Who Took Luca?

Alone

The school bell rang loudly, releasing the teenagers from their classrooms in hordes. Kade searched for Luca in the chaotic scramble but it was useless. Everyone wore the same sweatshirts and denim pants making it impossible to ever spot someone specific. He went to the locker to unload his books for the day, glad his annoyingly long classes were finally over. Now he was free to lay with Luca at the big Copperwood tree until the sun went down.

A girl slammed into his shoulder as she sprinted down the hall, shoving his body in the direction she ran. People cheered for whatever was going on outside but he couldn't make out what they were saying. It was probably just some dumb Pep rally for the football match tomorrow, even if it was just a scrimmage. Students were always extremely patriotic towards the sports teams. They were bascially the Olympics for people. Parents would come cheering on their children. Some even thought They would reward you if you won. Kade thought that was bullshit. The only thing They did was cause pain to those that wouldn't be controlled.

The cheering grew louder a couple minutes later. It wasn't until he started to walk down the hall after finishing up at his locker that he heard their chants.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" they screamed.

Kade rolled his eyes, just trying to escape the building as soon as possible. But apparently life had other plans. When he reached the outdoors his attention was brought to the football field, where four football players were beating some poor kid up while everyone watched. Wait. That wasn't some random kid. It was Luca. His face dropped blood as they drew blows to his gut.

Kade threw his backpack to the ground, shoving any onlookers that blocked his path. He sprinted towards them, jumping forward into a hard body until his head hit the fake grass hard. His vision went spotty for a second, blinking as his brain came back online.

"What the fuck Kade!" the players yelled.

They ran towards the guy he'd tackled, Ford, helping him back to his feet. Kade lifted himself off the ground, eyes immediately checking on Luca behind them. The was on his hands and knees, heaving and spitting up blood. Dark red covered his handsome face. Turning his attention back the players, he started yelling angrily, completely forgetting he had no reason to do that. That they knew about.

"Why the fuck are you beating him up!" he yelled.

One guy snickered in the background. Another outwardly laughed.

"The dude's a fag. Who fucking cares? We're just letting off a little steam before the match tomorrow." Ford sneered, holding a hand to his now busted lip.

Kade fumed with rage, but he couldn't show it. He wanted to hit them until they looked like Luca. But he couldn't show or do that, so he locked his jaw and tried not to smash amused faces in. Ford stepped forward to put his hand on Kade's shoulder like a good friend would.

"Look, you know the only reason They haven't taken him is because he isn't from here. We're just helping Them out as much as we can. We need their help if we're going to win that scrimmage tomorrow. Besides, what we're doing is a much than what They'd do to him. You what happens to fags here." he said lowly.

Kade held his fists to his sides to keep himself from lashing out. He hated it but they were right about what They'd do. No one ever saw where They kept people or where'd they go but it was easy to guess when you saw their faces. Gay people were the only ones They allowed to come back, but they'd have scars. There was a girl a few years ago, before Luca had arrived. She came out as Lesbian to her parents and close friends, which wouldn't seem like a big ordeal to normal people but here it was a mass public announcement. Two days later she was gone and stayed like that for months. One day she just walked into school. At first she seemed fine, happy even. But when you looked into her eyes there was that pitch darkness. Nothing was behind her eyes. No emotion, no anger, nothing. Until there was an incident where she did a cheerleading stunt and she fell from a pretty high place. She'd hit her head and started screaming. When the teachers tried to calm her down she screamed louder, like someone was hurting her. After that, she stopped going to school. Kade saw her sometimes in the grocery store. He'd try to wave but she never turned to look at him. Her eyes would be stuck on the ground, widely opened.