Elliot Hale learned early where to stand.
He avoided hallways washed in bright light, doorways, places with no corners. He didn't know why the feeling lived in him only that it did, and that it never let go.
After classes that evening, it was time to head home. Elliot stayed behind, as he always did, waiting until the noise thinned and the corridors darkened enough for him to leave alone.
He watched silently as students spilled out of the classroom, voices overlapping, laughter echoing down the hall. He remained in his seat, eyes drifting from desk to door, counting bodies until the room emptied.
Soon, he was alone.
The whiteboard glowed,the reflection of the setting sun .
Its brightness pressed against his chest, sharp and sudden, like a warning he didn't understand.
With a slow breath, Elliot reached for his headphones and slipped them on, searching for distraction.
But the music did not ease the discomfort he felt. He knew he had to leave,his room offered him more comfort after all.
He rose from his seat slowly and picked up his bag,placed it on his shoulders and walked out of the room.
The hallways were empty,not a single soul in sight
He sighed, relieved.It was just as he preferred.
Darkness had already settled outside. He was surprised how fast that had happened. But he did love walking home this way since he wouldn't have to deal with noise from kids and the mocking laughter which he occasionally felt was directed at him.
With music blasting in his ears, Elliot walked out of the school gate and started on a road towards home.
The air seemed different today.It was unusually cold,as if winter had decided to fall in suddenly. Or maybe a huge chunk of ice had been thrown on the planet.
Elliot grasped his arms together rubbing them together in a desperate attempt to gather warmth. He wished between gritting teeth that his hood could somehow appear in his bag. He regretted leaving it at home.
But he didn't have the time to regret at the moment,he had to get home fast because the cold was becoming unbearable.
Elliot looked at the road in front of him and let out a sigh. He couldn't make it in time without being frozen. He had to take a shortcut. He knew that was a bad idea but he was out of options. He had to work with that.
He walked a few steps ahead and turned to a narrow alley. It was dark. Dark enough to scare robbers at least. But surprisingly, Elliot didn't flinch.
He walked on without fear. He had this feeling that somehow he belonged. As if he was being protected by an unknown force.
His shoulders loosened, and for a moment, he breathed easy. The darkness no longer pressed on him.
Suddenly his heart jumped when he heard something pass before him too swiftly to see. He stopped on his tracks, a puzzled and cautious painted on his face.
He scanned around but it was too dark and he couldn't see a thing.
A hissing voice of a cat a few steps away made him sigh in relief. He giggled at himself for flinching so hard. Why was he even that scared.
He appeared at a seemingly abandoned road behind some houses.
This place seemed darker than where he'd come from.He'd never passed here before but something told him it wasn't supposed to be as dark as it was. Something felt odd inside him. He clutched tightly onto his bag and walked through an old basketball court. The court appeared to be less maintained. Even in the dark,the enormous potholes were clearly visible. Elliot wondered how they even played here.
His eyes caught a glimpse streetlights at the end of the court,but they weren't working at least not entirely.
Instead,they blinked as though they had lost their power. Maybe this was why it was darker than usual. It had to be.
The air changed again and he felt like something was watching him.
His chest tightened.
He looked around.
No one.
Then he felt heavy footsteps from one corner of the court. Within the darkness,he couldn't know who was coming. He focused his eyes,but still nothing.
"Hey,Kid!"he heard ,a heavy voice which left a slight tremor in his chest. He didn't need to see the person,he already knew who it was. Three figures appeared in sight. Marcus, Ryan and Evan.
Marcus and his gang had always picked on him ever since.
They had not missed a day to make his life miserable. Of course there were lots of others to bully but they liked him more because he was more defenseless than the rest.
He never answered back or protested anything they did to him . That definitely gave them a greenlight to persist and they never wasted an opportunity. They weren't going to waste this one either.
Elliot faced them, Frozen and shaking.
It was partly from the cold ,but more from the fear of what they would do to him . Marcus,his two friends Ryan and Evan drew closer. Despite the darkness,the smirks drawn on their faces were quite visible like the light of day. If smirks could kill.
Whatever they had in mind didn't seem that pleasant.
Technically, nothing they always had in mind was pleasant. Their mind functioned with violence the whole time. Pleasantness was not a part of their vocabulary. Violence was.
"So,"started Ryan,his voice slightly deeper than usual,"Whatcha doing in our court,kid?"
Their court? Elliot scoffed inwardly. Wasn't it owned by the town council?
He wanted to say it out loud. He wanted to stand up for himself for once. But instead, only a helpless squeak came out. He glanced down, hoping they didn't hear it.
He bit his tongue, angry at himself. Why couldn't he just talk?
"Cat got your tongue,Kid?" Marcus mocked,the others laughed beside him. They found the whole situation amusing.
That thought made Elliot shake with anger. But the anger was only a drop of water compared to the ocean of fear which engulfed him.
Elliot could feel thin beads of sweat form in his bushy eyebrows as the three of them slowly walked towards him.
He drew back, until he felt his back touch something - a streetlight pole. He thought of running,but he knew better.It was a dead end. He froze.
Marcus grinned,"Where do you think you were going,huh?"he chuckled after saying this and then from his pocket, Elliot saw him remove a penknife. The sound of the knife snapping open made his heart race.
Marcus was now drawing closer to him. Close enough to make his knees start to shake. He knew in the cover of darkness,they could do anything to him and nothing would ever happen to them. At least they had the idea that he wouldn't dare snitch on them.
Of course,he wouldn't dare. No one had dared to anyway.Only if one had a death wish.
Now, he had just one wish. He wished all these was just a bad dream, or better still wake up from the dream. But the sound of two other penknives snapping open spoke clearly - it wasn't a freaking dream. The reality that he was about to once again pass through the rough hands of this trio was hard to swallow.
But then, as soon as Marcus was only inches away and he could feel his breath,the streetlight above him suddenly so bright they had to cover their eyes. The strong light didn't last long. Instead of dimming,a loud shatter made the four of them jump in shock.
Pieces of glass started raining on them. The trio were caught off guard. Cries of pain soon followed.
Surprisingly,no glass touched Elliot. He remained glued to the post as the glasses fell over to his side, avoiding him narrowly,or maybe intentionally.
From the corner of his eyes, Elliot saw something. No, a shadow. It hovered around for a moment then disappeared as fast as it came.He looked around for it,the thought of it nagging his mind.
What was it? Was it even real or was it just another construct of his mind?
These thoughts raced his mind as he looked around trying to figure out where the shadowy figure went. He couldn't see it again. It was gone.
Maybe he was just hallucinating. Or maybe it was just a rush of adrenaline.
The wails of Marcus and his friends flicked him back to reality. He had to leave. He hurriedly clutched onto his bag tightly and sprinted away from the place without looking back.
As he went home,he had this feeling that there was something watching him. Something eerie and strange. He couldn't explain it but he felt safe. Suddenly he stopped again.
From the corner of his eyes, Elliot saw it again - the shadow hovering for a heartbeat longer than it should. He blinked, but it didn't vanish. Just for a second, he swore it moved on its own. His chest tightened, but somehow, the fear felt different.
Not painful, but protective.
And then it was gone.