𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 ✶
The alleyway behind the school was empty except for Leon, the dull glow of a streetlamp casting shadows against the damp brick walls. He had stayed late to work on a group project, but the others had left hours ago, leaving him to finish alone. Now, as he walked home, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.
The sound of laughter echoed behind him. Leon froze. It wasn't the kind of laughter you heard in the hallways or on the soccer field. It was sharp, mocking, and far too close. He turned, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Walking all alone can't be safe pretty boy." Eric called mockingly, that devilsh smile many people saw as charming sent a chill down the boy's back.
Ryan, the ringleader with his perpetual sneer in full effect as be glared at Leon from a disntance. And James, the infamous lapdog who seemed to go along with whatever the other two were doing.
These were the pride and joy of Eastside High School. Popular, sickeningly good looking, likeable, athletic. Everything and anything people would imagine the perfect sons, husbands, boyfriends, friends to be.
But Leon never saw that. Because he only ever witnessed and experienced their cruelty.
Leon's stomach twisted. He'd managed to avoid them for most of the year, but now there was no one else around. "I just want to head home. Is all." He almost whispered trying to keep his voice steady.
Ryan grinned, his teeth catching the light. "Come over here. We just want a little chat, that's all."
Leon's grip tightened on his bag strap. "I don't want any trouble."
"Trouble?" James echoed, stepping closer. "You hear that, Ryan? The kid doesn't want trouble."
"Too bad," Eric said, pursuing closer. "Trouble's what you're getting."
Before Leon could react, Eric lunged, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and slamming him against the wall. The impact knocked the air out of him, and his bag fell to the ground with a thud. The others huddled around him, hyenas on a fresh kill.
"You think you're better than us? Top of the class, center striker on the soccer team and all of sudden you think you're some top dog?" Ryan snarled, his face inches from Leon's. "Huh? Answer me!"
Leon tried to push him away, but James and Eric were on him in an instant, pinning his arms. Panic set in, and he struggled harder, but they were too strong.
"Please, I promise I'll give you anything you want just please don't do this. You guys don't have to beat me up come on." Leon shouted, his voice cracking in desperation in flur of hurry.
"We're gonna do some much more than just hurt you, pretty boy. We're gonna make sure this is the only thing you remember when you set foot here." James said darkly with a chilling grin.
"You guys think this faggot would enjoy it?" Ryan said, in that twisted way of his. A side it seemed only Leon ever saw.
"It doesn't matter if he does or doesn't, let's just do this before someone comes looking for him." Eric said, quickly glancing around.
Leon's heart was already thundering, the thought of being beaten till his gold skin became became black and blue was enough for him to start thrashing violently against the wall.
But when rough hands grabbed hold to his waist and the sound of their belts being unbuckled made Leon's world shatter under him.
Leon couldn't process what happened. His body was tense, his eyes wide and unblinking. He was frozen. Unable to save himself from everything that came next. Everything that came after.
He wanted to scream, to fight, to defend, to protect, to save. But he couldn't do what he wanted to do the most, which was supposed to be the easiest part. Just say stop.
But even if he did, if his choked sobs, his reddened eyes and the warm drip of liquid down his leg didn't stop them, a word most definitely wouldn't have.
They didn't stop. For what seemed like eternity. They hurt him in ways he couldn't fully comprehend at the time, leaving him trembling, broken, and confused. He wish he shouted when it came to it. He wished it above all. But he froze. Completely.
Still unmoving, unresponsive, a deathly chill of silence over him.
No one came after him as he bled. No one was there to save him after his entire being was ripped out of him before his remainders were shoved back into him. The world felt distant, his senses dulled by a haze of pain and humiliation. He couldn't move, couldn't speak. The words they said blurred together, sharp and mocking, searing themselves into his mind.
Then it happened.
A warmth spread through Leon's chest, sudden and intense, like a fire had been lit inside him. His vision blurred, and for a moment, everything went silent. When the world came back into focus, it wasn't the same.
Golden light erupted from Leon, blinding in its brilliance. Eric stumbled back, shielding his eyes, and the other two let go of him, crying out in shock. The warmth in Leon's chest surged, and he felt something he couldn't quite explain—like a door opening inside him, unleashing something vast and powerful.
"What the hell is that?" James yelled, stumbling backward.
Leon didn't answer. He couldn't. He was no longer entirely in control. His body moved on instinct, the golden light swirling around him like flames. He raised a hand, and a wave of energy burst forth, slamming into the three bullies and sending them flying across the alley. They hit the ground hard, groaning in pain.
They tried to get up but the light surged again, slamming them back down with an invisible force that rattled the air itself. Leon stepped forward, his eyes blazing like molten suns, radiant and unforgiving. His skin seemed to glow faintly, veins of golden light spiderwebbing across his arms and neck, as though his body was barely containing the energy within. The air around him warped, shimmering with an oppressive heat that carried a low, thrumming sound, like the growl of an unseen beast. Shadows twisted and recoiled, stretching unnaturally away from him, as if the light itself had become a predator. The golden aura surrounding Leon pulsed erratically, cracking the pavement with each heartbeat, sending tiny fragments of stone and dust into the air like sparks from a forge.
"Stay away from me," Leon said, his voice low but filled with an authority that didn't feel like his own.
Eric managed to sit up, clutching his arm. "What are you?" he whispered, fear etched across his face.
Leon didn't answer. He didn't know. All he knew was that the power was still building, threatening to spill over. The ground beneath him cracked, small fissures spreading outward as the golden energy pulsed like a heartbeat.
The bullies scrambled to their feet, their bravado completely gone. Eric, his face pale in terror before a beam of blinding light was flung at them. When the beam washed over them all that could be heard were they're screams, their wails of pain, pain Leon felt happy to give them.
Their skin now battered and blistered in burns, their faces bubbling from the heat, the smell of flesh strong in the air. From what they looked like now you almost couldn't tell what they looked like before.
Leon sank to his knees, the adrenaline draining out of him. He felt cold now, the rain soaking through his clothes. The cracks in the ground and the lingering warmth of the golden light were proof that whatever had happened, it was real. He hugged himself, trembling, his mind racing.
No stranger to this weird phenomenon he seemed to possess.
He was no stranger to power.
But what just happened, cast a shadow over him. Like a damp black sheet was thrown over the sun itself.
