Pain Killer

Prologue

"So! If you want to join our group, you'll have to prove you can carry your weight and that means facing your fears!" Jay spoke, showing a proud grin. His hair flopped in the night's breeze as the group around him stood over the rushing river. The streetlamps made his brown hair shine and his tall presence all the more dazzling.

The boys around him cheered as they looked at the one in the center of the group with his cautious eyes turned downward. A few clapped his shoulders in encouragement.

The boy in the center was a little short for his age, heightening those around him even more. He looked out of place with his clean white shoes and expensive jacket. He thought they would turn him away for looking better than the rest of them, but that was all? Just show your bravery? How hard could that be?

"I guess I can do that. What do I have to do?" His fingers curled around the hem of his jacket.

The boys looked at each other, knowing smiles passing from one to the next.

Jay, still grinning, stepped onto the ledge in front of the bars. He turned and looked down at the pair of eyes watching with an odd mix of fear and curiosity. "It's simple, Zac. Jump from this bridge into the river." His fingers spread to what lay below.

Zac gulped. His hands were already shaking but now it was apparent to the rest of them.

"Hey Zac, you don't have to worry. We've all done it before so it's not a huge deal." One of the boys stepped into the middle of the circle. His freckly hand came to rest on Zac's shoulder as he gave a bright smile, one that lit up like the streetlamps around it. "This is the only thing you have to do, okay? Just jump and you're in. Simple as that."

Zac peeked over the bars, watching the rushing black void. How deep was it? Were there rocks at the bottom? "I-I don't think I can..." He shook his head as he pulled back and bumped into the group behind him. "Isn't there anything else-"

"Why don't I jump with you?"

The group whistled and taunted at the prospect.

"Oh, the carrot's feeling gutsy," Jay smirked as he crossed his arms with interest.

"Shut up, Jay. It's a scary job." The boy with freckles self-consciously pulled his fingers through his ginger hair, peeking at Zac from the corner of his eye. "It's understandable that he's getting cold feet." His bright smile curved further as Zac gulped again.

"Man, I don't-I don't know..."

"I'll do it with you, dude, you got this." He grabbed Zac's arm and brought him to the ledge.

The other boys circled around the two as they pulled their legs over the bars. Their arms latched around the metal and they gained their balance, now standing on the other side.

The water suddenly grew in volume as the full width of it could now be seen. The violent noise and dizzying black of the unknown depth began to overtake Zac's stomach.

"Just jump, Zac," one of the boys called but it could barely be heard as the rushing water was turning into a buzz that only made him sicker.

His grip around the bar was tight enough to lose feeling. His eyes darted back and forth along the length of the river and the four swimming lessons he took when he was ten seemed to fade from his memory. Why didn't he mention that to them?

"I can't swim." Zac felt light-headed. The words he spoke escaped as a whisper and his voice died beneath the water's noise.

"On the count of three, we'll jump." The boy next to him had his arms hitched around the bar. They began to slide a little as he prepared himself to let go.

Zac blinked hard, trying to steady his breath. "Wait, I can't swim. I don't want to do this..." No one heard his plea. Neither did he.

"One."

His fingers clenched harder than before. Why weren't they working properly?

"Two."

The world began to warp in and out as he tried to say the same words again. "I can't swim!"

Why didn't anyone hear him?

"Three!"

Panic.

His heart stopped. His arms gave out.

Zac was pulled away from the bridge by unforgiving gravity as distant calls reached out to him.

The boys all rushed to the bar, yelling his name. They grabbed the red-headed boy by the shoulders, pulling him back over before he had a chance to jump in after Zac.

He turned around in their hands, facing the water again. His eyes searched the black void. They looked and looked but Zac's head never surfaced.

"What if he can't swim..." he mumbled to himself, only realizing his mistake too late. "What if..." He took a sharp breath, breaking through the group and running to the end of the bridge. He stumbled through the prickly weeds, tripping on the rocks and pebbles. He skidded down to the water's edge and clambered into the freezing river, taking a deep breath.

A moment of quiet.

The small group of boys held their breaths, waiting and gripping the bar as if the harder they held it, the faster their questions and uncertainty would be quelled.

It felt like minutes as they waited and waited. What else was there to do? Fear had a funny way of overtaking a person. In those instances, where split-seconds could drag on for hours, it was potent enough to paralyze.

Two heads breached the black surface.

The group called as they ran down the same path he had taken, just realizing the weight of the situation.

"Is he alive?"

"What happened to him?"

"What should we do?"

The sound of the current seemed to fade away as the two drenched bodies were dragged ashore.

His ginger hair and clothes dripping, he coughed while the boys encircled them and stared at Zac's pale, lifeless face. Blood seeped from his hairline, across his forehead. He was motionless.

Jay's eyes lingered on the violent shade of red, then slowly traveled to the other boy's hunched figure as he dripped on the rocks. "Uri, what did you do?"

Sep-17-22
pub, Apr-30-23