The crowd, some consciously others otherwise, parted as Daniel slowly passed through the halls paying no attention to the not so hushed mutterings. Eyes shadowed his path, keenly watching his every move.
"That's that Wayne kid right?"
"Yeah that's him."
"Wait you mean the same Wayne who beat up Brian! That Wayne!"
"Yeah! I heard Brian couldn't get up for a week!"
"A week? I heard he couldn't get up for two weeks!"
"Sheesh! I heard he broke a couple of his bones too."
"Yeah! I was there when Wayne broke his knuckles like they were made of spaghetti!"
"No one mentioned he was such a hottie though." A girl giggled.
Daniel's eye twitched ever so slightly as the discussions in the crowd nevertheless fluttered into his ears. He clenched his bag tighter but relaxed his stance even more, striding with measured confidence.
"They must truly have nothing better to do if they still gossip about that" He scowled to himself as he proceeded to his locker.
Boasting the largest number of students among the other high schools in the area, Nevada Hill High was known for its impressive facilities, dedicated teachers, and impeccable academic performances, cementing its position as the number one among the other high schools in the city.
Every year the school goes through intense inspection and renovations were made where needed, which gave the current hallway a clean refreshing look. The tiles gave off a smooth gleam, the lockers were neatly polished and, Daniel's personal dread, the hallway was filled with the lively atmosphere of hormonal teenagers.
Taking a deep breath, Daniel proceeded to his designated locker as per the norm. A number of students could be seen loitering around, some waiting for the bell, others reuniting with friends and some kid tore through the hallway on his skateboard, skillfully weaving through the crowd. Daniel shot a scathing look at one particular couple reuniting with their lips a few lockers away from him.
Suppressing a guttural growl, Daniel turned to his locker. "Of all the places they just had to be here, I can hear their slurping from here," He muttered under his breath, a slightly peeved look on his face. "It's times like these I wish I could tone down my sharp hearing."
" Hey yo, Danny! You trying to ditch your old buddy eh" A voice yelled from across the hall, the figure quickly shuffling close.
A vein slightly bulged on Daniel's forehead hearing the words and particularly the irksome voice already knowing who it was. Collin Garfield, the only person seemingly unafraid of Daniel and was actively willing to talk to him.
Daniel wasn't a particularly scary guy or mean in any way, but people still subconsciously feared and stayed away from him due to the presence of the intimidating aura surrounding him, which unbeknownst to them was simply the bloodthirsty aura of a predator.
"How many times… do I have to tell you to stop calling me Danny". Daniel said with visible frustration and a hint of helplessness as Collin came into view.
" Aww come on! What's wrong with Danny, it's groovy and cool" He said with a grin on his face. Collin Garfield looked typical in every sense. Not particularly tall or handsome but nevertheless pleasing to the eye, a smooth nose and chestnut hair. His eyes - though just as typical - were ironically his most redeeming quality, the brown irises gleaming with a soothing intensity.
Daniel's slowly narrowed his eyes at his words, letting out a low growl that sent shivers down Collin's spine.
"I mean not as cool as Daniel, but everyone's gotta have a nickname right" He said, letting out an awkward laugh while scratching the back of his head as he felt the pressure exuding from Daniel.
"Well, I don't like it" Daniel said as he closed his locker halfway and stared straight at Collin. "The last person who called me that got her head bashed into a wall". He slammed his locker shut as if to drive home a point.
Collin let out a nervous chuckle, his throat bobbling with tension."You're joking right?".
Daniel slowly shook his head turning to head for class, wondering why exactly this guy chose to stick with him despite his intense presence most humans couldn't stand for long.
#
Sometime the last semester, Daniel was minding his own business like he usually did when he heard noises further down the hall. Slightly curious, he made his way down and after effortlessly shoving his way through the crowd, he saw a relatively scrawny Collin facing off against the much larger Brian. His ears filtered through the noise to learn he was apparently standing up for some bullied kid, admirable but somewhat stupid seeing as he was no match for Brian.
Brian was tall from most people's perspective, being a little over 6ft tall - taller even than Daniel who was 5'9 - and he had a fit athletic body, guaranteeing his spot as the captain of the school's basketball team. Brian like most jocks and hormonal teenagers in power took a slight sadistic pleasure in inflicting suffering on others and like most bullies did not appreciate his fragile ego challenged especially by some nerd looking chum.
"Kind of reminds me of a wraith". Daniel thought to himself.
Collin stood 5ft and six inches tall and had a body of a typical physically lazy youth. On most days, he was easy-going and quiet but something seemed to have caused him to snap today, showing no fear in standing up to Brian.
Certain parts of his face were already swollen and a corner of his lip had split releasing blood, but despite how many times he got hit and he got hit a lot, he didn't back down for long and kept trying to hit Brian. Eventually he managed to get a good hook straight to Brian's nose, merely scraping it but still managing to draw blood.
"You little piece of shit" Brian yelled angrily, his sleeve wiping the blood running down his nose. With a frenzied charge, he tackled Collin to the ground and furiously threw heavy punches on his otherwise pummeled face.
A teacher should have long interfered and stopped this but they seemed to be having one of their monthly staff meetings and were nowhere nearby with none of the onlookers too enthused to fetch them.
Blinded by rage, Brian kept punching Collin's face and by now he was bleeding an alarming amount of blood. Brian drew back his fist to land another punch when his hand was caught in a vice-like grip by a now ticked off Daniel.
"That's enough" He said coldly.
"Fuck off Wayne" Brain angrily yelled, yanking his arm free. Springing to his feet, he twirled and threw a punch straight at Daniel's jaw.
Caught unaware, or maybe waiting for it, the punch connected cleanly with Daniel's jaw barely shifting him from the spot.
"Now you've done it!" Daniel's brown eyes glinted with a fierce light and an unrestrained fiendish grin spread on his face. Clenching his fist hard, his fist expanded in Brian's vision so fast he perceived it just as soon as his head whipped hard to the side, spittle and specks of blood flying in the air.
Unsurprisingly Brian was beaten so badly he ended up in the hospital alongside Collin, except he had a couple extra broken bones.
Ever since Collin found out who saved him, he stuck to Daniel like a fly to shit!... wait no, like glue which served as the beginning of their budding, though unwilling, friendship.
#
Daniel eyes stared ahead in class but his consciousness lay deep within. A nudge dragged him from his thoughts and his eyes shifted to glance at Collin.
"You're not concentrating" He whispered while scrolling through his phone, the screen dull beneath his desk.
Raising an eyebrow at this, Daniel made to rebuke him but helplessly let out a sigh deciding it was pointless, he wouldn't stop anyway.
"Mr. Garfield!" The teacher, Mr. Martin, yelled.
The abrupt shout cause Collin to jerk, his phone echoing audibly as it dropped.
"Shit!" Collin muttered.
"Well Mr. Garfield, seeing as you see it fit to not pay attention in class why don't you answer the question on the board" Mr. Martin said with an indifferent look on his face.
"Huh? Oh yeah sure, Lemme just quickly google it first" Collin said quickly, breifly disappearing under his desk to retrieve his phone again. The usually stoic face of Mr. Martin's twitched ever so slightly.
"You can do all the googling you want in detention" Mr. Martin said, his eyes still twitching.
"Crap!" Collin groaned as the bell rang signaling the end of the school day.
"Well I hope whatever you were doing was worth getting detention over." Daniel mocked with a smirk on his face.
"Here check it out" Collin suddenly said as he quickly scrolled through his phone, all traces of the earlier sorrow gone.
They found a body in an alley somewhere with the organs and intestines completely ripped out, the victim was covered in claw marks too. Some bloggers are saying it could either be some kind of wild animal or some crazy psychopath." Collin said, a somber look on his face.
Daniel looked at the pictures with a contemplative look on his face. His eyebrows creased in thought, wondering who would be so bold as to hunt in this town.
"And that's not even the worst part," Collin said. "This isn't the first time either, this has been happening for a while now, people suddenly going missing and then turning up dead somewhere with their organs ripped out".
"Hmmm, it's probably some rogue wild animal that's prowling around in the city," Daniel said with a strange glint on his eyes."It'll get caught eventually".
" I hope so! my Mom wouldn't let me stay out late no more, not like I would dare either. I don't wanna get munched by some rabid beast!" Collin said, a shiver running down his spine.
"You'll be fine, any beast can see you'll obviously taste bad and probably give it indigestion" Daniel chuckled as he slung his backpack on his shoulder and proceeded to exit the classroom.
"Hey! I'll probably taste great," He yelled. His eyes suddenly widened as he processed his words, beads of sweat started running down his face. "Not...not... not like I'll wanna find out or anything."
Daniel pondered the murders with a frown on his face as he exited the school and got on his bike, completely ignoring the trailing eyes and hushed whispers. His hand paused just as he turned the ignition, his nose perceiving a unique scent. His head whipped up fast, his eyes taking in his surroundings with a cold look.
"I smell a rat."