Take Me From This Pain, Brian's story

Brian hummed to himself as he pulled out the bag of microwave popcorn. Matt and Ryan had left a few hours ago in the rented limo to pick up Sherry and Trina, and Virginia was down at the hospital on another night shift. He would be alone for the evening but he wasn\'t too bothered by it. For one thing, he could eat as much or as little as he wanted to without Matt and Virginia worrying about whether he ate enough. For another, Matt, Ryan and Chris had shown him some fighting moves over the last few months and he felt relatively confident that no one would abuse him again. And there was the guard at the front gate. He always made Brian feel more secure.

He hadn\'t heard from Gary in all of that time either. He\'d suggested that Matt release the private detective, but the taller boy refused, saying he won\'t trust Gary to leave them alone until Kevin turned 18, and that wasn\'t for over six more months. Brian didn\'t bring it up again, not wanting to cause Matt any other annoyances. He knew that he was lucky to have a safe place away from his stepfather. Despite all of his insistence, Brian knew Matt would tire of protecting him before he went away to college. But at least Brian could go stay with Kevin then.

It was weird, thinking of Kevin, how their conversations always veered away from Kevin\'s activities. His younger brother always asked how he and Matt were doing and what kind of grades Brian was getting. Kevin did mention his friends, including the quarterback of the football team at his new school. Brian was impressed that he\'s made friends with them, considering the football players in their California school always picked on Brian. Well, before Matt entered the picture anyway.

There seemed to be something up with Jason, or at least that\'s the sense Brian got during their last phone call.

\"How\'s Jason doing?\" he\'d nonchalantly asked.

\"He\'s fine.\"

There was a pause in the conversation.

\"Just fine?\" Brian prodded. \"How did he do in school?\"

\"Great, as usual,\" Kevin exclaimed. \"Hey, you almost done with my story?\"

\"Like I said 5 minutes ago, it\'ll be ready by your birthday. So, what do you and Jason do after school?\"

\"We meet up with friends. Sometimes go to the movies. Hey, did you see that movie \'Grudge\'? Awesome special effects. Trent says his cousin does graphics for a videogame manufacturer. He\'s going to introduce me to her. Isn\'t that cool?\"

\"Real cool.\"

And on it went. Whenever Brian asked about Jason, Kevin deflected him. Something was up there, but Kevin would tell him when he was ready.

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Matt and Sherry were dancing to a fast song when he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He signaled to her and stepped back. She shrugged and started dancing with Chris, whose partner had to make an emergency trip tom the restroom.

\"Yeah,\" Matt said he stepped into the lobby to escape the loud music.

\"You\'d better come home quick, Mr. Henshaw,\" the detective Matt and his dad hired said without preamble. \"I\'m tailing some kids on their way into your complex. And they have Cleary stowed away in their trunk.\"

\"What?!\"

\"I saw them pick him up before heading over there and I have a bad feeling about it.\"

\"Me too. I\'ll be there as soon as I can. Is it too late for me to call security and have the trunk searched?\"

\"Affirmative. They\'re already inside.\"

\"Shit! Okay, I\'ll call the cops and get there as soon as I can. Thanks, Delano.\"

Matt called the police and hurriedly explained what was happening. They were reluctant to dispatch an officer until Matt warned them he would splash the incident across the papers if they didn\'t and something happened to Brian. Then Matt ran back into the dance to tell Ryan he was leaving.

\"What you mean catching a cab?\" the other boy asked. \"Take the limo.\"

\"No, you stay with the girls,\" Matt insisted.

But Sherry caught the gist of the conversation as she walked back to the table.

\"If Brian\'s in trouble, I\'m going with you!\"

\"You can\'t!\" Matt exclaimed. \"I need to get there right away. An entourage will slow me down. Besides, the prom\'s not over yet.\"

\"There\'s like one more hour left,\" she argued. \"Who the hell cares who\'s voted king and queen? Brian\'s OUR friend, too. You can\'t keep us from coming!\"

\"I\'m going, too,\" Ryan added.

\"Me, too,\" Trina and Chris said together.

\"What about your date?\" Matt asked Chris.

\"She left already. Had her brother pick her up. Food poisoning, I think.\"

\"Food poisoning!\" Sherry cried.

\"She was the one who insisted on Chow\'s Chinese. I would never go to that hole!\"

\"All right, all right!\" Matt was losing his patience. He needed to get to Brian. \"We\'ll all go. We\'ll take the limo. Stop wasting time!\"

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Brian tossed the empty popcorn bag away and neatened the kitchen. He hoped Matt was having a good time tonight. A creak by the patio door drew his attention. He peered in that direction but didn\'t see anything. Suddenly he was grabbed from behind and thrown into the wall.

\"Thought you were safe, didn\'t you fairy boy?\"

Gary\'s foul breath hit the back of Brian\'s neck and made him sick.

\"Well? Answer me!\"

Brian froze for a second or so, trapped in his old fear. Then a rage he never knew before took over and he swung his leg out behind him, jamming into Gary\'s thigh.

\"No!\" he shrieked as Gary crumpled in pain. \"Go fuck yourself!\"

Then Brian tore open the patio door and sprinted out. He heard a string of curses behind him as Gary limped in pursuit. Brian didn\'t even know where he was going. He just knew he had to run. Then he saw the gate up ahead and knew he needed to get to the guard. Gary was still yelling for him to stop but the small blonde ran for all he was worth. Until he was tripped and pulled up roughly by Darren Williams.

\"Going somewhere, asshole?\" he sneered as he and Steve Cartright held Brian in place. \"I don\'t think so. Your stepdaddy is looking for you and we think you should go home.\"

\"Let me go, you prick!\" Brian struggled and kicked at the two boys. But no matter how hard he fought, he was no match for the two athletes and they held him still.

\"Thanks, boys,\" Gary panted as he caught up. \"Thought the little fucker was getting away again.\"

\"Hey, we thought we\'d stick around and earn our money,\" Steve smirked.

\"Let go!\" Brian yelled.

Darren shoved a palm over his mouth. It may be night, but they could still get caught.

\"I know how to keep him quiet,\" Gary grinned digging through his pockets for his lighter. \"Hold him still while I get a hit ready for him.\"

Brian screamed behind Darren\'s hand and kicked furiously at Steve\'s legs.

\"Drugs?\" Steve asked, sacred now. \"No, you never said anything about that, Darren.\"

\"Chill, man. It ain\'t us giving it to him.\"

\"No way,\" Steve argued and released Brian who took off like a shot. \"I\'m NOT doing that.\"

\"Shit! He\'s getting away!\" Darren took off after Brian. Steve ran after Darren to keep him off Brian and Gary pulled out a knife and took after all three.

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\"The police are already in pursuit,\" Delano said to Matt as he hopped out of the limo and ran into the complex. \"Brian was running toward the guardhouse when he was grabbed and pulled into the trees. I lost sight of them then.\"

Matt ran into the complex and up the road.

\"Brian!\" he called loudly. \"It\'s Matt! Where are you?\"

Suddenly, a trembling bundle hurtled itself into Matt\'s arms and wrapped itself around him.

\"It\'s okay, Bri,\" Matt whispered. \"I\'m here.\"

\"Th-they w-wouldn\'t let m-me go!\"

\"Who, sweetheart?\" Sherry asked as she cautiously approached Matt and Brian and gently touched the small blonde\'s shoulder.

\"D-darren a-a-and St-steve,\" he stumbled for the words. \"Th-they h-held m- me f-f-for G-g-gary. H-he w-wanted th-them to h-hold m-m-me w-w-while h-he g-gave m-me a sh-shot.\"

\"No, I let him go when I heard he was going drug the kid!\" Steve yelled as he emerged from the trees. \"I swear I only wanted to scare him.\"

Ryan punched him square in the jaw, which is what Matt was attempting to do but Brian had him in vise grip.

\"What the fuck do you THINK he wanted to do to him?\" Matt yelled. \"Why would there be a restraining order on the guy if he wasn\'t dangerous?\"

\"I didn\'t know!\" Steve pleaded, lying on the ground and holding his jaw.

\"Let go of me!\" Darren struggled with Chris while the football player wrestled him to the ground and held him there.

\"Why would you do this to him?\" Matt growled dangerously. He had calmed Brian enough to move him into Ryan\'s arms for the time being. \"I\'ll be right back,\" he whispered into the small blonde\'s ear.

\"His daddy wanted to talk to him!\"

Matt pulled Darren up from Chris and punched him once in the stomach and once in the jaw. The smaller athlete went down easily and Matt pulled him up again.

\"I\'ll sue your ass!\" Darren cried.

\"Go ahead,\" Matt smiled. \"My dad will probably come back to represent me himself. You know how good he is in court, right Darren? You remember. Or at least your dad remembers, I\'m sure. Do you visit him much these days?\"

\"You son of a . . .\"

Matt punched him again, and this time Darren stayed down, wheezing on the ground. Steve pulled some money from his pocket and threw it down on top of Darren.

\"And I\'ll testify,\" he said, turning back to Brian. \"I know I was wrong, man. I\'m sorry.\"

Brian cringed and curled into Ryan\'s chest, gripping the front of his tuxedo shirt. Ryan rubbed the small boy\'s back and whispered something to him but Brian wasn\'t listening. Matt pulled him off Ryan and back to him. He held him tightly as they all waited for the police to come out.