A
thermal light bore down on the hotheaded street kid, who had been staring
at his schoolyard rival for what must have been ten minutes now, or at
least seemed like it.
Bruno
was his name and ironically, the street kid's dog shared it.
'Course,
the dog, who was a vicious Pit Bull in the neighbourhood, had a far more
pleasing personality than Bruno the person.
Daylight
was settling behind the clouds, only increasing the tension between the
two boys.
Every
step that they took as they circled one another was getting faster and
faster.
Four
of the spectators, the only four, had already left, knowing that it could
get ugly.
Gary
Freighton had lived as that street kid for years on end, not always proud
of his life.
However,
he was constantly proud of every chance he got to pick a fight with
Bruno.
In a
flash, Gary stepped forward out of his menacing circular steps and
charged at his opponent with a closed fist.
Just
like it was a game, Bruno then stepped to the side, grabbing the street
kid's arm and twisting it upwards until he let up.
Killing
each other seemed to be their intention, but nobody was left in the
schoolyard to see it anyhow.
Little
did they know, that one such phantom spectator was watching them from
beneath a set of wooden stairs outside the school.
More
they fought on and without noticing anything unusual.
Next,
Gary dove and tackled at Bruno.
On
the slide of Bruno's stance, the street kid dove into a mouthful of
gravel.
Parched
earth lay underneath that gravel, and wasn't so pleasant to land on
either.
Quietly,
the phantom spectator slid underneath the wooden steps.
Running
lightly on the dirt, making no noise whatsoever, he stepped right behind
Bruno.
Suddenly,
the figure wrapped his forearm around Bruno's neck and twisted fast and
hard.
Tendons
and bones all snapped to the rhythm of the motion and Bruno's body fell
to the ground.
Unexpectedly,
Gary let out a shrill scream at what he had just seen.
Violin-like
sounds echoed through the school walls as the figure stepped towards the
street kid.
Whereas
he assumed that the figure's intent was to kill him also, he was wrong.
"Xavier
is my name, in case you're curious," the man said, holding a helpful
hand out to Gary.
"Yes,
it seems that you had a wonderful time with this little one, didn't
you."
Zealous
thoughts filled Gary's mind, and he was about to reach for his rival's
hand, but instead rose to his feet and ran away.
