Frisson

35 | insomniacs

I'm at his heels as he searches the house and eventually finds Trevor and his friends in the backyard. They're all laughing and jumping around like merry idiots on his trampoline, clueless to the heaving beast headed their way. I stay back by the sliding glass door, watching pathetically as my brother stalks up and grabs their attention.

One of them jumps off and approaches my brother with his head cocked. Chace is an athlete two years above us and it shows. He towers over them effortlessly, but there are still four of them. "Are you the faggot's brother?" he asks. "We're not backing off just 'cause you have a rich daddy."

Chace doesn't respond. He sends his right fist straight across the kid's face with one swoop, leaving a sickening smack to echo through the air. The boy falls slump to the ground and doesn't get back up.

"What the fuck?" Trevor yells with fear trembling in his voice. He waits for his other friends to jump off the trampoline before getting down himself. They create a barrier around him, clueless to how my brother can chip it away without breaking a sweat.

"I warned you," Chace growls, pointing right at the ringleader. "I told you what would happen if you came near my brother again." He grabs the collar of the closest guy and slams his fist right into the middle of his face. A crack sounds with the collision. The boy screams in pain as his head snaps back and blood trickles from his nose. He falls to the ground in a heap and scrambles away, cradling what is surely now broken.

"Fuck, dude! You're crazy," the next kid yells with absolute terror in his eyes. "We were only messing around."

"Messing around?" Chace yells incredulously and stalks forward like a beast taunting his prey. "Are you seriously going to say that was messing around?" He jerks a hand back at me as I continue to keep my distance like a coward. "You're getting exactly what you deserve." Right as the words leave his mouth, he sends his fist into the guy's face, knocking him several steps back.

"I-I'm sorry, okay?" he cries out. "I didn't know his brother was a fucking psycho. I'm out." The boy runs away, leaving Trevor and his two broken friends to take Chace on alone. He brushes past me and into the house.

I look over my shoulder to watch him leave, only to be startled by Trevor's little sister halting at the backdoor in shock. Her giant eyes stare at me then Chace. Her head turns slowly as she takes in the two kids on the ground and her brother keeping up a brave façade. Her face breaks into a sob and she runs away to scramble upstairs. We're screwed.

"I'm not scared of you," Trevor yells.

I turn around in time to catch my brother smirk at his confidence. He folds his arms and shrugs his broad shoulders. "That so? Alright. Hit me."

Trevor balls his fist but hesitates. His legs become restless in his position, and his eyes dart to his remaining friends on the ground. "It was a joke, man."

"Hit. Me." Chace's voice deepens. His expression darkens with something chaotic underneath. He wants the guy to put up a fight. He wants to have an excuse to pummel him into the dirt.

"Fuck you!" Trevor yells and punches him right in the jaw.

I jump forward, but my worries are useless. My brother takes the punch with ease and tackles Trevor to the ground. Normally, in a fight, things become a blur as fists fly and limbs get tangled in a heat of battle.

Not with Chace.

He knows how to overpower his opponent without breaking a sweat. Trevor is flat on his back, cowering and covering his face as Chace slams it with his fists, sending punch after punch after punch into every part of his body. His knuckles come back red and bruised with each hit. The look in his eyes is full of power and rage. "If you come near my brother again, I'll fucking kill you. Do you understand?"