"Hey guys, hold him down, we are about to have some fun today," the blonde kid in the front said as his two friends grabbed both hands of the kid they were bullying.
"Please, guys, leave me, what did I even do to you?" the kid screamed for help.
"Adam, why can't you just stay quiet? We do this every day, and you say the same thing. Are you stupid or what?" the blonde kid said as he continuously kicked him in the stomach.
Adam cried from the pain as the kicks continued. The kids holding his hands kept laughing at him.
"Now, let's do my favorite part—strip him down," the blonde kid said as the other two kids hastily removed his clothes.
"Anything but that, Jacob, please," Adam said, groaning from pain in a weak voice.
As Adam continued his pleading, he was stripped naked. "Now bring the rope from my bag and tie his hands and legs," Jacob said. Adam's eyes lit up with fear, and he kept screaming. Some kids passed by, but none dared to help.
With a grin on his face, Jacob stuffed Adam's mouth with one leg and, using the other, continuously kicked his balls. "If I get a bite mark on my new shoes, I'm gonna do something even worse tomorrow," Jacob said, laughing.
Adam whimpered in pain and humiliation, trying his best not to leave any marks on the shoes. *Why does this always happen to me? Why is my life like this? I have never done anything bad in my life, yet why is God treating me like this?* Adam tried to get his mind off the pain as it worsened.
A small crowd had gathered around the hallway. Some people looked disgusted, some looked with sympathy, some looked with relief, thanking God it wasn't them, while others just enjoyed the scene. But none had the power or intention of stopping it.
"Stop! What is happening here?!" a loud voice roared through the hallway as a tall guy came running.
"Fuck, it's the teacher!" the kids screamed as they ran away.
"You're lucky, Adam. Never mind, tomorrow I'm gonna have even more fun," Jacob said, running away with his friends.
"Are you alright, Adam?" the teacher asked as he untied the ropes and helped Adam get up.
"Why do you let this happen? If you just stay quiet and take it, they will never stop," the teacher told Adam as he got dressed.
"Fuck, I fucking hate that we can't kick him out," the teacher continued talking, but Adam was just quiet. To him, this was a daily occurrence.
Adam quietly left without saying anything. *Stop, you messed it all up. If you would have just let him finish, I would have been safe tomorrow. But now, tomorrow is gonna be hell,* Adam thought as he frantically punched the walls while walking down the hallway.
Adam finally reached the exit. After exiting the school, he started running towards his home. *Please God, just help me this once,* he thought, but then he felt a force pulling him back.
"Hey Adam, I'm taking Sarah out on a date. Can you lend me some money?" A big guy with tanned skin and a muscular body said as he held Adam up with one hand.
*It's Jeremy. Fuck, why is everything bad happening today?* Adam thought, smiling to hide his anger. "Yeah, I'll give you whatever I have, but I don't have much," Adam said, emptying his pockets and giving him his money.
"Thanks, Adam. I knew I could count on you," Jeremy said as he threw him on the ground.
Adam quickly got up and ran as fast as he could to avoid anyone else. He finally reached home, all tired and bruised from what had happened to him at school.
His home was just a box made of bricks, nothing special. It had a few holes in the roof, and trash was lying outside as it was close to the landfill.
As he opened the door, his dad was sitting in a chair wearing tattered clothes. "How was your day?" he asked, smiling.
"It was good, Dad. I had a lot of fun," Adam said, trying to avoid eye contact.
"Did you buy the alcohol I told you to buy?" he asked, getting up from his chair.
"No, Dad... I... I had to buy some things for school," Adam answered nervously.
As his father came closer, Adam started backing off until his back was touching the wall. "So, you waste the money I worked so hard to earn, huh? I guess I have to teach you a lesson," Adam's father said, smirking.
"I can explain, wait, fath—" Adam nervously began, but he was quickly interrupted by a punch straight to his face. Punch after punch continued until Adam's face started bleeding. His face swelled up, and he had multiple bruises. His eyelid was cut open from the continuous beating.
Adam's father finally stopped, backed off, and spat on his face. "That's what you get for not listening to me."
A few hours passed by. Adam lay on the floor until his younger sister, Clare, came back from school. She opened the door, and after seeing her big brother lying on the floor, beaten up, she quickly rushed to her room to bring bandages and water.
She came back and started wiping him off. "Another rough day, I see," she said, trying to get him to talk.
"No, I still don't have it as bad as you, Clare. At least I have you taking care of me, but you have nobody. If only I was a little more reliable..." Adam said as he broke down into tears.
"Hey, it's alright. Just promise me, when you finally make it big, you'll fulfill all my dreams," Clare said, hugging her brother.
"Ouch, you're hurting me," Adam said, smiling.
"Man up! If you stay like this, you won't be able to survive," Clare said, hugging him more tightly.
After a while, Clare finally let go. "Big brother, you go rest. I'll make dinner, okay?" Clare said, getting up.
Adam nodded and went to his room to sleep. A few hours passed, and finally, he heard a banging noise on his door. "Big brother, the dinner is ready! I made your favorite fried rice today," Clare said proudly.
Adam opened his door and rushed down to eat dinner. His father was eating at the table. Adam took his plate and went to his room without saying anything.
He happily ate the dinner his sister had prepared with so much passion. "Damn, Clare has gotten so good at cooking," Adam said to himself after finishing the dinner and putting the plate aside.
He turned off the lights and went to sleep. *Finally, my favorite part of life—sleep, because in my dreams, I don't have to deal with all this,* Adam thought, finally drifting off to sleep.
At night, he heard a scream coming from his sister's room. Adam quickly rushed to her room. It was dark, and he couldn't see anything. "Clare, are you okay? Clare, answer me!!" Adam shouted.
Adam then ran towards the light switch and turned on the light. What he saw was worse than his worst nightmare.
Clare's face was completely bashed in. Her teeth were piercing her skull, her front jaw was completely broken off, and her eyes and nose were hard to distinguish. Her bedsheet was completely soaked in red blood.
"Huh... why?" Those were the first words that came out of Adam's mouth, followed by screams of pain. He screamed at the top of his lungs. He didn't understand what had happened. He didn't know why it happened, and he didn't know what to do.
His father quickly came up to the room. "What's all this screaming?" he shouted as he entered. He couldn't believe what he saw. He fell to the ground in pure shock, unable to comprehend it.
*Who did this?* he thought as he ran downstairs to call the police.
Adam sat there, crying, still trying to process what had just happened. *Why did the only thing that mattered to me also die? What's there left to live for? I want to find out who did it and avenge my sister, but I am so weak. God, you have never done anything good for me, but please, punish the killer of my sister,* Adam thought as he got up and opened the window. *I'm leaving this to you,* he thought as he was about to jump. A blue screen popped up in front of him.
KILLER SYSTEM
WOULD YOU LIKE TO BECOME A PLAYER OF THE KILLER SYSTEM?
> YES
> NO