Fan Fiction ❯ Oblivious ❯ Losing Time ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter Six - Losing Time
Talim groaned inwardly, having picked up yet another cigarette butt.
I thought I had something this time... she silently complained. She and Raphael had been scouring the grounds around the school for any clue, and so far, nothing had come up. Siegfried had went to a few 'contacts of his', as he had explained, but was probably just getting another pack of cigarettes. Why the caretaker hadn't clean up all these forlorn stubs of cancer sticks, she didn't know. The caretaker had probably gotten fed up with Siegfried over the years.
Thinking about Siegfried having been in Regelus for a long time brought up another question- How did he stay, or even get accepted into Regelus? He skips on all the important days, smokes on school grounds, and talks back. Did the administers of Regelus actually see past all that to his academic abilities? Or did he win them over with some bribe? Surely the board of trustees wouldn't be so much of a pushover to let anybody in; Talim had had some trouble scraping into Regelus, but their programs had helped her advance far from what she had come into Regelus with. But she was almost never absent, and had a spotless record. What sense could be made of that? That the admissions into Regelus actually weren't all they've been cracked up to be?
"Hey, Talim, find anything?"
She looked up from the cigarette she had been looking at so intensely during her thoughts, dropping it a little too quickly. "N-no... You?"
"Nah..."
They returned to their silence, walking through the weeds and picking through the blades of emerald that (they hoped) were hiding the key to solve their predicament.
Siegfried walked out of the corner store, slipping a cigarette from its place in the box and into his mouth with one fluid motion. He dropped the small carton into his left jacket pocket, and pulled out his lighter. Then he began to walk, at the same time as he attempted to light his cigarette. The air was getting chilly- the area was slowly, but surely moving through autumn, and into winter.
"...Huh... Help... Somebody... Pluh... Please!!"
He froze, his hand holding newly born flame to the tip of his cigarette. A woman's voice- panicked, and raspy- had come trailing from the alleyway just ahead. Siegfried planned to just let it be; He didn't have (or want) anything to do with what was going down.
Too bad the alley was in the direction he needed to go.
Flicking the lighter closed and dropping it in his left pocket, Siegfried continued his walk, making a mental note to not glance into the alleyway as he passed by. Still, as a precaution, he slipped his hand into his right pocket.
The world seemed to slow then; he took another step, bringing himself to the opening of the dark alley, and wasn't able to bring himself any futher.
Talim and Raphael sat, back to back, underneath the graffiti'ed wall. He had given up and turned on his CD player; She had given up and taken to sketching the tree she had spent so much time in- The tree she wouldn't be able to rest in ever again.
This was it.
Siegfried hadn't come back from meeting with his 'contacts', and the last bell was due to ring in little over half an hour. That wasn't enough- They lost the time, and they weren't getting it back. It was over.
She lost.
Talim shook her head violently, in a vain attempt to shake away the negative thoughts. She squeezed her eyes shut, and dropped her sketchbook and pencil in her lap. It couldn't be happening- This couldn't be happening. She should be in Calculus right now, jotting down the answers to the latest homework assingment, not out here, fresh from weeding through cigarette butts and yellowing grass to clear her name!
Raphael peeked over his shoulder, curious to see what had ended the skrit-skratching of Talim's pencil. "Hey," he asked, "you finished?" Having received no reply, he turned around and peeked over her shoulder at the now tear-stained sketchbook. Raphael blinked, not really knowing how to console his newest companion. He turned around, wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulders, and murmured a "Don't worry, everything'll be alright."
Talim squeezed her eyes shut, more droplets falling onto her cheeks. "Ev... Everything's not going to be alright. I've l-lost, and there's no way to-to win again. There's... There's no reset button here, Raphael," she replied, in between sobs.
He gave her a small smile, picked up her fallen pencil, and drew a little button on her sketch, labelling it 'reset' with minute writing. "At least you can try," he said, "to make one."
She let out a short giggle at his solution, admiring him for his optimism. Maybe she should try to be more like him- More optimistic, less paranoid. Less worried about everything. Less stressed.
But Talim's outlook on life wasn't the case at hand- What they needed to work on now was getting out of this mess.
"Help me, help me please!"
Ivy cackled after Xianghua's wonderful impression, while the two paced in front of Siegfried- Who had his hands tied to the armrest of a chair rather tightly.
"Always the hero now, eh, Sieg?"Ivy sneered, drawing out his nickname. "Risking four years worth of hard work for a dainty little ragamuffin!"
"Pft, you mean four years worth of blackmail, whore."
"Whore? My, Siegfried!" Xianghua cried, leaning close to him, pouting much too dramatically. "How could you be so vulgar to Ivy, the one who had given you everything?"
"Shut up, skank," he snarled, making Xianghua back away at once. Ivy smacked his head, looking down on him with a look of the utmost disgust.
"Back down, Prince Charming, or you'll have much more than a smack."
"Go to hell, whore," he spat back, oblivious to her threat.
Ivy frowned, folding her arms against her chest. Siegfried obviously wasn't going to crack- Even when he passed the alleyway- an obvious trap- he was reaching into his right pocket, probably for a lighter. She knew he had something planned, but what?
"Whore? Again with the disrespect? When will you learn, Sieg, I thought you were smart!" piped Xianghua, at a safe distance. Siegfried was beginning to become even more agitated.
"Didn't I tell you to shut up, you ska-"
His words were cut short by a blow to his head, almost making him pitch forward. Siegfried internally cringed when he heard the voice behind him. "Hey, you'll learn to be nice to ladies, instead of little poptarts, cradle robber!" Maxi walked in front of Siegfried, crouching so he could see the face of the bowed head. "Listen here, Siegfried, you'll obey my orders, and you'll answer only when I permit you to. Understand?" he hissed, eyes narrowed.
Siegfried lifted his head a tad, looking Maxi straight into his eyes. "Tch, Maxi... Always jumping at the oppourtunity to kick someone when they're down. Always trying to be a bigshot." Here, he lowered his voice to a deathly cold whisper, meant only to anger his beseiger. "Always thinking that you're my equal."
Maxi growled, before standing up and delivering to Siegfried three punches and a kick to the stomach. The chair was shoved back with a loud squeeaak as it scraped across the floorboards. "You're right, Sieg m'boy, I thought I was your equal, but I've realized the truth- I'M GREATER THAN YOU!" Maxi yelled, kicking Siegfried once again.
Siegfried coughed, before raising his head to glare at Maxi again. "So I help a freshman- That makes me inferior?"
"YES!" Maxi roared, begin to laugh. "You helped a freshman, Siegfried! You fell for a freshman! A lowly little freshman! So what happens? Your girlfriend comes to me. Your rank comes to me. And what should've been your vandalising, your ruining of that girl's record- The privilage was all mine!"
"So it sounds to me that you're just my understudy, Maxi."
Furious, Maxi began to pound the defenceless Siegfried until the chair toppled backward. The room grew quiet then, with only Siegfried's laboured breathing to break the silence. Maxi glared at his fallen rival; Ivy smirked, strutting up to Maxi and wrapping her arms around him from behind. Xianghua stood farther back, looking a little worried about the damage.
Siegfried began to cough violently, dots of crimson splattering onto his shirt. "What... What time is it?" he choked out, coughing up more of the copper-tasting liquid.
"Two fifty three," Xianghua squeaked, a little stunned by the question. The trio watched Siegfried as he blacked out, unable to hold himself up any longer.

noisee: Dudes, I just thought of something. "Oblivious: Hazing... To the MAX!!"

o_O Thank you muchly for reading.