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Justice

2021 Halloween Horror Series: A teen, a hoodie, a bully. That about sums it up -- yea right.

By Nathan CharlesPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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HIS NAME WAS JUSTICE — WHAT A FUCKING STUPID NAME. He hated it! What were his parents thinking? Some hippy-dippy liberals high on weed and other drugs at his conception — and his birth, no doubt. Now, they were strict as a military barracks! Don’t wear eyeliner. Boys don’t wear eyeliner. No hanging out with friends on a school night. No eating in bed. Wipe off the toilet seat if you piss on it and for God’s sake put the toilet seat down! And don’t forget your hoodie!

The one that Justice was yanking out of his bookbag now. He needed the hoodie. It was the only thing that protected him — and everyone else. It was black and smelled like his hair after it hasn’t been washed for a few days. What could he say, he was a teenage boy. There were far more important things to do with his time than showering. He zipped the hoodie up, hood over his head, and walked towards the bus stop.

What his parents didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt them.

The bus ride was normal. The cool kids sat in the back. It was a hierarchy of popularity. The most popular in the seat furthest in the back and then it filtered up and up, to the nerds in the front seats that sat behind the bus driver. They actually held conversations with the driver. Justice sat somewhere in the middle. Neither nerd or popular, he could be invisible. That’s what he preferred.

Luckily the person who was born on this earth to give him a hard time didn’t ride the same bus as him — but Paul was waiting at school for him, leaning on his locker. “Not today Paul.” Justice groaned.

Paul was flocked by his cronies, Jet and Darrell. <What kind of name was Jet?> Justice often wondered. Unfortunately, in Justice’s world, Jet was a far cooler name than Justice.

“Awwww, little Justy isn’t in the mood!” Paul mocked.

“Seriously bro!” Justice snapped. He shoved Jet aside so that he could get to his locker and started inputting the combination. For the most part Paul and his circle jerks were pretty harmless. Justice had seen other boys pummeled by their bullies. Paul had never put a finger on him other than a shove here or a good body check in gym class.

Paul aggressively pressed Justice into his locker, “Unfortunately you don’t get to chose dweeb!”

Justice’s face was pressed against his closed locker. Some other students had started to gather around, drawn towards the bug-light of the potential of a fight. Justice snickered, “That’s all you could come up with? Dweeb?”

“I’d use other words,” Paul whispered in his ear, his hands pressing harder on Justice’s back, “But there are children around.”

Justice just openly laughed. “Lame.”

“Who’s got who pressed up against the locker?” Jet said.

“Yeah!” Darrell chimed in.

“You know what?” Paul hissed, “Give me that hoodie!”

“No!” Justice felt a rush of fear run through him. His hoodie was his teenage armor. It was his comfort! It protected him — and everyone around him.

Jet and Darrell helped Paul force Justice around, shoving his back hard against the locker. This was the first time that Paul and his left and right testicles actually hurt him. Justice felt just the slightest pang of fear. The crowd around them was growing and Justice knew that the more people close by the more that could get hurt! “No!” He shouted. Jet and Darrell had his shoulders pressed down, his arms under their control. “Paul! Don’t! You don’t understand!” Justice pleaded.

“What are you whining about?”

“You don’t wanna do this!” Justice cried as Paul began unzipping his hooide. He yanked the hood from over Justice’s head.

“What’re you gonna do about it!?”

“Paul please!” Justice began struggling against them as Paul shimmied one of his shoulders out of his hooide.

The crowd around them began chanting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“I don’t want anyone to get hurt!” Justice pleaded. “Please!”

Paul stripped Justice of the hoodie. Justice stood there feeling naked. Anger and fear boiled up inside of him. “Yo, what’s happening to you?” Jet asked, pointing. Justice could feel his body going hot. It always started in his chest.

“Dude! He’s glowing blue!” Darrell shouted.

Everyone sort of started to step back. Justice’s whole face was blue and luminous! Paul was confused, “Yo, bro, you okay?” It didn’t stop him from putting on Justice’s hoodie.

“R — run.” Justice said.

Paul just looked at him confused as Justice let go. Blue energy, hotter than the surface of the sun, expanded forward like the blast of a bomb. Everything within a few foot radius of Justice burned to nearly nothing. He watched Paul’s being float away as black ash! The on-lookers, the lockers, the tiles under his feet, Jet and Darrell — everything burned.

Except Justice’s black hoodie. He snatched it from the ground, now that he was actually naked, he at least could us it to feel half-decent. He zipped it up and put his hood up. Hopefully he hadn’t burned the gym and he could grab his gym shorts. He could hear the sirens in the distance. Headlines would spit that there was a tragedy at the school. A gas line.

He just figured it was an unfortunate justice.

Horror
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About the Creator

Nathan Charles

Enjoy writing sci fi, fantasy, lgbtq fiction, poetry, and memoirs!

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