Horizon

Chapter 3

My classes were a blur. I definitely wasn't paying attention. The only thing that I could think about was Mr. Harrison. My mind was struggling to figure out why a biology teacher would choose to kidnap me. I wasn't going to say that the teacher was in his right mind, but he wasn't an idiot. If he was, then why would a school hire him to teach a complex subject to a bunch of children who didn't really care?

I hit the side of my head with the palm of my hand, trying to remember anything about what happened. It was obvious to me that I wasn't going to remember anything. That struggle for my memory quickly turned into frustration as I neared the lunch hour. By the end of an extremely awkward third period, where everyone in the class glanced at me as if I had survived an extreme car crash, I stormed out of the class.

"Hey Hank!" someone yelled from behind me. "How did you escape?"

I turned around, at the group of people that were expecting answer, and shrugged my shoulders. "I can't remember," I yelled back.

Another person called out, "Did he do anything to you?"

I shrugged my shoulders again, this time without turning around.

"Hey! How was Mr. Harrison?" another one yelled. "Was he...you know...well endowed?" he asked, as the crowd of students burst into laughter. "How was he in the sa- khh!"

I heard a loud thump, as the student was interrupted. That noise was followed by a high pitched gurgling sound. It was the kind of sound people make when they think they're about to die.

I turned around to see that Thomas had pushed a student against the wall. Thomas had one hand wrapped dangerously tightly around the kid's neck, and was lifting the student with that same hand. The student grasped at his own head, probably because Thomas had pushed his head against the wall. Thomas did not look like the young man I had met earlier in the day. He looked more threatening than anything I could remember...way more formidable...and the student couldn't have been more scared. The student gagged, and tried to grab at Thomas's wrists. With every attempt, Thomas put some space between the student and the wall, and then pushed him roughly against it.

"You don't know," Thomas growled. "You don't know what he suffered."

The kid started to bring his legs up to push away from Thomas, but it didn't work. He was starting to panic as Thomas kept pressing on his throat.

"Dude, stop!" yelled one of the kids in the crowd that was forming around Thomas. "You're going to kill him!"

Thomas ignored the crowd, and focused on the fear-stricken student. "Now, you listen to me, you sick waste of life. You're going to apologize to Hank. Understand?" After saying that between gritted teeth, he let go of the student.

The student slumped to the floor, and reached his neck. Thomas immediately set his foot on the student's ankle, and started to put his weight on the sensitive joint. The kid screamed in pain, and tears started to leave his eyes.

"You didn't answer my question," Thomas said with a guttural raspy tone. He pressed harder on the kid's ankle, and turned his foot slightly.

"I understand!" the kid screamed, trying to yank his foot away from Thomas.

The kid then turned over to my direction, and cried, "I'm sorry! I was just trying to be funny! It was stupid! I'm so sorry!"

Without so much as a glance in my direction, Thomas took his foot off the student's ankle, and pushed his way out of the crowd. With a grunt, he brought his fist against one of the lockers in the hallway. The loud smash echoed throughout the hallway, and made everyone in the crowd jump.