half/closer

half / 3

*trigger warning*

.........

"Oh c'mon, don't be such a clamjam!" Khloe teased loudly, causing Xander and Alec to holler along with the heavy metal music. I cringed when Xander banged his Mohawk head like a lunatic as he clenched his fist up, singing along with the incoherent lyrics.

Listening to them made my head spin.

"Why am I here with all of you, crazy?!" I tried to pull out the aux cord but Khloe stopped me by restraining my arms and she was giving me a warning glare through the front side mirror of Alec's truck. She broke contact once her boy toy ushered her closer to his body and kissed her on the cheek.

I rolled my eyes, irritated. I heard them laughing at the back of the car while Alec sang so loudly and out of tune.  He better keeps his eyes on the road or else our plan would backfire.

Getting tired of their animalistic behavior, I pulled out the cord, immediately killing the music and their wild antics.  "That freak might wake up if you guys don't stop this!"

All of them chuckled.

"Calm down, princess. We're just trying to blend in so that no one would suspect that we kidnapped a potato and put it on the back of the truck," Alec said, giving me a side glance.

"That potato is still dead, yow!" Xander sneered, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. "We knocked him down with a strong one."

I huffed from the front seat. "He better be punished.  No one can get away from hurting my friends."

"You're not supposed to be the one who gets to punish him. I'm sure Tiana wants to kill him," Khloe commented and I looked at her through the mirror. She had this bored look on her face as she added, "But before that, we're going to play with him."

They all screamed in anticipation and then played back the music. Actually, I didn't know what the plan was. I sought help from Khloe and she was willing to give me a hand. There was a word 'brutal' along my sentences and Khloe understood immediately that this was a serious revenge plan.

And in order to do that 'brutal' plan, she needed help from her bimbo squad, including Alec and Xander. So this was pretty much a gang activity... an illegal activity.

My parent would surely going to love this, note the sarcasm.

After Khloe pointed out where to go, we parked near an abandoned train ways.  The terrain was verdant and I could smell the rust of the railway, giving me crawl on my skin. Nobody would ever know that we were going to do something unimaginable in here because the place was very secluded and covered with large and thick trees.

For the love of god, how Khloe managed to discover this shitty place?

It truly gave me a new perspective of her. She was truly skeptic, no doubt about that. There was a rumor that her Mom was a part of a mafia before and Khloe's biological father was the mafia boss, whose also Quinn's father.  However, due to Quinn's mother reputation, the rumor vanished like a thin air. I wondered if the rumors are really true or not.

I jumped when Khloe stepped out of the car and the guys followed after her while Tiana's and James' car halted behind us. Soon, I hopped out and I got to see Khloe's devil smirk as she gazed at me. I nervously smiled back and cleared my throat.

I made out with a mafia princess. My life is gonna be brutal. I didn't sign for this!

"Ry!"

I jumped thrice that day, hearing Tiana calling my name.  Dammit! Hilary! Calm down!

"Where is he?!" Tiana's red headed shifted to random direction as she searched for her victim with Zoey and Allison behind her. Tiana clearly wasn't informed that the boys lured Timothy at the old parking lot of our school and whacked him down with a med, a strong one as Xander mentioned earlier. She only had been told to wait on the other side of the lot and to follow us until here.

"Calm down your t**s. I can see them fuming for revenge." Khloe chuckled while taking out her duffel bag and a full garbage bag out of the track.

She gestured her head to the back of the pickup truck and the boys pulled up the roll-up cover, revealing the unconscious bastard. He had a duct tape on his mouth, around his wrist and feet. Knock out!

Tiana gritted her teeth. Her green eyes were dark and in fury I couldn't tell if she was still sane. Probably not, because as soon as the boys got Timothy out, she tackled forward but one of the bimbo squad stopped her. I think her name was Maggie.

"We're not going to interrupt my master plan," Khloe said, giving the garbage bag to Alec. James and Xander dragged the unconscious Timothy with them.

"What are we supposed to do?" Zoey asked making me gulped tensely. "And what's inside the trash bag?"

Khloe brushed off her question. "Follow me," she only answered as she walked off.

I tugged the huffing Tiana with me and trailed behind the notorious brunette. I noticed that her squad already knew what she was planning to that poor guy. Hopefully, not life-threatening.

Once we reached the farthest point of the railway, near the tunnel, Khloe dropped the duffle bag on the ground. The sunlight was breaking through the edge of the bridge, indicating that the day was almost done. Her squad started to set up while Timothy was bounded on the trunk of a tree.

"Alec, can you distribute the content of the bag?" Khloe directed, earning clueless looks from us. Alec frowned as he peaked inside the garbage bag before he took out a black fabric. One by one, he tossed them to us which likely a robe or something before he revealed a creepy rabbit mask.

"I heard you love rabbits," Khloe said, smirking at Tiana. "As a symbol of your revenge, we're going to wear those masks."

Allison chuckled while Tiana's eyes glowed in excitement.

"This ritual prank is sick!" James proudly yelled as he tapped his palm flat on Timothy's cheek.

"Ritual?" I asked as Alec handed me the scary mask. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to be a little brutal. That's what we are going to do." Khloe shrugged her shoulder and covered her head with the mask.

"Better get this done!" Tiana who already wore her disguise, muttered. Her tone obviously showed how eager she was at the moment.

I approached Khloe and whisper-yelled, "Are you sure about this?"

Her rabbit mask tilted slightly to acknowledge me. "You asked for my help.  You won't have any regrets, honey."

Everybody dressed up in their own black ritual robe, covering all the traces of their own identity. The sun hid to its home while the night followed, giving contrast to the bonfire that Alec had lit. The sound of the blazing fire and the whisper of the cold air gave me crawls in my skin under the thick robe. If I were Timothy, I'm gonna pissed myself as soon as I wake up. We were like a clad of devil worshipper, condemning an innocent human.

Although Timothy deserved this, I felt a sting of sympathy in my heart.

But we have to do this... for Bailey.

From the duffle bag, Khloe fished out an ancient book. I watched her walked towards the center of the circle and nodded at us. I bet she was wearing an impish smile beneath the mask. I gulped, looked at everybody and I felt someone tugged my hand. Alec held my hand and I did nothing to reciprocate. I was too nervous to react at all.

"Relax, princess. This is just a prank," Alec said close to my ears.

I nudged his sides and he playfully scoffed, stepping away from me. I diverted my attention to the brunette who tugged Xander beside her spot while James leveled down, facing our victim.

"Hear me, dark bunnies, repeat my words after my cue, alright!" Khloe pointed out and Tiana giggled at that. "And remember, don't let yourself be exposed to this shitty-excuse of an XY chromosome. James, wake him up, will you?"

The brunette tossed him a bottle of water. The tall guy caught it easily and squeezed the cover. He shook his head and clicked his tongue in pity as he poured water on Timothy's head. That instantly woke him up— his loud groan filled the place, sending echoes around.

The poor guy was confused, blinking his eyes a few times before he squinted them at us. The drug was giving him a hard time to understand the situation. Everybody watched him silently but I knew that Tiana was already seething because when my eyes drew to her, she was clenching her fist so hard.

"W-what the f uck!!" Timothy hissed, panic started to block his face. "Who t-the hell—"

"We're here to celebrate the mass of the lord," Khloe cut him off and she walked back and forth, confidence booming in each of her turn. "And in order to do that," She turned to us and I saw her mask was smirking deviously or I was just imagining it. "We have to sacrifice a body."

"And we chose you," James added as he stood together with us. "Are we ready for the ritual?"

"The f uck! Is this some s**t joke?!" Timothy still had an energy to yell at us but he was failing to free himself from the tight grip of the rope around his torso. "What do you want from me?!"

"Repeat after me, my bunnies," Khloe gave her cue, opening her ancient book with one hand while spreading her other arm upfront like she had psychic powers or something. "Oh lord of c**k, we gathered here to witness the mass of your glory and fulfill our duty as your children whose only goal is to give you a bloody sacrifice. A sacrifice that you will harness in the depths of darkness."

We repeated her words and I heard Alec laughed lowly but covered it with a cough. I was biting my lips to restrain myself from laughing because this prank was actually funny, indeed. But on the other side, I could see Timothy's face drowning in white flour, pale and in horror. He must really out of it because of the drugs. I didn't know if he was really witnessing the reality or he was hallucinating, given that it was a strong one.

"But first, we have to cleanse his soul," Khloe continued and we repeated after her. "Confess!!" she shouted and we screamed after her.

"Confess!! Confess!! Confess!!" we chanted loudly until Khloe held her arm up and we immediately shut up.

Timothy was looking at us with his scared eyes, shaking his head. "No....No! I didn't— I didn't do anything."

Everybody bounced when a loud thud scraped our ears. Khloe threw the book on the ground violently and she breathed out like a lunatic and immediately revealed a gun, pointing it to the terrified drench boy. "I swear if you don't confess your sin, I will shoot you with this paint gun!!!"

F uck! I thought it was real! My heart calmed down as soon as it flustered out of fear when the brunette pulled the heavy toy out. Well, almost everybody freaked out, even Alec beside me who swiftly held my arm for dear life. Who's the f ucking princess here? And damn Khloe! I wanted to strangle her to death for almost giving me a heart attack.

However, even though it was not a deadly gun, Timothy was pissing himself. Yeah, he was surely hallucinating. This was way out of line already but in the first place, that bastard did something terrible to my friend. We could bring him to the police because we had a witness but we wanted different things. We wanted to make him suffer using our own hands no matter how immature it is. Hell yes, it was immature but it was worth it. 

Nobody mess with my best friends....

"Confess!!!!" Khloe yelled, stepped backward and shot him on his leg. The sound of the gun horrified Timothy and he looked down to stare at himself with wide eyes as the red paint spluttered on him.  He was wailing and giving violent moves under his own confinement.

"This is odd," James commented out of nowhere. We all shoot our heads to look at him except for Khloe.

"I agree," Khloe prompted as she stared down at our victim. "We gave him a strong one but the effect is not to this extent. He might under—"

"Confess!!!" Tiana interrupted as she stepped forward.  "I don't give s**t what might happen to him."

"What are you saying? This is just a prank," I reasoned against her illogical judgment.  I gripped her arms, glared at her although she couldn't see me under the mask and whispered, "We're not here to murder him."

One of Khloe's squad, Maggie, chuckled at us. "You're taking this seriously, dolls."

"This is not a joke!!" Tiana was fuming, pointing her finger to Timothy. "Was he joking when she hurt my girl?!!"

"Stop!" I said, tugging her beside me and pulled her out of Timothy's earshot. "I know you're mad and wants him to pay for what he did to Bailey but it's not our job. We're just giving him a little bit of torture. Let Khloe do the rest and please, don't give out anything about you or any of us. This is practically illegal!"

"Illegal my ass, I want to choke him to death. That's illegal," Tiana spat out bitterly before she sighed. "Okay, fine. At least, let me punch him on the face."

"That will do but you probably want to kill him right now," Khloe's voice suddenly interrupted and we turned to her curiously. "Let him go!"

James snickered and do as she said. "He needs to confess. That's our ritual's purpose," Maggie reminded her captain.

Alec and Xander dragged the weak and teary-eyed Timothy. They were holding him down as he kneeled in front of us. James made sure to hold his head down so he wouldn't be able to see us.

The brunette took off her mask and Tiana did the same. Then my eyes bulged out when Khloe handed the gun to Tiana.

"Once he confess, you can shoot his head." Khloe looked deadly at her eyes. "No distance and space, just pure painted fire."

"Are you saying you're letting my friend to kill him?" Zoey intervened, as she stood forward between Tiana and Khloe, her mask was thrown on the ground.

There was a moment of silence after that question. Zoey was fuming I could tell. Khloe was still reserved and collected until she laughed out loud, confusing us more. Her squad followed her laughter while the rest of us was in confusion.

"Maggie, you're right. They're so serious about this," she commented. Maggie shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly as a response.

"What are you talking about? You're clearly letting Tiana to kill him and you're saying that we're serious about this?" Allison shouted behind me and she was right. Who was truly serious here?

"Do you really think Tiana is capable of doing that?" Khloe asked and we diverted our attention to Tiana nervously.

My friend was staring down at the gun on her hands before she handed it back to Khloe. "No, I'm not that low."

"Suit yourself."

Almost everyone felt relieved at her decision. I couldn't believe I doubt Tiana on that. She had an innocent soul inside her.

"So what now?" Zoey asked, gesturing her hand to Timothy.

"Confess!" Maggie called out and Timothy snapped his head up. His brown eyes were wide like a lunatic. We proceed to wear our mask back into our heads just for precaution.

"Confess!" Allison repeated and we all chanted the word desperately.

Timothy was shaking his head violently. "No, I didn't do anything!"

"Shoot!" Khloe aimed at his head but I kept my cool, although inside I was freaking out with the behavior of this girl.

"No!!! N-No!!! I- I will c-confess! Don't kill me!!" Timothy cried out and Khloe pulled her gun up, shutting us.

A silence fell again as we waited against our victim's ragged breath.

"I-I am f-f*cking my little sister. It's always good! Damn, it always feel so good! And she love it!" Timothy burst out, a creepy smile on his face.

I gulped at the revelation and I could feel all the tension in the air. No! There was more. I could feel the rage of our red maiden beside me. I was certain that she regretted the opportunity to shoot this asshole so badly.

Khloe suddenly slapped the filthy bastard. Hard before she aimed again. I clenched my jaw and my fist at the sound resonating of that attack.

"Confess!!" Khloe shouted.

Timothy laughed, jerking his head up. His eyes weren't clear and in a far distance. "ThereThere was this girl in my school. Her hair is smooth. Her lips... dammit! Her lips are so soft. S-She's so fragile under my hands and I wanted to violate that weakness. I did... I've done it! Sh-She was so deep and... And she was so warm. Do you know her?" He asked and looked at Tiana, although he didn't recognize my friend under the mask. "Do you?" He asked James this time with a demented smile. "Her name is Bai–"

"Don't even say her name!!! I'll f*****g kill you!!" Tiana cried out in anger as she pinned Timothy down and punched his face repeatedly. "I'm going to kill you!!!"

I was going to run to her but Khloe interrupted us.

"Let her be!" Khloe said, while the boys were just near to support Tiana if ever Timothy retaliate back at her.

We tensely watched my friend take her anger out. Although Timothy was saying he have already done it with Bailey, we didn't believe him. Bailey took a medical test after she told the truth to us. However, his confession disgusted me more. It meant he violated my friend in his mind repeatedly. Tiana realized that and it angered her more than ever.

I lost counted on how many punch she threw at the sinful bastard. I cringed when I saw blood on her fist and she was crying in madness. I averted my eyes and just stared at Khloe who took her mask off to get a better view. Timothy was already out of focus anyway.

Her cold brown eyes were not familiar anymore. Well, she was not familiar for me since from the start. She was my attention seeker yet she was my mystery. I couldn't figure her out. All I knew is, she liked to play into the labyrinth of fire. She always needed to take risk no matter how drastic it is.... against rending lost and for fruitful victory. And I admired her for that. And that admiration got stronger once she took out the gun and aimed it without any hesitation. A playful threat and a dangerous warning.

She moved without care of judgment. She acted like an air sweeping in all direction. She spoke like a queen to her own kingdom. Yet she looked like a damn mess but she was holding all the chaos in the palm of her hands... So unpredictable which made her more engaging in my eyes. She was a personification of my sister referred to. So unstoppable...

Khloe Summer was a bundle of zone– a zone without gravity.

........