor and found himself face to face with the all too familiar white door.

He reluctantly removed his headphones and wrapped them around his phone, placing both back in his pocket. He took a sharp, deep breath in, preparing to knock. Raising his fist to the door, he knocked on the door three times. “Enter.” The jaded voice of the secretary drifted out through the door, summoning him.
He wiped his sweaty hands on the thighs of his jeans and firmly gripped the tarnished door handle, turning it and gently pushing the door open. He glanced around himself, before stepping into the room, quickly shutting the door behind him. Gabriel blinked frantically, the bright light and colour of the walls momentarily blinded him. He stumbled, disoriented and dizzy into the room. Entering the pristine bareness of the office that surrounded him was like stepping into another world. The orderly sterility of the room made a huge contrast to the grubby school hallway, littered with crisp packets and wrappers of what once were chocolate bars- from which Gabriel had entered.

This was not what Gabriel was comfortable with. Even though he had visited this room many times, Gabriel was more used to the disorganised, yet comfortable mess of the classrooms and hallways. The room itself was furnished only with a deep brown mahogany desk complete with matching chair, with various objects placed carefully across the desk. Gabriel walked into the room and made his way over to the desk. He leaned over the it, the hair falling into his eyes. Noticing the sight of his own face, out of the corner of his eye, reflected in the varnish of the shiny, smooth wood. Gabriel pulled his sleeves down over his hands and covered his reflection neatly with his hand. The chair and desk were placed carefully in the centre of the back of the room, placed parallel to the front and back walls. The walls themselves, seemed to be leaning in, almost menacingly as if trying to intimidate Gabriel. Gabriel began pulling at the hem of his shirt awkwardly, trying to distract himself from the dizzying organisation and light of the room.

Eventually Gabriel began to regain his orientation, the feeling of dizziness fading as he he became used to the bright light that bounced off the white walls. On the chair a tall, blonde woman with a pinched face and hair scraped back into a tight bun sat. The blue vein throbbing on her forehead due to the tight nature of her hairstyle, she was staring intently at a computer screen as if she had not yet noticed Gabriel’s presence. Her unsmiling face was scrunched up in concentration as if is whatever she was looking at was incredibly important. Gabriel cleared his throat awkwardly, in an attempt to attract the attention of the secretary. The woman flinched as he did this, but it had the desired effect. Moving her hands from the keyboard, she placed them aptly in her lap looking up at him. Her glaring eyes studied Gabriel closely, making him feel incredibly uncomfortable, before she began to speak. Beads of sweat glistened on her forehead, nose and upper lip, even though the room was unusually cold.

“Gabriel.” She said, her face still unsmiling, almost threatening. “Go straight in.”
She continued- not waiting for Gabriel to reply. She must have sensed his discomfort and began fixing a fake cold smile on her face. Her mouth was too wide, and the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her eyes clouded over in anger- or was it fear? As Gabriel began to glide across the room toward the door directly opposite and identical to the one through which he entered, the woman returned to her incessant typing. Gabriel was glad to leave the room, which despite its sterile appearance stank of fear and desperation. Not bothering to knock, Gabriel turned the handle and pushed to door open with trembling hands. He was half expecting the dean to be stood at the door, red faced and impatiently awaiting Gabriel’s arrival to condemn him to admit to theft, graffiti or arson. But this time was like no other.

The door swung open to reveal the dean sat on the front of her desk, smiling awkwardly at a boy perched on a black leather chair opposite her desk. Beside the boy, there was another matching chair, empty this time. This had clearly been placed there in anticipation of Gabriel’s arrival. The boy turned his head slightly to face Gabriel, but winced and shrunk further back into his chair at the sight of him. The boy had dyed black hair. It was clearly dyed some time ago, as the boy’s light golden-brown roots betrayed him. His hair was cut short- except for the dark curtain of a side fringe that shielded the boy’s face. The sides of his head looked as if they were once shaved, but had now grown out. He was dressed in worn out black skinny jeans, that were ripped on the left knee, miss matched scruffy converse with the laces left undone and a faded Green Day NZ tour 2012 shirt slightly too big on the small boy’s skinny frame. The boy’s sleeves were pushed up to reveal purple and black bruises like watercolour dying poppies that ran up and down his skinny arms.

Gabriel glanced up at the boy’s face that showcased a split lip, the start of a black eye, and nervous outlined eyes, of an emerald green framed with an unusual ring of brown. The boy’s neck was patterned with bright red marks resembling hands, like a thick choker necklace. The boy felt Gabriel’s gaze and protectively rolled his sleeves down over his hands to his bitten nails. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the dean spoke. Addressing Gabriel, she said “This is Frank.” in an emotionless, monotone voice, motioning to the boy slouched before her.
Frank... Frank...
The familiarity of the name swirled through Gabriel’s mind. Suddenly, the realisation of who this boy was, hit him. Frank.
Gabriel’s mind was suddenly flooded with his vivid memories with the boy.

“Frankie! Frankie! Where are you?” Gabriel’s sickly sweet voice called, from around the corner. Gabriel turned the corner to face Frank, who was hunched, shivering behind a dumpster propped up against a dirty wall. The floor littered with rouge trash that had been forgotten about, escaping garbage trucks. Gabriel slowly moved toward the boy, heavily trailing a crowbar behind him as he walked through the alleyway. The blood trickled down from Gabriel’s split knucks onto the crowbar, which was already caked heavily in blood on the opposite end. This blood was definitely not Gabriel’s. Advancing on the pathetic shadow huddled in the corner, Gabriel smirked. The boy sprawled before him let out a quiet whimper, as if accepting defeat. “Frankie.” he sighed, smiling. His voice still sickly sweet. Raising the crowbar once more- he delivered one final blow, before walking away from the bloodied lifeless body left on the cold, dirty ground of the back alley.

Gabriel's mind replayed the last time he had seen Frank and where he had for another countless time, left him to die.

The sky was a dull grey, colour. Looking up, Gabriel sighed in annoyance. It was about to rain and he didn’t want to ruin his hair before his date with Laura. “Better get this over with.” Gabriel muttered to himself. Frank was becoming more, and more of a chore for him. It was fun to begin with, but it was beginning to become annoying. He began wrapping the rope tighter and tighter around the boy’s waist and shoulders, the boy’s hands and feet already bound. Gabriel tied the final knott, smiling in satisfaction at the sight of Frank’s eyes, closed in defeat. His head hung and his back straight against the flag pole. Spitting at Frank’s bloodied face and swollen eyes, he turned on his heel. He walked across the sport’s field, away from the boy without a second glance. He grinned as he felt Frank’s gaze on his back.

Gabriel knew Frank. Frank balled his hands into fists at his sides. All those years of torture, torment and humiliation began bubbling inside Frank. The memories of the inhumane acts Gabriel had inflicted upon him, fueling his anger and contempt towards Gabriel. Overcoming the fear that had forced Frank to live in the shadows, always awaiting the next unbearable act he did not deserve, that would leave him half dead and bloodied on the ground.
The little snitch. Gabriel sneered to himself.
Staring intently into the boys eyes, a wide cruel grin spread slowly across his face. In an attempt to suppress his sudden urge to laugh in malicious hysterics, Gabriel bit his lip. Only a slight smirk betrayed him. Frank stood up. Not breaking eye contact, he stepped toward Gabriel. Moving his fist toward Gabriel’s chest, Gabriel moved out of his chair, his back against the wall, snickering to himself as his head rested neatly underneath one of the Dean’s pictures hanging from the wall. The little weed just tried to hit me!
The dean stood up, also moving toward Gabriel. Preparing herself to pull the boys off one and other if the need arose.

Suddenly, Gabriel felt a strange sensation, of warm liquid running down his chest.
Did he pour something on me?
Gabriel wondered to himself, looking down. A warm, bright crimson liquid made its way down the front of Gabriel’s shirt. Panicking, he looked down, he noticed the elegant ivory bone handle protruding from his chest. Gabriel looked into the boy’s eyes, the sudden realisation of the series of events causing his knees to buckle, gasping he slid down the wall, a smear of blood marking his path. The pain, finally setting in, shuddered throughout his body. Gabriel began to gasp for air, blood spilling out of his mouth, choking him.
“Gabriel! GABRIEL!” He heard the dean scream his name, frozen to her spot, barely able to speak. “Gabriel. Gabriel Jinn.” Frank spat at him.
“Frankie.” Gabriel choked out, his disturbingly calm smile splashed with blood, turning his lips bright red.
Staring into the Frank’s eyes, Gabriel’s mind fell silent. He could see by the boy’s open mouth and closed eyes that he was screaming, but all Gabriel could hear was the beating of his own dying heart. His head felt heavy, and his eyelids drooped, before all that remained was the steady beating, like a death knell... Until... All fell into silent black. And then, there was nothing.