Chapter 6: Chapter 6
"This boy should be suspended! Expelled! Hell! Might as well lock him up for what he did to our Hunter!"
Alex couldn't look anyone in the eye. He sat in the principal's office, hands still stained with a red hue. He was there but wasn't at the same time. Coach Hedge stood by the door in silence, and he was pretty sure Grover was outside.
The constant back-and-forth yelling between the principal and Hunter's parents drowned his ears but it didn't matter. A gun could've gone off next to his ear and he wouldn't even flinch. He just kept staring at his hands, and if he tried to look elsewhere he would just imagine those same terrified eyes glaring at him.
After the incident in the canteen, Coach Hedge had arrived. Alex didn't manage to get his reaction to it all but it was probably the same as everyone else. He had escorted Alex out and immediately to the principal's office without saying a word. Everyone watched him being dragged away like some freak show. He guessed he was.
God, he still couldn't get those images in his head.
"Mr and Mrs Vasquez, please," the principal said in her best calm tone. "What happened today was unspeakable. Your son was rushed to the hospital and thankfully, the doctors say he's going to be okay. Further, the incident happened on school grounds and so Mr Sinclair will be dealt with according to the school's decision."
"Where are this boy's parents? I'd like to have a word about their son's disgusting behaviour," Mrs Vasquz started.
Alex could feel her burning gaze. One of the first things he noticed was that the two Vasquez parents seemed wealthy, and wore clothes to match. Mrs Vasquez was accompanied by all sorts of jewellery and curly hair that shaped around her head like peacock feathers.
Mr Vasquez took on a sharp three-piece suit, a stern face and flat back hair combed so straight that it looked like it was painted in his head.
"It's just the boy and his father," the principal replied. "and so far, we haven't been able to contact him."
"Hmph, no mother," Mrs Vasquez sneered. "Makes sense."
Alex's hands were on fire but he restrained himself. His mind was all over the place. Nothing felt normal. The entire time Mr Vasquez didn't say a single word, his hands clenching his crossed arms.
Mrs Vasquez spoke again to the principal in her harsh voice. "Do what you deem necessary. We will be back."
The two parents stormed out of the room, leaving a tense moment of silence. Principal Thuldritch fiddled with the buttons on the cuff of her grey suit.
"Mr Sinclair," She uttered. "You have been enrolled in Thornbrook for less than a year and yet… you have caused more harm to this school than anyone else in the past decade."
Alex stayed silent.
"The Vasquez family have every reason to press for assault charges, which they very well might do." She paused. "But I've convinced them that since you're a minor, it would be appropriate to consult your parent or legal guardian before taking any serious action. You are in contact with your father, yes?"
There was a slight hesitation before Alex answered. "Yes, but… he recently left for Texas for work and hasn't called yet."
The principal let out a sigh. "Right. He did let us know but I doubt he expected this."
The words hit Alex like a knife to the chest. Everything Dad taught him, everything he tried his damndest to raise Alex to be…
"For now, we will assign you a temporary suspension until we get hold of your father. That will be all." The principal stood up from her chair. "Officer Hedge, please escort Mr Sinclair off the premises and ensure he gets home safely."
Hedge stepped forward. "Right away, Principal Thuldritch."
The resource officer firmly took Alex by the arm and before he knew it they were out of the dreadful office and traversing the haunting hallways.
Alex kept his head low, dragging his arms along with him. Hedge still refused to say a word, and Grover was nowhere to be seen. It was the first time Alex had seen the coach today, but there was no laughter, no obscure movie references, just silence.
When they finally reached the entrance courtyard of the school, it began to drizzle, the small drops of water hitting the back of Alex's head like needles.
It was once they reached the entrance gates that the Officer spoke. "You okay?"
Alex tried to wipe the dried blood with the rain. "Yeah."
No, of course, he wasn't and Hedge knew it too. There was another long silence as they both stood in the light rain.
"I ain't gonna lie to you, kid," Hedge said to him. "what you did was pretty serious."
"Yeah. Pretty serious, he says."
"Hey." He put his heavy hand on Alex's shoulder. "I've only known you for a couple of weeks, but I know you're a good kid and everyone can tell you feel like crap for what happened. It ain't your-"
"Fault?" Alex's voice grew louder. "It's not my fault that I can't control my own emotions? It's not my fault that even after everything Dad taught me I still can't do anything right? It's not my fault that I almost beat another person to death!?"
Again, Coach Hedge said nothing.
"You saw what happened, Hedge!" Alex rambled. "Or at least… the aftermath. Everyone looked at me like a fiend or some rabid animal! I reacted like one… I was one! And you and Grover probably think I'm one too…"
It all started flooding out.
"And what he said! He just- the way he- how could I let that go? How could anyone!? I did what I thought was… but I knew it wasn't-"
Alex kicked the wet ground beneath him. He shut his eyes and clenched his fists trying to slow himself down but everything was going too fast. It was all too much.
"Listen, Alex." Hedge stopped down to meet him at eye level, his hand still on Alex's shoulder. "I'm not saying what you did was right, but you're still a kid. There are a lot of things you don't understand about this world. Heck, you're still trying to understand your world. Trust me, I've seen some real monsters - and you're definitely not one of them."
Amidst the whirlwind rampaging in his head, listening to Hedge talk felt soothing. It was so… strange. Alex looked at him, a tough face with a soft expression. He tried his best to keep it together but that wasn't going great.
Alex's eyes began to give in as he felt the tears roll down his cheeks. He had hoped the slight drizzle would've covered it up but Coach Hedge just smiled.
"Heyyy come on kid." He lightly punched Alex in the shoulder. "You'll be alright. I know you're strong."
…
"Pimps don't cry," Hedge said out of the blue.
"What?" Alex asked with confusion as he pushed aside the tears on his face. It was bizarre enough that it momentarily disrupted his sadness.
"Pimps don't cry," He repeated. "It's from The Other Guys."
A soft smile crept on Alex's face. "Oh."
Soon after they both started chuckling. Even after everything that happened, Hedge still managed to slip in another movie reference. The moment helped in keeping the emotional storm at bay.
After a while of sitting in silence, as both of them listened to the soft drizzle of the rain, Hedge offered Alex a ride home. However, Alex insisted that he wanted to walk alone. He still needed time to clear his head.
He thanked Hedge for the counsel as the coach went back inside the school, probably to help clean up the mess Alex had made.
The entrance to the school was completely empty, leaving only him in the courtyard with the bronze statues of the lions. He touched the ring that his Dad gave him. He studied the weird symbol on it.
He remembered what Dad had said before he left, 'Keep this close. If you ever feel alone or lost, just remember that I'm here. We all are.'
Alex grasped the ring tightly.
So much had happened in one day. There was a lot to process. Even just how the fight went down was strange. How he was able to move like that and take Hunter down?
Also, that vengeful look Hunter had in his eyes and then the fearful tremble in his voice, it was like his emotions spiked when interacting with Alex.
Then that sudden outburst he had; he'd never ever been that angry before, never hurt someone that bad. It scared him. And those voices he heard, one of them was his dad, but the rest? He couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Alex sat contemplating in the shadow of the statues, the rain trickling on his forehead. The more he paid attention to the area surrounding him, the more he noticed the small details and for some reason, he thought he caught one of the shadows of the lions' shift a little.
Weird, must be his imagination.
Then again, another weird movement.
It'd been a long day, he thought, his eyes were probably getting delirious.
All of a sudden, he heard a loud creaking noise above him, like something being scraped across metal. He reactively jumped up and looked towards the statue as he stepped away.
Yeah, it was still just a regular statue— wait. Were their eyes… glowing?
Alex watched as two of the three lions, situated on the left and right, began to morph colour as their eyes pulsed a sinister red. A sleek golden started to coat the two car-sized beasts as they began to… wait a minute- that couldn't be right- they were coming to life?
Like the shattering of glass, the two lions broke free from the metal and landed on the stone pavement before him. They bared their razor-sharp teeth with a low growl. And to top it all off, when Alex looked up, the biggest of the statues, the giant lion, had moved his head to look straight into his purple orbs.
They were looking at him like prey.
"What the fu-"
Alex was cut off as the lion on the right leapt towards him, trying to impale him with its claws. He would've been skewered if he hadn't lunged out of the way in time. However, the left one was too quick and clipped Alex on the arm, ripping through the sleeve and leaving a bloody gash as the kid screamed in pain.
It went for another swipe, but this time, Alex managed to move out of the way as he instinctively returned with a punch right on its snout.
That felt cool, but probably wasn't the best thing to do at the moment, as the lion just shook its head and growled at him.
Alex winced. "Oops… sorry?"
Using the small opening, he made a break for the gates but the lions were too fast. The two of them blocked his exit by herding him up near the last statue, which was freeing itself slowly but surely.
Crap, this wasn't good. Every direction he tried to run in, a lion would find itself in front of him. Alex was trapped. His whole world just shifted from 'What the hell is happening?' to 'Survive'.
"Gooooood scary killer cats," he said, trying to keep them back.
Yeah, Alexander, sure, that would do it. Just wave your hand in front of them… THIS WASN'T JURASSIC PARK!
The lions were getting closer, snarling as they edged their way towards him. Alex's mind was running, trying to think of some way out… nothing.
This was it. Oh God… HE WAS GONNA DIE— STOP IT. He was NOT about to freak out right now. Stay strong, hold your ground. Plus, if this was how he was going… he wasn't going down without a fight.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
NyanTa
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