Notes: Arty gets the crap beat out of him by some jocks.
But then he saw it. There in a display case in a jewelry store tucked away in the far end of the mall that no one really went to. A pendant in the shape of a heart hung daintily from a thin silver chain. It had 'bling' and elegance, it was everything he was looking for... and he hoped she'd adore it. So he bought it immediately, slide the box into the secret compartment of his backpack on the back of his chair with his wallet, and left the store feeling extremely pleased with himself. So pleased, in fact, that he wasn't paying attention to anyone around... and so he never saw them coming.
He hadn’t heard the footsteps of the teens that had been standing around the corner from the store he'd been in. But the moment one of them jumped in front of him and stood there blocking his way, he sure wished he had. Arty knew what was about to happen and as the rest of them circled up around him, the thought was cemented. The mall cops hardly patrolled this area... so he knew there was no chance of them being caught before anything happened. Adrenaline spiked through him: Fight or Flight. He lifted his hand in a stop motion, “Hey guys-” His world turned over as the left wheels of his chair were lifted off the ground almost effortlessly by one of the guys, throwing him out of it and smashing his face into the ground. One of them came over and quickly kicked him in the hip. He didn't feel most of it, but it did thrust his body over onto his stomach. Then he was flipped over and sat on by who he realised as a football player. He was pinned down, and unsure if the guys were just being quiet if he just lost his hearing. He was quickly lifted up enough as the jock's right hand gripped around his neck and then he raised his left in a swift motion then smashed it down on Arty's mouth. The kid looked like he was in full rage mode in the seconds before the hit shook the helpless guy's whole body. Arty began to fight to cover his face, surprised at how well his attacker was hitting. The fists connected with Arty’s face and chest, and really anything he could hit, as if everything in him wanted to break every bone in the Arty’s body. And suddenly his attacker’s voice was loud and harsh as he yelled into his face before punching him again, “YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT HER ALONE WHEELS!”
"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" His voice cracked as he yelled back and tried to push the kid off of him. "I haven't don-" He rolled hard and tried to squirm out, but it only worked to make the kid have to readjust how he was pinning him down. His glasses were crushed on his face, sitting cockeyed and bent oddly as far as he could tell. And when he lifted his hand to his nose to collect them, he found blood pouring from his face.
He was then lifted into the air as the kid stood up and assessed what he had done. It was amazing the strength of the neanderthal; he picked Arty clear up into the air. His legs dangled like dead weight before he was quickly tossed to the ground, but his mind was else where. It was on his mom, the car accident, how they'd made it only for him to become this useless kid she had to lug around everywhere...…. The words everyone whispered about him all the time. But he'd chose to ignore them... and now....Now he couldn't even run away. He was throbbing all over, aching and crying.... and he couldn't even leave. He didn't move or open his eyes in the sudden stillness around him. He breathed smell of the tiled mall floor that now held his own blood and tried to listen to what was being said. They were whispering. He peeked an eye open and he saw one take off running followed by the one that had hit him. His eyes shifted down as the last walked over and kneeled beside him. He gripped Arty's face and jerked it up so he'd look him at him. He was blonde and had really green eyes. "You stay away from her Cripple." He shoved Arty's face from his hand, letting it bounce off the ground as it hit, and then left. When Arty managed to blink the tears from his eyes long enough to get clear sight, he stared at the small, thick, red puddle under him, he could feel other liquid running down his face in small beads and then dropping off his cheek and beside his eye. He could feel the stinging in his face and all over his upper body where he had been beaten. He knew this pain… only the last time he'd felt it... he had lost feeling to his legs. In those moments, through his eight year old eyes, ever ache of his body ripped everything from his soul and tore it to shreds and then burned them as he watched his whole life change in the ashes…. and he was powerless. He suddenly felt like he'd be sick.
He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t breathe. He only laid there as he felt darkness slipping over him. He blinked a few more times, his last thoughts of the beautiful blonde he wished he'd had gone to see instead of being there... and then nothing as his whole body completely rested on the cold floor tiles.
