Dead Or Alive?

The look on Ted's face showed how disturbed he was, making Denzel look back to make sure there was nothing behind him.

"Ted, it's I, Denzel," Denzel said, a little smile glowed on his face.

"Den...zel? Are you really Denzel? Like... Come on in," Ted kept stuttering, amused about the fact that Denzel was still alive.

Three years after Denzel left, Ted already made up his mind to accept the fact that Denzel was already dead. At some point, he planned to make an empty grave for Denzel.

Seeing Denzel, Ted thought he was in a trance, and now, Denzel was much more muscular than when he saw him last, so Ted wasn't still convinced it was Denzel.

'Or, is this Denzel's dad? But his surname is Miller and not Denzel...' Ted thought to himself, 'Maybe I have been wrong all this while, Denzel might be his surname.'

"Ohh Sir, Come on in."

Denzel followed him in and sat on a cushioned chair in the living room. He looked around, at the house he last saw four years ago. 'It's a lot more different...,'

"Sir, would you like something to drink?" Denzel's thought was interrupted and the fact that Ted called him "Sir" pissed him off.

"I am Denzel."

"Yes sir, I know... So sir, would you like a drink?"

At that point, Denzel had a feeling Ted was just teasing him because of the changes he saw in him. But, Ted really thought it might have been Denzel's dad since he hadn't heard anything about Denzel having an elder brother.

The only thought on Ted's mind was, 'This old man reeks, he should be quick and fuck off, and how did he even find this place in the first place?'

"Uhm, sir, have you heard anything from Denz- sorry, your son?"

"Ted, are you okay? I am Denzel, Like Miller Denzel, your pal that departed from here four years ago,"

"You are Denzel?" Ted was amazed, thinking back to the Denzel he really knew.

Before Denzel departed, he had a good body build, but it was not to be even compared to his present buff body.

"You mean you are Denzel?"

"Stop asking me dumb questions, I am hungry, I stink, I wanna take my bath and I need a new toothbrush to wash my teeth."

His voice even got thicker than it was before. Ted was extremely surprised, that he just nodded his head and got everything Denzel needed for him. He also showed Denzel the way to the bathroom.

"When... when you are done bathing, you will meet your meal in the dining, on the table."

"Ted, we have a lot to talk about, when I have rested, we will talk." Denzel stood and picked the towel and the toothbrush, walking to the bathroom the moment he was done talking.

Ted, still completely flabbergasted seeing Denzel looked at his body, checking out his muscles to see if his own was anywhere close to Denzel's own. He sighed and walked to the kitchen.

When Denzel was out of the bathroom, he walked towards the dining and saw his food in a closed cooling container. Opening it, the scent of Zoodles topped with shrimp scampi surged his nose and he couldn't wait to dig in.

Before anyone could know what was going on, Denzel already emptied the plate, drinking the fruit juice in a glass cup just beside the plate. The meal was amazing for Denzel, it was only natural for him to wish to have seconds.

From the dining, he went to Ted to find out where he could sleep.

"Is my room not okay?"

"Yeah, it is, still at your base right?"

"If you want, but I hardly go down there nowadays." Ted didn't even give him eye contact, he just spoke, looking at his cell phone. "Hope you didn't forget that button on the wall?"

Without any further response, Denzel walked towards a room, entering it, he rubbed his palm against a wall, looking for the round button Ted always pushed.

He found it, pushed it and entered the elevator. When Denzel finally got into Ted's base, he could recall most of the things that were in there when he departed. Denzel looked at the robots and smiled, reminiscing about the times before he left.

After some hours of sleep, Denzel woke up and saw that he was alone in the room. He looked at the clock and saw that it was already midnight.

He stood and walked out of the room, going back to the living room. He sat on the sofa, putting on the television.

At some point, he got bored, took a hoodie and left the house to go out for a walk.

Everything looked fascinating in his eyes, he hadn't lived in that kind of environment for a long time so everything he saw just brought back little memories of the place to him.

He walked, looking to his side anytime anyone passed by his side. He didn't expect anyone to be out by that time.

"I miss the peace at Mountaly," Denzel sighed when he heard a loud noise from an alley. He continued walking but stopped when he noticed that the noise became non stop, then he chose to return to the alley.

'What the hell' Thinking to himself when he got there. He couldn't get a really good sight since everywhere was dark so he chose to wait behind to get what was really going on between them.

Judging from their voices, he could guess that they were all girls, maybe about three, and one might have been bullied.

"So, what do you have for us today?" One of the girls said.

"Leave me alo-!" Another one yelled, but it was obvious that she couldn't complete what she was saying.

"Emily, bitch, I told you to keep shut." Another one said, and judging by the movement of the shadows Denzel could make out, one of the girls used the edge of her hand to push another girl to the wall, holding her neck to the wall and punching her at her stomach.

"Ellie, take off her shirt,"

Denzel could hear the mutterings of the girl held to the wall, at some point, it started to fade out.

'What's going on here?' Still trying the picture of the scene, Denzel thought to himself and moved his head closer from where he hid. 'Well I don't care, it's not any of my business.' Denzel turned back to leave.

As he did, memories of his younger sister, Carrie rushed into his brain and he paused, thinking about what form of bullying she might have been through because of him.

At first, he hesitated, but giving it a second thought, he turned around and went back into the alley.

Walking towards them, they didn't notice him and Denzel was starting to discern what was going on.

As he guessed, It looked like two girls was trying to force themselves on another, to rape her.

He could see the hands of one caress through the upper body of the girl and the other hand gagging her mouth while the other girl held the molested girl's hands down.

The fact that none of them noticed him showed how much they were engrossed in their despicable act.

What drove Denzel there initially was the thought of his sister and looking at that sight, it was like he saw his sister being molested.

Out of character, Denzel ran towards them and kicked the girl that was caressing the one on the ground.

"Who are you?!" The other one still holding the hands of the girl yelled.

"Help!" Denzel could hear the tender sober voice of the one on the ground.

"Hey, get your hands off her." Denzel looked at the one holding the girl's hands to the ground.

"Huh?! Who are you, and what has this gotten to do with you?" Slowly, the girl's head went up, sizing up Denzel's body.

When she had gotten clear information from the furious look in the eyes under Denzel's hood, she stood up and ran to her friend who kept on groaning.

The one on the ground stood, covering her shirt, she ran off.

Denzel's eyes followed the girl as she ran and when he made sure she was away from them, he walked towards the other two.

"Don't bully your mates, you could end up regretting it as your friend here is doing right now."

"Do you even know what went wrong?! Why are you interfering?"

"I don't need to know. Or maybe I should just call the police and report you for what you were doing to her? If you are planning on reporting me for what I did to your friend, I have nothing to lose, but you know you have a lot to, so, shut the hell up and leave."

"Nevermind you old man, just fuck off." The girl kneeling held her friend in her hand, trying to lift her.

"Nice one kid," Denzel said, walking away from them.

As Denzel walked away, he felt like he was watched, from somewhere far away. Looking back, he saw no one.