Deamons

Chapter 12 RunAway part 2

"Allan! Allan!" you ever hear a crow squawk when another crow swipes a crust of bread just before it gets its beak on it. That is what she sounds like. A squawking crow. All Starke hears is, "Wah, wah, wah," like she is a baby whining. Death is at his inner ear uncharacteristically making the crying sound so loud Starke honestly believes he hears it on the outside.

Allan is coming fast, jumps right over his wife landing on Starke knocking him over. He pins Starke's arms down with his knees. Quick as day his mother is to her feet. She is lit up behind him like a blazing forest fire against a dark night sky. Starke can throw Allan off but why? The picture he sees before him of the two people who brought him in this world with nothing but hate in their eyes is more damaging then bullets.

Allan has a dull steak knife in his hand. He is pressing it at Starke's Adams apple. It does not hurt. At this moment nothing hurts. He is lost in what he sees in their eyes. Anger looks around inside and sees what he has done. He gave Rejection a strong shot of adrenalized energy and the deamon is running around like a crazed meth head. Its bad, He messed up. Anger retreats to the bowels his head hung low. Rejection pounds his vile messages into Starke's psyche over and over again. Death goes giddy too. He will take a kill. Its almost a suicide if Starke just lays there.

"Kill him Allan! Kill him Allan!" his mother screams from overtop them. Starke hears the outside world clearly now. The deamons make sure of it.

Starke looks Allan right in the eye with nothing but kindness. "Kill me dad, please."

Allan pauses. The knife needed to be pushed much harder to really dig in. He pulls it away there is just a jagged scratch to evidence where the knife had been. His eyes change. Seems like his hatred receded like spring river ice. He gets up and goes back upstairs.

His mother is still pissed, water sizzling of your ears in a rainstorm pissed. Her head bobbles back and forth between Allan and Starke. Then she chases Allan up the stairs screaming at him. Starke shuffles off to his room. The insanity of his home mixes with his strong desire to be accepted at school. He sees only one solution. He packs up a bag of clothes shoving them into an old olive drab military laundry bag. He shoves the bag out the window then follows with himself. He cannot wait around for Craig so he runs to school with his bag cutting through trails he knows well in the woods to make the trip shorter and stay off the road in case his father is out looking for him.

Starke is excited to try to make things up with Kate and mingle with people. He gets into the special locker set up by Mr. Connor with the camera equipment he needs. Baba boom! The sound is coming from the next locker bank. Crunch. He recognizes that sound it is a can crushing. He walks past. "Hey Starke! Whacha doin'" a fellow student asks. He recognizes the boy from his class and has seen the two boys with him around. They are a year or two older. "Oh, hey Darrin," Starke says. "Whacha doin' have a brewoooski *burp*," Darrin asks again and holds beer. "Nah, I need to get down to the show. I am filming it for the news." "Way cool," Darrin says. Starke's mouth drops. Just something about three boys hiding in a locker bank to drink then being excited about any school activity. He put on a mask all the time pretending to be a rebel and portrayed the I am to cool for society thing that is why I do not dress preppy like the rest of you. He is boys breaking several society rules about drinking and they were excited about the show. "Yea man we want to be on the news," one of the older boys proclaims. "Ok sure," Starke agrees and beats feet away as quick as possible.

He is in the auditorium and sets up in the back as people fill in. It is a good show. No Craig though. The drinking boys grab him after the show. "Come on, bro," the boy his age says. They usher him backstage where some kids are smoking pot. "Come on bro film us, just not our faces," the boy says. "Nah man no," Starke says shutting off the camera. He is trying not to breath the pot smoke in and get out of there a.s.a.p. "Look man Mr. Connor will never let anything like that out on the air," Starke says. "Awe come on, bro. Don't be a dick," the boy says. Dick? You are dick, Starke thinks. "Look even if I film your shoes Mr. Connor won't air it. In fact, he probably would just turn it over to the principal to analyze." "So," the boy says. "Well if you've been in the principal's office in the past year he might recognize your shoes, your pants, hell even the way you stand," Starke explains. "Woh, bro you're smart. Good looking out bro," the boy fist bumps him and he is off.

He shoves the equipment back in the locker and runs out to the parking lot. He never saw Craig or Kate during the show. He hoped he just missed him and he will find him now. No such luck. He Boy Scout runs the half-mile to Craig's house. That is walk twenty steps, then run twenty steps. He is there in no time. He sees Craig's dad's truck parked out front. He sneaks around the house peeking in all the windows. No Craig. He paces out front a few hours hoping to catch him on his way home but it he never sees him, so he runs down the streets to a wooded patch.

He makes his way to spot far enough from the road that he is not risking anyone seeing him. It is chilly out and damp. He makes nest out if his clothes to sleep in. His teethe chatter. He starts to doze off almost asleep.

"We don't want to die like this," Death says. "Doesn't this boy know anything about hypothermia? Geez! I want him to come asking him to take him not die in his sleep. Rejection do something!"

"What do you want me to do?" Rejection asks. He gifts are worried too. There just is not muchany of them can do. They are powerless over what is going on now.