Band of vandals (freewrite)

They raced across the outskirts of the day and well into the outlandish bastardly night. They laughed and their thin voices echoed through the dark, people heard them, but they pulled the blinds and made sure the door was locked, because when them kids were outside, there was no room for discussion.
No nothing.
You can't fight with these people and you can't really flee.
The boy was surprised, at first, when he was chosen to join the ranks of these older, more dangerous kids. He'd never wanted to be one of them, not once. He knew that some kids in his class were dying to join up. And that the girls looked up at these vandals. But the only thing he could think about was his father drawing the blinds and dimming the light, when he heard voices outside.
After the boy's mother left with that strange man, his father became even more afraid of the vandals, somehow blaming them for his wife's departure. The boy couldn't help but wonder if he somehow blamed them, too.
So, he was most surprised, not to mention upset, when he found himself part of this stupid gang.

But one day, he just saw it and couldn't resist. Suddenly, in those green, fire-lit eyes, he understood what all these kids saw in it. In being this way, in causing so much pain and hurting and laughing through the night and scaring the neighbors.
It was her eyes. It was always her eyes and if you asked any member of this gang, they'd say the eyes drew them in, without a doubt. Different eyes, of course, but that was how they knew they wanted to belong to this gang.
Tom, for this was the boy's name, felt the cold dead certainty set over him as he looked at the girl. He'd never seen her before, but he definitely wanted to see her again.
So, he figured he best take his chances and join up. He went to one of the older boys who inserted a red hot needle deep into his heart, leaving the sign of this band of vandals encrypted in it forever.

After a few years, Tom wasn't able to remember how he'd ever lived without it. The gang provided him with life, it fed this deep, dark need in him.

And sometimes, in the evenings, he'd look with pity at his dad, who, out of spite, had pulled his heart out, for fear that belonging to this band of lawless kids would hurt him again.

Freewrite off the prompt word 'vandals', suggested by @mariannewest, as part of her 5 Minute Freewrite Challenge. New prompt word daily. Check her out!

Thank you for reading,