"You want me to kill this person...?" Alex said while examining the image of a man inside the folder.
"Did he stutter? If you want to remain in this gang, not that you have a choice, you need to have some kind of value to us. Your value will come in the form of assassinations, lucky you." One of the Users said with smirk on his face.
"But...but you said it was just one time!" Alex shouted at Marcel with an accusatory glare in his eyes.
Whack! Thud!
Alex didn't even see what happened but as soon as he shouted out those words something slammed into the side of his chest and sent him rolling along the ground ground. Luckily it was the side of his chest that didn't have a cut but it still hurt like hell.
'I didn't see anybody move, who hit me? Fuck, I can't even breath properly!' Alex lay on the ground, gasping for air, as the mood in the room shifted. The cheery mood was gone, replaced by heavy seriousness.
Marcel got up from his seat and walked over to Alex, kneeling beside him while inhaling a puff of smoke from his cigarette.
"You need to understand something. This isn't up for debate, you have no say in what your role here will be. I decide what you do and when you do it, that's all there is to it. If you question my orders, I'll beat you. If you fail to carry out my orders, I'll beat you some more. If you try to hide from me, I'll just beat your family instead, though they wouldn't be so lucky as to live through it like you. Lastly, if you disobey my orders I will kill your family, slowly, and make no mistake, I will make you watch."
Marcel took another breath of his cigarette before he grabbed Alex's left arm by the wrist. "You are a dog that does what I command because you don't have the power to stop me." Marcel took the cigarette and held it over Alex's forearm with the lit end being centimeters from his skin.
Alex's eyes widened as he realized what Marcel was going to do and not wanting to go through that pain, he tried to stop it. He tried to pull him arm away but quickly realized that wasn't going to work. He then tried to use his telekinesis on Marcel's hand, to push it away, but it refused to budge.
'It feels like I'm trying to move a mountain!' Alex desperately put all his power into a single push but it didn't make even the slightest difference. Alex looked at Marcel with pleading eyes but knew there was no hope when he saw the sadistic smile on the gang leaders face.
"I told you, didn't I? You don't have the strength to stop me." Marcel said as he pressed the burning cigarette into Alex's forearm with an expression of sadistic ecstasy on his face.
"Arrghh!" Alex's tried not scream from the pain as his skin was burned but he failed to contain himself. This reaction seemed to please Marcel, as his facial expression intensified when he heard the scream.
The cigarette was held against Alex's arm for what felt like forever before Marcel let go of him and and dropped the no longer burning cigarette on the floor. Marcel picked up the folder and threw it at Alex, allowing it to slide across the floor to him.
"Make sure he's dead by tomorrow or you'll face the consequences. Now, fuck off." Marcel sat back down with the other Users, lighting another cigarette as he did.
Alex grabbed the folder with his head hanging low and walked out of the room. He felt tears welling up inside his eyes but refused to let them fall.
"Do you need me to give you a lift somewhere?" Jacob asked as Alex came out from the hideout. He was leaning against the car but stood up straight when he saw Alex.
Alex ignored Jacob and turned to walk down the street, seemingly ignoring Jacob. Just as Alex turned away, Jacob noticed the burn mark on his forearm.
'Did the boss do that? Shit, I guess he's still too weak to do anything against those monsters, just like the rest of us. But still...' Jacob got in the car and followed after Alex, stopping beside him just as he did earlier.
"Let me take you wherever it is you need to go, there's no point in walking if you don't need to. Besides, you wasted time inside and will probably be late for whatever you were going to do before I picked you up, right?" Jacob said as he tried to reason with Alex.
'I don't know what it is about this kid but he's giving me this...feeling, like if I don't get on his good side then someday...' Jacob paused this thought when Alex opened the car door and climbed into the backseat without saying a word.
"So where do you need to go?" Jacob looked at Alex through the rear view mirror as he asked. Until now Alex had been looking down the entire time, hiding his face away, but now he was looking out the window.
"Kingsley High."
Jacob felt shivers running down his spine as he began heading to Alex's destination. He felt goosebumps appearing all over his skin and his body felt cold. Although Alex had answered in a calm and essentially monotonous tone, something else about him had caused this reaction in Jacobs body.
'His eyes...his expression. His voice was calm but he's anything but calm right now. If he aimed an expression like that at me I would already be preparing myself for death. I know he's probably upset about being burned but he's not strong enough to do anything about it, he never will be. At least, that's what logic says. Even if he gets stronger, The other Users inside will get stronger too, and he's way outnumbered! So why, why do I feel like this kid has the potential to kill anyone he crosses paths with, regardless of logic?'
'Maybe I made the right choice in sucking up to him after all. Only time will tell...'
The drive continued in silence since Jacob was too afraid to speak. During the entire drive, Alex only had a single thought on his mind.
'I don't care how long it takes me. I don't care how difficult it will be. I will find a way to kill you, Marcel, in the most painful way I can achieve. You and your pack of physcopaths!'