The pact

Vic’s POV
My eyes opened to the sound of my alarm going off. Opening them felt like tearing a piece of skin of my body and my head felt as heavy as an anchor. It took me a lot of energy to bring up my hands to my face and drag them over my face.
I had barely slept the night before. I had searched for Luna from two pm until midnight. I searched everywhere, the bus, the mall, the cinema, the library. Every place I knew she visited regularly. She was nowhere to be found and to be honest, it drove me insane. I got more scared every time we visited a place she didn’t seem to be.
Around three pm I went by the school to pick up the boys and Leah. I had told them what happened, I told them about the talk I had had with Luna’s dad, the talk I had had with Casey and about the places I already searched. I had also told them about the thing that Luna’s mom did to Luna. I felt like a betrayer for spilling her secret, but now that we could seriously assume that something bad happened to her, it was better for them to know the whole story. Maybe they would think of something I didn’t think of.
They all acted pretty shocked to the information I had given them. No one expected Luna to be in so much trouble at home. I mean, they all knew her mother wasn’t really nice, but they never expected physical abuse to occur in her house.
The shock didn’t take long, though, because it was replaced by panic. They wanted to find her just as much as I wanted to. We split up, Leah and Jaime searched in the west and north part of the city. Jaime, Tony and me the east and south side. Of course we didn’t get to search the whole city. San Diego is immense and we had to take the bus getting everywhere, but we searched the places she could’ve been gone to if she ran away.
Al though, for some reason I didn’t believe Luna ran away. I truly believed she would’ve let me know, or maybe even asked me to join her. And I had heard her say once that she couldn’t leave her dad with her mom.
Besides, she would go out of the city if she ran away. We had talked a lot about running away and she always told me that she would go out of the city if she ran away.
But we felt useful searching for her and at least we could eliminate the places we had searched. Casey was right, doing nothing only made the panic heavier.
Around midnight we were still roaming the city and I had had multiple missed calls from my mom. But I didn’t want to give up yet. Besides, we still had to pick up Casey from the airport at two am.
At one am Tony, Jaime and me were somewhere in the south side of the city. All three of us were exhausted, hungry and our determination was slowly fading away. We were sort of happy that we could allow ourselves to give up for a while to pick up Casey from the airport.
I called Leah and told her that she and Mike needed to start heading towards the airport now. We took a night bus and arrived around half past one. Mike and Leah arrived a little later and it seemed like their energy had ebbed away too. They had bags under their eyes and they looked a bit grumpy.
Al though I could see a little bit of excitement in Mike’s eyes. I could kind of guess why that would be.
At two am, Casey arrived at the airport, her blue hair slowly coming into view. She hugged us all, but held on to Mike for a little while longer. I guess she had missed him a lot too.
The weird thing was though, she had acted kind of cold towards him the rest of the walk. Maybe she was mad at him for not calling him? But wouldn’t she just tell him? She always seemed very straight forward.
We arrived home around half past two and let’s just say that my parents weren’t too happy with us. Which I could understand mostly. We had been away for hours without answering calls. They had been shouting at us in half Spanish, half English, completely ignoring or not noticing the blue haired girl standing behind us.
Luckily when they were done shouting at us, me and Mike explained the situation to us and they understood. They said that Casey could stay as long as she wanted to. At times like this I was very happy for the hostel nature of my parents.
But yeah, by the time we were in bed it was three in the morning. And now it was seven in the morning and I already had to go to school. I had asked my parents if I could stay away from school and search for Luna, but they had forced me to go.
I took my phone from my night stand and turned it on. I waited impatiently for text messages or missed calls to pop up, but they didn’t. No news yet. Shit. I threw my phone to the end of my bed and buried my face in my hands. I felt so powerless. She could be killed right now and there was nothing I could do about it, because I didn’t know where she was. Maybe she was being raped…The thought made me sick to the stomach. If whoever it was laid only one finger on her…I would make sure they would never be able to walk again.
I got out of bed and took up my phone. This was going to be a long day. I woke up Casey who was sleeping on a matrass next to my bed. She had refused to sleep in Mike’s room.
After breakfast, showering and getting dressed. We started to walk towards school. Casey just went with us. She said her plan was to pretend she went to that school too. Knowing Casey, she’d get away with it.
I closed the door behind me, feeling numb as ever. It’s weird, in situations like this I felt sad and numb at the same time. Like realisation hadn’t hit me yet, but at the other hand I perfectly knew what was going on.
I was about to follow Casey and Mike who had already started to walk, when I noticed something being stuck to the door. I turned around, being struck by the weird white square that didn’t belong in my everyday routine. I walked back to the door and freed the white envelope that was attached with tape from my door. It had my name on it, written with black pencil.
I didn’t notice that Casey and Mike didn’t notice that I didn’t walk with them. I was too consumed by the paper in my hand. My trembling fingers tried to open it, but I failed a few times. I knew this couldn’t be good, Though I hoped it was a clue.
Eventually I pulled out the paper that was inside. I almost dropped it, when I saw what was on it. At first, I didn’t realise what I saw was real, like it was painted and not a picture. When the realisation hit, I felt an incredible rage well up in me. The protective urge I had for the people I loved.
I thought I would feel relieved when I’d find out where she was, or who kept her. But it made me more afraid. And also angrier.
I started walking, my feet dragging me towards school. The picture was clenched in between my fingers, like I would lose the girl on the picture if I’d let go of it. I started running, not wanting to waste any time. They needed to suffer. Now. Like I did. Like Luna still did.
I passed Casey and Mike on my way, I heard them scream my name, but I passed them without looking back.
Maybe I passed people I knew on my way, I didn’t care. Everything was kind of a blur. For some reason I was glad that the numbness had been replaced by rage. Rage was something with a goal, something with a purpose.
I ran through the doors of the school, people backing away as I ran through the halls. He was here, he needed to be here. I looked around me. I heard people asking me if I was okay, but I just shook my head and didn’t give them anymore pf my attention.
And then I saw him. He was already looking at me with an evil grin on his face. Why didn’t I think of him before? Why didn’t I know that he was the one who kept Luna away from me, from the outside world? I had never believed he wasn’t capable of it. I knew he was. It had just slipped through my brain, possibly because he hadn’t done something worth mentioning in weeks.
I wanted to punch that stupid grin of his face. And that was exactly what I was going to do. I didn’t care about the consequences. I didn’t mind if everyone would hate me again. I just wanted him to suffer for what he did.
I walked towards him and without warning I slammed him into the lockers behind him, catching him off guard. I kept him against the locker and because he was in shock I was able to for a while. “Where is she?” I hissed through my teeth.
The shocked expression on his face faded back into a grin. He kept quiet. I grabbed his shirt and used it to pull him back and push him back at the lockers. I blamed adrenaline for the fact that I was even able to keep a guy of his size under control. “Where is she?!” I yelled now. People had gattered around us now. Some were gasping.
Ryan started laughing, a bit of a mad laugh. “Somewhere not so safe. Lots of mold. Bad neighbourhood.” He said looking quite amused with himself.
“Tell me where she is!” I yelled in his face. My already little patience was running out. I had never hated someone more in my entire life.
“I knew you’d find out that it was me taking her, Vic.” Ryan said. “Smart boy.” He winked at me, just to annoy me more.
My grip on his shirt became stronger. I knew he was able to shake me off, so why didn’t he?
“I give you one more chance to tell me where she is.” I said as threatening as I could. And I could be very threatening if I wanted to, despite my height.
Ryan scoffed. “Or what, Victor?” He said challenging.
And then I swung my arm, my fist hitting his cheekbone. For a split second I thought the same had happened as four years ago, because Ryan looked a little dizzy. But then he moved again, shoving me away.
I backed away because of the pressure. Ryan’s hand went to his cheek, were a big blue bruise was visible. Blood was dripping from it. I couldn’t believe I had done that. I felt proud for some reason. A small chuckle escaped my lips.
Ryan at the other hand, didn’t look mad at all. He just smiled and started jumping up and down, like he was warming up for a football game. It confused me and the confusion made me feel fear for a second. But it disappeared. I wasn’t going to be afraid, if it was going to be the last thing I wouldn’t do.
“Ah, you wanna play it like that, huh?” Ryan said, finally standing still. Giving me a challenging look. He wanted this. He knew this would happen.
I was frozen for a little while when that thought hit me. And that was when he hit me. His fist made contact with my stomach and I fell against a classroom door. I hit the floor, but got up really quickly. My stomach was on fire, but he was going to pay for what he had done with my girlfriend. He was everything that was wrong with her.
So when he was still recovering from the blow he gave me, I kicked against his ankles. He fell to the floor and his head hitting the concrete floor. I heard a groan escape his lips, but it was softly, like he didn’t want it to be heard.
I used the short time he was on the ground to kick him in the stomach. Now he let out a louder groan, almost a roar. He got up from the floor, his face trying to hide the anger that was in him. And that amused me.
But then he started to make his way to me again. Ready to hit me. I knew it was too late to escape the blow so I just closed my eyes, waiting for it to be over.
But the pain never came. I opened my eyes to see Mike with his arms around Ryan’s waist, throwing him away from me. Ryan’s back hit the lockers.
I took the small time Ryan was recovering to look around me. Everyone was staring at us, Leah, Jaime, Casey and Tony standing in front row. They seemed ready to step in at any time, but at the other side of the crowd I saw Peter and Justin, who also looked hungry for a fight.
“What the fuck is going on here?!” Mike yelled through the hall, asking the question that everyone except for me and Ryan was thinking.
“He kidnapped Luna!” I yelled, pointing towards Ryan. Only the thought of what he did made me furious. I could feel the blood rush through my veins. “He taped a fucking picture on our front door! A picture of her tied with ropes to a chair! A piece of paper taped to her chest with ‘now this is war’ on it!” Every word I shouted, echoed through the halls. Everyone was dead quiet, the tension was so thick it was scary.
I saw Mike’s face go from confused to angry. Before I could realise what he was going to do, he threw himself onto Ryan, blowing hits to his face.
In only a matter of minutes, fights were going on in all the halls of school. There was throwing with books, pulling hair, puddles of blood and I even found a tooth lying on the floor. I think Jaime and Tony stepped in to help Mike. And Justin and Peter started fighting them. That as the trigger to start the rest of the fights. Everyone was helping each other to fight.
While I stood there in shock I realised that this was all Ryan’s plan. He had found the weak spot in our plan of revolution. This was what happened when everyone stood up for each other. No. This was what happened when boys like Ryan didn’t get what they want. When they get bored.
I got a few blows from a few guys from a few guys from the football team and at one point Jessie was pulling my hair. My whole body hurt by the time she let me go, but the anger still provided me with enough adrenaline to go through.
The teachers normally hid in their classrooms when people got bullied, afraid of Ryan, his friends and his father (who was the sheriff). But there was no way they could ignore this complete chaos. The halls of the school had turned into the colosseum, the students being the Christians that had to fight to the death. Although I’d rather saw Ryan and his friends as the lions that tried to devour the Christians.
The teachers tried to stop it, but there was no use. No one could hear their shouting, for the screams of pain and the roars of battle were to loud. People had passed out on the floor, there were drops of blood everywhere.
The thought that I wouldn’t get Luna back with this had passed my mind a few times, but I kept on fighting, partly to safe my own life. It came to a point people were just fighting for the fighting not for a cause.
Although, maybe they were. They were sick of being treated like shit. They were sick of things going the way they went. All the anger they had just came out.
I was just hiding around the corner, catching my breath when I heard sirens in a far distance. It was two different melodies. The teachers had called the police and ambulances. I didn’t blame them. This was far behind their control. I even saw that Mr. Johnson had a black eye.
When I looked around the corner I saw ambulance workers pulling unconscious people away from the fights. I saw policemen trying to keep kids under control. A few even got arrested. One of them being Mike.
I wanted to run to him, stand up for him against the policemen, saying it wasn’t fair. But I knew that if I did that I would be arrested too and my parents had to pick both of us up. I was of more use to him, if I’d stay out of trouble. So I watched him getting dragged away by a tall policeman with a moustache. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw a tear rolling down his cheek.
I turned back around to my corner, listening to the halls slowly faded more quiet.

Luna’s POV
I had spent two nights in this place now. On this chair. They hadn’t let me out. They never did. I smelled my own pee, because I was forced to pee in my own pants. They let me drink water, to keep me alive, but I hadn’t seen food for ages. Accept in my daydreams of course.
At first I had tried to fight them. Every time they came in I had screamed at them, I had fought to break free to run away.
But now I had given up. All there was left to wait for was the sweet surrender of death. A place in which I wouldn’t have to worry about them mentally or physically torturing me. A place in which I didn’t feel desperate or afraid.
I was pretty sure it drove me nuts. Most of the time I was alone. They were at school or at home. But in the past two days they had been here at least two hours a day. They had beaten me and pulled my hair just for fun. They had felt me up. Over but also underneath my bra. Just because they were bored. They had driven me so far, that I wished death. Me. The girl who could always see a positive side of things. The girl who always had hope.
Now my hope had disappeared in two days. They had talked it out of me. It was like they had brainwashed me with their words.
Maybe it was just a temporary thing. I was hungry and exhausted, that got to me. I tried to dig up the last piece of hope that was still in my brain. Vic. He wouldn’t stop until I was found, right? He loved me that much, I had to believe that. I had to forget the things that Ryan, Peter and Justin had told me. I knew they only told me those things to break me. I didn’t want to give them that pleasure.
Then the tears started to roll down my cheeks for the fourth time that day. I wasn’t able to wipe them away so I could still feel the old, dried up tears underneath the new ones. I felt so hopeless. My thoughts drove me nuts.
In the last days I had talked to myself to keep myself sane, but maybe it helped me drive over the edge. I fought the ropes again, trying to get out. I didn’t care if I died in the progress. Maybe if I got out, I’d use this rope to hang myself. I don’t think I can cope with the memory of what happened here.
As I surrendered again the sobs broke out again. The sounds were muted by the piece of fabric. They would keep me alive, just to torture me. There was nothing that would make me more happy and pissed them off more as me dying.
I stopped crying immediately when I heard footsteps coming closer to the shed. Although I craved for water, I still wanted them to go away. Because even if they brought me water, they would still do terrible things to me.
The door of the shed flew open and Ryan walked in, followed by Peter and Justin. They were all covered in bruises, but there were still grins evident on their faces. For some reason I knew what ever plan they had, it had worked out.
I was impressed with the fact that my body could still provide panic, but it did. Ryan walked towards me and kneeled down in front of me, like he always did.
“Do you see this?” He said grinning as he pointed towards the bruise on his left cheek. It was covered in dried up blood. “Your boyfriend did that.”
Vic. The mention of him got my adrenaline rushing again. I desperately wanted to know what happened to him. Was he okay?
“He found out.” Ryan said. “He knows I got you. And there’s nothing he can do about it. The perfect torture.”
For some reason I was happy that he had hit Ryan for it. Even though he wanted to be hit. It made me feel slightly safe.
“His little brother stood up for him again. So cute.” He continued. “And then the whole school started fighting. Do you wanna know how everyone is doing now? Because of you?”
I nodded furiously. I needed to know something. Even if it was all lies.
“Vic is missing pieces of his hair and is bruised all over his body. Mike was arrested, it was very funny. I saw that Tony was missing a finger nail and he also looked very blue, literally. And Jaime, poor Jaime was pushed down the stairs. He broke his arm, I heard. I didn’t see Leah for long, but I was pretty sure she was crying in a corner when we were leaving.” Peter said. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.
My world was crashing down. This was because of me. Without me they wouldn’t have so much pain. It would’ve been better if I had never been in their life. All I did was spreading pain.
I tried my best to hold my tears. Even though I had lost all hope. I didn’t want them to know. I would act brave until my dying breath.
I missed them so bad, my friends. I wished I could hold them all in my arms, just for once. They were literally the only thing keeping me up, they were the last piece of hope left in me. Because of them, the thought that everything would be better had occurred in my head in the last two days.
Ryan took something out of the pocket of his jeans. I saw that it was his pocket knife, he had used it to threaten me. “Shall we finally have some fun with this?” He said, tracing my cheek with the cold blade. I just let him, I knew struggling would make it worse. Even though he put no force on it, I could still feel the blade was sharp.
“I want to leave a little present for your boyfriend, for when he finds you. Whether you’re dead or alive by then.” Ryan continued. He stood up and hovered over me, so he was on eye level with me. His smile reminded me of horror movies. Of those villains without remorse. In his eyes I saw nothing. No regret. No pity. Just pure amusement.
He put the blade back on my cheek and stopped there, building up the tension. I swear, this guy had watched too much horror movies. He put force to the blade, leaving a burning pain on my cheek as he draw the blade over it. I couldn’t see it, but I knew it was deep. It probably needed stiches. I felt warm drops of blood oose over my cheek and saw them falling on my filthy skinny jeans. It already had drops of blood on it. I wanted this to stop so bad. For months I had graved the pain of a blade and now, I just wanted to get out of it.
Ryan pulled his head back a little, admiring the result. “Beautiful.” Justin said.
“Agreed.” Ryan said, looking very pragmatic. “It would be such a shame if it healed. Wouldn’t it boys?” He looked around, towards Peter and Justin. They both nodded, eager to see what their leader would do now.
Peter took off his backpack and started searching in it. He finally found a paper back. At first I wasn’t sure what it was, but then I recognise it to be a bag of salt.
Panic filled me up again, but I felt like stone. I couldn’t do anything.
He opened the back and put his left hand in it, picking up a stash of salt. He put down the bag with his right hand and then took my chin in his hand. He tilted my head a little and then started pouring grains of salt in my still open wound. The pain that came from that was worse than the wound itself. It felt like the salt was burning a hole in my cheek. Like it was melting away. I screamed into the fabric, I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t hold it. My body started shaking from the adrenaline the pain gave me and the tears poured down my face. My vision became blurry, but I felt Ryan letting go of my face and backing away. “Look, now it’s going to be a pretty little scar.” He said and the others chuckled. “I think she deserves something to drink now.”
I heard footsteps come nearer to me, but to be honest, water was the last thing I was thinking about right now. The pain. It was unbearable. It was everything that was clouding my mind.

Notes

heyyy guys

I'm so proud of this chapter :) and king for a day fits this chapter so good! Litterally every sentence can be traced back to something in the story

Ohh btw!! Shannonptv made a trailer for this story! please check it out it's literally soo beautiful and I can't believe someone took the time to make this!!! <3

omfg it's so late. So if I have made grammar mistakes or something. don't blame me. I was starting to see double, that's how tired I am.

xxxxxx

Nicky

ps. I love you guys <3