Page 27 of Burning Demons (Burning Torments #1)

Chapter 27

Tate

After finishing a quiz in minutes, I grabbed the hall pass to sneak in a quick smoke before a piss. This had been me all fucking day long. I showed up enough to see how much I could ditch, and then I was gone. I couldn’t deal. Not today, maybe not this week.

Wren hadn’t said anything on the ride to school, and I couldn’t stand it. Was he pissed at me? I mean, yeah, had I not fallen asleep in his bed, we wouldn’t have gotten caught, but he didn’t have to fuck me hard enough I couldn’t function.

“Fuck.” Fuck, I was just pissed and throwing it in all the wrong directions. So when I walked into the restroom near the library, it took a second for the red haze to clear enough I could make sense of what was happening.

Four guys stood in a tight semicircle around the far wall. All had their heads bowed with jeers and chuckles between them. Definitely not one to circle-jerk shame, I was about to politely clear my throat until I noticed who exactly was standing there. The Wolf Pack.

Perfect. Now, this was the right direction.

In a steady, confident tone, I said, “Measuring dicks, boys?” They jumped a foot off the ground and backed up. “I can tell you, they’re all—” My words choked when they moved enough to reveal a kneeling Percy on the floor against the wall. His face was red and stained with tears.

“What the fuck.” I charged between their stunned bodies and helped Percy to his feet. His shirt had a rip near the collar with red marks spanning his throat like a hand, bruises forming on his jaw, and around a bloody gash at his eye. I shoved him behind me as I rounded on the guys. “You fucking pricks!”

The four of them seemed honest-to-God frozen in terror of me for a few seconds. The dipshits probably were just too dazed at being caught.

“What the hell did you do to him? This is assault, you dumb fucks!” My voice was loud enough to carry through half the school.

Percy huddled at my back, his hands gripping my shirt as terror had him shaking so badly he shook me. He was half the size of these guys, easily. They could’ve seriously hurt him.

My shouting jerked them out of their stupor.

Spencer lunged one step toward me with a growl. “You didn’t see shit, fag.”

“Oh, that’s rich.” My gaze darted down and up. “Your dick’s hanging out, by the way.”

It wasn’t, but Spencer checked anyway. I grinned as his face turned so dark red it was almost purple. He lunged again, this time with a raised fist. Getting hit didn’t scare me. I lifted my chin, ready, as Percy squeaked and cowered farther behind me. The attack never came.

“Spence, come on, man,” one of his friends said.

Hands circled Spencer’s shoulders and arms as they pulled him back.

“Let’s get out of here.”

I didn’t move an inch, knowing my place was in front of Percy, as the four of them shuffled a raging Spencer out of the restroom. Once the door closed, I stayed stock-still and took several deep breaths before the tension in my shoulders eased.

A choked sob brought me back. I slowly turned and pulled Percy’s still-shaking form against me. For seconds, he fought me off.

“Shh. Hey, Percy. It’s just me. It’s Tate. Calm down. Shhh.” I kept my tone low and soothing for him. “Percy. It’s okay now. They’re gone.” Tears prickled my eyes as his struggles grew weaker. When he finally gave in and leaned against me, I could breathe.

It had probably only been minutes, but when my body relaxed, it felt as if I had been holding myself rigid for hours. I coaxed Percy closer to the sinks and wetted paper towels as he straightened his clothes.

His eyes remained unfocused as I washed his face, wiping away the streaks from his tears and blotting at the small drips of blood. Fuck those guys.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” I asked softly. They had to have choked him out a little, and then one or more of them punched him. God, please let that be all.

Percy swallowed and after several blinks shook his head.

“Take a few minutes, and then I’ll go with you to the principal’s office unless you want to see the nurse first.”

“W-what?” His voice was breathless and shaky.

“To report it. This was assault. That’s not something you have to put up with. Get their asses expelled.”

He sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “No,” he said as his head shook.

“No? You can’t tell me you’re okay with what they did.”

“I … I’m n-not.”

“Then let’s tell someone. This shit won’t end. They need to be punished.” A little voice piped up in my head, a voice that sounded like a younger me, and called me a hypocrite.

“No,” he cried. More tears slipped down his cheeks, and my heart shredded. “No. It won’t … It … They …”

“Take a breath. It’s okay.” I rubbed between his shoulders as he sobbed and coughed over the sink.

I grabbed a few more napkins and doused them with cold water to wipe the back of his neck. Percy was such an adorable little guy. Seeing him in pain was enough to get me sobbing right along with him. I wanted so badly to call Wren for help, but something told me Percy would freak out with another person close to him right now.

And I didn’t want to face the fact that Wren might not answer.

His hiccupping subsided, and he lifted his wet, spikey lashes to reveal green eyes that were extra bright from the redness surrounding them. Childlike qualities clung to his full cheeks and smooth skin, the innocence of youth and already so striking.

“Th-thank you, Tate.”

I nodded.

“They, um … Those guys have d-done that before.”

A great sigh left me, but I didn’t say anything. It figured this wasn’t the first time. They were too confident to pull something like this in the restroom, of all places. Percy took a steadying breath and pulled his shoulders back. I knew that move. The forced posturing. The fake it until you make it.

“At the beginning of the year, they did the same thing to me in the locker room. The f-football coach stopped them and told me he’d take care of it.”

“What happened?”

“The coach took me to the nurse and told her I slipped and fell.”

This fucking place … “Percy, I’m your witness this time. I’m not afraid of these people or this town. We’ll go to the cops right now. Fuck this school. Something has to be done.”

“No.” His eyes bugged. “No, please. I c-can’t.” He stopped fisting my shirt abruptly and let his hand drop. “You’re very nice, Tate, but I’m not like you. I can’t tell anyone. My …”

His voice trailed off, but I was pretty sure I caught the word “dad.”

“Everything okay at home?”

Percy shook his head once again, and my heart stuttered in my chest. This sweet kid just couldn’t catch a break.

“You don’t have to put up with shit. Hey.” I gripped his upper arms. Fuck, he was so small. “I’ve been there, okay? I’m not saying it’s the same, but I know what it’s like to feel helpless, like there is nowhere you can turn. That’s bullshit, though. That’s them getting in your head. You always have a choice. It may be a choice between shit and worse-smelling shit, but you make the call.”

He finally nodded. “I know.” A tiny smile hinted around his lips, which inflated my lungs. “Thank you. I didn’t know you had any trouble going on.”

“I don’t, not now anyway. Before I moved here, my stepfather treated me … well, it doesn’t matter.” I hadn’t planned on going further. I didn’t want to say the words. I hated the silent “victim” that went unspoken, no matter how I felt about it. But something about Percy’s vulnerable, sad eyes had me spewing my guts. “He raped me. I think.” The words hurt coming out, and they hurt going in my own ears.

Rape was such a strong word, and I had never considered it to be that, but maybe? Franklin had been so slick about it. He never came at me with threats or force, but for some reason, I had felt them all the same. If I hadn’t been with him, he would have stopped caring; he would have abandoned me. Did that make it against my will?

Percy gasped. “Oh, no.”

“Yeah.” I tossed the balled-up napkins into the trash, then leaned into the sink. “It was … It started and went on for years, and I’m not sure I’m over it.” I huffed a laugh, knowing that was a lie. I sure as shit wasn’t over it. “He didn’t hurt me. I mean, it wasn’t physical pain, but he got in my head. I didn’t think I had a choice.”

“Tate …” Broken, little Percy petted my arm as his eyes grew watery again.

“Hey.” I forced a smile. “I’m in a better place now.”

He blinked a few times, and a smile curled one side of his mouth. “Wren’s good to you?”

I snapped my head back and lowered my brows. “How did you know about that?” I wouldn’t deny it to him, and honestly, it felt really fucking good to acknowledge it.

Percy shrugged. “No one talks to me, like, ever, so I watch people.” His little smile grew, and then he hastily added, “I won’t tell anyone. I swear.”

I snorted as the change in conversation seemed to make us both feel better. “I know. I’m kind of glad you noticed. It’s so hard to keep this shit inside, and I thought we were so obvious, but everyone is oblivious.”

He shrugged again. “It’s high school. Everyone is so far up their own asses all they see is brown.”

“True,” I chuckled.

The small smile that kept fighting for life on his face fell once again. “My dad hasn’t done anything like yours, but he’s hit me. He’s in denial about me being gay. When I show him too much, uh, me , he tries to beat it out of me like that’s gonna work or somethin’. It hasn’t happened in a long time, so I can’t tell him about this. He’ll blame me for it.” He hung his head. “I can’t. It’d be so bad.”

“It will happen again, Percy. These guys don’t stop.”

He shook his head. “Please, Tate. Please don’t say anything. I’ll deal with this my way. School won’t last forever, but my family will. Those guys will get bored and move on.”

“You think so?”

He blinked and nodded, the strength of his convictions the only thing holding him up. “I have to believe it, for now. My dad hasn’t hit me in a while. For the most part, he just ignores me. These guys will too. I’m only fifteen. I don’t have anywhere to go. This place sucks, and I can’t wait to get out, but I will. I just have to keep my head down for a little longer.”

“You’ve got me, Percy. Call me. Text me. Whenever for whatever.” I smiled at him. “You’ve got a place to go.”

“I can’t barge into your life.”

“You wouldn’t be barging in. My family is great.” The confession reverberated in my head. Jesus, my family was really great. Dad would support me through anything. Wren and Winnie might be pissed right now, but they were good people. And good people would help no matter what.

Percy blinked at me, patiently waiting since it had seemed like there was more to say, and I had stopped mid-thought.

“Look. I’m not gonna make you do anything you don’t want to do, but listen, okay? Listen to someone who has been through it.” I cut the smile and dropped all my walls. “You might be right. They might get bored and move on, but what never moves on is what they left behind.” I swallowed hard around the pain in my throat. “The scars on the inside. The wounds to your self-esteem. The holes in your soul that make you doubt every good intention your future has in store for you. That shit never leaves.”

“You …”

“This isn’t about me. Well, I mean, yeah, but not the point. I’ve got my own shit, my own baggage I haven’t dealt with, and maybe I’m saying this to the both of us. You have to stand up for yourself because I promise you, even if someone does it for you, you will never feel worthy of it. And that’s worse. At that point, you won’t only be letting yourself down but that person who cares about you too.”

Percy cocked his head and stared for long seconds. “That’s pretty deep.”

I sniffed and drew up tall, then laughed and rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah. All of this just hits really close, you know?”

“I get it.”

“So what will it be?”

Percy chewed on his bottom lip. “I dunno.”

“You do know. It’s just the harder choice.”

He nodded.

“Prove it to them but more importantly to yourself that you can handle the rough shit. We have an inner strength, and it’s about time we showed people.”

“You too? You’re gonna show people?”

I licked my lips and took a steadying breath. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I need to. I’ve been trying to make a life down here, but I can’t really do that while I’m holding on to so much from before.”

Percy tossed the paper towels he had clenched in his fist and stood as tall as his short height allowed. “You’ll go with me? To the principal’s office?”

I grinned. “All the way. We’re friends, right? I’m here for you.”

“Friends,” he whispered.

Together, we made sure he was presentable, and then I walked with him to Principal Woodson’s office. The man was not happy to see us and really not happy about what Percy had to say.

He stood from his desk and glared at Percy, trying to intimidate him. It took all levels of control to hold it together and not make this worse for Percy by bitching out this sack of toxic.

“That’s a hefty allegation, young man. Are you sure you aren’t saying this to get some sort of attention?”

Percy hesitated before he answered. Face red and head bowed, I thought he might take it all back and run from the office. Instead, he proved his balls were much bigger than my own—something I would be changing soon—and said, “N-no, sir. The football coach saw it too. The f-first time it happened.”

“Hmm. You know I’ll have to call your dad and the parents of those boys too.”

Fuck this prick. He was seriously trying to get Percy to back down.

Percy nodded. “Yeah. I mean, yes, sir. Okay.”

“Did you go to the nurse?”

“No, sir.”

“All right. Head there now, and I’ll contact your dad to come get you.”

Percy stiffened at the word dad but slid off the chair with a soft “Yes, sir.”

I followed him out of the office. He didn’t say a word as we walked to the nurse’s office down the hall. The back in five minutes sign hung on the door.

Percy dropped his bag on the floor, then slid down the wall to sit beside it. “Is it weird I’d rather stay at school than go home after this?”

I sat down next to him and leaned against the wall. “I don’t think there is one set way to deal with anything. If school is where you want to be, then that’s that.”

“You’re a unique person, Tate.”

“Eh. It’s all bullshit.”

He giggled. “You going back to class?”

I checked the halls. No one was around. “Probably not. I’ve got something I need to do.”

“What is it? Need some help?”

“No, I’ve got it covered and looking forward to it.”

Laughing voices reached us before the owners rounded the corner. The nurse wasn’t someone I’d had any dealings with, but her white coat over a pair of gray scrubs was unmistakable, nor was the woman chatting with her and pushing a cart full of boxes.

Winnie froze for a moment, her eyes on me, but startled out of it when the nurse gasped.

“Good heavens. Percy Long, what did you get into now?” The woman rushed forward and helped Percy to stand, brushing his hair back and lifting his chin to her careful scrutiny.

Winnie and I stood awkwardly in the hall. I glanced her way a few times, but she was focused on Percy.

“What happened,” Winnie asked softly, which had to be directed at me.

I used the moment for all it was worth, a bridge, a reason to ease the cringeworthy atmosphere between us. “He was attacked.”

Winnie gasped, then made a tiny whimper as she tilted her head to one side. “The poor little guy.”

“It was the Wolf Pack. You know about them?”

Winnie darted her eyes to me, then back as the nurse unlocked her office and ushered Percy inside. “Unfortunately.” Once the two of us were alone, she rounded on me, all anger and fire blistering me as it had Sunday morning. “Did you take this to Principal Woodson?”

I straightened. Winnie was a short woman, and I didn’t mean it to seem as if I were trying to intimidate her, but she took a tiny step back.

“Uh, yeah, yes, ma’am,” I said as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Though he wasn’t too concerned about it.”

Winnie narrowed her eyes. “Oh, he wasn’t, was he?”

“I figured, you know, football players being involved …”

She mumbled something that sounded a lot like intolerable and complacent and then huffed, spun around as if she’d march to the principal’s office, but then spun right back to me. She placed a hand on top of the boxes piled on the cart she’d been pushing. “Will you take these to my car? It’s just out front.” She nodded toward the main exit. “Our supplies get delivered here sometimes.” She muttered the last as she dug her keys out of her purse.

“Sure, I can do that.”

“Just drop those at the admin’s office when you’re done,” she said as she handed them over, then charged off without another word. I may not have been Winnie’s favorite person, and after Sunday, I was pretty far down that list, but I got the feeling I had a better position than Principal Woodson at this very moment.

Before leaving the hallway, I checked on Percy and left with the nurse still fussing over him. My heart ached for him and all he was about to face. There was more bravery in that kid than everyone I knew put together. I had to be a tenth of that and face shit myself.

But first …

I dropped all the heavy emotions rolling through me and let the rage bleed into my veins. With a heavy set of keys clenched in my fist, I shoved the cart to get it moving and made my way outside.

Spencer had this coming for a long time, and now I was revved up enough to see it through.