Pierre had gotten there early. It always seemed darker in Halloweentown. Was it perpetually evening here? Or night? What the fuck. He didnāt know. All he knew was the area where Hypno and Declanās locker was. But he wasnāt ready to go in there alone. The guy was a mind-fucker at the very least. He needed the backup, so he wasnāt going to step a foot inside until Seven came.
He had his mane tied back. That was one of the few things that he knew to do before getting into a fight since some fuckers would resort to hair pulling like some kind girl. And he had seen Declanās arms in two of the photos that he had posted on his social media. This guy was pretty built. Maybe not the kind of built that lifting weights gets you but the kind that comes from hard work. Plenty of it. He was more than a bit intimidated Ā but then he remembered what he had seen when he had lifted his sisterās shirt. The cuts. The bruises. The way that Esmeralda had gently closed her daughterās bedroom door after washing her, put her hand to her mouth and sobbed in horror.
He was going to get some answers, no matter how many loops it took.
He texted Lena once he saw Seven to let her know that he was on his way to the locker area before classes began. There was a small window of time, but he could still use it to his advantage. Following the signs, heād see him. Declan Ratcliffe. Shoving off a beanie to reveal messy, dark hair, shoving it into his locker. Running his gloved hand against a tiny bit of stubble that he had on his face. Everything about him was covered. Sweater. Jeans. A hint of a bruise or maybe it was a hickey or something on his neck. Pierre had never concentrated so hard on someone before. Never tried to take in as many details. He was looking for any mark which might have meant that his sister had tried to defend herself. No scratches. Nothing other than that tiny little thing on his neck, creeping up from under his shirt.
āThis is the moment weāll go back to if anything goes wrong,ā Heād say to Seven.
And then heād start to move forward. Heād see Lena talking to a cute little blonde thing. For once, he didnāt allow himself to get distracted by physical beauty. He watched as Declan pulled a beaten up textbook out of the locker, and then, right before Pierre would get there, heād remove his gloves, and tossed them in too. His hands were immaculate, jesus fuck. Like watch commercial hands. Like theyāve never washed a dish in his goddamn life. They looked more like rich people hands than even Pierreās did.
āYe done staring at me?ā A voice broke him out of looking at those hands. Pierre stopped, realizing that he had almost walked right into the fucker. Declan was barely taller, maybe an inch or two, but not much. But he had the arms that Pierre didnāt. But Pierre - he felt like he had the anger.
Heād reverse. Go back to the second that he said wrong. āDamn distracting hands,ā Heād mutter, having brought Seven with him into the loop, and then heād move forward again, brushing past the two girls, right up to Declan. The boy was just throwing his gloves into the locker when Pierre got there. āWho the fuck are you?ā Pierre asked, his anger getting the better of him. As Declan slowly turned his head to get a glimpse of who it was that was yelling at him, hand on his locker, reading what was all going to be happening, Pierre got impatient. āWhat the fuck are you?ā
āYou should know,ā Declan said, nice and slow. āYouāre at my fuckinā locker. What you want?ā
Pierreās dark eyes looked right into Declanās hazel ones. There was nothing there. No guilt. No amusement. Only - only the slightest bit of recognition. But that could have been for many reasons. Pierre knew he and his family were well known. And there was Seven, who had just been at the trailer park, talking to this guy. He was expecting something. āI want to know what you did to my sister.ā
Blank look. āDidnāt find her yet?ā Heād ask, more so to Seven. āThatās a shame.ā
āNo, we found her,ā Pierre said. That part was at least true. But he was going to bluff to try to get some kind of admission in front of all of these people. āAnd she said your fucking name.ā
But alas, no reaction. Declan had seen this the moment he had taken his gloves off and touched his locker. He kept his hand on it still, as if he was adding to what could be seen. āThatās interesting considering weāve never been introduced.ā
Which wasnāt a lie. They hadnāt been. He never said his name. If anyone did, it was Bastien. Or maybe Taryn, but he didnāt think that gal was the sort to go ratting on him. Not when he had the fact that they had stolen dope from Beastās castle.
The bell rang. They were out of time. āFuck,ā Pierre said, going back to the moment he had said āwrongā again. Declan taking off his gloves. Putting them into the locker. Hand on the side of it. Touching it. This time Pierre just went right in for the punch - only to find that he had a hand around his wrist as Declan stopped him from doing it while that fist was just a couple of inches away from his face. Heād force it down then give Pierre a shove. Which totally blew Pierre away because how the fuck did he know? How did he know thatās what he was going to do? Back again.
āWrong,ā Would be out of his mouth before he could stop himself. This time he approached and tried to tug down on the hood of the sweater so heād be able to see the mark on Declanās neck, see if it was some sort of defensive wound. Something that he could use as proof. But before he could so much as get a hand on it, Declan had put his hood up, something that he hadnāt done in the past three times Pierre approached.
Back again. ā-goes wrong.ā Gloves off. Into the locker. Approach again. This time - āWhat the fuck did you do to my sister?ā
He was expecting the same question back that he had said before. The whole ādidnāt find her yetā but thatās not what he got back.He had a better follow up question to his reply.
āSorry bub, canāt help ya. Donāt know her.ā And then the locker door closed and Declan walked away, leaving Pierre confused. He turned to face Seven, that confusion all over his face.
āSomethingās not right,ā He said. āHeās not supposed to say anything different. And he wasnāt supposed to put his hood up the last time.ā