História Just a Kiss - Fight Club

"You stand here," said Addi, positioning me by the shoulders so that I faced-off squarely in front of her. We were back in the dilapidated house in the middle the countryside. This time, I'd been sure to leave my phone at home so maybe nobody could track where I was. As if it mattered. Ms. Whitley sure didn't seem to need technology to do what she wanted.

"And now, palm out," she said, doing the same.

Behind her and to the side, Mercurius leaned back against the wall in his usual bored and too-cool-for-this manner. Except that it had been his idea I practice again.

When Mercurius had showed-up in the driveway with his glossy sportscar, was it just coincidence that Addi had appeared at my door moments before?

No matter. I was bursting with excitement to tell them about my experience conjuring my own animus. About Shiina.

It felt weird being there without Chance, but he had a fight of his own to get to. That's what Addi had said when she showed up carrying a small pamphlet. "Take this," she'd said, "All the matches for the next month."

I'd thumbed through it on the ride, and it seemed to me that there wasn't enough time to recover between each one. Not with the way I'd seen the competitors go at each other. I pictured Chance doubled-over on the floor before I could shut off my imagination. 

"Does anyone ever..." I stumbled over what I wanted to say, unable to finish.

"Die?" Mercurius so helpfully supplied, "Sure, but usually only the halfies. Oh, wait."

He seemed to be in a particularly sour mood today, and I couldn't understand why.

Addi shot him a look so cold it could have frozen fire. "Shut it, Merc."

"Tch," Mercurius said, turning from the room.

Seriously, what had gotten into him?

Then she fixed her gaze on me, saying, "You need to clear your mind. I'm sure he'll be fine. Come on--now that you know you're capable, it should be easier."

Easier, "Yeah right."

"Well, tell you what," Addi said, grin forming, "Either you learn to control your mind, or you'll be the one in trouble. Today, we fight."

"Wait, we--"

Too late. Yep, no question about it. Addi was no normal girl. A bright light centered in her palm cracked open as a great bird like a hawk swept out like hatching from an egg. Except that unlike my dragon, her hawk beat its wings as it circled the room and grew until it was so large I thought for sure any more and it would have burst through the walls. The rush of the air from its wings was enough to knock me off my feet.

Breathing hard, I picked myself up from the floor, saying, "I was expecting another lyoken, you know." For cousins, their animus were nothing alike.

Not that I'd have felt any more comfortable facing-off against Chance's wolf-cat.

I peered behind the giant bird's wings in the direction Mercurius had gone, but the hall was empty. And you know it's bad news when I'm looking to him for help.

"Re-lax," Addi said, leaning back casually. "Try to remember what it felt like when you animus appeared--Shiina was her name, yeah?"

Yeah, sure. It's real easy to relax when a giant bird of prey is staring you down. Its black eyes fixed straight on mine and wouldn't blink. A bit uncanny, that.

Still, I thought I'd at least give it a go. I tried to unfocus my gaze and let my breathing slow the beating of my heart. At least the hawk wasn't trying to eat me, I decided. And besides, Addi wouldn't let it. Right?

I wanted to believe that was true, but I had to admit I wasn't entirely sure.

Ever since I'd learned she'd hidden that she was also a demon, I'd found it hard to feel like I could trust her. Hell, there was no one I could trust in this town.

Wait, no. That wasn't right. There was one person I could trust. And thinking of him made an anxious knot rise in my stomach.

"Hang on," I said, dropping the hand I'd been trying to summon my animus with. "I've got a bad feeling."

A really bad feeling. Worse than the kind I'd been having ever since Mercurius walked out and left me alone in the room with Addi and her giant hawk.

I took a step towards the door, but the hawk mirrored my movement, beak glinting in the light from the window.

"Hang on," I repeated, "Let me out."

"You gotta learn," said Addi, holding her hand out and the hawk followed her direction, a thread of glinting light passing between her hand and its body as she moved. So that was how it worked. There was a signal of sorts, a connection that bridged the animus and its host. So why hadn't I noticed it in myself the previous night?

But that wasn't what mattered at the moment. "Listen to me," I said, barely dodging as Addi's hawk swept one enormous wing towards me, beak striking out and slamming into the floor with a heavy whap. "Something's wrong!"

Finally, she stopped, holding her animus at bay with one hand.

"Wa...What?" she asked, holding her head and then shaking it as if trying to lose a bad dream. Glancing from her hawk to me, she said, "Clara, where's your animus?"

Wait. "Have you even been here the past five minutes?" I scrambled back another step towards the window while I had the break, "You're bird here's been trying to peck me to death."

"My..." She looked kinda sideways at me, blinked again, then, "Ah, hell. You alright?"

Well, there you go. I took another oh-so-casual step towards the window, wondering just in case if I could land without breaking any bones. Too bad I wasn't very good at getting my animus to come out. Maybe Shiina'd be able to fly me to safety. Oh, who was I kidding. The dragon was tiny.

Finally, Addi pulled her animus back and I watched as it faded and returned into her palm.

But the thing was, my bad feeling was still there as strong as ever. That's because it wasn't me I was so worried about. It was Chance.

"I have to get to the match," I said, starting towards the hall. "Something's seriously wrong, I swear." I'd never been so convinced of something in my life.

"You may be right," said a cool voice just outside the door. Mercurius reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop as Addi took a step towards me. There was a strange, faraway look in her eyes. And was it just me, or was she holding her hand up again, opening her palm like she was going to call back her--"

"I hope you know how to drive." Mercurius shoved a set of keys into my hand, stepping between Addi and I, saying over his shoulder, "Go!"

The hell, the hell, the hell.

Mercurius just gave me his keys. The keys to his fancy sportscar. And Addi looked like she wanted to kill me. And he was protecting me.

Told you he wasn't such a bad guy. But I'd have to thank him later, because right now I swear you're gonna think I'm crazy but really I'd never had such a bad feeling in my life and I knew, just knew, Chance was in danger.

I threw open the door to the car and started it up, praying I wouldn't get pulled-over because I didn't have my license yet. And that I even remembered the way back to the match on my own.