Werewulf part 17
#17 of Werewulf
Ok so im sorry for the wait, and i apologize in advance for the ending...feel free to hit me....
Chapter 17.
The energy in the small town air erupted and blasted forth in new life at the Friday night lights games. Everyone attended who could, some of them didn't even have kids, just the will to be in that hurricane of cheers and shouts and general ebullience. It was an all-new orchestra for Kyle to experience; he was used to his classical, peaceful, gentle night-time ensemble of animals, the babbling stream and the wind. The comforting blanket of it all was his usual tune, something to comfort him.
This was a whole new genre entirely. The instruments were all replaced entirely, sweet melodious violins with guitars, woodwinds with a synthesizer; vocals were brought in, all screaming and hollering with no set target or pitch. The mass of sound felt like it should have overwhelmed Kyle, but it invigorated him. In moments he wanted to be part of it, even if he didn't actually join in.
The night comforted him, Friday night lights urged him to fight and celebrate; urged him to be more than on the defence and the one to comfort, but to attack those that made him uncomfortable. He wasn't gunna pick a fight, but the energy was there, it would have been justified in a strange artistic way.
He and Alice sat side by side off course and in a decent part of the stands too, Kyle was just thankful he wasn't next to the drunks about seven people down to Alice's right, or too close to Mrs James, the Sunday school teacher who would have most likely hit him for being too close to Alice even in this claustrophobic situation.
The drive from Sam's had gone smoothly, Duke laughed and joined in on the shenanigans, and left the couple together on their own. Quinn had shown them to their seats and joined another group, pointing out Duke was just a few seats to their right and up. For some reason, it didn't piss Kyle off, having a wingman like that made him happy...Through thick and thin Duke had his back.
It still bugged Kyle a bit though that he had invited himself to Duke's without much of a warning. What was he thinking? He had been so careful and quiet when invited, but after that night...something was drawing him back. It was embarrassing, but Kyle was clinging to Duke like a lost puppy. Friends were friends through the worst of times and the best of times and Duke would be there no matter what happened that night or any other...until he left of course...
Kyle frowned for the first time that day, mind weighed down in a bit of gloom. The idea of Duke not being there eventually saddened him. But he tried to ignore it, sniffling a bit into his shoulder and for some reason now feeling disappointed. But he saw Alice, her eyes staring into his, a little grin formed on her lips as she leaned into him.
Kyle flinched a bit as her arms wrapped around his, her head lulling into his arm. On instinct he dropped his head onto hers. "Thank you for coming with me Kyle," she said in an almost dreamy tone, "I've had fun so far, and the night hasn't even really begun"
In truth it hadn't, Kyle was honestly shocked by the bit of news. He knew the game had only just started of course, but how much she had led him to do already was staggering for Kyle. He went to a school get together, he danced, he was loud...he didn't streak into the game in nothing but body paint sure, but these were monumental steps as unusual a situation as he was.
"I know...thank you Alice." He spoke softly, barely audible above the crowd.
She pulled him closer, "Any time, you really are cool Kyle, you just never saw it in yourself and it made it hard for others to see you're quite the catch."
Had Kyle had taken a sip of anything he would have spat it out, he felt his face redden as he looked down at her, taken aback enough to let go of even if just for a moment. "What?" he asked flustered. Did THE Alice Stone just call him 'A catch.'?!
The sweet angelic girl grinned, her hair hanging adorably out of place, begging to be stroked back into place but he couldn't do it. He wanted an answer for some reason much more.
"You don't see it, but you really are quite a guy Kyle. You're sweet, and gentle and fun and you care." She looked up at him with just a hint of annoyed seriousness. "Do you know how hard it is to find a guy who listens to what I and my friends have to say and not just stare at my boobs?" Kyle shifted in his seat, now trying not to even glance, but it made her laugh all the more, "You're great. Own it Kyle."
He wasn't sure what exactly just happened, but he felt the heat of her breathe as she kissed his cheek, then the softness of her hair as she continued to lean into him. Kyle just smiled, he wasn't sure how long this lust she had would last, but he didn't care, it was perfect...even if her psychotic ex was right in front of them.
~~~~
Duke almost vomited onto the drunks in front of him. If the stink of human sweat, musk and shit didn't do it, or the wafting of the grease pit of a food stand, Alice's little kiss should have pushed his stomach's contents out, but he held strong. She was a daring little witch, a little pubescent problem with the hormones that would naturally attract and not taint.
Duke growled a little to himself, how easy she had it, he almost envied her if his superiority complex would allow it; he envied the ease in which she snuck into his attention in more ways than just a friend, how confident she was with a little kiss to leave him wanting more. If he did that before Kyle was ready and Duke would get a fist to the face.
He sighed, continuing to stare at them, thinking back to his previous actions to help his cause. He saw Scott's feeble body at the bottom of that hole, the animal skins he'd covered himself in to stay warm. He allowed himself a little grin at the fear in his eyes, Duke had only ever visited him as a wolf, so there was a reason to fear, but at the same time none. Duke wouldn't kill him for personal reasons; that was worse than killing to feed. His family had decided that killing to eat, human, animal, whatever, was justified and moral, killing with any feeling at all was wrong, sinful even.
But no matter how much pleasure he got from keeping the man captive, he had told him he would be in that hole for three days to think about his life. Those three days was up, so Duke had set him free to run back to town. He grinned again, the idea of a large unfit man running to the police station, naked aside from animal furs, screaming about werewolves, was priceless.
He was also happy Quinn was responsive to him; he wasn't one hundred percent sure if she knew he would literally be taking Kyle away, but she seemed happy for him and in turn was on his side. All that was left in his way was the mother, another night at the cabin would be enough time Duke thought around the pheromones before he could confront Kyle's feelings, and that would happen soon. Yes, it would be enough; all that was left was his mother...
Duke watched the game for a brief moment, "Oh yeah..." he groaned, eyeing Finn, "That too." That's when he heard it over the loud speakers.
"Would Duke Grey please report to the Snack Shack and speak to Mr Wilson following these announcements." They went on to talk about raffles. Duke sighed, laughing a little under his breath; things were just getting more and more interesting.
He stood up and walked down and out of the bleachers, Kyle met his eyes on the way down, his face questioning what was happening. Duke shot him a reassuring smile, "I'll be right back!" he called over the audience, "Want anything?" Kyle looked relieved but shook his head 'no' and went back to the game.
Duke had to hand it to the doctor, he was a mess, but he had balls; not many would even consider crossing Duke again, let alone issuing a challenge. "Maybe I underestimated him."
He saw the man a mile away, he was the only one dressed up for such an occasion, his shirt and tie untarnished under his jacket, his limited hair combed back. From here Duke could see him shivering more with fear than anything else. It was pathetic, but still, ballsy earned him SOME credibility.
"Hello doc, what's up?" Duke asked casually, staring the man down, eye contact in itself was intimidating. The man already seemed next to broken as he sat there, almost unable to speak. It was fun sure, in its own twisted way, but something was off, Duke just couldn't place it.
"Duke," he offered, a bit simply, as if the boy wasn't summoned at all. The taller boy almost asked what was wrong but the Wilson went on. "It has come to my attention that you uhh..." he could barely process his words, barely able to make his lips work around them; mould them into anything more than repeats and sounds.
"Could you get on with this Sir?" he asked, a mocking tone to the formality of the word 'sir' "I'm not in the mood for much more disappointment today and your nothing but."
A larger hand caught Duke's shoulder, making him turn; it was weird being around so many people he didn't hear an approach. The hand belonged to a burly black police officer, his voice deep and unwavering. "Duke Grey, you are under arrest for the kidnapping, and torture of Scott Parker."
~~~~
Kyle looked around, it was halftime. Duke had left in the first quarter, there was no way a little thing with Wilson would last that long. The thought of Duke having to deal with such an infuriating man pissed Kyle off, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He shook his head, that wasn't true, he could go find them...act for once and not just observe, partake in the world and not just see it bit by bit.
Gently as one handles a baby and just as painfully as said baby's birth, Kyle eased his shoulder form Alice. She looked up at him with a smile on her face, "Alice, I uhh..."
"I'm having a great time," she stated form out of the blue, "I really hope you are too."
Kyle blushed, "I am, believe me, but I really need to go see what happened to Duke, he uhh..." he filtered through excuses, "He's my ride home and all that."
Alice nodded, releasing his arm, "Okay, I get it, just come back soon okay? Keep me warm?"
Kyle smiled at how easy it was to explain things to her, "Of course," he said simply, standing and walking away quickly so he could return faster. His mind was on Duke for some reason, he had Alice Stone in his ARMS, and his mind still fluttered back to Duke. "Stupid ass, making me worry..." he mumbled, following the crowd out of the bleachers to the Snack Shack.
An arm caught his, dragging him to the side of the mass of people, and consequentially out of line. "Hey!" he bellowed half-heartedly, his heart actually in his stomach as he anticipated a beating from Finn.
"How's it going?" Quinn asked, eyeing him with big questioning eyes, curiosity practically dripping from them.
"Fine I think, Jesus you scared me," Kyle admitted, taking a theatrical breath.
"Then why did you leave her side?" Quinn shot, "She was practically in your lap!" Quinn remembered Duke's promise all too well, of stealing Kyle away, but if he got with Alice, her saviour would be just as happy, and in the end that's what mattered.
"I'm going to find out what happened to Duke and I'll be right back yah crazy." She stared back at him intensely, "What?"
Quinn stuttered, "N-Nothing...look just don't fuck it up you know?" And with that his oldest friend embraced him and clung tight, "Knock 'em dead Casanova."
Kyle thanked her again before returning to the mass of people, he never did like crowds. Even as a kid before his dad died he was never a fan of them. Too much was happening that he didn't know about for him to feel comfortable. His head was hurting again also, now more than ever, it felt like every step he took was echoing infinity inside his brain, making molten chimes smash together behind his eyes.
What was going on? He felt dizzy as he spun away from the people, claustrophobic maybe? A panic attack? He didn't have a history or even a clue of what one would feel like but...but...
An arm lifted him up allowing him to stand up, "Thanks..." he said half-heartedly, trying to walk again, trying to even breathe, the arms caught him again but did not swinging him to face the culprit. "I said thanks dude," Kyle added irritated, he just needed to get to Duke...
"I hope this hurts," A voice breathed in his ear, making Kyle turn to face the assistant.
Kyle flinched back on instinct as the boy smiled at him in a sadistic fashion. Was he one of Finn's boys? "Wha..."
Then pain. Pain that eclipsed his headache. Pain on a scale Scott could not ever hope to reach. And noise, so much noise. Two loud bangs cracked into the night then people screaming as Kyle spiralled to the ground, his back an inferno of agony. He didn't need to see the bullets to realize he had been shot, twice no less. But then again, he didn't need see much else for very long, his vision slipped and fell into peaceful unconsciousness.
~~~~
"I told you for the hundredth time about a minute ago," Duke repeated impatiently to the officer, "I didn't, nor do I even have the means to kidnap anyone, where is your proof!?" The boy sat behind bars in a holding cell, two officers who didn't appear to care less, and one officer who had literally drawn the short straw sat beyond the bars, the latter of the three asking questions that a kindergartener could have made up.
The questioning one sighed. "Look, it's been a long day, and I really just want to go home to see my wife, could you just admit you did it and make this easier? Denial is pointless, we have DNA evidence you were all over Mr Parker, we have it in our records you own a large truck, and according to your school councillor you're prone to violence and rash actions, and you are also friends with Mr Parkers son..."
"Step son," Duke spat.
"So can I count that as pleading guilty?" The officer asked, obviously not expecting much but seeing it as worth the try.
"No, just...look, I don't know where you got all this information," He really didn't, all of that information was on record in multiple cities over the country, never all in one place, hell, he wasn't even in the records as one with prints thanks to the transformation altering his birth ones. Thinking back on it, Duke was always careful around Scott too, never approaching him as a human. "But this is illegal, I'm not a minor but I know my rights, you can't keep me here without a reason, and I have yet to see proof of an actual case. AND you idiots owe me a phone call if you do have all this so-called evidence." It wasn't said with anger, more of a cold disinterest that made him seem bored with the fact that he was in a cell at the police station.
Something was very wrong with all of this, very very wrong. Wilson should not have been that gutsy, the police shouldn't have taken the account of a drunk seriously, nor should they have found any proof he was anything to do with Scott. He didn't screw up, it was a meticulous process he underwent, especially with all those damn tools and chemicals in the gym bag; The FBI couldn't have found anything, never mind a small town police force...
And all this on the night of the game. Duke didn't believe in coincidence, but what could it all add up too? All he knew was that it wasn't good, this was planned, and for some reason, despite all his fights, Anthony didn't seem the type, who else did that leave?
The police scanner went off again, this time with actual reports and not just personal messages to other officers, "We have a shooting at the Sweeton High football game, no more than the initial shots have been fired. All officers in the area please respond immediately, paramedics are already dispatched over."
Duke's eyes flashed, his hands clung to the bars, hanging on the radio's words. No fucking way...this was NOT a coincidence.
"Unit 313 on the way over," One of the other officers called in, leaving with his partner at a jogtrot, the radio full of responses one by one.
"Let me out..." Duke breathed to the other officer, his mind in a panic. Kyle, Kyle had something to do with this. Duke knew it; he felt his heart skipping beats, his hands shaking. Humans were so fragile... "Let me out..."
The officer looked at him, "Do I hear a plead for guilty?"
Duke glared at him, "That won't get me out either."
"Exactly, so sit tight." The officer laughed, "It's gunna be a long night."
Duke reached through the bars and grasped the man's neck, staring into his eyes, his mind pushing into Officer Arnold Hanks. "Open The Fucking Cell!"
Officer Hanks saw his body obeying even though his head was all over the place. He didn't want to, but he did. He wanted to fight, but he couldn't. He was terrified. As the cell became unlocked Duke pushed it open and dropped Hanks to the floor, "I truly am sorry about that. Now sleep," he instructed, staring deeper into the other man's eyes. Hanks wasn't awake four more seconds.