D for Dylan - 8. Chapter Eight

The amount of rage a single person could invoke in me, turned out to be insurmountable. I never ran this fast before, lungs burning up, chest ready to burst out. Tonight, Liam Henderson managed to cross every single boundary - there was no way I was letting him get away with laying a finger on my boyfriend.

We got upstairs in no time, shouting voices echoed through the empty walls of the dining room, resembling Pompeian ruins after most of the people have purged themselves out. Poor Jason Wu couldn’t catch his breath, running like a hamster in the wheel, holding a baseball bat in his hand, but too afraid to use it on the troublemakers.

The sounds of heated argument reverberated down the hallway, as I hurried inside. Jake and Liam were standing beside the table like a pair of angry rams on a meadow field, bumping foreheads.

“Do you think he’s so fucking dumb?” Liam growled at Jake.

“Watch it, Henderson!” Jake hissed back.

“Guys, guys! Chill out, please!” Pete offered, anxiously dancing around them.

To nobody’s surprise, his plea was left unattended. They glared at each other, ready to rip each other’s throats, and I found myself puzzled at how quickly this escalated.

“He’ll figure it out, you dumb cunt!” Liam added with a haughty chuckle.

“Shut your fucking mouth!” Jake blasted, grabbing Liam by the scruff of his collar.

What the hell were they talking about? I’ve never seen Jake this angry. My own rage cooled down a notch in comparison to his. Quite frankly, witnessing that there was something capable of provoking such fury in my boyfriend was surprising.

“Shit, this looks bad…” Jason squealed.

A baseball bat in his weak and shaky grip resembled a dead snake.

“Oh fuck.” Elle exhaled in exasperation and turned to me, “I wonder what’s that about?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed, “He didn’t... He couldn’t possibly...”

Elle immediately realized that I meant a kiss and tried to relieve my doubts, “He’s not that stupid, is he?..”

“Take your fucking hands off or I’ll rip them out!” Liam threatened, grabbing Jake’s wrists and violently twisting them apart.

The heat of their argument was reaching dangerous degrees, bounding me to react.

“Hey! Hey, take your fucking hands off my boyfriend!” I yelled out to Liam, heading towards them.

“He’s a boxer, he’ll fuck you up!” Elle shouted, in a feeble attempt to deter Liam.

Before I was able to step in between and break them apart, Jacob landed his first punch, hitting Liam in the jaw hard enough to almost knock him down.

Almost.

Sparse onlookers let out muffled gasps and whimpers, which, mixed with the sounds of rubber soles squeaking against oakwood floors, resonated loudly in my ears. They grabbed each other in a deadlock and wrestled through the room towards the wall. Jake managed to slam Liam into the cabinet, shattering the glass. They were growling, choking and punching each other, until Liam hit Jake in the stomach, knocking out his breath and forcing him to veer back. This created enough distance for Liam to grab him by the neck of his shirt and start power punching him in the face.

I ran towards them, doing my best to push Liam away, slipping on the shards of glass on the floor, shouting, begging for him to stop. The bloodthirsty monster that I got so familiar with over the years, has finally resurfaced. Deaf and blind to my pleas, he stood there like a marble statue, beating the shit out of my boyfriend, completely unbothered by my fists, hitting him in the back. Blood gushed out of Jake’s nostrils, his legs got weak and gave out, but a fucking animal still held him up, mauling his face. His big fangs showed through bloody grin, he was razor focused, his motions sharp and deadly.

Adrenalin pumped though my veins, my heart fluttered, getting my punches heavier, strong enough for him to notice my presence. Without even looking my way, Liam pushed me with his spare arm, sending my lightweight body on the floor.

“Dylan!” Elle shouted.

Pete was about to join the fight, but it became unnecessary. The blinding veil of hot rage fell off from Liam’s eyes, followed by a confused look, after which he released his grip on Jake. My barely conscious boyfriend fell on the floor like a lifeless doll. Liam was breathing heavily, perspiration beading on his temples, large droplets of sweat contouring pulsating artery, as he shifted his intense gaze on me.

“Dylan…” he exhaled, slanting forward in a small step.

“Stay back!” I warned, raising my arm to stop him.

The pain from the cut didn’t even register until I saw my arm bleeding. A small piece of glass was lodged into the side of my forearm. I clenched my teeth and pulled it out, crawling back and holding pressure on it.

“Oh fuck! Fuck!..” he whistled, as if in panic. “Let me see! Let me take a look…”

I kicked him in the face with my foot when he got close enough. This forced him to stagger back and grab his nose, as I used a free second to stand back up on my feet. This was exactly what I needed to prove. I needed that fucking reminder, and he gave it to me. He was a monster. A fucking monster.

He slowly followed me, as I made my way towards Jason. Poor boy was scared shitless, he didn’t even react when I whisked the bat out of his hand. The ringing in my ears got louder, the heart was pounding in my throat, most of the surroundings have morphed into a white noise, while I walked back towards the guy that tortured me for the past 3 years. I glanced at my boyfriend, beaten to an inch of death, laying on the carpet and trying to stop his face from bleeding. I glared at Liam, my hatred burning through my clothes, evaporating sweat from off my skin, as I eliminated the distance between us.

“Dylan, I’m-” he was about to say something, but I wasn’t there to listen.

I don’t think he actually expected me to do it. Somebody gasped, as I made my first blow.

“Fucking asshole!” I roared, watching him fall on the ground and fold into a fetal position.

Pure, electrifying rage engulfed my 17-year-old body, sharpening my sight and strengthening my bloody grip on the baseball bat, as I delivered one powerful blow after another, hitting him in the thighs and back, striking his arms, ribs and belly. At some point I began yelling, shouting at the top of my lungs, burning hot tears blurring my vision as flashbacks from the past flooded my memory. All the times I ended up in the hospital, all the tears I saw on my mother’s face, every single scoff, every insult and bad look he and his friends have given me. All the pain and trauma, all the sorrow and heartache he caused, pumping fuel into my muscles.

“Dylan!”

I barely heard Elle’s voice through my own screams. The ringing in my head has suddenly tuned down, I looked at my shaking hand, saw the blood on the baseball bat and immediately dropped it on the floor. Liam was covering his face with his arm, his whole body trembling and jerking.

“Oh god…” I snuffled through encroaching tears, falling down on my knees. “Liam? Liam?..”

I panicked. The overwhelming sense of remorse washed over me, painful realization of what I have done hit me like a boiling water. I couldn’t draw a single breath and felt tears rolling on my eyes from sharp guilt. He was bruised up, he was hurt, I could see it. I did it. I did this to him…

No. No-no-no-no-no…

“Liam… I’m sorry…” I shuddered in sobs, placing my hand on his shoulder, “I’m s-so… So s-sorry…”

“It’s okay…” he whispered… “It’s all good… It’s… It’s all… good…”

I’ve never felt so horrible. Not once in my entire life. Not when my dad left. Not when Liam betrayed me, not a single time he beat me. This was far, far worse than anything else. A petrifying, all-consuming shame. I felt like I needed a hot shower to wash it away, after betraying myself and everything I stood up for. I couldn’t believe that I’ve hurt somebody, it simply couldn’t compute in my brain, shattering me, leaving me petrified and hollow.

I shrugged, startled at Elle’s embrace. I couldn’t move, my hand stroking Liam’s arm as he avoided my eyes. I wiped my tears with a sleeve of my jacket, whimpering. Pete pulled Jake on his feet and helped him get closer to us, they tried to pull me away from Liam, but I just couldn’t leave…

“Go without me. Please…” I whispered, “I have to make sure he’s okay…”

I couldn’t understand how he did it. Looking at Liam, especially after what I just did to him, I couldn’t understand how he could beat another person and simply move on with his life. Somehow, despite all the shame and guilt, I felt even more angry with him. How could he ignore these feelings and look at himself in the mirror, after doing something so horrible? Did he ever feel this way after beating me? Did he ever actually regret it?

“We have to go…” Jake asked, pulling me by the sleeve. “Please, baby… Let’s just go home…”

“No, I can’t… He needs to go to the hospital, I’ll drive him…”

“He’ll be alright.” Jake said.

“He’s right.” Liam grunted, sitting up. “It’s fine, I’ll be okay.”

“But… But…”

“We should go.” Jake insisted, glancing at Jason, “I think he called the cops. We should get out of here.”

My legs felt like they were full of lead on our way downstairs. Tears dried up on my cheeks, freezing air incinerating my lungs. I kept looking behind my back, making sure Liam was okay. He was limping. He walked to his Camaro and got in, glancing at me one final time. His car whistled off the driveway, as we managed to get Jake into the backseat of his Mercedes.

“Does he have a first aid kit in here?” asked Elle, helping Jake put pressure on his nose.

“I’m not sure.” I answered, “Let me look in the trunk.”

Pete set on the ignition to get us warm. I stepped outside and opened the trunk of his Mercedes. It was empty. I then lifted the floor to look in the hidden compartment, where the spare tire and a jack were.

“What’s taking so long?” Elle called out, “Come on, let’s go!”

I was too exhausted to process what I saw. Too mortified by everything that happened tonight. I decided not to think about it, to forbid my mind from wondering into depths of what it meant.

It was just a gun.

It didn’t have to mean anything.

Not tonight.