Noel makes his way to
the needed house as quietly as only he can. Smoothly climbing through a high concrete fence, he grabs the branch of the nearest tree and lands directly on the backyard lawn, remembering somewhere on this side he had to turn off the home alarm. He takes a few cautious steps before noticing a doghouse to his left. Noel feels the phantom ache flooding over his wrist, and all he can think about is that he should be a complete idiot not to expect the dog to be on the territory. He returns to the tree, climbing to a safe height again, and peers more closely.
The dog’s found out not far from his house, peacefully asleep and, as it seems, even snoring. That’s a large English mastiff, and judging by the fact that he does not pay attention to a stranger in his yard, pretty aged. Noel’s confused whether he should continue what he started, or stop it and climb back. Suddenly, the dog yawns especially sweetly, opening his sleepy eyes, and notices him. Mastiff lifts his muzzle a bit and watches him concernedly. Noel notices the way he begins swinging his tail playfully, and decides to return. The dog makes no sound all the way out.
Jack’s of course waiting for him where they agreed. He smiles predatory, noticing him, and gracefully climbs onto his scrambler, taking the helmet in his hands. He never uses them on; it’s for Noel.
“Alright, kid?” he smirks before he notes the expression of Noel’s face. “What?”
“’s a dog in there,” the teen replies, looking down at the floor, quite ashamed. “I couldn’t continue.”
“Care to explain yourself?” he hisses, disappointingly lowering the corners of his lips. “Did you have a balisong with you?”
“He didn’t attack, but he could start barking and get too much attention…”
Jack decides to ignore that, only puts his hands on Noel’s shoulders, slightly nudging him.
“It’s too late to become a good guy, you know,” he exhales into younger’s face. “Don’t you really think getting rid of a freaking dog for a bigger purpose is worse than beating up all that pretty faces just for fun? Somebody should reconsider his priorities then, kid.”
Jack runs cold fingers over Noel’s cheek, caressing the old bite scars. Words, so unpleasantly unexpected, rocked him, causing a storm breaking from the inside. The teen trails off and shrugs carelessly, taking a couple of steps away.
x
He’s only a boy, seven or eight, and he’s driving home on his bike from father’s smallholding along the usual route through some narrow streets where it’s hardly possible to meet someone in the middle of the day.
A huge dog appears in front of him just out from nowhere, and Noel, struggling to turn the bike to the side so as not to hurt him and unable to maintain balance, crashes into a high iron fence at almost full speed. He’s thrown onto the road by the kickback, and has no time to properly react, painfully twisting his right hand and banging his face on the asphalt, combing the skin on his cheek and cutting an eyebrow. Bright flashes of pain change one by one, and Noel needs a few more seconds to open his eyes and notice the dog freezing numerous meters away, with a slobbery mouth wide open, loudly growling.
The boy especially slowly rises onto his knees, feeling the blood pouring into one eye, and clutches the injured hand to his chest, restraining himself from all the unnecessary sobs. The dog suddenly becomes absolutely silent, slightly lowering his muzzle, and barely noticeably changes the position of front paws, as if leaning a little harder on them. Of course, Noel understands. He does not turn away from him until the last, without looking into his eyes, just in the direction. The boy exhales quietly, getting ready for a saving run, and yet involuntarily shakes his head a little. Noel does not even need his lateral vision; he can literally feel the beast jumping in his direction.
The single thing that comes to his mind is to snuggle back to the fence. A short moment after Noel barely has time to put an unharmed left hand in front of him, trying to keep the distance between them, the dog bites purposely into it, and he screams at the top of his lungs. He can only fight back with his right injured hand and resist with all the fading strength when the dog with a great force tries to pull him away from the fence. The boy with no result kicks him in the muzzle, his nose and eyes. Finally, he tries to push him away with his feet, but that gives the opposite effect and the dog pulls him away easily, making Noel fall heavily onto his side. The beast especially tightly compresses the jaw before freeing his wrist, and an obvious bone crunch is heard. Noel chokes with tears and saliva, and yet finds the strength to press the clasped hand to his throat, with his elbow to his sub-neck, instinctively throwing himself back. The dog, apparently, changes his mind, and now rises directly above his head, dropping bloody drool. Noel realizes what’s exactly going to happen too late, immediately receiving a tenacious grip right on his face, closer to the cheekbone.
He doesn’t really scream – just wheezes helplessly and hysterically breathes with his entire chest, unpleasantly surprised he’s still conscious. Noel can’t realize at once when the wolf-alike teeth no longer trying to rip him up. The boy turns his head towards the sound of a quiet whining and sees a lanky guy with a brand new baseball bat in his hands, slightly smeared in blood. The dog lies at his feet, with chest heaving severely, continuing to whine in obvious pain. The stranger seeks for an eye contact, and when he gets it, smirks almost warmly, aiming his bat on the dog head again.
Noel wants to hide from this sound; wants to scrub the dog’s saliva off his skin and spit the blood out of his mouth. He would like to turn away, but it doesn’t seem at least physically possible. The guy methodically beats up a lifeless body, delivering more and more merciless blows. His bat is smeared with ruby red, and his shoes, nice white sneakers, are completely ruined. When he finally finishes, the boy’s insanely glad he can’t see better now. Gosh, he hopes so much the dog died after the second hit.
The guy comes up to him, and Noel no longer sees the bat in his hands. He doesn’t smile anymore; just squats nearby, looking somehow worried.
“Alright, kid? Let’s get you to the hospital,” his voice seems soft and truly caring, and his apologetic brown eyes are fixed on the nearly torn part of Noel’s face. He helps him to get up, securely holding the waist, but Noel faints before he’s able to stand on his trembling legs.
Next time he wakes up in, seemingly, a hospital ward. Both of his hands are firmly bandaged, and he can hardly feel his face. That guy’s already sitting next to him in a chair, watching him intently.
“I promised your mother to look after you and, believe me, I’ll do my best,” he smiles with ease.
x
Jack comes closer again and Noel abruptly turns his head to the side.
“We both are total wackos, kid,” he laughs quietly at his own words. He insistently turns the teen’s face, makes him look at himself. Self-satisfied, he observes how fear in the opposite eyes is bashfully hiding behind flashy anger.
“’s no need to push me away,” he whispers, smirking familiarly warmly. “Or maybe you’re tired of my company then?”
Noel feels a nasty lump in his throat but shakes his head ‘no’, disgusting himself.
“Remember, Toby was my best friend,” he touches younger’s scars again. “And I smashed his head to pieces ‘cause of you.”
Noel puffs out noisily, not daring to pull back. The storm ceased and only calm water surface stretched inside. He never knows exactly what ‘Jack’ he’s dealing with – the one who saved his life, or the one who, without unnecessary regrets and with surprising calmness, beat his own dog to death. The teen feels obliged to him, therefore, remains close; he trusts him, therefore, goes for everything he would offer. He hopes he’ll understand someday.
“You’re going there, and you’re to make it perfect this time, eh?” the voice sounds muffled as he speaks quickly, on an exhale. “Alright, kid?”
Jack claps his hands, causing him to flinch at the harsh sound. Not out of fear, just reflexes, though.
Noel nods.
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