XXV
Wildfire
~~~

Cars fly past him. All having somewhere to be, unlike him. The sky is cloudy, yet there are pockets of sunlight shining through, breaking through the thick cloud coverage. It's a haphazard sight to see from mother nature, a woman who prides herself in order among her kingdom. It reflects his emotional and mental state very well though. It's like she, like him, was confused about everything in her life. It is warm and muggy, sunny yet cloudy, hot but cool, all at once.

And the worst part? Everything is fighting to rule over the other. The clouds are attempting to block out the sun, while the sun struggles to break through. The warmth of the air feels like it's clashing with the coolness of it everywhere you walk. The thick, heavy air was pushing everything and everyone down, and somehow, the light, thin air closer to the ground is always fighting back for whatever reason.

His heart won't stop beating a million miles per minute. He is so anxious... It's times like these when he wishes he had taken the time to find or make a safe place. A place he can always count on to calm him. But he has no such place. To him, that place is a person, and not only is she not available, she's at least 50% responsible for his anxiousness.

He doesn't want to go home. Most definitely not. He can't face Rita and Steve after the way he left them.

"You can't ever help me! Stop trying! Don't ever try and help me again! You'll only screw it up!!" After those words he slammed the door. But only now is he realizing how much those words must've stung them. He can feel the pang of regret hit him like a truck every five minutes for those 4 sentences.

Yes he would apologise, but not now. He is in no state to apologise. Hell, he isn't in a good state to be interacting with anybody! His decisions wouldn't be his own. He decides to take to the city. He can simply think and walk there. No distractions.

Hopefully.

It isn't anywhere close to being a safe place, but it was good enough for the time being.

He makes it into the city and it has a very solemn tone to it this time around. Combining the gloomy sky suggesting rain and the noticeable absence of cars makes for a very lonely walk.

He really wishes that Raven wasn't with her father. He'd give anything to see her right now. Just to hear her voice. Just to feel her hand intertwined with his. Just to have the feeling and taste of her lips on his linger and dance on them, even if just for only a little bit.

But honestly, all he wants from her is a hug. A simple hug.

He probably needs more than that, but for now, it's all he wants.

Before he was so sure that he knew what he was doing. That he knew what to do with himself. But the events of today change all that. Valeri said something. Something that, despite his best efforts, made him really reconsider what he's doing.

"Ask yourself this, Garfield: Does what you're doing make any sense to you? Do you understand exactly why you're making the choices you are? Or are you just going with your impulses?" 

That woman had figured him out in a little less than an hour. And he had told her so little and acted so aloof and flippant the whole time! He swears she was a detective in her past life.

Why can't he put a finger on it? He knew that there is a reason for anything and everything. That nothing is truly "by chance" or "dumb luck" despite what it looks like. He thought he knew the reason for his actions, but he's never considered it before now.

Does it make sense to him?
Does he know the why?

He wasn't sure anymore.

Another thing she said to him: "Life is not single player. You've got to let people in or else you'll only hurt yourself." Strangely enough, that one sentence, "Life is not single player" really...affected him...to say the least.

Oh, and Arella. That damned woman.

"...you're extremely strong for doing this on your own." He agrees and disagrees with this statement.

One half of his brain: "Hell yeah of course I am! I do this all by myself and I'm still sane! That's unbelievable mental strength!

The other half of his brain: "This isn't strength, it's cowardice."

Should...should I tell her? This is the first time he ever contemplated this ever since he got here. It was the one thing he was absolutely sure about when he came there. That Raven was not to know. Now even that, his one and only constant, is put into question. I didn't want her to know before because I knew she'd blame herself but...

And then it crosses his mind. The others. His friends. Should they know?

Could...could they help too? He considered. No. No that's ridiculous. Help from them would be...

For the first time,

amazing.

he considers,

Help from them would be absolutely amazing...

help from others to be a good thing. It completely betrays whatever claims he's made in the past, and utterly rips them to shreds.

Thank goodness he brought his hoodie with him. He quickly pulls it from his waist and slips it on, snapping the hood up as quickly as possible.

He didn't want anyone walking past to see him crying.

For some reason it's a waterworks festival all of a sudden. The little salty dropplets wouldn't stop falling from his eyes. He's trying to hold in his incoming sobs. But they keep coming.

What is happening to him? He's a complete sniveling mess! And now he can't do it anymore. He looked out onto the street, and then looked at the shops to the right of him. Just before he makes the decision to collapse against the walls of the shops, he hits something. Someone rather. He looks up, and it's literally the absolute worst person he could've met in town.

The one person that threatened to kill him earlier in the week.

Adam.

~~~

"So what are you getting Gar for his birthday?" Kori asks. Raven stays silent. She had a lot on her mind. Mainly her father, who had threatened to do a bunch of...unsavory...things to her should he get out early as she was leaving with Dick and Kori. Both of them heard him too. She doesn't really care because he's not supposed to get out for a very long time, and by then she'll be on the other side of the country like she plans, but it does make her a tad bit uneasy.

"I have no idea." Dick replies.

"Raven?"

"Huh? What was the question?"

"Gar's birthday present. What will you be giving him?"

"Oh. I'm not sure yet."

"You know he'll like whatever you give him." Dick states. "He doesn't really have much of a choice."

"Well, yeah, but I'd still like to get him something nice."

"You think we're gonna do anything for his birthday?" Dick asked.

"I mean, I'd like to do something cool with everyone, but his birthday is a really touchy day for him. You know? He might not want to do anything." Raven points out.

"Oh yeah. I have forgotten about that."

"I think it would be a better idea if we were there to support him on his birthday." Dick suggests.

"He might not like that."

"What? Why?"

"It's nothing." She replies. "Just take my word for it." She thinks for a second. "But, maybe if we all come up with something, I can suggest it to Gar. If everyone's on board with an idea he might be more inclined to say yes." Raven replies with a grin.

"So we're going to try and persuade him to do something he doesn't want to." Dick states matter-of-factly.

"No. He needs a break. He knows that. He's been stressed since prom."

"Speaking of which, what is up with him anyway?" Raven's entire body freezes. The only thing that still insists on working are her legs. Continuing to walk as they have been.

She knew the first person to really ask about it would be one of two people: Dick or Vic. And low and behold it was Dick.

She isn't going to tell them. No that is Gar's decision. Not hers. She is going to have to dance around the subject though until something bails her out.

And it begins.

"I don't exactly know." She starts off. "He's different after this one party."

"What happened with you two when you went looking for him?" Dick was beginning to go detective mode. She opened her mouth to say something but then she remembered what he said.

"Either of you mention one thing about this to anyone and I'll shoot both of you." She knows he'll figure that out too. The guy has people everywhere. It's like he's omniscient. And if he's not anywhere near you he'll find out by getting information from people you have no affiliation with. Just think about that. An omnipresent and omniscient 17 year old, who's turning 18 in a little more than a month, which opens his world up to a thousand more possibilities. Not that he would be afraid to break the law to get such things, but once he is an adult, a lot of stuff he would do wouldn't be illegal.

And that was terrifying. And only more things would be available to him as he got older.

Raven didn't want to get shot. Definitely not. But she also didn't want to hide something this severe from two of her closest friends. So,

She leans into Dick and whispers three simple words into his ear.

"We saw Ike." He instantly understood that, at the very least, something not so good had happened. Then when Raven made a motion over her mouth akin to a zipper, he understood a lot more.

"What? What did she say?" Dick whispered it into his girlfriend's ear and she looked at Raven with pity. "Oh dear..."

Raven nods.

"No wonder he's been acting so weird." Dick says in a low tone.

"You are used to it and he is not." Kori adds.

"Exactly."

"Do you think we can–" Dick stops and looked ahead.

"What?" The others looked ahead as well and all three stopped walking. There was a small crowd that had accumulated on the sidewalk about ten people to twenty people. Confused, the three tried to look over shoulders and heads. But most of the people in front of them were tall, beanstalks of adults. Only one child and two highschoolers were present..

Slightly frustrated, Raven taps on a man's shoulder. He turns around and looks down at them.

"Excuse me sir, what are all of you looking at?" She asks.

"Two kids are fighting in the alleyway." He replies.

"Two kids?" Dick parrots the man. "Do they look like our age?" He asks.

"Yeah, well, one of them does. The other looks like a 20 year old body builder. But someone told me he's going to be a senior in high school. Insane right?"

They all looked at eachother with wide eyes.

"Adam!" They had figured it out, and were so concerned about doing what these other adults refused to do — help the other kid — that they didn't even bother to ask about the other kid.

They push past the people and walk into the opening of the alley way. Only to see Gar standing against one wall, fists bloodied but still up and ready to go, and Adam against the other with a trash can in his hands over his head.

"Gar!!!" The three of them call down the alleyway and the two look over at them in surprise. But Adam ignores them quickly yet Gar does not. In his vulnerable moment of confusion, Adam hurls  the trash can straight at Gar's head.

There were three horrible sounds:
Metal against skull.
Skull against brick wall.
Body against rocky ground.

All three of the grating sounds come in tandem of one another.

"Adam! What the hell?!" Dick shouts. The three run into the alley and stand in front of Gar, who is lying on the ground, now bloody and unconscious.

"What are you doing?!" Raven shouts.

"I told you I was going to kill him, Raven. What, you didn't believe me?" She looks back at Gar. He most certainly isn't dead — thank God — but he's in very bad condition. His face was bruised, he had a bloody nose, blood was coming from his mouth, and of course, his hands. His breaths are few and far between, but he is still breathing.

She then turns to Adam, fury in her eyes. But she notices something about him. He is beat up as well. Not nearly as bad as Gar is, but still there's a considerable amount of bruising on his face, along with a busted lip.

"You're hurt too..." she says to him.

"Yeah. The little twerp started it." He replies through gritted teeth.

Raven's eyes change from fury filled to disbelief ridden in the matter of seconds.

"You heard me, Princess. He hit me first." Raven looks back at Gar. She's almost in tears.

"Like we're gonna believe you!" Dick steps up. "What you think just because you're injured were going to believe that weak ass lie?!"

She looks at Dick, then blinks away the tears and follows his lead.

"Exactly! There is no way he would have done that!" But she knew it was entirely possible. "Stop picking on him just because you can't touch me! Take on someone your size for a change!"

"You really think you know him huh?" He chuckles, then wipes the blood from his mouth with his arm. Then out of nowhere he advances on her. Pushing the other two out of the way and pins her against the wall. "From what I've seen today, you don't know the half of what he is."

"G-get off of me! I-I'll call the police!"

"I don't care anymore. Send me to jail. I don't give a shit. I just want to see you, and him, burn in hell." His voice is heavy and gravelly as he tries to make her fear him once more.

And it almost works...

Tears well up in her eyes, but she bites them back and kicks him off her. "I told you to get off!" He stumbles back and looks down at her with slender eyes.

Like some sort of savior, police sirens blare. They pull up on the street and rush into the alley.

She looks back at the other two, who are now trying to get Gar off the ground.

"Did you call the cops?" Her face asked. The two shrugged. Someone else must have then because nobody there did it.

"Everyone freeze! Hands in the air!" Raven, Dick, and Kori comply. Adam however stands in defiance unafraid.

"Again Adam?" The police man groans.

"F*ck you old man just arrest me already." He truly does not care.

The police man motions his head for the others behind him to take Adam away. Then he sighs and holsters the gun.

"What happened this time, Raven?" He said in a sympathetic tone. She looked behind her at Gar and she couldn't help it anymore. The floodgates are fully opened and tears rush from her eyes. She couldn't speak. Only cry. Kori comforted her as Dick handled the talking. He gave the officer the whole story.

Dick ends on, "He needs an ambulance. Is there one out there?"

The officer speaks into his radio and calls the paramedics to come with a gurney.

Kori gives Raven a tighter hug as she cries more and more. She couldn't take it. No he isn't dead now, but he could be in the next hour or so. He was bleeding so much from injuries he sustained, the blood loss could kill him. Then there's the head trauma...

Before she realizes it though the paramedics are here. They gently put Gar onto the gurney and wheel him out of the alley.

A female paramedic approaches the three of them.

"Are you three his friends?" She asks kindly.

"Yes." Dick replies. "She's his girlfriend." He points to Raven.

"Where are his parents?"

"H-he doesn't have a-any... He l-lives with his aunt and uncle, b-but they're s-still at work I believe." She manages to muster out between sniffles.

"Do any of you have their phone numbers?" Raven nods. "Could you please come with us then?" She nods again and leaves Kori's comfortable grasp.

"Can they come too?"

"I don't think we can fit three of you in the back. Two at the most." She says sadly.

Kori and Dick look at eachother.

"You should go. I shall return to the hospital later tonight." She tells Dick.

"Ok. Are you gonna get home ok?" She nods. "Alright."

The four walk out of the alley. The crowd is gone, and when the ambulance pulls off, it just leaves Kori standing on the sidewalk by herself. She watches the truck drive away, and she walks to where they parked Dick's car.

Raven sits in the ambulance with Dick's arm slung around her shoulder. Her eyes are locked onto Gar as he's hooked up to the IV and the breathing machine. She reaches out to grab his hand but the paramedic woman cuts her off.

"Please miss can you call his guardians?" She reluctantly nods and pulls her hand away.

"Hello? Rita? Is Steve with you?...Yes I'm fine. Look I'm–...no I'm not home...I'm in an ambulance...No. No I'm not hurt. It's...Gar...Ok ok calm down...Which hospital? The only hospital in town, Rita...Yes...Please tell Steve...How long will it–...Just get here as soon as you can ok? ...No no I'll call her...Ok. Bye." She hangs up. "Her boss won't let her leave, and she said his uncle may not be able to leave either."

"Did she say when she'd be able to get to the hospital? We need an adult since you're all still minors."

"They get off at 6:30 and 7 on Thursdays, but Gar tells me sometimes Steve doesn't get home until 8." The paramedic sighs.

"Is there any other adult he trusts that could come?"

"What about your mom, Raven? She's home right?"

"Yeah I was thinking about that."

The call with Arella goes much smoother. As soon as she hears that Gar is hurt she hangs up the phone.

"She's coming."

"Good." A few moments of silence pass. The other paramedics put a cold compress on Gar's head to bring down the swelling of his bruises. "I'm sorry you have to see him like this."

She sniffs and nods, wiping away a few stray tears from her eyes.

Slowly, she reaches for his hand, but again, she's interrupted. The truck stops and they are forced out of the ambulance.

"You think he'll be ok?" She asks Dick as they follow.

"Yeah. Gar's tough. He'll be fine." She smiles a little.

"Yeah..."

~~~

Look past the curtain, and you'll see the the light of the moon, and the darkness of the night.

Word Count: 3258