Parental guardians rushed to separate Max and me. I fought against them, I didn’t care if Max was only six; I’d beat him until he apologized to Andy. One dragged Max off down the hall. The other, pulled me by my ear in the opposite direction. As we rounded a corner, she pinched down harder. I felt her nail pierce my skin. I cried out in pain. Did she want to rip it off? As soon as the noise escaped my lips, the guardian stopped and threw me against the wall.
“Shut it. That’s only the beginning for you.”
I held my ear and felt blood as I looked at this new guardian for the first time. She stood tall and narrow. I swore I could see bones beneath her skin. Pale gray eyes hid behind wild brown hair that hung well past her shoulders and blended in with her uniform. I stood absolutely still as the eyes locked onto my own. Something about her scared me more than any of the adults I’d met before.
She snarled at me and I backed away from her, only to find the wall she’d thrown me against a tick ago. She seemed pleased by my reaction, as she revealed her yellowing teeth. A sneer quickly replaced the look. Her right hand lashed out and struck my cheek.
“You were caught fighting, what do you have to say for yourself?” she asked.
The shock from the sudden attack left me speechless.
She struck me again before I could reply. “You children are running wild down here and I have been sent to stop that. Things are about to change in the CTS.”
Without any warning, her arm shot out and her fist collided with my stomach. I gasped in pain and crumpled to the floor. Fighting with Max had hurt enough; this was more than I could bear. Tears clouded my vision as I stared at the concrete floor.
“I have been here less than a week, and have already seen you and that other boy fight on six separate occasions. After I’m through with you, I will have to teach him a lesson as well.”
She stepped around me and her foot pushed me onto my side. “Get up you worthless pile of sand. You’re cluttering my walkways.”
Her foot moved to kick me and I jumped to my feet as fast as I could. Once I stood, my cheek felt her stinging slap for the third time.
I cried out in pain. Adults had always been rough, but this felt so much worse. There was so much anger in her and I felt it with each blow.
“You can cry all you want, it won’t change a thing.” Her hand disappeared into her dress pocket, and when it reemerged, it held a rugged brown rock. She tossed it in the air and caught it in the same hand. She examined the stone in her palm for a tick before her eyes returned to me. Then the rock smashed against the side of my head.
I fell to the ground. My vision blurred and I struggled to breathe through the sobs that racked my body.
The woman loomed over me and chuckled. “Remember this, the next time you want to start a fight.” She raised her foot, but before she could do any more damage, a voice echoed down the hall.
“That is enough!” Hurried footsteps raced over and another brown uniform stood above me. Unlike the first woman, she didn’t sound like she wanted to kill me. “You have taken this too far. I’ll report you to the Council for this.”
The parental guardian laughed. “Go ahead, but watch your back, Lahna.” She turned and walked down the hall. “You, and the kids, will soon fear the name, Hess.”
Final Comments
Several years ago now, I took a creative writing class. Really, I've taken a few, but this one had a project where we had to write about a particular monster in our stories. Well, despite the fact that my first book, The Dead World, takes place in another dimension that is pretty inhospitable, there aren't any real monsters there.
All of the animals on Tehrahey are easily recognized and identified. They may differ slightly from their earth counterparts due to evolutions, but they are still relatively the same. Due to this fact, I had to get a little creative with my monster story.
Luckily, I had an idea.
From the beginning, I knew Ms. Hess was a piece of work. This short scene gave me a chance to prove just how terrible she could be. After all, only a monster would hit a child like this. The scene itself was fun to write, in a horrible way.
Unfortunately, there was just no room in The Dead World for this scene. With Kyle only seven-years-old, it happens six years before the story begins. That's why I decided to share it here.