The Pulse Pt. 06

Author's note:

Thank you to everyone that has been in touch. It's very gratifying that you're (mostly) enjoying The Pulse. I'm finding parts of this story are developing in ways that I hadn't expected. One of those factors is that the story is dominating with much less sex. So, please forgive me if this style is not to your taste. I hope that you can still enjoy Jake's discovery of his powers and how they are effecting his life.

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Harry Youle's world had fallen apart.

It had taken him a week to get out of hospital. He still struggled for breath as his lung healed. The concussion protocols had been endless and his insufferable parents were constantly asking him if he was alright. And the headaches were still plaguing him.

He had missed his exams and his parents had applied for special consideration whatever the hell that was.

Nobody had visited him. Something had happened to his school friends and no one would talk to him about it. Even Chrissie hadn't been in touch though he knew he was reaching there. That self-centred bitch would only have visited if it made her look good or if she was getting something out of it. And he'd got very little out of that little slut.

He still felt like an invalid and stayed up in his room most of the time fuming at the unfairness of life.

And what he wasn't telling anyone about were the nightmares.

Every night he woke in terror, wide-eyed and sweating as the apparition came at him again. In his dream he was with his friends laughing at Jake the Poor. Suddenly Jake turned into a monster with red eyes. The monster came towards him at an impossible speed and then there was unbelievable pain.

The pain woke him every time.

He'd sit up gasping, his lung hurting, his hands across his stomach feeling for blood and gasping in relief when there wasn't any. He'd even wet his bed once.

The worst part was that it was Jake, the ultimate school nobody, that was at the heart of his nightmares. Jake, the person that he and his friends had tortured whenever they'd been bored or wanted to show what could happen to other people if they stepped out of line. Jake, who...who...

...who had been the one that punched him.

Suddenly it was clear in his memory.

It had been like any other day. They'd been hanging out. Jake had walked in looking ridiculous in clothes at least a size too small and they'd started on him. And then, instead of slinking away like a kicked puppy like every other time, Jake had turned and...and...

Harry started to sweat as his nightmare and his memory merged. The fear as Jake came towards him at astonishing speed and hit him so hard...the pain...

The shame!

He was sitting here terrified of Jake Conway. He'd been put in hospital by Jake Fucking Conway!

That was why his friends wouldn't visit him. That must be why his parents were protecting him from them. He hunched into a ball on his bed as the crawling embarrassment rippled through him. What would Brian say? What would Chris say! He wasn't sure that he could bear it. His life was basically over. It must be all over the school by now and him a complete laughing stock.

What on earth was he going to do?

One thing he knew was that the terror that he still felt every time he thought of that moment was balanced by a ball of hate in his stomach. Pure vitriolic loathing would drive him until he had his revenge. But he'd have to be careful. First of all he'd have to find out more information.

His afternoon was spent calling friends. Or people that he thought were friends.

To his immense relief no one knew who had assaulted him. His friends must have kept quiet. But why? Jake the Poor would surely be in prison by now if they'd talked? Why the fuck hadn't they said anything. Why couldn't he speak to them?

And then he spoke to Mrs Waite. It was excruciating to have to find out about the attempted rape from the rapists own mother. She was in floods of tears down the phone about not knowing her own son, blahblahblahblah. Fuck she went on. And then about how he was still unable to communicate, locked away in some hospital for vegetables with his other friends, all of them zombies too.

He got off the phone as quickly as he could.

What could have happened to them?

He finally got his parents to tell him the whole story. The attempted rape and that Jake Fucking Conway had somehow stopped it and emerged as the hero. And that Jake Fucking Conway was somehow the reason his friends were living sacks of meat.

Surely that wasn't possible? He'd seen Chris Waite in fights and it hadn't been pretty. How could Jake Fucking Conway take out so many people without a scratch based on the video that his parents showed him of the news from that day.

He continued to call around and it didn't take long for him to hear how Jake had been invited to the McConnell end of term party and that Chrissie, that bitch, had been all over Jake Fucking Conway.

And also that something weird had happened there. Somehow the girls were all talking about Jake Fucking Conway.

It was when he was speaking to Jennifer Sawyer that he finally found a glimmer of hope.

"I heard about Chrissie's party," said Harry.

"What a joke. Women dropping at his feet."

"Really? I thought that Conway was a nobody."

"He is a nobody. But he's become a nobody that people suddenly want to be around. How he's done it I have no idea. Stupid womanising bastard."

"But...how? He's just a nerd that crawled around the corridors hoping to be ignored. How has this happened?"

"He gets people onside by pretending to be kind and then betrays them."

Harry, while not the brightest, was adept at picking up undercurrents in conversation. And the pain and hate in Jennifer's voice was unusual.

"Let's change the subject Jenny. He's not worth wasting breath on. How about you? What are you doing this summer?"

There was a big sigh from the end of the phone.

"Just boring stuff. Trying to find a work experience placement."

"Do you fancy a break from the boredom? We could go to Alton Towers or something?"

"That sounds...interesting. Isn't that going to be a bit much for you if you're still recovering?"

"Nonsense, I'm fine. It's just my parents being overprotective."

"Are you around today? Fancy coming over and we could talk about it?"

"I'll be there in an hour."

Harry took his time getting ready. He put on his latest designer gear and made sure that he had just enough aftershave on for it to be noticeable. He ate whatever it was his feeble mother had left out for him before she'd gone to work and got in his Golf GTi and drove over to the Sawyer's house.

Jenny was in the garden looking pretty fabulous when he arrived. He'd always fancied her but had been a bit intimidated because she was so smart. Now he needed those brains...and maybe she'd be a bit more receptive than the McConnell bitch to the Youle charm. He checked his hair in the mirror one last time.

"Jenny!" he shouted as he got out of the car.

A slight wince crossed her face that he missed. He climbed gingerly out of the car and swaggered over towards her, giving her a kiss on each cheek.

"Hi Harry. Nice to see you up and about."

"Yeah, it's been tough, you know. A lot of pain but I'm forcing through it. You're looking great. I mean really great."

"Thanks Harry. Fancy a drink?"

"Definitely."

They went inside and he was disappointed to be given the choice of tea, coffee or coke. He rallied though as he followed her swinging hips down the garden to a really nice pergola with a bench seat.

"I was slightly surprised to hear from you Harry. I thought that you were dating Chrissie."

"Yeah. Well it wasn't really serious. And did you know she didn't visit me once when I was in hospital? And after hearing about what happened at the weekend...I don't want to be around a slut like that."

"What did you hear about the party?"

"That she was all over Jake Fucking Conway at every opportunity and that they disappeared off to the boathouse. You know what that means. Slut. And later some gangbang happened with Jake and multiple girls."

"Wow!"

"Yeah. What a slut."

"And with Jake of all people!"

"I know."

They were quiet for a moment. Then Harry leaned in closer to her on the bench, "Can you keep a secret?"

Jennifer nodded.

"Even though the doctors said I'd never get that memory back. Despite that concussion, I've finally remembered who attacked me at school."

"You have? Who was it?"

"Jake Fucking Conway."

His voice trembled with rage as he said it.

"What? That can't be true."

"Well it is. I wish it wasn't but it is."

"So are you going to the police?"

"What? And be ridiculed? Add to the Jake Fucking Conway mystique? No fucking thank you. I'm going to get even."

"But how? You know what happened to the rugby guys with Tina. He must have done some kind of martial arts to pull that off. And he's a gymnast. You're not thinking of taking him on are you?"

Harry was pleased to see some concern in her eyes.

"No. I'm not fully fit yet but I can't let him hurt anyone else. I need to protect innocent people from being hurt."

He took her hand in his.

"He's a monster, Jenny."

"So what's the plan?"

"I'm going to need some help. Are you still in touch with your school friends?"

"Of course."

"Good. We need to start to tell each of them a slightly different story about Jake Fucking Conway. Something that'll make anyone who lives around here think twice about going anywhere near him. We need to wipe his geek face in the mud and fucking stomp it in to the ground. We need to violate the stupid prick. We need..."

His voice was rising as he said it and it was her hand on his arm that made him realise that he was losing control.

"But he's a hero. How do you get around that? It can't be just any story."

"No. And that's why I need you Jenny. You're so clever, I was hoping that as you've seen through his act you can help others to see what he's really like as well. He's dangerous, Jenny."

And Harry placed a hand on her shoulder, showing his concern for her, how much he wanted to protect her. All the time trying to control his erection. He should have worn looser shorts.

"I know. He winds you around his finger and uses you. You're right Harry, he is dangerous. We need to think."

They spent the next hour batting ideas back and forth. They went from believable to sick and back to somewhere between the two. Diseases, animals, violence, they ran through every type of slander that they could think of but kept coming back to the key blocker. The hero who had saved Tina.

Harry had long since stopped coming up with suggestions. He was too busy ogling Jennifer's tits and arse as she paced up and down in front of the bench.

"...but how did he stop half a rugby team by himself, Harry? I mean, I know he's a gymnast and that might help with maybe two of them but the rest..? It's almost as if..."

She stopped pacing.

"What? What is it?"

"He's a chemist isn't he?"

"I don't fucking know. He's a cunt is all I know."

"What if he drugged them? What if he set them up in the music hall and drugged them? What if he's been giving girls date rape drugs?"

She whirled around.

"What if he's been drugging people to become popular?"

"Oh my god, that's it!"

"It must be! Maybe he gave the rugby guys too big of a dose in the music hal? Maybe that's why they haven't responded to any treatment. And the janitor guy does nothing but babble about fire and tentacles apparently. He's been experimenting on people. That must be it. The bastard!"

"That must have been what happened to me too!"

"I thought you said that you remembered him hitting you?"

Harry had to think fast at that point.

"But he can't have! I was surrounded by my friends and none of them said a word at the assembly. It was just him and his nerd-bastard friend in the corridor. Maybe they worked on it together? Jake the Poor isn't clever enough to do this himself. But Jamie Butcher is? Right?"

"You think you were drugged too and then they hit you with something?"

"YES! The hospital said it was like I'd been hit by a professional boxer. Jake Fucking Conway couldn't do that. They must have drugged us with some kind of spray and then hit me with...with...fuck I don't know... a fucking fire extinguisher or something. Why else would my mates say nothing? How else could he do that sort of damage. Jenny you're a fucking marvel."

And he stood up, grabbed her and kissed her hard on the lips.

She pushed him away but more from shock than from anything else.

"You really think that might be it?"

"Nothing else makes sense."

"You're right. What's that Sherlock Holmes quote?"

Harry looked at her stupidly.

" 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' "

"Fucking right!" he crowed, feeling dizzy with excitement and the prospect of finally doing something about Jake Fucking Conway.

"So where do we start? How do we get this out there?"

They sat back down again and were quiet for a minute or two. Harry suddenly looked at her wide eyed.

"By telling people that it happened to you. That he tested it out on you. And that you nearly fell for it. And that it's taken you this long to shake the effects and figure out what must have happened."

"Yes...I mean how else could I have..." and she suddenly looked embarrassed.

Harry reached forward and lifted her chin.

"What did the bastard do to you?"

"Oh nothing. But he ingratiated himself so easily. We even...we even kissed."

"Fucker."

Harry pulled her into his arms and held her, trying to avoid poking her with his hard on.

"We can fix him, Jenny. We can make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else again."

"You're right Harry."

And she pulled his head down and kissed him.

In the background Celia Sawyer picked up her secateurs and quietly walked back through the trees and away from the kissing couple. Her wanton behaviour around Jake, her more recent irrational fear of him all started to make sense. And if the poverty stricken little bastard had hurt her baby then maybe a two pronged attack on him would make whatever was said stick.

She walked back to the house with a swing in her step. It's a shame. He has such a nice cock but nobody hurts her family. No one does that to the Sawyers. And she knew just who to call.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Jake had spent the days after the party relaxing.

He was reveling in the freedom from exams and finally catching up on some sleep. He did a bit of working out, played some computer games and generally bummed around the place.

It was Wednesday morning when he realised that he was bored. Maybe he could convince Jamie to come down to the coast with him. He checked the weather forecast and it was looking good. He was just beginning to wonder when Fiona would get a chance to call when the phone rang.

He bounced down the stairs and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Jake, it's Jamie."

"Hi Jamie, I was just..."

"Mate, have you heard the rumours?" I'd never heard him sound so serious in my life.

"The what?"

"The rumours. About you."

"What am I supposed to have done now? Climbed Everest?"

"People are saying that you've drugged and raped people Jake."

"That I've what?!"

"Susan has had three different people call her to warn her about me and you. But mainly you. They've said that you set up Tina's rescue and that you've got some experimental thing that you've cooked up in the chemistry lab and that you're using it to make you popular. That you used too much of it on the ape and the janitor in saving Tina. That you raped some girls at the McConnell's party."

"What the fuck?!? Where's all this coming from? What did Susan say?"

"Oh it's all 'a friend of a friend said' stuff so no one knows where it's come from. But Susan's heard it from so many different people that she's scared that it might be true. And her parents have told her not to see me."

"Oh my god."

"What are we going to do Jake?"

"I have no idea."

"But who could have started something like this? Why?"

"Well it's not like I'm particularly popular, but this goes way beyond the usual petty shit. I was going to call you and suggest going to the coast. Do you want to take off and we could talk this thing through?"

"Jake.."

"What?"

Jamie took a deep breath before continuing.

"Look, my parents have asked me not to see you."

"You told them the rumours? Jamie, why? What were you thinking?"

"Jake, they'd heard them already."

"Oh fuck."

"Yeah."

They both lapsed into silence.

"What am I going to do?"

"Come up with a cunning plan..?"

"I'm not sure that now is the time mate."

"A plan as cunning as a fox who's just been appointed as the Professor of Cunning at Oxford University."

It didn't escape me that the quote from Blackadder was from the final series just before they went over the top into the German machine guns.

"It looks like it will need to be," I was smiling in spite of myself.

"Look, I'll call you tomorrow once the parents are out."

"But how could your folks believe that about me?"

"Mud sticks, Jake. And people love to drag other people down to their level. It's how the tabloids work. Find a celebrity, build them up and then dig through the shit for something to burn them down with."

"But they've known me all my life."

"I'm sorry, mate. I'm trying to come up with something. Let's speak tomorrow."

"OK. Thanks Jamie."

"Chin up mate."

I put the phone down in a daze. I felt punch drunk. Even people that had known me all my life were believing this rubbish. It was horrific.

It was also quite clever. Take the truth and twist it just enough to make it believable.

I suddenly had a horrible thought. What if the rumours had got as far as work? If Jamie's parents had heard the rumours independently then what if they'd reached the garden centre? Was that why no one had called to bring me in to cover a shift?

Heart in my mouth I picked up the phone and called the office.

"Mayhew's Garden Centre, how can I help you?"

"Laura. Hi, it's Jake."

"You've got a gall calling here."

"Laura, can I speak to Nick or one of the supervisor's?"

She hung up.

I got dressed in a hurry and went down to my car. I drove over to the garden centre and pulled in near the office door. Nick was standing outside having a cup of tea. He saw me get out of the car, turned and walked back inside. I went into the warehouse after him. He saw me following him in and rounded on me.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if there are any shifts available this week."

"You need to go and see the boss. He doesn't want someone like you working here."

"Nick, how could you believe any of this shit?!"

"Just go and see the boss. And to think that I thought I knew you..."

He turned away, spitting on the ground as he went. All my old insecurities welled up inside me. Work had been the one place where I'd felt valued, that I'd proved myself. Tears came unbidden and I turned towards the office stairs. I suddenly thought of Fiona and the others up there. What they might be thinking. I froze at the bottom of the stairs desperately trying to get my emotions under control.

I had to force my feet up the stairs.

The room was silent when I went in. Fiona wouldn't look at me and the other girl's expressions would have turned milk sour at fifty paces. I knocked on the door of Luke Mayhew's office.

"Come."

"Mr Mayhew..."

"Oh, it's you. I was just drafting a letter. Jake, we're making cutbacks and your role has been made redundant. We'll send you your P45 shortly. I'd like you to leave now."