Chapter 5: Blood

Liam’s P.O.V

The tall guy’s fingers dug into my shoulder until I could feel the pressure against the bone. I tried to jerk away again, but his grip didn’t budge. I had a distinct feeling like I was fighting against a goddamn stone.

“Let me go,” I snapped, twisting my body to try and get out of his grip, but unsurprisingly, that didn’t work and he just laughed instead.

“Relax, new kid,” he said. “We’re just getting to know each other.”

I shoved against him, using every bit of strength I had, but he didn’t even stumble. Now, I wasn’t exactly a weakling. I played football back in my old school, and I work out sometimes. But this guy… he was simply stronger than me. Probably had more sets in his arm day routine than I did.

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” I spat. “I’ll complain to the principal about this.”

That made him laugh, a loud, cruel sound that made my stomach twist. The others behind him joined in, their laughter echoing down the hall.

“Complaining to the principal?” one of them mocked, clutching his stomach as he doubled over laughing. “That’s cute. You hear that, guys? He’s gonna tell on us.”

Before I could fire back, one of the other boys stepped forward and drove his foot hard into my stomach.

The impact stole the air from my lungs. For a second, I couldn’t even make a sound—just doubled over, gasping, my vision tunneling around the edges. Pain exploded through my gut, sharp and white-hot, and I hit the floor on my knees.

Someone laughed again. It sounded like the tall guy.

“Not so tough now, are you?” Erick goaded.

I tried to breathe, but every inhale burned. My hands hit the tile, palms slick with sweat. I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

“Stop it!” Mia shrieked from somewhere. She was beside me in an instant, kneeling down, her hands hovering like she didn’t know where to touch without hurting me more. “Erick, that’s enough!” she shouted. “You’re going too far!”

He just gave her a lazy, amused look. “Relax, Mia. We’re just helping the new kid learn some manners.”

“By beating the crap out of him?” she shot back. “You think that’s funny?” Her voice trembled with anger, but the boys didn’t take her seriously.

Noah stepped forward too, his face tight with fear and rage. “Leave him alone,” he said. “I mean it.” It didn’t sound like it, the way his voice was trembling, but I appreciated the sentiment.

Erick’s snickered. “Oh, look; the nerd’s trying to play hero.”

Before I could even process what was happening, he turned and drove his fist straight into Noah’s jaw. The sound was awful—a clean, heavy hit—and Noah went sprawling back, hitting the lockers with a hollow thud before crumpling to the floor.

“NOAH!” Mia screamed.

“Stay out of this, Mia,” Erick said calmly, dusting off his hands. “If you want to keep your little boyfriend in one piece, you’ll mind your own business.”

She glared up at him, eyes flashing. “If you hurt him or Liam again, I swear there will be consequences.”

Erick laughed cruelly. “Consequences?” he repeated, amused. “Oh, please. We’ve been waiting for something exciting to happen around here.”

Then he turned back to me.

“You messed with the wrong people, Tanner,” he said, his voice dropping to a low growl. “Now you’re gonna learn your place.”

Literally—what the hell did that even mean? They were the ones that flocked upon me like some savage vultures! But I barely had time to dwell on it before they were on me once more.

A fist slammed into my side, another into my ribs. My head snapped back as someone’s knee drove into my chest. The pain came in bursts until it all blurred together. They were too many, too strong.

I couldn’t defend myself, and all I could do was curl in on myself, arms instinctively coming up to shield my face. My knees hit the cold tile again, my breath coming out in ragged, panicked bursts.

“Stop,” I tried to say, but the word came out strangled.

Needless to say, they didn’t. I wasn’t new to the occasional brawl, but Jesus, their punches were harder than any normal fight I’d ever been in. What the fuck was up with these guys? Did they have a dose too many of their daily steroid intake or something?

I didn’t understand it. These were just high school kids. They shouldn’t have been this strong.

At some point, my vision blurred. Somewhere above me, I heard Mia shouting again, her voice fierce but distant, muffled by the roar of blood in my ears.

And no one around us did anything. They just… walked by. Students passed the scene like it was nothing, eyes flicking over me briefly before sliding away again, pretending not to see.

I mean, I get that I was the new kid and didn’t expect anyone to step up for me… but really? All these kids, and no one thought to make them stop? Were Erick and his goons that big of a deal here that people just let them get away with things?

Another kick landed, and I hit the ground hard, my cheek pressed against the tile. Just like that, the world tilted sideways. My breath came out in shallow gasps, heartbeat pounding against my bruised ribs.

And then—another. I didn’t even see it coming. A heavy blow struck the side of my face, hard enough to send my head snapping backward. My back arched against the floor as blinding pain exploded across my skull. Then, without letting me breathe, they grabbed me by the collar and shoved me into the wall.

My head slammed into it with a crack. The goddamn world went white,  soundless, and weightless. I couldn’t see or hear anything as my senses struggled to catch up after that devastating blow.

Then everything came rushing back in a dizzy blur. My knees hit the floor again, and a hot sting spread across my scalp.

I touched the back of my head, and my fingers came away wet.

Blood.

It slid down the side of my neck, warm and sticky, the metallic scent hitting the air almost immediately. I blinked through the haze, trying to push myself upright. There was a collective gasp, before the hallway went unnervingly silent.

What the…? I looked up and froze.

Everyone around me had stopped moving. Erick and his friends were standing over me, their chests rising and falling with quick, shallow breaths. The other students who’d been watching, pretending not to notice, were suddenly staring straight at me now, their expressions changed.

Their eyes—they weren’t… they weren’t normal. There was a sharpness to them, a kind of… hunger.

What was going on? Did I hit my head too hard and start hallucinating things? Or did I faint from the blow and now I was having a nightmare?

I glanced helplessly at Mia, but even she had that weird look in her eyes as she stood a few feet away from me, her face pale and her eyes holding my gaze. There was something raw and wild in her expression, like an instinct she couldn’t control, before she clapped a hand over her nose and stumbled back, shaking her head hard, as if trying to fight something off.

“Mia?” My voice came out hoarse, barely a whisper. “What—what’s going on?”

She didn’t answer. It seemed like she couldn’t. Her eyes were wide, terrified. What the hell was going on—?

Then, Erick let out a sound that didn’t belong in a human throat. A low, guttural growl. It rolled through the air, vibrating against my ribs, and every hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

“Wh—what the hell—” I started, but the words died in my throat when I looked up at him.

His eyes—they weren’t blue anymore. They were red. Not just bloodshot or angry, but actually glowing. Deep crimson, like light shining through glass. His lips peeled back, and I saw his teeth lengthening, sharp points sliding past his lower lip.

Fangs.

Actual honest-to-God fangs.

What the fuck?

And then he pounced.