B I T E | BoyxBoy

Chapter 3: Nasty Surprise

The town wasn't far away and they arrived quickly enough while gossiping about their classmates.
Well, John called it gossiping, Jacques called it "Informing a new student about the rest of the student body".
John was sure that nothing he said had malicious intent but it was amusing nonetheless.
Jacques showed him in the diner they mentioned and they went in to get some food.
The menu unsurprisingly was mostly made up out of the cheap fast food most people his age liked to poison their bodies with.
John preferred good home cooked food but it was too late to turn back now so he decided on a chickenburger, a small side salad and some fries.
Jacques ordered some abomination that John wouldn't even try to describe and they left the building with their meals that were soaking the bottom of the bags with their grease and fat.

Jacques showed him the rest of the town, pointing at the different buildings and explaining what was sold there or telling John interesting facts about the owner.

A sudden freeze made John shiver even in his blazer and long pants and he looked to his new friend to ask if he felt the same, only to realize that the spot next to him was empty.
He whirled around, eyes searching all over the place but the peach haired boy was nowhere to be seen.
What the fuck?

"Jacques? Come out, this isn't funny", yelled the brunette and tried not to let the unease creeping up get to him.
The other boy was just pulling a little prank on the new student, John experienced this before.
Nothing to be concerned about.

A creak sounding out from a nearby alley made the fine hairs on John's arms and neck stand up straight and he shuddered.
There was no other noise and John suddenly became acutely aware of just how empty the streets were.
Sure, the town wasn't exactly brimming with people when he and Jacques first got here since it was night.. But there had been a few other students from their school milling about with their friends.
Where did everyone go?
He looked at the alley and swallowed down his nerves.
He started walking towards it and saw how dark it really was.
The entire town was pretty dim but the alleyway was pure black.
He couldn't make out anything within it even from a couple of feet away.

"Jacques if you're in there come out now and we can just forget about this little 'joke'."

No reply.
Johns hands formed into fists and he decided to risk it.
He took a step, and another and another until he stood just before the entryway.
Fuck it.
He took a final step, a bigger one this time, and crossed the threshold.
The darkness swallowed him up immediately and he suddenly found it difficult to make out the street he just came from.
It was like staring directly into the sun, it seemed so bright.
He looked away as his eyes started to hurt from the intense light and instead felt around for a nearby wall to make his way forward without stumbling into anything.

Instead his wrist was snatched up in a bruising grip and he was slammed into hard concrete, his head making a sickening crack upon impact.
John groaned in pain but was prevented from sinking onto the dirty floor by another rough hand curling around his exposed throat, keeping him upright.
His vision blurred and he could feel tears forming in his eyes.
His head pounded with pain and all he wanted was to curl up until it all went away.
His head was tilted up and he could make out a bright red shock of untamed hair.
The longer he looked, the more details came into focus and he could even make out some vague details of the alleyway.

"This could have all been prevented if you just listened to me. Now look what you've done."

That voice.. No.. It couldn't be.
John tried his best to focus and ignore the sudden rush of nausea and realized who exactly had attacked him.
It was the boy he ran into earlier.

"Let me go you fucking psychopath", John managed to grit out, "what the fuck did you do to Jacques!?"

The hand around his throat tightened further and John's free hand clawed at it to get it off.
The redhead however only laughed, an ugly and incredibly loud sound which sent the brunettes ears ringing, at John's attempt to fight for his life.

"Now why would I do that? A little shit like you needs to be taught some respect, don't you think? And don't worry.. Your little guard dog is just taking a nice nap."

John attempted to kick his leg up to hit the bigger boys groin but he just realized John's wrist and easily caught it mid swing.
It was so big that he could wrap it around entirely.
John swallowed at the thought of the guy just breaking his leg like a toothpick.
He probably could do it if he really wanted.

"That wasnt very nice", growled the boy and thrust John's head back against the wall, making black spots dance before his vision.
He released John's leg and brought his other hand down to clamp around his neck as well and squeezed, and squeezed and squeezed.
It was impossible for John to breathe and he fought with all he had, but for nothing.
The redhead didn't budge and John's protests grew weaker with every passing second.
John felt his strength dwindle to nothing and was just about to give into the darkness when his attacker was suddenly ripped away from him.

John slumped to the ground on all fours, breathing in as much air as he could between heavy, painful coughs.
He heard banging and yelling in the alley  but it all felt so far away.
He could barely keep himself up, his arms and legs were trembling.
He heard a splat and saw that blood was drripping down from his head.
John stared at the growing puddle and realized that the injury must be worse than he thought.

He jumped hard when someone pulled him up and he looked at the person in surprise.
It was the boy from his chemistry class.
What was he doing here.
Despite his pain he looked around and saw that his attacker was gone.
Instead he felt his heart stop for a second when he saw Jacques laying lifeless on the ground.
John tried to rip himself away from his classmate and reached out for his friend but was pulled back.

"He's just unconscious. He'll be fine.
You on the other hand need to go to the hospital immediately.. I'm sure you saw it on your way here. Now go!"

What?
"I-I can't just leave him here.. He got attacked because of me, I need to help him!"

He looked back at the other boy.
He had a very strange expression on his face, as if he was suppressing something.
The grip on John's shoulders tightened.

"I'll take him to the hospital but we'll slow you down since I'll have to carry him. What are we going to do if you get attacked again, huh? Go ahead, we'll be right behind you. Hurry!"

He pushed John into the direction of the street and he was the other boy make his way over to Jacques.
He threw an encouraging look towards John and the brunette hesitantly left, unsure if he was doing the right thing.