Beast Soul

Meanwhile at Arlingrad High School.

A group of boys were hanging out in front of the school gate, laughing loudly as they stared at the attractive girls who were walking by them with a creepy smile on their faces.

"Whoo! Look at all that cake! Damn girl!" A kid who looked like he was in his mid twenties said with a sneer as a girl passed by them,

and the boys all laughed out loud.

"What did you say?" The girl turned around, angry at the insensitive comments made about her body, but the boys clearly didn't look like they cared about it. 

"What's up cutie?" The boy who spoke earlier said with a creepy smile, revealing his sharp teeth that were like fangs. His gaze was similar to that of a predator hunting its prey. The boy whipped his long hair sideways and then took out a hair rubber band from his pocket as he continued staring down and up at the girl's body and gritted his teeth. This boy certainly didn't seem like he was bothered by the girl's words. 

"Are you talking to me?" The boy said while sporting an ugly smile, and the girl felt goosebumps on her hand. Her eyes widened with fear as she took a step back. 

Tap!

But right when she stepped backwards, the boy raised his feet and took a step forward in response. "Now, what on earth could a pretty girl like you want with a guy like me?"

The girl began to tremble as she tried opening her mouth to speak, but to her horror, found out that the words weren't coming out of her throat. 

Desperate, she turned to find any teachers or facilities who were standing near the gate, but found none. 

"Oh? Are you looking for teachers?" One of the boys that were standing next to the parking lot, leaning on one of the cars that were parked there, said with a calm expression, and the rest of the boys made gasping noises, mocking the girl's behavior. "Did you come from one of those rich kids' schools? Because in Arlingrad High, you don't have teacher's waiting to close the gate. Isn't that right, boss?" 

"That's right.." The boy who was standing in front of her said with a smile as he chuckled, terrifying the girl. She looked around, trying to ask help from the students who were passing by her, only to find that almost all the students were not even looking at her and the boy, and were simply walking by them with their heads hanging low.

"What? Don't tell me that you expected someone to stand up for you?" The boy laughed maniacally, and the rest of the boys joined in on the laughter along with him, as the girl rubbed her own shoulders with fear.

"You really didn't think someone would actually stand up to me, Joey Adkins, did you?" The boy's expression changed all of a sudden as he leaned down to face the girl, who was so frightened that her legs began trembling. The boy looked at her face with a menacing expression, amplified by the shadows that were on his face. "I'm the King of this school, b*tch!" He whispered softly into her ears, and all of a sudden, tears began to drip down from her eyes and onto her cheeks as he gasped for air.

"Boss!" All of a sudden, one of the boys who were standing next to the parking lot called out to Joey, making him raise his head and yell out loudly, staring at the person who spoke with an evil expression. The boy could tell that his boss was annoyed, so he immediately pointed his finger at the road, and Joey turned around, still carrying an annoyed expression on his face.

But that annoyed expression soon changed as he saw what the boy was pointing at, and in its place, appeared an expression of joy and delight. "Well, well, well… would you look at that?" He said with a sinister smile on his face, licking his lips as he spoke. 

He then moved away from the terrified girl and waved his hands without even looking at her, as though she was not important anymore. The girl, unsure of what to do, turned her gaze at the boys in the parking lot, who shouted at her. "Get out of here, b*tch! Let us see how you run!"

The group of boys gave such an intimidating response that the girl bolted towards the school building without even wasting a single second, even tripping on her feet and falling down onto the ground one time, making the boys laugh even more. "Ha ha ha ha! Look at that b*tch! What a f*cking bimbo!"

"Save your laughter for the main course, boys.." The boss, Joey, said in a soft voice, but even though his voice wasn't loud, the boys immediately shut their mouths in unison as they were ordered. 

"Because today.." Joey stared at the group of young boys who were walking on the sidewalk, heading towards the school with a smile. He continued, "We're going to have a feast!"

"Argh!" All of a sudden, Max gripped his head tightly, and the other boys turned to look at him with anxious expressions on their faces. 

"You okay there, Max?" Gerald asked in a concerned tone, and Max shook his head as he let out another groan. "Urgh.. I- I don't know." He said as he rubbed his forehead. "I keep getting these… these flashes of pain in my head, as though my brain is warning me of something.."

"Like that one time?" Gerald asked as he remembered how they were able to figure out the location of the bat monster. 

"No," Max shook his head. He said, "This felt.. different."

"Oh! Don't tell me that this is like sp*der s*nse?!" Alphonso said with a beaming smile on his face, and the others looked at him with their eyebrows raised up. 

"Oh, yeah, sorry.. Wrong time to get excited!" Alphonso realized his mistake and apologized. His gaze then went to Max once again as he whispered softly. "But if it really is like sp*der s*nse, then that must mean there's a threat somewhere near!"

Max glanced at Alphonso with a puzzling look on his face before slowly turning his head towards the school gate, and all of a sudden, his eyes widened. 

"Joey.." He mumbled under his breath, and the gang turned to look at where Max was staring at, only for their expressions to turn from confusion to horror.

"Sh*t! It's Joey f*cking Adkins!" Harold said with a frustrated voice, and the other members of the group groaned in response. 

"Why the f*ck is he standing at the front of the gate?" Alphonso gritted his teeth as he spoke, and Harold shrugged his shoulders with anger. "Who the f*ck cares why he's there?! The only thing that matters is that he's there right now! What the f*ck are we going to do?"

"Well, we can't return home right now.." Gerald scratched his chin as he spoke. "He's probably already seen us."

"Now, hold on a minute there," Harold said as he patted Gerald on his shoulder and continued, "We can't be sure that he saw us. Maybe he didn't."

"I'm pretty sure he saw us already." Alphonso interrupted their conversation and the two turned around to look at him. Alphonso pointed at the school gate, where they could see the silhouette of Joey waving his hands at them. "Look, he's waving at us."

"Ah, f*ck!" Gerald slammed his hand onto his own face as he cursed.

As the group was bickering amongst themselves, Max had his gaze fixed on the silhouette of Joey Adkins. He was looking at him with cold and emotionless eyes, and his gaze was unwavering.

"Joey Adkins.." Max whispered under his breath. He knew Joey Adkins very well. A bully who ruled Arlingrad High as though he was its king. Beats down anyone who opposed him. And Max and the gang had the most unfortunate luck to have accidentally bumped into him in the cafeteria. And since then, he has made their school life difficult. 

They weren't bullied too much like some of the kids. However, they were given chores to do and homework for him and his followers. And every now and then, they'd get beaten up like sandbags. For no reason.

Max squinted his eyes and scanned Joey from far behind. Since he had become a mutant, his eyesight had already improved a lot, which helped him to 

"I want to try and take him down…" Max's words, although spoken in a hushed tone, caught the attention of the group, who stared at him with a look of surprise.

"Max, what did you just say?" Alphonso asked as he stared at Max with a shocked expression on his face, still not being able to believe the words that came out of his mouth.

Max glanced at the group for a few seconds before turning around and then walking towards the gate, and the others ran after him with expressions of terror.