Brook Hope

The office aid gives me a sympathetic look as they leave my side at the office door. Through the glass, I could already see the men in suits that would cost my whole house and then some. The door is opened for me, locked for me too once they close it.

Brilliant. Now to just find a way to explain all this...

"Brook, is it?" The man himself, Madison's core of hatred, the Mayor, turns to face me as he dawns a heartless smile. "Please, do take a seat."

Before I can even react, someone's shoved my bag off my shoulders and knocked my knees in with a chair they shove behind me. I swallow a bit as I glance back, and then look at him.

Mafia, much?

Madison's face peeks out from a door behind him, her eyes catching mine as I glance over. In one look I can tell she's been a bratty little bitch. Her face has bruises on it, a black eye, and that's just with the part I can see.

If I hadn't made myself clear before, I'm about to make it very obvious that I am no longer considering that maniacal little creature a friend anymore. Even if I did have to admit to myself that she's good. Really good.

"I have many witnesses who tell me that you're the one who beat up my little girl." He states as calmly as one would comment on the weather, "Is this true?"

"No sir." I answer immediately, trying to keep my temper under ice as I slow my breathing to steady my heart.

"No?" His eyebrow tries to vanish into his hair as he leans forwards off the desk he's sitting on. "And who would you think did it then?"

"She did that to herself, sir."

The words leave me before I can stop them. I could see the anger tensing up his body as I know my knuckles have turned white on the arms of the chair.

"You-" He pauses as his head hangs, "You're about to try to convince me, that despite over thirty witnesses saying that it was you, and despite all the evidence against you, that she beat herself up?" Madison's head vanishes behind the door again as I hear fake crying, it almost sounds like giggling.

"No sir, that isn't what I'm saying." I insist, but before I could open my mouth to say something else - he stops me with a simple shake.

"Lying is never helpful for anyone, Brook." His eyes narrow in on me as the vein in his forehead pops. I could remember whenever I was on his good side, he would never have stood for anyone even touching us.

Then Madison dropped us.

"I'm not -!" Again, I am silenced with a shake of his hand.

"You used to be friends with my daughter, then she realized how toxic you were and cut you off. She would come to me crying about what you've done to her that day." He stands and I could feel every word hurting deep, "So, she dropped you for new friends. Ones that would back her up. And you got jealous."

I find myself at a lack of a response this time.

She would cry to him?

Images flash by of all the times we would laugh together, the times we would work together, the class times we shared and got in so much trouble...

Toxic?

A hand snaps in front of me, making me jump as I keep the tears back with a bite of my tongue. However, this doesn't mean that he can't tell how close they are.

"Ah, so you see what you've done is bad now, don't you?" He squats beside me with the coldest smile I've seen in a while, "And you know you can't just do something like this without consequences... Don't you?"

His voice is so comforting, that I almost want to agree. But I couldn't get the words out of my mouth to do so. I knew what this was. I've seen it used against her mother before he beat her.

"Sir." I mumble and get his attention, probably sounding so broken he thought I was about to crack. Little does he know - I'm the ice queen. "You're a very good manipulator. I give you a gold star. May I go finish my classes now? I believe we have some projects to start..."

The brief moment of confusion is all that I get. And it is so worth it.

"Take her away. Make her disappear." He growls as he stands, towering over me. "If I ever see her again, I'm firing all of you."

A small gasp catches my attention as Madison's eyes widen from the crack in the door. I look at her with a snarl on my lips as I'm forced to stand and practically dragged out.

"Brook!" Ben calls from the hallway, but he's being stopped from coming any closer by a pair of suits. "Brook, fight back! Fight back you can do it! Just - Ugh!" He does down holding his gut, shoved onto his side with a foot.

One of them punched him.

One of them kicked him.

They hurt him.

They hurt him.

You motherfuckers have just made a mistake.

Twisting so that I can use their hold on me as a support, I swing my feet up and flip - wrapping my legs around someone's neck. The surprise loosens their hands and I'm easily able to slide out.

"The fuck?!" He yells as I watch a hand come for me and glance up... then just keep going. My weight knocks him off balance as he starts going down. I slam his head into the tile before bouncing off him to land smoothly.

But things don't quite go to the whole badass level yet. The partner has pulled a gun.

I barely have time to look up to see the barrel. My hands won't move - my feet suddenly grow roots.

"Get up." He hisses, "Now." I follow the instructions as he nudges his buddy on the ground.

"He'll be out cold for a bit." I mumble a bit sarcastically. I shut up whenever the safety clicks off in response.

He waves the gun towards the door and then into the air, and although it did take me a moment to follow - I did so. My hands go up as I walk towards the front door.

If I stay, I'll get killed along with possibly Ben if he goes nuts. For now, I stay still and be a good girl.

My eyes briefly close as the daylight makes me flinch, my gut turning as I try to swallow the nauseous feelings burning my throat.

He leads me to a minivan of all things, opening the back sliding door to shove the gun towards it.

"Brook, no!" I don't know how, but Ben's voice echoes off the walls of the school as I turn around. "You can't get in there!"

"I've had about enough of you, boy." The man beside me growls. It feels like slow motion as I watch the gun raise to Ben, I could see him taking aim. He closes an eye to make it better. He wasn't kidding around about killing Ben.

"Wait!" I don't know what possesses me to stand at the end of the gun, but I find myself there as his trigger finger begins to squeeze.

"Two birds with one stone." He chuckles as that nauseous feeling worsens with the flips of my stomach.

I can't let him die for me.

I close my eyes and throw my hands up - like that'll stop a speeding bullet. The air turns into a chilled dry.

My breathing is all I can hear for a short moment.

Blam!!

The noise is deafening as I stagger back with the expectation of being hit, instead I hear glass shattering. I fall on my butt with a low groan, pretty sure I'm about to be violently sick in my last moments.

Oh damn you if I'm going out and not looking at the sky.

My eyes flutter open to see a blurry Benjamin standing above me.

"Brook, we have to get out of here. Right now. Come on." Hands push me into a sitting up position as my eyes focus on... a wall of blue. I could see my breathing in front of me, as well as a frozen solid suit.

The bullet is lodged in the ice.

"He's... He's frozen solid." I could feel panic adding to the tumble of feelings just spinning rapidly through chest.

"Yes." Ben turns my head to look him in the eye as he hesitates for a second, "You're a bloomed, Brook."