Landon squinted, trying to shut out the backdrop of the school buildings and the throngs of children gathering around them on the playground, chanting, encouraging. The metallic taste of blood was filling his mouth. His lip was split at the corner and his teeth had dug into the inside of is cheek, ripping his flesh. He spat to the side and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, smearing fresh blood from the split across his face.
He knew news of the fight would beat him home and the social worker would be there waiting for him. It didn't matter that he didn't start it. It didn't matter that this kid had already punched him and was antagonizing him to retaliate. He'd be off to a new home, a new school, before he could sit down for supper. This was his life.
"Come on, Krueger."
He flinched at the cruel name and his opponent noticed, his mouth curling up in a sadistic smile. Landon could feel his face brighten under the shame. He knew the scar that ran down the right side of his face, stretching his skin in grotesque layers from his forehead, just over his eye, consuming his cheek all the way down to his chin, would be several shades brighter than the rest. That knowledge brought his blood pounding in his ears and pushed out any thought of turning away.
Moved to action, Landon drew back his fist, stepped forward and used the momentum to his advantage as the he followed through with the punch. It landed on the bully's nose, spewing blood on contact. The kid's head jerked to the side from the blow, knocking him off kilter. Landon launched, continuing his forward charge, wrapping his arms around his waist and tackling him to the ground. Before the kid could catch his breath, Landon was straddling him, pounding one fist then the other into the kids face. Comprehension was lost. Reality obscured. Even the words that rattled from his own lips, in between the grunts and slamming of his fists into the kid's battered face, were alien and came from a dark place inside him, a place where demons lived and breathed, feeding off his hate and pain.
Large hands grabbed at him, pulling him off the kid, but Landon continued punching the air. When his body was pulled upright, his feet began kicking at the figure lying at his feet, a hazy formation with no real shape, just a blob of red evil moaning and writhing in the dirt, an 'it'.
"Your social worker is not going to be happy about this, young man." Landon was spun around and shoved toward the administration building as more adults came into focus, rushing to the evil thing lying on the ground. He risked a look over his shoulder. It was rolled over now, his hands covering his face, blood seeping through his fingers and pooling in the dirt. A satisfied grin grew on his face. It would cost him. It always did. There was a price to pay for being the class freak, the burned one, the one who didn't fit in, and tears no longer covered the check.
Ten years later
Pulling the bills from his wallet, Landon counted out the fee, all the while keeping his eye on the call girl running her fingers along his bed. He folded the bills and held them out to her, refusing to release them when her fingers wrapped around the cash.
"I want to see what I'm paying for," he said.
With a sly smile, the brunette stepped back and freed the straining buttons on her blouse. She pushed the cheap material off her shoulders, letting the top fall to the floor and puddle at the strappy heels on her feet. Moments later, the skirt that barely covered her ass floated down her long legs and tangled in the pile. She stood for a moment, enduring his inspection with feigned anticipation.
"The bra, too," he said.
She reached behind her back and freed the clasps, making a show of freeing her enormous breasts from the confines of the thin material. She may have been faking the sensuality, but the hard nipples reaching out to him told him that her imperfect body was perfectly aroused. She was simply no more at ease with her body than he was.
A hint of a smile played on his lips as he watched her breath quicken under his stare, her breasts rising and falling with each inhalation.
"Have you done this before?" The realization that she was new hit him and suddenly the need in his groin grew from a steady desire to a demanding hard on.
Her eyes widened as her answer, her lie, faltered on her tongue. Landon bit back a laugh and instead, stepped back to the chair he had in the corner and took a seat.
"Come here. What's your name?"
"Kennadie," she whispered, freeing her feet from the pile of clothes and moving toward him.
When she was standing in front of him, Landon reached for the thong she wore and pulled it to her knees, ripping the thin material from her body and tossing it carelessly to the side.
"On your knees, Kennadie."
She was shaking, but she did it. Once she was settled between his thighs, Landon tucked his finger under her chin and pulled her face to him.
